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.
New Japan’s top star Hiroshi Tanahashi has joined The Young Bucks on the injury list for the current Best of the Super Juniors tour due to a broken left shoulder.
As noted in the current issue of the Observer, Tanahashi was hurting badly during the ROH tour last week. At yesterday’s tour opening show at Korakuen Hall, Tanahashi was destroyed by the Bullet Club in an angle, most notably by Kenny Omega. The angle was a storyline to explain his absence.
New Japan announced the injury and said he will be out the rest of the tour. They want him to heal up for one of the company’s signature events of the year like the June 19th Dominion show at Osaka Jo Hall where he is set to face Omega in a ladder match.
All of Tanahashi’s bookings for the rest of the tour will be filled by Satoshi Kojima, who will begin a new program against The Bullet Club.
Despite recovering from a high fever and hospitalization Friday and a bum elbow, IWGP heavyweight champion Tetsuya Naito rallied Saturday and will be in action against ACH as part of the ROH/NJPW Global Wars event at New York City’s Terminal Five.
It was unclear yesterday and today if he would be able to wrestle on tonight’s show due to his many ailments.
As one of the most popular of the New Japan wrestlers on the current tour, he had noted long autograph lines for him this year when last year on this same ROH/NJPW tour that wasn’t the case in the U.S. and Canada.
Naito beat Kazuchika Okada at the Invasion Attack PPV in Sumo Hall in Tokyo in April, and will make his next defense against Okada in the main event of Dominion on June 19th in Osaka Jo Hall.
Tonight’s show was already revamped due to storyline changes as well as a rib injury to The Young Bucks’ Nick Jackson. There are a number of other injuries to talent performing tonight including Young Buck Matt Jackson (swollen and bruised hand) and Hiroshi Tanahashi, who was banged up in matches earlier in the week.
Here’s your lineup:
Bullet Club (Adam Cole & Matt Jackson) vs “Rainmaker” Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii vs ROH World Champion Jay Lethal & Roderick Strong
IWGP Heavyweight Champion Tetsuya Naito vs ACH — non-title
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Reborn Matt Sydal
ROH Tag Team Champs The Addiction vs War Machine
Cedric Alexander vs Donovan Dijak w/ Prince Nana
Jushin “Thunder” Liger & the Briscoes vs Guerrillas of Destiny & “Hangman” Adam Page
CHOAS (Beretta & Gedo) w/ Rocky Romero vs Motor City Machine Guns
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion KUSHIDA vs “Pro Wrestling’s Last Real Man” Silas Young – non-title
Michael Elgin vs Moose w/ Stokely Hathaway vs Dalton Castle w/ the Boys vs Lio Rush
Jay White submitted David Finlay with a Boston Crab
They traded some cool spots and boston crab submissions. Standard, solid fare from these two.
Yoshi-Hashi, Rocky Romero and Trent Baretta defeated Ryusuke Taguchi, Tiger Mask and Captain New Japan
Good action, especially when RPG Vice were in the ring. Romero’s totally underrated in terms of knowing what to do in order to get a match over. Yoshi-Hashi got the win for his team with a submission over, why yes, Captian New Japan. How did you know?
Katsuyori Shibata, Juice Robinson and Kushida defeated Jushin Liger, Yuji Nagata and Manabu Nakanishi
Much like how Shibata’s been kicking Nagata in the face all these weeks leading to their big match, Nagata returned the favor during this bout. Shibata responded by laying in some ugly sounding kicks. Pretty good match. Shibata scored the win for his team, pinning Nakanishi with the penalty kick.
Shibata kicked Nagata in the face again after the match and put him to sleep. Interestingly, Liger and Kushida brawled into the stands. I thought they were friends? I guess they aren’t anymore.
Sanada and Bushi defeated Kazuchika Okada and Gedo
Fun match that the crowd was hyped for. Sanada looked great in his offense as he was the main focus here, working over Okada. He and Gedo went at it for a bit, but eventually Gedo fell to Sanada’s new waistlock dragon sleeper.
Today, Okada got the red mist instead of the usual green after the match for his troubles.
Tomohiro Ishii and Hirooki Goto defeated Tetsuya Naito and Evil
Crowd was really hot for this match and were all over it. Some high profile moves from Ishii, including a big time superplex to the floor. Crowd ate up the last few minutes. Goto hit the neckbreaker on the knee and Ishii hit the sliding D for a nearfall. Ishii then blasted Evil with a lariat for another nearfall, then got the win after a brainbuster. This was one of the better matches of the weekend, mostly thanks to the awesome crowd though the work was great here as well.
Kenny Omega, Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi and Guerillas of Destiny defeated Great Bash Heel, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Yoshitatsu and Michael Elgin in an elimination match
Another good match to cap off the show, about the same par as last nights show. They worked the first ten minutes with no eliminations, then went full force with them. Tanga Roa is the first one eliminated when Makabe punches him as he was jumping off the apron. Makabe gets dumped not too long after that. Honma and Tonga end up on the apron. Fale went for a lariat but hit Tonga, eliminating him. Honma tried to fight back, but was taken out with a grenade by Fale. Tanahashi battled him next and did the skin the cat spot. He went for it a second time but Omega distracted him, allowing Fale to dump him. Elgin immediately eliminated Fale.
The four remaining guys battle it out until Yujiro’s eliminated by a Elgin bomb. Elgin has the upper hand on Omega, but the rest of Bullet Club freely interfere and he’s eliminated after Omega uses his hair spray on Elgin, dumping him to the floor. Last two guys are Yoshitatsu and Omega. They have great chemistry with one another. Yoshitatsu manages to use the hairspray to his advantage, but Omega takes him out with a knee strike and pins him with the One Winged Angel.
