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.
Terry Funk is alive, fine, and back home in Texas.
After making a speech on Saturday night at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia where he said he didn’t want to leave the ring (seen below) because it may be for the last time, the wrestling world was concerned about him. He noted after getting home that his daughter called up and jokingly asked him if he was dead because of all the stories.
Funk underwent surgery for an inguinal hernia on September 12th, and was supposed to be resting and in bed for a couple of weeks. But he didn’t want to miss his bookings for Tommy Dreamer’s House of Hardcore shows on September 16th in St. James, NY, and September 17th in Philadelphia, so he got up at 4 a.m. on Friday, flew into LaGuardia Airport and appeared at the NY show.
After the show, he drove to Philadelphia, getting to sleep at about 4 a.m. that night.
He signed autographs all day at the convention in Philadelphia and was exhausted by the time it came to the Philly show that night. He was supposed to be in Dreamer’s corner for the main event against Matt Hardy, flanked by Senor Benjamin. Obviously, that would lead to a physical spot, and given he was coming off surgery, that would have been a bad idea.
He asked Dreamer if he could leave early as by that time he was exhausted. So, they did the interview segment early in the show and he caught a flight home.
There were reports he wasn’t feeling well, which had to do with the exhaustion and the fact he wasn’t physically ready for travel, but he didn’t want to miss a booking for Dreamer.
Funk joked that he’s got another appointment with his doctor in ten days to see if he could be cleared to get out of the house with the doctors having no idea he flew and traveled all weekend.
WWE Raw in Louisville (all the main stars of the brand headlined by Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, Rusev, New Day, Gallows & Anderson, Sami Zayn, Charlotte and Bayley)
NXT in Des Moines (headlined by Shinsuke Nakamura, Samoa Joe, Bobby Roode and Asuka)
NXT in Cocoa Beach, FL (headlined by Andrade Cien Almas, Buddy Murphy and Wesley Blake)
ROH in Pittsburgh (Adam Cole & Young Bucks vs. Jay Lethal & Colt Cabana & Dalton Castle, Jay & Mark Briscoe vs. Silas Young & Beer City Bruiser vs. Kenny King & Rhett Titus vs. War Machine, Christopher Daniels vs. Jay White, Frankie Kazarian vs. Chris Sabin, Kamaitachi vs. Alex Shelley, Kelly Klein & Britt Baker & Veda Scott vs. Faye Jackson & Mandy Leon & Crazy Mary Dobson, ACH vs. Will Ferrara, Lio Rush vs. Caprice Coleman, Jonathan Gresham vs. Delirious)
House of Hardcore in St. James, NY at the Sports Arena (Rhino vs. Tommy Dreamer, Matt Hardy vs. Aaron Stevens, Tony Nese vs. Ricochet, Torito vs. Swoggle, Pat Buck vs. Brian Myers, plus appearances of Terry Funk, Sami Callihan, Matt Striker and Bull James)
SATURDAY
UFC FIGHT NIGHT: POIRIER VS. JOHNSON, FROM HIDALGO, TX
Fight Pass at 7 p.m. Eastern time
Maximo Blanco (12-7-1) vs. Chas Skelly (15-2)
Randy Brown (7-0) vs. Erick Montano (7-3)
FS 1 at 8 p.m. Eastern
Joey Gomez (6-1) vs. Jose Alberto Quinonez (4-2)
Evan Dunham (17-6) vs. Rick Glenn (18-3-1)
Antonio Carlos Jr. (5-2) vs. Leonardo Guimares (11-2)
WWE Raw in Evansville (all the main stars of the brand headlined by Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, Rusev, New Day, Gallows & Anderson, Sami Zayn, Charlotte and Bayley)
WWE Smackdown in Springfield, MO (all the main stars of the brand but no John Cena, with A.J. Styles, Randy Orton, Bray Wyatt, The Miz, Becky Lynch, Natalya, and Dean Ambrose as headliners)
NXT in Omaha (headlined by Shinsuke Nakamura, Samoa Joe, Bobby Roode and Asuka)
NXT in Tampa (headlined by Andrade Cien Almas, Buddy Murphy and Wesley Blake)
ROH in Lockport, NY (Honor Rumble, winner gets a title shot on 10/22 in Lakeland, FL, plus Colt Cabana & Dalton Castle vs. Mark & Jay Briscoe, Christopher Daniels vs. Chris Sabin vs. Matt Jackson, Frankie Kazarian vs. Alex Shelly vs. Nick Jackson, Kenny King & Rhett Titus & Caprice Coleman vs. ACH & Jay White & Lio Rush, Kamaitachi vs. Jonathan Gresham, Deonna Purrazzo & Mandy Leon vs. Taeler Hendrix & Jessicka Havok)
House of Hardcore in Philadelphia at the 2300 Arena (Tommy Dreamer with Terry Funk in his corner vs. Matt Hardy with Senor Benjamin in his corner, Ricochet vs. Sami Callihan, Chris Hero vs. Tony Nese plus Brian Myers and more).
WWE Raw in Huntsville, AL (all the main stars of the brand headlined by Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, Rusev, New Day, Gallows & Anderson, Sami Zayn, Charlotte and Bayley)
WWE Smackdown in North Little Rock, AR (headlined by A.J. Styles, Dean Ambrose, Randy Orton, Bray Wyatt, The Miz, Becky Lynch and Natalya)
NXT in Minneapolis (headlined by Shinsuke Nakamura, Samoa Joe, Bobby Roode and Asuka)
MONDAY
Raw will be Monday night in Memphis. It will be the go-home show for Clash of Champions. Chris Jericho is added to the roster with the other stars on the tour. Cesaro vs Sheamus in match number six of their best-of-seven series will be on the show.
Smackdown will have a Monday night house show in Tupelo, MS, with A.J. Styles, Randy Orton, Dean Ambrose, The Miz, Becky Lynch and Natalya.
TUESDAY
Smackdown and Main Event will be on Tuesday night from Birmingham, AL. John Cena is scheduled for his only show of the week on Tuesday.
Figure Four Weekly, 9/12/2016: More on the Last Battle of Atlanta, wrestling Holy grails, and WWE’s video library – The release of the Last Battle of Atlanta on WWE Network, discussed here last week in advance of it dropping, was met with mixed reaction online. The namesake match itself, Tommy Rich vs. Buzz Sawyer in a cage (with a roof on top for the first time in wrestling history) had become legendary more due to magazine hype and the lack of available footage than anything else… 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!
In the end it was simple reality. Starting out at 36 with very limited training past some Jiu Jitsu classes from Rener Gracie, no great athletic gifts and a body beaten up by 15 years of pro wrestling was not going to be able to train for two years and be able to compete in the UFC.
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 for 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, August 23, 1999: WCW Road Wild review, NJPW G1 Climax results, plus tons more – Steve Austin has become the subject of a lot of talk in the past week, with his various injuries, his probable, maybe almost assured dropping of the WWF title at SummerSlam and stories regarding him becoming harder to deal with… Subscribers click here to continue reading.
FRIDAY NEWS UPDATE
Chael Sonnen and Scott Coker had a press conference today to announce Sonnen’s signing with Bellator. Sonnen said that he thought he had signed a three-year deal for six fights, and Coker said that was pretty close. He mentioned he would fight any weight class asked and brought up potential fights with Rory MacDonald at 185, Tito Ortiz and Liam McGeary at 205 and Fedor Emelianenko at heavyweight. He also brought up the idea of finally facing Wanderlei Silva. Sonnen said that he had figured he would return to UFC (he was released from his UFC contract a few years ago after a number of test violations) but that the idea of Bellator came to him and in three phone calls over the last few days they had a deal finalized. He will continue with both WSOF as a television announcer and ESPN covering MMA, and will be with Jonathan Coachman on ESPN for a segment very soon covering his signing. He claimed if he fails a drug test he would be fined 100 percent of his purse plus another $500,000 based on the contract he signed. Sonnen was pushing the idea that he’d be fighting first in California in November, which would in theory be the San Jose show that features Michael Chandler vs. Benson Henderson for the lightweight title.
As of last night the plan was for Katsuyori Shibata to still face Bobby Fish tomorrow for the Never Open weight title at Destruction in Tokyo, even though he is still injured. Shibata missed two shows this week and at first the injury was thought to put him out for a while, but he is still planning on doing the match.
Tyron Woodley announced that he would be facing Stephen Wonderboy Thompson in a welterweight title defense on 11/12 in Madison Square Garden,today on the UFC weigh-in show. Woodley previously had turned down Thompson saying he’d rather fight Georges St-Pierre or Nick Diaz, because he’d make more money on those fights.
For WWE this weekend, as noted from the lineups, there are separate Raw and Smackdown brand house shows for the first time since the split. Even though they are working injury angles on television, both Shinsuke Nakamura (NXT) and Chad Gable (Smackdown) are booked all weekend. Randy Orton is also booked to headline the Smackdown shows. John Cena is only working Tuesday night in Birmingham.
This story is aboutthe plight of fighters today, specifically Joe Warren who is in the semi-main event of Bellator 161 tonight, and is a former two-time champion, but still couldn’t get any sponsors.
WWE
The movie “Killing Hasselhoff” will open the San Diego International Film Festival on 9/28. That’s a WWE Films release.
An interview with TJ Perkins after winning the cruiserweight title is here.
A story about Jack Gallagher heading to WWE is here. (thanks to Mike Kuzmuk)
More on the death of Jonah Snyder, 20, who suffered an apparent heart attack while training at Seth Rollins’ wrestling school. (thanks to Joel Kolsrud)
A ton of big names will be at the Icons of Wrestling and Comic Book Collectors convention tomorrow starting at 9 a.m. at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia including Sting, Abdullah the Butcher, Bret Hart, Ted DiBiase, Terry Funk, Tommy Dreamer, Rick Steiner, the Nasty Boys, Matt Hardy, Raven, Perry Saturn, Ricochet, Ryback, Vickie Guerrero, Santino Marella, Cameron, Booker T, Stevie Ray, Tully Blanchard, Tatanka, Tod Gordon, Bill Alfonso, Kevin Sullivan, Shane Douglas, Joey Styles, Tammy Sytch, Raven, Justin Credible, Bobby Fulton, Charlie Haas, Nikolai Volkoff, Boris Zhukov, Blue Meanie, Sonjay Dutt, FBI and Bill Apter.
TMZ has reported that Brandi Runnels has signed with TNA. It’s known that Cody Rhodes & wife Brandi were looking to work in TNA against Mike Bennett & Maria Kanellis.
Bleacher report sent out an unfortunate tweet in plugging that great story mentioned in yesterday’s update on Chyna, for which they have apologized to Sean Waltman. The story is a must read.
Linda McMahon will co-host a PBS seres called “Women in America.” It will be five 30 minute shows talking about women’s achievements and challenges McMahon will co-host the show with Burt Wolf.
There is a live Lucha Libre show at 8 p.m. tonight in Watsonville, CA at the Appleton Grill.
Return to Chaos on 9/24 in Brampton, ONT at the Royal Canadian Legion.
Absolute Intense Wrestling has the Johnny Gargano farewell on 9/23 at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in Cleveland with Gargano’s last indie appearance in his home city. Gargano vs. fiance Candice LaRae will headline the show, plus Tracy Smothers vs. Swoggle, Tracy Williams vs. Shigehiro Irie and more.
