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  • Figure Four Weekly 1/11/16: A look back at one of the most gruesome in ring injuries ever

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  • ROH TV results: The Ballad of Donovan Dijak and The Kingdom Blues

    Ring of Honor television from Philadelphia featured storylines with one partnership ending and the beginning of the end for another. In doing so, the House of Truth loses a member while elsewhere The Kingdom begins to crumble. Staying with the theme of partnerships, teams were a main focus of the show as reDRagon and the Young Bucks both issues challenges. Tag team champions War Machine hunt their prey. The main event also features tags but only in form of tagging out of a four corners survival match with Jay Briscoe vs. Matt Sydal vs. Moose vs. Dalton Castle. 

    The show opened with tag teams focused on the nightlife.

    All Night Express (Kenny King & Rhett Titus) beat Roppongi Vice (Rocky Romero & Trent Baretta)

    King shined in the opening moments then he and Titus starting doing double teams moves. The action spilled to the outside where Romero jumped off the apron with a flying knee. ANX jumped Rocky at ringside and rammed him into the guardrail. Baretta made the save with a corkscrew moonsault off the guardrail.

    Back in the ring, Baretta went to the top rope only for Titus to cut him off before a commercial. After the break, ANX got heat on Baretta until a hot tag to Romero. He cleaned house and they transitioned into the finish.

    Roppongi Vice was double teaming Titus. King tagged in but Baretta & Romero were unaware a tag was made. They executed their Strong Zero finisher on Titus and Baretta covered him. The referee would not count as Titus was not the legal man. In the meantime, King slid in the ring and rolled up Baretta with a schoolboy to score the pinfall.

    The mistake of one team cost them a match and the next segment delt with someone calling out a team for previous mistakes. 

    Enter The Kingdom with Adam Cole in the lead. Matt Taven was on crutches due to his injury. Seemingly ignoring the rest of the group, Cole sauntered down the aisle to the ring leaving them behind on the ramp. Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis stayed behind to help the injured Taven down the ramp and into the ring.

    As security surrounded the ring, Cole said they were there to protect against Kyle O’Reilly, whom Cole labeled as a coward despite Cole himself being the one protected by bodyguards. Cole brought up his win over O’Reilly at Final Battle. The crowd chanted “on the ropes” at Cole since he cheated to win in that match on the PPV.

    With his back to the group, Cole talked about some in The Kingdom like himself winning at Final Battle while others in the group were losers, referring to Bennett and Taven losing the tag team titles. Cole said they “dropped the ball” and he was about to explain to them on how to win back the titles when reDRagon interrupted his instructions. O’Reilly was seething and aggressively paced around rinsgide. Bobby Fish was calmer and spoke.

    “Right now if this pitbull gets loose, man, you don’t live to see tomorrow,” Fish said when describing O’Reilly.

    Fish challenged The Kingdom to a match. Matchmaker Nigel McGuiness, who was ringside doing commentary with Kevin Kelly, booked the match for next week. However, Young Bucks entered the scene to lobby for their own match against The Kingdom.

    “If anybody is going to take out these Bullet Club marks,” Matt Jackson said, “it’s going to be us!”

    He petitioned Nigel for a match. Nigel asked the audience their opinion and the crowd of course cheered for the Bucks. He wanted to do what the fans wanted yet noted he already booked a match. So, he added Young Bucks as a third team to the tag match airing next week and made it a Philly street fight. 

    Later in the show, a backstage promo from reDRagon hyped the three-way street fight. A fired up O’Reilly said he was from the mean streets of Delta, British Columbia. O’Reilly went on to say he came from a broken home (meaning literally). He said his mom and dad were alright but a tree crashed through their house. O’Reilly wanted revenge on that tree. He said Mike Bennett would be that tree and they would chop him down. Fish added The Kingdom had no idea what was coming next week.

    Tag team champions War Machine (Hanson & Raymond Rowe) beat House of Truth (Donovan Dijak & Joey “Diesel” Daddiego with Truth Martini)

    War Machine pummeled Daddiego at the start. Dijak got in some offense early on and did a corkscrew plancha from the top turnbuckle to the floor. Martini slid Dijak the Book of Truth to use as a weapon but Dijak kicked it away. 

    As Martini bickered with Dijak about him desecrating the book, Daddiego tagged himself in to get pummeled some more. War Machine began to squash them and Dijak attempted a last ditch effort to no avail. War Machine executed their Fallout finisher and Hanson covered Dijak for the pin.

