Tag: pro wrestling

WWE Raw live results: LEAP DAY and the return of Shane McMahon continues

Posted on by Josh Hamlin

After doing a quick internet search, I believe this is the first time in RAW’s history that it has aired on LEAP DAY, which would be today, February 29th. 

With the major matches for WrestleMania set, tonight’s RAW in Nashville is headlined by the return of the Undertaker, in his first appearance since the Survivor Series. His appearance itself isn’t the curiosity. Rather, it’s how far the company will go to make him a heel for his match with Shane McMahon.

Will he be a full-fledged heel? If so, how? Will he be a reluctant heel grudgingly going against Shane at the behest of The Authority? Will he be a subtle heel like the one Bret Hart portrayed to perfection during the 1997 Canada-USA feud? Perhaps of more importance will be the return of Shane McMahon, and whether the remarkable reaction to his return in Detroit will be just a one-week pop, or something sustainable. Some of the undercard matches for WrestleMania could also be set into motion on tonight’sshow, including Charlotte’s challenger for the Divas championship. 

Our live coverage starts at 8 ET. 

The Big Takeaway: HHH will wrestle Dean Ambrose for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at some point before WrestleMania. Show was prominent for who wasn’t there. Shane McMahon, Roman Reigns, Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman were all absent. The Undertaker returned for a very brief apperance, telling Vince McMahon that when he wrestles Shane at WrestleMania, Shane’s blood would be on Vince’s hands, not his. Undertaker was a babyface acting like he going into this match vs. Shane against his will.  

Show Recap: 

HHH started the show and talked about how everyone has an authority figure in their lives.  They may hate they authority figure, but they’re afraid to speak out against it. The figure is there for people to understand their place in life. Roman Reigns should know that place, but he chose to challenge and disrespect authority.  Crowd chanted for Reigns, but HHH played up that Reigns suffered a broken nose and he was home breathing through his mouth hoping that his place at WrestleMania is still safe. 

Dean Ambrose came out and told HHH he just got off the phone with Reigns, who told HHH he was coming for HHH. Then HHH introduced Ambrose as an Academy Award winner for Best Supporting Actor in a Bromance.  Ambrose laughed it off and turned his attention to being jumped by Brock Lesnar last week, along with Shane McMahon returning and HHH jumping Reigns. Crowd chanted for Shane. Ambrose asked HHH who did he want to win the  Triple Threat match at Fast Lane. More to the point, who did HHH NOT want to win at Fast Lane. HHH refused to answer, but said it was clear Ambrose wasn’t a factor in that match. Ambrose got in HHH’s face and said he was the last guy HHH wanted to face at WrestleMania. HHH laughed and thought Ambrose was crazy. Ambrose said HHH was smart enough to know he would never want to get in the ring with Ambrose. 
Ambrose said he could see that HHH doesn’t think he could beat Ambrose. Crowd started chanting “You can’t be him.” 

This was a long-winded way of Ambrose challenging HHH for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. HHH said he would take it under advisement and give him an answer by the end of the night. Ambrose wanted to know how, by text or phone call. HHH said Ambrose was going to get the night off tonight, but since Ambrose decided to confront him, Ambrose would face Alberto Del Rio while the rest of the League of Nations would be at ringside. 

This was your classic boring HHH 20-minute opening segment.

HHH started the show and talked about how everyone has an authority figure in their lives. 
They may hate they authority figure, but they’re afraid to speak out against it. The figure is there for people to understand their place in life. Roman Reigns should know that place, but he chose to challenge and disrespect authority. Crowd chanted for Reigns, but HHH played up that Reigns suffered a broken nose and he was home breathing through his mouth hoping that his place at WrestleMania is still safe. 

Dean Ambrose came out and told HHH he just got off the phone with Reigns, who told HHH he was coming for HHH. Then HHH introduced Ambrose as an Academy Award winner for Best Supporting Actor in a Bromance. 

Ambrose laughed it off and turned his attention to being jumped by Brock Lesnar last week, along with Shane McMahon returning and HHH jumping Reigns. Crowd chanted for Shane. Ambrose asked HHH who did he want to win the  Triple Threat match at Fast Lane. More to the point, who did HHH NOT want to win at Fast Lane. HHH refused to answer, but said it was clear Ambrose wasn’t a factor in that match. Ambrose got in HHH’s face and said he was the last guy HHH wanted to face at WrestleMania. HHH laughed and thought Ambrose was crazy. Ambrose said HHH was smart enough to know he would never want to get in the ring with Ambrose. Ambrose said he could see that HHH doesn’t think he could beat Ambrose. Crowd started chanting “You can’t be him.” This was a long-winded way of Ambrose challenging HHH for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. 

