Tag: francis ngannou

Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano on Netflix live results: Two legends return to the MMA cage

Posted on by Paul Fontaine

For the first time ever, Netflix will hold an MMA event as they continue their relationship with Jake Paul’s MVP promotion.

The headliner features former UFC bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey returning to action for the first time in nearly a decade against former Strikeforce lightweight champion Gina Carano, fighting for the first time in 17 years. It will likely be the final bout for both women.

The co-main event will see former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou battle former UFC fighter Philipe Lins.

In a high-profile fight between two fan favorites, Nate Diaz returns to the MMA cage against Mike Perry who transitioned from MMA to bare knuckle fighting to raise his profile.

The rest of the main card features Salahdine Parnasse vs. Kenneth Cross at lightweight and former UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos against Robelis Despaigne.

Our live coverage kicks off with the main card at 9 pm Eastern.

**********

Former UFC Welterweight champion Tyron Woodley is on the analyst desk along with Ariel Helwani. Cain Velasquez is interviewed cageside before the first fight featuring his long time rival Junior Dos Santos and he doesn’t think it will go long. 

Mauro Ranallo and Kenny Florian are the play by play team for this card. 

Junior Dos Santos (21-10) vs Robelis Despaigne (5-2) – Heavyweights

JDS out to “Gonna Fly Now” from Rocky. Gets a nice response from the late arriving crowd. JDS comes in on a 5 fight losing streak, having lost won in 2019. Despaigne lost his last two UFC fights before being cut in 2024 and this is his first fight back. Frank Trigg is the referee. 

Despaigne rocks JDS with his first few shots. JDS makes an impact with a hard leg kick. JDS drops him with a leg kick. Despaigne lands a nice punch combo to the head and follows up with an uppercut. Great punch combo and a head kick by Despaigne and JDS is reeling. He’s busted open and bleeding from the mouth. Despaigne knocks him out cold with a beautiful combo. 

Winner – Robelis Despaigne (6-2) by KO at 2:59

Ariel Helwani interviews Despaigne after the fight. Asks if he will stay in MMA now after leaving in 2024 or go back to karate. Calls out Francis N’Gannou but says he’d like to do both. He also wants a bonus for the knockout and Ariel tells him to talk to “Jake” (Paul). 

Salahdine Parnasse (22-2) vs Kenneth Cross (17-4) – Lightweights

Cross is training partners with Gina Carano, who fights later tonight in the main event. Parnasse is a 2 division champion of KSW in Poland and comes in on a 4 fight win streak. Cross has also won 4 straight but lost his only fight for a major promotion, in Bellator, in 2023. Jason Herzog is the official for this fight. 

Parnasse immediately catches a kick and takes Cross down but he gets right up. They fight for control on the cage before Parnasse takes him down again. Cross up fairly easily. Both guys landing wild strikes after they separate. Cross stuffed on a takedown attempt. Parnasse takes him down again and lands some ground and pound. Takes the back and working for a rear naked choke. Parnasse flattens him out with punches. Cross is turtling and the ref warns him to fight back. Cross to his feet but still eating a lot of punches. Parnasse mixing in strikes to the head and body and Cross goes down clutching his liver and the ref stops it. 

WInner – Salahdine Parnasse (23-2) by TKO at 4:18

That was the first knockout loss of Cross’ career. Parnasse interviewed after the fight and talks in both English and French. Says he’d be willing to box or fight MMA and just wants another fight in this company. Was asked if he felt pressure for this fight and he said he didn’t because he feels he’s the best fighter in the world. Is asked who he’d like to fight next and says “anyone, anytime”. Then says Diaz or Perry. 

One of the promoters was interviewed by Helwani. Says he’s pleased with the show so far. Will not commit to doing another show. Asked if he’ll try to convince Ronda to fight again and he says she’ll always have a place with MVP either as a fighter or promoter. 

Francis Ngannou (18-3) vs Philipe Lins (18-5) – Heavyweights

Lins comes in on a 4 fight win streak in UFC, but hasn’t fought since March 2024. Ngannou is being billed as the linneal heavyweight champion, having left UFC as champion in a contract dispute. He is on a 6 fight win streak in MMA. Herb Dean is the referee. 

Ngannou throwing a lot of kicks early. Lins with a takedown attempt and Ngannou takes his neck. Gives the choke up quickly. Both guys having good success with leg kciks. Ngannou sprawls out of a takedown attempt and gets Lins on his back. Lands some ground and pound before Lins ties him up. Lins up but Ngannou stalking him with punches. Lins lands a nice hope shot. Ngannou up 22-3 in strikes landed 3 minutes in. Seems to be tiring already. Ngannou starting to work the body in the clinch. They separate with 45 seconds left. Ngannou knocks him out cold. 

Winner – Francis Ngannou (19-3) by KO at 4:31

Ariel interview Ngannou after the fight. Says he respects Lins, who was tougher than he thought. Says this was a reminder of just who he is. Says he wasn’t worried about cage rust. It’s an instinct that’s always in him. Ariel asks about Robelis Despaigne. Said he had a good knockout. They are both in the running for performance of the night and they are on a collision course. Jon Jones was watching and Ariel points him out at the analyst desk. Says Joes is a great fighter but he has something to learn about business. Said this fight needs to happen before they retire. But it has to be here. Said that Jake Paul is just a blah blah guy and he doesn’t respect him. He’s glad he found someone to run the business side. Says Jones is tied up but Paul isn’t and if he wants him next. Says if he’s grown up, then maybe. Asks Jake about it. Crowd gives him the loudest boos of the night. Says he’ll fight him. They’re here to get fighters paid more and to get them watched more than people in the UFC. Says he’ll box him, doesn’t seem to want to fight him. Ngannou closes saying he’s the best heavyweight in the world, period while Jon Jones smiles from the desk. 

Woodley and Jones talk on the desk. Jones says he’s trying to get out of his UFC contract. Wants to fight Francis and since Dana won’t make the fight it’s got to happen here. Jones says Francis fought a light heavyweight tonight but he looked good. Woodley says that he should get Netflix to pick up the legal tab to get him out of his UFC contract. Jones is asked about the main event. Says that Ronda is the main reason he’s here. He’s close friends with her and think she’ll do amazing tonight. Also says that Gina is the reason Rousey was able to do what she did and puts her over as the most important woman in the history of MMA. Jones closes by saying he’s officially retired. He’s asked about Ronda and Gina coming back after being retired and he says “well they don’t have arthritis and I do”. 

Mike Perry (14-8) vs Nate Diaz (21-13) – Welterweights 

Perry is fighting MMA for the first time since 2021 where he lost his last two fights in UFC. He last won over Mickey Gall in June 2020. Diaz won his last UFC fight in September 2022 over Tony Ferguson and has gone 1-1 in boxing matches since then. He gets the loudest pop of the night so far for his walkout. Mike Beltran is the ref.

Perry all over Diaz early. Diaz trying to clinch up. Diaz takes him down but Perry takes top position. Perry landing ground and pound. Diaz working a sub from his back. He’s got Perry’s legs all tied up. Loud DIAZ chants from the crowd. Perry gets up and forces Nate to follow. Perry starting to work the body. both guys looking tired. Perry lands a knee to the body and Diaz seems to be in real trouble. Diaz covering up his body which opens up the head.  Diaz starting to fight back with 2 minutes left. Diaz is busted open with a cut over his right eye. Diaz firing back with hard jabs. Perry cut open now beside his nose. More DIAZ chants. Diaz takes the back standing but Perry quickly takes control> Elbows to the head to close the round. 10-9 Perry

Mauro brings up that Diaz would like a rubber match with Conor McGregor which is interesting since his return fight for UFC was just announced for July 11. Perry looking really good early in the 2nd, landing a lot of punches standing. Perry mixing in elbows to the head and punches to the body. Diaz still firing back. Perry is definitely looking most tired although Diaz’ face is covered with blood. Perry takes his back standing. Tries for a choke and that allows Diaz to escape. The blood is dripping into Diaz’ eyes, which is bothering him. Perry throws Diaz to the matt and then follows up with punches to the head. Diaz throws up an armbar but Perry escapes easily. Perry backs off, forcing Diaz up. He gets up very slowly. He’s now bleeding from the back of his head as well. The blood is really getting bad and this could be stopped after the round. Diaz needs the cage to hold him up at points. Perry continuing to stalk him. Perry drops him to close the round. 10-8 Perry but this could be over. 