    Following a commercial break, the House of Truth remained in the ring. Martini chastised Dijak for losing. He also brought up him not helping Jay Lethal in his main event title defense at Final Battle. He noted Lethal did not need the help but claimed Dijak should have been there to offer help. 

    Martini slapped Dijak in the face. The crowd chanted it was weak. As Martini kept cutting a promo on him, Dijak grabbed him by the lapels. Daddiego jumped in and attacked Dijak. He applied a head and arm choke only as Truth scremed to never touch him again. Dijak countered and lifted Daddiego up in the torture rack. Dijak delivered his All Seeing Eye finisher and left Daddiego laying. 

    Martini bailed out of the ring and told Dijak he was fired from the House of Truth. The crowd chanted for Dijak as he stood defiant in the ring. Prince Nana, who gave Dijak a mysterious envelope weeks ago on TV, appeared at ringside and looked on approvingly.

    Dalton Castle (with The Boys) won a four corners survival match over Matt Sydal & Jay Briscoe & Moose (with Stokley Hathaway)

    This was an eclectic mix of participants bringing a variety of styles to the four-way match. Anyone could tag in at any time. Likewise, lucha tag rules were in effect meaning if a participant left the ring then someone could get in the ring to replace that person without a tag.

    Castle was quite over with the crowd. They teased Briscoe and Moose squaring off but held off on delivering that until later in the match. Dalton did some matrix moves and strutted around Jay. As he stopped to pose, Jay booted him in the face. 

    Eventually, Briscoe and Moose squared off and had a slugfest. Castle got two nearfalls on Moose. With three of them brawling at ringside, Sydal dived off the top turnbuckle with a moonsault to the floor. Stokely stole the fans from The Boys and began fanning Moose. The Boys snatched them away from him. 

    In the closing moments, Sydal got a nearfall on Moose with a hurricanrana. Briscoe got a nearfall on Sydal after a ratchet neckbreaker. Moose speared Briscoe. Castle hit Moose with a missile dropkick off the top. Sydal countered Castle’s attempt at the Bang-o-Rang and Dalton took a reverse hurricanrana from Sydal. 

    For the finish, Sydal climbed the turnbuckles and The Boys caused a distraction by fanning him when he went for a shooting star. Sydal landed on his feet. Castle then delivered the Bang-o-Rang and covered him for the pin.  

  • WWE Smackdown results: Title Change, Dean Ambrose & Neville vs. Sheamus & Kevin Owens

    – Air Date: January 14, 2016 (Jan 13 in Canada) 
    – Location: Canjundome in Lafayette, LA 

    The Big News: 

    Alberto Del Rio regained the U.S. Championship after defeating Kalisto in a really good match. Also, Dean Ambrose will defend his Intercontinental Championship in a Last Man Standing Match at the Royal Rumble against Kevin Owens. 

    Show Recap: 

    The announcers plugged all three “main events” to start the show. Renee Young was standing outside the arena awaiting Dean Ambrose, who showed up in the passenger seat of a pickup truck. Ambrose had a statement for Kevin Owens but wanted to announce it to his face in the ring. 

    Ambrose came to the ring, asked for a drumroll and was surprised when he actually got one. Ambrose wanted Owens out there before making the announcement, but he didn’t show up. He asked for the drumroll again and said he was challenging Owens to a Last Man Standing match at the Rumble. (There was a funny flub when Ambrose talked into the IC Title on his shoulder instead of the mic and we couldn’t hear what he was saying for a moment.) 

    Sheamus came out and said Ambrose was acting like a child (he was) but the adults were tired of him. Sheamus said Roman Reigns stole the title from him and now he has to win it back in the Rumble match. He wanted to finish the brawl they didn’t finish on Raw and was pissed about the forehead scar Ambrose gave him. Ambrose was ready for a fight but Kevin Owens interrupted. 

    Owens accepted the challenge and said Ambrose wouldn’t be able to walk out of the Rumble. Sheamus and Owens attacked him but Neville ran out to make the save and the heels bailed. This was not a good segment and crowd was quiet. They made Ambrose do comedy to announce a Last Man Standing match and it died. Also, there was no explanation for why Ambrose didn’t come out to save Reigns on Raw. 

