Tag: main story

Daily Update: McGregor vs WWE, Diaz vs USADA, CM Punk doc, Goldberg

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

McGregor Wants Two Titles

Conor McGregor was on the MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani. He was noting that he had no trouble making 145 for Jose Aldo and wants to defend the title again, but felt Aldo was going to back out if they signed to fight so he wasn’t that hot in agreeing to the fight. He said Eddie Alvarez is a novice fighter, a wrestler with an overhand, he said there’s a lot of options but he’d like to win two belts, but said everyone is all begging for what Nate got, they’re all on their hands and knees begging. In five days he’ll sit down but the deal has to be sweet. 

Regarding WWE stars, McGregor said they’re an emotional bunch of guys who are scared of a real man. He felt like he spoke the truth, they’re all dweebs, there are a few OGs there, but the majority are dweebs, and said you know the WWE wrestlers are all tuning in Saturday and he’s giggling his way to the bank. Actually a lot of WWE people may be watching something else on Saturday night.

Raw is in Corpus Christi, TX. Send live reports with anything not evident from TV to [email protected]. Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman are scheduled to return for the SummerSlam go-home show plus John Cena and A.J. Styles are advertised for the show, likely in a dark match. TNA continues tapings in Orlando.

Smackdown will be Tuesday night in Austin, TX. Besides the Smackdown crew, also advertised for the show are Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins, likely in a dark match. John Cena vs. Alberto Del Rio is advertised as well as a Miz TV segment with Dolph Ziggler and Dean Ambrose. 

TNA is also taping Tuesday in Orlando.

THE ROUND-UP

Figure Four Weekly: Figure Four Weekly 8/10/2016: WWE attempts to get concussion lawsuit thrown out – Last week, WWE filed a motion for summary judgment to throw out the concussion lawsuit that Vito LoGrasso (Big Vito) and Evan Singleton (Adam Mercer) had brought against the company. In the process, they filed numerous exhibits as part of an appendix to the motion and its statement of facts, containing everything from the full transcripts… 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: August 15, 2016 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Gigantic Summerslam weekend preview, McGregor vs. WWE, tons more – 

WWE’s SummerSlam and UFC 202 anchor one of the biggest weekends for major shows of this or almost any other year. The four major events will be a Ring of Honor PPV featuring New Japan stars on 8/19, UFC 202 and NXT Takeover on 8/20, and SummerSlam and the finals of the Super J Cup on 8/21.

UFC 202 will be the biggest show as far as mainstream interest goes, since Conor McGregor is headlining against Nate Diaz. The show, from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, is far from the deepest when it comes to name value, but has the rematch of the biggest grossing PPV event in company history on top. Besides Diaz vs. McGregor, and a match who will determine who gets the next shot at light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier, with Anthony Rumble Johnson (21-5) facing Glover Teixeira (25-4), it’s very much an ordinary show… 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.

Wrestling Observer Newsletter BACK ISSUE: July 5, 1999 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: WWF King of the Ring review, NJPW names new president, more  – In its first PPV show since the ill-fated Over the Edge and the bevy of lawsuits filed since that time, there was some noticeable changes in the World Wrestling Federation for King of the Ring… Subscribers click here to continue reading.

MONDAY NEWS UPDATE

The UFC has announced the plans for UFC 204 in Manchester, England. The show will air live in the usual PPV time slot in the U.S. That means the live event will start at 11 p.m. Manchester, England time and the PPV won’t start until 3 a.m., with the main event of Dan “Hendo” Henderson vs. Michael “The Count” Bisping 2, likely taking place at 5 a.m.

Vince McMahon is in Corpus Christi today after missing TV’s the last two weeks. The story we’d heard was he wasn’t expected back until the weekend. Vince was in charge of everything that aired the last two weeks and on the phone during the agents meeting going through everything, just wasn’t there physically.  

The first episode of the four-week C.M. Punk documentary on FS 1 begins tonight at 9:30 p.m. It will also air on the Fight Network in Canada. It’s definitely interesting to watch. 

Since this has been kind of overplayed in the rumor mill department, Bill Goldberg was always expected to be at the 2K Sports media party on Friday night in New York once the deal was made for him to be a key figure in marketing the video game. He’s not coming to New York for WWE, but for 2K. Now, given WWE’s affiliation with the media party, it is very possible there could be some talk with people in WWE, but his coming isn’t anything more than one of a number of media appearances agreed to in his video game deal.  Goldberg will be coming in from the GamesCon, the biggest game show in the world, on Thursday in Cologne, Germany, where he’s also represented 2K Sports.  

Bryan and I will be back tonight with a Wrestling Observer Radio show covering Raw, the latest WWE business moves, the C.M. Punk documentary, Jon Jones, Nick Diaz as well as taking your e-mail questions to [email protected].

WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT

  • An interview with Sasha Banks is here.
  • Kevin Dunn today sold 56,000 shares of WWE stock for $1,158,800 with the stock price now topping $20 per share. He still owns 387,173 shares worth just under $8 million.
  • There was a power outage in Corpus Christi today caused apparently by a lightning strike at the arena, but everything is fine now.
  • Daniel Bryan talks his role in wrestling right now.
  • There will be one NXT television show taped on Saturday night before the TakeOver show begins, just like last year, for the TV that airs on 8/24. Then on 8/25, they will be taping three more weeks of television to start the build for the next major show.
  • Dwayne Johnson just finished filming the Fast & Furious 8. Whatever issues there were with Vin Diesel as producer seem to have been blown over.   
  • A preview for the show “Holy Foley” will air on the WWE Network tonight after Raw.
  • WWE also announced that on Tuesday night they will be doing a WWE 24 special on the “women’s wrestling revolution.” Trish Stratus will be part of the special.
  • WWE will be coming to Northern California for three major shows in early October, if not more. There will be the No Mercy PPV on 10/9 from Sacramento, Raw on 10/10 at the Oracle Arena in Oakland and Smackdown will be at the Sap Center in San Jose. For Sacramento, tickets go on sale Friday. For Oakland, there is a presale that starts Wednesday at 10 a.m. with the code OAKLAND. Tickets go on sale to the public on Friday at 10 a.m. For San Jose, tickets go on sale Friday.   
  • Akira Tozawa vs. Jack Gallagher and Tony Nese vs. Brian Kendrick will be on Wednesday night’s Cruiser Weight Classic show.
  • There will be a Legends with JBL show at 9 p.m. on Friday night on the WWE Network with Sting as the guest. 
  • Charlotte will be making an appearance at the Yankees game tomorrow night in New York to promote SummerSlam.

UFC

  • There was a crazy Nick Diaz story today. He had flown into Las Vegas last night and never went to his room until this morning. When he showed up, there was a USADA tester waiting for him. He told the tester that he was tired, and to come back in six hours because he wanted to sleep and wasn’t going to wake up until 2 p.m. The tester was insistent that she couldn’t do that, and that led to an exchange of words with Diaz telling her to come back tomorrow. Anyway, this has already been settled as Diaz was tested before Noon today.
  • B.J. Penn vs. Ricardo Lamas was announced as the main event for a 10/15 show at the SM Mall of Asia in Pasay, The Philippiines.
  • Jon Jones posted on instagram yesterday all smiles saying that there is a break in his USADA case and that he would be fighting soon.
  • Chael Sonnen talks C.M. Punk’s UFC debut here.

OLYMPIC WRESTLING

  • Today in the Olympics had Greco-Roman at 187 and 264 pounds, both U.S. wrestlers, Ben Provisor and Robby Smith were eliminated after their first match. Privsor lost 6-3 from a big throw in the second period against 2015 second in the world wrestler Rustam Assakalov of Uzbekistan. Smith lost 8-2 to Sabah Shariati of Azerbaijan. Smith had placed fifth at last year’s world championships so this had to be a major disappointment.
  • There are no U.S. wrestlers competing tomorrow at 145 or 217 in Greco, so the U.S. Greco team will end these Olympics with no medals and nobody even close to medaling.
  • The super heavyweight final has Riza Kayaalp of Turkey, a two-time world champion, against the legendary Mijain Lopez of Cuba, who has five world championships and two gold medals in his career.
  • Tuesday is Greco-Roman at 145 and 217 pounds. Wednesday is Women at 105, 127 and 152 pounds. Kaori Icho tries to become the first wrestler in history to win four gold medals at 127. Thursday is Women at 117, 139 and 165 pounds. 117 is big with Helen Maroulis of the U.S. attempting to stop Saori Yoshida from also winning a record setting fourth gold medal. Yoshida is generally considered the greatest woman wrestler who ever lived. Friday is men’s freestyle at 125 and 163 pounds, which includes Jordan Burroughs of the U.S.attempting to win a second gold medal. Saturday is men’s freestyle at 189 and 275 with J’Den Cox of the U.S. having medal possibilities. Sunday is men at 143 (Frank Molinaro) and 213 (Kyle Snyder, who has a shot at the gold and would become the youngest American gold medalist in wrestling history if he does so).

MISCELLANEOUS

  • The TNA TV show on Thursday is built around Moose vs. Eddie Edwards and a four-way ladder match for a tag title shot with the Hardys, Bro Mans, Helms Dynasty (Andrew Everett & Trevor Lee) and the Tribunal.
  • Promociones del Valle on Friday night in Tijuana at the Auditorio has Blue Demon Jr. & Mascara Aerea & Tinieblas Jr. vs. Fuerza Guerrera & El Hijo del Solitario & Pirata Morgan.
  • Rockstar Pro Wrestling on 8/19 in Dayton at the Rockstar Pro Arena.
  • CBS Radio has announced a special Taz show, Sunday night at 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. after SummerSlam with Jim Ross, Cody Rhodes and Mike Johnson as guests.
  • Smash Wrestling vs. Progress Wrestling on 9/17 and 9/18 in Toronto. Smash Wrestling also runs 10/22 at the Franklin Horner Community Centre in Toronto with a Canada vs. U.S. tournament.
  • GWN on 10/2 in Hamilton, ONT at the Ukranian Culture Centre. 

TODAY IN PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING HISTORY (8/15):Keiji Mutoh wins G1 Climax; Orton wins Raw World Title

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Is a U.S. Championship run the right fix for Roman Reigns?

Posted on by Kyle Johnson

If at first you do not succeed, try and try again. And again. And again. And again…

Roman Reigns kicked off a feud with United States Champion Rusev on Raw two weeks ago with a wordless stare-down after the Bulgarian Brute called into question the integrity of American Olympic athletes.

One week later, Reigns interrupted Rusev and Lana’s pompous post-nuptial celebration, made a joke about Rusev’s wedding-night ineptitude, and indirectly caused Lana to go careening face-first into a wedding cake, confirming his plans to challenge for Rusev’s title in the process.

To some, this might indicate that the former WWE World Heavyweight Champion has fallen out of favor since failing a drug test and that he is now destined for a long stint in the mid-card. But having Reigns step into the role of an American defending his country against a nefarious foreign heel and get cake in the face of that heel’s bride in successive weeks are just the latest maneuvers in the ongoing two-year effort to get him over as the company’s prevailing hero.

In terms of creativity, there isn’t much unique about either tactic. Being patriotic and making heels look foolish with slapstick are practices for getting babyfaces over that have been used to great effect for decades.

Only this time, given the decidedly less overwhelmingly hostile crowd responses over the last two weeks, the basics seem to at least be working to some degree for Reigns. And if it works to a greater degree for a longer period of time, the end result will be Reigns re-entering the main event picture sooner than not.

While the resistance to Reigns persists to a large and noticeable degree and is not likely to completely subside any time soon, the vehemence of it all appears to have diminished at least temporarily. If WWE is observant enough to understand what has changed and crafty enough to bend the circumstances to its advantage, it may very well have found the formula it has been seeking for the past two years.

Method and madness

Since The Shield disbanded in June 2014 (and even at times before that), it was made abundantly clear to even the most imperceptive observer that Reigns was earmarked for the top spot once occupied by John Cena.

If the intervening two years have confirmed anything, it is that WWE is not content to merely have Reigns become a fixture in the main event, nor is it even content to position him as the company’s bona fide top star. He has to achieve all of this as a triumphant babyface, and no other course will suffice.

If we accept this as fact, then we can altogether rule out the argument that Reigns turning heel will cure a great deal of what ails him. While history proves that it probably would, reality indicates that it simply will not happen.

Vince McMahon is a man who might change his mind about breakfast three times in the walk from the bedroom to the kitchen, but if he has not yet changed his mind about turning Reigns heel after two years of flailing, then there is no reason to suspect he ever will.

There have been multitudes of interpretations of Reigns’ character since he split off from The Shield, and each tweak in presentation has been aimed at cultivating a desired response. Results have been mixed at best. He has been a sensitive father, a brother-in-arms, a proud Samoan, a silent unstoppable wrecking machine, a hard-luck loser, a wisecracking Cena copy, an underdog, and “The Guy.”

More recently, WWE thought it could get Reigns over as a repentant redemption-seeker by having Seth Rollins chide him on Raw for failing a drug test and deceiving his fans. Amazingly, this approach failed spectacularly.

With each iteration, a chorus of angry voices clamored for the one thing that WWE is still unwilling to do. Still, for all the options WWE was willing to exhaust in getting to its end goal, it remains adamant to leave that particular stone unturned.

That catchphrase — “I’m not a good guy. I’m not a bad guy. I’m the guy” — seemed to target those fans that feel a heel turn might be the only recourse for salvaging Reigns. It sought to remind them that Reigns’ character alignment ultimately does not matter because he would be at the top one way or the other. Perhaps that idea is at the heart of the issue.

Reigns’ flight toward the top never once seemed to change from the split of The Shield onward, even at points where he was kept out of the championship chase to feud with the likes of Big Show or Bray Wyatt.

Perhaps this new approach has proven somewhat successful thus far because it feels less like a lateral move to temporarily delay his inevitable return to the top of the card and more like an actual step backwards. Perhaps it works because Reigns’ spot as “The Guy,” for the first time in two years, does not feel so secure.

If the feud with Rusev proves successful, then it perhaps serves as some proof that the problem is less about Reigns’ tendencies and more about his trajectory. Maybe the key to pressing forward with Reigns has been taking an appropriate step backwards all this time.

Perception and reality

Satisfying wrestling fans without completely turning the show over to their whims is entirely possible so long as a promoter understands what they want and how to manipulate those desires.

WWE proved its comprehension of this concept to some extent with the rise of CM Punk and Daniel Bryan. Even when both men were given their respective moments in the sun, there was never a realistic outcome that would have seen either man become the long-term face of the company, and both played ostensible second fiddles to larger stars even when they were carrying the championship.

Wrestling fans want to believe that promotions provide a level playing field that allows the best performers to rise to the top. They also want a promotion that will listen for their approval and react in accordance.

The WWE audience wants to believe that wrestlers with prodigious skills are not held down at a certain level by a limiting ceiling, and they want to believe that their collective voice can steer the direction of the programming when it is used to speak up on someone’s behalf (or, in the case of Reigns, against them).

It does not matter whether this is a fool’s hope; to satisfy that craving, WWE needs to merely present a convincing illusion of equity and of attentiveness to the audience.

Similar to Punk and Bryan, Dean Ambrose is easier than Reigns for those same fans to get behind because he represents someone who came from humble beginnings and has worked against overwhelming odds for everything he has.

It does not matter if Reigns works every bit as hard as Ambrose or if he has the same passion for what he does; Ambrose being more passionate about wrestling and, consequently, more deserving of success in the business is a perception driven in part by empathy. It is a perception that can be manipulated to work toward WWE’s desired ends, and it is one that WWE appears to be manipulating at this very moment.

Today, Ambrose is the WWE World Heavyweight Champion, and he will defend his championship at SummerSlam against Dolph Ziggler, another wrestler who is believed to have been held back by the company.

For Raw, there is a strong possibility that the WWE Universal Championship could wind up in the hands of Finn Balor. This creates at least the illusion that WWE, promoting a “New Era,” is actually allowing new or underutilized talent to carry its brands in a new direction.

It creates the idea that WWE listens to its hardcore audience and follows up on what it hears. Given the allure of the SummerSlam name, the promise of a Brock Lesnar match, and the diminished value of the company’s titles, offering two wildly different championship matches is not the gamble it might seem to be. But it’s not about actually changing the landscape. It’s about providing the illusion of change.

By facing Rusev for the U.S. Championship and not taking part in one of the main events, it may appear that Reigns’ push is being decelerated. But it is incredibly unlikely that the long-term project of making him the face of WWE has changed.

Putting Reigns in the hunt for a mid-card title creates the idea that he would have to work to get back to where he was, which might just be enough to make him a more empathic character. That he’s working with such a capable heel in Rusev certainly doesn’t hurt.

There seems to be the opinion that a wrestler should carry a mid-card championship effectively before being given a main event push. Such was the case with Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Steve Austin, The Rock, and John Cena. Perhaps the resistance to Reigns is driven in part by the belief that he was given a pass and permitted to skip a step required of so many all-time greats.