The fight is indeed stopped between rounds. 

Winner – Mike Perry (15-8) via corner stoppage at 5:00 of Round 2

Ariel Helwani interviews Mike Perry. Says he got tired from hitting Diaz so much. Puts him over as being tough and has no quit in him. Says they did their job. Crowd cheered Diaz and booed him. He’s thankful for the opportunity given by Netflix and MVP. Ariel asks him if he’s disappointed for not winning emphatically, which was kind of a dumb question and Perry says it was emphatic. Couldn’t have been more definitive than that. He calls out Conor McGregor and the fans cheer that. He asks for an MMA fight with Jake Paul and Jake is up for that. Paul beat him in a boxing match. Says cardio wasn’t an issue tonight because he didn’t get to the championship rounds. He’s asked if he’ll stick with MMA now. Says he’s an all around fighter and great in the clinch so seems up to another fight. 

He talks to Diaz as well. Congratulates him on a valiant effort. Says Perry did everything he was expecting. Broke his finger two minutes in. Says he’ll come back and get Perry and even says he’ll take out Paul and Helwani. He congratulates Perry on a good fight and says the stoppage was warranted. Perry seems up for another fight. 

CM Punk was interviewed at cageside. He’s picking Ronda Rousey to win by armbar. Celebrities shown at ringside include James Cameron, David Spade, Tommy Lee and Michael Irvin. 

Main Event – Gina Carano (7-1) vs Ronda Rousey (12-2) – Featherweights

Rousey out to “Bad Reputation” and gets a mixed reaction from the crowd. This is Gina’s first fight since losing to Cris Cyborg in Strikeforce in August 2009. Ronda is fighting for the first time since December 2016, having lost her last two UFC fights. Big John McCarthy is the referee. 

Ronda takes her down immediately. Gina with a guillotine attempt. Ronda with an armbar and it’s over. 

Winner – Ronda Rousey 13-2) via armbar submission in 17 seconds

Ariel interviews both ladies in the cage. Compares it to Cat Zingano in this same city. Ronda says Gina brought her in and is the only person who could’ve brought her back. She’s in tears. “You changed my world and we changed the world”. Ronda thanks MVP and Netflix and says the fans in the building and at home give this show value. They’re here to fight for the fans. She says she was hoping it would go like it did. She didn’t want to hurt Gina. Ariel asks if she wanted more time and Ronda says “hell no!”. Thanks her family and coaches and training partners for getting her here. Says that Gina is her hero and thanked her for bringing her home. Ariel asks if we could see more of Ronda in a cage. Ronda says this was the perfect ending and she wants to go have babies now. 

Gina says she wanted it to last longer. She’s never felt that good in the cage. Says that just getting back in the cage was a victory. She is disappointed because she wanted a fight and didn’t really get it. Says she lost 100 lbs and probably added years to her life because of it. Ariel asks if she wants to keep doing this. Being away 17 years and being 44 years old is a lot. She’ll talk about it with her family. Says you never know. Maybe she should’ve matched up against a striker.

Jake Paul says we will definitely see more MVP MMA. Says they’re taking over MMA and Dana White better be prepared. 

 

Francis Ngannou returning on Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano Netflix special

Posted on by Joseph Currier

The card for Netflix’s first-ever live MMA special has gotten a significant injection of star power.

It was announced today that former UFC star Francis Ngannou will return to MMA on the May 16 special, facing off against Brazilian fighter Philipe Lins. It will be the co-main event that night alongside Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano. The show is taking place at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California and is being promoted by MVP Promotions, which is run by co-founders Jake Paul and Nakisa Bidarian.

“Francis Ngannou is unequivocally the best heavyweight MMA fighter in the world, and his addition creates star power like never before seen in the sport,” Paul and Bidarian said in a press release. “Francis is one of the most feared knockout artists the sport has ever seen, and his return to MMA instantly makes this a historic night.

“Philipe Lins is a proven champion who built his reputation the hard way against elite competition, and knows this is his chance to cement his legacy and take Brazil back to the top of the sport.”

Ngannou is a former UFC heavyweight champion but departed the company in 2023 amid a contract dispute. He later competed in boxing and had one MMA fight for the PFL. Just a few days ago, it was confirmed that Ngannou and the PFL had parted ways.

“My return to MMA demanded a stage that matched the scale of my ambition, and partnering with MVP to bring this event to Netflix ensures the entire world is watching,” Ngannou said. “I am ready for this new chapter, and I cannot wait to entertain my fans again and remind the world exactly who I am and what I am capable of delivering on the highest stage.”

Lins has fought for the UFC, PFL, and Bellator during his MMA career.

The May 16 event will stream live for Netflix subscribers at no additional cost. A press conference to hype up the card is set to take place this Tuesday (March 10).

Wrestling Observer Live: FUN FILTHY FRIDAY~!

Posted on by Mike Sempervive

Image: AEW

With Bryan Alvarez roaming the Earth like David Carradine in Kung Fu, Filthy Tom Lawlor & I join you for FUN FRIDAY here on Wrestling Observer Live.

We talk about Bryan Danielson, the new planned Netflix documentary on WWE, Francis Ngannou, GCW and more!

It’s a fun show as always, so check it out~!

Click here for the commercial-free download (subscription required)

JNPO: The MMA year in review, pt. 4

Posted on by Josh Nason

With the UFC calendar ready to kick into gear this weekend, I wrap up my annual MMA year in review series with a look back at October through December 2023, joined by Paul Fontaine.

Some of the highlights in our 80-minute conversation:

  • The UFC and USADA splitting up and the messy situation that ensued
  • Francis Ngannou shocking the combat sports world with his decision loss to Tyson Fury
  • Conor McGregor officially announcing his UFC return date
  • PFL finally closing the deal on Bellator and their potential upside in a UFC-dominated world
  • The UFC’s return to Madison Square Garden that saw two new champions crowned without the planned Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic main event
  • UFC signing a record deal with Bud Light and the backlash that followed
  • Islam Makhachev continuing his dominance
  • Leon Edwards closing the door on Colby Covington’s UFC relevancy
  • Some of Paul’s favorite fights and a prediction for what planned fight might not happen

If you missed any of the series, check out the archives.

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Daily Update: Ngannou vs. Joshua, WWE SmackDown, Pat McAfee

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Daily Update

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This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

  • What people thought of Worlds End and Stardom Queendom
  • Roman Reigns vs. The Rock
  • All the AEW news and controversies from the past week
  • Worlds End rundown
  • MJF future
  • AEW departures
  • Business numbers
  • Full coverage of New Japan at the Tokyo Dome
  • Kevin Dunn’s WWE departure
  • Breakdown of WWE and AEW attendance in 2023 and how it compares to other companies historically
  • 2023 WWE Iron Man award winner
  • Pro Wrestling NOAH’s big show
  • Stardom show at Sumo Hall rundown
  • Giulia future
  • Nakajima vs. Miyahara II
  • The most detailed look at the TV ratings of all the shows, rankings, demos, competition and comparisons with one year ago
  • What AEW may have done this past week for the first time in its history
  • What Japanese wrestler drew more major crowds in the U.S. than anyone in history
  • Andrade’s last match at Arena Mexico draws a sellout
  • The unique show this week at Arena Mexico
  • Lots of international groups coming to Philadelphia for WrestleMania
  • Story behind the departures and changes in All Japan
  • Annual New Year’s Eve trio tournament coverage
  • Takeshita comes to All Japan
  • Surprise as far as popularity of Iron Claw in week two
  • The story of World Class in Israel
  • Mil Mascaras and Hulk Hogan speak
  • Thoughts on Mad Kurt
  • Grandfather of NJPW star will be honored by the King Charles
  • Danielson talks his future
  • International TV deals for WWE and AEW
  • International TV ratings
  • Streaming numbers for the past week
  • UFC PPV experiment
  • Lots of newcomers to WWE
  • Advanced tickets for upcoming WWE & AEW & NJPW shows

This Week’s Retro Observer Newsletter

Friday Update

Garrett and I just did our week in review talking about the New Japan angles, The Rock vs. Roman Reigns, Mercedes Mone, Kevin Dunn, AEW business and other stuff from the new issue of the Observer. Bryan and I did a show last night covering Wrestle Kingdom and will be back Sunday covering Smackdown, Collision, and New Year’s Dash.

