Hour 1 was the first hour of Monday Night RAW to do over 4 million viewers since Hour 2 of the July 20th show earlier this year. This was the first show to open at over 4 million viewers since June 15th. Hour 3’s 3,825,000 viewers were the highest since 3,830,000 on August 31st. The average viewership was the highest since that same August 31st show. That show featured the return of Sting.
RAW’s viewership average was 10.67% higher than the 2014 post-TLC show, which averaged 3,510,000 viewers. This was just the 3rd week in the last 52 that RAW showed an increase in viewers from the same week the previous year. One of those was the post-Mania show, which aired a week earlier this year.
The Bad:
November’s weekly average viewers for RAW was 3,168,000 viewers, down almost 18% from the November 2014 average of 3,988,000. That was the 12th straight month that RAW showed a decreased number of viewers from the same month a year prior. Even with the impressive number on Monday, RAW is averaging just 3,469,000 in December, down from 3,628,000 in 2014. The show would need to average about 3.8 million viewers over the next two weeks to stop the streak at 12 months of declining ratings. And it would take an extended ratings turnaround for RAW to hit the pre-Mania numbers of 4.035 million (January), 4,013,000 (February) and 4,228,000 (March) of 2015 even with no competition from Monday night football.
Thoughts:
Obviously the buzz surrounding the closing angle of TLC the night before piqued curiosity in this show, leading to the very strong first hour. RAW managed to maintain most of that audience throughout the show. Theoretically the numbers should’ve increased in the third hour leading to the championship match but perhaps fans felt that WWE wouldn’t deliver on a decisive finish and title change. The fact that they did could bring back fan confidence that they have turned things around heading into the Royal Rumble-Wrestlemania season.
William Regal has flown home from the NXT tour and will not be appearing on the final two events due to issues related to his recent neck surgery.
Regal wrote on Twitter today, “I’m incredibly sorry, but I have to return to the U.S. to take care of some final details of my recent neck surgery that couldn’t be avoided any longer. Again, I’m sorry that I cannot continue with the current tour, but I’ll be back in 2016 to @WWENXT.”
The two has two shows left, an event tonight in Cardiff, Wales, and the live Takeover special on the WWE Network tomorrow at 3 p.m. Eastern from London’s SSE Wembley Arena.
Regal was also scheduled for a talk show on Thursday in Nottingham, that has been canceled.
After a fall season where ratings were at an all-time low, the return of Vince McMahon and the Sheamus vs. Roman Reigns title vs. being fired match led to an increase for the Monday, December 14th edition of WWE RAW to 848,000 viewers over last week — a whopping 27 percent.
The show did 3.87 million viewers, but the key is that the first hour did 4.04 million viewers. They were way up early, which has to do with curiosity coming off the post-match attack by Reigns on HHH at the close of the TLC ppv. The announcement that Vince would be there also came in the first 15 minutes of the show, and after more than a year off the show, the return of Vince should have helped.
The second hour, which included McMahon’s first interview, did 3.79 million viewers. The third hour, with the Reigns vs. Sheamus title change, did 3.83 million viewers. Not only did they have far higher viewership to start the show than in months, but they kept most of the viewers for the three hours, which they haven’t been able to do in months.
The WWE announced that Slammy Award voting will begin tonight with the awards show next Monday, December 21st, part of ‘WWE Week’ on USA Network.
Monday’s Slammy-riffic RAW will be followed up by a live Smackdown on Tuesday, and the taped Tribute To The Troops on Wednesday.
WWE announced voting will take place exclusively on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, bypassing their website completely. The winners of these categories, except for Superstar of the Year, will be announced prior to Raw.
The main categories are:
Superstar of the Year
Tag Team of the Year
Hashtag of the Year
Celebrity Moment of the Year
“Tell Me You Just Didn’t Say That” Moment of the Year
Best John Cena U.S. Open challenge match
Rivalry of the Year
Double Cross of the Year
Surprise Return of the Year
Best Original WWE Network Show (So much for voting up any of that old footage.)
On RAW, there will be eight additional categories that will voted on via the WWE app live during the show. These winners, and Superstar of the Year, will be announced during Raw.
Roman Reigns is the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion on a program that featured the return of Vince McMahon in an on-screen role for the first time in over a year. Reings got a very positive response all night and defeated Sheamus in a match he had to win, or else get fired.
Show Recap:
Stephanie McMahon started the show. Michael Cole announced that HHH was in a hospital nursing injuries. It sounded like the crowd noise was artificial, even though the show was live. Which shows how much faith the fans in Philadelphia had in regards to cheering the people the company wants cheered. She said Roman Reigns had attacked not only HHH, but the COO and his boss.
Reigns came out. There was a small “Thank you, Roman” chant. Reigns said he was a father and today was his daughter’s birthday. But he didn’t feel bad at all about whipping HHH’s ass. They teased Roman was going to get fired. Stephanie brought up Reigns losing another chance at the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, called him a failure and a disgrace. Reigns said Stephanie was the disgrace, so was HHH and their whole family.
Stephanie slapped him repeatedly. She said she wasn’t going to fire Reigns because her husband asked her not to. She said someone wanted to see Reigns tonight, and that was her father. So Vince McMahon makes his way back to TV tonight.
You might be reading this and wondering since Stephanie slapped Reigns about eight times, how did Reigns get his comeback? The answer is there was none. At this point, I’m wondering who Stephanie is going to wrestle when she headlines WrestleMania because she’s more protected than Reigns is. I can’t believe they castrated him like that after last night.
