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Tag: wrestlemania

  • F4W Wrestlemania Dallas Convention: Dinner, events, more!

    Every year during Wrestlemania, many of our members get together for various events, dinners, and other get-togethers as a lead up to WWE’s biggest event of the year. Run by longtime subscriber Ed Loredo, these are a fun way for people to get to know each other, talk wrestling, and meet up with Bryan Alvarez and other website personalities!

    Here’s what’s on tap so far with all times local:

    Friday, April 1st: Buffet dinner at Texas de Brazil in Dallas (5 PM)

    Cost will be $63.50 will include soda & tea (alcohol can be bought at the bar). To book your spot, Paypal Ed with your name and the amount of spots you’re reserving. Be sure to send as a gift to avoid transaction fees! Spots are limited, so act soon!

    Friday bus to WrestleCon?

    If there is enough interest, we will look into chartering a bus (possibly $20-25 per person) to take the group to dinner from WrestleCon. Email Ed if interested.

    Other Mania Week Events

    WWE

    – WrestleMania 32 Axxess: Friday – Sunday 

    – NXT TakeOver: Friday

    – WWE Hall of Fame ceremony: Saturday

    – Wrestlemania 32: Sunday

    – RAW: Monday

    ROH

    – Supercard of Honor X: Friday

    – TV Taping: Saturday

    WWN Events:

    Packages available, including for Terry Funk’s BBQ party

    – Evolve: Friday

    – Viva La Lucha: Friday

    – Kaiju Big Battel: Friday

    – Evolve: Saturday

    – SHIMMER: Saturday

    – WWN Supershow Mercury Rising

    WrestleCon Events

    – Friday | Saturday 

    – Mania Moments Brunch: Sunday

  • A look at Sting’s road to the WWE Hall of Fame

    WWE officially announced today that Sting will headline its 2016 Hall of Fame Class to be inducted Wrestlemania weekend in Dallas, TX. He was expected to be the lead inductee this year given he lives near Dallas and that the timing worked out.

    Steve “Sting” Borden was one of the biggest stars in pro wrestling during the 1990s with WCW, where he was a six-time WCW world champion and two time International world champion.  He was also a two-time NWA champion and four time TNA champion.

    Borden started his career working for Jerry Jarrett in late 1985 after only a few weeks of training under Red Bastien and Billy Anderson, as Power Team USA. He was discovered working in a Southern California gym by Rick Bassman, who was trying to put together a group of bodybuilders to capitalize on the popularity of the Road Warriors. Borden and Jim Hellwig, who became the Ultimate Warrior, left the camp and Bassman on their own after sending photos to all the different promotions.  Only Jarrett responded, but the team only lasted a few weeks before Jarrett got rid of them.

    Bill Watts hired the two based on potential.  Watts had trouble with Hellwig, who quit and went to work for World Class wrestling, and then found his way to WWF.  Sting started as a heel and was put under the wing of Eddie Gilbert, who turned him face just as the UWF was being sold to Jim Crockett Promotions.  Most of the UWF talent got buried, but Sting was kept on as a prelim guy, who started gaining popularity.

    His star exploded in one night when he was booked to do a 45 minute draw with Ric Flair on the first Clash of the Champions in 1988.  From that day on, he was always considered a major star, and when Crockett Promotions told to Turner Broadcasting in 1989, Sting was considered the heir apparent as the company’s top star after Flair. The decision was to change the title in February 1990, ironically, on Flair’s 41st birthday in Greensboro. However, Sting suffered a bad knee injury in an angle building up the match, and the title change was moved to Baltimore and the Great American Bash that summer.

    He remained as a top star with WCW until the promotion closed.  He retired after not making a deal with WWF, but then came back for a lucrative deal with TNA.  He agreed to come in 2006 and every year, he expected it to be his last. And every year, Dixie Carter offered him a new deal and he remained with the company until his last contract expired in early 2014.  At that point, TNA could no longer afford him, and he opened up talks with WWE, later debuting at the 2014 Survivor Series in the show-closing angle.

    Sting wrestled a few matches with WWE until suffering a neck injury at the 2015 Night of Champions after taking a power bomb into the turnbuckles in a match with then-World Champion Seth Rollins.  He noted when talking with Ric Flair that he requires neck surgery, although has not gotten surgery yet.

    He is also a TNA Hall-of-Famer.

