WWE HELL IN A CELL SUNDAY FROM THE STAPLES CENTER IN LOS ANGELES AT 7:30 P.M.
Brock Lesnar vs. Undertaker Hell in a Cell match
Seth Rollins vs. Kane for WWE title vs. Kane’s job as Director of Operations
Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt Hell in a Cell match
John Cena vs. ? for U.S. title
Big E & Kofi Kingston vs. Dudleys for tag titles
Kevin Owens vs. Ryback for IC title
Charlotte vs. Nikki Bella for Divas title
Neville & Dolph Ziggler & Cesaro vs. Rusev & Sheamus & King Barrett (preshow match at 7:30)
Raw will be live in San Diego on Monday night.
Smackdown and Main Event will be taped in Phoenix on Tuesday.
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Figure Four Weekly:
Jerry McDevitt cuts quite the legal promo on Konstantine Kyros as part of his latest screed in the ongoing legal battle over WWE’s alleged role in wrestlers’ brain damage.
The WWE’s record low ratings, even with bringing in all the big names on Monday, is the lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer newsletter. We look at the ratings, the competition, the build to Hell in a Cell, and what type of programming is and isn’t working in ratings now. We also look more at John Layfield’s interview with Eric Bischoff and WCW and how pro wrestling has changed since the death of WCW, as well as more on the political goings-on in Mexico, what modern era wrestlers have had the most four star matches and a wrestling show in a few weeks that you don’t know of that is going to have a paid attendance of more than 30,000 people. CLICK HERE FOR A FULL WRESTLING OBSERVER PREVIEW
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SATURDAY NEWS UPDATE
Doris Adkisson, the ex-wife of Jack “Fritz Von Erich” Adkisson and mother of the Von Erich brothers, passed away today. She had been in bad shape for years, and Per her son Kevin’s Twitter account, she was suffering from emphysema.
WWE
Luke Harper is back on the road after missing Raw and Smackdown. We were told it was a personal matter and he was expected back this week.
From those who have seen the run sheet for Hell in a Cell so far, we’re told it will be a better show than the build-up leading up to it. It would kind of have to be. Also, because the weather is great in LA (85 degrees and sunny), there is talk of doing the pre-show outside in the sunshine the way that FOX Sports does it.
Make of this what you will, but Rusev and Lana have been seen all over LA together in the places that TMZ normally hangs out.
WWE Breaking Ground debuts after the Hell in a Cell PPV on Sunday night. We’ve heard really good reviews about it from those who have seen it. The show will replay after Raw, which will be its usual timeslot from this point forwards.
WWE.com has a story about James Storm and what led him to WWE. He doesn’t say a whole lot about his future, which is interesting because he did not appear at the latest set of TV tapings, however on the show that aired on Wednesday night he was very specifically described as NXT’s newest signing.
Smackdown was up slightly this week to 2.2 million viewers.
Wednesday’s new Table for 3 will feature — get this lineup — Neville, Samoa Joe and BO DALLAS. I’ve seen several episodes and they are hit and miss. If they have the right three guys with the right chemistry, it’s great. Three guys without the chemistry is kind of boring. And I could do without guys like Dean Ambrose ranting and raving with a mouth full of food. Maybe next season it could just be DRINKS FOR 3.
KLTV has a story about Mark Henry doing an anti-bullying assembly at a high school in Tyler, Texas.
Vince Russo reached out to Vince McMahon offering his help with the product. Not kidding.
UFC
Ronda Rousey will do voiceovers for the FOX NFL Sunday show at noon ET tomorrow, and also appear on The OT afterwards.
OTHER MMA
TMZ has a story about former UFC and Bellator fighter Lavar Johnson, who remains incarcerated on $120,000 bond after allegeding beating up his girlfriend several months ago. He has plead not guilty to the charges. On of the charges was “assault with a deadly weapon”, and the deadly weapon was his fists.
Last night’s Bellator main event was one of the biggest upsets of the year, as Rafael Carvalho (about +700 as an underdog) defeated former champion Brandon Halsey (about -1100 favorite) by TKO with a liver kick to win the vacant middleweight championship. Both of Carvalho’s previous Bellator wins saw him brought in seemingly to be a warm body for the opponent to be showcased, yet he rose to the occasion and won. He did that again here.
On last night’s Bellator show, they announced a 3 part series “Road to Vengeance” leading into their next tentpole event on November 6th in St. Louis. Part 1 airs at 1130 pm eastern this coming Thursday
OTHER WRESTLING
As noted on the front page, Roderick Strong beat Jay Lethal to win the ROH TV title last night, which would be the first time Lethal has been pinned in over a year. Lethal remains the ROH World Heavyweight Champion. His next major challenger for that title is scheduled to be AJ Styles. That match is scheduled to take place at Final Battle this year, ROH’s version of WrestleMania in December.
Global Force Wrestling has new champions following the television tapings on Friday night. Nick Aldis, the former Magnus in TNA, is the new Global Champion (their main title); Christina Von Eerie is the new Women’s Champion; the Bollywood Boys are the new GFW Tag Team Champions; and PJ Black, the former Justin Gabriel in WWE, is the new Nex*Gen Champion, which is I guess is their version of the X-Division Title.
Here’s a random notes: Catherine Murray, widow of the late Kerry Von Erich, will appear on the 12/9 episode of The Price Is Right as a contestant. Lacey Von Erich was also at the taping, but wasn’t a contestant.
WWE Hell in a Cell comes to you this Sunday night at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Unlike a lot of the B-shows this year, the theme for this show seems to be wrapping up big feuds that have dominated WWE programing over the summer. Brock Lesnar and Undertaker will wrap up their trilogy, and Roman Reigns and Bray Wyatt will also finish what they started, with both matches being held inside the confines of Hell in a Cell. Meanwhile, John Cena continues his popular United States championship open challenge as he’s due to face an unnamed opponent. Will he overcome the odds, or will his challenger do a number on him, freeing him for the next couple of months? Our F4W/Wrestling Observer.com staff have weighed in, giving their thoughts on the full card. Check them out below.
Bryan Rose: It’s too early to take off Owens. Ryback is in this weird flux where WWE obviously likes the guy, but not too much, plus he’s not really that great of a wrestler so he’s constantly in these kind of matches but isn’t ever that effective in them. I think with Owens in the match this won’t be too bad, but I think it’ll be a notch below of what we usually see with him. He retains, and hopefully moves on to a more promising program.
Prediction – Kevin Owens
Jeremy Peeples: Owens’s previously-stalled push has regained some momentum with the IC Title so far. His win on Raw was one of the most impressive and memorable things on the show even if it wasn’t positioned as important. He should win this and continue his reign, but Ryback’s loss on Raw could be a slight indicator of a win for the Big Guy.
Prediction – Kevin Owens
Kyle S. Johnson: It would seem somehow anticlimactic for Owens to turn around and drop the Intercontinental Championship so soon after winning it. Still, using WWE logic, Owens beating Mark Henry cleanly (and in impressive fashion) on the same Raw where Ryback lost clean to Seth Rollins suggests the Big Guy will regain his championship on Sunday. The story of the feud has been Owens winning by less-than-scrupulous means, and I look for him to get another underhanded victory to retain his title. I would expect that this leads to either another rematch or a traditional Survivor Series match next month, the latter of which would hopefully result in Owens pairing off with someone else in a new feud.
Prediction – Kevin Owens
Zach Dominello: I want to say Owens over Ryback is a sure thing because dropping the belt this early in his run as IC champ would be incredibly deflating for everyone (except Ryback), but the the rule of opposite momentum has me worried. Owens looks strong coming into the match with a win over Mark Henry in one of the most enjoyable matches on Monday’s go-home show, while Ryback lost cleanly to Seth Rollins. l I say nuts to opposite momentum, and the rest of physics. I expect Ryback’s “injured ribs” will come into play and allow Owens to get the win. Plus with Owens getting some positive mainstream media attention in Quebec, it makes sense to keep the title on him.
Prediction – Kevin Owens
James Cox: After a smash and grab last month at Night of Champions, Kevin Owens should retain here, but I fear that this feud must continue. If you haven’t already, check out Ryback on Table for 3 with Daniel Bryan and Dolph Ziggler on the Network, it might change your views on him. Might. But there’s a ceiling on how good a match between these two can be in reality.
Prediction: Kevin Owens
Steve Khan: It feels like they’re going to drag out as many feuds as they can, but this shouldn’t be one of those feuds. Unlike Seth Rollins, Owens has a lot of potential challengers and will probably win here.
Prediction – Kevin Owens
Adam Stephen Kelly: Their match at Night of Champions was fine, if unremarkable. I enjoyed the psychology of Kevin Owens focusing on Ryback’s arm throughout. In fact, working over particular body parts seemed to be a theme of that show. I don’t mind Ryback at all, I think he’s decent for the role he plays on the roster, but this feud really doesn’t have anything going for it. Now is definitely not the time for Owens to drop the title, so hopefully he’ll retain in a more physical and hard-hitting match than their last, and the champ can move on to a more fitting opponent for his style.
Prediction – Kevin Owens
Paul Fontaine: These two are a really good pairing in my opinion and I think this program has a bit more life so I’m going to go against the grain here. Ryback is going to be more valuable going forward with Cena and Orton both out and I look for Owens to score the upset win and keep this program going through Survivor Series.
Bryan Rose: I’m guessing this is where the Dudleyz will finally win the tag titles. They really should have at the MSG show a few weeks ago, and it seemed like a lock, so in typical WWE fashion it didn’t happen and ended up being a lame DQ. They’ve been teasing on Smackdown that Xavier is gone, but I don’t see that happening long so I expect that to play a part in the match. I’m guessing Dudleyz win the titles, and the other two members of the New Day are put through tables as well.
Prediction – Dudley Boyz
Jeremy Peeples: The Dudleys probably should have won the titles in MSG if they were going to win this for this run. They’ve got far less momentum now, while the New Day is one of the company’s most over acts – and thus shouldn’t lose here. The New Day should win, but the Dudleys probably will to get the babyface pop and maybe start the show off hot.