Dean Ambrose (C) and Dolph Ziggler went to a no contest in a nontitle match (12:20)
Kevin Owens came out and attacked Dolph Ziggler, then gave Dean Ambrose a Pop-Up Power Bomb. Owens gave Ambrose another Pop-Up Powerbomb. When Ziggler went for a comeback, Owens gave him a Pop-Up Powerbomb, as well. They were in the midst of a good match where Ziggler gave Ambrose a Superkick, but Ambrose bounced off the ropes and gave Ziggler a clothesline. Looks like a tease of a three-way match down the line.
Owens was interviewed by Jo Jo backstage. He was almost in a catatonic state and vowed to put Ambrose in an actual asylum until he gets his Intercontiental Championship back.
The Dudley Boyz, Tommy Dreamer and Rhyno were backstage. They challenged the Wyatt Family to a match tonight in a rally around the ECW banner interview to get the natural Philadelphia response.
Bo Dallas and R-Truth went to a no contest (3:25)
Just went you thought an episode of WWE Superstars had broken out, the whole matchup was a backdrop to Vince McMahon coming into the building.They got a couple of spots into the match when Vince showed up in a limo. Stephanie wanted to join Vince, but he insisted she go back to Connecticut and nurse HHH back to health.
Vince then did the routine he did years ago when he stopped a house show match with Taijiri and Rhyno in progress, as he walked into the ring and ordered R-Truth and Bo Dallas out. Vince came out and said that Reigns had to be cowering backstage in fear of what Vince was going to say to him. After a commercial where Vince sat in a chair at ringside long enough to let the second hour arrive, he ordered Reigns to come out.
Vince ordered Reigns to apologize. Reigns just shook his head. Then Vince ordered Reigns to get down on his hands and knees to apologize. Nothing doing. Vince said there was a time where he would beat an apology out of him. When Reigns just smirked at him, Vince teased squaring off with him. He took off his coat.
Then Sheamus stepped out and said he wanted to beat an apology out of Reigns himself. He wanted to challenge Reigns tonight. Sheamus talked about putting the WWE World Heavyweight Championship on the line. Then we got the typical McMahon swerve where Vince asked the crowd if they wanted the match, then shot them down. Reigns asked why not, and siad Vince once had big grapefruits, but now they’ve become shriveled up prunes now. He said McMahon was 70 years old and time was passing him by.
McMahon was so incensed, he granted Reigns the match. But if Reigns didn’t win the title tonight, he was fired. Then Vince kicked Reigns in the balls and walked off. It really says something about the power of your champion when the crowd was more fired up for the tease of a McMahon-Reigns match than another bout with Reigns. The stipulation practically guarantees a title switch tonight.
Alberto Del Rio and Rusev defeated Jack Swagger and Ryback (6:30)
Rusev and Alberto Del Rio each hit separate thrust kicks on Jack Swagger and Rusev scored the pin. Match came and went. Swagger gets a reaction for someone who has barely been on TV over the past year.
We got our third installment of the Rosebush. Adam Rose talked about Charlotte cheating against Paige to win at TLC, and how Becky Lynch was worried Charlotte was becoming too much like her father. Rose told Lynch not to worry because Charlotte would still need 16 world titles, 4 marriages, 4 divorces and multiple fortunes to win and lose to become too much like her father. Well, Charlotte is following in her father’s footsteps in several of those areas, too.
Want worse? The Rosebush preempted Tyler Breeze’s ring entrance. I know I’m becoming a broken record regarding not showing Bree’e entrance, it show some proper priorities for the love of God.
Neville defeated Tyler Breeze (4:56)
The Miz came out and started shouting instructions to Neville. Then Miz started leading cheers for Neville in his usual obnoxious way, which got Summer Rae mad at him. After a Superkick, Neville won with the Red Arrow. Neville started rolling his eyes at Miz when he started taking credit for Neville’s win. WCW’s booking committee would be proud of how quickly the WWE has made Breeze a midcarder in record time.
Miz talked with Neville backstage. Miz said he could pull enough strings to get Neville cast in the 8th Star Wars movie. But in exchange, Miz wanted Neville’s British accent because he wanted to be the next James Bone. Miz proclaimed he could make Neville into the next Daniel Bryan. Neville warned Miz that if he ever tried what he pulled tonight again, he would stick a light saber where the sun doesn’t shine. But didn’t Neville win?
The Wyatt Family did an interview backstage. Luke Harper said they were the way into the see of woe. Eric Rowan said they were the way into eternal pain. Braun Strowman said they were the way to go among the lost. Bray Wyatt said they were the Angels of the dirt, and they would bury Team Extreme in the same city they were born.
The Wyatt Family defeated Tommy Dreamer, Rhyno and the Dudley Boyz in an Extreme Rules match (15:29)
A wild brawl as you would expect. The unsung hero was Luke Harper, who channeled his inner-Dreamer by taking lots of crazy bumps. That included a Superplex off the top rope onto a chair. Later, Dreamer gave Harper a Death Valley Driver off the ramp through two tables. Strowman took his monthly push into the announcer’s table fall. The Dudleyz hit Harper with the 3-D, which everyone thought was the finish. They brawled all over the arena. Wyatt pulled Ray out of the ring. It ended when Rowan gave Rhyno a splash through the table for the pin. Very entertaining because it was something different from what we usually get on Raw, as opposed to Impact, where they had four matches a month like this one.
The New Day came out in a somber tone showing still-frame highlights from last night’s TLC match with Lucha Dragons and the Usos. Kofi Kingston talked about how he felt like he got hit with a Mack Truck. Big E. Says matches like last night’s change your perspective, so he called out the Usos. New Day acted like they wanted to bury the hatchet and call a truce. Big E. Wanted Lucha Dragons to join them. Kofi pinned over Sin Cara and said the Dragons were his son’s favorite tag team.
