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  • WWE Raw 9/21 Results: Kane returns….again in the fallout from Night of Champions

    courtesy of wwe.com

    by Jeff Hamlin, WrestlingObserver.com  

    The Big Takeaway: Kane made his return. Well, there are now two Kanes. There’s the Corporate Kane, who acts like Joseph Park. And then there’s the Demon Kane, who showed up at the end of the show. Add in the fact that the Big Show went over on this program, it seemed tonight was a salute to 1997. Which is fiiting, because this show could have the lowest ratings of any Raw show since that year. It was a boring show. 

    Show Recap: 

    The Wyatt Family started the show. Bray Wyatt said he tried to warn Roman Reigns, but he wouldn’t listen. Wyatt said he reached up to Mt. Olympus and grabbed the Golden Idol and brought him to his knees.

    Reigns interrupted him and said he wanted to finish things one-on-one with Wyatt tonight. Wyatt declined. Regins accused him of being scared and said he wanted to fight Wyatt. It led to Wyatt whipsering something to Luke Harper and Braun Strowman, they left the ring and Wyatt agreed to fight.  

    Regins and Wyatt fought for a bit before Harper and Strowman ran in. Strowman gave Regins soemthing resembling a chokeslam, except Regins landed face first. Dean Ambrose ran out and hit Strowman with a tope. Eventually, the heels overpowered Ambrose. Crowd chanted for Chris Jericho. Instead, Randy Orton came out and cleaned house, including dropping Harper with a back suplex on the announcer’s table. It ended with Orton and Ambrose hitting dropkicks on Strowman, who budged but didn’t go down. Finally Regins knocked Strowman out of the ring with a Superman’s Punch. 

    Seth Rollins walked into HHH and Stephanie McMahon’s office and found Director of Operations Kane waiting for him. Rollins didn’t know how to react and asked him why Kane tombstoned him last night. Kane acted like he had no idea what he was talking about.So Kane was doing the Joseph Park/Abyss gimmick from TNA in 2013, where Director of Operations Kane was a separate person from his wrestling alter ego. In fact, DIO Kane was downright chipper, saying he had healed from the broken angle that Rollins had laid onto him. Kane said he arranged for Rollins to face John Cena tonight in a rematch for the U.S. Championship. Rollins had no idea how to react and left quickly. 

    The announcers have already assigned different names to Kane’s various personas: Corporate Kane and Demonic Kane. I thought Alvarez’s Libertarian Kane was pretty good, myself. 

    Lucha Dragons and Neville defeated The Ascension and Stardust (10:31)

    Clumsy match in spots as Konnor and Kalisto has problems working together. Kalisto pinned Viktor with Salida del Sol. Sin Cara slipped attempting a springboard dropkick on Konnor.  Later, Cara did a top on Viktor and appeared to hit his head across the announcer’s table. 

    Rollins found the Authority backstage and couldn’t believe that HHH and Stephanie would reinstate Kane as Director of Operations. He said he was in no shape to wrestle Cena tonight after wrestling twice last night. HHH and Stephanie told him not to worry about Kane and just focus on Cena.  

    Ryback defeated Bo Dallas (3:36) 

    Ryback won with the Shellshock. Kevin Owens was on commentary and ran in after the match. Ryback gave him a Meat Hook clothesline and tried to give him the Shellshock, but Owens got away. Ryback was more aggressive in the match after losing the Intercontiental Championship last night. 

    Ric Flair came out to introduce Charlotte as the new Divas Champion. Fans started chanting “Thank you, Ric.” He said the proudest moment of his entire life wasn’t his first world championship or his retirement match with Shawn Michaels, it was watching his little girl win the Divas Championship. Charlotte, Paige and Becky Lynch came out. 

    Charlotte got emotional talking to her father saying she was as proud of him as he was of her. Charlotte thanked Lynch for always reminding her to never take life too seriously. Charlotte turned to Paige and said she followed in Paige’s footsteps and they started in NXT together. 

    Paige took the microphone away and turned heel. She said Charlotte was just a placeholder for the championship and nothing about the Divas division has changed. She said the whole celebration was patronizing and reminded Charlotte that she won the championship on her first day. Paige said Lynch was the least relevant of all of them. She said Lana and Summer Rae were too busy trying to climb over top of each other instead of wrestling. Paige said she didn’t even know where Nattie was because she was too busy taking care of her husband. Paige also said we all knew the real reason why the Bella Twins got to where they are, and said Charlotte wouldn’t be where she is without her old man. Paige said “Whooo” and walked off. This was supposed to be a heel turn for Paige, but she got mostly cheers. 

    Nikki Bella, Brie Bela and Alicia Fox followed that up by coming out. Nikki mainly no sold losing the title and said Brie was going to take the title from Charlotte tonight.  

    Charlotte (C) defeated Brie Bella via submission to retain the Divas Championship (6:22) 

    Charlotte won with the Figure Eight. Brie spent most of the match on offense, which led to a sloppy match. Brie mainly worked on Charlotte’s left leg, continuing the storyline from last night where Nikki did the same thing. 

    Sheamus defeated Mark Henry (2:23)

    Sheamus hit a Brogue Kick that missed so badly, even the announcers admitted it. So they redid the spot for the finish. It was Henry’s turn to job in his home state. Sheamus did a promo saying it was only a matter of time before he become world champion. 

    Stephanie and HHH met with Kane, who just took a sip out of his “World’s Greatest Director of Operations” mug. HHH was curious about Kane showing up last night. Kane again acted like he was oblivious to giving Rollins a tombstone. Stephanie spoke up and said there was no need for Kane to insult out intelligence and play mind games with them. Kane said he would never do that and he wanted to do what’s best for business. Stephanie asked for Kane to give it back and extended her hand. Kane gave her five. Stephanie said she wanted his mask back. Kane noticed that the mask was gone from its case, and said if Stephanie had stolen it, they would have a very big problem. Kane turned deadly serious for a minute, but then got his smiley face back and said he would make sure he would do his job for what’s best for business. 

    Paige found Nattie backstage. Nattie said what Paige said earlier to Charlotte was unprofessional. Nattie said there have been times where she has felt left behind in the Divas division, but she did something about it.  She told Paige that the only person who was standing in Paige’s way was Paige. Nattie said she was wrestling Naomi later.  

    The New Day came out. The crowd really didn’t respond to them and gave them more of a heel reaction. Xavier Woods sold being put through a table last night by the Dudley Boyz, held up a piece of table and claimed it had to be removed from his buttocks last night. Big E. did a promo saying they had to build a wall around Dudleyville to protect their citizens, their families and their furniture. It was an attempt to get Donald Trump heat, but it didn’t work.

    The New Day and Rusev defeated The Dudley Boyz and Dolph Ziggler (14:10)

    Rusev pinned Dolph Ziggler after a Thurst Kick after Ziggler gave Woods a Superkick once he got on the apron with the trombone. Pretty good match. Ziggler gave Rusev Wazzup with the Dudleys holding each of Rusev’s legs. Midway through the match, Woods began playing Rusev’s theme song on his trombone as Dolph Ziggler got the heat. When Kofi Kingston hit a dropkick, Woods started screaming about how Kingston had an 8-foot vertical leap. Crowd didn’t react to very much.

    Naomi defeated Natalya (3:45) 

    Naomi won with the Rear End after Tamina and Sasha Banks jumped up on the apron. Not much of a match and the crowd has been dead for the past hour. 

    Rollins walked into the Authority’s office wanting to know what the plan is tonight. Stephanie said Kane everything out of his system that he needed to last night. Rollins couldn’t believe it and said HHH knew what Kane was capable of. HHH lashed out and Rollins and told him to focus on Cena. Rollins reluctatnly agreed, again teasing the inevitable HHH-Rollins match somewhere down the line. 

    The Big Show defeate Cesaro (6:16)  

    After Cesaro hit a vertical suplex on The Big Show into the ring, Show got up first and hit the knockout punch for the clean pin. Great booking for the long-term future there.

    Postmatch, Show cut a promo on Brock Lesnar. They’ll be wrestling on a Network Special at Madison Square Garden on October 2nd. He reminded Lesnar that he pinned him at the 2002 Royal Rumble. It was a good promo.  

    The Wyatt Family did a promo running down Orton. Wyatt told Orton they all fall down, and Orton would, as well. Strowman said he once captured a snake with his bare hands and drank its blood, and claimed the snake is in a better place now. 

    John Cena (C) defeated Seth Rollins to retain the U.S. Championship (15:34)

    Not only the best match on the show, but the only match tonight that would exceed 3 stars. Rollins hit a Frog Splash, but Cena powered out of the cover attempt and hit an AA for the pin. Spots included Rollins using Cena’s STF, and Cena also grabbing the STF but Rollins got the ropes. Rollins didn’t do any knees to the face, to no surprise. 

    Postmatch, Corporate Kane appeared on the big screen and told Rollins part of his job was to make sure Rollins could be the best champion he could be. He said many people were coming after Rollins’ championship. Then the background turned fiery red, and Kane said in a deep, brooding voice “including some he could never imagine.” 

    Kane’s fire pyro went off. Then the demonic Kane burst through the mat and dragged Rollins under the ring. Rollins disappeared through the hole, and steam shot out from the bottom. 

    SUMMARY: So in an effort to make Kane interesting for the next PPV cycle, they ripoff a TNA storyline. That says it all. 

  • WWE Night of Champions 2015 Preview & Predictions

    By WrestlingObserver.com Staff

    This Sunday will conclude what will be one of the more busy weeks of the year when Night of Champions 2015 takes place in Houston, Texas. Having been held every year since 2007, this event’s stipulation is that every title is required to be defended. So for Seth Rollins, he’s in a bit of a pickle that night as he holds both the United States and WWE World Heavyweight championships. And not only that, he faces two very tough challengers in two separate matches. We have the United States championship match against the man he beat for the title John Cena, and he also faces the Icon (or the Vigilante, depending on what week it is) Sting for the WWE World Heavyweight championship. The odds are stacked against him, but the question remains – will Seth Rollins walk out of Texas with both titles?

    We’ve brought together several WrestlingObserver.com reporters to answer this very question, as well as thoughts on the other matches on the show. Here’s what they had to say:

    WWE World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins (c) vs. Sting

    Bryan Rose: This match doesn’t make a lick of sense booking wise. I think the idea is that the Authority want Seth to take out Sting. Well, okay, but didn’t Triple H do that to Sting at WrestleMania? And keep in mind Sting lost that match, which is his only match on WWE to date, not counting this past Monday which, true, he beat Seth in the middle clean, but that was after the match was made. Regardless, this I think will be a better match than people will expect it to be. Seth is one of the best workers on the roster right now and can take someone like Sting and have a great match with him.

    Some people will say Sting has a chance of winning here. I think there’s a slim chance of that happening, but it all depends on how long Sting is staying this time around. I think if Sting wins, it’ll be through a crappy, disputed finish that’ll lead to a Hell in a Cell match next month, which will have Seth win somehow, probably in another disputed finish. That’s a lot of crappy finishes, but then again if you look at many WWE main events, someone’s always screwed out of something anyway. I don’t see either guy losing clean but I think Sting has the best chances of winning this time around. Pick: Sting

    Chris Aiken: The nostalgic fan in me wants to see the Stinger have a great old school match with none of what has become the staple of a WWE main event as Rollins is more than capable of carrying the load in match without gimmicks. Instead, the WWE title match will likely be more similar to Sting’s match with Triple H at WrestleMania, but with a lot of more stunts from Rollins with maybe similar kinds of wild plot twists and chicanery. With the recent news of lower ratings, they could try to hot shot a Sting title run but Rollins retaining seems like a safer bet. That’s not to say Sting won’t win via disqualification or so some similar sort of cheap finish. Maybe Rollins puts the final nail in some convoluted attempt to finally bury WCW and end the wrestling war that already ended a long time ago. Nevertheless, seeing Sting have a main event title match in WWE is still surreal enough to make it all worth it.

    Steve Khan: I’m watching this show with a few friends and I’m pretty sure it’s because of this match, which is weird. I can’t imagine Sting is winning the title, because it’s 2015 and he works for the wrong company. But we’re all watching it anyway. Kane and/or J&J Security could return and help Rollins escape with the title, but Sting getting pinned also seems unlikely, so I see them getting out of this with a DQ or something along those lines. The match itself should be fine. Pick: Sting via DQ

    Jeremy Peeples: Sting won on Raw and Seth not only lost there, but on SmackDown – so it seems safe to assume that Seth is retaining here. However, Sheamus has lost a lot, isn’t booked on this show, and needs a bit win. Seth could lose to Sting here, only to have Sheamus cash in and take the title later in the show. Otherwise, it’s impossible to imagine WWE putting the WWE Title on Sting for any length of time when he couldn’t even beat HHH at WrestleMania or get a clean win on Raw over Big Show.

