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.
The UFC has lost a main event as former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold suffered a knee injury and has pulled out of his November 27th rematch against Jacare Souza in Melbourne, Australia.
Rockhold had injured his knee prior to his June title loss to Michael Bisping.
The co-main event of Robert Whittaker vs. Derek Brunson was promoted to main event.
The story by Ariel Helwani quoted Souza’s manager Gilbert Faria who said at this point, he would only be open to facing Bisping for the middleweight championship. What makes that notable is that Bisping was interested in fighting on the December 10th Toronto, Canada, PPV, although he was looking for a big money payday against either Georges St-Pierre or Nick Diaz.
Souza has won nine of his last ten fights since a 2011 loss to Rockhold where he also lost the Strikeforce middleweight title. His lone UFC loss was to Yoel Romero — a fight that many media and fans had Souza winning or, at worst, ending in a tie.
Chris Weidman and Romero will face each other at the upcoming UFC 205 megacard in NYC where it’s likely the winner wll get the next shot at Bisping.
Ronda Rousey, the biggest female star in combat sports history, said today that her career is near its completion.
Appearing on the Ellen DeGeneres show, when asked how much longer the 29-year-old Rousey will fight, she replied, “Not that long. This is definitely one of my last fights. I want everybody to watch. The show isn’t going to be around forever.”
Rousey will challenge UFC bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes in the main event of a December 30th show at the T Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, that also includes Dominick Cruz defending his bantawmeight title against Cody Garbrant, Cain Velasquez vs. Fabricio Werdum, Johny Hendricks vs. Neil Magny and Matt Brown vs. Tarec Saffiedien as the PPV lineup.
While most expected Rousey had only a few fights left, and that if she lost it would be her last fight, she was a huge revenue driver for UFC and a key reason for the record breaking profits in 2015, where she fought three times.
An interesting note regarding UFC 207, is that tickets, which go on sale to Fight Club members on Wednesday and to the public on Friday, are priced at $600, $300, $200, $150, $90 and $75 before service charges. That’s way down in pricing from the previous shows in the arena. It would be the company’s third show at T Mobile, and neither UFC 200, with Brock Lesnar and the most loaded show ever in Las Vegas, and UFC 202, with Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz in one of the most anticipated fights in company history, were able to sell the arena out.
The McGregor vs. Diaz fight sold 12,657 tickets and had 14,060 total in the building for a gate of $7,620,010, with ticket pries roughly double what they are charging for 12/30.
It’s a major mistake if Rousey is only doing one or two fights to have put the show on December 30th, a Friday night, because the last time UFC ran on a Friday night, on December 30, 2011, with Brock Lesnar vs. Alistair Overeem, the show did 530,000 buys on PPV, down a significant number from what the show would have been expected to do on a Saturday night.
Vince Russo and Ed Ferrera, the men who were responsible for writing the WWF television shows that have been drawing huge ratings for the past year abruptly quit the company and signed on with WCW over the weekend.
Russo in various interviews cited the burnout factor of working so many hours with the added stress of the Smackdown show as the main component of his approaching WCW, first through J.J. Dillon, and then closing the two-year deal after lengthy meetings with Bill Busch on 10/2, signing the contract in Atlanta the next morning. He stated on Wrestleline that he was drained from being on call 24 hours a day for nearly three years and that he needed to spend more time with his family.
We’re looking for your thoughts on tonight’s Hell in a Cell 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].
We’re also looking for reports on Raw tonight from Hartford, CT, with dark matches and Superstars matches plus anything else not evident from the live show. It will be the Halloween themed show, and Bill Goldberg is scheduled to appear. Ratings usually are down significantly so if they’re not, that would be attributed to Goldberg. We’re also looking for reports on tonight’s Smackdown brand house show in Trenton, NJ, andSaturday’s ROH TV tapings in Baltimore to [email protected].
Tuesday will be the Smackdown tapings in Newark, NJ.
ITV will be taping television in Manchester, England for a pilot for that country which has potential to be something big there. Jim Ross is there already getting ready to be the lead announcer. We’re looking for reports on these shows as well.
The Raw crew opens up the European tour in Frankfurt, Germany on Wednesday night.
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…Current subscribers click here to continue reading.
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. Bryan did the narration for the book and it runs almost fifteen hours, so grab yours today!
Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Oct 31, 2016: Billy Corgan vs. TNA, Urijah Faber retiring, more — The battle for control of TNA hit the courtroom this past week and we’ve got not only the blow-by-blow, but what it all means, in a detailed lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. We also break that two of the world’s best wrestlers are seriously considering coming to WWE in 2017, the retirement of Urijah Faber and his legacy, the Flo Sports pro wrestling streaming service and why it could be a game changer but what it needs to become one, notes on Hell in a Cell and much more in a jam packed news issue.
Our lead story breaks down the entire TNA situation, what was said in public who was said in private, who is screwing who, why this went to the courts, what are the motives of Billy Corgan, WWE’s interest in purchasing the company and so much said publicly that ended up not being true.
We look at the career of Urijah Faber, the rise of the WEC on his back, the rise of Sacramento MMA and his becoming the first under 145 pound major star.
We’ve got a preview of Hell in a Cell as well as a story on who goes last. We also update a story on how WWE’s biggest star may be banned from appearing in several states, one of WWE’s biggest stars is right now off Survivor Series and why, Paige’s neck surgery, WWE asks fans about lots of indie groups, an overseas show that will be taped for the WWE Network, lots of notes on new people signed by WWE and their backgrounds.
We also look at a TV pilot based on backstage in WWE from 16 years ago, Ryback vs. WWE over trademarks, a Shawn Michaels movie, update on James Ellsworth, A.J. Styles vs. Shawn Michaels, the strange story of Curtis Axel in Minneapolis on Monday, Randy Orton’s turn, Shinsuke Nakamura update, WWE developmental star arrested and suspended, and more.
We look at the new Flo Sports pro wrestling streaming service, its potential as well as pitfalls hindering it from reaching its potential. We look at how this could greatly benefit the indie scene, as well as questions on whether it can work long-term.
All that and more in this week’s new Wrestling Observer, 40,000 words of news and information you can’t read anywhere else in the world.
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.)
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Bryan and I will be back tonight talking the TNA court ruling and Raw as well as the latest pro wrestling news on Wrestling Observer Radio. If you’ve got questions for the show you can send them to [email protected].
The main thing in the TNA ruling is that Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle ruled against Billy Corgan in his attempt to get a restraining order that would prohibit TNA from selling off any of its assets. This opens the door to selling to Anthem Sports aka The Fight Network. Jason Brown of Aroluxe will be in charge of the company. Dixie Carter will still have a position in the company, but whether she was any power, and she won’t have final power, is uncertain. Corgan appears to be looking at continuing his legal challenge for ownership, and there are unanswered questions but Hobbs Lyle’s ruling didn’t appear favorable to me to him regarding his key points of contention. As far as what will and won’t change, it’s too soon to tell.
The key to this is TNA will continue with Anthem Sports funding the company. Everyone should start getting paid. As far as what happens with the budget given little revenue is coming in, that’s another thing to soon to tell. Another question is who stays and who goes. For now, Corgan, even though listed as President, won’t be part of it unless he comes to an agreement with the new owners, but doing so would kill his lawsuit that he said he is continuing.
The biggest talk from last night’s Hell in a Cell show revolved around the details of the Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte Flair finish being changed. We’ll talk more about that tonight. One of the reasons for the big pop when they exchanged moves in the Kevin Owens vs. Seth Rollins match were that the video screens weren’t functioning during the first half of the match, which kept a lot of people from being able to see it well. The screens turned on just as the high spot started which is why it got as big a pop as it did.
Raw is expected to do low numbers due to Halloween. Tonight’s NFL game is the Vikings vs. Bears, which based on records is a one-sided game although Chicago is a major market the Bears are having a terrible year.
Bad news for Austin Aries as he was diagnosed with a fracture of the left orbital bone. When he posted the photos, his swelling was consistent with the damage one gets from such an injury, but in San Jose on Friday night they were downplaying the injury and saying he’d be cleared in a few weeks. He will be undergoing surgery later this week and will be out of action for several months.
Mark Haskins who is one of the most underrated performers in the business, looks to be out of action for some time. He defended his Progress title yesterday in a three-way against Marty Scurll and Jimmy Havoc in London. After the match, he came back to the ring, kissed the belt and left it in the middle of the ring. Haskins then posted a video saying he was suffering from neck problems that have left him unable to feel his fingers some days, so doctors have told him he needs to take time off. The 4FW promotion in the U.K. on Sunday announced Haskins as vacating their jr. heavyweight title due to injuries. He also has titles in Fight Nation Wrestling and Smash.
WWE
WrestleMania travel packages are on sale now. Regular tickets go on sale 11/18.
Kota Ibushi was a surprise at last night’s NXT show in Los Angeles. Ibushi has not signed with the promotion, but is willing to work dates for them if asked and the decision was made to have him put over Bobby Roode. The match was said to be great. Eric Young also worked the three-way main event for the title with Shinsuke Nakamura and Samoa Joe.
The Guardian has a story on Tim Wiese, the former World Cup German team goalkeeper who makes his pro wrestling debut this week on a WWE house show.
The Raw talent will be flying right after tonight’s show from Hartford to Germany. The Smackdown crew will be flying tomorrow night from Newark to to Riydah for some shows in the Middle East before arriving in Europe.
WWE received a number of AIVA (Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts) awards this past week.
*Best in Show, sports category,social content and marketing – WrestleMania 31
*Best website features home page
*Best website features visuals for WWE network
*Best mobile app/site sports
*Best Social Features/Social Presence
*Best Social Content & Marketing, Public Service for Conor’s Cure
VARIETY
Progress Wrestling on 11/27 in Camden, London has Jimmy Havoc vs. Marty Scurll, Matt Riddle vs Will Ospreay, Trent Seven & Pete Dunne defending the tag titles against London Riots, Hunter Brothers vs. TK Cooper & Travis Banks, William Eaver vs. Joe Coffey and Katie Harvey vs. Nixon Newell. The winners of the men’s matches will go into a seven-man elimination match that will be the main event, to determine the new champion.