Manabu Nakanishi, Tiger Mask and Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Roppongi Vice and Gedo
One dude doesn’t fit here. Not only is Nakanishi immobile but he’s a bit heavier than his opponents, I gotta say. Everyone took a bump for him as he threw the trio around. Standard match. There was a funny spot near the end where Taguchi and Tiger Mask did stereo hit attacks, then wanted Nakanishi to do one. He obliged, but his feet barely left the ground in doing so. He submitted Gedo with the torture rack.
Jay White and David Finlay vs. Great Bash Heel
The young lions showed great fire with their back and forth against the champions. Finlay actually took a spike piledriver to the floor. Kinda sad that it used to be one of those moves that used to put you out for months, and now it’s just a spot in a match. Solid work all around regardless. Honma got the win for his team by pinning Finlay with the sitout piledriver, which I think is the first time in forever he’s pinned someone with that.
Juice Robinson and Captain New Japan vs. Guerrillas of Destiny
Captain New Japan has aligned himself with Yoshitatsu as they have formed a “Bullet Club Hunters” faction. Too bad one half of this team is a guy who never wins a match. Mostly a match designed for GoD to look strong, which they did. I think Robinson continues to improve in every match he’s in, though, he looked good here. CNJ was pinned after a elevated DDT finish by GoD.
Katsuyori Shibata and Kushida vs. Yuji Nagata and Jushin Thunder Liger
These guys had a long match, pretty good in a lot of places. Liger and Kushida worked together and were pretty good. Shibata and Nagata were great as they not only did some grappling but also made sure to strike one another pretty fiercely. At one point Liger/Shibata and Nagata/Kushida worked another, which was pretty cool because you don’t see that happen too often, though it’s been popping up a bit more recently. Liger got a flash pin over Kushida with a bridge pin.
Nagata tore into Shibata after the match, pummeling him with kicks and of course had to be pulled apart. Ended up being another staredown between the two teams.
NEVER Six Man Titles: Hiroshi Tanahashi, Michael Elgin and Yoshitatsu vs. Kenny Omega, Bad Luck Fale and Yujiro Takahashi
Yoshitatsu’s new gimmick is that he mimics Triple H by doing his water spot on the apron when making his entrance and now wears the same kind of tights. That’s just as lame as Taguchi doing the Nakamura spots, but at least he’s doing it for comedy. Pretty good match. Elgin and Omega worked together for a bit and worked really well in their preview for next week. Yoshitatsu and Tanahashi did topes to the outside, leaving Elgin and Takahashi. The latter tried to get a sneaky win with a low blow and roll up, but Elgin kicked out and after some back and forth, pinned Yujiro after a buckle bomb and a power bomb.
Elimination match: Yoshi-Hashi, Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii and Hirooki Goto vs. Tetsuya Naito, Evil, Bushi, and Sanada
It was your typical eight man for a lot of the match in that everyone got to work with one another- Goto/Evil, Ishii/Naito, etc. Sanada worked a lot of the match and looked right at home. He’s had potential ever since he was a rookie in All Japan. Naito was the first one eliminated, deciding to eliminate himself. Ishii soon followed after a distraction by Naito sent him to the floor. Goto beat up Evil some more and tossed him to the floor to eliminate him. Bushi came in and briefly got his butt kicked, but managed to get Goto to the apron then sprayed him with the mist to eliminate him.
Okada tried to give Bushi the rainmaker but Sanada blocked him. Bushi and Okada made it to the apron as Okada tried to eliminate Bushi but Sanada dropkicked Okada, sending him to the floor and leaving just Yoshi-Hashi to fend for himself. He managed to eliminate Bushi as he and Sanada went at it. They had some pretty good back and forth between one another. Yoshi-Hashi had the better of it as he went to the top rope but Evil held on to him as Sanada recovered and gave him a superplex, then eventually submitted him with a dragon sleeper into a waistlock.
Everyone from Chaos was laid out after the match. Evil gave Goto the STO, Sanada laid out Okada, Bushi gave Ishii the mist as Naito cut a promo. Ishii tried to attack him again but he was laid out once more as Los Ingobernables made their exit.
We’re looking for your thoughts on today’s New Beginnings in Niigata as well as Thursday’s New Beginnings in Osaka so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to dave@wrestlingobserver.com
Raw will be Monday in Anaheim. No Brock Lesnar or Paul Heyman on to the go-home show for Fast Lane. Ticket sales picked up with the announcement of A.J. Styles, although I’m sure in management that will be passed off as pure coincidence, and maybe it is. But this looks to be the first sellout of a Raw show this year. It’s very close at this point and Anaheim is good walk-up market.
Lesnar will make his first appearance on Smackdown since 2004 at the Tuesday tapings in Ontario, CA.
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The newest issue of the Wrestling Observer is one of the best of the year. A very detailed look at the end of Bryan Danielson’s career and retirement. Looking back at sports, pro wrestling and the ramifications that are and are not being talked about. Danielson’s retirement is a big story, both his short and long term impact on pro wrestling. How his story will act as a catalyst for change not only within pro wrestling but all contact sports. If you are a wrestling fan, a sports fan or a science fan, this may be the most important issue of the year.
