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  • Charlie Fulton passed away at 67

    Gary Fulton, one of the best known of the prelim pro wrestlers in the 70s and early 80s as Charlie Fulton from Marion, OH, passed away last night at the age of 67.

    During his career, Fulton wrestled everyone from Bruno Sammartino to Antonio Inoki, and in most of the major territories and was known as something of an Iron Man performer for never missing matches due to injuries.

    He also worked under a mask as part of the Mighty Yankees in Tennessee with partner Frank Morrell, as The Black Demon in WWF in the early 80s and as Mr. USSR in Japan as the tag team partner of Alexis Smirnoff.

    Fulton had suffered from heart issues for years, and worked as a prison guard after retiring from wrestling in 1985.

  • WWE Roadblock live results: HHH vs. Dean Ambrose, Brock Lesnar vs. Bray Wyatt

    Major implications for Wrestlemania 32 are in play Saturday night as the latest WWE special, Roadblock, takes place in Toronto, Canada.

    The main event of the show will have Triple H making his first defense of the WWE World Heavyweight championship he won at the Royal Rumble against Dean Ambrose. The challenger has gone on to say that he plans on completely messing up plans for Wrestlemania by winning. Considering most Wrestlemania plans still aren’t completely concrete, it’s entirely plausible the original main event of Reigns/HHH might be changed due to recent crowd reactions. It’s a longshot, but we’ll see.

    Other big matches include Bray Wyatt facing off against the former WWE Champion Brock Lesnar in a match many expected to see at Wrestlemania, as well as NXT champions The Revival (Dash & Dawson) competing against perennial challengers Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady in both teams’ WWE TV debut. The outcome could also have implications on the NXT tag team title match at Takeover: Dallas during Wrestlemania weekend if the challengers were to win. 

    Also announced for the show: The New Day will defend their WWE tag team titles against Sheamus & King Barrett of the League of Nations.

    The New Day started the show by coming out and doing a promo. They revealed that Booty-O’s are in fact real (well, there’s a box now at least) and revealed the box that said Booty-O’s on it. Big E pretended to be a child and ran down the Leauge of Nations while saying he’s going to beat Booty-O cereal so he doesn’t wind up like them. They were big time over as babyfaces.

    WWE Tag Team Championship: The New Day (c) vs. The Leauge of Nations (Wade Barrett and Sheamus)

    Solid match. It was a by the numbers, but everyone worked well for the most part. The New Day worked as the faces here as they started off hot, but Kofi ended up getting worked on by both Sheamus and Barrett. Sheamus had Kofi in a Cloverleaf but somehow was able to counter that into a pin for a nearfall. Big E made the hot tag. Kofi tried to jump over Barrett but there was some miscommunication or Kofi landed badly as something seemed off here.  Barrett had the pin on Big E but Xavier distracted the ref. Barrett was distraced, leading to Big E hitting the Big Ending to retain the titles.

    Greg Hamilton interviewed Paul Heyman. He says that Brock chose to take revenge on Wyatt tonight. After getting a pop for mentioning the Toronto Raptors, Heyman pretty much says Wyatt will be counqered by the Beast.

    They recapped the Styles/Jericho angles from Raw and Smackdown.

    Jericho came out for a promo, telling Toronto to shut their filthy mouths right now. They had their chance to chant for him but instead they chanted for AJ. He ran down Canadians. He’s the greatest icon in the history of this country, he says, which spurs “We Want Bret” chants. He shuts them down immediately and says he’s ashamed to be Canadian. He moved from Canada because Canada literally stinks and Toronto is the anus. He mentions how Jack Swagger beat him for the World championship, something I don’t think one person on Earth remotely remembers. He’s not the flavor of the month, or the next big thing, he’s the only thing. Jericho’s much better off in a heel role at this point as his promos have been pretty solid since turning.

    Chris Jericho vs. Jack Swagger 

    This is a weird match to do in Canada as Swagger’s gimmick is that he’s an American patriot, and Jericho just cut a promo heeling on Canada. Work was solid, but the heat was off since they did not get into Swagger at all for obvious reasons. They chanted for AJ Styles and CM Punk. Jericho controlled a lot of the match,  and the crowd booed for Swagger’s brief comeback. Swagger reversed a Wall of Jericho attempt and hit the anke lock but Jericho escaped, hit an enziguiri and went for a codebreaker but Swagger countered and took him down. Swagger got the ankle lock again, but Jericho made it to the ropes. He shoved Swagger into the turnbuckle then submitted him with the Walls of Jericho.

