Tag: daily update

by David Bixenspan | davidbix@wrestlingobserver.com | Follow @davidbix

Show notes for tonight:

NXT at 8:00 p.m. ET on WWE Network features has  Finn Balor and Samoa Joe vs. Lucha Dragons plus Johnny Gargano andTommaso Ciampa vs. Tyler Breeze and Bull Dempsey in Dusty Rhodes Tag Classic bouts.

UFC Tonight airs at 8:00 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1.

Impact Wrestling at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on Destination America features Matt Hardy and Rockstar Spud vs. Ethan Carter III and Tyrus, Drew Galloway vs. Chris Mordetzky, Brooke vs. Gail Kim. and more.

UFC Unleashed airs at 9:00 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1 with a new episode featuring European fighters.

The Ultimate Fighter at 10:00 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1 is the two hour season premiere with the elimination fights to see which lightweight fighters qualify for Conor McGregor’s Team Europe and Urijah Faber’s Team USA.

ROH at 11:00 p.m. ET on Destination America is a loaded episode with The Addiction (c) vs. The Young Bucks for the ROH Tag Team Championship and Jay Lethal (c) vs. Roderick Strong for the ROH World Heavyweight Championship.

Please send reports from major shows, recommended links, etc. to newstips@wrestlingobserver.com:

****

Figure Four Weekly:

The newest issue of Figure Four Weekly is now up for subscribers (subscribe to the site here and get access to Figure Four, the Observer, tons of audio, and more) featuring plenty of details on the Jimmy Snuka murder indictment including how the media covered his domestic abuse arrest and Nancy Argentino’s death back in 1993, just how on the ball Irv Muchnick was in writing about the case, the contradictions of the investigator, Snuka’s claims about his finances vs. the reality, and more.  On top of that, we have all the usual stuff like Vinny’s reviews and international news from Dr. Lucha Steve Sims and and Alan”4L” Counihan.

The recnt FREE Figure Four Weekly is still up with a look at the crazy story of why Gawker thinks the FBI may have helped Hulk Hogan cover up his racist and homophobic comments. A judge has ordered the FBI to turn over the records of their investigation, and what Gawker is saying in court about what has and hasn’t been turned over paints a very interesting picture.

Also, now available for the first time on Kindle (meaning Kindle devices and anything with the Kindle app) is Fall Guys, the seminal 1937 book that has been described as being like the 1930s version of the Wrestling Observer. It was surprisingly not on Kindle already, so we put together a nice version with a full table of contents w/ chapter marks, proper formatting on everything, etc. Right now it’s available from the American, Canadian, and Australian Amazon/Kindle stores OR you can also buy it from anywhere in the world on PayHip, who will provide you with both Kindle and ePub (every other e-reader) format files, and you can either sideload them to your device or have them email it to your Kindle.

****

Wrestling Observer Newsletter:

It’s a gigantic news week in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter with the main feature story on everything that led to the indictment of Jimmy Snuka after 32 years, plus Irv Muchnick, who has reported on the story for years gives his views on the proceedings, and we also look at Hulk Hogan’s attempt at redemption of his character, the full story behind the shooting at the Performance Center, notes from Battle of Los Angeles, the retirement of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Hayabusa walks to the ring, Bram gets arrested, WWE fires Zahra Schreiber, UFC brings back Travis Browne, a rundown of the PPV business in WWE in 2015 and the latest monthly business report from WWE & TNA.

The latest Wrestling Observer: September 7, 2015 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Snuka indicted, shooting at WWE Performance Center and tons more

Web site subscriptions, which include access to both current and older newsletters as well as every audio show in the history of the site.  Sign up here for as low as $9.99 per month!

You can also order the print Observer right now and get it delivered to your door via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to Dave Meltzer

You can also order at www.paypal.com directing funds to dave@wrestlingobserver.com 

Rates are:

For the United States, it is $13 for 4 issues, $32 for 12, $61 for 24, $101 for 40 and $131 for 52. In Canada and Mexico, rates are $14.50 for 4, $35 for 12, $67 for 24, $111 for 40 and $144 or 52.  In Europe, you can get the fastest delivery and best rates by sending to moonsault@mediaplusint.com  For the rest of the world, rates are $16.50 for 4, $44 for 12, $85 for 24, $141 for 40 issues and $183 for 52.

If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order (P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228), you can get $1 off in every price range.

The Wrestling Observer ranges weekly from 35,000 to 50,000 words covering pro wrestling and MMA internationally. Each issue has coverage and analysis of all the major news, plus every issue breaks major news stories before the Internet sties and has the most complete look at the pro wrestling and MMA business anywhere, plus history pieces available nowhere else.

Our lead story goes back to 1983 with an in-depth look at the death of Nancy Argentino, how the media caused the case to be reopened, a look at the charges against Jimmy Snuka, the different statements on the subject by Snuka, Snuka’s lawyer speaks, notes on documentation and testimony from the time, lots of notes regarding evidence, where Jimmy Snuka stood in the wrestling business in 1983, how Buddy Rogers fits into this story, what Snuka told police the morning after Argentino died as well as testimony from those who treated Argentino before her death.

We also look at the autopsy report, the police report from that time, the strange question that was never answered regarding the case being dropped, what Snuka has said to different people, the brawl in Syracuse before Argentino’s death, how the pro wrestling business in 1983 is so completely different from today and the previous legal action regarding this case. 

Irv Muchnick also does a piece on the indictment talking about several points from the indictment.

We also look at Hulk Hogan appearing on Good Morning America and Nightline in a way to get his job back and repair his public image.  We look at the WWE reaction, what Hogan said, what does and doesn’t hold up, the timeline issues with his various stories, neighbors of his growing up contradict his story and more.

We also look at the story of the man who was shot in front of the Performance Center, the circumstances of the shooting, and the different things he had done in recent months regarding his obsession with wrestling.

We also look at Battle of Los Angeles, how the tournament went, highlights from the weekend and celebrities at the shows.

We also look back at the career of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, including his new job with UFC, his becoming the top heavyweight in the sport at one time, his background, his debut in RINGS, his move to Pride, his fight with Bob Sapp, his three fight series with Fedor and his UFC run.

We look at the arrest of Thomas “Bram” Latimer of  TNA, police details of what happened, TNA’s response and what is next for him.

We’ve got a story on Hayabusa, one of the best high flyers from 15-20 years ago and his attempted recovery from near paralysis.

We’ve got a look at Travis Browne and his reinstatement in UFC.

We look at the firing of Zahra Schreiber, the girlfriend of Seth Rollins, by WWE.

We also look at WWE & TNA business when it comes to house shows, merchandise, ratings and other categories for the past month.

We also have a PPV chart with how all the shows in the first seven months of the year have been, and compared them with the last few years.

We also look at WWE signing one of the major international women stars and why she’s not going to be wrestling in NXT, the return of Dr. Wagner Jr. & L.A. Park to Arena Mexico and how it got over, top pro wrestling star gets a reality show gig, and some major title changes.

We also look at maneuvering for the 2017 and 2018 WrestleMania, and the favorites, the 10/3 Madison Square Garden WWE live special, notes on lots of indie stars on WWE’s radar, ticket sales for NXT in the U.K., a new WWE movie, Update on Wade Barrett, action figure sales, announcing changes, SummerSlam edits, lots of notes on various WWE lawsuits, Dean Ambrose talks Renee Young, Fan tries to attack Ambrose, Sara Lee in NXT, plus notes on all the WWE & NXT house shows over the past week.

We also look at a number of top stars who worked recently in Bolivia, the last AAA TV taping and AAA wrestlers in a bodybuilding contest.

We update Wrestle-1 and the three generations of green mist stars trios match.

We also look at the Dragon Gate summer tag team tournament and its big show in Fukuoka and what came out of it.

We look at All Japan’s last major show and its current singles tournament.

We look at Pro Wrestling NOAH’s next major show, including a title match that was set up in the U.S., a well as the bracketing in the upcoming junior heavyweight tag team tournament.

We look at the weekend IGF show, a record that will be set at the next Tokyo Dome show, and the NWA title change.

We also look at U.S. stars who usually don’t tour Japan that are going shortly.

We’ve got more on the planned bio movie on Chris Benoit, Angelo Mosca getting his number retired, the weekend GFW shows and angles, Preston City Wrestling’s weekend show, former TNA star retires and a unique main event, plus early notes on this year’s WWC Anniversary show.

We also update the TNA TV situation, the Lucha Underground TV situation, the next ROH PPV show, new roles for people in ROH and notes from the weekend show.

