Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive returns today with tons of news and notes! Dave Meltzer joins us to talk the Ronda Rousey vs. Holly Holm buyrate and a big underreported story in sports, then news on TNA to POP TV, La Sombra to WWE developmental, Survivor Series and so much more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
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Melbourne, Australia: – Clarence Weber defeated Buttan Singh for the Australian Heavyweight Title
1951
Memphis, Tennessee: – Danny McShain defeated Verne Gagne to win the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Title
1954
Houston, Texas: – Polo Torres defeated The Sheik for the NWA Texas Heavyweight Title
1956
Phoenix, Arizona: – Otto Lenz and Jack O’Reilly defeated Enrique Romero and Black Hawk to win the Western States Tag Team Title
1958
Mobile, Alabama: – Billy Wicks defeated Gorgeous George to win the NWA Gulf Coast Heavyweight Title
1960
St. Paul, Minnesota: – AWA Tag Team Champions Hard Boiled Haggerty & Len Montana beat Roy McClarty & Joe Scarpello – Gene Kiniski beat Nick Roberts – US Champion Wilbur Snyder beat Cowboy Rocky Lee – Bob Rasmussen beat Bill Green
– Johnny Valentine & Buddy Rogers defeated The Fabulous Kangaroos (Al Costello & Roy Heffernan) for the United States Tag Team Title
1964
Kalamazoo, Michigan: – Martino Angelo defeated Danny Ferraza to win the Wolverine Wrestling Midwest Heavyweight Title
1966
Omaha, Nebraska: – Mad Dog Vachon defeated Dick the Bruiser for the AWA World Heavyweight Title (title change only recognized in Omaha) – Ron Reed & Mr Wrestling Tim Woods beat Dale Lewis & Haru Sasaki – Jake Smith beat Mad Russian Stan Pulaski dq – Luke Brown beat Luke Graham
Melbourne, Australia: – Ray Stevens and Art Nelson defeated George and Sandy Scott to win the International Wrestling Alliance (Australia) Tag Team Titles
1970
Amarillo, Texas: – Dory Funk, Sr. defeated Thunderbolt Patterson for the Southwest Brass Knuckles Title
Ashikaga, Japan: – Larry Hennig and Bob Windham (Blackjack Mulligan) defeated Thunder Sugiyama and Great Kusatsu for the International Wrestling Alliance (Japan) Tag Team Titles
1971
– Kinji Shibuya and Masa Saito won the NWA Americas Tag Team Title, defeating Pantera Negra and Salvador Lothario
1974 Mobile, Alabama: – Jack Donovan defeated Ken Lucas to win the NWA Gulf Coast Heavyweight Title
1975
Nashville, Tennessee: – Jackie Fargo and Jerry Lawler defeated Phil Hickerson and Dennis Condrey for the Mid-America version of the NWA United States Tag Team Titles
1976
– Chavo Guerrero, Sr. defeated Ken Mantell to win the NWA Americas Heavyweight Title
Toronto, Ontario, Canada: – Thunderbolt Patterson defeated The Sheik for the Toronto version of the NWA United States Heavyweight Title
Dothan, Alabama: – Bob Kelly defeated The Wrestling Pro (Doug Gilbert) for the NWA Alabama Heavyweight Title
1977
Mexico City, Mexico: – Sangre Chicana defeated Jose Luis Mendieta to win the Mexican National Middleweight Title
1978
Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Attendance was 9,000 – US Champion Ric Flair beat Ricky Steamboat – Tony Atlas beat Ken Patera – Bob Backlund & Dino Bravo beat AWA Tag Team Champions Pat Patterson & Ray Stevens dq – Jay Youngblood beat Geoff Portz – Johnny Weaver beat Steve Muslin – Steve Bolus beat Joe Marcus – Dewey Robertson (Missing Link) beat Kim Chang
1979
Memphis, Tennessee: – Billy Graham beat CWA Champion Jerry Lawler dq – AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Sonny King – Ricky Morton beat Tojo Yamamoto dq – Hector Guerrero & Steve Regal beat The Blond Bombers (Wayne Ferris & Larry Latham) to win the Southern Tag Title – The Assassins beat Jerry Bryant & Jerry Barber – Koko Ware beat Steve Kyle
1981
Kansas City, Kansas: – Tommy Martin defeated Bob Sweetan to win the NWA Central States Heavyweight Title
1982
Calgary, Alberta, Canada: – Leo Burke and Bret Hart defeated Duke Myers and The Dynamite Kid for the Stampede International Tag Team Title
1984
Memphis, Tennessee: – Jacques Rougeau, Jr. won the vacant NWA Mid-America Heavyweight Title
Salt Lake City, Utah: Attendance was 3,002 – AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors beat Fabulous Ones – Jimmy Garvin beat Jim Brunzell – Curt Hennig & Larry Hennig beat Nick Bockwinkel & Mr Saito dq – Jim Brunzell drew Billy Robinson – Blackjack Lanza beat Steve Regal
1985
Tampa, Florida: – Lex Luger defeated Wahoo McDaniel to win the Florida version of the NWA Southern Heavyweight Title
1988
Memphis, Tennessee: – Brian Lee defeated Mike Miller in a tournament final for the Championship Wrestling Association Heavyweight Title
Carolina, Puerto Rico: – Jason the Terrible defeated TNT (Juan Rivera) for the WWC Caribbean Heavyweight Title
