After a new standard was set in hyping a fight, and the results destroyed all revenue records, the question becomes what can be learned from the success of the Oscar de la Hoya vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight.
HBO reported this week that the fight drew 2,150,000 total buys and $120 million in revenue. The figures broke down to 1,225,000 in cable buys and 925,000 from satellite homes. This broke the Tyson-Holyfield record of 1.99 million buys set for their 1997 fight where Tyson bit Holyfield’s ear.
The show did a sellout 15,955 fans, which was 15,432 paid and a live gate of $18,419,200, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, the same site as Tito Ortiz vs. Chuck Liddell. The average ticket price of $1,194 was a record for this sort of thing, and the reality is, most people at the show spent $2,000 or more to be there live as most seats were gobbled up at the first minute by ticket brokers that were able to almost name their price.
All these years later, Mike Tyson can still draw on pay-per-view.
Boxing Scene’s Dan Rafael reported that Saturday’s Tyson vs. Roy Jones Jr. exhibition match brought in 1.2 million buys on linear/satellite TV and through Fite.TV. MMA Fighting reported that number could end up being even higher — a massive win for Triller, a new social media platform that promoted the show.
The year’s biggest combat sports event in terms of PPV buys is July’s UFC 251, headlined by welterweight champion Kamaru Usman vs. Jorge Masvidal topping an overall strong main card. The ESPN+ exclusive brought in a reported 1.3 million buys which means the Tyson-Jones Jr. fight is in striking distance of surpassing it.
It also would make it the biggest boxing PPV of the year ahead of Tyson Fury vs. Deontay Wilder II that did in the range of 800,000-850,000 buys.
The fact the 54-year-old Tyson is still a draw decades after he routinely drew over 1 million buys with the likes of Lennox Lewis, Evander Holyfield, Frank Bruno, Bruce Seldon, and even Peter McNeeley in his first fight after getting out of prison is impressive. Following the draw with the 51-year-old Jones Jr. Saturday, he promised he would do more exhibitions and has frequently talked about a third fight with Holyfield. It was his first time in the ring since June 2005.
On the pro wrestling front, Tyson appeared to be building toward an AEW match with Chris Jericho as they got into a pull-apart brawl in May. Since then, the angle hasn’t been revived but AEW could be waiting until fans can be in attendance at shows again.
The $50 PPV also featured YouTube star Jake Paul vs. former NBA player Nate Robinson, additional boxing matches, and musical performances by Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa. Paul’s brother, Logan, was also part of a 1 million+ buy boxing pay-per-view when he faced musician KSI in 2018.
Two separate media entities reported Monday that Saturday’s UFC 251 pay-per-view brought in 1.3 million buys, the best for both ESPN+ and the UFC since October 2018’s UFC 229 event headlined by Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Conor McGregor.
The kickoff to four straight events on “Fight Island” at Abu Dhabi’s Yas Island facility was headlined by welterweight champion Kamaru Usman vs. cult hero and short notice challenger Jorge Masvidal with two other championship bouts on the PPV portion of the card.
Sports Business Journal’s John Ourand reported the 1.3 million buy number Monday night, adding that total includes close to 900,000 for ESPN+ alone. Earlier in the day, The Athletic’s Mike Coppinger had reported the same earlier minus the ESPN+ purchase number. Since ESPN+ is the exclusive provider of UFC PPVs in the U.S., it’s assumed the other 400,000 are international buys.
The aforementioned UFC 229 show did a company record 2.4 million buys. The UFC never officially releases PPV numbers and information has been tougher to come by since ESPN became their exclusive provider in March 2019, meaning both sides were very happy with how this show performed.
AEW’s next pay-per-view, Revolution, will take place in late February.
The promotion officially confirmed tonight that their next PPV will be at the Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Illinois on leap day, February 29. Names advertised in the press release include AEW World Champion Chris Jericho, Women’s champion Riho, Jon Moxley, Cody, The Young Bucks, Kenny Omega, Nyla Rose and Britt Baker.
It will be a tied in with the C2E2 Expo, a pop culture convention held in the midwest. AEW stated in the press release that they will have a strong presence at the convention including a booth, special meet-and-greet sessions and other fan engagements.
AEW has previously held events in the Chicago area including All Out and a recent Dynamite television taping which were held at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. This will be the first show to be held within Chicago’s city limits.
Tickets for Revolution will go on sale Friday, December 20 at noon ET on AEW’s ticket website as well as ticketmaster.com.
All Elite Wrestling and In Demand announced the finalization of a deal Tuesday that guarantees the brand will have a pay-per-view presence through the early summer of 2021.
In Demand, the North American-based PPV and on demand distributor co-owned by traditional cable providers Comcast, Charter, and Cox, will be guaranteed a minimum of one AEW event per quarter through June 2021. In Demand has a reach of 60 million homes and distribution deals with 200 companies.
While not mentioned in the release, it is assumed B/R Live will remain AEW’s primary digital streaming option for PPV as long as Dynamite remains on TNT.
Since formally becoming AEW earlier this year, the company has run three times on PPV. May’s Double or Nothing brought in approximately 110,000 buys, August’s All Out reportedly did 101,000 buys and November’s Full Gear was around the 100,000 buy mark.
AEW has yet to announce the next date, location, and name for their next PPV event.
We’re looking for your thoughts on UFC 237, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected].
We’re looking for reports from these weekend shows:
Raw Marseilles, France on Friday
Revolution Pro Wrestling from York Hall in London on Friday
NEW JAPAN BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIORS DAY ONE IN SENDAI ON MONDAY AT 5:30 A.M. EASTERN ON NEW JAPAN WORLD
Yota Tsuji and Ren Narita vs. Taichi and DOUKI
Yuya Uemura, Rocky Romero and Bandido vs. Jado, Robbie Eagles and El Phantasmo
Juice Robinson & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Yoh & Ren Narita
Will Ospreay & Toa Henare vs. Tetsuya Naito & Bushi
Tiger Mask vs. Taka Michinoku
Titan vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru
Marty Scurll vs. Jonathan Gresham
Sho vs. Shingo Takagi
Dragon Lee vs. Taiji Ishimori
Raw will be Monday from the O2 Arena in London while there will be a Smackdown house show on Monday in Bornemouth, UK. Raw has announced Roman Reigns on Miz TV, Natalya vs. Naomi vs. Alexa Bliss vs. Dana Brooke, Ricochet vs. Baron Corbin and Braun Strowman vs. Drew McIntyre.
NEW JAPAN BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIORS DAY TWO IN SENDAI ON TUESDAY AT 5:30 A.M. EASTERN ON NEW JAPAN WORLD
Yota Tsuji, Jonathan Gresham and Tiger Mask vs. Taichi, Taka Michinoku and Yoshinobu Kanemaru
Juice Robinson & Dragon Lee vs. Sho & Shota Umino
Brody King & Marty Scurll vs. Taiji Ishimori & Gedo
Titan & Toa Henare vs. Tetsuya Naito & Shingo Takagi
Ren Narita vs. Douki
Rocky Romero vs. Robbie Eagles
Bandido vs. Phantasmo
Will Ospreay vs. Bushi
Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Yoh
Smackdown and 205 Live will be taped on Tuesday at the O2 Arena in London while Raw has a house show in Paris, France. Announced for the London show is a possible Kevin Owens Show with Kofi Kingston, Finn Balor vs. Ali vs. Andrade vs. Randy Orton and Kairi Sane & Asuka vs. Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville plus for 205 Live, Tony Nese vs. El Ligero non-title and a four-way with Humberto Carrillo vs. Jack Gallagher vs. James Drake vs. Mark Andrews.
NEW JAPAN BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIORS DAY THREE IN AOMORI WEDNESDAY AT 5:30 A.M. ON NEW JAPAN WORLD
Yuya Uemura and Ren Narita vs. Robbie Eagles and Jado
Ryusuke Taguchi & Shota Umino vs. Taichi & Douki
Juice Robinson & Will Ospreay & Bandido vs. Rocky Romero & Yoh & Toa Henare
Tetsuya Naito & Bushi vs. Phantasmo & Gedo
Jonathan Gresham vs. Taka Michinoku
Tiger Mask vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru
Titan vs. Shingo Takagi
Marty Scurll vs. Taiji Ishimori
Dragon Lee vs. Sho
Wednesday has Raw in Birmingham, UK and Smackdown in Magdeburg, Germany.
A brother vs. brother match will be one of the key pieces of All Elite Wrestling’s Double or Nothing card.
After weeks of teases, Dustin Rhodes was confirmed as his brother Cody’s opponent for Double or Nothing at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday, May 25. Dustin issued a statement about his status with WWE after the announcement was made, revealing that he had requested his release from WWE and was granted it. Dustin also posted a video where he said goodbye to his Goldust character.
An update on AEW distribution, PPV, television and streaming, is the lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Look at the full distribution around the world for Double or Nothing, as well as updating where things stand when it comes to television.
Look at pricing, preshow, who is carrying it, how strong ITV 4 is, how this compares with WWE’s distribution and probable viewership, where things stand with U.K. television, details on Casino Battle Royale plans, the main championship, updating the show and lots of new signings.
Go in-depth on not just the XFL television deal and finances, but the lessons of the deal and how the deal is a 180 from the UFC deal.
Also look at the changes in Raw and Smackdown this past week, why they were made, where NBC Universal and FOX stand, WWE star power, how the European tour affected this week’s television, how it affects touring, plus updates on the Money In The Bank show.
Also look at the 2019 Best of the Super Juniors tournament, including what matches to watch out for, the schedule, the positioning of Will Ospreay, and the schedule.
Look at the two New Japan Dontaku events, what the events say about both Japan and U.S. popularity, the story behind Okada vs. Sanada, plus match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results.
ORDERING INFO: 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 [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
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SUNDAY NEWS UPDATE
Our weekend show covering UFC, Bellator, AEW and WWE is already up on the site today.
ROH will be streaming live tonight’s ROH tag team title match from Chicago with Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa defending against Mark & Jay Briscoe on Honor Club.
The advance for tomorrow’s Raw in London is well below what it has been in the past. On Friday we were told it looks like about 10,000 fans,which is a great number for Raw nowadays, but Raw at the O2 Arena used to be an easy sellout.
Kambi has released the over/under for star ratings for Money in the Bank as:
Tony Nese vs. Ariya Daivari ***
Men’s ladder match ****
Becky Lynch vs. Lacey Evans **1/2
Roman Reigns vs. Elias ***
Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair ***1/4
The Miz vs. Shane McMahon **1/2
Samoa Joe vs. Rey Mysterio ***1/4
Seth Rollins vs. A.J. Styles ****1/4
Kofi Kingston vs. Kevin Owens ***1/2
Women’s ladder match ***1/2
AEW’s debut show is now official for all U.S. cable systems, plus DirecTV and Dish Network. The suggested price is $49.99. Shaw Cable in Canada is also carrying the shows. Not every system in Canada has it at this point but many do. Dish is also advertising the roast of Ric Flair the night before for $19.99. (thanks to Lou Pickney and Sammy Montanaro)
WWE
The HBO Andre the Giant documentary is now up on the WWE Network. It’s definitely a very entertaining doc even with the flaws and work mode and some people used for history that had no idea of the history they were talking about. It’s a great look at Andre and there’s a lot of info on his life that has never been released previously.