Bryan Danielson’s retirement speech, career highlights, home town, character both in and out of the ring, booking, the crazy way he ended up as champion for the first time, the birth of the “Yes” chant, the build to WrestleMania 30 & 31, the various exams, why he wanted to continue wrestling and WWE didn’t, his goals outside of WWE and why he changed his mind in the last few weeks.
The quandary he was in about continuing his career, how his career began, the formation of ROH and the changing landscape of independent wrestling, the changing ideas of what a pro wrestling headliner can look like, the first time I ever saw him wrestle while sitting with Red Bastien and Nick Bockwinkel
The suspension of Titus O’Neil, a longtime WWE star talking about going into another sport, another star looking at retiring soon, lots of WrestleMania plans including an early summer major match, Steve Austin’s WrestleMania status, update on promotion of Stephanie McMahon, star who may be interested in returning, Fast Lane, A.J. Styles talks his beginnings in WWE and how hard he tried to hide the Royal Rumble story, how DDP figured in Styles’ return, Linda McMahon forms a new company, Roman Reigns in Raw main events, WWE cuts five in developmental, new WWE books. New announcer hired, Update on many Tough Enough competitors from the past season, plans for a WWE show taped this summer, international star WWE has interest in, as well as a look at all the weekend house shows from WWE & NXT with business notes.
PLUS MUCH MORE! CLICK HERE FOR A FULL WRESTLING OBSERVER PREVIEW
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Today’s Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kenny Omega IC title match main event (available on New Japan World) was a must-see match. Really everything after intermission was great but when it comes to storytelling and accomplishing a goal (Omega had to be made as a new superstar in one match because of the departures of A.J. Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura; but Tanahashi couldn’t be hurt because he’s more important than ever) this was a masterpiece.
Ronda Rousey will be on the cover of this year’s Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue that comes out this week. There will be three different covers. She will also be on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on Tuesday promoting the cover. (thanks to Jon Southerland)
Congratulations to Milena Roucka (Rosa Mendes) who gave birth to a baby girl, Jordan Elizabeth Schubenski, yesterday.
A likely WrestleMania match with Stardust vs. Stephen Amell started with an angle shot yesterday at the Dallas Comic Con where Stardust crashed Amell’s Q&A and threw waster in his face. The angle had actually been planned at a different convention, but the original show they were going to shoot it on was canceled.
WWE
Baron Corbin and Cameron are on the current California house show tour. Corbin worked a three-way with Fandango and Viktor of the Ascension last night. Cameron was in a six-women’s match back as part of Team BAD.
Even as late as the day of the show (yesterday), all the commercials in Fresno for the house show were built around Roman Reigns defending the WWE title against Sheamus. He lost the title weeks ago, Sheamus was injured, and Reigns replaced John Cena on the European tour as soon as Cena was hurt.
The WWE was nominated for some CableFax Digital Awards including Bert App, Digital team of the Year, Digital Marketing Campaign (WrestleMania 31), Social Good Campaign (Conor’s Cure), Social Media Campaign (WrestleMania 31), Best Social Media team and Best use of Facebook.
A piece comparing presidential debates to UFC (thanks to Chris Cruise)
MISCELLANEOUS
The Evolve roster for the 4/2 show in Dallas at Noon, with a main event of Will Ospreay vs. Ricochet, also includes Timothy Thatcher, Johnny Gargano, Zack Sabre Jr., Chris Hero, Sami Callihan, Drew Gulak, Tracy Williams, TJ Perkins, Matt Riddle, Anthony Nese, Ethan Page and Fred Yehi.
The California-based Pro Wrestling Revolution promotion will join the WWNLive.com family of shows with an iPPV on 2/27 headlined by Juventud Guerrera.
CZW’s 17th anniversary show was last night in Voorhees, NJ before an SRO crowd: Masada b AR Fox, Amazing Gulaks b Dub Boys, Joey Janela b Lio Rush to keep the Wired title in a 2/3 fall match, Dave Crist & Zachary Wentz & Dezmond Xavier b Neiko Sozio & Frankie Prichard & Conor Claxton, Danny Havoc b Rickey Shane Page, Blk Jeez & Pepper Parks b EYFBO to keep CZW tag titles, Sami Callihan b Speedball Mike Bailey (excellent match), Matt Tremont b Devon Moore in a ladder match to keep the CZW title. They inducted WWE referee Drake Weurtz (Drake Younger) into the CZW Hall of Fame at intermission. Next show is 3/3 with Callihan vs. Masada, Bailey vs. Jonathan Gresham and Fox vs. B-Boy.
Stardom from Friday in Nagoya: Evie b Haruka Kato, Kaori Yoneyama b Kellie Skater, Santana Garrett & Chelsea Green b Kairi Hojo & Hiromi Mimura, Hiroyo Matsumoto b Jungle Kyona, Io Shirai & Mayu Iwatani b Biper & Kaitlin Diemond to keep the tag titles. Next Korakuen Hall show is 2.21.16 (thanks to Al Haft)
Victory Commonwealth Wrestling on 3/13 in Toronto at Lee’s Palace.
C4 on 3/19 in Ottawa at the Vanier Columbus Club with Mathieu St. Jaques vs Joey Janela.