Francis Ngannou will box Anthony Joshua on 3/9 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. I explained on the show today how this fight happening as a major fight shows how much Saudi Arabia has changed the landscape. After Tyson Fury vs. Ngannou bombed so badly on PPV, the idea a fight like this would be made that also likely won’t do business on PPV but where the participants will have huge guarantees wasn’t there because it wouldn’t have made economic sense. But now that doesn’t matter because Saudi Arabia will make it make economic sense.

Joshua is opening at -500 because almost all betting money was coming in on Joshua.

A correction from yesterday’s issue as the 2/24 AEW Collision/Rampage taping is in Springfield, MO, not Springfield, MA.

Smackdown tonight from a sold out Rogers Arena in Vancouver, BC:

  • LA Knight vs. AJ Styles vs. Randy Orton – winner faces Roman Reigns for the title at the Royal Rumble
  • Iyo Sky vs. Michin for the WWE women’s title
  • Kevin Owens vs. Santos Escobar – winner faces Logan Paul for the U.S. title at the Royal Rumble
  • Pretty Deadly vs. Butch & ?
  • Reigns and Logan Paul appear on the show. There has been talk of the return of Authors of Pain with Paul Ellering tonight. Also backstage include Drew McIntyre, Rhea Ripley and Ivy Nile.

Rampage tonight at 10 p.m. on TNT

  • Matt & Jeff Hardy & Mark Briscoe vs. Butcher & Blade & Kip Sabian
  • Kris Statlander & Willow Nightingale vs. Notorious Mimi & Kennadi Hardcastle
  • Hikaru Shida vs. Anna Jay
  • Wheeler Yuta vs. Komander for the Pure title

We’re looking for your thoughts on the New Japan Tokyo Dome show and the Jan. 2 NOAH show, thumbs up, down or middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]

We’re looking for reports on these weekend shows:

  • Smackdown tonight in Vancouver, BC (dark matches only)
  • NXT tonight in Melbourne, FL
  • AEW Collision tapings tomorrow in Charlotte, NC (ROH and dark match reports)
  • WWE house show tomorrow in Spokane, WA
  • NXT house show tomorrow in Sebring, FL
  • WWE house show Sunday in Wenatchee, WA
  • We’re looking for results, finishes and highlights to [email protected]

There is another big show tonight at Arena Mexico. The gimmick is that the next three Fridays they are doing rematches of the best matches of 2023. Mascara Dorada vs. Templario in a 2/3 fall match headlines, plus Tessa Blanchad is on the show and the semi is Stephanie Vaquer vs. Lluvia.

Pat McAfee accused ESPN exec Norby Williamson of attempting to sabotage him by leaking negative ratings information to the New York Post The Post wrote a story saying that McAfee wasn’t drawing good enough numbers to justify all the bad press he gets with his show, which started on the station in September. McAfee praised ESPN itself, but said there are people actively trying to sabotage us, and mentioned Williamson’s name, calling him a rat and an enemy in our own camp. This all stemmed from Aaron Rodgers going on his show and implying that Jimmy Kimmel was associated with Jefrey Epstein. Kimmel denied that and that led to McAfe and Rodgers getting heavily criticized and ESPN apologizing for what happened. But ESPN today sent out a press release praising McAfee’s numbers. This led to a lot of TV criticism because they used Tik Tok and social media views in the release which television stations rarely do because they are measured so differently.

Neon, who may end up being the next big thing out of Mexico, will be on the next two Fridays. The 1/19 show has Neon & Futuro vs. Magnus & Rugido in a match that was incredible when it first happened. Mascara Dorada & Neon will also be a tag team in the Gran Alternativa tournament, so this may be Neon’s start of a meaningful push.

A Go Fund Me has been set up for the family of Kurtis Chapman aka Mad Kurt, who passed away this past week. All money will go directly to the family to help in this difficult time. In hours, they had 12,960 pounds donated when the goal was 5,000, with the top donators being Will Ospreay (2,000 pounds), Dan Moloney (1,000 pounds) and Chris Jericho (1,000 pounds).

Atsushi Onita was announced for the 4/5 Battleground Championship Wrestling show at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia.

Impact+ is now called TNA+

Lots of news coming out of New Year’s Dash today, with these among the matches set up:

  • Tetsuya Naito vs. Sanada for the IWGP World title
  • Will Ospreay vs. Kazuchika Okada (now official for 1/13 in San Jose)
  • Jon Moxley vs. Shingo Takagi no DQ (1/13 in San Jose)
  • United Empire with Will Ospreay vs. Bullet Club War Dogs in a cage match in Osaka at the New Beginning show
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Matt Riddle for the Tv title
  • Bryan Danielson vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
  • Okada & Tanahashi & Tomohiro Ishii vs. TMDK for the trios titles
  • Desperado vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru for the jr. title

Logan Paul announced a buyback program involving his CryptoZoo game. The game has led to a class action lawsuit involving Paul and his former business partners. Paul said he would make things right one year ago and now announced he’s buying back Base Egg and Base Animal CryptoZoo NFT’s for their original purchase price through 2/8.

The Discovery Channel is bringing back a six episode run of Big Little Brawlers, about mini pro wrestlers that will air at 10 pm. Tuesday nights starting this week. It’s a reality show about wrestlers in the Micro Wrestling Federation in Tennessee.

CFFC announced its first Muay Thai event for 1/27 at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia.

Fubu Sports announced live streaming of Xtreme Fighting 13 from Long Beach tomorrow night for free at 8 p.m. Eastern.

Defy returns to Washington Hall in Seattle on 2/9 featuring the debut of Mustafa Ali.

Tickets for the New Japan show on 4/12 at the Wintrust Arena in Chicago go on sale a week from today and there will be a pre-sale Thursday with the code NJPW.

 Chris Weidman faces Bruno Silva on a 3/30 UFC show in Atlantic City at Boardwalk Hall.

JNPO: The MMA year in review show, pt. 2

Posted on by Josh Nason

On a new Josh Nason’s Punch-Out, my yearly MMA year in review series with guest co-host Paul Fontaine rolls on with a look at April, May & June.

This 90+ day stretch saw Israel Adesanya regain the UFC middleweight title from rival Alex Pereira at UFC 287 in front of 19,000 Floridians and a massive $12 million gate — an event that also saw Donald Trump in attendance and perhaps the final MMA bout for Jorge Masvidal.

Francis Ngannou made news as he officially found a new MMA home in the PFL. The move came with plenty of criticism from fans and Dana White alike which Paul and I discuss in full.

This stretch also saw the return of Olympic gold medalist and former UFC champion Henry Cejudo after years of threatening to come out of retirement. Paul and I talk about his return effort against bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling at UFC 288.

After another win and another successful women’s bantamweight title defense at UFC 289, Amanda Nunes called it a career. Paul and I talk about the double-champion’s legacy and why it was overlooked by so many.

All that and plenty more awaits you in part two of my MMA year in review series.

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JNPO: The MMA year in review show, pt. 1

Posted on by Josh Nason

It’s time to kick off my four-part MMA year in review series on Josh Nason’s Punch-Out: a tradition dating back to 2015.

