The Monday, June 6th Raw did 3.24 million viewers, up slightly from last week’s 3.22 million.
Last week had far tougher competition with a monster NBA game, but it was helped by being John Cena’s return to the show. This week has the Stanley Cup playoff game (Pittsburgh vs. San Jose) that did 4.23 million viewers on NBC, but The Bachelorette, in the spot of Dancing With The Stars, is doing just over half of what DWTS was doing.
Raw’s second hour was the high point, leading to a big third hour fade of 587,000 viewers. The second hour featured the Cena-A.J. Styles confrontation while the big things pushed in the third hour were Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens and the New Day vs. Club six-man tag match.
Here are the results for the Best of the Super Juniors 2016 finals, held live this morning in Sendai. A lot of tags fill this card, but there was also some pretty good build towards Dominion, plus we had a stellar main event. Here are the results:
Jay White vs. David Finlay
This was different than their other matches as it had an air of intensity that’s sometimes has lacked in their other bouts. Went by pretty fast. Finlay laid out White with a European uppercut and went to grab him but White caught him in a small package and pinned him.
Yoshitatsu and Captain New Japan vs. Chase Owens and Yujiro Takahashi
Match was better than you’d think considering who was in here. The crowd helped a lot. Yujiro picked up the win with the Miami Shine. I’m pretty sure this is the first win for Yujiro in 2016.
Katsuyori Shibata and Juice Robinson vs. Manabu Nakanishi and Yuji Nagata
Of course, the focus here was on Nagata and Shibata. Pretty solid action from everyone. Nakanishi actually moved pretty well for once, all things considering. He’s even been doing a crossbody off the top rope as of late. Didn’t do wonders for him here though as he was pinned with the penalty kick.
reDragon and Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Roppongi Vice and Tomohiro Ishii
Crowd popped whenever Ishii and Tenzan were in the ring. RPG Vice tried to help out Ishii but Tenzan is still a bit too strong for them. Solid, quick match with reDragon getting the win with the Chasing the Dragon.
Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask and Volador Jr vs. Matt Sydal, Ricochet and Kushida
This was really great towards the end. Lots of high flying and cool dives by everyone. Kushida did a dive that wiped out people on the floor, and even Liger and Tiger Mask did crossbodies off the top rope to the floor. Volador and Ricochet did some great looking back and forth in the ring. Ricochet laid him out with a kick and hit the 630 for the win. Quite the spectacle in the last few minutes.
reDragon came to the ring. Fish mentions they never lost the Jr. tag team titles. O’Reilly said they want to challenge for the belts. Roppongi Vice follow suit and challenge. Beretta has a contract and mentions that the contract states that they get a rematch. Ricochet says that they’ll accept both challenges for Dominion in a triple threat match. I guess it’s a newer version of the triple threat tag matches they like to do, so why not? Everything seemed to be settled when RPG Vice jump the champions to boos. reDragon make the save, but the champions come back and do stereo moonsaults that wipe out both challengers.
Satoshi Kojima and Michael Elgin vs. Bad Luck Fale and Kenny Omega
Omega brought the broom but discarded it quickly and worked on Elgin for the heat, with Fale working the match as well to keep control. Omega did a great tope con hilo to wipe out Elgin and introduced a ladder for…well, I don’t know what reason but both her and Elgin climbed it. Elgin have Omega a suplex off the ladder. Chase Owens was also out there to distract, and while he did Omega smashed Elgin with the ladder.
Omega tried to go for the One Winged Angel but Elgin countered and powerbombed him through the ladder. The referee saw this but just stood here, no DQ as Elgin gave him another powerbomb for the win. Fun match but mostly just an angle to build towards the Dominion show.
Elgin grabbed the title after the match and motioned for Omega to come get it. Omega got a mic and said the challenge Elgin issue has been accepted. Elgin said the belt would be his as he made his exit.
Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto, Yoshi-Hashi and Gedo vs. Tetsuya Naito, Evil, Sanada and Bushi
Another wild brawl to start things off. Sanada bring a bat to the ring, which he used here while they brawled on the outside. Mostly a pretty good back and forth match, not as long as the other matches on this tour. Bushi scored another win with the codebreaker off the top rope.
Los Ingobernables try and clear house after the match but Ishii comes for the save. If fails as Bushi mists him. Okada attacks him and tombstones him, pointing at Naito.
Best of the Super Junior Finals: Will Ospreay vs. Ryusuke Taguchi
This was of course awesome, one of the best matches in the tournament in terms of drama and selling. Taguchi has a dumb gimmick but is also a very good big match guy and excelled here. Ospreay is already awesome at this stage of the game and will really be something in a few years as he gains more in ring experience.The first few minutes had them feeling things out, a few taunts between one another, etc. Taguchi starts working over Ospreay’s leg to ground him.Ospreay tried for a rainmaker but Taguchi countered into an ankle lock.
Taguchi remained in control, giving Ospreay hip attacks and a giant flying senton to the floor. It’s funny because even though Taguchi is a hometown guy and even carried a flag to the ring representing his hometown a lot of people were rooting for Ospreay. He made a comeback with a hurricanrana and was going for the springboard stunner when Taguchi countered with an ankle lock. They did a long, great sell here and it even included a dodon nearfall. Ospreay finally back back and superkicked Taguchi to the floor. He hit an inverted 450 splash and followed that with the springboard stunner to win the tournament.
After being given the trophy, Ospreay called out Kushida, who was doing commentary. He made it clear he wanted a title match and challenged Kushida for the title. Kushida says sure, he is a champion and wants to see who is the strongest between them. He exits the ring as Ospreay thanks his family and his fans as the streamers go off and he celebrates.
At 23, Will Ospreay becomes the youngest Best of the Super Juniors winner, the first English winner and the fifth gaijin to win the tournament. He has a very bright future ahead of him, that’s for sure!
After UFC announced Saturday night that Brock Lesnar was returning to the Octagon for UFC 200, WWE responded shortly afterward with a post on their own website that gives some insight into the arrangement and when we’ll see him next in a WWE ring.
“Brock Lesnar remains under contract to WWE. However, he has been granted a one-off opportunity to compete at UFC 200. Following this milestone event on July 9, Brock will return to WWE for SummerSlam on Sunday, August 21, live on WWE Network.”
Lesnar has been out of WWE action since downing Dean Ambrose in a street fight at April’s Wrestlemania in Dallas, TX.
The 38-year-old Lesnar had a history of big matches at “the Wrestlemania of the summer”. Last year, he lost to the Undertaker in a rematch of their classic Wrestlemania clash (the infamous ‘call for the bell’ match) while the year prior, he destroyed John Cena to take the WWE title — the birth of Suplex City.
The year prior, he faced and beat CM Punk, and the year prior to that, he faced and submitted Triple H.
So much for Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz II fading into the ethos.
UFC aired a promo spot Saturday during UFC 199 that the fight that headlined one of the most purchased UFC PPVs of all time will headline UFC 202 on Saturday, August 20th in Las Vegas, NV.
After they aired the promo, Diaz was shown at cageside next to Dana White, flexing his biceps and getting a hero’s welcome.
The road to the rematch is longform story worthy with the fight originally scheduled to headline UFC 200 only to fall apart supposedly because McGregor didn’t want to come to a press conference as he was training in Iceland. What followed was a classic “he said, they said, he said again” situation that saw UFC cancel the fight and eventually put a light heavyweight title unification bout between Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier in its place.
After Diaz said he wouldn’t fight anyone else but McGregor, the Stockton, CA, native then decided to play some financial hardball about what it would take to get him to do the rematch: McGregor money. After a meeting between White, Diaz, and Lorenzo Fertitta reportedly went astray, White said this week that it didn’t look like the fight would happen and alternatives for McGregor were being explored.