Paragon Pro Wrestling TV tapings from Sunday in Las Vegas. They taped four weeks worth of shows: Tyshaun Prince won over Eric Wright and Anthony Green, Caleb Konley & Drew Donovan b Jay Riley & Jesse Sorenson, Royce Isaac b Anthony Green, Whirlwind Gentlemen b The Shadows, Jesse Sorensen b Drew Donovan-DQ, Alex Chamberlain b Mikey O’Shea in a PPW title match, Wes Brisco b Tyshaun Prince-DQ, Darin Corbin b Crash Test Cody, Gangrel b Greg Romero, Jay Riley b Caleb Konley, Eric Wright & Anthony Green b Greg Romero b ?, Royce Isaacs b Remy Marcel, Caleb Konley & Drew Donovan NC Jay Riley & Jesse Sorsensen, Alex Chamberlain b Gangrel (thanks to Mike Trask)
VIP Wrestling from Friday night in Arlington, TX before 230 fans: Jerome Daniels b Bolt Brady, Tim Storm & Apoc b Jaxson Stone & Bam Bam Malone, Sinn Bodhi b Markus Burke, Scott McKenzie & Kristopher Haiden d Kenny Steele & Orion Taylor, Gregory James & Jason Silver d Graham Bell & Luke Langley, Green Man b Marcus Love, Raymond Rowe b Keith Lee, Jessica James b Bree Ann Hatfield, Andy Dalton won three-way over Johnny Gargano and Davey Vega, Ricky Sparks & Houston Carson b Brian Cage & PJ Black to keep tag title, Tim Storm & Apoc b Ricky Sparks & Houston Carson to win tag title. Next shows are 3/4 in Fort Worth with New Jack vs. Masada and must be 18 or older to attend; and there is a 4/3 after WrestleMania party featuring Jake Roberts.
ECWA on 2/20 in New Castle, DE at the United Asbury Methodist Church headlined by Bobby Shields vs. Azrael.
St. Louis Anarchy from last night in Alton, IL: Kevin Lee Davidson & Sean Orleans & Kody Krash b Justin D’Air & Luke Langley & Graham Bell, Matt Cage b Paco Gonzalez, Christian Rose b Mike Outlaw, Bucky Collins b Stephen Wolf, Zakk Sawyers b Steve O Reno, Evan Gelistico & Adam Caster won a four-corners tag title match over Devin & Mason Cutter, Alexandre Rudolph & Jake Parnell and Nick Iggy & Kerry Awful, Davey Vega b Jeremy Wyatt, Ricky Starks b Mikey McFinnegan, Andy Dalton b Jojo Bravo, Chris Hero & Trik Davis b Danny Adams & Everett Connors, Mat Fitchett b Gerald James in 2/3 falls to win the heavyweight title (thanks to Patrick Brandmeyer)
All Star Wrestling on 2/20 in Chilliwack, BC at the Tzeachten Community Center and 2/26 in Surrey, BC at the Cloverdale Fairgrounds Alice McKay Building.
Smash Wrestling on 2/20 in Toronto at the Frankin Horner Community Centre featuring Chris Hero and Eddie Edwards plus the Super Smash Brothers, Mike Bailey, Johnny Gargano, Frankie the Mobster, Candice LaRae and more.
Steel City Pro Wrestling on 2/28 in Hamilton, ONT at 2 p.m.
Jim Cornette appears on 3/5 at 11 p.m. at the Laugh It Up Comedy Club in Poughkeepsie.
A Mick Foley podcast interview.
Shayna Baszler interview about her 3/6 match with Colleen Schneider at the Premier show, and also talks about Daniel Bryan
Brainbuster Pro Wrestling from last night in Holly woof, FL: Maxx Stardom won over Chasyn Rance, Mike Monroe, Chico Adams and CT Brown, Shaniah Ariyana b Angel Rose, DWB b Earl Cooter, Josh Powers b Eli Vega, Ace Andrews & Rex Bacchus b Michael Patrick & Leo Brien, Jonny Vandal b AJ Jannazzo, Maxwell Chicago b Aaron Epic, Shawn Prime b Craig Classic. Next show is 5/14/16
The Crash from Friday night in Tijuana: Black Boy won elimination match for jr. title over Proximo, Mirage, Septimo Dragon and Jinzo, El Hijo del Pirata Morgan b Angel Metalico, Arez & Geniodel Aire & Super Nova b Tony Casanova & Star Boy & Zarco, El Texano Jr. & Mr. Maldito & Taurus b The Psycho Circus, Blue Demon Jr. & Fenix & Rey Hours b Teddy Hart & Johnny Mundo & Pentagon Jr. (thanks to Kris Zellner)
Maryland Championship Wrestling from last night in Joppa, MD: Drake Carter & Shaun Cannon b Rob Locke & Joe Keys, Delirious b Fenix Fury, Brandon Scott b Sean Studd, Eric Chapel & Diry Money kept tag titles over Bo Nekoda & Oakley Woods, Ken Dixon b The Bruiser, Bill Collier & Paul Jordane b Sexy Steve & Jimmy Stars, Shane Strickland (Killshot in Lucha Underground) b Facade, Matt Hardy b King McBride via DQ so McBride retained his MCW title. Matt & Jeff Hardy b McBride & Ken Dixon
NWA Mid South on 2/20 in Dyresburg, TN at the Herb Welch Wrestle Plex with Matt Riviera & Rob Conway defending the NWA tag title against Bobby Fulton & Dexter Hardaway, Greg Anthony defends the NWA National title in a three-way against Rodney Mack and John Saxon
Pure Wrestling Association on 3/6 in Kitchener, ONT at the Registry Theatre
Crossfire Wrestling on 3/20 in St. Catherines, ONT at the Merritton Community Centre at 4 p.m.