    Tables Match: The Dudley Boyz beat Luke Harper & Erick Rowan (w/Braun Strowman) 

    The lights went out after the Dudleys made their entrance and the Wyatts magically appeared to attack them from behind. I guess the referee thought this was fair so he started the match. The Dudleys set up a table but Harper hit D-Von with a superkick. There was a mixup between Bubba and Harper/Rowan where they just awkwardly stood around until Rowan kicked Bubba and they went to commercial. 

    Strowman got his team a kendo stick but Bubba grabbed it and used it to knock Rowan out of the ring. Strowman went after him but Bubba moved and Strowman went shoulder-first into the post. Eventually, Bubba and Harper had a struggle on the steps, ending with Bubba pushing Harper through a table on the floor for the surprising Dudleys win. 

    Afterwards, Strowman knocked down both Dudleys from behind. Strowman tossed D-Von into two different tables positioned in the corners. Then, standing on the announce table, Harper and Rowan gave Bubba a double chokeslam through two tables on the floor. Strowman was directing them a la Bray Wyatt, who was not there. The post-match was a good heat angle for the Wyatts, but I’m not sure why they didn’t just win. 

    Backstage, Kalisto told Jo-Jo he didn’t have much hope to get to WWE, but guys like Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio gave him hope. All he needed was one opportunity and now he’s U.S. Champion and plans for it to stay that way. 

    8-Man Tag: Social Outcasts beat Damien Sandow, Goldust, Jack Swagger & Zack Ryder via pinfall 

    Nobody got an introduction. Bo Dallas won with a Bo-dog on Ryder. As Dallas did the Bo-dog, he accidentally kicked Slater off the ring apron for comedy. The action here was totally fine, but this felt like a waste of time, and in particular, a waste of Goldust and Jack Swagger. Also, this was Sandow’s first match on Raw or Smackdown since May of 2015 when, funny enough, he teamed with Axel to beat Slater and Rose. Welcome back. 

    They aired a video package from Raw. Jerry Lawler again sided with the McMahons and said Reigns deserved what he got. 

    Backstage, Alberto Del Rio told Renee he doesn’t care what the fans think and would bring them back to reality when he regains the U.S. Championship. 

    U.S. Championship: Alberto Del Rio beat Kalisto via submission

    Lawler started by saying there’s no way Del Rio could take Kalisto seriously. Mauro Ranallo mentioned that Del Rio main evented an MMA show he called 12 years ago. Del Rio hit a great-looking armbreaker off the ropes. Kalisto rolled to the outside trying to regroup, but Del Rio went after him, slamming his arm against the steel steps. The crowd started to get behind Kalisto after that. 

    After a break, Wade Barrett was at ringside. This felt like a video game where your ally just randomly shows up at ringside. Del Rio set up for the double foot stomp but Kalisto countered into a headscissors. He followed with a springboard seated senton but Del Rio sidestepped another springboard move and hit a side kick for a near fall. Kalisto made his comeback and got a couple of near falls. 

    Barrett distracted Kalisto allowing Del Rio to apply the armbar. Kalisto managed to make it to the ropes after a long struggle. Del Rio fell to the outside and Kalisto went for a dive, but Barrett pulled Del Rio out of the way and Kalisto crashed on to the mats. Del Rio reapplied the armbar back in the ring and Kalisto tapped out immediately. 

    This match was really good and Kalisto came off as well as he could here in the loss. Slight nitpick is that they moved on from this segment too quickly after Del Rio won. Also, Barrett’s involvement was pretty lame. 

    They played the Sting Hall of Fame video. 

    Backstage, Becky Lynch told Renee that Charlotte attacking her really got her down. Renee said Lynch doesn’t stay down, and they showed a replay of Lynch attacking Charlotte on Raw. Lynch said she would stay fired up until she beats Charlotte for the title and challenged her to a match at the Rumble. Lynch said Charlotte could bring the whole Flair clan and she would be ready. 

    Becky Lynch beat Brie Bella (w/Alicia Fox) via submission 

    Lynch won relatively quickly with the Disarmer. (I wrote that before the match started.) 

    Neville & IC Champion Dean Ambrose beat Sheamus & Kevin Owens via DQ 

    They went to commercial a minute into the match. After the break, they had the heat on Ambrose. Neville tagged in and ran wild but was attacked from behind by Owens and they got the heat on him. Owens called Ranallo “Four eyes” and told him to pay attention because he might learn something. 