  • WWE announces February NXT tour dates & WrestleMania AXXESS details

    On Monday, WWE announced its non-Florida February NXT touring schedule with tickets going on sale on Friday:

    • February 4 in Memphis at the Minglewood Hall
    • February 5 in Nashville at the Auditorium
    • February 6 in Indianapolis at the Old National Centre Egyptian Room
    • February 18 in Philadelphia at the Tower Theater
    • February 19 in Asbury Park, NJ at Boardwalk Hall
    • February 20 in Albany, NY at the National Guard Armory

    ​*****

    The company has also announced details of WrestleMania AXXESS in Dallas, held at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, the same site as the NXT show on Friday night.

    There will be activities on Thursday, March 31, from 6-10 p.m.; Friday, April 1 from 5-9 p.m., and three Saturday sessions from 8 a.m. to Noon, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. The latter session goes head-to-head with the Hall of Fame ceremony. There is also a Sunday event from 8 a.m. to Noon.

    The events are in direct competition with a ton of other indie shows that will be held in the area as well as Jim Ross one-man show events. There is also a Sunday event from 8 a.m. to Noon.

  • January 4, 2016 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Business year in review, Rock at Wrestlemania 32, tons more.

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    Current subscribers click here to continue reading.

  • Rock confirms he’ll be at Wrestlemania 32 in Dallas

    Despite recent speculation that he wouldn’t be at Wrestlemania in 2016 due to ongoing movie commitments, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson confirmed via Instagram Monday that he would indeed make an appearance at the WWE’s marquee event.

    The show is expected to set an all-time pro wrestling attendance record and Rock admittedly wants to play his own part in helping set that attendance record.

    Here is his official statement:

    “IT’S OFFICIAL: People’s Champ is coming home to do 3 things with THE PEOPLE: Set an ALL-TIME attendance record, ELECTRIFY Dallas like never before & make all time #WRESTLEMANIA history. And we have FUN. Ok that’s four things but you know what the hell The Rock’s sayin’.. . THANK YOU #WWEUniverse! It’s always an honor coming home and I wouldn’t miss it for the world. #PeoplesChamp4L #MakingElectrifyingHistory #SmackethLaidDownOnThyCandyAsses“

    Wrestlemania 32 will be held at AT&T Stadium in Dallas as part of a big weekend that also features an NXT TakeOver event, the annual Hall of Fame ceremony and the always-raucous post-Mania RAW, traditionally the hottest and most highly rated show of the year.

    This will be the fifth straight Wrestlemania appearance for Johnson, who had a two-year break during which he and the company were on tenuous terms in 2009 and 2010. In 2011, he made his return to host the Atlanta show, and got involved in the WWE championship match between John Cena and The Miz, leading to a challenge to Cena at the following year’s show in his hometown of Miami, which would end up being a non-title match.

    Following that show, Rock announced that he was “back” and his goal now was to win the WWE World title. He did just that at the following year’s Royal Rumble, ending CM Punk’s year-plus reign. This set up a return match with Cena, who had won the Rumble match. Rock dropped the belt to Cena in the main event of Wrestlemania 29 and suffered a serious injury in that match. The injury delayed the filming of the big-budget Hercules movie and put into question the idea of Rock ever wrestling another match.

    In 2014, at the New Orleans Superdome (or Silverdome), the Rock made an announced and unadvertised appeared in the show’s opening segment. He, Steve Austin and Mania host Hulk Hogan went back and forth in an entertaining verbal sparring match. The three shared beers without any physical confrontation.

    At least year’s show in another unadvertised, but not unexpected, appearance, Rock appeared again to break up a Stephanie McMahon/Triple H interview segment. This led to a verbal barrage by Stephanie on the Rock in which she also got physical. Not one to bestow physical violent on a woman (especially in this PG era), Rock introduced then-UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey to physically confront Stephanie. Rousey was seated at ringside and entered the ring in perhaps the most memorable moment of the entire show.

    This was expected to set up a potential match, or even matches, involving Rock, Rousey, Stephanie and Triple H at this year’s show. Rousey’s movie commitments and UFC contract led to her being taken out of the equation fairly early, and it was reported a couple months back already that Rock would not be available for a match either.

    His appearance on the show this year should help to some degree, but him not being in a match will prevent it from making a major impact. Nothing is going to top last year’s appearance and we’ve already seen him wrestle in high-profile matches at recent shows. But this certainly won’t hurt and gives WWE a name with some mainstream credibility to put on the show’s marquee and in advertising hype for the event.

