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  • Lucha Underground results: Rey Mysterio announces trios team; Matanza vs. Fenix

    We see a recap of the cops trying to come after Dario, while The Mack tries to help Sexy Star overcome her issues with Mariposa. We see Dario tell Matanza to break Pentagon Jr’s back, and a recap of the match where he ate a million moves to the back. In the bathroom, Vampiro looks at his medication while Dario tempts him to assault him – but he respects Vamp as the voice of LU. He doesn’t want him to make Pentagon’s mistake, and Vamp takes his medication.

    At the precinct, Reyes and Detective Reehan talk to Captain Vasquez about getting evidence on Dario. She wants them to be a team, and Cueto has put them in the Trios Title tournament tonight with Mr. Cisco. At the Temple, a band plays while Striker says that Fenix faces Matanza later. Ivelisse faces Kobra Moon in the opener.

    Ivelisse vs. Kobra Moon

    Kobra slithers and goes for takedowns, while Vamp commends Ivie for her gear making her look like a walking knife. Ivie kicks away and armdrags her into an armbar. Kobra Moon gets a triangle choke, but eats a powerbomb for 2. Dragon sleeper by Kobra, but Ivie escapes and hits a wonky armdrag. Corner rana is turned into a rope-hanging choke by Kobra. Vamp wonders if she slithers around like a snake because her name is Kobra Moon.

    Liver shot results in a Bas shoutout by Vamp, and a tarantula with a neck crank. Butterfly suplex into a butterfly lock. Striker talks about the Gable grip while Vamp asks if that’s due to Dan Gable and Striker confirms it. Weird overhead angle makes it hard to see Ivie’s setup into a Russian legsweep. Big Yakuza kick leads to an exploder by Ivie for 2. Running code red by Ivie gets the win! 

    We get an interview with Killshot. He served in the military and had 37 confirmed kills – all bad guys, or so he was told. He was good with his hands too, so he was in the elite squad and he was the enemy’s prisoner for 13 months before escaping by kicking the asses of many lucha terrorist ninjas – who are totally different than the usual lucha ninjas. He isn’t sure if his partners survived, and he fights in LU to forget. Well, this was different and pretty good. Famous B gives Mascarita Sagrada his business card and wants him to call 423-GET-FAME.

    He walks around and bumps into The Mack and Sexy working out. He wants her out for moral support tonight, but she can’t – until he motivates her saying he wants them to pay for what they did. We see the question mark being spray-painted above the Temple again. Joey Ryan jumps in front of the Crew and steals their thunder.

    Joey Ryan & The Crew vs. The Mack/Mariposa/Marty the Moth

    Joey Ryan teases a start before having Cisco start it off. Cisco and The Mack slap hands and Mack drops him with a tackle for 2. Cisco gets a wonky blind-diving armdrag, but Mack does a corner headstand and an armdrag. Slingblade armdrag by Mack before Mack flips up to his feet from his head. Joey tags himself in and wants “the girl”. He tries to give her his bodyoil lollipop, but she slaps him, so he pie-faces her. Rana gets 2 for Mariposa. Dropkick tot he knee sets up an axe kick, while Vamp hypes Andy Hug as the master of that.

    High kick by Reyes leads to the drive by sliding kick by Cisco for 2. Mariposa knocks him off the ropes and Marty gets a 2 count. Double team wheelbarrow splash gets 2 for Mariposa. Cicso misses a basement dropkick, but Mariposa hits one. Marty comes in and hits a corner exploder for 2. Cortez comes in with a pop-in tornado DDT for 2 before Mariposa saves. Joey tags himself in to steal Cortez’s thunder, but Mack comes in and attacks with punches and a big slam before getting 2 off a legdrop. 

    Samoan drop into a standing moonsault gets 2. Mariposa prevents a Mack dive, so he knocks her down and he flip dives onto the pile. Marty and Mack chop each other before Marty eats a stunner and a shatter machine by The Crew for the win! Mariposa jumps The Mack before Sexy Star comes in to make the save in a very short skirt. Sexy Star is pissed off and chops the daylights out of her before snapmaring and kicking her. Mack says that “SHE GOT DAT ASS, B*TCH! SHE GOT DAT ASS!” Mack is great.

    We go to the top of the Temple and we see Dragon Azteca Jr. and Rey – so I guess the question mark is the Rey Signal. Rey tells him that going for revenge isn’t good – fighting for honor is better, and revenge will come in time. Rey and Azteca have a match next week in the trios tournament and will team with Prince Puma. We close to a cool shot of all of them in their respective hoodies before going back to the ring for the main event.

    Striker talks about Fenix and Matanza fighting before, but Fenix was 1 while Matanza was 21 in Aztec Warfare. Striker calls Matanza the eater of worlds while Vamp talks about how we don’t know what Dario has done to make Matanza like this.

