St. Louis, Missouri: Attendance was 7,534 – Jim Londos beat Leo Numa – Abe Coleman beat Jack League – George Tragos defeated Ellis Bashara
1938
Atlanta, Georgia: – Jack McAdams defeated Eddie Williams to win the Southern Light Heavyweight Title
1957
Toronto, Ontario, Canada: – Dick Hutton defeated Lou Thesz to win the NWA World Title
1963
– Killer Kowalski & Gorilla Monsoon defeated Skull Murphy & Brute Bernard to win the United States (WWWF version) tag team championship
Kansas City, Kansas: – Mongolian Stomper beat Moose Cholak 2 falls to 1 – Larry Hamilton and Enrique Torres beat Rock Hunter and Bulldog Plechas by dq
1972
Tampa, Florida: – Lights Out Match: Jack Brisco beat Paul Jones – Southern Champion Buddy Colt beat Eddie Graham dq – Bobby Shane beat Boris Malenko – AWA Champion Verne Gagne beat Ronnie Garvin – Sputnik Monroe & Norvell Austin beat Frank Hester & Bearcat Wright – Mr Wrestling Tim Woods beat The Professsional – Robert Fuller beat Mike Webster
Macon, Georgia: – Tommy Seigler & Argentina Apollo defeated Rocket Monroe & Skandar Akbar to win the Macon Tag Team Titles
1973
Honolulu, Hawaii: – AWA Champion Verne Gagne beat Ed Francis – AWA Tag Team Champions Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens drew Neff Maiava & Sam Steamboat – Ripper Collins beat Tosh Togo by countout – Ken Patera beat Masked Executioner – Greg Valentine beat Rick Drasin – Bill Francis beat Betto Castro
Hamburg, Pennsylvania: – Tony Garea & Dean Ho defeated Toru Tanaka & Mr. Fuji to win the WWWF World Tag Team Title
1980
Denver, Colorado: – Greg Gagne & Tito Santana beat AWA Tag Team Champions Adrian Adonis & Jesse Ventura by dq – Mad Dog Vachon beat Nick Bockwinkel by dq – John Studd beat Dino Bravo – Handicap Match: Jerry Blackwell beat Buck Zumhofe & Juan Valez
1985
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada: Attendance was 6,012 – Cage Match: AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Boris Zhukov – Curt Hennig & Scott Hall beat AWA Tag Team Champions Jim Garvin & Steve Regal – Nick Bockwinkel beat Larry Zbyszko by dq – Jerry Blackwell & Kelly Kiniski beat Buddy Roberts & Ray Stevens by dq – Stan Hansen beat Kevin Kelly – Ray Stevens beat Buddy Lane
1986
Kansas City, Kansas: – Mod Squad beat George South & Rocky King – Dave Peterson & Todd Champion beat Thunderfoots – Mod Squad ddq Rufus Jones & Rocky King – Sam Houston beat Bulldog Brown
1988
Memphis, Tennessee: – AWA Champion Jerry Lawler beat Botswana Beast – Brian Lee no contest Phil Hickerson; CWA Title held up – Jeff Jarrett beat World Class Light Heavyweight Champion Eric Embry by dq – Football Match: Gary Young & Cactus Jack beat Robert Fuller & Jimmy Golden – Sid Vicious beat Bill Dundee – Brian Adams beat The Executioner – Scott Steiner beat Tommy Lane – Mike Davis beat Brickhouse Brown
1999
Detroit, Michigan: – Big Show (subbing for Steve Austin) defeated Triple H and The Rock in a Triple Threat match to win the WWF World Title
2004
Cleveland, Ohio: – Shelton Benjamin defeated Christian to retain the Intercontinental Title – JBL defeated Booker T to retain the WWE World Title
The Big Takeaway – Not your typical ROH show at all. Only two wrestling matches, neither of which were particularly good, surrounded by a bunch of skits involving Silas Young and the Boys and a memorable in-ring interview with Steve Corino.
The opening is a taped skit in a parking lot with Silas Young teaching the Boys how to be men. It starts with him teaching them how to change a tire, complete with cleaning each other off with spit, rather than hand sanitizer. Then he teaches them how to drive a stick shift.
Nigel is still on commentary but promises an announcement later tonight in regards to the future of Steve Corino. Silas Young and the Beer City Bruiser are coming out to the ring with Bruiser carrying a beer keg and the Boys struggling to carry another one.
Silas Young/Beer City Bruiser w/The Boys vs War Machine (Hanson/Rowe)
No adherence to the Code of Honor and Kevin Kelly is pushing a #FreeTheBoys movement on Twitter. War Machine dominates early and when Bruiser gets thrown out of the ring, the Boys try valiantly to lift him to his feet but after a couple minutes, they’re still struggling to do so. Bruiser finally does get into the ring and intercepts a charge from Rowe with a shoulder block. Young and Bruiser get a bit of offence in at this point, cutting off the ring.
Bruiser hits a frog splash from the top that nearly gets a three right before a break. Rowe gets the hot tag after a Urinage and Hanson is a house of fire. He’s about to do a suicide dive but the Boys interfere by grabbing his feet. Rowe sets them up on the turnbuckles. Young tries to save them and he gets put on top of the boys. Rowe then chops all off them off the top, one by one. Bruiser again makes the save but ends up eating a head and arm suplex from Rowe. Young has time to recover and hits a Stan Hansen lariat. The Boys grab Rowe outside the ring and Bruiser tries to do a cannonball dive onto him but Rowe gets out of the way and Bruiser takes out the boys.
Back in the ring, Rowe takes out Bruiser with a superman punch and War Machine hits the fallout on him for the win.
WINNERS – WAR MACHINE by pinfall.
Nigel reminds us that War Machine will have a tag team title shot at Final Battle. Young and Bruiser take out their frustrations over the loss by beating on the boys as we go to a pretaped package going over the Decade/Corino storyline. Corino stopped an attack by BJ Whitmer on Jay Briscoe after a no-DQ match with Adam Page and laid him out by hitting him with a role of quarters.
