Tonight’s show took place on December 7, 2014 from the Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium in Aichi. This show is the finals of the 2014 World Tag League.
First match is an eight man tag match where Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kota Ibushi, Togi Makabe and La Sombra take on Shinsuke Nakamura, Kazuchika Okada, Yoshi-Hashi and Tomohiro Ishii. New Japan has a very basic formula when it comes to tag team matches- they’ll put rivals on opposite teams, they’ll wrestle each other a for a while, somewhere in here there’s a barricade spot, then eventually they pin the weak link on the team who has no real feud with anyone while his partners are all held back, which in this case is Yoshi-Hashi. In fact, in most years it’s been Yoshi-Hashi. Not that they’re bad, but they are very formulaic and don’t stray all that much. This was a fine bout that pushed programs for WrestleKingdom 9 and it did it’s job well in that regard.
Hirooki Goto is interviewed. He remembers 2014 as a year of tag matches for himself. He and Shibata worked out their relationship after the Seibu Dome G1 finals, and the Tag League was their first time teaming together on a constant basis. About their opponents, they knew how good they were since they faced them before.
Then the Tag League finals aired, with Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows (who are also the champions) faced Hirooki Goto and Katsuyori Shibata. This turned into a pretty good match; the crowd was red hot for this toward the end. The start wasn’t nearly as interesting but they worked it into a pretty good match. Maybe a shade below normal New Japan main events but I’d have this around the ***½ star range. Goto and Shibata, since they never seem to be in the real main event scene, could be the ace of this division if New Japan ever really gets behind having a heavyweight tag team scene.
The problem is they haven’t, and don’t seem to be based on the booking of the division this year, which we’ll see in later episodes on AXS TV. They win the match with a PK to Anderson, a shotgun kick that sends Gallows to the outside then Goto pins Anderson with the shouten kai.
Gallows said they didn’t need to win the Tag League again. They (their opponents) want to fire shots, we’ll fire back harder. Anderson says the Tag League means nothing because they have the belts, then challenged them to a match at the Tokyo Dome with the titles on the line. I cleaned up their language here as it was rather salty. I didn’t think you can say those words on cable TV, but I guess AXS is one of those premium channels.
Shibata says in a post match interview in the ring that he wants a belt, since he’s never felt he’s achieved anything here in particular. Goto said the time is right, and the next target is those belts. In another post match interview backstage, the two talk about knowing each other in high school. Goto says it’s nice to have a partner next to him that he could rely on.
In his reflective interview, Goto mentions that match gave them confidence and was happy to accomplish something that night. He thinks that’s the moment their tag team became one. He thought Shibata was happy to win the match, but they are both hungry for more titles. he mentions the Goto Revolution, there are no stages, just about results. When he turns everything around, that is when it will be over.
This was a good show for what it was. The Tag League doesn’t mean a whole lot in the long run as it’s usually teams you see maybe once a year, plus Tencozy and the Bullet Club, and the match quality is nowhere near the same as the G1. Goto and Shibata made sense to win here since it seemed like they were being groomed as the next great tag team to hit New Japan, but as we’ll see later in the year, that wasn’t the case. Big next five weeks on AXS as the entire WrestleKingdom 9 card will be shown, with next week focusing on junior heavyweights as reDragon, Forever Hooligans, Young Bucks and Time Splitters square off over the junior tag titles and Kenny Omega battles Ryusuke Taguchi for the junior title.
We’re looking for reports on tonight’s WWE show in Trenton, NJ (John Cena vs. Seth Rollins), NXT in Nashville and TNA in Beckley, WV (Ethan Carter III vs. Drew Galloway for the TNA title, Gail Kim vs. Awesome Kong for the Knockouts title, Matt Hardy vs. Eric Young, Bobby Roode vs. Eli Drake for the King of the Mountain title, Wolves vs. Trevor Lee & Andrew Everett for TNA tag titles) and Ken Anderson vs. Jessie Godderz) at newstips@wrestlingobserver.com
This weekend we’ll be doing polls for UFC 192, WWE in Madison Square Garden, TNA Bound for Glory and AAA Heroes Inmortales, so a huge weekend of big events.
New Japan World Pro Wrestling Returns at 9 p.m. Eastern on AXS TV
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kota Ibushi & Togi Makabe & La Sombra vs. Shinsuke Nakamura & Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii & Yoshi-Hashi
Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows vs. Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata in finals of the 2014 tag team tournament
First round of the Universal Champion of Champions tournament, a one-night eight man tournament with Angel de Oro, Dragon Lee, Barbaro Cavernario, Dragon Rojo Jr., Luciferno, Rey Bucanero, Shocker and Ultimo Guerrero
Atlantis & Super Parka & Volador Jr. vs. Marco Corleone & Rush & La Sombra
Leva Bates (Blue Pants) & Mia Yim (Jade) vs. Rhia O’Reilly & Sammi Baynz
Ivelisse vs. Thunderkitty
Jayme Jameson vs. Shazza McKenzie vs. Kellyanne vs. Liberty
Saturday we’re looking for reports from WWE in Bangor, ME (Ryback, Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, Wyatt Family), TNA in Salem, VA (Ethan Carter III vs. Drew Galloway for the TNA title, Gail Kim vs. Awesome Kong for Knockouts title, Kurt Angle vs Eric Young, Bobby Roode vs. Andrew Everett for King of the Mountain title, Wolves vs. Eli Drake & Jessie Godderz for tag title, Ken Anderson vs Tyrus and Earl Hebner Hall of Fame Ceremony) and land NXT with a Noon show in Louisville at the Louder than Life Music and Food Festival at Champions Park.