One has to wonder if Reigns’ fortunes may have turned out differently if, instead of a match against Lesnar for the championship, he had been chosen to be the man to break Rusev’s undefeated streak and win the U.S. Championship at WrestleMania 31 instead of John Cena. Perhaps not, but it is unlikely that Reigns’ road would have been any less rocky than it has been.

Perhaps the best course of action for the time being would be to keep Reigns at a mid-card level through the end of 2016, allowing him to make the U.S. Championship a featured aspect of Raw, and creating the illusion that he is working to earn his way back to a spot that the company is more than willing to keep warm for him.

It is by no means a guaranteed cure for all that ails his character, but if Reigns should beat Rusev for the championship at SummerSlam to a largely positive reaction, WWE should be in no particular rush to fix something that suddenly doesn’t seem broken.

NJPW G1 Climax 26 finals live results: Hirooki Goto vs. Kenny Omega

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Preview by Joseph Currier

After a marathon tournament, New Japan Pro Wrestling’s 26th annual G1 Climax comes to an end early Sunday morning at Sumo Hall.

We’re looking for your thoughts on all three nights at Sumo Hall, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle on all three nights as well as a best and worst match from all three nights to [email protected]

Sunday is the third straight night in the building after both block winners were decided the previous two nights.

Hirooki Goto emerged as the winner of Block A by defeating Naomichi Marufuji in the last night of the block’s tournament action, and he got some help later in the night when Kazuchika Okada and Hiroshi Tanahashi went to a time limit draw in the main event.

Goto will be facing Kenny Omega, who defeated Tetsuya Naito in Block B’s final tournament match to come out on top of the block. The winner will earn the opportunity to challenge for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at next year’s January 4th Tokyo Dome show, but they will be booked to defend the title shot along the way.

The show will also feature a Ring of Honor World Championship match, as Jay Lethal defends his title against Satoshi Kojima. And the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship will be on the line when The Briscoes defend against the Bullet Club’s Hangman Page and Yujiro Takahashi.

The show begins at 2:00 a.m. EST/11:00 p.m. PST on NJPW World. English commentary will be provided by Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino.

The card for the show is:

  • Hirooki Goto vs. Kenny Omega to determine the G1 Climax winner
  • Kazuchika Okada, Naomichi Marufuji, & Toru Yano vs. Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga, & Tanga Roa
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi, Michael Elgin, KUSHIDA, & Juice Robinson vs. Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, EVIL, & BUSHI
  • ROH World Champion Jay Lethal vs. Satoshi Kojima for the ROH title
  • IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions The Briscoes vs. Hangman Page & Yujiro Takahashi for the tag titles
  • Katsuyori Shibata, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Yuji Nagata, & Manabu Nakanishi vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima, Go Shiozaki, Maybach Taniguchi, & Masa Kitamiya
  • Tomoaki Honma & Togi Makabe vs. Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI
  • Yoshitatsu & Captain New Japan vs. Gedo & Jado
  • Jushin Thunder Liger & Tiger Mask vs. David Finlay & Ryusuke Taguchi

JUSHIN LIGER & TIGER MASK VS. DAVID FINLAY & RYUSUKE TAGUCHI

Fast paced short match ending with Tiger Mask pinning Finlay after a double arm superplex while Liger had Taguchi in the Rito Romero special at the same time.  All four men shook hands and posed together to the applause of the crowd.  Very much rushed.

YOSHITATSU & CAPTAIN NEW JAPAN VS. GEDO & JADO

We’ve got the Hunter Club against the New Japan and NOAH bookers.  This wasn’t a comedy match but it may as well have been it.  Another short match ending when Jado made Captain submit to the crossface of Jado.  Yoshitatsu walked out on Captain.  Pretty bad match.

TOMOAKI HONMA & TOGI MAKABE VS. TOMOHIRO ISHII & YOSHI-HASHI

Ishii & Yoshi-Hashi won when Yoshi-Hashi pinned Honma after a pump handle falcon arow.  Very good match, especially when Ishii was in.  He and Makabe picked up where they left off yesterday.  They pushed that Ishii & Yoshi-Hashi just beat the former IWGP tag champs so sounded like they are going to get a shot at the tag title winners later in the match.

MASA KITAMIYA & MAYBACH TANIGUCHI & GO SHIOZAKI & KATSUHIKO NAKAJIMA VS. KATSUYORI SHIBATA & YUJI NAGATA & MANABU NAKANISHI & HIROYOSHI TENZAN

Kitamiya has his name because he physically resembles Masa Saito.  This is NOAH vs. New Japan class of 1992 & Shibata. 

This was incredible.  Nakajima pinned Nakanishi with a brainbuster but that hardly tells the story.  Shibata was just unreal here.  He did the sickest head-butt on Nakajimaand split his own head open.  Then after the match Shibata was just going wild on the NOAH guys, especially Nakajima and Shiozaki.  They had this ridiculous post-match brawl that was way too intense.  Honestly, a lot of the Shibata stuff was beyond dangerous.  But Shibata showed the old Inoki fire.  This was a must-see match clearly starting what looks to be a great feud.’  The crowd hae dhe NOAH guys.

MARK & JAY BRISCOE VS. YUJIRO TAKAHASHI & HANGMAN PAGE FOR THE IWGP TAG TITLE

Takahashi came out like The Godfather as he had four women with him.  Takahashi did an inteview talking about this will be the real G-1 Climax.  That was a double entendre about the women.

The Briscoes retained with the Doomsday Device on Page and Mark pinned him.  This match was physical as hell but to the crowd they couldn’t follow the previous match.  The crowd got quiet late.   Page did some cool stuff and I hope he’s okay given some of the bumps he took including the finisher, as well as a Death Valley Bomb by Jay on the apron.  Mark did a moonsault off the top rope to the floor.  Jay was busted open in two places from a belt shot.  Mark was busted open as well and I’m not sure where that came from.  Page had swelling under his left eye.  The Briscoes and Page were killing each other to get over but it’s just impossible to follow that performance by Shibata in the prior match when it’s four guys who aren’t that over to this fan base.

They just announced officially that Wrestle Kingdom 11 takes place on 1/4 at the Tokyo Dome. 

They had a Jericho like graphic saying that in like 83 days or something like that the Time Bomb explodes.  Minoru Suzuki has been doing time bomb interviews.  They need to do Suzuki vs. Shibata.  It’ll be interesting if he brings Sugiura with him.

JAY LETHAL VS. SATOSHI KOJIMA FOR THE ROH TITLE

Lethal retained the title with a low blow and the Lethal injection.  Very good match, fans were really surprised that Kojima didn’t win.  Lethal after the match vowed revenge on Adam Cole on Friday  night in Las Vegas.  Lethal kicked out of Kojima’s lariat.  He did his two tope series but Kojima broke up the third.  A big pop was when Kojima used the Anaconda vise on Lethal but Lethal escaped.’

HIROSHI TANAHASHI & KUSHIDA & JUICE ROBINSON & MICHAEL ELGIN VS. TETSUYA NAITO & EVIL & BUSHI & SEIYA SANADA

Good match but predictable.  Evil pinned Robinson with the STO.  After the match Naito seemed to challenge Elgin for the IC title.  Elgin was the focal point of the match with his power moves.  Bushi used a tope on Kushida and Kushida, Tanahashi and Sanada all did big moves leading to the finish.

It’s only 6:24 p.m. in Tokyo with two matches left so it feels like the main event is going long.

KAZUCHIKA OKADA & NAOMICHI MARUFUJI & TORU YANO VS. BAD LUCK FALE & TAMA TONGA & TANGA ROA 

Chaos is 4-0 after this one.  Okada pinned Roa with the rainmaker in a basic match after clotheslining Fale over the top rope.  Okada looked good.  

Okada called out both Fale and Marufuji after the match.  The crowd popped much bigger when he challenged Marufuji.  Okada asked him if he wanted a shot at the best title in the world.  Marufuji asked the fans if they wanted to see the match.  They cheered and Marufuji offered his hand and Okada blew him off.  That’ll be a great match as their Sapporo match was awesome.

It’s only 6:45 p.m. and they’ve pretty much rushed through the undercard.

Masahiro Chono came out to a big reaction to announce the main event.  Chono is Mr. August, having won the first two G-1s and more G-1s than anyone in history.  

HIROOKI GOTO VS. KENNY OMEGA FOR THE G-1 TITLE

Omega became the first Canadian and North American (technically Chono was born in the U.S. but he’s really Japanese) to win the G-1 using the One winged angel in just under 27:00.  This was an incredible match.  The story is that Omega battled back from two bad knees but still did everything and then some.  Omega refused to wave the G-1 flag when it was over and instead waved the Bullet Club flag.

Omega was really the star of the match from start to finish.  He did all kinds of incredible moves that he’d normally do from the fast dragon suplexes and such.  A huge spot was Goto had him in a choke and with Goto on his back, he climbed to the top rope and fell backwards off the top rope to break the choke.  Then he started doing big moves of his friends he turned on, like the last ride power bomb and Phoenix splash of Kota Ibushi, and the Bloody Sunday DDT and Styles clash of A.J. Styles.  He also kicked out of all of Goto’s finishers except the GTR,  which he blocked twice.  What also made this match was the crowd.  The crowd cheered both men throughout, switching back-and-forth at different times.

Omega said a lot of people said the Bullet Club is over and Bullet Club should disband.  The Bullet Club is never over, it’s for life.  Without the Elite, wrestling is boring and it sucks.  Days like this, like today they happen once a lifetime, don’t be afraid to dream, don’t be afraid to reach for the stars.  But when you’re about to reach for that and get it, someone like me is going to swoop in and take it away because I’m more talented, have more drive, more determination I’m not like any one of you but I wrestle for you.  He then said Hi to all the wrestlers in Orlando who are watching saying you can use his matches in G-1 as a study lesson.  He then Challenged Okada.  Omega said “I’ve never beaten you because I’ve never wrestled you,” and said him facing Okada is the likely scenario.  He stared talking Japanese and they popped.  Whatever he said got the fans laughing.  He got over big on his pomo.  Loud “Kenny” chants when this was over. 

Omega is doing a press conference now and said The Bullet Club, said DDT betrayed me and threw me to the dogs.  Was real sarcastic about the fans cheering you, as soon as they love you, they’ll discard you, said all the fans are weraing LIJ shirts, but that Bullet Club is still bigger worldwide.  Said Japanese wrestlers have the biggest heart, they never want to give up, but I’m two times more talented than any wresler in this locker room, the Japanese will die rather than quit.  I won’t die, I just want the money and the women.  Today was the first time I fought Goto and I was a little lucky because in the last match Goto wrestled Marufuji, he threw knees but my knees are better but a barrage of knees and One Winged Angel said Goto was loopy.  Said wrestling nearly an hour was tough but I’m talking an H-bomb and going to sleep on the flight.   That H-bomb line isn’t going to go over well with a lot of people.  There was also a tease of something with Kota Ibushi because when he was asked about using the Phoenix splash, he refused to answer the question.

For match quality, the last three days were easily the best last three days in recent memory.  It almost reminded me of 1991 with the same situation with the surprise guys winning and new stars being made. 

Now they are replaying Omega vs. Goto except in Japanese.

Revolution Pro Wrestling live results: Vader vs. Will Ospreay

Posted on by F4W Staff

Submitted by Joe Lemon from York Hall

– Jay White defeated Josh Bodom

Bosom’s been given a prominent spot in Rev Pro this past year, especially after his big win over Chris Hero at the June show. These guys really clicked in this opening match. Everything Jay White delivered was crisp and he sold well for Bodom. White really got over with the York Hall crowd as he picked up the victory with the Liontamer. 

– Sha Samuels defeated Big Damo

Samuels played a cowardly sneaky heel, while Damo just looked pissed off throughout the entire match. Samuels won after applying a chokehold with a scarf, making Damo pass out. Fun match.

– Chris Hero defeated Marty Scurll 

This was awesome. From a work standpoint it was easily the match of the night. Scurll got a huge reaction from the York Hall crowd. It was a split crowd throughout the match. It started slow with both guys exchanging holds, but it built upon the early work and the intensity increased the longer the match went.

The approach here with both guys outsmarting one another’s signature spots really clicked. Hero used Scurll’s “just kidding” superkick spot, instead delivering an elbow smash. Scurll then followed up by using one of Hero’s signature piledrivers.

Plenty of great near falls in this one, culminating with Hero putting Scurll away with a huge piledriver from the top rope. Both men got a great ovation at the conclusion of the match. 

– Ricochet defeated Pete Dunne

This match came alive whenever Ricochet was on offense, but it was a little subdued at times. Dunne used lots of rest holds and constantly looked to ground Ricochet. This worked since Ricochet’s offense really got over whenever he changed the pace of the match.

The ending saw Ricochet pick up the win with the Benadryler. Following the match, both guys shook hands, but once Ricochet turned his back, Dunne beat him down. This played into the Vader vs. Ospreay match later in the show. 

– Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Jeff Cobb 

This was a really strange match. The approach here worked at points with Sabre looking to use his wrestling to outsmart Cobb. When on offense, Cobb was using lots of power moves that really got over with the crowd. As the match went on, Sabre seemed to receive more boos from the crowd as the cheers for Cobb increased big time.

The conclusion of the match was a little confusing. Sabre delivered a number of Penalty Kicks to Cobb, with Cobb managing to get back to his knees after each. The kicks didn’t seem to receive much reaction from the crowd with no one really sensing the end was on the horizon.

Sabre got the win, but Cobb got a shoulder up just after the referee had counted the pin. The crowd did not like the ending at all. Upon leaving the ring, Sabre received a chorus of boos. He looked very confused but played it up by interacting in a heelish manner with members of the crowd.

As he was leaving, Scurll ran up behind Sabre and the crowd sensed a beatdown. But Scurll held Sabre’s arm in the air as the boos increased. Cobb then received a standing ovation while the crowd chanted for him to come back. Promoter Andy Quildan then confirmed Cobb appearing at the Rev Pro show over Mania weekend.

– Vader defeated Will Ospreay

Incredible heat for the match. Vader had nuclear heat during his entrance and played it up big time. Ospreay was over huge as a babyface here. Vader took it to Ospreay before the bell had rung and even took out referee Chris Roberts.

Both guys fought up the ramp, leading to security getting involved. It was being booked as if Vader was shooting on the officials and the crowd really bought into it. Vader chokeslammed Ospreay through the announce table. Ospreay sold this for a long time, but as security restrained Vader, Ospreay did a dive from the ramp on top of Vader and the security team.

Crowd was molten by this point, and as it looked like Ospreay was about to pick up the win, Pete Dunne interfered. He took out Ospreay and shook hands with Vader. This led to Ricochet interfering, first taking out Dunne, and then double-teaming Vader with Ospreay. This played into how the Vader/Ospreay feud originally began after Vader’s Twitter comments criticizing Ospreay vs. Ricochet at NJPW’s Best of the Super Juniors.

Vader kicked out of both guys maneuvers to the surprise of the crowd. Dunne then got involved again. Vader followed by chokeslamming Ospreay twice and scoring the win. 

The crowd was shocked at the ending. Ospreay cut a promo, referring to it as a “pipe bomb” as he sat in the middle of the ring. Ospreay cut a great promo, seeming genuinely pissed off about doing the job. He cryptically implied that Vader refused to lose the match as he spoke about egos in wrestling. 

NJPW G1 Climax 26 results: Kenny Omega vs. Tetsuya Naito; Block B winner determined

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Tonight is the second of three Sumo Hall events for New Japan as we will see the winner of the B block emerge, setting the stage for the finals Sunday morning where we’ll see the twenty sixth G1 Climax winner be crowned.

With Hirooki Goto securing the A block after a tie between Kazuchika Okada and Hiroshi Tanahashi eliminated them, anything can happen in tonights show, with Omega, Elgin, Shibata, and Naito still in play.

– Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Manabu Nakanishi, Jushin Liger, & Tiger Mask defeated Yoshitatsu, Captain New Japan, Ryusuke Taguchi, & David Finlay after Tenzan pinned Captain New Japan with a moonsault.

– Tomohiro Ishii & Naomichi Marufuji defeated Togi Makabe & Juice Robinson when Marufuji pinned Robinson with the sliced bread. Makabe and Ishii had to be pulled apart after their match because we need match number 3,235 in this never ending feud.

– SANADA, BUSHI, & ROH Champion Jay Lethal defeated KUSHIDA, Satoshi Kojima, & Hiroshi Tanahashi when BUSHI pinned KUSHIDA with a codebreaker following a Lethal Injection from Lethal. That likely sets up a future title program down the line.

– Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga, Tanga Roa, Yujiro Takahashi, & Hangman Page defeated Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto, Gedo, & Mark & Jay Briscoe when Yujiro pinned Gedo with the pimp juice DDT. The focus here was on the tag team title match tomorrow even though Goto is in the main event.

