Kane came out live talking about how glad he was to be back at work. He said the WWE was on fire. He announced two matches for tonight, Kevin Owens & Rusev vs. Dolph Ziggler & Ryback, and Roman Reigns vs. Luke Harper with everyone banned from ringside. Seth Rollins came out and told Kane to cut the crap, because everyone knows what he did last night. Kane still pretended he was a different person. He said he wanted to make up with Rollins, but Rollins turned him down. Kane showed flashes of being a monster, and announced Rollins vs. Ambrose non-title as the main event.
Reigns beat Harper with a spear.
New Day beat Lucha Dragons & Neville.
The New Day pushed the 10/3 Network special and their match with the Dudleys for the title.
Cesaro beat Bo Dallas. Dallas did his usual promo. Cesaro won with a roll-up.
They showed clips of the Charlotte celebration and Paige turn from Raw. Charlotte & Lynch came out and thanked everyone for their support. Paige came out and took credit for everything saying she was the catalyst. Natalya came out and asked Paige why she’s so mad because the Divas division is the best it has ever been. Paige and Natalya argued and Paige slapped her and left.
Ryback & Ziggler beat Rusev & Owens when Owens walked out on Rusev, who was pinned after Ryback hit the shell shock.
The Dudleys cut a promo about the Madison Square Garden match with the New Day for the WWE Tag Team Titles. The Prime Time Players wished them luck.
Seth Rollins did an interview talking badly about Kane, not knowing Kane was right there watching it.
Dean Ambrose beat WWE Champion Seth Rollins in a non-title match. The finish saw Kane’s pyro distract Rollins, who was then pinned.
Rollins cut a promo after, saying he was fed up and will make Kane’s life miserable if he keeps up the mind games. The pyro went off again, and Rollins ran off scared while Kane was shown on the screen laughing.
Raw set a new record low last night with 3.34 million viewers, down slightly from the 3.39 million last week and 3.37 million the week before.
The shows represent the three lowest audiences for Raw aside from a July 4th or a Christmas or New Year’s Eve dating back to 1997.
While expected that football would hurt numbers this fall and send them to some record lows, this has been worse than expected.
The New York Jets vs. Indianapolis Colts game did 12.48 million viewers, down from the prior week, but it was the New York market and that’s a traditional strong WWE market where the home team will hurt Raw ratings worse than any other market.
Another difference is the second hour was no longer the highest. The first hour saw the initial 30 minutes before the game kicked off which gives it an edge now.
The three hours were:
8 p.m. 3.42 million viewers 9 p.m. 3.37 million viewers 10 p.m. 3.26 million viewers
Bellator on Saturday night did 800,000 viewers, also a major disappointment, going against a plethora of college football games.
Total Divas airs at 9:00 p.m. ET on E! with an episode titled “Some Like It Hot.” Paige announces her engagement, the Bella twins learn that they have a new sibling on the way, and Alicia Fox somehow messes with Trinity/Naomi and Jon/Jimmy’s relationship.
SmackDown will be taped tonight in Corpus Christi with Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Sheamus as the top advertised stars.
New Japan Destruction in Okayama PPV on tonight at 2:00 a.m. ET on New Japan World: Sho Tanaka & Yohei Komatsu & Yuji Nagata & Katsuyori Shibata vs. Jay White & David Finlay & Manabu Nakanishi & Tetsuya Naito Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly vs. Jushin Liger & Mascara Dorada in a non-title match Steve Anthony vs. Tiger Mask for NWA Junior Heavyweight Title Hiroshi Tanahashi & Matt Sydal vs. Bad Luck Fale & Tama Tonga Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson vs. Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan for IWGP tag titles Hirooki Goto & Tomoaki Honma & Captain New Japan & Ryusuke Taguchi & Alex Shelley vs. Shinsuke Nakamura & Tomohiro Ishii & Yoshi-Hashi & Rocky Romero & Baretta Kazuchika Okada & Toru Yano vs. A.J. Styles & Cody Hall Kushida vs. Kenny Omega for IWGP jr. title Togi Makabe vs. Kota Ibushi for Never Open weight title
The newest issue of Figure Four Weekly is now up for subscribers (subscribe to the site here and get access to Figure Four, the Observer, tons of audio, and more) featuring a look back at how exactly WWE lost the WWF name. Forget the stories you’v heard, this detailsexactly what the World Wildlife Fund objected to, what WWE agreed to and why, what scandals worried the fund, and more. On top of that, we have all the usual stuff like Vinny’s reviews and international news from Dr. Lucha Steve Sims and and Alan”4L” Counihan.
The recent FREEFigure Four Weekly is still up with a look at the crazy story of why Gawker thinks the FBI may have helped Hulk Hogan cover up his racist and homophobic comments. A judge has ordered the FBI to turn over the records of their investigation, and what Gawker is saying in court about what has and hasn’t been turned over paints a very interesting picture.
Also, now available for the first time on Kindle (meaning Kindle devices and anything with the Kindle app) is Fall Guys, the seminal 1937 book that has been described as being like the 1930s version of the Wrestling Observer. It was surprisingly not on Kindle already, so we put together a nice version with a full table of contents w/ chapter marks, proper formatting on everything, etc. Right now it’s available from the American, Canadian, and Australian Amazon/Kindle stores OR you can also buy it from anywhere in the world on PayHip, who will provide you with both Kindle and ePub (every other e-reader) format files, and you can either sideload them to your device or have them email it to your Kindle.