Kalisto brought up Xavier Woods throwing his trombone against his back. Woods admitted it was brash but he apologized. Jey Uso said he heard a better apology from his 3-year-old. Woods said they all took the tag team division to the next level, and the match was for the fans. The New Day wanted to shake hands, and they all shook hands. After the Usos and Dragons left, the New Day fell into their standard routine screaming at the top of their lungs how they were the tag team champions, which included Woods doing a reverse worm. Dragons and Usos ran back in the ring and cleared the ring of the New Day.
Lynch and Charlotte were backstage laughing with Flair. What did I miss here?
Charlotte and Becky Lynch defeated Alicia Fox and Brie Bella via submission (3:24)
Charlotte has apparently stolen Stephanie’s gimmick of turning babyface and heel over 24-hour periods. Finish was Flair tripping Alicia Fox, which Lynch didn’t see. Lynch got the submission on Fox with the Disarm-Her. Lynch acted like everything was great and they had won fairly, not realizing how they won.
Titus O’Neal and Darren Young were trying to hawk merchandise from WWE.Com, which are 25% off. Titus could have a future as a Michael Strahan-type host after his wrestling days are over.
Roman Reigns defeated Sheamus (C) to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship (16:54)
These last two night have done wonders for Regins’ career. The same Philly fans that booed him out of the building in January for winning the Royal Rumble went nuts for this title switch. It was also well booked. Vince was at ringside, living and dying with every near fall. At around the 11:00 mark, Reigns hit a head butt that busted him up hardway. But it came right at the finishing sequence, so they couldn’t stop it or else it would have killed the momentum. Reigns hit a spear, it Vince pulled the referee out of the ring. Sheamus came back to hit White Noise, but Reigns kicked out.
Vince talked to the referee on the apron. As he did so, Del Rio and Rusev ran out to attack Reigns, who responded by giving them both Superman Punches, and then he hit Vince with a Superman Punch. Vince sold it like he was dead. He didn’t move for the rest of the show. Sheamus responded by hitting the Brogue Kick, but Reigns kicked out. Sheamus set up for another Brogue Kick, but Reigns hit the spear and the pin for the title switch.
It was a good world title celebration with Regins dumping Vince’s body off the apron. No boos at all for Reigns as he posed with a big smile on his face. You could almost feel the redemption inside him in a year where’s he come full circle.
SUMMARY:
These are the nights where you get so frustrated with WWE booking because this show was booked so well, you wonder why they can’t put shows together like this more often. They pressed the right buttons with Reigns over the last two nights, figuring the best way to win over the fan base is to beat up two of its biggest targets: Vince and HHH. Plus, it was wise to get the belt to Reigns on this night, because the Royal Rumble and WrestleMania are crowds most likely to hijack shows and boo Reigns. A win all around and a good show.
We’re looking for your thoughts on tonight’s TLC show as well as last night’s UFC 194 show, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to Dave Meltzer
We’re looking for reports on today’s Raw in Philadelphia (dark matches, Superstars matches, anything else not evident from watching the live show), today’s NXT show in Nottingham, England and yesterday’s Lucha Underground tapings to Dave Meltzer
Smackdown will be taped Tuesday night in Newark, NJ while NXT runs Tuesday night in Cardiff, Wale.
NXT TAKEOVER FROM SSE WEMBLEY IN LONDON ON WEDNESDAY
Finn Balor vs. Samoa Joe for NXT title
Apollo Crews vs. Baron Corbin
Bayley vs. Nia Jax for women’s title
Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder vs. Enzo Amore & Colin Cassady for tag titles
Coverage of the biggest weekend in UFC history, the stories behind the big matches, scouting the fighters, the business and handicapping the fights is the lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. We look at the promotion of the show, how changes in the UFC can affect the major fights, little things in each fight that haven’t beentalked about, fugure for the winners and much more is looked at.
We also look at the New Japan Tokyo Dome show, the New Japan tag team tournament, what’s new with A.J. Styles and his schedule, the controversy over the winners of the tournament and how it played out, New Japan business this past month and going forward, tournament standings and a rundown of the shows this past week.
We also have an update on Sting and his condition coming off the match with Seth Rollins, something to watch for about a very significant WWE employee, WWE increasing security at leve events, WWE putting up lots of new content on the network, why the Stampede tapes were taken down, Alberto Del Rio blames AAA for his not coming back and losingg the title, why the time-line of what he says doesn’t add up, another new franchise movie idea for Dwayne Johnson, a new WWE movie annnounced, Mick Foley’s son with WWE, Sami Zayn’s return, Tommy Dreamer’s schedule, WWE surveys, John Cena media, WWE and ESPN update, NXT taping news, Brock Lesnar schedule news, WWE firing, Del Rio & Colter alliance, as well as notes on all the NXT house shows from the past week as well as all the WWE house shows of the past week and the business from the last week.
We’ve got a look at this year’s Tokyo Sports pro wrestling awards, all the winners, how the balloting went down, as well as a list of every MVP dating back to 1974, and why different people won the awards and the nature of the politicas behid the awards.
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@wrestlingobserver.com” target=”_blank”>dave@wrestlingobserver.com
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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. We’ve got coverage of every major PPV event and world wide spectacular, every major star switching promotions, histories of companies like FMW, Rings and New Japan, retirement and obit issues of every major star who fits into those descriptions over the past 11 years, as well as our biggest issue every year, the annual awards issue, and our most controversial issue of every year, the Hall of Fame issue.
Nothing at this point has been announced for Raw tonight. Obviously the key will be how they handle the aftermath of the Roman Reigns/HHH angle and how that ties into the Royal Rumble. They are in Philadelphia and were expecting the best crowd for a Raw event in the U.S. in months because of a strong advance.
WWE sent out a press release today pushing that Coca Cola will be the presenting sponsor for Tribute to the Troops which airs on 12/23 on USA from 8-10 p.m. Getting Coca Cola involved with WWE has been a goal for years.