Prediction – Dudley Boys
Adam Stephen Kelly: Let’s face it, the honeymoon period is over for the Dudleyz. It’s been terrific to see them back in WWE after nearly a decade “in obscurity”, but now the fanfare is over and they’re just another duo in an incredibly weak tag division. There was a glimmer of hope for tag team wrestling a couple of years ago with something of a renaissance in the division, but sadly it was short-lived, so it’s no surprise that one of the most successful tandems in history were immediately put into a feud with today’s hottest trio in the New Day. But where do you go from there? Where are the other credible teams? I think it’s safe to say that this rivalry has been dragged out long enough, and with the Dudleyz being screwed out of victories left, right and centre in the last couple of months, it’s time for them to win the titles. What I don’t understand is why this isn’t a Tables match. Surely with the sheer abundance of plunder we’ve seen since in this feud – and the fact that we’ve already seen this match on numerous occasions – it makes perfect sense, but I guess that will be the stipulation in the eventual rematch with the role reversal of the New Day hunting the gold.
Prediction – The Dudley Boyz
Kyle S. Johnson: That this is another championship match without a stipulation involving tables boggles my mind. Perhaps as mind-boggling: the decision to keep the belts on The New Day at the MSG special. The nostalgia buzz behind the Dudleys has been diminished through two months of chasing and consecutive DQ victories in title matches, and WWE not taking the opportunity of a match in front of a hot New York crowd to make the switch happen seems like a mistake. The New Day remains the most entertaining aspect of WWE programming on a weekly basis, enough so that they will survive just fine without the belts for a bit if need be. Since The Dudleys really have to win this match to stay relevant, they probably will, even if it’s about a month too late.
Prediction – The Dudley Boyz
Zach Dominello: As much as it saddens me, and despite the timing being off, I’m expecting the Dudleys to go over here. Of course, it would’ve made more sense for New Day to drop the titles to the Dudleys at MSG when the Dudleys still hot from their return, but making sense is not one of WWE’s top priorities. Fortunately, the New Day are talented and entertaining enough that dropping the titles won’t hurt them. Besides, if I’m thinking what WWE’s thinking, they won’t be completely titleless by the end of the night.
Prediction – The Dudley Boyz
James Cox: As great as The New Day are, it’s time for a title change here. The tug of war for the title can go on into Survivor Series but a tenth tag team title for The Dudley Boyz is the way to go here. If you don’t put the title on them here, you have to wonder where you go with them. Xavier Woods has been so great – if you’re at all interested, check out his color commentary work on Superstars, he’s clearly enjoying himself so much right now.
Prediction: The Dudley Boyz
Steve Khan: There are two ways to look at this. New Day can retain to keep them looking strong, or you can put the titles on the Dudleys to save their comeback run. Protecting a hot act is important, but New Day aren’t exactly the Shield and can afford to lose to keep this feud going. I can see the Dudleys having a short run leading up to a gimmick match, potentially at TLC in December, where New Day can defeat the tables/TLC experts and regain the titles. Also, they can be involved in a big 10-man match at Survivor Series to save us from seeing this match on a third straight PPV.
Prediction – The Dudley Boyz
Paul Fontaine – I picked the Dudley Boyz last month and obviously the prevailing opinion is that they win the titles here. I don’t know about that. The act has lost a ton of steam due to the popularity of the champs. If the Dudleys don’t win, it pretty much kills them but there aren’t really heel teams for the Dudleys to face. For that reason, I’m calling for the New Day to retain.
Bryan Rose: The divas title situation has been deflated big time in the last month. They get plenty of ring time, but they’re still being presented in the same way where they can’t possibly get over. This title program has been overshadowed by Paige turning heel and doing the crazy shtick that, in fact, did not get her over at all last year, so only makes sense to go back at it. This whole situation with Paige, plus the complete lack of build feels like it just doesn’t matter and to be it doesn’t matter who wins. Taking the title off Charlotte feels premature though, so I’m guessing she retains.
Prediction – Charlotte
Jeremy Peeples: They’ve done very little to build this up, so the result really doesn’t seem important. Charlotte has no reason to lose the title so soon, so I’ll go with her to win.
Prediction – Charlotte
Kyle S. Johnson: Incredibly, the Divas division is in complete disarray. The Nikki Bella vs. Charlotte feud seems to be an afterthought against the backdrop of the feud between Team Bella and Team BAD and Paige’s deal with Charlotte/Becky/Natty. With any luck, Charlotte will just win this match clean and convincingly, the team dynamic will continue to dissolve in the weeks thereafter, and the direction will eventually shift to Charlotte/Sasha/Becky feuding with one another for the title.
Prediction – Charlotte
Zach Dominello: Similarly to Kevin Owens, Charlotte dropping the title now would simply be the worst thing. So, that’ll probably happen. Preferably, Charlotte will retain and Team Bella will move away from the title picture allowing Charlotte to start a fresh program.
Prediction – Charlotte
James Cox: I see this as a grueling win for Charlotte, the blow off to segue into the next couple of contenders. Paige and Sasha Banks are lining up for their shot. I assume we see Paige come out at the end to show her intent. Let’s hope it’s half decent.
Prediction: Charlotte
Steve Khan: Nikki has been built up as a strong challenger, and even though the reasoning may be questionable, it’ll work out in the end if Charlotte wins. Charlotte feels cold as champion as the focus has been split too many different ways. They haven’t paid off the Natalya story yet, so Paige screwing Charlotte here doesn’t make sense and Nikki shouldn’t be champion. Charlotte should win and go over strong, and she probably will.
Prediction – Charlotte
Paul Fontaine – I’ll go with the gang here. It’s amazing that on an NXT show, I care most about the Women’s title but I couldn’t care less about this title at the moment. That’s what the main roster booking has done to both the title and Charlotte in particular. If Charlotte does retain, it wouldn’t surprise me at all to have her lose it on RAW in the next couple of weeks. The title will probably eventually end up on Sasha as a face but right now it sure seems like the champ retains.
Bryan Rose: This’ll be interesting for two reasons. One, the mystery guy aspect. Whoever it is, they’d need to take John Cena out long enough that it’d make sense storyline wise why he’d be out until late December. Two, I wonder if John Cena will even lose the United States championship. It makes all the sense in the world for Cena to drop it here if he’s taking a couple of months off, but then again titles mean so little nowadays it doesn’t really matter. I say whoever Cena faces will win, take the title, and put Cena on the shelf for the next couple of months. If you really want me to be bold when it comes to a guess, I’ll say Braun Strowman. Hey, he fits the bill!
Winner – Mystery dude
Jeremy Peeples: They’ve hinted at nothing for this, but haven’t had Kofi challenge and he’s in kind of a mini-program with New Day. I can see Kofi accepting this challenge after a tag title loss and then winning if Cena’s leaving for a bit.
Prediction – Challenger
Kyle S. Johnson: Will Cena’s opponent be a new face on the main roster? Will it be Dean Ambrose, the man who first accepted Cena’s U.S. Championship Open Challenge on the night after WrestleMania? Will it be Kofi Kingston, the lone member of The New Day not the challenge Cena in recent weeks? Whoever WWE has in mind, they’ll likely wind up taking the belt off of Cena to set him on his way for his sabbatical. This should be a cathartic moment in the half-year program of Cena’s Open Challenge, but a complete lack of build heading into this match could certainly hurt the effect.
Prediction – ???
Zach Dominello: I love a good mystery! The possibilities of who Cena’s challenger might be are endless. On top of that, Cena is reportedly taking some time off after Hell in a Cell which means the chances of him dropping the title are very good. It would great to see a returning star like Daniel Bryan accept the challenge, or perhaps Sami Zayn, who has had one of the best Open Challenge matches with Cena. We could see an Evolve name like Johnny Gargano, or a new face from NXT. Maybe Chris Jericho could make his 1000th surprise return. As I alluded to earlier, what I’m actually hoping for is one of the New Day takes on Cena. Big. E feels like the best fit against Cena, and the rest of the New Day could interfere so Cena doesn’t have to drop the title completely cleanly. The New Day incorporating Freebird Rules with the US title could make for some very entertaining programming.
Prediction – ??? (??? = New Day)
James Cox: Short of this being a ‘surprise’, whether that be an NXT graduate or a return, I would have to assume that this match is against Dean Ambrose after his match was ruined by Randy Orton’s shoulder injury. With Cena taking time off, the title ought to be vacated and they’re short of babyfaces. Ambrose with a title might be a good move. Mind you, has anyone seen Daniel Bryan of later…?
Prediction: Dean Ambrose
Steve Khan: They’ve known for weeks that Cena would be leaving at Hell in a Cell but didn’t bother building up an opponent. Dolph Ziggler seemed like a decent idea, but that’s out the window. It says something that there’s a pre-show match with six guys and five of them have taken this challenge and lost. They could debut somebody new to beat Cena and make an impact, but that seems unlikely.
Prediction – John Cena
Adam Stephen Kelly: The US Title Open Challenge has been a highlight of RAW during John Cena’s two recent tenures as champion. He’s been putting on great matches on a consistent basis at a level we haven’t seen from him in forever. I think WWE has succeeded in its objective to elevate the title in terms of its prestige, at least to a certain degree. While some say the obvious opponent is Kofi Kingston given Cena’s recent bouts with both Big E and Xavier Woods, I don’t think we’ll be seeing any repeat performances on Sunday night, and I’m sure that Woods’ place during the Tag Team Championship match will be ringside, trombone and all. Thinking out of the box, I’m torn between two picks: Daniel Bryan and Sami Zayn. While both have been on the injured list for quite some time, Zayn noted back in August that he’d be back on the road in a couple of months, and as far as Bryan goes, it’s always possible he could’ve been cleared by the doctor WWE wanted him to visit for the final word. It’d be poetic for either wrestler to make their return and emerge victorious.