UFC 192 from the Toyota Center in Houston
Fight Pass at 6:30 p.m.
Sage Northcutt vs. Francisco Trevino
Derrick Lewis vs. Viktor Pesta
Chris Cariaso vs. Sergio Pettis
FS 1 at 8 p.m.
Islam Makhachev vs. Adriano Martins
Alan Jouban vs. Albert Tumenov
Angela Hill vs. Rose Namajunas
Daniel Hooker vs. Yair Rodriguez
PPV at 10 p.m.
Joseph Benavidez vs. Ali Bagautinov
Jessica Eye vs. Julianna Pena
Ruslan Magomedov vs. Shawn Jordan
Rashad Evans vs. Ryan Bader
Daniel Cormier vs. Alexander Gustafsson for UFC light heavyweight title
WWE on WWE Network live from Madison Square Garden at 8 p.m. Eastern time
Brock Lesnar vs. Big Show
John Cena vs. Seth Rollins in a cage match
New Day vs. Dudleys for tag titles
Kevin Owens vs. Chris Jericho for IC title
Randy Orton vs. Sheamus
Dolph Ziggler vs. Rusev
We’ll be looking for reports on Sunday from the WWE house shows in Worcester, MA (John Cena vs. Seth Rollins, Rusev vs. Dolph Ziggler, New Day vs. Dudleys) and Portland, ME (Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, Ryback, The Wyatt Family), plus NXT with another Noon show in Louisville at the Louder than Life Music and Food Festival at Champions Park.
TNA Bound for Glory PPV on Sunday at 8 p.m. from Concord, NC
EC 3 vs. Matt Hardy vs. Drew Galloway for the TNA title with Jeff Hardy as ref
Eddie Edwards & Davey Richards vs. Trevor Lee & Brian Meyers for the TNA tag tilters
Abyss, Aiden O’Shea, Chris Melendez, Jesse Godderz, Ken Anderson, Mahabili Shera, Tyrus, Eli Drake and Robbie E in a Gauntlet for a title shot
Gail Kim vs. Awesome Kong for Knockouts title
Tigre Uno puts up X title in an Ultimate X match
Bobby Roode vs. Bobby Lashley for King of the Mountain title
Alberto El Patron vs. Johnny Mundo for AAA Mega heavyweight title
Rey Mysterio Jr. & Psycho Clown & ? vs. El Hijo del Fantasma & El Texano Jr. & Myzteziz
Antonio Pena Cup tournament: Aero Star, Blue Demon Jr., Nino Hamburguesa, La Parka, Averno, Chessman, Cibernetico, Electroshock, El Hijo del Pirata Morgan & ?
Joe Lider & Pentagon Jr. defend AAA tag titles against Jack Evans & Angelico and Steve Pain & Daga
Taya Valkyrie defends Queen or Queens title against Goya Kong, Hiedra and two mystery women
Raw is Monday night at the TD Garden in Boston. Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman are at the show along with the usual cast of characters. No Undertaker advertised.
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
If you saw the JBL interview with Eric Bischoff, or even if you didn’t, we have what is already one of the most talked about and praised issues of the Wrestling Observer this year up on the site right now. The main theme is fact vs. fiction, covering both the WWE historical view of the Monday Night Wars and the Eric Bischoff version, going through every point and cutting through things like outright B.S., faulty memories and interesting truths.
The new double issue also covers SummerSlam in Brooklyn, the real story behind the UFC announcing a show in Madison Square Garden, Jon Jones’ legal punishment and future, coverage of both of the New Japan PPV shows this past week as well as a look at their direction as they build toward King of Pro Wrestling and later, the Tokyo Dome show, UFC in Japan and a look at that business, the retirement of Rich Franklin, a Hall of Famer running for Mayor, the retirement show of Genichiro Tenryu, more concerning drug testing questions, SummerSlam PPV numbers and what we can learn from them, as well as the death of German legend Axel Dieter Sr.
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The Wrestling Observer ranges weekly from 35,000 to 50,000 words covering pro wrestling and MMA internationally. Each issue has coverage and analysis of all the major news, plus every issue breaks major news stories before the Internet sties and has the most complete look at the pro wrestling and MMA business anywhere, plus history pieces available nowhere else.
We look at Eric Bischoff and his role, both good and bad, in what the pro wrestling industry has turned into. We look at the WCW boom, the creation of Nitro, the early war, the NWO era, the peak and the fall of WCW.