John Cena has a role in “Daddy’s Home,” the new movie with Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg that comes out over Christmas. That’s the movie Taryn Terrell has a role as a cheerleader who gets hit in the face with a basketball which got some media when it was filmed in New Orleans some time back. That spot is in the trailer that I’ve seen recently at movie previews.
For the weekend, the No. 1 search was Conor McGregor with 2 million. UFC 194 had 1 million. Amazingly, both beat the Warriors winning streak ending at 1 million. No. 5 was Chris Weidman with 200,000. No. 14 was Urijah Faber with 50,000. No. 20 was Roy Jones Jr. Although not close to Ronda Rousey numbers, those are otherwise huge numbers and probably indicate big PPV numbers. UFC officials were talking that it would be the biggest of the year. WWE was No. 6 in Google searches yesterday with 200,000, which is the level just about every B PPV show gets. Top searches were BKS Ivengar, Dallas Cowboys, Pittsburgh Steelers, Independence Day 2 and Philadelphia Eagles.
A story has gone around regarding producers audio from just before the McGregor vs. Aldo fight where Joe Rogan spoke to a producer off air saying Aldo looks soft and deflated. “He looks way different. But it could be that he’s done a lot of cardio. Don’t want to jump to conclusions.” Rogan also said, “Aldo looks nervous as F*** too.” and told the producer he was picking McGregor now.
WWE
Mick Foley said he was going to write something on Facebook in response to Ric Flair criticizing him on Tuesday on Flair’s show. Flair had been critical of Foley being critical of WWE creative. Hasn’t everyone been critical of WWE creative in the last month? I mean this past weekend I was around people who are MMA people who are lifelong fans and they say the same things everyone else says when it comes to creative and the interviews.
There were a lot of problems with the WWE Network last night, more than usual, particularly during the pregame show. I was able to watch it on wwe.com with no problem which is the free site, but I couldn’t watch it on the network.
WWE stock was up 22 cents today to $16.09 per share.
New NXT touring dates announced, tickets for all these shows go on sale on Friday.
1/14 in Milwaukee at Turners Hall Ballroom, which has been an ROH venue
1/15 in Green Bay at Shopko Hall
1/16 in Chicago at the Portage Theater
1/29 in Pittsburgh at Stage AP
1/30 in Royal Oak, MI at the Music Theater.
UFC
The World MMA Awards were announced for 2/5 at the Venetian in Las Vegas at The Venetian theatre. Nominees will be announced in a few weeks. They are billing it as the Ultimate Las Vegas weekend with an MMA Celebrity Poker tournament on Thursday at the Sands Poker Room at the Venetian, the awards plus the after party and a special UFC 196 viewing party at Lagasse’s Station at The Palazzo in Las Vegas.
INDIES/MISCELLANEOUS
PWG tickets for 1/2 go on sale Wednesday at 8 p.m. For all who want to go, be ready. That’s the same night as UFC so I can’t go again. Here’s the card:
Roderick Strong vs. Chris Hero PWG title
Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Akira Tozawa
Mike Bailey vs. Adam Cole
Jack Evans vs. Drew Galloway
Sami Callihan vs. Trevor Lee
Timothy Thatcher vs. Drew Gulak
Angelico vs. Brian Cage
Spectre was No. 7 on the U.S. movie weekend charts doing $4.05 million. It was once again No. 2 on the Australian box office charts (thanks to James Stanios)
Lucha Underground, Billy Gunn and Paul Orndorff have signed deals with Pro Wrestling Tees.
Michael Weber, who formerly worked for WCW and was Vice President of Marketing with TNA from 2008 to 2013, is now Senior Vice President of Marketing with Flipps Media.
ROH has doing a meet and greet with the Briscoes before Friday’s PPV at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia. They will have autograph photos for everyone bringing a new unwrapped toy for the Toys for Tots collection at Final Battle or the next day for the TV taping.
I want to personally thank everyone involved in wrestling who has done work for Toys for Tots and other organizations regarding underprivileged kids and Christmas, as well as Bob Magee who works tirelessly every year in working with promotions to get the word out on these things.
Hart Legacy Wrestling from last night in Calgary before 200 fans. Smith Hart booked the show and Michelle Billington was the ring announcer: Baron Von Kroutz b Renegade-DQ, Makhan Singh Jr. (with Abu Wizal, the famous manager there from the 80s) b Kato (Singh Jr. looked like a young Makhan Singh), Zack Mercury b Matt Hart (Smith Hart’s son), Davey Boy Smith Jr. d Teddy Hart 30:00 so Smith retained the Stu Hart Heritage title. Very good match. This was Teddy Hart’s first match in Calgary in a long time. He’s been in the U.S. He had a legal issue. It was said by people at the show his issue has been settled. (thanks to Robert O’Connor)
Upcoming shows in Tijuana at the Auditorio are 12/18 with a four-way with Dr. Wagner Jr. vs. L.A. Park vs. Damian 666 vs. Pagano, 12/25 with Wagner Jr. & El Hijo del Rey Misterio & Super Muneco vs. Damian 666 & Pakal & Rey Misterio II, and 1/8 with Gronda XXX & L.A. Park & Rayo de Jalisco Jr. vs. Cibernetico & Cien Caras & Wagner Jr. (thanks to Kris Zellner)
NWA Smoky Mountain Wrestling on Saturday night in Kingsport, TN at the Civic Auditorium with Jason Kincaid vs. Nick Hammonds in a weapons match and a retirement match billed as Kid Kash putting his career on the line against Chase Owens. If Owens loses, Ricky Morton has to retire. Plus NWA title with Jax Dane defending against Rob Conway.
Pro Wrestling Eclipse on 1/10 in Oshawa, ONT at Legion br. 43.