1989
Memphis, Tennessee: – Bill Dundee defeated Tony Anthony for the USWA Southern Heavyweight Title
1990
Rochester, New York: – Curt Hennig defeated Kerry Von Erich for the WWF Intercontinental title
1991
Savannah, Georgia: – Dustin Rhodes & mystery partner Ricky Steamboat defeated The Enforcers, Arn Anderson & Larry Zbyszko to win the WCW World Tag Team Titles – Rick Rude defeated Sting to win the WCW United States Title
1994
Cherry Hill, New York: – Chris Candido defeated Tracey Smothers to win the NWA World Heavyweight Title in a tournament final
1995
Landover, Maryland: – Bret Hart defeated Diesel to win the WWF World Title – Shawn Michaels, Ahmed Johnson, Sid, & Davey Boy Smith defeated WWF Intercontinental Champion Razor Ramon, Owen Hart, Dean Douglas, & Yokozuna
2004 Columbus, Nebraska: – Trevor Rhodes defeated Rick Steiner for the World League Wrestling Heavyweight Title
2005
Wayne, New Jersey: – Chris Harris defeated Jeff Jarrett for the NWA Cyberspace title – Abyss defeated Chris Harris to win the NWA Cyberspace title
2006
Orlando, Florida: – Abyss defeated Sting by DQ to win the NWA World Title – Kurt Angle defeated Samoa Joe – TNA X Division Champion Christopher Daniels defeated Chris Sabin to retain the title – Christian Cage defeated AJ Styles
2011
Chicago Ridge, Illinois: – Eddie Edwards defeated Kyle O’Reilly – The Briscoes defeated The Young Bucks – ROH Tag Team Champions, Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin defeated The All Night Express to retain the titles – ROH Champion Davey Richards defeated El Genericho to retain the title
2014
– Taryn Terrell defeated Havok & Gail Kim to win the TNA Knockouts Title – Low Ki defeated Tigre Uno, Manik and DJ Z to win the TNA X Division Title
La Sombra, who just turned 26, was one of the top stars in CMLL, and would have remained one of the company’s biggest stars for the remainder of his career there. He just came off losing his mask to Atlantis at the Anniversary show.
Andrade, who used to date WWE trainer Sarah Stock years ago, was originally expected to be in the New Japan tag team tournament that starts on Saturday, but when the teams were announced, Tetsuya Naito’s partner was listed as Evil (Takaaki Watanabe). Recently, Andrade did a rushed program with longtime partner Rush, that climaxed after one singles match on Friday night when Sombra lost clean in the middle in the third fall.
He’s a super talent with a good look, but he will have to learn a completely different style and will also be able to master English well enough to do a strong promo to reach anywhere near his potential. But he was a success working with the Japanese and Americans in New Japan, and even held the Intercontinental title there at one point, so it’s not all new to him and he has the basics for being able to adapt to a different style.
While he’s good looking, there is actually more potential for him in the U.S. as a modern day Mil Mascaras type masked character aimed at the Hispanic audience.
TNA announced Thursday morning that it has signed a deal with POP TV for Impact, which will start on the station on January 5th, 2016, in a Tuesday from 9-11 p.m. time slot. Dixie Carter announced the news on Twitter stating that they are now on a station that reaches 85 million homes.
The Wrestling Observer Newsletter had reported that POP TV, which has been airing Paragon Pro Wrestling weekly as a time buy, along with WGN America, were in negotiations for TNA. Of the two, the POP TV deal was considered the weaker station overall even though both stations were in similar amounts of homes.
It is an upgrade as far as reach is concerned, although POP TV is in closer to 75 million homes right now as compared to 57 million for Destination America. Finances were not disclosed which is the key when it comes to TNA, because there is little revenue coming in with the exception of selling the television show, since they almost never do live events that tickets are sold to, and PPV numbers are weak. TNA wil remain on Destination America through the end of 2015.
In a related note, Paragon announced today that their final date on POP TV will be November 21st. They are moving their programming to various platforms including Tuff-TV, Fight Net, You Too America and WADL-TV in Detroit, MI.
– Air Date: November 19, 2015 (Nov 18 in Canada) – Location: Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, TN
The Big News:
November 19, 2015. Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose are still the best of friends.
Show Recap:
R.I.P. Nick Bockwinkel.
After airing a graphic for Bockwinkel, they plugged the WWE Title tournament semi-final matches for Survivor Series and pushed the tag team main event for tonight.