    Owens went for a cannonball but Neville moved and hit a German suplex and made the hot tag to Ambrose. Ambrose ran wild on Sheamus, hitting a tornado DDT and flying elbow drop. Owens broke up the cover so Ambrose knocked him out of the ring. Ambrose went for the rebound clothesline on Sheamus, but Owens kicked him right in the head and Sheamus hit White Noise for a near fall. 

    Owens tagged in but Ambrose countered a powerbomb and hit a rebound clothesline followed by a suicide dive. Sheamus drove him repeatedly into the ring steps, returning the favour from Raw. Owens hit Ambrose with the light piece of cardboard that covers the announce table and that was a DQ. 

    The heels cleared the table but Neville took them out with a dive. Ambrose gave Owens Dirty Deeds and Neville finished him off with Red Arrow. The babyfaces posed and Sheamus seethed at them. 

    Final Thoughts: 

    This would’ve been every Smackdown show ever if not for the Kalisto vs. Alberto Del Rio title match, which I really liked. Maybe I wouldn’t have put the title back on Del Rio right away, but Kalisto looked strong so I’ll let this one play out. 

    They really need to stop booking “big” matches that they don’t know how to get out of. Tonight’s main event with Dean Ambrose ended in a DQ, after his match with Sheamus on Raw ended in a double count out. Last week’s Smackdown main event with Ambrose also ended in a double count out, and his tag match that main evented Smackdown the week before that ended in a DQ. 

    Also, this was their second week on a new network, and the second week with no Roman Reigns (among others). I know he was overseas or whatever, but it’s not like they inform the viewers of this. 

  • WWE NXT results: Women’s #1 contender battle royal, Sami Zayn returns to Full Sail

    Before starting, please check out WrestlingOutsiders.com for 5 days of free wrestling and MMA podcasts every single week.

    • The Big News: In two weeks Samoa Joe, Sami Zayn and Baron Corbin will square off in the triple threat #1 Contender’s match.
    • The Medium News: Carmella won a battle royal to become Bayley’s next challenger.
    • The Little Beaver Sized News: Asuka kicked Eva Marie’s head clean off her shoulders.

    After a 2 week break, let’s see if I remember how to do this.

    *****

    Rich Brennan and Byron Saxton are gone, Tom Phillips is here and Corey Graves never left. The show starts with the return of Mr. William Regal! Mr. Regal thanked the fans for making NXT the fastest growing promotion in the world before announcing a battle royal with the winner getting a shot at the Women’s Championship.

    Mr. Regal introduced Sami Zayn before leaving. This is Sami’s first appearance in the NXT Arena since NXT Takeover: Unstoppable in May. He got quite the reaction coming out, with a standing ovation and chants of “Welcome back” and an extended “Ole” song.

    Sami loved being back and announced that he is here to be the first ever 2x NXT Champion, which led to chants of “two times”. This brought out Samoa Joe, who is not happy about losing to Finn Balor at NXT Takeover: London.

    Joe stated that he is happy Sami is back and he can appreciate Zayn wanting to be champion, but he doesn’t deserve the title match. The last time Sami was in the ring he had to be saved by Joe after a beating by Kevin Owens. Joe pointed out that Finn Balor said he did not beat Joe, he survived. Joe finished by saying that if Sami wants to not get injured again he will leave the ring.

    That brought out Baron Corbin. Corbin agreed with Joe and said Zayn belongs in the back of the line. At Takeover he beat Apollo Crews, while Samoa Joe failed in his shot at the gold. While Sami was at home he was passed by someone hungrier and more durable. Corbin proclaimed himself to be the uncrowned NXT Champion.

    Joe pointed out he choked out Corbin in Brooklyn, so he doesn’t belong in this conversation. Joe threatened Sami again before leaving. Sami said he was standing in the ring and Baron attacked him from behind as Joe walked away. Baron went for End of Days, but Sami got around it and booted Corbin out of the ring. Joe teased attacked Zayn from behind, but stopped when Zayn turned around.

    – Bayley cut a promo saying that she survived the match with Nia Jax and honestly didn’t know she still had all that in her. She is jealous because she loves battle royals and may give the winner a hug.

    -They announced the 2015 NXT Awards:

    • Tag Team of the Year: Enzo Amore & Colin Cassady
    • Female Competitor of the Year: Bayley
    • Male Competitor of the Year: Finn Balor
    • Takeover of the Year: NXT Takeover: Brooklyn
    • Match of the Year: Bayley vs Sasha Banks from Brooklyn
    • Overall Competitor Of The Year: Finn Balor

    All the winners got a plaque with a golden ring bell and hammer on it.