We also look at changes in UFC main events, can UFC sell 70,000 tickets to its November show with Ronda Rousey, Rousey talks when she expects to retire, Cyborg, the date with the marine and notes about live shows on Fight Pass this month.  We also look at this week’s PPV show, talks about the Jan. 2 Las Vegas card, a star fighter retires, Chad Mendes wants a rematch with McGregor, what happened recently with Jose Aldo, Rousey T-shirt sales, plus lots of more fights.

We also have a look at Bellator’s next major show, including the updated card, as well as plans for the big November show.  We look at the Fan Fest with Fedor and Sakuraba, as well as notes on last week’s show.

We also look at the arrest of Chris Leben, and new restrictions on weight cutting that is being tried out for in California.

If you are a new subscriber ordering 24 or more issues, you can get one free classic issue of your choice sent to you today.  With a 40 issue subscription, you can get two free classic issues sent to you today.

New subscribers ordering 24 or 40 issues have to let us know what major stories of the past 11 years you are most interested in and we’ll send the issue with the best coverage of that story. We’ve got coverage of every major PPV event and world wide spectacular, every major star switching promotions, histories of companies like FMW, Rings and New Japan, retirement and obit issues of every major star who fits into those descriptions over the past 11 years, as well as our biggest issue every year, the annual awards issue, and our most controversial issue of every year, the Hall of Fame issue.

Click here for the most requested Wrestling Observer back issues.

***

Wednesday Daily Update

— Ronda Rousey has been tapped to take over the Patrick Swayze role as the lead in a remaeke of “Road House.” Swayze played a well-educated bouncer who protected a small town in Missouri from a corrupt businessman. Terry Funk has a role in the original, which used to air all the time on TBS when WCW was still around. In fact, the movie helped get over the surprise of Funk attacking Ric Flair at Wrestle War ’89: It was less than two weeks away from release at the time, so fans “knew” Funk had retired to become an actor.

—  Nhooph Al-Areebi is, thanks to Reddit, the latest NXT talent (or in the case of Jessicka Havok, NXT hopeful) to be outed as having posted various racially insensitive things on social media in the past. In her case, she was a teenager when she tweeted a few variations of the N-word among other things, including calling a black male wrestler her slave. She’s since deleted her Twitter account. If the lesson hasn’t been learned by now, don’t say this stuff, and if you did, clean it up when you’re trying to get into WWE.

— Nick Diaz (marijuana test failure), Rousimar Palhares (holding submission too long after rpated eye raking), and Jake Shuelds (threw a punch off his back at Palhares right after the fight ended) will all be on the docket for hearings at the next Nevada State Athletic Commission meeting this Monday.

— From Kris Zellner’s Lucha Report (full, illustrated version here): L.A. Park has been removed from all EMLL bookings for the immediate future after he used foul language after his match at Arena Mexico last Friday night. The promotion announced that Park’s actions didn’t meet the standards of their company and they can’t allow that lack of respect towards the fans. Park accepted his punishment and apologized to them so the promotion said that they left on good terms as well as saying that maybe down the road he may come back. Park will be replaced by Valiente on this Friday at Arena Mexico and Shocker on the 82nd Anniversario Show next Friday.

— Tommy Dreamer announced that House of Hardcore’s New York City debut will be November 14th at the ELMCOR Center in Corona, Queens. That’s the same day as the Big Event fan convention in Elmhurst and the Jersey All Pro Wrestling anniversary show in Rahway, New Jersey. On the HOH card will be Yoshihiro Tajiri, Ethan Carter III, Rhino, Bobby Roode, Tommy Dreamer, Austin Aries, Chris Hero, Eric Young, Guido Maritato & Tony Mamaluke (The FBI), Thea Trinidad, Justin Roberts and more.

— John Dodson is not happy with MMA fans blaming his loss to Demetrious Johnson on the bierh of his daughter.

— PWG has released the first Battle of Los Angeles 2015 DVD trailer.

—Newsday has an article about 50 NFL players who became pro wrestlers. Some of these aren’t entirely accurate.

— CWE Canada has a “Girls, Girls, Girls” card Friday Sept 25th- Steinbach, MB. Location: Steinbach Legion Community Hall (294 Lumber Ave.).  Time: Doors Open 6:30pm, Bell time 7pm. Tickets: VIP First Access Ticket $20, General Admission $15 in advance, $18 at the door. Advance Tickets Available At: The Edge Bar & Nightclub (Inside The Frantz Inn, 1000 Main St.) Purchase tickets online at diyobo.com. Main Event  is an 8 Women Over The Top Rope Battle Royal, Intergender Tag Team Match features  Kat Von Heez & “The German Juggernaut” Moses Luke vs. Violet & “The Rebel” Bobby Collins, Bambi Hall vs. Roni Nicole, Sahara Se7en vs. Aja Perera , Ashley Frost vs. Gisele Shaw. Plus “The Coach” Kelly Russell hosts and much more!

by David Bixenspan | davidbix@wrestlingobserver.com | Follow @davidbix

Show notes for tonight:

Total Divas at 9:00 p.m. ET on E! is titled “Gone with the Wine” and features Nikki Bella vacationing in Napa; Trinity/Naomi taking her family on a camping trip that nobody actually wants to go on, and Eva Marie having to choose between her career and her husband for some reason.

SmackDown and Main Event will be taped tonight in Wilkes-Barre, PA. Please send reports to newstips@wrestlingobserver.com,

****

Figure Four Weekly:

The newest issue of Figure Four Weekly is now up for subscribers (subscribe to the site here and get access to Figure Four, the Observer, tons of audio, and more) featuring plenty of details on the Jimmy Snuka murder indictment including how the media covered his domestic abuse arrest and Nancy Argentino’s death back in 1993, just how on the ball Irv Muchnick was in writing about the case, the contradictions of the investigator, Snuka’s claims about his finances vs. the reality, and more.  On top of that, we have all the usual stuff like Vinny’s reviews and international news from Dr. Lucha Steve Sims and and Alan”4L” Counihan.

The recnt FREE Figure Four Weekly is still up with a look at the crazy story of why Gawker thinks the FBI may have helped Hulk Hogan cover up his racist and homophobic comments. A judge has ordered the FBI to turn over the records of their investigation, and what Gawker is saying in court about what has and hasn’t been turned over paints a very interesting picture.

Also, now available for the first time on Kindle (meaning Kindle devices and anything with the Kindle app) is Fall Guys, the seminal 1937 book that has been described as being like the 1930s version of the Wrestling Observer. It was surprisingly not on Kindle already, so we put together a nice version with a full table of contents w/ chapter marks, proper formatting on everything, etc. Right now it’s available from the American, Canadian, and Australian Amazon/Kindle stores OR you can also buy it from anywhere in the world on PayHip, who will provide you with both Kindle and ePub (every other e-reader) format files, and you can either sideload them to your device or have them email it to your Kindle.

****

Wrestling Observer Newsletter:

It’s a gigantic news week in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter with the main feature story on everything that led to the indictment of Jimmy Snuka after 32 years, plus Irv Muchnick, who has reported on the story for years gives his views on the proceedings, and we also look at Hulk Hogan’s attempt at redemption of his character, the full story behind the shooting at the Performance Center, notes from Battle of Los Angeles, the retirement of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Hayabusa walks to the ring, Bram gets arrested, WWE fires Zahra Schreiber, UFC brings back Travis Browne, a rundown of the PPV business in WWE in 2015 and the latest monthly business report from WWE & TNA.

The latest Wrestling Observer: September 7, 2015 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Snuka indicted, shooting at WWE Performance Center and tons more

Web site subscriptions, which include access to both current and older newsletters as well as every audio show in the history of the site are at  Sign up here for as low as $9.99 per month!

You can also order the print Observer right now and get it delivered to your door via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to Dave Meltzer

You can also order at www.paypal.com directing funds to dave@wrestlingobserver.com 

Rates are:

For the United States, it is $13 for 4 issues, $32 for 12, $61 for 24, $101 for 40 and $131 for 52. In Canada and Mexico, rates are $14.50 for 4, $35 for 12, $67 for 24, $111 for 40 and $144 or 52.  In Europe, you can get the fastest delivery and best rates by sending to moonsault@mediaplusint.com  For the rest of the world, rates are $16.50 for 4, $44 for 12, $85 for 24, $141 for 40 issues and $183 for 52.

If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order (P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228), you can get $1 off in every price range.

The Wrestling Observer ranges weekly from 35,000 to 50,000 words covering pro wrestling and MMA internationally. Each issue has coverage and analysis of all the major news, plus every issue breaks major news stories before the Internet sties and has the most complete look at the pro wrestling and MMA business anywhere, plus history pieces available nowhere else.