    NXT Tag Team Championship: Dash and Dawson (c) vs. Colin Cassady and Enzo Amore

    Good match with lots of cool creative spots. Both Cassady and Enzo have improved as a team and Dash and Dawson are really good in their own right. Enzo and Cass dominated early, but eventually the heels isolated Enzo. He broke free at one point and dashed toward Cassady but was shoulder tackled right out of the ring in a cool spot. Cassady got the tag as they almost got the win with the rocket launcher but Dawson cut Enzo (who got the tag) off on the top rope. Enzo hit a cool looking DDT from the top rope to ward off the heels for a bit, but the numbers were too much for him as they finished him off with the Shatter Machine for a surprisingly clean win.

    Natalya deadicated her match tonight to her Uncle Bret. You know what that means. Charlotte came in, amused. You’re merely a warm up and not even on my level. Natalya said well if I’m not a threat, then put the title on the line. Charlotte said no, Wrestlemania’s only a few weeks away. Nattie said well I guess Bret was right, all Flairs are cowards. Charlotte fell for that and agreed to put the title on the line.

    WWE Divas Championship: Charlotte (c) vs. Natalya

    Really good match. They were given time and did some great work throughout. Nattie’s really underrated in this divison, not that it’s a secret or anything but matches like this make it even more obvious. Charlotte worked on Nattie’s leg and posted it. After a chop battle Nattie made her comeback and went for the sharpshooter but Charlotte escaped and laid Nattie out with a big boot. Charlotte applied the figure eight but Nattie fought it and reversed. They rolled over several times until making it to the outside. Charlotte escaped out of the ring but as Nattie recovered Charlotte came back in and hit Natural Selection for a nearfall. Lots of great nearfalls. Charlotte went for the figure eight again but Natalya came back with the sharpshooter. Flair helped distract Nattie while in the sharpshooter which allowed Charlotte to get a roll up win with her feet on the ropes. 

    Wyatt comes out for his match. He mentions how he’s counqered the Rock, John Cena and the Undertaker, but he’s never conquered me. He said he made a deal with the devil (The Authority? Vince?) and Luke Harper will now be with him for this match. 

    Brock Lesnar vs. Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper

    Fun match while it lasted. Wyatt never tagged into the match, leaving Harper to work the match on his own. I guess he’s injured, or they didn’t want him to do yet another job. For being the new spookytime threat he hasn’t won a ton of big matches. Lesnar flung Harper around like a rag doll early, which is amazing given Harper’s size. Brock ate a big boot and Harper hit his discus clothesline for a nearfall. Brock fired back with suplexes and pinned him with the F5, clean as a sheet.

    Sami Zayn vs. Stardust

    An okay match overall, but it lacked heat as it went a bit too long and early parts of the match were pretty dull. Stardust dominated the early portions of the match and his offense wasn’t anything to write home about. A lot of stomps, a lot of rest holds. Sami fought back against a superplex spot but Stardust landed it and got a nearfall. Stardust ate a clothesline, which is where Sami made his comeback and eventually got the win with the helluva kick.

    WWE World Heavyweight Championship: Triple H (c) vs. Dean Ambrose

    Really great world title match. Hunter looked way better than he did at the Royal Rumble and Ambrose is an excellent main event level match kind of guy. They did everything to make you believe that Ambrose was going to pull it off, including doing a dusty finish spot, until Ambrose made one mistake and lost because of it. Ambrose was in control of the match early, working on the nose in a cute spot, fighting Hunter on the outside and eventually started to work on the leg.  Hunter came back and threw him on the barricade. Hunter worked on him back in the ring, actually applying a Nagata Lock at one point. Ambrose came back and they had a pretty good back and forth match. Hunter went for the pedigree but Ambrose back body dropped him. He went for the dirty deeds, Hunter pushed him away, but Ambrose came back with the rabbit lariat. Ambrose went for a suicide dive but Triple H blasted him with a right had as he started to prepare the announce table. Ambrose made a comeback in the ring and hit a figure four, which is a good callback spot from earlier. Triple H escaped, but Ambrose came back with a sharpshooter, which was pretty funny.  Ambrose hit Dirty Deeds and pinned Hunter, but the refree waived it off, saying Ambrose’s feet were under the ropes. Ambrose threw Hunter on the outside and hit a big elbow, sending them both to the floor, then mocked Hunter with the DX crotch chop. Ambrose put Hunter on the exposed table, hopped on the barricade and went for another elbow but Triple H rolled out of the way and Ambrose crashed into the table. Triple H followed with the pedigree in the ring and pinned him to retain the title. 

  • New Japan Cup Finals results: Cup winner crowned; build to Invasion Attack

    Jay White vs. David Finlay

    I’m wondering why we haven’t seen the newer young lions on these tours. I guess they’re holding them off for future Lion’s Gate shows or something. There is something of a feud here between these two as David beat Jay in their first outing, but hasn’t beaten him since. Your usual good match between these two. Jay comes off as clearly better than Finlay technically but David’s a bit more charismatic. David had Jay in the Boston Crab, tried to escape several times until getting the ropes. White rolled through a pin attempt and went for the Boston Crab and submitted Finlay. They were given a bit more time than they normally get on this tour and worked a really solid match.

