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Tag: WWE

  • Daily update: WWE issues statement on Paige-Flair, Jon Jones

    We’re looking for reports from tonight’s NXT tapings in Winter Park, FL at Dave Meltzer  Austin Aries, Chad Lail (Gunner) and James Storm have all been backstage at the event.

    Smackdown tonight on Syfy:

    • Cesaro vs. The Miz
    • Dudleys & Neville vs. The Ascension & Stardust
    • Zack Ryder vs. Tyler Breeze
    • Charlotte vs. Brie Bella non-title
    • Kalisto vs. Big E
    • Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens & Alberto Del Rio

    Figure Four Weekly:

    Figure Four Weekly (11/16/15): Rey Mysterio vs. Low-Ki and The Anatomy of a Dream Match
    A road report for Jersey All-Pro Wrestling’s 19th Anniversary show takes a deep look at the latest match in Rey Mysterio’s dream match tour vs. Low-Ki.

    Wrestling Observer Newsletter:

    We have one of the biggest issues of the year, with such a huge news week this past week.  We look at exactly what went into Holly Holm’s victory over Ronda Rousey, a story on the life and times of Nick Bockwinkel, the Reid Flair angle and build to Survivor Series, Destination America dropping wrestling, and the 104-year-old attendance record being broken, as well as the story behind the firing of Billy Gunn, an update on The Rock at WrestleMania, La Sombra to WWE, the AAA world title gets decided and a lot more are headline stories in the new double issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter which is on the site right now.

    If you have an interest in history, this is a huge issue, as well as a perspective on what happened in the most talked about UFC fight in history.

    We look at the fight, the background of Holly Holm, what is going on in Rousey’s life, what led to the upset, thoughts on a rematch, what it means for business, the early business notes on the fight including where PPV may come in, previous fights like this, and what happened after the fight. We look at UFC’s biggest upsets, the gambling perspective, rematch odds, business notes and match-by-match coverage with poll results.

    The life and times of Nick Bockwinkel is one of the best bios we’ve done, with comments from people whose careers he has touched, my own personal thoughts on Bockwinkel, what current WWE superstar had his career path changed greatly because of a suggestion by Bockwinkel to an independent promoter, a look at his life, his career, some of his most famous matches, his career title history, the controversy over Hulk Hogan not getting the AWA title, his place in the business when it changed and life after wrestling.

    We also look at the Reid Fliehr angle, how it was set up, comments by Ric Flair, how ESPN got exposed in its wrestling coverage, the Owen Hart DVD and more.

    PLUS MUCH MORE! CLICK HERE FOR A FULL WRESTLING OBSERVER PREVIEW

    The Latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter: November 23, 2015 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Holm defeats Rousey, Nick Bockwinkel passes away, more

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    TODAY’S DAILY UPDATE

    • This is the WWE statement regarding the Paige-Charlotte angle from Raw on Monday:

    “Subject matter this personal is only approved as a result of the strong advocacy of the talent themselves.  Notwithstanding that, WWE is ultimately responsible for what airs in its programming.”

    • On tonight’s Smackdown show, they will announce the Dolph Ziggler vs. Tyler Breeze match added to Sunday’s Survivor Series show.
    • Jon Jones on Instagram strongly suggested his return date would be 4/23, which is the day UFC has Madison Square Garden booked.
    • Ratings on Destination America last night weren’t good. 

    Impact at 9 p.m. did 202,000, the all-time low in the time slot. 

    ROH at 11 p.m. did 114,000 viewers, the second lowest since ROH was cut to one airing

    Impact at midnight did 78,000 viewers, on the low side but not near record lows.