****
Wrestling Observer Newsletter: We’ve got a look at WWE right now with the issues that have led to ratings setting record lows as well as an update on TNA, New Japan, GFW, ROH and everyone else in the battle for No. 2, as the lead stories in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. This issue also has a detailed look at the Nick Diaz situation and why it is far more complicated than most are making it out to be, Atlantis vs. La Sombra in one of the year’s biggest matches, a history of the CMLL anniversary shows, a look at Thomas Hauser’s article on USADA, an update on Dr. Christopher Amann’s lawsuit against C.M. Punk and Colt Cabana, what led to the Mayweather flop on PPV and New Japan builds for two PPVs this month.
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.
Web site subscriptions, which include access to both current and older newsletters as well as every audio show in the history of the site. Sign up here for as low as $9.99 per month!
You can also order the print Observer right now and get it delivered to your door via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to Dave Meltzer
For the United States, it is $13 for 4 issues, $32 for 12, $61 for 24, $101 for 40 and $131 for 52. In Canada and Mexico, rates are $14.50 for 4, $35 for 12, $67 for 24, $111 for 40 and $144 or 52. In Europe, you can get the fastest delivery and best rates by sending to moonsault@mediaplusint.com For the rest of the world, rates are $16.50 for 4, $44 for 12, $85 for 24, $141 for 40 issues and $183 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order (P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228), you can get $1 off in every price range.
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.
The lead story looks at what is and isn’t misleading about the record low ratings for Raw and Smackdown over the past two weeks, the rate of decline, the future of Smackdown, and why wrestling even with lower ratings may be far more valuable to the USA Network when the current contract is over. We look at the problems that are inherent, those that can be addressed and those that can’t. We look at why this past week’s Raw rating was far more sobering than the week before as well as how wrestling and every combat sport is changing from an economic situation worldwide. We look at interviews, finishes, making stars and dropping the ball on stars. We also look at Night of Champions.
We update the TNA television situation, what promotion had a strong growth year, and the future of No. 2, as well as an update on all of TNA’s TV deals.
We go in depth on Nick Diaz, and what are the key elements of the story, why he got a five year suspension, how Diaz has blown his prime years in fighting, the commissioners discuss the suspension and the deliberations leading to it. We talk about why comparisons to Anderson Silva and Jon Jones aren’t valid in this case, detail the controversies over the test results, the legal issues involved, and Diaz talks about what happened in childhood that led him to where he is.
We also look at the situation with Jake Shields and the commission ruling on his post-match punch to Rousimar Palhares, as well as his comments on what happened.
We also look at what contracted talent was told about Hulk Hogan, as well as a double standard that is too obvious, the next Takeover special, Update on Lana, Dwayne Johnson makes former WWE writer a major executive in his company, what happened at the recent NXT talent meeting, Daniel Bryan talks about creating new stars, and his health situation as well as PPV matches he wants.
We look at plans for the November European tour, WWE performers and Twitter, Paige talks in detail about her incident with Alicia Fox that turned into a fight of sorts with two other women and how it all went down. Jimmy Noonan talks issues with WWE security including a story when a fan kicked the ass of a main event wrestler inside the ring one night and how that fan ended up as a wrestler.
We look at another sports star that WWE is bringing in for a tryout, four cast members from Tough Enough who have now signed contracts, this week’s NXT shows, and the father of a WWE wrestler who is an all-time legend in slow-pitch softball.
We’ve got notes on the WWE TV shows as well as the next month of NXT shows, as well as reports on WWE business over the past week, and highlights from all the house shows.
We look at the Atlantis vs La Sombra match, the build to the match, why the match is so big, the last angle and what happened with Dr. Wagner Jr. an L.A. Park. We also look at a history of the CMLL Anniversary shows, with the big names that have appeared on them and the most famous matches over the years.
We look at Thomas Hauser’s article on USADA and how it related to Floyd Mayweather, what about the article had validity and what was a stretch. We look at USADA’s drug testing in UFC and what the results so far say, the concept of retroactive TUE’s, a scary aspect of a contract Manny Pacquiao was given and wouldn’t sign, rumors of Mayweather positive tests, and the story behind Erik Morales failing four tests before a fight for Clenbuterol and still fighting.
We update the situation with Dr. Christopher Amann’s lawsuit against C.M. Punk. We look at the response to the suit filed by Punk and Colt Cabana, WWE’s response and what the key issues in the suit are.
We’ve got notes on the Floyd Mayweather-Andre Berto PPV number and lessons that it has taught.
We also run down this past week’s New Japan show at Korakuen Hall and how it builds the next two PPV shows.
We’ve also got ratings from all the television shows this past week along with results from all the major arena events.
We also update on the last two AAA TV tapings, Genichiro Tenryu’s last match at Korakuen Hall, the Dragon Gate Summer Adventure tag team tournament, the All Japan Open singles tournament, the NOAH jr. heavyweight tournament, New Japan talks about their relationship with WWE and more.
We look at the Japanese female wrestler who broke her record for most world championships, and a new Hall of Fame mixed tag team.