  • Wrestling Observer Preview: Seth Rollins injury, Exclusive WrestleMania News

    Exclusive news on WrestleMania, how SummerSlam has changed due to the Seth Rollins injury, updates on Rollins, notes on the WWE title tournament and what key stars besides Rollins and Randy Orton are now unlikely to wrestle at WrestleMania is the lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

    We also look at the different potential finishes of the WWE title tournament, how it looks to be progressing, a look at the Royce Gracie vs. Ken Shamrock fight and look back 20 years to their two previous fights, lots of notes on the fight, and the back story.

    We also look at WrestleMania tickets, the Wayne Rooney angle, Dwayne Johnson and Dave Bautista update, More on Alberto Del Rio’s outside business and his angle in Puerto Rico, Undertaker week, WWE make more network predictions, notes from the next Madison Square Garden show, notes on Raw this week, Ronda Rousey talks WWE Divas division, what WWE star is ready to return from surgery, plus notes on all the WWE & NXT arena events of the past week and business note.

    We also look at the New Japan Tokyo Dome lineup and what is announced and other matches not announced that are scheduled, details of New Japan’s tag team tournament, coverage of the Power Struggle PPV, an update of the New Year’s Eve show in Japan, U.S. broadcast notes, the introduction of what they hope will be Japan’s newest superstar on that show, Bellator reps on New Year’s Eve, what pro wrestlers are involved in the show, rematches of legendary bouts, what pro wrestlers are in the running to face Fedor, what giant is in the running to face him, and how big New Year’s Eve fighting used to be in Japan.

    We also look at the retirement of Genichiro Tenryu this week, the career of Mirko Cro Cop, the UFC show headlined by Vitor Belfort vs. Dan Henderson and all the business notes, plus we’ve got details of two different pro wrestling groups that are looking at starting up, with major name involvement.  We look at who is behind one group that is calling talent for a January start, and the different vision of pro wrestling that a legendary promoter looking to come back is working with. 

    We also have our monthly business rundown of WWE and TNA, to see how both groups are doing as compared to the same period last year, as well as a breakdown on how every different WWE main event is drawing over the past month.

    The latest Wrestling Observer: November 16, 2015 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Seth Rollins injury, Wrestlekingdom 10 matches

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

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

    Rates are:

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

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

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

    We’ve also got the weekly coverage of all the ratings of the major shows and the major TV show rundowns.

    Also in this issue:

    –A look at the La Sombra vs. Rush confrontation at Arena Mexico and where it’s headed

    –More on the big Lucha Libre Elite shows

    –More on what AAA is doing with its world title

    –Lots more on talk of Cibernetico leaving AAA following Alberto Del Rio and Myzteziz

    –What is now going on behind the scenes

    –What U.S. star no-showed for AAA this past week

    –The first ZZ Inc. show notes

    –Masked legend accidentally puts unmasked photo on social media

    –A look at the Dragon Gate show this pat week and where the major title matches are going

    –The 38th annual Real World Tag League tournament notes

    –The Global tournament finals, surprise winner and final standings

    –Full lineup for NOAH’s last major show of the year

    –Pro wrestler who once won a UFC tournament gets arrested and details

    –A first-time ever singles match between major stars in early December

    –Woman star wins bodybuilding contest

    –Back story on the first big women’s pro wrestling sellout of Budokan Hall

    –First ever meeting between Hall of Famer and one of today’s best all-around wrestlers

    –How close Jimmy Snuka came to being WWF champion

    –How Vince McMahon got in control of WWF

    –Major angle in Evolve

    –Daughter of a pro wrestling personality in a major movie release

    –Longest modern match

    –Preston City Wrestling notes

    –Promotion announces it is folding

    –More big shows this week

    –Two MMA fighters doing a pro wrestling match with former UFC star as ref

    –Notes on Jeff Jarrett’s latest show

    –New inductees into St. Louis Wrestling Hall of Fame

    –Who is being honored at the Cauliflower Alley Club this year

    –Frank Gotch tournament announced

    –Football player making pro wrestling debut in a few weeks

    –Former wrestler who founded convenience store chain and was mentor to a Hall of Famer

    –More on the new season of Lucha Underground

    –More ROH shows

    –TNA TV notes

    –Update on Georges St-Pierre’s consideration of a return

    –Thoughts on him coming back and options

    –UFC stadium show in 2016 falls through

    –Lots of new UFC fights

    –Notes from Bellator’s last major show of the year

    –New Glory TV deal

    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@wrestlingobserver.com” target=”_blank”>dave@wrestlingobserver.com

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

    Rates are:

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

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

    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. We’ve got coverage of every major PPV event and world wide spectacular, every major star switching promotions, histories of companies like FMW, Rings and New Japan, retirement and obit issues of every major star who fits into those descriptions over the past 11 years, as well as our biggest issue every year, the annual awards issue, and our most controversial issue of every year, the Hall of Fame issue.