A.J. McKee vs. Emanuel Sanchez has been announced for a Bellator show on 12/2 in Thackerville, OK
Editor’s note: We originally wrote in the headline and image that Ron Bass had passed away. We apologize for the error.
Don Bass, a veteran who worked regularly from the early 70s until the end of the territorial era, passed away today due to cancer.
Details are sketchy but it is being reported that he just learned he had cancer a couple of weeks ago, although he had health issues for years. It is believed he was 69 or 70 years old.
Bass formed a tag team with Ronald Bass, as well as Bobby “No Class” Bass, in the Gulf Coast as The Bass Family with Ma Bass as their manager who used a loaded purse to interfere.
Bass’ greatest success came in the Tennessee and Gulf Coast areas. While he worked mostly as Don Bass, he worked under a ton of different guises under masks there as well as part of new version of The Assassins tag team, The A-Team, Fire & Flame and an incarnation of The Interns, not the same team that was huge in Tennessee years earlier.
During that era he regularly teamed with Roger Smith, who had teamed with Jody Hamilton in Georgia as The Assassins after the retirement of Tom Renesto. Under various names, the Bass & Smith combination won the Southern tag team championship four times in the Tennessee circuit.
Before teaming with Smith, his combination with Ron Bass held tag team titles in the Gulf Coast and Tennessee.
A look at every angle of the C.M. Punk to UFC story headlines this week’s issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Examine the background, the fight, how and why UFC handled this completely different from the usual combat sports usage of a celebrity, the closest UFC equivalent. Find out early estimates on PPV numbers and how much revenue Punk generated extra and what Punk’s success as a draw on this show said about wrestling fans and MMA fans.
Also read about the sanctioning of Punk, comments from people in UFC regarding his pay, which Punk helped by being there. Also, look at who is really to blame for fights like this happening and why they will probably continue to happen, and look at the direction numbers take the sport. Inside are quotes from Punk talking about the day, his reaction to the fight, and what he wants next.
Our other lead story looks at the Randy Orton injury, how the Brock Lesnar finish looks in hindsight, the false advertising on the PPV and whether or not Orton should have been rested and the nature of his being rested.
This issue has coverage of the WWE Backlash PPV and A.J. Styles winning the WWE title, with match-by-match coverage, star ratings, business notes and poll ratings.
For coverage of UFC 203, there is match-by-match run downs, business notes and poll ratings. There is also a look at what fight brought 498,000 new viewers to the show. Finally, this issue contains information on the major differences between the fans C.M. Punk brought to PPV as compared with the fans Ronda Rousey and Conor McGregor brought… Subscribers click here to continue reading.
Order the print Observer right now and get it delivered to your door via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to Dave Meltzer, or use Paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
RATES: For the United States, it is $13 for 4 issues, $32 for 12, $61 for 24, $101 for 40 and $131 for 52. In Canada and Mexico, rates are $14.50 for 4, $35 for 12, $67 for 24, $111 for 40 and $144 or 52. In Europe, you can get the fastest delivery and best rates by sending to [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. Get $1 off in every price range if ordering by mail with a check, cash or money order (P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228).
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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.
New subscribers ordering 24 or 40 issues must let us know what major stories of the past 11 years you are most interested in and we’ll send the issue with the best coverage of that story. There is coverage of every major PPV event and world wide spectacular, every major star switching promotions, histories of companies like FMW, Rings and New Japan, retirement and obituary issues of every major star who fits into those descriptions over the past 11 years, as well as our biggest issue every year, the annual awards issue, and our most controversial issue of every year, the Hall of Fame issue.
Also in this issue:
What caused the CMLL and Elite breakup
How they are still having a relationship
How Caristico worked the major show of the week for both groups, even though they were on the same night at the same time
A look at last week’s Arena Mexico show
A look at this week’s legends show and what makes it unique among big shows historically
Elite’s debut at Arena Naucalpan
What huge match was set up, and will probably not be happening
AAA talent going to Japan for a multi- promotional show
Another wrestler quits AAA
What wrestler is expected to be the next one to quit
How much Pagano earned for his hair loss at TripleMania
Finals of the Dragon Gate tag team tournament
Notes on the next Dragon Gate PPV show
More on the upcoming honoring of Giant Baba
How the honoring came about
Genba Hirayanagi retires
NOAH building to a major show on 9/23
New Japan 2015-16 fiscal year business
More on the injury to Katsuyori Shibata
A look at this week’s big New Japan show
Angles at New Japan’s Korakuen Hall show
New Japan having a big show in New Zealand with a lot of U.S. stars
Zero-One junior heavyweight tournament notes
Update on Kairi Hojo injury
Stardom’s five star tournament finals
Notes from Real Japan Pro Wrestling
Antonio Inoki in the international news
More on the health of FrenchyMartin
Debut of a new promotion using major indie names
Kurt Angle’s brother sentenced on murder charges
Notes from the Evolve weekend and different big matches
Cody Rhodes talks his father
Notes on Ronda Rousey appearing for Shayna Baszler’s title win in Cleveland
Next year’s Thesz-Tragos Hall of Fame ceremony
A look back at the career of Rick Rude
Former WWE tag champs reunite
Lucha Underground signs international deal
Adam Cole contract notes
More on the next ROH PPV show
Frankie Kazarian sets ladder match up for a difficult comparison
ROH & Preston City Wrestling fallout noted
ROH announces UK bouts
The update on the TNA financial situation
People leaving TNA
Notes on TNA TV
How UFC’s PPV business is doing this year
Notes on the Bisping vs. Henderson fight
A huge date in October where many major issues will be settled
Lots of new UFC fights
Kyle Snyder wants to do UFC and thoughts on that
Update on the Fertitta brothers
Rizin announces more of its next show
Former UFC star and Lesnar foe wants to come out of retirement
RATES: For the United States, it is $13 for 4 issues, $32 for 12, $61 for 24, $101 for 40 and $131 for 52. In Canada and Mexico, rates are $14.50 for 4, $35 for 12, $67 for 24, $111 for 40 and $144 or 52. In Europe, you can get the fastest delivery and best rates by sending to [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. Get $1 off in every price range if ordering by mail with a check, cash or money order (P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228).
The two-year odyssey, odd being the key part of the word, of C.M. Punk to the UFC octagon saw the door shut and the clock strike midnight, not Eastern time, but Cinderella time.
In the end it was simple reality. Starting out at 36 with very limited training past some Jiu Jitsu classes from Rener Gracie, no great athletic gifts and a body beaten up by 15 years of pro wrestling was not going to be able to train for two years and be able to compete in the UFC.
Punk was taken right down by opponent Mickey Gall when he got aggressive trying to strike. Gall started landing hard punches as Punk’s ground defense was very limited against a far more experienced ground fighter. Gall went for a guillotine, but Punk escaped that. Gall got his back and went for a choke, gave it up and started landing a lot of punches. The second time he went for a choke, Punk escaped. The third time, Punk was submitted in 2:14.
Everyone knew that the first week of football season was going to take a bit out of the Raw ratings, but even in a worst case scenario, I don’t think anyone expected this.
The feeling was that Raw would struggle to top 3 million viewers, and fall under it some weeks, and probably start out in the 2.9 million viewer range, similar to how it did against the Olympics.
Last night’s Raw did 2.68 million viewers, barely beating out the 2.62 million for the July 4th show this year. Aside from that show, from a ratings standpoint this will probably be the lowest rated show since October 14, 1996, and that’s when it was going head-to-head with another wrestling show, major league playoffs and an NFL game.
The Steelers-Redskins game that went against most of Raw did 12.96 million viewers. The 49ers vs. Rams game that started at 10:12 p.m. did 10.25 million viewers.
There is at least a possibility that SmackDown tonight will beat Raw. Raw still beat SmackDown’s number last week, but most SmackDown shows have done roughly the same as Raw did last night.
The show started weak and steadily declined over the three hours.
The individual hours were:
8 p.m. 2.83 million viewers 9 p.m. 2.72 million viewers 10 p.m. 2.52 million viewers
Raw in Baltimore will be headlined by Kevin Owens vs. Roman Reigns. If Reigns wins, the main event at Clash of the Champions will become a three-way Universal title match with Owens vs. Seth Rollins vs. Reigns. If Reigns loses, the main event stays as Owens vs. Rollins. Expect most of the Clash card to be set up on tonight’s show. Also, it’s match five with Cesaro vs. Sheamus with Sheamus up 3-1, with Cesaro getting a win in London on Wednesday night.
This is first week Raw goes against the NFL with a doubleheader with the Washington Redskins vs. Pittsburgh Steelers at 7:10 p.m. Eastern followed by the Los Angeles Rams vs. San Francisco 49ers at 10:20 p.m.
The semifinals and finals of the cruiserweight classic will be part of a two-hour show live from Full Sail University at 8 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday with semifinals of Kota Ibushi vs. T.J. Perkins and Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Gran Metalik as the semifinals.
We’re looking for reports from the WWE Smackdown brand house show tonight in Fairfax, VA (A.J. Styles vs. John Cena for WWE title, Dean Ambrose vs. Dolph Ziggler) as well as from Raw in Baltimore with dark matches, Superstars matches and anything else that wouldn’t be evident from the live show to [email protected].
For this weekend we’re doing polls on UFC 203 and the Smackdown brand PPV from Richmond, VA, with a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected].
Figure Four Weekly: Figure Four Weekly 9/5/2016: WWE finally releases the “Last Battle of Atlanta” – WWE is getting ready to check another box off the wrestling video collectors’ holy grail list. WWE Network news reported over the weekend that Tommy Rich vs. Buzz Sawyer in “The Last Battle of Atlanta” will be added to the service on Tuesday, September 6th as part of a “Hidden Gems” playlist… 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: September 12, 2016 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: CM Punk making UFC debut, PWG Battle of Los Angeles review, more – A 19-month journey will come to an end, or to a new beginning on 9/10 when Phil Brooks, better known as C.M. Punk, steps into the cage in one of the biggest matches on the UFC 203 PPV card. While many people have tried to make analogies, using names like Brock Lesnar or James Toney, there is really nothing in UFC history really comparable to this. It was a weird experiment that many had written off as a failure six months into the story… 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 for 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.
Vince McMahon was injured recently. WWE has confirmed that McMahon did get injured and in fact had surgery, but the nature of the injury and surgery are still unknown. The story going around in the company is Vince suffered a torn quad while squatting.
Alberto Del Rio did an interview with Mas Luchas claiming that he failed the WWE drug test because he was using legally prescribed testosterone replacement therapy. It’s not exactly a secret that WWE had banned all TRT usage years ago but may have amended that, but even when amended, even if prescribed by a doctor it has to be approved by the WWE’s own medical staff. He also said that Andrade Cien Almas wasn’t happy and wants to return to Mexico. He said the problem is that when you go from Mexico to WWE you have to learn English and also start from scratch and forget everything you know. He said Almas asked him if things get better when you make the main roster, and he said he told him that things get worse.
Del Rio vs. Rey Mysterio Jr. was announced today for the debut of the Lucha Ilimitado promotion on 10/12 in Yakima, WA at the Sun Dome. The promotion has said they would announce Mysterio’s opponent today. Tickets are available eat TicketWest outlets.
Sad to report the death of 70s star Stan Mykietowich, better known as Moose Morowski. He toured all over North America, being big in places like Canada and West Texas. Morowski was 81 years old.