After a break, Steve Corino comes down to the ring for a meeting with matchmaker Nigel. He reminds Corino that he had been brought back with a zero-tolerance policy about touching wrestlers and he knew that and still put his hands on Whitmer. He tells him that he cannot reinstate him as a commentator but he can reinstate him as a wrestler. He then announces Corino vs Whitmer in a Fight Without Honor at Final Battle. Corino takes the mic and says it felt great when he hit BJ and he got that rush of being a pro wrestler again. He said that he has had numbness in his neck and arm for the last few months. He needs neck surgery and his in-ring career is over. He says it’s not goodbye because pro wrestlers never retire until their last breath. He thanks ROH for keeping him around when they didn’t have to. He puts over a ton of guys by name, including Adam Pearce, Jimmy Jacobs and Kevin Steen, who are all with WWE now.
The fans chant “Thank you Steve” and he says “No, thank you” and then says “My name is Steve Corino and I will always be an evil man”. He puts down the mic, shakes Nigel’s hand and walks out of the ring, stopping to huge Kelly and Bobby Cruise before heading to the back.
After a break, it’s another skit with Young and Boys. He is teaching them how to use the bathroom. They first want to go to the women’s bathroom and he makes them go to the men’s. When one of them sees a urinal, he tries to squat in it and tells them they need to stand up and one of the Boys gives a confused look at the camera as the skit ends.
Story Time with Adam Cole is back. He’s mad because he’s not on Nigel’s list of World title contenders. He’s made that Kyle O’Reilly is on the list and he’s not. He says that “just like Roderick” he needs to whine and complain to get a title shot, as Strong just was granted a TV title shot and we get a replay of that angle from a couple weeks ago. Cole tells us that this match will happen next week on ROH TV. He then reminds us of the World title match at Final Battle between Jay Lethal and AJ Styles. Because he’s not a contender for either title, he’s now focused on removing Kyle O’Reilly from Ring of Honor forever.
Another skit in the bathroom. Young is coming out of a stall and the boys are waving their hands in front of their noses as we hear a flush. Young emerges with a plunger and says “It’s all yours Boys, take care of it”
“Unbreakable” Michael Elgin vs Kevin Lee Davidson
Davidson looks like a slightly taller, slightly fatter Samoa Joe. Kelly and Nigel are still talking about Corino’s speech. The “Match” consists of a clothesline from Elgin and a pin.
WINNER – MICHAEL ELGIN by pinfall
Elgin’s got a mic. He says that after competing in the G1, he remembers why he does this and what’s important and that’s the ROH title. Unfortunately for Jay Lethal, that gold is around his waist and it’s not a matter of it, but when, they step in the ring for the ROH title and when they do, the gold is coming back to him. Solid no-nonsense promo from Elgin.
Highlights of the Kingdom winning the Tag titles at All-Star Extravaganza air next.
ROH World Tag Team Title Match – Champions The Kingdom (Michael Bennett/Matt Taven) with Maria Kanellis-Bennett vs The Addiction (“Heavy Metal Rebel” Frankie Kazarian/”Almighty” Christopher Daniels) w/Chris Sabin
The Champs are very pink today and judging by Maria’s shirt, it’s a breast cancer awareness thing as this was likely taped in October. Both teams use interference early in an attempt to get the advantage as Nigel says this may be a question of which team will cheat more. They end up with all four guys squaring off in the ring as we go to break.
Back in and the ref’s got it down to two men, Taven and Bennett. Neither team really able to get the advantage as both get flurries of offence broken up by quick tags on both sides. Fans are relatively lukewarm as they don’t particularly want to cheer for either team. Daniels makes some sort of comment that wasn’t really caught on camera and this fired up Bennett. They end up outside the ring brawling and take each other out with a double clothesline. In the ring both Kazarian and Taven have title belts and they both do the Eddie Guerrero drop to the mat with the belts beside them spot when the ref is about to come into the ring. Fans actually liked that spot.
Maria and Sabin outside the ring and both blaming the other team for the belshots. Ref makes a count on both guys but they both get to their feet arguing. They both attempt to do running clotheslines but get tripped up by Maria and Sabin from the outside. That’s enough for the ref as he throws them both out as we go another break.
After break, everyone’s brawling outside and Daniels hits a BME from the apron on Bennett and then Taven does a flying dive on the other three guys to take everyone out. Fans are pretty into it now, chanting ROH. All four guys end up in the ring and again, it’s neither team really getting a sustained advantage. Everyone’s coming in and out without tags and it’s a bit of a cluster. Bennett went for a spear on Kazarian but he moved out of the way and Bennett out the ref.
All four guys end up down and this brings Maria out from the back. Daniels gets his hands on Maria and goes for The Angel’s Wings. Bennett makes the save but ends up getting laid out by an STO from Daniels. As he’s celebrating, Maria kicks him square in the nuts and then lays him out with a Superkick. Kazarian grabs her from behind but Taven makes the save. He tries for a Lionsault on Kazarian but Kazarian gets his knees up. A guy in a red mask comes down to the ring and hits Kazarian with a superkick as Kelly says “Is that Sabin”. Bennett then hits Kazarian with a spear for the pin.
WINNERS – THE KINGDOM by pinfall
It seems fairly obvious that the third guy with the KRD mask is Adam Cole but we’ll see if that’s where they’re going. War Machine come out for a staredown with the champs as the show ends.
In case you missed it, UFC lightweight Michael Chiesa dropped by the set of Josh Nason’s Punch-Out this week to help analyze UFC 193, talk about his December fight against Jim Miller, and shoot the breeze in general. It’s free for everyone, so give it a listen here and tell your damn friends.