HHH said he would take it under advisement and give him an answer by the end of the night. Ambrose wanted to know how, by text or phone call. HHH said Ambrose was going to 
get the night off tonight, but since Ambrose decided to confront him, Ambrose would face Alberto Del Rio while the rest of the League of Nations would be at ringside. 

This was your classic boring HHH 20-minute opening segment.

Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks went to a double pin draw (9:40)

This was the best women’s match on Raw in awhile. Finish was Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch were battling on the top rope. Banks went for the Sunset Flip Power Bomb and hit it. For some reason, Banks layed back on the mat while Lynch’s feet over her, leading to a double pin. Charlotte and Ric Flair watched from ringside. Fans chanted “Triple Threat,” but we’re supposed to wonder who Charlotte will now face at WrestleMania. Charlotte and Flair smugly walked to the back as Banks and Lynch looked confused. 

Bray Wyatt did a promo from the back. He said the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expect a different result. Wyatt said he thought maybe he was insanity. On the other hand, Wyatt said maybe his mind was the key to saving the entire world. It starts with an idea, which becomes a plan, which becomes a beautiful symphony. He can give the world enternal paradise. If you don’t join him, you will find yourself exactly as the rest as everyone else. Conquered. 

There was a segment from SmackDown where the Miz and Dolph Ziggler argued about past WrestleMania accomplishments. Ziggler said he wondered if Miz deserved to even be a WWE Superstar. 

The Miz defeated Dolph Ziggler (1:04)

Miz won after whipping Ziggler face first into the corner and a schoolboy cradle. Ziggler has done clean jobs to Kevin Owens, Heath Slater and Miz so far in 2016. What did he do? 

Stephanie McMahon came out to finish her speech from the Vincent J. McMahon Spirit of Excellence Award last week that was interrupted by Shane. Crowd booed her and chanted for Shane. She dropped her preapred remarks and opted for the remarks the writers prepared for her. She tipped over the podium and tore into the fans about cheering Shane after he vansihed for seven years. Stephanie said if Shane really cared about his family, he would have shown up to a WrestleMania or a Raw, which he hasn’t done. He accused him of abadoning his family. 

Stephanie said it kills Shane that HHH and she are in power. Stephanie said Shane’s sons would have to fight for control over the company with her daughters. She said the Undertaker would defeat Shane at Hell in a Cell, and dismember him. And Shane could take a permanent vacation. Stephanie said the fans were lazy and entitled. Sooner or later, reality would come around and slap them right in the face. She said sooner or later, the fans would have to bow down to the Authority, and bow down to the Queen, her. Stephanie had excellent delievery on her promo, but I’m not sure if the family dynamics are something that will draw money. I bet a reality show about the behind the scenes interaction among the McMahons would be straight money, though. 

Rusev and Sheamus defeated Lucha Dragons (5:04)

Rusev pinned Kalisto with a spin kick after Del Rio distracted Kalisto. Sheamus laid out Sin Cara on the floor with a Brogue Kick. Afterwards, Del Rio hit his Diving Double Foot Stomp on Kalisto. Michael Cole is still playing up the Kalisto-Del Rio program. League of Nations have started waving their arms in unison like they’re all calling for the DDT. 

Natalya did a product placement promo with Renee Young talking about how Subway sandwiches help her keep fit. Well, Subway does need a new spokesperson. 

Ryback did one of those awful inset promos saying how Spotlight may have won Best Picture at the Academy Awards. But if the Spotlight doesn’t shine on him, then he’s going to take it. 

Ryback defeated Adam Rose (2:02) 

Ryback won with vicious ground and pound and pinned Adam Rose with Shellshock. Announcers tried to get over that Ryback was being more aggressive. With his G&P, it feels like Ryback came along 20 years too late. He would fit in doing a UFC gimmick in 1996, which was basically what Goldberg was doing. Earlier, Rose attempted some of the worst crossfaces in recorded wrestling history. 