Bryan and I will be back tonight with Wrestling Observer Radio covering Raw and all the latest pro wrestling news. We’ll also be taking your e-mail questions that you can send to [email protected].
WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT
Not sure if this will be announced for Smackdown tomorrow, but they were discussing a Miz vs. Dolph Ziggler cage match today. It also could be for the PPV on 10/9 in Sacramento.
The WWE is now changing the names of the WWE women’s title and the WWE tag titles to the Raw women’s title and Raw tag titles, since the Smackdown women and tag titles are known by the TV show name.
For the first time I can ever recall, a WWE PPV failed to crack the No. 20 searches on its day in Google, so last night’s show in other words had the least amount of general public interest of any WWE PPV in years.
Miz and Ziggler’s opening spot last night was meant as a spoof of the C.M. Punk vs. Mickey Gall fight.
The first Raw of 2017 will be on 1/2 in Tampa at the Amlie Arena.
Madison Square Garden has made it official that the show on 12/26, a Monday night, head-to-head with Raw, will be a Smackdown brand event advertising John Cena, Dean Ambrose, A.J. Styles, Bray Wyatt, Randy Orton, The Miz, Dolph Ziggler, Becky Lynch and Naomi (thanks to Mike Omansky)
WWE announced a deal with Playmates Toys for racing toys called WWE Nitro Sprints and Nitro Machines with motorized figures with wrestlers in ring gear and a vehicle with John Cena, The Rock, Brock Lesnar and Undertaker and Nitro Machine with Cena, Rock, Undertaker and Dean Ambrose.
UFC
Demetrious Johnson did an interview with Submission Radio and said it was mind boggling when he found out that Sage Northcutt was making more money than TJ Dillashaw, a former world champion. He said that he’s been champion for four years and can’t afford to retire, and he said that if he had won four Super Bowls he could retire. He said he wants to break the record for most title defenses in his weight division next before facing Dominick Cruz and again said he wants $2 million for a Cruz fight.
Josh Nason, Mike Sawyer, Steve Juon and John Pollock went 4-1
Mike Sempervive went 3-2
Ryan Frederick, Ace Fontaine and Front Row Brian went 2-3
VARIETY
Billy Corgan and David Lagana showed up at yesterday’s Evolve show in Queens. It’s good they are looking for new talent. Also at that show, Cody Rhodes purchased 20 boxes of pizza for fans in attendance. He said it was to celebrate the farewell in Evolve of Johnny Gargano, who will be WWE exclusive going forward with his new contract.
Sabotage Wrestling on 10/7 in Covina, CA has a women’s show at 4315 N. Vincent Ave.
NWA Top of Texas Wrestling on Saturday night in Amarillo headlined by Greg Anthony vs. Jake Logan for the NWA National title and Matt Riviera vs Chad Thomas. Riviera and Anthony will also be hosting a seminar for $20 from 1-3 p.m. in the afternoon. For info on the seminar you can email [email protected].
NWA Mid South results from Saturday night in Dyresburg, TN: Dos Amigos Locos #1 b Van Van Horn, Josh Lewis b Keon Option, Dale Wylde b Dos Amigos Locos #2, Greg Anthony b Jakob Edwinn-DQ, Iron Empire b Heatseekers to win NWA tag titles. Heatseekers had beaten the Iron Empire (Rob Conway & Matt Riviera) to win the titles the night before in Ripley, TN at the NWA Mid South show.
Paul Birchill is now taking pro wrestling bookings through Bill Behrens at [email protected].
CMLL on Saturday night at Arena Coliseo in Mexico City: Artillero & Espanto Jr. b Coyote & Drako, Akuma & Canelo Casas & Nitro b Bengala & Leono & Sensei, Flyer & Oro Jr. & Star Jr. b Cuatrero & Forastero & Sanson, Angel de Oro & Blue Panther & Rey Cometa b Dragon Rojo & Gran Guerrero & Pierroth, Shocker & Matt Taven & Ultimo Guerrero b Atlantis & Diamante Azul & Valiente.
Puebla tonight is headlined by Caristico & Mistico & Volador Jr. vs. Negro Casas & Mr. Niebla & Shocker.
Premier Championship Wrestling of Winnipeg and New Xperience Wrestling announced a co-branded Manitoba tour headlined by Jimmy Hart. The shows will be 9/29 in Dauphin, at the Rotary Arena, 9/30 in Swan River at the Curling Club, 10/1 in Winnipeg at Doubles Fun Club and 10/2 at Notre Dame de Lourdes at the Community Centre.
MCW has events on 9/23 and 9/24. On 9/23, they have a Jim Ross & Jim Cornette talk show at Jimmy’s Famous Seafood at 8 p.m. There will be a convention from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on 9/24 in Joppa, MD, with Bret Hart, Jimmy Hart, Howard Finkel, Honky Tonk Man, Hillbilly Jim, Greg Valentine, Jim Ross, Paul Orndorff, Koko B.Ware, Brutus Beefcake, Tito Santana, Jim Cornette, Jim Neidhart, Bob Orton, Nikolai Volkoff, Dennis Stamp, Tammy Sytch, Typhoon, Magnun T.A., Terri Runnels and Angelina Love. There will also be a live event at 7:30 p.m. that night. Cornette will also be doing a podcast that weekend.
James Gallagher vs. Kirill Medvedovsky has been added to Bellator’s 11/10 show in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Steve Austin has become the subject of a lot of talk in the past week, with his various injuries, his probable, maybe almost assured dropping of the WWF title at SummerSlam and stories regarding him becoming harder to deal with. In addition, Austin has signed to become a regular for five consecutive episodes early next season on the CBS TV show “Nash Bridges” to reprise his Jake Cage character. The episodes will start the final week of October, and of course be part of the important November sweeps. Austin appeared on two episodes of the show last season playing the recurring role as a renegade cop, with the first episode leading Nash Bridges to its best finish ever in the Neilsen Prime time ratings. His major ratings magic somewhat wore off for the second appearance, which drew a rating slightly above what the show normally averaged.
WWE BACKLASH AT 7 P.M. EASTERN TIME ON THE WWE NETWORK
Tickets for tonight show were not selling well in Richmond. WWE has done a lot of papering of late. Hundreds of tickets were given out on the street yesterday in front of the comic con. There were also tickets being given away last night at popular bars and clubs.
*Dean Ambrose vs. A.J. Styles for WWE title – If nothing else, every A.J. Styles main event on a PPV you go in expecting a great match. It’s probably the time for the title change. When Smackdown was to get the contrived championship at first, Styles was to be the first champion so it would make sense to go with him. Styles is the 15-to-1 favorite right now.
*The Miz vs. Dolph Ziggler for IC title – There was a late odds shift with Ziggler going from a more than 10-to-1 favorite to Miz becoming a 9-to-1 favorite so it would appear the finish of this match changed today. To me, it makes sense for Miz to retain, but it’s not like it matters either way.
*Nikki Bella vs. Natalya vs. Becky Lynch vs. Naomi vs. Carmella vs. Alexa Bliss in a six-way elimination match to create the first Smackdown women’s champion. Lynch is right now a -1050 favorite. With five falls, this match needs to go a decent amount of time. Normal booking patterns with Nikki beating laid out over and over again would in theory have Nikki as the favorite.
*Zack Ryder & Mojo Rawley vs. Usos – This match determines who goes to the finals of the Smackdown tag team title tournament. The Usos are 17-to-1 favorites which makes sense. They already did Slater & Rhyno vs. Ryder & Rawley on Smackdown on Tuesday.
*Rawley & Ryder vs. Usos winner vs. Heath Slater & Rhyno to create new Smackdown tag team champions. Slater & Rhyno are -1050 to become the first champions.
This, at least on paper, is the weakest WWE PPV show of the year. It looks like little of note aside from a probable strong main event. It doesn’t feel like almost any interest either compared to a normal PPV show.
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Michael Elgin & Kushida vs. Tetsuya Naito & Seiya Sanada & Bushi
Raw will be Monday night from Baltimore. Smackdown will have a house show in Fairfax, VA on Monday night.
Smackdown will be Tuesday night from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
The semifinals and finals of the cruiserweight classic will be part of a two-hour show live from Full Sail University at 8 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday with semifinals of Kota Ibushi vs. T.J. Perkins and Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Gran Metalik as the semifinals.
Figure Four Weekly: Figure Four Weekly 9/5/2016: WWE finally releases the “Last Battle of Atlanta” – WWE is getting ready to check another box off the wrestling video collectors’ holy grail list. WWE Network news reported over the weekend that Tommy Rich vs. Buzz Sawyer in “The Last Battle of Atlanta” will be added to the service on Tuesday, September 6th as part of a “Hidden Gems” playlist… 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: September 12, 2016 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: CM Punk making UFC debut, PWG Battle of Los Angeles review, more – A 19-month journey will come to an end, or to a new beginning on 9/10 when Phil Brooks, better known as C.M. Punk, steps into the cage in one of the biggest matches on the UFC 203 PPV card. While many people have tried to make analogies, using names like Brock Lesnar or James Toney, there is really nothing in UFC history really comparable to this. It was a weird experiment that many had written off as a failure six months into the story… Subscribers click here to continue reading.
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There were 1.2 million searches for UFC 203 yesterday, making it the most searched item on the Internet, ahead of Jaden Smith (1 million) and Tennessee football. One would have expected a number closer to 500,000 for a show like that.
It will be interesting to see if WWE has John Layfield make any cracks about C.M. Punk tonight. My guess is no, only because the talent was very supportive of him and would see it as low class, but it is Vince and Paul Levesque’s call at the end.
There were more pro wrestlers at last night’s UFC than probably any UFC show in history due to C.M. Punk. Among the names known that were there include Johnny Mundo & Taya, Matt Cross, Matt Sydal, Tyson Kidd, Noelle Foley, Chris Hero, Luke Harper, Cliff Compton and guys who I’m not certain were there but were interviewed there during the day included Alberto El Patron, Mark Henry and MVP. There were a ton of Midwestern independent guys there.
Bryan and I will be back tonight with Wrestling Observer Radio covering the PPV show, more from UFC and TNA, plus taking your e-mail questions that you can send to [email protected]. We have a show up on the site right now covering last night’s UFC and previewing tonight’s show.
VARIETY
A promotion called Lucha Ilimitado debuts on 10/12 in Yakima, WA at the Sun Dome. Matt Farmer, Konnan and Richard O’Sullivan are among those behind the promotion. Rey Mysterio Jr. will headline the show and his opponent is expected to be announced tomorrow. Jeff Cobb vs. Fenix vs Sonjay Dutt vs. Jonathan Gresham for the Corazon de Oro Cup was already announced for the show.
Alberto El Patron was announced for the WCPW tapings on 9/15 in Newcastle, England at the O2 Academy.
NWA SuperBrawl on 10/1 in Columbus, GA with Jax Dane vs. Gunner Phil Shatter for the NWA title, while Rick & Scott Steiner face whoever holds the IWGP tag team titles.
Appalachian Mountain Wrestling last night in Buckhorn, KY: Eddie Browning b Michael Jameson, Maxx Sledd b Brandon Taggart, Anthony Tyler Moore b Matty B, Clinton Stacy & Kyle Maggard b Larry D & Stan Sierra, Beau James b Stevie Phillips, Jordan Kage b Chance Prophet, John Noble & Brad Thomas b Heatseekers. Next shows are 10/13 in Hindman, KY at the Knott County Middle School gym and 10/13 in Happy, KY at the R.W. Combs Elementary School.