Our lead story goes back to 1983 with an in-depth look at the death of Nancy Argentino, how the media caused the case to be reopened, a look at the charges against Jimmy Snuka, the different statements on the subject by Snuka, Snuka’s lawyer speaks, notes on documentation and testimony from the time, lots of notes regarding evidence, where Jimmy Snuka stood in the wrestling business in 1983, how Buddy Rogers fits into this story, what Snuka told police the morning after Argentino died as well as testimony from those who treated Argentino before her death.

We also look at the autopsy report, the police report from that time, the strange question that was never answered regarding the case being dropped, what Snuka has said to different people, the brawl in Syracuse before Argentino’s death, how the pro wrestling business in 1983 is so completely different from today and the previous legal action regarding this case. 

Irv Muchnick also does a piece on the indictment talking about several points from the indictment.

We also look at Hulk Hogan appearing on Good Morning America and Nightline in a way to get his job back and repair his public image.  We look at the WWE reaction, what Hogan said, what does and doesn’t hold up, the timeline issues with his various stories, neighbors of his growing up contradict his story and more.

We also look at the story of the man who was shot in front of the Performance Center, the circumstances of the shooting, and the different things he had done in recent months regarding his obsession with wrestling.

We also look at Battle of Los Angeles, how the tournament went, highlights from the weekend and celebrities at the shows.

We also look back at the career of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, including his new job with UFC, his becoming the top heavyweight in the sport at one time, his background, his debut in RINGS, his move to Pride, his fight with Bob Sapp, his three fight series with Fedor and his UFC run.

We look at the arrest of Thomas “Bram” Latimer of  TNA, police details of what happened, TNA’s response and what is next for him.

We’ve got a story on Hayabusa, one of the best high flyers from 15-20 years ago and his attempted recovery from near paralysis.

We’ve got a look at Travis Browne and his reinstatement in UFC.

We look at the firing of Zahra Schreiber, the girlfriend of Seth Rollins, by WWE.

We also look at WWE & TNA business when it comes to house shows, merchandise, ratings and other categories for the past month.

We also have a PPV chart with how all the shows in the first seven months of the year have been, and compared them with the last few years.

We also look at WWE signing one of the major international women stars and why she’s not going to be wrestling in NXT, the return of Dr. Wagner Jr. & L.A. Park to Arena Mexico and how it got over, top pro wrestling star gets a reality show gig, and some major title changes.

We also look at maneuvering for the 2017 and 2018 WrestleMania, and the favorites, the 10/3 Madison Square Garden WWE live special, notes on lots of indie stars on WWE’s radar, ticket sales for NXT in the U.K., a new WWE movie, Update on Wade Barrett, action figure sales, announcing changes, SummerSlam edits, lots of notes on various WWE lawsuits, Dean Ambrose talks Renee Young, Fan tries to attack Ambrose, Sara Lee in NXT, plus notes on all the WWE & NXT house shows over the past week.

We also look at a number of top stars who worked recently in Bolivia, the last AAA TV taping and AAA wrestlers in a bodybuilding contest.

We update Wrestle-1 and the three generations of green mist stars trios match.

We also look at the Dragon Gate summer tag team tournament and its big show in Fukuoka and what came out of it.

We look at All Japan’s last major show and its current singles tournament.

We look at Pro Wrestling NOAH’s next major show, including a title match that was set up in the U.S., a well as the bracketing in the upcoming junior heavyweight tag team tournament.

We look at the weekend IGF show, a record that will be set at the next Tokyo Dome show, and the NWA title change.

We also look at U.S. stars who usually don’t tour Japan that are going shortly.

We’ve got more on the planned bio movie on Chris Benoit, Angelo Mosca getting his number retired, the weekend GFW shows and angles, Preston City Wrestling’s weekend show, former TNA star retires and a unique main event, plus early notes on this year’s WWC Anniversary show.

We also update the TNA TV situation, the Lucha Underground TV situation, the next ROH PPV show, new roles for people in ROH and notes from the weekend show.

We also look at changes in UFC main events, can UFC sell 70,000 tickets to its November show with Ronda Rousey, Rousey talks when she expects to retire, Cyborg, the date with the marine and notes about live shows on Fight Pass this month.  We also look at this week’s PPV show, talks about the Jan. 2 Las Vegas card, a star fighter retires, Chad Mendes wants a rematch with McGregor, what happened recently with Jose Aldo, Rousey T-shirt sales, plus lots of more fights.

We also have a look at Bellator’s next major show, including the updated card, as well as plans for the big November show.  We look at the Fan Fest with Fedor and Sakuraba, as well as notes on last week’s show.

We also look at the arrest of Chris Leben, and new restrictions on weight cutting that is being tried out for in California.

If you are a new subscriber ordering 24 or more issues, you can get one free classic issue of your choice sent to you today.  With a 40 issue subscription, you can get two free classic issues sent to you today.

New subscribers ordering 24 or 40 issues have to let us know what major stories of the past 11 years you are most interested in and we’ll send the issue with the best coverage of that story. We’ve got coverage of every major PPV event and world wide spectacular, every major star switching promotions, histories of companies like FMW, Rings and New Japan, retirement and obit issues of every major star who fits into those descriptions over the past 11 years, as well as our biggest issue every year, the annual awards issue, and our most controversial issue of every year, the Hall of Fame issue.

Click here for the most requested Wrestling Observer back issues.

***

Tuesday Daily Update

— TMZ has a story about Paige and Alicia Fox getting int an altercation with a bar patron at a steakhouse last night in Baltimore. Apparently, the woman started agressively taking photos and videos of them, drinks went flying, and employees threw all three out.

— From a reader: I attended the Raw in Tampa a few weeks ago. WWE sent me a survey today asking all kinds of questions about what I liked and didn’t like, and what I like and don’t like about the Network. But one question they asked was intriguing – it asked which PPV start time I would prefer out of 1PM, 5PM, 7PM and 8PM. Thought it was interesting.

— WWE raised over $200,000 for the families of deceased New York police officers and firefighters.

— Kotaku has an amusing article about game developer Jon Jones, who’s @JonJones on Twitter and…well, you can guess where it goes from there.

— Marc Raimondi is reporting at MMAFighting.com that the controversial unregulated Xplode Fight Series will start using th UMMAF (the American MMA sanctioning arm of the same organization that includes the IMMAF and KICK for kickboxing) as a third party sanctioning body. The UMMAF, which includes recognizable referees such as Steve Mazzagatti,  Kim Winslow, and Frank Trigg, typically does amateur cards but sees XFS as part of their mission since they run mixed amateur/pro events. Xplode has come under fire for booking extreme mismatches to help fighters (especially those from San Diego Combat Academy’s Team Hurricane Awesome and the now defunct Reign Training Center) pad their records, with many of the designated jobbers looking like they’re completely untrained.

— Main event fight announcement from Bellator: After his explosive Bellator MMA debut, Hisaki Kato (5-1) will return to action on November 20 at WinStar World Casino and Resort in Thackerville, OK., to main event “Bellator 146” against Melvin Manhoef (29-12-1, 2 NC).The middleweight contest will serve as the main event of “Bellator 146: Kato vs. Manhoef,” which airs live on Spike at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT, while preliminary bouts will stream on Spike.com at 6 p.m. CT.

 — WWE’s nw Monday Night War Vol. 2: Know Your Role set is out on DVD and Blu-Ray today. Also, Bob Backlund’s book is now in stock at and shipping early from Amazon.

— WrestlingDVDNetwork.com has revealed the following matches so far as being part of WWE’s upcoming “Owen: Hart of Gold” DVD set:

* Blue Blazer vs. Mr. Perfect – Meadowlands • May 8, 1989

* Owen Hart vs. Mark Kyle – World Championship Wrestling • March 16, 1991

* WWE Intercontinental Championship Match: Owen Hart vs. Shawn Michaels Wrestling Spotlight • August 28, 1993

* Exhibition Match: Owen Hart vs. Nick Barberri – WrestleMania XI Public Workout; Times Square, NYC • March 28, 1995

* North American Heavyweight Championship Match:  Owen Hart vs. Makhin Singh – Stampede Wrestling • May 1988

* Owen Hart vs. Bret Hart – WrestleMania X • March 20, 1994

* King of the Ring Finals: Owen Hart vs. Razor Ramon – King of the Ring • June 19, 1994

* Lumberjack Match for the WWE Championship: Owen Hart vs. Bret Hart – Portland, ME • August 17, 1994

* WWE Tag Team Championship Match: Owen Hart & Yokozuna vs. The Allied Powers – In Your House • July 23, 1995

* # 1 Contender for the WWE Championship: Owen Hart vs. Shawn Michaels – In Your House • February 18, 1996

— NWAClassics.com added a new Magnum T.A. vs. Ernie Ladd match today for subscribers.