We look at the mistakes made, the fall of WCW, the emergence of Bill Goldberg, the real origination of the streak idea, We look at the rapid decline of the company and why. We look at how and when things went down, as well as why, how history shows the merger excuse doesn’t hold water, the complete b.s. of the WWE’s Monday Night War narrative. We look at the dying days of WCW and Eric Bischoff’s plan he never got a chance to implement.
We look at Eric Bischoff’s background, how he got into wrestling, his first meeting with Verne Gagne, his WWF tryout as an announcer, his connection with Japan, the unique case of Sonny Onoo, and the death of the AWA.
We look at the sale of Georgia Championship Wrestling, Vince McMahon’s one-year run on TBS and problems with Ted Turner, where Bill Watts fit into the scene then, and the scene prior to the launch of Nitro.
We look at WCW before Bischoff got power, what really happened with Jim Ross and WCW, , moves by Bill Watts, . We look at the first Nitro, the real story behind Lex Luger, what Lex Luger really got, what really happened in WCW with HHH and Mick Foley, Foley getting into WWF, the story behind Bischoff’s firing of Steve Austin, the cruiserweight division and its double-edge sword, what was the point of no return, the Montreal screw job and why so many, even in wrestling, missed key points in that story, Mike Tyson at WrestleMania, Kevin Nash as a booker, DX invades Nitro and the Bischoff vs. McMahon challenge to a fist fight and the story behind the PPV that went 30 minutes over.
In the UFC Madison Square Garden announcement, we look at the thought process behind the strategy.
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New Japan World will be doing a free week tryout from 10/4 to 10/11.
Kevin Kelly and Matt Striker will be in Japan doing English language commentary live for King of Pro Wrestling on 10/12 at Sumo Hall. Very interesting they are doing this considering Mauro Ranallo nor Jim Ross were contacted and both have expressed interest in doing live New Japan big show play-by-play.
WWE just announced a Germany tour for February, headlined by John Cena and featuring Ric Flair as the Guest General Manager. Dates are
2/10 in Bremen
2/11 in Cologne
2/12 in Mannheim
2/13 in Mageburg
Daniel Bryan had been advertised yesterday for some shows on the WWE European tour after John Cena was pulled, but now he’s been pulled from the listings.
Weigh-ins for UFC will be up on the site starting at about 5 p.m. Eastern time.
WWE with new marketing ideas for Rock and John Cena
Jeff Hardy has released a new album. It’s interesting that GFW is promoting the release.
There is a Legends of the Ring convention tomorrow in Monroe, NJ with Don Muraco, George Steele, Sgt. Slaughter, Jerry Brisco, Barry Windham, Mike Rotunda Howard Finkel, Paul Orndorff, Shelton Benjamin, Bob Orton Jr., Dean Malenko, Jerry Lawler, Johnny Mundo, Taz, Chyna, Vickie Guerrero and Carlito among those appearing.
Finn Balor, in Nashville today to headline the NXT show tonight, put on Twitter a photo of him at TNA headquarters giving them a crotch chop.
Johnny Gargano challenged Ethan Page to a match on 10/17’s Evolve show in Queens, NY saying that if he doesn’t win, he’ll leave Evolve forever. There has obviously been WWE interest in him since he’s been on NXT television already.
Marvelous Puroresu on Sunday at the Elks Lodge in Elmhurst, NY will feature the U.S singing debut of Chigusa Nagayo, the most popular woman pro wrestler of all-time. The show is at 5 p.m. Davey Boy Smith Jr., Patrick Clark, Amazing Red, Takaaki Watanabe, and Cheeseburger all appear.
ROH has added television on Saturday at 10 p.m. Central time on the MyNetwork TV station, WTVO-DTV 2 in Rockford, IL. (thanks to Jacob Burnett)
The Fight Network will be airing UFC 182 and UFC 187 back-to-back tomorrow prior to the start of the PPV show (thanks to Paul Fontaine)
I Believe in Wrestling tomorrow night in Orlando at the Team Vision Dojo with Santana Garrett vs. Saraya Knight for the NWA & Shine titles.
Alpha 1 Wrestling on 11/15 in Hamilton, ONT featuring a taping of a Colt Cabana podcast.
Glory kickboxing runs 10/9 in Denver and 11/6 in Milan, Italy (Robin van Roosmalen vs Sittichai for lightweight title) on Spike. They also have a 12/4 show in Amsterdam, Holland.
Terry Funk is headed to Cleveland on 10/16 for Absolute Intense Wrestling at Our Lady of Mount Carmel School.
Pro Wrestling Zombie Lucha on 10/10 in Moosic, PA at the Youth Center.
Combat Zone Wrestling on 10/10 in Voorhees, NJ at Flyers Skate Zone for an iPPV has added AR Fox vs. Joey Gacy and Tim Donst vs. Joey Janela.
Legacy Fighting Championships on AXS run on 10/16, live from Center Stage in Atlanta.
NFC 79 on 10/23 in Kennesaw, GA at the Electric Cowboy. Attendance is limited to those 18 and over. Frank Shamrock will be a special guest at the event and will also be doing a free training seminar. at 11 a.m. on 10/24 at Georgia Fitness in Duluth, GA. There is also a dinner with Frank Shamrock special at 6 p.m at Hooters in Kennesaw, GA for $50 per person with all you can eat wings and soft drinks.