NSPW from last night in Quebec City, Quebec before 438 fans: Handsome JF b Judas, Alex Price d Matt Falco, Mike Gibson b Antonio Corsi, Surfer Mitch & Travis Toxic b Dead End, Matt Angel b Michael Style, Clean Up Society b Shane Matthews & Scott Parker, Brad Alekxis won six-way over Pee Wee, Oliver Strange, Kevin Dunn, Liam Letto and Shayne Hawke, Rene Dupree & Sylvain Grenier (as La Resistance in their first match as a team in Canada since 2003) b Ivan Sullivan & Spike, Marko Estrada b Benjamin Tull. Pat Patterson was at the show signing his new autobiography. Next show is 10/8 headlined by Flash Funk (Too Cold Scorpio) and Mike Bailey. (thanks to Patric Laprade)
WCWF from last night in Yuba City, CA before a near sellout: Skye Brothers won tag team Battle Royal, Buddy Lee b Daniel Torch, Kenny K b Marcus Lewis, Kenny K b Victor Sterling, Nathan Brick won three-way over Joe DeSoul and Mr. Prime Time. Brick was bloodied up and needed five staples in his head to close the cut. (thanks to Jim Davis)
UPW from last night in Rochester, NY: Rik Matrix won over Boz and Bam Bam, Preston Myles over Milliman, Charlie Locke, Thomas Torrens, Jordan Falco and Victor Lord III, LaDiva b Rae Rae the Ram, Nick Aldo won scramble match over Jeremy Jensen, Icon Ace, Cloudy, Cheech and Ryan Cassidy, Dick Justice b Cody Deaner, Josh Alexander b HC Loc, Scotty O’Shea b Gregory Iron, Nick Ando b Holden Albright, Mattick b Chris Cayden to keep UPW title, Interstate Educational System won four-way over Tygerslayer 08, Wet Bandits and Hellcat & Bobby Dipinto, Donovan Dijak won three-way over Jason Savior and Marc Hauss, Maximo Suave b Space Monkey, Dick Justice won the tournament finals over Scotty O’Shea, Josh Alexander and Nick Ando to win the No Limits title.
Hoosier Pro Wrestling has a show on 10/1 in Columbus, IN honoring Jimmy Valiant. The show is at the 4-H Fairgrounds.
AIW from Friday night in Cleveland: Tim Donst won over Shawn Shultz, Eric Ryan and Facade, BJ Whitmer b Dominic Garrini, Candice LaRae b Britt Baker, Dan Severn b Eddie Kingston, Colt Cabana b Grado, Gringo Loko & Steve Pain b To Infinity and Beyond and The Boys from Jollyville, Louis Lyndon b Matt Riddle, Alex Daniels b Michael Elgin to keep the Intense title, Josh Prohibition b Ethan Page to keep the Absolute title, Shayna Baszler b Heidi Lovelace to win the AIW title. This was the show where Ronda Rousey and Jessamyn Duke put Baszler on their shoulders to celebrate after she won the title.
Mid Missouri Wrestling Alliance from last night in St. Louis: Danny Adams & J-Mal Swagg b Brian James & Everett Connors, Kevin Lee Davidson b BT Daramola, Barackus b Big Jim Hoffarth via forfeit, Brandon Espinosa b Damion Coretss, Moondog Rover NC Jimmy D, Da’Marius Jones b Gary Jackson, Brandon Espinosa b Evan Gelistico & Matt Kenway-DQ in a handicap match, Kevin Lee Davidson won three-way over Barackus and Da’Marius Jones (thanks to Patrick Brandmeyer)
Chaotic Wrestling from last night in Lowell, MA at the baseball stadium: Travis Gordon won five-way over Scotty Slade, Brandon Locke, Adam Booker and Sean Burke, Tomasso Ciampa b Warbeard Hanson, Johnny Gargano won three-way over Austin Aries and JT Dunn, Dijak & Mikey Webb won tag team gauntlet match over Jimmy Preston & Mark Shuman, Cam Zagami & Robbie E, Da Hoodz, Elia Markopolous & Christian Casanova and Brick Mastone & Antony Greene, Tommy Dreamer & Rob Van Dam & Little Guido b Chase Del Monte & Logan Brothers, Cam Zagami won Battle Royal, Mistress Belmont & Davienne b Alexxis & Thea Trinidad, Cody Rhodes b Brian Fury (thanks to Pat Hamilton)
Red Rock Wrestling on 9/16 in Stratford, PEI at the Stratford Town Hall.
Fall Brawl in Greektown on 10/16 in East York ONT at the Detroit Eatery with Rosemary from TNA.
Global Force Wrestling ran two shows on Friday night at the Midway at the Tennessee State Fair in Nashville. The first show before 60 fans saw Teddy King b LT Falk, Mahabali Shera b Justin Grandberry, Jeremiah Plunkett b Jocephus Brody. Second show before 50 fans saw LT Falk b Justin Grandberry, Mahabali Shera b Teddy King, Jocephus Brody NC Jeremiah Plunkett, Justin Grandberry & Teddy King & Jeremiah Plunkett b LT Falk & Mahabali Shera & Jocephus Brody.
CZW from last night in Voorhees, NJ: Monsta Mac & Homicide retained tag titles (Homicide subbing for Dan Maff) over BLK Jeez & Pepper Parks, Tony Deppan won over Anthony Henry, Joey Lynch and Ryan Taylor (said to be a great collection of big moves), Shane Strickland b Dezmont Xavier, Reed Bentley & Josh Crane & Dale Patrick b Devon Moore & Danny Havoc & Conor Claxton, Rickey Shane Page b Sami Callihan (Callihan appeared to suffer a neck or shoulder injury in this match and it quickly went to the finish), David Starr b Dave Crist, Jonathan Gresham won over Joe Gacy, Greg Excellent and Matt Tremont to win the CZW title in an ultraviolent match with a board of nails, carpet strips, thumbtacks, a wiffle ball bat and panes of glass, Joey Janela won Chris Cash Memorial Ladder match over Lio Rush. Next show is 10/10 with Page vs. Danny Havoc vs. Tim Donst vs. Alex Colon. (thanks to Bob Magee)
Golden Corner Wrestling from last night in Seneca, SC: Deon Johnson b Tyler Gaines, Sweet Dreams b Josh King, Bryson Willis b Erik Anton, Delta Force b Sons of Steel, Lodi & Scotty Matthews b George South & BJ Hancock (thanks to Thomas Simpson)
Wrestle Aid Orlando from Team Vision Dojo last night in Orlando: Chasyn Rance b Faris Sibai, Li Bryan & Miguel Mason b Slade Porter & Rob Van Achen, CT Brown b Ricky Anderson, MJ Knight b Raegan Fire, Tyranus b Axx, Aria Blake b Mila Nank-DQ, Aaron Epic & Jon Cruz b Mike Reed & Jason Cade (thanks to Al Haft)
Welcome to F4WOnline.com’s live coverage of UFC 203: Miocic vs. Overeem, eminating from the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.
We’re looking for your thoughts on this show, as well as tomorrow’s Backlash show, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worest match to [email protected]
The event is headlined by UFC Heavyweight Champion Stipe Miocic making his first title defense against challenger, Alistair Overeem. In the co-main event, it is a heavyweight battle as former UFC Heavyweight Champion Fabricio Werdum meets Travis Browne in a rematch of their April 2014 bout won by Werdum. Also on the card is the MMA debut of former professional wrestler C.M. Punk, who makes his much-hyped Octagon debut against Mickey Gall.
********** YANCY MEDEIROS (12-4 1 NC, 3-4 1 NC UFC) VS. SEAN SPENCER (12-5, 3-4 UFC)
First round: Medeiros with a body kick. Low kick by Spencer. Medeiros with a body punch. Left by Spencer. Spencer with a nice right. Body kick by Medeiros. Low kick by Spencer. Low kick by Spencer. Body kick by Medeiros. Left by Spencer. Medeiros with a body kick which knocked Spencer to one knee. Body kick by Spencer. Lots of Whoo chants which often happen s at UFC shows. Very close round. 10-9 Medeiros.
Second round: Medeiros landed a left kick to the head which knocked Spencer down. Medeiros grabbed a guillotine, but then let it go and got behind him and grabbed a choke and had it in deep for the submission.
DREW DOBER (16-7 1 NC, 2-3 1 NC UFC) VS. JASON GONZALEZ (10-2, 0-0 UFC)
First round: Gonzalez hurt him with a punch. Dober kicked him low. Dober was given a warning. Dober landing a flurry of punches. He’s landing a lot of punches and the ref stopped it as Gonzalez went down. The sequence was a right to the jaw, left to the jaw, a few punches missed or grazed, then a huge right, then a left and another right and it was over. 1:45
NIK LENTZ (26-7-2 1 NC, 10-4-1 1 NC UFC) VS. MICHAEL MCBRIDE (8-1, 0-0 UFC)
First round: McBride missed weight by two pounds. Lentz landed some punches. He landed a knee to the head but McBride spun out of a choke attempt. Lentz got behind him and took him down into back control. Lentz with a knee to the body and another trip takedown. McBride back up. Lentz got him down again. McBride trying for a leg lock. Lentz throwing punches from back position. Lentz tried a guillotine again but McBride out. Lentz throwing punches. Lentz throwing some punches and elbows from back control. 10-9 Lentz.
Second round: McBride landing punches. Lentz landing punches. McBride seems real tired but put Lentz down and has his back. Lentz is back up. McBride with punches and took him down again. Lentz is trying for a guillotine. Lentz got his back. Lentz working for a head and arm choke. Lentz landing a lot of punches from back position. McBride put his thumb up like he was okay but the ref stopped it.
First round: Magalhaes with a body kick. Magalhaes got the takedown. Tavares back up. Tavares pushing Magalhaes up against the cage. Not much happened this round. Both trading knees at short range. Magalhaes 10-9.
Second round: Body kick by Magalhaes. Body kick by Magalhaes Good right by Tavares. Front kick by Tavares. Low kick by Magalhaes. Magalhaes got a takedown but Tavares right back up. Another close round, could go either way. 19-19
Third round: Tavares pushed him into the fence. Magalhaes working for a guillotine. He let it go. Tavares landed punches. Low kick by Tavares. Both traded. Body kick by Tavares. Right by Tavares. Body kick by Tavares. Magalhaes with a left hook. Right by Tavares and a high kick. Magalhaes in with some punches. Tavares with a knee. Tavares definitely took this round, so I’ve got 29-28 but the first two rounds were close.
First round: Eye is from Cleveland and is the big crowd favorite here. Eye landed a right. Nice right by Correia. Right by Eye. Eye took her down but Correia was let back up. Eye landing more punches. Eye 10-9.
Second round: Eye landing punches. Both were landing punches. Both were bleeding at this point. Eye 20-18.
Third round: Eye landing body kick. Correia landed. Both traded. Eye landed a left. Correia landed a left. Correia landing more punches. Both in a clinch and landing punches. Correia’s round so 29-28 Eye.
Scores: 29-28 Correia 29-28 Eye 29-28 Correia. The crowd is really upset. Fact is this fight could have gone either way.