    Tiger Mask & Captain New Japan vs. Jushin Thunder Liger and Juice Robinson

    Tiger Mask is still recognized as the NWA Jr. champion even though they really haven’t done anything with the title in months. Tiger Mask did a big suicide dive onto Liger on the outside. They worked the match together on occasion while most of it was Robinson and CNJ. Robinson got the submission win over Captain New Japan with what looked like a choke sleeper.

    Tiger Mask then motioned he wanted a title match with Liger. Liger seemed fine with this. It made no sense given Robinson got the win, not to mention this feud has been done to death over the last two years so why do it again? It seems like these two are just destined to feud over this title forever for no reason, which is the worst kind of feud you can do.

    Evil and Bushi vs. Tomohiro Ishii & Yoshi-Hashi

    Evil’s regular move on the outside is to grab a chair, put it on his opponent’s throat, and shove him into a ringpost. Didn’t that use to put a guy out of action for months back in the day? Ishii and Evil squared off as that seems to be a future ROH TV title program. Ishii laid out Evil but Bushi came in and sprayed him. Evil came back and pinned Ishii clean to win the match. Good while it lasted, but it was clear the intention of the match was to put Evil over as a title contender.

    Evil grabbed the title after the match and made the throat cutting gesture to Ishii, making his intentions clear.

    New Japan Cup Semifinals: Tetsuya Naito vs. Toru Yano

    Yano immediately ran to the ring the minute his music played and beat up Naito with a chair. He tried a flash pin but it didn’t work. They teased a lot of roll up finishes but on the last one Yano accidently bumped the referee. Naito low blowed him and rolled him up to advance to the finals. Really short, comedy style match.

    New Japan Cup Semifinals: Hirooki Goto vs. Michael Elgin

    There wasn’t much of a feeling out process as they immediately went for big moves. This turned out to be a really good match, nothing but action throughout. Elgin hit all of his trademark spots early was clearly the guy people liked in the match. Elgin drilled him with tons of high impact moves, suplexing him left and right, even dished out a tiger suplex, but Goto kicked out of everything. Goto came back with the neckbreaker. Elgin deadlifted Goto from the top rope to the floor with a falcon arrow and hit the buckle bomb, but Goto came back with a sleeper.Goto came back and surprised Elgin with a roll up to advance to the finals. Crowd didn’t like that one, but they protected Elgin as much as possible with the loss and made him look dominant.

    Ryusuke Taguchi and Katsuyori Shibata vs. Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan

    Fine match while it lasted. The focus here seemed to be on Shibata and Kojima. Taguchi was in for a time, doing his butt based offense on Tenzan. When their partners came in, Kojima immediately did his comeback, but Shibata came back and fired chops of his own in the corner. Taguchi came in for a hot tag and looked good for a bit but Kojima simply laid him out with one lariat for the win.

    Kojima took the mic after the match, seemingly challenging for the NEVER title. Shibata responded by kicking him flush in the face. That’s one way of responding to a challenge. Kojima came back and laid him out with a lariat and laid the belt over him. It’s on.

    Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi vs. Kazuchika Okada and Kazushi Sakuraba

    It’s a weird situation here has Nagata and Shibata seemed to be programed for the NEVER title, or at least it was hinted at on the last show, but it didn’t come into fruition. Fine match, nothing special, just something for Okada to do on this show. Nakanishi and Sakuraba did some grappling, believe it or not. It didn’t look all that bad considering Nakanishi didn’t have to run around or anything. Nagata & Nakanishi hit double clotheslines and did their usual tease finish of the armbar/torture rack, but again it didn’t work. It’d have more credibility if someone actually lost in that manner. Nakanishi countered the rainmaker but Okada came back with a dropkick, hit the rainmaker and pinned him.

    Hiroshi Tanahashi, Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma vs. Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga and Yujiro Takahashi

    Good back and forth match. Not a whole ton to talk about, everyone just came in and did their thing. They made Fale look really strong here as they always protect him. Bullet Club used Fale as their heavy as he hit a whole bunch of high impact moves. Tanahashi wiped everyone on the outside out with a high fly flow. Honma hit his kokeshis and tried for the top rope finish but Tama Tonga came up and hit the gun stun off the top rope (that was really cool) then finished Honma with his waistlock DDT for the win.

    Bullet Club laid everyone out after the match. Fale left Tanahashi lying with a grenade, so that’s probably another Invasion Attack match. Tonga took the mic and said he and his brother, the former Camacho under a new name (I believe it’s Tama Roa but could be wrong), would be the next champions.