    James Cox: The match will probably be good, but I don’t see it being much better than just that – good. Arguably, there is no-one better placed than Seth Rollins to make Sting, at 56, look like he still belongs in a WWE ring, but I think the finish will distract from the quality of the wrestling. Does Sting need the title to be a WWE Hall of Famer? In their minds, possibly. But I see Rollins winning – not without hope for Sting along the way. Some outside interference that maybe the likes of Money in Bank holder, Sheamus, could provide, will no doubt colour the finish. This can then lead to them settling the score without disruption inside Hell in a Cell next month at The Staples Centre. Pick: Seth Rollins

    Jeff Hamlin: In theory, Sting in the WWE seemed like a good idea. In practice, he’s fallen into the same trap that hurt Goldberg, Diamond Dallas Page, Scott Steiner and (to an extent) Ric Flair. They were all WCW stars that Vince didn’t know what to do with because he didn’t create them. The aura of Sting in WWE has never been fully captured. I sense the decision makers in WWE feel the same way. Rollins needs to go over strong and stop being portrayed as a whiny champion that constantly relies on the Authority. Pick: Seth Rollins.

    Paul Fontaine: I feel like this will be a one time match, with Sting’s Wrestlemania match being set up, or at least hinted at, here. Look for interference by his potential opponent and I’m going with Bray Wyatt. This could even lead up to Sting teaming up with Reigns and Ambrose down the road to take on the Wyatts, leading to an eventual Mania match. Pick: Seth Rollins by DQ to retain title

    WWE United States Championship: Seth Rollins (c) vs. John Cena

    Bryan Rose: I think that John Cena wins it back here. Then again, that would mean Seth Rollins loses twice on the same show with my picks. Still, there’s really no reason for Seth to win the title. Cena’s been doing a great job as United States champion and I just kind of like the idea of having him continue with that run as champion. Then again, with Roman Reigns not taking off like he was supposed to this year, Orton in and out with no tangible storylines this year and Daniel Bryan’s career in jeopardy, there’s not many top faces on the roster right now, so he might not work out as US champion like he did this past summer. It’s a tough choice, but I think Cena wins it back clean here, and could even go last if they do a disputed finish for the WWE title match. Pick: John Cena

    Chris Aiken: No matter whether you love or despise him as the face of WWE, John Cena is on a roll of more than delivering great matches on PPV (or special events or whatever). Both Cena and Rollins will pull out all the stops if this match closes the show, and the Spanish announce table will likely not survive if this is in the main event slot. Likewise, the announce table may not survive this match regardless of positioning on the card. If it doesn’t close the show, it could be more subdued. No matter, it still should be good, if not bordering on great if it delivers. Cena regaining the title would give him his win back and they like to do that sort of thing.

    Steve Khan: This or the 6-man tag should end up being the match of the night. However, this is the third singles match these two have had over the last few months, so they’ll need something to separate it from the others. Cena should probably win and get the US Title back. They can do this match (and title change) early on the show, allowing them to tell the story throughout the night leading up the the main event. Pick: John Cena (new U.S. Champion)

    Jeremy Peeples: Seth vs. Cena was the co-main event last month, but is seemingly being positioned as the true main event of the show even with Sting getting the show-closing segment on Raw. These two have fantastic chemistry together as evidenced by the Royal Rumble triple threat, their nose-smashing Raw match, and Summerslam, so this should be at least very good. Seth has done absolutely nothing with the U.S. Title, making it just a prop like the European title was with Shawn Michaels, so Cena should win this and go back to the U.S. Title invitational to at least give Raw something to easily build up each week.

    James Cox: This could be the best match on the card. There are so many ways that they could book this but logic would suggest that Cena regains his lost title after being screwed out of it by John Stewart last month. After all the work that Cena did to re-elevate this title is now lost, to some extent, by having Seth hold it whilst also holding the WWE title. With a resilient veteran performance, Cena will dodge the attempted distraction from The Authority and leave them disappointed in their boy. Pick: John Cena

    Jeff Hamlin: The question is which belt does Rollins lose? The idea of a double champion was a good selling point for SummerSlam, but it’s been pointless. Rollins has barely defended the U.S. Championship on television. He’s been more concerned with a statue. So if Cena wins, do they bring back the U.S. Open Challenge? It was the highlight of Raw during the summer with Cena elevating the title and having several 4-star matches. That’s a formula that makes more sense. There are still some programs for Cena as a U.S. Champion for another reign. On a side note, Jim Ross had a good point on his podcast this week saying this match should start the show. Pick: Seth Rollins

    Paul Fontaine: With Seth retaining the World title I think he loses the US title here. Cena was having great matches almost every week on RAW and it would be nice to see that continue by putting the belt back on him. They could also come back to Cena/Rollins down the line if Cena wins here. Cena should win clean in what I’m gonna predict is a match of the year candidate. Pick: John Cena (new champ)

    WWE Intercontinental Championship: Ryback (c) vs. Kevin Owens

    Bryan Rose: The Ryback thing I just don’t think is working right now. He’s been given horrendous dialogue in the last few weeks and compared to the fluidity Owens has when doing promos, it’s like night and day. I don’t think we need to go into detail on who is a better worker, but Ryback does have his moments and works hard. Either way, I just look at who has the better upside, and it’s Owens. Then again, I really shouldn’t put my money on Owens winning since this belt right now is a career derailer to anyone who holds it. I think Owens will win, but it’ll be by count out or DQ. After all, most WWE midcard feuds these days are required to go two months or more with a bunch of lame finishes. Pick: Kevin Owens

    Chris Aiken: If given even enough time in a title match with Owens, this could be one of the greatest matches in the career of Ryback. If it is kept short, it will probably be good but not so notable. No sense in beating Owens. But what if he wins the IC title? You know, the belt with the stench of midcard fodder. That sounds terrible. Take heart in knowing that no matter what nonsensical creative is thrown their way, the match itself will likely be entertaining.

    Steve Khan: It seemed like Ryback had some momentum not long ago, but he’s completely flat now. Maybe it was the injury. Or maybe it was feuding with Big Show and The Miz. Either way, Owens is the perfect IC champion and he should win. But with potential titles changes elsewhere on the card I don’t see one here. Owens walks out and they do the match again later. Pick: Ryback via countout

    Jeremy Peeples: With its build involving terribly-written dialogue delivered poorly by Ryback and also involving eating, book-reading, and mocking “The Secret”, this hasn’t been one of the finest builds in recent memory. This will be the first match between the two, so their chemistry together is unknown. Given that Owens really needs a big win, and could use a title to in theory gain some credibility, he should win this.

    James Cox: Owens doesn’t need to be losing to Ryback and Ryback feels out of his depth here. Ryback has had a resurgence of late and he’s about as over as he’s ever going to get now. The prospect of Owens as IC champion is a fun one, to say the least. They can, of course, settle this in a Cell next month if they don’t do a rematch on Raw.

    Prediction: Kevin Owens

    Jeff Hamlin: This seems like a two PPV cycle program since they just made the match official six days before NOC. Owens as a champion has all sorts of possibilities that would make the Intercontinental championship a great workrate title again. Think of the potential new programs: Bryan, Ambrose, Ziggler, Reigns (if he isn’t main event ready by WrestleMania), Orton, Rusev. Would the company rather have that or another month of bad Ryback promos? Expect a title change and a rematch at HIAC. Pick: Kevin Owens.

    Paul Fontaine: I think this is going to be a sleeper of good match and it’s probably time for Owens to get a belt at this point. This program is just getting started so they should feud over the belt for a few months before Owens moves on. With Owens being one of HHH’s pet projects, I don’t think he’ll be fodder for Ryback here and I also believe he has more upward potential. Pick: Kevin Owens

    WWE Divas Championship: Nikki Bella vs. Charlotte

    Bryan Rose: I think now that the streak is broken, Nikki should hold on to the title until at least WrestleMania. That’ll be the biggest and best high profile match for one of Team PCB (or even one of Team BAD) to defeat Nikki and take the championship. If they were going to put it on Charlotte, they should have done it on Raw. Since they didn’t, there’s no real intrigue here. I mean they could go with Charlotte regardless but they should have struck while the iron was hot, and given everything else that’s gone on lately in this division the iron is already lukewarm enough as it is. Pick: Nikki Bella

    Chris Aiken: Please God let this be good and please don’t let the crowd crap on it. Please let magic happen in this match, like the kind of magic that creates real change. Please God let there be change. Amen.

    Steve Khan: Charlotte should’ve won the title on Raw and beaten Nikki again at NOC in their rematch. Instead, Nikki won and now has the record (for a title that’s only existed since 2008) and this is now the longest revolution in human history… probably. Nikki might as well keep going, as Charlotte beating her just six days later will seem like a waste. The match itself should be fine, and Paige turning on Charlotte is an easy way out. Pick: Nikki Bella

    Jeremy Peeples: The “divas revolution” has been hot and cold, mostly leaning towards the latter, but Monday’s Raw did feel like they at least built momentum for the division by giving Nikki and Charlotte the biggest hype going into the show. The finish hurt things for a bit, but Charlotte’s reactions really sold it as a big deal and made this already-announced match seem like a bigger deal. Charlotte winning would make sense, but Nikki winning thanks to Paige would be a better long-term move since it holds off Charlotte’s win to a point when the fans should theoretically want it as opposed to the company just giving it to her.

    James Cox: Now that the record has been broken, they can do what they like here. Either Nikki retains because Paige interferes, or Charlotte wins to proclaim a new era for the Divas division. Revolution, or not, I agree with Bryan: Nikki Bella is pretty much completely unlikeable. Pick: Charlotte

    Jeff Hamlin: On the surface, it seems that Charlotte takes the title. Nikki Bella already broke A.J. Lee’s record. Nikki has the stipulations going against her that she can drop the title via DQ or countout. However, there’s been little teases of dissension in Team PCB. Go back to Monday night. After Stephanie McMahon came out and announced Charlotte would have to give back the Divas title, it was Paige who quickly handed the belt back to the referee. Either Charlotte takes the title at NOC and Paige turns on her Monday night to set up her first program, or Paige does the turn here. In fact, I’ll go with the latter. Pick: Nikki Bella.

    Paul Fontaine: With Nikki Bella having broken the record, they might as well keep it on her until at least Survivor Series at this point, which would make it a full year. I think the next champion will be Sasha and it’s possible they could even hold out until ‘Mania for that match. Pick: Nikki Bella

    WWE Tag Team Championship: The New Day vs. The Dudley Boyz

    Bryan Rose: New Day have been really hot as the new heel act right now that everyone likes. Isn’t it amazing how it’s night and day compared to when they first made their debut as a trio? The Dudley Boyz coming in shakes things up because Prime Time Players aren’t that over and they missed the boat on the Lucha Dragons while they had the chance. I think this will be a pretty solid match and probably the most fun of the night, especially with Xavier Woods’ antics. Its way too early for a title switch so I say New Day sneaks a win, setting up a title match for Hell in a Cell. Pick: The New Day

    Chris Aiken: The New Day is fast becoming the most entertaining act in WWE (whenever Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman are not there, of course). So, sound the trumpets and start clapping. It is a new day… except the New Day is against a storied team making their triumphant return. That is a scenario ripe for a title switch. Personally, I’m getting my nostalgia pop with Sting. That’s enough for me. I would rather hear the trumpet sound a victorious song about the triumph of the New Day.

    Steve Khan: The Dudleys can make an impact here and win the titles to re-establish themselves as a top team right away. However, New Day just won the titles back, and this company is going to try to stretch out every feud it can this time of year. The match should be fun. I see New Day retaining through nefarious means, leading to a rematch later on. They’ll give the crowd what they want and someone (Xavier Woods) will end up through a table. Pick: The New Day

    Jeremy Peeples: New Day has seen their stock rise a ton over the past few months. They began really gaining momentum as a loveable act by fully turning heel and then just being wacky. As an undercard act, there isn’t one that is more purely entertaining. The Dudley Boyz returned and have looked good, while Torito is seemingly going to be aligned with them soon. Perhaps he joins them for this show en route to a title win for the Dudleyz, although New Day has far more momentum and should win this one.

    James Cox: It has been 10 years since The Duley Boyz were in a tag team bout in WWE, but what a wonderful thing The New Day has become. And who knew? I can’t see them breaking their run just yet, though Woods’ trombone may be about to broken through a table. I think The New Day steals one here, but the Dudleys will put them all through tables after the match. Pick: The New Day

    Jeff Hamlin: The New Day will have its fans regardless of whether they hold the belts. However, they still shouldn’t have lost them to the Prime Time Players in June. It didn’t get the Prime Time Players more over. The New Day is a fun comedy act that’s only grown more entertaining with Xavier Woods trombone antics, which has become this generation’s Edge and Christian kazoo numbers. The Dudleys will get the belts at some point, but the New Day just regained the championships at SummerSlam and should go over here. Make the Dudleys 10th WWE Tag Team title reign somewhat elusive. Pick: The New Day

    Paul Fontaine: The New Day are my, and many others, favorite act in WWE right now. I suspect they lose here and then win it back in a month or two. Xavier will probably get put through a table, maybe while playing his trombone. Hell miscommunication causing the Dudleyz to hit a 3-D on Big E is the likely finish. Pick: The Dudley Boyz

    Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns and Mystery Partner vs. The Wyatt Family

    Bryan Rose: I don’t think the intrigue here is the match, because while it’ll probably be good, this angle feels like it’s never ending and really wasn’t that interesting to begin with. I think the real interest here is in who the mystery partner is. They kind of clued in that Orton might be the guy, but they took him out on Raw a few weeks ago. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s the partner anyway, but they’ve kept this a surprise for whatever reason.