At Survivor Series, WWE decided to shuffle up the deck and pull a swerve by having Sheamus cash in his Money In The Bank briefcase, snatching the WWE title away from five minute champion Roman Reigns in a move that disappointed many.
We’re doing our post-match poll on both this show and the UFC show last night, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to dave@wrestlingobserver.com
BECKY LYNCH VS. SASHA BANKS IN THE PRE SHOW MATCH
Nice match, particularly the last 30 seconds or so as Lynch kept going from armbar to Fujiwara armbar. Tamina Snuka distracted the ref and Naomi kicked Lynch and then Banks did the back stabber into the bank statement. The crowd popped pretty good for the Banks win since she’s local. Crowd wasn’t super into it but they reacted decently enough.
They are teasing that Zeb Colter may be back with Jack Swagger, which may also mean that the Del Rio/Swagger thing from Raw also could be a swerve.
It appears smart money is in because the odds are long now. So here are the favorites:
Sheamus 45-to-1 favorite
Dean Ambrose 12-to-1 favorite
New Day 20-to-1 favorite
Charlotte 5-to-1 favorite
Wyatt Family 6-to-1 favorite
Alberto Del Rio 45-to-1 favorite
Rusev 45-to-1 favorite
NEW DAY VS. USOS VS. LUCHA DRAGONS IN A LADDER MATCH FOR TAG TITLES
The New day retained when Kalisto was climbing and Xavier Woods, who was on commentary, threw the trombone at Kalisto and Kingston threw him off the ladder. Kingston slowly climbed and pulled down the belts. Absolutely awesome spot fest like a modern version of the Edge & Christian vs. Hardys vs. Dudleys match but with all new spots. Kalisto did the Salida del on Jimmy off the top of a ladder crashinG through another ladder. There were dives, like the Dragons doing a double moonsault off the middle rope to the floor on E & Kingston. Kalisto did a dragon rana off a ladder which flipped Kingston back into the ladder face first. There was about 18 minutes of this. Like a crazy Lucha match in many ways. It’s going to hard for anyone to come close to this. Creative and well executed.
RYBACK VS. RUSEV
Good match. Rusev threw Ryback into Lana and she started selling which distracted Ryback. Rusev superkicked him and went for the pin but Ryback kicked out. Ryback got out of the accoalde but Rusev got out of shell shock and Rusev used a high kick and won with the accolade with Ryback passing out. Rusev and Lana had teased a walk out and Ryback pulled him back which was the spot where Rusev shoved Ryback into Lana. Lana never actually got hit and was pretending again.
Dean Ambrose promo. Roman Reigns is with him. Ambrose said he was feeling good. They were doing the best friends stuff. You always wonder if something will happen.
ALBERTO DEL RIO VS. JACK SWAGGER FOR U.S. TITLE IN CHAIRS MATCH
No Zeb at all. Chair matches are hard because you do a million chair matches and they don’t really mean anything. They did a good job building up to Swagger finally hitting the Swagger bomb and getting the Patriot lock, but Del Rio, whose leg was wrapped up in a chair, made the ropes. Del Rio had the armbar in the ropes. Del Rio did four hard chair shots to the back and then a double foot stomp off the top rope onto chairs.
Kevin Iole reported that Mauro Ranallo will be the new voice of Smackdown, but he’ll be keeping his boxing, MMA and kickboxing duties on weekends. Story is true.
Dudleys did a promo.
DUDLEYS & RHINO & TOMMY DREAMER VS. WYATT FAMILY IN AN ELIMINATION TABLES MATCH
The Wyatts won 4-1. There were two tables broken that didn’t count, including Braun Strowman kicking through a table. A table also broke when it wasn’t supposed to when Devon rolled off. First Rowan took a 3-D through a table from the Dudleys. Harper kicked Rhyno through a table for the second elimination. Wyatt put Devon through a table with a uranage. Harper did a tope knocking Dreamer through a table leaving Bubba by himself. Bubba poured lighter fluid on a table and the place went nuts, but before he coudl light it, Harper superkicked him and Strowman choke slammed Bubba through a table. There were two funny spots where Strowman was off but crowd really liked this a lot with ECW and ECW style chants.
Kevin Owens heel promo. Said you as individuals have nothing to do with it when your team wins like Dean Ambrose. Ambrose acts like he’s accomplished something. Owens said, in reference to Ambrose throwing soda and popcorn on him that “I eat popcorn and drink soda every day of my life.”
KEVIN OWENS VS. DEAN AMBROSE FOR IC TITLE
Ambrose won the title by reversing the pop up power bomb into a huracanrana. Match was shorter than you’d think but very good. They did a good tease count out early on Ambrose. Ambrose escaped the pop up power bomb and hit Dirty Deeds but Owens got two fingers on the ropes for the break. People were really into the title change, I don’t think they were expecting it. The title change felt like a real big deal here. They pushed that Ambrose held up his part of it and now Reigns has to.
CHARLOTTE VS. PAIGE FOR THE DIVAS TITLE
Charlotte was a total heel working the match like Ric Flair with the begging off kneedrops, working the leg. Charlotte did seem more confident. The crowd really got into it when Paige used the figure four on Charlotte like every babyface would do to Flair. Paige used the Rampage but Ric put Charlotte’s leg on the ropes. Right after, Charlotte took off the padding of a turnbuckkle and pulled Paige’s head into the exposed metal for the pin. I’d rather she was something different from Ric but she had more presence in this role than she’s had up to this point in WWE, but not more than in NXT.
Ric and Charlotte were celebrating. Becky Lynch confronted her. Lynch said she didn’t like the way she won. Charlotte said would you rather your best friend won or Paige won. Lynch looked confused and unhappy about Charlotte’s tactics.
