Welcome to WrestlingObserver.com’s live coverage of the UFC Fight Night 74: Holloway vs. Oliveira weigh-ins from the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan kicking off at 6 PM eastern time. The event airs on Sunday on FOX Sports 1 at 9 PM eastern time. Preliminary card action kicks off on UFC Fight Pass at 6 PM eastern time before moving over to FOX Sports 1 at 7 PM eastern time. This marks the first time the Octagon has been seen in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan.
The event is headlined by a five-round featherweight bout as rising contenders and top-ranked fighters Max Holloway and Charles Oliveira square off in the first main event of both men’s UFC careers. Holloway puts a six-fight win streak on the line while Oliveira puts his four-fight win streak on the line. In the co-main event, Neil Magny looks to rebound from seeing the end of his seven-fight win streak as he takes a short notice bout against the tough Brazilian, Erick Silva. Also on the main card is a welterweight bout between long-time UFC veterans Patrick Cote and Josh Burkman.
MAIN CARD (FOX SPORTS 1- 9 PM ET/6 PM PT):
Max Holloway (145) vs. Charles Oliveira (145.5) Neil Magny (170.5) vs. Erick Silva (171) Patrick Cote (170) vs. Josh Burkman (170) Chad Laprise (155.5) vs. Francisco Trinaldo (155.5) Olivier Aubin-Mercier (155) vs. Tony Sims (155.5) Maryna Moroz (115) vs. Valerie Letourneau (116) This was the second attempt. Letourneau weighed in at 117 the first try.
PRELIMINARY CARD (FOX SPORTS 1- 7 PM ET/4 PM PT):
Sam Stout (155) vs. Frankie Perez (155.5) Yves Jabouin (135.5) vs. Felipe Arantes (135.5) Marcos Rogerio de Lima (205) vs. Nikita Krylov (205.5) Chris Kelades (125.5) vs. Chris Beal (126)
Back on the winning track last time out, with a slight profit at the UFC Nashville event. This weekend, the Octagon is in Saskatoon, SK and there’s a lot of Canada vs the World on this card. In fact three of my picks are from the Great White North. Here’s the five picks on the card that I think have the best value. I’d also highly recommend if you like props to bet on the Magny/Silva and Krylov/de Lima fights not going to the judges.
Pick 1 – Nikita Krylov (18-4) +125 over Rodrigo de Lima (13-2-1) I’m betting $100 to win $125
Both of these guys are former heavyweights who’ve moved down a weight class. Both are knockout artists whose UFC fights have never gone the distance. I like Krylov here as he’s faced a slightly higher level of competition, with his UFC losses coming to huge heavyweight Soa Paleli and top 205 lb contender Ovince St Preux.
Pick 2 – Sam Stout (20-11-1) -115 over Frankie Perez (9-2) I’m betting $100 to win $86.96
This fight is basically a pick ‘em and I really like Stout to go into the fountain of youth and grind out a decision win. Despite his reputation for one punch power, “Hands of Stone” usually wins by decision and that’s what I think he does here. Perez lost his only UFC fight to non-contender Johnny Case and he’ll go 0-2 here.
Pick 3 – Maryna Moroz (6-0) -190 over Valerie Letourneau (7-3) I’m betting $100 to win $52.63
Moroz had a spectacular UFC debut earlier this year, destroying Joanne Calderwood, who was thought to be a title contender. She may be the only person in the 115 lb division who can match champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk in the striking department. Letourneau has looked good so far in her UFC career but I think the gets blitzed by the Ukranian “Iron Woman” here.
Pick 4 – Olivier Aubin-Mercier (6-1) -245 over Tony Sims (12-2) I’m betting $100 to win $40.82
Aubin-Mercier has been very impressive since losing the TUF Nations final match to Chad Laprise (who also fights on this card). He’s submitted both of his opponents and looked really good in doing so. The Tri-Star product, who many have compared to legendary Welterweight Champion George St. Pierre, should make quick work of the debuting Sims here.
Pick 5 – Max Holloway (13-3) -240 over Charles Oliveira (20-4) I’m betting $100 to win $41.67
For any of you out there who will be watching SummerSlam instead of this card, it should be over before the time these two hit the cage for the main event. It’s worth making time to watch this as this should be a hell of a fight. Both are future potential contenders for whomever emerges from the Jose Aldo/Conor McGregor fight in December and are both riding impressive win streaks. I like Holloway here as he’s the younger fighter, who’s constantly improving. Remember that he took Conor to the limit in the Irishman’s UFC debut and has rung up 6 straight wins since that defeat. He should run the streak to 7 in winning his first UFC main event.