Road Warrior Animal appears for a Q&A for Mecca Pro Wrestling on 10/24 at 6 p.m. at Nativity Bowling.
ECWA Super 8 Womens’ tournament has announced Tessa Blanchard, last year’s winner, along with Brittany Blake, Jewells Malone and Miranda Vionette as the first participants for the show on 10/17 in Woodbury Heights, NJ. The winner becomes the ECWA women’s champion.
Empire State Wrestling tomorrow in North Tonawanda, NY at the St. Johnsburg Fire Hall featuring Jinder Mahal, Matt Taven, Ethan Page, Dalton Castle and more.
ON THIS DAY IN PRO WRESTLING HISTORY INTERNATIONAL (thanks to Graeme Cameron)
1974 – Jumbo Miyamoto & Junko Sasaki beat Jackie West & Jane Sherrill in Takamatsu to win the WWWA tag titles
1976 – Jerry & Ted Oates beat Great Kojika (who is still wrestling) & Motoshi Okuma in Tokyo to win the All-Asia tag titles
1979 – Ryuma Go beat Tatsumi Fujinami in Osaka to win the WWF jr. heavyweight title
1990 – Kyoko Inoue beat Takako Inoue in Yamagata to win the Japanese jr. title
Welcome to WrestlingObserver.com’s live coverage of the UFC 192: Cormier vs. Gustafsson weigh-ins from the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas kicking off at 5 PM eastern time. The event airs on Saturday on PPV at 10 PM eastern time. Preliminary card action kicks off on UFC Fight Pass at 6:15 PM eastern time before moving over to FOX Sports 1 at 8 PM eastern time. This is the UFC’s fourth overall visit to Houston, and the first since UFC 166 in October 2013.
The event is headlined by UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Daniel Cormier making his first title defense against the challenger, Alexander Gustafsson, who is looking to win the championship in his second attempt to do so. Also on the card are a pair of former champions looking to get another title shot as former UFC Welterweight Champion Johny Hendricks takes on Tyron Woodley in the co-main event, and former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Rashad Evans takes on Ryan Bader, who is looking to extend his four-fight win streak.
MAIN CARD (PPV- 10 PM ET/7 PM PT): Daniel Cormier (205) vs. Alexander Gustafsson (204) – UFC Light Heavyweight Championship Johny Hendricks () vs. Tyron Woodley () – FIGHT CANCELED Ryan Bader (206) vs. Rashad Evans (205) Shawn Jordan (265) vs. Ruslan Magomedov (236) Jessica Eye (136) vs. Julianna Pena (135)
Joseph Benavidez (126) vs. Ali Bagautinov (125) – This fight was moved to the main card due to the Hendricks-Woodley fight being canceled.
PRELIMINARY CARD (FOX SPORTS 1- 8 PM ET/5 PM PT):
Yair Rodriguez (145) vs. Dan Hooker (146) Alan Jouban (170) vs. Albert Tumenov (170) Rose Namajunas (115) vs. Angela Hill (115)
PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC FIGHT PASS- 6:15 PM ET/3:15 PM PT): Adriano Martins (156) vs. Islam Makhachev (156) Francisco Trevino (160) vs. Sage Northcutt (156) – Obviously, Trevino was WAY over. Chris Cariaso (126) vs. Sergio Pettis (126) Derrick Lewis (265) vs. Viktor Pesta (237)
Oxford, Iowa: American Heavyweight Champion Dr. B.F. Roller defeated Charles Cutler 2 out of 3 falls to retain title
1947
Kansas City, Kansas: – Orville Brown beat Joe Dusek 2 falls to 1 to retain the MWA Title, special referee was Jack Dempsey
1952
Kansas City, Kansas: – Heart of America Heavyweight Champion Sonny Myers beat Jim Henry in 2 of 3 falls to retain the tile
1959
Atlanta, Georgia: – Ray Gunkel defeated Freddie Blassie to win the Southern Heavyweight title
1962
Pensacola, Florida: – Jan Madrid defeated Don Fields in a tournament to win the NWA Gulf Coast Heavyweight Title
1965
Omaha, Nebraska: – AWA Tag Team Champions Larry Hennig & Harley Race beat Haru Sasaki & Mad Dog Vachon dq – Mad Russian Stan Pulaski beat Mighty Igor Vodik to win Nebraska Heavyweight title – Danny Hodge beat Bob Rader
1971
St. Paul, Minnesota: – The Crusher & Billy Robinson beat Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens – Lars Anderson beat Bull Bullinski – Larry Hennig drew Don Muraco
1974
Miami Beach, Florida: – Lumberjack Match: Pak Song beat Jos LeDuc – Bill Watts beat Dusty Rhodes by DQ – Mike Graham & Jerry Brisco beat Dick Slater & Gary Hart – Professor Toru Tanaka beat Ron Fuller – Bob Armstrong & Tony Charles beat The Hollywood Blondes, Buddy Roberts & Jerry Brown
1975
Osaka, Japan: – Antonio Inoki & Seji Sakaguchi defeated Jerry Brown & Buddy Roberts for the NWF North American Tag Team Title
1976
Tokyo, Japan: – Jerry & Ted Oates defeated The Great Kojika & Motoshi Okuma to win the All Japan All Asian Tag Team Title
1978