WWE CHAMPION SHEAMUS VS. ROMAN REIGNS IN A TLC MATCH
Sheamus retained due to inteference from Rusev and Alberto Del Rio, but no King Barrett. Also, there was no Ambrose or anyone to make the save for Reigns.
This was a really good match. At first, the crowd wasn’t that hot or were doing non-match related chants for Cena and ECW. Both guys worked really hard and physical with lots of teases of wins, chair shots, and more.
Sheamus backdropped Reigns through a table on the floor. Sheamus suplexed Reigns through a table. Sheamus used White Noise off the steps through a table. Reigns got out of an armbar and reversed into a one arm powerbomb onto a ladder. Reigns with a Samoan drop through a ladder that broke in half. At this point, the crowd was booing when they thought Reigns would win.
Reigns’ Superman punch knocked Sheamus off a ladder. Reigns had the title won when Rusev & Del Rio came in. They beat him down, but Reigns came back and gave them both Superman punches. Sheamus was on top. Reigns pulled him off and Sheamus hit a Brogue kick, knocking Reigns out of the ring. Sheamus climbing again. This time they were booing thinking Reigns would lose. Sheamus pulled down the belt to win before Reigns could recover.
The highlight was post-match as Reigns totally snapped. He speared all three at the same time. He destroyed everyone with chair shots. HHH & Steph came out out. Reign nailed Sheamus with a chair after HHH and Stephanie told him to put it down. HHH was on the apron and told Reigns to calm down. After a long tease, Reigns hit a Superman punch on HHH. He grabbed a chair and hit HHH over and over with chair shots. It was funny as at one point, HHH told him to do it again (which you could hear) so then he did another chair shot.
Stephanie was screaming as Reigns gave him a real beating. Reigns gave him a power bomb onto a table that didn’t break. Fans were chanting “One more time!” Reigns elbowdropped him through the table, so they are doing an injury angle with HHH. This finish was great, complete with a “Thank you Roman” chant.
They are pushing like Reigns is going to be fired. HHH finally got up, and Reigns turned around, sprinted down the aisle and speared him again. This was the best thing they’ve done with Reigns. HHH selling it huge. The crowd didn’t like Reigns at all at first and were cheering heavily for him by the time this was done.
WWE TLC PPV ON SUNDAY FROM THE TD GARDEN IN BOSTON PREVIEW
Sheamus vs. Roman Reigns for WWE title in a TLC match – This is kind of weird because the choices are getting the belt off Sheamus right away on a weak PPV, or keeping a weak champion for another month. My gut says Rumble is the bigger show and you can hold it off until then, but it really doesn’t matter. Ultimately they still need to get a heel hot, and Sheamus isn’t the guy. The matches these two have been having on the road haven’t been tearing the houses down, but WWE TLC matches usually deliver.
Kevin Owens vs. Dean Ambrose for IC title – They have to get Ambrose hotter, whether that’s a turn or what, I don’t know. Owens should retain here and on paper they should have a really good match.
New Day vs. Lucha Dragons vs. Usos in a ladder match for tag titles – Given the Lucha Dragons were given two wins over the New Day on TV, they’re probably losing to the New Day here. It’s not time for the title switch, nor given where the Usos have been positioned in the food chain with Ambrose & Reigns, are they the ones to beat in this match.
Charlotte vs. Paige for the Divas title – A lot here will be determined by the crowd, both in if they give the match a chance, and who they cheer. Charlotte technically hasn’t turned and Paige did back away from her on Monday, but until backing away, Paige was positioned as the face in their segment. The key is whether people care enough one way or the other, and get into the match.
Alberto Del Rio vs. Jack Swagger for the U.S. title in a chair match – This is a big shot for Swagger so he should be motivated, even though he is almost surely losing and even if the match gets over, which Del Rio’s matches haven’t been doing of late, it won’t matter because Swagger isn’t in their plans. The key is will Zeb Colter come out and screw Swagger and the breakup on Monday was a swerve to lead to the finish, or is Zeb gone with Del Rio.
Bray Wyatt & Erick Rowan & Luke Harper & Braun Strowman vs. Dudleys & Tommy Dreamer & Rhyno in a tables match. WWE doesn’t like to put over guys from the past, particularly whose are still best known from another promotion, and the Wyatts are their own act, so Wyatts would be expected to win, unless they are doing a longer four vs. four program with these teams.
Rusev vs. Ryback – I think it’s Rusev’s turn this week, right? Ryback has been working really hard of late and Rusev can go. They probably won’t get a lot of time, though.
Becky Lynch vs. Sasha Banks– Banks is from the Boston area so she’ll probably be cheered even though Lynch is positioned as the face.
WWE talent always works hard but aside from Owens vs. Ambrose, there isn’t a match that will probably get enough time that is a lock for a great match. A lot of this show feels like it’ll be determined by how the main event does overall, and what kind of a story they tell if they hold off the Reigns title win.
We’re looking for your thoughts on tonight’s TLC show as well as last night’s UFC 194 show, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to Dave Meltzer
We’re also looking for reports on today’s Lucha Underground tapings in Los Angeles and today’s NXT show in Blackpool, England
Raw, sorting all of this out, will be Monday night in Philadelphia while NXT runs Monday night in Nottingham, England.
Smackdown will be taped Tuesday night in Newark, NJ while NXT runs Tuesday night in Cardiff, Wale.
NXT TAKEOVER FROM SSE WEMBLEY IN LONDON ON WEDNESDAY
Finn Balor vs. Samoa Joe for NXT title
Apollo Crews vs. Baron Corbin
Bayley vs. Nia Jax for women’s title
Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder vs. Enzo Amore & Colin Cassady for tag titles
Coverage of the biggest weekend in UFC history, the stories behind the big matches, scouting the fighters, the business and handicapping the fights is the lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. We look at the promotion of the show, how changes in the UFC can affect the major fights, little things in each fight that haven’t beentalked about, fugure for the winners and much more is looked at.