We’ve got notes on Hulk Hogan’s latest media and what he said that simple time lines can disprove, notes on Jimmy Snuka including why there will be a lot more coverage of his story coming up, as well as why his hearing this week was canceled. We look at the U.S. gold medalists in the world wrestling championships and what wrestler looks like a great UFC or WWE prospect. We also update GFW and where television stands, look at a star indie wrestler sent to prison, Podcasts involving wrestling personalities, two pro wrestlers at the 1980 Olympic team reunion, an update on House of Hardcore, an update on Kelly Kelly, whatever happened to Chuck Palumbo, former UFC star getting a pro wrestling break, a wrestling show uncovered by a historian that drew 80,000 fans in 1936, the daughter of a WWE Hall of Famer starting wrestling training, and a well known pro wrestler competing under another name in pseudo MMA combat.
We also look at some significant negotiations going on with ROH and a look at the weekend events.
We also look at the Jarrett/Dixie Carter deal, Earl Hebner into the TNA Hall of Fame and his background, an update on Bram and Kurt Angle and Angle’s wrestling schedule.
We look at ticket sales for UFC 194 and how early sales have been, more big fights announced, a UFC signee who will start after competing in the 2016 Olympics, Ronda Rousey in the ESPN poll of the greatest female athlete of all-time, as well as lots of new UFC fights.
We also look at a new Bellator deal, and Scott Coker’s hopes for this week’s show.
We also look at a proposed Chael Sonnen vs. Josh Barnett grappling match, and the return of Ben Askren.
If you are a new subscriber ordering 24 or more issues, you can get one free classic issue of your choice sent to you today. With a 40 issue subscription, you can get two free classic issues sent to you today.
New subscribers ordering 24 or 40 issues have to let us know what major stories of the past 11 years you are most interested in and we’ll send the issue with the best coverage of that story. We’ve got coverage of every major PPV event and world wide spectacular, every major star switching promotions, histories of companies like FMW, Rings and New Japan, retirement and obit issues of every major star who fits into those descriptions over the past 11 years, as well as our biggest issue every year, the annual awards issue, and our most controversial issue of every year, the Hall of Fame issue.
***
Tuesday Daily Update
— Josh Gross’s big article about Vitor Belfort’s 2012 blood test (showing heavily elevated free testosterone levels), which Dave and Bryan talked about last night, is available here. At MMAJunkie, Ben Fowlkes has a good article about his five big takeaways from the piecs. Gross’s article is a must-read, super illuminating and pretty damning at the same time.
— Kurt Angle’s statement on his brother being charged with the murder of his wife:
This has been a very trying time for everyone in my family. We ask that you respect our privacy to mourn our loss…
— Haven’t gotten a chance to read them yet, but in the mess of combined WWE concussion lawsuits, the wrestlers’ side has filed a motion to dismiss in WWE’s suit against wrestlers who retained lawyer Konstantine Kyros but had yet to file. There’s also been an amended complaint filed in the Russ McCullough lawsuit against WWE, which had been expected for a while due to various issues with the original complaint. Finally, WWE’s motion to expedite discovery and get the identities of wrestlers who retained Kyros but haven’t been named was denied.
— Rob Naylor tweeted a performance review that Dusty Rhodes gave Bayley in 2013.
— The Spanish feed of Bellator’s shows returns t ESPN Deportes the Friday night with the card headlined by Joe Warren vs. L.C. Davis. Most of it is just the Spanish dub of the Spike broadcast, but they’ll also be airing an hour of prelims before the main card.
— WWE Network has added 11 new episodes of ECW TV from 1996 and 1997 on top of a lot more WCW Monday Nitros being added.
— Today’s NWAClassics.com update features the Dirty White Boys vs. Brickhouse Brown and Tony Torres. Yesterday’s was a more high profile match: Dusty Rhodes & JYD vs. Ted DiBiase & Kamala in a dog collar/bullrope match.
— Keith Harris joins Kris Zellner and myself on this week’s Between the Sheets podcast to talk about the week that was September 15-21, 1993 in pro wrestling around the world. We discuss Shawn Michaels quitting the WWF, Eddie Gilbert quitting ECW, WCW quitting the NWA and much much more.
The new website has launched! Due to issues with our hosting server, it happened more quickly than we had planned, so you are sure to find a few issues, broken links, etc. Please email our support team at support@wrestlingobserver.com if you find any issues.
The new site will be a huge improvement over the old one, but we do ask for your patience during these first few weeks as we deal with growing pains.
Here are quick results for the last of the Road to Destruction shows, taking place this morning in Uwajima.
Ryusuke Taguchi defeated Yohei Komatsu. He was defeated after Taguchi pinned him following a dodon. Good opener with lots of hot near falls towards the end.
Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi defeated Jay White and Satoshi Kojima. Nagata pinned White with the backdrop suplex hold. Solid match, but nothing beyond that.
Mascara Dorada, Tiger Mask and Jushin Thunder Liger defeated Roppongi Vice and Gedo. Tiger Mask submitted Gedo with what looked like a modified seated chickenwing. Another solid tag match with both Tiger Mask and Dorada doing cool dives here and there. Crowd was really into it. Tiger Mask cut a promo, probably talking about the NWA Jr. title match coming up.
Tomoaki Honma and Katsuyori Shibata defeated Tetsuya Naito and Juice Robinson. Honma pinned Robinson with the top rope kokeshi headbutt while Shibata choked Naito using the ropes on the apron. Sibata threw him into the barricade after the match. They had the same finish from the last show where Naito acted like he was going to hit Shibata with a chair, but sat on it instead. This time Shibata used Honma to give Naito another kokeshi, then Shibata beat him up some more to send him packing. Solid match that the crowd was really into.