Ryan Bader vs Anthony Johnson will be fighting later tonight in Newark, NJ. Bader will need this win to keep his title shot hopes alive. Like all Anthony Johnson fights the plan should be to take him into the later rounds and pick him apart then look to take him down and either submit Johnson or grind out a decision. If Bader can survive Johnson’s power in the first round or two then he has a chance though he is certainly an underdog.
Josh Barnett will take on Ben Rothwell. With the ever changing injury situation and shallow talent pool with the heavy weights either one of these men could earn a possible title shot with a win. This is an intruiging fight in that they are both long time vets and there isn’t much either one of them hasn’t seen before. We also get to see if the Sage Northcutt hype train can keep a chuggin’ against Bryan Barbarena, who was a late replacement for Andrew Holbrook. Northcutt in 3 months with the UFC is already having his third fight. This next fight seems to be a step up in competition for the talented Northcutt but UFC is certianly bringing him along slowly. Northcutt is a must see at the post-fight press conference.
Daisuke Harada & Atsushi Kotoge vs. Taka Michinoku & Taichi for GHC jr. tag titles
Taiji Ishimori vs. Kenou for GHC jr. title
Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr. vs. Mohammed Yone & Katsuhiko Nakajima for GHC tag titles
Minoru Suzuki vs. Go Shiozaki
Naomichi Marufuji vs. Takashi Sugiura for GHC heavyweight title
If you’ve ever wanted to WATCH our radio shows here on the site, check out our new Youtube page! No full video shows, but lots of video clips, full free audio shows that you can tell your friends about, and much more to come! Make sure you subscribe today! The latest video is “Kill that Mole”. A silent film we created a few years ago starring Bryan and Vince.
Coverage of the Royal Rumble and where things lead to WrestleMania is the lead story in a jam-packed news issue of the Wrestling Observer. TNA’s statements regarding A.J. Styles, Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson, the timing, what is accurate, and a lot that wasn’t in those statements as to why the deal didn’t happen. The process that led the stars from New Japan and more. The Cain Velasquez and Fabricio Werdum injuries and title match cancellation and what directions UFC took to try and save it. More on the injury to Hiroshi Tanahashi, the death of Archie “Mongolian Stomper” Gouldie, some stories about his life and career. WWE Hall of Fame class of 2016, New Japan Fantatstica Mania tour with full rundowns and stories behind it, Nikki Bella injury and what led to the increase in ratings for Raw and Smackdown.
The story behind why HHH won the title, why it was the right booking decision given the destination, questions about the execution, the confusing Fast Lane main event, what the original booking plan was behind Roman Reigns ascension to the top and why it was so hard for Vince McMahon to decide against his winning at last year’s WrestleMania, and questions about the crowds at Fast Lane and Mania for the main events. Update WrestleMania, chart out the Royal Rumble with how long everyone was in, eliminations, and news, Rumble business, poll results and match-by-match results with star ratings.
The situation with New Japan losing talent, and how the CMLL stars did on the tour.
The arrival of Shinsuke Nakamura to WWE and why he’s in NXT, an update on Daniel Bryan, NXT finances for talent, another endorsement deal for Dwayne Johnson, notes on the next WWE network live special, updates on NXT talent coming to the main roster, lots of WWE injury notes, WWE plans for post-Mania and the European tour, Lesnar dates, details on NXT tapings as well as details on all the weekend WWE events.
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As noted on the front page by Dave, TNA has confirmed that something happened between Kia “Awesome Kong” Stevens and Rebecca “Reby Sky” Hardy on the UK tour, leading to Stevens being sent home. Ryan Satin of Pro Wrestling Sheet has chimed in with the detail that allegedly, what escalated the situation to a physical confrontation was Hardy calling Stevens a “f**king maniac.”
Hiroshi Tanahashi officially announced at NJPW’s Road to New Beginning show today that he will be Kenny Omega’s opponent on 2/14 in the decision match for the vacant IWGP Intercontinental Championship. That was part of the post-match for Shinsuke Nakamura’s farewell, which also included a speech from Nakamura. It’s all up on NJPW World right now, and the video package for the main event/Nakamura’ farewell is on NJPW’s YouTube channel.
Some online sports books are already taking bets on Fast Lane and Wrestlemania. For Fast Lane you can bet either Roman Reigns, a huge favorite at -1050, or the field at +550. For Wrestlemania you can bet Roman Reigns ends the night as the WWE World Heavyweight Champion at -280 or anyone else at +200.
Despite spending all of his time before, during and after his main event fight last night for Bellator talking about Josh Koscheck, Paul Daley apparently wants a fight with Wanderlei Silva as he told reporters following last night’s Bellator 148. Scott Coker later commented that he’s not interested in signing the former UFC fighter and former Pride Grand Prix Champion and doesn’t think the fight will happen.
ONE Championships main card results from Malaysia on Friday – Ev Ting 3rd round sub over Eric Kelly; Eduard Foloyang dec over Tetsuya Yamada; Jake Butler 1st round KO over Tatsuya Mizuno; Geje Eustaquio 1st round KO over Saiful Merican; Samir Mrabet 2nd round sub over Sami Amin; Keanu Subba 1st round KO over Rayner Kinsiong
Victory FC 47 on UFC Fight Pass main card results from Omaha on Friday – Anthony Smith 1st round KO over Josh Neer; Jarred Mercado 2nd round sub over Alonzo Martinez; Dakota Cochrane 3rd round sub over Jake Lindsey; Cody Carrillo 1st round sub over Sean Wilson; Yuri Villefort 1st round KO over Kenneth Glenn; Grant Dawson 2nd round TKO over Bryce Logan
If you’re planning on attending Wrestlemania 32 and would like to be part of the Empire fun, please contact our self appointed Executive Director of events, Eddie Loredo for more information. You can contact him directly at f4wfan@hotmail.com – Or check out our Empire Get-Together section on the BOARD~!