Eight years later, a lot remains the same including that the UFC is still the dominant leader in MMA and even more so than ever before.

Joining me once again is my trusty co-pilot Paul Fontaine of F4W Online and co-host of both the In The Clinch podcast and The Dynamite Show.

To kick things off, we tackle the first three months of the year (January, February & March if you’re keeping track) which saw a changing of the guard at heavyweight in the UFC.

After the UFC and heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou came to an impasse on a new contract, Dana White & Co. simply changed course and decided to move on, vacating the title and putting together Jon Jones vs. Cyril Gane instead…but not without some shade thrown Ngannou’s way first.

We talk about March’s UFC 285 where Jones quickly won the title, preceded by a massive upset that saw Alexa Grasso win the women’s flyweight title.

We saw several other new champions made including Jamahal Hill, Brandon Moreno and Yair Rodriguez and a notable retirement in Benson Henderson.

Hear about all the big fights that happened, the new ones that got made, and all of the other news from the first three months of the year.

Click Here to Listen

Daily Update: WWE Raw, SmackDown, Ngannou vs. Fury

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Daily Update

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See Dave & Bryan in London

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

In this issue:

  • Match and Performer of the Week
  • The Bloodline saga comes very close to a first in the history of pro wrestling on television
  • A look at the Trial of Roman Reigns, the Reigns vs. Usos feud, and the storyline that has caused WWE business to grow
  • A preview of all the big matches of the weekend in three different countries, none of which are the U.S., with TripleMania, G-1, Miyahara vs. Nakajima and Collision
  • Updated news on SummerSlam and Great American Bash and business notes on both shows
  • The new AEW rules memo, what is and isn’t new and the reality of what this means to talent
  • Full coverage of UFC 290 with two of the best fights of the year, a unique television situation and two title bouts
  • Looking at the 2023 Wrestler of the Year award and the top candidates
  • Francis Ngannou vs. Tyson Fury, the questions about the show and why the hope for it to be a success is the evolution of understanding fighting being low
  • The most detailed look at the ratings of every major pro wrestling and MMA show of the past week, the analysis, competition, segment numbers and comparisons with one year ago
  • Lots of injury talks regarding major stars
  • Key husband and wife jumping promotions
  • Mercedes Mone rivalry planned
  • Update on major sports rights negotiations in the next few years
  • The death of Michael Halac, the former Bruiser Mastino and Mantaur
  • Wrestling magazine pioneer writer Ed Garea, The Phantom of the Ring, passes away
  • Notes on the new women’s promotion
  • RevPro Epic Encounters rundown
  • Battle of the two best 18-year-old wrestlers in the world announced for next month
  • Ticket sales for tons of big shows
  • Kenny Omega talks the Tiger driver spot
  • International TV ratings
  • Lots of new major UFC fights
  • Looking at the vacant UFC light heavyweight title situation
  • World champion in UFC talks about how two years ago he supplemented his income driving for Uber Eats
  • More major show dates fr WWE
  • Backstage issue at WWE
  • A look at all the major TV shows and WWE weekend show coverage

This Week’s Retro Observer Newsletter

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Monday Update

Bryan and I will be back tonight talking Raw. We will probably have time tonight for questions as well so you can send them to [email protected]

Raw tonight is from the State Farm Arena in Atlanta which is sold out with more than 11,400 tickets out as of this morning. The key things on the show are Brock Lesnar appearing to do an angle with Cody Rhodes, Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn vs. Dominik Mysterio & Damian Priest in a non-title match, Gunther vs. Matt Riddle with Giovanni Vinci and Ludvig Kaiser barred from ringside, Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez defending the women’s tag titles against Sonya Deville & Chelsea Green and Viking Raiders vs. Alpha Academy in a Viking rules match which is Viking oriented weapons at ringside. I don’t know this, but with the four guys in the non-title match not listed on the matches I’ve seen for SummerSlam, I could see this being set up or a title match either for that show or for television. Odyssey Jones, who worked a dark match on Friday night, is there so he may work on Main Event tonight.

We’re looking for reports on the show with Main Event matches and anything else not on the live show to [email protected]

Smackdown for Friday is also sold out in Orlando with 12,200 tickets out.

Francis Ngannou spoke to Ariel Helwani today on the MMA Hour about his match with Tyson Fury. He said they were in talks with a boxing match with Deontay Wilder, which would have been a terrible idea, and the Fury fight came about in the last five weeks. Helwani said Ngannou’s payoff will be above $8 million and Ngannou said it was more than he’s made in his entire UFC career combined. Ngannou said that if he wins (unlikely but it is a fight so anything is possible) there is an automatic rematch but if Fury wins, he’s not sure about that.

Josh Alexander, who was just cleared to return to action after surgery to repair a torn triceps, was announced a the new head trainer at the Can-Am Wrestling school in Windsor, ONT.

Ronda Rousey will be on Stars on Mars again tonight on FOX.

Wes Lee vs. Dominik Mysterio, Bronco Nima & Lucien Price vs. Scrypts & Axiom, Dragon Lee & Nathan Frazer vs. Humberto Carrillo & Angel Garza and Kiana James vs. Gigi Dolin will be on NXT tomorrow.

Yesterday’s TV was the final appearance of Nick Aldis with Impact. He had only agreed to a short run, which climaxed Saturday night with the PPV main event loss to Alex Shelley. He will be appearing in one last match on TV, either this Thursday or next week, against Eric Young. Mike Johnson reported Aldis was in talks with WWE for a producing job.

AEW Blood & Guts has done very strong business since the announcement of the match. They are at close to 8,200 tickets out for the Wednesday show at the TD Garden.

We’re looking for your thoughts on both nights of G-1, AAA TripleMania and Impact Slammiversay with a thumbs up, down or middle, best and worst match for each show to [email protected]

Day three of G-1 starts at 5:30 a.m. tomorrow morning with A and B block matches

  • A: Kaito Kiyomiya vs. Chase Owens
  • B: KENTA vs. Great O’Khan
  • A: Hikuleo vs. Gabriel Kidd
  • B: Taichi vs. Tanga Loa
  • A: Yota Tsuji vs. Ren Narita
  • B: Will Ospreay vs. Yoshi-Hashi
  • A: Sanada vs. Shota Umino
  • B: Kazuchika Okada vs. El Phantasmo

Tony Khan will have a press conference tomorrow for the ROH PPV show which takes place on Friday night going against both Smackdown and Rampage. 

We’ve had a lot of people comment to us about what an amazing weekend it was for high-quality matches. We also got recommended the Chihiro Hashimoto vs. Natsupoi match on the Sendai Girls show as a great David vs. Goliath type match.

We’ve gotten a lot of questions regarding the writers strike and how this affects wrestling. All the writers are non-union for WWE and AEW creative is as well. There is no effect on wrestling other than if the strike lasts any length of time, wrestling will become more valuable as first-run weekly programming. Nick Khan in the past has tried to push the idea of a simulcast of Raw on both NBC and USA like ABC and ESPN did for the UFC prelims on 7/8 and football and soccer has done of late. If this continues that is a stronger possibility than ever before.

