Dave Meltzer is the founder and lead writer on the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the weekly constant when it comes to news and reviews in pro wrestling and mixed martial arts for more than 40 years. Dave also co-hosts Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and had had bylines for The National, Yahoo Sports, MMA Fighting and others.
WWE wrestler Terry Gerin, who works as Rhyno, one half of the SmackDown tag team champions with Heath Slater, failed to win a seat in the Michigan House of Representatives Tuesday night.
Gerin was running as the Republican nominee in the 15th district, which covers Detroit suburbs like Dearborn, Ypsilanti, Ann Arbor, Taylor and Monroe. After winning in the primary, he garnered 13,452 votes in the general election, or 38.2 percent of the votes, compared to 21,739 for Democrat Abdullah Hammoud with 100 percent of the precincts reporting.
Gerin had played on his pro wrestling career in some commercials, including enlisting help from Kurt Angle in an ad where Angle was telling people to vote for Rhyno.
Rhyno was in Glasgow, Scotland for the SmackDown tapings as opposed to being in Michigan during the election night, and out of the country the last week of campaigning. He’s scheduled to appear at Survivor Series as part of SmackDown’s tag division team.
WWE, in the form of a tweet by Shane McMahon, announced that Edge would be appearing on the November 15th episode of SmackDown.
Edge, who is currently working on a second season of Edge & Christian’s network show, “The Edge and Christian Show that Totally Reeks of Awesomeness,” will be doing a Cutting Edge segment.
The company is trying to promote the show from Wilkes-Barre, PA, which also includes the return of The Undertaker, as a major event celebrating the 900th episode of SmackDown.
WWE also made an announcement that next Monday, after Raw on the WWE Network, there would be a “State of the WWE” debate segment with Stephanie McMahon and Mick Foley vs. Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan. The idea will be to build the heat between the brands for the matches at Survivor Series six days later in Toronto.
Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan will be on next Monday’s Raw, from Buffalo, NY, which is being promoted around a face-off between Brock Lesnar and Bill Goldberg.
Bob “Gino” Marella, who under the classic ring name Gorilla Monsoon was a fixture in the pro wrestling world for four decades, passed away officially at about 6:15 a.m. on 10/6 at his home in Mooresville, NJ at the age of 62.
Marella had been in poor health and nearly passed away more than one year ago but made a strong recovery. His condition took a turn for the worst after a mild heart attack on 9/19 causing complications from diabetes to worsen. Those close to him noted that he went out like a man’s man, in that he would have been able to stay alive being constantly hooked up to a pacemaker to regulate his heartbeat and on kidney dialysis, but, rather than have to live out his life being unable to leave the house, as a “house vegetable” as he termed it, he made the call that it was time to “check out” about ten days before his death. He took himself off the dialysis and died a slow death. He came home on the afternoon of 10/5 largely to die in peace after being hospitalized in Philadelphia.
Marella’s career in pro wrestling, which began in 1959 after being a three-sport star in college and an Olympic hopeful in wrestling, took on many forms.
Raw is from Glasgow, Scotland. Nothing has been announced for the show. There will also be a Smackdown brand house show tomorrow night in Aberdeen, Scotland that we’ll be looking for repots from.
Smackdown will be taped on Tuesday from Glasgow, Scotland, with Becky Lynch vs. Alexa Bliss for the women’s title. There will also be a Raw house show on Tuesday in Oberhausen, German.
Wednesday has a Raw house show in Berlin, Germany and a Smackdown house show in Birmingham, England.
Figure Four Weekly 10/31/2016: California wrestling regulation in 1977 – In reaching out to various athletic commissions to get whatever old pro wrestling-related records I can find, I may have hit a relative jackpot with the California State Athletic Commission. Record retention at the different commissions varies wildly, and while the CSAC doesn’t retain event-specific records from the pre-computer era, they do have the minutes of their monthly meetings going back to 1977…click here to continue.
F4W YouTube Page: Tons of clips and full free audio shows that you can tell your friends about, and much more to come! Make sure you subscribe today!
The Death of WCWby Bryan Alvarez and RD Reynolds is now available as an audiobook through Amazon.com and Audible. Alvarez did the narration for the book which runs almost fifteen hours, so grab yours today!
Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Nov 7, 2016: Judge rules in favor of TNA, Hogan settles with Gawker – In what will likely be the biggest business issue of the year, this issue has extensive looks at the business behind TNA, WWE and UFC as part of a double issue of the Observer up on the site today.
The lead story looks at the presentations and evidence in Billy Corgan’s failed attempt to get an injunction against TNA and into power. The decision behind Anthem Sports’ funding the company, who will be in charge, the financial questions involving Corgan and what type of money is being fought over, Corgan’s reaction, the value of TNA’s television deals, the true background of TNA losing its TV deal in the U.K. with Challenge with ratings notes, as well as notes on meetings with another station and a laughable press release, examined in this issue.
This issue also looks at the reasons behind the Gawker settlement with Hulk Hogan.
Inside, there is a full WWE business rundown with all the figures from the last quarter, why the stock price went down so much after the numbers came in and why it was delayed, an in-depth look at the WWE network, the percentage of subscribers who let their subscriptions expire or canceled in the last three months, how the network did last year vs. this year in adding and losing subscribers, and what it says about SummerSlam and other PPVs, the value of doing two PPVs per month, company projections on numbers short-term and long-term, the value of the PPVs this year vs. last year to the network, and if WWE is for sale.
Plus, check out the breakdown of where WWE’s money comes in, as well as profits by division and details behind what is up and what is down for the quarter.
UFC business, including the amount FOX is paying UFC from last year, this year and next year, how the TV money compares with that of WWE, PPV revenue for last year and projections for this year, updated numbers on the drawing power of McGregor and Rousey, why the front office was cut so harshly, and where UFC’s money comes from, all in this issue… click here to continue.
Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to Dave Meltzer, or by using PayPal directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $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 [email protected]. 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 choose one free classic issue, or two free classic issues with a 40-issue subscription.
Bryan and I will be back up tonight covering Jon Jones, Chris Jericho vs. Sin Cara, Raw and the latest news. If you’ve got questions for tonight’s show you can send them to [email protected].
Both Sin Cara and Chris Jericho worked on the Raw show today as part of the main program after their altercation last night.
Both Raw and Smackdown this week are taped shows. The results from Raw are up on the front page right now and we hope to have Smackdown results up on the front page tomorrow before it airs on television.