Prediction – Daniel Bryan or Sami Zayn (new champion)
Paul Fontaine: So I think we have two predictions here. Who is the mystery challenger and who wins the match? In my opinion, the answer is the same. Tyler Breeze. How I see this going down is that they have the typical Cena 3.5 to 4 star match, with Cena doing everything he can to make Breeze into something. At some point, we get outside interference from whomever is going to be Cena’s next program when he comes back…maybe Sheamus. Breeze takes advantage of that and goes on to feud with Dolph Ziggler for the US belt.
Prediction – Tyler Breeze
Hell in a Cell: Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt
Bryan Rose: I’m just kind of glad we’re finally seeing an end to this boring, meaningless feud that I’m pretty sure will rack up some votes as the worst of the year. Five months of back and forth feuding and trading wins and losses is just too much in this day and age, and I don’t think it’s helped Roman Reigns at all in becoming what WWE wants him to be. The verbiage between these two have been really bad at some points. The match…I don’t know. It’ll be either pretty decent, or completely uninteresting. If WWE has even a modicum of an inkling of how to get people over (and I question this) then Reigns should win.
Prediction – Roman Reigns
Jeremy Peeples: Roman’s clearly the guy they want to be the man, while Bray has spent the better part of his time since WrestleMania 30 mired in mid-card Hell. Roman should win this, and a Bray win wouldn’t really accomplish much unless they decide to redo the Kane debut with Braun and give Bray a tainted win that way.
Prediction – Roman Reigns
Kyle S. Johnson: The feud that never ends rolls into yet another pay-per-view. These two and their various seconds and thirds have traded wins for the last four months, and the stipulation of this match makes it feel as if this will be the blow-off. However, we’re still several months away from WrestleMania, and Reigns is still presumably being groomed for the main event. Keeping him in the feud with Wyatt lets him quietly build some momentum without thrusting him into the main event, and it keeps Wyatt and his crew occupied for the foreseeable future. I’d expect Reigns to get a conclusive win over Wyatt that will stand as a sort of watershed moment in his road to WrestleMania, but don’t be surprised if the feud continues for a month or two longer, possibly with a traditional Survivor Series match.
Prediction – Roman Reigns
Zach Dominello: What’s most important here is that this match is the end of the Bray Wyatt/Roman Reigns program regardless of who wins or loses. Please just let the be the end. If my dream comes true and that is the case, I expect Reigns to defeat Wyatt. If this program is destined to continue, which is all too possible, Wyatt wins.
Prediction – Roman Reigns.
James Cox: The day that they get Bray Wyatt up against someone where it doesn’t just end up being a weird rivalry, will be a good day. Having said that, in a cell this could be a good match and a win for Reigns where he comes out looking strong could do his path towards WrestleMania some good. We hope for no interference, but the cell doesn’t even guarantee that anymore. I’m ready to see the back of this feud.
Prediction – Roman Reigns
Steve Khan: The big benefit these two have is that their Cell match will go on before the other one, so all the little Hell in a Cell tricks will work in their favour. These two can brawl, but the feud has really sucked, so the crowd should be interesting. Reigns needs a win badly. I can see the Wyatts taking out Ambrose early, leaving Reigns on his own and battling to get the win. Whatever happens, a multi-man match at Survivor Series seems likely.
Prediction – Roman Reigns
Adam Stephen Kelly: I’m looking forward to seeing the back of this feud, but at least we know that Hell in a Cell will be the blow-off. The stipulation makes for a fitting end to the madness, but I’d have preferred the match to be Last Man Standing or something so that the cell was exclusive to the Brock Lesnar vs. The Undertaker main event. There’s no way that Roman Reigns isn’t coming out on top. He’ll look very strong in the finish, while Bray Wyatt will move on to another opponent he can specifically target and then lose to.
Prediction – Roman Reigns
Paul Fontaine: I think this might actually be a good match but I suspect they’ll be playing to crickets. Tons of interference, despite the Cell, is almost a lock. Reigns almost has to win since he’s going to inevitably be challenging for the big belt at Mania unless Vince comes to his senses. Thankfully this feud will be over. There’s an outside chance that Ambrose turns on Reigns and costs him the match but that scenario would make more sense if the top 2 faces weren’t on hiatus for the next 2 months.
Jeremy Peeples: Unless they decide to have Sheamus cash in on Kane and then find a way to keep Kane as Corporate Kane without having him leave as champion, Seth is going to win this. They seem to be giving the WWE Champion some wins, so they know he needs to be protected and a loss to Kane isn’t the way to do it.
Prediction – Seth Rollins
Bryan Rose: I kind of want to see Kane win here. Seth Rollins, while not at a Rey Mysterio or Magnus level when it comes to worst world champions of all time, is pretty high on the list. He’s lost so many matches between August and now it’s baffling. Yes, Flair lost all the time, but that was in the eighties. This is today, and that can’t fly here. Kane is WWE’s constant band aid when it comes to looking for a main event title program and this one’s no different. Rollins is such a great main event level worker that the match itself I feel will be pretty decent. I’m just expecting a really screwy finish here that gives Rollins the victory for two reasons. One, it’s WWE in the year 2015 so no one can look too strong. Two, they need a way to continue this into next month. I really feel this is a feud that’ll last through at least TLC so they’ll need to find reasons to feud. I mean, I hope I’m wrong, but would you be surprised if that were actually the case?
Prediction – Seth Rollins via wacky finish
Adam Stephen Kelly: I’m surprised that Seth Rollins has lasted as long as he has as WWE World Heavyweight Champion. Given his size and style, many had predicted long before The Shield broke up that Rollins would be the one most likely to be misused by the company and end up lost in the midcard. Of course, that theory was put to rest at the climax of WrestleMania, and we’re now six months into his title reign. He’s very much an interesting champion for interesting times, and was booked incredibly well in the beginning. But now? Hmm, not so much. Could the shock value of Kane winning the title be WWE’s answer to RAW’s ratings slump? Nothing would surprise me at this stage, only I hope that isn’t the reality come Sunday night.
Prediction – Seth Rollins
Kyle S. Johnson: WWE cannot be so ridiculous as to go with Kane as their World Heavyweight Champion in the middle of a historic ratings slump, can they? Almost certainly not. Seth Rollins, oddly enough, has built up a head of steam for himself with two(!!) consecutive wins on television. This shouldn’t be an incredible feat, but it somehow is. Kane was nowhere to be seen on television this week, so this match feels incredibly flat heading into Sunday. I expect Seth to win by hook or crook, and then let the chips fall where they may in terms of the Corporate/Demon Kane job dynamic.
Prediction – Seth Rollins
Zach Dominello: I’ll miss you most of all, Happy Go Lucky Director of Operations Corporate Kane. You were too good for this world.
Prediction – Seth Rollins
James Cox: This would provide the suitable out for Kane to leave The Authority. That story has well and truly run its course. Seth doesn’t need to drop the title yet and Kane certainly isn’t the man to take it. I just wonder if they can make this a good match – Kane is rarely very good in matches, let alone semi-main event spots. Seth is a remarkable performer but is losing and has been facing old guys who can just about still go in the last two months on ppv. We need to see him up against quality opposition and, no, that’s not Sheamus. How they solve that little issue is anyone’s guess.
Prediction – Seth Rollins
Steve Khan: Rollins should win and move on from this dreadful storyline immediately. We know this. But, again, I can see them wanting this keep this going as Rollins has nothing else lined up. Kane could win via DQ, which would protect him, keep the feud going, and keep him as director of operations. It’s the lamest possible finish, so that’s my prediction.
Prediction: Kane via DQ
Paul Fontaine: In the whacky world of WWE booking, the guy that wins on TV loses on PPV. Rollins has been on a mini streak since losing every match for over a month. Demon Kane lost on Monday night. That logic says all signs point to a Kane win. So that’s what’s going to happen and then Sheamus cashes in. This will mean his post-Christmas program with Cena means even more.
Prediction: Kane, but Sheamus leaves as champ
Hell in a Cell: Brock Lesnar vs. The Undertaker
Bryan Rose: This is another one of these trilogies that WWE love to book, but I find myself having little interest. I will admit their last match was really good, but the finish was so bad I can’t get myself excited for the third. Them being in a cell I think will hurt things more than anything. But I’m pretty sure it’ll at least be better than their Wrestlemania match, which was solid at best and I’m being kind of generous there. I think Lesnar needs to win, given the amount of money they pay him, plus he’s such a fascinating commodity, something WWE has little of right now, and having the 50+ year old Undertaker win this series really does no one any favors.
Prediction – Brock Lesnar
Adam Stephen Kelly: In theory, this is one of the most epic rivalries of the last decade. The fact that Brock Lesnar broke The Undertaker’s WrestleMania streak back in 2014 is still shocking to this day. With hindsight, there’s no denying that such an unforgettable moment was the perfect excuse to carry on the feud. It may have taken over a year to continue, but the SummerSlam rematch did not disappoint, blowing their WrestleMania encounter out of the water. Not only did the match deliver but the build-up was fantastic. It felt like must-see television and deserved its place as the main event. Hell in a Cell is a fitting stage for the conclusion of this story, and yet their final battle feels insignificant; fuelled by two months of extremely underwhelming hype. In the wake of Night of Champions, WWE seemed more concerned with promoting Lesnar’s match against The Big Show at the Live from Madison Square Garden special than his upcoming pay-per-view bout. The teased brawl in the opening segment of this week’s RAW felt like the kind of angle you would see two or three weeks prior to a pay-per-view, not on the go-home show, and with diminishing ratings, it made no sense to utilise both Lesnar and The Undertaker in the first segment when you already had Steve Austin kicking off the show. Why they didn’t advertise them for the second or third hour when RAW was up against an especially hot edition of Monday Night Football featuring the new Star Wars trailer premiere is beyond me. Lesnar should emerge from the cell victorious since he’s the most bankable star going forward. With this feud in the rearview mirror, it’ll certainly be interesting to see what WWE has in store for both wrestlers come WrestleMania 32.