    Lucha Underground Champion Matanza Cueto vs. Fenix

    Dario tells Matanza to kill Fenix. Fenix avoids a shortarm clothesline before Matanza bowls him over and chokes him in the corner. Fenix hops over a Matanza charge, and hits a few superkicks to the knees, gut, and head – but gets caught and hit with a German INTO THE BUCKLE. Fenix knocks him into the ropes into a 619 position for a kick, but a dive is met with a rewind poweslam that Fenix escapes. Big German by Matanza! Fenix hits a missile dropkick and an apron elbow before Matanza punches him to the floor. 

    Fenix hits two apron superkicks and goes for a suicide dive, but is met with a World’s Strongest Slam on the floor leading to multiple “holy shit!”s by Vamp. Rewind powerslam hits for the win. Matanza climbs on top of Fenix and slugs away while the referee is threatened with firing. Catrina tells him to stop before Mil Muertes returns and attacks Matanza and sends him packing.

    Striker wonders if he is showing mercy to Fenix, or if he just wants the title. Fenix and Muertes have been enemies for the last year and a half, but now find themselves as uneasy allies. This was a really good episode of the show and gave Matanza a very small chink in the armor to at least make him seem like a monster that could one day be beaten.

    To see every screengrab for the show, just click here.

  • TNA Impact results: Drew Galloway vs. Matt Hardy; Eric Young vs. Jeff Hardy Six Sides of Steel

    Previously on TNA Impact:

    In Last week’s main event, Drew Galloway defeated Jeff Hardy in a hard fought battle to retain the TNA World title. Additionally, Matt Hardy, Tyrus and “Miracle” Mike Bennett defeated Ethan Carter III and Beer Money in a six-man tag. In an interesting note and potential spoiler for those who haven’t heard, one half of the Tag Team Champs, Beer Money’s Booby Roode, appeared in the crowd at NXT TakeOver: Dallas this past Friday night. He was shown and acknowledged on TV by the announcers. Roode was granted his release a few weeks ago from TNA and finished up at the last set of tapings. He is expected to appear tonight and in the coming weeks on Impact due to the show being taped several weeks in advance.

    Tonight:

    TNA is promoting tonight’s Impact with the theme Revenge. Tonight’s show is all about getting back what the wrestlers feel they so rightfully deserve. TNA World Champion Drew Galloway will defend his title against the very man he defeated for the title, Matt Hardy. Jeff Hardy battles Eric Young one on one in a Six Sides of Steel Cage match. Additionally, The Pope takes on “The Destroyer” Lashley in a street fight. 

    Show Recap:

    – Josh welcomes us to Impact with the heavy news that tonight is all about revenge and vengeance. Jeremy Borash joins Josh on commentary because The Pope will be in action later.

    Six Sides of Steel Cage: Jeff Hardy vs. Eric Young

    We kick off the night with Hardy’s Revenge. We get a recap of Eric Young piledriving Jeff through a table and injuring him back in January. EY promises to piledrive Jeff from the top of the cage. Jeff comes out and brings a table with him.

    Before the match officially starts, EY, Bram and Jeff brawl around the ringside area. Bram and EY throw a table and chairs into the ring.  Young sends Jeff into the ring briefly having the advantage until Jeff makes a comeback. Jeff hastily knocks Bram off the apron. 

    Back from commercial, the match has officially begun and Jeff is in control. Jeff sets up four chairs in the center of the ring. He attempts to give EY a twist of fate through the chairs, but EY countered and piledrove Jeff though the chairs creating a pretty sick looking spot. Jeff won the match after hitting a swanton bomb from the top of the cage onto EY who laid weary on the table.

    – Backstage, TNA President Dixie Carter is sick of the beef between Maria Kanellis and Knockouts Champion Gail Kim. Dixie asked both whom they spoke with in TNA management that gave them the authority to make two separate number one contenders matches. Neither had an answer for her. Dixie made Gail Kim defending against Jade and Madison in a triple threat for later. Maria started to annoy Dixie so Dixie walked away and Maria chased after her calling her name.

    – Backstage, Jeff ices his neck and quotes Vanilla Ice by saying “Ice, ice, baby.” Jeff acknowledges the he will be watching the world title match between Matt Hardy and champion Drew later.

    – In the ring, J.B. hosts “The Final Word” and brings out the participants in tonight’s main event to have their final words. First, Matt Hardy and The Brand (Reby, Maxell, Tyrus & Rockstar Spud) make their way to the ring. J.B. goes to introduce TNA World Champion Drew Galloway, but Matt interrupts and does the introduction. Matt did a pretty poor job introducing Drew, but that might have been the point.