    • The USA Network announced the annual WWE week which will start on 12/20 with airing the movie “Santa’s Little Helper,” followed on 12/21 with Raw, which will be the Slammy Awards show, a live Smackdown on 12/22, and the two-hour version of the Tribute to the Troops special on 12/23.
    • Sorry to report the death yesterday of Todd “Oly” Olsen, a regular for All-Star Wrestling out of Vancouver, who actually gave Bryan Alvarez his first pro wrestling lessons in 1995.
    • The Fight Network in Canada announced they are going to be moving TNA to Tuesday night, so it will air in Canada the same day as in the U.S.
    • POP TV, which is the new home of Impact starting on 1/5 only broadcasts in SD on DirecTV.
    • Our Gary Juster interview talking Nick Bockwinkel and ROH will be up on the site later this afternoon.
    • A nice Nick Bockwinkel story
    • A story on the damage the loss on Saturday did to the Ronda Rousey brand
    • And The Economist weighs in on Ronda Rousey
    • Conor McGregor and Urijah Faber from last night’s Ultimate Fighter.  This was pretty much must-see
    • T.J. Dillashaw and Dominick Cruz go back and forth here.  Very entertaining.  Cruz is awesome here
    • ROH announced shows for 2/19 and 2/20 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. 
    • On tomorrow night’s World Series of Fighting show in Phoenix, with a tournament for a lightweight title shot, the first round of the tournament will take place before the TV on NBC Sports Network start sat 11 p.m.  The tournament matches ill be available starting at 8 p.m. Eastern and 5 p.m. Pacific on WSOF.com.  The semifinals and finals will air on NBC Sports.  First round has Islam Mamedov vs. Jorge Patino, Brian Cobb vs. Mike Ricci, Brian Foster vs. Zoao Zeferino, Luis Palomino vs. Rich Patishnock.
    • The New Japan tag team tournament begins Saturday at 4:30 a.m. Eastern time at Korakuen Hall.
    • With TNA moving to Pop TV, Paragon Pro, which had been on the channel, will start airing on 11/19 on Tuff TV at midnight Eastern time, as well as on Fight Net, Yoo Too America Dish Network and WADL in Detroit.

    WWE

    • WWE stock today lost 32 cents per share after a big day yesterday, closing at $17.12 per share.
    • The Paterson Armory in Paterson, NJ, which was a regular stop during the territorial days, was taken down this past Friday.  It hasn’t been used for wrestling in forever.  Mike Omansky noted to us he was there for a sold out show with hundreds turned away, and loads of police having to be used to clear out people without tickets demanding to get in, for a show headlined by Bruno Sammartino vs. Dr. Jerry Graham and The Tolos Brothers vs. Gorilla Monsoon & Killer Kowalski in a battle of heels back in 1964.
    • Lana is back training for a return. 
    • Here’s a nice story on the making of The Wrestling Album 30 years ago in Rolling Stone this week (thanks to Henry Kassabian)

    UFC

    • Holly Holm appear on Inside MMA tomorrow night at 11:30 p.m., one hour eariler than usual.  She’ll be joined by coaches Mike Winklejon and Greg Jackson,  The show will feature a report from Albuquerque and also talk to Dave Oancea, who bet $20,000 on Holm and won $240,000.
    • Michael Bisping started a new weekly Thursday talk show from 6-8 p.m. with comedian Luis J. Gomez called The Countdown today on Sirius XM Ch. 93.
    • Good story by Shayna Baszler on Rousey, with a lot of pro wrestling references
    • Here is the weekend UFC TV schedule:

    Weigh-ins are tomorrow at 5:30 p.m. on FS 1

    Prefight show is Saturday at 7 p.m. on FS 1

    Live show is 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. on FS 1

    Post fight show is at 1 a.m  on FS 1

    Ultimate Insiders with Daniel Cormier, Paige VanZant and Frankie Edgar on Sunday at 6:30 p.m.

    There will be a special on the Cain Velasquez vs. Fabricio Werdum fight that Werdum won the title i airing on Tuesday at 8 p.m. on FS 1

    Dennis Bermudez vs. Maximo Blanco was added to the 1/17 show in Boston on FS 1.

    • UFC Fight Pass today announced a new deal with the Omaha based Victory Fighting Championship promotion.  They will have their entire tape library dating back to 2002 up in early January, and will run all VFC shows live, with the first on 1/29 headlined by Elvis Mutapcic vs. Anthony Smith for the middleweight title.