    A lot of people have speculated it might be someone from NXT, but when I think about big WWE surprises as of late they haven’t really delivered. There’s one person due to be back at any time now, and it’s everyone’s favorite reliable run in Kane. Though it would make sense for him to feud with Rollins upon returning, they really don’t need to (really don’t), and if they want to put Kane in a program so he can exist on the roster, well, there you go. Not that it’s a fun choice, but it makes the most sense. I say that the Wyatts don’t win this one, and I’ll also say Strowman is pinned so his mystique can vanish…because that’s just what they do. Pick: Team Roman

    Chris Aiken: If the crazy-on-the-surface speculation about The Rock is actually true, I’ll likely shit my britches. If it terms out to be Randy Orton after all, that’ll be an LOL moment because it would make no sense, but it makes sense something would happen that makes no sense. I’d really shit my britches if the mystery partner was the masked, yet somehow recognizable, Mr. America. That would be something worth retweeting, brother.

    Steve Khan: This will be one of the two best matches on the show, but we’ve seen various combinations of this match a lot lately. If he’s healthy, I imagine they would love to have Erick Rowan return here. The idea of Rowan and Strowman having a big staredown must fill this company with glee.

    If it is Rowan, the Wyatts will probably win to even things up after SummerSlam. If the partner is actually someone good, like Chris Jericho or Daniel Bryan, then the Ambrose/Reigns team should win. I’d love to see Bryan return, but not here. Pick: The Wyatts

    Jeremy Peeples: The big hook here is the mystery partner and after taking Orton and Jimmy Uso out, it appears that they can be taken out of the equation. Sting makes no logical sense, but he was going to be the partner last month before plans changed, and they could tell the story of him opening the show, winning the WWE Title, doing this in the middle, and then lose the title to Sheamus via cash-in if they wanted. Rowan would make sense story-wise since he opposed the Wyatts.  If he’s cleared, it makes for an okay story to have the white sheep against the black sheep in Strowman. Pick: The Wyatts

    James Cox: Braun Strowman gives the Wyatts the monster edge, even if he’s green and has the wrong look. I can see Ambrose being pinned by Strowman with some lights-go-out, hokey, Wyatt-confusion thrown in for good measure. My bet is that the Mystery partner is Randy Orton after all, but I’d be delighted if it’s Daniel Bryan or Finn Balor. Balor and Bray is a feud just itching to happen. If Bryan is ready and they want to use him, I’d bet that this is exactly the level that they see him being at. Pick: The Wyatts

    Jeff Hamlin: The mystery partner aspect is genuinely interesting because it could be several different people. Everyone would love to see Daniel Bryan, because it would set up a new set of matches instantly. Erik Rowan would make storyline sense but would be somewhat of a letdown. I’ll be interested to see how strong they try to keep Braun Strowman. The company has an insatiable desire for giants, but Strowman isn’t close to getting over. If the Wyatts go over, then he needs to make Ambrose submit with his head and arm choke. Bray Wyatt also mentioned Sister Abigail in several promos until this week. Does she factor in if Rowan turns out to be the mystery man, leading to some tale from Rowan’s past with the Wyatts? However, that would overshadow the original mystery partner, and it’s Roman’s time to go over. Pick: Reigns, Ambrose and ?

    Paul Fontaine: The intrigue here is on who the mystery partner will be and I’m gonna go out on a limb and go with Solomon Crowe from NXT. He seems like a good fit with Ambrose. I do think that all of this is ending up with a Roman Reigns heel turn and we should see more advancement to that end in this match. Roman pinning Harper would be my thought for the finish. Pick: Team Roman

    Rusev vs. Dolph Ziggler

    Bryan Rose: This feud has been a weird one. There were some segments that were funny at times, such as the Dog Ziggler promo, but there’s also been some real cringeworthy stuff as well, like the Ziggler/Summer shower stuff from a few weeks ago that never really went anywhere. Whatever the case may be, it’s a midcard feud that’s pulling two guys that used to be upper midcarders to an even lower level than they were before. That’s WWE booking for you, though, so what can you do.

    I’m not sure where they go with this one. I think the idea for this show was for this to be a mixed tag, but with Lana’s injury they had to make it a singles bout. I’d say Dolph wins, but Rusev lays him out after to continue it. Not that it needs to be continued, but I think they want to for the foreseeable future, or might just put it on ice until Lana returns. Pick: Dolph Ziggler

    Chris Aiken: The match itself will likely be good and the creative will likely be wacky. Hopefully, it is that kind of wacky that makes one love pro wrestling. Judging by the excitement heard in his voice on numerous radio shows, Bryan Alvarez will likely be on the edge of his seat.

    Steve Khan: Ziggler would make a good first opponent for Owens for the IC Title, but that’s probably not happening just yet. Rusev could use a win and I’m not really sure what the point of this match is any more with Lana on the shelf. Rusev should win and maybe they can keep these two apart for a while. Pick: Rusev

    Jeremy Peeples: This poor feud has been cursed by WWE being too cute for its own good with the writing. They have actively hurt every single act in this outside of maybe Hot Summer, who did nothing before it. With that said, Rusev vs. Dolph was fine last month outside of the finish. Since Rusev has been losing a lot, I’ll go with him winning this one – perhaps due to Summer Rae.

    James Cox: Both men deserve better than this. The focus on the women must come into play but I have no idea where they are going with all that. Rusev and Ziggler could have a good match if the focus is on them, however. I hope they blow this feud off on Sunday, but I have a bad feeling that they won’t. Ziggler is surely due a win? Pick: Dolph Ziggler

    Jeff Hamlin: The angle on Monday night threw another wrinkle into this program with Ziggler giving Summer Rae jewelry. They have to keep this program going until Lana gets back, presumably leading to Rusev and Lana reuniting. My guess is Ziggler is playing mind games by trying to sabotage his relationship with Summer the same way Summer tried to sabotage Dolph’s relationship with Lana and that somehow plays into a distraction finish where Dolph wins. Pick: Dolph Ziggler

    Paul Fontaine: We’ve seen this match what seems like dozens of times over the last several months and I’m not sure that it really matters who wins at this point. This is all about the angle and most of the interest is about where they’re going with the drama also involving Summer Rae and Lana. My theory here is that Dolph is hooking up with Summer because Lana doesn’t “put out”, which explain why she was so upset that Summer saw Dolph naked…because she hasn’t yet. I am interested in seeing where they go. Pick: Rusev

  • CMLL 82nd anniversary show live report from Arena Mexico 9-18 Atlantis vs. La Sombra

    Welcome to our live coverage of the CMLL 82nd anniversary show from Arena Mexico.

    We’re looking for your thoughts on this show, tonight’s ROH show, as well as Bellator and WWE Night of Champions this weekend, so you can leave a thumbs up thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to dave@wrestlingobserver.com

    ESFINGE & FUEGO & THE PANTHER VS. DISTURBIO & PUMA KING & VIRUS

    Good match, not too crazy or anything. Fuego pinned Disturbio in the first fall.  Disturbio made Esfinge submit to a cruceta in the second fall.  Virus pinned Fuego in a battle of captains after a Gori especal bomb.  Basic solidly worked match, two dives, maybe one bad looking spot.  They teased as face win when Esfinge used the Fuller leglock into a cradle on Disturbio in the third fall.

    Late arriving crowd as there were a ton of empty seats at 8:30 local time when the show sarted.  It’s a log more full at this point. 

    GUERRERO MAYA JR. & MAXIMO & STUKA JR. VS. DRAGON ROJO & POLVORA & REY ESCORPION

    Maximo, the world heavyweight champion is in the second match here.  Good action here.  Third fall ended with Escorpion pinning Maximo clean with a package piledriver which may set him up for a title shot.  Stuka did this cool backwards twisting head-butt off the top rope to the floor on Rojo.  Polvora pinned Maya in the first fall with a dominator off the top rope.  Maximo pinned Escorpion in the second fall with a kiss and a cradle.

    The building still isn’t totally full but it is a big crowd.  Crowd was really into Maximo in the last match.  It has the feel of a big show at this point.

    DARK ANGEL VS. PRINCESA SUGEI

    Even though this was Dark Angel’s farewell match as she’s headed to WWE as a trainer, the crowd was a lot less into this than the first two matches.  There was some good wrestling but it went too long and they went past their peak.  Panico gave her flowers and a plaque after the match.  She did a long interview about spending ten years, thanked Paco Alonso.  They played sone sad usc  The two women hugged after.  Ther crowd was respectful but it didn’t feel like it was that big of a deal to the crowd.  They were wanting to work the classic big singles match and did the style but they never really got near that level.

    DRAGON LEE & MISTICO & VALIENTE VS. NEGRO CASAS & FELINO & MR. NIEBLA

    Easilly the best match so far, and also the shortest.  Third fall saw Mistico use La Mistica on Nielbla to win after Lee used a double foot stomp while Casas was in the tree of woe to elminate him.  Lee, Mistico and Valiente did a lot of good dives here and the crowd was more into the guys.  They hated Mistico, total Cena PPV reaction but didn’t boo Lee and Valiente.  Niebla made Mistico submit to the nudo in the first fall.  Second fall saw Valiente have Felino in a tombstone and dropped him into a codebreaker.

    SHOCKER & VOLADOR JR. & ULTIMO GUERRERO VS. MARCO CORLEONE & RUSH & THUNDER

    The match had a lot of heat and it ranged from pretty fun to pretty bad depending on who was in.  Finish was crap, though.  Rush just threw down ref Tirantes in the third fall for the DQ.  Rush has total superstar presence and working ability.  Volador is really good. Guerrero can go.  Shocker is old and slow but tries.  Thunder is just awful.  First fall was a double pin as Thunder pinned Guerrero with a splash off the top and Corleone pinned Shocker with Air Italia.  Second fall saw Guerrero pin Thunder after a delayed vertical suplex while Shocker did an elbow drop off the middle rope on Corleone.

    Volador and Rush went back and forth with challenges for a hair match.  Tons of heat for that.

    Aside from the dancing girls and big crowd, this doesn’t feel much different than a usual Friday as far as match quality goes.  It really is a one match show.

    ATLANTIS VS. LA SOMBRA MASK VS. MASK

    Atlantis won with the torture rack in the third fall in a match that was exactly what it should have been.  Super heat.  They are sowing Sombra’s mother crying in he front row.  Now thehy are showing his father, his brother was crying.  It had that big match feel at a level of something in the 70s, even more than the G-1 mathes.  The match was great due to Sombra but Atlantis did a great job considering his age with multiple dives. 

    Manuel Alfonso Andrade Oropeza, 25 years old, from Gomez Palacio, Durango.

    Dad is stoic, mom still crying.  Sombra now giving a speech.  Mom now hysterically crying.  Little brother crying.  Sombra put over Atlantis at the end.  He called his family to the ring.  His mom didn’t come to the ring.  He asked his father to take his mask off.  Rush hugged him before taking it off.  He hugged his dad before taking it off.  He unmaksed.  Confetti is flying and Sombra’s family put Atlantis on their shoulders.  Rush now wants a match with Atlantis.  They shook hands as Atlantis posed with Sombra’s mask.  Now Sombra’s family has him on his shoulders.  Lots of women crying now. 

    Atlantis won the first fall via DQ for Rush’s interference.  Somba won the second with a one arm back suplex.  Thrid fall was a million near falls and submissions. 

    Excellent last match overall, but overall atmosphere was not at the level of last year’s anniversary main event, but that’s a once in a decade like feel with the end of a decade plus story, where as this was less than two months.  

  • Ring of Honor 9/18 All-Star Extravaganza 7 PPV Live results and coverage – Lethal vs O’Reilly

    by Paul Fontaine, for WrestlingObserver.com

    Welcome to our live coverage of Ring of Honor All-Star Extravaganza 7 from San Antonio, TX and live on PPV. Jay Lethal defends both his World and TV title against both members of ReDRagon in the feature matches. The Addiction defends their tag titles in a 3 way against the Kingdom and The Young Bucks. A 4 way number one contender’s match between Adam Cole, Roderick Strong, Michael Elgin and AJ Styles will determine the next World title challenger.
    Also:
    Matt Sydal vs ACH in the third match of their best of 5 series
    Moose vs Cedric Alexander in a no-DQ match
    The Briscoes face a mystery tag team
    And in the real main event of the evening, the greatest stipulation match ever as Dalton Castle puts up his boys in a match against Silas Young. If Castle happens to win, Silas becomes a “Young boy” and if Young wins, he’s promised to turn Castle’s boys into men.

    The action gets underway at 9 pm central/6 pacific so check back here for ongoing coverage.

    TV Title Match:
    Jay Lethal (champion) w/Truth Martini vs Bobby Fish  

    Kevin Kelly gets a shot in at WWE’s booking of Seth Rollins during the intros, saying that no pro wrestling champion has been more dominant than Jay Lethal, going over all the people he’s beat recently.

    Lethal retained the title in a 14 minute match, pulling the tights on a rollup off of a kneebar attempt by Bobby Fish. Fish was going for kneebars and leglocks the whole match. Lethal hit a Lethal Combination early and Fish teased not making it in for the 20 count. Kelly noted that Horsewomen Jessamyn Duke and Shayna Baszler were in attendance but they weren’t shown on camera. He also noted 25 title defence in over a year for Lethal as TV champion. Good opener.