The Miz welcomed everyone to MizTV, and he did that thing where he waits for the crowd to say “MizTV” but only five people do. He was about to introduce his guests but Kevin Owens’ music hit before he could finish.
Miz said he’s supposed to introduce the guests, but Owens said he’s turning this into the Kevin Owens Show. Owens said he would win the WWE Title and would become, as Triple H puts it, the man. Miz was about to say something but Alberto Del Rio and Zeb Colter interrupted.
Colter called Miz a hater and isn’t going to fall for his “gotcha” questioning. Colter said it doesn’t matter what you call MizTV, it’s still crap. Owens thought that was funny, but Colter called Owens a hater too and, “Worse than that, you’re from Canada.” Crowd popped. Colter wondered if Owens snuck across the border by ice skating across Lake Michigan.
Very Tanned Alberto Del Rio told Owens that there would be a place in MexAmerica for people like him, because they need people to clean their pools. Owens responded, “You know who missed you while you were gone, by the way? Nobody.”
Dean Ambrose came out next. Miz was upset, but Ambrose said he was there to help him and told him to sit down. Ambrose (who campaigned against all the talking on Raw) said this was a talk show so he was going to talk. He called Del Rio one tough hombre but will go through him for the title if he has to. He said Owens can give out a beating unlike anyone else, but Ambrose can take a beating unlike anyone else and would win the title.
Miz said there’s someone who might disagree, and smiley-faced Roman Reigns came down through the crowd. Miz was still upset that he kept getting interrupted. Reigns told him we know what happens on MizTV – Miz talks until someone shuts him up.
R-Truth came out next and everyone appeared nonplussed. Truth called himself the underdog and a survivor and would win the title at Survivor Series. Miz told him the tournament has been going on for two weeks and Truth was never in it. Truth apologized, wished luck to the babyfaces and left.
Miz complained about his segment going off the rails. Reigns told him to act like a director and started directing. Miz yelled “Action!” like he was on a film set, and Ambrose punched him out. Del Rio and Owens bailed. This segment started well but completely fell apart once Reigns and Truth came out.
After a break, Miz was still in the ring, scheduled for a match. He said he shouldn’t have to compete after being disrespected and wanted his match cancelled. He was interrupted again, this time by Cesaro.
Cesaro beat The Miz via submission
Miz got some offense briefly but Cesaro quickly cut him off and did a tilt-a-whirl into a crossface and Miz tapped. It was short. After the match, Stardust and the Ascension came out as Cesaro walked up the ramp. Stardust and Cesaro faced off before Stardust continued on his way. Rich Brennan was excited about this face off, and he’s the only one.
Neville & The Dudley Boyz beat Stardust & The Ascension via pinfall
Neville ran towards the ropes but Konnor held the ropes open as Viktor distracted the referee, resulting in Neville crashing to the outside. Stardust rammed his head against the table and Bubba encouraged Neville to get up. Then, Konnor gave Neville a big boot. Presumably the referee was distracted again, but he wasn’t in the frame.
Bubba yelled at the referee because of how stupid all of this was. The referee looked like an imbecile here and so did the Dudleys frankly. They just stood there as their partner got double teamed illegally.
After a break, Bubba made a hot tag and took out Viktor and Stardust. They did the diving headbutt spot to Konnor and called for tables. Stardust jumped back in and gave Bubba a disaster kick, but Neville took him out with a missile dropkick. Viktor tossed Neville to the outside, sending him into Konnor. Bubba and D-Von gave Viktor 3D for the win. This was not good, and this was a poor follow-up for Neville after his great match with Owens on Raw.
They aired a video package for Undertaker & Kane vs. the Wyatts. Jerry Lawler hopes Bray Wyatt is in the match. This is not how you promote a PPV match.
Tyler Breeze (w/Summer Rae) beat Zack Ryder via pinfall
Before the match, Breeze said Ryder’s fashion sense reminded him of another uggo, Dolph Ziggler. He said Summer dumped Ziggler because she wanted an upgrade. Breeze said he’s what everyone wanted and he never goes out of style. Breeze said Ziggler would do what he’s done his entire career, and Summer finished his sentence by saying Ziggler would come up short. She motioned with her fingers, intimating that Ziggler has a small penis.
During the match, Ziggler came to ringside. He dumped one of their drinks on the floor. The distraction allowed Ryder to get a nearfall on a school boy, but Breeze won shortly after with the Beauty Shot. After the match, Ziggler superkicked Breeze and left.
The lights went out and the Undertaker’s druids came out in sheep masks. Bray’s music hit and the Wyatts came out. (They promoted this ahead of time so the crowd knew it wasn’t going to be Undertaker.) Bray rambled. He said the demon and the deadman would fail, it was just a question of how.
He said Erick Rowan was cast aside by society and is fueled by vengeance. He said Luke Harper shows no remorse. Strowman spoke for himself, saying he’s dreamt of making great men fall and would shatter their bones to dust. Crowd chanted “What” at Strowman.