The New Day did a promo comparing themselves to the great three-man units in history. I thought that was going to lead to Michael Hayes coming out to announce the Freebirds Hall of Fame induction. Instead, it led to Y2AJ. 

Y2AJ defeated The New Day (C) in a nontitle match (8:56)

Good match where Chris Jericho made Kofi Kingston tapout to the Walls of Jericho. A.J. Styles got the heat taking the Unicorn Stampede and a big splash from Big E. They aired highlights of a six-man match between YUAJ and Mark Henry vs. New Day from SmackDown, where Kingston hit Jericho with the Trouble in Paradise. Jericho had a legit black eye from the spot. After the win, Y2AJ challenged New Day to a match for the championships next week in Chicago. Feels like the right time for New Day to drop the straps. Or it could be a heel turn for Styles in order to make way for Karl Anderson and Drew Gallows and form a group. Styles has become the new Cesaro, as fans held up signs reading “You Don’t Want None,” which is the title of Styles’ music. 

Vince McMahon came out. He came out to a flat reaction and didn’t look happy. Vince then said “Do you know who I am?” Whew, he’s stealing Bully Ray’s catchphrase. Or the Mountie’s. Vince brought up the possibility of Shane running Monday Night Raw if he defeated the Undertaker, which meant Stephanie and HHH would effectively quit the business. I’m sure. 

Vince said Shane would lead Sports Entertainment into a different era than ever before if he won. But only fools believe in miracles. Vince said he loves Shane, but he loves him enough to teach him a lesson he’ll never forget. He loved Shane enough to put him in the ring against the Undertaker, who he introduced.

Time will go on and the industry will continue, but there will never be an entrance like the Undertaker’s again. 

Vince started to put Undertaker over, but Undertaker grabbed him by the throat. Undertaker said Vince knew what would happen when he closes that door behind him at WrestleMania. Undertaker said the blood of Shane would be on Vince’s hands, not his. And he left. The ring entrance was ten times longer than the actual apperance. 

Vince said the reality is he would stand in the ring after WrestleMania, saying Shane has failed to defeat the Undertaker, failed him as a son and he would lose his inheritance. He vowed to write Shane out of his will and give it all to Stephanie. Vince said he would renounce Shane as his son and Shane will no longer be his son, he will be just a son of a bitch. One can question Vince’s creative decisions, but the fact is he’s so gifted as a non-wrestling performer, if he wasn’t in the WON Hall of Fame as a promoter, it would be necessary to include him as an on-screen character. 

Bubba Ray Dudley defeated Jey Uso (2:11)

Bubba Ray Dudley pinned Jey Uso after a Full Nelson Slam. After saying for weeks that the fans would never see them use tables again, Devon Dudley pulled out a table. Jimmy Uso, like a total geek, ran after Devon, who simply tossed the table into Jimmy. 

Goldust approached R-Truth again backstage. Before he could say another word, Truth told Goldust they would never be a tag team and he didn’t need a partner. Goldust appeared to have tears in his eyes and walked off without saying anything. Truth looked remorseful. 

The Big Show defeated Kevin Owens (C) via countout in a nonitle match (2:37)

They teased a countout finish with Owens giving the Big Show a tornado DDT on the floor. Show beat the count, then gave Owens a choke slam onto the ropes, where Owens was crotched. The story is Owens did the same thing to Big Show on SmackDown Thursday, which means the only thing worse than parity pinfall booking is parity countout booking. 

Brie Bella did an interview with Young. Lana showed up and started talking about how Daniel Bryan left her out in the old while her man is still competing and gives her everything she wants. Brie shot back that Rusev was a great double for a grizzly bear in the Revenant, and Lana could talk once she has the guts to get in the ring. 

Naomi defeated Brie Bella via submission (4:07)

Naomi won with a Crucifix as a submission hold after Tamina interfered. Naomi’s finisher is she does a crucifix while grabbing her opponet’s arm, but the way she applied it, she could have done it to my grandmother and she wouldn’t have sold it. Lana came out afterwards and laughed at Brie. 

The Fabulous Freebirds were named as the new inductees as the WWE Hall of Fame. Michael Hayes, Buddy Roberts, Terry Gordy…and Jimmy Jam Garvin. Sort of like Van Halen getting inducted into the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame and they include Gary Cherone. 