ROH tickets go on sale Wednesday for Ringside members and Friday to the public for the 15th anniversary show on 3/10 in Las Vegas at Sam’s Town and the TV tapings the next day.
Regarding the World of Sport TV tapings tomorrow, I was told that there is a big budget behind the show, which will air as a two-hour special sometime near Christmas. I was told by someone who has seen the set who said it’s like a small version of Raw with a ramp.
A news story on the World of Sport return is here.
Apparently there is a new free ROKU channel called Rasslin that shows old tapes from Texas and Tennessee. (thanks to Jim Tighe)
The movie “Kickboxer: Vengeance” will be out on DVD and Blu ray on 11/18. Among those in the movie are Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dave Bautista, Gina Carano, Georges St-Pierre, Cain Velasquez and Fabricio Werdum.
Eric Bischoff’s podcast has been added to the MLW Radio network starting on 11/3.
Marcos Galvao, the former Bellator bantamweight champion, will face L.C. Davis plus Chris Honeycut vs. Ben Reiter have been added to the 12/2 Bellator show in Thackerville, OK. The main event on that show is Eduardo Dantas vs. Joe Warren for the bantamweight title.
Bellator has a big show on Friday night from Uncasville, CT, with Liam McGeary defending the light heavyweight title against Phil Davis, and it also includes the MMA debut of Tyrell Fortune and Ed Ruth, who are two of the country’s best wrestlers.
For this coming weekend, the biggest shows will be Bellator on Friday, New Japan late Friday night/Saturday morning with a PPV show from Osaka headlined by Tetsuya Naito vs. Jay Lethal for the IC title, and UFC from Mexico City with Tony Ferguson vs. Rafael dos Anjos on Saturday.
AAW on 11/4 in Merrionnette Park, IL at 115 Bourbon Street has Trevor Lee & Andrew Everett vs. Matt Hardy & Chris Hero, Prince Ali vs. Zack Sabre Jr., Davey Vega & Matt Fitchett vs. Dan Barry & Chuck Taylor, Jeff Cobb vs. Kongo Kong, Kimber Lee vs. Heidi Lovelace vs. Jessicka Havok, plus Sami Callihan, AR Fox, Jack Evans, Eddie Kingston, Homicide and more. They also run 11/26 in Chicago at the Logan Square Auditorium.
Wrestling Over Everything from last night in Swansea, IL: Billy McNeil b Leone Mephisto, LaMarcus Clinton b Tryston Bradley Shaeadux, Tyler Copeland b Jim Hoffarth, Barackus b Chase King, LaMarcus Clinton b Danny Adams, Johnny Blade b Rosko, Chris Exodus b Trystal Brady Sheaduex-DQ, Da’Marius Jones & BT Daramola b Jimmy D in a handicap match, LaMarcus Clinton won three-awy over Barackus and Tyler Copeland. (thanks to Patrick Brandmeyer)
Canadian Wrestling Elite from Friday night in Winnipeg for Demolition Day: Basically everyone played a wrestler from the past and present: Travis Horowitz b NWO Joseph, Bobby Cena b Irwin R. Scottie, Hacksaw Danny Duggan b Colton Hernandez-DQ, Nasty Boy Mike Knobbs b Masslord, King Kong Axe b Todd Bullet, Brian Orton & CM Dagneel b Gerthquake & Buffoon, King Kong Axe won Rumble, Demolition (as in Bill Eadie & Barry Darsow, the real ones) & Repoman Firpo b Kevin Buchannon & Goon’s Father & Sean Immorality. They run on 11/4 in Russell, Manitoba and 11/5 in Fannystelle, Manitoba, as well as 11/25 at Rookie’s Sports Bar in Winnipeg.
Elite Canadian Championship Wrestling on 12/17 in Port Coquitlam, BC has a benefit for the local hunger bank at the Elks Hall #49.
NWA World champion Tim Storm vs. Shawn Schultz, Matt Riviera vs Sigmon plus Rob Conway and Greg Anthony appear on 11/5 in Dyresburg, TN at the Herb Welch Wrestleplex.
Best in the West TV from Saturday night in Fresno, CA: Brittany Wonder b Tab Jackson, Sasha Darevko b Johnny Butabi, Super Beast & Nathan Graves b Billy Blade & Richie Slade to become the first Best in the West tag team champions. They’ve announced TV tapings on 11/13 in Merced, CA at the American Legion Post 83, 12/10 in Fresno at VFW Hall 8900, 1/8 in Visalia at the Veterans Memorial Building and 2/11 in Merced. (thanks to Jon Southerland)
MCW on 11/5 in Joppatowne, MD features Bully Ray & Drolix & Velvet Sky vs. Ken Dixon & Damien Martinez & Kennadi Brink, plus Ryback vs. Sean Studd (John’s legit son). There will also be a preshow meet and greet with Ryback, Bully Ray, Melina Perez, Boogeyman, Velvet Sky and Lio Rush.
Timothy Thatcher vs. Fred Yeli has been announced for the 11/12 Evolve show in Queens, NY in a non-title match. Thatcher will defend the Evolve title against Tony Nese on 11/13 in Joppa, MD, and they are pushing it that Nese, who is on Raw almost every week, could be on Raw as Evolve champion. Ethan Page vs. Chris Dickinson has been added to 11/13.
The first live show on Flo Slam (which now has some Evolve library content up) is Friday night from Ybor City, FL, starting at 9 p.m. Eastern with Ivelisse vs. Vanessa Kraven for the Shine title, Allysin Kay vs. LuFisto for the top contendership, Mercedes Martinez vs. Andrea, Saraya Knight vs Su Yung, Thea Trinidad & ACR vs. Amber Gallows & Kennadi Brink and more.
Jeff Cobb debuts with Evolve on 12/11 in Melrose, MA, which means they’ll probably be building to Cobb vs. Matt Riddle.
Raw presents its second brand-exclusive pay-per-view since the WWE Draft on Sunday night as Hell in a Cell takes place in Boston, MA.
We’re looking for your thoughts on the show so leave your thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]
The show is poised to make history as Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte is set to be the first ever women’s match to main event a WWE PPV. It will also be the first ever women’s Hell in a Cell match.
WWE has billed the show as featuring a “triple main event” with two other Hell in a Cell matches in addition to Banks vs. Charlotte. Kevin Owens will defend the WWE Universal Championship against Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns will defend the United States Championship against Rusev inside of the Cell.
Our live coverage kicks off at 7 p.m ET. The card for the show is:
Raw Women’s Champion Sasha Banks defending against Charlotte in a Hell in a Cell match
WWE Universal Champion Kevin Owens defending against Seth Rollins in a Hell in a Cell match
United States Champion Roman Reigns defending against Rusev in a Hell in a Cell match
WWE Cruiserweight Champion TJ Perkins defending against Brian Kendrick
Raw Tag Team Champions The New Day defending against Cesaro & Sheamus
Enzo Amore & Big Cass vs. Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson
Bayley vs. Dana Brooke
Cedric Alexander, Lince Dorado & Sin Cara vs. Drew Gulak, Tony Nese & Ariya Daivari (kickoff match)
CEDRIC ALEXANDER & LINCE DORADO & SIN CARA VS. DREW GULAK & TONY NESE & ARIYA DAIVARI
Good opener ending with Alexander pinning Gulak after a lumbar check. Fast paced good match with a lot of flying moves. This was more like a Lucha Libre match Dorado doing a shooting star press, a monsault out of the ring and the three faces also did a triple dive spot near the finish. The crowd wasn’t into it early but once Alexander tagged in and they started with the big moves the crowd got into it.
ROMAN REIGNS VS. RUSEV FOR THE U.S. TITLE IN A HELL IN A CELL MATCH
Long match with Rusev dominating most of the way. Rusev had the Accolade with a chain around Reigns’ mouth but Reigns powered out of it and did a Samoan drop on the ring steps and then speared Rusev off the ring steps for the pin. The finish came across as the blow-off of their program. Both used kendo stick shots early. The crowd was up and down for it. Reigns wasn’t booed much but the chants were more “Let’s Go Rusev, Rusev sucks.” Both used kendo stick shots early, as well as the ring steps. Probably went too long but a good match..
DANA BROOKE VS. BAYLEY
Bayley won clean with the belly-to-belly. Bayley got a big reaciton coming out but crowd wasn’t up for the match. Just kind of there. Bayley is a good wrestler but Brooke was too limited to do much with. the pop for the win was nothing close to that of the entrance and it’s not supposed to be like that.
Stephanie McMahon and Mick Foley are backstage with Chris Jericho. Jericho was mad at him for interrupting him. Jericho started talking Spanish. Jericho told Stephanie that she needs to choose her team wisely for Survivor Series. He said Team Chris and Kevin should be co-captains of Team Raw. Jericho put Foley’s name on the llist but he never said “You’re on the list” which the people were ready to pop for.
ENZO AMORE & BIG CASS VS. LUKE GALLOWS & KARL ANDERSON
Long monologue by Enzo & Cass. He nicknamed them Big Gal & Andy. He got in a Big Papi reference for an easy Boston pop. Actually the monologue was the best thing on the show so far.
The object of this match was to put Anderson & Gallows over. Gallows superkicked Enzo and then Anderson pinned him after a Magic killer. Match was average. Basic stuff. Enzo sold for a few minutes and Cass got the hot tag and cleaned house. Enzo tagged in and they went right to the finish,
KEVIN OWENS VS. SETH ROLLINS FOR THE UNIVERSAL TITLE
This is tough putting this match so early. It does keep the women from having to follow this because there will be a few matches in between, but I can see the Kendrick match in particular being totally dead later in the night.