Undertaker’s music and pyro went off and he eventually appeared on the big screen. Taker cut a usual Taker promo and said the Brothers of Destruction will reclaim what’s theirs. Kane held up a white sheep mask, which was on fire, and Taker said the Wyatts would rest in peace. Kane did that thing with his arms and his fire explosion went off in the ring and, suddenly, all of the druids were on the floor like corpses. This was wacky.
They showed a replay of Paige’s controversial line on Raw. They referred to this segment as the “Diva Revulsion.”
Non-Title: WWE Divas Champion Charlotte beat Brie Bella (w/Alicia Fox) via submission
Short, back-and-forth match that ended with Charlotte reversing an X-Factor into a spear and Figure Eight for the win. The crowd wasn’t dead, but I’m not sure how much they cared about Charlotte. They sure yelled “woo” a lot.
Backstage, Paige told Renee Young that Charlotte can turn into the Incredible Hulk if she wants but it won’t help her retain the title. Paige called Charlotte immature for the way she acted on Monday, which is pretty funny. Paige said she would cross the line if that’s what it took to regain the title, because that’s what champions do.
Big E (w/Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) beat Kalisto (w/Sin Cara) via pinfall
Xavier Woods said there was a conspiracy against them because they weren’t in the tournament. They buried Ryback and Kalisto, making short jokes about the latter. Woods put on a mask and Kofi Kingston exclaimed, “He’s a luchadore! Because he’s wearing a mask!” Big E said he would show Kalisto that size does matter and began swivelling his hips.
Once the match started, Sin Cara took out Woods outside the ring, and Kingston took out Sin Cara. Kalisto hit a dive on Kingston, but was distracted by Woods as he re-entered the ring, allowing Big E to hit a running body block and running splash for an extremely quick win. Terrible follow-up for Kalisto after his big win last week.
After the match, Woods and Kingston held down Kalisto allowing Big E to hit another splash. Ryback ran out to make the save, taking out all three New Day members by himself, including hitting a splash of his own on Big E. He helped Sin Cara and Kalisto to their feet.
They showed a pre-taped video interview Maria Menounos did with Paige and The Miz about their upcoming movie. This was basically a commercial, but it was the highlight of the show to this point. They were all in character. Miz tried plugging the movie, but Paige interrupted to bury Menounos, bringing up her failed attempt to become a [wrestler]. Menounos asked her what it was like working with an accomplished actor like The Miz. Paige laughed and eventually blew off the interview because she has more important things to worry about.
They announced Ziggler vs. Breeze for Survivor Series.
Ambrose and Reigns had a meeting backstage. Ambrose expected them both to win their semi-final matches at Survivor Series and Reigns acknowledged that this would put them against each other in the finals. Reigns patted Ambrose on the shoulder, saying he’s come too far and would have to treat Ambrose like everyone else. Ambrose expected nothing less. Basically, they agreed to give it their all and they bumped fists.
Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose DCO I.C. Champion Kevin Owens & US Champion Alberto Del Rio (w/Zeb Colter)
After a break, the heels took control on Ambrose after Del Rio launched him into the barricade. As Owens beat down on Ambrose, he pointed at Brennan and yelled, “You watching this Rich you idiot?” Del Rio hit an enziguri and back cracker for a two count. Ambrose blocked a superkick, hit a rebound clothesline and made the hot tag to Reigns.
Reigns used a clothesline and apron dropkick on Owens, followed by clotheslines in the corner. Reigns hit a tilt-a-whirl slam on Owens, but Del Rio broke up the cover. Reigns sent Del Rio to the outside, and Owens hit Reigns with a superkick. Ambrose hit a suicide dive on Del Rio and clotheslined him over the announce table.
Owens tried a powerbomb on Ambrose outside the ring, but Reigns hit him with a superman punch. Del Rio tossed Reigns into the steps and gave him a superkick. Around this point, the referee called for a double count out. Lame.
Del Rio tossed Ambrose in the ring but Ambrose hit Dirty Deeds. Ambrose slipped out of a pop-up powerbomb and Reigns hit Owens with a spear. Afterwards, Ambrose and Reigns both went out to look at the WWE Title at ringside and eventually bumped fists again.
Final Thoughts:
This show sucked. Four of the matches were under five minutes, and the main event, which was promoted all night, ended in a double count out. Nothing on this show mattered.
The most talked-about story since Raw continues to be the Charlotte/Paige interview where Charlotte’s brother, Reid, who passed away, was used as heat to further the storyline.
Yesterday, Charlotte’s mother expressed her disgust on Twitter for the angle. On Ric Flair’s newest Woo Nation podcast, Ric said he was never contacted by WWE about the angle in advance, and said he cried while watching it. In an attempt to remain as political as possible, he said Charlotte was not in the position in her career to say no to any angle, that if he was a fan he wouldn’t have liked it and that he wouldn’t have booked something like that himself. He said at the end of the day, he was still going to be at Survivor Series and he thought the two girls were going to have a great match and that would lead to people forgetting about the angle.