— Dave has two new articles at MMAFighting.com:

Fortunes changed for five at UFC 191

UFC plans to have weekly live events on Fight Pass in near future

— Chikara King ofTrios 2015 Night 1 is now available.

— On the latest Between the Sheets podcast, Barbed Wire City director John Philapavage joins Kris Zellner and myself to discuss all of the wrestling news from September 1-7, 1995 including the premiere of WCW Monday Nitro with Lex Luger’s surprise appearance.

— Brian Fritz talks to Kana about signing with WWE at The Sporting News.

— Brandon Howard analyzes wrestlng TV show viewership at Voices of Wrestling.

— Great North Wrestling has a benefit show for the Canadian Cancer Society this Saturday, September 12th, at 1:30 pm at Hawkesbury Ford in Hawkesbury, Ontario. Former WWE manager Frenchy Martin will manage Hannibal in the main event when he takes on Myzery Barbarian. Carl Leduc, Jeremy Prophet, Sexy Eddy and other GNW regulars will be on the event. Greatnorthwrestling.ca 

— Empire Wrestling Federation results from  Knights of Columbus Hall September 4th 2015 Covina, CA: “The Sunset Blvd Bad Boy” Richie Slade def “The OC Assassin” RJ Ruiz, The Viking Warrior def Sergio Santana, EWF American Championship: “The Incredible” Anthony Idol (w/Walt Wizeone Zeman) def “The Baby Bull” Vance Garayt to become the NEW EWF American Champion, “Big Money” Tyshaun Prince def “The Definition of Pain” Terex, “Russian Chain Match” Gatson def “The SuperTsar” Sasha Darevko, EWF Tag Team Championship:

“Uptown” Andy Brown & Adrian Quest def The Congregation of Pain” (Friar Juan Roman & Archimedes) to become the NEW EWF Tag Team Champions, EWF Heavyweight Championship: The Man in Black (w/Gary Yap) def Misterioso Jr to retain the EWF Heavyweight Championship

By Dave Meltzer

We’re looking for your thoughts on Saturday night’s UFC 191 PPV show, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to Dave Meltzer

We’re also looking for reports from Raw in Baltimore tonight with the Superstars matches, dark matches and anything else not evident from the live show at Dave Meltzer

We’re also looking for reports on these shows:

*WWE Friday night in Hampton, VA

*WWE Saturday night in Charlottesville

*WWE Saturday night in Wildwood, NJ

*WWE Sunday in Fairfax, VA

*GFW Friday in Waterloo, IA

Raw will be Monday night in Baltimore.

Smackdown and Main Event are taped Tuesday night in Wilkes-Barre, PA.

Dragon Gate has an iPPV at 5:30 a.m. Eastern early Wednesday morning

Mondai Ryu & Punch Tominaga vs. Lindaman & Draztick Boy

Masaaki Mochizuki & Big R Shimizu & Yosuke Santa Maria vs Genki Horiguchi & Jimmy Kanda & Naoki Tanizaki

Dragon Kid & Flamita vs. BxB Hulk & Kzy

T-Hawk vs. Eita

Cima & Gamma vs. Don Fujii & Ryo Saito in the Summer Action tag league

Shingo Takagi & Cyber Kong & Kotoka vs. Masato Yoshino & Akira Tozawa & Shachihoko Boy

Yamato & Naruki Doi vs. Jimmy Susumu & K-Ness in the Summer Action tag league  

Wrestling Observer Newsletter:

It’s a gigantic news week in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter with the main feature story on everything that led to the indictment of Jimmy Snuka after 32 years, plus Irv Muchnick, who has reported on the story for years gives his views on the proceedings, and we also look at Hulk Hogan’s attempt at redemption of his character, the full story behind the shooting at the Performance Center, notes from Battle of Los Angeles, the retirement of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Hayabusa walks to the ring, Bram gets arrested, WWE fires Zahra Schreiber, UFC brings back Travis Browne, a rundown of the PPV business in WWE in 2015 and the latest monthly business report from WWE & TNA. 

The latest Wrestling Observer: September 7, 2015 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Snuka indicted, shooting at WWE Performance Center and tons more

Web site subscriptions, which include access to both current and older newsletters as well as every audio show in the history of the site.  Sign up here for as low as $9.99 per month! 

You can also order the print Observer right now and get it delivered to your door via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to Dave Meltzer 

You can also order at www.paypal.com directing funds to dave@wrestlingobserver.com

Rates are:

For the United States, it is $13 for 4 issues, $32 for 12, $61 for 24, $101 for 40 and $131 for 52. In Canada and Mexico, rates are $14.50 for 4, $35 for 12, $67 for 24, $111 for 40 and $144 or 52.  In Europe, you can get the fastest delivery and best rates by sending to moonsault@mediaplusint.com  For the rest of the world, rates are $16.50 for 4, $44 for 12, $85 for 24, $141 for 40 issues and $183 for 52.

If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order (P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228), you can get $1 off in every price range.

The Wrestling Observer ranges weekly from 35,000 to 50,000 words covering pro wrestling and MMA internationally. Each issue has coverage and analysis of all the major news, plus every issue breaks major news stories before the Internet sties and has the most complete look at the pro wrestling and MMA business anywhere, plus history pieces available nowhere else.

Our lead story goes back to 1983 with an in-depth look at the death of Nancy Argentino, how the media caused the case to be reopened, a look at the charges against Jimmy Snuka, the different statements on the subject by Snuka, Snuka’s lawyer speaks, notes on documentation and testimony from the time, lots of notes regarding evidence, where Jimmy Snuka stood in the wrestling business in 1983, how Buddy Rogers fits into this story, what Snuka told police the morning after Argentino died as well as testimony from those who treated Argentino before her death.

We also look at the autopsy report, the police report from that time, the strange question that was never answered regarding the case being dropped, what Snuka has said to different people, the brawl in Syracuse before Argentino’s death, how the pro wrestling business in 1983 is so completely different from today and the previous legal action regarding this case. 

Irv Muchnick also does a piece on the indictment talking about several points from the indictment.

We also look at Hulk Hogan appearing on Good Morning America and Nightline in a way to get his job back and repair his public image.  We look at the WWE reaction, what Hogan said, what does and doesn’t hold up, the timeline issues with his various stories, neighbors of his growing up contradict his story and more.

We also look at the story of the man who was shot in front of the Performance Center, the circumstances of the shooting, and the different things he had done in recent months regarding his obsession with wrestling.

We also look at Battle of Los Angeles, how the tournament went, highlights from the weekend and celebrities at the shows.

We also look back at the career of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, including his new job with UFC, his becoming the top heavyweight in the sport at one time, his background, his debut in RINGS, his move to Pride, his fight with Bob Sapp, his three fight series with Fedor and his UFC run.

We look at the arrest of Thomas “Bram” Latimer of  TNA, police details of what happened, TNA’s response and what is next for him.

We’ve got a story on Hayabusa, one of the best high flyers from 15-20 years ago and his attempted recovery from near paralysis.

We’ve got a look at Travis Browne and his reinstatement in UFC.

We look at the firing of Zahra Schreiber, the girlfriend of Seth Rollins, by WWE.

We also look at WWE & TNA business when it comes to house shows, merchandise, ratings and other categories for the past month.

We also have a PPV chart with how all the shows in the first seven months of the year have been, and compared them with the last few years.

We also look at WWE signing one of the major international women stars and why she’s not going to be wrestling in NXT, the return of Dr. Wagner Jr. & L.A. Park to Arena Mexico and how it got over, top pro wrestling star gets a reality show gig, and some major title changes.

We also look at maneuvering for the 2017 and 2018 WrestleMania, and the favorites, the 10/3 Madison Square Garden WWE live special, notes on lots of indie stars on WWE’s radar, ticket sales for NXT in the U.K., a new WWE movie, Update on Wade Barrett, action figure sales, announcing changes, SummerSlam edits, lots of notes on various WWE lawsuits, Dean Ambrose talks Renee Young, Fan tries to attack Ambrose, Sara Lee in NXT, plus notes on all the WWE & NXT house shows over the past week.

We also look at a number of top stars who worked recently in Bolivia, the last AAA TV taping and AAA wrestlers in a bodybuilding contest.

We update Wrestle-1 and the three generations of green mist stars trios match.