WWE tickets for the next Raw taping in Newark at the Prudential Center have cut back to $20 for the lowest priced tickets with attendance dropping. (thanks to Jeff Rozner)
DK Publishing just released the book “WWE Smackdown: 20 Years and Counting” this past Tuesday.
Primo Colon has been all over WWC television in Puerto Rico in recent weeks and will be on a show next week. (thanks to Fco Gaztambide)
As far as mainstream interest this weekend, UFC 237 was the third most searched item yesterday with 570,000 searches. It won’t get close to this number, but that’s the equivalent of a 100,000 to 150,000 buy show. With it being only available streaming, one would expect the final number to be much lower. The only names off the show that trended individually were Anderson Silva and B.J.Penn, and not Jessica Andrade for winning the strawweight title. Harold Lederman, the HBO boxing scorer who has been fixture on the broadcasts for decades, and passed away yesterday from cancer at the age of 79, was No. 10. Silver King was No. 11, both in the 50,000 range.
Tom Duquesnoy announced his retirement today.
MISCELLANEOUS
AAW from last night in Chicago before a sellout 550 fans: Jake Something (Cousin Jake Deaner) won three-way over Air Wolf and Trey Miguel, Kristen Statlander b Clayton Gainz, Josh Alexander b Adam Brooks (said to be great), Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz b Davey Vega & Mat Fitchett, Myron Reed b TJP, MJF b Mance Warner to keep Heritage title, Jake Something b MJF to win Heritage title, Jacob Fatu b Ace Romero, Jessicka Havok b Thunder Rosa to keep women’s title, Penta 0M & Rey Fenix b Dan Barry & Bill Carr, Sami Callihan b David Starr to keep the AAW title when Something turned on Starr.
John Morrison is doing a Q&A on 6/27 in Melbourne before his matches in Melbourne on 6/28 and Sydney in 6/29 for BCW. (thanks to Kevin Chiat)
OVO, the channel that has PWA is contacting Australian promotions trying to do an Australian version of what FloSlam tried. PWA has pulled its recent shows off pivotshare.
Marty Scurll & Brody King vs. Flip Gordon & Brian Cage was announced for the 6/21 World Series Wrestling show in Melbourne, Australia.
Pro Wrestling Phoenix runs its 14th anniversary show on 5/22 in Omaha at the Waiting Room Lounge.
AAW debuts in Milwaukee on 7/12 at Turner Hall, the same venue that NXT and ROH use. Announced for the show are Penta 0M, Rey Fenix, Juventud Guerrera, Sami Callihan, Jessicka Havoc and Besties in the World.
Bar Wrestling from Thursday night in Los Angeles: Delilah Doom & Eli Everfly b Tyler Bateman & Brandon Cutler, Andy Brown b Luchasaurus, Peter Avalon & Ray Rosas b Heather Monroe & Jake Atlas, KC Spinelli b Joey Ryan, Taya Valkyrie & Daga & Zokre & Phoenix Star b Watts & Yuma & BHK & Ryan Taylor, Jungle Boy b David Arquette. Next show is 5/30 in Baldwin Park CA at the American Legion and then 6/12 at the Bootleg Theater in Los Angeles. This was the show that got a lot of TMZ coverage because of the main event, plus it was also the show The Young Bucks showed up at to offer Rick Knox a contract when Joey Ryan thought they were offering him a contract. (thanks to Shannon Walsh and wrestlingwithdemonsn.net)
A woman named Casandra Cass was the valet for Arquette on the show.
Warrior Wrestling had a loaded up indie show today in Chicago Heights, IL with Tessa Blanchard vs. Jordynne Grace with Molly Holly as referee, Austin Aries vs. Eddie Edwards in a cage match, Pentagon Jr. & Rey Fenix vs Daga & Kotto Brazil, Bran Pillman Jr. vs. Robert Anthony with Pillman’s hair at stake vs. Pillman getting five minutes with Frank the Clown, Sam Adonis vs. Pat Monix, Volador Jr. vs. Gringo Loco and Tom Lawlor vs. Chris Ridgeway. Brian Cage, their champion, was unable to wrestle on the show due to his back injury.
Brian Cage due to his injuries vacated both his WrestleCircus Ringmaster and Sideshow championship belts. (thanks to Shannon Walsh)
Cage is looking to start wrestling again on 5/18 for UCW outside of Chicago.
Michael Craven from New Japan has been in Australia helping promote the 6/29 show at Festival Hall in Melbourne.
Mikey Nicholls vs. Dan Steel was added to the 5/25 EPW show in Perth.
Sami Callihan vs. Mance Warner in a falls count anywhere match has been added to the 6/1 MLW show in Waukesha, WI.
Megan Anderson has joined the broadcast team for Warfare Sports, a new boxing digital platform. She debuted on a show over the weekend from the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia. She’ll be joined on the team by Al Bernstein and Marc Abrams.
MCW from last night in Preston, Victoria, Australia: Slex b Lochy Hendricks to keep the MCW title, Indi Hartwell b Millie McKenzie, Mike Burr b DCT 2/3 falls, Nick Bury & Mitch Waterman b Jett & Kaz Jordan to keep tag titles, Session Moth Martina b Avary.
MCW from today: Kellyanne b Lena Kross, Steph De Lander b Aria, Kellyanne & Tarlee b Viksin & Chanel Phoenix, Indi Hartwell b Session Moth Martina, Avary b Millie McKenzie. (thanks to Kevin Chiat)
Shine from Friday in Livonia,MI: Allysin Kay b Samantha Heights, Brandi Lauren b Thunderkitty, Lindsay Snow b Marti Belle, Santana b Kimber Lee, Shotzi Blackheart b Aja Perera to win Nova title, Ivelisse b Natalia Markova, Mercedes Martinez b Su Yung, Luscious Latasha & Gabby Gilbert b Thunder Rosa & Holidead in a lumberjills match to keep the tag titles. (thanks to Shannon Walsh)
A DVD of the documentary 350 Days is available at Turner Classic Movies and all major retailers.
Pro Wrestling Eve from today in London: Jetta & Erin Angel b Kay Lee Ray & Viper, Charli Evans b Laura DiMatteo, Roxxy b Nicole Matthews, Jinny b Bobby Tyler, Nightshade b Rebel Kinney, Nina Samuels b Jamie Hayter. They announced Kay Lee Ray & Viper’s last matches with the promotion will be on WrestleKingdom 2 since they’ve signed with WWE. Announced for that show are: Kay Lee Ray vs. Viper for the Eve title, Hayter vs. Utami Hayashishita for the International title, Charli Evans & Millie McKenzie vs. ? for tag titles plus several more wrestlers from Japan’s Stardom group will be on the show. (thanks to Chris Gannon)
Defy sold out Friday night in Seattle: Josef Samuel & Jacob Fatu b Mike Santiago & Ethan HD to retain tag titles, Guillermo Rosas b Travis Williams, Penta 0M & Rey Fenix b Schaff & Chris Ridgeway, Tom Lawlor b Randy Myers, Cat Powers b Danika Della Rogue, Vaquero Fantasma b Cazador Del Alma, Sonico & Leon Negro b Eli Surge & Judas Icarus. Next show is 6/15 in Portland and they also have a show 6/16 in Tacoma. (thanks to Scott Janicek)
Comedy Central aired the debut episode of Klepper, a documentary series starring Jordan Klepper Thursday night.The episode was focused on three Afghanistan war veterans who wrestle for a Texas independent promotion. The veterans talked to Klepper—who was previously a correspondent on the Daily Show, then hosted The Opposition, a satirical show which exposed the phony hysteria of extremist media—about their experiences in Afghanistan, returning home, survivors guilt, and using wrestling as therapy, before ending the show with them putting Klepper‘s heel persona Mr. Red Tape through a table. Clips can beseenhere. (thanks to Denis Gorman)
Jake Hager talked to Sporting News about Kofi Kingston winning the WWE title and pro wrestling fans’ reaction to him in MMA.
Ed in San Antonio presents PODER~! at the FSW arena on Friday 5/24 – Showtime is at noon – Main event: Bryan Alvarez vs. Logan Stunt
Empire dinner on Friday 5/24 at 8:30 p.m. at Texas de Brazil – Price is $82 – All you can eat meat and salad, sodas, tea, and coffee, plus dessert included
Empire suite party on Friday 5/24 for those who were not able to get the Q&A package – Price is $25
Today is the final day for our poll on the ROH 17th anniversary show, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected].
We’re looking for reports tonight from these weekend shows:
WWE Raw Saturday night in Milwaukee
AAA Rey de Reyes last night in Puebla
ROH TV tapings Saturday night in Las Vegas
OTT ScrapperMania Saturday in Dublin
Raw tonight from Chicago with the Main Event or dark matches
Raw tonight will be from Chicago on Monday with Ronda Rousey vs. Dana Brooke for the women’ title, Seth Rollins vs. Drew McIntyre and Finn Balor & ? vs. Bobby Lashley & Lio Rush. There is also a Smackdown house show that night in Rockford, IL.
Smackdown and 205 Live will be in Indianapolis on Tuesday. Kofi Kingston has the gauntlet match with Samoa Joe, Randy Orton, Sheamus, Cesaro and Erick Rowan, plus for 205 Live, Tony Nese vs. Cedric Alexander takes place with the winner facing Buddy Murphy at WrestleMania.
NEW JAPAN CUP QUARTERFINALS ON WEDNESDAY FROM SHIZUOKA AT 5 A.M. EASTERN ON NEW JAPAN WORLD
Manabu Nakanishi & Yuji Nagata & Yuya Uemura vs. Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Yota Tsuji
Juice Robinson & Mikey Nicholls & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Chase Owens & Bad Luck Fale & Hikuleo
Togi Makabe & Toru Yano & Michael Elgin & Tomoaki Honma vs. Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr. & Taichi & Minoru Suzuki
Kota Ibushi & Hirooki Goto & Ren Narita vs. Tetsuya Naito & Bushi & Shingo Takagi
Colt Cabana & Toa Henare vs. Evil & Sanada
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Shota Umino vs. Zack Sabre Jr. & Taka Michinoku
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Yoshi-Hashi
Will Ospreay vs. Kazuchika Okada
NEW JAPAN CUT QUARTERFINALS ON THURSDAY FROM SHIZUOKA AT 4 A.M. EASTERN ON NEW JAPAN WORLD
Though the road getting here was as convoluted as possible, WWE has finally confirmed Ronda Rousey vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Becky Lynch for WrestleMania 35.
Storyline suspensions, injuries, and even an “arrest” for Lynch, the McMahons getting involved and Vince replacing Lynch with Charlotte, Charlotte fully turning heel and Rousey turning against the crowd, and dozens of tweets all led to Lynch facing Charlotte at Fastlane. The stipulation was that if Lynch won, the Raw Women’s Championship match at WrestleMania would officially become a triple threat.
One of the two biggest issues of the year, the awards issue, is out right now.
The awards issue contains not only the award winners, but also top placeholders in every category and an all-time history of award winners dating back to 1980.
Have a look at the career and life of Dick “The Destroyer” Beyer, from football to college wrestling to TV stardom in Japan to teaching school. It’s really an amazing story of one of the first Americans to become a TV celebrity in Japan and the greatest American masked wrestler of all-time.
Read full coverage of the road to WrestleMania with most of the card as well as full coverage of Fastlane with a match-by-match rundown with star ratings, poll results and business notes.