Also, despite reports to the contrary, Ric’s co-host Conrad said the story that the angle was Charlotte’s idea is one hundred percent false.
NXT airs at 8:00 p.m. ET on WWE Network with a main event of Bayley vs. Alexa Bliss for the Women’s Championship.
Impact Wrestling airs at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on Destination America with more of the World Title Series.
A rerun of last week’s edition of The Ultimate Fighter airs at 9:00 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1.
The Ultimate Fighter airs at 10:00 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1 with a new episode titled “Bullseye.” This will include not just the Coaches’ Challenge, but the final preliminary fight and the decision of which winning fighter will not advance due to having an uninspired performance.
ROH airs at 11:00 p.m. ET on Destination America with The Kingdom vs. The Addiction for the ROH World Tag Team Championship in the main event.
Fox Sports Live at 11:00 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1 opens with the “TUF Talk” segment going over The Ultimate Fighter.
Exclusive news on WrestleMania, how SummerSlam has changed due to the Seth Rollins injury, updates on Rollins, notes on the WWE title tournament and what key stars besides Rollins and Randy Orton are now unlikely to wrestle at WrestleMania is the lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
We also look at the different potential finishes of the WWE title tournament, how it looks to be progressing, a look at the Royce Gracie vs. Ken Shamrock fight and look back 20 years to their two previous fights, lots of notes on the fight, and the back story.
We also look at WrestleMania tickets, the Wayne Rooney angle, Dwayne Johnson and Dave Bautista update, More on Alberto Del Rio’s outside business and his angle in Puerto Rico, Undertaker week, WWE make more network predictions, notes from the next Madison Square Garden show, notes on Raw this week, Ronda Rousey talks WWE Divas division, what WWE star is ready to return from surgery, plus notes on all the WWE & NXT arena events of the past week and business note.
We also have our monthly business rundown of WWE and TNA, to see how both groups are doing as compared to the same period last year, as well as a breakdown on how every different WWE main event is drawing over the past month.
You can also order the print Observer right now and get it delivered to your door via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to dave@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.
Why is John Cena gone right now? He announced on Twitter that he is hosting a new series coming to FOX called American Grit, a reality show focused on 16 contestants that will go through military and survival themed challenges. Given that UFC is also on Fox, you have to imagine there is some hope for cross-promotion and, dare we say it, a cageside interview? We have gotten reports that the show is being taped at least in part in Washington State.
The whole Alberto Del Rio/AAA/Mega Title controversy will be settled officially at this year’s AAA Guerra de Titanes on December 4th. After all the talk about doing some sort of title tournament, the company changed their mind and it will not be Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Johnny Mundo for the vacant championship in a singles match.
Oddly enough, there is a poster for Guerra de Titanes that not only has Alberto del Rio front and center, but is also advertising that it will be his farewell show.
Here’s a random fun fact: the 2/29 edition of WWE RAW will be their first Leap Year edition in company history. Yes, they already have a hashtag for it.
TSN jn Canada has cancelled Off The Record, Michael Landsberg’s long-running interview show that regularly featured pro wrestlers at times. Landsberg was always really well-prepared and the boom period wrestling interviews were popular among tape traders back in the day for how good they were.
Bill Goldberg told Channel Guide Magazine that TNA had been contacting him with ideas. He noted that he did a movie where one of his main adversaries was Bram of TNA. He didn’t seem like he was strongly considering the idea.
TNA’s Dixie Carter noted that she was heading to Los Angeles, likely to get people thinking that she’s working on some sort of TV deal. She may very well be. However, last week she teased that there might be something in the works with Spike TV, and suffice to say, there was not and is not.
Some corrections to Paul Fontaine’s Nick Bockwinkel column from reader Jeff Sharkey: His famous Winnipeg Arena match with Ric Flair was not title vs. title (Bockwinkel wasn’t AWA Champion at the time)
MMA
Pre-sale tickets are available for UFC’s return to Boston on Sunday, January 17th featuring bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw vs. Dominic Cruz. Pre-sale tickets available here by using ‘BOSTON’ as the code. Public on-sale starts this Friday.
Inside MMA will have a “Special Edition” episode about Holly Holm this Friday night at the special time of 11:30 p.m. ET on AXS TV.
Former Bellator VP and well-known MMA personality Sam Caplan is this week’s guest on Josh Nason’s Punch-Out, available on Wednesday night EST here on the site.
The UFC returns for the third straight weekend as they debut in a new city as the Octagon travels to Mexico for the third time. It will be UFC Fight Night 78, which will also serve as the finale for The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America 2 when the UFC invades Monterrey for the first time this Saturday night. The main card airs on FS1 starting at 10 PM eastern time, with preliminary action kicking off on UFC Fight Pass at 6:30 PM eastern time before moving over to FS1 at 8 PM eastern time. We will have coverage all weekend here.