The mayor of Uwajima came to the ring with the town mascot, which looked like a sun in a bonnet wearing a superhero outfit. Don’t ask me! Sho Tanaka, who is the hometown favorite, came to the ring to a nice pop as he posed with them.
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Kushida and Sho Tanaka defeated Bad Luck Fale, Kenny Omega, Cody Hall and Doc Gallows. Tanahashi pinned Hall following the high fly flow. People were very into the match, especially when Tanaka was on offense. Very good match helped by the crowd reacting big to everything. Tanaka had his music played after the match and posed with his team mates.
Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii defeated Karl Anderson & Tama Tonga. Just a standard match, not very much to it. Okada pinned Tama Tonga with the rainmaker.
Shinsuke Nakamura, Yoshi Hashi and Toru Yano defeated Togi Makabe, Hirooki Goto and Captain New Japan. Nakamura won after pinning CNJ with a boma ye. Nothing that exciting but not bad by any means. There was a period where CNJ was scoring a number of near falls on Nakamura but very few people in the crowd bought it, which is weird because they even get into the young lion pin falls. But I guess that result is why no one buys him as anything more than a job guy.
WWE has announced a New Day vs. Dudleys rematch for the 10/3 live network special from Madison Square Garden.
Tommy Dreamer’s House of Hardcoer promotion announced an 11/14 show at the Elmcor Center in Queens, NY. Thus far announced is Ethan Carter III vs. Tommy Dreamer in a street fight, Chris Hero vs. Tajiri and Bobby Roode and Austin Aries will issue an open challenge.
Names announced for a 5 p.m. Meet and Greet not on this list, which means they’ll also likely be on the show are Colt Cabana, Eric Young, Lance Hoyt, The FBI of Guido Maritato & Tony Mamaluke, Thea Trinidad, Jade and Justin Roberts.
According to Deadline, Lucha Underground will return for a second season on El Rey Network. The article states that they will return to film in Los Angeles in the fourth quarter of 2015 for an “early” 2016 return. Lucha Underground Executive Producer Eric Van Wagenen had announced the news on Twitter earlier in the day.
We’ll talk more about this on the post-RAW edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, our fourth show in four days.
We’re looking for your thoughts on last night’s WWE Night of Champions, Saturday night’s Bellator, Friday night’s CMLL and Friday night’s ROH with a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match from each show to Dave Meltzer
Raw is tonight in Laredo, TX, which is a traditionally hot market for WWE, particularly for Hispanic wrestlers. It’s a mid-sized market that usually sells out or comes close even for house shows. They’ll start the build for Night of Champions. Nothing has been announced ahead of time but one would think they’ll follow up in some form with Chris Jericho.
We’re also looking for reports from these shows:
*WWE Saturday night in Waco, TX
*WWE Saturday night in Beaumont, TX
*NXT Saturday night in San Antonio
Smackdown will be taped Tuesday in Corpus Christi with Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Sheamus as the top advertised stars.
New Japan Destruction in Okayama PPV on Tuesday night at 11 p.m. Pacific and 2 a.m. Eastern on New Japan World
Sho Tanaka & Yohei Komatsu & Yuji Nagata & Katsuyori Shibata vs. Jay White & David Finlay & Manabu Nakanishi & Tetsuya Naito
Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly vs. Jushin Liger & Mascara Dorada non-title
Steve Anthony vs. Tiger Mask for NWA jr. title
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Matt Sydal vs. Bad Luck Fale & Tama Tonga
Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson vs. Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan for IWGP tag titles
Hirooki Goto & Tomoaki Honma & Captain New Japan & Ryusuke Taguchi & Alex Shelley vs. Shinsuke Nakamura & Tomohiro Ishii & Yoshi-Hashi & Rocky Romero & Baretta
Kazuchika Okada & Toru Yano vs. A.J. Styles & Cody Hall
Kushida vs. Kenny Omega for IWGP jr. title
Togi Makabe vs. Kota Ibushi for Never Open weight title
We’ve got a look at WWE right now with the issues that have led to ratings setting record lows as well as an update on TNA, New Japan, GFW, ROH and everyone else in the battle for No. 2, as the lead stories in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. This issue also has a detailed look at the Nick Diaz situation and why it is far more complicated than most are making it out to be, Atlantis vs. La Sombra in one of the year’s biggest matches, a history of the CMLL anniversary shows, a look at Thomas Hauser’s article on USADA, an update on Dr. Christopher Amann’s lawsuit against C.M. Punk and Colt Cabana, what led to the Mayweather flop on PPV and New Japan builds for two PPVs this month.
The latest issue of the Wrestling Observer: September 14, 2015 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Huge Weekend Preview, WWE/CMLL/ROH/Bellator
Web site subscriptions, which include access to both current and older newsletters as well as every audio show in the history of the site. Sign up here for as low as $9.99 per month!
You can also order the print Observer right now and get it delivered to your door via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to Dave Meltzer
For the United States, it is $13 for 4 issues, $32 for 12, $61 for 24, $101 for 40 and $131 for 52. In Canada and Mexico, rates are $14.50 for 4, $35 for 12, $67 for 24, $111 for 40 and $144 or 52. In Europe, you can get the fastest delivery and best rates by sending to moonsault@mediaplusint.com For the rest of the world, rates are $16.50 for 4, $44 for 12, $85 for 24, $141 for 40 issues and $183 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order (P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228), you can get $1 off in every price range.