Prediction – Brock Lesnar
Jeremy Peeples: The hype for Summerslam’s match was fantastic, while this one has largely been built on the fumes of that. Taker redeemed himself this year with WM 30 and Summerslam, so it should be pretty good as a match. Brock should win this thing since he has more time left in the ring than the Undertaker probably does.
Kyle S. Johnson: What happened here? WWE managed to make the Summerslam rematch feel like the hottest thing in the company with one single brawl; for the Hell in a Cell rematch, there was an announcement out of nowhere during Night of Champions, and then almost nothing up until the go-home show. The build to this match seems incredibly paltry compared to Summerslam, and it pales even in comparison to some of the weaker builds of the past year. Still, despite an inexplicable lack of promotion, this should make for an enjoyable little bit of ultra-violence to send the audience home happy. Lesnar should win this one to help build toward his likely return to the title picture, and one has to wonder what the result will do in terms of setting up both men for their respective WrestleMania matchups.
Prediction – Brock Lesnar
Zach Dominello: Uninspired build-up aside, this is a huge match. With one win a piece, this has been booked as the blow off match, and there’s no apparent reason to doubt it won’t be the final match of the series. So who ends this epic rivalry on top? Both men are expected to be at WrestleMania next year in Dallas, so ideally you want them both looking strong coming out of this match. That leads me to believe that we won’t get a clean finish. Whoever wins will likely do so in less than honourable fashion, possibly with some outside help, wanted or otherwise. That may also plant the seeds for at least one these two’s WrestleMania match next year. If that is the case, it’s not really about who wins or loses, but what the match sets up for their respective futures. Now having said all that, Brock Lesnar is currently WWE’s biggest star attraction, so if we do get a straightforward winner, I’d go with him.
Prediction – Brock Lesnar
James Cox: So a clean finish here to end this feud is all we’re after. Well, that and a good match after such a meager and mediocre build this month. Lesnar’s the best things they’ve got and Undertaker can still ride off into the sunset at WrestleMania in Texas. It would be a courageous man to call this match any other way and I’m not that man, but I do think that this will a really good match. I hope we get some of the old Undertaker. In theory, this could be his penultimate WWE match, so I think he throws everything at it without being too wild or dangerous. The cell at least means that they can avoid to many suplexes, bumps and F-5s for Undertaker in his condition.
Prediction – Brock Lesnar
Steve Khan: There’s no argument to be made for Undertaker winning. Their match at SummerSlam was great and this should be good too. Lesnar will likely beat him clean and they can even shake hands to keep Lesnar as a babyface moving forward.
Prediction – Brock Lesnar
Paul Fontaine: Lesnar has to win. I still have no idea why this match was booked for right now but perhaps we’ll find out during or right after this match. There must be a long-term idea here that this match plays into. Right? They can’t possibly just be hot-shotting for network buys. Regardless, the Cell should add something to this match as Undertaker Cell matches are usually pretty great. Hopefully Taker comes out of this match ok. I don’t have the slightest idea where either guy goes from here at this point.
Welcome to WrestlingObserver.com’s live coverage of UFC Fight Night 76: Holohan vs. Smolka from the 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland. The event has undergone some major last-minute changes, losing the original main event earlier this week when Joseph Duffy was forced out of his bout against Dustin Poirier. The card is now headlined by a three-round flyweight bout as Paddy Holohan takes on Louis Smolka in the first flyweight main event bout not featuring Demetrious Johnson. The entire event will be streamed on UFC Fight Pass. The action kicks off with preliminary card fights at 1:15 PM eastern time before the main card kicks off at 4 PM eastern time.
Real quick thank you to everyone for all their nice messages today.
PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC FIGHT PASS- 1:15 PM ET/10:15 AM ET)
MIDDLEWEIGHTS- BUBBA BUSH (8-2 1 NC, 0-0 1 NC UFC) VS. GARRETH MCLELLAN (12-3, 0-1 UFC)
First round: McLellan is the top star from South Africa. A regular Jan Wilkens. Bush looks like Matt Brown’s face on Anthony Nese’s body. Bush is trying to take him down. McLellan blocked the early takedown attempts. Bush tripped him down. McLellan back up. Another takedown by Bush. Bush in side control. Super hot crowd already. McLellan trying a Kimura from the bottom but Bush out and has his back. Bush now punching. McLellan back to his feet and went for a gullotine. Bush popped out. 10-9 Bush.
Second round: McLellan kicked to the body. Bush took him right down. Bush tried another takedown but McLellan, held onto the fence and landed on top. The ref should have reset them but didn’t. McLellan landed in the mount. He worked for an arm triangle. McLellan landing some punches from the top. McLellan landing a lot of punches now. Now he’s landing elbows and punches. More punches and elbows by McLellan. I’d go 10-8 McLelland but I think the judges will have it even 19-19 right now.
Third round: Crowd hot. McLellan with an uppercut and now McLellan going for a takedown. McLellan was able to slam him down. McLellan working for a choke. Bush got up and wants a takedown. Bush took him down. McLellan back up. Takedown by McLellan. McLellan landing punches from the top. McLellan dropping elbows. McLellan landing a ton of punches late. It was stopped with seconds left from ground and pound. If anything, should have been stopped a second or two earlier. 4:58
FEATHERWEIGHTS- (#14) DARREN ELKINS (18-5, 8-4 UFC) VS. ROB WHITEFORD (12-2, 2-1 UFC)
First round: Elkins landed some punches. Whiteford landed a left. Left by Elkins. Whiteford landing good punches. Elkins took him down. Whiteford back up. Elkins with an uppercut and takedown. Whiteford bleeding fro under the right eye. Whiteford back up. Whiteford hurt him with a right. Elkins 10-9.
Second round: Elkins took him down. Whiteford bleeding near the left eye. Elkins got his back. Elkins working for a choke but Whiteford out of trouble. Whiteford tried to get up but Elkins took him back down with a single leg. Whiteford back up with 1:33 left. Whiteford with a cool judo throw and landed elbows but Elkins took him down again. Elkins landing punches. Elkins 20-18.
Third round: Left by Whiteford. Left and right by Whiteford. Elkins took him down. Whiteford with a left. Elkins landed some punches and took him down. Whiteford bleeding bad from the left ear. Elkins has his back. Whiteford working for a choke. Elkins 30-27.
Scores: All three have it 30-27 for Elkins.
WELTERWEIGHTS- CATHAL PENDRED (17-3-1, 4-1 UFC) VS. TOM BREESE (8-0, 1-0 UFC)
First round: Breeze from England, but trains in Montreal at Tri-Star. Place going insane for Pendred. Big left by Breese and Pendred went down to a knee. Left by Breese. Pendred’s nose bleeding badly. Right and knee by Pendred. Breese wth a left to the face and another left to the body. High kick by Breese. Breese landing big punches. Body kick by Breese. Breese dropped him with a series of punches and it’s over. Three lefts put Pendred down and he threw punches on the ground when it was stopped.
Breese asked Dana White for 50Gs. Some advice for guys. Don’t do that. Instead, challenge somebody. He asked to be put on the February card in London.
MIDDLEWEIGHTS- SCOTT ASKHAM (13-1, 1-1 UFC) VS. KRZYSZTOF JOTKO (15-1, 2-1 UFC)
First round: Jotko took him down. Fans chanting for Jotko. Askham bleeding from above the left eye. Jotko took him down a second time. Ashkam with elbows from the bottom and looking for an armbar. Jotko escaped. Ashkam bleeding badly now. Jotko 10-9.
Second round: Ashkam missed a high kick. Jotko now bleeding from the nose. Jotko got poked in the eye. Ashkam landed a front kick. Ax kick by Ashkam. Ashkam’s round so 19-19 after two.
Third round: Jotko with a knee. Ashkham went for a judo throw but Jotko landed on top and landed a punch as Ashkam got up. Left and right and kick by Ashkam. Right by Jotko. Jotko bleeding from the nose and right ear. Ashkam covered in blood. Left and body kick by Jotko. Close fight I’ve got Ashkam 29-28. Could go either way.
First round: Daly out with punches early. Almeida with an elbow. Almeida with knees to the body. They are in a clinch on the fence. Daly got the takedown. Daly landing punches from the top. Daly 10-9.
Second round: Daly pushed her into the fence. Daly with a takedown. Daly landing punches. Almeida looked for a triangle. Almeida up and took Daly down. Almeida in side control. Almeida got her back. Close round, Almeida so 19-19 into the third.
Third round: Daly out throwing punches. Daly with a hip toss but on the way over Almeida blocked it with a body scissors. Daly throwing punches. Crowd going to ridiculously nuts for this fight. Daly with elbows to the thigh as she got Almeida down. Daly landing a ton of punches. Daly landing all kinds of punches. Daly clearly won the third. The place is going crazy 29-28 Daly. She climbed to the top of the cage and was crying because the crowd was cheering so loudly.
Scores: 30-27, 29-27 and 29-28 Daly. She’s crying like crazy. What a freaking great babyface promo. This was one of the best undercard crowd reactions in UFC history.
LIGHTWEIGHTS- STEVIE RAY (18-5, 2-0 UFC) VS. MICKAEL LEBOUT (14-4-1, 1-1 UFC)
First round: Big left by Ray. Left by Ray. Body kick by Ray. Left by Ray. Body kick by Ray. Hard left by Ray. Ray 10-9
Second round: Ray landing punches. Left high kick by Ray. Jumping kick by Ray. Ray 20-18.
Third round: Lebout landed a right. Body kick by Ray. High kick by Ray. Lebout landed a hard right. Body kick by Lebout. Spinning elbow by Lebout. Ray picked him up and spun him and threw him down, almost like an F-5 right as the match ended. This round was closer. 30-27 Ray.