Tomoaki Honma defeated Yuji Nagata

They were stiff and the crowd was into it, though it felt a wee bit short. Honma went for the kokeshi early, dominating Nagata but he rolled out of the way. Nagata was in control from here, but Honma started to no sell and laid him out with his own lariat. Good back and forth match from this point. He blocked Nagata with a torpedo kokeshi then actually finished it with the top rope kokeshi for the win to wrap up a good match.

Toru Yano defeated YOSHI-HASHI

They had a short match, full of the usual Yano stuff. They had a straight match for about a minute before Yano started to revert to his tricks. He managed to undo two turnbuckles this time. He smacked YH with one, but YH was able to grab the other and laid out Yano. The last laugh was on YH however as Yano was able to low blow YH and scored the win with a flash cradle.

EVIL defeated Katsuyori Shibata

This was a good, really hard hitting match as EVIL played his role as the potential spoiler very well. EVIL smacked Shibata’s arm with a steel chair so hard the seat fell off. That’s probably not fun. There were some pretty unpleasant nosies in this match, including when Shibata did the corner dropkick.

EVIL struck the arm and laid out Shibata with a side suplex. Shibata, arm badly damaged, refused a ref stoppage mounted one last comeback but EVIL got in the STO and laid out Shibata for the win. That puts Shibata out of the tournament.

Katsuhiko Nakajima defeated Michael Elgin

This was a great match with a stupendous last few minutes. The announcers noted that Elgin has a pectoral injury as his shoulder and pec were all bandaged up. Of course, that meant Nakajima went after it with tough looking kicks. Elgin made a brief comeback, but Nakajima was in control until Elgin laid him out with two suplexes, later grabbing an unsuspecting Nakajima in mid-air and powerbombed him.

Nakajima fired back but Elgin hit the deadlift powerbomb/buckle bomb but Nakajima countered with a roll up. After some back and forth, Nakajima hit a brainbuster and pinned Elgin which puts him out of the tournament as well.

Kenny Omega defeated Tetsuya Naito

Amazing match and probably about on the same level as yesterday’s match but with crazier stuff. Omega is one of the flashiest, dynamic workers out there and proved it in this match. Naito matched up with him really well and worked just as hard has he did, leading to a fantastic match.

Naito did his pose on the mat early and Omega responded by spitting at him. Naito then spit back. Omega hopped down to the floor but messed up his leg in the match, allowing Naito to hone in and focus on Omega’s bum leg. Omega shoved Naito to the barricade hard and powerbombed him through a table, then hit a giant springboard senton through the barricade and table to the outside in a stupendous spot. Omega gave him a dragon suplex on the apron then another. Crazy series of back and forth moves, and this crowd is totally behind Naito.

Omega went for the One Winged Angel but Naito transitioned to an ankle lock. Omega escaped and tried to go for it again, but Naito countered with a reverse DDT. He followed that with a super reverse rana from the top rope. Naito went for the Destino but Omega reversed it into a reverse Omori driver. Omega tried for the One Winged Angel, but his knee gave out. With four minutes left, Omega hit the knee strike and after another failed attempt at the One Winged Angel, he finally nailed it and pinned Naito to advance to the finals.

Omega cut a promo after the match saying he felt changes from the crowd as the match went on, since they were totally into Naito but cheered Omega when he won the match. He heeled on the crowd, saying that only when the match ended, did they cheer for him. He mentioned that he only stayed here because he felt like Japan was his home, but what kind of home treats him like that? Well, they can cheer all they want for Goto tomorrow, because if he were a betting man, he would bet on Kenny Omega.

That officially makes it Hirooki Goto vs. Kenny Omega for the G1 Climax trophy tomorrow. Definitely check out the last two matches as both were tremendous.

Current standings:

Block A (FINAL RESULTS)

  • Hirooki Goto (12) – Advances to finals
  • Kazuchika Okada (10)
  • Naomichi Marufuji (10)
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi (10)
  • Bad Luck Fale (10)
  • Togi Makabe (8)
  • Tama Tonga (8)
  • Tomohiro Ishii (8)
  • SANADA (8)
  • Hiroyoshi Tenzan (4)

Block B (FINAL RESULTS)

  • Kenny Omega (12) – Advances to finals
  • Tetsuya Naito (12)
  • Katsuyori Shibata (10)
  • Michael Elgin (10)
  • Katsuhiko Nakajima (10)
  • Toru Yano (10)
  • EVIL (8)
  • Tomoaki Honma (8)
  • YOSHI-HASHI (6)
  • Yuji Nagata (6)

NJPW G1 Climax 26 night 17 results: Kazuchika Okada vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi

Posted on by Bryan Rose

We enter the winding down phase of the G1 tournament as the next two nights will see the winners of each block emerge, then fight for the trophy on the third and final night of the tournament on August 14th. All three shows, including tonight, are at Sumo Hall in Tokyo, Japan.

The Briscoes defeated Captain New Japan & Yoshitatsu when Mark pinned CNJ with the Froggy Bow.

Yuji Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi, Jushin Liger, & Tiger Mask defeated Tomoaki Honma, Ryusuke Taguchi, Juice Robinson, & David Finlay when Liger pinned Finlay with a cradle.

Katsuyori Shibata, Michael Elgin, Satoshi Kojima, & KUSHIDA defeated Toru Yano, YOSHI-HASHI, Katsuhiko Nakajima, & Atsushi Kotoge when Kojima pinned Kotoge with the lariat.

Kenny Omega, Tanga Roa, Yujiro Takahashi, & Hangman Page defeated Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, BUSHI, & Jay Lethal when Page pinned BUSHI with the Omori driver.

SANADA defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan

Really good match. The crowd was hot for all the near falls as they liked the Tenzan story. Fairly standard back and forth to start. Tenzan started to gain some momentum with the TTD but missed the moonsault.

The announcers were putting over that this may be the final time Tenzan will ever compete in a G1 match. Tenzan channeled Kojima and hit his lariat but SANADA kicked out. Tenzan followed with the Anaconda Vise, then followed with the Anaconda Buster but SANADA still kicked out.

SANADA blocked another TTD attempt and sunk in the Skull End but Tenzan made it to the ropes. SANADA hit his own moonsault but Tenzan kicked out, only for SANADA to follow up with the Skull End again. Tenzan struggled, but eventually submitted in what could be his final G1 match ever. 

Tomohiro Ishii defeated Togi Makabe

Good match. They feuded way too much last year so this came off like a retread to me, but they always have explosive matches and this was no different. They’ve had better, but this was still good.

All action as they hit hard and heavy for a lot of the match. Some big time, hard hitting shots. Makabe hit the Spider German but Ishii rolled out of the way of the knee drop. Ishii made a big comeback and got the win with the brainbuster.

Tama Tonga defeated Bad Luck Fale

Okay match but the logic was totally lacking. They did the ‘ol laying down bit with Tonga willing to do the job. They do this on occasion, usually when stablemates face one another, but these stakes are different since a Fale win here could make him the winner of the block.

So Fale covers and tells the ref to count. Red Shoes is reluctant, but eventually does, only for Tonga to kick out and sneak in a roll-up for a two count. Fale tries again, but Tonga kicks out again. Why would it matter if Tonga wins here since that just makes them both losers in the overall scheme of things? 

So they have their match. Fale works on him a while after giving him a Bad Luck Fall to the outside, with the other Bullet Club members catching him. Tonga plays babyface and makes a comeback. Tonga tries the Gun Stun a few times but Fale is able to block it. Tonga eventually got it, eliminating Fale from the tournament. 

So Fale, who was just eliminated from the tournament because Tonga screwed him over by backing out of the deal they made, was completely cool with this after the match and they did the too sweet sign. How forgiving of him.

Hirooki Goto defeated Naomichi Marufuji

Good match, the last few minutes were pretty great. Solid start as both brawled outside the ring and exchanged some solid back and forth. Marufuji wiped out Goto with a nice looking tope. Marufuji tried the Sliced Bread but Goto kept blocking it and made a comeback.

Goto hit the knee neckbreaker and went for the GTR but Marufuji countered with some great looking kicks. Marufuji was just climbing to the middle rope for the Sliced Bread when Goto put him in the rear naked choke. Marufuji rolled along the floor to try and escape, but he couldn’t do it and Goto finished him with the GTR. 

At this point, Goto can win if there is a draw in the main event. Otherwise, whoever wins this next match goes to the finals.

Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kazuchika Okada went to a time limit draw

This is an interesting match to judge because a lot of it was built on the drama of there potentially being a draw. Watching this live, it was a completely awesome match, I don’t think on par with the match from WrestleKingdom this year but it’s a stellar match among their many matches over the years.

How it will be judged now that everyone knows the result, well, I don’t know, but this was absolutely a fantastic match live, about neck and neck with the Okada vs. Ishii match from last week.

They had their usual back and forth but things picked up quickly as Okada went for the elbow and tried the Rainmaker but Tanahashi countered with a cradle. Turned into a more deliberate match with Okada taking it slow and working over Tanahashi, while Tanahashi worked on Okada’s legs a few times.

Okada did the big dropkick that sent Tanahashi tumbling shoulder first down to the floor. Tanahashi hit back with a High Fly Flow to the floor but Okada fired back with a tombstone. 

Tanahashi pushed Okada to the floor as they were battling on the top rope, but missed the High Fly Flow attempt after. Tanahashi comes back and works on the leg, giving two dragon screws then applying the cloverleaf. Okada fought valiantly and made it to the ropes.

Tanahashi hit a reverse sling blade then hit a High Fly Flow, and went for another but Okada got the knees up. Okada tried the tombstone but Tanahashi reversed it and nailed him. He went for the High Fly Flow but Okada nailed him with the dropkick.

Tanahashi hit him back and hit two High Fly Flows. Okada kicked out at three and that right there was when the bell rang, ending the match as a draw. 

Since neither get the two points needed to advance, and with Hirooki Goto at 12 points, Goto is the winner of the A Block.

Tomorrow’s show will determine the B Block winner.

Current standings:

Block A (FINAL RESULTS)

  • Hirooki Goto (12) – Advances to finals
  • Kazuchika Okada (10)
  • Naomichi Marufuji (10)
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi (10)
  • Bad Luck Fale (10)
  • Togi Makabe (8)
  • Tama Tonga (8)
  • Tomohiro Ishii (8)
  • SANADA (8)
  • Hiroyoshi Tenzan (4)

Block B

  • Tetsuya Naito (12)
  • Kenny Omega (10)
  • Katsuyori Shibata (10)
  • Michael Elgin (10)
  • Katsuhiko Nakajima (8)
  • Toru Yano (8)
  • YOSHI-HASHI (6)
  • Yuji Nagata (6)
  • EVIL (6)
  • Tomoaki Honma (4)

Daily Update: Hogan turns 63, Larry Matysik interview, Olympic struggles

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Happy Birthday Hulkster

Today is Hulk Hogan’s 63rd birthday. In a trivia note, the first recorded Hulk Hogan match took place August 9, 1977 in Fort Pierce, FL where Terry Bollea, under the mask as Super Destroyer, was a sub for Wolfman John Smith and lost to Don Serrano, who was like half his size. The main event on that show was Jack Brisco vs. Pat Patterson and Jerry Brisco wrestled Buddy Roberts. That was the B show that night, as the A show was at the Armory in Tampa with Dusty Rhodes & Rocky Johnson vs. Ivan Koloff & Ernie Ladd, Superstar Billy Graham vs. Steve Keirn for the WWWF title, Pedro Morales vs. Tank Patton, Don Muraco vs. Dutch Mantel and Mike Graham vs. Mike York.

We’re looking for reports on the NXT show tonight in Tampa, the TNA tapings tonight in Orlando (stuff that isn’t on Impact tonight), and the WWE show tomorrow in Adelaide, Australia to [email protected].

This weekend we’ll be doing polls for all three New Japan shows at Sumo Hall, with thumbs up, down or middle, best and worst match to [email protected].

TNA IMPACT TONIGHT AT 8 P.M. ON POP TV

  • Bobby Lashley vs. James Storm for TNA, X Division and King of the Mountain titles
  • Eddie Edwards & Ethan Carter III vs. Moose & Mike Bennett
  • Debut of Aaron Stevens (Damian Sandow)

FRIDAY MORNING AT 5:30 A.M. FROM SUMO HALL ON NEW JAPAN WORLD (THIS SHOW IS AVAILABLE IN ENGLISH)

  • Yoshitatsu & Captain New Japan vs. Mark & Jay Briscoe
  • Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi & Jushin Liger & Tiger Mask vs. Tomoaki Honma & Ryusuke Taguchi & Juice Robinson & David Finlay
  • Katsuyori Shibata & Michael Elgin & Satoshi Kojima & Kushida vs. Toru Yano & Yoshi-Hashi & Katsuhiko Nakajima & Atsushi Kotoge
  • Tetsuya Naito & Evil & Bushi & Jay Lethal vs. Kenny Omega & Tanga Roa & Yujiro Takahashi & Hangman Page
  • Seiya Sanada (3-5) vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan (2-6)
  • Tomohiro Ishii (3-5) vs. Togi Makabe (4-4)
  • Tama Tonga (3-5) vs. Bad Luck Fale (5-3)
  • Hirooki Goto (5-3) vs. Naomichi Marufuji (5-3)
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi (5-3) vs. Kazuchika Okada (5-3)

    The winner of the A block goes to the finals on Sunday. Essentially how this will be decided is whoever ends up with a 6-3 record by winning will be matched up based on win-loss record against those who also have that record.

  • If Fale wins, he probably goes to the finals based on wins over Marufuji, Tanahashi and Okada
  • If he doesn’t, if Goto wins, unless Tanahashi & Okada draw, he’s not advancing
  • If Marufuji wins, he goes to the finals if Tanahashi & Okada draw or if Okada wins
  • If Okada wins, Fale and Marufuji both have to lose for him to advance
  • If Tanahashi wins, as long as Fale doesn’t win, he will advance

THE ROUND-UP

Figure Four Weekly: Figure Four Weekly 8/10/2016: WWE attempts to get concussion lawsuit thrown out – Last week, WWE filed a motion for summary judgment to throw out the concussion lawsuit that Vito LoGrasso (Big Vito) and Evan Singleton (Adam Mercer) had brought against the company. In the process, they filed numerous exhibits as part of an appendix to the motion and its statement of facts, containing everything from the full transcripts… 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: August 15, 2016 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Gigantic Summerslam weekend preview, McGregor vs. WWE, tons more – 

WWE’s SummerSlam and UFC 202 anchor one of the biggest weekends for major shows of this or almost any other year. The four major events will be a Ring of Honor PPV featuring New Japan stars on 8/19, UFC 202 and NXT Takeover on 8/20, and SummerSlam and the finals of the Super J Cup on 8/21.

UFC 202 will be the biggest show as far as mainstream interest goes, since Conor McGregor is headlining against Nate Diaz. The show, from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, is far from the deepest when it comes to name value, but has the rematch of the biggest grossing PPV event in company history on top. Besides Diaz vs. McGregor, and a match who will determine who gets the next shot at light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier, with Anthony Rumble Johnson (21-5) facing Glover Teixeira (25-4), it’s very much an ordinary show… 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.

Wrestling Observer Newsletter BACK ISSUE: July 5, 1999 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: WWF King of the Ring review, NJPW names new president, more  – In its first PPV show since the ill-fated Over the Edge and the bevy of lawsuits filed since that time, there was some noticeable changes in the World Wrestling Federation for King of the Ring… Subscribers click here to continue reading.

THURSDAY NEWS UPDATE

We did a new show today talking with Larry Matysik about his upcoming book which will compare and contrast Sam Muchnick and Vince McMahon. The show should be up on the site today. 

Not including last night, the Olympics are averaging 29,880,000 viewers between NBC, NBC Sports, Streaming and other television. At the same point in 2012, through NBC only, the average was 35,140,000 viewers just on NBC alone. Even though most of the coverage in prime time has been live as compared to taped in 2012, in the 18-49 demo, the drop is 27 percent. Streaming alone is way up, but not even close enough to make up the difference in lost television viewership.  The London Olympics, where everything was on tape, was the highest rated for a non-U.S. Olympics. NBC’s ratings are about the same as they were in 2008. It’s more about how high London was on tape and that not mattering, than actual ratings being low. But going live hasn’t seemed to have made any kind of a positive difference.  

Kayla Harrison, 26, a former training partner of Ronda Rousey, who has talked about getting into MMA, captured the gold medal earlier today in Rio de Janeiro in judo in the 171 pound weight class. Harrison beat France’s Audrey Tcheumeo to win her second gold medal, after she also won in 2012. She joins only Jimmy Pedro (her current coach and Rousey’s former coach) as the only American two-time judo gold medal winners. Pedro won on 1996 and 2004.

A very good story on Drew Galloway and his plight in WWE and his own thoughts on his career is here.

Damien Sandow talks signing with TNA.

WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT

  • An interview with Big Cass is here and another here.
  • There will be a Raw on 10/3 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Tickets go on sale on 8/19.
  • An interesting business note regarding WWE and ESPN is that ESPN just purchased 33 percent of BAMTech for $1 billion. BAMTech is MLBAM, the group that streams the WWE network. (thanks to Jarrod Rollins)
  • A Dwayne Johnson project called “Clash of the Corps,” a marching band reality show produced by Johnson’s Seven Bucks Entertainment, debuts on 10/15 on Fuse TV. 
  • One person with WWE noted to us to please tell independent talent to either stay off social media or watch what they post. It was noted WWE is very actively scouting indies right now and looking for people who are good but not with the WWE look as the mentality is completely different from two years ago about what type of people they are interested in. It was noted that there have been people recently were shot down based on content of recent tweets.
  • The WWE says it has plans to introduce LGBTQ characters into their shows. More on that story here.
  • Alberto Del Rio and Paige are at the venue for the Combate Americas show today in Los Angeles at The Exchange. There is talk of Frank Shamrock doing something at the show as well.

Ultimate Fighting Championship / Mixed Martial Arts

  • Jon Jones accepted a plea deal for his drag racing charge from earlier this year. He was given a 90 day suspended sentence, ordered to complete an aggressive driving course and pay a $143 fine. The incident took place March 24th in Albuquerque, where he trains.
  • UFC and Talion Sports Entertainment Inc. and Stephane Patry have signed a deal where UFC has acquired the TKO MMA Fight Library and will also broadcast their upcoming shows on Fight Pass. The first show of the new deal will be 11/4 in Montreal at the Cite des Arts du Cirque. The tape library includes early career fights of Georges St-Pierre, Patrick Cote, Mark Hominick, Sam Stout, Steve Bosse, Urijah Faber, Rich Franklin and Sean Sherk.
  • The Combate Americas show tonight airing on UFC Fight Pass and the Fight Network, is previewed by Ace Fontaine of MMAdraws.blogspot.com.
  • If you’re just dying for some more MMA, there is also a BRACE show on UFC Fight Pass on Saturday as well as a ONE Championships iPPV.
  • Joe Warren (13-5) vs. Sirwan Kakai (12-4) at bantamweight and Derek Campos (16-6) vs. Djamil Chan (12-2) at lightweight have been added to the 9/16 Bellator show in Cedar Park, TX.

The complete “Bellator 160: Henderson vs. Pitbull” SPIKE TV Main Card which takes place on August 26 in Anaheim, CA at the Honda Center, and will air on SPIKE at 10 p.m. ET/9:

  • Lightweight No. 1 Contender Main Event: Benson Henderson (23-6) vs. Patricio “Pitbull” Freire (25-3)
  • Lightweight Co-Main Event: Saad Awad (19-7) vs. Derek Anderson (13-2)
  • Flyweight Feature Bout: Lena Ovchynnikova (11-4) vs. Jaimelene Nievera (4-1)
  • Featherweight Feature Bout: A.J. McKee (4-0) vs. Henry Corrales (12-3)

MISCELLANEOUS

  • An interview with Bob Holly discussing the class action concussion suit against WWE, a pretty revealing look at their Wellness Policy, the Holly Family Christmas skit that never happened, addressing the story that he “sandbagged” Brock Lesnar, getting passed over for the Battle of the Billionaires against Bobby Lashley, why he thinks Dolph Ziggler should be champion right now and more. The link is here.
  • Former ESPN producer Gus Ramsey joined the new Winter Palace Podcast to talk about helping create the Edge & Christian show for the WWE Network.
  • Former TNA X Division and Tag Team Champion Robbie E was the latest guest on the Pancakes and Powerslams Show. Robbie had much to say about his former manager, as well as his time as an extra for the WWE, and TNA career.
  • Stan Hansen talks about his experiences working with Hulk Hogan in Japan and on the No Holds Barred Movie as well as why he never joined WWE full time in the late 80’s in this clip.
  • Tully Blanchard gives his thoughts on Paul Roma and Sid’s WCW Horsemen memberships as well as his refusal to job to Terry Funk at the Slamboree PPV in the mid 90’s at this link.
  • Bruce Hart discusses a brutal Stampede Wrestling backstage fight involving Brian Pillman at this link.
  • Dave Meltzer talks about how legal situations effect certain wrestlers WWE Hall of Fame Status’s and not other as well as if he thinks Hulk Hogan will ever be back on good terms with the company here. (thanks to Anthony Ambros)
  • Jim Ross talks doing the show here.
  • Will Ospreay vs. Noam Dar vs. El Ligero on WCPW’s free Loaded TV show this past week. 
  • A movie called “The Fight Within” debuts tomorrow night in 28 markets. The synopsis of the movie is Logan Chandler (John Major Davis) is a rising star in MMA, but when his father, a former MMA star, dies while training him, he quits and loses touch with himself. He finds a romance and tries to start a new life. But he is tested when a local star who he beat wants revenge on him in an MMA match.
  • There was a scary incident on the 7/27 What Culture show in the main event with Doug Williams vs. Aaron Stevens (Sandow). Williams climbed to the top rope and then fell off, landing head first on the ground. Williams on Twitter said that due to a pinched nerve, it caused a loss of strength in his left leg and it just gave out on him while he was on the top rope. The injury is at the15:50 mark (thanks to Ian Hamilton)    
  • New England Championship Wrestling presents the 2016 Iron Maiden Championship tournament on Saturday night in Wakefield, MA at the Americal Civic Center. It starts with four singles matches with Nikki Valentine vs. Mistress Belmont, Alexxis Neveah vs. Solo Darling, Sonya Strong vs. MJ Jenkins and Vanity VikSin vs. Tequila Rose. The winners then square off in a 30 minute four-way match and whoever wins the most falls in 30 minutes will be declared the Iron Maiden champion.
  • With Sandow on Impact this week, he pulled out of his bookings in California on Friday and Saturday night. Tommy Dreamer takes his place on Friday night in Newark, CA at the Pavilion and Saturday in Modesto, CA at John Hudson Field. Bret Hart and Santino Marella are the headliners on both shows.
  • AAW on 8/19 in Merrionette Park, IL at 115 Bourbon Street has John Morrison vs. Sami Callihan, Eddie Kingston & Homicide vs. Mason & Devin Carter, Chris Hero vs. Shigehiro Irie, Team Tremendous vs. Andrew Everett & Trevor Lee plus AR Fox, Jack Evans, Moose, Kimber Lee, Kongo Kong and  Ricochet.  They also run 9/1 in Berwyn, IL with Pentagon Jr. vs. Tommaso Ciampa plus Tommy End, Drew Galloway, Zack Sabre Jr., Fenix, Cedric Alexander, Chris Hero, Sami Callihan, Michael Elgin, Silas Young and Colt Cabana.    
  • PWA on 8/20 in Bradford, ONT
  • Ringside with Jim Ross and Friends on 4/1 and 4/2 in conjunction with WrestleMania in Orlando has shows at Plaza Live in Orlando at 2 p.m. both days. Tickets go on sale on 8/22 at Noon at www.ticketfly.com. Seats start at $25.
  • Absolute Intense Wrestling on 8/26 in Cleveland at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel with Josh Prohibition vs. Nate Webb, Tommy End vs. Ray Rowe, Chris Hero vs. Louis Lyndon, Facade vs. Teddy Hart, Shigehiro Irie vs. Eddie Kingston, Alex Daniels vs. Triton vs. Matt Cross vs. Laredo Kid, Britt Baker vs. Crazy Marty Dobson and more.
  • ONE returns to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 9/2 at the Stadium Negara with Ev Ting vs. Rob Lisita in the main event. Ting is from Malaysia.
  • Conflicto Internacional on 9/10 at Teatro Teleton in Santiago, Chile is headlined by Sean Waltman.
  • Empire State Wrestling on 9/20 in North Tonawanda, NY at the St. Johnsberg fire Hall is headlined by Raven.
  • All Star Wrestling on 9/23 in Surrey, BC at the Cloverdale Fairgrounds Alice McKay Building featuring Short Sleeve Sampson in a TLC match.
  • Pro Wrestling Eclipse on 9/23 in Oshawa, ONT at the Mason Temple.
  • Amaro Promotions on 9/25 in Berwyn, IL ha a show with Pentagon Jr., Mosco X-Fly, El Hijo de Dos Caras, Extreme Tiger, Juventud Guerrera and Aero Boy.
  • WCPW announced a 10/6 iPPV show from Newcastle, England headlined by Kurt Angle vs. Cody Rhodes. Jim Ross, Jim Cornette and Alex Shane are being brought in as the announce team. They must have some money to get Cornette to fly to England.    
  • MPW on 10/22 in Cornwall, ONT at the Nav Centre Nav.
  • RESULTS: CMLL from Sunday in Guadalajara: Destructor b Micro, Alteno & Capitan Cobra b Mr Brisa & Diplomatico, Cosmos & Maagico & Metatron b Demonio Rojo & Gitano & Gran Kenut, Flash II & Star Black & Vaquero Jr. b Cuatrero & Forastero & Sanson, Carlo Roggi lost an elimination match and his a hair against Johnny Dinamo, Mr. Apolo, Evola, Exterminador, Randy, Yacqui and El Hijo del  Javier Cruz
  • RESULTS: CMLL from Monday in Puebla: Akuma & Espiritu Maligno & Inquisidor b Centella Roja & Millenium & Paris, Arkangel de la Muerte & Espanto Jr. & Policeman b Arkalis & Pegasso & Tigre Rojo Jr., Ares & Virus & Bobby Z b Black Tiger & Stigma & Titan, Atlantis & Mascara Dorada & Mistico b Cavernario & Felino & Mr. Niebla-DQ, Shocker & Sharly Rockstar b Marco Corleone & Ultimo Guerrero.  Shocker pinned Guerrero set up a match for Guerrero’s NWA Historic middleweight title (thanks to Kris Zellner)
  • RESULTS: Canadian Wrestling  Elite from last night in Roseau River, Manitoba: Kevy Chevy b Jeremy Joseph, Kevin Cannon &  Rob Stardom b Wildman Firpo & Shadow Xtreme, Danny Duggan b Rick Matthews, Mentallo b Travis Cole, Tyler Colton b Carlito.  Next show is 8/20 at the Arborg Summer Street Festival. 

TODAY IN PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING HISTORY (8/11):Masahiro Chono wins first G1 Climax

​

NXT & CWC video highlights: ‘Please sign Cedric’

Posted on by Joseph Currier

NXT Video Highlights —

Asuka and Bayley make their rematch official

NXT Women’s Champion Asuka met her TakeOver challenger in the ring when the Empress of Tomorrow and Bayley signed on the dotted line to make their rematch at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn II official.

Ember Moon is ready to TakeOver

Brooklyn will also see another notable match in the women’s division, as Ember Moon will compete in her first televised appearance inside of a WWE ring.

Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa shine

It was announced on last night’s edition of NXT television that Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa would officially challenge NXT Tag Team Champions The Revival for the belts in Brooklyn. And the team of Gargano and Ciampa looked impressive as they made quick work of Tucker Knight and Patrick Clark.

Get Hyped: Samoa Joe vs. Mojo Rawley

After last week’s attack, Mojo Rawley looked to get revenge on Samoa Joe. But it was the NXT Champion who came out on top, leading to a confrontation between him and TakeOver challenger Shinsuke Nakamura.

CWC Video Highlights —

Gran Metalik takes on Tajiri

The second round of the Cruiserweight Classic began last night, and the first match of the round saw Gran Metalik take on Tajiri.

It was Metalik who came out on top last night, but with Raw establishing a cruiserweight division, it seems likely this isn’t the last we’ve seen from Tajiri inside of a WWE ring.

Kota Ibushi and Cedric Alexander face off in an instant classic

In what may be the best match of the tournament, Kota Ibushi and Cedric Alexander battled in an instant classic.

It began with some mat wrestling, before incorporating some high flying, and ended in a strong style brawl. Ibushi was able to score the win, but an appreciative crowd made it clear that it was a star-marking performance for Alexander.

Cedric Alexander and Triple H share a special moment

As the show went off the air, the crowd thanked Alexander for his performance and passionately cheered for him to be signed. Triple H then came out to shake Alexander’s hand and bring him to the back, giving a thumbs up to the crowd in the process.

An emotional Cedric Alexander discusses what’s next

In the back, a visibly emotional Alexander said that despite losing, the match was a win for him. And he talked about what’s next for him in his career.

Kota Ibushi is interviewed after his win

Through a translator, Kota Ibushi was interviewed and praised Alexander’s performance.

Gran Metalik discusses his win

After defeating Tajiri, Gran Metalik was interviewed in Spanish by Andrea D’Marco and discussed what the win meant to him.

Daily Update: Ospreay to make ROH debut, GSP back in UFC, WWE CWC continues

Posted on by F4W Staff

Ospreay to make ROH debut

Huge news broke yesterday as Ring of Honor announced on the “ROH Update” that the “Aerial Assassin” Will Ospreay will make his ROH debut on the promotion’s “Reach For The Sky” tour in the UK this November.

There was speculation that Ospreay would be exclusive to EVOLVE in the United States after Paul Heyman presented Ospreay with an EVOLVE contract on behalf of Gabe Sapolsky during Heyman’s speaking series in the UK last month, but Dave Meltzer reported that nothing had been officially signed.

Ospreay is under contract with New Japan Pro Wrestling, and their relationship with ROH would seem to make them a natural fit for his US home, but whether Ospreay will compete stateside for ROH remains to be seen.

Meltzer reported in the August 8th edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Ospreay was still in talks with both EVOLVE and ROH.

Here are the venues that will host Ring of Honor’s “Reach For The Sky” tour events.

  • FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18TH, 2016: LIVERPOOL OLYMPIA, BELL TIME: 7:30PM GMT, CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS
  • SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 19TH, 2016: LEICESTER COMMUNITY SPORTS ARENA, BELL TIME: 7:00PM GMT, CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS
  • SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 20TH, 2016: SEYMOUR LEISURE CENTRE – LONDON, BELL TIME: 7:00PM GMT, CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

In 2016, Ospreay won the “Best of Super Juniors” Tournament, making him the youngest to ever win the annual New Japan Pro Wrestling competition. He has been in some instant classic match-ups including his match against Ricochet in the BOSJ tournament.

THE ROUND-UP

Figure Four Weekly: Figure Four Weekly 8/3/2016: Latest developments in wrestling related lawsuits – If it wasn’t clear before that the Hulk Hogan vs. Gawker lawsuit is a whole lot bigger than Hulk Hogan or even Gawker, the events of the last few weeks have made it more obvious than ever before. Of course, the revelation two months ago that billionaire Peter Thiel had been funding Hogan’s lawsuit (and others against Gawker) was a game changer, but the effects of Thiel’s influence weren’t as obvious… 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: August 8, 2016 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: WWE financial report, MMA rules change, UFC 201– There really wasn’t a lot of big news coming out of the second quarter WWE conference call.

Even though the idea of barely making a profit in the quarter of WrestleMania would have been disastrous most years, this year it was stated well in advance that due to the time frame of programming costs, this quarter would probably break even.

WWE pushed that it was the most revenue ever generated in a quarter, but with the fallout of WrestleMania and the new free subscribers from the prior quarter, that was inevitable. Some of them stayed with the service, some may have forgotten to cancel the service, and there are also the contractual increases in television revenue. Plus there was the Mania event revenue… 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.

Wrestling Observer Newsletter BACK ISSUE: July 5, 1999 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: WWF King of the Ring review, NJPW names new president, more  – In its first PPV show since the ill-fated Over the Edge and the bevy of lawsuits filed since that time, there was some noticeable changes in the World Wrestling Federation for King of the Ring… Subscribers click here to continue reading.

WEDNESDAY NEWS UPDATE

Georges St. Pierre, in an interview with Ram Gilboa for Bloody Elbow, claims that he is starting the USADA process to return to fighting. He will begin being drug tested as of today in Las Vegas. He also talked about potential opponents, including Michael Bisping and Nick Diaz.

Newsweek has published an interview today with Pat Patterson tying into the release of his autobiography Accepted. In the interview he speaks about being gay in pro wrestling, Vince McMahon possibly retiring and his thoughts on Roman Reigns’ suspension. Read the interview here. There is also an excerpt from the book here.

As was announced, When ROH returns to the United Kingdom for the first time in nearly 10 years, it will feature the ROH Debut of Will Ospreay, one of the most sought after professional wrestlers in the game today. Kevin Kelly originally broke the news as part of the 8/9/16 ROH Update.

Ring of Honor Returns to LIVE Pay Per View Friday, August 19th at 9pm Eastern / 6pm Pacific with DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR. Here is a sneak peek of the PPV opening video.

WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT

PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING

  • Ric Flair appeared at the Atlanta Falcons training camp on Tuesday. At the NFL training camp, Flair hyped up the players and cut promos. He cut one promo putting over wide receiver Julio Jones. In another video, Fl redid one his classic promos surrounded by the whole team. ESPN also picked up the story.
  • Related to Flair appearing at the Falcons training camp, one columnist bemoans Flair having allegiances to many different football teams in an article from NFL.com headlined “Ric Flair needs to pick an NFL team and stick with it.” 
  • #WatchROH TV this weekend featuring ROH World Champion Jay Lethal & Adam Cole making their match at #DBD official plus tag team action featuring the Young Bucks, Addiction & RPG Vice!
  • RING OF HONOR: DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR XIV PAY-PER-VIEW: Friday, Aug. 19th, 2016, 6:00pm PDT, Sam’s Town Live at 5111 Boulder Highway – Las Vegas, NV 89122. Tickets on sale now featuring these matches: ROH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP: ADAM COLE vs JAY LETHAL (c), ROH WORLD TELEVISION CHAMPIONSHIP: MARK BRISCOE vs BOBBY FISH (c), TRIPLE THREAT – ROH WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP: TETSUYA NAITO & EVIL vs MICHAEL ELGIN & HIROSHI TANAHASHI vs THE ADDICTION (CHRISTOPHER DANIELS & FRANKIE KAZARIAN) (c), NON TITLE IWGP Heavyweight Champion “RAINMAKER” KAZUCHIKA OKADA vs DALTON CASTLE W/ THE BOYS, and much more.
  • RING OF HONOR: NATIONAL TV TAPING: Saturday, Aug. 20th, 2016, 6:00pm PDT, Sam’s Town Live at 5111 Boulder Highway – Las Vegas, NV 89122. Tickets on sale now featuring these matches: ROH World TV Championship: Shibata will face the winner of the 8/19 Mark Briscoe vs Bobby Fish match, Tag Team Match: IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions The Briscoes vs. Lio Rush & Jay White, Six Man Tag Team Match: Chaos (Roppongi Vice & Toru Yano) vs. ROH World Tag Team Champions The Addiction & Kamaitachi

UFC / MMA

  • Aisling Daly is out of her fight with Michelle Waterson at the UFC show on September 3rd in Hamburg. No replacement has been announced as of yet.
  • Ning Guangyou, the winner of TUF China, test positive for a banned substance in an out of competition test prior to his upcoming fight with Marlon. He will not be suspended, however, as the substance he tested for is commonly found in meat in his home country. The test took place on May 19 and the UFC was informed in July, which is why that fight was moved from the originally scheduled UFC 202 card to the UFC on FOX card one week later.
  • A flyweight fight between Brad Pickett (25-11) and Iuri Alcantara (33-7) has been added to the UFC show in Hamburg on September 3rd.

VARIETY

  • Our own Mike Sempervive has coverage from day four of judo at the Rio Olympics.
  • TONIGHT: Canadian Wrestling’s Elite has a show tonight, August 10th at the Roseau River First Nation, MB, at GInew School Gym, with a 7 p.m. start. It’s free to residents of Roseau River First Nation, with an admission fee for everyone else. Here’s some of what’s on tap: Tyler Colton vs. Carlito; MENTALLO vs. Travis Cole; Danny Duggan vs. Rick Matthews; Mike Mission & Wildman Firpo vs. The Cannon Clan (Kevin Cannon & Rob Stardom); Kevy Chevy vs. Jeremy Joseph.
  • RESULTS: XICW Detroit “ATTACK AT THE YACK” results from last Saturday @ The Yack Arena in Wyandotte, Michigan: Caleb Stills b Jay Maynard, Amazing N8 b El Ridiculoso, Light Heavyweight Champion Willie Watts b Dickie Bronson, Dr. Repcia b Movado, Joe Coleman defeated Idris Abraham & Mark Gjoka in a handicap match, Gavin Quinn b Orlando Christopher, Oi4k (Dave Christ & Zachary Wentz) b DBA & Malcolm Monroe III in a steel cage match to win the Tag Team Titles, Dominique Fabiano NC Joseline, Jeff Brooks & Jaimy Coxxx & Dominique Fabiano b The Scarboni’s & Joseline, Jake Something b Zach Gowen in 9:54 to win the Xtreme Intense Title, Matt Cross b Midwest Champion Hakim Zane by DQ and Rhino defeated Sabu.
  • RESULTS: XICW Detroit “Motor City Rumble Royale” from Sunday @ The Imperial House in Clinton Twp., Michigan: Rhino b Gavin Quinn, Oi4k (Kyle Maverick & Aaron Williams) b Xavier Walker & Palmer Cruise, Zach Gowen b Xtreme Intense Champion Jake Something by DQ, Midwest Champion Hakim Zane b Matt Cross, Tag Team Champions Oi4k (Dave Christ & Zachary Wentz) b DBA & Malcolm Monroe III in a steel cage match and Gavin Quinn won the 30 man Motor City Rumble Royale, last eliminating Rhino.

SUMMER SLAM EVENTS CALENDAR

AUGUST

  • 10 – Canadian Wrestling’s Elite; The Roseau River First Nation, MB, at GI new School Gym, with a 7 p.m. start. Free to residents of Roseau River First Nation. Tyler Colton vs. Carlito; MENTALLO vs. Travis Cole; Danny Duggan vs. Rick Matthews; Mike Mission & Wildman Firpo vs. The Cannon Clan (Kevin Cannon & Rob Stardom); Kevy Chevy vs. Jeremy Joseph.
  • 12 – Big West Wrestling: Bowl-A-Rama II; Lake City Bowling & Billiards, Kelowna, BC Bowl with the wrestlers at 5:30pm. Watch them battle each other at 7:30pm!
  • 12 – Revolution Pro; London, York Hall in Bethnal Green. Featuring Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Jeff Cobb
  • 13 – Combat Zone Wrestling: TV Taping; Tremont-Gacy, Strickland-Avalon. A free TV Taping at 2 pm and “The Boss is Back” on iPPV at 8 pm LIVE from the Flyers Skate Zone, 601 Laurel Oak RD in Voorhees, NJ! Tickets for iPPV.
  • 13 – Elite Canadian Championship Wrestling: Civil War; Russian Community Centre, 2114 W 4th Ave, Vancouver, BC
  • 13 – Viva La Lucha; San Diego, CA, Eastlake High School in Chula Vista. Fundraiser event in the 619 featuring Rey Mysterio, John Morrison, TJP, Nicho/Psychosis, Teddy Hart, Willie Mack, Vermin, Los Luchas and more. This show has been moved a few miles south from Montgomery High School to Eastlake High School in Chula Vista. The talent scheduled to appear has remained the same as is the start time at 7:30pm.
  • 13 – World Women’s Wrestling: 2016 Iron Maiden Championship; The American Civic Center, Wakefield, MA. Tickets.
  • 13 – wXw NOW: The End; Tommy End’s final show in Germany
  • 13 – NWA Mid South Wrestling; Dyresburg, TN at the Herb Welch Wrestle-Plex headlined by Matt Riviera vs. Jeremy Moore
  • 19 – ROH: DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR XIV PPV; 6:00pm PDT, Sam’s Town Live, 5111 Boulder Highway – Las Vegas, NV 89122. Tickets. ROH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP: ADAM COLE vs JAY LETHAL (c)
  • 19 – AAW; 115 Bourbon Street, 3359 w 115th Street Merrionette Park, IL, 8:00pm Bell Time, tickets.Trailer for our last show: United We Stand.
  • 19 – We Watch Wrestling: LIVE podcast recording; Copper Still 4485 Beverly Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90004
  • 19 – Superkick’d Pro Wrestling Rock Show: Blazed; The Great Hall, 1087 Queen Street West, Toronto, Ontario M6J 1H3
  • 19 – House of Glory Wrestling; Jamaica, NY, The Hardys, Drew Galloway, Ethan Carter III and Mickie James will appear.
  • 19 – Pure Wrestling Association: VIEX, Nanaimo, British Columbia
  • 20 – Empire State Wrestling; St. Johnsburg Fire Hall, located at 7165 Ward Road, North Tonawanda, NY featuring extreme wrestling icon Raven. Bell time is 6 p.m. Tickets here.
  • 20 – Border City Wrestling: Heatwave; Royal Canadian Legion Col. Paul Poisson Branch 261, 12326 Lanoue Street, Tecumseh, Ontario N8N 1N3. Our regular ticket outlets (P-Jays Variety, Helou’s Sports Cards, & Silver Tee Golf) – Border City Wrestling will be conducting a professional wrestling seminar before the BCW Heatwave show, with one of the greatest minds in the history of the wrestling business, Uncle Zeb Colter himself, Dutch Mantell! The seminar will start at Noon. The cost is $60.
  • 20 – Pure Wrestling Association: VIEX, Nanaimo, British Columbia
  • 20 – Pure Wrestling Association: Carrotfest, Bradford, Ontario; Featuring Brutus the Barber Beefcake. Free 11:30am event. Plus, 2015’s Carrot Cup will be airing in Cambridge, Kitchener, Waterloo, Brantford, Guelph and Stratford on Rogers TV 20 on August 19th at 9pm.
  • 20 – ROH: National TV Taping; 6:00pm PDT, Sam’s Town Live, 5111 Boulder Highway, Las Vegas, NV 89122. Tickets. ROH World TV Championship: Shibata will face the winner of the Mark Briscoe vs Bobby Fish match from Death Before Dishonor.
  • 20 – Fighting Back 6: Wrestling with Cancer; Vanier Columbus Club, 260 McArthur Ave, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
  • 20 – Reality of Wrestling: Summer of Champions 3; Featuring Kurt Angle, from the World Gym Arena in Texas City, TX. The event is preceded by a VIP Meet and Greet session to feature WWE Hall of Famer Booker T, Kurt Angle and Queen Sharmell. Tickets. Proceeds will be going to the Booker T Fights For Kids Foundation.
  • 20 – Best In The West; Fresno, CA, VFW Hall #8900, located at 3585 N Blythe, Featuring Jeff Cobb, Joey Ryan, and Mustufa Saed.
  • 20 – NXT: Takeover at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY. Samoa Joe vs Shinsuke Nakamura; Asuka vs Bailey; Revival vs Ciampa and Gargano
  • 20 – UFC 202 – DIAZ vs. MCGREGOR 2, from Las Vegas, NV
  • 21 – WWE: SUMMERSLAM; The Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. It will be the twenty-ninth event under the SummerSlam chronology and the second consecutive SummerSlam to be hosted in the Barclays Center.
  • 21 – Pure Wrestling Association: VIEX, Nanaimo, British Columbia
  • 21 – NWX: Live Pro Wrestling at the CWF Wrestling School on 20 Hartzel Rd in St Catharines
  • 21 – SMASH Wrestling: Super Showdown IV; Pickering, Ontario, Pickering Recreation Complex, 1867 Valley Farm Road, Pickering, Ontario L1V 3Y7. Tickets
  • 21 – Octagon & Tinieblas Jr. vs. Fuerza Guerrera & Pirata Morgan headlines in Houston at the Arena Theater.  
  • 26 – We Watch Wrestling: LIVE podcast recording; The Wythe Hotel 80 Wythe Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11249. Tickets.
  • 26 – All Star Wrestling; Cloverdale, BC at the Cloverdale Fairgrounds Alice McKay Building, it’s the semifinals and finals of the All Star Wrestling Tag Team Tournament.
  • 26 – Absolute Intense Wrestling; Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, 1355 W. 70th St. Cleveland, OH
  • 26 – Conflict Wrestling: Black or White
  • 26 – Bellator 160; The Pond in Anaheim, live on Spike TV, Benson Henderson vs Patricio Pitbull Freire
  • 27 – ROH: Field of Honor; Brooklyn, NY, MCU Park, ROH World Championship 4 Corner Survival: ROH World Champion: Jay Lethal vs. Adam Cole vs. Tetsuya naito vs. Hiroshi. Tickets.
  • 27 – Battlearts: Summer Heat; 4880 Tomken Road, Mississauga, Ontario L4W 1J8
  • 27 – LuchaTO at the Benelife Wellness Centre, 68 Tycos Drive, Toronto, Ontario, M6B 1V9
  • 27 –UFC FIGHT NIGHT: Maia vs. Condit; Vancouver, BC.
  • 28 – Steel City Pro Wrestling: End Game; 222 Queenston Rd, Hamilton, ON L8K 1G6, Canada
  • 28 – Destiny wrestling: Summer Heat; Battlearts Wrestling Academy. Featuring MOOSE!

SEPTEMBER

  • 1 – AAW; Berwyn Eagles Club, 6309 W 26th St Berwyn, IL, 7:30pm Bell Time
  • 2 – MOONSHINE BRANDED WRESTLING: Italo-Canadian Hall, 1101 DiPietro Street, Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada, Doors Open @ 6:00p Bell Rings @ 7:00pm, Tickets : $10 CDN or $5 USD
  • 3 – UFC Fight Night: Arlovski vs. Barnett; Hamburg, Germany
  • 6 – SMASH-WRESTLING, Oshawa Music Hall, 39 King St E, Oshawa, Ontario L1H 1B2. Tickets Available.
  • 10 – Pure Wrestling Association: COWEX – Duncan, British Columbia
  • 10 – New England Fights 25: HEROES & VILLAINS; Lewiston, MA. Tickets.
  • 10 – Barrie Wrestling: Back to School 3; 49 Ferris Lane, Barrie, Ontario, Canada
  • 10 – UFC 203: Miocic vs. Overeem; Cleveland, Ohio

TODAY IN PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING HISTORY (8/10):Vader wins IWGP Title; Hogan wins WCW Title from Giant

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WWE SmackDown video highlights: Ambrose & Ziggler team against Wyatt & Rowan

Posted on by Joseph Currier

WWE SmackDown Video Highlights —

A miscommunication between challenger and champion opens SmackDown

Last night’s edition of SmackDown opened with a Bray Wyatt promo after last week’s loss against Dolph Ziggler. WWE Champion Dean Ambrose interrupted Wyatt after being mentioned, and he was later joined by his SummerSlam challenger when Dolph Ziggler made his way out.

Ziggler rushed the ring to take on Wyatt and Erick Rowan, with Ambrose eventually joining in. Ziggler tried to take out Wyatt with a superkick, but accidentally hit the WWE Champion. Wyatt then laid Ziggler out with Sister Abigail.

Ambrose wasn’t convinced that Ziggler’s superkick was an accident. SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan later announced that the two would team together against Wyatt and Rowan in the show’s main event.

American Alpha look impressive again

After a successful debut against The Vaudevillains last week, American Alpha stayed on the winning track against a team of two enhancement talents. The segment concluded with a brawl between SmackDown’s tag division, with American Alpha coming out on top of that as well.

A look at Apollo Crews

A video on Apollo Crews aired ahead of him challenging for The Miz’s Intercontinental Championship at SummerSlam.

Eva Marie avoids competition again

Eva Marie was able to avoid “injury” this week, but she has still yet to make her post-draft SmackDown debut after suffering a “wardrobe malfunction” last night.

Alexa Bliss picks up an upset win in her debut

Alexa Bliss picked up an unexpected win in her SmackDown debut over the brand’s first women’s division draft pick after Eva Marie distracted Becky Lynch.

Randy Orton vs. Alberto Del Rio

It was Randy Orton vs. Alberto Del Rio as Orton prepares to face Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam. Orton won the contest by disqualification after Del Rio hit him with a chair, but Orton came out on top after hitting Del Rio with an RKO to end the segment.

Scooby-Doo makes his second appearance of the week

Scooby-Doo made his second appearance of the week to promote Scooby-Doo! and WWE: Curse of the Speed Demon after appearing in a segment with Goldust and R-Truth on Monday’s Raw. This time, Scooby shared the screen with fellow film star The Miz.

Wrestling’s self-proclaimed hottest free agent vs. Rhyno

Heath Slater got his latest opportunity to earn a WWE contract against Rhyno. But wrestling’s self-proclaimed hottest free agent left the match still on the market after Rhyno picked up the win with the Gore after Slater tried to get an underhanded pin.

Heath Slater talks his way out of a SmackDown contract

Even though Slater lost, Bryan told Shane McMahon that Slater embodied SmackDown’s fighting spirit and intended to offer him a contract. But Slater talked his way out of the contract after berating the two authority figures.

Carmella makes her SmackDown in-ring debut

It was a successful night for former members of NXT’s women division. After Alexa Bliss was successful in her main roster debut earlier in the show, Carmella was also able to make a strong first impression by defeating Natalya via submission.

Despite both being absent on the show, a video recapping the feud between John Cena and AJ Styles aired

Last night’s SmackDown didn’t feature either a live appearance by John Cena or AJ Styles, but a video aired recapping their feud ahead of their match at SummerSlam.

Baron Corbin attacks Kalisto

Still blaming Kalisto for his loss last week, Baron Corbin attacked the former Lucha Dragon in the back.