Well, there was no alternative. Diaz will get a chance to beat McGregor again, and the featherweight champion gets to prove that he can fight — and win — at 170 pounds on a full camp.
So yeah, this is a high stakes fight.
Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer will be back tonight to talk UFC 199, Brock Lesnar’s return to UFC and how this deal came to pass, the Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz rematch being signed for UFC 202 and more. Sign up today for full access to all of our new and archived shows (8,000 total), new and archived Wrestling Observer Newsletters and more!
Truth came out first and got a loud pop. Breeze had little reaction. Started out as comedy match, then Breeze took control until run-ins by Fandango and Goldust. Truth won with a roll up after about 8 minutes.
– Cesaro vs Primo
Cesaro came out first to a really loud pop. Primo had no reaction until he cut a local promo. Epico wasn’t there. Back and forth match, Cesaro hit all his spots, and won with the Sharpshooter after about 10 minutes.
– AJ Styles did a local backstage video promo. Hard to understand, but the crowd was heavily booing throughout.
– Karl Anderson vs. an Uso (not sure which)
Anderson and Gallows came out first to medium boos then one of the Usos came out to a huge pop. The other Uso wasn’t there. Anderson won with a roll up after Gallows distracted Uso.
– Baron Corbin vs Dolph Ziggler
Corbin came out first to little reaction. Dolph has one of the biggest pops of the night. Crowd wasn’t really into except six little kids relentlessly chanting for Ziggler, Baron eventually zeroed in on them and started saying each punch was for them and the like. This got the crowd more into it. Ziggler won by DQ after about 14 minutes when Corbin used a chair. Ziggler then came back in and kicked Corbin in the nuts, and hit the Zig Zag.
– WWE Women’s Champion Charlotte vs Natalya
Natalya entered first to a pretty good reaction. Charlotte got a really loud reaction, probably 70% negative. They worked the crowd before the match and got the crowd all on Natalya’s side. Crowd was probably most engaged in the near falls of this match than any other, besides the main event. Good match, eventually Charlotte started working the leg. Ended when Charlotte pinned Natalya, but ref missed Charlotte’s feet on the ropes.
– US Champion Rusev vs Sin Cara
Rusev got a lot of boos. Sin Cara got an ok reaction, but it was obvious that crowd was wanting Kalisto, who wasn’t there. Crowd couldn’t decide between chanting “USA”, “We want Lana” (who wasn’t there), or “lucha.” Rusev wins with the Accolade after about 9 mins. After the match, Rusev cut a promo until Titus O’Neil entered the ring and eventually hit a spinebuster.
– WWE World Champion Roman Reigns vs Seth Rollins vs AJ Styles
AJ came out first to almost entirely boos, even though I saw quite a few people with his t-shirt on. His reaction was definitely not as strong as the other two guys. Rollins out next, and his reaction was about 70% boos. Finally, Reigns came out to by far the loudest reaction of the night. I would guess 80 to 90% cheers. Rollins started as cowardly heel, sitting out until he found a spot.
Really fun match, eventually Seth and AJ teamed up, and Seth teased tapping “too sweet” hand signal with AJ, but eventually turned on him. They kinda went back and forth working with Reigns, until everybody hit their signature moves (forearm, Superman punch, and Pedigree). Roman eventually won with a spear on AJ after about 17 minutes.
They’re showing videos before the show starts. Every time time Roman Reigns is show, he got booed.
– No Way Jose beat Angelo Dawkins in a fun opener
– Elias Samson vs. Andrade Cien Almas ended when Samson legit hurt his ankle. The ref stopped the match, but Almas refused to have his arm raised. Samson got a supportive “Drifter” chant from the fans as he was being led out.
– Tye Dillinger beat Tino Sabatelli in a decent match. Tino seemed nervous, but looked okay.
– NXT Tag Champions American Alpha beat The Revival to retain. Great, great match, and exactly what you’d expect from these guys. Gable and Jordan got huge pops for everything they did.