The WWE has canceled NXT shows on 12/5 in Auckland, New Zealand and 12/6 in Wellington, New Zealand. They are cutting short the overseas tour and moving the scheduled 12/5 show in Perth at HBF Stadium from 12/15 to 12/5 and the 12/4 show in Canberra, at the AIS Arena from 12/14 to 12/7. No public reason was given for the changes in plans.
The 11/20 ROH show in London, England has been moved from the Seymour Leisure Centre to York Hall at Bethanal Green. The show is almost sold out but there are some balcony seats available.
Due to Drew Galloway being off the Evolve shows this coming weekend due to his neck injury, the cards have been changed around. The shows, which will be the first men’s shows on the FloSlam service, are now:
Saturday night at 6:30 p.m. Eastern in Queens, NY
Timothy Thatcher vs. Drew Gulak for Evolve title
Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Ethan Page
Dustin vs. Matt Riddle
Chris Hero vs. Tracy Williams
Fred Yehi vs. Jason Kincaid
Darby Allin vs. Chris Dickinson
Tommy End vs Tony Nese (this match will not air on Flo Sports and will be a dark match)
Sunday night at 7 p.m. from Joppa, MD
Thatcher-Gulak winner defends against Nese
Hero vs. Riddle
Thatcher-Gulak loser vs. Sabre Jr.
Page vs. Dickinson
End vs. Williams (dark match)
WWE
The WWE has not made any comments about the altercation last night between Chris Jericho and Sin Cara.
Daniel Bryan is scheduled to remain in Europe after tomorrow’s tapings and will be appearing as the General Manager on the Smackdown brand house shows later this week.
The WWE is producing either a book or a magazine called “The Rock: 20 Years of Greatness,” which is now available.
UFC / MMA
The beginning of the New York publicity for UFC 205 is here.
The much delayed Bellator debut of Kevin Ferguson Jr., the son of Kimbo Slice, billed as Baby Slice, facing Aaron Hamilton, has been added to Bellator’s 11/19 show in San Jose. That is going to be one of the craziest nights of the year with UFC having a morning show from Dublin on Fight Pass, UFC and Bellator head-to-head on FS 1 and Spike, plus NXT Takeover from Toronto.
MISCELLANEOUS
Congralations to Kurt Angle on the birth if his fifth child, Nikoletta Sky Angle.
Jim Ross is doing a show on Wednesday night at Zanie’s in Nashville. More on his show is here.
ROH has announced a 2/11 show in Pittsburgh at Stage AE.
Northeast Wrestling on 11/12 at the NEW Arena in Bethany, CT at 6:30 p.m. They are starting the show early so people can get home in time to watch the top matches at UFC 205. The show will feature the King of Bethany tournament with first round matches of Vinny Marseglia vs. Keith Youngblood, Wrecking Ball Legursky vs. Ron Zombie, Jimmy Preston vs. Dijak, Travis Gordon vs. Mike Bennett, plus Matt Taven, TK O’Ryan, Hanson and more..
AAW from Friday night in Merrionette Park, IL: Dezmond Xavier b Joey Janela, Kimber Lee won three-way over Jessicka Havok and Heidi Lovelace, Besties in the World b An Office and a Gentleman, AR Fox b Jack Evans to retain the AAW Heritage title, Kongo Kong b Jeff Cobb (Cobb did a vertical suplex on 400 pound Kong where he held him in the air for seconds), Matt Hardy & Brother Hero (Chris Hero) b Andrew Everett & Trevor Lee, Zack Sabre Jr. b Prince Ali, Eddie Kingston & Homicide & Low Ki b The Killer Kult. Next show is 11/26 at the Logan Square Auditorium with Pentagon Jr., Rey Fenix, Rey Hours, Brian Cage, Jeff Cobb, Eddie Kingston, Homicide, Low Ki, and Trent Baretta, plus a main event with Sami Callihan vs. Hero for the AAW title.
One report we received was that the Great North Wrestling show we reported on yesterday with 500 fans actually had closer to 200.
CPW International from yesterday in Windsor, Quebec before 200 fans: The Bruiser b Jacques Lamoureux, Funky & Devin Beru b John Dundee & Thrax, Chato & Sexy Eddy b American Mercenaries, Razor Revolution b Dave LeJusticier Jr., Mercedes b Eve, Hannibal b Wes Brisco to retain Canadian title. Hannibal suffered a right eye injury from a chair shot. (thanks to Anthony Ambros)
Beyond Wrestling and Womens’ Wrestling Revolution did a doubleheader in Providence at Aurora, a tiny club.
Afternoon results: Karen Q b Angie Sky, Chris Hero b Brian Milonas, Taeler Hendrix b Lufisto, Donovan Dijak b John Silver, Deonna Purrazzo b Alexxis, Jonathan Gresham b Jaka, Kimber Lee b Sonya Strong, Matt Riddle b Chris Dickinson, Veda Scott b Jessicka Havoc, Zack Sabre Jr. b Keith Lee (really good), Donovan Dijak & Mikey Webb b Monsta Mack & Mafia.
Evening results: Darius Carter & Tommy Trainwreck & Devin Blaze & Anthony Gangone b Sami Callihan & Dave Crist & Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz, Veda Scott b Deonna Purrazzo, Matt Riddle b Jonathan Gresham, Belmont & Davienne & Sammi Lane b Solo Darling & Delmi Exo & Ashley Vox, Brian Fury b Warbeard Hanson, Kimber Lee b Taeler Hendrix, Donovan Dijak b Zack Sabre Jr., Anthony Stone & Davey Cash & Kris Pyro b Johnny Cockstrong & Dorian Graves & VSK, Joey Janela b Tracy Williams, Pinkie Sanchez & Angel Ortiz & Mike Draztik b Chuck Taylor & Drew Gulak & Orange Cassidy, Kimber Lee b Veda Scott to win the women’s tournament, Matt Riddle b Donovan Dijak to win the men’s tournament with help from JT Dunn. (thanks to Patrick Tobin)
CWE on 11/25 in Winnipeg at Rookie’s Sports Bar for the Movember to Remember fundraising event.