    Boys on the line vs Silas becoming one of the boys:
    Silas Young vs Dalton Castle w/his boys

    Young won possession of the boys in 13 minutes. Young hit a lowblow while the ref was distracted  by the boys and then hit the Misery for the win. Mostly comedy early. The Boys fanned Young and the distraction led to a roll-up by Castle for a nearfall. Match was back and forth with both guys getting long 2 counts. 

    Briscoes vs Mystery Team up next. Briscoes  in the pre-match promo say it’s been a long time since they held the tag belts and this is step 1 to getting them back. 

    The Decade are out. BJ Whitmer on crutches and Adam Page with his arm in a sling. Whitmer says he’s doing commentary and asks Corino to leave but King doesn’t oblige. Fans chanting PLEASE RETIRE at Whitmer. The Romantic Touch out next. Kelly says he’s been stalking the Briscoes for awhile. I must have missed that. Briscoes attack Touch and I guess he’s not the partner.

    The All Night Express are back and they’re the challengers. Rhett Titus had been been playing the Romantic Touch up till now and Kenny King has been in TNA so this is his return to ROH.

    Briscoes (Mark and Jay Briscoe) vs All Night Express (Rhett Titus and Kenny King)

    ANX won when Titus pinned Mark after a double-team. Titus had Mark up for a powerbomb and King came off the top rope after Jay had been knocked outside the ring. Match was competitive with neither team having an advantage.

    Adam Page attacked Jay Briscoe after the match but ANX made the save.

    No DQ Match:
    Moose w/Stokeley Hathaway vs Cedric Alexander w/Veda Scott

    Moose won in 13 minutes. Crazy brawl with Moose taking a ton of punishment. Tables, ladders, chairs and a wrench involved. Finish was Alexander and Hathaway fighting for control of the wrench and Hathaway nailing Alexander with it and then Moose spearing him through a table that had been set up in the corner. 

    Moose took at least three chairshots to the head at various points. He did a summersault dive to the outside, landing flat backed on a ladder that was draped over the ring barrier. Alexander hit a Van Terminator on Moose at one point. Scott and Hathaway both got involved several times and Scott ended up taking a running dropkick in the turnbuckle from Alexander when Moose moved out of the way. Crowd loved this, chanting THIS IS AWESOME several times.

    Match 3 – Best of Five Series tied 1-1
    ACH vs Matt Sydal

    ACH won to go up 2-1 in an excellent match. They went 16 minutes and it was not exactly what you’d expect from these two. For the majority of the match, Sydal worked over ACH’s leg and while it didn’t play into the finish, you get the impression that it could end up affecting ACH in the final two matches. Finish came when ACH hit a brainbuster and then followed up with the Midnight Star for the pin. Just prior, he’d hit a Shooting Star Press from the second rope  that Sydal barely kicked out of. Crowd was way into ACH in his hometown. Sydal played subtle heel for most of the match.

    Tag Title Match:
    Champions The Addiction (Christopher Daniels/Frankie Kazarian) vs The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson) vs The Kingdom (Matt Taven/Michael Bennett) w/Maria Kanellis

    Kingdom won the belts in 16 minutes. This was what you’d expect. I counted 16 superkicks. Finish was Matt Taven making a blind tag and the Bucks hitting a Meltzer driver on Frankie Kazarian and Taven rolling up Matt Jackson, for the win. Big story in this match was someone in a KRD mask coming out and taking out both members of the Addiction, using Chris Sabin’s moves. He never unmasked, but it probably wasn’t Sabin. Could be Adam Cole or a new member of the Kingdom. In one spot, Bucks were about to do a superkick on Maria but Daniels made the save. He then punched Maria right in the face. Bennett went crazy on him and that led to the finishing sequence. 

    #1 Contender’s Match – AJ Styles vs Michael Elgin vs Adam Cole vs Roderick Strong

    Nigel McGuiness joined the commentary team here. Cole was announced as representing the Kingdom but got a huge face reaction from the crowd. 

    AJ won in 15 minutes, pinning Adam Cole after a Bloddy Sunday DDT followed by a Styles Clash clean in the middle. All four guys got chances to shine. Elgin hit a dead-lift vertical suplex from the top rope into a Falcon Arrow and the pin was broken up by Cole. Strong hit a backbreaker after a sick kick on Cole but Elgin broke that pinfall up and Cole hit a Destroyer on Elgin, which was broken up by AJ. Non-stop action the whole time and crowd was into everything. Elgin in particular probably improved his stock the most and the announcers put over his performance in the G1. 

    Main Event 
    ROH World Title Match – Champion Jay Lethal w/Truth Martini vs Kyle O’Reilly

    Nigel remains at commentary and explains that he banned Donovan Dijak and J Diesel from ringside but Truth is allowed out there because he has a manager’s license. 

    Lethal retained in a TNA-style finish. O’Reilly had Lethal about to tap when Truth Martini pulled the ref from the ring. Nigel got  up and hauled Martini to the back. O’Reilly went for a flying knee in the corner on Lethal but Lethal pulled the ref into the path and he was down. Lethal grabbed the title belt but this brought out Bobby Fish. Donovan Dijak followed and got his hands on the belt and laid out Fish. This brought out Adam Cole, who took out Donovan Dijak and then, in a swerve, hit Kyle O’Reilly with a superkick. Lethal hit the Lethal Injection for the win. The Kingdom came out and all four of them posed over O’Reilly, so it was a setup all along. Kingdom should now have title programs with ReDRagon and War Machine. 

    Match was okay up to that point but no better than the fourth best match on the show. Lethal kept missing the Lethal Injection and O’Reilly would go for the arm. Lethal was vulnerable the whole match and really sold the effects of wrestling his second match in a night.

    Show was decent overall. No blow-away matches though and certainly not a show of the year contender but it certainly wasn’t bad by any stretch.

  • WWE Raw 8/31 live TV results: Sting returns, Dolph Ziggler vs. Rusev

    courtesy WWE.com

    By Jeff Hamlin, WrestlingObserver.com  

    The Big Takeaway: 

    Seth Rollins will wrestle twice at Night of Champions. He will face Sting for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, and also take on John Cena for the U.S. Championship. Funny how a champion with two title matches on the next PPV really spent most of the show building up a match with HHH, who didn’t even appear. 

    Show Recap: 

    Sting came out wigh JBL calling him “The man who put Starcade on the map.” That’s as bad as Charlotte calling the Four Horseman one of the greatest factions in WWE history. Sting said he would always have respect for HHH, but Seth Rollins was no HHH. He said it’s an injustice to think that Rollins thinks he can compare himself to legends like Andre the Giant, Bruno Sammartino and the Ultimate Warrior. Sting said the last chapter of his career would be written at Night of Champions when he wins the WWE World Heavyweight Title. Sting put over HHH more than himself, making Sting seem like a set up guy towards the inevitable HHH-Rollins program. 

    As if that point couldn’t be hammered home more, Rollins and Stephanie McMahon watched the promo from the back. Rollins called Sting a relic, but Stephanie said a victory over Sting would further cement Rollins’ legacy. Rollins said when he was in the ring, he was better than anyone. Stephanie said Sting said Rollins wasn’t half the man that HHH is, and Stephanie agreed with him. Stephanie said legends are built over time, not over a week or a month. Rollins said, with all due respect, they build statues for legends, then asked where was his statue? Stephanie told him to go ask Sting.   

    Dolph Ziggler defeated Rusev by DQ (14:16) 

    Rusev hit a thrust kick and went for the Accolade, but Dolph Ziggler escaped and caught the Zig Zag. As he covered Rusev, Summer Rae ran in. Lana, showing off an outfit that should get her a feature apperance in the next Slaughter video, started fighting with Rae. Ziggler pulled Lana off of her, but Rae charged at Lana again. Lana rose up to kick her. It was a big man vs. smaller man match with Ziggler doing his Ricky Morton babyface selling routine. Crowd was in it in doses. Ziggler and Lana kissed again while Rusev screamed in rage.   

    Renee Young talked with Ziggler. Lana left during the interview. Ziggler left to take a shower. As Young ran down the lineup for tonight, Rae snuck into Ziggler’s locker room. 

    The Beat the Clock gimmick is back tonight in the Divas division. The winner of the Beat the Clock challenge tonight gets a title shot at Nikki Bella at Night of Champions. 

    Nikki Bella was in the ring with the rest of the Bella Army.There’s now a countdown running backwards counting down the moments until Nikki becomes the longest reigning Divas champion in history. Usually in that regard, it would lead to Bella falling a day short since she’s a heel. Well, I think she is. She did a heel promo here, but got cheered. 

    Becky Lynch did your typical awful scripted inset promo saying “The B in Team PCB can be a real B when she has to.” She also said she and Alicia Fox would tear the house down tonight. No. 

    Becky Lynch defeated Alicia Fox via submission in a Beat the Clock match (3:21)

    Lynch made Fox tap out with Disarm-Her. Crowd was dead. You can see from Charlotte’s face how far the Divas division has fallen in terms of fan reactiion compared to NXT. 

    Ryback did a promo about his match against the Big Show saying it would be his biggest obstacle. In the middle of the interview, Rae was shown running out of Ziggler’s dressing room screaming. They cut back to Ziggler, wearing only a towel around his waist as he slammed the door looking flustered. 

    Ryback (C) defeated The Big Show (7:17) to retain the Intercontiental Championship. 

    The Miz was on commentary wearing, as Michael Cole described, an outfit similar to Miley Cyrus at the MTV Video Music Awards. I was stunned. Not that the Miz was wearing something outrageous. That MTV was still showing videos. Ryback got the pin after Miz distracted Big Show, allowing Ryback to hit the Shell Shock. As fans chanted for Big Show to retire, he cut a promo on them over the PA. Ryback kicked out of a choke slam and the Final Cut. 

    Charlotte defeated Brie Bella (1:40) in a Beat the Clock match

    Brie Bella ran around the ring tying to stall and keep Charlotte from beating Lynch’s time, which sort of buried Lynch. Charlotte beat Brie with a rolling neck snap. Lynch had a look of resignation on her face after Charlotte won. 

    The Dudley Boyz did a promo with Bubba Ray saying they were Straight Outta Dudleyville to put everyboy through a table. Bubba said they want to be the WWE Tag Team Champions for the 10th time and vowed to put the New Day through tables. 

    Kevin Owens defeated Cesaro (16:05)

    Very good match where Kevin Owens got the pin after a pop-up power bomb. Cesaro teased a suplex off the apron to the floor, but Owens escaped and knocked Cesaro into the announcer’s table. Cesaro started selling his ribs. Owens got as many cheers as Cesaro, partly because Owens was in NXT, which made him more over to the Florida fans. Plus, the fans seemed to realize that Cesaro isn’t getting the push they’ve begged for. 

    Ziggler tried to explain to an upset Lana what happened earlier. Ziggler said he was taking a shower when Rae stood outside with a smile on her face. He went to chase her out, put a towel around his waist and she ran out. He swore Rae saw him naked for two seconds maximum. Lana looked upset and asked how that was supposed to make her feel and walked off. 

    Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper and Braun Stowman came out. Bray thanked Sister Abigail (there’s that name again) for Stowman, who he called the Black Sheep. Wyatt told Stowman to show the face of destruction, and Stowman took off his black sheep mask and said this wasn’t the beginning, but the end. 

    Braun Stowman defeated Dean Ambrose by DQ (3:09) 

    This was an attempt to create a new monster heel. Stowman sold nothing for Dean Ambrose, who was thrown everywhere. Roman Reigns came down to watch from ringside. Stowman slapped Reigns, leading to Reigns going after Stowman outside the ring. Again, Stowman no sold a chair shot and clamped on the head-and-arm choke finisher on Ambrose and Reigns. Announcers had tomake Stowman out to be the next Undertaker or heel Andre the Giant, talking in hushed tones. 

    Rollins did an interview with Young. Rollins said he would call out Sting later in the show and demand answers about his statue. He also said no offense to HHH, but he never held the WWE World Heavyweight and U.S. Championship at the same time. He said, during his time, HHH was the King of Kings, but he’s the man now. 

    Sasha Banks and Paige went to a draw in 1:40 as time ran out in the Beat the Clock challenge, so Charlotte earned the title match against Nikki Bella at Night of Champions. 

    Paige hit the Rampage, but Tamina and Naomi pulled Banks out of the ring. Paige tried to clamp on the PTO, but time ran out. Paige didn’t look happy, but Charlotte couldn’t contain her happiness. Paige and Charlotte had a brief hug afterwards. 

    Rae did a taped interview with Ziggler, claiming he went into Ziggler’s locker room trying to smooth things over between those two, Lana and Rusev. She basically said Ziggler tried to seduce her, and she would never forget the image of Ziggler trying to seduce her. Lana saw the tape of this interview and walked away from Young with a tear in her eye. Rae’s acting wasn’t very good. 

    The New Day came out. Xavier Woods said the Dudleys were a menace to society and a menance to furniture across the world. Kofi Kingston said supporting the New Day could help save a table’s life. Big E. brought up various uses of the table, periodic tables, Thanksgiving tables, multiplication tables, etc. This was a rare New Day skit that died. 

    Woods brought out a table that he claimed was the last table in the company and they would do everything they could to protect it. They got the fans to chant “Save the tabes.” 