All told, I’m betting $500 with a chance to win $347.07
We both lost last week, so I retain my lead. This week, I like Stout at close to even money (-115) and should retain my lead no matter who young Ryan picks.
Ryan’s pick:
I’m going Charles Oliveira +200 over Max Holloway
I’m surprised the odds are as long as they are now. I see this fight as more of a pick ’em. Both are extremely young and talented, but I do think Oliveira has more raw ability right now. Holloway has been impressive and has power and Oliveira can mentally break. Oliveira’s last fight against Nik Lentz really impressed me how he was able to come back in that fight. I see him doing the same and submitting Holloway in the later half of the fight.
Good luck, enjoy the fights and remember, don’t bet more than you can afford to lose and try to have fun with it!
– Cedric Alexander w/ Veda Scott b Dalton Castle after Silas Young interfered. After the match, Moose came to attack Alexander.
– War Machine b Matt Taven & Michael Bennett after the Young Bucks came to ringside. After the match, the Bucks were attacked by Christopher Daniels, Chris Sabin and Frankie Kazarian.
– Cheeseburger came to the ring but was attacked by Brutal Bob Evans. Bushwhacker Luke came to do the save. Not for TV.
Taping #2
– The Addiction b The Young Bucks to keep their ROH World tag team titles after Taven, Bennett and Maria interfered.
– Nigel announced that at All Star Extravaganza in San Antonio, The Addiction would defend the titles against both The Kingdom and the Bucks.
– ROH World champion Jay Lethal b Roderick Strong. (Incredible match)
Taping #3
– Michael Elgin b Silas Young
– ACH b Caprice Coleman
– After that match, Kevin Kelly interviewed Prince Nana ringside for TV.
– The Briscoes & Hirooki Goto b Kazuchida Okada & Rappongi Vice
Taping #4
– Matt Sydal b Kushida. After the match Sydal asked for a title shot at the IWGP Jr Heavyweight championship.
– Takaaki Watanabe b Adam Page, Will Ferrara & Moose
– Shinsuke Nakamura b Adam Cole
Notes:
– The crowd was hot all night. A real great Philly crowd. Sold out crowd.
– The show lasted a little more than 4 hours including an intermission.
– Besides the New Japan guys, the ones with the most reaction were Dalton Castle, The Young Bucks and Moose.
– The match of the night was definitely Jay Lethal vs Roderick Strong. Nakamura had the best match out of the New Japan guys.
Hiroshi Tanahashi has had some extensive, amazing feuds over the years. We saw a great example of that last weekend when he defeated Shinsuke Nakamura in a sensational match for the G1 Climax 25 trophy. We’ve also seen his many battles against Kazuchika Okada, considered by some to be the best matches this decade has to offer, with more to come from what it looks like. But one never seemed as personal as it was when Katsuyori Shibata came back after being away for ten years. Tonight’s show is the culmination of their feud, one that’s been building up since 2004, when Shibata left New Japan on bad terms. Between Tanahashi’s goal for revenge and Shibata’s utter stiffness, the end result should end up being one hell of a bout, which it in fact did turn out to be.
Tonight’s show takes place at Kobe World Hall on September 21, 2014. This is part two of our look at the Destruction in Kobe event.
They first aired a match between Hirooki Goto against Togi Makabe. I liked this match. It was hard hitting, and played into their match from the G1 where Goto broke Makabe’s jaw legit. Unfortunately, this was lost on the announce team as I don’t think that match was shown during G1 highlights, and was never really brought up. To me it felt like that was a big part of the story being told in the match, but who knows. Again, this was good stuff with both guys hitting hard and delivering some cool moves. Makabe at one point double sledged Goto in the face hard. Pretty good, very stiff match, as much as you’d expect between these two.
Makabe is interviewed after, telling Goto to bring on it and won’t be stopped so easily.
Tanahashi is interviewed. He didn’t like the way Shibata originally quit in 2004 to go freelance, then eventually MMA. But he was fine with his return in 2012. Fans starting to cheer him and him saying that he was starting to think pro wrestling was fun was the final straw for him. Those turn of events made the match more meaningful to him. He wanted to pin him with a small package to make it personal, having him there for four or even five seconds. The G1 match he was shocked by because people cheered for Shibata more, and that made him upset. When he lost, he felt like for the first time in ten years he couldn’t get back up. He questioned if these last ten years were for naught as Shibata boasted he had accomplished as much as Tanahashi has in the last ten years.