Lynch and Banks argued about who would have won their match earlier tonight if a draw hadn’t been declared when Charlotte and Flair walked up. Charlotte told them they would meet again on SmackDown on Thursday night. The winner would face her at WrestleMania. The loser of the match would fade into oblivion. The other would be the answer to a trivia question: “Who was the person Charlotte defeated at her first WrestleMania?” She and Flair laughed and left as the babyfaces stewed. 

Dean Ambrose defeated Alberto Del Rio by DQ (9:07) 

Ambrose spent the entire match selling. He had his right armed taped selling Brock Lesnar’s F-5 on the floor last week. At one point, Del Rio gave him the cross armbreaker against the ropes. Ambrose barely sold it before giving Del Rio a neckbreaker. But please, tell me more about how Ring of Honor guys don’t understand psychology. 

It led to HHH coming out and ordering the League of Nations to attack Ambrose. Since HHH peaked in 1999, can we just call the LON the NWO Black and White and be done with it? The League beat down Ambrose. HHH started to talk down to him about how he would never understand Ambrose couldn’t stand up to authority. Ambrose rose up and punched HHH, which quickly made a comeback ending with a pedigree.  HHH told Ambrose that he would get his title match. 

Ambrose got the microphone while still selling and said “Hey Hunter! Thanks.” HHH looked pissed, rolled up his sleeves as the League disappeared and proceeded to beat the hell out of Ambrose with numerous punches delievered on the announcer’s table. The camerawork here resembled the end of ECW where they zoomed in quickly during every punch, and zoomed out afterwards. It was enough to give you motion sickness. But not as bad as seeing the heels stand tall over the babyfaces for the 88th time out of the past 93 shows. That’s a totally made up figure, by the way. But if you looked it up and found that it really was the case, would you be surprised? 

SUMMARY: 

A flat show. I’m unclear what the Undertaker’s motivation is for wanting to wrestle Shane at WM. It was never explained tonight. I know that HHH has to get heat in order for WrestleMania to have something special, but it’s clear the fans like Ambrose more than Reigns. I’m not sure either can be the flagbearer for the company. But seeing HHH out there as the top heel at 46-years-old reminds me of seeing Hulk Hogan in WCW 2000 still main evening PPVs against Ric Flair long after his star had faded and well past his drawing peak. And what’s the end result? To put over Reigns, who isn’t the answer either. 

Fabulous Freebirds to enter WWE Hall of Fame

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

WWE announced Monday that the Fabulous Freebirds, the quartet of Michael Hayes (Michael Seitz), Terry Gordy, Buddy Roberts (Dale Hey) and Jimmy Garvin (James Williams), will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame at the Saturday, April 2nd ceremony at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, TX, during Wrestlemania weekend.

Like with Sting and The Godfather, these names had been released and reported on a month ago.

Dallas is makes sense since the Freebirds real heyday came from 1983-1985 based in the city while feuding with the Von Erich brothers, Kevin, Kerry, David and Mike.

While Garvin never worked as a Freebird during the heyday, he often teamed with them. Later, Hayes & Garvin, as a version of The Freebirds, were U.S. tag team champions in WCW. 

Hayes, who has had a long career in WWE creative, had been pushing for Garvin to be inducted with the other three. It also makes sense since Gordy and Roberts have both passed away. Gordy suffered a stroke due to an overdose on a flight to Japan and his career was never the same. He passed away at just 40 years old. Roberts died in 2012 at the age of 65 from pneumonia after battling throat cancer for years.

Hayes & Gordy started The Freebirds in smaller Southern territories as best friends. In 1979, while working for Mid South Wrestling, owner Bill Watts added Roberts to the group, feeling Hayes was more of a manager and saw Gordy & Roberts as the traditional tag team. They went to Georgia and became national stars with many breakups and makeups over the years. 

However, it was Hayes & Gordy costing Kerry Von Erich the NWA title in a match with Ric Flair on December 25, 1982, that ushered in the boom period of World Class Championship Wrestling. The team broke up when Gordy became a regular for All Japan Pro Wrestling, and various incarnations of the group formed. Gordy would team with Hayes and Roberts between tours, and sometimes one or another member of the group would turn and feud with the other as they tried to keep things fresh as World Class died out.

The group had a very brief run together in WWF with the idea of making them into musical stars after Hayes had recorded “Badstreet USA.” It ended up being a very short run as they were fired which led to Gordy signing with All Japan where he teamed with Stan Hansen for a while, eventually forming oe of the greatest tag teams ever in Japan with Steve “Dr. Death” Williams.