Premier Champoinship Wrestling from Saturday night in Winnipeg: Scott Justice NC Alix Vanna, Jay Walker b Shao Ming, Trent Nash & Shao Ming b Jay Walker & James Beaver, Antonio Scorpio b Zack Mercury, Bill Glaze & Dick Blood & Ace Riviera b London Dynasty & Bull Bodnar, Jackie Lee & Scott Justice b Alix Vanna & Big Bobby Shink, Scott Justice won Battle Royal. (thanks to Andrew Shallcross)
Best in the World TV from last night in Fresno: Joey Ryan b Virgil Flynn, Wiseguy won three-way ladder match over Sheik Khan Abadi & Chupacabra. Next taping is Sunday in Merced, CA at the American Legion Post at 6 p.m. with Wiseguy defending his title against JR Kratos, Eli Drake vs. Jeff Cobb and a tag title match. (thanks to Jon Southerland)
Hoosier Pro Wrestling from Saturday night in Columbus, IN: Doink b Cody Daniels, Clint Poe b Kenny Cage, Paris Kelly b Haley Shadows, Cousin Cooter b Mad Dog Jessie in a dog collar match, Drax O’Brien b Lighting Bolt in a loser leaves town match for Tri State title, TVZ b Too Cool in a street fight, Scarecrow Eddie Felson b Bobby Black in a ladder match for the cruiserweight title, Dynamite Dillen b Timmy Danger in an HPW title match, Jerry Wilson b Diamond Dan in an arm wrestling match to retain 100 percent ownership of the promotion. Next show is 12/3 in Columbus, IN.
Masked Republic has announced a Lucha mask of the month club. Every month for $10 plus shipping fans will have a new mask sent to them from Mexico City. For more info go to LuchaLoot.com
Former WWE ring announcer Justin Roberts has an autobiography that will be released in April called “Best Seat in the House: Your Backstage Pass through my WWE journey.” Tommy Dreamer has written the foreword.
ROH will be holding a tryout camp on 1/28 and 1/29 at their gym in Bristol, PA. Those instructing and giving advice will be booker Delirious, Kevin Kelly, Todd Sinclair, the Briscoes, Christopher Daniels, Bob Evans, Cheeseburger and Will Ferrara. They are looking for wrestlers with at least one year experience. They have recruited nine wrestlers from seminars like this one. For more info go to [email protected].
Jersey All Pro Wrestling has its 20th anniversary show on 11/12 in Rahway, NJ at the Rec Center with Alberto El Patron and Sami Callihan, as well as Drago appearing.
MCW on Friday night in Waldorf, MD at the Unique Sports Academy and 11/12 in Frederick, MD at the Frederick Indoor Sports Arena features meet and greets both nights with Kevin Nash.
New Japan Pro Wrestling held a press conference Monday to announce the January 4th Wrestle Kingdom show, although nothing was announced that wasn’t already clear from Saturday’s Power Struggle show in Osaka.
Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega for the IWGP title, and Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tetsuya Naito for the IC title will be the two top bouts on the show.
Also announced: KUSHIDA vs. Hiromu Takahashi (Kamaitachi) for the IWGP jr. title, and Young Bucks vs. Rocky Romero & Baretta for the IWGP jr. tag titles.
Additionally, we got the lineup for the World Tag League tournament that will run from November 18 at Korakuen Hall to December 10 in Miyagi, which will be the A block winner vs. B block winner.
Block A:
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Juice Robinson
Tetsuya Naito & a mystery partner
Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima
War Machine (Raymond Rowe & Hanson)
IWGP Tag Team Champions Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa)
Leland Race & Brian Breaker
Manabu Nakanishi & Henare
Yujiro Takahashi & Hangman Page
Block B:
Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI
Katusyori Shibata & Yuji Nagata
Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma
Tomohiro Ishii & Hirooki Goto
Yoshitatsu & Billy Gunn
Kenny Omega & Chase Owens
SANADA & EVIL
Bad Luck Fale & Bone Soldier
They also announced that the November 15 show from Singapore will air live on New Japan World, headlined by Evil vs. Shibata for the Never title and Okada & Yoshi-Hashi vs. Omega & Yujiro Takahashi.
There was a brief altercation and pull apart Sunday night involving Chris Jericho and Sin Cara while the Raw crew was traveling from Leeds, England, to today’s Raw tapings in Glasgow, Scotland.
As of now, WWE hasn’t made any kind of statement regarding the incident, although Sin Cara (real name Jorge Arias) was kicked off the bus the crew was traveling on.
The description of what happened was that Arias was making annoying noises while on the tour bus and even though people were telling him to stop, he kept doing it. This led to Jericho more forcefully telling him to stop, resulting in Arias telling him to f**k off. Words were exchanged and Arias threw a wild right at Jericho before everyone jumped in to break it up. Jericho bit Arias’ finger during the skirmish.
Arias was then kicked off the bus.
One description was that he snapped in two seconds without any warning or reason.
Jericho posted a cryptic Instagram video where there was swelling under his left eye. He said that if you hear any reports about him ripping somebody’s face off with his teeth, he blamed them on bath salts and jokingly compared them to GHB and Ecstasy.
Today is the 22nd anniversary of the When World’s Collide PPV produced by AAA at the Los Angeles Sports Arena. The show is generally considered among the greatest pro wrestling PPV events in history, featuring a cage match with Konnan vs. Perro Aguayo and a match with Love Machine (Art Barr, who died only a few weeks later) & Eddy Guerrero vs. El Hijo del Santo & Octagon in a double hair vs. double mask match that was later considered one of the ten greatest pro wrestling matches in Lucha Libre history. When they did a special in Mexico years later, that match made the cut.
We’re looking for reports on today’s WWE shows in Leeds, England and Newcastle, England to [email protected].
We’re also looking for your thoughts on yesterday’s New Japan Power Struggle PPV show, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected].
Raw will be tomorrow night from Glasgow, Scotland. Nothing has been announced for the show. There will also be a Smackdown brand house show tomorrow night in Aberdeen, Scotland that we’ll be looking for repots from.
Smackdown will be taped on Tuesday from Glasgow, Scotland, with Becky Lynch vs. Alexa Bliss for the women’s title. There will also be a Raw house show on Tuesday in Oberhausen, German.
Wednesday has a Raw house show in Berlin, Germany and a Smackdown house show in Birmingham, England
Figure Four Weekly 10/24/2016: Deregulation of pro wrestling in Arizona – In Arizona, deregulation of professional wrestling wasn’t a pressing matter by any stretch when the topic was first broached in 1981. There was no major promotion running in the state and little to no full time work, with only one licensed promoter, who was running shows weekly in Phoenix…click here to continue.
F4W YouTube Page: Tons of clips and full free audio shows that you can tell your friends about, and much more to come! Make sure you subscribe today!