– Nakamura vs. Buddy Murphy was after intermission. Nakamura got an absolutely deafening reaction when he came out. The match was good as Murphy is underrated. Nakamura won with the Kinshasa.
– Carmella and Bayley beat Peyton Royce & Darla. Fun match, but not much to it. Bayley was very over.
– NXT Champion Samoa joe beat Finn Balor. Good match, ended with Joe pinning Balor with his feet on the ropes. Balor sent Joe packing afterward to send the crowd home happy.
New Japan announced earlier Friday that Hiroshi Tanahashi would not be able to return for the Dominion PPV show for his scheduled ladder match with Intercontinental Champion Kenny Omega.
The 6/19 match at Osaka Jo Hall — the first ladder match ever in New Japan and scheduled for the IC title, was the No. 2 match on what is one of the company’s three biggest shows of the year. Omega will now defend his title in a ladder match against Michael Elgin, a rematch of Omega’s last title defense.
With a severe shoulder injury, Tanahashi is physically in considerably worse condition than they are letting on. An angle was shot on the first day of the Super Juniors tour where Omega “injured” his shoulder to cover for the injury. There is no word on when he will return.
The realization that Tanahashi probably couldn’t do the show was only known for perhaps the last 48 hours or so.
The other top matches on the show will be Tetsuya Naito defending the IWGP title against former champion Kazuchika Okada, and Never Open weight champion Yuji Nagata defending against former champion Katsuyori Shibata.
No other matches have been announced but it is expected that Ricochet, Will Ospreay, Matt Sydal and The Young Bucks will all be wrestling on the show in key matches.
Day 10 and 11 results are here for you all to see. Since Day 10 footage dropped just a few hours before day 11 went live in New Japan, I combined them into one post instead of two.
6/2 from Aichi, B block action:
Chase Owens vs. Volador Jr.
Solid match. Owens has come across better as a heel within the Bullet Club on this tour.Volador hit early with a tope suicida but Owens controlled most of the match, even taking off Volador’s mask and taunting him as he beat him up while wearing the mask. Voldaor made a comeback near the end, and the two exchanged some pretty good near falls. Volador scored the win with the super hurricanrana off the top rope.
Tiger Mask vs. Jushin Thunder Liger
Crowd was really into this as the bell rang. They’ve been feuding for a years with one another, sometimes over the NWA Junior Heavyweight title so that may be why. Tiger Mask did a big dive in the first minute of the match, but Liger got a super quick pinfall with a crucifix. It’s one of those finishes that happen just to make you think anything can happen, though it also probably means it won’t be the last time they face off, either.
Bobby Fish vs. Will Ospreay
Great match. Ospreay did a bunch of cool stuff here. Fish was really good in laying in stiff kicks and keeping Ospreay grounded during his offense, and Ospreay was great in coming up with dynamic ways of laying him out and getting the edge. He did the Sasuke special and that wiped out Fish at one point. Fish went for a brainbuster but Ospreay turned it into a stunner. Ospreay eventually made one last comeback and won with the springboard stunner. The whole dynamic of this match was pretty great.
Baretta vs. Ricochet
Good back and forth match. Ricochet went for the Benadryller but Baretta countered with a reverse Dudebuster for a really great nearfall. Ricochet took a half nelson suplex on the apron, landing on his head and crashing to the floor. If anyone wants to complain about something around here, it should be all the head first spots on the apron. They teased a countout spot, but Ricochet got back in on time. Baretta hit the knee strike for another nearfall, but Ricochet reversed the pin and got the 3.
6/3 results from Korakuen Hall, live on New Japan World:
Volador Jr., Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Ricochet vs. Tomohiro Ishii, Will Ospreay and Trent Baretta
This was really great, one of the best openers on the tour so far. Ospreay wanted to start with Volador, and mostly held his own when doing lucha offense with him, though timing was slightly off at times. Ishii and Tenzan were in and hit each other hard. Ospreay and Ricochet were in (which the crowd liked very much) and had a great back and forth battle. They have excellent chemistry with one another! Volador and Ricochet did some amazing dives to the outside. Volador went for a sunset flip but Baretta simply just sat down on him and got the win. That felt a bit anti climatic.