First round: Andrade took her down. Andrade cut over the left eye from an elbow. Andrade with a high takedown into side control. The cut look s nasty. Andrade landing punches. Short power bomb by Andrade. Andrade landing punches. Andrade with good punches. Andrade back in side control. Calderwood got half guard back. Andrade working for a guillo0tine. Calderwood tapped. This was a strong one-sided win for Andrade.
Jimmie Rivera (19-1) vs. Urijah Faber (33-9)
First round: Front kick by Faber. Nice right by Rivera. Low kick by Rivera. Very little happening. Both are moving. A quick trade. Very hard to score because so little happened. Faber may have a right hand injury because he’s not throwing the right. Rivera 10-9.
Second round: Low kick by Rivera. Accidental low blow kick by Faber. Rivera landed a few punches. Low kick by Rivera put Faber down. Right by Rivera. Another low kick by Rivera. Another low kick by Rivera. Another low kick by Rivera. Faber’s left knee looks swollen. Another low kick by Rivera. Hard low kick by Rivera. Another low kick by Rivera. They traded punches. Rivera’s round I’ve got it 20-18. Boring fight.
Third round: Both swinging. Body kick by Faber. Faber tried for a takedown but didn’t get it. Right and left by Rivera. Rivera dropped down for the takedown. Low kick by Rivera. There was an accidental eye poke by Faber. Rivera back with punchds. Rivera landed more late. Rivera said he couldn’t see out of his right eye from that eye poke as soon as the match ended. Rivera 30-27. Boring fight.
Scores: All three had it 30-27 for Rivera. It’s sad to see Faber in this position.
Rivera was almost in tears about fighting Faber saying he grew up watching him. He said he couldn’t see out of his right eye the last three minutes of the fight. He told the doctor he wanted to finish the fight. He kind of apologized for not finishing. Rivera said he knew Faber doesn’t check kicks so he took advantage of that.
C.M. PUNK (0-0, 0-0 UFC) VS. MICKEY GALL (2-0, 1-0 UFC)
First round: Mickey Gall came out to “Hey Mickey” after all the controversy so Dana gave in on that. Punk came out to “Cult of Personality.” Punk looked so happy coming out and just being in the cage. It’s so weird how this is the real main event. Punk got a big reaction. Gall took him right down. Gall landing big shots from the top. Gall working for a guillotine. Gall go this back and working for a choke. Gall gave it up and punching and again working for a choke. Gall landing lots of punches. Gall is landing a lot of punches and again working for a choke. Punk escaped. Gall got it again and Punk tapped. This was a one-sided slaughter. This is just reality. 2:14
Gall said this has been crazy, it was a great opportunity, said people hate too much, he hated all the things people have said with Punk. We’ll all be dead in 100 years fuck the hate. He said this was a great opportunity for me, he said people may say you’re a gimmicky fight but I’m no gimmick. He challenged Super Sage Northcutt next. That’s exactly who he should have called out. Exactly.
Punk’s right ear looks like hell. Punk said this was a hell of a mountain to climb. He said this doesn’t mean he’s going to stop believe it or not. Said Mickey was a hell of a fighter. Said this was the second best night of my life other than getting married. Life’s about falling down and getting up and said to believe in yourself. Sometimes the outcome won’t always be what you desire it to be but the true failure is not trying at all, This was the time of my life.
First round: Werdum came out with a flying side kick that landed to the chin which was one of the best moves of the fight. Wedrum went for takedown. Werdum tried a Jushin Liger koppo kick but that missed as well. Werdum looks so slow. Browne suffered a dislocated finger and popped it back in. The dislocation came from a punch. The referee went to stop the fight as an injury time out which makes no sense. The fight should have been stopped. They all argued about whether to allow the fight to continue and they let it continue. Werdum with a body kick. Werdum is now landing. Werdum landing all kinds of punches. Browne actually landed some punches. Werdum with a spin kick to the body. Browne landed a left. Another left by Browne. Low kick by Werdum. Brown landed a right. Front kick by Werdum. Browne threw him down. Werdum with low kick. Werdum dropped him with a right. Werdum landing punches on the ground. Werdum got his back. Werdum working for a choke. Werdum landing lots of punches from back position until the round ended. 10-8 Werdum.
Second round: Spin kick by Werdum. Werdum landing punches. Werdum with a body kick. Fans are booing as nothing is happening. Browne with a front kick. Werdum with a right to the chin. Uppercut by Werdum. Left by Browne landed. Werdum is so slow. Brown with a left hook to the body. Crowd booing now. Browne with a left. Low kick by Browne. Werdum tried another Liger kick that missed. Werdum 20-17.
Third round: Browne with low kick and another. Werdum with a low kick. Werdum tried a takedown but Brown easily blocked it. Side kick by Werdum. Werdum landing punches. Werdum landing more pucnhes and knees. Browne with high kicks. Right by Browne. Browne landed a right. Werdum dropped down for a takedown that didn’t come close. Werdum landed a right. Left by Werdum. The crowd is booing this like crazy. It’s really bad fight with both looking slow and doing little aside from Werdum having him in trouble late. Werdum 30-26
Wedum started mocking the fans booing. Werdum threw a kick at Edmond Tarverdyan (Browne’s trainer) when Tarverdayn started mouthing off to him. There’s going to be trouble for that. It was broken up quickly. Bruce Buffer went to calm Werdum down. Werdum’s corner was hot as well.
Scores: 29-28, 29-27 and 30-27 for Werdum.
The crowd is booing Werdum heavily in his interview. Werdum said it was a good fight blamed the booing on this being Stipe Miocic’s house.
First round: Loud Stipe chant. Overeem moving backwards. Body kick by Oveeeem. Overeem just running away. Overeem deked him with a left and put on a guillotine but Miocic is out of it. That was insane. Miocic landed a left but Overeem with a body kick and a left. Miocic landed a right. Miocic with good punches. Miocic landed a good right. Miocic landing good punches. Miocic landed punches and Overeem is running away. Overeem with a body kick. Overeem with an uppecut and knee to the body. Loud “Stipe” chants. Body kick by Miocic. Left by Overeem and a body kick. Body kick by Miocic. Miocic landing several punches. Miocic took him down and is pounding on him. Miocic finished him with punches on the ground. Overeem was out after a series of punches on the ground. That was a hell of a round. This is one of the biggest celebration pops in UFC history. Overeem was out cold. They tried to get him on the stool and he fell back down. 4:27
Miocic interview. Said Overeem kicked harder than he thought. Said he kicked hard as f***.
Overeem said Stipe was the better man today, he’s a great athlete and he came to fight. Overeem said that Miocic tapped from the guillotine and the ref didn’t see it. He said it’s a bummer. He said he’s the better fighter but he wasn’t the better fighter.They showed the replay and no tap and the fans booed the hell out of it. Now theyr’e going to look at it again. There was no tap. Overeem looked like the kid who lied and got caught red handed.
A freak accident has caused the cancellation of C.B. Dolloway vs. Francismar Barroso at tonight’s UFC 203 at Cleveland, OH, as Dolloway was injured in an elevator accident at the host hotel.
Dollaway suffered a back injury at some point Friday afternoon when the elevator dropped several floors and then made an immediate stop due to malfunction.
The UFC released this statement:
“UFC announced that C.B. Dollaway has had to withdraw from his scheduled bout at UFC 203 due to an injury he suffered last night as a result of an elevator accident at a hotel in Cleveland. UFC officials have been in communication with hotel management, and the hotel is currently evaluating and investigating issues surrounding the incident.”
The Jason Gonzalez vs. Drew Dober fight that was scheduled to open the show has been moved to the FS1 prelims to replace the Dollaway vs. Barroso fight. The show will now begin at 7:30 PM EST with just one Fight Pass fight: Sean Spencer vs. Yancy Medeiros.
*********
While Robbie Lawler vs Donald Cerrone hadn’t formally been announced for UFC 205 in Madison Square Garden outside a Dana White radio interview, there was considerable excitment for the possible fight given both guy’s fighting styles.
However, fans will have to wait a bit longer as Lawler has pulled out of the fight, citing needing more time off to prepare after his knockout at the hands of Tyron Woodley. That new bit info comes from Ariel Helwani after TMZ first reported the news about the fight being scratched Friday night.
Eric Tovey, who was one of the most enduring stars in pro wrestling history under the name Lord Littlebrook, the kingpin of the old midget wrestling division, passed away today at the age of 87.
Tovey in is heyday was both the main booker of the division, working out of St. Joseph, MO, as well as the world champion and generally considered the best worker in the division’s history, although Sky Low Low was the biggest star and Little Beaver garnered more fame for being splashed by King Kong Bundy.
Tovey had health problems for a number of years and had been battling dementia. He had two sons who followed him into wrestling, Robert, who worked as Beautiful Bobby Dean, and Chris, who was known as the Karate Kid and Karate Chris Duby. In his later years, he often worked as a heel against his sons.
Born in England, he was an acrobatic small man, only four-foot-four, starting at the age of 14 in the circus. The circus went out of business while touring the U.S. in 1949. A friend suggested he try midget wrestling and he was one of the original midget wrestling stars in the 50s. He was trained under Jack Britton, the father of Gino Brito, out of his wrestling school in Detroit and settled in Ontario, but for most of his career was based in St. Joseph.
Besides training most of the midget stars that came after the 70s, where he also booked them, he also started the careers of people like Col. DeBeers, Butch Reed, Betty Niccoli Sato and Mike Geroge.
He worked a full schedule through 1980, often billed as the world midget champion. He slowed down from there as midget wrestling, which was more comedy based than any aspect of pro wrestling, started losing popularity, especially as the territories died.
He worked a mixed tag team match opposite Little Beaver at WrestleMania III in Pontiac, MI, in 1987, and wrestled at least at late as 1995. He worked in both WCW and WWF in the 80s, being the manager of a tag team called The Royal Family in WCW (Rip Morgan & Jack Victory), and later being a second for Harley Race in WWF.
While credited with being a great performer with good timing, there was a lot of bitterness because he’d take 30 percent of the pay of the midget talent as a booker.
B&V: Granny’s book released, Cruiserweight Classic, Lucha Underground, RAW 9/9 – Order your copy of the Bryan Alvarez memoirs (or possibly memwahs) by going to his twitter. It’s a hard copy book which will be mailed to you. This price includes shipping, and is 15 dollars for U.S. orders, 17 for the Canucks, and 20, for the other six continents, and 400 dollars for Antarctica. All money goes to help Granny pay for an elevator in her mansion.
For this weekend, we’ll be doing polls for both tomorrow night’s UFC 203 show from Cleveland and Sunday’s Smackdown brand PPV from Richmond, VA, with a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to dave@wrestlingobserver.com.
WWE’s only show tonight will be NXT in Gainesville, FL.