WWE Jonesboro, AR, live results: Bray Wyatt vs. Kane; New Day vs. Usos

Posted on by F4W Staff

Submitted by Brian Tramel

– Neville vs. King Barrett

Solid opener. Crowd is hot! Moonsault to floor! Red arrow for the finish with Neville winning.

– Bo Dallas & Heath Slater vs. Damien Sandow & Darren Young

Sandow got a good reaction. Crowd still hot! Outcasts won.

– Rusev with Lana vs. Fandango

Rusev in less than a minute; why? Rusev then challenged anyone.

– Rusev vs. Ryback

Ryback got a huge reaction! They worked hard and crowd was into it.

– Enzo & Big Cass with Carmella vs. The Ascension

There was some that knew the Enzo & Cass gimmick, but not a lot. Small “How you doin?” Chant. Real quick match with Enzo & Cass going over with finisher. Wyatts jump Big Cass & Enzo with Big Show making save with huge pop, which leads to…

– Luke Harper & Braun Strowman & Erick Rowan vs. Big Cass & Enzo & Big Show

Surprised to say it was a solid match. Big Show only in for hot tag after double heat. Crowd was loud. Show choke slammed Rowan for finish.

– Divas Champion Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch

Damn good match. Best match on the show. Lots of near falls leading to Charlotte winning with feet on ropes.

– WWE Tag Team Champions New Day vs. Usos

Crowd was hot for both teams. Total comedy until heat started. Fun match 

– Bray Wyatt vs. Kane

Bray got a big reaction. Kane got a pretty good pop also. I am not sure why Bray has not turned baby. Bray did a crotch chop and said “suck it” to a fan. Crowd kinda died and people started leaving. Bray was working hard, no one cared. Kane pins Bray after choke slam. 

– Summary:

A solid house show, especially since this is the B crew. I was told this was the same exact show as the night before in Cape Girardeau, MO. Most over on the show was probably Big Show (surprising, but probably because he has been there so long and everyone knows him).  As for the new guys, New Day were really over and crowd liked Usos a lot also. Another big surprise and it was the same as last time they were in Jonesboro, but Sandow was really over with the crowd. Pretty good for a guy that has not been on TV in months. Enzo & Cass were not over when they first came out, but before that 6 man was over the crowd was loving them. Natural charisma from the trio.  

Wrestling Weekly: Shane Returns, Dean should’ve left, Roman gets graded

Posted on by Victor Sosa

There are a few things dominating most wresting conversations this week, and we’re all over them. Les and Vic start with Shane McMahon’s return to WWE, the myriad of directions this storyline can go, whether or not that’s a good thing and more. Vic gets on his soapbox about the match at Wrestlemania he has absolutely no interest in (18:58), and it involves someone who most people are big fans of. We then turn our attention to Roman Reigns (28:52); the show closing segment Monday night, whether or not Les believes a run as top babyface can be salvaged, could anyone have possibly believed Roman was going to get babyface sympathy when that segment was laid out, and what grade would you give Roman since he’s been a solo act for the last 20 months. Yes, this thing with him has been going on for 20 long months now. Thanks for listening and have a great weekend~!

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Daily pro wrestling history (02/19): Heavenly Bodies win SMW Tag Team Titles; plane crash kills Bobby Shane

Posted on by Brian Hoops

1920

Newark, Ohio:
– Paul Bowser defeated Billy Schoeber for the American Middleweight Title

1942 

St. Joseph, Missouri:
– Marshall Estep defeated Steve Brody to win the Midwest Wrestling Association World Junior Heavyweight Title 

St. Louis, Missouri:
– Bill Longson defeated Sandor Szabo to win the NWA World Heavyweight Title

1943

Houston, Texas:
– Bill Longson defeated Bobby Managoff for the National Wrestling Association World Heavyweight Title 

St. Louis, Missouri:
– Ronnie Etchison beat Cowboy Luttrall 
– Orville Brown drew Babe Zaharias 
– Tom Zaharias beat Bad Boy Brown 
– Jim Coffield beat Frank Frogge

1957

Chicago, Illinois:
– Wilbur Snyder defeated Hans Schmidt to win the Chicago NWA United States Heavyweight Title 