    Tommaso Ciampa submitted Danny Birch

    20 minutes in and we get the first match of 2016. Tommaso Ciampa, complete with correct spelling of his name, one on one with Danny Birch. Birch didn’t get an entrance, but he got a bit of offense. Ciampa hit a really nice draping STO, which should have been his finish, but Birch kicked out. Birch got a near fall with a punch to the face. No, really. Ciampa picked up the win with an armbar after rolling over Birch’s back. That looked really nice.

    – Enzo and Cass said they will not forget being injured by Dash & Dawson. Enzo said real G’s never lose and real men don’t hide behind women. They vowed to finish the business between them.

    -A promo package for Billie Kay, Deonna Purrazzo and Emma, all of whom said they would win the battle royal. The highlight was Billie starting her promo by saying “In case you forgot, I am Billie Kay”. I guarantee 90% of the people watching had no idea.

    -Mr. Regal announced Sami Zayn vs Samoa Joe vs Baron Corbin in a #1 Contender’s Match in 2 weeks.

    NXT Tag Team Champions Dash & Dawson defeated The Ascension

    The Ascension continue to be God’s to the NXT crowd. I always think it’s funny how much they put over their Tag Title reign when there were literally no other teams for about 6 months and the gimmick was every week they would take on a different jobber team.

    Viktor started the match by beating the living crap out of Dash Wilder. Honestly he probably beat the dead crap out of him too. Dash got tired of being stiffed, so he leveled Viktor with a couple blows too. The champs got the heat on Viktor while the announcers talked about Enzo & Cass being tag team of the year. Konnor got the hot tag and used the Dusty Rhodes flip, flop and fly routine on Dawson.

    We had a Pier 6 break out before Dash & Dawson got the win with their finish.

    – Nia Jax was being worked on by the trainer and the trainer did not clear her to compete in the battle royal. Mr. Regal refused to let her join while Eva Marie was quite happy that her largest opponent (even though she is a friend) wasn’t in the match.

    – Carmella, Peyton Royce and Alexa Bliss all said they would win the battle royal. Carmella spent Christmas in a tanning bed.

    Elias Sampson pinned Corey Hollis

    Elias Sampson does not use public transportation. Seriously that is the tidbit we got from Corey Graves. Corey Hollis is the foe this week. Hollis looked at him like “Dude, remember when we were nameless jobbers together?”

    This is Sampson’s second match since being repackaged. The first one saw him beat Bull Dempsey in a bad match no one cared about. This one saw him win with a swinging neck breaker in a meh match that a couple people cared about.

    After the match Sampson announced that what NXT needs is what he is.

    – Alex Reyes interviewed Finn Balor about the upcoming #1 Contender’s Triple Threat Match. Balor said the Joe match was physically and mentally draining. Joe is a monster, but as champion he never rests and faces every challenger. He said all of the three challengers plead a good case as to why they should get the title match. As far as he is concerned the title will stay with him regardless who wins.

    – Cameron, Aliyah (making her debut), Liv Morgan and Asuka all said they will win the battle royal.

    Carmella won the #1 Contender’s Battle Royal, last eliminating Eva Marie

    Emma, Alexa, Carmella, Eva Marie and Asuka were the only ones to get an entrance. Eva pouted when her music was cut off for Asuka’s. Eva took offense to Asuka walking by her, so when the bout started Eva had something to say, so Asuka kicked her head off.

    This was an over the top rope battle royal, so Eva was allowed to roll under the bottom rope and have emergency head re-attachment surgery before continuing. Aliyah, in her debut, was the first one out. That was followed by Deonna Purrazzo, who can go lose a battle royal in TNA now, Cameron, Liv Morgan, Bliss, Emma, Royce, Kay, Asuka and Eva Marie.

    Morgan lifted Cameron up for a power bomb, but dropped her, so they went right back to the spot, which led to Bliss throwing them both out. Bliss should have been the favorite since she is shorter than the top rope, but she didn’t make the final four. Eva stayed on the floor the entire match until Asuka eliminated everyone else in the ring. Eva threw Asuka over the top rope to the floor, but she forgot one person. Earlier Carmella was knocked to the floor and the entire crowd knew what was going to happen. Sure enough Carmella got in and threw out Eva Marie to win!