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.
The lead story looks at what is and isn’t misleading about the record low ratings for Raw and Smackdown over the past two weeks, the rate of decline, the future of Smackdown, and why wrestling even with lower ratings may be far more valuable to the USA Network when the current contract is over. We look at the problems that are inherent, those that can be addressed and those that can’t. We look at why this past week’s Raw rating was far more sobering than the week before as well as how wrestling and every combat sport is changing from an economic situation worldwide. We look at interviews, finishes, making stars and dropping the ball on stars. We also look at Night of Champions.
We update the TNA television situation, what promotion had a strong growth year, and the future of No. 2, as well as an update on all of TNA’s TV deals.
We go in depth on Nick Diaz, and what are the key elements of the story, why he got a five year suspension, how Diaz has blown his prime years in fighting, the commissioners discuss the suspension and the deliberations leading to it. We talk about why comparisons to Anderson Silva and Jon Jones aren’t valid in this case, detail the controversies over the test results, the legal issues involved, and Diaz talks about what happened in childhood that led him to where he is.
We also look at the situation with Jake Shields and the commission ruling on his post-match punch to Rousimar Palhares, as well as his comments on what happened.
We also look at what contracted talent was told about Hulk Hogan, as well as a double standard that is too obvious, the next Takeover special, Update on Lana, Dwayne Johnson makes former WWE writer a major executive in his company, what happened at the recent NXT talent meeting, Daniel Bryan talks about creating new stars, and his health situation as well as PPV matches he wants.
We look at plans for the November European tour, WWE performers and Twitter, Paige talks in detail about her incident with Alicia Fox that turned into a fight of sorts with two other women and how it all went down. Jimmy Noonan talks issues with WWE security including a story when a fan kicked the ass of a main event wrestler inside the ring one night and how that fan ended up as a wrestler.
We look at another sports star that WWE is bringing in for a tryout, four cast members from Tough Enough who have now signed contracts, this week’s NXT shows, and the father of a WWE wrestler who is an all-time legend in slow-pitch softball.
We’ve got notes on the WWE TV shows as well as the next month of NXT shows, as well as reports on WWE business over the past week, and highlights from all the house shows.
We look at the Atlantis vs La Sombra match, the build to the match, why the match is so big, the last angle and what happened with Dr. Wagner Jr. an L.A. Park. We also look at a history of the CMLL Anniversary shows, with the big names that have appeared on them and the most famous matches over the years.
We look at Thomas Hauser’s article on USADA and how it related to Floyd Mayweather, what about the article had validity and what was a stretch. We look at USADA’s drug testing in UFC and what the results so far say, the concept of retroactive TUE’s, a scary aspect of a contract Manny Pacquiao was given and wouldn’t sign, rumors of Mayweather positive tests, and the story behind Erik Morales failing four tests before a fight for Clenbuterol and still fighting.
We update the situation with Dr. Christopher Amann’s lawsuit against C.M. Punk. We look at the response to the suit filed by Punk and Colt Cabana, WWE’s response and what the key issues in the suit are.
We’ve got notes on the Floyd Mayweather-Andre Berto PPV number and lessons that it has taught.
We also run down this past week’s New Japan show at Korakuen Hall and how it builds the next two PPV shows.
We’ve also got ratings from all the television shows this past week along with results from all the major arena events.
We also update on the last two AAA TV tapings, Genichiro Tenryu’s last match at Korakuen Hall, the Dragon Gate Summer Adventure tag team tournament, the All Japan Open singles tournament, the NOAH jr. heavyweight tournament, New Japan talks about their relationship with WWE and more.
We look at the Japanese female wrestler who broke her record for most world championships, and a new Hall of Fame mixed tag team.
We’ve got notes on Hulk Hogan’s latest media and what he said that simple time lines can disprove, notes on Jimmy Snuka including why there will be a lot more coverage of his story coming up, as well as why his hearing this week was canceled. We look at the U.S. gold medalists in the world wrestling championships and what wrestler looks like a great UFC or WWE prospect. We also update GFW and where television stands, look at a star indie wrestler sent to prison, Podcasts involving wrestling personalities, two pro wrestlers at the 1980 Olympic team reunion, an update on House of Hardcore, an update on Kelly Kelly, whatever happened to Chuck Palumbo, former UFC star getting a pro wrestling break, a wrestling show uncovered by a historian that drew 80,000 fans in 1936, the daughter of a WWE Hall of Famer starting wrestling training, and a well known pro wrestler competing under another name in pseudo MMA combat.
We also look at some significant negotiations going on with ROH and a look at the weekend events.
We also look at the Jarrett/Dixie Carter deal, Earl Hebner into the TNA Hall of Fame and his background, an update on Bram and Kurt Angle and Angle’s wrestling schedule.
We look at ticket sales for UFC 194 and how early sales have been, more big fights announced, a UFC signee who will start after competing in the 2016 Olympics, Ronda Rousey in the ESPN poll of the greatest female athlete of all-time, as well as lots of new UFC fights.
We also look at a new Bellator deal, and Scott Coker’s hopes for this week’s show.