Memphis, Tennessee: – Jerry Lawler beat Mongolian Stomper dq – NWA Junior Heavyweight Champion Nelson Royal beat Bill Dundee – Loser of the Fall Leaves Town: Wayne Farris & Jimmy Valiant beat Mike Bowyer & Frankie Laine – Jos LeDuc beat Tommy Gilbert
1979
Osaka, Japan: – Ryuma Go defeated Tatsumi Fujinami to win the WWF World Junior Heavyweight Title
1981
St. Louis, Missouri: – Jack Brisco defeated Ted DiBiase to win the Missouri Title – Bulldog Bob Brown drew Dewey Robertson – Kevin & David & Kerry Von Erich defeated Greg Valentine & Johnny Valiant & J.J. Dillon – Dick the Bruiser defeated Baron Von Raschke – Andre the Giant and Rocky Johnson defeated Sgt. Slaughter and Ken Patera by disqualification – NWA World Champion Ric Flair fought Harley Race to a 60 minute draw
Denver, Colorado: – AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel drew Tito Santana – Hulk Hogan & Jim Brunzell & Greg Gagne beat Jerry Blackwell & Adrian Adonis & Jesse Ventura – Billy Robinson beat Sheik Adnan – Bobby Heenan beat Buck Zumhofe
1982
Chattanooga, Tennessee: – Tito Santana defeated Chick Donovan – Terry Gordy defeated Matt Borne – Ivan Koloff and The Iron Sheik defeated Brad Armstrong and Johnny Rich – Roddy Piper defeated The Super Destroyer – Paul Orndorff defeated Buzz Sawyer by DQ
1983
San Antonio, Texas: – Kerry Von Erich defeated Boris Zurkov – Chris Adams & Iceman Parsons defeated Terry Gordy & Buddy Roberts – David Von Erich defeated Jim Garvin – Kevin Von Erich defeated NWA World Champion Harley Race by DQ
1985
Tokyo, Japan: – NWA World Champion Ric Flair vs. AWA World Champion Rick Martel in a title vs. title match ended in a double countout
1989
Wheeling, West Virginia: – Demolition defeated Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard to win the WWF World Tag Team Championship
Memphis, Tennessee: – Tony Anthony won a tournament final over Dustin Rhodes to become the first USWA Southern Heavyweight Champion
1993
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: – Sabu defeated Shane Douglas to win the ECW Heavyweight Title – Kevin Sullivan defeated Abdullah The Butcher in a steel cage match – The Public Enemy defeated Ian & Axl Rotten and Badd Company in a three way steel cage match
1999
Thomaston, Connecticut: – Naoya Ogawa defeated Gary Steele for the NWA World Heavyweight Title
2000
San Francisco, California: – Booker T won the vacant WCW World Heavyweight Champion by defeating Jeff Jarrett
2002
Nashville, Tennessee: – Amazing Red defeats Shark Boy – NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ron Killings defeats Low Ki – NWA World Tag Team Champions Chris Harris & James Storm defeat Ron Harris & Ashley Hudson – X Division Champion Jerry Lynn defeated AJ Styles in a Ladder match
2011
– Alberto Del Rio defeated John Cena and CM Punk to become new WWE Champion – Beth Phoenix defeated Kelly Kelly to become WWE Divas Champion – Cody Rhodes defeated John Morrison to retain the Intercontinental Title
The welterweight co-main event between former UFC Welterweight Champion Johny Hendricks and top contender Tyron Woodley has been cancelled for Saturday UFC 192 due to weight cut issues for Hendricks, announced by UFC president Dana White on Twitter Friday morning. However, some additional details have been revealed.
Ariel Helwani reported Friday that Hendricks suffered an intestinal blockage Thursday night as well as a kidney stone which caused the cancellation. Ted Ehardt, Hendricks’ manager said the former two-time NCAA champion was rushed to the emergency room and had to be given an IV.
Doing interviews Friday, Hendricks said that he weighed 183 pounds. He needed to get to 171 today, which under normal circumstances would not be much of an issue. Ryan Bader vs. former UFC light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans now moves into the co-main event slot, while Joseph Benavidez vs. Ali Bagautinov has been moved from the preliminary card to the main card.
On Friday afternoon, the story got two new twists as White told Yahoo’s Kevin Iole that Woodley will be getting a welterweight title shot vs. the winner of Robbie Lawler (c) vs. Carlos Condit on January 2nd. Additionally, White said that he now considers Hendricks to be a middleweight.
Hendricks vs Woodley is off the card due to Hendricks weight cut issues.
Your new main card is as follows:
– UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier vs. Alexander Gustafsson
– Rashad Evans vs. Ryan Bader
– Shawn Jordan vs. Ruslan Magomedov
– Jessica Eye vs. Julianna Pena
– Joseph Benavidez vs. Ali Bagautinov
We’ll have live fight coverage all weekend from Houston, TX.