Look at SummerSlam tickets, WWE creative, Bruce Prichard, Jeff Jarrett, AEW vs. WWE, Takeover Brooklyn’s complete card, newcomers to WWE this week, Dwayne Johnson award, Harlem Heat Hall of Fame notes, WrestleMania 2020 week updates, new WWE hire, WWE ticket sales, WWE stock price, most watched shows of the past week no the WWE Network plus notes from all the weekend house shows with results, angles and business.
This issue has updated coverage of the New Japan Cup, with this week’s shows, a rundown of every match so far in the tournament and an updated look at the brackets.
ORDERING INFO: 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 [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
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If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell,CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
MONDAY NEWS UPDATE
Bryan and I will be back tonight with Wrestling Observer Radio and we have a ton of topics to talk about besides Raw, including the new UFC deal, New Japan Cup, BTE, Sue Aitchison and a lot more. You can send questions to the show to [email protected].
Both the Andre the Giant and the women’s Battle Royal are currently scheduled for WrestleMania. There at least three more matches that haven’t been hinted about that will be on the show, so this is going to be a very long show.
We’ll be talking tonight about the ESPN+ deal with UFC as the repercussions are even bigger than they sound, but it’s essentially almost the death of the old television PPV major event industry as far as DirectTV, Dish and inDemand. The story of DirecTV and UFC not making the new deal when the contract expired at the end of the year had to do with these negotiations.
I want to make mention of how much Sue Aitchison deserves the WWE Hall of Fame award she is getting. She has worked behind the scenes and people within the company understand her work and how much she’s done but I’m glad the public will get to know at least a little of it.
Dave Bautista is not at television, but Brock Lesnar will be on the Raw show tonight in Chicago. We didn’t get official word the show is sold out, but earlier in the week we were told this would be the one for sure Raw sellout of this year’s Mania season.
Zack Sabre Jr. has announced an open challenge for the Mark Hitchock Memorial show over WrestleMania weekend on 4/4 at the Midtown Hilton in New York.
WWE
Rey Mysterio drove the pace car at yesterday’s NASCAR event in California. Mysterio drove the car with his mask. (thanks to Kevin Witt)
Both Glenn “Kane” Jacobs and Titus O’Neil have signed up for autobiographies. Jacobs’ book is called “Mayor Kane: My Life in Wrestling and Liberty,” which will be out in November. ECW press will be doing “There’s No Such Thing As a Bad Kid: How I went from Stereotype to Prototype” on 8/6, written by Thaddeus Bullard (O’Neil).
Advertising in the Philadelphia market for the Extreme Rules PPV show on 7/14 is listing Roman Reigns vs. Baron Corbin and Seth Rollins vs. Drew McIntyre as matches. Very good chance that will change many times between now and then.
ROH announced these matches for 3/31 in Baltimore:
Rush vs. Tracy Williams
Silas Young vs. Mark Haskins
Kenny King vs. PJ Black
SPW announced a digital TV deal for Wrestling at the End of the world on TVNZ Duke in New Zealand this year. We’ll have more on this closer to the launch of the show. (thanks to Kevin Chiat)
CWE on 3/27 in Portage La Prairie, MB at the MNP Exhibition Buidling featuring Psicosis vs. Mentallo in the main event and Danny Duggan defends the CWE title against MMA fighter Martin Pain.
IPW from last night in London: Ben Basden b Sugar Dunkerton, Sam Stoker & Lewis Howley b Maverick Mayhew & Connor Mills to keep the tag titles, Stewart Shepherd b Malik, Rob Sharpe b Dan Moloney, MJF b Kip Sabian, Bobbi Tyler b Rebel Kinney, David Starr b Rob Lynch to keep IWP title. Tony Khan was backstage at the show with MJF and Sabian wrestling there. He came from the Fulham game that took place that afternoon.
A clarification on the Matt Morgan story we reported earlier. Morgan, the Deputy Mayor of Longwood, FL, in doing a show over the weekend and a fund raiser helped raise $17,350 (this was the total as of last night, it may be higher now) for Lyman High School’s football team in Longwood, for speed flex football helmets that lower the risk of concussions. The helmets are $350 each at this point which a lot of families can’t afford. Morgan will be going to the state legislature in Tallahassee to try and find a way to earmark money to make high school football safer in the state. The Longwood police department donated $2,500 to the project. Team Vision Dojo brought the wrestlers, and the ring and helped promote the event. Morgan wrestled on the show and Mayor Ben Paris was there as well.
Ross & Marshall Von Erich will headline for River City Wrestling on 4/12 in Selma, TX at the Retama Park Horse Race Track. They will face Hernandez & Joey Spector in the main event. Also on he show will be Scarlett Bordeaux & Christi Jaynes vs. Katie Forbes & Rebel. Gail Kim will manage Forbes & Rebel.
So after yesterday’s story about Bob Armstrong’s retirement show over the weekend, we got sent a promo for a show on 4/13 in Chipley, FL with The Bullet under a mask wrestling and doing a promo and there you go.
Adam Rose has announced that once his current obligations are finished, he will be retiring from wrestling. He said he will be fulfilling all of his agreed upon dates but won’t be taking any new dates.
Japanense wrestler Mitoshichi Shinose, 44, who was diagnosed with brain cancer, did his retirement show at Korakuen Hall today for the Asuka Project promotion. (thanks to Shannon Walsh and Wrestlingwithdemons.org)
Revolution Wrestling Federation on 3/23 in Harrisburg, PA at the Midtown Arts Center in downtown Harrisburg.
The first appearance of Japanese wrestlers in Scandinavia was on Saturday’s show in Copenhagen, Denmark: Sixt b Yuu, Rick Dominick won seven-way over Lucky Kid, Chuck Mambo, Erik Sabel, Captain Bodyslam and Toby Zane, Sweden’s Elite b Tank & Burnett and Randers & Pagne for the tag titles, Joseph Conners b Shigehiro Irie, Chris Brookes & Michael Fynne b Peter Olisander & Emeritus, Rick Dominick b Olisander to win the Body Slam title. Killer Kelly appears on the next show on 5/4 in Odense, Denmark. (thanks to Kristian Nielsen)
Ed in San Antonio presents the WRESTLEMANIAWeekend Events (more to be added):
Saturday, April 6th, at 12:00 pm: Lunch (all you can eat) at Churrascaria Plataforma ($90 per person), located at 316 W. 49th street in Manhattan. Purchase tickets here~!
Luxury Bus to MetLife Stadium for Wrestlemania: We will depart from the Hilton Midtown (site of Wrestlecon) located at 1335 Avenue of the Americas. Departure time is 4:00 pm and will return from MetLife approximately 30 mins after the event. Times are subject to change, and cost $67.00 per person for the round trip. Purchase tickets here~!
MMA fans have long had to evolve how they watch their favorite promotions with the recent push by both UFC and Bellator MMA into streaming deals with ESPN+ and DAZN, respectively.
That continued change took another step Monday afternoon as the world’s largest fight promotion announced a deal with ESPN that will see UFC’s pay-per-view era with traditional cable providers come to a close.
Starting with April’s UFC 236 through 2025, fans in the U.S. looking to buy one of the company’s 12 yearly PPVs will have one option to do so: ESPN+, the “exclusive distributor of UFC PPV events” and the “single point of purchase for customers” as outlined in a press release.
The cost per show is also decreasing from $64.99 to $59.99 per event, but you must be an ESPN+ subscriber ($4.99/mo) in order to be able to buy PPVs. The two sides are experimenting with bundling, offering a $79.99 ESPN+ yearly subscription and PPV event combo for new subscribers.
In the release, UFC retains the rights for their bar and restaurant business, but the era of being able to buy through cable providers like Comcast, DirecTV, Spectrum, or others is over effective immediately. In his press release quote, UFC president Dana White mentioned the company’s “young fan base” — a nod toward one of the reasons the decision was made.
The revenue split between ESPN and UFC wasn’t announced, but cable companies historically got half of the PPV take for distribution, and one would think that model would be different with this move.
Along with the news, UFC and ESPN announced a two-year extension of their TV rights deal through 2025 less than three months after their five-year deal kicked off.
Paige announced on Twitter today that The New Day would face all three members of SAnitY (Killian Dain, Alexander Wolfe and Eric Young) in a tables match. It will take place on the kickoff show prior to the main card.
The match stems from an angle last week where the New Day were competing against one another in a pancake eating contest. They had just started when SAnitY’s music hit. The trio jumped them from behind, leaving them all lying.Young then launched off the top rope and put Woods through the table with an elbow drop.
Here is the latest card for this Sunday’s show, which will air live on the WWE Network:
AJ Styles vs. Rusev for the WWE title
Roman Reigns vs. Bobby Lashley
Alexa Bliss vs. Nia Jax in an Extreme Rules match for the Raw women’s title
Dolph Ziggler vs. Seth Rollins in a 30 minute Iron Man match for the Intercontinental title
Carmella vs. Asuka for the SmackDown women’s title
Jeff Hardy vs. Shinsuke Nakamura for the United States title
Bludgeon Brothers vs. Team Hell No for the SmackDown tag team titles
Braun Strowman vs. Kevin Owens in a steel cage match
Finn Balor vs. Baron Corbin
Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt vs. the B-Team for the Raw tag team titles
Yes, we are back again with another WWE pay-per-view. Aren’t you all excited?
This week it’s No Mercy, a SmackDown PPV being held live in Sacramento, CA. The main event is a triple threat match pitting WWE World Champion AJ Styles against the former champion Dean Ambrose and a former 15-time champion in John Cena. All three have disdain for one another, cutting some great promos to build up to the main event. Everything on this show has been nicely built up, but with so many PPVs taking place now, it’s hard to get fully interested.
Here are the latest points following Clash of Champions:
Current prediction points rankings:
Steve Khan: (WWE SmackDown Live Recapper) (54 points)
Kyle S. Johnson: (Columnist) (52 points)
Bryan Rose: (New Japan/CWC Reporter) (52 points)
James Cox: (WWE Superstars Recapper & WWE DVD Reviewer) (50 points)
Jeremy Peeples: (Lucha Underground Recapper) (33 points)
Brian Hoops: (Daily Pro Wrestling History) (32 points)
Ryan Frederick: (UFC Reporter) (23 points)
PeachMachine: (University of Phoenix Online Mascot) (17 points)
Paul “Gramps” Fontaine: (MMA Writer and Recapper and new grandfather) (13 points)
Kevin LaRose: (WWE Main Event and Total Divas Recapper) (4 points)
JJ Williams: (NXT/CWC Roving Reporter) (3 points)
Jack Swagger vs. Baron Corbin
Bryan Rose: Corbin I guess? I mean if you really want to do something with Swagger you should give him momentum, but it’s obvious Corbin is the one they want to push to the moon.
Winner: Baron Corbin
Brian Hoops: Corbin gets the win here after Swagger won on TV. Corbin has been winning at house shows:
Winner: Corbin
Jeremy Peeples: Swagger won on TV, so Corbin wins on PPV. This feels like an odd use of both guys, but it is better than them just doing nothing.
Winner: Corbin
James Cox: Vince likes Corbin for some reason. They need to reboot Swagger, he has something to offer.
Winner Baron Corbin
Kyle S. Johnson: So, I guess they’re building up Swagger to establish Corbin as a threat to the top guys? Or something? I don’t know. Corbin wins; maybe he feuds with Swagger a bit more thereafter, maybe he doesn’t.