1959

Chattanooga, Tennessee:
– Don and Luke (Bobby) Fields defeated The Corsicans (Jean and Joe) to win the Mid-America NWA World Tag Team Titles

1963

Tampa, Florida:
– Hiro Matsuda defeated Eddie Graham to win the Florida NWA Southern Heavyweight Title

Minneapolis, Minnesota:
– Boot Match: Crusher beat Moose Evans 
– Hercules Cortez beat Karol Kalmikoff
– Rocky Hamilton beat Jack Pesek
– Doug Gilbert drew Ivan Kamilkoff
– Dick Steinborn beat Gordon Nelson

1966

San Francisco, California:
– Bill Watts defeated Kinji Shibuya for the San Francisco NWA United States Heavyweight Title 

1969

Honolulu, Hawaii:
– Gene Kiniski won the Hawaii NWA North American Heavyweight Title from Toru Tanaka 

1970

Milwaukee, Wisconsin:
– Non Title: The Crusher & Edouard Carpentier beat AWA Tag Team Champions Mad Dog Vachon & Butcher Vachon 2 falls to 0
– Pepper Gomez beat Dr X
– Red Bastien beat Luke Graham
– Larry Hennig beat Bob Brunelle
– Lars Anderson drew Billy Red Lyons

1975

Miami Beach, Florida: (Colt, Shane, McCord, and Hart would be in a plane crash later that evening that would end the life of Shane)
– Dusty Rhodes defeated Dick Murdoch 
– Handicap Match: Dick Slater & Chris Taylor & “Cowboy” Bill Watts defeated Bob Roop & Jim Dillon & Mongolian Stomper & Gary Hart
– Bobby Shane & Buddy Colt defeated Tony Parisi & Dominic DeNucci 
– The Patriots defeated Mike Pappas & Pat Barrett 
– Bob Armstrong defeated “Iron” Mike McCord (Austin Idol)
– Larry Zbyszko drew Baron Scicluna 
– Johnny Weaver defeated George McCreary 

1976 

Kansas City, Kansas:
– Bob Brown & Otto Von Heller fought Ray Candy & Pat O’Connor to a draw
– Ed Wiskoski defeated Mike Pappae
– Ripper Collins fought Tank Patton to a double-DQ
– Bob Geigel & Akio Sato defeated Ron Bass & Dutch Mantel
– World Heavyweight Champion Terry Funk defeated Mike George via DQ

1978

Toronto, Ontario, Canada:
– AWA World Tag Team Champions The High Flyers (Jim Brunzell and Greg Gagne) defeated AWA World Heavyweight Champion Nick Bockwinkel and Bobby Heenan to retain the titles
– British Heavyweight Champion Billy Robinson defeated Duncan McTavish to retain the title
– WWWF Heavyweight Champion Billy Graham defeated Édouard Carpentier to retain the title
– Dusty Rhodes defeated Ken Patera
– Angelo Mosca defeated Chief Peter Miavia
– Dewey Robertson beat the Wildman
– Stan Stasiak beat the Wolfman
– Billy Red Lyons drew Chris Tolos

Memphis, Tennessee:
– Stan Frazier and Terry Sawyer defeated Dennis Condrey and Phil Hickerson to win the AWA Southern Tag Team Titles 

1979

Fort Worth, Texas:
– Mark Lewin and The Spoiler defeated David and Kevin Von Erich for the NWA American Tag Team Titles

1982

Green Bay, Wisconsin:
– Hulk Hogan & Tito Santana & Buck Zumhofe beat Nick Bockwinkel & Bobby Duncum & Bobby Heenan
– Sheik Adnan beat Jim Brunzell by countout
– Greg Gagne beat Sgt Jacques Goulet
– Brad Rheingans beat Tom Stone 

1988

Las Vegas, Nevada:
– AWA Champion Curt Hennig beat Jerry Lawler dq
– AWA Tag Team Champions Midnight Rockers beat Nasty Boys
– Wahoo McDaniel & Greg Gagne beat Bob Orton Jr & Curt Hennig dq
– Badd Company, Pat Tanaka & Paul Diamond beat Midnight Rockers
– Greg Gagne beat Steve Olsonoski
– Baron Von Raschke beat Sheik Adnan