Owens retained the title after inteference from Chris Jericho. Owens power bombed Rollins through two chairs to win the match. During the match Owens sprayed a fire extinguisher in the eyes of the referee. They opened the cage door and Jericho ran in and then locked the door and took the key. One highlight was Rollins power bombing Owens over the top rope and through two tables. Rollins used a twisting frog splash but Jericho pulled the ref out of the ring to break up the count. Rollins also kicked out of one power bomb early. Owens used several chair shots on Rollins,but Rollins got the chair and hit both of them, but Owens DDT’d him on the chair. Jericho laid Rollins out with a codebreaker after the match and kept bad mouthing him. Very good match..
Just heard that lots of people left after this match ended.
TJ PERKINS VS. BRIAN KENDRICK FOR THE CRUISERWEIGHT TITLE
This storyline is so beyond bad. Kendrick again begged Perkins to let him win during the pre-show.
The match was well wrestled but the the crowd was totally dead following the previous match. They were sent out to die and they in fact, did die. The finish was so bad. Kendrick did a fake knee injury that nobody bought. Perkins was acting like he believed it and the crowd booed Perkins for his stupidity and Kendrick just for doing it. Perkins tended to him and then Kendrick head-butted him and put him in the captain’s hook for the submission.
NEW DAY VS. SHEAMUS & CESARO FOR THE TAG TEAM TITLES
The New Day are getting the crowed back into this as Kofi Kingston said he was wearing Rob Gronkowski tennis shoes and said that he’s from Boston, which a lot of people don’t know because of the Jamaican thing. Woods actaully got on him for pandering. Kingston talked about how much he loved this city and the crowd was up for the rest of the New Day stuff.
The New Day, which was Woods & Big E, lost via DQ whe Kingston gave Sheamus the trouble in paradise on the floor as Cesaro had Woods in the sharpshooter in the middle. The ref saw it and called for the DQ befoe Woods submitted. E went to save Woods earlier but Sheamus hit E with the trombone which the ref didn’t see, but he turned around and did see Kingston attack Sheamus. The match was good but the finish was designed to keep the program alive without changing the titles. There was a spot where Sheamus gave Cesaro a Brogue kick and Woods very slowly went for the pin but Sheamus made the save. Woods did a rope walk into a flying elbow drop 2/3 of the way across the ring. Sheamus did a plancha, a low plancha but a plancha nonetheless onto all three New Day members.
SASHA BANKS VS. CHARLOTTE FLAIR FOR THE WOMEN’S TITLE IN THE HELL IN A CELL
If I was putting this on last, no way I’d do that finish. Charlotte regained the title. She threw Banks twice on a table that didn’t break and hit the natural selection for the pin. The crowd was totally quiet as nobody thoguht that was the finish. The story of the match started with Charlotte power bombing her off the cage while they were fighting outside hte cage through the announcers table. They teased that Banks couldn’t continue and Banks was put on a stretcher. They were carrying her out and announcing Charlotte as the winner via forfeit,which made no sense since the match hadn’t even started yet. Banks got off the stretcher in the middle of the announcement and the match was on. They had a long match, and the crowd really wanted it to be special but there were issues. There was supposed to be a spot where Charlotte was on the top rope and was supposed to be knocked off through a table. Something happened and Charlotte was standing on the apron and was kind of shoved on the table and the crowd booed it. Banks gave her double knees off the cage out of the ring and double knees in the ring through a chair. A lot of the spots in this match were already done in the Owens match, which was kind of weird.
WWE HELL IN A CELL SUNDAY AT 7:30 P.M. FROM THE TD GARDEN IN BOSTON
Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte for the women’s title in a Hell in a Cell match — WWE makes history with the unadvertised first time women are in a PPV main event tonight. The pressure is on and that means they’ll be getting ample time to do what they need to do, because nobody wants it to flop. There has been no smart money coming in so these odds don’t mean much. The last show was the rare show without smart money coming in so they may have been able to convince their guys not to game the system and thus give away the finishes.
Banks is right now a -190 favorite. This could go either way. Charlotte has never lost on PPV, but going on last in Boston it would make sense for Banks to win, and if she’s going to lose, it should be in another city. The idea they want to create history, although making the decision to put them on last the night before the show is nuts, would mean you’d normally want to put the home town wrestler over.
Kevin Owens vs. Seth Rollins for the Universal tile in a Hell in a Cell match —On paper these two should have a good match, although their interaction thus far has been good but not great. Owens was a -1350 favorite to retain here. One would expect some kind of interference involving Chris Jericho here.
Roman Reigns vs. Rusev for the U.S. title in a Hell in a Cell match —We’ll see how much the Boston audience turns on Reigns. These two have consistently had good matches in their program. Reigns is a -1800 favorite to retain.
New Day vs. Sheamus & Cesaro for the tag team titles —Sheamus & Cesaro have been losing in the matches building up this program, up until Monday where they won the non-title match. New Day has been built up for months breaking Demolition’s record, and a loss of the title here doesn’t make sense with that kind of build. New Day is a -365 favorite.
T.J Perkins vs. Brian Kendrick for the cruiserweight title —The big story here is whether Perkins “will let” Kendrick win, which is a story that does this new title no favors. But this division should never have been kicked off by average matches. Kendrick is a -535 favorite.
Enzo Amore & Big Cass vs. Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson — Anderson & Gallows are -460 favorites to win here, which makes sense since in the 50/50 booking world, it’s been Anderson & Gallows losing the matches in the television build.
Bayley vs. Dana Brooke —Brooke is unique in the sense she’s the one person Bayley has a hard time getting a good match out of, and has done a number on Bayley’s popularity ever since they started the program. Bayley is a -1050 favorite to win, which makes sense with Brooke having won their TV match.
Cedric Alexander & Lince Dorado & Sin Cara vs. Drew Gulak & Tony Nese & Ariya Daivari in the preshow match — You would think the faces go over, particularly since the faces are under contract and the three heels are not under contract. The Alexander team is the -350 favorites.
On paper the show looks good. The six man tag opener should be fast paced and acrobatic. They’ll probably have the Hell in a Cell matches spread throughout the show. All should be good and New Day’s matches are usually good and rarely great. But at the end of the day, this show is all about the women’s match and if they deliver and if the crowd treats it as a big deal.
We’re looking for your thoughts on tonight’s Hell in a Cell 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]
Bryan and I will be back tonight talking the latest pro wrestling and MMA news, including Hell in a Cell tonight on Wrestling Observer radio. If you’ve got questions for the show you can send them to [email protected]
We’re also looking for reports from these shows:
ROH TV tapings last night in Baltimore
NXT tonight in Los Angeles (I believe they will be taping television tonight)
Smackdown house show tonight in Allentown, PA
WWE HELL IN A CELL SUNDAY AT 7:30 P.M. FROM THE TD GARDEN IN BOSTON
Kevin Owens vs. Seth Rollins for the Universal tile in a Hell in a Cell match
Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte for the women’s title in a Hell in a Cell match
Roman Reigns vs. Rusev for the U.S. title in a Hell in a Cell match
New Day vs. Sheamus & Cesaro for the tag team titles
T.J Perkins vs. Brian Kendrick for the cruiserweight title
Enzo Amore & Big Cass vs. Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson
Bayley vs. Dana Brooke
Cedric Alexander & Lince Dorado & Sin Cara vs. Drew Gulak & Tony Nese & Ariya Daivari in the preshow match
Raw will be Monday night in Hartford, CT. It will be the Halloween themed show, and Bill Goldberg is scheduled to appear. Ratings usually are down significantly so if they’re not, that would be attributed to Goldberg. There is also a Smackdown brand house show on Monday night in Trenton, NJ.
Tuesday will be the Smackdown tapings in Newark, NJ.
The Raw crew opens up the European tour in Frankfurt, Germany on Wednesday night.
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…Current subscribers click here to continue reading.
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. Bryan did the narration for the book and it runs almost fifteen hours, so grab yours today!
Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Oct 31, 2016: Billy Corgan vs. TNA, Urijah Faber retiring, more — The battle for control of TNA hit the courtroom this past week and we’ve got not only the blow-by-blow, but what it all means, in a detailed lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. We also break that two of the world’s best wrestlers are seriously considering coming to WWE in 2017, the retirement of Urijah Faber and his legacy, the Flo Sports pro wrestling streaming service and why it could be a game changer but what it needs to become one, notes on Hell in a Cell and much more in a jam packed news issue.
Our lead story breaks down the entire TNA situation, what was said in public who was said in private, who is screwing who, why this went to the courts, what are the motives of Billy Corgan, WWE’s interest in purchasing the company and so much said publicly that ended up not being true.
We look at the career of Urijah Faber, the rise of the WEC on his back, the rise of Sacramento MMA and his becoming the first under 145 pound major star.
We’ve got a preview of Hell in a Cell as well as a story on who goes last. We also update a story on how WWE’s biggest star may be banned from appearing in several states, one of WWE’s biggest stars is right now off Survivor Series and why, Paige’s neck surgery, WWE asks fans about lots of indie groups, an overseas show that will be taped for the WWE Network, lots of notes on new people signed by WWE and their backgrounds.
We also look at a TV pilot based on backstage in WWE from 16 years ago, Ryback vs. WWE over trademarks, a Shawn Michaels movie, update on James Ellsworth, A.J. Styles vs. Shawn Michaels, the strange story of Curtis Axel in Minneapolis on Monday, Randy Orton’s turn, Shinsuke Nakamura update, WWE developmental star arrested and suspended, and more.
We look at the new Flo Sports pro wrestling streaming service, its potential as well as pitfalls hindering it from reaching its potential. We look at how this could greatly benefit the indie scene, as well as questions on whether it can work long-term.
All that and more in this week’s new Wrestling Observer, 40,000 words of news and information you can’t read anywhere else in the world.
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.
The semifinals of the New Japan tag team tournament took place earlier today at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. Rocky Romero & Baretta defeated Ryusuke Taguchi & Fuego in one and Taiji Ishimori & ACH beat Ricochet & David Finlay in the other. The two winners meet in the finals on the Power Struggle show on 11/5 in Osaka’s Edion Arena, which is the next PPV show.