    New Japan Cup Finals: Tetsuya Naito vs. Hirooki Goto

    Really good match, but live the constant buffering live, especially towards the latter part of the match, hurt it. It’s an issue that’s been cropping up all year and was at its worst during the main event on this morning’s show. Crowd were hot for everything and was full of hot near falls. Of course, Bushi was on the outside and freely interfered the moment Goto was on the outside. The story here is that Goto had a long twelve minute match while Naito had a relatively easy match that ended in a few minutes. Goto hit a big superplex and followed with the knee neckbreaker.

    Naito made a comeback and hit Gloria. Goto tried for the shouten kai but Naito countered. Goto headbutted him, hit a penalty kick then landed the shouten kai but Naito kicked out at two. Evil suddenly appeared as Bushi distracted the ref. Goto laid him out which allowed Naito to come back. They hit back and forth countered until Naito hit Destino and pinned him to win the New Japan Cup.

    Naito made it clear after the match that he’s gunning for the IWGP title and Kazuchika Okada. Evil and Bushi brought back in Goto and they all put the boots to him until Okada made the save, clearing the ring. He extended his hand to Goto, but he got up on his own. Okada still wanted a handshake, and after teasing he wouldn’t, he finally did, so it seems Goto may have joined Chaos after teasing it for the last couple of months.

    Goto left as Okada brought up how Naito has said he wouldn’t challenge at Invasion Attack, then requested he face him there. Naito entered the ring once Okada left and changed his mind, saying fine, since Okada wanted to face him so bad he’ll face him at Invasion Attack. He and the rest of Los Ingobernables de Japon posed as the streamers came down and the show finished.

    —-

    Overall, a very good show with some pretty great matches. Everything had a purpose and there’s some interesting directions towards Invasion Attack. Okada/Naito has some real juice as a headliner and with matches like Ospreay/Kushida, Shibata/Kojima and Evil/Ishii it’s probably going to be one of the better cards of April.

  • WON Preview: UFC 196 aftermath

    SUBSCRIBERS READ IT HERE:  March 14, 2016 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Diaz defeats McGregor, Hayabusa passes away

    A full rundown of UFC 196 and it’s repercussions, details on the death of Hayabusa, WWE announces a physical Hall of Fame, plus tons more.  The records set by UFC 196 and the WWE records just broken are the lead stories in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.  The aftermath of UFC 196, with Diaz’s win over McGregor and Tate’s win over Holm, what it means business-wise, lessons taught, what fight is out the window and what fights are still on the table, an early look at the business numbers.  Talk of future fights, TV, PPV and video numbers, the stories behind the fights, match-by-match coverage and the disclosed payoffs for the fighters.  The controversy in the Lawlor vs. Anderson match.

    WWE’s biggest crowds, this year’s WrestleMania ticket sales and an update on the show.  Orlando getting next year’s WrestleMania and talk of the physical WWE Hall of Fame. 

    The death of Hayabusa, big announcements by New Japan, and a look at the New Japan Cup.

    Features on the last three members of the WWE’s 2016 Hall of Fame class with notes on their career.

    The unique political situation in WWE right now and power dynamic.  The secondary ticket markets for WrestleMania, Hall of Fame and NXT in Dallas and which one has the greatest demand and why.  WWE lawsuit judgment, an update on Roman Reigns, WWE looking at more signings, Mauro Ranallo hosting a new weekly non-wrestling TV show, Undertaker’s role on European tour, Kevin Owens’ thoughts on the IC title, Rhino running for public office, update on Seth Rollins, Dwayne Johnson news, Y2AJ shirts, Kenny Omega and WWE, WWE gets awards, new WWE book, WWE TV show returning to network, notes on SummerSlam 2016 weekend, WWE tryout camp plus business notes from all the weekend shows and rundowns of the WWE & NXT brand events.

    PWG’s All-Star weekend.

    The life and times of Lord James Blears and the glory days of 50th State Wrestling in Hawaii.  What made Hawaii the wrestling hotbed it was, as well as Blears’ other life as the patriarch of the first family of surfing.

    The monthly rundown of WWE business as well as that of TNA.

    Rundowns of all the major television shows, the ratings and details of the ratings for all the major television shows, results of all the major arena events held around the world this past week.

    READ IT HERE:  March 14, 2016 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Diaz defeats McGregor, Hayabusa passes away
    A full rundown of UFC 196 and it’s repercussions, details on the death of Hayabusa, WWE announces a physical Hall of Fame, plus tons more.