We also look at a proposed Chael Sonnen vs. Josh Barnett grappling match, and the return of Ben Askren.
If you are a new subscriber ordering 24 or more issues, you can get one free classic issue of your choice sent to you today. With a 40 issue subscription, you can get two free classic issues sent to you today.
New subscribers ordering 24 or 40 issues have to let us know what major stories of the past 11 years you are most interested in and we’ll send the issue with the best coverage of that story. We’ve got coverage of every major PPV event and world wide spectacular, every major star switching promotions, histories of companies like FMW, Rings and New Japan, retirement and obit issues of every major star who fits into those descriptions over the past 11 years, as well as our biggest issue every year, the annual awards issue, and our most controversial issue of every year, the Hall of Fame issue.
Click here for the most requested Wrestling Observer back issues
MONDAY’S NEWS UPDATE
Bryan and I will be back tonight with Wrestling Observer radio, covering Raw as well as the rest of the wrestling and MMA news. You can send in e-mail questions to the show to mailbag@wrestlingobserver.com
We don’t have any update on Sting past he suffered a significant neck injury last night. It was definitely during the buckle bomb spot. For those asking, the finish they did was the planned finish, although they immediately went to it when Sting basically insisted on finishing the match. WWE has acknowledged the injury but not the nature of the injury. Sting was hospitalized for testing. TMZ reported that the resutls of the testing were no fractures.
Sting was booked on tonight’s Raw, but TMZ reported that he is at home today so that would seem he’s not at the show.
This is from Steve Martinez, a rep for Sting: “As many of you may already know, Sting is undergoing treatment for the injuries he sustained in last night’s match with Seth Rollins. Doctors will continue to evaluate his condition, but he is a man of remarkable health and resiliency, especially at his age and with all he’s endured throughout his stellar career. Therefore, we are optimistic he will have a speedy recovery and return to full health soon. Sting has kept his body in excellent shape, due largely to the guidance he’s received from his personal trainer Jeff Cavaliere (ATHLEAN-X), and we trust this will prove beneficial to the recovery process. As a side note, we later learned the greatest damage to his body took place before the match was over, but being the true professional he is and among the hardest workers to ever step foot in the ring, he insisted to see the match through to the end.” -Steve Martinez
ROH made the official announcement today of a six-month TV deal with L’Equipe 21, a sports channel in France. They also announced that they would be starting shortly on WNCN in Philadelphia, WMYD in Detroit and WMCN in Charlotte.
Tonight’s Raw goes against the Jets-Colts game with an 8:30 p.m. kickoff. Raw is coming off the two least watched non-major holiday episodes, and Smackdown numbers have been way down the past three weeks, but in theory the day after a PPV show and with some angles shot last night should boost the numbers tonight.
WWE was the 7th most searched for item on Google yesterday with 500,000 searches, again well above the usual levels for a PPV show. Not bad considering the NFL & Emmys last night.
On Saturday, Tito Ortiz was the 8th most searched item, but that was only 50,000 searches.
Jon Jones is scheduled to enter a plea on 9/29 on his leaving the scene of an accident charge.
Heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (34-0, 33 knockouts) vs. Johann Duhaupas (32-2, 20 knockouts) headlines the first prime time heavyweight title fight on NBC in 30 years, which airs on Saturday night. That will go head-to-head with the UFC prelims from Japan on FS 1 and the early part of the main card..
The company has announced Monday Nitro week on the network. The new shows will be a John Layfield interview with Eric Bischoff after Raw tonight, on Tuesday at 10 p.m. will be DDP hosting a countdown of the ten biggest matches in Nitro history; Wednesday at 10 p.m. will be Bischoff announcing the ten biggest moments of his career, Part two of the Layfield interview with Bischoff will air at 10 p.m. Thursday after Smackdown, and they have added 100 new hours of Nitro to the network.
C.M. Punk and A.J. Lee (using the name A.J. Brooks) will be starring in a movie called “Hellstorm” that will start filming in November. The story is that after the collapse of the world’s financial system and a devastating world war, a group of mismatched survivors band together to battle unexplainable and horrific beasts that show up.
Stardust uses the name “The Queens Crossbow” as the new name for Crossroads because Stephen Amell’s character in Arrow is named Oliver Queen. (thanks to Michael O’Brien and many others).
In Montreal, where there is a different mentality regarding coverage of pro wrestling in the media (it has gotten sports coverage there since the beginning of time), Kevin Owens title win got a lot of play. The Journal de Montreal, the biggest newspaper in town, had Owens coverage on Thursday and Saturday talking about his match in Montreal and yesterday and today about his winning the IC title. The Thursday, Saturday and Sunday features got a full page. So much media was interested in his return to Montreal that he couldn’t do it all. In just one week, he got more press in the city than Sylvain Grenier and Maryse Ouellet got in their entire careers. It’s been nearly 20 years since an active WWE pro wrestler has gotten the kind of coverage Owens got this past week. Every major area sports web site covered both the Friday night house show and the title win. (thanks to Patric Laprade)
Tomorrow’s episode of Total Divas will cover the women getting the news that Dusty Rhodes had passed away.
The new issue of the National Enquirer has a story on Jimmy Snuka.