    This was just a basic segment where they argued back and forth setting up the main event. Matt became irate when Drew brought up Jeff. Tyrus took the mic and reminded everyone that he is the number one contender after winning Bound For Gold back at Bound For Glory. Tyrus teased that he might use his title shot tonight. Matt was shocked after hearing this news.

    – Backstage, The Pope gets ready and pumped up for the street fight, which is coming up next.

    – Back from commercial, Ethan Carter III congratulated Tyrus for contemplating cashing in his title shot. EC3 reminded Tyrus that he cost him the world title. Tyrus told EC3 that he hates him and EC3 told him he hates him more.

    On commentary, Josh and J.B. point out that the Bound for Gold title shot is not like the Feast or Fired. Apparently, Tyrus can’t just cash in his title shot and must inform TNA Management ahead of time.

    Street Fight: “The Destroyer” Lashley vs. The Pope

    Lashley jumped The Pope has he made his way to the ring. This was basically a glorified squash match. Lashley dominated The Pope and got a majority of the offense. Pope smashes a trashcan into Lashley’s face, gaining him the brief advantage and allowing him to use the Singapore cane. It wasn’t enough as Lashley speared The Pope to win the match.

    Post match, Lashley wasn’t satisfied with beating The Pope and gave him two more spears. Ethan Carter III came down for the save, but once again Lashley just backed off and walked away from EC3. As Lashley walked away, “Miracle” Mike Bennett blind sides EC3 and jumps him with the steel chair, and then left him lying in the ring.

    – Back from commercial, EC3 is still in the ring and calls out Bennett to come back to the ring. “The First Lady of Pro Wrestling” Maria Kanellis comes out to introduce The Miracle, but EC3 interrupts and demands Bennett come out.  They argue back and forth and setup a match for next week. Bennett and Maria started to leave, but EC3 chased after Bennett. Mike pushed Maria into EC3 and ran into the back.

    EC3 and Bennett fought all over the backstage area and into the parking lot. Bennett hit EC3 with a tire iron and escaped in his car.

    – Backstage, Rockstar Spud met with Tyrus. Spud came up with a plan, which he wrote on crumpled piece of paper. Tyrus didn’t care about Spud’s plan and doesn’t need it.

    Knockouts Champion Gail Kim vs. Jade vs. Madison Rayne

    Josh recaps the events that lead to this triple threat match. Match starts with Gail and Madison taking turns beating on Jade. Jade hit a dive through the ropes onto Madison on the floor. Gail went to climb to the top, but Maria came out and hit Gail with the belt behind the refs back. Jade pinned Gail Kim to become the new Knockouts champion.

    – They’re teasing that Tyrus might be added to the main event to make it a triple threat or he’ll just use his title shot.

    – Backstage, Jade is celebrating becoming Knockouts Champion and her victory. Jade said The Dollhouse was holding her back.

    – Next we get a recap of TNA Producer, Al Snow attacking Grado and breaking his arm last week.

    Al Snow is talking to Billy Corgan and he’s upset that TNA management let someone like Grado into TNA. Billy informed Al that he is suspended and must give a public apology.

    – In the ring, X Division champion Trevor Lee and Gregory Shane Helms call out Eddie Edwards. Last week, Helms gave Eddie a week to decide if he wants to tag team with Helms to challenge Beer Money for the belts. Eddie turns down Shane’s offer and tells him “No”. Shane is not happy to hear that. Shane and Trevor are about to jump Eddie. Beer Money comes down to the ring and Shane and Lee leave immediately.

    Beer Money is left alone in the ring and they turn their attention to the other tag teams in the TNA. James Storm did most of the talking here and Roode paced back and forth. Suddenly, Decay came out and demanded a title shot. Beer Money and Decay brawled around ringside, eventually making their way into the ring. Security came out to break up the brawl.

    – In the back, Matt Hardy gives his final words for tonight’s main event (despite the segment earlier). The story here is that during the promo, Matt was unaware that Tyrus slowly approached in the background.

    – Backstage, Beer Money issues an open challenge to any or all tag teams for next week.

    TNA World Champion Drew Galloway vs. Matt Hardy w/ Tyrus and Rockstar Spud

    Josh reminds us that Tyrus must decide if he’s going to be a part of the match. Tyrus teases using his title shot but it’s all just a distraction to give Matt the early advantage. Matt jumps Drew and is in control right out of the gate.

    Back from commercial, Drew and Matt are trading shots on the apron. Spud grabs Drew’s leg, which gives Matt the chance to hit the side effect on the apron. Matt faked an ankle injury and took his boot off, which he then used, but only got a near fall. Drew hit the future shock DDT on Matt, but Tyrus pulled the referee out before the three. Jeff ran out and brawled with Tyrus. Matt screamed at Jeff, “Get out of my life!” like any other typical family drama. Drew made Matt tap out to the Iron Maiden to retain the TNA World title.