Dean Ambrose & Dolph Ziggler vs. Bray Wyatt & Erick Rowan

Champion and challenger were able to briefly unite to defeat Wyatt and Rowan, but the unity was short-lived after Ambrose hit Dirty Deeds on Ziggler to end the show.

SmackDown Fallout: American Alpha talk SmackDown’s tag division

After standing tall over the SmackDown tag division earlier in the night, American Alpha did an interview talking about reigniting the division and being the team to beat.

SmackDown Fallout: A still unaware Heath Slater leaves the building

A still irate Slater left the building, unaware of the contract that Bryan intended to offer him.

SmackDown Fallout: Eva Marie vows to compete next week

Though she called the wardrobe malfunction she suffered every woman’s worst nightmare, Eva Marie vowed to compete next week.

NJPW G1 Climax 26 night 16 results: Tomoaki Honma vs. Michael Elgin

Posted on by Bryan Rose

This morning’s show takes place in Yamagata, and it will be the final G1 show before the last three shows that will take place at Sumo Hall. Just a reminder, those shows will have English commentary (Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino) for those interested.

Ryusuke Taguchi defeated David Finlay with the Dodon.

Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga, & Yujiro Takahashi defeated Satoshi Kojima, Manabu Nakanishi, & Juice Robinson when Tonga pinned Robinson with the Gun Stun.

BUSHI & SANADA defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Captain New Japan when SANADA submitted Captain New Japan with the Skull End.

Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto, Gedo, & Naomichi Marufuji defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi, Togi Makabe, KUSHIDA, Jushin Liger, & Tiger Mask when Goto pinned Liger with the GTR.

Kenny Omega defeated Katsuhiko Nakajima

This was a pretty good back and forth match. Omega seemed on tonight and looked great, doing a lot of the offense early. Omega went for the kick but Nakajima avoided him and tried for a German suplex.

Omega got to his feet, laid him out with the kick, and went for the One Winged Angel but Nakajima escaped.Nakajima eventually hit the Penalty Kick, but Omega came back out of nowhere with the reverse rana and hit the One Winged Angel for the win.

EVIL defeated Toru Yano

Not much of a match and pretty short. Yano did the exposed turnbuckle bit. He slingshotted EVIL into the exposed buckle but EVIL dodged and Yano ran into it. Didn’t last long as EVIL won clean with the STO.

Tetsuya Naito defeated YOSHI-HASHI

Another good match. YOSHI-HASHI’s matches get a lot of heat and this one was no different. This picked up a lot towards the end. Lots of cool back and forth counters. Naito went for the Destino but YH countered with a slam.

YH hit the senton for another near fall. YH took Naito to the ground and went for the butterfly lock. Naito escaped and hit a flurry of offense (though he botched a reverse DDT) then hit Destino for the win.

Katsuyori Shibata defeated Yuji Nagata

Solid stuff, but they’ve had way better matches in recent years. They brawled and exchanged shots. Nagata went after Shibata’s bum shoulder, doing the white eyes armbar. He tried the backdrop driver but Shibata blocked it. When Nagata went for a flurry, he shot back with a dropkick.

Nagata fired back with more shots but Shibata caught him in a sleeper. Surprisingly, Nagata was trapped and ended up passing out, giving the win to Shibata. Hey, cool finish, that puts the sleeper over as a possible match ending move down the line.

Michael Elgin defeated Tomoaki Honma

Awesome match, the crowd was totally into Honma and wanted him to win. Elgin looked the best he has on this tour so far, same with Honma and that equaled a great match. Honma missed his Kokeshi early. Elgin waffled Honma with a lariat but he rebounded and hit a Kokeshi on Elgin’s arm and made a comeback.

The crowd was totally into Honma; if he were to win, it would likely mean he’d get a title shot down the line. Honma came back with two more Kokeshis and a brainbuster, then tried for the big one but Elgin fired back.

Elgin gave Honma a Death Valley Driver on the apron and powerbombed him into the post, then followed with the deadlift Falcon Arrow slam for a near fall. Elgin hit a buckle bomb but Honma immediately bounced back and hit the Kokeshi. He hit the sit-out piledriver then tried the top rope Kokeshi but Elgin dodged.

Honma tried to fight back, but it didn’t work. Elgin hit the buckle bomb and the spiral bomb for the win.

Current Standings:

Block A

  • Kazuchika Okada (10)
  • Naomichi Marufuji (10)
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi (10)
  • Bad Luck Fale (10)
  • Hirooki Goto (10)
  • Togi Makabe (8)
  • Tama Tonga (6)
  • Tomohiro Ishii (6)
  • SANADA (6)
  • Hiroyoshi Tenzan (4)

Block B

  • Tetsuya Naito (12)
  • Kenny Omega (10)
  • Katsuyori Shibata (10)
  • Michael Elgin (10)
  • Katsuhiko Nakajima (8)
  • Toru Yano (8)
  • YOSHI-HASHI (6)
  • Yuji Nagata (6)
  • EVIL (6)
  • Tomoaki Honma (4)

WWE SmackDown live results: Ambrose & Ziggler continue the build to SummerSlam

Posted on by Steve Khan

The Big Takeaway —

Dean Ambrose laid out Dolph Ziggler to end SmackDown after the two of them defeated the Wyatt Family. This led to a big “Yes” chant, so perhaps the crowd isn’t buying Ziggler.

Alexa Bliss and Carmella officially had their debut matches and they both picked up wins.

AJ Styles and John Cena were not on the show, and Heath Slater is still without a contract.

Show Recap —

They opened with Randy Orton arriving backstage. Charly Caruso finally got her interview and asked how he’s staying focused on SummerSlam. Orton said he’s been hearing about the legend of Brock Lesnar for 15 years, but he’s the legend killer, and it only takes one RKO to get to Viperville.

Alberto Del Rio showed up said Viperville sounded like a place at Disneyland. Orton invited him there, but warned that it’s a bumpy ride. Del Rio accepted and said he’d break Orton’s arm.

Bray Wyatt and Erick Rowan entered the ring as the announcers recapped what happened last week. Bray claimed he did not fall to Dolph Ziggler last week – he was a victim. He reminded us that Ziggler used the exposed steel, because that was the only way he could win. Bray said he was a God and you can never kill a God.

He told Ziggler to ask Dean Ambrose about him and what he’s capable of and said SmackDown was his show. The Wyatts don’t have corporate masters, there’s no red, no blue – it’s Bray Wyatt versus the world. This brought out Ambrose.

Ambrose said this must be a new era, because Bray is claiming to be a victim who got screwed over. He called Bray a baby and said SmackDown Live belongs to the WWE world champion. Bray challenged him to get in the ring to knock him off his podium. Ambrose admitted to doing stupid things in the past and knew this was a bad idea, but it was still tempting.

Ambrose looked like he was considering getting in the ring, but Ziggler ran out, jumped in the ring and attacked the Wyatts on his own. They double teamed him briefly until Ambrose made the save. The Wyatts had him down for a moment, but Ambrose sent Rowan out of the ring.

Bray grabbed Ambrose for Sister Abigail and Ziggler went for a superkick, but Bray moved and Ziggler nailed Ambrose instead. Ziggler superkicked Rowan, but ate a Sister Abigail and the Wyatts left. (Rowan left on his feet after a superkick, while Ambrose–who also took a superkick–was still down).

Backstage, Ambrose confronted Ziggler, saying he didn’t need Ziggler’s help and didn’t think the superkick was an accident. Ziggler said he was just getting even on the Wyatts. They wanted to fight right now, but they were interrupted by Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon, who happened to be nearby. Bryan said they would have to team together against the Wyatts tonight, and if they can’t get along, they may not even make it to SummerSlam.

American Alpha defeated Mikey O’Shea & Mike Vega via pinfall

Jordan and Gable won in about a minute with Grand Amplitude. Before the match, Ascension, the Vaudevillains, and the Hype Bros came out to watch from ringside. Afterwards, all four teams got into a brawl, which ended with Jordan and Gable standing tall. This highlighted how weak the tag division is, to say the least.

Renee Young interviewed The Miz and Maryse backstage from the Desk. Renee wanted to cut to a video for Apollo Crews, but Miz wanted to kiss Maryse. They were about to kiss in Renee’s face but she cut to the video. When they came back to the Desk, Miz and Maryse were laying on the table, staring at each other. They eventually kissed and Renee sent it back to ringside.

Becky Lynch vs. Eva Marie

Ranallo, playing it straight, said it appears Eva has recovered from her injury. Before the match could start, the straps on Eva’s top popped off and she had to hold it up with her hands. A certain portion of the crowd cheered, but they covered her up with a towel and she ran off as the crowd booed. The referee called the match off due to wardrobe malfunction.

Charly Caruso interviewed Lynch in the ring. Lynch said she shows up for a fight every week and wasn’t leaving until she got one. This brought out Alexa Bliss. Bliss said she couldn’t think of a better debut than knocking off SmackDown’s top woman draft pick. Ranallo noted that today is Bliss’ birthday.

Alexa Bliss defeated Becky Lynch via pinfall

The match started during commercial. After the break, Bliss was in control as the crowd chanted for Becky. After a couple of minutes, Lynch made a comeback, including an Exploder. At this point, Eva’s entrance started and she came out, as her voiceover announced, “Eva Marie is now ready to compete.” The distraction allowed Bliss to knock down Lynch and hit Twisted Bliss for the win. 

After the match, Eva told Caruso that she felt bad for Lynch because her knee is 100%, and would be ready to compete next week.

They showed another great moment in WWE history and it was Lesnar breaking the Undertaker’s streak at WrestleMania 30. (I’m always grateful that my face isn’t one of the many they always show in this replay.)

Randy Orton defeated Alberto Del Rio via DQ 

JBL recalled being on SmackDown when both Orton and Lesnar debuted years ago. He mentioned fighting them both, but there’s nothing quite like the beast. The crowd chanted “RKO” as the match started.

Orton had full control before and during a break, but Del Rio hit a backstabber and launched Orton shoulder-first into the post to take control. Del Rio applied the arm bar in between the ropes, but Orton followed with a superplex while still selling his shoulder.

Orton hit a draping DDT and JBL quoted Michael Cole, calling it vintage. Ranallo reminded him that he’s on SmackDown now. Del Rio dodged an RKO and left the ring, so Orton knocked him over the barricade and cleared the announce table. Orton went after Del Rio, but Del Rio hit him with a chair for the DQ.

Del Rio hit Orton a couple of times with the chair and tossed him in the ring. Of course, as Del Rio entered the ring, Orton hit him with the RKO.

Backstage, Heath Slater approached Rhyno who was getting ready for his match. Basically, Slater wanted Rhyno to let him win, since Rhyno already has a contract. Slater has two kids and just bought a new swimming pool. Rhyno said he just won his primary in Michigan and had constituents to impress. Slater said his four kids were his constituents. Rhyno pointed out that Slater just said he had two kids, not four. Anyway, Rhyno declined to help.

They aired a segment from earlier today of Miz talking to Scooby-Doo. Scooby locked Miz in the Mystery Machine van, stole his keys, and decided to steal Miz’s Audi. They didn’t show Scooby stealing the car, though, because that would be impossible.

Rhyno defeated Heath Slater via pinfall

Slater tried to win using a schoolboy with his feet on the ropes, but the referee caught him. Rhyno hit a Gore for the win in about 3 minutes.

Backstage, Bray gave Rowan a… pep talk.

Bryan told Shane that Slater almost embodies SmackDown’s fighting spirit, even though he lost. Slater barged in, red hot that he hasn’t been signed (and mentioned having seven kids). He ranted for a while before leaving. Turns out, Bryan and Shane had a contract for him, but figured he can’t sign it now. Since the show is live, presumably one of Slater’s friends can text him and tell him to get back in there.

Carmella defeated Natalya via submission

Carmella cut another bad promo on her way to the ring. Natalya ran out to attack her, but Carmella saw it coming (as did we, since the camera was deliberately facing the stage) and cut her off. They got in the ring and the referee started the match.

Natalya dominated the match for about 4 minutes. However, she took too long to apply the Sharpshooter, and Carmella clumsily countered into the Code of Silence (headscissors) and Natalya tapped out. Ranallo put over the former NXT women having successful debuts.

Renee at the Desk talked about the feud between AJ Styles and John Cena and cut to a video package. Having Renee do this instead of the announcers is a nice touch.

They cut backstage to Baron Corbin beating up Kalisto as some people yelled at him to stop. Corbin blamed Kalisto for costing him the IC Title.

Dean Ambrose & Dolph Ziggler defeated Bray Wyatt & Erick Rowan via pinfall

They went to commercial one minute into the match. Wyatts had control of Ziggler after the break, but he was able to tag in Ambrose, who ran wild on Bray. He also gave Rowan a pescado, but ate a clothesline from Bray back in the ring.

Bray gave Ambrose a Uranage onto the edge of the ring apron, but back in the ring, Ambrose managed to hit a swinging neck breaker and tagged Ziggler. Ziggler hit Rowan with clotheslines, punches, an elbow drop and jumping DDT for two. Rowan followed with a spin kick for a near fall.

Ziggler came back with the Zig-Zag, but Bray broke up the cover. Ambrose knocked him out of the ring and went for a suicide dive, but caught the ropes and almost crashed hard. He caught just enough of Bray, who went down, but it looked bad.

Ziggler finished it off with a superkick on Rowan for the win. Ambrose jumped back in the ring and seemed to be on the same page as Ziggler, but he nailed Ziggler with the Dirty Deeds. This led to a big “Yes” chant from the crowd, which was funny. 

Final Thoughts —

I thought this show was fine, but it reminded me a bit of the pre-draft SmackDown. I mentioned last week that SmackDown is very top-heavy with talent, and with AJ Styles and John Cena missing from this show, you could feel the lack of depth.

They stretched out the main event stuff with Ambrose and Ziggler as much as they could. Ambrose and Ziggler started making their entrances for the main event at about 9:42, they went to commercial, then the Wyatts came out, the match went one minute before another commercial, and by the time they came back it was 9:53. So, they managed to go at least 10 minutes without much happening.

Outside of the main event, newer acts were able to shine, particularly on the women’s side. It’s going to take time to build up the newer talent, so hopefully they can stay on track.

WWE Raw video highlights: Lesnar & Orton sound off, Reigns plays wedding crasher

Posted on by Joseph Currier

WWE Raw Video Highlights —

Enzo & Big Cass verbally spar with Jeri-KO

Raw once again featured Enzo Amore in the opening segment after last week saw Amore and WWE Women’s Champion Sasha Banks take on Chris Jericho and Charlotte. This time, Amore had Big Cass along with him. Amore wasn’t happy that Jericho got in the way of his romantic advances towards Banks last week.

Jericho then came out, and he had found a partner in fellow Canadian Kevin Owens. After saying that he liked Cass in NXT, Owens said that is no longer the case after Cass brought his deadweight partner with him to Raw.

Jericho appeared to challenge Cass to a match, but then clarified it was only Amore that he was after.

Enzo vs. Jericho

After interference from both Owens and Cass, Jericho won by disqualification after eating a big boot from Cass. The seven-footer then challenged the Canadian duo to a tag team match at SummerSlam, and the challenge was accepted.

Braun Strowman vs. Jorel Nelson

Jorel Nelson was the latest enhancement talent to challenge Braun Strowman, but Nelson met the same fate as his jobber brethren had in previous weeks. 

The former Primetime Players collide

After last week saw Titus O’Neil get a win over his former Primetime Players partner, Darren Young returned the favor this week. Young picked up a win by holding onto O’Neil’s tights, just as O’Neil did to him last week, but Young’s life coach Bob Backlund didn’t notice the underhanded tactics.

Puff Daddy meets The New Day

An appearance by Puff Daddy was announced in advance of last night’s show, and it was revealed earlier on Monday that Diddy would be putting together the WWE 2K17 soundtrack. Diddy met Mick Foley and The New Day backstage, and Diddy enquired about Big E’s condition after last week’s injury angle.

Seth Rollins mocks Finn Balor

Seth Rollins mocked Finn Balor and his Demon King character ahead of their match for the WWE Universal Championship at SummerSlam. Rollins said that Finn Balor wasn’t even his opponen’ts real name and the character was just something Balor made up to convey an image.

Rollins said Balor was one of the most disrespectful human beings he’s ever encountered, and said Raw was his show and this was his ring. Rollins was offended that Balor claimed that the opportunity was handed to him, and said that he’s worked for everything he’s ever gotten.

He said he doesn’t have to surround himself with myths and legends, he knows who he is. He is the myth, he is the legend, he is the man.

Cesaro and Sheamus go at it again

Cesaro and Sheamus had a rematch of last week’s Raw encounter, and it was Cesaro who came out on top again. Sheamus got a shot in against Cesaro, but knocked down the referee in the process. The ref bump kept Sheamus from getting the win, and Cesaro capitalized with an advantageous pin.

Brock Lesnar & Randy Orton sound off

Though Monday’s edition of Raw didn’t feature appearances by Brock Lesnar, Paul Heyman, or Randy Orton after all three appeared on both Raw and SmackDown last week, a video package was aired that hyped their SummerSlam match.