Nick Hausman reported that a 9/14 show in Jerusalem, Israel that Sting and Rob Van Dam were to headline is in jeopardy. The statement made by the people putting the show together was:

“We regret to announce that the Global Pro Wrestling Summit event will not be going forward, as scheduled for the Pais Arena in Jerusalem on September 14, 2023. The promoter, All-Stars Israel/Stagetime, is in breach of contract on numerous fronts, inclusive of not delivering deposits to talent as stipulated in the contracts, and has been duly notified that the contracted talent (which includes ALL non-Israeli talent being advertised for the event) will NOT be appearing. THIS promoter has been advised to pull advertisements/promotions containing talent from all platforms and to cease selling tickets immediately in connection with the advertisement/promotion of any of these talents.In the interest of protecting consumers from fraud, we’ve notified both the Pais Arena and the on-sale platform –Ticket Tailor—that the event, as currently being advertised/promoted by All-Stars Israel/Stagetime, is not going forward.In the process of producing this event, first-class teams in both the US and Israel have been assembled. Talented professionals such as Rick Bassman. Scarlette Donovan, Todd Keneley, Alon Levin, Jeramie McPeek, Oren Treitman, Pete Trerice, Danny Ly Ziser, and others have put forth a consistently excellent and thoroughly conscientious effort to build and advance what we all hoped would be an unforgettable and wholly-positive experience, for talent and “office” alike, and especially, for the fans.That said, with this large volume of good work behind us, including booking an unparalleled card and having a solid commitment for pay-per-view, we’re all hard at work trying to “save” this event by aligning with a reputable, major promotional entity. Progress is being made, with REPUTABLE promoters, both in Israel and in other territories. In the event we are to move forward on the September 14 date, we will provide updates accordingly, and all ticket sales for Pais will be honored at the new venue. That said, fans who have purchased tickets thus far may wish to elect to request a refund through Ticket Tailor, the platform All-Stars Israel engaged. www.tickettailor.comIf September 14 does not come to fruition, we will regroup, and continue to put forth our best efforts to bring world-class professional wrestling to Israel in the very near future. But… we’re still fighting the good fight! In any case, we PLEDGE… a “new” event will be announced ONLY when ALL funding is in place. “

All In is being advertised in London on some double decker buses. WWE did the same thing last year for Clash at the Castle. (thanks to Ciaran and Stephen Lyon)

Dark Side of the Ring tomorrow is on Abdullah the Butcher.

The New Japan TV show on Thursday will be airing the 2016 G-1 Climax final with Kenny Omega vs. Hirooki Goto, which was a classic match at the time.

Fathom Events is presenting “They Live,” the 1988 film by John Carpenter and starring Roddy Piper in Piper’s most famous big screen lead role. It will air in selected theaters on 9/3 and 9/6.

Daniel Garcia will be headlining West Coast Pro as it debuts in Los Angeles on 9/10 at The Don Quixote.

Francis Ngannou, Tyson Fury boxing match set for Saudi Arabia

Posted on by Josh Nason

After more than a year of speculation, former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou will make his professional boxing debut against future Hall-of-Famer and occasional pro wrestling toe dipper Tyson Fury.

ESPN’s Mike Coppinger confirmed the news Tuesday morning, saying the fight will take place in Saudi Arabia on October 28th. 

What is not confirmed yet is whether the fight will be an exhibition or if Fury’s WBC heavyweight title will be on the line. When news broke this past week about the impending fight, it appeared likely it would be an exhibition given that Ngannou has never boxed before. Tied into that question are the rules and number of rounds.

It’s assumed the fight will be a pay-per-view.

This will be Ngannou’s first fight in any combat sport since he defeated Cyril Gane for the UFC heavyweight title in January 2022. He and the UFC eventually went their separate ways after not being able to come to terms on a new deal which became ugly publicly.

Ngannou signed with upstart MMA organization PFL earlier this year and will be part of their pay-per-view division. He said he expects to debut for them in 2024.

Fury is best known to wrestling fans for his handful of appearances in WWE. He made his debut at 2019’s Crown Jewel, defeating Braun Strowman by countout. He also was ringside for last September’s Clash at the Castle as a second to Drew McIntyre and has teased a match between them several times.

Daily Update: Tyson Fury vs. Francis Ngannou, WWE SmackDown, Georges St-Pierre

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Daily Update

Latest News

Latest Audio

See Dave & Bryan in London

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This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter:

In this issue:

  • Match of the week and performer of the week for the past two weeks
  • Full coverage of Money in the Bank, the story behind all the matches angles and finishes
  • Eight confirmed matches for SummerSlam
  • Ticket sales for SummerSlam and records already broken and other records on the verge of being broken
  • Live gate for Money in the Bank and a breakdown of the multiple records set
  • WrestleMania in London and an update on where that stands
  • Total viewership for the show
  • PPV numbers for the show and how it compares to other shows plus crossover with AEW Forbidden Door
  • Story behind the results and angles on the show
  • The life and times of Darren Drozdov, comments from wrestlers, family, friends and the story behind the accident that changed his life and how he battled back and ended up close with his family.
  • His brief career in wrestling
  • Jerry McDevitt removed from the MLW lawsuit and announces his retirement. A look back at the legendary attorney and his history with WWE
  • What happened with Collision in week three. A detailed breakdown of what was one of the most important TV ratings of the year
  • WWE & AEW quarterly business, viewership, house shows, what is up and what is down and why
  • New Japan Strong at Korakuen Hall with four title changes and two brutal matches
  • Full UFC coverage for the week and business notes
  • Dragon Gate’s biggest show of the year takes place
  • The most detailed look at the ratings for all the major wrestling shows, including weekly rankings
  • CMLL runs major event with Romero vs. Volador Jr., and notes on the debut of Mascara Dorada 2.0
  • Stardom PPV coverage
  • Notes on the Five-Star Grand Prix tournament
  • Triple Crown title change and fantastic performance by Yuji Nagata
  • Father and daughter appear on show together in Japan
  • What companies in Japan have drawn the most fans so far this year
  • One of the biggest tag teams of all-time having a special show
  • Lots more on the Mildred Burke movie that was being filmed this past month and stories about Burke’s legend
  • Grappl lists its fan voted best matches in history
  • Matt Morgan talks back surgery
  • Tragos/Thesz Hall of Fame notes for 2023
  • Stardom star coming to GCW and notes on the deal
  • Kenny Omega talks AEW video game
  • Updated ticket sales for All In and where it ranks on the all-time list
  • Update on Forbidden Door PPV numbers
  • Jon Moxley goal to become an historical first
  • Omega talks Will Ospreay match
  • Ticket sales to the upcoming WWE and AEW shows
  • Jim Ross updates his condition
  • Injury updates
  • Streaming number updates
  • Merch number updates
  • International TV ratings
  • Lots of gimmick fights being talked about
  • ESPN announce new multi-part documentary
  • Paul Levesque talks NXT Europe
  • Plans for net year’s Mania
  • Gable Steveson issues challenge for another sport he’s never done before
  • Rundown of all WWE events this past week

This Week’s Retro Observer Newsletter:

Moderators needed:

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Friday Update

We won’t be having a show today but Garrett Gonzales and I will be back tomorrow night covering Collision, Smackdown, UFC 290 and all the news of the past week including all the Observer stories and business notes, and there is a lot of it.

The new Observer issue is up on the site now. We’ve already gotten a lot of great feedback on the Darren Drozdov story. 

Ariel Helwani reported that Tyson Fury vs. Francis Ngannou is expected to be announced shortly under boxing rules no doubt.

Smackdown tonight is from Madison Square Garden. The huge ratings run will likely continue tonight with the trial of Roman Reigns by the Usos, plus Edge returns in the Grayson Waller Effect, A.J. Styles faces Karrion Kross and Austin Theory defends the U.S. title against Sheamus. Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor for the world title is scheduled as a dark match. Trick Williams was sent to the show, so he may be in a dark match or in an angle. Vince McMahon is at the show as he would be expected to be because he almost always goes to MSG events. About 13,500 are to be in attendance and it is sold out.

Georges St-Pierre, who will be doing a grappling match in December coming out of retirement, has said he would like to face Anderson Silva, Khabib Nurmagomedov or Kamaru Usman.

Bandido after surgery yesterday on his broken wrist is hopeful to be back in action in six to weight weeks. All In is 7 1/2 weeks and that is the hoped for goal if he would even be booked on the show.

Josiah Harrell, who was to face Jack Della Maddalena tomorrow on the UFC show, in his MRI was found with moyamoya syndrome, a rare disease that results in blocked arteries at the base of the brain according to Nolan King of MMA Kings. He will undergo a brain procedure and is obviously out of the fight. UFC confirmed that Della Maddalena will be off the card.