    After the match, Bayley ran down and hugged her new #1 Contender as the show ended.

    So that does it for this week. Until next week, remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers.

  • Dana White confirms potential opponent for CM Punk debut

    Over a year after officially signing with the UFC, it appears as if CM Punk may finally have a date, location and potential opponent for his first professional MMA fight: July 9th in Las Vegas at UFC 200.

    The potential opponent is Mickey Gall, a 1-0 welterweight from New Jersey who is currently ranked at #63 on the list of northeastern United States welterweights on Tapology.com. At 5-11 and 23 years old, he will make his UFC debut at February 6th’s UFC 196 against Michael Jackson, who will be making his professional debut on the show. This clearly looks like a showcase fight for Gall, who has been told that should he win the fight, he’ll get the Punk match at UFC 200 in July.

    Dana White appeared on TSN’s Off the Record with Michael Landsberg and confirmed all of this. He also confirmed that Ronda Rousey will not be fighting at UFC 200 but did speculate on who he’d like to see on the card. Landsberg brought up the possibility of GSP-Lawler and White said that would be awesome and also speculated that Anderson Silva could be a possible opponent for GSP, should he return.

    The Gall-Jackson fight will be on the Fight Pass prelims of UFC 196. White also confirmed that Punk will be in attendance at the fight. 

    Gall has been speculated as Punk’s potential opponent for the last week or so after being featured on Dana White’s Looking for a Fight YouTube series. He trains with the Gracie New Jersey Academy and fought in front of White at a regional show at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia (the former ECW Arena in another pro wrestling tie-in).

  • TNA Impact on POP ratings up slightly on week two

    TNA Impact rose slightly in its second week on Pop TV.

    The show, built around the beginning of the Kurt Angle farewell tour and a singles match with Drew Galloway, did 288,000 viewers on the first airing of the show and 77,000 on the second airing at midnight.

    Those numbers compare with 255,000 for the first airing last week and 90,000 for the replay, with a net increase of 20,000 viewers.

    The numbers are about two-thirds of what the viewership was at this same point one year ago on Destination America, even though Destination America was in 17 million viewer homes.

    Next week’s show is built around Matt Hardy vowing to leave TNA if he fails to win the title in the main event against Ethan Carter III.  The show features the beginning of the Matt Hardy heel turn.

  • Daily Update: Rousey’s UFC 200 status, WWE HOF, WrestleMania in LA?

    Ronda Rousey will not fight at UFC 200

    UFC president Dana White told Yahoo Sports that Ronda Rousey will not be competing on this summer’s mega UFC 200 event due to filming for Road House being pushed back. Of course, things are always subject to change, but that’s the story for now.

    And check out this Lucha Underground promo.

    We’re looking for your thoughts on last night’s Smackdown and Main Event tapings from Lafayette, LA. Send them to Dave Meltzer.

    If you’ve ever wanted to WATCH our radio shows here on the site, check out our new Youtube page! No full video shows, but lots of video clips, full free audio shows that you can tell your friends about, and much more to come! Make sure you subscribe today!  We have two new quick video clips up on our Youtube page, so check it out and subscribe today for more!

    Figure Four Weekly

    Figure Four Weekly 1/4/2016: More on Gawker motioning to dismiss Hulk Hogan lawsuit

    More information on Gawker’s motion to dismiss Hulk Hogan’s sex tape lawsuit, tons more.

    Wrestling Observer Newsletter

    The Latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter: January 11, 2015 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Cena out with shoulder injury, New Japan stars to WWE

    In the biggest news week in a long time, we’ve got a double issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter this week, covering John Cena’s injury, New Japan stars headed to WWE, a major feature looking at the year that past in pro wrestling and MMA and the year coming up, WWE direction for WrestleMania season, Tokyo Dome coverage, Rizin debut coverage, TNA changes and UFC 195.

    Our lead story talks about John Cena’s injury and the injury issues in WWE with more notes on the training program being used. All the news regarding wrestlers leaving New Japan, who’s been contacted, different roles, the various schedules for different guys, other negotiations, what led to these moves, what New Japan needs to learn from this, affects on ROH, and other ideas for New Japan to break out of its standard mentality.

    UFC in 2016, the success of the women’s division, UFC business review, big fights on the horizon, the state of WWE in 2015 and 2016, different fan bases, rise of NXT, where New Japan has failed on the international scene, plus AAA, CMLL, Bellator, TNA and ROH prospects in 2016.