The match aired. This was given five stars here on this website. As for me, personally, I didn’t think it was at that level at all. I think this was a excellent, stiff, back and forth match. Just not at a five star level, however. Judging it based solely on the match itself, I didn’t think it was at that level. But in terms of telling a story, the story leading to it, the story during the match, and the post-match stuff after the match, it was just excellent. Commentary was great were as well, as they were on point with telling the story about how Shibata had left New Japan and it’s been eating Tanahashi away ever since he came back. Tanahashi manages to score a measure of revenge, hitting Shibata twice with the high fly flow to pin him. Real emotion after the match. Shibata gets to his feet as he and Tanahashi exchange words. Tanahashi puts out his hand and Shibata accepts to a huge pop. Tears stream down Tanahashi’s face as Tanahashi celebrates.
Tanahashi says that for now, he’s gotten his revenge for the G1 match. He can’t accept how Shibata quit, but he wonders how those ten years were for him, it must have been hard. He gets emotional when talking about what Shibata said after the match, with him saying Shibata told him “Thank you for protecting New Japan Pro Wrestling”. Tanahashi however felt he didn’t have the right to say it. There’s no need for him to say thanks, because it’s all about understanding each other. If he were to say one thing to Shibata, it would be…welcome back.
In his reflective interview, he felt it was his mission to bring it to the next level. This reminded him back to when they were young lions. He reiterates what Shibata said, which shook him emotionally- you don’t feel like that every day, he mentions. We all protected New Japan Pro Wrestling, it wasn’t just me. As for their relationship now, he doesn’t say much other than Shibata mentioned he always cries after a match no matter what the result. He will stay as he is, at the end of the day and he hopes Shibata stays the same too.
A fantastic episode of New Japan on AXS. This hour told a great story about the rivalry between Tanahashi and Shibata, and is worth watching alone for the post match interviews from Tanahashi.
As tonight’s Ring of Honor show in Philadelphia, PA, ROH and New Japan Pro Wrestling announced that their relationship is stronger than ever. Kevin Kelly hosted the segment attended by Nigel McGuinness, Joe Koff, Cary Silkin, Tiger Hattori and Naoki Sugabayasi.
– In February, there will be two ROH shows in Tokyo. While there, the ROH World title will be defended for the very first time in a New Japan ring. The belt has been defended four times prior in Japan, all by Takeshi Morishima.
– NJPW wrestlers will appear at ROH’s 14th anniversary show in Las Vegas, NV.
– in May, NJPW talent will again come back to North America to do their usual dates in Philly and Toronto, but they will add more towns, and will bring more & different wrestlers from NJPW in 2016 than in past years.
It is also expected that both sides will send more talent back and forth and not just those that have gone in the past.
While the claim was made tonight at the ROH show in Philadelphia and reported that the ROH title would be defended for the first time in Japan in 2016, that is correct only related to New Japan Pro Wrestling.
Takeshi Morishima actually defended the ROH title twice in Japan on Pro Wrestling NOAH events.
All eyes are on WWE as they host three sold out shows this weekend, the main attraction being a four hour Summerslam on Sunday. We will have full coverage of all the events over the weekend including live results and post show audio with Dave and Bryan. ROH is also hosting a New Japan Crossover event tonight featuring Jay Leathal, Shinsuke Nakamura, Okata and others. In addition to wrestling action UFC fight night is headlined sunday with a bout between Max Holloway and Charles Oliveira.
Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive will give a preview NXT takeover, UFC and SummerSlam, speak about Rondas next oppenent and your calls on Wrestling Observer Live available here or through the iHeart Radio App. Here is today’s show: Wrestling Observer Live 8/21: SummerSlam weekend, Ronda Rousey’s next fight, open line Fridays, more!
Tonight:
Ring of Honor Presents: Aftershock FRIDAY, AUGUST 21ST, 2015 7:30PM BELL TIME
ROH World Championship: Jay Lethal w/ Truth Martini vs “Mr ROH” Roderick Strong
Adam Cole vs Shinsuke Nakamura
KUSHIDA vs Matt Sydal
ROH World Tag Team Championship: The Addiction (c) vs The Young Bucks
Kazuchika Okada & RPG Vice (Rocky Romero & Beretta) vs The Briscoes & Hirooki Goto
Dalton Castle vs Cedric Alexander w/ Veda Scott
“Unbreakable” Michael Elgin vs “The Last Real Man” Silas Youn
The Kingdom w/Maria Kanellis vs War Machine (Raymond Rowe & Hanson)
reDRagon vs The House of Truth
Adam Page w/ BJ Whitmer vs Will Ferrara vs Takaaki Watanabe vs Moose w/ Stokely Hathaway
New Japan on AXS
Description: “Hiroshi Tanahashi vs rival Katsuyori Shibata in a brutal five-star classic encounter. Togi Makabe meets Hirooki Goto.”