Winner: Baron Corbin
Ryan Frederick: I don’t know how I feel about this one. Baron Corbin should win, but who knows what they do. Coin flipping this one.
Winner: Baron Corbin
Paul Fontaine: Swagger won on TV, so Corbin wins on PPV. Basic WWE booking here.
Winner: Baron Corbin
Steve Khan: Corbin will likely get a cheap win after what happened on SmackDown.
Winner: Baron Corbin
Nikki Bella vs. Carmella
Bryan Rose: Nikki’s winning this one, unless they want to continue the feud. Given the lack of depth on this women’s roster, they probably have to. But let’s go with Nikkisawa anyway.
Winner: Nikki Bella
Brian Hoops: Since the Bellas show started, I will anticipate WWE will push her over Carmella.
Winner Nikki
Jeremy Peeples: With Total Bellas being a thing and Brie being pregnant, Nikki’s push is going to continue. Carmella could use the win more, but Nikki should win this one.
Winner: Nikki
James Cox: Nikki to win in four minutes or less. Those Total Bellas figures were poor, though, so who knows.
Winner: Nikki Bella
Kyle S. Johnson: Vince McMahon tweeted this week that Total Bellas is total entertainment. I don’t know that I trust his word on that, but the tweet itself should tell you what you need to know about this match’s result.
Winner: Nikki Bella
Ryan Frederick: I figure the fact that Total Bellas just started gives the outcome away. I don’t expect much from this.
Winner: Nikki Bella
Paul Fontaine: Carmella’s 15 minutes were up about two weeks ago. Nikki should win in a squash, although it will probably be a little more competitive than that.
Winner: Nikki Bella
Steve Khan: I wouldn’t be surprised with Carmella winning again, but with her new show out, Nikki will probably get her win finally.
Winner: Nikki Bella
WWE Intercontinental Champion The Miz vs. Dolph Ziggler
Bryan Rose: I mean, I don’t think Dolph is going anywhere, so he has to win this time, right?
Winner: Dolph Ziggler
Brian Hoops: Ziggler putting his career on line makes you think he has to win.
Winner: The Miz
Jeremy Peeples: This has easily been the best-built WWE feud of the last few months, and the Spirit Squad stuff was unexpected. They’ve been building Dolph up as the ultimate underdog here, so he has to win it and retain his career.
Winner: Dolph Ziggler
James Cox: I’m not sure Ziggler is leaving, Miz has been great on the mic in the built up to this, which is what he does best. Should be a decent match.
Winner: Dolph Ziggler
Kyle S. Johnson: Kudos to both guys for making this feud feel like it means something. Right at the point where Miz seems to be hitting his stride as IC champ, it seems like Ziggler has to take the belt off of him. He’s been tweeting about his post-WWE bookings, which seems too on the nose to mean anything other than him winning, and I would rather see him lose just because that would take the story in a potentially more interesting direction. Things being what they are, Ziggler will just win, and the feud will continue.
Winner: Dolph Ziggler
Ryan Frederick: The fact that Ziggler is putting his career on the line screams swerve to me. This has been built very well and I’m actually very interested in this match.
Winner: Dolph Ziggler
Paul Fontaine: Buh bye, Dolph. He’ll probably come back under a mask but I hope he actually leaves. Miz is one of the top three acts in all of WWE and Dolph sucks.
Winner: The Miz
Steve Khan: They did a good job rebuilding this, as I previously had no interest in seeing these two wrestle again. I also have no idea who’s going to win. I’ll go with Ziggler if only because I don’t know how they get out of this otherwise.
Winner: Dolph Ziggler
SmackDown Women’s Champion Becky Lynch vs. Alexa Bliss
Bryan Rose: Miss Bliss I think will miss, allowing Becky to get the win and retain her title.
Winner: Becky Lynch
Brian Hoops: No way they change the title here.
Winner Becky Lynch
Jeremy Peeples: This started out with promise, but they’ve been on auto-pilot. Becky lost on TV, so she will win the PPV match and retain the title.
Winner: Becky Lynch
James Cox: No need to beat Lynch yet. Expect this to be short and poor.
Winner: Becky Lynch
Kyle S. Johnson: Bex wins, no question.
Winner: Becky Lynch
Ryan Frederick: It is way too early to take the belt off of Becky, though I think Alexa gets it before the end of the year.
Winner: Becky Lynch
Paul Fontaine: I’m going with Bliss to win the match but Lynch to keep the belt so this feud keeps going. I really like these two together and Bliss has done far better than she had any right to.
Winner: Alexa Bliss
Steve Khan: I like these two, but they don’t seem to work well together. Hopefully they can pull it off. It’s too early for Lynch to lose, so I’ll go with her.
Winner: Becky Lynch
SmackDown Tag Team Champions Heath Slater and Rhyno vs. The Usos
Bryan Rose: The Rhyno/Slater team seems to be de-emphasized over the last couple of weeks, and more focus has been given to the Usos becoming the more dominant team. I think the real goal here is to have Usos and American Alpha feud over these titles, so I’ll go with my gut and say Usos will win the titles here.
Winner: The Usos
Brian Hoops: I think ultimately they are building to Usos vs. American Alpha, but too early to change title from Slater/Rhyno.
Winners: Slater/Rhyno.
Jeremy Peeples: The Usos have been doing way too many TV jobs to American Alpha to justify a title win right now. I’ll go with the Usos losing, but not clean.
Winners: Heath Slater and Rhyno
James Cox: I think The Usos win but the titles stay on Rhyno and Slater. Too early to change the titles, but good to keep the program going.
Winner: The Uso’s (no title change)
Kyle S. Johnson: The direction is clearly The Usos vs. American Alpha, but there’s no reason to rush to get there. Having Slater and Rhyno hold onto the belts for another month is the right thing to do, but I would not be the least bit shocked if they just put the belts on The Usos, either.
Winners: Heath Slater and Rhyno
Ryan Frederick: I wouldn’t be shocked at all if they put the titles on the Usos as that seems the eventual direction. It is way too soon to take them off of Heath and Rhyno. The team is working and they are super over. Keep it going!
Winners: Heath Slater and Rhyno
Paul Fontaine: Times up for Beauty and the Man Beast. The Usos win so they can start feuding with American Alpha over the belts.
Winners: The Usos
Steve Khan: I like the Usos here. They can extend this program with a win and keep building to a rematch with Jordan & Gable, this time for the titles.
Winner: The Usos
Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt
Bryan Rose: Ugh, I really don’t care. The spooky time stuff they do with Wyatt is so bad. Orton wins so we can all move on.
Winner: Randy Orton
Brian Hoops: Orton needs a win after getting killed and left for dead with no revenge by Lesnar. Orton has been going over at all the house shows.
Winner: Orton
Jeremy Peeples: This feud has fallen off the rails. Bray lost to Kane at the last PPV, so he really shouldn’t lose here — but he never wins, and Orton needs to be kept strong for title matches. I’ll go with a Bray win after Luke Harper returns.
Winner: Bray Wyatt
James Cox: Wyatt loses a lot, Orton lost to Lesnar and then they stick them together and do a terrible job with it. At this stage, Wyatt can lose and it won’t mean anything, but it depends what’s next for Orton.
Winner: Randy Orton
Kyle S. Johnson: Last time these two were scheduled to meet, I said that both men really needed a win, but Orton needed it more since he had just been killed by Lesnar. Orton was concussed, the match never happened, and somehow, Bray lost clean to Kane, a character who debuted 19 years ago. Fair to say that Bray now needs that win just a bit more. Harper will probably return to secure the win for Wyatt.
Winner: Bray Wyatt
Ryan Frederick: Too much outlandish stuff being put into this feud. And I think it’s all just for Bray to lose. Again. I’m so lost as to what they want to accomplish with him, and with this feud.
Winner: Randy Orton
Paul Fontaine: Who could possibly care? Certainly not me. Let’s go with Bray with help from the returning Luke Harper, which is what I called for their last scheduled match.
Winner: Bray Wyatt
Steve Khan: Orton seems in line for the next title shot, so he should win.
Winner: Randy Orton
WWE World Champion AJ Styles vs. Dean Ambrose vs. John Cena
Bryan Rose: AJ’s winning this. Will probably be a great match, too.
Winner: AJ Styles
Brian Hoops: Would be a huge mistake to take the title off Styles at this point. The Cena storyline is good, but could be terrific if it was the focus of WrestleMania.
Winner: Styles
Jeremy Peeples: AJ is riding a huge wave of momentum since winning the title. Cena is embracing the worn-down veteran role, while Dean always looks like he’s on day 14 of a two week bender. AJ should win, but I can see Cena winning at another show — probably Mania, to tie the official flair record. An Ambrose heel turn would make sense here too since they’re building him up as unstable and unpredictable.
Winner: AJ Styles
James Cox: Ultimately I think Cena is taking the belt back, but not yet. It’s only a matter of time before he equals Flair’s record. I think Styles will pin Ambrose. Should be a great match, what an absolutely crucial acquisition AJ Styles has been.
Winner: AJ Styles
Kyle S. Johnson: Too early to take the title off of Styles. He’s been great, and this feud has been pretty great all around. Styles wins; if they’re looking to keep both opponents relevant, Ambrose could have Cena cold before AJ takes him out, and then AJ opts to pin Cena again for more bragging rights.
Cena could survive another loss, and it builds a natural reason for him to chase AJ after Dean drops out of the picture. Or they could just have him beat Dean because that’d be easy enough to do. Either way, this should be a good match.
Winner: AJ Styles
Ryan Frederick: Again, it is way too early to change the title. Taking it off of Styles would be a huge mistake. He’s the best all-around performer in the company right now. The only way they take it off of him is to give it to Cena, but now is not the time for that.
Winner: AJ Styles
Paul Fontaine: I said last month that AJ would keep the title until the Rumble and I’m sticking with that. I would have AJ and Cena do a one-on-one match at Survivor Series and then do a rematch at the Rumble, which is where Cena wins the belt. Ambrose should probably take the fall.
Winner: AJ Styles
Steve Khan: Should be really good, but seems somewhat obvious that AJ Styles is winning.
The biggest news of the last few weeks seems to not really revolve around WWE Fast Lane, taking place this Sunday. Titus O’Neil being suspended, Daniel Bryan retiring and a whole bunch of other news seems to have put this show in the back burner. On paper, this looks like a fun card. But in terms of presentation and execution, it feels a bit lackluster. There’s big stipulations on the line, but it seems clear who will be taking on Triple H at WrestleMania. The February PPV is always aimed to kick off the buildup towards WrestleMania. Will this card do that, or will we simply see a bunch of matches that will eventually lead us towards that build in the last few weeks before WrestleMania?
Staff roundtable for this month (along with their current Pickem stats!):
United States Championship: Kallisto vs. Alberto del Rio (2 out of 3 Falls Match)
Bryan Rose: This feels like a nothing feud. I think Alberto del Rio has won the last two weeks in generic tags, including pinning Kallisto. For Kallisto, it’s one of these pushes where they had something, but then because he’s small, “has to fight for every win”, which is WWE code for he loses a lot. When Kallisto initially won the title it was a really cool moment because it was something WWE almost never does, and gave Kallisto instant credibility as a new guy they can move towards. A month later, Kallisto is back to feeling like just another guy on the roster. And now that Sin Cara is back teaming with him, most likely this is the match where Alberto regains the championship.