We’ve looking for reports from these weekend shows:

  • Smackdown tonight in Madison Square Garden (dark matches only)
  • NXT tonight in Largo, FL
  • NXT tomorrow night in Melbourne, FL
  • We’re looking for results, finishes and highlights

Some more notes on the AEW ratings from Wednesday, which came out today. Dynamite’s 855,000 viewers and 0.29 was first place on cable, and also beat everything on at least English language television except The Price is Right from 8-9 p.m. on CBS in 18-49. It was second on television and an 0.29 on cable is more impressive than an 0.42 on network in hour one. In house two, it was tops on all of television. Sista Series on BET was second on cable at 0.18 and Real Housewives of Orange County on Bravo was third at 0.17, followed by Expedition Unknown on Discovery at 0.16. The 35-49 numbers were way up but 18-34 was still at the same 0.19 as last week. The MJF/Adam Cole post-match was the 18-49 and 18-34 high point.

The G-1 Climax tournament starts a week from Saturday, which is also the day of the Kenny Omega vs. El Hijo del Vikingo match for AAA in Tijuana.

UFC 290 is tomorrow from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas:

6 p.m. on ESPN 2

  • Kamuela Kirk (155.5) vs. Esteban Ribovics (156)
  • Shannon Ross (126) vs. Jesus Aguilar (126)
  • Cameron Saaiman (135) vs. Terrence Mitchell (135)
  • Vitor Petrino (206) vs. Marcin Prachnio (206)

ABC and ESPN at 8 p.m.

  • Tatsuro Taira (130) vs. Edgar Chavez (129)
  • Jimmy Crute (205) vs. Alonzo Menifield (205.5)
  • Yazmin Jauregiu (115.5) vs. Denise Gomes (115.5)
  • Robbie Lawler (170.5) vs. Niko Price (171)

PPV at 10 p.m.

  • Bo Nickal (186) vs. Val Woodburn (185.5)
  • Jalin Turner (158) vs. Dan Hooker (155.5)
  • Robert Whittaker (185.5) vs. Dricus Du Plessis (186)
  • Brandon Moreno (125) vs. Alexandre Pantoja (125) for the flyweight title
  • Alexander Volkanovski (144.5) vs. Yair Rodriguez (145) for the featherweight title
  • We have a preview in the current issue. Turner missed weight by two pounds and has to forfeit 20 percent of his purse.

Dana White is claiming that 100 percent Mark Zuckerbeg and Elon Musk want to fight in UFC and he said he has a date planned for the fight. He said if a commission says no, he’ll find a commission who says yes and said the show will do one billion in revenue.

Becky Lynch & Seth Rollins and Montez Ford & Bianca Belair are being sent by WWE to the Espy Awards.

Best wishes to former pro wrestler Rick Allen, known as Sunny Beach on Northeast indies and the Herb Abrams UWF, who had heart surgery on Thursday. He worked many television matches for WWF as well.

The Impact shows this past week in Wagga Wagga, Australia will be airing later this month on Impact in 60.

MLW is doing a PPV show on FITE+ tomorrow night from the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia with Alex Hammerstone vs. Alex Kane for the title as the main event.

Battery charges against former UFC fighter Luis Pena were dismissed, stemming from an October 2021 arrest. Pena was accused of striking two women, and injuring them, one of which was his partner who he allegedly struck several times with a cosed fist and another woman attempted to stop him and he allegedly punched her and knocked her down. UFC then released Pena from the promotion but has fought five times in smaller companies since.

Marlon Vera will face Pedro Munhoz at UFC 292 according to Vera’s management team on social media. Munhoz replaces the injured Henry Cejudo.

Other Notes

Combate Global, coming off one of its best ratings in years, will be on Univision and Paramount + at 11 p.m. tomorrow night Carlos Briseno vs. Micaias Ureno as the main event.

MCW Fan Jam on 7/23 at the RJ Meyer Arena in Joppa, MD has a free admission fan fest with Roderick Strong, Lio Rush, Headbangers, Eric Bischoff, Ricardo Rodriguez, Mickie James, Melina Perez, Reby Hardy, Matt Hardy, Renee Paquette, Jeff Hardy and more.

Pro Wrestling Revolver tomorrow night in Grand Prairie, TX at The Epic with Alex Shelley vs. Zachary Wentz, Keith Lee vs. Aaron Eagles, Sami Callihan vs. Allie Katch in a street fight, Rich Swann vs. Shane Taylor, Mike Bailey vs. JD Griffey in a no ropes fight pit match, Lance Archer vs. Matthew Palmer and Chris Bey & Ace Austin vs. Gabe Wilder & Tommy Prince.

Former WWE developmental wrestler Kyla Rasmussen, 42, pleaded no contest to charges of trying to strangle the driver on a moving vehicle in Rochester Hills, MI. (thanks to Mike Malasev)

AAA has its first TV taping in six weeks tomorrow night in Orizaba, Veracruz with Jack Evans & Pentagon Jr. & Aramis vs. Bestia 666 & Mecha Wolf & Pagano plus Negro Casas & Dalys vs. Daga & Chik Tormenta as the top bouts.

Former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou signs with PFL

Posted on by Josh Nason

After an acrimonious end to his run in the Octagon, former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou has found a new home: the PFL.

Announced on Tuesday, Ngannou will join Jake Paul and Kayla Harrison in the company’s Super Fight division which is reserved for pay-per-view events only.

According to the release, he will make his debut in mid-2024 “against a major global MMA star fighter to be chosen in the future.”

One of the main drivers for his issues with the UFC at the end of his run was money and their inability to come to a deal he felt was fair. With the PFL, Ngannou will earn 50% of revenue from PPV fights.

The 36-year-old rose to prominence in the UFC starting in 2015 with his vicious knockout power. With five straight wins punctuated by highlight reel finishes over Alistair Overeem and Andrei Arlovski, Ngannou earned his first title shot against then-champion Stipe Miocic at UFC 220 in January 2018. He was dominated by Miocic’s wrestling in a rout and then followed that up with a listless loss to Derrick Lewis that summer in one of the most-panned fights in recent history.

He would rally, stringing together four straight first round finishes over Cain Velasquez, Junior dos Santos and others before earning his second title shot in a rematch over Miocic. He rolled to victory, taking home the title at UFC 260 via second round knockout.

After later refusing to take a fight on the UFC’s schedule, the promotion created an interim title to Ngannou’s dismay that showed the fraying of their relationship. He would return to unify the belts at UFC 270 in January 2022, defeating Cyril Gane in a unanimous decision. He would later have knee surgery and his UFC contract eventually sunsetted as the two sides couldn’t come to a deal.

This past January, UFC president Dana White said Ngannou would never fight for the organization again, released him, and claimed they made him an offer to be the highest-paid heavyweight in MMA history. Ngannou said the offer was for $8 million to fight Jon Jones as part of a multi-fight contract while he had requested a three-fight deal to fight Jones twice and Miocic with no renewal clause.

PFL is calling this a “strategic partnership” as Ngannou will be an equity owner and chairman of PFL Africa, a subdivision of PFL that will crown champions on that continent with an eye toward having them compete for the PFL Global title. This follows their launch of PFL Europe earlier this year.

Jon Jones to fight for UFC heavyweight title, Francis Ngannou now free agent

Posted on by Josh Nason

Former two-time UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones will make his long-awaited return to the Octagon in March and will do so in a fight for the undisputed UFC heavyweight championship.

Announced by Dana White following Saturday’s UFC Fight Night event, Jones will take on former interim heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane at March’s UFC 285 in Las Vegas.

Francis Ngannou, the reigning heavyweight champion, is now a free agent after a long dispute with the company over a new contract. White claimed they offered him a deal that would have made him the highest-paid heavyweight in the company, but they could not come to terms. He said they would release him from his contract and waive their option to match other offers.

Ngannou last fought in January 2022 in a win over Gane to unify the titles. He then had knee surgery that kept him out of action the entire year. He has talked about boxing previously in hopes of bigger paydays. 