    Full coverage of New Japan’s Tokyo Dome show, match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results, the big angles, Okada’s prospects as the top star, the next big programs on the horizon, big show plans for 2016, the Fanstastica Mania tour lineup and thoughts, New Year’s Dash coverage.

    The changes to this year’s Royal Rumble and scout the possibilities and big matches on the horizon for Mania, and the return of Chris Jericho.

    WWE Network, John Cena on Peyton Manning and HGH, football coach trying to recruit WWE for Mania, portrayal of Joseph Maroon in the “Concussion”, lots of details on new Dwayne Johnson projects, Lesnar’s schedule, a look at 50/50 booking, Reaction to HHH circumventing his own angle, February NXT, WrestleMania plans, Jericho talks current interview style, WWE looking for new stars around the world, Dusty Rhodes tag team tournament, WWE injury updates, Austin TV show.

    A complete look at the debut of the Rizin promotion, details on the ratings and how it compares to WWE & UFC, the Masato vs. Kid Yamamoto show in competition, boxing in competition, Spike TV numbers, Fedor’s return, the freak show fights and what did and didn’t work on the first two shows.

    UFC 195, with match-by-match coverage, poll results and business regarding the show, a look at all the close decisions and why they went the way they did.

    TNA’s debut on Pop TV, the ratings, the title tournament, who was watching, the PPV show this week, the Mike Bennett debut, the James Storm return, the departure of Taryn Terrell and the good and bad of the latest relaunch.

    PLUS MUCH MORE! CLICK HERE FOR A FULL WRESTLING OBSERVER PREVIEW

    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

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    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.

    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. 

    Click here for the most requested Wrestling Observer back issues.

    Check out the latest Online Wrestling Observer BACK ISSUE: November 23, 1998 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: WWF Survivor Series review, Rock becomes Corporate Champion
    A full review of WWF Survivor Series with The Rock becoming the Corporate Champion, more WCW woes, plus tons of news.

    TUESDAY’S NEWS UPDATE

    In case you missed it, Bob Holly was interviewed on Wrestling Observer Live today, available here for subscribers. 

    There are rumblings of WrestleMania heading to Los Angeles within the next several years.

    WWE put Hall of Fame tickets on sale. While the full 2016 class has yet to be fully announced, Sting is the headliner. More info on ticket sales here.

    ROH announced that Matt Taven is out of action for likely nine months after undergoing surgery to repair a torn ACL, ruptured lateral meniscus and torn medial meniscus.  He suffered the injury at the last PPV in losing the tag team titles to War Machine, but the hope was that it wasn’t too serious.

    We’ve got a few reports that POP TV is moving from the Comcast/Xfinity’s Digital Starter tier to a Digital Preferred tier, possibly affecting TNA Impact Wrestling’s future ratings if TNA fans on Xfinity aren’t upgrading their cable package.  A caller on Wrestling Observer Live last week also claimed that Spike was being moved off the Starter tier as well.

    WWE

    • For whatever it is worth, the finish for Royal Rumble is written and whatever it is, it is going to lead to a big match at Fast Lane since they want that to be an A-level PPV and not just a stop on the way to WrestleMania.
    • Brock Lesnar has been announced for Raw Monday.
    • John Cena on his Twitter said that movement in his shoulder was very good but because he was missing a giant piece of cartilage, “this one may take a bit”.  Write that one down.
    • WWE stock had dropped 85 cents today, down to under 16 dollars for the first time in 6 months.

    UFC/MMA

    MISC

    • Judge Pamela Campbell denied Gawker’s motion to dismiss Hulk Hogan’s lawsuit against them today.
    • Brandon Howard of Voices of Wrestling put together an analysis of TV ratings, star ratings, and attendance for WWE, ROH, NXT, and NJPW for 2015.
    • The AV Club did a feature looking at 14 terrible wrestling gimmicks.
    • Ric Flair was on Dan LeBetard’s ESPN show (47:00 minute mark) promoting an upcoming Comic-Con appearance. He talked about a lot about his robes (he said his ex-wives stole 40 or so, claiming they were gifts and said that he sold some to WWE and a belt for $100,000) and a lot of history. Sounds like it was worth checking out. (Thanks to Charles Parker)
    • Lubbock, Texas’ Rampage Wrestling has an event coming up this weekend.
    • Listen to Del “The Patriot” Wilkes on a wrestling podcast here.
    • In episode 4 of of the Netflix series “Making A Murderer”, Brendan Dassey complains to his mother about not being able to watch WrestleMania in jail.  Bet WWE loves that tie-in.
    • GOUGE returns This Saturday January 16, 2016 at 5:00 p.m. for its annual Redneck Rumble  in Fuquay Varina at the Draft Line Brewing Co 341 Broad St, Ste 151 Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina. There will be a band afterwards and the show is free.