    Next Time on Impact:

    Next week’s Impact features Ethan Carter III taking on “Miracle” Mike Bennett for the first time ever. Also, Beer Money issues an open challenge to any and all TNA tag teams. Plus, the feud and bad blood between Jeff and Matt continues next week.

  • Post-Wrestlemania RAW draws 4.08 million viewers, down from 2015

    The Raw after WrestleMania, usually the highest rated episode of the year, did 4.08 million viewers, down from 5.35 million for the same show in 2015.

    The number was the largest for the show since the day after the Royal Rumble (when Dwayne Johnson made an appearance) and was only the second show to hit four million viewers on average since June.

    However, the number is well below what would have been expected for the show. For a comparison, the audience grew 1.2 million viewers from the go-home Mania show to the day after Mania show last year, while this year, the increase was just 318,000 viewers.

    Raw was fourth for the night on cable, and all three shows that beat it were focused on the NCAA championship game on TBS. The game did 13.85 million viewers, the pregame show did 9.67 million viewers, and the postgame show did 4.97 million viewers. The basketball barely impacted ABC’s Dancing With the Stars which did 11.72 million viewers, down from 11.97 million the week before.

    RAW had a familiar pattern with the big drop in the third hour when the game was in its second half. RAW’s main event was a #1 contender’s match between AJ Styles, Kevin Owens, Cesaro, and Chris Jericho.

    The three hours were:

    • 8 p.m. 4.29 million viewers
    • 9 p.m. 4.18 million viewers
    • 10 p.m. 3.82 million viewers

  • UFC to put up flyweight title shot for ‘Ultimate Fighter’ winner

    Image: MMAJunkie.com

    In an interesting promotional move, the UFC has announced that the 24th season of The Ultimate Fighter will be a 16-man tournament for a December shot at the UFC flyweight title. That season kicks off on August 31st on Fox Sports One.

    The current champion is Demetrious Johnson, who defends the title against Henry Cejudo on 4/23 in Las Vegas. Based on the timing of when the TUF winner would get the title shot, there could be a Johnson/Cejudo rematch before that if something controversial happens. 

    The company announced tryouts for season 24 would take place on 4/25 at the Palace Station in Las Vegas, and that they are looking for fighters between the ages of 21 and 34, with at least three pro fights and an above .500 winning percentage.  The season will be filmed in June and July.

    The finalists will compete in the final regular episode of the season, meaning the opponent for the champion would likely only be advertised for a short period of time, anywhere from a few days to a few weeks, before the title match takes place.

    What’s notable is that if they are not including fighters on the roster like Joseph Benavidez, Louis Smolka and Zach Makovsky on the competition, it’s pretty ridiculous to bypass legitimate top contenders and bring in only unknowns in a division where virtually every top fighter in the weight class is already in UFC.

  • Evolve 59 iPPV results: Ricochet vs. Will Ospreay; Matt Riddle vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

    Submitted by Pat Laprade 

    – Attendance was at least 1,000 people

    – Drew Gulak & Tracy Williams b Drew Galloway & Johnny Gargano to win the Evolve tag titles. After the match, Galloway cut a promo and turned on Gargano. He got some good heat for that. 

    – Chris Hero b Fred Yehi

    Note: We are almost an hour in and there’s only been two matches.

    – Sami Callihan b Anthony Nese in less than 5 minutes 

    – Ethan Page b Darby Allin in another very short match. 

    – Tommy End b TJ Perkins in the USA vs Europe series. 

    – Matt Riddle b Zack Sabre Jr to even up the series.

    The finish surprised the fans as Riddle won by submission and they were not expecting Riddle to win. Riddle will make it to WWE for sure. He has the look, the shape, the uniqueness, he shows a lot of charisma and he’s already good in the ring. I can see why they are interested. Very good match against Sabre Jr. The only reason why it was not a great match is that they kept it a tad too short, especially compared to the length of the first two matches. I would have took 5 if not 10 more minutes of this match. Liked it a lot. 

    – Marty Scurll b Evolve champion Timothy Thatcher in a non-title match with the chicken wing.

    Good match but again too short compare to the first two matches. After the match, Callihan’s music hit and we only heard an audio of him pretty much challenging Thatcher. 

    – Ricochet b Will Ospreay with the Benadryller.

    Freaking awesome match. Tough to say if it was better than Zayn and Nakamura because it was a different match. Crowd was ecstatic for it. And it’s an understatement. Arguably the best match of the weekend so far, probably with Zayn and Nakamura and with Sabre Jr and Ospreay from Evolve 58. 

    After the match, all the Europeans and Americans involved in the series came to the ring, since the series ended up 2-2, until Kora Ibushi showed up to a huge reaction to build the main-event of the Mercury Rising show presented later tonight.