Tickets for the Ultimate Fighter Finale and the Chad Mendes vs. Frankie Edgar fight on 12/11 at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas are priced at $350, $250 and $150 and go on sale to Fight Club members on Wednesday at 10 a.m., newsletter subscribers on Thursday at 10 a.m. and to the public on Friday at 10 a.m. With only 1,500 seats and with so many tourists in town for the Jose Aldo vs. Conor McGregor, I expect this to be a quick sellout.
For the 12/10 Fight Pass show, in the same location, headlined by Paige VanZant vs. Joanne Calderwood, tickets go on sale at noon Wednesday to Fight Club members, noon Thursday for a password pre-sale and to the public on Friday.
Justin Credible (Pete Polaco) on Twitter announced that he plans to retire from wrestling in November. He said his final match would be 11/20 against Tommy Dreamer for PWS in Rahway, NJ.
Scott Norton was backstage at the Night of Champions last night, as was Scott Hall and Wale..
Road Warrior Animal will be appearing for In Your Face Wrestling on 11/7 in Delanson, NY at the Duanesburg Area Community Center doing a Q&A and Meet and Greet. They also have a show on 10/10 in Albany, NY at the Polish Community Center.
Was told lots of Balor Club T-shirts in Houston last night at the PPV.
Absolute Intense Wrestling on 10/3 in Cleveland at the Mt. Carmel Church at 3 p.m. with a Girls Night Out show and 7:30 p.m with a men’s show.
NWA Smoky Mountain Wrestling on 10/3 in Kingsport, TN at the Civic Auditorium with Jax Dane vs. Travis Lee for the NWA title. Also on the show is Jason Kincaid, Rob Conway, Kid Kash and E.Z. Money.
The Big Takeaway: Kane made his return. Well, there are now two Kanes. There’s the Corporate Kane, who acts like Joseph Park. And then there’s the Demon Kane, who showed up at the end of the show. Add in the fact that the Big Show went over on this program, it seemed tonight was a salute to 1997. Which is fiiting, because this show could have the lowest ratings of any Raw show since that year. It was a boring show.
Show Recap:
The Wyatt Family started the show. Bray Wyatt said he tried to warn Roman Reigns, but he wouldn’t listen. Wyatt said he reached up to Mt. Olympus and grabbed the Golden Idol and brought him to his knees.
Reigns interrupted him and said he wanted to finish things one-on-one with Wyatt tonight. Wyatt declined. Regins accused him of being scared and said he wanted to fight Wyatt. It led to Wyatt whipsering something to Luke Harper and Braun Strowman, they left the ring and Wyatt agreed to fight.
Regins and Wyatt fought for a bit before Harper and Strowman ran in. Strowman gave Regins soemthing resembling a chokeslam, except Regins landed face first. Dean Ambrose ran out and hit Strowman with a tope. Eventually, the heels overpowered Ambrose. Crowd chanted for Chris Jericho. Instead, Randy Orton came out and cleaned house, including dropping Harper with a back suplex on the announcer’s table. It ended with Orton and Ambrose hitting dropkicks on Strowman, who budged but didn’t go down. Finally Regins knocked Strowman out of the ring with a Superman’s Punch.
Seth Rollins walked into HHH and Stephanie McMahon’s office and found Director of Operations Kane waiting for him. Rollins didn’t know how to react and asked him why Kane tombstoned him last night. Kane acted like he had no idea what he was talking about.So Kane was doing the Joseph Park/Abyss gimmick from TNA in 2013, where Director of Operations Kane was a separate person from his wrestling alter ego. In fact, DIO Kane was downright chipper, saying he had healed from the broken angle that Rollins had laid onto him. Kane said he arranged for Rollins to face John Cena tonight in a rematch for the U.S. Championship. Rollins had no idea how to react and left quickly.
The announcers have already assigned different names to Kane’s various personas: Corporate Kane and Demonic Kane. I thought Alvarez’s Libertarian Kane was pretty good, myself.
Lucha Dragons and Neville defeated The Ascension and Stardust (10:31)
Clumsy match in spots as Konnor and Kalisto has problems working together. Kalisto pinned Viktor with Salida del Sol. Sin Cara slipped attempting a springboard dropkick on Konnor. Later, Cara did a top on Viktor and appeared to hit his head across the announcer’s table.
Rollins found the Authority backstage and couldn’t believe that HHH and Stephanie would reinstate Kane as Director of Operations. He said he was in no shape to wrestle Cena tonight after wrestling twice last night. HHH and Stephanie told him not to worry about Kane and just focus on Cena.
Ryback defeated Bo Dallas (3:36)
Ryback won with the Shellshock. Kevin Owens was on commentary and ran in after the match. Ryback gave him a Meat Hook clothesline and tried to give him the Shellshock, but Owens got away. Ryback was more aggressive in the match after losing the Intercontiental Championship last night.
Ric Flair came out to introduce Charlotte as the new Divas Champion. Fans started chanting “Thank you, Ric.” He said the proudest moment of his entire life wasn’t his first world championship or his retirement match with Shawn Michaels, it was watching his little girl win the Divas Championship. Charlotte, Paige and Becky Lynch came out.
Charlotte got emotional talking to her father saying she was as proud of him as he was of her. Charlotte thanked Lynch for always reminding her to never take life too seriously. Charlotte turned to Paige and said she followed in Paige’s footsteps and they started in NXT together.