The Death of WCWby Bryan Alvarez and RD Reynolds is now available as an audiobook through Amazon.com and Audible. Alvarez did the narration for the book which runs almost fifteen hours, so grab yours today!
Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Nov 7, 2016: Judge rules in favor of TNA, Hogan settles with Gawker – In what will likely be the biggest business issue of the year, this issue has extensive looks at the business behind TNA, WWE and UFC as part of a double issue of the Observer up on the site today.
The lead story looks at the presentations and evidence in Billy Corgan’s failed attempt to get an injunction against TNA and into power. The decision behind Anthem Sports’ funding the company, who will be in charge, the financial questions involving Corgan and what type of money is being fought over, Corgan’s reaction, the value of TNA’s television deals, the true background of TNA losing its TV deal in the U.K. with Challenge with ratings notes, as well as notes on meetings with another station and a laughable press release, examined in this issue.
This issue also looks at the reasons behind the Gawker settlement with Hulk Hogan.
Inside, there is a full WWE business rundown with all the figures from the last quarter, why the stock price went down so much after the numbers came in and why it was delayed, an in-depth look at the WWE network, the percentage of subscribers who let their subscriptions expire or canceled in the last three months, how the network did last year vs. this year in adding and losing subscribers, and what it says about SummerSlam and other PPVs, the value of doing two PPVs per month, company projections on numbers short-term and long-term, the value of the PPVs this year vs. last year to the network, and if WWE is for sale.
Plus, check out the breakdown of where WWE’s money comes in, as well as profits by division and details behind what is up and what is down for the quarter.
UFC business, including the amount FOX is paying UFC from last year, this year and next year, how the TV money compares with that of WWE, PPV revenue for last year and projections for this year, updated numbers on the drawing power of McGregor and Rousey, why the front office was cut so harshly, and where UFC’s money comes from, all in this issue… click here to continue.
Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to Dave Meltzer, or by using PayPal directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $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 [email protected]. 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 choose one free classic issue, or two free classic issues with a 40-issue subscription.
Our weekend Wrestling Observer Radio show is up on the site right now covering all the news including TNA vs. Billy Corgan, David Lagana firing, Tom Lawlor’s situation, New Japan Tokyo Dome, Power Struggle, last night’s UFC and more.
Brooke Hogan told TMZ today that Vince McMahon has been talking to her father about a WrestleMania return. It’s always been a matter of when not if, based on the time they felt it would not be a issue with sponsors for Hogan to be back.
Jushin Liger was announced for Final Battle on 12/2 at the Hammestein Ballroom in Manhattan, NY.
The UFC has announced a show on 2/4 in Houston. The show will be the night before the Super Bowl, in Houston, which is the site of this year’s Super Bowl.
New Japan Pro Wrestling will be announcing the top matches at the Tokyo Dome at a press conference tonight at 3 a.m. Eastern time and midnight Pacific time. The press conference will air live and free on New Japan World.
For Google searches this week, last night’s Manny Pacquiao win of the WBO welterweight title, beating Jessie Vargas, did 500,000 searches. That’s along the lines of a UFC show that would do 200,000 to 400,000 buys. It was the third most searched term yesterday in the U.S. UFC was No. 13 related to last night’s show, with 100,000 searches.
WWE
Today’s Chicago Sun-Times has a front page of the sports section with a photo of Kris Bryant with a WWE title belt on his shoulder.
The company is starting to promote its next major U.K. tour. Instead of coming right after WrestleMania, the next tour will be in May. Some dates announced are 5/7 in Liverpool, 5/8 in Bornemouth, 5/9 in London, 5/10 in Birmingham, 5/11 in Sheffield and 5/12 in Newcastle. It appears that the TV’s will be show at the O2 Arena in London on 5/8 and 5/9.
Edge & Christian are working on the second season of their WWE Network show.
UFC
In last night’s UFC main event between Tony Ferguson and Rafael dos Anjos, all three judges gave rounds two, four and five to Ferguson. I had the same score at 48-47 with the same rounds. It was a very close fight but far less controversy over the decision than most similarly close fights.
VARIETY
The WWE travel schedule this week is tough, but the Young Bucks have quite the schedule as they spent two weeks in Japan, finishing up yesterday, flew home, have two days home before going to New Zealand for four days for the New Japan iPPV show on Saturday, then fly home for two days, then fly to the U.K. for ROH shows for five days.
There is some very interesting information in the lawsuit regarding PBC. Al Haymon has lost far more than the hundreds of millions he anticipated losing when forming the promotion and will likely be forced to significantly reduce the number of boxing events televised going forward. Haymon was lauded as the promotional genius who would revive boxing as a mainstream sport by getting it all over television, but instead, they’ve lost money at a rate that would make the XFL and the worst of WCW and TNA look like thriving business entities.
One of those Jim Ross voiceovers of a big hit on a football game is here.
The National Wrestling League has reached an agreement with Matt Jackson (a St. Louis promoter, not one of the Young Bucks) to acquire his St. Louis Anarchy Wrestling promotion which will be renamed NWL St. Louis. Jackson will remain as General Manager of the new promotion when it will run regular show starting in January at the Casa Loma Ballroom in St. Louis. The plan is to run shows every other week in St. Louis and Kansas City.
In what would have been frowned on in another era, TNA champion Eddie Edwards lost via submission clean to Brian Fury at Friday night’s Chaotic Wrestling show.
Retired pro wrestler Kid Kash, 47, was stopped in 39 seconds in an MMA fight in Nashville last night against Lindsay Jones in a welterweight bout for Valor Fights. The show aired live on FloSports.
Alpha 1 Wrestling on 12/18 in Oshawa, ONT at the Polish Alliance Association.
All Pro Wrestling on 11/11 in Pacifica, CA at the Ingrid B. Lacy PTO with Cody Rhodes vs. Joey Ryan, Jeff Cobb vs MVP plus Reno Scum, Colt Cabana, Jacob Fatu and others.
Smash Wrestling on Friday night in St. Catharines, ONT at Isaac’s Bar and Grill has Jimmy Havoc vs. Joe Hendry, Kaitlin Diemond vs. Jennifer Blake, Tyson Dux vs. Matt Cross and Brent Banks vs. Kevin Bennett. Saturday has London, ONT at Cowboy’s Ranch features the winner of Cross vs. Dux and the winner of Banks vs. Bennett meeting for the Smash title, plus Joey Ryan vs. Joe Hendry and Jimmy Havoc in a singles match. A week from today in Toronto at the Franklin Horner Community Centre has Bennett vs. Dux, Cross vs. Mike Bailey, Havoc vs. Banks, Ryan vs. Evil Uno and more.