Scores: 29-28, 30-27 and 30-27 Ray
MAIN CARD (UFC FIGHT PASS- 4 PM ET/1 PM PT)
FLYWEIGHTS- NEIL SEERY (15-11, 2-2 UFC) VS. JON DELOS REYES (8-4, 1-2 UFC)
First round: Seery landing punches. Crowd going crazy since Seery is from Dublin. Knee by Delos Reyes. Serry landed a nice right to the side of the head. Delos Reyes took him down. Knee by Delos Reyes. Both landing punches. Seery landing a lot of rights. Seery wrestled him to the round. Delos Reyes got a takedown but Serry back up. Seery landing punches and a low kick. Both trading. Seery 10-9.
Second round: Seery with punches, Delos Reyes took him down but Seery grabbed a guillotine. Delos Reyes escaped and got Seery’s back. Seery escaped and took Delos Reyes down. Dels Reye sbakc up. Both landing hard shos. Both swinging. Really good round. Delos Reyes slammed him down but Serry grabbed him in a guillotine for the submission. Easily the best fight of the show so far.
WELTERWEIGHTS- NICOLAS DALBY (14-0, 1-0 UFC) VS. DARREN TILL (13-0, 1-0 UFC)
First round: Dalby is from Denmark, Till is from the U.K. but trains in Brazil. Both tying up. Till with knees. Left by Till. Till with body kicks. Another body kick by Till. Dalby with a body kick. Till with a kick, knee and elbow. Low kick by Dalby. Left to the jaw by Till. Body kick by Till. Till landed an upppercut and had Dalby in trouble as the round ended. 10-9 Till.
Second round: Good body kick by Till. Takedown by Dalby but Till right back up. Knee to the head by Dalby. Till knocked him off balance at the end of the round. Close round, 10-9 slightly for Till so he’s up 20-18.
Third round: Dalby landed a head kick. Till went for a takedown but Dalby escaped. Dalby landed a punch to the nose. Dalby working for a takedown. Dalby got the takedown. Till got up. Till bleeding from the nose. Another head kick by Dalby and some punches. Dalby landing solid punches and a knee. Dalby with a kick to the body and punches. Dalby took him down with 2:20 left Dalby got mount and is pounding on him. Till is in a lot of trouble. Dalby landing all kinds of lefts on the ground. Till back up but he’s wobbly and worried. Dalby threw him down but Till immediately got back up. Till with a knee and a punch. Dalby with punches and he landed a head kick. Dalby with knees to the head. Dalby’s round for sure. Great fight. Really comes down to round two, I’ve got 29-28 for Till, but it could even be a 28-28 draw if you gave a 10-8 third.
Scores: 29-28 Till 28-28 28-28 draw. So they gave Dalby 10-8 third which is not bad scoring at all. Till’s shoulder went out in the second round but he came out and survived the third round. Dan Hardy was pushing the idea of a rematch.
LIGHTWEIGHTS- NORMAN PARKE (20-4-1, 4-2-1 UFC) VS. REZA MADADI (13-3, 2-1 UFC)
First round: Madadi working for a takedown. Parke defending. Madadi shot and Parke sprawled. Parke landed a few lefts. Another left landed by Parke. Crowd booed, not much happened. Parke 10-9.
Second round: Parke throwing kicks. Parke landing a few punches. Madadi got the takedown but Parke back to his feet. Head kick by Parke. They are in a clinch against the fence. Body kick by Parke. Parke landed several punches. Parke going for a takedown but didn’t get it. Parke with some uppercuts. Parke’s round, up 20-18.
Third round: Madadi going for a single leg. Madadi started to land. Madadi landing more and working for a takedown. Parke took him down. Close third round, Parke 30-27.
Scores: All three have it 30-27 for Parke.
FLYWEIGHTS- PADDY HOLOHAN (12-1-1, 3-1 UFC) VS. LOUIS SMOLKA (9-1, 3-1 UFC)
First round: Holohan took him down and moved into side control. Smolka working for a D’arce choke from the bottom. Holohan tried to get his back. Smolka up but Holohan took him down again. Smolka moved to the top. Holohan went for a heel hook. Smolka worked for an ankle lock Holohan took him down again. Smolka up and landed a kick. Holohan trying for a takedown but this one was blocked. Front kick by Smolka. Two more front kicks by Smolka. Holohan went for another takedown but doesn’t have it. Smolka landing punches and Holohan back. Great first round. Holohan 10-9.
Second round: Both trading. Smolka’s punches are crisper. Holohan landed a nice left. Holohan jumped on his back. Crowd going crazy for Holohan. Holohan has his back and working for a choke with a body triangle. Smolka trying to spin to the top but Holohan holding a body triangle. Holohan throwing punches. Smolka turned to the top with 2:45 left in the round. Smolka with elbows to the body. Smolka has a guillotine standing. Smolka used it to take him down. Smolka with elbows. Holohan tried an umpa plata but Smolka blocked and landing punches. Smoka landing a lot of punches for the top. Holohan is in a lot of trouble. Smolka pounding him from the mount. Smolka working for a choke. He’s got it. It’s over. Great fight.
The crowd loved Holohan even after losing. His left eye is swollen. Smolka said the people may not like him but this was a great crowd. Fans ended up cheering him.
The Big Takeaway: Zack Ryder returned to Superstars to put on a good 8-minute match with Stardust. Fandango is back, albeit at the bottom of the barrel. No Xavier Woods on commentary this week.
Fandango beat Heath Slater (4:35)
Fandango looks like he’s dropped a few pounds, he comes out looking very lean and lithe. Heath Slater, meanwhile, is sporting some serious beard growth. No Xavier Woods this week, more’s the pity. Byron Saxton takes his place, more’s the pity. They lock up and a clothesline by Fandango knocks Slater off balance but he blocks Fandango and thrusts him into the turnbuckle. He puts on a headlock, they run the ropes and Fandango goes down by the shoulder barge of Slater.
They chain wrestle until Slater runs into a drop kick. There’s no hard cam until the second match so watching feels a little chaotic this week. Slater is clotheslined over the top rope and Fandango follows up with a springboard over the top rope onto Slater. They roll back in and Fandango Flair chops Slater in the corner. Slater cuts him off with a high knee and then lands him with elbows on the mat. After a kick out at two, Slater puts on a rear chin lock. Fandango gets out but is put back to the mat by Slater who uses a heel kick. Slater goes back to the chin lock.
Fandango gets the heat with an atomic drop followed by a back drop, chops, punches, a European uppercut, forearms and then side Russian leg sweep. This was all very Bret Hart, actually. Fandango goes up top but gets punched by Slater. Slater goes for the superplex but it is blocked and Fandango hits the Last Dance for the win.
Stardust beat Zack Ryder (8:00)
Stardust comes out with The Ascension, who are in full ring gear. There are immediate “Cody” chants. Zack Ryder gets a tepid reaction but looks in great shape – actually, when doesn’t he? A cartwheel from Stardust starts things off as they then exchange arm rings. Ryder gets the early going here, though; he hip tosses Stardust and then gets his legs up in the corner to block the charge and then uses a cross body quickly into a cover for two. Ryder then immediately tries a victory roll also for two. Stardust cuts him off with some knees to the gut and Ryder goes down. Ryder hits a facebuster out of nowhere and so Stardust bails as we head to a break.
Ryder hits a beautifully timed drop kick when we return. Stardust goes outside on to the apron and when Ryder follows gets slammed right onto the apron. Ryder takes the bump on his knees otherwise it would he seriously sucked. The ref counts Ryder to four before Stardust goes outside to grab him to throw him back in, and then stomps on him. Something went wrong somewhere here as Stardust stopped short and just postured to the crowd. I can only presume that Ryder wanted a few more seconds to recover from the apron bump.
Stardust puts on an abdominal stretch by Stardust and then uses the post to stretch Ryder. After more knees to the gut, Ryder smacks Stardust and both men go down. Ryder gets some hope with elbows, a clothesline, but then a second rope missile drop kick is side-stepped by Stardust who then goes for a suplex. Stardust reverses it into a neckbreaker. We get a near fall and then Stardust hits Ryder with a Rock Bottom for two. The finish sees Ryder drop toehold Stardust into the turnbuckle and follow it up with the Broski boot but Stardust crotches Ryder and so is able to put on the Queens Cross Bow for the win. This was a good match.
UFC Fight Night 76 comes your way on Saturday afternoon here in the United States as the Octagon makes its’ third appearance in Dublin, Ireland. The event has undergone some late changes, losing the original main event and co-main event. We still have some interesting bouts and some chances to make money if you are playing daily fantasy this weekend on DraftKings. Let’s take some look at some studs, some values, and some fighters to avoid this weekend when setting your roster for UFC Fight Night 76.
STUDS
Stevie Ray ($11,000)
Stevie Ray has the highest salary of all the fighters competing on the UFC Fight Night 76 card, and for good reason. He has been impressive in his two bouts in the UFC, scoring knockout wins early in those bouts. He has averaged 101.5 DFS points in those two fights, and he is the biggest betting favorite on the card in his bout against Mickael Lebout. Ray has a lot of power in his fists, and some solid submission skills too if the fight hits the mat. Lebout has some submission skills as well, having won six fights that way, and Ray has lost four fights that way. Lebout is more of a point fighter, though, and Ray likes to get that finish. With his 14 stoppage wins and the power he displays, he is the best bet to score a big finish on this card.
Scott Askham ($9,700)
I like Scott Askham in his fight against Krzysztof Jotko. Askham scored a big finish over Antonio Carlos Junior in his last bout, and he is a tall middleweight. The best thing is he knows how to use his length to his advantage. He is a knockout artist, having won eight of his 13 fights by knockout, and finishes are where you are going to maximize your points. Askham also has underrated submission skills. Jotko has only lost once in his career, but he is not much of a finisher. His only loss also came by stoppage. Both men share the same salary, and it is a toss-up on the betting lines. However, I like Askham’s chances of scoring a win by stoppage, and I like him to win the fight in general.