The 35-year-old Jones hasn’t fought since a controversial February 2020 unanimous decision win over Dominick Reyes to retain his title. Since then, he had his own disputes with the company over money, but White said Jones has signed a new eight-fight contract.

Jones had talked about moving up to heavyweight frequently and now weighs a reported 255 pounds. He has only been defeated once in a 28-fight career with the one defeat coming in an odd 2009 disqualification loss vs. Matt Hamill. 

Gane comes into the fight with an 11-1 record with the one loss to Ngannou. He last competed in September 2022 and defeated Tai Tuivasa by third round knockout.

While Jones hasn’t made news inside the cage in nearly three years, he has made plenty outside it.

Since he last fought, Jones, who has run afoul of both the law and USADA several times, has been in trouble with the law twice, once in New Mexico in March 2020 for aggravated DWI, possession of a firearm and other charges and again in September 2021 in a more visible case in Las Vegas for domestic battery with his now-ex fiance that was later dropped. That also included him being arrested and banging his head against a police car and challenging officers to a fight.

In both cases, he served no jail time.

Daily Update: WWE Raw, ratings, Francis Ngannou

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Daily Update

Latest News:

Latest Audio:

Latest Free YouTube Video:

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter: AEW & NJPW announce joint show, Windy City Riot review

  • The new issue of the Observer has these stories:
  • Forbidden Door PPV and the history of NJPW and AEW going from a cold relationship to running a joint show
  • Match of the Week/Performer of the Week
  • What people thought of NJPW Windy City Riot
  • Part one of looking at February & March business and comparisons with one year ago
  • Windy City Riot, the good, the bad and the technical issues
  • WrestleMania Backlash and early notes on WWE’s summer stadium shows
  • Saturday’s UFC show
  • What arena has had more great matches than any other and its 60th anniversary
  • Television wrestling viewing over the past week, including comparisons with other sports, head-to-head competition, who watches
  • CMLL Universal title tournament
  • Stardom Cinderella tournament
  • All Japan Champion Carnival tournament
  • Update on Kota Ibushi
  • Are streaming services plateauing?
  • Notes on the biggest indie shows of the past week
  • AEW video game news
  • Ticket updates and sales for WWE & AEW shows over the next month plus
  • International TV ratings
  • Dana White talking major fight this summer he’s working on
  • Coverage of Bellator’s biggest show of the year and this week’ doubleheader
  • How much fighters actually weigh getting into the cage vs. weigh-ins
  • Fight of the year talk
  • Notes on Kushida leaving WWE
  • How WWE first came up with the developmental system and the idea behind it
  • Paul Levesque talks developmental
  • Steve Austin talks doing future big shows
  • Streaming numbers

This Week’s Retro Observer Newsletter: March 21, 2005 Observer Newsletter: Raw leaving Spike TV, TNA Destination X review

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Monday News Update

  • Bryan and I will be back tonight talking all the news from Raw, as well as the rest of the news. You can also send questions for tonight’s show to [email protected]
  • Raw tonight features the return of Becky Lynch. There have been reports of Lynch vs. Asuka imminently. They are also doing the 20th anniversary of Randy Orton on the main roster as a theme to the show and Bianca Belair vs. Sonya Deville for the women’s title in Belair’s home city of Knoxville. There were 5,200 tickets out for the show as of last night. They are heavily pushing this one everywhere with quotes from all the heavy hitters. Obviously the competition tonight is very tough.
  • For those in Canada, because of the NBA, Baseball and NHL playoffs, Raw will not air on Sportsnet 360 the next three weeks. Raw will air on OLN in Canada. This comes at a time when Raw is doing its best numbers in Canada in a long time.
  • As noted and will be noted for the next two months, the NBA will be taking a chunk out of wrestling numbers. There are three NBA playoff games tonight against Raw, for the most part two will be going against the show at the same time. Boston vs. Brooklyn and Philadelphia vs. Toronto are the earlier games and Jazz vs. Mavericks is the 10 p.m. game. NXT tomorrow goes against both Atlanta vs. Miami and Minnesota vs. Memphis. AEW on Wednesday goes against Bulls vs. Bucks (and Chicago is one of AEW’s best rated cities) and Brooklyn vs. Boston. If there is a break, the Warriors vs. Nuggets on Wednesday starts at 10 p.m., so only goes against AEW on the West Coast, but last season a late night Warrior-Laker game only going against AEW on the West Coast led to an 0.28 rating for AEW, so it will so it will still have impact.
  • Regarding the Friday numbers, it was insane the sports competition. Smackdown went against NBA on ABC and ESPN, and the ESPN game did big numbers. Smackdown on network wouldn’t be hurt as much by cable, although obviously when you’ve got two NBA games you’ll be hurt. Rampage actually went against two games, Bellator, baseball, USFL and Mexican league soccer and beat all sports on cable except the NBA on ESPN.
  • Francis Ngannou was on the MMA Hour today and said UFC has tried to clear the air with him. He noted he had dinner with Hunter Campbell last week and said it went great, but they didn’t talk business. He said there is no chance of him signing a new deal with UFC unless they allow him to box Tyson Fury. “If that’s not part of the discussion now, it will never be.” He said after he fights Fury, he still wants to fight in UFC and do fights with Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic. Ngannou said there is nothing contractually UFC can do to stop the fight from happening next year.
  • Henry Cejudo’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz, posted a photo of Cejudo meeting wit Hunter Campbell and Sean Shelby. Cejudo said she’s shifted his target from Alexander Volkanovski to bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling.
  • Thanks to Myron Kittle, Gene Restaino,Dagan Broad, David Gould and Sean Dowling for the weekend show reports.
  • We got a tweet from someone who shot the clock during the Eddie Kingston vs. Daniel Garcia match and said only four minutes, not ten minutes, was edited out of the match when it aired on television Friday.
  • Josh Alexander vs. Tomohiro Ishii will headline the next Impact PPV show, under Siege, on 5/6, which goes head-to-head with a UFC PPV show.
  • Jorge Masvidal was on Logan Paul’s podcast and said he was open to a boxing match with Jake Paul.

Other Notes

  • David Taylor, the 2021 Olympic gold medalist, has been added to the 6/8 Beat the Streets wrestling event at the Hulu Theater inside of Madison Square Garden. Taylor was second in the most recent world championships. He joins Jordan Burroughs and Helen Maroulis, also gold medalists, on that event. 
  • Defy announced that its show on Saturday will air for free on Pluto TV Ch. 732 at 11 pm. Eastern time and 8 p.m. Pacific. It’ll be the first live televised Defy event with Jon Moxley vs. Tom Lawlor as the main event.
  • There are three major weekend events that will be airing in English. NOAH has 4/49 and 4/30 at Sumo Hall on Wrestle Universe with Stewart Fulton and Mark Pickering announcing. The big show is 4/30 headlined by Kazuyuki Fujita vs. Go Shizoaki for the GHC title and starts at 2 a.m. Eastern early Saturday morning, or 11 p.m. Pacific late Friday night, actually right after the West Coast feed of Rampage ends. 
  • TripleMania from the baseball stadium in Monterrey, with Young Bucks vs. Fenix (who I’m told will be returning from his injury) & El Hijo del Vikingo plus the first round with four matches with Mexican masked legends (Canek vs. Psycho Clown, Blue Demon Jr. vs. Rayo de Jalisco Jr., Ultimo Dragon vs. Pentagon Jr. and L.A. Park vs. Villano IV) starts at 9 p.m. Saturday night. There will be English commentary on FITE with Joe Dombrowski and Larry Dallas.
  • The Fukuoka PayPay Dome show starts at 4 a.m. Eastern on New Japan World. This is one of the company’s biggest shows of the year, headlined by Kazuchika Okada vs. Tetsuya Naito for the IWGP world title and Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Will Ospreay for the U.S. title.
  • Pro Wrestling Phoenix runs Wednesday night in Omaha, NE at the Waiting Room Lounge.
  • WAR on 5/21 in Lima, OH at the Empowered Sports Center.