On the pro wrestling history listing on Friday, the 2006 Cyber Sunday listed for Friday actually took place on November 5, 2006.
There is a Lucha Libre show on 11/26 in Berwyn, IL featuring Rey Bucanero, Skayde and Triton at 5 p.m..
Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling from last night in Swansea, IL before a sellout 475 fans: Waco b Moondog Rover, Curt Gannon b Big Jim Hoffarth, Purple Passion b Flaming Freddy Fury, Ace Hawkins b Daniel Gunner, Sean Vincent b Dave Vaughn, Ken Kasa b Curtis Wylde in a lumberjack match, Ron Powers & Gary Jackson b Attilla Khan & Brandon Espinosa 2/3 fall tornado tag match in a cage. (thanks to Larry Matysik)
Dynamo Pro Wrestling on 11/19 in Wood River, IL at the Douglas Club and 11/26 in St. Louis at the Ready Room.
Lucha Xtreme TV from yesterday in Fresno, CA: Darwin Finch b Sean Black, Anthony Idol b Hunter Freeman, Donny Suarez b Chazz Herrera. (thanks to Jon Southerland)
Great North Wrestling from last night in Hawkesbury, ONT before 500 fans: Green Phantom d Carl LeDuc, Maximum Testosterone b Amanuel Hassan & Idris Nawabi in a handicap match, Stefeny Sinclair b Lady Yasmine-DQ, Freak Nation b Catalyst & CJ Phelony, The Spoiler & Jacques Lamoureux won three-way elimination match over La Resistance (Sylvan Grenier & Rene Dupree) and Pretty Valuable Players, Nathan Banner b Wes Brisco-DQ, Hannibal b Rick Steiner to retain the Canadian heavyweight title. (thanks to Anthony Ambros)
Appalachian Mountain Wrestling from Thursday night in Chavies, KY: Jordan Kage b Scott Hayes, John Noble b Austin Tyler Morris, Stan Sierra b Clinton Stacy, Eddie Browning b Beau James-DQ, Kyle Maggard b Larry D, Jordan Kage b John Noble. They have shows on Thursday night in Lots Creek, KY at Cordia High School and Saturday in Hindman, KY at the Knott County Middle School.
TNA head writer David Lagana announced today that he has left the company.
Lagana, who had worked for years with WWE and then with ROH, before going to TNA, wrote that, “Today I made the decision to leave TNA Impact Wrestling. A decision I do not make lightly but one I made to create a future that I control. In 2017, you need to look forward to 2020 and beyond. My focus now is on personal branding, technology and the wild west of storytelling available to all content creators today.”
Lagana started with TNA in 2011 after being hired from ROH.
In a farewell article he noted learning from Vince McMahon, Paul Heyman, Dusty Rhodes, Pat Patterson, Gerry Brisco, Shawn Michaels, Paul Levesque, Michael Hayes, Brian Gewirtz, Adam Pearce, Hunter Johnston, Matt Conway, Billy Corgan, Vince Russo, Eric Bischoff, Bruce Prichard, Jeff Jarrett, and Dutch Mantel.
It is very notable he did not include John Gaburick or Dixie Carter on that list.
Lagana was expected to be a more powerful player in the new TNA under Corgan, but he was expected to be in a tenuous position when Corgan didn’t get control of the company.
Galloway, who suffered a neck injury in September when he was dropped badly on his head, and hasn’t been able to wrestle since, formally announced that he would be missing his November 11th date in London, England, where he was to face Tomoaki Honma on a joint show with New Japan and Revolution Pro Wrestling, which was actually a pretty big deal because he’d be seen by New Japan officials, and his November 12th date in EVOLVE where he was to headline the show in Queens, NY, against Matt Riddle.
Galloway is scheduled to appear on the ICW’s November 20th Fear and Loathing show in Glasgow which will be the largest attended U.K.-based promotion show since 1981 at the SSE Hydro. He will be back to a regular schedule starting on November 16th.
“Have some good and not so good news yesterday speaking with the Doctor treating me. Good news is that I will be back to 100 percent and the injury that occurred will have zero affect on me in the future, the bad news is he wants me to wait the full recommended recovery time to ensure, with my physical style in the ring, I will be fully recovered.”
“This will cause me to be unable to compete in my Rev Pro match with Honma I was very much looking forward to, and the Matt Riddle match at Evolve (which will happen ASAP and I guarantee will blow the roof off). I will, however, be at all the shows so come say what’s up and I’ll be back in the ring within a few weeks. Thank you all for your concern and support.”
UPDATE: WWE has given Tommy End permission to work the EVOLVE shows on November 12th in Queens, NY and November 13th in Joppa, MD to replace Galloway. However they are not allowing the End matches to stream on FloSports.
The situation with TNA and Billy Corgan had a few twists and turns this morning stemming from a New York Post article by Richard Morgan.
The key to the story at this point is that even though TNA is being controlled and funded by Anthem Sports & Entertainment, for reasons of saving money based on the Corgan contract, they are claiming they haven’t been sold, even though for all real purposes they have.
The point to this is that Corgan’s deal with TNA when fronting them $1.8 million (a figure Corgan has now confirmed) is that if the company was sold, he was entitled to a 50% transfer fee, meaning the company would owe him $2.7 million. Anthem Sports has been willing to pay Corgan $1.8 million, or at times $1.9 million (claiming they were willing to pay six
percent interest), but not $2.7 million, and also insist on him dropping his lawsuit against them before they would pay him.
Corgan is asking for the money, but refuses to drop the lawsuit, and claims that if they don’t pay him he has the right to convert the payment into 36 percent of TNA stock. It would be a minority interest. Anthem is clearly avoiding the term purchase of TNA and going through with an actual purchase, in order to avoid the transfer fee.
In court they had said they would pay the amount of $1.9 million (they said the number owed plus six percent interest) on November 1st. As of today, it had not been paid. TNA is demanding that if they paid the money, that Corgan sign a release, breaking all ties between the company which would mean that he would have to drop the ongoing lawsuit and could not sue the company going forward.
In the Post article, a TNA source claimed that the judge (Ellen Hobbs Lyle of Nashville Chancery Court) ruled that the company had not been sold.