Winner: Alberto del Rio
Alan O’Brien: This is the toughest match on the card to call, for me. With the feud already 50/50ed at two apiece, the only booking hint one can point to is the string of losses The Lucha Dragons have sustained at the hands of Del Rio’s League of Nations in recent weeks. Beating Kalisto with this regularity might ordinarily indicate that he’s keeping the strap, given they way they think; but he’s only taken the fall himself on a single occasion. As such, I’m taking a shot in the dark here really; Del Rio to win by nefarious means, potentially leading into the Wrestlemania rematch nobody wanted. Let’s face it, he’s got nothing going on at the minute, while Kalisto has the fallback of his newly returned tag team partner.
Winner: Alberto Del Rio
PeachMachine: I’m taking Kalisto. I just don’t think Al of the River will have what it takes to keep the young spry luchador at bay. Plus my guess is that they are disbanding the League of Nations, and hopefully changing it to the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. They’ve already got the Beast (Rusev), the Scientist (technically chemist if you look at Del Rio’s bod), and the Invisible Man (Sheamus).
Winner: The man under Kalisto’s mask
James Cox: Who knows what they are planning to do with any of these League of Nations guys. It’s been enough of a ‘push’ to make Wade Barrett give notice. Does that mean they change things up? Probably not. I think they need to blow this feud off and keep the title on Kalisto for a while. 2 out of 3 falls matches tend to be a bit pointless and this one feels the same: it means they can keep Del Rio strong by having Kalisto steal a win – the ideal way to book a champion, right?
Winner: Kalisto
Kyle S. Johnson: I had, honest to god, completely forgotten these two were having a match until I started writing my predictions. Kalisto has already started teaming with Sin Cara again, and he’s done almost nothing of note since getting the U.S. Championship back at the Rumble, so he’s already cooled off quite a bit from the buzz he built for himself at TLC. The fact that there is at least a fallback direction for Kalisto while Del Rio suddenly feels completely without purpose leads me to believe that Alberto is just going to win the belt back here and take it into Wrestlemania. Neither guy seems to be angled to do anything different moving forward, so I wouldn’t be shocked if they just wind up wrestling again in Dallas, perhaps in a in a luchas de apuestas.
Winner: Alberto Del Rio
Steve Khan: I thought Del Rio would retain at the Rumble since it seemed like the long-term plan was to have the belt on him. Kalisto’s win was likely just to stretch this out until Sin Cara got back. I’m not sure why Kalisto can’t be U.S. Champion and in a good tag-team at the same time, but apparently he can’t.
Winner: Alberto Del Rio
Diva’s Championship: Charlotte (c) vs. Brie Bella
Bryan Rose: I’ve actually kind of liked the build towards this. I mean yeah, alright, it’s basically piggybacking off the Daniel Bryan stuff from a week ago. But the interview segment they had on Raw was one of the better angles they’ve done in this division as of late, and it does give Brie Bella some babyface credibility at a time when she’s probably needed it the most since her character as a whole is largely inconsistent. I don’t see Bella winning since she has intentions on leaving, though they could do the swerve win to honor Daniel Bryan. I think they have plans for what’s going down at WrestleMania, however, and I don’t think Brie fits into them.
Winner: Charlotte
Alan O’Brien: While it’s possible they may give Brie her pre-retirement “moment”, I think it’s far more likely that they will opt to stretch Charlotte’s reign ahead of her inevitable ‘Mania triple threat match against Sasha and Becky. Giving the strap to Brie for a cup of coffee doesn’t really do anyone any favours.
Winner: Charlotte
PeachMachine: I think Brie Bella will win. WWE wants to capitalize on the D. Bryan momentum. Even though Charlotte’s abs look similar to Lesnar’s, I like B. Danielson to take home the Labia title.
Winner: Sweet D.
James Cox: It makes sense to put the title on Brie here. They can take it off her before she leaves but her and Daniel Bryan to celebrate in the ring together seems like a good way to go. She has won it before, but they can still make it look like a big deal – especially with Nikki out injured and Bryan having just retired. If they wanted, I guess they could even build this up to a retirement match/angle at WrestleMania or this summer.
Winner: Brie Bella
Kyle S. Johnson: This has been an unusual month or so for the women of the WWE. All signs seemed to be pointing to building Sasha vs. Charlotte at Wrestlemania while possibly keeping Becky Lynch in the picture at the same time, and then the next thing you know, Becky and Sasha are buddying up and Charlotte is wrestling Brie on a one-week build. Giving a suddenly-face Brie a championship match out of nowhere after being beaten constantly for three months would be a mind-boggling (if not completely unsurprising) development were it not for the retirement of Daniel Bryan, but having Charlotte beat Brie and then move on to a three-way with Becky and Sasha at Mania seems like the logical end-game here.
Winner: Charlotte
Steve Khan: This worked out nicely as a quick program for Charlotte, who can successfully defend her belt while they set up Banks and/or Lynch for a Mania title match. There’s no reason for Brie to win. The match itself should be ok, and all the Yes chants should help.
Winner: Charlotte
AJ Styles vs. Chris Jericho
Bryan Rose: This is going to be pretty good. Presentation wise I’ve kind of hated this feud as they keep calling him the “Rookie Redneck” and “the Pitbull” because he’s a) short and has to fight for everything he has (sound familiar?), b) from Georgia and c) has wrestled everywhere but WWE. Aside from all that, AJ has been good, not great in his WWE run so far. Maybe with more time and a PPV atmosphere, AJ and Styles can go out there and have a fantastic match. I don’t think Jericho needs the win in this series, so I’m giving it to Styles.
Winner: AJ Styles
Alan O’Brien: Possible show-stealer here, given how much of an upgrade the second match was on the disappointing first. The result is in no doubt, however; Styles victory all the way, with the added potential of a post-match Jericho heel turn.
Winner: AJ Styles
PeachMachine: Jericho. AJ is getting over too fast. WWE hates success and money.
Winner: The fans (sniiiiiiffffffffffff)
James Cox: I don’t really mind what they do, this and the main event make this show worth watching. I assume that they are going to spin this feud out to WrestleMania – and so they should. 50/50 booking ‘logic’ says that Jericho gets a win here. Styles should win at WrestleMania to keep the fans happy.
Winner: Chris Jericho
Kyle S. Johnson: This should be great. Say what you will about the build, with the ridiculous sub-branding of AJ Styles as a “pitbull” and a “redneck rookie” and the involvement of The Miz, but this could very well be the match of the show by a wide margin if given the right amount of time and the right approach. Beating AJ doesn’t make any sense here unless the plan is to have these two wrestle again at Wrestlemania, and while I would have no complaints if that would be the ultimate direction, it would still make more sense to have Styles win and Jericho make a full heel turn after the fact to lead into their next match. I expect these two to go in with the goal of having the best match on the show, and if that’s what they have in mind, there’s no reason to suspect they won’t deliver.
Winner: AJ Styles
Steve Khan: Whatever the plan is with Jericho, Styles has to win this match.
Winner: AJ Styles
Ryback, Kane and Big Show vs. The Wyatt Family (Erik Rowan, Luke Harper and Braun Strowman)
Bryan Rose: I fell asleep during the main event from Raw. And from what I’ve heard, I didn’t miss much. This is just not very compelling in the least bit. It’s all designed for Vince McMahon’s latest pet project, Braun Strowman. He’s tall. That’s all you need to know about why Vince likes the guy. I’m sure he’ll develop into something good, as it does seem like he has a ton of potential and has a good look, but I just think out of everyone you signed, you pushed this guy because…he’s tall. Well, whatever. I don’t have any other thoughts on this match other than I hope it’s short because as a match, it looks like it has zero potential to be anything but plodding. Wyatts win.
Winners: Wyatts
Alan O’Brien: The only winner here is Vince, with these six hosses bound to “set a methodical pace”, as Good Ol’ JR used to say. I cannot possibly fathom anything other than a victory for Strowman et al. Only the Edge/Christian/New Day segment could possibly be more “bowling shoe ugly” than this one is sure to be.
Winner: The Wyatt Family
PeachMachine: Uh, BIG SHOW! He’s got the Knock Out Punch! It’s literally the best finisher ever. He’s super big and strong and hits you super hard and knocks people out. He should be all the champions.
Winner: The Impressive Spectacle, Kane, and Growth Hormone or whatever his name is
James Cox: So Big Show said on the Stone Cold Podcast that he reckoned he had another two years left. What about Kane? I figure he’s only back due to all the injuries on the roster. I could see him bowing out at WrestleMania, but I don’t know who against. Wyatts don’t need to win here because they’re going to interfere in the main event, but I’ll say that they do because otherwise there are too many babyface wins on this card.
Winner: Wyatts
Kyle S. Johnson: Big Show was pretty great on Austin’s podcast on Monday. This feud, on the other hand, has not been great. At all. There has been absolutely nothing done in the past four weeks to make me care about anyone involved in this match, apart perhaps from Ryback’s ridiculous sunset flip thing on Luke Harper last Monday. Kane, Show, and The Big Guy have no direction whatsoever leading into Wrestlemania, so having them go over here makes no sense. I presume that the Wyatts will come out looking strong so that Bray can ultimately lose to somebody (probably Brock) at Wrestlemania.
Winner: The Wyatt Family
Steve Khan: This show seems awfully predictable, and with Bray not in this match, I could see this as an opening for the good guys to win and surprise everyone. That would be pretty dumb though, and this is the time of year the company does fewer dumb things than usual.
Winner: The Wyatt Family
Intercontinental Championship: Kevin Owens (c) vs. Dolph Ziggler
Bryan Rose: On paper, this sounds great. Owens is a really special performer. Ziggler is great. But here is the problem: I’ve seen this. They’ve had two very long, pretty great matches on Raw in the last two weeks. Ziggler won both of those cleanly. Now, I understand all of that was build towards this match. But it doesn’t forego the fact that I’ve seen this. A lot of times. I’m sure it’ll be great, but the build towards this has been lackluster, and they haven’t given me much reason why I should care about a third outing when Ziggler’s beaten him twice. I say Owens retains, but who knows.
Winner: Kevin Owens
Alan O’Brien: Ziggler has beaten Owens twice; that alone, in 50/50 land, is evidence enough that Owens will be getting one of his wins back on Sunday. Add to that the fact that he will have held the strap for less than a week and you’ve got yourself a lock.
Winner: Kevin Owens
PeachMachine: I like Ziggler here. I feel like they put the belt on KO just because they want him to drop it to Zigs and do the double turn and the rematch at mania.
Winner: The Z-man jr.
James Cox: Kevin Owens to retain. Longer term, it would be good to see Owens and Styles go at it. Ziggler doesn’t need a title, but if they do give it to him, they ought to turn him heel. Owens at Ziggler at Mania would be fine but there are more exciting options. I hope they are creative with the finish; Owens’ PPV matches have always seemed to offer something fresh since he started with the company.
Winner: Kevin Owens
Kyle S. Johnson: These two are probably going to have a really fun match, but having seen this so many times already in the span of a month kills a lot of the intrigue, even if those matches were also a lot of fun. This match certainly would have a bigger air about it if Ziggler was booked better, but he hasn’t been, so it doesn’t. Owens just won the belt on Monday, and he’s not going to lose it here. Here’s hoping that this feud ends with the quickness and the next weeks lead to Owens vs. Zayn at ‘Mania.