Katsuyori Shibata, Jay White, Juice Robinson and Bobby Fish vs. Yuji Nagata, Tiger Mask, Jushin Thunder Liger and Manabu Nakanishi
Fun tag match. Lot of tropes here but the crowd was into it and was never dull. People popped big time when Nakanishi went to the top rope and laid out Robinson with a crossbody. Nagata and Jay White are the ones left in the ring, as it has usually been as I guess they’re in kind of a mini feud. White doesn’t win, as he’s pinned with a backdrop suplex.
David Finlay vs. Kyle O’Reilly
Pretty good stuff. The crowd helped this match as they were into it most of the way. Finlay fought out of a half Boston crab and the crowd popped when he grabbed the ropes. Finlay busted out the stretch muffler then hit a German suplex for another nearfall. O’Reilly came back with a brainbuster but Finlay got the shoulder up. O’Reilly followed that with the gogoplata and got the win.
Gedo vs. Rocky Romero
So everyone comes out and they start arguing. Gedo wants to know why he brought Trent with him. Rocky says he just wants to see the match. They all act like they’re going to fight, but then stop and hug each other. Gedo then says he has a big surprise – the bell will ring and Romero will cover him 1, 2, 3. Romero likes this idea. So the bell rings. Gedo goes to lay down, Romero covers…but Gedo tricks him and counters the roll up for a near fall. From here its a pretty solid back and forth match. Baretta interfered a lot in the match, sometimes right in front of the referee which is really nice of the ref to let him do that. Romero gets the win with two knee strikes, and everyone makes up after the match.
Hiroshi Tanahashi came out. It was announced that he is out of Dominion, so the IC title match with Kenny Omega is off. He aims to return in time for the G1 Climax. Kenny Omega comes out, not particularly happy. He says that instead of apologizing to the fans, you should be apologizing to me. Tanahashi told him to shut up, which led to Omega cheap shotting Tanahashi. Bullet Club members came down to beat him up, but suddenly their opponents for the upcoming eight man tag arrive and clear house, Elgin leading the way, dishing out a huge tope con hilo to the floor. This is where we start the next match.
Kenny Omega, Chase Owens, Yujiro Takahashi and Bad Luck Fale vs. Yoshi-Hashi, Yoshitatsu, Captain New Japan and Michael Elgin
This was mostly just a one man wrecking crew kind of match as Elgin completely dominated the match, disposing everyone with ease. He did all of his power spots, including the powerbomb to the floor that wiped out a lot of the Bullet Club. He powerbombed Chase Owens for the win in a relatively short match.
Elgin takes out a ladder and says he feels comfortable up here, so maybe he can challenge at Dominion. Omega says your time has come and gone, maybe it’s Captain New Japan or Yoshitatsu’s time but it isn’t yours. Omega finishes off saying he’s looking forward to the rest of the tour, which pretty much means we’ll get a confirmation by the end of it.
Kazuchika Okada, Yoshi-Hashi and Hirooki Goto vs. Tetsuya Naito, Evil and Sanada
Naito’s deal today was he kept trying to make eye contact with Milano Collection AT but it wouldn’t happen. Good match. Crowd was into it, as they have been for a lot of this show. Yoshi-Hashi and Sanada are another duo who have developed a rivalry on this tour. They fought back with some back and forth good action. Crowd was white hot for the ending. Yoshi-Hashi kicked out of a lot of nearfalls but got caught in the skull end. Yoshi-Hashi tried valiantly to escape, but couldn’t, eventually passing out.