  • NXT TV tapings results & notes: Nakamura, Samoa Joe, Austin Aries, Asuka

    Here’s some notes from today’s NXT tapings as part of Fan Axxess. Three weeks worth of tapings were held in a different part of the Bailey Kay Hutchison Center as the show the night before. It’s clear that a lot of stuff will be added between backstage and probably a lot of videos from the TakeOver shows as they didn’t tease much in the way of future directions.

    4/6 show

    – Asuka beat Eva Marie.  This was to set up Asuka vs. Nia Jax as a title program as they had a staredown.

    – Dash Wilder & Scott Dawson beat two wrestlers who weren’t named, possibly Scott Matthews & Scott Parker from Quebec.

    – Zack Ryder & Mojo Rawley beat Blake & Murphy.  No Alexa Bliss with Blake & Murphy. Dash Wilder & Scott Dawson jumped The Hype Bros after the match so that looks to be a new program.

    – Carmella beat Aliyah

    – Shinsuke Nakamura beat Elias Samson

    4/13 show

    – Jason Jordan & Chad Gable beat Enzo Amore & Big Cass.  There’s been talk of Enzo & Cass coming up to the main roster.

    – Nia Jax b Deonna Purrazzo

    – No Way Jose, whose debut has been pushed for the last few weeks on NXT, debuts on this show over Alexander Wolfe

    – Samoa Joe beat Apollo Crews via choke.

    – Austin Aries beat Angelo Dawkins.

    4/20 show

    – Alexa Bliss beat Tessa Blanchard

    Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa (who have signed NXT contracts but not developmental contracts, believed to be similar to the deal Austin Aries has, to where they can still work indies) beat The Vaudevillains.  So looks like they are now in for a push.

    – Baron Corbin pinned Tucker Knight in a basic squash

    – Bayley beat Liv Morgan.  Bayley cut a generic promo about it doesn’t matter how many times you get knocked down, it’s how many you get back up.  She never mentioned Asuka’s name.

    – Nakamura beat Tye Dillinger.  Nakamura was great at connecting with the crowd.

  • Jon Jones to face Ovince Saint Preux for the UFC interim light heavyweight title

    The day after news broke that UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier was injured and out of his UFC 197 title defense against rival and former champion Jon Jones, Double J now has a new opponent –Ovince Saint Preux — and a new goal: the UFC interim light heavyweight title on April 23rd.

    The news was made official by Dana White during ESPN Sportscenter on Saturday night with White saying since Jones never lost the title, they felt it was right for the title to be on the line. Recently, UFC announced an interim featherweight title fight between Jose Aldo and Frankie Edgar for UFC 200, so the buzzword of 2016 is ‘interim”. 

    Anthony Johnson and Rashad Evans were considered, but Johnson recently had dental surgery that made him unvailable. Jones said Saturday he doesn’t like short notice fights, but was up for anything at light heavyweight or heavyweight.

    Jones is returning after more than a year off due to a slew of legal issues. He last fought and beat Cormier in January 2015 and the rematch was expected to do big PPV business. While this match is interesting, the show will no doubt take a hit with PPV buyers, especially with a lack of star power on the rest of the show.

    OSP (19-7) is coming off a February decision win over Feijao Cavalcante, and has won three of his last four.

  • Dave Meltzer’s WWE WrestleMania Diary: TakeOver fallout, ROH, Sami Zayn

    I just would like to personally thank everyone I came in contact with the past few days here, particularly those at our banquet yesterday at the Texas de Brazil steakhouse. All the nice things said are really appreciated and to be able to meet people from all over the world. I want to mention that this website, the newsletters, and the audio aren’t just a product of us, but also of everyone. If you see shows or great matches from around the world, we’re always up for reports and links. 

    Again, it was just wonderful to see so many people who share a common passion and just how nice everyone was. I will be heading home today because for my job, WrestleMania really has to be viewed on TV. But for everyone I met at the banquet, thanks so much.  e all work so hard and it’s days like the last two that really make it feel like it’s worth it.

    To the news and notes:

    – NXT was a great show last night. Bobby Roode and Kota Ibushi were surprise announcements and in both cases, they makes sense. When Ibushi announced he wasn’t staying with DDT and New Japan, WWE made sense as the next step, particularly with cruiserweight tournament. For Roode, once he left TNA, it made sense for both sides for him to be in WWE.  It looks like NXT, and they can use a veteran in the ring.