Their history in Ohio Valley Wrestling was mentioned. Orton said he became close with Lesnar when they got called up around the same time, but it pissed him off that Lesnar decided to leave because he didn’t like people.

Brock said he knows who Orton is, but doesn’t have a relationship with Orton and doesn’t care about him. Lesnar said everything he has accomplished exceeds anything Orton could ever dream of. He became a mega-superstar and Orton became a star.

Orton called their match the biggest in SummerSlam history.

Neville finds a partner to take on The Dudley Boyz

A confrontation on the Raw pre-show between Neville and The Dudley Boyz had The Man That Gravity Forgot searching for a partner to take on the veteran team. He found a fellow high flyer in Sin Cara, who has seemed to find a replacement for Kalisto just weeks after the Lucha Dragons broke up.

Roman Reigns: Wedding Crasher

Following their actual wedding filmed for Total Divas, Rusev and Lana had their wedding celebration on Raw last night. But the party was short-lived as Roman Reigns played the role of wedding crasher. The Big Dog struck Rusev, which knocked him into his bride, and she fell face-first into a looming wedding cake. 

Rusev later demanded that Foley do something about the situation, and Foley officially booked Rusev vs. Reigns for the United States Championship at SummerSlam.

Sasha Banks takes on Dana Brooke with major SummerSlam implications

Earlier in the night, Banks suggested that her match with Charlotte should be a handicap match with how much Dana Brooke interferes in Charlotte’s matches. Mick Foley then set the stage for Banks vs. Brooke later on Raw. If Brooke won, it would become a handicap match at SummerSlam. But if The Boss won, Brooke would be banned from ringside.

Banks was able to earn the victory, and her rematch with Charlotte at SummerSlam remained a one-on-one encounter.

The mythology of Finn Balor

A pre-taped video saw Finn Balor answer Seth Rollins’ promo from earlier. Balor explained the mythology behind the Demon King character. He said they weren’t just myths, but were something he could use for strength. It was later announced that Rollins would call out Balor next week.

Kofi Kingston takes on Luke Gallows

It was announced earlier in the day that the Big E-less New Day would defend their tag titles against The Club at SummerSlam. Big E was still out of action and nowhere to be found on Raw after suffering a storyline groin injury after The Club’s attacks last week.

Kofi Kingston faced off against Luke Gallows ahead of the SummerSlam match, and with the help of Karl Anderson, Gallows was able to walk out the victor.

Anderson & Gallows MD

“Doctors” Anderson and Gallows mocked The New Day after last week’s attack, talking about the dangers of “ringpostitis.” They were amused at Big E’s groin injury and made several not particularly subtle references to the area.

The Golden Truth meets Scooby Doo

In advance of the upcoming Scooby-Doo! and WWE: Curse of the Speed Demon DVD release, Goldust and R-Truth met Scooby before Raw began.

Daniel Bryan comes to Raw

The most talked about thing in advance of Monday’s Raw was the invitation that Raw General Manager Mick Foley sent to his SmackDown counterpart Daniel Bryan. Foley wanted Bryan to come on the show to discuss the unscheduled cross-brand appearances made by Lesnar and Orton last week.

The general managers got into it over comments Bryan had made about the WWE Universal Championship on last week’s SmackDown post-show, and the segment led to Rusev coming out and saying that Raw doesn’t need another champion.

Rusev tried to get out of his SummerSlam match against Reigns by defending Foley. Cesaro then came out and said he deserved a championship opportunity. Bryan tried to fan the flames between Cesaro and Foley, and Foley made a United States title match between Cesaro and Rusev in the main event. 

Cesaro challenges Rusev for the United States title

Cesaro got his championship opportunity, but it wasn’t time for the Swiss Superman capture WWE gold quite yet. Sheamus interfered and cost Cesaro the match, likely setting up another match between the two at a later date. 

The SummerSlam match between Rusev and Reigns was also preserved with Rusev retaining his title, and Reigns ended the show by taking out his SummerSlam opponent with a spear.

Raw Fallout: Lana is out for revenge

Still covered in cake, Lana vowed to get revenge on Reigns for interrupting her and Rusev’s special moment.

Raw Fallout: Roman Reigns boards a private chopper

After the show, Reigns gets set to board a private chopper to LAX as the WWE roster readies for their tour of New Zealand and Australia this week.

WWE Raw live results: Mick Foley invites Daniel Bryan to Raw

Posted on by Josh Hamlin

The Big Takeaway —

Finn Balor’s alterego, “The Demon King,” will be unveiled next week. Roman Reigns interrupted Rusev and Lana’s celebration of love and fought Rusev. The segment ended with Lana’s face in a wedding cake. Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho will face Enzo and Cass at SummerSlam.

Those were the only major points from a show where much of the pre-show hyped turned out to be much ado about nothing. Mick Foley and Daniel Bryan’s meeting was basically Foley getting mad that Bryan derided the name of the WWE Universal Championship. And Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs appeared on only one segment. 

Show Recap —

Enzo Amore and Big Cass started the show. Enzo brought up hitting on Sasha Banks last week. Cass said she was smitten with him. Enzo quoted lyrics from Sublime. Cass compared Amore to Mike Trout, which actually got some boos. Enzo said he was on the verge of hitting a home run with Banks when Chris “Bon Jovi” Jericho robbed him.

Enzo said he and Cass were some Anaheim Angels taking a Stairway to Heaven and Jericho was on a Highway to Hell. Amore welcomed Jericho to the Jungle, “You’re going down.” 

Jericho walked out and said Enzo was more irritating than “Achy Breaky Heart.” He said the only reason Amore was still on Raw was because every time Enzo made a mess, he had a 7-foot maid to clean it up for him. Jericho said Cass may be Enzo’s backup, but he had his own backup. Kevin Owens walked out with Jericho. 

Jericho admitted he had Owens had problems when they first met, but Jericho talked to JimMartin Luetter in Winnipeg and Owens has his back. Jericho, sounding uncertain, asked Owens if has his back. Owens didn’t answer at first, but said he thought it was a rhetorical question and said he had Jericho’s back.

Cass wondered if they had each other’s back the same way Bert and Ernie had each other’s back washing each other’s back in a bathtub. 

Owens said he used to like Cass in NXT because he could relate to him. Owens had a waste of space by his side that was doing nothing but holding him down (referring to Sami Zayn). Unlike him, Cass didn’t get rid of the dead weight and carried it with him to Raw.

Even worse, Owens had to listen to Enzo every week, so he doesn’t like Cass anymore and he didn’t care that Cass was seven foot tall, he was going to hurt him. Owens stared at Cass, seemed to reconsider, and said that if he can’t beat Cass up, then Jericho would. Jericho looked at Cass and said if Owens doesn’t want to hurt Cass, he would.

Cass challenged him to a fight. Jericho said he wasn’t talking to Cass. Cass said Jericho was looking right at him. Jericho said he was referring to the “Hip Hop Hobbit.” Jericho said Enzo should watch it. Enzo said he didn’t know what “It” was that Jericho kept talking about, but he was going to find out and shove it down Jericho’s throat. 

Chris Jericho defeated Enzo Amore by DQ (11:10)

Owens interfered, grabbing Amore from behind. Jericho hit the codebreaker on Amore. Cass hit the ring and gave Jericho a big boot for the DQ. Jericho and Owens celebrated like they had just won a gold medal in the Olympics, complete with Owens mocking Amore’s “How you doin’?’ by asking “How are you?”

Post-match, Cass challenged Jericho and Owens to a tag team match at SummerSlam in Brooklyn. Owens accepted. 

Mick Foley talked to an absent Stephanie McMahon on a cell phone when Sasha Banks walked up. Banks said her match with Charlotte at SummerSlam should be a handicap match because of how often Dana Brooke interferes, referring to last week’s match where Charlotte beat Banks in a tag match. She didn’t sound like she was being sarcastic.

Foley said he would book Banks vs. Brooke tonight. If Banks wins, then Brooke would be banned from ringside for the match at SummerSlam. If Brooke wins, then the match at SummerSlam would be a handicap match and the deck would be stacked against Banks.

Braun Strowman defeated Jorel Nelson (:50) 

Braun Strowman used the reverse chokeslam for this week’s squash victory. Byron Saxton did a pre-match interview with Nelson asking him why he took the match against Strowman. Nelson got a blank look of fear on his face and said nothing. Saxton’s mannerisms look like Vince McMahon from the 1970s during these stand-up interviews. 

Foley ran into Puff Daddy backstage. Combs mentioned the Bad Boy family was going on tour again. Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods walked in. Woods congratulated Combs on being the Executive Producer of the WWE 2K17 video game.

Combs asked about Big E’s nuts. Kingston said Anderson and Gallows were like the Vanilla Ice of the tag team division. Woods alluded that Big E wasn’t there tonight. 

Darren Young defeated Titus O’Neal (1:57) 

After Titus O’Neal used a schoolboy cradle while holding the trunks to pin Darren Young last week, Young used a schoolboy cradle while holding the trunks to pin O’Neal this week. Young looked like he got caught by a knee to the face in the match’s opening spot.  Bob Backlund was with Young and went wild again after the win. 

Rollins came out for the 9:00 PM promo. He said the new era of the WWE is upon us and he must admit he’s learned a thing or two. Case in point, Finn Balor. He followed Balor’s career for a long time and figured Balor was a second-rate version of himself.

He said Balor was Jared Leto to his Heath Ledger. But after Balor kicked him in the head last week, he was forced to reevaluate his thoughts about Balor. 

Rollins said everyone knew Balor was athletic, agile, and a lethal striker, but he was no normal man. Rollins said Balor wasn’t even his real name. He said Finn Balor was an Irish mythology name. Finn meant “Irish warrior” and Balor meant “Demon King.”

Rollins laughed and said that would be like calling himself Rambo Apocalypse. Rollins said Balor is one of the most disrespectful human beings he’s ever encountered because Raw was his show and this was his ring. Yet Balor had the arrogance to get in his face last week and say he was going to beat him for the WWE Universal Championship at SummerSlam. 

Rollins said of all the people Balor has beaten, he hasn’t beaten Rollins. Rollins was furious that Balor said his chance at the Universal Championship was handed to him. He brought up overcoming his knee injury. Rollins said he knew his place in the WWE: the very top.

Rollins said he didn’t need to surround himself with smoke and mirrors, myths and legends. He knows who he is and what he’s capable of. He is the myth, he is the legend, and he is the man.

In 200 years, when parents sit around the fireplace with their kids, they’re going to tell stories about how Rollins rode in on his white horse and crushed the face of the man who runs the place. Parents would tell stories of Rollins conquering the Roman Empire (which got cheers, one of the first things in this interview that got a reaction). 

Cesaro defeated Sheamus (10:57) 

Cesaro won after a ref bump. The referee nearly got sandwiched in the corner after an Irish Whip. With the referee standing between them, Sheamus landed a punch on Cesaro, but the referee went down. Sheamus had the pin with a schoolboy cradle, but no ref.

As Sheamus got up to revive the ref, Cesaro used his own schoolboy cradle to win. Had the same finish in the previous match. This was a rematch from last week. If you’ll recall, Foley told the winner of last week’s match they would get a title shot. That was never mentioned this week. Instead, they claimed Foley ordered a rematch because there wasn’t a decisive winner last week, even though Cesaro won with his finisher.

A series of near falls about 8:00 in got the fans involved. Cesaro threw a dropkick on Sheamus where he was standing on the top rope. Near falls for Sheamus after the Irish Curse and White Noise. Solid match. 

They aired a video package building up Lesnar/Orton. They aired footage of Lesnar winning the NCAA Heavyweight Championship at Minnesota on ESPN. That led to footage from Ohio Valley Wrestling with the voice of Jim Cornette included.

Orton talked about how Lesnar left the WWE in 2004 because he didn’t like people, which pissed Orton off. Lesnar did a promo saying that he didn’t care what Orton thought of him, how Orton was just another guy just like the rest of the guys in the locker room. Paul Heyman said Orton was the best surfer on the beach. He can surf better than anyone but he forgets about the shark waiting to eat him up.

Orton said he was going to kill the legend of Lesnar and this was the biggest match in SummerSlam history. 

Lesnar will be on Raw next week. 

Neville & Sin Cara defeated the Dudley Boyz (5:19)

Neville pinned D-Von Dudley with the Red Arrow. Bubba Ray Dudley accidentally clotheslined D-Von, which led to the finish. This match was set up during the pregame show when the Dudleyz bullied Neville around during an interview and ordered him to go find a partner. Bubba did some facial expressions like he was pissed at D-Von after the loss. 

Rusev and Lana had their celebration of love in honor of getting married last week. Lana came out in her wedding dress. There were several wedding cakes (you know where this is headed), a bottle of champagne, and a bouquet of flowers in the ring.

Lana said she was Rusev’s princess, and when you marry a princess, you’re supposed to give her a wedding of her dreams. Lana said none of the fans could attend because it was VIP only. Fans started chanting “What” and Rusev laughed at them.

Lana said they would reenact their special day for everyone. Rusev said Lana was beautiful and she was all his. She kissed his bicep. Lana introduced a video of the wedding, which was really a slideshow of Lana and Rusev on a beach and various photos.

Crowd chanted “boring.” Rusev acted like they chanted “More” but said they had no more portraits. Lana said the fans couldn’t afford a one-bedroom apartment, much less a beach. She talked about her custom-made dress made by a Russian designer. Rusev brought up the cakes which cost more than any of the fans make in a month. 

Lana said they wrote their own vows and they would relive their special moment. Many heads turned to the back waiting for Roman Reigns to come out. Lana ordered fans to pull out their cell phones to take pictures of this moment. Almost no one did. Reigns finally came out. He still got a mixed reaction even after being demoted. 

Reigns said he wasn’t there to fight Rusev, he was in the back watching the video and noticed that Rusev didn’t have a best man. So Reigns figured he needed to step up and be the best man. So he said he should pour drinks and toast them. Rusev refused. So Reigns challenged Rusev to a match for the U.S. Championship at SummerSlam.

Rusev declined that, as well. Reigns said then Rusev would have to hear his toast. Reigns poured some champagne, guzzled it, and thanked them because he had never seen a wedding between a Bulgarian Sasquatch and a mail order bride.

Reigns said he was disappointed in Rusev, he was expecting more, just like Lana was expecting more on her wedding night. 

Rusev jumped Reigns and they brawled. Rusev put the fists to Reigns. But Reigns rose up and hit Rusev with an uppercut, Rusev bumped into Lana, who took the predictable face-first bump into the wedding cake. Reigns walked out. Lana did a great job getting the cake everywhere on her. 

Backstage, Rusev screamed at Foley as Lana stood covered in icing. Rusev demanded that Foley do something. So Foley ordered Rusev to face Reigns for the U.S. Championship at SummerSlam. 

WWE Women’s Champion Sasha Banks defeated Dana Brooke in a non-title match, so Banks vs. Charlotte will be an one-on-one match at SummerSlam (2:41)

A collection of mistimed spots, the worst of all at the finish. Charlotte was supposed to accidentally slap Brooke while aiming for Banks. The problem was Charlotte was slow on the trigger. By the time Banks moved, Charlotte hadn’t even started her motion yet. It looked like Charlotte slapped Brooke on purpose when that wasn’t the case.

Banks won with the double knees to the gut off the second rope. 

Balor did a pre-taped interview with eerie music playing in the background and smoke hovering around him. Balor said what Rollins called disrespect, he calls honest. What Rollins calls arrogance, he calls confidence. What Rollins calls ignorance, he calls irony.

Balor brought up various myths and Finn MacCool, a giant who threw a piece of land into the sea and created the Isle of Man. He brought up the Banshee, whose wails signaled the end. And the King of the Demons, Balor. When Balor’s evil eye opens, the world ends. First the grass burns, then the seas boil, then the air catches fire and all of humanity falls. 

Balor said these aren’t just stories, these are sources of power. When a warrior enters a great battle, when he knows his limbs and flesh aren’t enough, he can tap into the stories and become a man greater them himself. Rollins has never seen a demon like him, and at SummerSlam, Rollins will see the Demon King.

Then the camera zoomed in on Balor’s eyes, which transformed into black makeup like Gene Simmons’ makeup. Much better interview presentation for Balor here. 

Later on, it was announced that Rollins would call out the Demon King next week. 

Anderson and Gallows did a comedy promo where they stood in white robes proclaiming themselves doctors. They said some tag teams in the WWE are suffering from “Ringpostitis.” They showed repeated highlights of Big E’s crotch getting rammed into the post last week.

They had various double entendres about testicles as Anderson said Kingston could suffer from ringpostitis later tonight. 

Luke Gallows defeated Kofi Kingston (1:31)

Gallows won with the Festus Flip, which is a Fireman’s Carry into a flap jack. Same move that Tama Tonga uses. Anderson tried to interfere, but Woods stopped him. However, Anderson threw Woods into the post. Post-match, Gallows and Anderson tried to give Kingston ringpostitis, but Woods sent the heels scrambling with a chair. 