    The Dudley Boyz defeated The New Day (C) in a nontitle match (12:36)

    Devon Dudley pinned Kingston after a 3-D. Crowd wasn’t into it. The Prime Time Players were on commentary talking about a potential program with the Dudleys. Postmatch, Team 3-D teased putting Big E. through the final table in the WWE, but Big E. was pulled to safety. 

    Rollins came out and demanded that Sting come out, saying he once had respect for Sting. But now, he can understand that Sting was the reason why WCW folded. Did Sting book the One-Finger title change? Or Goldberg jobbing to Nash at Starcade? Rollins said he wanted Sting to come out and do two things. The first was to apologize for saying HHH was better than him. Rollins said he was just as good as HHH, and someday may be better. The second was he wanted his statue. 

    Stephanie came out and told Rollins she strongly advised him to stop talking about HHH. Rollins reasoned that HHH was the man in Evolution, if anyone compared him to Ric Flair, HHH would have flipped a lid because he was the leader of Evolution. That time has passed and Rollins said he was the man. Stephanie interrupted him and turned his attention back to Sting. Rollins called out Sting. 

    This time, John Cena came out. Cena said Rollins was the biggest idiot he’s ever met because Rollins thinks the Authority actually likes him. Cena said the Authority chose Rollins because he was the only one who would stab his friends in the back and do what’s best for business. Cena said the Authority always does what’s best for business just looking for the next flavor of the month, take everything they can from them and send them to the garbage heap. 

    Cena reminded Rollins that the Authority dictated that every championship would be on the line at Night of Champions. So Cena was going to cash in his rematch clause and get a rematch for the U.S. Championship at Night of Champions. Cena asked Stephanie for the rematch and she reluctantly agreed. So Rollins is now Jay Lethal in the latest idea WWE has ripped off from Ring of Honor. 

    As Cena left, Sting came out and stood beside Cena as they stared at Rollins. 

    SUMMARY: 

    Take away those Cena U.S. Challenge matches that usually did 4-stars on an average week and these Raws become quite labrious. Second straight week where there was only one good match on a 3-hour show. As for Rollins, he really won’t branch out and get truly over by being someone subservient  to the Authority. At this point, there’s no good thing that can come from a match with HHH for his character. It’s yet another Attitude-era star that will come in and remind everyone that the company was at its zenith 15 years ago at the expense of a young star. Sting came off like a complete afterthought on this show. 

  • WWE: Why Bayley is (or should be) the future female face of WWE

    By Kyle S. Johnson for WrestlingObserver.com

    In the premiere of Total Divas’ fourth season, Nikki Bella makes the somewhat audacious claim that she is (or at least has the potential to be) the female version of John Cena. Because she has been the WWE Divas Champion for so long, and because she and her sister are the most merchandised Divas (and, consequently, the biggest female merch-movers in the company), she probably feels as if she has a legitimate claim to that title.

    But Cena is more than just WWE’s most protected performer and biggest money-maker. One could argue that his biggest value, at least to WWE’s mind, is in his unyielding dedication to charity. Among the focal points of WWE’s three-day run in Brooklyn was Cena granting his record 500th Make-A-Wish request for 8-year-old Rocco Lanzer, an effort that was played up to the hilt both on WWE programming and in the mainstream media.

    As far as the mainstream is largely concerned, John Cena is a man who works tirelessly to bring happiness to terminally ill children who also just so happens to be WWE’s biggest star since The Rock. He is a beacon of hope that brings warmth to cold hospitals and lights the eyes of boys and girls who need someone to spur them on in their darkest hours. This strikes directly at the heart of another audacious statement tweeted by Stephanie McMahon: “philanthropy is the future of marketing, it’s the way brands r going 2 win”.

    With Cena, it doesn’t feel like something tawdry and exploitive for the sake of a marketing ideology. It doesn’t seem like a performance forced for the ever-present camera eye. Cena comes across as having a very genuine enthusiasm for empowering children and instilling in them a sense of hope. His actions are such that you can almost sense that he would prefer that the camera weren’t there at all.

    This aspect of Cena’s nature informs his in-ring persona. This is why for 10 years, Cena’s promos have extolled the virtues of working hard and being persistent in the face of adversity. This is why for the better part of a decade, he has donned colorful t-shirts branded with inspirational slogans—“Hustle, Loyalty, Respect”; “Rise Above Hate”; “Never Give Up”. This is why, despite the growing disdain voiced in booming chants of “Cena Sucks,” there will always be a chorus of high-pitched voices to retort “Let’s Go Cena.”

    Cena is the face of WWE today not because he’s a great performer both in-ring and on the microphone (he is). He is not the face of WWE today because he exudes a natural charisma that befits a superstar (he does). He is not even the face of WWE today because he fits perfectly into Vince McMahon’s archetype of what a superstar should look like (he epitomizes it). He is the face of WWE because he is its one true goodwill ambassador. He connects not only with the mainstream of which WWE so desperately wants to be a part, but with the WWE’s most coveted demographic: children.

    This connection is unquestionably the most important to WWE, because it results both in more money in the short-term and, if you can create long-time fans from youth, the long term. People have been begging for a Cena heel turn for 10 years, but because of his role as the company’s top good guy both on-screen and off, that has not (and probably never will) come to pass. If capturing the attention of children and creating life-long fans is WWE’s primary long-term business objective, then there is no better choice for the company’s female face than the new NXT Women’s Champion, Bayley. 

    Bayley as Brand Ambassador

    In order for WWE to create a Cena-adjacent female face for its brand, that woman will likely have to live up to his same standard of connecting with young fans and performing acts of charity (preferably in a visible fashion). Nikki Bella and Eva Marie have an incredibly difficult time coming across as authentic in any respect on television (a fact easily gleaned from spending any length of time watching Total Divas, which is an unenviable task that I cannot recommend against strongly enough), making it hard to conceive of any scenario where they would seem genuine interacting with children in real-world situations.

    But that is not the case with Bayley. Bayley has “it.” In this case, “it” is that same thing that John Cena has. It’s an effortless charm that appeals to the everyman and everywoman. It’s a natural human agency to do good, and an aspiration to put smiles on the faces of children. Bayley is the perfect, perpetually-smiling face of WWE because you don’t believe for one second that her smile is a put-on. One need only see the way Bayley interacts with Izzy, her superfan who can seemingly always be found in the crowd at Full Sail.

    This characteristic of genuineness is perfectly malleable to WWE’s craving for good brand publicity through altruism. According to an email received by Bryan Alvarez on Thursday night, a long-time WWE employee believes that Bayley is “so ungodly over, especially with little girls,” that if she were to start granting wishes through Make-A-Wish, “she will destroy John Cena.” That would make her an invaluable asset to the company in a manner not terribly dissimilar to that of Cena, but only if WWE has the aptitude to harness it.

    For the last year, there has been a concerted effort on the part of WWE to position Roman Reigns as the next face of the company. This is evident in a number of ways, not the least of which being his sudden ascent to the main event of WrestleMania. Given the WWE mantra of philanthropy being tantamount to good marketing, one need only look at the list of “Athletes Gone Good” for 2015 to see just how deep WWE’s desire to make Reigns the next top guy runs. It should come as little surprise that, as the face of WWE, Cena ranks second only to Cristiano Ronaldo on the list of most charitable athletes. WWE’s second-most-charitable star? Reigns. While it’s difficult to speculate that an individual’s charitable acts are the result of anything but benevolence, it’s also hard to imagine that Reigns’ place on this list is not the result of some calculated efforts behind the scenes.

    In order for WWE to create a top female face who is on the level of John Cena, they will need to appear on these lists. They will need to be a visible role model to children, that same warming light in the darkness. For better or worse, this is how the WWE will market its top babyfaces from here on in, and it is for this reason that Bayley is their most logical next big thing.  

    Targeting the Right Audience

    One of the biggest complaints about women’s wrestling in WWE for, oh, the last decade or two has been its overreliance on sexuality. Since the days of Sunny and Sable, the role of women in the WWE has largely been to serve as eye candy for the male audience. From the late ’90s and into the early-2000s, WWE made no bones about its intentions with its female talent—they were there to participate in bawdy storylines and be ogled by men.

    Once the company opted to move toward more family-friendly programming, it made a withering attempt to mask the state of things. Gone were Playboy photospreads, replaced with considerably more tasteful Maxim photospreads. The women became “Divas,” and despite the fact that the denotation of the word is not particularly flattering, it was intended to provide the connotation of the women being powerful and, more importantly, sexy. Still, despite tidying up appearances, this left little in the way of true role models for young girls to get behind.

    Even as great wrestlers have come and gone—Trish Stratus, Victoria, Gail Kim, Natalya, and AJ Lee are among their number—the singular focus has always been sex appeal. That focus on sex remains to this day, which is the only explanation why amidst a (hashtag) “revolution,” WWE’s current choice for the top female talent in the company is Eva Marie.

    Eva Marie cannot, under any circumstances, be considered a good professional wrestler, which used to be a pretty sizeable chunk of what made someone a star in professional wrestling (or so I’ve been told). She has no discernable charisma to speak of, and she has absolutely no connection with the audience—especially not young girls. She can, however, be considered “hot.” In this, Vince McMahon presumably sees an untapped goldmine, which explains why her face has probably appeared on production trucks and in promo material more times than she’s actually wrestled in the past two years.

    The last perceived “new face” of WWE was Lana, which would have been at least an improvement over Eva. But her push suddenly sputtered and halted, and in the span of a few short months, she went from jousting with the likes of Cena and The Rock on the microphone (and handling herself quite skillfully in the process) to being the denim-wearing girlfriend/valet of Dolph Ziggler. While Lana was substantially more entertaining as a heel manager than Eva Marie has ever proven to be at anything, they have no fewer than two things in common: Lana was almost certainly pushed entirely because she was “hot,” and she’s not what you could reasonably call a wrestler.  

    In the world of sports entertainment, being even a competent wrestler is ancillary to being a character. Certainly, if history reveals anything, WWE’s style of promoting suggests that it is only comfortable offering female characters in one of few stock archetypes. That spectrum runs something like: evil, catty, crazy, conniving, jealous, ditzy, self-effacing, and hot. There may be a few wrinkles in the formula here and there, but the song largely remains the same. Whether Charlotte, Sasha, and Becky are given the opportunity to break from this interminable mold and strike out on their own in some meaningful way remains to be seen.

    It’s increasingly difficult to have any level of confidence with the way women are booked on WWE’s main roster, but it’s easy to see where they could theoretically get it right with Bayley. As a character and a personality, she’s got everything necessary to become a transcendent star and a vital component in WWE’s quest to claim newer and younger fans. As a wrestler, she’s shown that she can be compelling and, when matched up with someone of commensurate talents like one of the other three Horsewomen, outstanding.

    According to Scott Keith, Bayley’s “I’m a Hugger” shirt was, at least for a time this month, the top-selling Divas item in WWE Shop despite Bayley having less than .05 percent the merchandise options that the Bellas have. Keith’s salient analysis of this fact: “The girl is going to rival Cena in merch sales one day, especially in the youth area.”

    WWE has shown that it cannot properly execute a “revolution,” but perhaps it’s not too late to change the way it views and treats women. A major (and necessary) alteration would be to reevaluate just to whom they are trying to appeal. If the answer is young girls, then having Bayley at the forefront of the division is as good a place to start as any. With the right approach, she can and will sell t-shirts and wristbands by the truckload.   

    Bayley, with her goofy mannerisms and her vibrant outfits and her grandiose entrance accompanied by giant waving tube men, stands in such stark contrast to the typical WWE character template for women. She connects with kids and, thanks to her considerable in-ring talent, with hardcore wrestling fans as well, all without having to be objectified. She is, in so many ways, the polar opposite of an Eva Marie or a Nikki Bella.

    She’s a classic white-meat babyface, a plucky underdog who never gives up and who the fans want to overcome the odds stacked against her. She may be the closest thing they’ve got to a female John Cena, and in some ways, she might even have the potential to be more important over time.

  • Fights To Make Following UFC Fight Night 74

    By Ryan Frederick, WrestlingObserver.com

    UFC Fight Night 74 ended with a whimper on Sunday night. Max Holloway extended his win streak to seven straight, and he now has ten wins in the UFC at just 23-years-old. It wasn’t the way he wanted to win as his opponent Charles Oliveira suffered a neck injury just 99 seconds into the bout, and was stretchered out of the Octagon following the fight. Holloway was looking good on his feet before the injury, but without a satisfying ending, it remains to be seen whether Holloway is ready to fight for a title.

    The UFC’s debut in Saskatoon may have had a disappointing ending, but there was some solid action on the card. Neil Magny and Patrick Cote were among the winners on the main card, and as we move past UFC Fight Night 74, it is time to play matchmaker and come up with some fights to make in the aftermath of UFC Fight Night 74.

    Max Holloway vs. Frankie Edgar

    Max Holloway was able to take home the win in the main event of UFC Fight Night 74, scoring a TKO victory over Charles Oliveira after Oliveira suffered a neck injury very early in the fight. While it was not the type of win Holloway was looking for, it still extended his win streak to seven and keeps him in the top five of the UFC’s featherweight rankings. He’s ready for the next level of competition and a title eliminator bout, and that means one man right now- Frankie Edgar. Edgar is, without a doubt, next in line for a shot at the UFC Featherweight Championship when the saga between Jose Aldo and Conor McGregor ends. However, he isn’t going to sit around and wait and wants to remain active. Holloway is the right fight for him to take at this time, and it would be a fine addition to a December card in Las Vegas, whether it be a main card bout for UFC 194, or even a headliner for the TUF 22 Finale.