If you missed last night’s Royal Rumble, you can check out Dave Meltzer’s coverage here. Spoilers: As expected, HHH won the WWE World Heavyweight Championship after entering at number 30 and tossing out DEAN AMBROSE last. Roman Reigns was eliminated 28th by HHH, so we can assume that is the Wrestlemania main event.
Reigns actually lasted 59:50, nearly catching Rey Mysterio’s longest time record of 62:15. Jericho entered 6th and lasted 50:50 before being eliminated by Ambrose. Braun Strowman eliminated the most men with five total. The big surprise of the match was AJ STYLES entering at number 3. The fans went nuts for styles, who lasted 27:53 until being eliminated by Owens. Sami Zayn was also a surprise entrant at number 20.
The only other title change was Kalisto beating Del Rio for the United States Championship. The preshow match was won by Mark Henry and Jack Swagger after Henry unexplainably splashed Bubba Ray and then pinned Viktor. So Henry and Swagger got to enter the Rumble at numbers 22 and 24 respectively.
We’re looking for your thoughts on all three nights of Fantastica Mania as well as the Royal Rumble show, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to Dave Meltzer
We’re also looking for reports from Raw tonight in Miami, with the Superstars matches, dark matches and anything else that wouldn’t be evident from the live show. WWE is teasing a major return on the show. Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman are not scheduled for the show.
Smackdown and Main Event will be taped Tuesday in Tampa.
We’re looking for your thoughts on all three nights of Fantastica Mania as well as the Royal Rumble show, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to Dave Meltzer
If you’ve ever wanted to WATCH our radio shows here on the site, check out our new Youtube page! No full video shows, but lots of video clips, full free audio shows that you can tell your friends about, and much more to come! Make sure you subscribe today! Our latest show posted to youtube is WOR featuring Jim Ross!
The 2015 Observer awards issue, the traditional biggest issue of the year,is up on the web site now. The issue not only has the awards winners in more than 40 different categories, but all the top place winners, as well as a history with all the awards winners dating back to 1980, as well as my comments on the placing for many of the awards.
The categories are:
Lou Thesz/Ric Flair Award (Wrestler of the Year), MMA MVP, Most Outstanding Wrestler, Most Outstanding MMA Fighter, Best Box Office Draw, Feud of the Year, Tag Team of the Year, Most Improved, Best on Interviews, Most Charismatic, Best Technical Wrestler, Bruiser Brody Memorial Award (Best Brawler), Best Flying Wrestler, Most Overrated, Most Underrated, Promotion of the Year, Best Weekly TV show, Pro Wrestling Match of the Year, MMA Match of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Best Non-Wrestler, Best Television Announcer, Worst Television Announcer, Best Major Wrestling show, Worst Major Wrestling Show, Best Wrestling Maneuver, Most Disgusting Promotional Tactic, Worst Television Show, Worst Match of the Year, Worst Feud of the Year, Worst Promotion of the Year, Best Booker, Promoter of the Year, Best Gimmick, Worst Gimmick, Best Pro Wrestling Book and Best Pro Wrestling DVD
Update on the Royal Rumble and Rumble weekend, full coverage of Dominick Cruz’s UFC bantamweight title win and the records set on Sunday’s show and details on the New Japan/Jim Ross announcing deal as well as a look at how this came about and Jim Ross’ overall career.
2017 Wrestlemania, how Smackdown has affected overall ratings for the USA Network, update on A.J. Styles with WWE, WWE injury updates, Daniel Bryan update, more on Mauro Ranallo and Smackdown, Chris Jericho talks his return, new season of Total Divas, How talent is broken down in NXT, the heat on Josh from Tough Enough, new dates for Brock Lesnar, plus notes from the big NXT tour and all the shows, the NXT Florida shows, as well as the WWE shows in India and the WWE weekend domestic shows and all the business notes.
You can also order the print Observer right now and get it delivered to your door via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to Dave Meltzer
For the United States, it is $13 for 4 issues, $32 for 12, $61 for 24, $101 for 40 and $131 for 52. In Canada and Mexico, rates are $14.50 for 4, $35 for 12, $67 for 24, $111 for 40 and $144 or 52. In Europe, you can get the fastest delivery and best rates by sending to moonsault@mediaplusint.com For the rest of the world, rates are $16.50 for 4, $44 for 12, $85 for 24, $141 for 40 issues and $183 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order (P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228), you can get $1 off in every price range.
If you are a new subscriber ordering 24 or more issues, you can get one free classic issue of your choice sent to you today. With a 40 issue subscription, you can get two free classic issues sent to you today.
Bryan and I will be back tonight with Wrestling Observer radio, covering Raw tonight, the latest fallout from the Rumble, and the rest of the pro wrestling and MMA news. You can send questions to the show to mailbag@wrestlingobserver.com
UFC 196 is officially cursed. Fabricio Werdum pulled out of the fight today due to injuries. So there will be no title match nor main event. Cain Velasquez had pulled out yesterday. Here is the story. Ariel Helwani on Twitter wrote that there was still a chance Werdum will fight as he’s going to see a doctor, but it’s not looking good. It was weird that he said he wouldn’t have pulled out if it was Velasquez, who had been training hard, but would beacuse it’s Miocic, who had basically one week to get in shape for five rounds. It is a different style matchup at the last minute.