    – The big questions coming out of last night’s TakeOver show is what’s next for Nakamura, Finn Balor and Samoa Joe. We already know what’s next for Sami Zayn. It wouldn’t shock me at all to see him win the title tomorrow although WWE has a ton of different ways to go. But Zayn and Kevin Owens seem like the only logical picks. Zayn could use the big boost and the story of Owens complaining that he lost the title, how Zayn never beat him and how he hurt Zayn before makes sense. But there are really a lot of directions because A.J. Styles needs to be in a top program. I could see a big blow off with Chris Jericho in a month or so, at that point there are new things needed for both.

    – I have to watch the NXT show when I get back to get the feel of it from a TV perspective.  Live, it was a great show, well placed. I didn’t leave thinking it was the greatest show of the year or anything like that, but I know people who saw it did. Nakamura and Joe should be main roster main eventers. Joe should be in the mix with people like Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar. In watching the match last night, and the aura he had, it really felt like Lesnar vs. Joe should have been built for nine months for Mania this year more than the original plans for Bray Wyatt or Dean Ambrose. 

    – We only saw some of ROH with the big news at the show being Colt Cabana’s return to face Jay Lethal. All the key shows were packed.

    – Evolve’s business was through the roof as compared to their normal standards or last year’s Mania. They were expecting close to 1,500 for the noon show today with Will Ospreay vs. Ricochet. I didn’t see Ospreay vs. Zack Sabre Jr. from yesterday but last night there were people who saw that and Zayn vs. Nakamura and said the former was better. But aside from NXT, that match as the talk of the weekend so far.

    – The dark matches at NXT last night were Manny Andrade over Chris Girard which was said to be good but short, and Apollo Crews over Elias Sampson, which was originally scheduled for the special.  They are taping TV at Fan Axxess from 1-5 p.m.

    – Last night I was at the Kaiju Big Battel show. Not a lot of say about it.  A show ending at 3 a.m. would be the second latest time I think I’ve ever been to a wrestling show at.  Kota Ibushi wrestled a stuffed animal.  It was actually pretty impressive how he did it.  He made an entertaining spectacle, out of it and did some cool things without taking any actual risks. 

    – Regarding the UFC situation with Daniel Cormier pulling out of the title match with Jon Jones, the real question is how badly hurt is Cormier.  If he’s hurt enough that he would need surgery, it’s one thing.  If he can go by July, and be healthy at that point, they should take their lumps on 4/23 and it’ll just make UFC 200 even bigger with that fight added.

    If he can’t, things get tricky.

    Rumble Johnson would be the obvious replacement, and is also the most dangerous fighter as far as an opponent for Jones because he’s got the most power.  Jones has been training for an entirely different type of fighter and if he were to pull out or just say he wants to wait until June or July for Rumble, I can understand it.  At the same time, it may be the best thing for Jones to face Rumble in a short notice fight because he’ll be facing his most dangerous foe when not at his best.  Really, if he were to lose to Jones on a short notice fight and Jones ends up as champion, he’s got far more at risk.  Jones is going to be a superstar either way.  For Rumble,  the Jones match, when it happens, is a career and life changer for him if he wins, and a loss, even though he won’t be at his peak conditioning wise and people should know it, it will hurt him.

  • TNA Impact Wrestling results: Drew Galloway defends the title against Jeff Hardy

    Previously on TNA Impact:

    Last week, new TNA World Champion Drew Galloway proclaimed that people would start looking at the TNA World title and Impact Wrestling differently. He promised to put TNA on the map again. Perhaps he’s on to something, as ratings have been going up ever so slightly the last two weeks and started to do so the night he won the title. In last week’s main event, Jeff Hardy was victorious in a gauntlet battle royal featuring the promotions top stars to earn a shot at the TNA World Title.

    Tonight:

    Tonight’s Impact features a huge main event, as Drew Galloway will defend the TNA World Title against Jeff Hardy.

    Show Recap:

    –Josh Matthews and The Pope welcome us to Impact as Matt Hardy, Reby, Tyrus and Rockstar Spud make their way to the ring.

    – Matt is demanding his return match for the TNA World title and wants it before Jeff gets his shot in the main event. Suddenly “The First Lady of Professional Wrestling” Maria Kanellis, looking stunning, interrupts and introduces “Miracle” Mike Bennett. Bennett calls Matt old and tells him to relax. Bennett thinks neither Matt nor Jeff deserve the title shot; he does. Reby and Maria argued back and forth. Reby called Maria “fire crotch.” Reby had to be held back from attacking Maria who didn’t back down. Matt and Bennett tease fighting each other but they’re interrupted by the catchiest music in wrestling and Ethan Carter III.

    EC3 was hilarious here referencing The Three Stooges and prayed to the Lord of Professional Wrestling to find a place for Bennett’s wrestling career in the afterlife. EC3 wants to face Bennett but the Miracle isn’t interested. Instead, Matt Hardy challenged EC3 to face all members of The Matt Hardy Brand (Hardy, Tyrus, Spud and Reby.) EC3 agreed to the match.