Winner: Kevin Owens
Steve Khan: Owens should win and he probably will.
Winner: Kevin Owens
Becky Lynch & Sasha Banks vs. Naomi & Tamina
Bryan Rose: I don’t really have much to say about this. Just seems like filler in between whatever the real Diva’s title match is going to be at WrestleMania. Sasha and Becky as the team that doesn’t always get along is so tired, especially after they’ve broken up all the teams they set up in the summer over the last few months. They get the win, maybe leading to a three way with Charlotte for the Diva’s title at WrestleMania. That’d be a nice story, to see the NXT women from last year headline their division at WrestleMania a year later.
Winners: Lynch and Banks
Alan O’Brien: This match surely only exists to build Sasha and Becky for their slated triple threat match at ‘Mania with champion, Charlotte. Anything other than a victory for the babyfaces would be a bafflingly strange outcome.
Winner: Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks
PeachMachine: Banks. I hate Lynch. She’s disgusting and terrible. Sasha’s entrance music is the greatest thing since declaring that you rule in 6th grade. “I’m on top of the playground! I rule!” Yes you do, Billy. You rule.
Winner: Sasha Banks only
James Cox: I think that Naomi and Tamina should win this to finally break up this on-again, off-again nonsense between Banks and Lynch. Banks ought to be involved at WrestleMania, in front of that kind of crowd she’ll be beloved.
Winners: Naomi & Tamina
Kyle S. Johnson: What can you say about this cobbled together placeholder match? Banks and Lynch should be primed for a three-way Divas Championship match at Wrestlemania, so I expect them to tease dissention as a team but ultimately get a convincing win to put them into position.
Winners: Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch
Steve Khan: A threeway at Mania seems likely, but even if it isn’t, Lynch and Banks should both go over strong. I can see a double submission spot as the finish (Lynch with the Disarmer, Sasha with the Bank Statement).
Winner: Lynch & Banks
Winner Goes to Headline WrestleMania: Dean Ambrose vs. Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar
Bryan Rose: This is supposed to be a match that causes a lot of intrigue, but for me it’s more along the lines of…well, this is predictable. Not that predictable is bad, because when WWE is unpredictable things could be worse. But I think I mostly know how this’ll go. Wyatt will come out and allow Reigns to get the win, probably over Ambrose. What they do with Ambrose after this will be the most interesting thing coming out of this match, as they’ve been teasing a turn between him and Reigns forever. It’ll be interesting to see if it actually happens. Even though the intrigue of the match isn’t completely there, I think if they go all out this could actually steal the show. If that actually happens or not, we’ll have to wait and see! Roman wins, though, as HHH/Reigns is the only match I see headlining WrestleMania at this point.
Winner: Roman Reigns
Alan O’Brien: Gotta go with the predictable outcome here, I’m afraid. Dean is in the match to take the fall. Lesnar may also be further protected by finding himself taken out of the equation by the Wyatts. Roman’s pinfall victory over his “brother” will both propel him to ‘Mania and fuel Ambrose’s future heel turn. Finally, HHH’s receipt of the Legacy of Excellence Award on Monday night will serve to restart he and Roman’s oh-so-thrilling program. Yay. Looking forward to six weeks of the insecure nerd telling Reigns he should have a bone through his nose, before hitting him with the Pedigree and pinning him after lying around for five minutes. Or not, whatever.
Winner: Roman Reigns
PeachMachine: Trips comes to the ring, tosses Lesnar the belt, he drills Romanowski with it for the KO and the win, and Lesnar joins the Authority and is expected to lay down for the game at Mania. And he does with no qualms. HHH is champion forever. Winner: No one.
James Cox: WWE generally do what is obvious every year en route to WrestleMania. No difference here. Wyatts take out Lesnar and Reigns beats Ambrose. I think the tease an Ambrose/Reigns turn but save it for later. Before the interruptions and post-match shenanigans, I think this will be a great match. All I’ll say, is thank god for Brock Lesnar.
Winner: Roman Reigns
Kyle S. Johnson: I have to give credit where it’s due in that WWE would be doing a great job of convincing the audience that Brock or Dean might win this match…were it not for the fact that Roman winning is the only possible outcome. Granted, that’s not a bad thing: the story demands Roman against Triple H at Wrestlemania, and so that’s what we’re going to get. What will be interesting is to see how this match is constructed, and how much it teases Ambrose potentially turning heel. Roman’s win will likely be set up by The Wyatts laying out Lesnar as he is primed to win (even if that completely disregards the endless months of Bray’s “anyone but you” mantra), and it makes sense for Dean to take the pin and use the loss as fuel for a vendetta against his former partner after he takes the title back at Wrestlemania.
Winner: Roman Reigns
Steve Khan: So this should be interesting. They’ve done a good job of focusing on the two guys not named Roman Reigns, leading us to think maybe he won’t win. But he probably will. They’ve changed plans before, but at this point they might as well go with Reigns and Triple H. If the Wyatts cost Lesnar the match, that will cheapen Reigns’ win, so they have to be careful. The Wyatts could abduct Lesnar near the end of the match, leaving it down to Reigns and Ambrose. Reigns can pin Ambrose again, leading to Ambrose’s turn down the line.
This morning’s New Japan show puts current champion and potential new ace of the promotion Kazuchika Okada against perennial challenger Hirooki Goto. While Goto has had many opportunities at grabbing the top title in New Japan, he always seems to be just one win away from the coveted prize. He’s been on a more rebellious streak as of late, taking out Okada at every opportunity, including press confrences. Is this the edge he needs to win the gold?
Also tonight is Katsyuori Shibata taking on Tomohiro Ishii for the NEVER title, Toru Yano and the Briscoes defending their six man NEVER titles against Bullet Club members Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga and Yujiro Takahashi, as well as several matches aimed at building towards the next New Beginnings show, set to be held on Valentines Day.
Coverage provided by Dave Meltzer starts at 12AM PST tonight.
JAY WHITE VS. DAVID FINLAY
I loved this match Just a perfect prelim opener, technically awesome. Like usual with New Japan openers, it was too short. White caught Finlay doing a cannonball, turned it into a half crab, then a full crab and finally a lion tamer for the submission.
Lots of buffering issues during this match. Liger & Tiger & Taguchi won. I think Gedo lost the fall, which would make sense. During intermission they’ll probably show a replay. It looked fine, just like a usual match in that spot on the card.
YUJI NAGATA & MANABU NAKANISHI VS. SATOSHI KOJIMA & HIROYOSHI TENZAN
The match was good when Nakanishi wasn’t in. Unfortunately, he was in a lot. About what you’d figure from these guys in this spot. The crowd liked it. Kojima & Tenzan used the 3-D on Nakanishi and Kojima pinned Nakanishi after two lariats. They all shook hands after. Nagata then issued a challenge and Kojima seemed to accept. They all shook hands again. The crowd popped for the mic work and all four stood on he ropes in four corners as the crowd cheered.
MICHAEL ELGIN & KUSHIDA & JUICE ROBINSON VS. TETSUYA NAITO & EVIL & BUSHI
The heels won when Bushi blew mist and nailed Kushida with a toipe and Evil used an STO on Robinson for the pin. Before the match, Naito started bullying TV announcer Shimpei Nogami and tore his Blue Justice shirt. Elgin’s power moves when he tagged in for the first time got over bigger than anything. He pressed Bushi and then held him up for one arm before dropping him.
MARK & JAY BRISCOE & TORU YANO VS. BAD LUCK FALE & TAMA TONGA & YUJIRO TAKAHASHI FOR HE NEVER SIX MAN TITLES
Fale & Tonga & Yujiro won the titles. They started off doing comedy and kind of lost the crowd and never got them back. I think they feel the need to elevate the other Bullet Club members right now. The finish saw Fale hit the grenade on Jay. Yano gave Fale & Yujiro both low blows, but Tonga then gave Yano a low blow and a double arm DDT for the pin.
MATT & NICK JACKSON DEFEND IWGP JR. TAG TITLES AGAINST RICOCHET & MATT SYDAL AND BOBBY FISH & KYLE O’REILLY
Lots of streaming issues here. Best match so far but how good I couldn’t really tell. Ricochet & Sydal won the titles with Ricochet doing a shooting star press on Nick and Sydal doing the same move at the same time on Matt. Cody Hall interfered a few times and carried Kyle O’Reilly to the back before the finish. Ricochet seemed the most popular. A lot of good moves and dives, a tower of doom spot.
KATSUYORI SHIBATA VS. TOMOHIRO ISHII FOR NEVER OPEN WEIGHT TITLE
This was fantastic. The usual hard chops, elbows and clotheslines, cool submissions, no sell spots that you’d expect. They were slapping the hell out of each other, Shbiata used a choke and then the penalty kick for the pin to retain. Ishii was bleeding from the mouth from about halfway into the match. Ishii doing his super sell job as he was carried to the back. They did spots early where each guy allowed the other to suplex and then the guy would get up after being suplexed. They did this about seven times and some great exchanges. The crowd was more into Shibata. Shibata also did a great flying armbar and triangles and armbars on the ground. You got the sense Shibata is going to get the position Nakamura had.
HIROSHI TANAHASHI & TOGI MAKABE & TOMOAKI HONMA VS. DOC GALLOWS & KARL ANDERSON & KENNY OMEGA
This sets up the IC and tag title match on Valentine’s Day in Niigata. The Bullet Club had to win this one. They pretty much destroyed them Omega worked over Tanahashi’s bad shoulder. After the match they destroyed Tanahashi. They used chair shots to the shoudler, Matt Jackson came off the top with a chair to the shoudler. Omega came off the top rope with a high fly flowwhile Tanahashi’s arm was held over a garbage can with the splash on the arm. It was a total post-match destruction They did what they had to do to get Omega over in the spot he’s in For the match itself, Anderson used the gunstun on Honma, then they laid out Makabe with the Magic killer and Omega used a reverse Frankensteiner on Tanahashi before Omega finally used the one winged angel on Honma for the pin. Pretty good, not off the charts.
KAZCHIKA OKADA VS. HIROOKI GOTO FOR IWGP HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE
Goto is all painted up like Hakushi. Very good match but this never got to the level of most IWGP title matches. It’s really clear watching this show how much losing Nakamura hurts. Okada kept going for the rainmaker and Goto kept head-butting him. But finally Okada hit it, then followed with two more rainmakers and got the pin Goto had nearly won with the shouten kai, but Okada barely got his hand on the rope. I don’t think people believed Goto could win. Gedo is now doing a promo for Okada. Now Okada is doing the promo One thing about this match is that the crowd was completely behind Okada but didn’t seem to care much about Goto.
Key Takeaway: TakeOver: Respect draws near as we follow several NXT personalities as they prepare for the big event. The focus on TakeOver adds some much-needed urgency to the show.
Recap: As with the past few episodes, this edition of Breaking Ground wasn’t focused on one or two competitors, but the episode’s focus on the road to TakeOver: Respect helped make up for it.