Federal Judge Kimba Wood today denied UFC’s attempt to get a federal injunction that would bar the New York State attorney general’s office from stopping the proposed 4/23 show in Madison Square Garden. If the injunction was granted, the show would be on. Without it, they would need approval from the attorney general’s office that the show would be allowed, which is difficult with the laws as they are in place and the new bill to legalize professional MMA in New York not yet being passed. The court said that UFC has the right to sue over whether the law should be legal as it is, but the judge would not issue an injunction to allow the show with the current law in place.
Nikki Bella will be undergoing neck surgery on Wednesday, saying to E! that she has a pretty bad herniated disc, and said it’s more difficult than most with the same injury. “We’re gonna pray that the doctors can get the piece behind my vertebrae with just a bone fusion.” She said she’s been hurting since July and in October, looked into it, and after getting an MRI, had stopped working. She said she’ll probably know after surgery if she’ll be able to return at some point and will have an idea of when six months later.
There is nothing new on the Hiroshi Tanahashi injury. He was expected to see a doctor today regarding the shoulder he dislocated in a six-man tag team match yesterday. As noted last night on the radio show, this injury came at a time New Japan can least afford it. Tanahashi & Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata were to face Shinsuke Nakamura & Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii in the All-Star match on 1/30 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo which is a major show in Japan because it’s Nakamura’s last bout with the promotion. So it appears the last Tanahashi vs. Nakamura confrontation was last night.
Dwayne Johnson announced an endorsement deal with Under Armour and work with them to create a range of footwear, apparel and accessories and support the company’s fitness initiatives. They will also develop products based on movies Johnson is working on, including a Rock backpack and duffel bag that will hit stores in a few weeks.
WWE announced a partnership today with the Boys & Girls Club of America. It was a multi-year deal focusing on bully prevention and the Be a Star alliance. The WWE performers will participate in anti-bullying rallies in local clubs across the country and distribute Be a Star resources and materials.
Stardust tweeted out today that “Stardust is coming to an end.” I believe he later deleted it.
For those who asked, Chris Jericho didn’t suffer a broken nose in the Rumble, but did get a bloody nose shortly after he got in the match.
WWE stock was up 55 cents per share to $17.29 today.
The premiere of the new WWE Network show “Ride Along,” will air tonight after Raw.
As far as the John Cena movies go, Daddy’s Home was No. 8 for the weekend at $5.27 million and Sisters was No. 11 at $3.5 million. In Australia, Sisters was No. 6 and Daddy’s Home was No. 8 (thanks to James Stanios)
HHH has been added to the advertising at some upcoming RAW shows.
Anthony Perosh, who may have been the oldest fighter on the UFC roster with the exception of Dan Henderson, announced his retirement yesterday. Perosh was a ground specialist who was featured when UFC ran in Australia.
MISCELLANEOUS
ROH sent out a Tweet with The Young Bucks, Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows and A.J. Styles posed together with a message saying how “now everyone will find out how phenomenal he really is,” which was a classy way to do things.
C4 Wrestling on Saturday night in Ottawa before a turn away crowd of 420: Deeno Benjamin b Marc Mercer, Cuts n Guts & Sebastian Suave b Fight or Flight &Kevin Dunn, Velvet Jones b Decker Lockhart, Twiggy & Space Monkey b Michael Von Payton & Vanessa Kraven, Evil Uno b Jaka, Joey Janela b Viking, Cecil Nyx and Evan Adams in a four-way, Buxx Belmar & Thomas Dubois b Pinkie Sanchez & Chris Dickinson, Stuff Grayson won three-way over 2 Cold Scorpio and Brent Banks, Mathieu St. Jacques b Speedball Mike Bailey. Next show is 2/26 (thanks to Patric Laprade)
Classic Championship Wrestling in Chatham, ONT on 3/6 at 2 p.m. at the WISH Centre.
CWE on 3/11 in Winnipeg at Rookie’s Sports Bar.
Metro Pro Wrestling on 1/30 in Kansas City, KS at the Turner Rec Center with Jeremy Wyatt vs. The Beer City Bruiser for the Metro Pro title and Tracy Smothers vs. Math Magician.
IWF Winter Warfare on 1/30 at the IWF Centre in Nutley, NJ.
Pure Wrestling Alliance on 3/6 in Kitchener, ONT at the Registry Theater.
Ed Loredo has set up a bus for WrestleMania weekend for readers going to Dallas. The first bus sold out immediately so there may be a second bus added. For more info contact him at f4wfan@hotmail.com
This match! This rivalry! Where do I even begin? How about with a fun fact, and we’ll see what happens from there? Wrestle Kingdom 10 marks the 7th time Okada and Tanahashi will have faced each other for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. They are currently tied with three wins a piece. Tanahashi got the last, tear inducing win over Okada earlier this year at Wrestle Kingdom 9. In a way, you can think of their next match as the final in a very long “Best of Seven Series” which started in 2012 and ends, assumedly, in 2016. Another fun fact is that Wrestle Kingdom 10 will be Tanahashi’s 6th straight Tokyo Dome main event (3rd against Okada). What’s even more impressive is that he’s 5 for 5! If this were NBA Jam, he’d be “on fire.”
Okada is coming into the match as champion, defeating A.J. Styles for the title at Dominion in Osaka-jo Hall in July. Tanahashi earned his right to challenge Okada for the title by winning the 2015 G1 Climax. However, before getting to Wrestle Kingdom, Tanahashi had to defend his title match contract in matches against Bad Luck Fale and Tetsuya Naito, who both defeated Tanahashi during the G1 tournament. Meanwhile, Okada successfully defended his title against Styles in a rematch at King of Pro Wrestling in October.