“Billy’s saying the company was sold and he’s owed $2.7 million,” said an unnamed source. “But the court has already determined the company was not sold.”
Technically in company papers Dixie Carter is still listed as owning 92.5 percent of company stock, even though the agreement privately in the new organization of the company would be that Anthem would own 85 percent, Aroluxe would own 10 percent and Carter would own the remaining five percent.
Corgan then started tweeting after the article came out:
“YEP: Just published NY Post article asserts that judge in case ruled against my receiving 2.7 in Anthem swap deal. This is FALSE. Case OPEN.”
“Today I’m FORMALLY requesting repayment of my ‘so-called’ loan by TNA, which I’m told stalled because they didn’t know where to FIND ME.”
“Laughs aside, I’d put up 1.8mil for express purpose of becoming equity stakeholder and helping talented roster. Any other assertion is FALSE.”
“So if I’m not repaid today in full and without conditions attached, I’ll be forced to once more pursue remedy by taking TNA stock via court.”
“Remember it was Anthem and not I who stood in open court and told judge they were prepared to PAY and in turn FUND good ol solvent TNA.”
“A Company which they claim they have no business deal for behind-the-scenes yet have released 2 press releases saying they are TAKING OVER.”
“So far be it from me to accuse someone I don’t know of bending truth to win a case. That just wouldn’t be nice, and I believe in being nice.”
“Last thing: Despite being called a lender by every arm of TNA propaganda, I can still convert to a 36 percent stockholder or sell option to highest bidder.”
“And that option if you will to convert my boo-hoo-hoo loan to 36 percent stock or auction it off to a PW titan doesn’t require a court order.”
The implication here is that Corgan would attempt to sell his percentage if they don’t pay him to WWE, but I’m not sure what WWE would want with a minority interest in a rival company. WWE has had talks with existing companies about becoming a stockholder, but always insisted on 51 percent, which is why deals haven’t been made.
In a surprise, given this came largely out of nowhere, it was announced today that Kevin Owens will face Roman Reigns for the Universal title as the main event of the final WWE PPV of 2016, Roadblock, which takes place on December 18th at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, PA.
The surprise is that no angle has been shot for the match, and usually PPV main events aren’t announced until after the angle is already shot. Plus there are two PPVs before this show takes place. Starting with the Brock Lesnar vs. Bill Goldberg match, the company has started announcing PPV main events before the prior PPV takes place, likely because UFC has been successful announcing matches well ahead of time.
We had reported yesterday that Owens vs. Reigns was going to be the new championship direction in December, but that information related to plans for house shows, which also changes by the week.
It’s also notable since coming off the Hell in a Cell PPV, and how it was worked, it would have appeared that there would be an Owens vs. Seth Rollins vs. Chris Jericho program prior to the eventual Reigns program, which was always the direction, but not expected this quickly.
UFC light heavyweight Tom Lawlor was put on a provisional suspension Thursday by UFC due to a potential USADA violation from an out-of-competition drug test taken on October 10th.
Lawlor, a regular guest on our audio shows, has been a UFC regular since his 2008 run on The Ultimate Fighter reality show in 2008. He has a career 10-6-0-1 record and was last seen dropping a close decision loss to Corey Anderson on March 5th.
Before that, the 33-year-old was ranked in the top 15 in the light heavyweight division after coming off a knockout win over Gian Villante, his first match after missing two years due to knee surgery.
He had been out of action due to a training injury, and did not have a current fight scheduled.
Lawlor declined to comment until he speaks more with UFC personnel on Friday.
From the UFC:
“USADA, the independent administrator of the UFC anti-doping policy, will handle the results management and appropriate adjudication of this case.
It is important to note that, under UFC anti-doping policy, there is a full fair legal review process that is afforded to all athletes before any sanctions are imposed.
Consistent with all previous potential anti-doping violations, additional information or UFC statements will be provided at the appropriate time as the process moves forward.”
Figure Four Weekly 10/24/2016: Deregulation of pro wrestling in Arizona – In Arizona, deregulation of professional wrestling wasn’t a pressing matter by any stretch when the topic was first broached in 1981. There was no major promotion running in the state and little to no full time work, with only one licensed promoter, who was running shows weekly in Phoenix…click here to continue.
F4W YouTube Page: Tons of clips and full free audio shows that you can tell your friends about, and much more to come! Make sure you subscribe today!
The Death of WCWby Bryan Alvarez and RD Reynolds is now available as an audiobook through Amazon.com and Audible. Alvarez did the narration for the book which runs almost fifteen hours, so grab yours today!
Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Nov 7, 2016: Judge rules in favor of TNA, Hogan settles with Gawker – In what will likely be the biggest business issue of the year, this issue has extensive looks at the business behind TNA, WWE and UFC as part of a double issue of the Observer up on the site today.
The lead story looks at the presentations and evidence in Billy Corgan’s failed attempt to get an injunction against TNA and into power. The decision behind Anthem Sports’ funding the company, who will be in charge, the financial questions involving Corgan and what type of money is being fought over, Corgan’s reaction, the value of TNA’s television deals, the true background of TNA losing its TV deal in the U.K. with Challenge with ratings notes, as well as notes on meetings with another station and a laughable press release, examined in this issue.
This issue also looks at the reasons behind the Gawker settlement with Hulk Hogan.
Inside, there is a full WWE business rundown with all the figures from the last quarter, why the stock price went down so much after the numbers came in and why it was delayed, an in-depth look at the WWE network, the percentage of subscribers who let their subscriptions expire or canceled in the last three months, how the network did last year vs. this year in adding and losing subscribers, and what it says about SummerSlam and other PPVs, the value of doing two PPVs per month, company projections on numbers short-term and long-term, the value of the PPVs this year vs. last year to the network, and if WWE is for sale.
Plus, check out the breakdown of where WWE’s money comes in, as well as profits by division and details behind what is up and what is down for the quarter.
UFC business, including the amount FOX is paying UFC from last year, this year and next year, how the TV money compares with that of WWE, PPV revenue for last year and projections for this year, updated numbers on the drawing power of McGregor and Rousey, why the front office was cut so harshly, and where UFC’s money comes from, all in this issue… click here to continue.
Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to Dave Meltzer, or by using PayPal directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $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 [email protected]. 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 choose one free classic issue, or two free classic issues with a 40-issue subscription.