Bayley visits Natalya at “Night of Champions” and picks her brain a bit about the upcoming Iron Man match. Natalya reassures her that she’s the right person to lead the way for the young NXT female locker room as champion. Later, Bayley shoots promos for the match and gets a bit choked up as she discusses the importance and historical nature of the bout, which they emphasize is the first time females have main-evented a live WWE special. When she arrives at Full Sail for the event, Bayley seems a bit relieved that the day has arrived – she mentions how she’s been constantly running around preparing and promoting the event (and while she does this in voice-over, she is constantly shaking hands with different people at the arena backstage who greet her) that she’s a bit wired at this point. In a cool moment in this episode, Bayley gets a chance to play with her own action figure as Mattel comes to do facial scans of other NXT stars.
Nia Jax is getting ready for her TV debut (which was taped after TakeOver, but appears in this episode because of narratives). Her mom has flown in and helps her prepare. Nia has no idea what to do for her entrance. Her mom advises her not to over-analyze her entrance and just enjoy the moment when she walks out there. Her mom mentions what she has already overcome, and Nia tells the story of getting in an accident with a drunk driver in August 2014 (with The Rock’s mom with her in the car). In a funny moment, Rhyno and Baron Corbin joke around with her about being nervous about her debut, sharing horror stories of their past debuts. (Rhyno came out during the commercial break because he thought the generic rock music was his entrance music, advising her to “remember her music.”) She likes her new gear. Her debut happens, the crowd reacts well to her. She tears up discussing how much it all meant to her having her mom there. (Weirdly, she has a talk with her mom outside the venue wearing her more recent gear with the cool shoulder-pads.)
Sami Zayn begins doing conditioning in-ring with Tye Dillinger. He goes through a series of holds while a trainer assesses him. He notes afterwards it’s unclear if he’s going up to the main roster or not, as it wasn’t clear to him if his Montreal match with John Cena was a full call-up or a one-off.
In a strange quirk, last week’s cliffhanger with Dana Brooke getting injured is not really followed up on. They establish that she was hurt and injured some muscle in-between her pectoral and her shoulder, but she decided to work through it as the trainers felt whatever damage had been done wouldn’t get worse. She does get choked up a bit chatting with Jason Jordan prior to Takeover, but she gets to make her TakeOver debut with Asuka regardless.
In lesser news: Tino Sabbatelli gets video feedback from Adam Pearce and Matt Bloom, and does extra work in the ring at the Performance Center with the hopes of working his way back up from the beginners class to the touring roster. Tyler Breeze and his girlfriend adopt a stray dog that followed him to the Performance Center. Jason Jordan and Chad Gable order custom track suits for their TakeOver match, but they don’t arrive in time.
And the beginning of “TakeOver: Respect” is this episode’s big cliffhanger, as we’ll follow up on that event in next week’s season finale.
Final Thoughts: A fairly strong episode of Breaking Ground, if only because of the focus on TakeOver and the time it spent with personalities like Bayley, Nia Jax and Sami Zayn who the show has spent time with and given reasons for viewers to care about.
So WWE went ahead and rebooted itself shortly after Survivor Series. They sort of had to, after all, when their long term project Seth Rollins was put out of action with a serious knee injury. Out of all the situations they could have done, they went ahead and did the one that made the least amount of sense – make Sheamus, who on that very same show was treated like a total geek in a nothing match – the WWE champion, pinning new champion Roman Reigns after cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase.
Sheamus, now the top heel in the company (except whenever the Authority make their presence), has formed a stable consisting of him, Wade Barrett, Rusev and Alberto del Rio known as the League of Nations. Their target is Roman Reigns, who gets another title opportunity this weekend thanks to Triple H, who just gave it to him despite doing everything in his power to get the belt off Reigns. The odds are stacked against him, but he’s proven that he can win the big one, as evidenced the previous month. Will we see a new champion crowned at the final pay per view of the year, or will the Authority’s latest charge find a way to keep his title?
Chairs Match for the WWE United States Championship: Alberto del Rio (c) vs. Jack Swagger
Bryan Rose: A main event in any arena! Or, should I say, a Main Event main event in any arena. Really, the booking is so lame here. You take Jack Swagger, who has not been on TV for months besides doing jobs on Main Event and Superstars, and now suddenly he’s number one contender just because. He has zero momentum to speak of, Alberto only has a bit more, and overall this just feels like a very lame feud that they gave zero time or effort to get over. Whether or not Zeb is involved doesn’t really matter, as with the new League of Nations gimmick he’s the odd man out, plus he and Alberto really have no chemistry to speak of. With that said, I fully expect it now to be a swerve that will allow del Rio to get the clean win. Over Jack Swagger.
Winner: Alberto del Rio
James Cox: It is difficult to hold out much hope for a gimmick match that has traditionally not offered up classic matches. The most intriguing thing will be how they use Zeb, though I wouldn’t be surprised if they just completely ignore that angle and move on without him at all. Swagger can never get over with this character unless they let him win, but, clearly, he’s losing here after what I would guess will be a tussle and back-and-forth between their submission moves in the finish.
Winner: Alberto Del Rio
Jeremy Peeples: This feud has been built up terribly on television and this match seemingly serves no purpose. Swagger is feuding with MexAmerica, which no longer exists after Raw, so why is this happening? Beyond just giving Swagger a payday, it should be a fine showcase for Alberto and perhaps they bring Swagger and Zeb together. There’s a very slim chance they give Swagger the title here to move Alberto into the WWE Title picture officially, but that seems very unlikely.
Winner: Alberto Del Rio
Steve Khan: I expect a lot of chairs to be used in this match. Maybe Del Rio will double foot stomp a chair into Swagger’s face. Or maybe he’ll superkick a chair into Swagger’s face. Or maybe he’ll do an armbar through a chair. Either way…
Winner: Alberto Del Rio
Eight Man Tag Team Elimination Tables Match: The Dudley Boyz, Tommy Dreamer and Rhyno vs. The Wyatt Family
Bryan Rose: I guess ECW is still popular enough in 2015 that the return of Tommy Dreamer and Rhyno are going to get big reactions. Hey, that’s a testament to the power of WWE still getting over ECW 14 years after it went out of business, plus a misguided attempt to reboot it 9 years ago. I’m not sure what to expect here other than a bunch of table shots. With the Wyatts losing clean last month to the Undertaker, something tells me they’ll do just fine against Team Extreme (not to be confused with Team Xtreme).
Winners: The Wyatt Family
James Cox: I worry that this won’t amount to much after an initial ECW pop in Boston, but I hope that I’m wrong. In theory, you can use this to reboot The Wyatts after losing last month, but I don’t know how this company thinks anymore. You can certainly beat any of these men and I would assume they will at least protect Bray and Strowman. I really want this to be a lot of fun, on a ppv that doesn’t look that exciting as things stand.
Winner: The Wyatt Family
Jeremy Peeples: They haven’t been doing much with the Dudleys, although Tommy Dreamer has been shockingly over and Rhyno is a welcome sight on the main roster. With Bubba Ray being truly wasted in this ECW/Attitude Era nostalgia act, hopefully he turns heel and does his own thing. Since there is no chance of that happening, Team Extreme will just be used to put over the Wyatts and they can talk about how the Wyatts are the only team in WWE history to defeat the Dudleys at their own game. Sure, it won’t be true, but it will tell a nice story.
Winner: The Wyatt Family
Steve Khan: Whether or not this feud is continuing, the Wyatts should win and they probably will. Tables matches are dumb so I don’t expect much from this.
Winner: The Wyatt Family
Divas Title: Charlotte (c) (with Ric Flair in her corner) vs. Paige
Bryan Rose: Does anyone care at this point? Now Charlotte’s teasing a heel turn because…I don’t know? I guess we aren’t supposed to think of the Divas as faces or heels? The only true babyface on the Divas roster at this point is Becky Lynch, who only pops up now and again. For all of this talk about a Revolution, we’re right back to square one with Divas whose one note gimmicks are that they are either heels or crazy people. Virtually nothing’s changed now and that’s probably the saddest thing about the WWE this year. Charlotte retains, I guess, but who can care at this point?
Winner: Charlotte
James Cox: I hope we see the completion of a double turn in this one. The muddying of the waters around who is the heel is just irritating. Flair can be either. On his own, he’s always going to get a babyface reaction, but with Charlotte I can see that they can use him in that way. But the fact that I’m writing this, after what happened last month with the Flair family name, is ridiculous. With no smoke and mirrors, they’re going to have to work hard to make a Boston crowd care much.
Winner: Charlotte
Jeremy Peeples: This feud has been a colossal waste of both women, but Paige’s character is more of a babyface than Charlotte’s now since she’s speaking the truth – it’s just a truth no one wants to accept. Of course, a double turn won’t do much for either of them since the commentators will just talk about how it’s okay for Charlotte to cheat because her dad did, so everything will be undercut. They had a good-ish match on the last PPV and a better one on Raw, so I expect this to have pretty good action if the match itself isn’t just a backdrop to the angle. Charlotte needs the title more than Paige, and a heel-ish win moves her cocky character forward too.
Winner: Charlotte
Steve Khan: Paige should really be the star of this division right now, as Charlotte has been nothing as champion, but her storyline over the last few weeks has probably bought her more time with the belt. She cheated last month by accident, so I think she cheats on purpose here to pick up the win. The match itself should be good.
Winner: Charlotte
Ryback vs. Rusev
Bryan Rose: This match was added at the very last minute on Smackdown. They’ve built it up the last few weeks in a build that was, well, just a build. As for the actual match, it could go either way. This could either be a fun slugfest or a WWE-style centric match, which can produce a boring bout. Let’s hope for the latter. I say Rusev wins as he needs some heat on him following his return.
Winner: Rusev
Steve Khan: It seems like this show could be dominated by heels, so Ryback getting a token win wouldn’t surprise me, but they just reunited Rusev and Lana and Rusev is in the League of Nations so he should really win.
Winner: Rusev
Ladder Match: WWE Tag Team Championship: The New Day (c) vs. The Usos vs. The Lucha Dragons
Bryan Rose: I think this’ll be a stunt show, but a good one. All three tag teams are probably going to go all out here, with lots of ladder shots in between. Not the best built program leading to this, but not many matches on the show were anyway. I see the New Day winning here because there really aren’t any tag teams that are over enough for them to drop the titles so.
Winner: The New Day
James Cox: This is a classic case of being booked into a corner by creating gimmick ppvs in advance. There’s no reason to have three teams in this match. But, I’d call this to be the match of the night, provided it isn’t just a spot-fest. Kofi, Kalisto and The Usos are all capable of doing something special here. The New Day have become bloated versions of themselves in the last few weeks, but it makes zero sense for them to lose the titles, other than just for the sake of playing hot potato with the belts.
Winner: The New Day
Steve Khan: This obviously has potential to be match of the night and hopefully it’s given time to produce. I would actually put the titles on the Usos. WWE is in love with New Day but too many babyface acts are coming up short lately, and that could continue on this show if Ambrose and Reigns both lose. New Day can come out of this feud as champions eventually, and they’ll probably win here despite what I Just said, but I’ll go out on a limb (?) and take the Usos.
Winner: The Usos
Intercontinental Championship: Kevin Owens (c) vs. Dean Ambrose
Bryan Rose: This should be a good match if given time. I can’t say there’s a whole lot of interest here because the way it was built, which included Dean Ambrose throwing soda and popcorn at his opponent, and Owens using the walkout finish on nearly every match he’s been in leading up to this one. But again, if they are given enough time, they can go out there and steal the show. As for who wins, it could go either way, but I see Owens retaining here in some sort of finish that allows a rematch for next month.