Our panel:
– Jack Encarnacao (95-37 | .719): Sherdog Rewind host, The Lapsed Fan podcast co-chair
Lots of alliteration going on for this main event, eh? Assuming Rousey decimates Holm, the only fight that makes sense is Lady Cyborg. That’s it, that’s all. No other women in the division is going to test Rousey like Cyborg could in July, and ultimately, that’s what we need. She’s the equivalent of Anthony Davis sent back to the 1945 version of the NBA — so far ahead of her time that no one can stop her.
How the public will take to this fight is interesting. Holm has done nothing to promote other than get a fist up in Rousey’s face during Friday’s weigh-ins that Rousey sold like she was training for another WWE appearance. Legit or showmanship? Given the buzz this week, you can figure that out just as well as I can.
Will the mainstream/casual Rousey fan plunk down the money to watch or will they just wait to hopefully see the fight on Instagram like many got conditioned to do this year? The UFC is worried about that, proactively sending out a notice to media members about not sharing any GIFs or videos of the event, missing that it’s the general social media loving DGAF public that should be the focus of their proactive approach.
I’m more excited for what happens after the fight than the battle itself which I think will wrap up in less than a round. Holm is unbeaten and a former boxing champion in an era long ago, but she’s getting the shot due to a lack of options rather than a truly earned opportunity.
To say the weigh-ins for these two was awkward to watch Friday is an understatement. Seeing nearly emaciated 115-pound women step on the scales isn’t my idea of a fun time.
To the fight itself, Letourneau represents a speed bump on the way to Double J’s eventual title defense with Claudia Gadelha. After two straight decision to open her UFC ledger, Jędrzejczyk has two straight wins by T/KO, two straight bonuses, and a piece of shiny metal and leather around her waist. How the 28-year-old resonates with the mainstream Rousey crowd will be something to watch in the months ahead.
The 32-year-old Letourneau has won all three of her UFC fights by decision, and with all three of her career losses comes against more well-known fighters (Sarah Kaufman, Gadelha, Alexis Davis). She can’t see the image of Jessica Penne’s bloodied face before she steps in the cage, even though the oddsmakers seem to think a similar fate awaits the Canadian.
> Mark Hunt (10-10-1) vs. Bigfoot Silva (19-7-1) II Heavyweights
Rematches of classics rarely, if ever, live up to the hype of the predecessor. With heavyweights, there’s a little more of a chance because if someone gets knocked out, you at least have that to point to. Can Hunt and Silva give us anything close to what they had on that night 2 years and one month ago? Doubtful.
The 41-year-old Hunt is just 1-3-1 since a four-fight win streak brought him to Junior dos Santos’ violent doorstep in 2013. In all three losses, he’s been knocked out by JDS, now-heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum, and Stipe Miocic. Any fight could be his last and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Hunt hangs them up after tonight.
Strangely, Silva is also 1-3-1 in his last four after a two-fight win streak brought him to a title shot against then-champion Cain Velasquez. We all know what happened there. In his losses, he was also knocked out all three times (Velasquez, Frank Mir, Andrei Arlovski). He could also retire at any time. What time to be a UFC heavyweight!
> Robert Whittaker (14-4) vs. Uriah Hall (12-5) Middleweights
The fight that Mike Chiesa is looking forward to this most is an interesting scrap between two middleweight prospects. Hall is fresh off his short-notice fill-in fight against Gegard Mousasi, one he won in, ahem, SPECTACULAR FASHION. We all still want to understand what Hall we have now (vicious striker vs. passive decision-maker), and if he wins via a T/KO finish for the third straight time, we might have our answer.
This is already the eighth UFC fight for the 24-year-old Whittaker and since he decided to stop cutting to 170, he’s won two in a row by T/KO and three straight overall. Brad Tavares was his last victim, knocked out in just 44 seconds earlier this year.
> Stefan Struve (26-7) vs. Jared Rosholt (13-2) Heavyweights
Struve kept his UFC career alive with a decision win over the now-retired Rodrigo Nogueira in August. Before a heart issue and a two-fight losing streak (Mark Hunt, Alistair Overeem) derailed Struve, Double-S had won four straight in 2011-12 and was moving into title contender category. He’s still just 27 which is truly insane.
This is the biggest fight of the 29-year-old Rosholt’s career. A winner in five of his six Octagon tilts, his biggest enemy has been apathy over those wins due to bland, wrestling-filled decisions. This is an interesting fight for both guys as Struve hasn’t fought a wrestler like Rosholt in years, if ever.
An injury has forced another change to the UFC’s upcoming debut in South Korea, this time affecting the headline bout.
A rib injury has forced former welterweight title challenger Thiago Alves (21-10, 13-7 UFC) out of his scheduled five-round main event bout against Benson Henderson (22-5, 10-3 UFC) at UFC Fight Night 79 in Seoul. Henderson, the former UFC Lightweight Champion, will now take on Jorge Masvidal (29-9, 6-2 UFC) in the new headliner. MMAFighting.com first reported Masvidal as the replacement after Twitter user @TalkMMA reported the injury to Alves.
The change in the main event comes just days following the cancellation of the co-main event between Mirko Cro Cop and Anthony Hamilton. That bout was scrapped after Cro Cop was pulled from the fight due to a potential drug test failure and subsequent retirement. Masvidal was originally slated to meet Dong Hyun Kim in the new co-main event, but was selected as the replacement for Alves. There has yet to be an announcement on Kim’s status for the event.
Henderson and Masvidal were scheduled to meet earlier this year at UFC Fight Night 63 in April when both were competing in the lightweight division. Henderson then took a short-notice bout at welterweight against Brandon Thatch at UFC Fight Night 60 in February, which he won by fourth-round submission. Henderson hasn’t fought since then. Masvidal went on to fight Al Iaqunta at the April event, but lost by close split decision. However, he is coming off a win over Cezar Ferreira at The Ultimate Fighter 21 Finale in July, his welterweight debut in the UFC.