An interesting note if NXT is taping at the Palladium in Los Angeles, which I understand to be the case, and there’s also the PPV. This may be the first time WWE has taped in two separate parts of the country at the same time.
Rush vs. Ultimo Guerrero headlines today’s CMLL Dia de Muertos show at Arena Mexico, which also has Caristico & Marco Corleone & Diamante Azul vs. Shocker & Rey Bucanero & El Terrible The show starts at 7 p.m.Eastern time. WATCH HERE
Friday’s Arena Mexico(WATCH HERE) A very good main event with Valiente vs. Volador Jr. for the Universal title. The match third from the top is also worth watching, particularly the third fall build to the finish.
UFC
Guido Cannetti, who was scheduled to face Marco Beltran on this coming Saturday’s UFC show in Mexico City, had an issue with an out of competition test taken on 10/5 and thus has been pulled from the show.
Jonathan Coachman was at it again. This week on Ric Flair’s podcast, he said that UFC should have allowed Jon Jones to fight at UFC 200 even though they had gotten word a few days before the show of his failed drug test.
MISCELLANEOUS
NWL, LLC has purchased the Kansas City based Metro Pro Wrestling promotion run by Chris Gough, who is the head writer for NWL. The group, now called NWL KC, will be running 26 live shows in 2017 at the Scottish Rite Temple in Kansas City, with a debut show on 1/7. More than 50 performers have been signed with the idea of running shows in Kansas City and St. Louis on alternate weeks. It’ll be really interesting in this era of nobody running markets frequently what running every other week in the same building will do.
Preston Championship Wrestling from Friday night in Preston, England: El Ligero b Kenny Williams, T-Bone & Rampage Brown b Blue Zone, Dave Birch b Philip Michael Eddie Edwards b Ashton Smith to retain the TNA title, Bubblegum b Chris Ridgeway to retain the PCW cruiserweight title, Zak Knight b Roy Knight, Joey Hayes & Martin Kirby b Danny Hope & C.J. Banks, Iestyn Rees b Chris Masters to retain PCW title in an I Quit match as Masters quit to save Rees from hurting Joanne Rose. The Ligero, Edwards and Bubblegum matches were the best. Adam Rose was scheduled but not there due to transportation issues (thanks to Jan Buxton)
Marty Scurll won the two-night eight man tournament to be crowned the first Melbourne (Australia) City Wrestling champion. The weekend shows featured Evie from Shimmer and former Olympic judoka Jake Andrewartha on the show. (thanks to Paul Jones)
RCW from last night in Calgary: Scotltey Crue.b Dick Richards, Barricade b Zack Mercury, Moses Luke & Billy Blaze & Dick Blood b Cameron Stevenson & Eli Surge & Jeremy Joseph, Strike b Britton Balyis, Mutato b Leo London, Slammer & Ugg b Abyss & Jess Youngblood, Tiger Ali b Scorpio Sky to retain the British Commonwealth title, Scott Justice b Joey Vendetta i the finals for the vacant Canadian title (thanks to Steven Ashe)
Lucha Xtreme from Fresno television yesterday: Jake Atlas b Suzaku, Homicide b Tommy Wilson, Darwin Finch & Chazz DDQ Donny Suarez & Sean Black. (thanks to Jon Southerland).
Lucha Xtreme announcer Phil Medina is doing a benefit comedy show at the Gilroy, CA District Theater on 11/17 and 11/18 with an 8 p.m. start time to raise money for the Christopher High School Choir in Gilroy.
Pro Wrestling Championship Series from last night in Granite City, IL: Matt Kenway b Richard Faith, Austin Blackburn b Adrian Sruge, Outtkast b Paco Gonzalez, Jason Roberts b Angelus Layne, Stevie Fierce & Rob Matter b Evan Gelistico & Pierre Abernathy, Mat Fitchett b Makaze, Gary Jay NC Danny Adams, Everett Connors b Sean Orleans, Mike Outlaw b Davey Vega (thanks to Patrick Brandmeyer)
Hogtown Pro Wrestling on 11/11 at the Super Wonder Gallery in Toronto featuring Mike Bailey.
Acclaim Pro Wrestling from last night in Ottawa,ONT: Scot Parker b Michael Von Payton-DQ, Stu Grayson b KL Shock, KC Spinelli & Courtney Rush b Logan Reid & Spunk, Big Magic b Freddie Mercurio, Dash Bison b Xandra Bale, Deeno Benjamin & HC Ryder & Decker Lockhart b Jonathan Rukin & Bret MacLeod & Pauly Platinum, Prince Ali b Cecil Nyx, Vanessa Kraven b Franky the Mobster-DQ
There will be a Northern California Hall of Fame show at 4 p.m. on 11/6 at The Gold Mine at 930 Oddstad Blvd., in Pacifica, CA. Inducted will be Pepper Gomez, Michael Modest, Tony Jones and Jim Davis. There will also be a multi-promotional free wrestling show to follow.
This was set up like a television taping. Some of this will air on NXT but it wasn’t clear how much will. The crowd was having a good time, and if they weren’t into a match, they had fun with chants. Any match that they weren’t into led to pretty loud “Delete” chants. It was kind of amazing how over the Matt Hardy character was at a WWE/NXT live event.
– Oney Lorcan beat Patrick Clark with a half crab
The crowd was into both men and were chanting “Purple Rain” at Clark.
– Shane Thorne def. Roderick Strong in a Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament match
Aries was there but couldn’t wrestle due to the eye injury he suffered the night before. He made a joke saying he had a broken eye hole. he said they could postpone the match until he was ready and that would be better for them than being embarrassed by Strong beating both at the same time.
William Regal came out and said that Aries would be ready in one week, but that Dusty was about competition, so in the spirit of Dusty he was ordering Strong to face one of TM61 in a tournament match which turned out to be Shane Thorne.
They had the best match on the show. TM61 wasn’t over at all. Aries threw down Nick Miller outside the ring and in the confusion, Thorne pinned Strong with an inside cradle. Strong took most of the match and worked at a different pace from everyone else, but Thorne hung with him.
– Wesley “Body Beautiful” Blake beat Buddy Murphy
Murphy came out and did a heel promo with the idea that Blake is now a babyface. Murphy’s heel promo was that he was tired of all the fans chanting “Blake is better” except nobody chanted it.
“Body Beautiful” is an attempt for Blake to be Jesse Ventura. This was nowhere near as good as their TV match. Blake just doesn’t work as a babyface, and Murphy is also the much better of the two. Fans chanted “Where’s Alexa”, “Let’s Go Jobbers”, “Fight Forever” and a lot of “Delete” chants until Blake did the Superman string and hit a frog splash for the pin.
– NXT Women’s Champion Asuka beat Daria Berenato to retain
The first few minutes saw them try to work it almost like a shoot which got over with “This is wrestling” chants. Berenato is good given her level of experience. Asuka did a ton of comedy like shaking her butt which got a reaction but felt out of character, especially for the kind of match they were working.
Then they got serious in the last minute or two which was very good, trading submissions. Asuka won with a flying Asuka lock. When it was over, they hugged, the crowd gave them a big ovation and they left together.
– Authors of Pain beat No Way Jose & Rich Swann in a Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament match
Not that this match was good, but it was the best AOP match ever, largely due to Swann. The finish saw AOP do their double team leg sweep clothesline combo on Jose. Paul Ellering was there and even interfered once. Given the level of their push, AOP wasn’t over, but Swann and Jose were.
– Ember Moon pinned Billie Kay
Peyton Royce was at ringside, and interfered some. This was an okay match with Moon’s stunner off the top looking great.
– NXT Champion Shinsuke Nakamura & Tye Dillinger beat Samoa Joe & Bobby Roode
All four were very over like babyfaces. The match served its purpose as they entertained the people, and everything looked good enough. It lacked main event intensity but all the personalities kept the crowd into it. Nakamura pinned Roode with the Kinshasa. He was clearly the star of the show and after the show. People were singing his and Roode’s music when they came out, during the match, after the show, in the parking lot, and on the campus.
No regular WWE house show tonight because there is only one house show this weekend and the Raw PPV show, since right after Raw and Smackdown, both crews leave for a two-week European tour. There are NXT shows tonight in San Jose with the touring crew and in Jacksonville with the less experienced crew.
This is Nakamura and Styles’ last match with New Japan. The post-match angle with Omega & The Young Bucks turning on Styles is great stuff, which took place after the match.
Dragon Lee & Mistico & Caristico vs. Mephisto & Ephesto & Luciferno
Rush & La Mascara & Pierroth vs. Ultimo Guerrero & Euforia & Niebla Roja
Volador Jr. vs. Valiente for the Universal tournament final
We’re looking for reports Saturday on the ROH show in Baltimore at the William J. Myers Pavilion (Bobby Fish vs. Hangman Page for TV title, Ultimo Guerrero & Okumura & Hechicero vs. Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian & Kamaitachi in the ROH trios tournament, Colt Cabana & Dalton Castle vs. Keith Lee & Shane Taylor, Silas Young vs. Kyle O’Reilly) and the NXT show in Bakersfield and Crystal River, FL to [email protected].
RESURRECTION FIGHTING ALLIANCE TONIGHT FROM PRIOR LAKE, MN ON AXS TV AT 10 P.M. EASTERN TIME
Antonio Sanchez (3-0, 137) vs. Mitch White (1-1, 134.6)
Damion Shehan (3-0, 155.6) vs. Bobby Lee (4-0, 155.6)
Ben Neumann (10-4, 170.8) vs. Jordan Larson (7-2, 171)
Frank Schuman (7-2, 170.6) vs. Chad Curry (7-1, 170.4)
Dan Moret (11-2, 144.8) vs. Raoni Barcelos (10-1, 144.6) for the featherweight title
Gerald Meerschaet (23-8, 183.8) vs. Chase Waldon (10-1, 185) for the middleweight title
Sunday, besides the WWE Hell in a Cell PPV show, there is a Smackdown brand house show in Allentown, PA.