Conor McGregor and Eddie Alvarez did a press conference today for UFC. It didn’t have any major fireworks, although Alvarez was laughing at McGregor and saying he was a good striker but had absolutely awful defense. McGregor said that Chad Mendes, who he beat in the second round, had better wrestling and better boxing than Alvarez and he’d knock him out in the first round. McGregor also claimed they were going to break the Ali vs. Frazier record for ticket sales in Madison Square Garden, which may not be accurate. McGregor did deny reports that he was going to take next year off. He said he’d reveal his plans in time but said, “I don’t know if you can take time off with this life, I’m going to stay creating history, stay changing the game.”
Austin Aries had surgery earlier today in Birmingham for a broken left orbital bone.
Billy Corgan and Anthem Entertainment are going back-and-forth on Twitter today. Corgan wrote, “Terrible way to start our future relationship. What with the lying through counsel and propensity for press releases claiming victory.” Corgan also wrote, “So when you sent out the press release today and one during lawsuit (which is still pending FYI) that’s not public discourse. Tsk.” “And the use of reject in your tweet. Such strong language from network of fights.”
There were all kinds of issues at today’s Bellator weigh-ins. For reasons we’re not clear of, Paul Daley didn’t weigh in for his fight with Derek Anderson due to cramping issues, did weigh in at 171, making weight later, but is still having issues. The Marloes Coenen vs. Talita Nogueira fight is off because Nogueira was 151.6 pounds for a 146 pound weight class fight. Neiman Gracie vs. Rudy Bears, scheduled at 170, was changed to 175 and Ed Ruth vs. Dustin Collins-Miles, scheduled for 185, was changed to 192, due to Gracie and Miles being unable to make weight. At least the title match with Liam McGeary (204) vs. Phil Davis (204) had no problems.
Over WrestleMania weekend, Wrestlecon has announced that its SuperShow, originally scheduled for Saturday night, is being moved to Friday night so it doesn’t go against NXT, but does go against the Hall of Fame. CZW will now be running on Saturday night of the weekend at 8:30 p.m. Pro Wrestling Revolver on Saturday at noon at the Wyndham Resort in Orlando has Ricochet vs. Shane Strickland, AR Fox vs Rey Fenix vs. Trevor Lee vs. Andrew Everett vs. four more guys.
WWE
Scheduled for 12/26 in Madison Square Garden: A.J. Styles vs. John Cena (which may be his return) vs. Dean Ambrose for WWE title, Kane vs. Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt vs. Luke Harper Dolph Ziggler vs. The Miz cage match for IC title, Rhyno & Heath Slater vs. Usos vs. Breezango vs. American Alpha for tag titles, Becky Lynch vs. Nikki Bella vs. Naomi vs. Carmella vs. Natalya vs. Alexa Bliss for women’s title, Apollo Crews & Jack Swagger & Hype Bros vs. The Ascension & Vaudevillains, Kalisto vs. Baron Corbin
The plan for right now is to do a Kevin Owens vs. Roman Reigns champion vs. champion program in December. Keep in mind that will change every week between now and then.
BILD, the leading newspaper in Germany, claims that Tim Wiese’s contract with WWE is for $332,000 per year. Wiese made his debut on today’s show in Munich. I’m skeptical of that figure but it has not been denied to me either. (thanks to Patrick Gronemann and Jens M)
We’re looking for reports on today’s WWE shows in Riyadh and Munich, Germany, as well as tomorrow’s shows in London and Riyadh to [email protected] and [email protected].
UFC
Takeya Mizugaki vs. Eddie Wineland has been added to the 12/17 show in Sacramento on FOX.
Newsday has a story on Chris Weidman leading to UFC 205.
MISCELLANEOUS
Scheduled for Impact tonight on Pop TV: DJZ & Braxton Sutter & Mandrews vs. Marshe Rockett & Trevor Lee & Andrew Everett vs. Rockstar Spud & Abyss & Crazzy Steve, Hardys vs. DCC for the tag team titles, Eddie Edwards vs. Bobby Lashley for the TNA title.
Tickets for WaleMania go on sale on 11/11 at www.mlw.com at 10 a.m.
The first live event on the new FloSlam channel will be the Shine women’s show from Ybor City, FL at 9 p.m. tomorrow tonight headlined by Ivelisse vs. Vanessa Kraven.
The Spirit Squad, who are not under contract to WWE, are taking indie bookings through Bill Behrens at [email protected]. Kenn Doane is out of Boston and Mike Brendli is out of New York.
Northeast Wrestling on Saturday night in Waterbury, CT at the PAL Building with a meet and greet at 5 p.m. and show at 7 p.m. with Brian Anthony vs. Jeff Hardy, Cody Rhodes vs. Flip Gordon, TK O’Ryan vs. Dijak, Matt Hardy vs. Ron Zombie vs Team Zhazaam, Matt Taven, Hanson, Vinny Marselgia, Deonna Purrazzo and more
SkySports has a story on Nathan Cruz, who was on NXT TV recently as well as the cruiserweight classic, and is hoping for a WWE deal.
AAW runs tomorrow night in Merrionette Park, IL at 115 Bourbon Street with Trevor Lee & Andrew Everett vs. Matt Hardy & Chris Hero, Prince Ali vs. Zack Sabre Jr., and Kongo Kong vs. Jeff Cobb.
Fernand Ste-Marie, who was the ring announcer for Grand Prix Wrestling in the 70s in Quebec, the promotion run by The Vachons and Edouard Carpentier, passed away on Saturday at the age of 76. His last appearance at a wrestling show was in 2009 when Pat Laprade brought the Vachons to a show in Montreal and it was the first time he’d seen Maurice and Paul since his days as an announcer.
A show called Relive the Rivalry scheduled for 12/17 at the Sands Bethlehem Events Center with Ric Flair and Ricky Steamboat has been canceled. Ticket sales weren’t strong for the event.
ROH has announced a training camp on 1/28 and 1/29 with Delirious, Kevin Kelly, Todd Sinclair, Mark & Jay Briscoe, Christopher Daniels, Bob Evans, Cheeseburger and Will Ferrara as coaches. It is open to anyone with at least one year independent experience and takes place at the ROH Dojo and costs $300. For more info go to [email protected].
CMLL from Monday night in Puebla: Espiritu Maligno & Malayo & Policeman b Arkalis & Meyer & Zaeta Roja, Cancerbero & King Jaguar & Raziel b Black Tiger & Flyer & Lestat, Blue Panther Jr. & The Panther & Stigma b Misterioso Jr. & Okumura & Sagrado, Maximo Sexy & Pierroth & Rush b Marco Corleone & Shocker & Vangellys, Mistico & Valiente & Volador Jr. retained the CMLL trios titles over Euforia & Gran Guerrero & La Mascara (thanks to Kris Zellner).