    MISCELLANEOUS

    • There is a ZZ Inc. show tonight in Leon with Fireball & Rey Hours vs. Speedball Miike Bailey & Willie Mack, Mr. 450 Hammet & Mickie James & Dinastia vs. Bestia 666 & Taya & Mini Charly Manson, Australian Suicide & Jack Evans & Angelico vs. Daga & Sonjay Dutt & Seiya Sanada, Fenix & Garza Jr. & El Hijo del Dos Caras vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr. & Magnus (Nick Aldis, the GFW champion) & Psicosis, and Blue Demon Jr. & Dr. Wagner Jr. & Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Brodus Clay & Drew Galloway & Johnny Mundo. (thanks to Kris Zellner)
    • Ric Flair, Ricky Steamboat, Ricky Morton, Robert Gibson, Scotty 2 Hotty Garland, Gangrel and others will be appearing for Big Time Wrestling on 11/20 in Norfolk at the Scope Events Center and 11/21 in Powhatan, VA at the High School.  Promoter Tony Hunter noted strong advances for both shows and that he’s expecting 2,000 fans in Powhatan.  Photos and autographs are 6-8 p.m. on Friday and 5-7 p.m. on Saturday prior to the start of both shows.   
    • Wrestledelphia with a three part interview with Bob Backlund
    • AAW has an already sold out show on 11/28 in Chicago at the Logan Square Auditorium although there may be additional tickets at the door.  Check www.twitter.com/aawprothe day of the show. Ethan Page vs Eddie Kingston vs. Trevor Lee for the AAW title headlines, plus Devin & Mason Cutter vs. Dave & Jake Crist (Jake’s final AAW match) for the tag title, Chris Hero vs. Pentagon Jr., Christian Faith vs. Gregory Iron, Fenix vs. Tommaso Ciampa, Louis Lyndon vs. Alex Shelley, ACH vs. Davey Vega and Tyson Dux & Matt Cage vs. Shane Hollister & Markus Crane.
    • A story on mixed gender wrestling
    • CZW and WSU run Saturday in Voorhees, NJ at Flyers Skate Zone.  There will be a 4 p.m. show headlined by Jessicka Havok & Matt Tremont vs. Pepper Parks & Allysin Kay and Leva Bates vs. Solo Darling, as well as Marti Belle & Mia Yim (Jade) vs. Bill Carr & Dan Barry and other men vs. woman matches.  The 8 p.m. show has Tremont vs DJ Hyde for the CZW title and Team Tremendous vs. The Hooligans, Joey Janela vs. Lio Rush, Danny Havoc vs. AR Fox, Drew Gulak vs. Masada and more.
    • The Pac 12 Network announced it will be airing wrestling starting with Penn State vs Stanford on Sunday at 1 p.m. Pacific time.  They will be airing seven meets this season culminating with the Pac 12 conference championship meet live from Arizona State on 2/27.  The second show will be Stanford vs. Cal State Bakersfield on 12/17.
    • Absolute Intense Wrestling on 11/27 in Cleveland at Our Lady of Mount Carmel with Rickey Shane Page vs. Ethan Page, Alex Shelley vs. Louis Lyndon, Chris Hero vs. Tim Donst, Johnny Gargano vs. Candice LaRae vs. DJ Zema Ion vs Alex Daniels and more.  They also run 12/5 in Cleveland at the Martin Luther Church with Tracy Smothers vs. Grado, Cliff Compton vs. Frankie Flynn and more.
    • There will be a major judo tournament, the Qingdao Grand Prix at www.ippon.tv on Sunday featuring eight time world champion Teddy Riner of France returning to international competition. 
    • Pro Wrestling Eclipse on 11/28 in Oshawa, ONT at the Oshawa Legion 43 with Xandra Bale vs. Jewels Malone in a falls count anywhere match.
    • UWC on 12/5 in Wrightstown, NJ at Kelly’s Banquet Hall.  Admission is free if you donate an unwrapped toy with a suggested minimum value of $10 at the door.  There will be free door prizes.
    • RFA on 12/11 with Andy Townsend vs. E.J. Chavez from the Orange County Fair and Event Center on Costa Mesa, CA, which also airs live on AXS.
    • Tier 1 Wrestling on 12/4 in Deer Park, NY at the NYWC Sportatorium.
    • NWA Smoky Mountain Wrestling on Saturday in Kingsport, TN at the Civic Auditorium with Jax Dane defending the NWA title against national champion Arrick Andrews, plus Jason Kincaid defends the Southeastern title against ROH’s Ray Rowe.  
    • Big West Wrestling on 12/11 in Kelowna, BC at Lake City Bowling & Billiards.  They also have dates there on 1/22, 2/19 and 3/18.
    • Northern Championship Wrestling on 11/28 in Montreal at Centre Brussels.
    • Alpha-1 Wrestling on 12/13 in Hamilton, ONT at 166 Greenmountain Road with Eric Young vs. Scotty O’Shea and Amazing Red vs. Alessandro del Bruno.