UFC Fight Night 79 will air on UFC Fight Pass on November 28, with a main card start time of 8 AM eastern time, and a preliminary card start time of 4:45 AM eastern time. Also on the card is the return of Yoshihiro Akiyama, who takes on Alberto Mina.
With WrestleKingdom 9 coverage now over, it’s time to move on to the next big card of early 2015, New Beginning! Seems like we’ll have a multi-part look at this event as well since there were two shows, one in Osaka and the other in Sendai. Today’s matches are from the Osaka show, held in the Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium on February 11, 2015.
First up is an IWGP tag team title rematch as the former champions Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson take on new champions Hirooki Goto and Katsuyori Shibata. This was okay but nothing I’d call interesting until the finishing stretch. There were many stun guns from Anderson, a good comeback from Goto and Shibata then the finish as Shibata was laid out with another gun stun and pinned after the Magic Killer. Aside from a feud with the Kingdom and Maria, they really did nothing with these belts all year so I’m not sure why they did such a sudden switch here. I felt like there was way more juice with Goto and Shibata as champions than Guns and Gallows, but I guess that’s just me.
Anderson said every time we step into Osaka we win, and that’s why we’re the best tag team champions walking on planet Earth.
Taguchi in his sit down interview talked about how champions can ask for rematches and said he wanted another shot as he felt he could win.
The IWGP Jr. title rematch aired. It’s funny because this was the match where Taguchi solidified himself as a midcard opening act by doing all of this new comedy throughout involving his butt. But even with his new gimmick, the work he does in the ring is just kind of bland. There’s nothing wrong with what he does, and there are matches where he’s really good, but he’s never been consistently good like many other juniors in New Japan. This match was fine, but the WrestleKingdom match was much better. A lot of the start of the match was all ass based, believe it or not, because Omega took the Bullet Club flag and, well, tried to penetrate Taguchi. It backfired and resulted in many hip attacks, which are now a staple in just about every Taguchi match now. Eventually it became an okay back and forth with Taguchi being pinned after Omega hit the One Winged Angel. It was fine.
They showed the angle after the match where the Young Bucks attacked Taguchi, with Mascara Dorada and Alex Shelley making the save. Dorada challenged Omega after the match, so we’ll probably see that match in the pipeline.
Omega says in a post match interview that he knows nothing about lucha, but if Dorada wants to take him on, then he will, and he’ll put the title on the line.
Taguchi says he couldn’t get the belt in the end, but it was about how he could improve as the former 69th champion. It’s better to fight freely than to act as a champion. He can do his best when he fights freely, and thinking positively has led him this far. When asked about going for other titles as the 69th champion (he has an affinity for that number, I guess because he’s wacky), he mentions the heavyweight tag team titles, but he doesn’t have a partner.
More big title matches next week as AJ Styles challenges Hiroshi Tanahashi for the IWGP Heavyweight title!
Ronda Rousey did a last minute PPV sell job by getting in Holly Holm’s face and saying that she sees through her fake nice girl persona.
While I’m sure they will announce 70,000 as the attendance, the real number will not be close. But Etihad Stadium will be full or very close to it. There were thousands of lower priced tickets left as of yesterday. The gate right now is $8.5 million in Australian dollars which is $6 million plus in U.S. dollars, so it’ll be among the biggest gates in UFC history but not close to the Toronto record or that of the recent WrestleManias.
If you go back five years, it is completely ridiculous that a show headlined by two women’s fights will legit draw more than 45,000 fans live and whether it does or doesn’t, it is entirely possible can do 1 million buys on PPV. The very concept of that would have been unheard of to the point it would be ridiculous.
I guess because of the Rousey vs. Correia numbers, this is the first time for a Rousey headlined show that I haven’t seen tons of stuff about how the show will bomb and how the UFC blew it with putting her on top because nobody is going to buy it. Remember all those WNBA analogies on why this was going to flop?
Joanna Jedrzejczyk whispered to Valerie Letourneau at a media event that she was going to end her career. Most figure that the fighters who have the biggest chances to make themselves stars are Joanna, Holm (if she wins, however great the odds are) and perhaps Robert Whittaker for the Australian market.
There were about 9,000 fans at today’s weigh-in, the second largest number in UFC history.
Nothing from the show is trending on Google, unlike Rousey’s last fight where she started trending days before the fight and did totally ridiculous numbers.
UFC has brought Julianna Pena to Australia, which seems to indicate they may want to have something set up with her and Rousey if Rousey wins. Right now the plan is for Rousey, if she wins, to headline UFC 200 in July next, as she’ll take time off for movie commitments.
We’re looking for reports on today’s WWE show in Nottingham, England, NXT in Orlando, ROH in Milwaukee (A.J. Styles & Young Bucks vs. Jay Lethal & Donovan Dijak & Joey Daddiego, Michael Bennett & Matt Taven vs. Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly for tag titles plus Survivor of the Fittest matches with Mark Briscoe vs. Christopher Daniels vs. Hanson vs. Kenny King, Jay Briscoe vs. Frankie Kazarian vs. Ray Rowe vs. Rhett Titus, Adam Cole vs. Michael Elgin vs. Moose, Dalton Castle vs. Silas Young vs. Adam Page and Roderick Strong vs. Cedric Alexander), NXT in Orlando and House of Hardcore in Philadelphia shows.
We’re also looking for reports on yesterday’s WWE shows in Newcastle, England and Bologna, Italy, yesterday’s NXT in Winter Haven, FL and Wednesday’s show in Rome at Dave Meltzer
We’ll be doing polls this weekend on both UFC 194 and the Tenryu retirement show.
WORLD PRO WRESTLING RETURNS ON AXS TV at 9 p.m.
Kenny Omega vs. Ryusuke Taguchi for IWGP jr. title
Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows vs. Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata for IWGP tag titles
These matches are from the 1/4 show at the Tokyo Dome.