Feedback, polls and show report requests:
We’re looking for ROH Philly, GFW Vegas, and sights/sounds/spottings from #SummerSlam. Email Newstips
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The new 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 chat with Konnan about the state of AAA heading into TripleMania XXIII. We discuss the company’s improvements in production, advantages over WWE and differences in philosophy, how to listen to fans, and much more. Plus, as always, we have all of the usual reviews and international news, including Dr. Lucha’s TripleMania preview.
Last week’s FREE Figure 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.
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WWE’s weekend in Brooklyn is the main story in this weeks Wrestling Observer Newsletter now available. This includes both Summerslam on Sunday as well as NXT Takeover on Saturday. We also have full coverage of the now finished G1 Climax and what the results mean for NJPW in the near future. In addition we look at UFC teamsters looking at options of unionization and the morale issues that spawned it. We also have a look at the AAA TripleMania PPV show, UFC ratings increases, the brawl at the WSOF show, UFC suing Wanderlei Silva and Layla retiring.
The issue is on the site right now at August 24, 2015 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Summerslam preview, G1 Tournament and finals review, Silva trial details
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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 the WWE events in Brooklyn with three straight full houses and look historically at the only other promotion that has been able to do it historically and the record, as well as updates on the NXT and SummerSlam shows and more details on the NXT card as well as the probable main event stipulation and ticket demand.
We have a complete look at the G-1 Climax tournament, including updates on the last few days, the standings, the Sumo Hall preview and coverage of all the shows this past week with star ratings.
We’ve got a look at the attempts to unionize UFC fighters, the real story behind the attempt, the letter sent by UFC to all of its fighters and why they probably could have written it better, and a look at UFC business.
We also look at the wealth of Vince McMahon, Rosa Mendes being pregnant, WWE injury updates, lawsuits, weird match, Tough Enough, new names, insider trading, Raw advance, Diva search news plus notes on all the weekend WWE & NXT events.
We look at TripleMania, all the problems with the show, what happened with the Spanish language broadcast, mistakes made in booking, how the card had to change from its original plans, the letter AAA sent out after, the retirements and Hall of Fame ceremony, plus match-by-match coverage with star ratings.
We’ve got notes on the funeral of Roddy Piper, more on the Hulk Hogan tapes story, Hogan’s first public appearance, two Roddy Piper moves that haven’t come out, one of the biggest stars of the last ten years suffering a major health issue, a former star gets his number retired, a U.K. star returns after cancer, a retirement that probably isn’t a retirement, a Japanese promotion running in October in California, a wrestler having his first match in 20 years, the second oldest living wrestler and his background, big shows in Puerto Rico and news no two different wrestling Halls of Fame.
We also have an update on the status of Lucha Underground, what changes have to be made, the audience watching the show, what to look out for, notes on the contracts the performers have, update on Vampiro and coverage of both weeks of Ultima Lucha.
We also look at the ROH show in Brooklyn, TNA Hall of fame ceremony, and upcoming TNA house shows.
We also look at McGregor vs. Aldo, a big show vs. normal show, Las Vegas vs. Cowboys Stadium, Rousey vs. Cyborg update, Lawler vs. McGregor, UFC financials, how much it costs them every year just in interest on their bond, what kind of profits they are making, lots of ratings into, Rousey business notes, the Aldo drug testing fiasco, Overeem vs. Dos Santos, Punk vs. Pendred, fighter already talking about coming out of retirement, and lots of new UFC fights.
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Friday Update:
As noted in this WrestlingObserver.com article: WWE SummerSlam: Steve Austin, Ric Flair & post-SS RAW Steve Austin is leaving NYC before SummerSlam, but Ric Flair is heading into town. It also sounds like something big will be happening on Raw this Monday.