NEW JAPAN AT KORAKUEN HALL AT 5:30 A.M. EASTERN TIME EARLY SUNDAY MORNING ON NEW JAPAN WORLD
Teruaki Kanemitsu vs. Hirai Kawato
Yoshitatsu & Juice Robinson vs. Yujiro Takahashi & Bone Soldier
Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima & Jushin Liger & Tiger Mask vs. Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi & Angel de Oro & Titan
Fuego & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Rocky Romero & Baretta in the semifinals of the junior heavyweight tag team tournament
Ricochet & David Finlay vs. ACH & Taiji Ishimori in the semifinals of the junior heavyweight tag team tournament
WWE HELL IN A CELL SUNDAY AT 7:30 P.M. FROM THE TD GARDEN IN BOSTON
Kevin Owens vs. Seth Rollins for the Universal tile in a Hell in a Cell match
Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte for the women’s title in a Hell in a Cell match
Roman Reigns vs. Rusev for the U.S. title in a Hell in a Cell match
New Day vs. Sheamus & Cesaro for the tag team titles
T.J Perkins vs. Brian Kendrick for the cruiserweight title
Enzo Amore & Big Cass vs. Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson
Bayley vs. Dana Brooke
Cedric Alexander & Lince Dorado & Sin Cara vs. Drew Gulak & Tony Nese & Ariya Daivari in the preshow match
Raw will be Monday night in Hartford, CT. It will be the Halloween themed show, and Bill Goldberg is scheduled to appear. Ratings usually are down significantly so if they’re not, that would be attributed to Goldberg. There is also a Smackdown brand house show on Monday night in Trenton, NJ.
Tuesday will be the Smackdown tapings in Newark, NJ.
The Raw crew opens up the European tour in Frankfurt, Germany on Wednesday night.
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…Current subscribers click here to continue reading.
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. Bryan did the narration for the book and it runs almost fifteen hours, so grab yours today!
Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Oct 31, 2016: Billy Corgan vs. TNA, Urijah Faber retiring, more – The battle for control of TNA hit the courtroom this past week and we’ve got not only the blow-by-blow, but what it all means, in a detailed lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. We also break that two of the world’s best wrestlers are seriously considering coming to WWE in 2017, the retirement of Urijah Faber and his legacy, the Flo Sports pro wrestling streaming service and why it could be a game changer but what it needs to become one, notes on Hell in a Cell and much more in a jam packed news issue.
Our lead story breaks down the entire TNA situation, what was said in public who was said in private, who is screwing who, why this went to the courts, what are the motives of Billy Corgan, WWE’s interest in purchasing the company and so much said publicly that ended up not being true.
We look at the career of Urijah Faber, the rise of the WEC on his back, the rise of Sacramento MMA and his becoming the first under 145 pound major star.
We’ve got a preview of Hell in a Cell as well as a story on who goes last. We also update a story on how WWE’s biggest star may be banned from appearing in several states, one of WWE’s biggest stars is right now off Survivor Series and why, Paige’s neck surgery, WWE asks fans about lots of indie groups, an overseas show that will be taped for the WWE Network, lots of notes on new people signed by WWE and their backgrounds.
We also look at a TV pilot based on backstage in WWE from 16 years ago, Ryback vs. WWE over trademarks, a Shawn Michaels movie, update on James Ellsworth, A.J. Styles vs. Shawn Michaels, the strange story of Curtis Axel in Minneapolis on Monday, Randy Orton’s turn, Shinsuke Nakamura update, WWE developmental star arrested and suspended, and more.
We look at the new Flo Sports pro wrestling streaming service, its potential as well as pitfalls hindering it from reaching its potential. We look at how this could greatly benefit the indie scene, as well as questions on whether it can work long-term.
All that and more in this week’s new Wrestling Observer, 40,000 words of news and information you can’t read anywhere else in the world.
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.
Just want to thank everyone for all their nice thoughts and messages the past few days. There’s not really a lot too say. My mother had a significant stroke on Monday night. It’s very tough because she was so active and this is a life-changing situation for her.
WWE Hall of Fame has been moved to Friday night with NXT Takeover on Saturday night. Also, both Raw and Smackdown will take place at the Amway Center in Orlando, which will be booked for events on Friday, Saturday, Monday and Tuesday along with Mania at the Citrus Bowl on Sunday. There are a ton of events all over Orlando on both Friday and Saturday night.
The official word from WWE is that Austin Aries has not been medically cheered to perform as a precautionary measure regarding the rest of this weekend’s NXT shows. Aries, whose left eye was stitched up and swollen badly, looking like someone who has an orbital bone fracture, although there is no diagnosis of the injury, took to a kick to the eye on Wednesday night from Shinsuke Nakamura in Fresno, the opening night of the NXT tour.
They are expecting a big crowd tonight at Arena Mexico and there will be a lot of Day of the Dead festivities at the show between matches so it will be a more entertainment oriented show with a different type of crowd than usual. They are also going with a face vs. face main event with Volador Jr. vs. Valiente in a 2/3 fall match for the Universal tournament of champions belt on top.
WWE stock fell $1.10 to $18.07 per share today, a major drop coming off the investment call yesterday. Usually the drop comes the day of the call, and there was a big drop at first, but the stock came back as the network subscription number being disappointing and earnings being blow most analysts projections was warded off by the meme that they would have $100 million in OIBDA in 2017. But today, Wells Fargo, KeyBanc Deutsche Bank and Pacific Crest all downgraded the stock, leading to the drop.
The UFC has removed Fabricio Werdum as its regular Spanish language analyst, after publicly complaining about the Reebok deal.
WWE
Roderick Strong was brought in to replace Aries last night in Sacramento and he and Oney Lorcan tore down the house. Nobody really knew either of them at first, but they tore the house down. It was said that it was like they thought they were in PWG and everyone else thought they were in WWE.
Allegheny Community College in Pittsburgh will be holding a two-session class next semester on 4/19 and 4/26 from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. called “The Extraordinary Life and Career of Professional Wrestling’s Living Legend Bruno Sammartino.” Chris Cruise, Sammartino’s close friend, will be teaching the class.
The company’s 10-Q filing released yesterday included several notes, including that the WWE’s financial stake in Flo Sports is $1 million, so they are a very small percentage owner and as part of the deal are silent partners meaning they have no input. There are a lot of people who have speculated that the Flo Sports channel is a WWE experiment to see if there is value in adding indies to the WWE Network, but the two are very much competition that the WWE initially was not happy about.
The 10-Q also listed that Stephanie McMahon has gotten a wrestling talent contract extension through October 7, 2019, or a new three-year deal.
Bob Backlund will be signing autographs and talking about his autobiography on Wednesday at the Westfield Mal in Meriden, CT at 2 p.m. as part of the 102.9 The Wahel Heath, Wellness and Safety Show at the mall.
Stephan Gorges, a stat freak who has now seen 23,000 WWE matches that he’s tallied, and listed the wrestlers with the most WWE matches that he’s seen: 1. Kane 887; 2. Big Show 770; 3. Chris Jericho 708; 4. Randy Orton 675; 5. John Cena 648; 6. HHH 591; 7. Kofi Kingston 584; 8 Dolph Ziggler 569; 9. Edge and The Miz 550.
Michael Bisping is pushing to get a fight with Nick Diaz on the 12/10 show in Toronto. Bisping had been talked with about doing a fight with Georges St-Pierre on that show, but negotiations fell through.
The New York Times had a major story on the decline in ratings for the NFL in the U.S. and the EPL in the U.K.
Somebody in a speeding car set fire to three vehicles in the neighborhood of Anthony Pettis. A witness, Carson Blaszak, said it took place at 1 a.m. early Thursday morning when there was a large bang and three cars were on fire, one of which was owned by Pettis. Milwaukee police believe the suspect used an accelerant to ignite two of the vehicles, and the fire spread to the car in Pettis’ driveway.
Fredy Serano vs. Hector Sandoval has been added to the UFC show in Sacramento on 12/17.
The TUF Latin America lightweight tournament finals will be Martin Bravo (10-0) vs. Claudio Puelles (7-1). They will be facing off for a UFC contract on the 11/5 show in Arena Ciudad in Mexico City.
Congratulations to Ariel Helwani of MMA Fighting on the birth of his daughter.
Ronda Rousey on Comedy Central’s Drunk History here.
Absolute Internse Wrestling has a two-night tournament on 11/4 and 11/5 at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in Cleveland to crown new tag team champions including teams like Cryme Tyme and The Head Hunters, plus Tracy Williams & Matt Riddle, Little Guido & Tracy Smothers and others.
Bellator has a press conference scheduled this coming Thursday in Uncasville, CT at the Mohegan Sun Arena to build up the Tito Ortiz vs. Chael Sonnen fight, with Ortiz, Sonnen and Scot Coker appearing.
Freelance Wrestling from last night in Chicago at The Chop Shop before 200 fans: Alex Ohlsen (called Ohlberg, dressed as Goldberg) won a Halloween dress as a famous wrestler Battle Royal, Matt Cage over Shawn Phoenix, Suede Thompson, Anthony Henry, Stephen Wolf and Ethan Case, Suge D b Ethan Page-DQ, Ethan Page & Rose b Suge D & GPA, Stevie Fierce b Rob Matter, Isaias Velasquez & Ohlson & Mr. 450 Hammet b Matt Knicks & Kenny Sutra & Craig Mitchell in a great match, Brubaker & Kobe Durst & Colby Corino b Colt Cabana & Dick Justice & Space Monkey in a comedy match, Mustafa Ali b Lio Rush to keep the Freelance title in a great match (thanks to Lance LeVine)
Mountain Championship Wrestling from Saturday night in Pikeville, KY: Tony Anthony (not the 90s star of the same name) & Shannon Hayes b Russian Yetti & Beau James, Sgt. Claymore b Knuckles in a street fight, Grand Moki b Damien Black, Regulators & Crimson b New Age Demons, Rebel b Misty James, Big Rig b Tim Jernigan, Crazzy Steve b Thomas Cage. Next show is Saturday night in Pikeville featuring Gunner.