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    Check out the latest Online Wrestling Observer BACK ISSUE: February 15, 1988 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: A Tale of Two Hebners
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    Also in this issue:

    –The complete lineup for the Dos Leyendas card, CMLL’s first big event of the year with two hair matches

    –Notes on the debut of the sons of Cien Caras

    –Continuation of the Ultimo Guerrero vs. Atlantis feud

    –Notes on the amazing Kamaitachi vs. Dragon Lee match from the past week

    –Notes from the last Area Mexico shows

    –Two of Mexico’s all-time legends return for an Elite show

    –Update on AAA bookings

    –Notes on the debut of Octagon Jr.

    –Update on the AAA Rey de Reyes tournament

    –Japanese star with serious neck injury

    –Dragon Gate’s Champions Gate notes

    –The next title matches in Dragon Gate

    –Hayabusa’s connection with Dragon Gate and Dragon Kid

    –Financial issues with major Japan group

    –Japanese star about to return after a broken neck

    –More on the Hogan vs. Gawker case

    –What will be the second biggest wrestling crowd of the year and where that took place

    –Notes on Kota Ibushi coming to WWN

    –Update on Jimmy Snuka trial

    –Notes on WaleMania

    –Big indie crowd reprises legendary feud

    –Update on Rey Mysterio Jr. and indies

    –Update on Jeff Jarrett’s promotion

    –Former WWE star wins Universal title in Puerto Rico

    –Significant business deal getting close for Lucha Underground

    –Notes on the next season of Lucha Underground

    –Power structure in ROH

    –Major international star off ROH for a short period of time

    –Notes on this week’s ROH show

    –Joe Koff talks future of company

    –Expected lineup for the next tour with New Japan talent and the scheduled dates

    –TNA notes regarding the next tapings

    –Davey Richards talks his recovery from knee surgery

    –A look at the next several months of UFC main events

    –Details of the major press conference with all the headliners that took place last week

    –A look at UFC’s next stadium event

    –Notes from the next season of Ultimate Fighter

    –Notes behind the Joanna Jedrzejczyk vs. Claudia Gadelha feud

    –The Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier dynamic

    –Paige VanZant on Dancing With The Stars

    –Will one of UFC’s major draws return in a few months

    –Notes on this week’s Invicta show

    –Details of Chris Leben’s career ending once again

    –Rizin announces its first tag team match featuring MMA legends

    –Update on crazy show in Phoenix with boxing, pro wrestling, grappling and MMA on same bill as unique announcing team

    –MMA group looking at running weekly live events and television

    –Will Kayla Harrison go into MMA?

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  • March 14, 2016 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Diaz defeats McGregor, Hayabusa passes away

    Nate Diaz’s win over Conor McGregor and Miesha Tate’s UFC women’s bantamweight title win over Holly Holm literally changed the direction of UFC.

    Going into UFC 196 on 3/5 in Las Vegas, McGregor was the company’s money machine, expected to headline UFC 200 against Robbie Lawler for the welterweight title, or perhaps even Georges St-Pierre. The latter, which would have been the biggest fight in UFC history, was heavily rumored and talked about. It was given credence when St-Pierre showed up at ringside during the show and was coy about why he was there. After McGregor lost, Dana White denied any talk of GSP vs. McGregor, but at that point, with that fight really out the window, it does UFC no good for the story to be that the biggest fight in history got screwed up by an upset. There are those who believe St-Pierre will never return due his having no money issues and concern of the long-term effects of brain trauma from fighting. There were also rumors flying about GSP vs. Lawler for the welterweight title, which would also be a major fight. But right now there is still nothing officially said past rumors that GSP is going to fight again.

    Current subscribers click here to continue reading.

  • WWE Smackdown results: Sami Zayn & Neville vs. Kevin Owens & Miz

    – Air Date: March 10, 2016 (Mar 9 in Canada)
    – Location: Bradley Center in Milwaukee, WI

    – The Big News:

    Sami Zayn made his Smackdown debut and Chris Jericho explained why he turned on AJ Styles.

    – Show Recap:

    They announced The Wyatts vs. Dean Ambrose, Dolph Ziggler and The Usos as the main event.

    The Miz came out for MizTV and introduced Sami Zayn. He asked Zayn to tell us about himself, but as Zayn started, Miz yelled “cut!” repeatedly and asked him to get to the good stuff and make it more dramatic.

    Zayn was annoyed, but continued, saying he and Kevin Owens started 13 years ago in Montreal. They traveled the world and made it this far by sticking together. They weren’t just friends, it was like a brotherhood, and Zayn was even the best man at Owens’ wedding.

    Zayn said Owens debuted the night he won the NXT Title, and the powerbomb on the apron caused a lot of the injuries that led to his shoulder surgery. Zayn said the thing that hurts most is that he doesn’t understand why Owens did it.