FMLL on 11/20 in El Monte, CA at Florentine Gardens features Negro Navarro vs Blue Demon Jr.
Lucha Libre WAR on Sunday in El Paso at Houchen Community Center has Caristico and Negro Casas headlining.
Martinez Entertainment on 11/12 in Kennedale, TX at Turf Zone features Rey Fenix vs. Super Crazy.
The Crash on 11/26 in Tijuana has Rey Mysterio Jr. & Jeff Hardy & Rey Fenix vs. Jeff Cobb & Teddy Hart & Nicho, plus Flamita vs. Extreme Tiger, Willie Mack & Mascara Dorada & ? vs Bestia 666 & Black Tauro & Demus 3:16 an Keira vs Sexy Dulce (Sexy Star).
Royce Gracie, Chael Sonnen and Tito Ortiz are appearing at a meet and greet at 6:30 p.m. tomorrow night before the Bellator show at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, CT.
The first round matches in AIW’s Double Dare tag team tournament tomorrow night and Saturday night in Cleveland at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel has Cryme Tyme vs. Devastation Corporation, Head Hunters vs. Lucky Thurteen & Eric Ryan, Crazy Pain vs Sexual Panic, Candice LeRae & Marti Belle vs. Massage NV, Space Justice vs. Infinity and Beyond, Weird World vs. Jollyville Fuckits. Saturday night also has Shyna Baszler defending the women’s title against Britt Baker.
The Combate Americas weeekly television show debuts at 10 p.m. tonight on Azteca America in the U.S. and at 11 p.m. tomorrow night on TV Azteca in Mexico.
Arda Ocal, who previously worked at The Fight Network and then WWE, will be one of the co-hosts of The MSG Hockey Show, a 30 minute weekly show on the MSG Network. Most of the pub is on another co-host Will Reeve, the son of Christopher Reeve.
Battlewar 39 on 11/13 in Montreal at Foufounes Electriques.
CWE on 11/4 in Russell, Manitoba at the George Bulezuik Center featuring Val Venis as the headliner.
Here are some interview trailers on Jimmy Garvin and Butch Reed.
Shortly after an email was sent to talent and the staff, Anthem Sports & Entertainment and Impact Wrestling sent out a joint press release Thursday confirming what had previoulsy been stated about Anthem funding the company and taking over.
From the release:
“Anthem Sports & Entertainment Corp. and Impact Ventures, parent company of TNA Impact Wrestling, today announced that Anthem has provided a credit facility to TNA to fund operations.
Anthem Sports & Entertainment Corp. is a global sports media company that operates Fight Network, Impact Wrestling’s exclusive broadcaster in Canada, as well as exclusive worldwide digits streaming partner for all TNA programming. It is also an equity stakeholder of Impact Ventures.
The agreement includes the appointment of Anthem Executive Vice President Ed Nordholm to the Impact Ventures Board of Managers. The company will be managed by the Board with Mr. Nordholm representing the Board on all major operation and restructuring decisions. Dixie Carter will continue as Chair of the company, a well as her position on the Board of Mangers. Billy Corgan is no longer with the company.”
“We have had a successful long-term partnership with Fight Network as our Canadian broadcaster, and more recently as our global digital partner,” said Dixie Carter. “Anthem’s team has extensive media experience, and I am excited to have that available to us as we plan for the future.
“We have had consistently maintained that investing in content as we grow our distribution is important as a strategic necessity,and working more closely with a strong brand like TNA is in line with that. This financing is an extension of the support we have been providing since the beginning of the year,” said Leonard Asper, CEO of Anthem. “There are tremendous opportunities to support the company’s growth on all platforms and in all media alongside Dixie and the incredible talent and staff at TNA.”
Talent was told that Carter would remain on the board but would no longer be part of day-to-day operations.
What is also notable is that Corgan was supposed to be paid back his money owed with interest on Tuesday. As of today, he claimed he had not been paid yet.
“FACT: TNA was supposed to pay me two days ago, which they swore in front of a judge,” wrote Corgan on Twitter. “Yesterday they asked for a day to get $ together upon which, (yesterday or today), they’d reach out directly to settle all claims. So they lied again and have used the time as a weapon.”
Corgan is planning on continuing his legal battle for control of the company.
“FACT: I have still not been paid, and I’m exploring all remedies including new filings with court and converting to 36 percent equity.”
A very detailed story on the legal fight and current situation with the company is in the new issue of the Observer, available now for subscribers.
New Japan Pro Wrestling and Sakura Events announced their official lineup for an iPPV show happening on November 12th in Auckland, New Zealand.
The main event features The Young Bucks & Kenny Omega vs. Kazuchika Okada & Rocky Romero & Baretta, designed to start the hard push for the Okada vs. Omega Tokyo Dome NJPW main event on January 4th, 2017.
The show is called “On the Mat” which was the name of the very popular local pro wrestling show in the 70s in the era of Steve Rickard and King Curtis Iaukea. The $18 iPPV will be held under the bill of Charity Pro Wrestling at The Trusts Arena in Auckland.
New Zealand native and ROH wrestler Jay White will be pushed as a local star in facing R.J. Brewer, the former John Walters. Brewer is being pushed a foreign heel and avowed Donald Trump supporter playing on nationalism.
The third main event will be Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Dalton Castle with the idea of allowing Castle the opportunity to be in a classic Tanahashi singles match.
Other matches announced are The Haku Dynasty (King Haku teaming with his sons Tama Tonga & Tanga Roa) vs. local radio DJ Nasty Nate, Hooligan Marcus Kool & Juice Robinson; David Finlay & Kushida vs. Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly, Gedo & Yoshi-Hashi vs. Yujiro Takahashi & local powerhouse Bad Luck Fale; Jon Strongman Andersen vs. El Terrible from Mexico, Hirooki Goto vs. Paul Sayres and Henare of New Japan vs. Hiku Leo’o, which will be the pro debut of the youngest son of Haku.
Kevin Kelly will be the lead announcer on the show.
A number of New Zealand celebrities have been announced including boxer Brown Butter Bean, who will referee the White vs. Brewer match, Princess of Flowers, who will manage Andersen; New Zealand X Factor contestant Ashley Tonga, who will manage El Terrible, as well as TV personalities Niko Goulter and Sisters Singh.