Dana White addresses his UFC 270 disappearance, two new title fights for May

Posted on by Josh Nason

UFC president Dana White addressed why he disappeared after heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou’s title unification win over interim champion Cyril Gane at last Saturday’s UFC 270 and didn’t put the belt on the champion as is tradition.

During an ESPN+ Q&A session Wednesday, White said he walked out of the arena in Anaheim, California, after the flyweight title co-main event “because there was stuff going on backstage that I was dealing with.”

White bristled at the notion at anyone thinking he was showing disrespect to Ngannou by not being in the cage and also skipping the post-event press conference, calling them “idiots” and pointing out that he saw the champion all week, shook his hand and said hi to him.

He said the only time he ever did that intentionally was after then-middleweight champion Anderson Silva’s lackluster UFC 112 title defense over Demian Maia in Abu Dhabi.

Ngannou and the UFC have been at an impasse on a new contract due to perceived disrespect and financial terms dating back to last year’s creation of the interim title due to Ngannou not being able to commit to the fight timeline UFC wanted.

Ngannou is currently obligated to remain with the company for the duration of the year on a champion’s clause after which time he will become a free agent. Ngannou said this week he is going to have knee surgery this year which will take him out of action for up to ten months. 

Also on Wednesday, news broke via White that they are gearing up for another big pay-per-view card on May 7th with two titles on the line at UFC 274.

In the main event, lightweight champion Charles Oliveira will look to continue his hot streak of wins and finishes as he defends against action fighter and fan favorite Justin Gaethje. The champion has won ten straight and last submitted Dustin Poirier in December while Gaethje is 5-1 in his last six fights and is a former interim titleholder.

In the co-main event, light heavyweight champion Glover Teixeira will defend his title for the first time when he faces Jiri Prochazka.

Originally tabbed for Brazil, it’s unknown where the event will take place. Neither fight has been made official, but considering White revealed the information to ESPN, it’s essentially confirmed.

White also said they are trying to make a fight between Michael Chandler and Tony Ferguson for the future, but nothing has been signed. It’s assumed that would headline a Fight Night event.

Daily Update: Ronda Rousey, Raw, Francis Ngannou

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

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MONDAY NEWS UPDATE

Bryan and I will be back tonight with Wrestling Observer Radio covering Raw, WrestleMania, GCW and other notes. You can send questions to the show to [email protected]

Regarding the Ronda Rousey stories, she is definitely on the books for WrestleMania and being in the Rumble would set it up. Fightful reported her as a surprise in the Rumble and it certainly wasn’t denied to me, and some notes about Mania were confirmed, but also confirmed plans are on the table for her return.

Raw tonight is from Toledo. Earlier today they were 343 tickets shy of a sellout even with bad weather so it will almost surely be a sellout. It’s a smaller building than they usually run and Brock Lesnar is advertised. Announced so far is the Lesnar-Bobby Lashley weigh-in, Maryse’s birthday celebration and Chad Gable & Otis vs. Randy Orton & Riddle in an academic challenge. Roderick Strong and LA Knight are there, likely for a dark match or to do something for Main Event. They just opened up two upper deck sections.

This is the first week that Raw doesn’t go against major football since September. By all rights it should do the best numbers since early September. Based on usual bounce back levels I’d tab 1.775 to 1.825 million viewers as “expected,” and anything lower as not good, and anything higher as good. For 18-49 I’d say 0.46 to 0.48 as expected, and anything above as good for the current time frame.

AEW on Wednesday has on paper a more loaded than usual show with Cody Rhodes vs. Sammy Guevera in a ladder match, Santana & Ortiz & Chris Jericho vs. Daniel Garcia & 2.0, Leyla Hirsch vs. Red Velvet and Orange Cassidy vs. Adam Cole in a lights out match announced. C.M. Punk and Britt Baker are scheduled for promos. It’s being tabbed Beach Break. AEW is coming off a very strong rating for the advertised return of Jon Moxley. With no football opposition, it would seem a longshot for AEW to beat Raw, although the race for men could be interesting. Men 18-49 has seen AEW win five weeks in a row, but WWE has had tougher competition. Plus WWE is a week from the Rumble which is its No. 2 event of the year. The gap in men was 358,000 to 330,000 with Raw going against an NFL playoff game last week and 570,000 to 562,000 overall, so based on that you’d have to expect Raw to end that streak.

Francis Ngannou was on the MMA Hour today and noted UFC has offered him a new contract. But he wants freedom to fight in the UFC and do other shows (likely boxing against Tyson Fury). He said he’ll only sign if the promotion makes concessions on its usual business practices as he said he wants to be a real independent contractor free to fight wherever he wants. He said UFC tried to sign him to a new long term deal before the fight with Cyril Gane. He said the new deal offers him more money, but they didn’t offer him the freedom he asked for. He said right now this is about more than money. He said he doesn’t care if he’s stripped of the title because if he is, that ends his ties to UFC and he would be a free agent. Ngannou also noted that he and his team got an email from the UFC on the way to the show threatening a lawsuit for talking with Nakisa Bidarian, the promoter of Jake Paul fights who is also the former UFC CFO.

Looking for reports from last night’s WWE show in Huntington, WV. We’re doing polls on both UFC 270 and the GCW PPV show last night, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]

Smackdown did 2,255,000 viewers and 0.64 in 18-49, its best number since 9/10 with the cross promotion of Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens and Big E from Raw. Rampage on Friday did 594,000 viewers and 0.24 with the big draw being the Jon Moxley match that opened the show. Both shows had significant increases with women over usual levels.

Bobby Lashley is one of the people named Bob signed up for commercial purposes for Bob’s Discount Furniture. They had an ad campaign scheduled with Lashley, Rob Schneider, Rob Van Winkle (Vanilla Ice), Roberto Hernandez and a likeness of Bob Ross.

UFC

  • Oddsmakers have opened at SportsBetting.ag with Francis Ngannou as a -220 favorite if he were to defend the title against Jon Jones.
  • Chris Barnett vs. Martin Buday is set for the 4/16 show.
  • Gunnar Nelson is set to return against Claudio Silva on 3/19.
  • Dan Hooker vs. Arnold Allen at featherweight is set for 3/19 in London.

OTHER NOTES

  • Notes from Deadline on a movie called “Phoenix” starring Natalie Eva Marie (Eva Marie in WWE) and Randy Couture. Also listed as stars in the movie are former pro wrestler Oleg Prudius (Vladimir Kozlov in WWE) and UFC Hall of Famer Rashad Evans. Eva stars as a U.S. Army Sergeant who teaches hand-to-hand combat and finds out that her father, played by Couture, was killed via suicide. She doesn’t buy it and investigates and believes that the Russian (played by guess who) drug kingpin took her father out and she goes for revenge.
  • PFL Challengers Series will run on 2/18 and 2/25 on the Fubo Sports network television station as well as Fubo streaming. The 2/18 show will feature eight fighters looking to get into the $1 million light heavyweight tournament later in the year. The 2/25 show will have eight welterweights. The show will be held live at Universal Studios in Orlando. Over 500 fighters submitted applications. There will be an eight-person tournament in eight divisions with the tournament winner getting into the PFL tournament or getting a developmental contract with the promotion.
  • Metro Pro Wrestling from Saturday night in Southgate, MI: Donte Casson won over Rod Lee, Dean Hendrix, Niles Grey, Big Murph and Ronnie Deyo, Juntai b Alex Van Zant, Landon Sanders & Forever Young & Ryan Sin b Justin Dream & Royce Carney III & Haizen Beckett, Guttter b Joe Demaro, TJ Meyer b Adam Wick, Lamario Starr b Soultaker, Cold Brothers b LJ Lawrence, Top Gun and Iron Eagle & Roadhouse, Jason Hotch b Alex Shelley (thanks to Leonard Brand)