The event will be headlined by a five-round welterweight bout as Neil Magny steps up, yet again, on short notice to take on Kelvin Gastelum, who looks to regain his traction in his return to the welterweight division. In the co-main event, it will be former featherweight title challenger Ricardo Lamas taking on the last man standing from the original TUF, Diego Sanchez. Also on the card is a potential flyweight title eliminator bout as Jussier Formiga takes on Olympic gold medalist Henry Cejudo. Let’s take a closer look at the night’s action and give you five storylines to keep an eye on during UFC Fight Night 78 on Saturday night.
1. Will Kelvin Gastelum get back on track in the welterweight division in the main event?
Kelvin Gastelum makes his return to the welterweight division in the main event of Saturday night’s UFC Fight Night 78 event, his first fight back at 170 pounds since missing weight badly for his bout against Tyron Woodley at UFC 183 in January. Gastelum has fought since then, scoring a dominant TKO win over Nate Marquardt as a middleweight at UFC 188 in June, but pleaded his case to UFC management to go back down to 170 pounds. They’re letting him, but another case of missing weight and he’ll be done as a welterweight. Gastelum has had the issues making the welterweight limit, officially missing weight twice and coming close a couple of other times. He says he has the issues under control, but that truly remains to be seen. If he has those issues taken care of, at 24-years-old, Gastelum has the chance to become a very serious threat in the division.
Gastelum has just one loss in his career, to Woodley, but it was a close split decision loss that Gastelum almost won. He has scored eleven wins in his career, with eight coming by stoppage. He is the youngest winner of “The Ultimate Fighter” in show history, and is a huge prospect making his first main event appearance. His opponent, Neil Magny, is also making his first headline appearance as he fights for the fifth time this year, taking the fight on short notice as an injury replacement for Matt Brown. Magny is known as the man to call in the welterweight division to take a short-notice opportunity, as this will be his second straight year to fight five times. He won all five of his fights in 2014, and he has gone 3-1 in his four 2014 bouts. His lone loss over the past two calendar years came to Demian Maia at UFC 190 in August, a bout that Magny was outclassed in. For all of Magny’s success over the past two years, he has only fought one fighter that was ranked at the time of the fight- Maia. Gastelum will be the second as Magny looks for his second straight win after defeating Erick Silva in August, just three weeks after his loss to Maia, in another bout he took on short notice.
Gastelum is a strong prospect and has the chance to be fighting for the title down the line if he can keep his weight issues in check. His size makes him better suited for the welterweight division, where he will be the relative same size as his opponents. It’s important for him to keep his weight in check. As far as his fight against Magny, it will be an interesting test. Magny isn’t a flashy fighter, but he gets the job done well. He has some decent power, but it has been showcased against lower-level competition. Magny will have a nine-inch reach advantage over Gastelum, which he will need to use to keep Gastelum on the outside. Gastelum is a solid wrestler and has some good power in his hands as well. Both men land a lot of strikes, and Gastelum eats a lot of punches. Neither man have gone 25 minutes. Gastelum, with the huge cut, may not have the energy to make it. Magny, with the short notice, may not either. This is a decent fight to make on short notice, but I like Gastelum to get the job done and move back up the rankings.
2. How much fight does Diego Sanchez have left?
And then there was one. Diego Sanchez is the last man standing in the UFC from the original cast of “The Ultimate Fighter” after the recent retirement of Mike Swick and the UFC departure of Josh Koscheck. Sanchez makes his long-awaited return on Saturday night in the co-main event, and in doing so, he will join another “TUF” alum, Kenny Florian, as a fighter to compete in four different weight classes in UFC competition as he makes the move to the featherweight division. It is an interesting time for a fighter to be dropping down with the IV ban, and with a long history of injuries, it is unsure how much fight Sanchez has left. He is 2-3 in his last five fights, but the two wins were split decisions that could’ve gone either way, so we are looking at a fighter that could very well have been on a five-fight losing skid. Sanchez is still only 33-years-old, but after having been with the UFC thru some 282 events, we may be seeing the end of the road for “The Nightmare”.
Sanchez will take on former featherweight title challenger Ricardo Lamas, the fourth-ranked fighter at 145 pounds in the UFC. Lamas is coming off a first-round knockout loss to Chad Mendes in April, and is looking to erase the sting of his first stoppage loss inside the Octagon. It is a tough first outing for Sanchez at 145 pounds, but we are talking about one of the most experienced fighters in the UFC. Only a handful of fighters have had more time inside the Octagon than Sanchez, who has fought for a title and fought in a main event seven times, and has been in countless “Fight Of The Year” fights. Sanchez has a penchant for having extremely close fights, and most have gone his way. This will probably be another close fight as both land solid punches, and it will likely stay on the feet. It will be a chess match, but at this stage, Lamas is simply a better fighter. Unless we see the Diego Sanchez of old, it will be Lamas walking away with the win.