    Neil Magny vs. Rick Story

    Neil Magny made a quick turnaround at UFC Fight Night 74, coming back 22 days after seeing his seven-fight win streak stopped by Demian Maia. It was a solid bounce back for Magny, who scored a split decision win over Erick Silva, who didn’t look like himself on Saturday night. The fight shouldn’t have even been a split decision and Magny was lucky he didn’t get robbed of a decision as he clearly won. Magny is now 8-1 in his last nine fights and is still a top-flight welterweight. He will definitely be back in action, likely sooner rather than later, this year, and a fight against the man he replaced on Sunday, Rick Story, looks to be a solid match-up. Story has won two straight fights and three of his last four, and both are similarly ranked. Story should be back in action before the end of the year.

    Patrick Cote vs. Hector Lombard

    Patrick Cote scored an impressive third-round technical knockout win over Josh Burkman in a fun fight at UFC Fight Night 74. Cote rocked Burkman several times throughout the fight, but Burkman showed heart in surviving. It was a battle in the final round and Burkman looked to have Cote hurt before Cote rocked Burkman with a right hand and finished him with more shots on the ground. It was Cote’s first stoppage win in the Octagon since 2008, but his resurgence since coming back has seen him win five of his last six fights. Cote is in line for a solid fight, and he called out a fighter in his post-fight interview- Hector Lombard. Lombard did call out Cote a while back, but is currently out of action until at least January due to a drug test failure. Cote let it be known he wants Lombard when he comes back, calling him a cheater in the process. Let’s get that fight booked for Lombard’s return.

    Francisco Trinaldo vs. Olivier Aubin-Mercier

    Francisco Trinaldo and Olivier Aubin-Mercier both picked wins on Sunday night at UFC Fight Night 74 and extended their win streaks in the process. Trinaldo picked up his fourth straight win when he became the first man to defeat former TUF winner Chad Laprise, finishing him by TKO in the first round. Aubin-Mercier scored his third straight win, going to a decision with Tony Sims. He wasn’t as impressive, only landing three significant strikes in the full 15 minutes, the least amount of significant strikes ever landed in that length of time. Aubin-Mercier only has eight fights in his career, but he is ready for the next level of competition. Trinaldo is that next level. It makes sense to book them against each other.

    Valerie Letourneau vs. Joanne Calderwood

    Valerie Letourneau remained undefeated in her UFC career as she moved to 3-0 inside the Octagon win an unanimous decision win over Maryna Moroz. It was the fourth straight win overall for Letourneau, and she has now won seven of her last eight fights. Her last loss came at the hands of Claudia Gadelha, who will next challenge for the title in the women’s strawweight division. Letourneau is ready for a step up in competition, so why not against the woman that was derailed by Moroz- Joanne Calderwood. Calderwood scored a win in her last fight and she is looking at getting back into contention. She has just one blemish on her career, to Moroz, and now that Letourneau has blemished Moroz’ career, she and Calderwood would be a solid booking.

  • UFC 189 Preview: 5 storylines to watch, betting odds & predictions

    International Fight Week is upon us this week, bringing two events to the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas this weekend after a week full of fun activities for fight fans, including a fight card put on by Invicta Fight Championships, pool parties, charity bowling, a free concert by the Dropkick Murphys, and the annual UFC Fan Expo. The big UFC event of the weekend is the first one they produce, which is UFC 189 on Saturday night, headlined by Irish sensation Conor McGregor looking to become a champion, albiet an interim champion, when he meets Chad Mendes for the Interim UFC Featherweight Championship after Jose Aldo was forced out due to a broken rib.

    In the night’s co-main event, UFC Welterweight Champion Robbie Lawler makes his first title defense against a man he holds a win over, Canadian Rory MacDonald, who fights for the title for the first time in his career. The event has become the highest-grossing UFC event in the United States, with an over $7 million gate in Las Vegas and various closed-circuit locations throughout the city, and while the loss of Aldo took some of the bigger buzz out of the event, there is still lots of buzz there and big expectations on pay-per-view. Let’s dive deeper into the action on the card and look at five storylines to keep an eye on for UFC 189.

    1. UFC 189 is The Conor McGregor Show. Will he walk away victorious over Chad Mendes?

    UFC 189 has become The Conor McGregor Show and this event rests solely on his shoulders. There is a $7 million gate. There are big expectations for solid pay-per-view numbers, though that has taken a hit with the removal of Jose Aldo from the main event. He has the country of Ireland coming over to support him, and this is the chance to truly establish himself as one of the top draws in the company. The biggest question is whether he can come out on top in the end against a tough opponent in Chad Mendes.

    Mendes brings a different fight to McGregor than Aldo would have. Aldo is more dangerous and technical on his feet. Mendes is arguably the best wrestler in the featherweight division, and that is the biggest area that McGregor has yet to be tested in. McGregor was taken down briefly by Dennis Siver but was able to pop right back up and finish him in the second round. McGregor has passed every test that has been put in front of him, and he has been finishing opponents. The only UFC opponent he has yet to finish was Max Holloway, yet McGregor beat him with the takedown game and a torn ACL. By the way, Holloway hasn’t lost in the Octagon since losing to McGregor.

    How will this fight play out? Mendes is coming into a five-round fight on 17 days’ notice, though he didn’t officially get the fight until 12 days before the Saturday event. He always trains hard and he does have a good gas tank, but going 25 minutes with that short of notice is a lot to ask for, though his last two fights have all been scheduled for five rounds. McGregor has ben training for months for a five-round title fight, and he will be in excellent shape. Both are going to be drained from big weight cuts, and that will play a factor in the later rounds. McGregor having more preparation time will make the difference there. I think this fight is a lot closer than people realize and I give the edge to McGregor due to just being more ready for a fight on July 11.

    2. Who wins in the rematch between Robbie Lawler and Rory MacDonald?

    Robbie Lawler and Rory MacDonald meet for the second time in the co-main event of UFC 189. They fought at UFC 167 in November 2013, a bout won by Lawler by split decision. It came down to the final round, and Lawler was able to knock MacDonald down, and that made the difference. It led to Lawler fighting for the UFC Welterweight Championship, and while he came up short the first time, Lawler made his way back and captured the UFC Welterweight Championship at UFC 181 in December, capping off an incredible story of comeback and redemption. He makes his first title defense against MacDonald, who comes in riding a three-fight win streak since the loss to Lawler.

    The title being on the line could play the big difference. MacDonald has recently claimed that he was injured and wasn’t mentally focused going into the first bout with Lawler. How much of that is the truth and how much of that isn’t and is just a tactic to dismiss the outcome of the first time is a question that MacDonald will need to answer. MacDonald looked fantastic in his win over Tarec Saffiedine in October. Lawler has looked fantastic in his three recent wins, with a dominant finish of Jake Ellenberger, a dominant 25-minute win over Matt Brown, and a close fight with former champion Johny Hendricks, but Lawler made it count late when it mattered, coming on strong in the closing rounds to earn the championship that was put around his waist.

    This fight could play out like the first one, and that is reminiscent of Lawler’s triumph over Hendricks in December. It was close early on, but Lawler came on strong in the end to win the fight. MacDonald needs to be mentally ready for a 25-minute battle. He has been working hard to get the championship bout, and this is his first crack at it. Will he be mentally strong enough? His prior two opportunities to really break out resulted in losses- to Lawler and Carlos Condit. This is a different chance to break out- he has a championship he can win. Lawler has been around the block and his comeback has been one of the best stories in the history of the sport. MacDonald wants to end it, and I give him the oh so slight edge in the rematch.

    3. This card has two fantastic bantamweight prospects in Thomas Almeida and Cody Garbrandt. What can we expect from them?

    Thomas Almeida is already being hyped as the future of the bantamweight division by UFC President Dana White, and for good reason. He comes into UFC 189 on Saturday night undefeated in 19 professional fights, and 18 of those wins have come by stoppage. He has 14 wins by knockout and four by submission. To top it all off, he is just 23-years-old and has only been competing for just over four years. He has future star and title challenger written all over him after his trashing of Yves Jabouin at UFC 189 in April. He gets a quick turnaround and a tough veteran in Brad Pickett on Saturday night. Pickett returns to 135 pounds but has lost two straight fights. Pickett will bring the fight to Almeida and it is the opportunity for Almeida to break into the crowded prospect picture at 135 pounds.

    Cody Garbrandt, like Almeida, enters UFC 189 on Saturday night with an undefeated record. Garbrandt has only six professional fights in his career, but all six wins have come by knockout. He is young as well at just 24-years-old, and he comes from some tough camps, splitting camp time between Ohio training alongside the likes of Stipe Miocic and Jessica Eye, and also training in California at Team Alpha Male with a who’s who of fighters. Garbrandt had an impressive UFC debut in scoring a third-round knockout win over Marcus Brimage, and he has the chance to keep his star rising when he meets Henry Briones on Saturday night. Briones has 21 fights in his career and a decent recent win streak, but is the type of match-up designed to get Garbrandt what should be a solid showcase victory.

    4. Matt Brown and Tim Means square off in the featured prelim. Will they score fight of the night?

    Headlining the slate of preliminary action is a welterweight bout that could produce a heavy dose of post-July 4 fireworks when Matt Brown meets Tim Means. Brown is looking to put an end to a two-fight losing skid that took him away from title contention, though those two losses came to Robbie Lawler, the current champion at 170 pounds, and Johny Hendricks, the former champion at 170 pounds. Brown has produced some of the most exciting moments in recent welterweight history, and has come back from nearly being cut following a stretch where he lost four of five fights to become a top-five ranked fighter.

    Means was a fighter that was actually cut following two losses and issues making weight. He came back to the UFC on short notice and up a weight class, and while he lost his return to Neil Magny, he has since won four straight fights to get himself in a position to join the UFC rankings should he score the upset over Brown. His last two wins have been finishes, but he hasn’t fought the level of competition that Brown will bring. Means stepped in to replace Nate Diaz in this fight, and he has the chance to prove himself here against a contender. Both men throw hard punches and like to brawl, and this fight is capable of producing the fight of the night.

    5. What else is there to look out for on the UFC 189 card?
    UFC 189 is one of the more solid top-to-bottom cards of the year capped off with the two title fights. In other main card action, featherweights Dennis Bermudez and Jeremy Stephens will square off. Bermudez hasn’t fought since UFC 180 in November where he suffered a first-round submission loss to Ricardo Lamas that ended his seven-fight win streak and knocked him out of title shot contention. Stephens enters Saturday night looking to put an end to a two-fight losing skid and get himself back into the top ten of the rankings.

    Three other welterweight bouts highlight the card, which showcases ten welterweights overall. Gunnar Nelson and Brandon Thatch will meet on the main card as both men look to rebound from their first defeats inside the Octagon. Cathal Pendred comes in on short notice looking to extend his eight-fight win streak against John Howard, who is looking to end a three-fight losing skid. Also, Mike Swick, a member of the original cast of The Ultimate Fighter, returns after being out of action since December 2012 when he meets Alex Garcia, who is looking to rebound from a loss that ended a six-fight win streak.

    Full UFC 189 Fight Card, Betting Odds and Predictions

    MAIN CARD (PPV- 10 PM ET/7 PM PT)

    Interim UFC Featherweight Championship: Chad Mendes vs. Conor McGregor
    Betting Odds: Mendes (+150), McGregor (-170)
    Prediction: McGregor by knockout in round 3

    UFC Welterweight Championship: Robbie Lawler(c) vs. Rory MacDonald
    Betting Odds: Lawler (+158), MacDonald (-180)
    Prediction: MacDonald by decision

    Featherweights: Dennis Bermudez vs. Jeremy Stephens
    Betting Odds: Bermudez (-210), Stephens (+175)
    Prediction: Bermudez by decision

    Welterweights: Gunnar Nelson vs. Brandon Thatch
    Betting Odds: Nelson (+158), Thatch (-180)
    Prediction: Thatch by knockout in round 2

    Bantamweights: Brad Pickett vs. Thomas Almeida
    Betting Odds: Pickett (+625), Almeida (-950)
    Prediction: Almeida by submission in round 1

    PRELIMINARY CARD (FOX SPORTS 1- 8 PM ET/5 PM PT)

    Welterweights: Matt Brown vs. Tim Means
    Betting Odds: Brown (-190), Means (+165)
    Prediction: Brown by knockout in round 2

    Welterweights: Mike Swick vs. Alex Garcia
    Betting Odds: Swick (+325), Garcia (-400)
    Prediction: Garcia by decision

    Welterweights: Cathal Pendred vs. John Howard
    Betting Odds: Pendred (-110), Howard (-110)
    Prediction: Pendred by decision

    Bantamweights: Cody Garbrandt vs. Henry Briones
    Betting Odds: Garbrandt (-600), Briones (+450)
    Prediction: Garbrandt by knockout in round 2

    PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC FIGHT PASS- 7 PM ET/4 PM PT)

    Flyweights: Neil Seery vs. Louis Smolka
    Betting Odds: Seery (-105), Smolka (-115)
    Prediction: Smolka by decision

    Lightweights: Yosdenis Cedeno vs. Cody Pfister
    Betting Odds: Cedeno (-200), Pfister (+170)
    Prediction: Cedeno by decision

  • WWE RAW July 6 TV results & recap: Brock Lesnar destroys a car, excellent John Cena vs. Cesaro rematch

    By Jeff Hamlin, Wrestlingobserver.com

    The Big Takeaway: Another week, another show where John Cena has the best match on the show. This week, he main evented against Cesaro and retained the U.S. Championship in 30:06, most likely longest Raw match since Cena-Shawn Michaels from London in 2007. Brock Lesnar had two segments on the show, where he destroyed J&J Security’s new car they received from Seth Rollins last week. 