VALUES
Darren Till ($9,300)
Darren Till is a young, undefeated prospect making his second appearance in the Octagon. At just 22-years-old, he is 13-0 with eleven wins by stoppage. He fights another undefeated fighter in Nicolas Dalby, who comes in with a 14-0 record. Till has a lot of knockout power and some brutal ground-and-pound, and he is still evolving. Dalby has likely peaked in his career, and he has good skills, but is not much of a finisher. Till is a solid value play because of his ability, his progression, and his power. I see him getting a stoppage win.
Robert Whiteford ($9,200)
Robert Whiteford fights the most experienced UFC veteran on the card in Darren Elkins. Whiteford has won his last two fights, showing off his solid judo skills. Elkins is a strong wrestlers so Whiteford will be needing to use those judo skills. He scored a big knockout win in his last fight, but Elkins is a tough fighter to finish. Elkins has struggled putting his wrestling and kickboxing together and that is where Whiteford is going to have to take advantage of. It could be tough for Whiteford to score points, but he has some solid value with his knockout power in his hands.
AVOID
Norman Parke ($10,800)
Norman Parke has the second-highest salary of all of the UFC Fight Night 76 participants. He has scored just one finish in his UFC career, and it was against a lesser fighter. He is fighting Reza Madadi, who despite coming off a 30-month layoff, is still a stout opponent who will be hard to finish. Parke is more of a points fighter and this fight will likely go the distance. With his high salary, I would stay away from Parke as I don’t see him getting enough points to get you high in the cash. I do expect him to win, though, so the risk is there if you choose to go that way.
Cathal Pendred ($8,800)
I can’t tell you to avoid Cathal Pendred enough. He just hasn’t shown the skills to be a finisher on a consistent basis in the UFC. He has won four of his five UFC bouts, but only one has been a finish, and the rest have been boring decisions, and some were controversial decisions. He is awkward in his strikes and he telegraphs his takedowns. He has been given a tough opponent in Tom Breese, one that could send Pendred right out of the UFC. Breese may actually finish Pendred, so his $10,600 salary could be enticing if you have room on your roster. However, stay away from Pendred at all costs.
OUR LINEUPS
RYAN FREDERICK- Stevie Ray ($11,000), Tom Breese ($10,600), Scott Askham ($9,700), Darren Till ($9,300), Robert Whiteford ($9,200)
Every one of the fighters I’m using have been listed in some form above. I like all of my roster to actually score finish wins. Ray has the knockout power and is facing a fighter he can finish quickly. Breese, I see him finishing Cathal Pendred, but that may be tough. Askham and Till have such solid power and they’re in fights that should be showcase bouts for them. Whiteford is the toughest one to predict since he has such a tough opponent in Darren Elkins. I think Elkins has almost peaked as a fighter and Whiteford is developing quite nicely.
PAUL FONTAINE- Stevie Ray ($11,000), Aisling Daly ($9,900), Paddy Holohan ($9,600), Darren Till ($9,300), Cathal Pendred ($8,800)
The crowd has been such a factor in previous shows in Dublin so I’m going with all fighters from that area. I like Aisling Daly who I believe it better than she’s shown herself to be in previous UFC fights. She has a long history of fighting the best at both 115 and 125 and she should grind out a decision win or perhaps a late submission. Paddy Holohan will be fighting the biggest fight of his life and I’m predicting his main event bout with Louis Smolka to be a potential fight of the year candidate. The crowd will will Paddy to a win. Cathal Pendred had a 4 fight win streak snapped at UFC 189 but they’ve given him a winnable fight here Pendred will do what he always does and grind out a decision win. As the lower priced fighter, he’s a must for my team. Stevie Ray is a finisher and I think the Scottish fighter is going to blitz Mickael Lebout and score a dynamic KO win. My last pick is Darren Till. Unbeaten, fighting close to home and he’s an underdog. Great value pick in my opinion. Someone’s zero has got to go and I think it will Nicolas Dalby’s.
PEACH MACHINE- Norman Parke ($10,800), Nicolas Dalby ($10,100), Scott Askham ($9,700), Paddy Holohan ($9,600), Jon Delos Reyes ($9,400)
I was taking Dustin Poirier, but switched to Paddy Holohan when Poirier’s fight was cancelled. I’m also taking Jon Delos, my Guam homie. I trained with him in Guam and was always impressed by his grit. He’s tough as hell, and had a great fight last time out in Manila. It was a blood bath. I expect him to finish. Norman Parke I believe is underrated. He’s dang good but has lost his last two by split decisions. He’s got a ton of potential and a lot to prove here in his home country. I expect a good showing with Parke scoring a lot of points off of strikes. Scott Askham I chose more as a pick against Jotko. I don’t think Jotko will last any longer and I expect him to get KO’d and then cut. Finally, I went with Nicolas Dalby because his nickname is Sharpshooter and I’m a huge fan of Bret Hart and Tyson Kidd. That’s the sort of in depth analysis you get with the PeachMachine… I’m actually pretty interested in this show but there are a lot of guys that the average fan won’t recognize. This card does have potential to be fun, and it’s airing in the middle of the afternoon, so you know what that means… Day drinking!
NOTE: Due to an error with Draft Kings, UFC 192 events did not take place, therefore we have no scores from that event to compare how we did. We hope that doesn’t happen this time.
We’re continuing our look at WrestleKingdom 9, held January 4, 2015 at the Tokyo Dome. Three more matches tonight, finishing up the undercard portion of the event.
First up is a six man tag pitting Jeff Jarrett, Bad Luck Fale and Yujiro Takahashi against Satoshi Kojima, Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Tomoaki Honma. I completely forgot this match was on the card. And that reminds me, whatever happened to Jeff Jarrett being a part of the Bullet Club? That was a storyline that never really went anywhere beyond this match. This was really quick. Decent, but one of the shorter matches on the card. Honma won with the kokeshi headbutt from the top rope onto Yujiro Takahashi. The announcers compared it to Charlie Brown finally kicking the football (an old Peanuts comic strip gag from years ago). That sort of fits here, I guess, but him winning the G1 match later on in the year is the far better analogy.
Next up was the match between Minoru Suzuki and Kazushi Sakuraba, UWF-I rules. That means no pinfalls or submissions, either a KO, TKO, or ref stoppage will end the match. The presentation of the match was so cool, especially Minoru Suzuki who looked to be in the best shape of his career, wearing all white like he did when he won the King of Pancrase. This was really fun. Suzuki is one of the more unique wrestlers around as he always works HIS style of match, and it’s usually different than whatever else you’d see on a card we wrestles in. Lots of striking and submission attempts by both men. Suzuki kept goading Sakuraba to strike him, then Suzuki fired back, sinking in a sleeper, hip tossed him to the floor and Sakuraba passed out, so the ref stopped the match. This was a cool finish to a good match. Not the best on the card, but highly memorable.
Suzuki said he had been waiting for Sakuraba to come to New Japan for a long time. He didn’t feel much when shaking his hand, then said he wouldn’t elaborate since he didn’t like the way the interviewer answered the questions. He doesn’t look down at him. When asked why they hugged in the ring after the match, he refused to answer that as well and called the interviewer a loser. I miss Minoru Suzuki in New Japan. I so, so do.
Shibata is interviewed next. He talks about how he didn’t like the reactions he got in the Tokyo Dome before, but he liked it when he and Goto faced each other back at WrestleKingdom 8 as the reactions were more direct. In regards to his opponents, he says they have power and skill, and also work better as a tag team than singles wrestlers. When they won the tag league, they didn’t get a championship, so it’s here where they want to win the tag team championships.
The tag team title match aired. This was pretty good. The crowd were into Shibata and Goto as the challengers, and as a team they’re good. Anderson and Gallows are good as a team, and are fine as champions, but they aren’t great and aren’t going to really do anything to bring the tag team division out of the funk it is in this promotion. But this was a good back and forth match. A bit short, but was good while it lasted and never dragged.
Shibata and Goto mentioned that it was 20 years ago that they met each other, so they were glad they were able to become tag team champions tonight. Shibata also put over the fans, as to him they were the ones who helped them win the gold. Shibata said in his reflective interview pretty much what he said in the post match interview, he was happy to win the title. He finishes by saying he liked the shape of the belt.
We now have most of the undercard down, with the two big title matches still to go over the next couple of weeks. Pretty good show, though if there’s one match you need to see, it’s the Suzuki/Sakuraba bout, as it was a pretty cool match.
Luis Urive, the former Mistico who is now wrestling as Mistic 2.0, is at Arena Mexico for tonight’s show.
He is not booked on the show, although he will be on the Lucha Libre Elite show on Sunday in his first match at the arena in four years. He may do a interview to promote the show and or shoot an angle.
Observer correspondent Robert Bihari reports that Urive will be wrestling on an iPPV show that CMLL is doing at Arena Mexico a week from tonight in his first CMLL match, where he would be opposite members of Los Ingobernables.
Mistic 2.0 and Volador Jr. are scheduled to headline Sunday’s show at Arena Mexico against Los Ingobernables members Rush & La Mascara, which was expected to draw one of the biggest pro wrestling crowds this year, although because Mexico is such a heavy walk-up market you never know for sure ahead of time.
Tonight’s show will air live at www.ClaroSports.com at 9:30PM ET, but it may be geo blocked in the U.S. Some weeks it is and some weeks it isn’t, and nobody ever knows for sure until the show starts. But next week’s show as an iPPV will be available in the U.S.
Please send reports to Dave Meltzer on the following:
GFW TV tapings from Las Vegas
Heavyweight title tournament final: Nick Aldis, Bobby Roode and Chris Mordetzky;
Brian Myers vs. Kongo
Kong vs. Kevin Kross
Tag title tourney with Luster the Legend & Adam Thornstowe, Bollywood Boyz, Kenny King & Joey Ryan and Remy Marcel & Jack Manley, Bestia 666 vs. Cielo Escorpion,
NEW GEN title four-way with Virgil Flynn vs. Jigsaw vs. TJP plus Sonjay Dutt vs. Seiya Sanada)
We are also looking for Reports on tonight’s ROH tapings in Kalamazoo, MI (Jay Lethal vs. Roderick Strong for TV title, A.J. Styles vs. Donovan Dijak, Briscoes vs. Kenny King & Rhett Titus, Michael Bennett & Matt Taven vs. Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian for tag titles, Adam Cole vs. Dalton Castle, Leah Von Dutch vs. Crazy Mary Dobson, Silas Young & Beer City Bruiser vs. The Boyz, ACH vs. Cedric Alexander)
Yes, Kenny King is supposed to be in Kalamazoo and Las Vegas on the same night.