Foley did an interview and said he lived by a philosophy “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and an ear for an ear.” But that was a rule of thumb that was archaic and against goodwill. He brought out Daniel Bryan for the big reaction.

Bryan said it pains him to say it, but Foley has been doing an excellent job as the Raw GM. Foley put over Bryan’s work on SmackDown and his work with Mauro Ranallo during the Cruiserweight Classic. Fans chanted “Yes” as the two proceeded with the script. 

Foley apologized for Lesnar’s actions on SmackDown laying out Orton. Bryan said Foley didn’t have to apologize because SmackDown fired the first shot since Orton gave Lesnar an RKO on Raw last week. The two dropped the good nature when Foley showed a video where Bryan joked about the name of the Universal Championship. 

Rusev came out and said Raw doesn’t need another champion, it has a champion and it was him. Rusev said the next time a SmackDown wrestler showed up on Raw, he was going to crush him in honor of the great Raw GM, Foley. Bryan wondered if Rusev was trying to kiss up to Foley in order to get out of his match with Reigns. 

Cesaro came out and said Rusev was having a bad night and he had an idea to make it worse. Foley said he could earn a championship opportunity and he’s proven the last two weeks he deserves one.

Foley said Sheamus did almost have Cesaro beat. Cesaro thought Foley was a man of his word. Bryan butted in and said he thought Cesaro was being underutilized on Raw. Foley stopped Bryan and ordered an immediate U.S. Championship match between Cesaro and Rusev. 

United States Champion Rusev defeated Cesaro to retain his title (9:36) 

Rusev won after Sheamus interfered. Rusev hit a thrust kick after Sheamus gave Cesaro a Brogue Kick. Cesaro had a 5-rep Giant Swing that turned into a Sharpshooter. At that point, Sheamus ran down. Cesaro went after Sheamus, allowing Rusev to hit a thrust kick. Cesaro kicked out. Crowd was dying for a title switch at this point.

Rusev went for the Accolade, but Cesaro escaped and pushed Rusev into the referee, who also collided with Sheamus. Cesaro hit the Gotch Neutralizer, and had him pinned, but there was no ref. Earlier, the crowd popped when Rusev escaped the Accolade by hitting the Electric Chair. 

Post-match, Reigns ran out and gave Rusev a spear on the floor. 

Daily Update: Olympic ratings, Daniel Bryan on Raw, Lesnar & Heyman

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Olympic Ratings Suffer

The ratings being way down this year for the Olympics is already a huge story. Friday night’s opening ceremonies did a 16.5 rating, down from a 23.0 in London. The difference is that this year almost everything is airing live while in London, almost everything was taped. There were theories how this year’s numbers would be way up because of it and the result was the opposite. 

The real reason is that there are fewer must-see stars that were promoted. Some day that will be figured out. All the people who complain about taped Olympics for the last decade don’t understand that most people watch for entertainment and don’t care about something being taped delayed by a few hours.  Anyway, the idea that the last Olympics didn’t really hurt WWE ratings because it was taped and these Olympics will isn’t looking to be a good theory right about now.

Bryan and I will be back tonight with Wrestling Observer Radio covering Raw, Joey Styles, Conor McGregor, G-1 and the rest of the latest news. Send e-mail questions to the show to [email protected].

THE ROUND-UP

SCHEDULE, REPORTS & POLLS

We’re also looking for feedback on Saturday’s G-1 Climax show in Osaka, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected].

Raw is tonight from the Honda Center in Anaheim. No Brock Lesnar or Paul Heyman scheduled live on the show. Daniel Bryan will be appearing on the show.  Sean Combs will be on tonight’s show as the celebrity guest.  We’re looking for Superstars notes, dark match notes and anything else not evident from the live show to [email protected].

Tuesday has Smackdown in Bakersfield. Neither John Cena nor A.J. Styles are scheduled for this show because they leaving Monday night after Raw for a house show in Auckland, New Zealand, starting a four-show Australia & New Zealand tour. Rhyno vs. Heath Slater is scheduled for this show.

G-1 CLIMAX AT 5:30 A.M. EASTERN TIME ON WEDNESDAY FROM THE YAMAGATA SPORTS CENTER

  • Ryusuke Taguchi vs. David Finlay
  • Satoshi Kojima & Manabu Nakanishi & Juice Robinson vs. Bad Luck Fale & Tama Tonga & Yujiro Takahashi
  • Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Captain New Japan vs. Bushi & Seiya Sanada
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi & Togi Makabe & Kushida & Jushin Liger & Tiger Mask vs. Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii & Hirooki Goto & Gedo & Naomichi Marufuji
  • Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. Kenny Omega
  • Toru Yano vs. Evil
  • Yoshi-Hashi vs. Tetsuya Naito
  • Katsuyori Shibata vs. Yuji Nagata
  • Tomoaki Honma vs. Michael Elgin

Figure Four Weekly: Figure Four Weekly 8/3/2016: Latest developments in wrestling related lawsuits – If it wasn’t clear before that the Hulk Hogan vs. Gawker lawsuit is a whole lot bigger than Hulk Hogan or even Gawker, the events of the last few weeks have made it more obvious than ever before. Of course, the revelation two months ago that billionaire Peter Thiel had been funding Hogan’s lawsuit (and others against Gawker) was a game changer, but the effects of Thiel’s influence weren’t as obvious… 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: August 8, 2016 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: WWE financial report, MMA rules change, UFC 201– There really wasn’t a lot of big news coming out of the second quarter WWE conference call.

Even though the idea of barely making a profit in the quarter of WrestleMania would have been disastrous most years, this year it was stated well in advance that due to the time frame of programming costs, this quarter would probably break even.

WWE pushed that it was the most revenue ever generated in a quarter, but with the fallout of WrestleMania and the new free subscribers from the prior quarter, that was inevitable. Some of them stayed with the service, some may have forgotten to cancel the service, and there are also the contractual increases in television revenue. Plus there was the Mania event revenue… 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.

Wrestling Observer Newsletter BACK ISSUE: June 28, 1999 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Reaction to WWF contracted Sable appearing on WCW TV, more on Hart/WWF lawsuit – After a week, it is even less clear what WCW hoped to accomplish when putting Rena Mero on Nitro on 6/14… Subscribers click here to continue reading.

MONDAY NEWS UPDATE

TNA officially announced Bound for Glory on 10/2 in Orlando today. The date has been known for several weeks and was a rescheduling of the originally planned 9/11 date, which they moved off because WWE added a PPV on that date. TNA has added a Bound for Glordy 2016 commercial with “Broken” Matt Hardy. DELETE DELTE DELETE!

Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman did tape stuff last week so they may be on Raw in some form, but are not in Anaheim tonight. They are both booked for Raw next week in Corpus Christi for the go-home show for SummerSlam. Daniel Bryan is on the show since they need something with the Olympics going on.

Most of the top Raw names as well as John Cena and A.J. Style leave after Raw tonight for New Zealand and a four show tour that begins on Wednesday in Auckland with Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins, John Cena vs. A.J. Styles and Chris Jericho vs. Finn Balor as the top matches.

UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez was interviewed by TMZ about Conor McGregor’s remarks about WWE wrestlers. He said that while WWE performers are actors, a lot of them are incredible athletes and many come from real combat sports backgrounds. He also challenged the winner of the McGregor vs. Diaz fight to a title match. Or the loser.

Get caught up on the Hulkster’s attemtp to settle out of court witgh Gawker prior to bankruptcy (thanks to Chris Cruise and Dennis Gorman): 

​WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT

  • The Stone Cold Podcast with Dean Ambrose will be on after Raw on the WWE Network.
  • Cruiserweight Classic matches on Wednesday night will be second round bouts with Gran Metalik (Mascara Dorada) vs. Tajiri and Cedric Alexander vs. Kota Ibushi in what was said to be the best match of the tournament. I was told with editing this will appear to be **** or better.
  • Ric Flair talks his daughter, podcasting and more. 
  • A look at Baron Corbin is here.
  • A story on Victoria Gonzalez, who recently got a WWE tryout is here. 
  • Sean Combs will be involved in the soundtrack for the WWE 2K 17 video game, so that probably ties in with him being on the show tonight. There will be 13 unique songs from different artists in the game. 

The WWE 2K17 in-game soundtrack, curated by Puff Daddy, will include the following artists and songs:

  • Action Bronson & Joey Bada$$ (feat. Rico Love) – “What About The Rest Of Us”;
  • Anderson .Paak – “Come Down”;
  • Andy Black – “We Don’t Have To Dance”;
  • Axwell Λ Ingrosso – “This Time”;
  • Black Sabbath – “Paranoid”;
  • Bring Me The Horizon – “Run”;
  • FIDLAR – “Drone”;
  • French Montana (feat. Kojak Black) – “Lockjaw”;
  • iSHi (feat. French Montana, Wale, & Raekwon) – “We Run”;
  • P. Diddy, Black Rob & Mark Curry – “Bad Boy For Life”;
  • Travis Barker & Yelawolf – “Out of Control”;
  • Twenty One Pilots – “Ride”;
  • Yellow Claw (feat. Lil Eddie) – “We Made It”.  

Developed collaboratively by Yuke’s and Visual Concepts, a 2K studio, WWE 2K17 is not yet rated by the ESRB. WWE 2K17 is currently scheduled for worldwide release on the PlayStation®4 and PlayStation®3 computer entertainment systems, Xbox One and Xbox 360 on October 11, 2016. Consumers who pre-order WWE 2K17 at any participating retailer will receive two playable Bill Goldberg characters, as well as playable WCW Monday Nitro and Halloween Havoc arenas, at no extra cost on launch day. For more information on WWE 2K17 and 2K, visit wwe.2k.com, become a fan on Facebook, follow the game on Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag #WWE2K17 or subscribe on YouTube.

Download assets for the WWE 2K17 Soundtrack announcement here:

  • Puff Daddy Video Interview
  • Diddy artwork

PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING

  • ROH has announced Jay Lethal, The Young Bucks, Mark & Jay Briscoe and Dalton Castle for the shows on 11/18 in Liverpool, UK at The Olympia, 11/19 in Leicester at the Community Sports Arena and 11/20 in London at the Seymour Leisure Centre.  
  • The CMLL Friday night shows are available for $10 on the Live Events Viewer for anyone who has a PlayStation 3 or 4. (thanks to Larry Huber Jr.)
  • A video look at Evolve storylines was just released.

MISCELLANEOUS

  • Chinzo Machida, the older brother of Lyoto Machida, makes his Bellator debut against Mario Navarro in a prelim match on the 8/26 show in Anaheim at the Honda Center. 
  • World Series of Fighting 32 was on Ziggo Sport, a free to air TV station in Holland owned by Ziggo, and did 14,000 viewers. Fred Rooyers, a former fighter, did commentary. (thanks to Hank Mulder)

RESULTS

  • GOUGE Wrestling did the old 24/7 title gimmick at the Charlotte Mid Atlantic Wrestling convention over the weekend. It’s the same thing Joey Ryan has been doing with his DDT title losing and winning to everyone he meets that was a name wrestler so that person will be on the 1,000 plus list of the title legacy. So Gouge has the Spaceman Frank Hickey Memorial Scientific Rassling Trophy. Seymour Snott brought the trophy to the convention and was attacked by retired 80s wrestler Ric McCord and given a dragon sleeper and tapped. Jimmy Valiant then put the sleeper on McCord to win. Valiant was doing a promo. Bobby Fulton came up and asked Valiant a question about something and Valiant said “I don’t know, I give up.” Tommy Young was there and ruled that a title change. Young then pinned Fulton. Bill Apter put Young to sleep. Apter was about to relinquish the title when Count Grog used a cobra on him. Tammy Sytch hugged Count Grog, who acted like he had a heart attack, and Shane Helms pinned him. David Wills then pinned Helms until he laid down on a couch and Snott jumped on him for the pin.
  • Hoosier Pro Wrestling from Saturday night in Columbus, IN: Timmy Danger b Scarecrow Eddie Felson, Lightning Bolt b Drax O’Brien, Bambino Family b Derek Neal & Aden Blackheart, Shigehiro Irie b JKO Cousin Cooter b Wicked Clown, Too Cool TJ & Shawn Kemp b TVZ, Vic the Bruiser b Dynamite Dillen-DQ. Next show is 9/3 at the 4-H Fairgrounds with Vic the Bruiser vs. Dynamite Dillen. (thanks to Jerry Wilson)
  • Dreamwave Wrestling from Saturday night in LaSalle, IL before 450 fans: Spears & Beers b The Colony, Stephen Wolf over KLD, Brandon Espinosa, Corbin Blaze, Connor Braxton and Stevie Fierce, Christian Rose b Arik Cannon, Suge D b Joey Ryan to win the DDT Iron Man title with Mick Foley as referee, Santino Marella b Suge D to win the DDT Iron Man title, Joey Ryan b Santino Marella to win the DDT Iron man title, JT Dunn b Lio Rush, Bucknasty b Little Guido, Brubaker b Zicky Dice, Ariya Daivari b Donovan Dijak, Alexander Hammerstone b Chris Castro, Prince Mustafa Ali b AR Fox to keep the Dreamwave title. Next show is 8/13 in Mendota, IL for a free show and 9/3 in LaSalle, IL with Kurt Angle appearing.
  • Revolution Pro in London on Sunday before 150-200 fans: Rob Lias b Josh Wall, Jake McCluskey & Kieran Bruce b Dan Magee & Kurtis Chapman, Jinny b Xia Brookside, Jeff Cobb b Big Damo, Josh Bodom b Ryan Smile, Marty Scurll b Jay White, Zack Sabre Jr. b Trent Seven. Sabre vs. Seven said to be in the **** range. Zack Sabre Jr. will be defending the Revolution Pro title on Friday night against Cobb.  Scurll vs. White was really good. (thanks to Ian Hamilton)
  • Tier One Wrestling from Sunday in Brooklyn: Flawless &Lawless b Dan Barry & Chuck Taylor, Indy Card Mafia b Mr Grim & Christian Casanova, J George b Sebastian Cage, Darius Carter won six-way over Sonny Kiss, Black Baron, Ace Romero, VsK and Randy Summers, Abominable CPA & Francis Kipland Stevens b Jesse Vane & Anthony Lacerra, Nikki Addams b Allie Recks, Certified Sexy b Sons of Brooklyn, Darius Carter & Ryan Galeone b Rude Boy Riley & Aaron Stevens (Damian Sandow). An angle involving Stevens at the show is here.
  • Scenic City Invitational from Sunday in Chattanooga: Kyle Matthews & Mikael Judas & Chase Jordan b Ray Fury & Troque & Cyrus the Destroyer, Gunner Miller b Joey Lynch, Anthony Henry b Billy Buck, Chris Hero b Chip Day, Jimmy Rave b Matt Riddle, Tank & Iceberg b Corey Hollis & John Skyler and Drew Delight & Rush, Gunner Miller won four-way over Jimmy Rave, Chris Hero and Anthony Henry to win the tournament.

UP-COMING EVENTS

  • Big West Wrestling on Friday night in Kelowna, BC at the Bowl-a-Rama II.
  • Big Time Wrestling on Friday night in Newark, CA at the Pavilion with Aaron Stevens (Damien Sandow), Teddy Hart vs. Joey Ryan, Chris Masters and more.  There will be a meet and greet from 5:30 to 7:15 with Bret Hart, Aaron Stevens, Anthony Carelli (Santino Marella) and more.
  • Pure Wrestling Association on 8/19 in Nanaimo, BC and 8/20 in Nanaimo, BC, 8/20 in Bradford, ONT and 8/21 in Nanaimo, BC.
  • Moonshine Branded Wrestling on 9/2 at the Italo-Canadian Hall in Fort Erie, ONT.
  • Canadian Wrestling Elite on 9/2 in Winnipeg at Rookie’s Sports Bar.
  • Chaotic Wrestling and the Lowell Spinners announced “A Night of Grand Slams” on 9/9 featuring the Chaotic wrestling debuts of Rob Van Dam and Cody Rhodes.  Also on the show includes Tommy Dreamer, Austin Aries, Tommaso Ciampa, Johnny Gargano, Rhyno, Scotty 2 Hotty, D-Lo Brown (managed by Ron Simmons), Robbie E, Hanson, Thea Trinidad, and Donovan Dijak.  RVD & Dreamer headline against Chase Del Monte & the Logan Brothers, plus Brian Fury vs. Rhodes, Ciampa vs. Hanson last time in New England and Gargano vs. Aries vs. JT Dunn.  There will be two meet and greet sessions before the show.
  • Barrie Wrestling on 9/10 headlined by Tyson Dux.
  • Elite Canadian Championship Wrestling on 9/24 in New Westminster, BC at the Sapperton Pensioners Hall.

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