Paige took the microphone away and turned heel. She said Charlotte was just a placeholder for the championship and nothing about the Divas division has changed. She said the whole celebration was patronizing and reminded Charlotte that she won the championship on her first day. Paige said Lynch was the least relevant of all of them. She said Lana and Summer Rae were too busy trying to climb over top of each other instead of wrestling. Paige said she didn’t even know where Nattie was because she was too busy taking care of her husband. Paige also said we all knew the real reason why the Bella Twins got to where they are, and said Charlotte wouldn’t be where she is without her old man. Paige said “Whooo” and walked off. This was supposed to be a heel turn for Paige, but she got mostly cheers.
Nikki Bella, Brie Bela and Alicia Fox followed that up by coming out. Nikki mainly no sold losing the title and said Brie was going to take the title from Charlotte tonight.
Charlotte (C) defeated Brie Bella via submission to retain the Divas Championship (6:22)
Charlotte won with the Figure Eight. Brie spent most of the match on offense, which led to a sloppy match. Brie mainly worked on Charlotte’s left leg, continuing the storyline from last night where Nikki did the same thing.
Sheamus defeated Mark Henry (2:23)
Sheamus hit a Brogue Kick that missed so badly, even the announcers admitted it. So they redid the spot for the finish. It was Henry’s turn to job in his home state. Sheamus did a promo saying it was only a matter of time before he become world champion.
Stephanie and HHH met with Kane, who just took a sip out of his “World’s Greatest Director of Operations” mug. HHH was curious about Kane showing up last night. Kane again acted like he was oblivious to giving Rollins a tombstone. Stephanie spoke up and said there was no need for Kane to insult out intelligence and play mind games with them. Kane said he would never do that and he wanted to do what’s best for business. Stephanie asked for Kane to give it back and extended her hand. Kane gave her five. Stephanie said she wanted his mask back. Kane noticed that the mask was gone from its case, and said if Stephanie had stolen it, they would have a very big problem. Kane turned deadly serious for a minute, but then got his smiley face back and said he would make sure he would do his job for what’s best for business.
Paige found Nattie backstage. Nattie said what Paige said earlier to Charlotte was unprofessional. Nattie said there have been times where she has felt left behind in the Divas division, but she did something about it. She told Paige that the only person who was standing in Paige’s way was Paige. Nattie said she was wrestling Naomi later.
The New Day came out. The crowd really didn’t respond to them and gave them more of a heel reaction. Xavier Woods sold being put through a table last night by the Dudley Boyz, held up a piece of table and claimed it had to be removed from his buttocks last night. Big E. did a promo saying they had to build a wall around Dudleyville to protect their citizens, their families and their furniture. It was an attempt to get Donald Trump heat, but it didn’t work.
The New Day and Rusev defeated The Dudley Boyz and Dolph Ziggler (14:10)
Rusev pinned Dolph Ziggler after a Thurst Kick after Ziggler gave Woods a Superkick once he got on the apron with the trombone. Pretty good match. Ziggler gave Rusev Wazzup with the Dudleys holding each of Rusev’s legs. Midway through the match, Woods began playing Rusev’s theme song on his trombone as Dolph Ziggler got the heat. When Kofi Kingston hit a dropkick, Woods started screaming about how Kingston had an 8-foot vertical leap. Crowd didn’t react to very much.
Naomi defeated Natalya (3:45)
Naomi won with the Rear End after Tamina and Sasha Banks jumped up on the apron. Not much of a match and the crowd has been dead for the past hour.
Rollins walked into the Authority’s office wanting to know what the plan is tonight. Stephanie said Kane everything out of his system that he needed to last night. Rollins couldn’t believe it and said HHH knew what Kane was capable of. HHH lashed out and Rollins and told him to focus on Cena. Rollins reluctatnly agreed, again teasing the inevitable HHH-Rollins match somewhere down the line.
The Big Show defeate Cesaro (6:16)
After Cesaro hit a vertical suplex on The Big Show into the ring, Show got up first and hit the knockout punch for the clean pin. Great booking for the long-term future there.
Postmatch, Show cut a promo on Brock Lesnar. They’ll be wrestling on a Network Special at Madison Square Garden on October 2nd. He reminded Lesnar that he pinned him at the 2002 Royal Rumble. It was a good promo.
The Wyatt Family did a promo running down Orton. Wyatt told Orton they all fall down, and Orton would, as well. Strowman said he once captured a snake with his bare hands and drank its blood, and claimed the snake is in a better place now.
John Cena (C) defeated Seth Rollins to retain the U.S. Championship (15:34)
Not only the best match on the show, but the only match tonight that would exceed 3 stars. Rollins hit a Frog Splash, but Cena powered out of the cover attempt and hit an AA for the pin. Spots included Rollins using Cena’s STF, and Cena also grabbing the STF but Rollins got the ropes. Rollins didn’t do any knees to the face, to no surprise.
Postmatch, Corporate Kane appeared on the big screen and told Rollins part of his job was to make sure Rollins could be the best champion he could be. He said many people were coming after Rollins’ championship. Then the background turned fiery red, and Kane said in a deep, brooding voice “including some he could never imagine.”
Kane’s fire pyro went off. Then the demonic Kane burst through the mat and dragged Rollins under the ring. Rollins disappeared through the hole, and steam shot out from the bottom.
SUMMARY: So in an effort to make Kane interesting for the next PPV cycle, they ripoff a TNA storyline. That says it all.