Smash Wrestling from Saturday night in Toronto: Xandra Bale b Leva Bates, Danyah b Ingrid Isley, Veda Scott b Vanessa Kraven, Heidi Lovelace b Jewels Malone, Cat Power b Jade, Mercedes Martinez b KC Spinelli, Rosemary b Allie in a cage match. This was pushed as U.S. vs. Canada with it being tied 3-3 before Rosemary won it for Canada. (thanks to Steven Ashe)
AMW on 11/3 in Chavies KY at the Elementary School.
The new IWA announced that Dale Gagne has joined Rob Russen and Sal Corrente in the management team.
The Tennessee Historic Trust has released its annual list of endangered properties in the state and on the list was the Mid South Coliseum in Memphis. (thanks to Kev Castle)
Former Bakersfield Jam owner Stan Ellis (who sold his NBA D League team to the Phoenix Suns in January) announced the formation of a new promotion, the Bakersfield Fight Club, and will partner with Roy Englebrecht Promotions for regular events at the Dignity Hath Event Center. They are planning six events in 2017, starting on 1/26, with the plan to hold shows on the last Thursday of every other month at 7 p.m. The shows will feature six pro bouts and one bout on every show between two of Bakers filed’s best amateur fighters.
Great North Wrestling on 11/5 in Hawkesbury, ONT at the Robert Harley Arena with Hannibal defending the GNW title against Rick Steiner, plus Sylvain Grenier & Rene Dupree as La Resistance and Wes Brisco appear.
Hoosier Pro Wrestling on 11/5 in Columbus, OH at the 4-H Fairgounds has its 18th anniversary show and its 12th annual Columbus Fireman’s Cheer Fundraiser and Toy Drive. Dynamite Dillen vs. Timmy Danger for their title is the main event.
Only 100 tickets remain for the National Fighting Championships show on 11/11 at Center Stage in Atlanta with the main event Bolo vs. Robert Neal.
Smash Wrestling on 11/11 in St. Catharines, ONT at Isaac’s Bar and Grill featuring Mark Haskins vs. Kevin Bennett and Matt Cross vs. Mark Andrews. They also run 11/12 in London, ONT at Cowboys Ranch with Mark Haskins vs. Tyson Dux, plus Joe Hendry vs. Kevin Bennett.
Pro Wrestling Phoenix from last night in Omaha: Pat Powers b Zac James, Paul Daniels & Joey Daniels NC Darren Russell & Hype Gotti, Darren Russell & Hype Gotti & Tony Cortez b Paul Daniels & Joey Daniels L-Ray, Robert Storm b Austin St. John, Dalton Lee Roth b Purple, Branden Juarez b Devin Carter, Pat Powers b Branden Juarez. Next show is 11/17 at the Waiting Room Lounge in Omaha. (thanks to Chris Havius)
The battle for power, and to survive, by TNA, continued this past week after Anthem Sports and Entertainment, the parent company of the Toronto-based Fight Network, agreed to fund the promotion.
The questions regarding the funding and why Anthem was loaning TNA money instead of buying into the company, as they did with earlier funding, was because another partial owner, Billy Corgan, had gotten a temporary restraining order, which banned TNA from selling any stock in the company or selling any company assets, the key being both company stock and the tape library.
The key in documentation is that the loan from Anthem was slated to be turned into a controlling investment in the company, which is why Corgan filed for his restraining order and attempt at an injunction.
I wanted to give a quick update that my mother suffered a stroke Monday night which is the family emergency that Bryan Alvarez referred to during Wrestling Observer Radio.
At this point, I don’t know a lot of details other than it is serious, but there are positive signs as
well in the sense she could move her legs and was aware of her surroundings. She has been very active and athletic her entire life and even thinking positively, this is going to change her and my father’s life in significant ways. She is the best mother anyone could ever wish to have.
I want to apologize for missing the show with Bryan and Jeremy Botter, and I know that everyone understands and that there’s no need to apologize, but still, I look forward to every show and had a ton of notes planned. But, itt was just one of those times where it would have been impossible to do.
Also, thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes yesterday. Your prayers are appreciated, and, I greatly appreciate your support.
The workload stemming from increasing the television demands of the WWF started to show through on 9/26 with a disappointing Unforgiven PPV show.
The show featured some sluggish performances inside the ring, mental errors outside and weak crowd heat except for the main event before a crowd of 15,779, a few thousand shy of capacity, paying $505,477 and another $93,006 in merchandise at the Charlotte Coliseum.
Hunter Hearst Helmsley left the ring as WWF champion for a second time after a six-pack match which also included Kane, Mankind, Rock, Big Show and Davey Boy Smith, and had Steve Austin at ringside as an enforcer. Austin, who did color commentary most of the match, got physical in the finish, beating up some referees, counting the pinfall of Helmsley over Rock, largely due to a chair shot by Smith, and then made the attempt to send the crowd home happy by giving HHH a stunner.
Raw is tonight from Minneapolis featuring the return of Brock Lesnar, plus Kevin Owens vs. Chris Jericho vs. Seth Rollins in a three-way non-title. Enzo Amore vs. Karl Anderson and New Day vs. Sheamus & Cesaro in a non-title match. It’s the go-home show for Hell in a Cell. We’re looking for live reports with any Superstars matches or dark matches to [email protected]. We’re also looking for reports on the Smackdown brand house show tonight in Dubuque, IA, headlined by A.J. Styles vs. Dean Ambrose for the WWE title.
Bryan and I will be up later today with Wrestling Observer Radio tonight covering Raw, Urijah Faber, FloSports and all the rest of the latest news. For tonight’s show, the only questions we’ll be going into are those related to FloSports, so if you’ve got questions on that topic, you can send them to [email protected]
We’re looking for reports on these shows from the weekend to [email protected]
*WWE Smackdown from Saturday night in Sioux City, IA
*WWE Raw from last night in Rochester, MN
Smackdown will be Tuesday in Green Bay. A.J. Styles vs. Dean Ambrose in a non-title match and Kane vs. Bray Wyatt in a no DQ match are announced for the show. Becky Lynch returns to television on Tuesday.
Figure Four Weekly 10/17/2016: More on the deregulation of pro wrestling in California – To pick up where we left off last week, in 1989 deregulation of pro wrestling was put before the State Assembly and passed. Here’s how it was discussed in the minutes for the October 20, 1989 meeting of the California State Athletic Commission (emphasis ours): “Assembly Bill 1040 was signed by Governor Deukmejian and, except for the 5% tax on the amount paid for admission, will completely deregulate professional wrestling January 1, 1990… Current subscribers click here to continue reading.
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 current situation with TNA’s financial implosion is the lead story in the new double-issue of the Observer. We also look at the layoffs and changes in UFC and why this is happening, the situation with Georges St-Pierre and his contract, the return of Bill Goldberg and all the plans for him, what exactly happened with Matt Sydal, a look at the Survivor Series card for this year, the latest weekly happenings on Alberto Del Rio and Paige,Wrestle Culture Pro, and a story on El Mongol, a 60s and 70s star who made the Mongolian gimmick famous. We also look at what is and isn’t true about cord cutting and how many homes the key stations that have wrestling and MMA programming are in, along with the September business rundown for WWE & TNA.
The lead story look at the financial issues of TNA, where the big problems stemmed from and the afternoon that really started the company’s fall, the bad decision making, why The Fight Network would save the company, where this leaves Billy Corgan, and the blow-by-blow of the afternoon that killed the company financially. We also look at different places they owe money to, and the latest on company future plans.
We also look at why UFC fired so many people, who the key people let go were, why even those who weren’t fired have such a bad feeling about working there right now, who the key guys let go were and their roles in building the sport and exactly why such extensive cuts were made.
We look at the St-Pierre contract issues, including why he thinks he’s a free agent and UFC thinks he isn’t, an the way this story is likely to play out. We also analyze what he is or isn’t worth.
We cover the return of Bill Goldberg, from his interview, to the plans or using him, to the big mistake in his interview, and much more.
We also look at the main event for Hell in a Cell and thoughts on it, The McMahons and Donald Trump, Jerry McDevitt fires back regarding lawsuits against WWE, What would be a good network subscriber number at the upcoming investors call, how much adding the PPV’s adds company cost, plus we look at the lineup for the next NXT Takeover show.
We also look at the deal to bring in Mickie James, as well as The Spirit Squad. We look at Roderick Strong in WWE, plans for NXT television, New wrestlers starting out in WWE, Cody Rhodes talks about returning or not, Bret Hart apologizes to Michael Hayes, WWE in Japan, who works the most matches in WWE, Jerry Lawler talks about wrestling in WWE and why he’s not doing it, the most popular network shows, plus we look at all the WWE and NXT arena events over the past week with highlights and business notes.
We update the situation with Matt Sydal and his disappearance from wrestling.
We look at the 2016 Survivor Series with thoughts on the lineup and who is and isn’t likely to be involved with the show.
We look at Alberto Del Rio and Paige being engaged, her injuries, and much more.
We’ve got current of the Wrestle Culture iPPV event.
We also look at the WWC Aniversario weekend and the crazy angle at the end of it as well as a huge match for Puerto Rico that challenges were issued for at the end.
Our big historical feature looks at El Mongol, who just passed away, who was a major star of the 60s and early 70s, particularly in California and Georgia. We look at the huge names who came later who copied his gimmick, how he got started in wrestling, whose idea El Mongol actually was, his biggest matches, his role in one of the most important matches in Georgia history, and what ended his career.
We also have details on the ratings for all the national shows over the past week, including breakdown of who was watching all of the WWE shows., with
We also have results of the major league arena events held all over the world this past week, as well as notes on the various TV shows.
Web site subscriptions, which include access to both current and older newsletters as well as every audio show on the history of the site are at http://www.f4wonline.com/member/signup.php
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 [email protected]” target=”_blank”>[email protected]
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 [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.