We also look at the Dragon Gate summer tag team tournament and its big show in Fukuoka and what came out of it.

We look at All Japan’s last major show and its current singles tournament.

We look at Pro Wrestling NOAH’s next major show, including a title match that was set up in the U.S., a well as the bracketing in the upcoming junior heavyweight tag team tournament.

We look at the weekend IGF show, a record that will be set at the next Tokyo Dome show, and the NWA title change.

We also look at U.S. stars who usually don’t tour Japan that are going shortly.

We’ve got more on the planned bio movie on Chris Benoit, Angelo Mosca getting his number retired, the weekend GFW shows and angles, Preston City Wrestling’s weekend show, former TNA star retires and a unique main event, plus early notes on this year’s WWC Anniversary show.

We also update the TNA TV situation, the Lucha Underground TV situation, the next ROH PPV show, new roles for people in ROH and notes from the weekend show.

We also look at changes in UFC main events, can UFC sell 70,000 tickets to its November show with Ronda Rousey, Rousey talks when she expects to retire, Cyborg, the date with the marine and notes about live shows on Fight Pass this month.  We also look at this week’s PPV show, talks about the Jan. 2 Las Vegas card, a star fighter retires, Chad Mendes wants a rematch with McGregor, what happened recently with Jose Aldo, Rousey T-shirt sales, plus lots of more fights.

We also have a look at Bellator’s next major show, including the updated card, as well as plans for the big November show.  We look at the Fan Fest with Fedor and Sakuraba, as well as notes on last week’s show.

We also look at the arrest of Chris Leben, and new restrictions on weight cutting that is being tried out for in California.

If you are a new subscriber ordering 24 or more issues, you can get one free classic issue of your choice sent to you today.  With a 40 issue subscription, you can get two free classic issues sent to you today.

New subscribers ordering 24 or 40 issues have to let us know what major stories of the past 11 years you are most interested in and we’ll send the issue with the best coverage of that story. We’ve got coverage of every major PPV event and world wide spectacular, every major star switching promotions, histories of companies like FMW, Rings and New Japan, retirement and obit issues of every major star who fits into those descriptions over the past 11 years, as well as our biggest issue every year, the annual awards issue, and our most controversial issue of every year, the Hall of Fame issue.

Click here for the most requested Wrestling Observer back issues

MONDAY’S NEWS UPDATE

• Bryan and I will be back tonight talking Raw and the rest of the latest news as well as taking your e-mail questions that can be sent to mailbag@wrestlingobserver.com
• For tonight’s Raw, Sting is scheduled on the show tonight.  Kane wasn’t there as of the last reports so his return, which was actually scheduled right after SummerSlam, may be delayed.  Paige vs. Sasha Banks in a rematch from last week was also announced.
• L.A. Park and CMLL are already splitsville after two weeks.  He’s off the anniversary show and also off the main event for this coming Friday night.
• CHIKARA King of Trios final night results from last night:
  Drago & Fenix & Aero Star b Max Smashmaster & Blaster McMassive & Flex Rumblecrunch
  A.J. Styles & Young Bucks b Team Fight Club Pro
  Princess Kimber Lee & Los Ice Creams & Jervis Cottonbelly b Chuck Taylor & Orange Cassidy & Drew Gulak & Swamp Monster
  Nokken & Pinkie Sanchez over The Throwbacks, Bee Boy & Genetic Grasshopper, Argus & Purpura, Simon Dean & Blue Meanie, 3.0, Pete Dunne & Morgan Webster, Ole Juke Joint & Missile Assault Ant, Orbital Adventure Ant & Action Rescue Ant and Osirian Portal
  Heidi Lovelace b The Boar of Moldova
  Mark Andrews b Shynron to win King of Voladores tournament
  Drago & Fenix & Aero Star b A.J. Styles & Young Bucks to win the King of trios
• If you are an independent wrestler and want to work for WWE, someone in the company noted please do not publicly post something asking to view an illegal stream of anything.  Apparently there was a very negative reaction internally to a wrestler publicly asking for a link to an illegal stream of Saturday’s UFC show.  It’s not that it’s UFC, but WWE is in the same business and feels that talent should be smart enough not to publicly ask for a link for an illegal stream because that’s a subject that hurts WWE business as well.  It was noted that a personal message asking someone that nobody would find out wouldn’t hurt anyone, but asking in social media is very different.  
• Chris Leben will be doing a live video at 5 p.m. Eastern at www.unfilteredmma.com to discuss his court case.
• Seth Rollins talks all kinds of things regarding his rise to the championship
• Dean Ambrose talks making his acting debut in 12 Rounds 3
• Dynamo Pro Wrestling from yesterday afternoon in St. Louis:  Ric Maverick NC Bahamut, Keon Option b Ozzie Gallagher, The Snitch b Rocket Mapache, Justin D’Air b Shawn Santel, Mike Sydal b Outkast, Ricky Cruz b Kevin Lee Davidson, Mike Outlaw b Mauler McDarby, Jake Dirden b Davey Richards (thanks to Patrick Brandmeyer)
• Trainwreck, which includes John Cena, was No. 9 at the box office in Australia this past weekend (thanks to James Stanios)
• Adrian Street vs. Bill Dundee is the new match today on NWAClassics.com
• WWE returns to San Diego on 10/26. 
• Grand Slam Wrestling on Saturday night in Moosic, PA at the Youth Center. 
• A clip of Barbie Bank (Kelly Kelly from tomorrow night’s episode of WAGS, which airs after Total Divas at 10 p.m. on E!
• Harley Race talks Hulk Hogan

ON THIS DAY IN PRO WRESTLING HISTORY INTERNATIONAL (thanks to Graeme Cameron)

1970 – El Texano beat El Gringo in Monterrey to win the UWA welterweight title

1971 – Red Bastien & Bill Howard beat Thunder Sugiyama & Rusher Kimura in Tokyo to win the vacant IWE tag tilters

1972 – Seiji Sakaguchi beat The Sheik in Osaka to win the United National title

1973 – Masked Lee & Lita Marez (the mother of Roller Derby’s Dave Marez) beat Jumbo Miyamoto & Mariko Akagi in Nagasaki to win the WWWA women’s tag title

1988 – Mogur beat Pierroth in Neza to win the Mexican national heavyweight title

1990 – Kenta Kobashi & Johnny Ace beat The Fantastics, Tommy Rogers & Bobby Fulton in Fukui to win the vacant All Asia tag titles

1994 – Atsushi Onita beat Mr. Pogo to win the FMW World brass Knux title

2002 – Yoshihiro Takayama beat Yoshinari Ogawa in Osaka to win the GHC heavyweight title

2014 – Astral beat Pequeno Olimpico in Mexico City to win the CMLL minis title.

By Dave Meltzer

We’re looking for reports on tonight’s WWE show in Hampton, VA (John Cena vs. Kevin Owens, Dolph Ziggler vs. Rusev) and GFW show in Waterloo, IA (Nick Aldis vs. Chris Mordetzky) at Dave Meltzer

Our only poll this weekend will be on the UFC 191 PPV tomorrow night from Las Vegas.

New Japan World on AXS TV at 9 p.m.

Tetsuya Naito vs. Kazuchika Okada

Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Desperado for IWGP jr. title

Shine iPPV from Ybor City, FL at www.WWNLive.com at 9 p.m. Eastern

Santana vs. Allysin Kay for the Shine championship

Vanessa Kraven vs. Athena

Jessicka Havok vs. LuFisto

Tracy Taylor vs. Su Yung no DQ street fight

Leah Von Dutch vs. Brandi Wine

Cherry Bomb vs. Taylor Made

Leva (Blue Pants) & Mia Yim (Jade in TNA) vs. Andrea & Jayme Jameson

Crazy Mary Dobson vs. Jessica James

Thunderkitty vs. Amanda Carolina Rodriguez

UFC 191 from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas

Fight Pass at 7 p.m. Eastern

Nazareno Malegarie vs. Joaquin Silva

Joe Riggs vs. Ron Stallings

FS 1 at 8 p.m. Eastern

Clay Collard vs. Thiago Trator

Jessica Andrade vs. Raquel Pennington

John Lineker vs. Francisco Rivera

Paul Felder vs. Ross Pearson

PPV at 10 p.m. Eastern

Paige VanZant vs. Alex Chambers

Corey Anderson vs. Jan Blachowicz

Anthony Rumble Johnson vs. Jimi Manuwa

Frank Mir vs. Andrei Arlovski

Demetrious Johnson vs. John Dodson for flyweight title

WWE runs Saturday night in Charlottesville, VA (John Cena vs. Kevin Owens) and Wildwood, NJ (Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt, Ryback vs. Big Show, Luke Harper vs. Dean Ambrose) and GFW in Clinton, IA.