We also look at the New Japan Tokyo Dome show, the New Japan tag team tournament, what’s new with A.J. Styles and his schedule, the controversy over the winners of the tournament and how it played out, New Japan business this past month and going forward, tournament standings and a rundown of the shows this past week.
We also have an update on Sting and his condition coming off the match with Seth Rollins, something to watch for about a very significant WWE employee, WWE increasing security at leve events, WWE putting up lots of new content on the network, why the Stampede tapes were taken down, Alberto Del Rio blames AAA for his not coming back and losingg the title, why the time-line of what he says doesn’t add up, another new franchise movie idea for Dwayne Johnson, a new WWE movie annnounced, Mick Foley’s son with WWE, Sami Zayn’s return, Tommy Dreamer’s schedule, WWE surveys, John Cena media, WWE and ESPN update, NXT taping news, Brock Lesnar schedule news, WWE firing, Del Rio & Colter alliance, as well as notes on all the NXT house shows from the past week as well as all the WWE house shows of the past week and the business from the last week.
We’ve got a look at this year’s Tokyo Sports pro wrestling awards, all the winners, how the balloting went down, as well as a list of every MVP dating back to 1974, and why different people won the awards and the nature of the politicas behid the awards.
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@wrestlingobserver.com” target=”_blank”>dave@wrestlingobserver.com
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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. We’ve got coverage of every major PPV event and world wide spectacular, every major star switching promotions, histories of companies like FMW, Rings and New Japan, retirement and obit issues of every major star who fits into those descriptions over the past 11 years, as well as our biggest issue every year, the annual awards issue, and our most controversial issue of every year, the Hall of Fame issue.
We cover all the news coming out of last night’s UFC 194 on last night’s Wrestling Observer Radio. A lot of the talk today concerns Conor McGregor’s contract demands that people are talking like he’s going to ask for which would be a level of money that only the top PPV draws in boxing have gotten and nobody in MMA has gotten. Dana White talked about how McGregor can challenge Saturday’s Donald Cerrone vs. Rafael dos Anjos winner for the lightweight title and give up the featherweight title, but McGregor said he wants both belts and is not giving up the featherweight belt. As far as what is next for McGregor, nobody is going to make a decision until after this coming Saturday’s lightweight title fight.
Yoel Romero vs. Jacare Souza scoring, Judge Lester Griffin gave Souza rounds two and three; Judge Glenn Trowbridge gave Romero the first two rounds and gave a 10-8 round one and Judge Tony Weeks gave the first two rounds to Romero. Of 17 key media members polled at MMADecisions.com, only two gave the fight to Romero. Three, including me, had it a draw based on a 10-8 first round for Romero and Souza taking two and three, while 12 others had a 10-9 first for Romero and rounds two and three for Souza. I thought two and three were clearly for Souza.
Luke Rockhold last night talked about wanting Vitor Belfort in a rematch although he also said he knows he does have to face Romero. Belfort knocked out Rockhold two years ago, and Rockhold has been furious about it, especially since Belfort was jacked up on TRT at the time.
Before the stoppage, two judges had Luke Rockhold up 30-26 after three rounds and the other had him up 29-27, with the first round the one in question. All three gave the third round a 10-8, which you had to, but having to doesn’t always happen. Judges are far more liberal now with 10-8s which is a good thing..
There is a major breakthrough on treatment of concussions that has started gaining some traction in the MMA world. I talked about it last night on the Observer radio show but for WWE, all of wrestling, MMA and high school football programs. It is a way to really improve treatment, along with far better methods to determine both the extent of the brain injuries that an athlete has and determining when an injured athlete should be allowed to return to their sport.
Bryan and I will be back tonight with coverage of the WWE TLC PPV. We’ll also be taking questions on wrestling and MMA that can be sent to mailbag@wrestlingobserver.com
WWE
TLC tonight is close to sold out. The expectation is it will sell out. The set up is 13,800 so they’ll probably announce in the 16s.
Steve Austin’s show with Shawn Michaels airs immediately after TLC tonight on the WWE Network.
Big advance for Raw in Philadelphia tomorrow. Raw hasn’t sold out in the U.S. in months, but there is the belief this one will either sell out or come very close. Weird how all the negativity on the product and the bad ratings and this week’s key shows are doing well.
NXT sold out Blackpool, England today, but that was a small venue. We’re looking for reports, but William Regal did an interview and the crowd loved him, as expected since he started there and is billed from there. The crowd was going totally nuts for Jason Jordan & Chad Gable as well.
Odds as of 7:30pm Eastern with smart money in…
Sheamus -4500
Roman Reigns +1500
Kevin Owens +600
Dean Ambrose -1200 (so expect the title change)
Alberto Del Rio -4500
Jack Swagger +1500
New Day -2000
Usos +1500
Lucha Dragons +2000
Charlotte -600
Paige +400
Team ECW +350
Wyatts – 530
Rusev -4500
Ryback +1500
A note since one of our readers didn’t know, WWE no longer allows fans to bring cameras into the arena at their house shows. One reader said that last night in Lewiston, ME, many fans were upset about it.
Not the best of signs. At the NXT shows in the U.K., fans were booing the TLC promotional video.
Ronda Rousey will be featured on Thursday night at 8:30 p.m. as part of the Barbara Walters’ special on the year’s most fascinating people. Those on the list besides Rousey are Bradley Cooper, Amy Shumer, Tracy Morgan, Bernie Sanders, Misty Copeland and Donna Karan. (thanks to Jon Southerland)
ESPN covered the Conor McGregor win as a significant story that I saw, but not nearly as much on the Luke Rockhold win. The coverage wasn’t close to that of the Ronda Rousey loss.