Tajiri & Tommy Dreamer vs. Ethan Carter III & Eric Young
LEGACY FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIPS TONIGHT AT 10 P.M. ON AXS TV
Brian Collete (206.6) vs. Manny Mancha (207) in a Legacy light heavyweight kickboxing tournament semifinal
Myron Dennis (208) vs. Andres Van Elgelen (206.7) in a Legacy light heavyweight kickboxing tournament semifinal
Trent Meaux (135) vs. Joel Scott (136)
Kolton Englund (159) vs. Gabe Duhon (163)
Sean Soriano (155) vs. Josh Quayhagen (156)
Ryan Spann (184.1) vs. Leonardo Cruz (184.6) for middleweight title
Winners of the light heavyweight tournament semifinals meet for championship in the main event
WWE finishes out the European tour on Saturday with shows in Minehead, England (Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt) and Stuttgart, Germany (Kevin Owens vs. Dean Ambrose for the IC title). We’re looking for reports on those shows, as well as the Lucha Underground tapings which begin tomorrow night in Boyle Heights, CA, ROH in Hopkins, MN featuring the finals of the Survival of the Fittest tournament with the six winners from Friday night’s qualifying matches doing a six-way match, as well as NXT in Sebring, FL and the House of Hardcore show in Queens, NY at the Elmcor Center.
UFC SATURDAY NIGHT FROM ETIHAD STADIUM IN MELBOURNE, AUSTRAILA
Fight Pass at 6:15 p.m. Eastern time
Ryan Benoit vs. Ben Nguyen
Steven Kennedy vs. Richard Walsh
Steve Montgomery vs. Daniel Kelly
James Moontasri vs. Brendan O’Reilly
FS 1 at 8 p.m. Eastern
Richie Vacuik vs. Danny Martinez
Anthony Perosh vs. Gian Villante
Kyle Noke vs. Pete Sobotta
Jake Matthews vs.
PPV AT 10 p.m. Eastern
Jared Rosholt vs. Stefan Struve
Uriah Hall vs. Robert Whittaker
Mark Hunt vs. Antonio Bigfoot Silva
Joanna Jedrzejczyk vs. Valerie Letourneau for strawweight title
Ronda Rousey vs. Holly Holm for bantamweight title
TENRYU RETIREMENT SHOW FROM SUMO HALL IN TOKYO AT 1 A.M. EASTERN LATE SATURDAY/10 P.M. PACIFIC TIME
Suwama & Yuji Okabayashi vs. Daisuke Sekimoto & Kazuyuki Fujita
Genichiro Tenryu vs. Kazuchika Okada
This show features world champions from three different offices, Big Japan (Okabayashi), NOAH (Suzuki) and New Japan (Okada).
Sunday has Insane Championship Wrestling in Glasgow, Scotland with Drew Galloway vs. Grado in what will be the most attended show from a UK based promotion in 33 years, as well as the second day of the Lucha Underground tapings in Boyle Heights, CA.
Raw will be live Monday night from Greenville, SC. The show will feature the quarterfinals of the WWE championship tournament. The quarterfinals have Roman Reigns vs. Cesaro Alberto Del Rio vs. Kalisto, Kevin Owens vs. Neville and Dean Ambrose vs. Dolph Ziggler. It’s possible all of these matches will be on Raw, or that some may be taped for Smackdown.
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.
Today is the 10th anniversary of the death of Eddie Guerrero.
As noted earlier today, the Royal Rumble is sold out. Tickets went on sale to the public today although there have been a couple of pre-sales dating back to August.
The largest crowd ever in the U.S. for a legitimate wrestling match will be tomorrow at 11 a.m. at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, IA for the Iowa vs. Oklahoma State dual meet. There were 34,000 tickets sold to the event as of Wednesday afternoon, doubling the all-time collegiate dual meet record. With good weather and tons of people expected coming to town for the Iowa vs. Minnesota football game tomorrow night, they are hopeful of a good walkup with talks of 37,000 to 40,000. The show will air on tape delay on the Big 10 Network (DirecTV 610, Dish 405) ion Sunday at about 6:15 p.m. The previous dual meet record was 15,996 fans for the Penn State vs. Pitt meet on December 8, 2013.
Today’s Ben Askren vs. Luis Santos ONE welterweight title fight never happened because Santos weighed in at 172 pounds. Askren then told Santos he would fight him in a non-title match as long as Santos agreed to be weighed in going into the cage at less than 190 pounds. Santos showed up gigantic to Singapore. Santos refused. Victor Cui, the president of ONE, was furious at Santos for turning down the fight. Santos then called Askren a pussy for not accepting the fight under any weight, since the title wasn’t going to be at stake. “If the fight is not for the belt, why does it matter? At this point he’s just scared. I’m ready to fight him, but it looks like he’s not.” Way to dig the hole deeper, buddy
After being fired by WWE today, Billy Gunn was announced as appearing on 2/5 and 2/6 for Preston City Wrestling in the U.K.
There will be a web site get together on Friday, 4/1, for WrestleMania weekend, at the Texas de Brazil Steak house in Dallas at 5 p.m. We’ll have more on that as time approaches
WWE
Brad Maddox was identified on the Tonight Show on Wednesday night. It was at the very end of the show, long after the skit, when everyone on the show was being thanked, they used the name Brad Maddox, even though that’s not his real name.
WWE stock didn’t move today, staying even and closing the weekend at $16.38 per share.
UFC
The Fight Network will be airing UFC 157 (Ronda Rousey vs. Liz Carmouche), UFC 175 (Chris Weidman vs. Lyoto Machida; Ronda Rousey vs. Alexis Davis) and UFC 190 (Ronda Rousey vs Bethe Correia) starting at 10 a.m. tomorrow morning until 7 p.m. to build to the Rousey vs. Holm fight.
UFC announced the launch of the UFC app on Amazon’s Appstore, available on all Amazon Fire streaming devices like Amazon Fire TV and the Fire TV Stick. It will have streaming access to all PPVs as well as Fight Pass.