This weekend we’ll be taking our big show poll only on Hell in a Cell Sunday.
Bellator tonight at 9 p.m. on Spike from the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, CT
Goiti Yamauchi vs. Isao Kobayashi
Michael Page vs. Charles Ontiveros
Brennan Ward vs. Dennis Olson
Brandon Halsey vs. Rafael Carvalho for the vacant middleweight title
Page is usually someone worth going out of your way to see.
New Japan World has a live show at 6 a.m. Eastern time tomorrow morning from Tokorozawa
Jushin Liger & Tiger Mask & Captain New Japan vs. Sho Tanaka & Yohei Komatsu & Juice Robinson
Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly vs. Jay White & David Finlay non-title
Ryusuke Taguchi & Mascara Dorada & Kushida & Alex Shelley vs. Kenny Omega & Chase Owens & Young Bucks
Katsuyori Shibata & Hirooki Goto vs. Cody Hall & Tama Tonga
Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma vs. Tomohiro Ishii & Gedo
Shinsuke Nakamura & Toru Yano & Yoshi-Hashi vs. Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows & Bad Luck Fale
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Ricochet & Matt Sydal vs. Kazuchika Okada & Rocky Romero & Trent Baretta
New Japan also opens its junior heavyweight tag team tournament on Friday night/Saturday morning at 5:30 a.m. Eastern and 2:30 a.m. Pacific time from Korakuen Hall
Togi Makabe & Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata & Captain New Japan vs. Yohei Komatsu & Sho Tanaka & David Finlay & Jay White
Shinsuke Nakamura & Toru Yano & Kazushi Sakuraba & Yoshi-Hashi vs. Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows & Bad Luck Fale & Tama Tonga
Hiroshi Tanahashi& Tomoaki Honma & Juice Robinson vs. Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii & Gedo
Tag team tournament first round matches:
Jushin Liger & Tiger Mask vs. Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly
Rocky Romero & Baretta vs. Kenny Omega & Chase Owens
Mascara Dorada & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Young Bucks
Matt Sydal & Ricochet vs. Alex Shelley & Kushida
UFC ON FIGHT PASS FROM DUBLIN, IRELAND AT 1:15 P.M. EASTERN TIME – Saturday
For Canada: Tomorrow’s UFC main card from Dublin will air from 4-6 p.m. Eastern in Canada on The Fight Network and again at9 p.m. and 1 a.m. for prime time viewing in the Eastern and Pacific time zones.
Bubba Bush (185) vs. Garreth McLellan (185)
Darren Elkins (145) vs Robert Whiteford (145)
Tom Breeze (171) vs. Cathal Pendred (169)
Scott Askham (184) vs. Krzysztof Jotko (185)
Aisling Daly (115) vs. Ericka Almeida (115)
Stevie Ray (155) vs. Mickael Lebout (155)
Neil Seery (125) vs. Jon Delos Reyes (125)
Nicolas Dalby (170) vs. Darren Hill (171)
Reza Madadi (156) vs. Norman Parke (156)
Paddy Holohan (126) vs. Louis Smolka (125)
Sunday we’ll be looking for reports on the NXT show as part of the Aftershock Festival in Sacramento.
WWE HELL IN A CELL SUNDAY FROM THE STAPLES CENTER IN LOS ANGELES AT 7:30 P.M.
Brock Lesnar vs. Undertaker Hell in a Cell match
Seth Rollins vs. Kane for WWE title vs. Kane’s job as Director of Operations
Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt Hell in a Cell match
John Cena vs. ? for U.S. title
Big E & Kofi Kingston vs. Dudleys for tag titles
Kevin Owens vs. Ryback for IC title
Charlotte vs. Nikki Bella for Divas title
Neville & Dolph Ziggler & Cesaro vs. Rusev & Sheamus & King Barrett (preshow match at 7:30)
Raw will be live in San Diego on Monday night.
Smackdown and Main Event will be taped in Phoenix on Tuesday.
****
Figure Four Weekly:
Jerry McDevitt cuts quite the legal promo on Konstantine Kyros as part of his latest screed in the ongoing legal battle over WWE’s alleged role in wrestlers’ brain damage.
The WWE’s record low ratings, even with bringing in all the big names on Monday, is the lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer newsletter. We look at the ratings, the competition, the build to Hell in a Cell, and what type of programming is and isn’t working in ratings now. We also look more at John Layfield’s interview with Eric Bischoff and WCW and how pro wrestling has changed since the death of WCW, as well as more on the political goings-on in Mexico, what modern era wrestlers have had the most four star matches and a wrestling show in a few weeks that you don’t know of that is going to have a paid attendance of more than 30,000 people. CLICK HERE FOR A FULL WRESTLING OBSERVER PREVIEW
You can also order the print Observer right now and get it delivered to your door via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to dave@wrestlingobserver.com” target=”_blank”>dave@wrestlingobserver.com
For the United States, it is $13 for 4 issues, $32 for 12, $61 for 24, $101 for 40 and $131 for 52. In Canada and Mexico, rates are $14.50 for 4, $35 for 12, $67 for 24, $111 for 40 and $144 or 52. In Europe, you can get the fastest delivery and best rates by sending to moonsault@mediaplusint.com For the rest of the world, rates are $16.50 for 4, $44 for 12, $85 for 24, $141 for 40 issues and $183 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order (P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228), you can get $1 off in every price range.
If you are a new subscriber ordering 24 or more issues, you can get one free classic issue of your choice sent to you today. With a 40 issue subscription, you can get two free classic issues sent to you today. We’ve got coverage of every major PPV event and world wide spectacular, every major star switching promotions, histories of companies like FMW, Rings and New Japan, retirement and obit issues of every major star who fits into those descriptions over the past 11 years, as well as our biggest issue every year, the annual awards issue, and our most controversial issue of every year, the Hall of Fame issue.
Click here for the most requested Wrestling Observer back issues.
FRIDAY NEWS UPDATE
WWE
WWE.com had a story on James Storm where he gave the indication it’s up to WWE if he signs or not. He didn’t work last night’s TV. He said that Road Dogg and Billy Gunn, who he knew from TNA, opened the door for him. He also admitted he was at the show in Nashville even though he had previously denied it.
Paige did a great job last night on Conan O’Brien. It was funny because she was there to plug Hell in a Cell, and Conan talked about seeing her on the show, even though she doesn’t have a match on the show. I guess when they made the booking the left hand thought she would be on the card. They mostly talked about how she grew up in a wrestling family with her parents and brothers and how her mom was wrestling when pregnant with her so she started while still in the womb.
The next Evolve shows will be 11/6 in Ybor City, FL and 11/7 in Orlando with Timothy Thatcher, Johnny Gargano, Drew Galloway, Caleb Konley, Anthony Nese, TJ Perkins, Drew Gulak, Tracy Williams, Ethan Page, Andrew Everett , Peter Kaasa and Matt Riddle scheduled.
Lana is on the road in Southern California because she and Rusev were at the Clippers game last night.
UFC
The episode of Ultimate Fighter that has gotten so much talk in the last few days will replay at 10 p.m. Eastern timeSunday night.
OTHER WRESTLING
The West Coast Wrestling Connection’s TV on PDX-TV in Portland, OR, is being moved to Saturday nights at 11 p.m.
Atlantis & Valiente & Volador Jr. vs. Rush & La Sombra & La Mascara is the main event of tonight’s CMLL show at Arena Mexico. No word on whether it’ll be geo blocked or not, but you can check at just after 9:30 p.m. Eastern time at www.ClaroSports.com
CHIKARA from last night in Minneapolis: Chuck Taylor b Frightmare, Darin Corbin & Drake Carter & Shaun Cannon b Race Jaxon & Hype Rockwell & Farmer Frog, Arik Cannon b Oleg the Usurper, Kimber Lee & El Hijo del Ice Cream & Ice Cream Jr b Icarus & Mark Angelosetti & Heidi Lovelace, Ariya Daivari won four-way over Wildcat, Kody Rice and Venom, Hallowicked b Jakob Hammermeieir, Ophidian & Eddie Kingston & Shynron b Juan Francisco de Coronado & Boar of Moldova & Parkash Sbar, Soldier Ant b Blaster McMassive (thanks to Patrick Brandmeyer)
My Life My Power Entertainment has a show on 11/14 in Miami at the Jackson Senior High School headlined by Daniel Puder.
41 years ago today in Miami Beach
Eddie Graham b Gary Hart in a lights out match
Dusty Rhodes & Mike Graham b Dick Slater & Toru Tanaka
Don Muraco & Bob Armstrong drew Hollywood Blonds (Buddy Roberts & Jerry Brown)
Pak Song b Paul Jones to retain the Southern title
Jerry Brisco b Cowboy Bill Watts via DQ
Tony Charles b Dennis Stamp
Mongolian Stomper b Frank Hester
Cowboy Lang & Sonny Boy Hayes b Little Louie & Billy the Kid (thanks to Barry Rose)
The Freebirds vs. Terry Taylor & Missing Link is the new match today on NWAClassics.com
Tyson Dux has a pre-wedding stag event in Windsor, ONT at Club Alouette. There will be two hours of wrestling at7 p.m. followed by the party at 9 p.m. Ages 19 and up can come. Wrestling has a ticket price of $20 and the wrestling and stag party is 440.
Smash Wrestling on 11/7 in Toronto at the Franklin Horner Community Centre featuring Pentagon Jr. vs. Drago.