Bushi vs. Ryusuke Taguchi
Taguchi’s silliness today has him emulating Bushi and Naito, complete with green lipstick and green suit. Some solid work. Taguchi has been really good in this tournament. He unleashed another tope. There was a blatant low blow towards the end of the match that the ref didn’t seem to care about. This was not a good night when it came down to refereeing a match here in New Japan. There was a ref bump towards the end. Taguchi was on top of Bushi when the referee tumbled to the floor thanks to Bushi, who grabbed him as he was being rolled up. Taguchi got distracted just long enough with Bushi to break free and hit the codebreaker for the win. Pretty decent.
Kushida vs. Matt Sydal
Really good match. Solid work throughout leading to a heated, pretty great finish.Lots of mat work early. Kushida zoomed in on the leg quickly. Kushida sprang forward with a swanton bomb to the floor, knocking Sydal loopy. Kushida went to the top turnbuckle, Sydal tried to counter with a standing hurricanrana but Kushida turned it into a roll up for a nearfall. Sydal followed that back with a reverse rana and tried for the shooting star press but Kushida avoided it. He fought back with the hoverboard lock. Sydal tried to escape, but after Kushida rolled him into the middle he had no choice but to submit.
The two shook hands and bowed after the match. Sydal says he still has a chance of winning the tournament, but even if he doesn’t he still wants a title match down the line. Kushida seemed fine with this and the two shook hands again, with Kushida cutting a promo to close out the show.
Really good show. Nothing was bad, crowd was hot and everything was good.
Dana White was on both ESPN SportsCenter and Colin Cowherd’s show on Fox Sports One Thursday promoting Saturday’s UFC 199, and also updated the status of Conor McGregor and Ronda Rousey while he was at it.
In regards to McGregor, White said that a rematch with he and Nate Diaz may never happen. He said that McGregor badly wants the fight, White is trying to get the deal done, and Diaz has interest. He said he is trying, but doesn’t know if it will ever happen.
This stems from the meeting White and Lorenzo Fertitta had with Diaz on May 20. Diaz made demands for a rematch with McGregor that were evidently well above what UFC was going to offer. The talks ended without the sides coming close.
Regarding Rousey, White targeted either December or January for her return. She is believed to have two fights left on her current contract, and it should be noted that at least one potential buyer of UFC has wanted Rousey signed to a longer term deal due to her value as part of the product.
White said that Rousey just had arthroscopic knee surgery yesterday and is hoping she fights in December. If not, she’d fight on the first show of 2017, but that the 11/12 show in Madison Square Garden is out.
Rousey has a number of acting commitments, but the days are continually changing.
White also said that Rousey’s first fight back would be against whoever holds the bantamweight title. Miesha Tate holds the title right now and will defend at UFC 200 against Amanda Nunes. Should Holly Holm beat Valentina Shevchenko two weeks later on FOX, one would think it’s an easy decision for Holm to challenge for the title in the fall.
Here are a few early news notes today regarding WWE and an ex-WWE star:
– Cody Rhodes has announced he will be working with Evolve on their 8/19 iPPV in Joppa, MD. Rhodes’ non-compete with WWE ends that day. Interestingly, Evolve has been also working with WWE in recent months in building up competitors for the global cruiserweight classic tournament.
– WWE announced this morning that Andrade Cien Almas (the former La Sombra and Manny Andrade) will face the “Perfect 10” Tye Dillinger at this Wednesday’s TakeOver event. After working NXT house shows for months, this likely means Almas will also debut to a national audience at the next television tapings. They are hoping he transitions into becoming a Hispanic star.
The TV lineup for the show as it stands now:
NXT Champion Samoa Joe vs. Finn Balor in a cage match
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Austin Aries — possible that the next title challenger is the winner
NXT Tag Champions American Alpha (Jason Jordan & Chad Gable) vs. The Revival (Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder)
NXT Women’s Champion Asuka vs. Nia Jax
Andrade Almas vs. Tye Dillinger
– Robert Murillo tweeted us a link to an SI story about Klay Thompson’s father choosing to watch RAW this past Mondayinstead of his son in Game 7 of the NBA Western Conference semifinals.