WORLD PRO WRESTLING RETURNS ON AXS TV AT 9 P.M. EASTERN TIME
Tetsuya Naito & Evil vs. Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Michael Elgin vs. Kazuchika Okada & Yoshi-Hashi
Blue Panther Jr. & Soberano & Pegasso vs. Virus & Okumura & Tiger
Angel de Oro & Titan & Rey Cometa vs. Hechicero & Vangellys & Ephesto
Valiente vs Felino
Volador Jr. & Maximo Sexy & Mascara Dorada vs. Matt Taven & Mr. Niebla & Shocker
Mistico & Caristico & Dragon Lee vs. La Mascara & Euforia & Negro Casas
RESURRECTION FIGHTING ALLIANCE FROM TONIGHT AT 10 P.M. FROM BROOMFIELD, COLORADO AT THE 1ST BANK CENTER
Alonzo Menifield (1-0, 204) vs. Brock Combs (1-1, 204.8)
Jon Wyderko (2-0, 150.6) vs. Josh Wick (5-2, 145.2)
Clay Wimer (6-1, 145.6) vs. Cory Sandhagen (4-0, 144.8)
Boston Salmon (5-0, 135.8) vs. Zac Riley (4-3, 135.6)
Gabriel Checco (9-2, 185) vs. Adam Stroup (10-3, 185)
Nick Barnes (11-1, 168.2) vs. Brian Camozzi (6-2, 169)
Saturday has WWE shows in Shanghai, China (Raw crew plus John Cena) and Raleigh, NC (Smackdown crew minus John Cena and American Alpha). We’re looking for reports on both shows to dave@wrestlingobserver.com.
UFC 203 FROM THE QUICKEN LOANS ARENA IN CLEVELAND | Saturday
Fight Pass at 7 p.m. Eastern time
Drew Dober (155) vs. Jason Gonzalez (156)
Yancy Medeiros (171) vs. Sean Spencer (170)
FS 1 at 8 p.m.
Francimar Barroso (205.5) vs. C.B. Dolloway (205)
Caio Magalhaes (185.5) vs. Brad Tavares (186)
Nik Lentz (156) vs. Michael McBride (158)
Bethe Correia (135) vs. Jessica Eye (135)
PPV at 10 p.m.
Jessica Andrade (115.5) vs. Joanne Calderwood (116)
Urijah Faber (136) vs. Jimmie Rivera (135.5)
C.M. Punk (170) vs. Mickey Gall (170.5)
Travis Browne (241) vs. Fabricio Werdum (239.5)
Stipe Miocic (246) vs. Alistair Overeem (248.5) for the heavyweight title
McBride will be fined 20 percent of his purse for missing weight, while Overeem was fined $500 for being late to this morning’s weigh-ins.
EVOLVE IPPV FROM DEER PARK, NEW YORK ON SATURDAY NIGHT AT WWW.WWNLIVE.COM
Ethan Page vs. Dan Barry
TJ Perkins vs. Darby Allin
Matt Riddle vs. Ricochet vs. Tony Nese
Jigsaw vs. Fred Yehi
Dustin vs. Tracy Williams
Drew Galloway vs. Drew Gulak
Johnny Gargano vs Zack Sabre Jr.
WWE BACKLASH AT 7 P.M. EASTERN TIME ON THE WWE NETWORK
Dean Ambrose vs. A.J. Styles for WWE title
Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt
The Miz vs. Dolph Ziggler for IC title
Nikki Bella vs. Natalya vs. Becky Lynch vs. Naomi vs. Carmella vs. Alexa Bliss in a six-way elimination match to create the first Smackdown women’s champion
Zack Ryder & Mojo Rawley vs. Usos
Rawley & Ryder vs. Usos winner vs. Heath Slater & Rhyno to create new Smackdown tag team champions
EVOLVE IPPV FROM WOODSIDE, QUEENS, NY ON SUNDAY AT WWW.WWNLIVE.COM
Fred Yehi vs. Travis Gordon
Tracy Williams vs. Chuck O’Neil
Ethan Page vs. David Starr
Tony Nese vs. Darby Allin
T.J. Perkins vs. Matt Riddle
Drew Gulak vs. Dustin
Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Ricochet
Johnny Gargano & Cody Rhodes vs. Drew Galloway & Chris Hero
NEW JAPAN FROM TOKYO KORAKUEN HALL ON MONDAY AT 5:30 A.M. EASTERN TIME ON NEW JAPAN WORLD
David Finlay vs. Henare
Yoshitatsu & Captain New Japan vs. Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens
Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima & Jushin Liger & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Will Ospreay & Gedo & Rocky Romero & Baretta
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Michael Elgin & Kushida vs. Tetsuya Naito & Seiya Sanada & Bushi
Raw will be Monday night from Baltimore. Smackdown will have a house show in Fairfax, VA on Monday night.
Smackdown will be Tuesday night from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
The semifinals and finals of the cruiserweight classic will be part of a two-hour show live from Full Sail University at 8 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday with semifinals of Kota Ibushi vs. T.J. Perkins and Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Gran Metalik as the semifinals.
Figure Four Weekly: Figure Four Weekly 9/5/2016: WWE finally releases the “Last Battle of Atlanta” – WWE is getting ready to check another box off the wrestling video collectors’ holy grail list. WWE Network news reported over the weekend that Tommy Rich vs. Buzz Sawyer in “The Last Battle of Atlanta” will be added to the service on Tuesday, September 6th as part of a “Hidden Gems” playlist… 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: September 12, 2016 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: CM Punk making UFC debut, PWG Battle of Los Angeles review, more – A 19-month journey will come to an end, or to a new beginning on 9/10 when Phil Brooks, better known as C.M. Punk, steps into the cage in one of the biggest matches on the UFC 203 PPV card. While many people have tried to make analogies, using names like Brock Lesnar or James Toney, there is really nothing in UFC history really comparable to this. It was a weird experiment that many had written off as a failure six months into the story… 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 for 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.
There wasn’t much to the Alberto El Patron press conference in Mexico City.
It appears both sides have made a deal not to say anything bad about the other. Alberto noted that he was free to take bookings outside the U.S. and would be free in the U.S. shortly (end of the month). He said he had been bored and unhappy and was hated getting on planes for the show and wanted to spend more time with his family. He said he would limit himself to 60 dates per year, wrestle for two more years and then retire. He said he doesn’t want to sign a promotion, which is notable since both TNA and Lucha Underground want him, but I don’t think Lucha Underground would touch him if he was free to work for other promotions that have TV.
It’s interesting seeing he and Cody Rhodes try and book themselves as if they are above the politics and as legit independent contractors, as opposed to mythical independent contractors. Del Rio and brother Guillermo will be going to Norwich, England for a show against Zak & Roy Knight, the brothers of Paige for the Knight family’s WAW promotion. Del Rio talked about wrestling again at Arena Mexico. Both AAA and CMLL have had interest in him, as has TNA, New Japan and ROH.
Paige was there at the press conference but wouldn’t talk to any reporters.
According to those with direct knowledge of her situation, she was basically in the same situation A.J. Lee was on when C.M. Punk left. At one point this week it did appear she was gone, right now that isn’t the case, but it can change and the situation will be weird. The big difference is there is no legal action being taken against Alberto like there was against Punk.
If you want to know what CM Punk thinks about everything leading to UFC 203, he wrote a very good article about his thoughts and why he doesn’t miss being C.M. Punk in WWE.
Caristico is booked for both CMLL and Elite tonight at Arena Mexico and Arena Naucalpan. He did work Monday in Puebla for CMLL and is booked this coming week for CMLL, but he has not said anything publicly. One of the lead stories in the current Observer talks about the falling out between CMLL and Elite.
Spike TV’s documentary on the Ali vs. Frazier fight that we wrote about yesterday will air after its boxing coverage tonight, roughly 11:15 p.m.
WWE
I don’t know the story behind this but on Wednesday, WWE sent out word to everyone who works in the web department to not promote Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks at Clash of Champions and if there are any stories with any language where the match is mentioned to amend it.
Eva Marie has been cast in the movie “Inconsolable”, a Nicolas Cage movie that starts shooting next month.
The 10/30 NXT show at the Palladium in Los Angeles sold out immediately.
Glenn “Kane” Jacobs last night was a celebrity server at Mooyah Burgers, Fries & Shakes in Knoxville. This was part of a Faith to End Hunger food drive while several Knoxville residents collected nonperishable food items and 10 percent of revenue was donated to Faith to end Hunger. Jacobs said he appreciated the large crowd that came to the restaurant to see him work as a waiter.
While not signed yet, MMA Fighting is reporting Rashad Evans vs. Tim Kennedy for the UFC 205 show in Madison Square Garden.
Tickets for UFC 204 in Manchester, UK, sold out in five minutes today, even though the Michael Bisping vs. Dan Henderson main event is scheduled to go into the cage at 5 a.m. local time. The show is scheduled to start at somewhere between 11 p.m. and midnight Greenwich time.
MISCELLANEOUS
For those in Cleveland for tomorrow’s UFC show, there is an AIW pro wrestling event tonight at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel at 1355 West 70th St., with Dan Severn, Matt Riddle and Shayna Baszler.
A tragic story is that this past Saturday, Colton Rood, 19, the son of the late Richard Rood (Rick Rude) was killed in a motorcycle accident. Roode, who graduated from high school last year, was traveling south on Floyd Springs Road in Floyd County, Georgia on a 2014 Yamaha 950 when a silver Toyota made a turn into his path and hit him at about 2:50 p.m. that day. The driver, Tonita Jo Rudd of Kennesaw, GA, was turning left into a driveway and has been charged with misdemeanor vehicular homicide and failure to yield. Rood was pronounced dead at the Floyd Medical Center at 3:37 p.m. Saturday.
Kairi Hojo, one of the best woman wrestlers in the world, will be out of action for at least a few weeks due to a concussion from taking a ganso bump from the apron to the floor on Saturday in her match with Io Shirai. This also means she’ll have to forfeit a number of matches since Stardom is the middle of its singles tournament.
The Team Vision Dojo in Orlando has shows tomorrow night, Wednesday night, as well as Friday night and Saturday night next weekend. Tomorrow’s show is called Wrestle Aid Orlando, a fund raiser for Autism Speaks. Wednesday is a training class show. Friday will be a woman’s show with Santana Garrett vs. Raquel and a Battle Royal. Saturday will feature the debut of former developmental wrestler Josh Woods.
Border City Wrestling on 11/5 in Windsor, ONT at the St. Clair College Gym with Anthony Carelli (Santino Marella), Aron Rex (Damien Sandow), Cody Deaner, Tyson Dux, Kongo Kong, Johnny Devine and more.
Live Pro Wrestling on 11/6 in Waterford, ONT at the Sacred Heart Ukranian Catholic Hall.
Battle Club Pro on 10/1 in Bronx, NY at The Point DCD.
Pro Wrestling Renfrew on 10/22 in Renfrew, ONT at the RACF 433 Wing with the Super Smash Brothers.
FTW on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. at LaBoom in Woodside, NY has Gangrel and Aldo Rose (Adam Rose).
There is a Lucha Underground panel discussion with Fenix, Vampiro, Taya, Catrina and Melissa Santos at the PlayFest in Los Angeles as part of the El Rey Network presentation.
10 – Barrie Wrestling: Back to School 3; 49 Ferris Lane, Barrie, Ontario, Canada
10 – Evolve in Deer Park, NY has Gargano vs. Sabre Jr., Galloway vs. Gulak, Dustin vs. Tracy Williams, Jigsaw vs. Fred Yehi, Riddle vs. Tony Nese, Perkins vs. Allin and Page vs. Dan Barry.
11 – Evolve in Woodside, NY at La Boom has Johnny Gargano & Cody Rhodes vs. Drew Galloway & Chris Hero in Gargano’s last Evolve match, Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Ricochet, Matt Riddle vs. TJ Perkins, Dustin vs. Drew Gulak, Tony Nese vs. Darby Allin and Ethan Page vs David Starr. Joey Styles will also be appearing.