Elite Canadian Championship Wrestling Halloween Hell on 10/30 with the Bollywood Boyz from GFW against Ethan HD & Mike Santiago in a cage match at the Cloverdale Fairgrounds in Surrey, BC.
Highspots has started the women’s wrestling network on Roku. The first month is available for 99 cents.. They are also promoting a Queen of combat show on 11/29 in Winston-Salem, NC at Ziggy’s with a four-way tournament with Jessicka Havok, Santana Garrett, Taeler Hendrix and Tessa Blanchard, plus Rebel, Madison Rayne, Candice LaRae, Allysin Kay, Barbi Hayden, Andrea, Lufisto, Chelsea Green, Crazy Mary Dobson and more.
ON THIS DAY IN PRO WRESTLING HISTORY INTERNATIONAL (thanks to Graeme Cameron)
1964 – Jim Barnett and Johnny Doyle debuted World Championship wrestling with their first show headlined by world champion Killer Kowalski retaining his title over Domenic DeNucci. Kowalski would go on to be the greatest heel in WCW history, and DeNucci would go on to be the best drawing babyface in WCW history.
1981 – La Fiera beat Lizmark in Mexico City to win the NWA welterweight title
1981- El Satanico beat Solar to win the Mexican national middleweight title
1983 – Ringo Mendoza beat El Satanico in Guadalajara to win the NWA light heavyweight title
1983 – Enrique Vera won a three-way tournament over Dos Caras and Canek to win the UWA heavyweight title
1999 – Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama beat Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa in Nagoya to win the All Japan tag title
2002 – Tetsuhiro Kuroda & Taka Michinoku & Gosaku Goshogawara beat Shinjiro Otani & Masato Tanaka & Wagyuta Koroge in Tokyo to become the first WEW trios champs
2011 – Jun Akiyama beat Suwama in Tokyo to win the Triple Crown and Dark Cuervo & Dark Ozz beat Keiji Muto & Kenso to win the World tag titles, Daisuke Sekimoto & Yuji Okabayashi beat Manabu Soya & Seiya Sanada to win the All Asia tag titles and Kenny Omega beat Kai to win the All Japan world jr. title
Bellator MMA returns to Spike TV tonight at 9 pm eastern/6 pacific with Bellator 144: Halsey vs Carvalho. In addition to the main event fight for the Middleweight Championship which Halsey was stripped off earlier this year for missing weight, the show will also feature the return of MVP, Michael Venom Page. He puts his unbeaten record on the line as he works his way toward a title shot. A brash exciting fighter who could be on a collision course with Page, Brennan Ward, takes on Dennis Olson and in the other main card fight, it’s Japan vs Brazil as the debuting Isao Kobayashi goes up against Goiti Yamauchi in a Featherweight bout.
We’ll have live coverage of the main card here starting right after the opening bell. The prelims are available for free at SpikeTV.com and we’ll also have results of those fights after they happen.
Welterweights Michael Page (8-0) vs Charlie Ontiveros (6-3)
Dan Miragliotta draws the reffing assignment for the opener. Page has 3 first round KO’s in 4 Bellator fights. Ontiveros had lost all 3 of his Bellator fights. This should be quick. The fighters are wearing pink wraps above their gloves. MVP dancing around to start as he always does and the fans are booing less than a minute in. Page with a takedown off of a clinch at 2:15. Page quickly into full mount and then takes his back. Ontiveros works him back to front and Page dropping elbows from side control and Ontiveros is out.
WINNER – MICHAEL PAGE (9-0) by TKO (elbows) at 3:20
The announcers speculate that it may have been a verbal submission as one of the elbows broke Ontiveros’ jaw. Official decision was a TKO. Sakuraba got some screen time in the pre-match video package for the next fight as Kobayashi grew up idolizing him. Jimmy Smith promises something exciting is happening in the first minute of the fight. I hope so, I have the under.
Featerweights Isao Kobayashi (18-2-4) vs Goiti Yamauchi (18-2)
Kobayashi is identified as a former King of Pancrase. I guess you can see his fights on UFC Fight Pass but the announcers don’t bring that up for some reason. They go the ground right away. Yamauchi may have pulled guard. He goes for a heel hook from the bottom but Kobayashi gets to his feet. Yamauchi definitely pulled guard at 1:15. Yamauchi going for all kinds of whacky submissions and ends up taking his back against the cage. He gets a body triangle and then starts working for a rear naked choke. He locks it in at 3:45 with a Gable grip. Kobayashi fights out of it. Yamauchi landing heel strikes to the body and Kobayashi gets out of it with 15 seconds left and to his feet. Yamauchi stays on his back as the round ends. 10-9 Yamauchi
Bellator champions Liam McGeary and Marcos Galvao are in attendance. Kobayashi with a trip takedown 1:15 in. Ground strikes in the first were 16-8 for Yamauchi. Yamauchi locks in a body triangle from the bottom but Kobayashi landing head strikes from the top. Yamauchi working for an armbar and gets the Kimura at 2:30. Kobayashi rolls out of it but gives up top position. Yamauchi opens up a cut on Kobayashi’s forehead with elbows from the top. Yamauchi into side control at 4:30 and then quickly into mount. Yamauchi takes his back and gets a neck crank with 10 seconds left but the bell saves Kobayashi. 10-9 Yamauchi
Jimmy Smith thinks Round 1 was a 10-8. I’d be very surprised as Kobayashi came back at the end and was never in that much danger of being finished. Yamauchi drops Kobayashi with a left hook 1:00 in and goes to the ground. He goes right to the Kimura again and transitions to the back. Yamauchi with the body triangle and working for a rear naked choke at 2:00. Kobayashi works out of it but still in all kinds of trouble. Yamauchi with the rear naked choke again at 3:45 and gets the tap.
WINNER – GOITI YAMAUCHI (19-2) by submission (rear naked choke) at 3:50 of the third round
Kimbo Slice in da hizzouse. Yamauchi calls out Patricio Pitbull after the fight. They did a segment called “Quick Hits” with Michael Chandler. It was fun. A female interviewer asked him quick easy questions while he sparred. Apparently Chandler is a big fan of Miley Cyrus’ Wrecking Ball. They showed clips from the weigh-ins and Ward and Olson got into it. A fan yelled out “you’re a good actor, Ward” and it made air.
Welterweights Brennan Ward (11-3) vs Dennis Olson (14-9)
They showed the walkouts since they’re running well ahead of schedule. Olson was heavily booed coming out and gave the fans the double-finger salute. They’re barely even hiding the fact that this is basically a squash match. All but one of Ward’s wins have come by finish. Big John gets the dukes for this one. Olson goes for a takedown right off the bat and Ward grabs a guillotine. Olson ends up having to pull guard to get out of it and Ward’s on top on the ground. Ward postures up to improve position and then goes into side control rather easily at 1:30. Ward to his feet at 1:45 and Olson is forced to follow. Ward drops Olson with a punch at 2:15 and goes to the ground with him. Ward into mount at 2:45 and dropping punches and elbows to the head. Olson works him back to guard. Ward with elbows to the head and body, just swarming Olson. Ward stands up again at 4:30 and Olson has to follow. Ward drops im again and follows up with ground and pound and McCarthy stops it.
WINNER – BRENNAN WARD (12-3) by TKO (punches)
After the fight, Ward put over Olson as a tough opponent and also put over the crowd. Ward falls short of calling out the champion Andrey Koreshkov, even though Jimmy was egging him on to. He just said that if he did get the chance, it would be a great fight.
A prelim bout between Matt Bessette and Kevin Roddy aired next. If you peeked below, you know that Bessette won by submission. What you didn’t know is that he won with an inverted heel hook and Sakuraba got another mention. Bessette has been kicking around the indies for a while now and looked really good here.
Main Event for the Bellator Middleweight Championship Brandon Halsey (9-0) vs Rafael Carvalho (11-1)
Brandon Halsey out to Lunatic Fringe by Red Rider, one of my personal favorite songs of all time. Dan Miragliotta gets the reffing duties for the main event. Carvalho’s “notable wins” are 1-4 Joe Schilling and everyone’s favorite punching bag Brett Rogers. This may not be much of a contest. Halsey gets a taekdown 10 seconds in. Halsey into mount and an arm triangle choke at 1:15. Carvalho escapes and goes for an inverted triangle but Halsey escapes. Carvalho to his feet and tries to take Halsey down but Halsey ends up on top. Crowd booing 2:30 in. Carvalho to his feet but gets brought right back down at 3:15 and Halsey right into mount. Halsey landing light punches to the head but basically just holding Carvalho down. 10-8 Halsey
Jimmy Smith just mentioned that they’d talked about relaxed 10-8 rules but he “doesn’t know if they’re in effect tonight”. What? Either way, That was a pretty dominant round for Halsey. Cage clinch early in the round and Halsey holds him for over a minute, trying to force a takedown. Halsey backs off at 1:30. Carvalho drops him with a liver kick and follows up with ground and pound but the ref stops it quickly.
WINNER – RAFAEL CARVALHO (12-1) by KO (liver kick) at 1:42 of the 2nd round
Ward was still down 3 minutes later but got up for the winner’s announcement and seemed okay.
WWE announced this morning that the WWE Network will be available in India starting on 11/2.
The price will be $9.99 in U.S. dollars with no commitment and the ability to cancel at any time. The network will be available on desktop, laptop and mobile devices.
The WWE is offering the first month free. It will be the same English language version as in the U.S. with 3,700 hours of video content.
Because the PPVs are part of the television deal in India, they will be blacked out live but will be available on the network on a one-day delay. When the current television deal regarding live broadcast of the PPVs expires at the end of 2016, the pay-per-views will air live in India on the network.
They announced that in India, the network will be available also on Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Sony PlayStation 3, Sony PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Roku and Smart TVs.
The news was taken well on Wall Street and WWE’s stock has risen so far today from $19.24 per share to $20.64 per share.