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

    1906 – Clarence Weber beat Buttan Singh in Melbourne to become the first Australian born Australian heavyweight champion

    1966 – Ray Stevens & Art Nelson beat George & Sandy Scott in Melbourne to win the IWA tag titles

    1970 – Larry Hennig & Bob Windham (Blackjack Mulligan) beat Thunder Sugiyama & Great Kusatsu in Ashikaga to win the IWE tag titles

    1974 – Alfonso Dantes beat El Halcon in Mexico City to win the Mexican national light heavyweight title

    2004 – Hector Garza & Tarzan Boy & El Terrible beat Canek & Black Warrior & Rayo de Jalisco Jr. in Mexico City to win the CMLL trios titles

    2006 – Mistico beat Black Warrior in the tournament final to win the IWRG super welterweight title

    2011 – Takeshi Morishima beat KENTA in Tokyo to win the Global tournament

    2011 – Ricochet beat Pac (Neville) in Osaka to win the Open the Brave Gate title  

  • WWE to release statement regarding Charlotte/Paige Raw angle (UPDATED)

    WWE’s official statement:  “Subject matter this personal is only approved as a result of the strong advocacy of the talent themselves.  Notwithstanding that, WWE is ultimately responsible for what airs in its programming.”

    WWE will be releasing a statement shortly regarding Monday night’s show-closing angle involving Paige and Charlotte (Ashley Fliehr).

    The gist of the statement will be that the idea of the angle came from Ashley Fliehr, that it was taken out of the show, she was insistent that it be put in, and it was.  However, the company did take responsibility for the angle since it was ultimately their decision to put it on the show.

    The angle involved Paige referencing the death of Charlotte’s brother Reid, who passed away from an overdose on March 29, 2013, and saying clearly Reid didn’t have a lot of fight in him.  The angle has been the most-talked about story in pro-wrestling since it happened, virtually universally negative towards the company.  It was done to set up a Divas Title match on Sunday between champion Charlotte and challenger Paige at the Survivor Series PPV.

    Neither Ric Flair nor Ashley’s mother Elizabeth were alerted in advance about the angle.  Elizabeth was furious and posted publicly on Twitter.  Ric Flair on his Woo Nation podcast noted he was very upset when watching it, and indicated that Ashley didn’t have the tenure to say no to any angles or storylines presented to her.  Flair’s co-host Conrad stated publicly that the rumors it was Ashley’s idea were 100% false.  

    We will update this story with the statement as soon as it is released.

    Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez discuss the angle and fallout in detail on last night’s Wrestling Observer Radio.

  • WWE announces signing of CMLL star La Sombra

    As reported in yesterday’s new edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter for subscribers, the WWE Performance Center announced that Manuel Alfonso Andrade Oropeza, the former La Sombra, started in developmental today.

    La Sombra, who just turned 26, was one of the top stars in CMLL, and would have remained one of the company’s biggest stars for the remainder of his career there.  He just came off losing his mask to Atlantis at the Anniversary show.

    Andrade, who used to date WWE trainer Sarah Stock years ago, was originally expected to be in the New Japan tag team tournament that starts on Saturday, but when the teams were announced, Tetsuya Naito’s partner was listed as Evil (Takaaki Watanabe). Recently, Andrade did a rushed program with longtime partner Rush, that climaxed after one singles match on Friday night when Sombra lost clean in the middle in the third fall.

    He’s a super talent with a good look, but he will have to learn a completely different style and will also be able to master English well enough to do a strong promo to reach anywhere near his potential. But he was a success working with the Japanese and Americans in New Japan, and even held the Intercontinental title there at one point, so it’s not all new to him and he has the basics for being able to adapt to a different style.

    While he’s good looking, there is actually more potential for him in the U.S. as a modern day Mil Mascaras type masked character aimed at the Hispanic audience.

  • WOR 11/19: Epic Charlotte rant, blockbuster Ronda Rousey numbers, more!

    Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer returns tonight with tons of news to talk about including an epic rant from Dave regarding the Charlotte angle on Raw, Survivor Series notes, what John Cena is doing during his time off, the death of Bryan’s original trainer Ole Olsen, blockbuster numbers for UFC this past weekend, mailbag and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!