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.
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.
WON BACK ISSUE:,WON September 20, 1999: Eric Bischoff fired from WCW, Beyond the Mat review, more – Although wrestlers were singing “Ding, Dong, the Witch is dead,” Friday night in Baltimore, when the word of Eric Bischoff’s re-assignment within Turner (read that as a nice way of saying firing) reached the wrestlers, once the initial happiness wore off and reality set in, the reality is little has changed… Subscribers click here to continue reading.
Monday News Update
The first lineups for FloSlam as far as Evolve goes, which will be the second and third shows on the service, are:
11/12 in Queens, NY at 6:30 p.m. Eastern time
Drew Galloway vs. Matt Riddle
Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Ethan Page
Dustin vs. Drew Gulak
Chris Hero vs. Tracy Williams
Plus matches from Timothy Thatcher, Fred Yehi, Tony Nese, and Darby Allin.
11/13 in Joppa, MD at 7 p.m. Eastern time
Drew Galloway & Dustin vs. Tracy Williams & Fred Yehi for tag titles
Chris Hero vs. Matt Riddle
Drew Gulak vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
Plus matches from Timothy Thatcher, Ethan Page, Tony Nese, and Darby Allin
Raw tonight goes against the Houston Texans vs. Denver Broncos, who are both 4-2. The rating should be a little up from usual from the momentum of the Bill Goldberg rating from last week, combined with the three-way main event and Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman being advertised. Next week on Halloween will be tough, but Goldberg will be on the show and he may be strong enough to avert what would have been a bad number.
Added to the Hell in a Cell show officially is Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows vs. Enzo Amore & Big Cass, which they had been building.
If Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks is to go on last, they really should push that tonight (really they should have for three weeks), because you can only do it once as far as the first women’s main event on a WWE PPV show. To do it just to do it without pushing it is a wasted opportunity and would be completely meaningless. It would satisfy a fan base that thinks it’s a victory, but if it’s not pushed as it for some time, it really means nothing because we already saw last month what match order means. Because Banks is from Boston, if it had been pushed, and it can still be done now, it can be something pretty big in the building which will translate well. But I hate the idea of a first ever being meaningless marketing wise by squandering the promotion. In other words, if it’s not announced as such tonight and pushed hard, wait to do it to when you’re really behind it and make it mean something. The WWE is pushing that there are three main events which may be a way to claim it’s a main event without it really being a main event.
Thanks everyone for the birthday wishes. I really appreciate it.
A documentary on Eric Bischoff will debut on the WWE Network after Raw tonight.
The new WWE Encyclopedia will be released today.
WWE announced a show on 12/17 in Peterborough, ONT, which is the home city of Bobby Roode. It will be interesting if they bring him to the main roster to work the show. NXT runs Las Vegas the same day (thanks to Jamie Adams)
The Dominick Cruz vs. Cody Garbrandt bantamweight title match that has been long talked about and expected for UFC 207 on 12/30, is now official as UFC revealed the match to ESPN earlier today.
UFC announced tickets go on sale Friday to the public for the 12/9 show in Albany, NY, which is a Fight Pass card the night before UFC 206 in Toronto. The show takes place at the Times Union Center with a top fights of Derrick Lewis vs. Shamil Abdyurakhimov, Raphael Assuncao vs. Aljamain Sterling and Patrick Cummins vs. Gian Villante. The show is priced from $140 for ringside down to $30. Fight Club members can get tickets on Wednesday and newsletter readers can get them on Thursday.
Shane Carwin has said that he’s accepted a fight with Fedor Emelianenko and now it’s up to Fedor to accept the fight. The hint would be for Rizin.
Miscellaneous
There has been a situation involving Marty Wright, the Boogyeman, who was supposed to work on 10/7 for Hope Wrestling and on 10/8 for Pride Promotions in the U.K. Wright was sent $550 as an advance and ended up not coming. He claimed that Hurricane Matthew had devastated his family and he agreed to pay back the deposit on 10/13. As of today, the promotion claims he has not paid the money back and has changed the date several times and now claims he will pay it back on Wednesday after not doing it over the weekend which the previous time frame he had said he would return it by.
For Wrestlecon over WrestleMania weekend in Orlando, which takes place from 3/30 to 4/2, including live events from WrestlePro, Revolution Pro (a great U.K. promotion), CZW and others, at the Hyatt Regency, there will be a Q&A with Ric Flair and Sting. The list of guests is endless, in the sense almost everyone in wrestling who isn’t in WWE will be there from Hall of Famers like Bobby Heenan, Road Warrior Animal, Abdullah the Butcher, Ricky Morton Robert Gibson, Vader, to modern stars from every promotion.
Smash Wrestling from last night in Toronto: Tarik b Facade, Well Oiled Machines b Halal Beefcake, John Greed b Albright, John Greed b ?, John Greed b Kevin Blanchard, John Greed b Shane Sabre, Franky TM b Kevin Bennett, Mike Bailey won three-way over Evil Uno and Stu Grayson, Tyson Dux b Cody Rhodes, Brent Banks b Scotty O’Shea. Rhodes thanked Dux for the match and told fans that he’d be back.
Pro Wrestling Phoenix on Thursday night in Omaha at the Waiting Room Lounge.
Best in the World TV from last night in Fresno: Mike Rayne b D Bunny, Suburban Commandos b Sledge & Markus Eriks-COR, Sheik Khan Abadi b Scorpio Sky (thanks to Jon Southerland)
Pro Wrestling Eclipse from last night in Oshawa, ONT: Rip Impact b Joshua James, Bobby Sharpe b Phil Atlas, Ryanasaurs Flex vs. Rage vs. Rex Atkins was no contest, Johnny Devine b Buck Gunderson to retain the TV title, Kat Von Heez DCOR Cat Power, Jake O’Reilly won three-way over Shane Douglas and Cody Deaner to win the PWE title. Douglas will return for the next show on 11/26 (thanks to Steven Ashe)
Ricochet vs. Lewis Girvan has been announce for the ICW show at the SSE in Glasgow, Scotland on 11/20.
Heroes and Legends Wrestling in Fort Wayne, IN: Brutus Dylan b Jorge Bravo, Chase McCoy b Pete Schwanz, Troy Miller b Shockwave the Robot,. Team Legend-Dairy won over Tracy Smothers & Bobby Fulton and Anthony Toatele & Eli McFly, Randi West b Sybil Starr, Brooklyn Brawler b Rod Street, Sugar Dunkerton b Shawn Schultz, Nick Cutler b Kongo Kong, Carlito b Jake Omen, Jack Thriller (managed by Swoggle) b Scott Young, Dru Skillz b Damien Sandow, Ryback b Dru Skillz to win the heavyweight title (thanks to Leonard Brand)
The Democratic Underground of all places has a story on Jim Cornette campaigning against Donald Trump
The Death of WCWby Bryan Alvarez and RD Reynolds is now available as an audiobook through Amazon.com and Audible. Bryan did the narration for the book and it runs almost fifteen hours, so grab yours today!
Urijah Faber, one of the most historically pivotal fighters in U.S. MMA history, announced that he would be retiring after his December 17th fight with Brad Pickett at UFC on FOX 22. The fight will take place at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, Faber’s home town.
Faber made the announcement today on the MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani.
Faber, 37, was pushed to be the top star of World Extreme Cage fighting when UFC purchased the company in 2007 to have a separate property to put on NBC Sports Network. Due to UFC having exclusivity with Spike, and NBC Sports Network wanting to pay for a regular MMA product, UFC purchased an existing company.
Faber, as WEC featherweight champion, immediately became a major favorite, and after a 2008 fight with Jens Pulver drew tremendous television ratings, the idea that fighters under 155 pounds couldn’t draw in MMA was dead for good. Faber remained a major star, and the PPV success of his losing challenge to Jose Aldo in 2010 led to UFC closing down WEC and bringing the lighter weight divisions to the company starting at the end of 2010.
Faber’s WEC title run was from March 17th, 2006, when he defeated Cole Escovedo, and he then retained the title five times before losing to Mike Brown on November 5, 2008. From there, Faber lost six straight title matches in challenging for either the featherweight or bantamweight titles.
He had struggled the past two years, losing three of his last four fights, including a decision to Jimmie Rivera and a far more one-sided title loss to Dominick Cruz than in their second meeting years earlier.
He also had recruited a number of fighters, including Chad Mendes and T.J. Dillashaw, and his Team Alpha Male in Sacramento was considered the top camp in the U.S. for smaller fighters.
A live webpage seemingly tells the story of news that is about to break regarding a new pro wrestling streaming service.
FloSports, which already streams live events in a number of sports including gymnastics, softball, amateur wrestling, grappling and track and field, is the group behind the new FloSlam website where the service would be hosted.
The page currently lists a monthly rate of $20 with a $12.50 monthly discount for a year commital. If it is like other similar services, the idea would be regular live streaming of events.
In the past, we have had Chael Sonnen on Wrestling Observer Radio talking about FloSports with relation to grappling events he promoted that air on their grappling-specific section.
In the People section, several WWE and NXT talents are featured as well as Jay Lethal, The Young Bucks, and Matt Riddle.
It is expected more news will break on this story imminently and it will be a major part of tonight’s Observer radio show in some form.
As noted on this website before it was announced, WWE is an investor in FloSports as they participated in a recent round of funding, but this is completely independent from WWE.
We’re looking for reports on the following shows to [email protected].