16 – AAW: 115 Bourbon Street (3359 w 115th Street Merrionette Park, IL). Tickets.
16 – Pure Wrestling Association: Lake Cowichan, British Columbia
16 – Smash vs Progress: Uncensored; Oshawa Music Hall, Oshawa, Ontario. Must be 19+ to attend.
16 – Pure Wrestling Association: Private Event in Ontario
16 – SuperKickd’d Pro Wrestling at 7:30 PM – 10 PM, The Great Hall Toronto, 1087 Queen Street West, Toronto, Ontario M6J 1H3
16 – All Pro Wrestling on 9/16 in Daly City, CA at the Bayshore Community Center features Sabu vs. The Almighty Sheik, Willie Mack & B-Boy vs Reno Scrum, plus Jody Kristofferson, JR Kratos, Marcus Lewis and Dylan Drake in a four way for the Universal title.
17 – NWA Smoky Mountain Wrestling on in Kingsport, TN at the Civic Auditorium
17 – Pure Wrestling Association: Alpine Club, Kitchener, Ontario
17 – Pure Wrestling Association: Courtenay, British Columbia
17 – UFC Fight Night, Poirier vs. Johnson: Hidalgo, Texas, State Farm Arena
17 & 18 – SMASH VS PROGRESS: Smash Wrestling welcomes our friends from Progress Wrestling. Mark Haskins and Jack Gallagher (Cruiserweight Classic), Zack Sabre Jr. Mark Andrews and more will be part of the Progress Wrestling team in a Smash vs. Progress Canada vs. UK show in Toronto at the Franklin Horner Community Center.
18 – Pure Wrestling Association: Gold River, British Columbia
18 – NWX presents School’s Back In Session at the CWF Wrestling School on 20 Hartzel Rd in St Catharines, ON. Holden Albright vs. Joey Paradice (c) for the NWX Heavyweight Championship. Get your tickets by calling 289-687-5610.
22 – NXT; Toronto, Ontario at the Mattamy Athletic Center (the former Maple Leaf Gardens)
22 – All-Star Wrestling: 7:30 PM, Abbotsford Arts Center, 2329 Crescent Way, Abbotsford, BC V2S 3M2, Canada, tickets.
22- Big Time Wrestling in Morganton, NC at the Collette Rec Center features a meet & greet at 6 p.m. before the live show. Appearing are Ric Flair, Ricky Steamboat, Cody Rhodes, Magnum T.A. and Trevor Lee.
23 – MCW Pro Wrestling presents “Ringside with Jim Ross & Jim Cornette at Jimmy’s Famous Seafood in Baltimore. Showtime 8:00PM, 6526 Holabird Ave, Baltimore, MD 21224. Tickets.
23 – Big Time Wrestling in Raleigh, NC at Dorton Arena features Flair and Steamboat together at Dorton Arena for the first time in 28 years, plus Jeff & Matt Hardy, Cody Rhodes, Nasty Boys, Sabu, Magnum T.A., Ivan Koloff, Jimmy Valiant, Gangrel and Shane Helms with the meet & greet at 6 and show at 8.
23 – Invicta FC: Live from Scottish Rite Temple in Kansas City, Mo. Interim Flyweight Champion Jennifer Maia Defends Against Roxanne Modafferi
23 – NXT; St. Catherines, Ontario at The Meridian Centre
23 – Pro Wrestling Eclipse takes a short trip to downtown Oshawa and visits the Oshawa Mason Temple. All tickets purchased on July 24 that list the venue as the Oshawa Legion will be honoured.
24 – East Coast Wrestling Association (ECWA), 49 ANNIVERSARY SHOW, Woodbury Heights Community Center, 741 Helen Ave, Woodbury Heights, NJ 08097. Tickets.
24 – EWA Evolution: World War Z at Tall Cedars Hall (2501 Putty Hill Ave.) in Parkville, MD. See the double ring, 5 vs. 5 Ladder War! Bell time is 7:30 pm. Tickets are $15 front row and $12 general.
24 – IWA Midsouth Wrestling presents the Hybrid Cup, at PRIDE Bar in New Albany, IN.
24 – Ignite Wrestling in Vero Beach, FL at the IG Center features Dave Crist.
24 – UCW, September 24th 7:30 PMBay City,MI UCW Champion Hakim Zane vs MVP, plus appearances by Ron Simmons and Fred Ottman
24 – Big Time Wrestling in Spartanburg, SC at the Memorial Auditorium with the meet and greet at 5:30 and show at 7:30 with Flair, Steamboat, Hardys, Rhodes, Nasty Boys, Sabu, Magnum T.A., Ricky Morton, Robert Gibson, Gangrel and Trevor Lee.
24 – MCW Legends Convention at the MCW Arena in Joppa, MD at 10 a.m. featuring Bret Hart, Jimmy Hart, Howard Finkel, Honky Tonk Man, Hillbilly Jim, Paul Orndorff, Greg Valentine, Jim Ross, Bill Apter, Brutus Beefcake, Bob Orton, Tito Santana, Jim Neidhart, Tammy Sytch, Magnum T.A. and even Dennis Stamp.
24 – Rock Solid: Anarchy in Angus 14: A Nightmare on Mill Street, 7pm – 10pm, Angus Recreation Centre, 8527 County Rd. 10, Angus, Ontario. Tickets.
Crossface, the long-talked about movie about the life of Chris Benoit, is back on the radar after many years with the official announcement that director and Academy Award nominee Lexi Alexander is attached to the project.
Variety reported the news Thursday, although Alexander (Punisher: War Zone, Johnny Flynton) has teased it on Twitter. It also had been reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter several months ago that she was in talks to do the piece.
NXT returns to action tonight with a show in Largo, FL. WWE will have the Raw crew plus John Cena on Friday in Pasay City, in the Philippines tomorrow before heading to Shanghai China on Saturday, and then to Baltimore on Monday. This is really one of the craziest travel weeks WWE has done, with a flight from Kansas City to London, London to Manila, Manila to Shanghai and then Shanghai to Baltimore.
TNA IMPACT TONIGHT
Hardys vs. Abyss & Crazzy Steve in the Delete or Decay match
Drew. Galloway vs. Braxton Sutter
Jade & Gail Kim vs. Sienna & Allie
Eli Drake vs. Jessie Godderz
Billy Corgan will be announced on as the new President of the company, which is a shoot.
Figure Four Weekly: Figure Four Weekly 9/5/2016: WWE finally releases the “Last Battle of Atlanta” – WWE is getting ready to check another box off the wrestling video collectors’ holy grail list. WWE Network news reported over the weekend that Tommy Rich vs. Buzz Sawyer in “The Last Battle of Atlanta” will be added to the service on Tuesday, September 6th as part of a “Hidden Gems” playlist… 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: September 12, 2016 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: CM Punk making UFC debut, PWG Battle of Los Angeles review, more – A 19-month journey will come to an end, or to a new beginning on 9/10 when Phil Brooks, better known as C.M. Punk, steps into the cage in one of the biggest matches on the UFC 203 PPV card. While many people have tried to make analogies, using names like Brock Lesnar or James Toney, there is really nothing in UFC history really comparable to this. It was a weird experiment that many had written off as a failure six months into the story… 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 for 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.
Billy Corgan has publicly stated in a Facebook broadcast that he is in negotiations to buy TNA. The company is currently owned by Corgan, Aroluxe Productions and Dixie Carter also has stock in it. Carter has been selling off percentages to raise money to continue to be able to do television.
Saturday night’s UFC show in Cleveland is sold out. This is the first time in the market. It is expected to be the largest gate for any event ever in the Quicken Loans Arena.
Smith Hart reported that Frenchy Martin (Don Gagne) has been moved to hospice care in Montreal due to suffering from bladder cancer. That is certainly very sad news.
Alberto Del Rio will be holding a press conference in Mexico City tomorrow to discuss his situation with WWE. Del Rio has been in talks with different companies but at this point WWE has yet to officially announce a parting of the ways.
Matt Taven will make his return to pro wrestling after knee surgery on tomorrow night’s show at Arena Mexico in Mexico City. He will team with Shocker & Mr. Niebla to face Maximo Sexy & Mascara Dorada & Volador Jr. in the semifinal match. He will be in CMLL for two weeks before returning to ROH.
This is a very interesting article from ESPN itself on its covering WWE. I know they got a lot of feedback on it and I’m wondering how that will be addressed.
Stephanie McMahon has said that the reason her book isn’t coming out as scheduled is because she has much more to share and that it would be released next year.
Scott Garland, the former Scotty 2 Hotty, has been hired as a coach at the Performance Center in Orlando.
The code for all the NXT shows in California for presale: NXTLIVE
Here are some videos of La Sombra (Andrade Cien Almas) at Arena Mexico Friday night for the Los Ingobernables reunion. (thanks to Antonio Garza)
On the freedom wrestlers have in the Cruiserweight Classic that he felt after his first CWC match with Da Mack:
“It felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. In 18 years, I had never been put in the ring and basically told just be yourself. It was the first time in two decades that’s ever happened. It was cool to go in there and what people got to see was just very raw, like pure, organic me. It showed because you can tell I’m having fun and it just felt a lot different. It opened up a lot of people’s perception of me.”
On getting to work with WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels at the last CWC tapings:
“It was good to be able to spend some time with him in a working environment where I could work with him on stuff from a philosophical point of view. It was great to get advice from him, to see how he operates and it’s incredible. It’s also encouraging because there’s a lot of like-minded philosophy and when that comes about, you get to a point where there’s no advice to be given because you guys are thinking on the same rhythm, then it encourages you because your education is better than you think it was. It was awesome to be in that environment. I wanted to tell him the whole time that my Mount Rushmore is your face four times (laughs)…or maybe three times and then Eddie (Guerrero) on the end. There’s not a lot of people that I would hold in the same regard. It was so cool that he’s in that environment and doing that. If you were to put people in tiers, he’s above every tier.”
On his matchup with Kota Ibushi in the Cruiserweight Classic finals and how big of a night it will be:
“We’ve never wrestled before and he’s amazing. He’s world class – an elite guy. It is the biggest situation I’ve ever been in mostly because it just seems unwinnable for a guy like me because he is who he is. It’s the biggest match I’ve been able to be a part of because of the social significance among wrestling fans.”
UFC
Ray Borg has been pulled from UFC 203 due to an illness, meaning for the second time in a row, Ian McCall has trained to fight and isn’t getting to. McCall was supposed to fight Justin Scoggins on 7/30 in Atlanta, but Scoggins had problems cutting weight and the fight was canceled.
Gian Villante vs. Marcos Rogerio de Lima has been added to the 11/12 show in Madison Square Garden.
While the first week of Ultimate Fighter didn’t do good numbers in the ratings, the DVR viewership was 264,000 viewers, which is a very good number. On a percentage basis, it was a 71 percent increase in viewers.
For those in Canada, The Fight Network will be airing the UFC 203 weigh-ins live at 6 p.m. tomorrow, the press conference live after the show, and will also be airing all four episodes of the C.M. Punk documentary before the show.
Josh Gross will be appearing on 9/14 at The Last Bookstore in Downtown Los Angeles at 7 p.m. to discuss the Ali vs. Inoki fight and sign copies of his book on the subject. The store is at 453 S. Spring St., Los Angeles, CA 90013.