    Show Recap: 

    Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman start the show. Heyman said Lesnar was the God of violent retribution. Heyman brought up Lesnar ending The Undertaker’s streak and got some boos. Then he mentioned Lesnar taking John Cena to Suplex City and got cheered. Unlike Cena, Undertaker and Roman Reigns, Heyman said Lesnar not only doesn’t respect Seth Rollins, he disrespects him. Lesnar wasn’t selling his knee after the attack from two weeks ago. 

    Heyman said the title match with Rollins and Lesnar will take two weeks in St. Louis, but the beatings and the suplexes will start tonight. He said since Rolliins is going to be in the building tonight, Lesnar wasn’t going anywhere.

    Michael Cole announced that Kane is in Hawaii on the vacation that Rollins sent him on last week. They showed various photoshopped pictures of Kane wearing a Hula skirt, drinking Mai Tais and touring volcanos.
    Also, Joey Mercury and Jamie Noble reportedly took their $55,000 Cadallac across the country with highlights of their trip promised later.  

    Ryback (C) and Big Show went to a no contest in a nontitle match (9:24) 

    The Miz was at ringside doing running commentary over the PA during the match. Since the Miz, Big Show and Ryback are in a three-way at Battleground, Miz wanted the two to destroy each other so it would be easier for him to win. It sounded like Cole talked over Mix’s best lines. After Big Show hit a elbow drop from the second rope, Miz ran in to attack both men while they were down. It ended with both big men surrounding Miz, with Ryback delivering a Shell Shock and the Big Show giving him a choke slam. Ryback gave Big Show a meat hook clothesline to become the last man standing.  

    A commercial for the new season of Total Divas featured someone reading the riot act to Paige over an alleged sex tape. 

    Kane was shown paddleboarding in Hawaii. Meanwhile, Noble and Mercury took their Cadallac to Wrigley Field, calling it a dump.  

    Brie Bella defeated Paige (3:10)

    Brie Bella won with the Brie Buster after Alicia Fox and Nikki Bella jumped up on the apron. The storyline continues that Paige has to fight the Bellas and Fox by herself. Afterwards, Fox gave Paige an Ax Kick and Nikki gave her a Rack Attack. The count for Nikki Bella’s Divas Championship reign is up to 225 days. 

    Sheamus defeated Roman Reigns by countout (11:15)

    To complete an hour of bad finishes, Reigns hit a Superman punch when Sheamus jumped off the second rope. Reigns went for another Superman punch when Bray Wyatt’s music hit. Someone dressed like Wyatt came out and Reigns tagged him with a Superman’s punch. Then Reigns found that the man he punched was an imposter. Then Wyatt appeared on the TitonTron and told Reigns “Anyone but You.” Reigns disappeared and Sheamus was announced as the winner. 

    Randy Orton came out to go after Sheamus. Get this. Sheamus threw Orton into the post. Orton barely even sell it and gave Sheamus an RKO. What the hell was that? Mind you, this came after a stiff Sheamus-Reigns match that was pretty good because of its physicality. Then Orton doesn’t even sell a post shot. 

    HHH was on the phone when Rollins and J&J Security walked in. HHH asked Seth about what he was going to do about Lesnar tonight. HHH said his advice was to do something uncoventional. HHH brought up Heyman’s promo from earlier saying that the 11th Commandment is “Never provoke the beast.” Rollins said the unthinkable would be to call out Lesnar later on tonight.  

    Rusev and Summer Rae were in the ring for a promo. He referred to Summer Rae as “always submissive.” Rusev said he apologized for wasting a year of his life on Lana. He ran down the fans, America and Dolph Ziggler. Summer tried to get the crowd to stop chanting “USA.” Dolph and Lana came out. Ziggler said the best thing that ever happened to Rusev was Lana. Dolph and Lana starting kissing. Summer scolded Ziggler. Lana and Summer were about to squre off when the two men stepped in. Then Rusev attacked Ziggler with a crutch, then kicked him with the cast on his bad foot. Rusev took off the walking boot and starting walking around. Summer then kicked Lana and threw her out of the ring. Rusev put the fists to Ziggler, who sure looked like an idiot. Ziggler tried to make a comeback, but Rusev jabbed him with the crutch across the throat. Rusev laid in even more crutch shots even after the referees came down and ordered him away. Ziggler did a stretcher job, so who knows if we see him again?  

    Dean Ambrose defeated Bo Dallas (2:59)

    There was the strangest dual chant ever heard to man with most of the fans saying “Let’s Go Ambrose.” And the other half said “We Bolieve.” Dean Ambrose won with Dirty Deeds. 

    J&J Security was shown driving around Chicago. They were shown getting caught in traffic. And then driving along a vacant street. It was about as humorous as watching someone drive in traffic and then along a vacant street. 

    King Barrett defeated R-Truth (8:43)

    King Barrett won after R-Truth dove off the second rope, only to get caught with the Royal Bullhammer. This got 8:43. Maybe I was a little hard on that J&J Security driving segment. Cole talked like this was the end of R-Truth’s “King What’s Up” gimmick.  

    Rollins came out while J&J Security drove up in their car. No one was available to give the car Last Rites. They were all carrying axehandles for the anticipated brawl with Lesnar. Rollins did an interview saying he was champion and going to remain that way, then asked if Lesnar was a real man or just Heyman’s bitch. 

    Lesnar came out, saw three men in the ring with axehandles waiting for him, then backed off. Lesnar then called for Heyman, who carried a trunk containing a fire kit, which included two axes. Instead of getting into the ring, Brock started destroying the car. Cole dropped in a line of how Lesnar was his own Minnesota Recking Crew. Lesnar destroyed one of the axes after he drove it into the driver’s door. Then Lesnar tore the door off the hinges. Mercury and Noble made a rush at Lesnar, but Brock dropped them effortlessly. Lesnar gave Noble a Kimura and Cole screamed how he had broken Noble’s arm. Lesnar gave Mercury two suplexes onto the car, the last of which broke a windshield. Lesnar got in the ring with Rollins, who ran out of the building with Lesnar chasing him. Lesnar got back in the ring and posed with the WWE Heavyweight Championship strap.  

    The New Day defeated Lucha Dragons (10:16) 

    The Prime Time Players were at ringside. JBL and Titus O’Neal exchanged barbs at ringside on commentary. Darren Young didn’t say anything, and O’Neal started doing play-by-play after Sin Cara got the hot tag. He was ten times more engaging than Cole. Kalisto and Sin Cara went for stereo topes, but Sin Cara totally missed when Xavier Woods moved Kofi Kingston out of the way. Big E. gave Kalisto a belly-to-belly suplex on the floor. Big E. pinned Sin Cara after the Midnight Hour.  

    Steve Austin was revealed as the man on the cover for WWE2K16. Cole made it clear he’s back in the WWE solely as a character for the video game.

    As Cena came out, they showed highlights of Finn Balor beating Kevin Owens for the NXT Championship from Saturday’s show in Japan. 

    Cena called out his challenger, but Owens came out and said every week the worst part of Raw is Cena spewing out the same garbage over and over. Owens got a lot of cheers. He said now that he’s lost the NXT Championship, he’ll face Cena tonight. Cesaro came out and said he wanted to face Cena since Owens cost him the title last week. Cesaro ordered Owens to get out of the ring. Owens left and went down the aisle, looking back like he was picking his spots. 

    John Cena (C) defeated Cesaro to retain the U.S. Championship (30:01)

    A tremendous match, though perhaps ten minutes longer than it should have been. Both men kicked out of each other’s finisher. Cesaro had several attempts at a crossface trying to get a submission, but Cena got to the ropes each time. Finish came when both men were battling on the top rope. Cesaro teased a netualizer off the second rope, but Cena escaped and hit the AA off the second rope for the pin. Cesaro didn’t get a nod from Cena or any type of raise of the arm for his performance. Instead, Owens ran in, took an AA and left. It was like Cesaro was in another great match, but they wanted you to forget it as soon as it was over. 

    SUMMARY: The main event finish left me torn. Cena deserves a lot of credit for having great matches week after week. But the elephant in the room says it is time for some major changes and to start taking chances on talent. Cesaro is lacking on the mic. But they could have made him a star tonight with a win, then have him face Owens at Battleground. Then the rubber match between Cena and Owens can wait for SummerSlam at the earliest. Instead, it seems Vince McMahon thinks the answer to declining ratings is to have Cena go over, like that’s any different from everything we’ve seen for the past 11 years. The biggest question is where does Cesaro go from here? If it’s the same place as where Ryback, Wyatt, R-Truth and many others have gone after a Cena program, then what does he gain from the past two weeks? 

  • Observer Exclusive: a talk with the Hart family’s Georgia Smith, the sister of Davey Boy Smith Jr.

    By Gary Mehaffy for WrestlingObserver.com

    I had the opportunity to interview Georgia Smith, daughter of ‘The British Bulldog’ Davey Boy Smith and Diana Hart-Smith and an entertainer in her own right, for over 30 minutes talking about her life growing up in the shadow of a wrestling superstar and what she hopes for her future within the acting world.

    We talked about her voice acting work, meeting wrestling fans, her dad’s impact on the UK, his death and how her family dealt with it and are still dealing with it today, the Davey Boy Smith Memorial Cup, the Hart family legacy and much, much more.  It’s a great, fun interview with a great, fun person! I hope you enjoy it!

    **** 

    Starting out, for everybody reading this, how are things with you and what have you been up to?

    Things have been good! Last week I was presenting at The Limelight film awards, and the movie I presented was under the title of ‘Best Experimental Film’ – it won movie of the night! That was really fun. I’ve been to the WWE Hall of Fame and the Slammy Awards when I was little, but I’ve never been to an awards show where I was invited for me and to present something on stage on front of all these people, that was really, really fun.

    I’m working on a voice demo right now with Mark Silk – he does the voices of Bob the Builder in the (United) States and Jonny Bravo and he does various voices. I’m excited to be working with him on other projects as well. Once that’s all prepared then people can hear what my voices are all about! I demoed when I first came here (UK) and I showed some people and they made suggestions, so now I’m on the right track with it.

    I went to school for broadcasting in the States – and for radio – and I interned for Fox, NBC and Daytime Television while I was there. I’ve always had a passion for acting, so I want to get more into that. I’ve done a lot of acting training in Canada and in the States, as well as modelling. So, yea, that’s pretty much me in a nutshell! (laughs)

    I know that when you were young – as with a lot of people – your mum got you involved and got you into a lot of classes, but has your family background and heritage – so to speak – helped to open some doors in the industry?

    Oh yea, absolutely. It’s a blessing and it’s a curse, because so many people know me as Davey Boy Smith’s daughter. I was at London WrestleCon and so many people wanted to take a picture with me – but it’s, like, because my dad’s not here I’m the closest thing to him, looks wise and everything I guess, so it’s like a picture (then) a picture…..(laughs) But it’s not because of me, it’s because of my dad they want a picture with me!

    So, yea, it definitely has (helped) but on the other hand I’ll want to do some acting auditions and then they’ll see who I’m related to and then they don’t take me seriously. Wrestling isn’t the most top of the line drama – people don’t take it seriously – and it’s difficult too because just label me. They’re like “Oh, that’s his daughter” and that’s it. No, actually, there are more layers to me, there’s more to me. I’m trying to make my own life and be my own person. My dad is a part of me but I’m not him and he’s not me.

    He, indirectly – possibly before you were born – is responsible for me having any involvement in the industry, because the first American – or WWE – wrestling match that I ever saw was on ITV. I remember turning it on and The British Bulldogs were coming out with Matilda at Madison Square Garden and from that point as a young child I was like “This is what I have to watch!”

    I can definitely see that. In my opinion – and I’m not just saying this because he’s my dad – he made Britain famous with wrestling. He is the most famous wrestler from the UK – he was the most popular person.

    He was a star in the States, but I don’t think people in America quite realise just how much of a star he was here in the UK. He was legitimately big business.

    Yea, exactly. I totally agree. I think they think like he was just a very famous British wrestler, but he was a lot more than that. He did a lot more while he was here. I mean (at SummerSlam 1992) he and Bret were the main event. They outsold Michael Jackson and Madonna at Wembley Stadium! Research shows that that Wembley Stadium match was the highest grossing show for WWE and it actually beat the record of selling out in ten hours. Who can do that now? Nobody.

    It’s funny that you mention that match at Wembley in 1992. At that point WWE had gone to Sky here in the UK and we didn’t have it but there was a guy at the top of our street who had it. Everybody knew who Davey was, and it was a case of “Oh my goodness! He’s wrestling Bret – we need to see this!” Everybody from our street was piled into this one house for that one match, looking back on it now, you go “Yea…..that’s proper star appeal.”