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  • WWE Smackdown results 11/19: Dean Ambrose & Roman Reigns vs. Kevin Owens & Alberto Del Rio

    – Air Date: November 19, 2015 (Nov 18 in Canada)
    – Location: Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, TN

    The Big News:

    November 19, 2015. Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose are still the best of friends.

    Show Recap:

    R.I.P. Nick Bockwinkel.

    After airing a graphic for Bockwinkel, they plugged the WWE Title tournament semi-final matches for Survivor Series and pushed the tag team main event for tonight.

    The Miz welcomed everyone to MizTV, and he did that thing where he waits for the crowd to say “MizTV” but only five people do. He was about to introduce his guests but Kevin Owens’ music hit before he could finish.

    Miz said he’s supposed to introduce the guests, but Owens said he’s turning this into the Kevin Owens Show. Owens said he would win the WWE Title and would become, as Triple H puts it, the man. Miz was about to say something but Alberto Del Rio and Zeb Colter interrupted.

    Colter called Miz a hater and isn’t going to fall for his “gotcha” questioning. Colter said it doesn’t matter what you call MizTV, it’s still crap. Owens thought that was funny, but Colter called Owens a hater too and, “Worse than that, you’re from Canada.” Crowd popped. Colter wondered if Owens snuck across the border by ice skating across Lake Michigan.

    Very Tanned Alberto Del Rio told Owens that there would be a place in MexAmerica for people like him, because they need people to clean their pools. Owens responded, “You know who missed you while you were gone, by the way? Nobody.”

    Dean Ambrose came out next. Miz was upset, but Ambrose said he was there to help him and told him to sit down. Ambrose (who campaigned against all the talking on Raw) said this was a talk show so he was going to talk. He called Del Rio one tough hombre but will go through him for the title if he has to. He said Owens can give out a beating unlike anyone else, but Ambrose can take a beating unlike anyone else and would win the title.

    Miz said there’s someone who might disagree, and smiley-faced Roman Reigns came down through the crowd. Miz was still upset that he kept getting interrupted. Reigns told him we know what happens on MizTV – Miz talks until someone shuts him up.

    R-Truth came out next and everyone appeared nonplussed. Truth called himself the underdog and a survivor and would win the title at Survivor Series. Miz told him the tournament has been going on for two weeks and Truth was never in it. Truth apologized, wished luck to the babyfaces and left.

    Miz complained about his segment going off the rails. Reigns told him to act like a director and started directing. Miz yelled “Action!” like he was on a film set, and Ambrose punched him out. Del Rio and Owens bailed. This segment started well but completely fell apart once Reigns and Truth came out.

    After a break, Miz was still in the ring, scheduled for a match. He said he shouldn’t have to compete after being disrespected and wanted his match cancelled. He was interrupted again, this time by Cesaro.

    Cesaro beat The Miz via submission

    Miz got some offense briefly but Cesaro quickly cut him off and did a tilt-a-whirl into a crossface and Miz tapped. It was short. After the match, Stardust and the Ascension came out as Cesaro walked up the ramp. Stardust and Cesaro faced off before Stardust continued on his way. Rich Brennan was excited about this face off, and he’s the only one.

    Neville & The Dudley Boyz beat Stardust & The Ascension via pinfall

    Neville ran towards the ropes but Konnor held the ropes open as Viktor distracted the referee, resulting in Neville crashing to the outside. Stardust rammed his head against the table and Bubba encouraged Neville to get up. Then, Konnor gave Neville a big boot. Presumably the referee was distracted again, but he wasn’t in the frame.

    Bubba yelled at the referee because of how stupid all of this was. The referee looked like an imbecile here and so did the Dudleys frankly. They just stood there as their partner got double teamed illegally.

    After a break, Bubba made a hot tag and took out Viktor and Stardust. They did the diving headbutt spot to Konnor and called for tables. Stardust jumped back in and gave Bubba a disaster kick, but Neville took him out with a missile dropkick. Viktor tossed Neville to the outside, sending him into Konnor. Bubba and D-Von gave Viktor 3D for the win. This was not good, and this was a poor follow-up for Neville after his great match with Owens on Raw.

    They aired a video package for Undertaker & Kane vs. the Wyatts. Jerry Lawler hopes Bray Wyatt is in the match. This is not how you promote a PPV match.