3. Who will secure the next title shot at 125 pounds when Jussier Formiga and Henry Cejudo square off?
For all intents and purposes, the flyweight bout between Jussier Formiga and Henry Cejudo at UFC Fight Night 78 on Saturday will determine the next challenger for UFC Flyweight Champion Demetrious Johnson. That is definitely the case for Cejudo, who comes into the fight undefeated at 9-0 and has been being groomed for a title shot. Formiga has won three straight fights, and he isn’t quite a 100% lock, but if he were to put a 1 in the loss column of Cejudo, you have to think he will be given a crack at Johnson despite having lost prior UFC bouts to Joseph Benavidez and John Dodson, who have been frequent Johnson challengers in the short history of the UFC flyweight division. It will be an interesting battle on Saturday as it will be Formiga’s grappling skills going against the Olympic wrestling game of Cejudo.
Cejudo is the most decorated wrestler in the UFC, having won an Olympic gold medal at the 2008 Olympics. His striking has gotten better with every fight, and he hasn’t seen much of a need to rely on his wrestling skill, though he has recently, to win fights as he has won them primarily on the feet. Formiga is very experienced on his feet, but is capable of being knocked out, and aside from a submission win off a headbutt over Scott Jorgensen, he hasn’t shown the finishing capability in the Octagon. Cejudo hasn’t finished an opponent either, but he has yet to lose a round in the UFC. Cejudo is wanting that crack at Johnson and the title shot, and if he keeps his weight issues in check, which he has since dropping back down, he may give Johnson the toughest test to date. Formiga is Cejudo’s toughest foe, and while he has three straight wins, he hasn’t quite lived up to expectations. He has fallen short against the elite competition, and this fight is shaping up for that to happen again. Look for Cejudo to cement his shot at the title.
4. Will Efrain Escudero make it three straight against Leandro Silva?
Efrain Escudero has done something that no other fighter in the history of the UFC has been able to do. He is the only fighter to ever win a season of “The Ultimate Fighter” to be cut and then brought back to the promotion. In fact, this is Escudero’s third stint in the UFC. He won season eight of “TUF” but went just 3-2 in his first UFC stint, not a bad record by any means, but was cut after missing weight badly in his loss against Charles Oliveira. He was brought back in late 2011 as an injury replacement, but was cut again after two straight losses. He was brought back in 2014, and while he lost his return to Leonardo Santos, he has since won two straight to get himself back on track, and in his hopes, finally showing his potential in his third UFC stint.
It was almost five years between UFC wins for Escudero, but he goes into Saturday night against Leandro Silva looking for his first three-fight win streak inside the Octagon. Escudero’s last win was a 54-second submission win over Drew Dober in June, and he went on to coach this season of “TUF: Latin America 2”, and he will be one of the more popular fighters on the card. His opponent, Silva, should be on a three-fight win streak if not for an error by a referee that made his own win over Dober into a no contest, and he will be a tough test for Escudero. Escudero has some solid wrestling, but Silva is a good grappler. They are pretty even on the feet. Silva is a larger opponent and has used his strength to maintain top position in prior fights. Neither man is creeping up on being ranked in the division, but neither want to be in a position of being cut. I like Escudero to pull off a decision win.
5. Who is a fighter to keep an eye on during the rest of the card?
The card will feature the finals in the welterweight and lightweight tournaments coming off of “TUF: Latin America 2” when Erick Montano faces Enrique Marin in the welterweight finals, and Horacio Gutierrez takes on Enrique Barzola in the lightweight finals. Also on the card is a former winner of “TUF: Latin America” as Alejandro Perez, who won the first season in the bantamweight division, takes on UFC and WEC veteran Scott Jorgensen, who is looking to get back on track after a disappointing 4-7 tenure during his time with the UFC. In featherweight action, Gabriel Benitez will take on Team Alpha Male member Andre Fili. In the opening bout of the night, it is two powerful Brazilian lightweights as Valmir Lazaro takes on Michel Prazeres.
We wanna keep our eye on the featured preliminary bout as Erik Perez returns from a long layoff to take on Taylor Lapilus. Perez was thought to become the Mexican star the UFC was looking for, but he hasn’t quite lived up to recent expectations. After winning eight straight fights, including his first three UFC bouts. He has since lost two of his last three bouts, and he hasn’t fought since a June 2014 loss to Bryan Caraway. He gets a tough foe in Lapilus, who is an interesting prospect at 135 pounds. Lapilus is 10-1 in his career and has won five straight fights, including his last two in the UFC. He hasn’t fought someone at the level of Perez, who had been ranked in the top 15 before the bout of inactivity. It is a tough test for both men as Perez looks to bounce back and Laplius looks to score the biggest win of his career. We will keep an eye on that bout for sure.