For fans of Memphis nostalgia, there’s a big show tomorrow night in Jonesboro, AR, at the old regular arena, the Earl Bell Community Center, headlined by Jerry Lawler vs. Jeff Jarrett. Also appearing include Karen Jarrett, Doug Gilbert, Bill Dundee and Dave Brown will be there as well.
MCW has announced for 9/23 a Ringside with Jim Ross and Jim Cornette at Jimmy’s Famous Seafood restaurant in Baltimore. The show starts at 8 p.m. Both will also be at a convention the next day with Bill Apter, Bret Hart, Jimmy Hart, Howard Finkel, Honky Tonk Man, Hillbilly Jim, Greg Valentine, Paul Orndorff, Koko Ware, Brutus Beefcake, Tito Santana, Jim Neidhart, Bob Orton Jr., Nikolai Vokoff, Dennis Stamp, Hornswoggle, Tammy Sytch, Typhoon, Magnum T.A., Terri Runnels, Angelina Love and more at the Joppa Market Place in Joppa, MD.
Evolve has a mini-documentary on DUSTIN (Chuck Taylor) here.
An interview with Gabe Sapolsky about not signing Will Ospreay and the WWE/NXT/Evolve relationship is here.
AAW on 9/16 in Merrionette Park, IL at 115 Bourbon Street has Mat Fitchett & Davey Vega vs. Jake & Dave Crist for the AAW tag titles, Abyss vs. Sami Callihan, Chris Hero vs. Fenix, Jeff Cobb vs. Matt Riddle, Heidi Lovelace & Kimber Lee vs Devin & Mason Cutter, Josh Alexander vs. Drew Gulak plus AR Fox, Jack Evans, Andrew Everett, Trevor Lee, Moose, Jessicka Havok and Homicide.
Wrestle Pro on Saturday night in Rahway, NJ at the Rec Center with Pat Buck vs. Cody Rhodes as the main event. Buck beat Rhodes in his first pro match when both were at OVW. Also appearing include Ric Flair, Brian Myers, Grad, Dan Maff, Hornswoggle and more.
Absolute Intense Wrestling tomorrow night in Cleveland at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel with Dan Severn vs. Eddie Kingston, Josh Prohibition vs. Ethan Page, Grado vs. Colt Cabana, Heidi Lovelace vs. Shayna Baszler for the women’s title, Matt Riddle vs. Louis Lyndon, Michael Elgin vs. Alex Daniels, Candice LaRae vs. Britt Baker and B.J. Whitmer vs. Dominic Garrini. For those in town for UFC, this may be the place to be the night before.
Tommy Dreamer’s House of Hardcore on 12/3 in Waukesha, WI at the County Center.
Best in the West on 9/24 in Fresno at the City College Gym will be a show for Fite TV headlined by Wiseguy vs. Sheik Khan Abadi vs. Chupacabra, plus Brian Cage, Joey Ryan, Mustafa Saed and Christina Von Eeerie appear. They’ve also opened up a wrestling school at 5494 E. Lamona Ave Suite #150 in Fresno with Mike Rayne and Nick Ruiz as the head trainers. (thanks to Jon Southerland)
ECWA on 9/24 in Woodbury Heights, NJ at the Community Center.
CMLL on Monday night in Puebla: Espiritu Maligno & Mini Jocker b Arkalis & Astro, Ares & Policeman b Asturiano & Rey Samuray, Angel de Oro & Stigma & Stuka Jr. b Dragon Rojo Jr. & Puma King & Tiger, Mephisto & Ephesto & Luciferno b Kraneo & Olimpico & Ripper to retain the Mexican national trios titles, Caristico & Mascara Dorada & Mistico b Negro Casas & Mr. Niebla & Cavernario, Dragon Lee b La Mascara
FMLL on 9/25 in El Monte, CA at Florentine Gardens with Fuerza Guerrera vs. Pirata Morgan for the FMLL title
Pentagon Jr. faces his brother, Fenix, in a singles match on Saturday night at Club La Boom in Woodside, Queens, NY.
Santo Jr. and Silver King headline in Houston on 9/25 for Lucha Libre VIP at Los Rieles.
Pentagon Jr. headlines on 9/24 in Dallas at the Estacionamiento de Jarro Cafe for Martinez Entertainment.
Combate Americas will run in New York on 10/14 at the Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, NY. John Castaneda (11-2) vs. Gustavo Lopez (6-1) face off for Combate Americas’ first championship, the bantamweight title. The show will air live on beIN SPORTS and UFC Fight Pass.
The Fight Network will be broadcasting RFA 43 from Broomfield, CO starting at 10 p.m. tomorrow night. In the U.S., the show will air live on AXS TV. Brian Camozzi (6-2) faces Nick Barnes (11-1) for the vacant welterweight title in the main event.
Upstate Pro Wrestling on Saturday night in Rochester, NY at the Eagles Club headlined by Cody Deaner vs. Dick Justice.
Telus Optik VOD will be debuting a documentary called “Hart Still Beating,” which is about the relationship between Smith Hart and son Matt, who is now doing pro wrestling.
EVENTS CALENDAR
Saturday, September 10 – UFC 203: Miocic vs. Overeem; Cleveland, Ohio
9 – Chaotic Wrestling & The Lowell Spinners present “A Night of Grand Slams,” Edward A. LeLacheur Park, 450 Aiken St. – Lowell, MA
10 – CZW in Voorhees, NJ at Flyers Skate Zone with a doubleheader with a WSU Women’s show at 4 p.m. that day and the men’s show at 8 p.m.
10 – Barrie Wrestling: Back to School 3; 49 Ferris Lane, Barrie, Ontario, Canada
10 – Evolve in Deer Park, NY has Gargano vs. Sabre Jr., Galloway vs. Gulak, Dustin vs. Tracy Williams, Jigsaw vs. Fred Yehi, Riddle vs. Tony Nese, Perkins vs. Allin and Page vs. Dan Barry.
11 – Evolve in Woodside, NY at La Boom has Johnny Gargano & Cody Rhodes vs. Drew Galloway & Chris Hero in Gargano’s last Evolve match, Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Ricochet, Matt Riddle vs. TJ Perkins, Dustin vs. Drew Gulak, Tony Nese vs. Darby Allin and Ethan Page vs David Starr. Joey Styles will also be appearing.
16 – AAW: 115 Bourbon Street (3359 w 115th Street Merrionette Park, IL). Tickets.
16 – Pure Wrestling Association: Lake Cowichan, British Columbia
16 – Smash vs Progress: Uncensored; Oshawa Music Hall, Oshawa, Ontario. Must be 19+ to attend.
16 – Pure Wrestling Association: Private Event in Ontario
16 – SuperKickd’d Pro Wrestling at 7:30 PM – 10 PM, The Great Hall Toronto, 1087 Queen Street West, Toronto, Ontario M6J 1H3
16 – All Pro Wrestling on 9/16 in Daly City, CA at the Bayshore Community Center features Sabu vs. The Almighty Sheik, Willie Mack & B-Boy vs Reno Scrum, plus Jody Kristofferson, JR Kratos, Marcus Lewis and Dylan Drake in a four way for the Universal title.
17 – NWA Smoky Mountain Wrestling on in Kingsport, TN at the Civic Auditorium
17 – Pure Wrestling Association: Alpine Club, Kitchener, Ontario
17 – Pure Wrestling Association: Courtenay, British Columbia
17 – UFC Fight Night, Poirier vs. Johnson: Hidalgo, Texas, State Farm Arena
17 & 18 – SMASH VS PROGRESS: Smash Wrestling welcomes our friends from Progress Wrestling. Mark Haskins and Jack Gallagher (Cruiserweight Classic), Zack Sabre Jr. Mark Andrews and more will be part of the Progress Wrestling team in a Smash vs. Progress Canada vs. UK show in Toronto at the Franklin Horner Community Center.
18 – Pure Wrestling Association: Gold River, British Columbia
18 – NWX presents School’s Back In Session at the CWF Wrestling School on 20 Hartzel Rd in St Catharines, ON. Holden Albright vs. Joey Paradice (c) for the NWX Heavyweight Championship. Get your tickets by calling 289-687-5610.
22 – NXT; Toronto, Ontario at the Mattamy Athletic Center (the former Maple Leaf Gardens)
22 – All-Star Wrestling: 7:30 PM, Abbotsford Arts Center, 2329 Crescent Way, Abbotsford, BC V2S 3M2, Canada, tickets.
22- Big Time Wrestling in Morganton, NC at the Collette Rec Center features a meet & greet at 6 p.m. before the live show. Appearing are Ric Flair, Ricky Steamboat, Cody Rhodes, Magnum T.A. and Trevor Lee.
23 – MCW Pro Wrestling presents “Ringside with Jim Ross & Jim Cornette at Jimmy’s Famous Seafood in Baltimore. Showtime 8:00PM, 6526 Holabird Ave, Baltimore, MD 21224. Tickets.
23 – Big Time Wrestling in Raleigh, NC at Dorton Arena features Flair and Steamboat together at Dorton Arena for the first time in 28 years, plus Jeff & Matt Hardy, Cody Rhodes, Nasty Boys, Sabu, Magnum T.A., Ivan Koloff, Jimmy Valiant, Gangrel and Shane Helms with the meet & greet at 6 and show at 8.
23 – Invicta FC: Live from Scottish Rite Temple in Kansas City, Mo. Interim Flyweight Champion Jennifer Maia Defends Against Roxanne Modafferi
23 – NXT; St. Catherines, Ontario at The Meridian Centre
23 – Pro Wrestling Eclipse takes a short trip to downtown Oshawa and visits the Oshawa Mason Temple. All tickets purchased on July 24 that list the venue as the Oshawa Legion will be honoured.
24 – East Coast Wrestling Association (ECWA), 49 ANNIVERSARY SHOW, Woodbury Heights Community Center, 741 Helen Ave, Woodbury Heights, NJ 08097. Tickets.
24 – EWA Evolution: World War Z at Tall Cedars Hall (2501 Putty Hill Ave.) in Parkville, MD. See the double ring, 5 vs. 5 Ladder War! Bell time is 7:30 pm. Tickets are $15 front row and $12 general.
24 – IWA Midsouth Wrestling presents the Hybrid Cup, at PRIDE Bar in New Albany, IN.
24 – Ignite Wrestling in Vero Beach, FL at the IG Center features Dave Crist.
24 – UCW, September 24th 7:30 PMBay City,MI UCW Champion Hakim Zane vs MVP, plus appearances by Ron Simmons and Fred Ottman
24 – Big Time Wrestling in Spartanburg, SC at the Memorial Auditorium with the meet and greet at 5:30 and show at 7:30 with Flair, Steamboat, Hardys, Rhodes, Nasty Boys, Sabu, Magnum T.A., Ricky Morton, Robert Gibson, Gangrel and Trevor Lee.
24 – MCW Legends Convention at the MCW Arena in Joppa, MD at 10 a.m. featuring Bret Hart, Jimmy Hart, Howard Finkel, Honky Tonk Man, Hillbilly Jim, Paul Orndorff, Greg Valentine, Jim Ross, Bill Apter, Brutus Beefcake, Bob Orton, Tito Santana, Jim Neidhart, Tammy Sytch, Magnum T.A. and even Dennis Stamp.
24 – Rock Solid: Anarchy in Angus 14: A Nightmare on Mill Street, 7pm – 10pm, Angus Recreation Centre, 8527 County Rd. 10, Angus, Ontario. Tickets.