Josh Nason talked with Michael Chiesa on this week’s PunchOut on the web site right now. They talked about his upcoming fight with Jim Miller.
The ESPN 30 for 30 special “The Prince of Pennsylvania,” which was great, is not airing on the U.S. version of Netflix (thanks to Shane Browne)
In the new episode of the Winter Palace podcast, Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated talks about the sports media, including his podcast with Paul Heyman, wrestling podcasts and the Observer column in the National and Frank Deford’s appreciation of it. Deitsch and second guest Leonard F Chikarason each also talk about old school Howard Stern show memories.
Northeast Wrestling tonight in Waterbury, CT at Wilby High School featuring Bret Hart, Velvet Sky, Rey Mysterio, and the Hardys.
There is a Go Fund Me campaign I want to mention for longtime subscriber Patrick Jones. Last May, his body shut down including his arms, and his arms up to his elbows and legs below his knees needed to be amputated. He was just released from the hospital two weeks ago, and still has many more procedures in front of him. There will also be a nine pin bowling tournament to benefit him in Moline, IL at Highland Park Bowl on 12/5 with prizes awarded as a fund raiser. https://www.gofundme.com/patrick_davis
Maryland Championship Wrestling was announced a streaming service called MCWRageTV.com for $4.99 per month to watch footage of all the latest events and new original content.
Lots of people noted that there was a Bullet Club shirt shown at the Jets-Bills game last night.
La Sombra vs. Rush headlines Arena Mexico tonight. It may or may not air at www.ClaroSports.com You never know until showtime whether it’ll air won’t air, or will air and be blocked in the U.S.
CMLL results from Tuesday night in Guadalajara: Nube Roja & Yaqui b Mr. Apolo & Chakal, Espanto Negro & Metalico & Sangre Azteca b Oro Jr. & Soberano & Stigma, Kraneo & Olimpico & Ripper b Angel de Oro & Diamante Azul & Maximo Sexy-DQ, Rey Bucanero b La Mascara to retain the NWA historic light heavyweight title, Euforia & Negro Casas & Mr. Niebla b Atlantis & Mistico & Volador Jr. They set up a main event for this coming Tuesday in the same building with Volador Jr. defending the NWA historic welterweight title against Casas. (thanks to Kris Zellner)
Sunday will be the first time the NWA women’s championship was defended in Japan since the last time Moolah defended there (around 1969). Santana Garrett defends the title at Korakuen Hall against Holidead. (thanks to Al Haft)
Tanner Saraceno from Tough Enough will be fighting tomorrow against Tommy Metzger in a amateur middleweight title fight for UWFFC that will be streaming at GFL.TV
Mecca Pro Wrestling on 11/21 in Cornwall, ONT at the Agora Center featuring Al Snow and Tommy Dreamer.
Hoosier Pro Wrestling on 12/5 in Columbus, IN at the 4-H Fairgrounds featuring Tommy Rich.
Vince Brent vs. Jordan Kage headlines Smoky Mountain Wrestling on 11/27 in Elziabethton, TN at the Evolution Sports Gym.
Pro Wrestling Phoenix tomorrow night in Council Bluffs, IA at the National Guard Armory.
ON THIS DAY IN PRO WRESTLING HISTORY INTERNATIONAL (thanks to Graeme Cameron)
1967 – Mick McManus beat Clayton Thompson in London to win the British middleweight title
1976 – Jan Wilkens beat Seiji Sakaguchi in Johannesburg to win the EWU Super heavyweight title
1979 – Verne Gagne beat Rusher Kimura in Niigata to win the IWE title
1984 – Marty Jones beat Fit Finlay in Dartford to win the World mid-heavyweight title
1994 – Perro Aguayo Sr. beat Konnan in Ciudad Juarez to win the AAA heavyweight title
1995 – Karula (Harley Saito under a mask) beat Eagle Sawai in Tokyo to win the LLPW title
1995 – Kensuke Sasaki beat Sting in Tokyo to win the U.S. title
1998 – Bestia Salvaje & Scorpio Jr. beat Dr. Wagner Jr. & El Satanico in Mexico City to win the vacant CMLL tag titles
2004 – Alex Shane beat Doug Williams in Coventry to win the British heavyweight title
2005 – Dragon Kid beat Naruki Doi in Nagoya to win the Open the Brave Gate title
2006 – Jeff Hardy beat Johnny Nitro (Johnny Mundo) in Manchester to win the WWE IC title
2010 – Tama Tonga & El Terrible beat Atlantis & Diamante Azul in Mexico City to win the CMLL tag titles
Welcome to WrestlingObserver.com’s live coverage of the UFC 193: Rousey vs. Holm weigh-ins from the Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, Australia kicking off at 5 PM eastern time. The event airs on Saturday on pay-per-view at 10 PM eastern time. Preliminary card action kicks off on UFC Fight Pass at 6:15 PM eastern time before moving over to FS1 at 8 PM eastern time. This will be the UFC’s third stadium show and the first visit to Melbourne, Australia.
The event is headlined by two title fights in each of the UFC’s womens’ divisions topped by dominant champions. UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey looks to continue her reign as the best female fighter in the world as she puts her 12-0 record and title on the line against undefeated challenger Holly Holm. UFC Women’s Strawweight Champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk looks to continue her dominance of the 115-pound division as she puts her title and undefeated record on the line against Valerie Letourneau, winner of four straight fights. Also on the card is a heavyweight bout that is a rematch of an all-time classic fight as Mark Hunt takes on Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva.