As you have probably already heard, Ronda Rousey’s next opponent will be undefeated Holly Holm. This comes as a bit of a surprise as most believed Meisha Tate was getting the immediate shot. The full story: UFC: Ronda Rousey to fight Holly Holm at January’s UFC 195 Meisha’s reaction at MMAFighting.com: Miesha Tate ‘extremely disappointed’ about news of Ronda Rousey-Holly Holm fight
Brock Lesnar, Divas & celebrities: 5 reasons to be excited for WWE SummerSlam
The top story on Google News concerning SummerSlam this morning was a small blurb on Stephen Amell Check it out here.And another article.
Sports Illustrated SummerSlam Articles:
Every main event of WWE’sSummerSlam ranked
SummerSlam predictions: Jim Ross breaks down the PPV card
Jonathan Coachman connecting WWE, ESPN worlds at SummerSlam
According to Sportcenter WWE’s John Cena will become first celebrity to grant 500 wishes in Make a wish Foundation history.
Here is our Total Divas report: WWE News: Total Divas TV report
WWF Tuesday Night Titans episode 34 review: The original ‘Rock’, Brutus Beefcake, Wendi Richter vs. Peggy Lee
UFC is also targeting Joanna Jedrzejczyk vs. Claudia Gadelha for UFC 195 co-main. Though, this is not official at this time.
Nate Marquardt vs. C.B. Dollaway, and Samman-McCrory has been added to UFC on FOX 17 Dec. 19 at Amway Center in Orlando, Fla. The Orlando Sentinal on the new fights.
Tony Ferguson vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov has been added to the TUF 22 Finale scheduled for Dec 11th. It is a potential #1 contenders match for the light weight title.
A lightweight bout between Dustin Poirier and Joseph Duffy will headline the UFC Fight Night 77 event in Dublin on October 24 at the 3Arena. The entire card will stream on UFC Fight Pass. Duffy announced the bout during an interview on Irish TV earlier today.
Duffy is known as the last man to defeat Conor McGregor and he has won two straight since joining the UFC, scoring first-round wins over Jake Lindsey and Ivan Jorge. Poirier has won two straight fights since moving to the lightweight division, scoring first-round victories over Carlos Diego Ferreira and Yancy Medeiros.
Welcome today’s coverage of the G1, taking place tonight at the Fukuoka Kokusai Center. Tonight’s show is the usual deal of no commentary but a multi camera setup. Hopefully the crowd is more into this show than yesterday’s crowd.
Jay White and David Finlay vs. Tiger Mask and Mascara Dorada
This was short, but pretty fun. White and Finlay are a good young lion team, Tiger Mask was fine and Dorada was his usual great self. Tiger Mask took out White on the outside with a suicide dive which allowed Dorada to pick up the win with the Dorada Screwdriver.
Yuji Nagata, Yohei Komatsu, Satoshi Kojima and Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Yujiro Takahashi, Karl Anderson, Cody Hall and Tama Tonga
Just a match. Everyone paired off with someone and had the usual eight man tag but in abridged form. When Nagata and Anderson were in it was pretty great, though. It boiled down to Tama Tonga and Yohei Komatsu. They had some back and forth for a bit before Tonga pinned him clean with his waistlock DDT.
Tomoaki Honma and Michael Elgin vs. Yoshi-Hashi and Tomohiro Ishii
The last few minutes were super heated with Honma and Yoshi Hashi scoring great near falls on one another. The crowd was white hot for it. Honma actually hit his top rope kokeshi headbutt and managed to pin Yoshi Hashi to a strong ovation. Elgin, Ishii and Honma had to be separated after the match as they all got into it.
Kazuchika Okada and Gedo vs. Hirooki Goto and Jushin Thunder Liger
Decent tag match. Liger and Gedo worked a lot, as well as Goto and Okada. Not much to it beyond that. Liger won with a surprise leg clutch hold on Gedo.
Toru Yano vs. Doc Gallows
Good for what it was. Yano stalled a lot early. He tried to jump Gallows after a hand shake spot but Gallows no sold it. Mostly comedy spots but Yano’s able to work them really well here. It wasn’t the best match workrate wise but it was fun. Yano took out Hall and Tonga from the apron, but Anderson comes in as he and Gallows give him the Magic Killer and Gallows pins him.
Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Togi Makabe
Another pretty solid bout. Nothing fancy, as most of the match was just back and forth brawling. Makabe did take it to the outside early, but most of this was in the ring. At one point it seemed like he was working over Tenzan’s eye. Tenzan kept taking Makabe’s offense until Makabe pinned him with the king kong knee drop.