Full UFC Fight Night 78 Fight Card, Betting Odds & Predictions
MAIN CARD (FS1- 10 PM ET/7 PM PT)
Welterweights: (#13) Neil Magny vs. (#15) Kelvin Gastelum Betting Odds: Magny (+230), Gastelum (-270) Prediction: Gastelum by decision
Featherweights: (#4) Ricardo Lamas vs. Diego Sanchez Betting Odds: Lamas (-590), Sanchez (+445) Prediction: Lamas by decision
Flyweights: (#3) Jussier Formiga vs. (#5) Henry Cejudo Betting Odds: Formiga (+400), Cejudo (-500) Prediction: Cejudo by decision
TUF: Latin America 2 Welterweight Finals: Erick Montano vs. Enrique Marin Betting Odds: Montano (+160), Marin (-185) Prediction: Montano by submission in round 1
TUF: Latin America 2 Lightweight Finals: Horacio Gutierrez vs. Enrique Barzola Betting Odds: Gutierrez (-150), Barzola (+130) Prediction: Gutierrez by knockout in round 2
Lightweights: Efrain Escudero vs. Leandro Silva Betting Odds: Escudero (+120), Silva (-140) Prediction: Escudero by decision
PRELIMINARY CARD (FS1- 8 PM ET/5 PM PT)
Bantamweights: Erik Perez vs. Taylor Lapilus Betting Odds: Perez (-125), Lapilus (+105) Prediction: Perez by decision
Welterweights: Hector Urbina vs. Bartosz Fabinski Betting Odds: Urbina (+165), Fabinski (-190) Prediction: Urbina by submission in round 2
Bantamweights: Scott Jorgensen vs. Alejandro Perez Betting Odds: Jorgensen (-145), Perez (+125) Prediction: Jorgensen by decision
Featherweights: Gabriel Benitez vs. Andre Fili Betting Odds: Benitez (+165), Fili (-190) Prediction: Fili by submission in round 2
Ring of Honor announced on Wednesday that its 14th anniversary event in Las Vegas, which had already been slated as its first PPV show of 2016, will now be a full weekend.
The company announced shows for Friday, 2/26 and Saturday, 2/27, at Sam’s Town Casino in Las Vegas. The PPV show will be on Friday followed by a television taping on Saturday.
ROH’s next major PPV is Final Battle 2015 from the 2300 Arena (former ECW Arena) in Philadelphia, PA, on December 18 — their version of WrestleMania. This year’s main event features Jay Lethal defending the ROH World Heavyweight Title against ROH and New Japan star AJ Styles. It will air live on traditional PPV at 9 PM ET/6 PT.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: – Jim Londos defeated Bronco Nagurski for the World Heavyweight Title
1942
Des Moines, Iowa: – Orville Brown defeated Ed “Strangler” Lewis in 2 out of 3 falls – Ken Fenelon beat Nick Elitch 2 falls to 0 – Ronnie Etchison beat Bad Boy Brown
1971
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada: – Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens beat AWA Tag Team Champions The Crusher & Red Bastien dq – Billy Robinson beat Lars Anderson – Larry Hennig beat Dr. X – Ivan Koloff beat Bull Bullinski – Don Muraco beat Treach Phillips
1972
Chicago, Illinois: – AWA Tag Team Champions Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens beat Dick the Bruiser & the Crusher – Wahoo McDaniel beat Ivan Koloff – Superstar Billy Graham beat Moose Cholak – Rene Goulet drew George Scott – Larry Hennig beat Joe Scarpello
1976
St. Louis, Missouri: – Jack Brisco defeated Bob Backlund to win the Missouri State Title
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada: Attendance was 10,000 – AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel double count out Verne Gagne (Special Referee: Pat O’Connor) – The Crusher beat Baron Von Raschke – Jim Brunzell beat Pierre Poisson – Pedro Morales beat Blackjack Lanza – Pat O’Connor beat Bobby Duncum – Peter Maivia drew Moose Morowski
Kansas City, Kansas: – Akio Sato defeated The Iron Sheik via DQ – Bob Brown defeated Ronnie Etchison – Bob Geigel & The Super Intern defeated Bob Brown & Mitsuo Hata
1983
Cleveland, Ohio: – Ted DiBiase defeated Brett Wayne Sawyer for the Georgia National Heavyweight Title
1992
Macon, Georgia: – Ricky Steamboat & Shane Douglas defeated Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes to win the NWA & WCW World Tag Team Titles – Sting and Rick Rude wrestled to a 20 minute draw
1995
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: – ECW World Champion Mikey Whipwreck defeated Steve Austin – ECW World Tag Team Champions 2 Cold Scorpio & The Sandman defeated The Public Enemy
2001
Greensboro, North Carolina: – WCW Tag Team Champions The Dudley Boyz defeated WWF Tag Team Champions Matt & Jeff Hardy in a steel cage unification match – The Rock defeated Steve Austin
2007
Miami, Florida: – ECW Champion CM Punk defeated The Miz and John Morrison – WWE Champion Randy Orton defeated Shawn Michaels – World Champion Batista defeated The Undertaker in a Hell in a Cell match
2012
– WWE Champion CM Punk defeated Ryback and John Cena – United States Champion Antonio Cesaro defeated R Truth