WWE runs Sunday in Fairfax, VA (John Cena vs. Kevin Owens) and Salisbury, MD (Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt, Ryback vs. Big Show, Luke Harper vs. Dean Ambrose).

Raw will be Monday night in Baltimore.

Smackdown and Main Event are taped Tuesday night in Wilkes-Barre, PA.

It’s a gigantic news week in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter with the main feature story on everything that led to the indictment of Jimmy Snuka after 32 years, plus Irv Muchnick, who has reported on the story for years gives his views on the proceedings, and we also look at Hulk Hogan’s attempt at redemption of his character, the full story behind the shooting at the Performance Center, notes from Battle of Los Angeles, the retirement of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Hayabusa walks to the ring, Bram gets arrested, WWE fires Zahra Schreiber, UFC brings back Travis Browne, a rundown of the PPV business in WWE in 2015 and the latest monthly business report from WWE & TNA.

The latest Wrestling Observer: September 7, 2015 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Snuka indicted, shooting at WWE Performance Center and tons more

Web site subscriptions, which include access to both current and older newsletters as well as every audio show in the history of the site are at  Sign up here for as low as $9.99 per month!

You can also order the print Observer right now and get it delivered to your door via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to Dave Meltzer

You can also order at www.paypal.com directing funds to dave@wrestlingobserver.com

Rates are:

For the United States, it is $13 for 4 issues, $32 for 12, $61 for 24, $101 for 40 and $131 for 52. In Canada and Mexico, rates are $14.50 for 4, $35 for 12, $67 for 24, $111 for 40 and $144 or 52.  In Europe, you can get the fastest delivery and best rates by sending to moonsault@mediaplusint.com  For the rest of the world, rates are $16.50 for 4, $44 for 12, $85 for 24, $141 for 40 issues and $183 for 52.

If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order (P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228), you can get $1 off in every price range.

The Wrestling Observer ranges weekly from 35,000 to 50,000 words covering pro wrestling and MMA internationally. Each issue has coverage and analysis of all the major news, plus every issue breaks major news stories before the Internet sties and has the most complete look at the pro wrestling and MMA business anywhere, plus history pieces available nowhere else.

Our lead story goes back to 1983 with an in-depth look at the death of Nancy Argentino, how the media caused the case to be reopened, a look at the charges against Jimmy Snuka, the different statements on the subject by Snuka, Snuka’s lawyer speaks, notes on documentation and testimony from the time, lots of notes regarding evidence, where Jimmy Snuka stood in the wrestling business in 1983, how Buddy Rogers fits into this story, what Snuka told police the morning after Argentino died as well as testimony from those who treated Argentino before her death.

We also look at the autopsy report, the police report from that time, the strange question that was never answered regarding the case being dropped, what Snuka has said to different people, the brawl in Syracuse before Argentino’s death, how the pro wrestling business in 1983 is so completely different from today and the previous legal action regarding this case. 

Irv Muchnick also does a piece on the indictment talking about several points from the indictment.

We also look at Hulk Hogan appearing on Good Morning America and Nightline in a way to get his job back and repair his public image.  We look at the WWE reaction, what Hogan said, what does and doesn’t hold up, the timeline issues with his various stories, neighbors of his growing up contradict his story and more.

We also look at the story of the man who was shot in front of the Performance Center, the circumstances of the shooting, and the different things he had done in recent months regarding his obsession with wrestling.

We also look at Battle of Los Angeles, how the tournament went, highlights from the weekend and celebrities at the shows.

We also look back at the career of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, including his new job with UFC, his becoming the top heavyweight in the sport at one time, his background, his debut in RINGS, his move to Pride, his fight with Bob Sapp, his three fight series with Fedor and his UFC run.

We look at the arrest of Thomas “Bram” Latimer of  TNA, police details of what happened, TNA’s response and what is next for him.

We’ve got a story on Hayabusa, one of the best high flyers from 15-20 years ago and his attempted recovery from near paralysis.

We’ve got a look at Travis Browne and his reinstatement in UFC.

We look at the firing of Zahra Schreiber, the girlfriend of Seth Rollins, by WWE.

We also look at WWE & TNA business when it comes to house shows, merchandise, ratings and other categories for the past month.

We also have a PPV chart with how all the shows in the first seven months of the year have been, and compared them with the last few years.

We also look at WWE signing one of the major international women stars and why she’s not going to be wrestling in NXT, the return of Dr. Wagner Jr. & L.A. Park to Arena Mexico and how it got over, top pro wrestling star gets a reality show gig, and some major title changes.

We also look at maneuvering for the 2017 and 2018 WrestleMania, and the favorites, the 10/3 Madison Square Garden WWE live special, notes on lots of indie stars on WWE’s radar, ticket sales for NXT in the U.K., a new WWE movie, Update on Wade Barrett, action figure sales, announcing changes, SummerSlam edits, lots of notes on various WWE lawsuits, Dean Ambrose talks Renee Young, Fan tries to attack Ambrose, Sara Lee in NXT, plus notes on all the WWE & NXT house shows over the past week.

We also look at a number of top stars who worked recently in Bolivia, the last AAA TV taping and AAA wrestlers in a bodybuilding contest.

We update Wrestle-1 and the three generations of green mist stars trios match.

We also look at the Dragon Gate summer tag team tournament and its big show in Fukuoka and what came out of it.

We look at All Japan’s last major show and its current singles tournament.

We look at Pro Wrestling NOAH’s next major show, including a title match that was set up in the U.S., a well as the bracketing in the upcoming junior heavyweight tag team tournament.

We look at the weekend IGF show, a record that will be set at the next Tokyo Dome show, and the NWA title change.

We also look at U.S. stars who usually don’t tour Japan that are going shortly.

We’ve got more on the planned bio movie on Chris Benoit, Angelo Mosca getting his number retired, the weekend GFW shows and angles, Preston City Wrestling’s weekend show, former TNA star retires and a unique main event, plus early notes on this year’s WWC Anniversary show.

We also update the TNA TV situation, the Lucha Underground TV situation, the next ROH PPV show, new roles for people in ROH and notes from the weekend show.

We also look at changes in UFC main events, can UFC sell 70,000 tickets to its November show with Ronda Rousey, Rousey talks when she expects to retire, Cyborg, the date with the marine and notes about live shows on Fight Pass this month.  We also look at this week’s PPV show, talks about the Jan. 2 Las Vegas card, a star fighter retires, Chad Mendes wants a rematch with McGregor, what happened recently with Jose Aldo, Rousey T-shirt sales, plus lots of more fights.

We also have a look at Bellator’s next major show, including the updated card, as well as plans for the big November show.  We look at the Fan Fest with Fedor and Sakuraba, as well as notes on last week’s show.

We also look at the arrest of Chris Leben, and new restrictions on weight cutting that is being tried out for in California.

If you are a new subscriber ordering 24 or more issues, you can get one free classic issue of your choice sent to you today.  With a 40 issue subscription, you can get two free classic issues sent to you today.

New subscribers ordering 24 or 40 issues have to let us know what major stories of the past 11 years you are most interested in and we’ll send the issue with the best coverage of that story. We’ve got coverage of every major PPV event and world wide spectacular, every major star switching promotions, histories of companies like FMW, Rings and New Japan, retirement and obit issues of every major star who fits into those descriptions over the past 11 years, as well as our biggest issue every year, the annual awards issue, and our most controversial issue of every year, the Hall of Fame issue.