Kota Ibushi vs. Katsuyori Shibata
These two exchanged some great offense in the early minutes of the match, including some great mat wrestling. Crowd is SUPER into this match, it was insane. Ibushi did Shibata’s penalty kick at one point that Shibata did not take lightly and returned with one of his own. Just an insane match with incredible heat and super stiff offense. There was one period where they were constantly kicking out at one and just going insane with offense. This is a surefire match of the year candidate and required viewing if you have New Japan World. They were exchanging offense when finally Shibata slapped him HARD, put him in the sleeper and pinned him with the penalty kick.
Bad Luck Fale vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
Good match; it’s becoming more and more clear that Tanahashi’s one of the best ring generals in pro wrestling right now. There was a ref bump at one point that caused Hall and Tonga to come in and interfere. Fale took out one by accident and Tanahashi took the other out and sent Fale to the outside where he gave them all the big high fly flow on the outside. Tanahashi came back with two high fly flows but the Bullet Club pulled the referee out. Fale tried for the Bad Luck Fall twice but Tanahashi managed to escape both times, but did not escape the grenade. Fale went to the top rope, nearly tripped but came back and hit his own high fly flow for the win.
AJ Styles vs. Tetsuya Naito
The crowd was dead for most of this match. I’m guessing it’s due to the heel/heel dynamic, and no one wanted to cheer either guy. Nothing wrong with it early, as they were wrestling a good technical match, going back and forth. The crowd started to come back and chant for Naito for whatever reason. They were going back and forth after Naito spat at AJ. He hit a pele kick and went for the bloody sunday DDT but Naito countered and hit his new finisher, the sliced bread #2 into a reverse DDT that he calls Destino for the win. Just good, not great.
Naito took out Red Shoes after the match with a bodyslam and running dropkick and cut a promo, basically saying he’ll win and said his catchphrase to close the show.
Last week saw the downfall of Patrick, whose ego got the best of him. Even fan favorite ZZ wasn’t spared when Patrick told him that if he won the competition, it would be a joke. Patrick’s elimination was the first to be shocking in any way, as it seemed he’d at least make it to the finals. It will also be interesting to see how the show adjusts with a Hulk Hogan sized void in the show’s judges panel.
We open up the show introducing the judges with the Miz replacing Hogan. Miz says if he was a judge last week, he would have saved Patrick. We go back to the barracks where ZZ has created a Patrick “shrine”; he’s also shown working out.
This week Cesaro joins the show to speak to the contestants about focus. This week’s contest sees the contestants using ropes to get from platforms suspended in the air. Each platform has a number on it, and the final platform has a safe, with the numbers opening the combination. When a contestant is running the course, the entire time Billy Gunn is talking to them, sometimes saying random numbers, sometimes asking questions involving numbers.
Tanner wins for the men, with Gigi winning for the women. The winners get a copy of Chris Jericho’s book with a special inscription. The judges criticize ZZ for being praised for not coming in last. Back at the house, Chelsea and Tanner are in the hot tub together and Chelsea challenges him to cut a promo on her bikini, which is a bit awkward. The next challenge sees the contestants pairing up and doing moves that they have previously learned while crowd noise is playing loudly over the speakers, which distracts some of the contestants. Chelsea wins for the women, and Josh wins for the men.
Amanda seems to be getting a bit paranoid, getting upset that Chelsea and Sara Lee are practicing behind closed doors and listening to their conversation through the door. Mada confronts ZZ, asking him if he thinks he can win. ZZ admits he doesn’t think he can at this moment, which upsets Mada. Back at the live show, Chris Jericho introduces “Team BAD” – Naomi, Sasha Banks, and Tamina. The female contestants are going to take a slam, followed by a splash off the top rope. Each contestant goes through with it with no problem.
The judges grill ZZ about not going to the gym like he said he would. The bottom 3 are Amanda chosen by Daniel Bryan, Mada chosen by the Miz, and ZZ chosen by Paige, with Paige saying ZZ’s boobs are bigger than hers. They give the contestants 30 seconds to plead their case. Chris Jericho asks the competitors who should go home, with most saying ZZ. Miz uses his save on Amanda, probably because he thinks she’s hot. The votes are tallied, with Amanda getting 13% of the vote, Mada getting 39% of the vote, and ZZ getting 48%.
This week was a repeat of last week, in that whoever attacks ZZ goes home. If the judges want someone in particular eliminated next week, all they have to do is have them give ZZ a dirty look. Amanda being saved is ridiculous, as she’s blended into the background for so long that she has no chance. This was obvious when she only got such a small portion of the vote. I can see her going home next week, to balance out the male to female ratio.