Winner: Kevin Owens
James Cox: With all the bells and whistles that this show has, I feel like time could be an issue here. If they give them 15mins, they can have a great match. Less than 12 and I struggle to see this being much better than just OK. Owens is a great heel and Ambrose a great babyface, but only if the company want them to be and are prepared to invest time in them. With one eye on WrestleMania now, you’d have to think that if Ambrose wins, Owens becomes a potential for the Rumble or a high spot on the WrestleMania card. But in theory, with this weakened roster, so should Ambrose.
Winner: Kevin Owens
Jeremy Peeples: This match really hasn’t had much of a build to it, and Raw’s popcorn and soda usage didn’t exactly set fire to the feud. Dean Ambrose has no momentum, while Owens at least has some – so he seems like a lock to win – especially if they decide to throw him in as one of the many champions in the League of Nations. Doing so would keep this feud alive and make a Dean win in the future mean more since it showed Roman’s group could take something from Sheamus’s.
Winner: Kevin Owens
Steve Khan: It occurred to me that this company may not want to put a title on Dean Ambrose as long as Roman Reigns is without one himself. Imagine the Usos and/or Ambrose walking out with Reigns and they have belts but he doesn’t? That puts the odds against Ambrose and the Usos on this show. Watching the babyfaces constantly come up short is getting tiresome, so that’s probably what we’ll see. The match itself should be good.
Winner: Kevin Owens
TLC Match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship: Sheamus (c) vs. Roman Reigns
Bryan Rose: So they went ahead and did the worst possible finish they could have done at Survivor Series by making Sheamus the WWE champion again. Booking and ratings aside, Sheamus has never felt like a main event talent, and that is what causes me to have little to no interest in this match. They’ll work hard and probably have a good match. But I’m jaded enough on WWE’s product to know there will probably be a screwy finish here that leaves Roman Reign a loser for the upteenth time this year, leading to a Royal Rumble scenario that probably sees him winning the title shot again. To say this isn’t interesting television right now is an understatement. But hey, Roman Reigns has a few people cheering for him now, so I guess it all paid off, right?
Winner: Sheamus
James Cox: A TLC match is just the kind of match that Sheamus does well in when in the main event picture: long brawls where he ultimately stands tall, drenched in sweat. There’s so much that they can do here with the two factions that they have created around each of them, that maybe this will become just a series of run-ins. I hope not. This needs to kick start this programme and, ideally, we should know by the end of it what our Royal Rumble main event is. But Reigns losing again? That feels like one too many. In a TLC match I guess you can still keep him looking strong despite the defeat. And let’s not forget that, for whatever reason, this company likes Sheamus.
Winner: Sheamus
Jeremy Peeples: Sheamus is dangerous enough in a regular match, but adding at least three implements of destruction (or toys as JBL could call them) adds even more risk to Roman. With so many people out with injury, I wouldn’t put Roman in this match against Sheamus, but it’s booked and Sheamus needs to look strong. The problem is that Roman needs to as well and really can’t be losing so many title matches. With that said, Sheamus needs the win and has an entire stable to ensure a victory, so he is the likely victor and then Roman will have to overcome the entire League of Nations to get a rematch or something along those lines.
Winner: Sheamus
Steve Khan: The finish of the match is important (or at least the follow-up) because it potentially sets up the title picture through WrestleMania, which probably has a lot of moving parts at the moment. Reigns winning here seems unlikely. If he gets a rematch at the Rumble, he can win that and go into WrestleMania as champion. But if he loses and the Authority refuses to give him another rematch, then Reigns goes into the Rumble and probably wins that. That leaves a hole for Sheamus to be filled at the Rumble. Maybe they’ll throw Brock Lesnar or Undertaker or John Cena in there to set up a match with Reigns, but for now it doesn’t really matter.
Tables, Ladders, and Chairs, and STAIRS… Oh My! Part 6
By: PeachMachine (@hendosfoodblog)
This week…
TLC 6: December 15, 2014; Cleveland, Ohio, Quicken Loans Arena
(39,000 PPV Buys, lowest number since the network)
An excellent video package opens the PPV comparing the TLC show to a demolition derby. It was pretty rad.
Pre Show Match: The New Day (Big E and Kofi Kingston) (with Xavier Woods) defeated Gold and Star Dust.
JBL, Cole, and King on the cans.
Dolph Ziggler vs. Luke Harper (c) in a Ladder Match for the Intercontinental Championship
In TLC 4, Dolph was in the main event against Cena. In TLC 5 he was in the pre show match jobbing to Fandango, and tonight he’s in the opener for the Kiss of Death belt.
Something like 20 ladders had been set up at one point.
Harper had about 90 seconds alone in the ring and just sort of didn’t do anything. I feel like I personally could put up a ladder and climb it and grab the title in no more than 15 seconds.
Luke pushed Dolph off the ladder twice.
Dolph took a Power Bomb on a ladder suspended on the second rope.
Dolph countered the Power Bomb and gave Harper a face buster on a ladder.
Harper has a gash on his arm.
Ziggs tosses a ladder into Harper’s face who then took a bump across another ladder set up off the apron to the announce desk.
“This is awesome chants,” and I agree.
Dolph super kicks Harper off the ladder and wins the belt.
The Usos (Jimmy and Jey) vs. The Miz and Damien Mizdow (c) in a Tag Team match for the WWE Tag Team Championship
Has anyone made more out less than The Miz? He was a reality TV dork. Then a reality TV star. Then a pretend reality wrestler. He’s been WWE Champ, Headlined WrestleMania, Made a bunch of movies. Made millions of dollars, and is married to Maryse. Unbelievable!
Everyone wants Mizdow to tag in. How can they possibly get any heat?
Double Rikishi ass spots by Jimmy Uso.
An interesting parade of finishers leading to Jimmy Uso hooking up a Tequila Sunrise.
Miz and Mizdow grab their belts and leave, and in doing so, Miz lays out one of the Usos for the DQ. So the Usos win by DQ, but no title change.
Mr. Money in the Bank Seth Rollins (with J and J Security (Joey Mercury and Jamie Noble)) talks about Sting, and then how he’s going to make John Cena pay tonight. This is the storyline where Cena has the ability to bring back The Authority.
We’re getting an anatomy cut away view of the Steel Stairs. They weigh 288, and can withstand an impact of 22,000 lb.
Big Show vs. Erick Rowan in a Stairs match
A loss for Rowan could really hurt his wine sales this season.
This was a bad idea on paper, and an even worse idea in execution.
Big Show Speared Rowan through a stack of chairs.
Big Show Choke-Slammed him on the stairs and then gave him the Knock Out Punch, and then pinned him with the stairs.
Mediocre at best.
We get an awesome video package explaining the stips of the next match, which are if Cena loses; he also loses his number one contendership to the WWE Championship.
John Cena vs. Mr. Money in the Bank Seth Rollins with (J and J Security (Jamie Noble and Joey Mercury)) in a Tables match
Paul Heyman came to the announce booth, but is just standing near it.
J and J jump in and just start putting the boots to Cena. It turns out no DQ applies to others entering the ring as well.
Cena goes and gets a piece of guardrail and lays out the baddies.
Noble takes the Suplex from Cena on the guardrail.
Seth sets up two tables on the outside.
Now Cena tosses in some more tables.
Rollins brings in the MITB case and starts whacking Johnny.
Ref bump and it gets crazy leading to Cena giving Seth the AA off the top through table.
J and J run in and clean the crime scene and pay for it with a Double AA.
Cena and Seth fall through a table together and Chiota comes back just in time to see it. They take a long time to debate the results. Chiota restarts the match. Let’s start the 90 second clock… The announce table did NOT break but it was supposed to and that was like at 45 seconds.
Cena tosses another table in the ring. It is all improv at this point.
Out comes Big Show and he starts punching Cena and sets up a Choke Slam, just as Roman Reigns’ music hits. Reigns gets in and delivers a Spear to Big Show through a table. Cena jumps in and hits an AA on Rollins for the win.
Heyman and Cena make goo goo eyes at each other.
Nikki Bella (c) (with Brie Bella) vs. AJ Lee for the Divas Championship
This is pre revolution, so it’s pretty boring. That’s sarcasm.
Nikki did a surfboard with AJ’s spine around the post.
A nice tornado DDT by AJ.
AJ hits a pop up bulldog for a two count, and follows it up with the Shining Wizard, but Brie saves Nikki by putting her foot on the rope. Then Brie gets booted for interfering.
Nikki sprayed something in AJ’s face then hits the Rack Attack for the win. They actually send a fake doctor down to check on AJ’s eyesight, because like I said, doctors don’t mess around with life, limb, or eyesight.
Roman Reigns cuts a promo about doing something awesome at the Royal Rumble. Did that ever happen?
Ryback vs. Corporate Kane in a Chairs match
Ryback’s outfit makes him look like a guy grilling meat.
Kane is in control and drops Ryback’s face on a chair.
This match is garbage. Just really rough spots and nothing going on.
Kane gave a seated Ryback the Big Boot.
Ryback with a step out spining belly to belly, a la the great Scott Steiner.
Kane throws 15 chairs in the ring.
Kane took half a Spine Buster through half a chair, and then Ryback started whipping him with chairs.
Kane throws a fastball with a chair right at Ryback’s face then hits him with the Chokeslam, but Ryback kicked out.
Ryback wins with the Shell Shock
Rusev (c) (with Lana) vs. Jack Swagger
Rusev hooked on the Accolade, right in the middle. The ref checks Swagger to see if he’s conscious. A lot of times I type conscience when I mean conscious. Swagger makes a crazy comeback and grabs the Ankle Lock.
Rusev fights it off and hooks on the Accolade again, and the ref calls for the bell.
Dean Ambrose vs. Bray Wyatt in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs Match with nothing on the line, so it’s basically a weapons match
Ambrose section shown in the crowd.
It’s just bad booking to not give them a reason to climb for something even if it’s just a box that contains Scott Hall’s 8×10.
Ambrose starts it off with a ladder launch at Bray. Immediately they start crowd brawling.
Ambrose in control after tossing in Kendo sticks.
Bray comes back with a big punch that knocks Dean off the corner through a table.
Wyatt rams Dean’s eye into the point of the kendo stick.
Just a lot of wild brawling and some junk spots. It’s a watered down hardcore match.
They did one of the weakest table spots ever, where Dean dropped an elbow on Wyatt on a table, from the 3rd rung of a ladder.
Well, now he’s making up for it by doing it again from farther away on a higher ladder. Is it farther or further?
Dean goes and gets a twenty-foot ladder and lays Bray on the Spanish Announce team’s desk. He hits a third elbow from really high up.
This got weird. Ambrose had uncovered a TV from under the ring that was plugged in and showing the PPV for some reason. He tried to use the TV on Wyatt but the chord got caught, so he yanked at it and as he yanked, it exploded, like an electrical burst or fuse blowing. This gave Bray the opportunity to hit Sister Abigail on Dean for the pin.
Yes, a pin ended a TLC match.
In summary, this was a good show but not the best of the TLC’s. It was near the top. My TLC picks would go in this order 4, 5, 6, 3, 1, 2. Let’s hope this Sunday we get something that tops the first 6. The bar is set fairly low, but with the current match line-up, it doesn’t look good. However, I will still be reviewing this year’s offering.