    Owens came out (but never got in the ring) and said he’s already explained why he turned on Zayn – it was all business, but Zayn made it personal when he eliminated Owens from the Rumble. Zayn said he was going to take the Intercontinental Title from Owens at WrestleMania.

    Owens told him that wasn’t happening because this is the Kevin Owens show. Zayn challenged him to a fight right now since they were both there. Owens said Zayn didn’t deserve a fight with him and was about leave, but Neville interrupted. Neville said he and Owens had unfinished business, and the IC Title would look good around his waist.

    Miz said Zayn and Neville don’t deserve a title shot, but he does, because he main evented WrestleMania while those two were main eventing bingo halls. Zayn informed Miz that his years main eventing Mania are far behind him. Miz attacked him from behind, but Zayn fought back and Miz bailed. Good segment. Owens and Zayn were both great.

    Sami Zayn & Neville beat The Miz & Kevin Owens via pinfall

    Zayn and Owens never touched. There was a bit early where Neville tagged in Zayn with Owens in the ring, but Owens quickly scrambled to tag out. The heels got the heat on Neville, but Zayn made the hot tag and hit Miz with a springboard crossbody, ten punches in the corner and tornado DDT. Zayn waited for Miz to tag Owens but Owens bailed. Zayn hit Miz with an Exploder suplex into the turnbuckle and a Helluva Kick for the win. Good match.

    Toilet humour segment with Goldust and R-Truth. Goldust still doesn’t want to be his partner. Afterwards, they aired a video package for the Triple H-Dean Ambrose stuff.

    Brie Bella beat Summer Rae via submission

    Lana joined commentary by sitting on top of the announcer’s table, not in a chair. Saxton wanted to know why she attacked Brie on Raw and Lana told him to shut up. Brie did Yes kicks and won quickly with the Yes Lock and did the Yes chant afterwards. Summer tried to attack her, so Brie knocked her down, yelled “Brie mode!” and hit a running knee. Lana jumped in from behind and gave Brie an X-factor again, and did mocking Yes chants.

    They aired the Shane McMahon highlight package from Raw.

    Chris Jericho came out wearing dark maroon pants, a black blazer with no shirt, and a black scarf. He carried out a “Y2AJ” t-shirt, and the ring had a garbage can and lighter fluid in it already. Hmm I wonder what he’s planning. The crowd booed Jericho and he explained that he was mad at the fans for chanting for AJ Styles instead of him.

    Jericho said they’ve forgotten that he’s the best in the world. He said he can do whatever they want – be the world champion, work the opener, invent a new idea like Money in the Bank. He said they had a classic tag match on Raw but people still chanted for AJ. He’s been told many times that a new guy was coming in and would be a future world champion, only to disappear three months later.

    Jericho repeatedly admonished the crowd for chanting “AJ Styles.” He began pouring lighter fluid into the trashcan and said we were about to watch AJ’s career go up in flames. Jericho lit the shirt on the fire and tossed it in the can, which went up in flames. This resulted in a great visual, with Jericho standing the rising flames as he did mocking “AJ Styles” chants.

    This was really good. The only problem – every time Jericho got mad at the crowd for chanting “AJ Styles,” they weren’t really doing that. And a few people chanted “Y2J,” which kind of ruined the effect. Still, a good segment.

    They showed members of the Milwaukee Bucks at ringside and announced Big Bossman for the Hall of Fame.

    King Barrett & Sheamus (w/Rusev) beat Lucha Dragons via pinfall

    Barrett & Sheamus vs. New Day for the tag titles was announced for Roadblock in Toronto. Ryback was shown backstage watching the match. Kalisto took out Sheamus with a dive and Sin Cara had Barrett set up for a senton, but Rusev tossed him off the top and Barrett followed with a Bullhammer elbow for the pinfall win. Barrett did a forward roll in celebration. Backstage, Ryback called Lucha Dragons little guys and said size matters or whatever.

    They aired a clip of Seth Rollins winning the title at WrestleMania last year. After a break, they plugged The Rock for this year’s Mania and aired a video package for Shane and Vince. Shane’s brawl with security featured at least a dozen camera cuts.

    Backstage, Renee Young asked the Usos about the Dudley Boyz. They talked being 10 years old and watching the Dudleys in 1996, and that their recent actions were nothing new. They wanted to be like the Dudleys when they were growing up, but they no longer respect them. Ziggler and Ambrose jumped in and Renee asked if Ziggler was expecting and repercussions from The Authority.

    Ziggler said there would be, but he’s going to bring the fight tonight and referred to their team as “Milwaukee’s best.” Ambrose said he would beat Triple H for the title on Saturday, but tonight they were hunting dem Wyatt boys, one of his favourite things to do, and they all ran off together. This was good.