    Ethan Carter III vs. Matt Hardy, Reby, Tyrus & Rockstar Spud

    Mike Bennett and Maria are sitting at ringside. EC3 dominates the early moments of the action until the heels take over. The story of the match is that EC3 has nobody to tag while the heels tag out when they’re in trouble. Reby gave EC3 three slaps across the face but has yet to get in the match officially. EC3 makes his own comeback and takes out Tyrus. EC3 got the Cobra Clutch on Spud but Mike Bennett ran in for the DQ. The heels beat down EC3 until Beer Money ran out for the save and cleared the ring.

    Beer Money takes the mic and says they’re not out here to stop the fight. Beer Money & EC3 challenge Matt Hardy, Tyrus and Mike Bennett to a six man and its starts after the commercial break.

    Ethan Carter III and Beer Money (Bobby Roode & James Storm) vs. Matt Hardy, Tyrus & “Miracle” Mike Bennett w/ Reby Sky, Rockstar Spud and Maria Kanellis

    Back from commercial and the match is in progress. Storm has the advantage on Bennett until Tyrus beats Storm down on the outside. The heels isolate Storm and prevent him from tagging out. Roode gets the tag and he runs wild taking out the heels. EC3 goes after Bennett but he hides behind Maria. EC3 chases Bennett to the back. Beer Money gets the double suplex on Tyrus, which gets a big reaction from the crowd. Tyrus saves Matt Hardy from the DWI and Hardy hits the twist of fate on Roode for the win.

    -Backstage, Jeremy Borash interviews TNA Knockouts Champion Gail Kim about last week’s Knockouts Match, where Jade apparently became the number one contender for the title. Gail announces another number one contenders match between Velvet Sky and Madison Rayne.

    -Back from commercial and in the back, BroMans talk about their surprising reunion as a team. They’re interrupted by Eli Drake, who says he has business to take care of.

    Number One Contenders Match for Knockouts Title: Velvet Sky vs. Madison Rayne

    Josh and The Pope mention that Velvet and Madison are best friends. The story here is that last week Maria made a number one contenders match, so Gail made a number one contenders match too. Josh wonders who will be the number one contender, the winner of this match or Jade. The crowd was mostly dead for this match but there was a small Velvet Sky chant. They had a back and forth match which ended suddenly when Madison scores the pin on Velvet.

    Post match, Velvet teased being upset about the loss but instead she raised Madison’s hand and they embraced.

    -Backstage, TNA World Champion Drew Galloway promised to beat Jeff Hardy and retain his title tonight.

    -Back in the arena, Josh asked Pope for his prediction for tonight’s main event but Pope seemed distracted. He told Josh that he has something to get off his chest. The Pope entered the ring as we cut to commercial.

    -Back from commercial, The Pope is in the ring. He talks about being happy-go-lucky Pope recently but needs to go back to the old Pope. “The Destroyer” Lashley comes out and tells Pope to go back to commentary. Lashley wants Pope to apologize for sticking his nose in his business. Pope cuts a passionate promo and challenges Lashley to a fight. Pope and Lashley end up brawling, with referees and officials trying to pull them apart. Lashley gets the better of Pope. Lashley sets up for the spear but Pope moves and Lashley falls to the outside. Pope hits a cross body onto Lashley on the outside. Security runs down to break it up but they keep fighting.

    This was a really good segment, with Pope as the underdog and Lashley as the heel. Pope was full of passion and was great overall. Also, the brawl was pretty wild and exciting.

    -Next, we get another creepy music video for Decay featuring Marilyn Manson. 

    -Back from commercial, Jeremy Borash has now joined Josh on commentary.

    -Eric Young and Bram make their way to the ring. EY and Bram tease dissension after last week when Bram accidentally eliminated EY in the gauntlet battle royal but EY says everything is okay. EY wants Jeff Hardy to win the world title tonight so he can beat Jeff for the title. They’re interrupted by The BroMans.

    Bram & Eric Young vs. BroMans (Robbie E & Jesse Godderz)

    BroMans charge the ring and attack the heels. EY and Bram cut off BroMans and get the advantage. They isolate Robbie E until he makes the tag to Jesse. Jesse runs wild and takes out both Bram and EY. Bram holds Jesse for EY but Jesse moves and he nails Bram in the face. The BroMans win with the Bro Down and Jesse surprisingly scores the pin fall on EY.

    -Josh says we’re getting the celebration for Grado getting his TNA job back after the commercial.

    -Backstage, Grado and Mahabali Shera discuss plans for the party, which Grado has spent $5,000 on. Al Snow shows up and for no apparent reason, attacks both Grado and Shera. Al breaks the arm of Grado with a pipe. Josh doesn’t understand why Al would do this. He’s not the only one.