Click here for the most requested Wrestling Observer back issues

FRIDAY’S NEWS UPDATE

• UFC will be holding a press conference today at 3:30 p.m. Eastern time today from the MGM Grand Garden Arena which will be streamed live on the site. Those attending will be Daniel Cormier, Ronda Rousey, Jose Aldo, Conor McGregor, Rafael dos Anjos, Alexander Gustafsson, Holly Holm, Luke Rockhold, Donald Cerrone, Josh Barnett, Roy Nelson, Dustin Poirier, Joe Duffy, Vitor Belfort, Dan Henderson, Matt Brown, Kelvin Gastelum, Frankie Edgar and Chad Mendes.
  VIDEO: Watch today’s UFC GO BIG Campaign Launch Event
  Also check out the Weigh-ins right after:  UFC 191: Johnson vs. Dodson 2 weigh-in results and live video
  VIDEO: UFC 191 Countdown
  Check out Ryan Fredrick’s preview piece: UFC 191 Preview: 5 storylines to watch, betting odds & predictions
• The UFC show on 12/12 added Gunnar Nelson vs. Demian Maia in a battle of the two of the best submission guys in the company to the loaded show which last night added Urijah Faber vs. Frankie Saenz and Max Holloway vs. Jeremy Stephens.
• At the 9/19 Bellator show in San Jose, in the prelims, at two different times they will experiment with two fights going on at the same time.  There will be a ring and a cage both set up.  So they will have a kickboxing match inside the ring and the MMA match going on inside the cage.  It’s going to be a long show as they’ve got 20 fights on the card.  There will be 16 MMA fights and four kickboxing bouts.  
• While not officially announced, there are reports from Brazil that Miesha Tate vs. Amanda Nunes will be taking place.  That bout has been talked about ever since Tate was pulled from the Ronda Rousey fight.   No date or place is confirmed.
• We’ll see what happens.  Finn Balor and Samoa Joe are scheduled to headline for NXT in Jacksonville tonight.  Balor was on Twitter saying he was hiking in Ireland.  Balor was also advertised the last time NXT was in Jacksonville and wasn’t there.     
• Dean Ambrose on why he avoids social media in an interview  “There’s a whole world of weirdos out there.”
• Tommy Dreamer’s House of Hardcore promotion runs 11/13 in Philadelphia at the 2300 Arena and 11/14 in New York at the Elmcor Center in Queens, NY.
• Funny thing on WWE.com.  They are doing a Where are they now?  For Maria Kanellis, it says, “Today, she’s an actress, podcaster and honor student at Johnson & Wales University, where she’s studying for a degree in event management.”  That’s all true, but what is her actual job today?  
• Ryan Couture vs. Nick Gonzalez has been added to the 9/25 Bellator show in Hidalgo, TX at the State Farm Arena.  Couture vs. Gonzalez will air on the Spike.com prelims.
• CMLL on Tuesday night in Guadalajara:  Exterminador & Malefico b Magnum & Metatron, Cancerbero & Raziel & Virus b Esfigne & Pegasso & Starman, Metalico b Omar Brunetti, Angel de Oro & Brazo de Plata & Stuka Jr. b El Terrible & Rey Bucanero & Rey Escorpion, Atlantis & Marco Corleone & Valiente b Negro Casas & Mr. Niebla & Shocker-DQ (thanks to Kris Zellner)
• The new match added to NWAClassics.com today is Black Gordman vs. Omar Atlas.  Gordman was actually as far as I can tell, the inventor of the DDT.  He was doing it in Texas when Jake Roberts was starting out as a referee.  He brought the move into the U.S. in the 60s from Mexico.
• C.W. Anderson faces Matt Saigon in the main event for ECWA on 9/19 in Woodbury Heights, NJ at the Community Center.
• Pro Wrestling Illustrated released its top 500 this year at www.pwi-online.com  the top ten is Seth Rollins, John Cena, A.J. Styles, Roman Reigns, Shinsuke Nakamura, Randy Orton, Jay Briscoe, Rusev, Alberto el Patron and Kevin Owens.
• Tickets for NXT in Nashville went on sale at 10 a.m. local time today and they are almost sold out in a 2,000 seat concert hall.  Ringside at $105 sold out almost immediately (thanks to Chris Kunkel)
• Irv Muchnick on Toronto radio talking the Jimmy Snuka case
• Notes from yesterday’s UFC press conference.  Paige VanZant got more media attention than anyone else.  She was swarmed.  The next most attention was Demetrious Johnson, followed by Frank Mir.  Not many paying attention to John Dodson.  Anthony Johnson was super friendly to fans, above and beyond.  Lots of fans were from  England and Ireland.  Dana White took photos with every fan there for a long time after it was over.

ON THIS DAY IN PRO WRESTLING HISTORY INTERNATIONAL (thanks to Graeme Cameron)

1902 – George Hackenschmidt beat Tom Cannon in Liverpool, England to win the European Greco-Roman heavyweight title.  This was the win that set up Hackenschmidt coming to the U.S. as European champion for his first match with Frank Gotch in 1908.

1980 – Giant Baba beat Harley Race to win the NWA title in Saga

1989 – Cuchillo beat Super Astro in Monterey to win the UWA junior light heavyweight title

1992 – Bestia Salvaje bet Dandy in Mexico City to win the CMLL middleweight title

1994 – Pierroth beat Vampiro in Monterrey to win the FILL heavyweight title

2012 – Titan beat Polvora in Mexico City to win the Mexican national welterweight title

By Dave Meltzer

We’re looking for reports from Raw in Tampa tonight with dark matches, Superstars matches and anything else not evident from the live show to Dave Meltzerdave@wrestlingobserver.com”>  Announced for tonight’s show includes Sting opening the show talking about his upcoming title match with Seth Rollins, a Beat the Clock challenge with Charlotte, Paige and Becky Lynch where the winner gets a shot at Nikki Bella’s Divas title, as well as a Dolph Ziggler vs. Rusev match.

We’re also looking for reports on these weekend shows:

*Sunday WWE in Daytona Beach
*Saturday Global Force Wrestling in Richmond, VA
*Saturday NXT in Fort Pierce, FL
*Thursday NXT in Tampa, FL.

Smackdown and Main Event will be taped on Tuesday in Miami.

Wrestling Observer Newsletter:

A complete rundown of the WWE’s weekend in Brooklyn, with all the business notes, surprises and what is known about the future direction is the lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.  We also cover the decision to have Holly Holm replace Miesha Tate as Ronda Rousey’s opponent next, a UFC business year-in-review story, ROH big weekend, New Japan next tour, 2017 Mania and Daniel Bryan future note. 

The latest Wrestling Observer: Wrestling Observer Newsletter August 31, 2015: SummerSlam weekend wrap-up, UFC business

Web site subscriptions, which include access to both current and older newsletters as well as every audio show in the history of the site.  Sign up here for as low as $9.99 per month!

You can also order the print Observer right now and get it delivered to your door via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to Dave Meltzerdave@wrestlingobserver.com”>

You can also order at www.paypal.com directing funds to dave@wrestlingobserver.com

Rates are:

For the United States, it is $13 for 4 issues, $32 for 12, $61 for 24, $101 for 40 and $131 for 52. In Canada and Mexico, rates are $14.50 for 4, $35 for 12, $67 for 24, $111 for 40 and $144 or 52.  In Europe, you can get the fastest delivery and best rates by sending to moonsault@mediaplusint.com  For the rest of the world, rates are $16.50 for 4, $44 for 12, $85 for 24, $141 for 40 issues and $183 for 52.

If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order (P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228), you can get $1 off in every price range. 

The Wrestling Observer ranges weekly from 35,000 to 50,000 words covering pro wrestling and MMA internationally. Each issue has coverage and analysis of all the major news, plus every issue breaks major news stories before the Internet sties and has the most complete look at the pro wrestling and MMA business anywhere, plus history pieces available nowhere else.

We have rundowns of NXT Takeover, SummerSlam and Raw from Brooklyn.  We look at the Night of Champions card and what is and isn’t confirmed, the unique aspect of that weekend no PPV, the returns of Sting and the Dudleys, Dudleys tag title reigns, Jushin Liger’s WWE future, New Japan stars at SummerSlam, Bray Wyatt’s new Wyatt family member and his booking, Jon Stewart, Lesnar and Undertaker’s finish, business notes, NXT in the U.K., Wrestlers complaining about fans at Raw, as well as more on the problems in the WWE Diva Division and what isn’t working. 

We look at UFC’s 2015 business numbers and what they show about the UFC audience, the appeal of the audience to advertisers, how it compares with the audience at other sports, how much of this year’s increases have to do with Conor McGregor and Ronda Rousey and what their effects are on business as a whole.  We also look at who the new fans UFC has brought in this year are.

We also have full coverage of UFC from Saskatoon, with match-by-match coverage and business notes on the show.

We look at two major stars returning to a major promotion after seven years and their first programs, the CMLL Anniversary show main event, notes from the Arena Mexico shows from the past weekend Ultimo Dragon taping TV in Mexico City.

We also have notes on a top woman star being injured, a booker getting bad pub from television, a promotion so hot that their sold out events are going to be broadcast in movie theaters as well as upcoming tournaments in Japan.

We also have a look at the New Japan business and how it has increased over recent years, More on A.J. Styles challenging for the IWGP title, New wrestlers debuting in Japan including names not announced yet, lineups for the New Japan World shows in September, Hiroshi Tanahashi talks neck problem, Tanahashi talks theories of wrestling and Ricochet in New Japan.