    8-Man Tag Match: Dean Ambrose, Dolph Ziggler & The Usos beat Wyatt Family via pinfall

    Saxton said the Wyatt family were like clones of Bray, because “They exude the evil that’s flowing through the veins of the eater of worlds,” to which Lawler responded, “They do his bidding alright.”

    They had the heat on Ziggler until he hit Harper with a sunset flip powerbomb and jumping DDT. He made the hot tag to Jey Uso who hit Harper with a Samoan drop. Each Uso did running hip attacks to Harper and Rowan, and followed with dives. Jey tried a splash but Harper got his knees up.

    Jey made a hot tag to Ambrose who hit Rowan with a running forearm, bulldog and swinging neckbreaker. He did a flying elbow but Harper broke up the cover, so Jimmy took him out with a kick. Bray gave Jimmy a uranage and Ziggler superkicked Bray. Ziggler gave two superkicks to Strowman, but Strowman no-sold it and clotheslined him.

    Ambrose tossed Strowman out of the ring, and Rowan tried a school boy near fall. Ambrose ducked a spin knick and hit Dirty Deeds for the win. Bray stared a hole through Ambrose as the good guys celebrated to end the show.

    – Final Thoughts:

    This was a strong show, and a big improvement over the last two weeks. Zayn, Owens and Jericho were all great, and Ambrose came off like a star in the main event.

  • Kurt Angle’s TNA farewell does all-time low rating

    The end of Kurt Angle week was not a ratings hit for TNA, as the combined audience for the two airings was the lowest to date for Impact.

    The final show of the U.K. tapings, built around Angle vs. Bobby Lashley, did 222,000 viewers at 9 p.m. and another 58,000 viewers at midnight.

    The midnight viewership was the lowest to date.  The previous lowest combined audience was 297,000 viewers two weeks ago.

    The 9 p.m. show was down 14 percent from the prior week, also built around Angle in a match with Bobby Roode.  The midnight show was down 15 percent from the prior all-time low was 68,000.

    Impact returns next Tuesday with the first show of a new set of tapings in Orlando, FL.  The episode will be taped two hours before it is broadcast.

  • WWE NXT results: Samoa Joe vs Sami Zayn, 2 out of 3 Falls

    The Big News: It took him 45 minutes, but Samoa Joe defeated Sami Zayn and became the #1 Contender to the NXT Title.

    The Medium News: Mr. Regal also announced that Austin Aries would wrestle Baron Corbin at Takeover.

    The Little Beaver Sized News: Bayley did not get hit in the head by an asteroid.

    The first show at Full Sail in a month kicks off with NXT General Manager William Regal coming to the ring. Mr. Regal was angry at Baron Corbin for attacking Austin Aries last week. He would have suspended Corbin, but Aries asked him not to and instead made Aries vs Corbin at NXT Takeover: Dallas.

    -They announced American Alpha vs The Vaudevillians in a #1 Contender’s Match and Bayley & Asuka in a tag team match. Spoiler Alert: they do not happen.

    1.) In a 2-out-of-3 Falls Match to determine the #1 Contender to the NXT Championship, Samoa Joe defeated Sami Zayn two falls to one.

    The show is completely backwards, the main event is on first. Larry Zbyszko, Mauro Ranallo, Adam Jones, Michael Hayes, Sasha Banks and Hideo Itami were all shown sitting ringside watching the show. Itami looked like he would rather be anywhere else in the world as opposed to watching this match.

    Back in January we had a Triple Threat match with these two men and Baron Corbin. Then after a double submission we got a one on one match, which ended in a double pin. Now, can we finally see these two men finish a match?

    We got a commercial break before the introductions to the match, which was literally the point when I realized they were going a full hour.

    They started slow, even slower than they started a few weeks ago. Neither man taking the advantage and both men grappling and angling to be the one to take over. Joe used a headlock to gain the advantage, with a couple side headlock takeovers and then leaning all 280 pounds down on Zayn. However Sami used his speed and technique to get out of it, taking Joe down with armbars.

    We came back from commercial and Joe has officially taken over, using a jumping elbow drop and then a back elbow to the mush. Joe used the face wash kick and Zayn checked to make sure his nose was still there. At one point it looked like Joe was going for a flapjack, but Zayn flipped over at the last second for a belly to belly overhead suplex.

    Zayn made a comeback and was able to get out of a Muscle Buster, but he immediately got kicked in the head. Zayn at this point was just taking a beating. He would get to his feet, hit a single punch or kick and then get slammed down. The booking of this match was brilliant as Joe beat Zayn from head to toe and Zayn kept getting back to his feet.