    Yea, that’s true. And it’s like what you were saying – my dad was such a big star in England that he was ultimately the one who got WWE on Sky. It’s because of him – or that’s what I’ve been told.

    Even a few years after that in WWE the European Title was created specifically for him at first to win it and come over here (the UK) and go “You have got your European hero – your UK hero. Here he is!” I think there were times that some people were frustrated – and you may know this or even from talking to Bret or your mum you might know it – but there were times in both WCW and WWE where people felt that he could have genuinely been moved to the very top and had a run with the title. Do you think that was something that he regretted?

    I think he always regretted that it………I feel bad that it never happened. He should have become World Champion, but I don’t know why. I think it was just that the timing of everything was always wrong because just when he was getting to such a high level something would happen. Then he would be going to the top of the next company and something would happen. I think that had it not happened – after SummerSlam 1992 when he got released – he would have been World Champion then, and I think Vince wanted to the put the World Championship on him (in 1997), but he’s leaving for WCW with Bret so we can’t have that – hence they took away the European Championship from him. I don’t really agree with how that went down, but it was just circumstances that……I think he always felt bad that he knew he had what it took and he could do anything if he hadn’t have quit.

    Even coming full circle now, you have been involved this year with the Davey Boy Smith Memorial Cup. Two aspects to this one: how big an honour was it for you to be involved with it, but also how big an honour was it for you as a family to have this honour of Davey being recognised in this way?

    Well, when Alex Shane presented it to me eh said this is what we want to do, we want to have a cup in your dad’s name, and I was like yea, of course. My dad loved British wrestling so much and I knew that this was something that had to be done. It was such an honour that people were competing for that. I wish my were here to have seen it

    I showed my mum and Harry the matches and it was fun for me, because I’ve never been into wrestling and have kind of always distanced myself from the indy scene and stuff like that, but when this opportunity came from WrestleTalk and they wanted to get this going – and it was a long time coming with a lot of planning. It wasn’t done in a day; it took a long time – but I supported it 100% and I’m glad that it happened and I hope that another one will happen.

    Anything that keeps my dad’s legacy alive – and the fact that the fans and the wrestlers competing in it were doing it for his honour – is really nice.

    Two things off the back of that. You talk about keeping his memory alive. A lot of people, especially here in the UK but in North America as well, would say that he is 100% deserving of being in the WWE Hall of Fame – either as a singles (wrestler) or as part of the Bulldogs, or both. How much do you – hope that happens is maybe the wrong way to put it – how soon do you see that happening, because it definitely should happen?

    I want it to happen so bad, but it’s like…….I’m not trying to make WWE sound bad, but they know that we want it to happen so bad that they’re like “Ok, well, we just won’t give it to them” – if that makes sense, you know? – “Ah, we’ll take our time with it.” I know they have to spread it out and they can’t put everybody in all at once.

    Apparently they’re running out of people to put in, but it’s embarrassing when people ask me why isn’t he in, what’s going on, and I don’t have an answer for them. I wish I did have an answer for them. I wish WWE had some sort of communication just to tell us and give some sort of idea so that I could tell people. The fans have been making petitions to get him in. People are trying to get him and are mailing WWE. I wish I had the answers for them but I don’t!

    I honestly think that it’s going to happen…….I don’t think that it’ll be next year (2016) but I think it’s gonna be 2017 when it happens, and when it does happen it’s going to be like a weight lifted off of my shoulders, because I know if my dad was here he would want it so much. And I think that’s another reason why they (WWE) are taking so long with it, because my dad’s not alive and they only, apparently, do one posthumous person a year. I think that they want as many people as possible that are alive to collect the award, but unfortunately a lot of people in wrestling have died so they’ve steered away from that. That’s fine, if they want to be politically correct and do the right thing, but at the same time you have a legend that you need to put in, so get to it! (laughs)

    The second side (of the question) about his legacy: it was obviously a shock to fans whenever he dies in 2002. Obviously, he had some injuries and stuff that had played into it. I almost feel bad for asking it this way, but how tough was it for you in your early teens to have it happen and how tough is it for you now today? You can tell how much you still miss him in the way that you talk about him, but could you let everyone know just how that was for you?

    It was so shocking. I’ve never gotten over it. It’s been, like, 13 years and I’ve never gotten over it. I saw him the day before he died. I called him and said to come over and he came over and we spent the afternoon together. It was activity day for me at school and I thought “I’m not going to do that!” (laughs). It was a Friday and I said to come on over. I made some really horrible pizza that he ate – well, we all ate it although I really didn’t cook it all that well – and I remember that he said he had a stomach ache, that his stomach hurt. My mum has a pantry full of vitamins and stuff and I said I don’t know if you want to take something for the pain or some pepto bismol or something.

    We were watching movies, and it was at 6 or 7 pm that he said “Well, I’m going on a road trip to B.C.” – which is the province in the West of Canada – and he said “I’ll see you Monday; I’ll be back on Monday.” Then I wake up the next day, and I’m playing on the computer at 11 and my brother came up and he’s like “Eh, something happened to Davey.” I said “What? What do you mean?”

    Plenty of things had happened to my dad, with his hospital incident where he had this major infection in his arm the year before and they had to take so much of it (out) and he always got infections and things, so when he (Harry) told me it was like “Is he at the hospital? Is he ok? I don’t know what’s going on.”

    My mum left her work and she came in and she came downstairs and she said “Get downstairs now!” We came downstairs and she said we were going to my grampy’s house – my grandfather Stu’s house – and she said “We’re going to hear something, but I don’t know how it’s going to go or what’s going to happen, but you guys need to be prepared for it.”

    The phone was ringing off the hook at my grandpa’s house and everyone was crying and I’m like “What’s going on?” because nobody had told me anything. My uncle Ross was like “Well, we’ll have to get the body sent here.” and I’m like “What body? What’s going on?” I was saying to TJ – Tyson Kidd – outside, “Davey’s been through everything – he’s broken his back, he’s been through major injuries in wrestling, he’s been in car accidents – he’s pretty unbreakable!” TJ wouldn’t say anything.  My mum was on the phone – I think she was on the phone with Vince McMahon telling him what was going on – and I looked at her and I said “Tell me! Tell me what’s going on! Is he alive or is he dead?” and she said “He’s gone.” That was like a punch in the face – it was so shocking. It was traumatising, it was bad.

    I don’t know what’s worse – if something like that happens or if you know someone is going to die. If someone is dying, you can go “OK, they’re going to die in two months” or is someone just dies overnight, I don’t know what’s worse. I spoke to my grandfather (in England) on the phone and he was really upset and my aunt was really upset.  Reality really hit when they showed the tribute video on Monday Night Raw. I went to school a week later and everybody was like “What happened? What happened to your dad?” and “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

    It was bad, too, when we went to this funeral home. My dad’s body wasn’t  there – when he passed they flew his body back to England – but prior to it, in the funeral home, they were like “Well, maybe Davey would like this chestnut wood colour,” and it’s like, my dad can’t even fit in these coffins!  It was traumatising to even see that.  “Ok, well maybe would like to be in this urn…..” and I’m like (thinking) “I just saw the guy 2 days ago! What is happening?”

    Then whenever the phone rings you think “Oh, that’s him calling.” Oh, no, it’s a newspaper thing (on the phone) or it’s this……

    It annoyed me too, because when he died there was so much negative press about it. People forget that he had a family. I collect all the mags at the time from when he was in WWF, when he was in WCW and some Australian magazine and then there was PowerSlam magazine, which was a British magazine. I was like “Oh, wow, he’s on the cover of it!” I thought it would be this nice tribute – I read it now, and they’re completely bashing him they’re (saying) well, this was coming to him and I’m like “How dare you! How dare you say this! You don’t know anything about him.”  (They said) “His family may be in denial, but we all know the truth. He was going through a downward spiral and a colleague of his said that he wasn’t able to speak and keep himself standing.” I’m like “Who is this…..who would…….” I found it so offensive, but that’s not the first time I’ve seen it. I’ve seen so many people act like they know everything and know what happened or what kind of person he was, and that’s the most difficult thing.

    Since he’s been gone I feel like I always have to defend him – and I always will, because he’s my dad – but it’s so hard, because I hear all the time these people that try to bash him. it annoys me, because my dad should be here to be like “No, I’ll put these people in their place!” It’s so difficult. When he died, he wasn’t like ‘Bob you neighbour’ he was this massive star, despite not being on TV for a year or two, he was still this icon. I guess when people that are so famous die, they feel like they can say what they want and rip you apart. It wasn’t right – especially when I was 14 and going to school and hearing all these people saying “Oh, he died of steroids.” It’s like “Uh, I don’t want to talk about it anymore.” I don’t mind talking to you (now) but then I was “I don’t even want to talk about it! My dad just died a week ago, leave me alone!”

    In talking about him and your extended family, obviously the Harts and the extended family are, without a doubt, the first family of wrestling – they are a dynasty within it. Today we still have Harry, Nattie and Tyson – even Teddy Hart doing some stuff still – as well as others involved in the industry. How do you see the family legacy and the legacy of your dad within the wrestling industry?

    I think it’s kind of sad how it’s all kind of happened that there’s pretty much only one Hart now in WWE. That kind of makes me sad, but at the same time my brother is in Japan and he’s made a really big name for himself over there. He’s got the bulldog on his tights – that’s one of the things that bothered me in WWE.  He was always wearing the pink and black. I mean, I’m glad that they were really putting over the Hart name and using him, but what about his other heritage? The red, white and blue and the bulldog. They kind of were just doing the pink and black, so I’m glad now where he’s at my brother can have the bulldog on his gear and he can things that he wasn’t allowed to do in WWE.

    I’m glad Nattie……she’s working with what she’s got there. I don’t really watch WWE, and I don’t know how well the women’s division is – but apparently, from what I’ve heard, the WWE isn’t doing much with them. So, the fact that Nattie is on a show and showing her personality, and networking and taking what she’s got to another level – and good for her. I’m glad she’s doing that and the fact that she is a Hart doing that – that’s amazing.

    Coming back to you, I appreciate the acting side of things – I am a frustrated actor/writer myself. You have said before about not wanting to get in the ring like your dad, but obviously you have gone into the entertainment industry – you talked about some of the voice work that you’re doing, etc. What do you hope is going to happen for you off the back of all of this?

    What I really want is just to make my own individuality and just to become my own person – and that people will know me as Georgia Smith the x, y and z, and not just Georgia Smith who’s related to some people in wrestling. Sometimes, I kind of hide behind my family sort of, because when people ask me what I do it always comes back to my family. I need to big myself up a little bit and be like “I’ve done this and this.” I’ve accomplished a lot, but at the same time I go “Well, it’s not as great as what they’ve done….” So it’s difficult, but I want to get to a place where I’m completely confident and be like “This is me” and if you go on my Twitter profile you know exactly what I’m about and who I am. I’m proud of where I come from, but I don’t want to be 40 years old and it to be like “Oh, she’s the British Bulldog’s daughter – that’s all she is.”

    Anybody who knows me knows that I have a lot more to show of me and it’s just (about) getting more opportunities for myself to show what I’ve got. That’s what my dad did. My dad wasn’t just one of The British Bulldogs – he became the British Bulldog. HE became his own thing and had the cape and the braids and made his own individuality – he wasn’t in a tag (team) anymore. That’s just an example. Like with Harry – Harry was in the Hart Dynasty, it’s what he was famous for. But now he’s in the Killer Elite Squad, he’s coming into his own, he’s more confident and I’m kind of on that path – but not with wrestling! I do my own thing, my own entertainment thing.

    You mentioned Twitter and stuff there. How can anybody keep up to date with what you’re up to and the things that you’re involved with?

    Twitter (@georgiasmith87) and I have a Facebook page (facebook.com/georgiasmith7). My website is currently being built right now. Those three things are the main things – people can follow my snapchat, but it’s kind of boring! (laughs) It’s just pictures of my dog! Yea, Twitter, Facebook and the website – georgiajsmith – it’s under construction. Probably at the weekend it will be all up and running.

    I much appreciate you giving me your time and on the acting side of things I really hope it all comes off. About 12 years ago I was very close stuff happening for me (in acting) and I made the decision to finish my teaching degree rather than go and pursue the acting. While it was good that I finished my teaching degree, the acting opportunity had passed me be, so I am genuinely a frustrated actor – so from that point of view, I hope it all comes good for you!

    Yea, it’s definitely not easy. It’s like when people ask me “Where should I train to wrestle? “ or “What would you recommend me?” I’m like (laughs) “Do something else! Don’t do it! Do anything else but that unless you want to annoy yourself.” Sometimes I feel like that with acting – sometimes I feel like I’m so close and then something happens and I’m at a standstill.

    Even right now, I have an agent – a big, well known agent – who wants to represent me, but the thing is I don’t have the specific requirements.  I haven’t had years of acting training in England or English drama, and I’m not a part of the union. So, I’m trying to find a way to get around that so that if I get with this agent then it’s going to be like a dream come true. So, I have to just keep like plodding along and if it’s meant to be it’s meant to be – but I feel like whether it’s acting or voice work acting on TV or wherever, I feel like that’s my destiny! I have to get the Bulldog strength and just power through it.