We also look at WrestleMania in 2017, the Madison Square Garden network special the 2K 16 launch party, the next Stone Cold podcast, an update on Daniel Bryan and well as some of his own philosophies of wrestling, Dolph Ziggler talks contract, the end of Tough Enough, more on NXT talent and pay, stars with new deals, the WWE Divas title, HHH talks NXT, other stars talk who they’d like to see in WWE, Jericho talks Hogan and more.

We also note an indie show in Japan that outdrew Brock Lesnar and WWE at Sumo Hall, as well as the 40th anniversary of the pro debut of one of this era’s biggest stars.

We note the death of Duke Myers, his career highlights, GFW’s latest TV taping and everything that happened, Taz getting a new gig, Wale and pro wrestling, Terry Funk wrestling again in a few months, Jim Ross talk show, Leroy McGuirk into NWA Hall of Fame, Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Red, Alberto El Patron in Europe, promoter critical of Sabu and an update on Len Rossi.

We also look at the future of Lucha Underground, ROH/New Japan relationship update, next ROH PPV show, ROH weekend shows in Philadelphia and Brooklyn notes as well as the upcoming show.

We also update TNA.

We look at UFC’s marketing its fall and winter shows, what main events all UFC ‘s upcoming dates, Plans for the debut in Melbourne, Australia, and more notes on drug testing UFC athletes.

We also look at the next FOX show, lots of new fights, Ronda Rousey T-shirt sales, Anthony Johnson situation, Two UFC women fighters pregnant and new Fight Pass series.

We also look at a major wrestler signing, Alberto Del Rio in negotiations to be an announcer, early UFC promoter back running live shows and huge One championship bout.

If you are a new subscriber ordering 24 or more issues, you can get one free classic issue of your choice sent to you today.  With a 40 issue subscription, you can get two free classic issues sent to you today.

New subscribers ordering 24 or 40 issues have to let us know what major stories of the past 11 years you are most interested in and we’ll send the issue with the best coverage of that story. We’ve got coverage of every major PPV event and world wide spectacular, every major star switching promotions, histories of companies like FMW, Rings and New Japan, retirement and obit issues of every major star who fits into those descriptions over the past 11 years, as well as our biggest issue every year, the annual awards issue, and our most controversial issue of every year, the Hall of Fame issue.

Click here for the most requested Wrestling Observer back issues

MONDAY’S NEWS UPDATE

• Bryan and I will be back tonight talking all of the craziness that has taken place today, as well as Raw.  You can ask questions for tonight’s show to mailbag@wrestlingobserver.com

• Some more notes on the shooting in front of the Performance Center.  The guy who was shot, 29-year-old Armando Montalvo, was a real weirdo that area officers knew well as did WWE staffers.  This was the third time he had come to the Performance Center this month.  Before that, he urinated on the building.  He even posted a video of him mixing his own feces with low fat milk to put in a bucket to pour it on he building.  He had posted videos where he was obsessed with A.J. Lee (Lee was not the person he was fixated on during the past month).  On more than one occasion he dressed up like a wrestler, banged on windows, and said he would kick everyone’s ass because they wouldn’t hire him.  At one point, he carried a chain to the Performance Center and police had to draw their guns to subdue him.  Five days ago, he did another video of himself outside the building saying he was going to ask for a job.  There were two deputies in the area when someone from the Performance Center called police and everyone involved was well aware of Montalvo, who has a long record for various crimes including assault on an officer and violation of a restraining order.  He looked like he was going to attack Cpl. Steve Wahl and there was fear he had a knife, and Wahl backed off 75 to 100 feet before shooting the man in the stomach.  He underwent emergency surgery and his injuries may be life threatening.
  Man shot at WWE Performance Center (updated) 
  Police Press conference
  WFTV Report
  ClickOrlando.com Article

• WWE News: Zahra Schreiber released
• Hulk Hogan asks for forgiveness on Good Morning America
• TNA News: Thomas “Bram” Latimer arrested and suspended
• WWE: Why Bayley is (or should be) the future female face of WWE
• All 3 days of BOLA:PWG Battle of Los Angeles Night 1 (8/28) results: Young Bucks, Roderick Strong, Zack Sabre Jr.
  PWG Battle of Los Angeles Night 2 (8/29) results:
  PWG Battle of Los Angeles day three notes

• Jax Dane beat Hiroyoshi Tenzan on Saturday night in San Antonio to win the NWA heavyweight title.

• Trainwreck was No. 4 at the box office in Australia this past week. (thanks to James Stanios)
• This comes from someone in WWE and is good advice:  To all indy talent wanting to get into WWE, delete your social media profiles now if you have any questionable comments.  For women, delete all sexually themed photos as soon as possible.
• Michelle Waterson vs Tecia Torres was added to the loaded 12/12 UFC show in Las Vegas.
• WWE stock closed today at $20.06 per share, up 57 cents per share from Friday. 
• ROH announced that in upgrading its web site, some television shows have been temporarily been taken down.  Because of those problems, all Ringside Members are getting 25 percent off all merchandise starting today. 
• Pro Wrestling Phoenix from Saturday night in Council Bluffs, IA:  Hype Gotti & Tony Cortez b Killer City Kings, Michael Ray b Adrian Alexander, Mark Sterling b Bodie Van Zandt, Dalton Lee Roth b Pat Powers, Marek Brave b  Ryan Slade, Darren Russell b Connor Braxton, Joey Daniels b Zicky Dice, Paul Daniels b Zac James, Mark Sterling won gauntlet Battle Royal.  Next show is 9/16 in Omaha at The Waiting Room Lounge.
• NWA Smoky Mountain Wrestling on 9/5 in Kingsport, TN headlined by Steve Anthony defending his NWA jr. title against Vince Brent.  Anthony is scheduled to go to New Japan later this month to defend the title against Tiger Mask.  Also Jason Kincaid faces Shawn Schultz for the Southeastern title.
• The CHIKARA King of Trios tournament starts on Friday night and goes through Sunday in Easton PA at the Palmer Center.  Among the first round matches include Drago & Fenix & Aero Star vs,. Chuck Taylor & Drew Gulak & Swamp Monster and Hallowicked & Frightmare & Silver Ant vs. Eddie Kingston & Ophidian & Shynron.
• The season finale of Swerved will be airing tonight after Raw on the WWE Network.
• CWE on Saturday night in Calgary:  Shane Sabre b Chase Owens, Carter Mason b Bobby Collins Anderson Tyson Moore won three-way over Jason Kincaid and Shelton Benjamin, Silas Young b Travis Cole, Dynamite Dan & Pistol Pete b Johnny Devine & Danny Duggan.  Next tour is 9/25 to 10/3.
• CWE on Friday night in Red Deer, Alberta:  Silas Young b Shane Sabre, Bobby Collins b Carter Mason, Shelton Benjamin b Tommy Lee Curtis, Anderson Tyson Moore b Travis Cole, Johnny Devine & Danny Duggan b Chase Owens & Jason Kincaid.
• Some new 2K 16 names revealed for the video game this year include Undertaker, The Vaudevillains, Ryback, Andre the Giant, Batista, Chris Jericho, Curtis Axel, Dean Ambrose, Edge, Erick Rowan, Fandango, John Bradshaw Layfield, Luke Harper, Randy Savage, Natalya, Rick Rude, R-Truth, Santino Marella, Sgt. Slaughter, Stephanie McMahon,  and The Rock.
• A New York Times magazine story on Brock Lesnar
• A Hustler Rip Rogers interview with Jim Cornette

ON THIS DAY IN PRO WRESTLING HISTORY INTERNATIONAL (thanks to Graeme Cameron)

1985 – Tiger Mask (Mitsuharu Misawa) beat Kuniaki Kobayashi in Tokyo to win the NWA Int. jr. title in one of the best matches of that decade
1991 – Kyoko Inoue beat Debbie Malenko in Mita to win the IWA title
1993 – Crypt Keeper (Jose Estrada Jr.) beat Crash the Terminator (Bill DeMott) in Akita to win the WING title
1997 – Kensuke Sasaki beat Shinya Hashimoto in Yokohama to win the IWGP title
1997 – Hayabusa & Masato Tanaka & Koji Nakagawa beat The Gladiator (Mike Awesome) & Hisakatsu Oya & Mr. Gannosuke in Yokohama to with he FMW Street fight trios title
2002 – Dandy beat Perro Aguayo Jr. in Tamaulipas to win the Mexican national light heavyweight title
2005 – Katsuhiko Nakajima beat Osamu Namiguchi in Hiroshima to win the Zero-One light heavyweight title