    -In the ring, Gregory Shane Helms and X Division Champion Trevor Lee call out Eddie Edwards. J.B says that Eddie has no direction since his partner Davey Richards got injured. Shane praised The American Wolves as one of the greatest tag teams. Eddie is going to focus on his solo career and wants to go after the X Division title. Shane and Trevor Lee avoid answering Eddie’s challenge for the X Division title. Instead, Shane wants to tag with Eddie to challenge Beer Money for the tag titles. Shane is going to give Eddie a week to think about it.

    -Backstage, an irate Pope challenges Lashley to a match next week on Impact.

    -Jeff Hardy makes his way down to the ring for the main event, which comes up next after the commercial break.

    TNA World Champion Drew Galloway vs. Jeff Hardy

    Josh mentions that this is the first meeting between Drew Galloway and Jeff Hardy. They shake hands before they lock up. The story of the match is that they have a mutual respect for each other. Jeff sends Drew to the outside and hits a dive to the outside to get the advantage.

    Back from commercial, Jeff is still in control of the match. Jeff hits the twist of fate and goes up for the swanton bomb but Drew tripped Jeff up. Drew hit the claymore kick but only got a near fall. Drew was standing on the second rope and had Jeff on his shoulder in a power slam like position. Jeff countered and flipped Drew off the turnbuckle. This was a pretty scary looking spot. Jeff got another two count. Jeff set Drew up on the steal steps on the outside. Jeff went for the swanton bomb but Drew got his knees up. Jeff struggled to his feet and Drew hit the Future Shock DDT for the win to retain the World Title.

    Post match, Jeff and Drew embraced, while Drew celebrated his first title defense. Matt Hardy came out and announced that next week, he gets his return match for the TNA World title. Drew was willing to defend the belt right now and called for the bell. EY and Bram ran out and helped Matt attack Drew and Jeff.  Drew hits the claymore on EY & Bram and Jeff hits the twist of fate on Matt. Jeff then challenged Eric Young next week in a Six Side of Steel Cage match.

    Final Thoughts:

    TNA put on another solid Impact this week. The show had its ups and downs and can drag at times. However there are a lot of positives such as, their attempt to create new stars and provide compelling matches. Time will tell if TNA can build on this small bit of momentum that they have.

    Next Week on Impact:

    Next week’s show has a loaded line up with PPV caliber matches. TNA World Champion Drew Galloway will defend against Matt Hardy. Also, Jeff Hardy goes one on one with Eric Young in Six Sides of Steel. Additionally, The Pope will battle it out with “The Destroyer” Lashley. Plus, Eddie Edwards must decide if he wants to tag with Gregory Shane Helms to challenge for the TNA Tag titles.

  • Jon Jones arrested for probation violation; UFC fight vs. Cormier still on for now

    Former UFC light heavyweight champion and No. 1 contender Jon Jones was arrested Tuesday for violation of his probation stemming from an altercation with a police officer last Thursday after he was pulled over and accused of drag racing.

    Jones had claimed that he had just revved up his engine of his Corvette, and noted that he wasn’t speeding nor arrested for speeding. The entire confrontation was caught on tape, and has inspired a mixed reaction from fans and media.

    Jones was taken into custody at 10 AM local time by the Probation & Parole department and taken to the detention center where he was being held at last word.

    TMZ Sports first reported the story and posted Jones’ new mug shot. They also reported that EAG Sports, which represents Jones, issued a statement saying, “Jon and his team are taking this very seriously and we will let the legal process play out. We are confident he will be released once he has an opportunity to explain to the judge the facts in this case.”

    Jones was sentenced to probation from his hit and run conviction last year, which resulted in his being stripped of his UFC light heavyweight championship.  He has not fought since his January 2015 win over Daniel Cormier who subsequently defeated Anthony “Rumble” Johnson later in the year to win the vacant title. The Cormier vs. Jones rematch was scheduled to headline UFC’s next big show on 4/23 in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.  At this time, no
    statement has been made regarding if the arrest will affect this match.

    Jones’ 18-month probation was not revoked when he got a recent traffic citation because of the feeling that was a minor charge, and Jones proved he had a license and registration, something he didn’t have in his possession when pulled over.

    It was a day after his court case when it was agreed all charges would be dropped, pending him not getting in trouble over the next 90 days, when he was pulled over on the claim he was drag racing.

    Jones was charged with drag racing, a noise disturbance violation, an illegible license plate, exhibition driving and an inability to maintain being in a traffic lane, which was considered a probation violation.

    The UFC released a statement saying, “UFC is aware that Jon Jones turned himself into the Albuquerque Police Department this morning for a potential probation violation stemming from a traffic stop last week. UFC has been in touch with Jones’ legal team and will have no further comment until the organization has had appropriate time to gather necessary information.”