    Zayn was able to send Joe flying out of the ring and hit his sitting Asai Moonsault to the floor! Zayn rolling Joe back in and got a near fall with a dive off the top rope. The first fall passed 20 minutes when Zayn went for a Blue Thunder Bomb, but Joe shifted his weight and fell on top for a 2 count. An exciting series of counters led to a Joe corner Uranage and finally getting the first fall with a Muscle Buster.

    The second fall started with Joe flying across the ring and going for another Muscle Buster, but Zayn blocked it. Joe continued the beating he was giving Zayn until a series of headbutts led to a Missile Dropkick to Joe. Samoa Joe is wearing a crimson mask! Well a crimson trickle. Joe saw the blood and became more vicious. Joe missed a knee drop, so Zayn almost won with a crucifix.

    Joe’s beating continued outside the ring and they teased a count out on several occasions, including with an STO on the floor. Zayn used the energy from getting back in the ring to fire into yet another comeback, hitting a huge suplex and a flip dive over the top rope. Back in the ring Zayn used an STO and the Koji Clutch for the tap out! It’s all tied at 1!

    At the start of the third fall they announced that the other matches would be rescheduled for another time. Joe kicked out of a Blue Thunder Bomb and then a sunset flip power bomb. Sami even broke out his awesome move where Joe is outside the ring and Zayn runs across the ringside area, dives over the bottom rope, through the ring and hooks Joe with a Tornado DDT.

    Joe blocked the Halluva Kick and turned it into a power bomb, turning it into a Boston Crab and then a Crossface. Joe pulled back the other arm too, but Zayn was able to get his foot on the ropes. 40 minutes into the match and Joe was now trying to win the match by knockout, using all of his strikes to knock Zayn down. Zayn had one last gasp and locked on the Coquina Clutch! Sami Zayn is using Samoa Joe’s own submission hold against him! Joe got his foot on the rope, but when he got up he got the Exploder Suplex in the corner!

    Zayn went for the Helluva Kick, but Joe sidestepped him and locked on the Clutch! Zayn was just inches from the ropes and scratching and clawing, but Joe changed it slightly, wrapping his leg around Zayn’s arm. Sami was inches away from the ropes, coming oh so close, but he passed out! Zayn was inches away from a rope break, but he couldn’t make it!

    Samoa Joe is finally your #1 Contender. It took over 3 matches over 5 weeks and then it took 45 minutes to get it done. We now know that at NXT Takeover: Dallas on April 1, Finn Balor will defend the NXT Title one more time against Samoa Joe.

    After all that, that does it for this week. Thank you all for reading and until next week make sure to say your vitamins and take your prayers!

  • Kota Ibushi will appear on Evolve and WWN Mania weekend shows

    Gabe Sapolsky announcd Tuesday that Kota Ibushi will be part of the three WWN-related “supershows” over WrestleMania weekend in Dallas, TX.

    Ibushi, a former DDT and New Japan star, will return after a neck injury in two weeks. The current free agent has talked about starting his own group in Japan, and there has been rumors he would appear on the WrestleMania weekend shows for the past week.

    On Twitter, Sapolsky announced he would be at all three shows: Evolve on 4/1 and 4/2, and the WWN Super Show on 4/2.

    Ibushi has already made it clear he’s interested in appearing in WWE’s summer cruiserweight tournament. Evolve, WWN, and WWE has a relationship with WWE talent doing autograph signings on Evolve shows and William Regal has already been announced as being part of two upcoming March New York shows doing interaction with talent.

    Ibushi is one of the world’s most spectacular performers and had the 2015 match of the year award winner at the Tokyo Dome on 1/4 against Shinsuke Nakamura.

  • Smackdown spoilers: Dean Ambrose & Dolph Ziggler & Usos vs The Wyatt Family

    – At a WWE press conference today, John Cena said that he would not be ready to return at WrestleMania.

    – A New Day vs. King Barrett & Sheamus tag team title match has been added to Roadblock on Saturday in Toronto.  We are checking to see if this change in the show is related to a change in WrestleMania plans where this match was originally scheduled.

    – The show opened with Miz TV with Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens.  Owens tried to walk out and Neville showed up and then Miz attacked Zayn to set up a tag team match.

    – Sami Zayn & Neville beat Owens & Miz. Owens walked out and Zayn pinned Miz.

    – Brie Bella beat Summer Rae and then Lana attacked Brie and once again hit the X Factor on her.

    – Chris Jericho came out and set fire to a Y2AJ T-shirt.  Jericho said he hates people cheering Styles.  Styles went after Jericho but The Ascension came out and Styles laid them both out. 

    – Wade Barrett & Sheamus beat Lucha Dragons when Barrett pinned Sin Cara.

    – Ryback did an interview challenging Sin Cara

    – Dean Ambrose & Dolph Ziggler & Usos beat The Wyatt Family (Bray, Harper, Rowan, Braun)