Ratings in Brazil were unreal last night. Like the glory days level.
TSN in Canada didn’t mention the fight until about 15 minutes in and highlights weren’t shown until 20 minutes into their SportsCenter with everything based on the Warriors loss (which was a huge story in the U.S. and all the hockey coverage.
FS 1 has a Best of Donald Cerrone TV special at 8:30 p.m. Eastern time tonight.
Chris Weidman has Ian Matuszak, 20, who suffers from cerebral palsy and stage 3 esophageal cancer in his corner last night as a special guest. Matuszak, despite his problems, has trained in Jiu Jitsu and recently earned his blue belt.
Tryouts for Ultimate Fighter are tomorrow at 8 a.m. at the Red Rock Casino with the next season being light heavyweights, plus bantamweight and strawweight women. Dana White on Friday was asked about the coaches for the season that will air in the spring of 2016. He gave an answer that let you know they have picked them, but said he wasn’t announcing it yet.
MISCELLANEOUS
ROH sent out a press release today regarding a partnership with PWG as we’ve noted has been talked about for a few months. Basically ROH contracted talent is now allowed in PWG. Before, with the exception of The Young Bucks and Roderick Strong, no contracted ROH guys could appear on PWG shows. Guys like Matt Sydal don’t have an ROH contract.
Destination America is pretty much done with TNA. This coming Wednesday, they will air from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m., or out of prime time, with no replay. At this point, that is the last scheduled episode airing., so TNA would be off for two weeks before the launch on Pop TV.
Kyle O’Reilly was the latest ROH performer under contract to appear on PWG last night in Reseda, CA. Heard last night’s show was great.
Great Khali’s wrestling school had its first show today with put together by Jesus Rodriguez, formerly Ricardo Rodriguez. Rodriguez has been the head trainer at the school which has 75 students. They are running under the banner of Continental Wrestling Entertainment.
ECCW from last Saturday in Vancouver, BC: Bishop b Carl Cunningham, Bollywood Boyz (GFW) & Nicole Matthews b West Coast Express & CAT Power, Ravenous Randy b Pete Power, Phantasmo b Air Adonis, Andy the Dreadful Bird b Antonio Thomas, Scotty Mac b Memphis, Tony Baroni b Artemis Spencer.
Red Rock Wrestling on 1/9 in Charlottetow, Prince Edward Island with a combination minor league hockey game at 3 p.m., wrestling at 5:30 p.m. and anther hockey game at 7 p.m.
Elite Canadian Championship Wrestling on 12/15 in Port Coquitlam, BC.
Great Canadian Wrestling on 12/27 in Oshawa, ONT is a charity show for the Harmony Creek food bank. Everyone who brings food will get raffle tickets for a drawing of wrestling prizes.
CWE on 2/20 featuring Colt Cabana.
Rassle Rap charity festival show from Thursday night in Valparaiso, IN: Shane Mercer b Mad Man Pondo, Ring Rydas b Super Strong Tiger & Spider Monkey to keep JCW tag titles, Moshpit Mike over Rude Boy and Chuey Martinez, 2 Tuff Tony b Ruff Crossing in a lumberjack match, Kongo Kong b Weedman to win the JCW world title.
Same promotion from Friday night in Sauget, IL: 2 Tuff Tony & Justin D’Air & Mike Outlaw b Viking War Party, Mad Man Pondo & Crazy Mary Dobson b Jake Dirden & Samantha Heighs, Rude Boy won three-way over Mosh Pit Mike & Chuey Martinez, Super Strong Tiger & Spider Monkey b Ring Rydas to win JCW tag titles, Weedman b Ruff Crossing in a lumberjack match (thanks to Kevin Gill)
Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling from last night in East Carondelet, IL before a sellout of 350 fans: Daniel Gunner b Jimmy D, Britt Tucker d Bobby D, Ax b Barracus, Troll b Red River Jack (Bob Orton)-DQ, Ken Kasa & Jake Dirden b Chris Hargas & Brandon Espinosa, Sean Vincent b Curtis Wyld in a cage match, Gary Jackson b Attila Khan in a cage match, Kahagas won a three-way over Ron Powers and Flash Flanagan in a cage match (thanks to Larry Matysik and Patrick Brandmeyer)
Michael Elgin headlines for Pro Wrestling Phoenix on 12/30 in Omaha at the Waiting Room Lounge.
Colin Delaney vs. Lionel Knight in a loser leaves UWA forever headlines 2/7 in Toronto at the Lithuanian House.
Great North Wrestling on 2/27 in Hawkesbury, ONT at the Robert Harley Arena with Jeremy Prophet managed by disgraced senator Patrick Brazeau vs. Hannibal and Carlito vs. Paul Rosenberg.
Despite Sasha Banks hailing from Boston, MA, the site of tonight’s WWE TLC pay-per-view, Becky Lynch vs. Sasha was just announced for the pre-show.
The show is likely to start shortly after 7:30 p.m.
We will be having live coverage of the show, headlined by Sheamus vs. Roman Reigns for the WWE title in a TLC match, starting at that time. Bryan Alvarez and I will also be back later tonight with a post-show recap, our third of the weekend.
A full report on the show will be coming in the daily update.
Lynch and Banks had a tremendous match earlier this year on an NXT Takeover special. They also had a short Raw match. Banks has been protected in booking while Lynch has been teased in having a down-the-line feud with Charlotte.
Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive will be doing a two-hour pre-show LIVE on Sports Byline USA/Sirius Satellite Radio starting at 6 ET/3 PT, which you can listen to through TuneIn Radio on the front page of the website, or by clicking here. There will also be a Bryan and Vinny Show after the PPV tonight talking all of the matches and angles.