We get a replay from last week, where Paige told Alicia she (a) didn’t want to get married but (b) didn’t want to lose her boyfriend. She gets conflicting advice from everyone, including Big Show (who advises her to “take what she can get”). Her boyfriend comes back from tour early to surprise her and she agonizes over whether to tell him or not. She decides that since she’s going on tour to Japan, she’ll tell him when she gets back. Probably.
TJ Breaks His Neck
Nattie goes to the eye doctor and frets about maybe needing eye surgery to avoid a retina issue, but would be very vulnerable to having detached retinas. Then TJ breaks his neck, but then they avoid mentioning his specific injury or what happened, despite him wearing a neck brace. Needless to say, TJ needs neck surgery (and his career is in jeopardy) and Nattie needs eye surgery (and her career is in jeopardy). So she lies to TJ that her eyes are fine so that he can focus on his surgery and recovery; she figures she can get her eye issue dealt with in a few months.
Eva Marie Goes To NXT
Eva finishes her training and goes down to NXT too get “street cred,” as the head writer says. She comes out for a match and the crowd goes crazy with hatred. She’s ecstatic that the fans care about her (and they kind of gloss over how they hate her).
Dolph Ziggler, Homewrecker
Nikki used to date Dolph. Dolph runs into Nikki – turns out they used to date years back – and flirts with her all episode (she’s not that receptive). Brie asks him point-blank if he has feelings for Nikki (and is using their history to try to manipulate her) and he avoids answering the question entirely. John Cena makes his longest appearance of the season, having dinner with Nikki – where she brings up how pregnant all her friends are, as Dolph mentioned earlier in the episode to her.
Finally, Dolph does admit he has feelings for Nikki and then pours his heart out about how he’s more mature than he was when they went out before and he can give her everything she wants (like kids and a husband). And again, she seems very unresponsive (and reiterates how wonderful and magical and perfect John Cena, World’s Most Understanding Man, is).
Our big season-ending cliffhanger is Dolph trying to kiss the girlfriend of the industry’s biggest star. But hey, at least Total Divas solved the mystery of why Ziggler’s pushes have been so infrequent and uneven since he’s been in WWE.
WWE U.S. Champion John Cena will be taking time off from wrestling shortly for what the WWE has described as personal reasons.
While we don’t know the exact time frame that he will be gone, the 38-year-old Cena isn’t advertised on anything after the Hell in a Cell PPV special in late-October starting with the next night’s RAW in San Diego, CA. As of now, he is being advertised for their December shows.
As part of the time off, WWE officials have confirmed he will not be appearing on any dates during the company’s upcoming 10-day European tour that will see them do shows in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, and Germany.
Cena recently regained the U.S. title from WWE World Champion Seth Rollins at WWE Night Of Champions, and is set to face Rollins in a steel cage match for the title this Saturday at the Madison Square Garden show on WWE Network.
The news for last night’s ratings weren’t good for pro wrestling.
Impact last night in the 9 p.m. time slot did 275,000 viewers, slightly up from 272,000 last week, but still the fourth lowest since the move to Wednesday. The midnight replay did 69,000 viewers. The show was the go-home show for Bound for Glory, headlined by Drew Galloway & Matt Hardy vs. Ethan Carter III & Tyrus.
ROH did 127,000 viewers for a show headlined by Shinsuke Nakamura vs.Adam Cole. It is the second lowest number for ROH since getting on Destination America.
This weekend we’ll be doing polls for UFC 192, WWE in Madison Square Garden, TNA Bound for Glory and AAA Heroes Inmortales, so a huge weekend of big events.
Smackdown tonight on Syfy
Bella Twins & Alicia Fox vs. Sasha Banks & Naomi & Tamina
Kevin Owens vs. Ryback for IC title
Neville & Lucha Dragons vs. Stardust & The Ascension
Dudleys & Demon Kane vs. Seth Rollins & New Day
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
If you saw the JBL interview with Eric Bischoff, or even if you didn’t, we have what is already one of the most talked about and praised issues of the Wrestling Observer this year up on the site right now. The main theme is fact vs. fiction, covering both the WWE historical view of the Monday Night Wars and the Eric Bischoff version, going through every point and cutting through things like outright B.S., faulty memories and interesting truths.
The new double issue also covers SummerSlam in Brooklyn, the real story behind the UFC announcing a show in Madison Square Garden, Jon Jones’ legal punishment and future, coverage of both of the New Japan PPV shows this past week as well as a look at their direction as they build toward King of Pro Wrestling and later, the Tokyo Dome show, UFC in Japan and a look at that business, the retirement of Rich Franklin, a Hall of Famer running for Mayor, the retirement show of Genichiro Tenryu, more concerning drug testing questions, SummerSlam PPV numbers and what we can learn from them, as well as the death of German legend Axel Dieter Sr.
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The Wrestling Observer ranges weekly from 35,000 to 50,000 words covering pro wrestling and MMA internationally. Each issue has coverage and analysis of all the major news, plus every issue breaks major news stories before the Internet sties and has the most complete look at the pro wrestling and MMA business anywhere, plus history pieces available nowhere else.