MAIN CARD (PPV- 10 PM ET/7 PM PT): Ronda Rousey (134) vs. Holly Holm (134) – UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship Joanna Jedrzejczyk (114) vs. Valerie Letourneau (115) – UFC Women’s Strawweight Championship Mark Hunt (265) vs. Antonio Silva (263) Uriah Hall (185) vs. Robert Whittaker (185) Stefan Struve (265) vs. Jared Rosholt (239)
PRELIMINARY CARD (FS1- 8 PM ET/5 PM PT): Jake Matthews (155) vs. Akbarh Arreola (155) Kyle Noke (169) vs. Peter Sobotta (169) Anthony Perosh (205) vs. Gian Villante (205) Richie Vaculik (125) vs. Danny Martinez (125)
PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC FIGHT PASS- 6:15 PM ET/3:15 PM PT): Dan Kelly (185) vs. Steve Montgomery (185) Richard Walsh (170) vs. Steve Kennedy (169) James Moontasri (170) vs. Anton Zafir (170) Ben Nguyen (126) vs. Ryan Benoit (125)
*Ronda calling Holly’s niceness all fake, and Ronda can see through her. Ronda is ready!
*Ronda gets right in her face. Holly didn’t back down. Awesome!
*Joanna pre-stared her down before even getting on the scale, Dana stepped in. Joanna said, “Her lucky day was yesterday…”
It’s the second straight weekend for a UFC event, and more chances to cash in if you play Draft Kings. UFC 193 comes our way on Saturday night from Melbourne, Australia, with two title fights and the two most dominant women in their respective weight classes defending their championships. Below are our studs, value plays, and fighters to avoid to help you fill out your UFC 193 DraftKings lineups:
STUDS
Joanna Jedrzejczyk ($11,300)
I could easily pick both Ronda Rousey and Joanna Jedrzejczyk to occupy these two stud slots, but for the sake of the article, I’m only going one. I suggest you draft both, and it is possible to draft both and keep a solid team as I will show you later. I expect Rousey to win quickly, but she may have a much harder time, so I’m putting Jedrzejczyk as my top stud for this event. She has dynamic striking and lands a lot of significant strikes, and her opponent, Valerie Letourneau, leaves herself open to eat a lot of punches. Jedrzejczyk has underrated takedown ability as well, and she looks to finish every second of the fight. I sense both women getting early finishes, which grabs a lot of points. Jedrzejczyk’s significant striking ability will likely net more points for you, and that could make up a big difference. Do yourself a favor- draft both, or if you only wanna stick with one, I’d go Jedrzejczyk over Rousey, but only slightly.
Uriah Hall ($9,800)
Uriah Hall is coming off the biggest win of his career when he knocked out Gegard Mousasi in September. He took that fight on short notice and takes another short notice bout against Robert Whittaker on Saturday at UFC 193. He looks like he is finally living up to his potential, and he gets a stout test in Whittaker. Whittaker can be finished in his career, as evidenced to his February 2014 loss to Stephen Thompson. Hall is a similar striker to Thompson and could give Whittaker the same type of fits with his kicks. Hall is flashy and likes the spin kick, much like Thompson displayed against Whittaker. I hope that is a fight Hall watched over and over in preparation. Hall can be an enigma at times, as there have been moments when he hasn’t lived up to expectations. With the recent performance against Mousasi, he seems mentally into it and another big win could be coming his way on Saturday. He has a good chance at scoring a finish.
VALUE PICKS
Dan Kelly ($9,000)
I’ll admit there aren’t a lot of value plays on this card. I expect a lot of the favorites with high salaries to win here. There are a couple of solid value picks, and one of them is Dan Kelly. Yes, he was involved in arguably the worst fight in the UFC in 2015 against Patrick Walsh. Yes, he lost in under a minute in his last bout. However, he has scored seven wins by stoppage in his career, including a first-round submission win in his UFC debut. He fights Steve Montgomery, who is coming off being finished in the first round in his UFC debut. Kelly is worth taking a chance on, especially if you wanna go after some of the higher salary fighters on the card.
Anton Zafir ($8,800)
Anton Zafir is making his UFC debut on Saturday on short notice, being an injury fill-in and taking his debut fight against James Moontasri on eight days’ notice. Zafir was being targeted for the UFC roster in the near future and was headed to the event to meet with UFC officials on what he needed to do to get on the roster. Luckily for him, a spot opened up and his UFC signing came sooner than expected. He is inexperienced, having fought just eight times, but he has won seven of those, and six of the wins have come by stoppage. His opponent, Moontasri, is coming off being finished in the first round in his last fight. Plus, Moontasri is also taking the fight as an injury replacement, though he had adequate training time, but he is also moving up in weight for this fight. Zafir is another solid option for those wanting to spend on bigger names.
AVOID
Antonio Silva ($8,900)
I’m avoiding Antonio Silva as much as possible at this event. First of all, I don’t expect him to defeat Mark Hunt. Even if he is able to, I don’t see him finishing Hunt. I actually see Hunt finishing him, so selecting Hunt for your roster might not be a bad idea. Silva’s best shot at winning is taking the fight to the judges and staying out of striking range. He might not maximize your point-scoring abilities on this card, so I’m saying to just avoid “Bigfoot” this time around due to his tough opponent and bad chin.
Valerie Letourneau ($8,100) & Holly Holm ($8,000)
I’m grouping these two together. They’re fighting the two most dominant women in the sport. I actually think Holm has a decent chance if she has an excellent gameplan. That gameplan, though, means staying as far away from Ronda Rousey as possible, and thus not maximizing point-scoring ability. Letourneau almost feels like she is being led to a slaughter. I’m finding a way to have both Rousey and Joanna Jedrzejczyk on my roster, and I think they score finishes over their opponents rather easily. That means avoid the challengers.
OUR LINE-UPS
RYAN FREDERICK: Ronda Rousey ($11,400), Joanna Jedrzejczyk ($11,300), Uriah Hall ($9,800), Anton Zafir ($8,800), Steve Kennedy ($8,600)
I found a way to get both dominant champions in my line-up, selecting Ronda Rousey and Joanna Jedrzejczyk. I see them getting the finishes in their title fights, and I don’t see either fight going past the second round. First-round wins won’t be surprising as well. I like Uriah Hall to continue to live up to his potential and get the finish win. The gameplan and blueprint for finishing Robert Whittaker is out there, Hall just has to execute. Anton Zafir is a sneaky play in his short-notice UFC debut, and he could make a big impression against James Moontasri, who can be finished. I rounded out my team with Steve Kennedy. Kennedy makes his second UFC appearance, but he has 22 professional wins in his career, with 17 by knockout or submission. His opponent, Richard Walsh, was brutally knocked out in his last bout. I give Kennedy a decent shot, and someone had to fill out my roster going with the two women.