WWE Raw in Hammond, IN, NXT in Tampa
ROH in Fort Lauderdale (Jay Lethal & Alex Shelley & Silas Young vs. Jay Briscoe & Christopher Daniels & Colt Cabana, Adam Cole vs. Bull James non-title, Hangman Page vs. Dalton Castle, Mark Briscoe vs. Frankie Kazarian)
WWE Raw in Milwaukee, SmackDown in Sioux City, IA, NXT in Ocala, FL
ROH in Lakeland, FL (Adam Cole vs. Silas Young for ROH title, Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian vs. Dalton Castle & Colt Cabana, Kamaitachi vs. Jay Lethal, Mark Briscoe vs. Hangman Page, Punisher Martinez vs. Bull James)
WWE Raw in Rochester, MN and SmackDown in Des Moines, IA
Raw will be Monday night from Minneapolis featuring the return of Brock Lesnar, plus Kevin Owens vs. Chris Jericho vs. Seth Rollins in a three-way non-title and New Day vs. Sheamus & Cesaro in a non-title match. It’s the go-home show for Hell in a Cell. There is also a Smackdown brand house show in Dubuque, IA.
Smackdown will be Tuesday in Green Bay. A.J. Styles vs. Dean Ambrose in a non-title match and Kane vs. Bray Wyatt in a no DQ match are announced for the show. Becky Lynch returns to television on Tuesday.
Figure Four Weekly 10/17/2016: More on the deregulation of pro wrestling in California – To pick up where we left off last week, in 1989 deregulation of pro wrestling was put before the State Assembly and passed. Here’s how it was discussed in the minutes for the October 20, 1989 meeting of the California State Athletic Commission (emphasis ours): “Assembly Bill 1040 was signed by Governor Deukmejian and, except for the 5% tax on the amount paid for admission, will completely deregulate professional wrestling January 1, 1990… Current subscribers click here to continue reading.
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!
Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Oct 24, 2016: Pinpointing the day that lead to TNA’s current predicament, UFC layoffs, more – What has been the long-time inevitable but several times delayed financial implosion of TNA can really be traced back to one afternoon. Largely based on a contract with Spike TV, TNA was taking in more revenue than any pro wrestling company in the world aside from WWE through 2014. If a company like ECW would have gotten that type of a deal, they would probably still be flourishing today… Current subscribers click here to continue reading.
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.
WON BACK ISSUE:,WON September 20, 1999: Eric Bischoff fired from WCW, Beyond the Mat review, more – Although wrestlers were singing “Ding, Dong, the Witch is dead,” Friday night in Baltimore, when the word of Eric Bischoff’s re-assignment within Turner (read that as a nice way of saying firing) reached the wrestlers, once the initial happiness wore off and reality set in, the reality is little has changed… Subscribers click here to continue reading.
Sunday News Update
The Death of WCWby Bryan Alvarez and RD Reynolds is now available as an audiobook through Amazon.com and Audible. Bryan did the narration for the book and it runs almost fifteen hours, so grab yours today!
Bryan and I will be up later today with Wrestling Observer Radio tonight covering the latest news from wrestling and MMA. With no major shows this weekend, there will be plenty of time for questions that you can send to [email protected].
Becky Lynch and Kalisto both returned at last night’s Smackdown brand house show in Sioux City, IA. Kalisto had been out with an injury and Lynch with a medical condition.
Katsuhiko Nakajima beat Takashi Sugiura today at the big Pro Wrestling NOAH show in Yokohama to win the GHC title. I could really see Nakajima defending the title against somebody like Yuji Nagata either in NOAH or New Japan. If I’m booking the Tokyo Dome, I think that may be the direction to go.
Yet another lawsuit filed against TNA was by Bankdirect Capital Finance, LLC which filed a lawsuit asking for $207,612.29 plus late charges, interest and attorney feels against TNA Entertainment LLC on 9/29 in Circuit Court in Cook County, Illinois. On November 30, 2015, BankDirect entertained in an agreement where it would pay TNA $400,146.00 so TNA could pay certain insurance premiums and TNA agreed to make ten monthly payments of $41,032.45 with the first payment on November 13, 2015. As of the time of the suit, TNA had paid nearly half but still was $207,612.29 behind.
The latest promotion toannounce a streaming serviceis DDT from Japan, a comedy group with mostly women fans that also put on some incredible main events.
WWE last night at the house show in Milwaukee announced that the Fast Lane PPV will be on 3/5 in Milwaukee at the Bradley Center, which should be the last show before WrestleMania (hopefully it is, the last thing they need is a PPV two weeks before Mania). There is a pre-sale right now with the code: WWEPRE
WWE
The Los Angeles Times had a story that Randy Orton sold his home in St. Charles, MO for $775,000. It was a home he had built three years ago.
Pollstar did a last of the 100 most successful touring acts and listed WWE at No. 12. The problem with this is they listed WWE with 707,387 tickets sold in the first nine months of the year, and that’s probably around half the actual tickets sold. I guess it has to do with what is and isn’t reported and that may also be the case for other acts. So they could be No. 5, unless other acts are similarly unreported. The touring acts above WWE for sure would be Bruce Springsteen, Beyonce, Coldplay and Disney on Ice. This doesn’t include every top tier major sport which would be ahead of WWE. In fact, two UFC PPV’s this year sold more orders than WWE has in total arena ticket sales so far this year, but UFC would be behind WWE in arena attendance for the year because of running so many more events.
A fun WWE article explaining the masterful job of storytelling the company does that makes them a brand powerhouse here.
WWE put out another fan survey asking fans which of these promotions they watch: PWG, CHIKARA, Dragon Gate USA (dear God, how far behind are they, how many years has it been since there was a such thing?), OVW, AAW, CZW, Evolve, Shimmer Squared Circle Wrestling, ROH and FIP. Very notable who they didn’t ask about as well.
WWE pulled Mick Foley from the 11/20 ICW Fear and Loathing 9 show in Glasgow at the SSE Hydro. Foley is needed for television. The ICW show is one of the biggest indie events of the year and will draw the largest crowd for a U.K. based pro wrestling promotion in something like 35 years. WWE did a make good, as Finn Balor will take Foley’s spot as a guest enforcer on the show. Really interesting them sending someone to a show that would be competition given they are running Glasgow for both Raw and Smackdown a week before and if you think them booking Glasgow for the first time for TV ever and another promotion trying to draw a huge house in Scotland is coincidence, well, it’s quite the coincidence.
Carmella (Leah Van Dale) turns 29 today.
Goldust noted yesterday celebrating 21 yeas since his WWE debut.
With no major events, nothing from pro wrestling, boxing or MMA made Google trends the past few days.
New Japan promotional video on the Time Bomb coming to Osaka at Power Struggle is here.
Dennis Brent talks getting into pro wrestling. (thanks to Chris Cruise)
Tim Storm defeated Jax Dane to win the NWA world heavyweight title on Friday night in Sherman, TX.
Bellator has announced Ilima-Lei MacFarlane (4-0) vs. Emily Ducote (4-1) and Chidi Njokuani (15-4, 1 no contest) vs. Andre Fialho (7-0) to the 12/3 in Thackerville, OK on Spike. Both will be on the television part of the show along with the John Teixeira vs. Pat Curran main event.
Today’s Blue Justice show from New Japan will be up on New Japan World at some point today.
CZW and WSU have a doubleheader on 11/19 in Voorhees, NJ at Flyers Skate Zone. CZW is headlined by Matt Tremont & Jeff Cannonball vs. Josh Crane & Dale Patricks, Sami Callihan vs. Joe Gacy and Homicide vs. Yuma.
Jersey All Pro Wrestling on 11/12 in Rahway, NJ at the Rahway Rec Center has its 20th anniversary show with Alberto el Patron, Homicide, Low Ki, Da Hit Squad and more. They will also have a JAPW Hall of Fame ceremony inducting Homicide, Low Ki and Da Hit Squad at 7 p.m. that night. (thanks to Bob Magee)
There is a big legends show coming to Nuevo Laredo on 11/5 with Los Hermanos Dinamita vs. Rayo de Jalisco Jr. & Juventud Guerrera & Garza Jr., plus Solar & El Hijo del Solitario & Angel Blanco Jr. vs. Negro Navarro & Rey Bucanero & El Satanico.
Mathieu St. Jacques vs. Josh Alexander headlined for Capital City Championship Combat on 11/26 at the Vanier Columbus Club in Ottawa.
Negro Casas vs. Arandu headlines Gimnasio Independencia in Tijuana today. Promociones EMW has the big Friday show at Audiotrio Municipal with El Texano Jr. vs. Pentagon Jr. vs. Dr. Wagner Jr. on top in a three-way plus Garza Jr. & La Parka & Rey Hours (Dragon Azteca Jr. in Lucha Underground) vs. Hernandez & Paul London & Mesias.
Dynamo Pro Wrestling from last night in St. Louis: Brandon Aarons b Matt Kenway, Mike Outlaw b Ricky Cruz, Keon Option & Justin D-Air b Danny Adams & Paco Gonzalez, Brandon Espinosa b Makaze, Jackal b Jake Dirden, C.J. Shine b Jackal, La Apuesta (who unmasked as Jack Gamble) b Rocket Mapache, Keon Option b Makaze, Brandon Espinosa b Brandon Aarons. (thanks to Patrick Brandmeyer)
GOUGE on 10/22 in Fuquay Varina, NC: HeadRush b Kool Jay, Otto Schwanz & Numbers Guy b Bad Daddy & Snooty Fox, Alas de Angel & Antonio the Great b Gato Savalje & Toro Bravo, Waylon Maze & Juan Jeremi b Team Syxxy, Jimmy Jack Funk Jr. b Mickey Gambino, Seymour Snott b Jakob Hammermier in a four-corners trick or treat match. Next show is 11/5 in Charlotte at Unknown Brewing Company.
Pro Wrestling Empire from last night in Harrisburg, PA: Kevin Murphy b Mercenary in a Chamber of Hell (Hell in a Cell style) match where owner Colin Bright dove off the top of the cell through a table), Amasis b Ophidian, Tessa Blanchard b Renee Michelle, Facade won Gladiator Games Royal, Star Lords won over Heroes for Hire and Regulators, Vanity b LuFisto & Tess Valentine in a women’s title match, Tony Deppen b John Silver, Facade over Eddie Smooth, Sean Carr, Jason Gory, Kai Katana and Laszlo Arpad for the PWE title. (thanks to Dan Reagan)
An interview with Frenchy Martin, who just passed away, is here.