We look at Eric Bischoff and his role, both good and bad, in what the pro wrestling industry has turned into. We look at the WCW boom, the creation of Nitro, the early war, the NWO era, the peak and the fall of WCW.
We look at the mistakes made, the fall of WCW, the emergence of Bill Goldberg, the real origination of the streak idea, We look at the rapid decline of the company and why. We look at how and when things went down, as well as why, how history shows the merger excuse doesn’t hold water, the complete b.s. of the WWE’s Monday Night War narrative. We look at the dying days of WCW and Eric Bischoff’s plan he never got a chance to implement.
We look at Eric Bischoff’s background, how he got into wrestling, his first meeting with Verne Gagne, his WWF tryout as an announcer, his connection with Japan, the unique case of Sonny Onoo, and the death of the AWA.
We look at the sale of Georgia Championship Wrestling, Vince McMahon’s one-year run on TBS and problems with Ted Turner, where Bill Watts fit into the scene then, and the scene prior to the launch of Nitro.
We look at WCW before Bischoff got power, what really happened with Jim Ross and WCW, , moves by Bill Watts, . We look at the first Nitro, the real story behind Lex Luger, what Lex Luger really got, what really happened in WCW with HHH and Mick Foley, Foley getting into WWF, the story behind Bischoff’s firing of Steve Austin, the cruiserweight division and its double-edge sword, what was the point of no return, the Montreal screw job and why so many, even in wrestling, missed key points in that story, Mike Tyson at WrestleMania, Kevin Nash as a booker, DX invades Nitro and the Bischoff vs. McMahon challenge to a fist fight and the story behind the PPV that went 30 minutes over.
In the UFC Madison Square Garden announcement, we look at the thought process behind the strategy.
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THURSDAY’S NEWS UPDATE
Updated lineup for Saturday’s show at Madison Square Garden on the WWE Network
Brock Lesnar vs. Big Show
John Cena vs. Seth Rollins in a cage match
New Day vs. Dudleys for tag titles
Kevin Owens vs. Chris Jericho for IC title
Randy Orton vs. Sheamus
Dolph Ziggler vs. Rusev
TNA Bound for Glory on Sunday from Concord, NC
EC 3 vs. Matt Hardy vs. Drew Galloway for the TNA title with Jeff Hardy as ref
Eddie Edwards & Davey Richards vs. Trevor Lee & Brian Meyers for the TNA tag tilters
Abyss, Aiden O’Shea, Chris Melendez, Jesse Godderz, Ken Anderson, Mahabili Shera, Tyrus, Eli Drake and Robbie E in a Gauntlet for a title shot
Gail Kim vs. Awesome Kong for Knockouts title
Tigre Uno puts up X title in an Ultimate X match
Bobby Roode vs. Bobby Lashley for King of the Mountain title
Kurt Angle vs Eric Young
Ric Flair is booked on the November U.K. tour as a guest General Manager on one of the tours. Bayley is also booked on that tour.
Dixie Carter said she has a major announcement on Monday at Noon. Given that she will make the announcement with Mahabili Shera, it sounds like it’ll be the announcement of the TV tapings in India. Talent has been told already about the one week tour.
Tomasso Ciampa last night was the modern Rick Rude. Due to taping, he ended up being on both TNA and NXT last night.
For those attending WrestleMania, there will be a bus from the Ritz-Carlton in Dallas to AT&T Stadium which will leave at 4 p.m. and leave the stadium at 10:30 p.m. for $35. There are 50 seats available at http://store.wrestling-online.com
Ronda Rousey will be on the Tonight Show on 10/6 and with Kelly & Michael on 10/12 promoting her fight with Holly Holm.
WWE will be promoting breast cancer awareness all month starting with Raw on Monday night.
Dwayne Johnson signed a deal with Ford for TV commercials that will start on 10/12. It’s a multi-year contract.
For what it’s worth, neither John Cena nor Brock Lesnar are being advertised for Raw on 10/26 in San Diego Cena may have project going on outside of wrestling because he’s been taken off advertising on a lot of shows in November.
Here’s the UFC TV schedule for the week:
There is a Karyn Bryant interview with Forrest Griffin tonight at 8:30 p.m. Eastern on FS 1.
Weigh-ins are tomorrow at 4:30 p.m. on FS 1 with Ariel Helwani, Brian Stann, Dominick Cruz and Megan Olivi. The Ronda Rousey vs. Cat Zingano fight airs tomorrow ninth at 8 p.m. on FS 1.
FS 1 will have the pre-fight show on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. leading to the prelims at 8 p.m. The post-fight show airs at 1 a.m.
Jake Roberts and Scott Hall were live in studio this morning with Preston & Steve at WMMR in Philadelphia. “The Resurrection of Jake Roberts” movie plays at the Ritz Five Theater there with a Q&A after the movie tonight with Roberts, Hall and DDP. The interview was said to be really good.
New Evolution Wrestling on 10/31 in Elizabeth City, NC at the National Guard Armory.
Blue Demon Promotions on 10/24 in El Paso features Blue Demon Jr. & Cassandro vs. Pakal & Peluchin Maldad.