    ON THIS DAY IN WORLD PRO WRESTLING HISTORY: Daily pro wrestling history (01/13): Bobo Brazil wins NWA US Title from the Shiek

  • WWE Hall of Fame tickets on sale now!

    Act quickly, as tickets are currently on sale for the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony on 4/2 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

    The ceremony is advertised for a 6:30 p.m. local start time and will be headlined by Sting. 

    The pre-sale started this morning and we have received two different codes, being WWEVIP and AACVIP.

    Tickets will be available until 11 p.m. Central time tomorrow night before they go on sale to the public on Friday.

    Tickets for the event are expected to sell out quickly as the set up is usually about 10,000 seats and with so many people coming to the host city, the shows are a routine sellout.

    As has become a yearly tradition, there is a group from this site that usually attends together. You can look for that thread on the Board~! under the Empire Get-Togethers “folder” or create your own. For more information on our website’s Wrestlemania meet-up info, you can email EdinSanantonio at F4Wfan@hotmail.com – yes, Ed is the one keeping hotmail alive. 

  • November 30, 1998 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: 3 top stars potentially done with wrestling, WCW World War III recap

    The in-ring future of three of the top wrestling stars of this era looks to be in major question, with existing injuries seriously threatening the careers of Shawn Michaels and Masahiro Chono, and the business split, whether part of an angle or otherwise, between Hulk Hogan, WCW and Eric Bischoff.

    As the “inside story” goes, which may or may not have a degree of validity, Hogan and Bischoff had a business falling out when Bischoff decided to go with Hogan’s enemy, Kevin Nash, as new booker, thus greatly diluting Hogan’s political power. It was also made clear to Hogan that due to WWF’s huge ratings victories over the past few weeks with the margin growing to record proportions on 11/16, that they were no longer going to build the entire company and nearly every major angle around him and that, as many have clamored for more than one year, Bischoff realizes the company needs to build new and younger stars for the future. The straw that may have broken the camel’s back is the current plan for Nash to beat Bill Goldberg for the WCW title at Starrcade, since Hogan agreed to put Goldberg over cleanly the right way for the title on 7/6 at the Georgia Dome as part of a deal where Goldberg’s first loss would be to him, most likely at Starrcade. While there were tentative plans on the table for Nash to win the Battle Royal and then the title at Starrcade before any of this happened, there was also serious talk that the end result of this would be for Nash to re-join the black & white at that point and possibly even hand the belt to Hogan, and this was the first time it was made clear that wasn’t happening. Rather than stay with his power diluted, Hogan chose to leave the company and is expected to announce his retirement from pro wrestling on Thanksgiving night on the Jay Leno show. The fact that his name was mentioned so prominently on both the PPV show and on both the 11/23 and 11/24 editions Nitro, which all heavily plugged the Leno appearance, makes clear this is largely an angle. Hogan wasn’t in either Auburn Hills or Grand Rapids, MI for the two shows. Generally, but not universally speaking, the morale of the wrestlers was much better without him as he was largely seen by most of the younger wrestlers as the political enemy holding them back.

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  • Yoel Romero facing possible suspension for drug test failure

    Yoel Romero, who was a possible next contender for UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold, is facing a possible drug test suspension.

    The UFC announced that they were notified today by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) of a potential violation stemming from a Romero sample collected out of competition. The UFC noted that USADA will, independent of UFC, handle the results and punishment stemming from the case.

    No specific drug was named in the story, nor has there been punishment announced.  It appears from previous cases that UFC is notified of a failed test, but the fighter is allowed to ask for a B sample to be tested before the offense will be publicly noted and any punishment would be dispensed.

    Romero won a controversial decision over Rolando “Jacare” Souza at UFC 194 in Las Vegas in a fight that was to determine the next challenger for the title. But most felt either Souza deserved the win, or it should have been a draw, so Romero was never announced as getting the next title shot.