    Click here for the most requested Wrestling Observer back issues.

  • WWE Wrestlemania party news & notes including NXT mini-show

    Submitted by Cory Van Kleeck

    At Thursday’s Wrestlemania 32 on-sale party at Dallas’ AT&T Stadium, there was a free NXT show:

    – Samoa Joe b Baron Corbin (Billy Gunn joined in for the surprise pop to save Joe from a post match beat down)

    – Apollo Crews b Tye Dillinger

    – Asuka b Peyton Royce

    – Zack Ryder & Mojo Rawley b Blake & Murphy

    – Carmella b Alexa Bliss

    Notes:

    – Announced attendance was 7137 which they touted strongly as a record for the onsale event.

    – The ring was on the 50-yard line midfield with almost everyone standing on the field around the ring, while a few sat in the stands.

    – The evening featured numerous q&a’s with Steve Austin, Booker T, Mark Henry and Lita.  Lana was also in attendance (showing no injury signs) but got no mic time. Austin was in tremendous shape and form and was clearly having a great time before and during the event. He mentioned twice that he would not be coming back to wrestle, but if he did he’d prefer Brock or Cena.

    – Booker T brought the Spinaroonie out of retirement when three Dallas Cowboys called him out.

    – Contests were held with trivia and impressions for t-shirt giveaways, and there was face painting along with autographs with Cowboys, cheerleaders, WWE and NXT stars.

    – Ticket sales started at 4 PM, doors opened at 5 PM, the event started at 6 PM, and ended at 9 PM.  I heard of people there at 4 AM, so it was a LONG day for some folks standing almost the entire way.

  • How to buy WWE Wrestlemania tickets right now

    The first WWE WrestleMania pre-sale started Tuesday with a number of codes out there. You can use ‘COWBOYS’ through Ticketmaster. There will be other codes out for the next few days, but this is the earliest opportunity to get the best tickets ranging in price for $148 – $2360.

    In the Dallas area, there will be a party this Thursday at AT&T Stadium with Steve Austin and a number of other former WWE wrestlers, some current wrestlers and many NXT wrestlers. For everyone who attends that party, they will also get a code to use for purchase tickets.

    Not ready to buy today? The presale code for Wednesday starting at 10 AM EST is HHHVIP. Tickets for the massive April 3 event at AT&T Stadium go on-sale to the public this Friday at 10 a.m. Eastern time. 

    This is WWE’s first Wrestlemania in Texas since 2009’s Mania 25 at Houston’s Reliant Stadium. An announced 72,744 saw WWE Champion Triple H vs. Randy Orton, WWE World Champion Edge vs. John Cena vs. Big Show, and the Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels.

  • Jim Ross live show schedule for WrestleMania weekend

    Jim Ross has announced doing three separate shows over WrestleMania weekend.

    Ross will be doing his one man show at the House of Blues, which is near the American Airlines Center, both before and after the WWE events in the building.

    Shows are set for 4 p.m. and 11 p.m. on Saturday, April 2nd.  That would be both before the Hall of Fame show and after.  The Hall of Fame show will likely be scheduled from 7-10 p.m., although it seems to always go long.

    Ross will also be doing a show after Raw on Monday, April 4th, at 11 p.m., which would be about 50 minutes after Raw ends live.

    Tickets for the events will go on sale Friday, which include Meet and Greet tickets for all three shows.

  • Ticket information for the biggest WWE WrestleMania in history

    The presale for WrestleMania 32 tickets will start on November 5th for the show that takes place on April 3, 2016 at AT&T Stadium in Dallas.

    The password for the presale is RAWVIP, and the presale will start at 9 a.m. Central time. 

    Tickets will go on sale to the general public at 9 a.m Central time on November 6th

    The best tickets will be priced at $2,380 for the first eight rows of ringside, which will include a special stadium entrance and a WrestleMania folding chair.

    Because they are going to attempt to sell more tickets than in prior years, the bottom price to get in is $18, the cheapest Mania ticket in several years.  While they won’t put a legitimate 100,000 in the building, this show will almost certainly break the legitimate indoor attendance record for WWE, and they will almost certainly announce a number greater than the worked biggest attendance number in company history, 93,173 for WrestleMania III on March 29th, 1987.

    Tickets are available at www.ticketmaster.com or by calling 800-745-3000.