    Tyler Breeze (w/Summer Rae) beat Zack Ryder via pinfall

    Before the match, Breeze said Ryder’s fashion sense reminded him of another uggo, Dolph Ziggler. He said Summer dumped Ziggler because she wanted an upgrade. Breeze said he’s what everyone wanted and he never goes out of style. Breeze said Ziggler would do what he’s done his entire career, and Summer finished his sentence by saying Ziggler would come up short. She motioned with her fingers, intimating that Ziggler has a small penis.

    During the match, Ziggler came to ringside. He dumped one of their drinks on the floor. The distraction allowed Ryder to get a nearfall on a school boy, but Breeze won shortly after with the Beauty Shot. After the match, Ziggler superkicked Breeze and left.

    The lights went out and the Undertaker’s druids came out in sheep masks. Bray’s music hit and the Wyatts came out. (They promoted this ahead of time so the crowd knew it wasn’t going to be Undertaker.) Bray rambled. He said the demon and the deadman would fail, it was just a question of how.

    He said Erick Rowan was cast aside by society and is fueled by vengeance. He said Luke Harper shows no remorse. Strowman spoke for himself, saying he’s dreamt of making great men fall and would shatter their bones to dust. Crowd chanted “What” at Strowman.

    Undertaker’s music and pyro went off and he eventually appeared on the big screen. Taker cut a usual Taker promo and said the Brothers of Destruction will reclaim what’s theirs. Kane held up a white sheep mask, which was on fire, and Taker said the Wyatts would rest in peace. Kane did that thing with his arms and his fire explosion went off in the ring and, suddenly, all of the druids were on the floor like corpses. This was wacky.

    They showed a replay of Paige’s controversial line on Raw. They referred to this segment as the “Diva Revulsion.”

    Non-Title: WWE Divas Champion Charlotte beat Brie Bella (w/Alicia Fox) via submission

    Short, back-and-forth match that ended with Charlotte reversing an X-Factor into a spear and Figure Eight for the win. The crowd wasn’t dead, but I’m not sure how much they cared about Charlotte. They sure yelled “woo” a lot.

    Backstage, Paige told Renee Young that Charlotte can turn into the Incredible Hulk if she wants but it won’t help her retain the title. Paige called Charlotte immature for the way she acted on Monday, which is pretty funny. Paige said she would cross the line if that’s what it took to regain the title, because that’s what champions do.

    Big E (w/Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) beat Kalisto (w/Sin Cara) via pinfall

    Xavier Woods said there was a conspiracy against them because they weren’t in the tournament. They buried Ryback and Kalisto, making short jokes about the latter. Woods put on a mask and Kofi Kingston exclaimed, “He’s a luchadore! Because he’s wearing a mask!” Big E said he would show Kalisto that size does matter and began swivelling his hips.

    Once the match started, Sin Cara took out Woods outside the ring, and Kingston took out Sin Cara. Kalisto hit a dive on Kingston, but was distracted by Woods as he re-entered the ring, allowing Big E to hit a running body block and running splash for an extremely quick win. Terrible follow-up for Kalisto after his big win last week.

    After the match, Woods and Kingston held down Kalisto allowing Big E to hit another splash. Ryback ran out to make the save, taking out all three New Day members by himself, including hitting a splash of his own on Big E. He helped Sin Cara and Kalisto to their feet.

    They showed a pre-taped video interview Maria Menounos did with Paige and The Miz about their upcoming movie. This was basically a commercial, but it was the highlight of the show to this point. They were all in character. Miz tried plugging the movie, but Paige interrupted to bury Menounos, bringing up her failed attempt to become a [wrestler]. Menounos asked her what it was like working with an accomplished actor like The Miz. Paige laughed and eventually blew off the interview because she has more important things to worry about.

    They announced Ziggler vs. Breeze for Survivor Series.

    Ambrose and Reigns had a meeting backstage. Ambrose expected them both to win their semi-final matches at Survivor Series and Reigns acknowledged that this would put them against each other in the finals. Reigns patted Ambrose on the shoulder, saying he’s come too far and would have to treat Ambrose like everyone else. Ambrose expected nothing less. Basically, they agreed to give it their all and they bumped fists.

    Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose DCO I.C. Champion Kevin Owens & US Champion Alberto Del Rio (w/Zeb Colter)

    After a break, the heels took control on Ambrose after Del Rio launched him into the barricade. As Owens beat down on Ambrose, he pointed at Brennan and yelled, “You watching this Rich you idiot?” Del Rio hit an enziguri and back cracker for a two count. Ambrose blocked a superkick, hit a rebound clothesline and made the hot tag to Reigns.