PAUL FONTAINE: Joanna Jedrezejczyk ($11,300), Mark Hunt ($10,500), Richie Vaculik ($9,700), Robert Whittaker ($9,600), Steve Kennedy ($8,600)
This is a tough week for this. I really tried hard to figure out a way to get both Rousey and Joanna on my team but I cant’ find a combination that makes me happy so I’m let with this. I picked JJ over Ronda due to the fact that I think both will win by quick stoppage but Joanna will probably land more strikes in doing so and thus earn me more points. I also like Mark Hunt to rebound from his beating at the hands of Stipe Miocic to score a quick knockout over Bigfoot Silva. My third choice is Richie Vaculik. He should be motivated by the rabid home country crowd and his opponent Danny Martinez is on a 3 fight losing streak. My next two picks are also Australians with Robert Whittaker being next. The popular opinion is Uriah Hall but Whittaker shouldn’t be overlooked. He’s got a lot of power and again will be a huge favorite to these fans. Uriah Hall is either really bad or really good and we haven’t seen the bad one in awhile. With the short turnaround between fights and the long trip to Australia, it could be a recipe for disaster. My final pick is Steve Kennedy, who took his UFC debut fight on short notice. He’s had a proper training camp here and will hopefully rebound and score me some points.
PEACH MACHINE: Ronda Rousey ($11,400), Jake Matthews ($11,000), Robert Whittaker ($9,600), Ryan Benoit ($9,400), Steve Kennedy ($8,600)
Rousey is definitely worth the price tag. Automatic. Ryan Benoit is going to keep winning, especially against Ben Nguyen. Jake Matthews is a hometown hero. I saw him fight live in Australia and it was awesome. I expect him to roll through Arreola. I like Robert Whittaker moving up to 185. He’s a fast middleweight, but so is Hall. However, I’m expecting the uncertain, cautious Hall to come out here once he starts dealing with Whittaker’s complete game. Steven Kennedy is my sleeper pick… Because he was all I could afford, so I’m hoping he does something besides go to sleep!
Kansas City, Kansas: Attendance was 4,200 – MWA Title Match, Orville Brown drew Sonny Myers 1 fall each as Brown retained the title – Yukon Eric (as Eric Holmback) beat Terry McGinnis
1964
Denver, Colorado: – Larry Hennig & Harley Race beat Verne Gagne & Wilbur Snyder – Mad Dog Vachon beat Reggie Parks – Art Neilson vs Pat O’Connor
1965
Omaha, Nebraska: – Nebraska Champion Mad Russian Stan Pulaski beat Billy Red Cloud – Mitsu Arakawa & Haru Sasaki beat Danny Hodge & Reggie Parks to win Nebraska Tag Team title – Non Title: Mr Wrestling beat AWA Champion Mad Dog Vachon – Bulldog Danny Plechas drew Bob Rader
1972
Charlotte, North Carolina: – Johnny Weaver & Art Nelson defeated Ole & Gene Anderson to win the Atlantic Coast Tag Team Titles
1981
Denver, Colorado: – Hulk Hogan & Andre The Giant beat Adrian Adonis & Jesse Ventura & Jerry Blackwell – Greg Gagne beat Pat Patterson – Tito Santana beat Sheik Adnan dq – Ken Patera beat Jim Brunzell – Bobby Duncum beat Johnny Valiant
1992
Harlan, Kentucky: – The Rock N’ Roll Express defeated The Heavenly Bodies (Stan Lane & Tom Prichard) for the Smoky Mountain Wrestling Tag Team Title
1993
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: – Tommy Dreamer & Johnny Gunn defeated Johnny Hotbody & Tony Stetson to win the ECW Tag Team Title – Sabu & Road Warrior Hawk defeated Terry Funk & King Kong Bundy (Sabu won Funk’s ECW TV Title)
1995
Tokyo, Japan: – Kensuke Sasaki defeated Sting for the WCW United States Heavyweight Title
2002
Nashville, Tennessee: – Brian Lee & Slash defeated America’s Most Wanted (Chris Harris & James Storm) for the NWA World Tag Team Title
2005
Eddie Guerrero passed away at the age of 38, found dead in a hotel room in Minneapolis, MN.
2006
Manchester, England: – Edge & Randy Orton defeated Ric Flair & Roddy Piper for the WWE Tag Team Titles
2011
Orlando, Florida: – Robbie E defeated Eric Young to win the TNA TV Title – Gail Kim defeated Velvet Sky to win the TNA Knockout Championship – Rob Van Dam defeated Christopher Daniels in a no DQ match – Bobby Roode defeated AJ Styles to retain the TNA World Title
Monty “Kip” Sopp, better known as Billy Gunn, was fired today as a trainer by WWE due to testing positive for elevated levels of testosterone in a powerlifting meet from July 25.
Gunn’s drug test at the meet came up with a 37-1 testosterone/epitestosterone ratio, well over the 4-1 limit, and he was suspended from powerlifting for four years.
Billy Gunn, 52, had returned to WWE as a trainer in 2012 after several years away from the organization. He worked as an agent and a trainer, and had a New Age Outlaws nostalgia run in recent years, winning the tag team titles with Road Dogg in early 2014.
He had done occasional run-ins at the end of some NXT shows with he and the babyface wrestlers ending shows doing DX crotch chops. Most recently, he had appeared on television as one of the trainers on Tough Enough and Breaking Ground.
WWE officials were not aware of him competing as a powerlifter until a few weeks ago or his suspension from that sport.