Being the 7th time the two men will have met for the title, and their 9th singles match together (the first was when Okada was a Young Lion, but it still counts), there is a bit of a feeling of “not this again” coming into the match. But that’s the general complaint with New Japan in 2015. With the exclusion of an incredible character transformation here or there (Ingobernable Naito), New Japan’s booking has played things very safe for the most part, with very little changing since Wrestle Kingdom 9.
The Bullet Club is still…being the Bullet Club. With each passing day, they become more and more like the original NWO as they continue to spawn new members like Mogwai exposed to water (See Chase Owens). Nakamura is still the IC Champ, though he did part with the title throughout the year. Ishii is the NEVER Openweight Champion, just like he was going into Wrestle Kingdom 9. Gallows & Anderson are the IWGP Tag Team Champs, just like they were at Wrestle Kingdom 9. And you guessed it, reDRagon are the IWGP Jr. Tag Champs going into Wrestle Kingdom 10, just like they were going into Wrestling Kingdom 9. Even Kenny Omega, who won the IWGP Jr. title at Wrestle Kingdom 9, is the champ going into Wrestle Kingdom 10.
In a sense, we’re pretty much getting the same show as last year, though without the time restriction due to Global Force Wrestling’s broadcast in the U.S., and, sadly, also without Minoru Suzuki (Rambo entrant?). So the blame can’t be put solely on the main event for not feeling fresh. It’s a whole group effort. It’s like New Japan saw the Obama “Change” poster and said, “Nope, let’s not do that.” At least without the U.S. PPV time restriction, we’ll hopefully get the big, elaborate entrances of Wrestle Kingdoms past. DeLoreans and pole dancing routines, please!
While I may sound a little unenthused by yet another Tanahashi/Okada match, there are some upsides to Tanahashi vs. Okada VII. The most important being that they’ve never had a bad match together, and I don’t think they’re going to start at Wrestle Kingdom 10. Anything under 4.5 stars by these two on this stage would be considered a disappointment, which probably adds a bit of pressure. Another is the fact that while this match was only officially announced in October, it was more or less made the moment Okada lost to Tanahashi at Wrestle Kingdom 9. After the match, Okada was completely devastated, and left the ring in tears.
It was clear that match last January was not going to be the end of their long and storied rivalry, and another Wrestle Kingdom main event was looming. It was more just a question of if it was going to be at the following Wrestle Kingdom, or saved for further down the line. Thus, while it’s not the freshest match up, it does have a long, solid, emotional backstory and we can expect a fitting conclusion, i.e. Okada redeems himself for being a crybaby and finally defeats Tanahashi in the Tokyo Dome, the figurative torch is passed, the student becomes the master, and so forth.
Okada vs. Tanahashi: The Champion vs. The Ace. I know I should be more excited for this than I am, and I am excited. It’s just not off the charts levels. I think what I’m most looking forward to is this match possibly capping off what has been one of the highest profile rivalries in Japan in the current decade, and possibly the best in terms of match quality. If nothing else, it’s all but guaranteed to be a hell of a match.
Friday’s show is part two of our look at the New Begining events, taking place February 11, 2015 in Osaka.
Hiroshi Tanahashi is here to talk about his IWGP title match against AJ Styles. He says that he’d give AJ as many title shots as possible until he’s satisfied. Talks about how they first faced off in TNA back in 2005 and while he was a top fighter then, he doesn’t have the sexiness he has now. I see. Says that all of this was probably meant to be.
The match aired. The large part of the match was decent. Everything looked good and was executed well but nothing to particularly write home about. Like every big Bullet Club match, most of the Bullet Club roster was out there. Here’s a “if only this was real” moment: why can’t the ref just throw them out before the match begins? There’s been a precedent of them interfering over and over and over. There has to be some storyline reason why the Bullet Club (which at this point is a good chunk of the New Japan gaijin roster) is out there in full force.
Anyway, this was a perfectly fine technical match for the most part. Tanahashi got busted open after doing a high fly flow, hitting his head against Matt Jackson’s. I missed how this happened live, but thankfully Josh Barnett pointed it out and they showed replays. He got busted open hard way, ouch. Things picked up after that. Tanahashi went for AJ’s leg and AJ tried to free himself by jumping, but in mid air Tanahashi countered with a dragon screw in a really cool move. After a Ganso bomb, AJ hit the Bloody Sunday DDT and pinned Tanahashi after the Styles Clash to become IWGP champion once again. A fine world title match, but these two have had better. I don’t know what it was about this match. Nothing was bad and it was mostly good, but nowhere near the same levels of their previous matches in terms of intensity. Something was just missing – maybe the crowd, or a slower build than other world title matches, but something here was just lacking.
No comment from Tanahashi after the match as he was taken quickly to the back.
Karl Anderson spent a good chunk of the last ten minutes or so introducing the Bullet Club one by one. In a backstage press conference, AJ and Kenny Omega say that now that they have all the titles, the only logical thing to do is to take over the world.
Tanahashi talks about how after the bump that busted him open, the blood seeped into his contact lenses and for the rest of the match he had bloody vision. That doesn’t sound fun in the least bit. He said this road will lead him to the New Japan Cup, and that there will be other chances to claim the belt once again.
A fine show this week. Not a blockbuster by any means, but the show did a good job in advancing the story of the IWGP title this year.