    Reigns used a clothesline and apron dropkick on Owens, followed by clotheslines in the corner. Reigns hit a tilt-a-whirl slam on Owens, but Del Rio broke up the cover. Reigns sent Del Rio to the outside, and Owens hit Reigns with a superkick. Ambrose hit a suicide dive on Del Rio and clotheslined him over the announce table.

    Owens tried a powerbomb on Ambrose outside the ring, but Reigns hit him with a superman punch. Del Rio tossed Reigns into the steps and gave him a superkick. Around this point, the referee called for a double count out. Lame.

    Del Rio tossed Ambrose in the ring but Ambrose hit Dirty Deeds. Ambrose slipped out of a pop-up powerbomb and Reigns hit Owens with a spear. Afterwards, Ambrose and Reigns both went out to look at the WWE Title at ringside and eventually bumped fists again.

    Final Thoughts:

    This show sucked. Four of the matches were under five minutes, and the main event, which was promoted all night, ended in a double count out. Nothing on this show mattered.

    Enjoy Survivor Series.

  • F4D 11/18: Lance Storm talks Charlotte Raw angle, retro Nitro the start of the fall and more!

    Figure Four Daily with Bryan Alvarez and Lance Storm returns today with tons to talk about including the Charlotte/Paige angle from Raw Monday, Lance’s alternate take on it, what he has told his students about how to handle it if he passes away, some notes on the retro Nitro for this week and how Christ Jericho saw it all coming, and tons more! A fun show as always so check it out~!

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  • B&V 11/18: Storm destroys contest, Retro Raw and Retro Nitro~!

    The Bryan & Vinny Show is back tonight amidst HIGH WINDS in Seattle. A massive windstorm knocked out Bryan’s power at noon Tuesday, and as of the time this is being posted he still has no power. So it’s a POWER-FREE PROGRAM, meaning no songs, no drops, and, sadly, NO CRAIG CONTEST. Next week. But we do have retro Raw and retro Nitro, and those were two fun shows! And this is still a fun show as always so check it out~!

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  • WWE RAW sees highest rating in 3 weeks

    The quarterfinals of the WWE title tournament led to an audience rise this week, up to 3.28 million viewers, up from 3.16 million last week and 3.24 million the week before.

    The Houston Texans upset of the Cincinnati Bengals going head-to-head did 12.19 million viewers, so Raw did a better number than last week against a more viewed football game.

    The pattern remained consistent with the first hour doing well, with the first half hour not against football doing the strongest, and the audience fading in the second and third hours, but not fading at the level of last week.

    The third hour was built around Roman Reigns vs. Cesaro and the controversial Paige-Charlotte contract signing.

    The three hours were:

    8 p.m. 3.54 million viewers

    9 p.m. 3.29 million viewers

    10 p.m. 3.05 million viewers

  • WOR 11/17: WWE Raw TV report, Holly Holm fallout, ROH new TV deal, more!

    Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back tonight to talk tons of news topics including our full review of Raw from Monday night with the go-home angles for Survivor Series, World Title tournament matches, that terrible main event segment and more! Plus, ROH’s new TV deal, fallout of Holly Holm beating Ronda Rousey, tons of questions and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!

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  • FREE! F4D 11/16: UFC star Filthy Tom Lawlor with second-by-second breakdown of Rousey fight, more!

    For the first time ever, FILTHY FOUR DAILY with UFC star Tom Lawlor is FREE today! Tom has a second-by-second breakdown of the Ronda Rousey vs. Holly Holm fight including everything that Rousey did wrong leading to the biggest upset in the entire history of the UFC. You will learn, guaranteed, how to impress your friends and colleagues with the correct pronunciation of Joanna Jedrzejczyk’s name. We’ll also talk pro-wrestling, including a preview for tomorrow’s Retro Nitro review, all the details of our own tournament to win a copy of WWE2K16, how you can email Tom questions for a mailbag segment and more!

    This is a FREE SHOW so please spread the word! Tom appears every Monday afternoon only for subscribers at wrestlingobserver.com. Subscribers also have full access to commercial-free downloads of Wrestling Observer Live, plus over 7,000 new and archived shows! Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez do minimum three shows per week in addition to as many as 20 other weekly members-only shows. Sign up at wrestlingobserver.com!

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