Rocker Boy Promotions on 10/8 in Laredo at the Coliseum has Laredo Kid & Shocker vs. Hernandez & Pirata Morgan.
There is another show on 10/24 in El Paso at the Southwest University Event Center with Volador Jr. & Mr. Aguila vs. La Sombra & Rush.
New England Championship Wrestling on 10/10 in Hampstead, NH at the Phan Zone.
There will be a Shine iPPV tomorrow night with Santana Garrett vs. Evie and Allysin Kay vs. Saraya Knight anything goes, plus Jessicka Havok vs. Kay Lee Ray, Madison Eagles vs. Su Yung, Leah Von Dutch vs. Malia Hosaka and more.
Maria Kanellis, Matt Taven and Michael Bennett appear on 10/16 in Toronto at the Franklin Horner Community Center.
Bullet Brawl tomorrow night in Barnesville, GA features Tama Tonga & Micah from TNA, who are brothers, teaming up for only the second time, plus Amber Gallows appears in a lumberjack strap match against manager Al Getz, plus former WCW star Glacier Ray Lloyd.
Former Pancrase lightweight champion Isao Kobayashi debuts with Bellator on 10/23 at the Mohegan Sun Casino, acing Goiti Yamauchi in the prelims on Spike.com
Former NCAA champion Bubba Jenkins faces Jordan Parsons on the 11/20 Bellator show in Thackerville, OK, which is headlined by Melvin Manhoef vs. Hisako Kato.
Bushwhacker Luke Williams and Honky Tonk Man appear on 10/10 for the IWF at the IWF Centre in Nutley, NJ.
Undertaker, Seth Rollins and Charlotte will be at Wizard World on 10/24 in Tulsa.
Liberty All-Star Wrestling on 11/14 in Phoenixville, PA at the Technical College High School Pickering Campus. Tony Stetson from the 80s and 90s will appear on the show.
Lucha Toronto on 10/18 at Liveact.ca in Whitby, ONT featuring Too Cold Scorpio.
Great North Wrestling on 11/17 in Rockland, ONT at the Jean Marc Lalonde Arena featuring Bushwhacker Luke and Hannibal.
Combat Zone Wrestling on 10/10 at StreamCZW.com from Flyers Skate Zone in Voorhees, NJ the Danny Havoc & Devon Moore & Lucky & Conor Claxton vs. Dave & Jake Crist & Eric Ryan & Alex Colon, plus Matt Tremont vs. Blk Jeez.
A Paul Boesch interview with Ric Flair has been added to NWAClassics.com.
Right Coast Pro on 10/10 at the Life Community Church in Newark, DE.
The French pro wrestling magazine “Puissance Catch,” folded this month. It was launched in 2008 when there was a WWE inspired wrestling boom in that country and was the last survivor of a number of magazines that had gotten started during that period. It lasted longer than most because is was run by real fans. (thanks to Tony Bouin)
St. Louis, Missouri: – World Heavyweight Champion Dick Shikat beat Frank Brunowicz
1953
Kansas City, Kansas: – Lenny Montana defeated Dave Sims to win the NWA Central States Heavyweight Title
1957
Nashville, Tennessee: – Tor Yamata defeated Cyclone Anaya for the NWA Southern Junior Heavyweight Title
1972
Green Bay, Wisconsin: – Larry Hennig & Dusty Rhodes beat Bull Bullinski & Andre the Giant – Ray Stevens beat Dr X dq – George Scott beat Dick Murdoch dq
1976
St. Joseph, Missouri: – Rick Gibson defeated Bulldog Bob Brown to win the NWA Central States Heavyweight Title
1977
Denver, Colorado: – AWA Tag Team Champions Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Blackjack Lanza & Bobby Duncum – Super Destroyer beat Bob Backlund
1981
Irvington, Kentucky: – Steve Keirn defeated Stan Lane – Dutch Mantell defeated Rick McGraw – Bill Dundee & Ricky and Robert Gibson defeated Chick Donovan & Dream Machine & Jimmy Hart – Jerry Lawler defeated Sweet Brown Sugar
1989
Rochester, Minnesota: – The Destruction Crew defeated Greg Gagne & Paul Diamond in a tournament final to win the AWA World Tag Team Titles. – Greg Gagne & Paul Diamond defeated Mike George & Johnnie Stewart – The Destruction Crew (Mike Enos & Wayne Bloom) defeated Sgt. Slaughter & Baron Von Raschke – Wendi Richter beat Candi Divine dq
1993
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: – Terry Funk defeated Jimmy Snuka in a steel cage match to win the ECW Television Title
1995
– Jim Neidhart defeated Corporal Punishment for the MEWF Heavyweight Title – Chad Austin defeated Raven for the MEWF Mid-Atlantic Title
2000
St. Paul, Minnesota: – Jerry Lynn won the ECW World Heavyweight Title from Justin Credible – Rhino defeated Rob Van Dam to retain the ECW TV Title
2014
– Havok defeated Gail Kim to win the TNA Knockouts Title – Samoa Joe defeated Austin Aires to retain the X Division Title