1994 

Taylor, Michigan:
– The Heavenly Bodies (Jimmy Del Ray and Tom Prichard) defeated The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express (Robert Gibson and Ricky Morton) for the SMW Tag Team Titles

1995

Tokyo, Japan:
– Koji Kanemoto defeated Norio Honaga to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title 

WCW SuperBrawl: Baltimore, Maryland:
– WCW World Tag Team Champions Harlem Heat (Booker T and Stevie Ray) with Sister Sherri, defeated The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags) by reverse decision to retain the title
– Randy Savage and Sting defeated Avalanche and The Butcher
– WCW World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan with Jimmy Hart defeated WCW US Heavyweight Champion Vader by disqualification to retain the title

1999

North Richland Hills, Texas:
– Brian Adias defeated Khris Germany to win the NWA Texas Heavyweight Title 

2000

Cornelia, Georgia:
– The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express (Robert Gibson and Ricky Morton) defeated Bad Attitude (Rick Michaels and David Young) to win the NWA Wildside Tag Team Titles

Barnegat, New Jersey:
– Chris Candido won the vacant NWA Jersey Heavyweight Title by defeating The Equalizer

Carolina, Puerto Rico:
– Ray González won the WWC Universal Heavyweight Title by defeating Carly Colón

2002 

– Billy and Chuck with Rico defeated WWF Tag Team Champions Spike Dudley and Tazz to win the titles

2003

Louisville, Kentucky:
– Nick Dinsmore defeated champion The Damaja and Doug Basham in a triple threat match to win the OVW Heavyweight Title

2004

Tokyo, Japan:
– Shiro Koshinaka and Takao Omori defeated Shinjiro Otani and Masato Tanaka to win the NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Titles 
– Low Ki and Leonardo Spanky (Brian Kendrick) defeated Ikuto Hidaka and Dick Togo to win the NWA International Lightweight Tag Team Titles

2005

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania:
– A.J. Styles defeated Simon Diamond
– C.J. O’Doyle defeated Rob Eckos
– Simon Diamond and Mike Kruel defeated Damian Adams and Monsta Mack to win the vacant 3PW Tag Team Title
– Matt Striker defeated Rockin’ Rebel
– Slyck Wagner Brown defeated 3PW Heavyweight Champion Christopher Daniels to win the title

2006 

WWF No Way Out PPV: Baltimore, Maryland:
– Chris Benoit defeated Booker T to win the US Championship 
– Randy Orton defeated Rey Mysterio
– Kurt Angle defeated The Undertaker to retain the World Title

Tokyo, Japan:
– El Samurai and Ryusuke Taguchi defeated IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Hirooki Goto and Minoru to win the title
– Tiger Mask IV defeated NWA World and IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Black Tiger IV (Rocky Romero) to win both titles
– IWGP U-30 Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Yuji Nagata
– IWGP Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar and Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Akebono and Riki Choshu
– IWGP Tag Team Champions Masahiro Chono and Hiroyoshi Tenzan defeated Giant Bernard and Manabu Nakanishi to retain the titles

2007

Bakersfield, California:
– Melina pinned WWE Women’s Champion Mickie James to win the title 
– Umaga (with Armando Alejandro Estrada) pinned WWE Intercontinental Champion Jeff Hardy to win the title

Daily Update: NJPW New Beginnings, Tanahashi vs. Omega MOTY

Posted on by F4W Staff

We’re looking for your thoughts on today’s New Beginnings in Niigata as well as Thursday’s New Beginnings in Osaka so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]

We’re looking for reports on today’s WWE show in Bakersfield, CA to [email protected]

Raw will be Monday in Anaheim.  No Brock Lesnar or Paul Heyman on to the go-home show for Fast Lane.   Ticket sales picked up with the announcement of A.J. Styles, although I’m sure in management that will be passed off as pure coincidence, and maybe it is.  But this looks to be the first sellout of a Raw show this year.  It’s very close at this point and Anaheim is good walk-up market.

Lesnar will make his first appearance on Smackdown since 2004 at the Tuesday tapings in Ontario, CA.

If you’ve ever wanted to WATCH our radio shows here on the site, check out our new Youtube page! No full video shows, but lots of video clips, full free audio shows that you can tell your friends about, and much more to come! Make sure you subscribe today!

Figure Four Weekly

Figure Four Weekly 2/1/2016: Weekly Hogan/Gawker update
A look at the past weeks developments in the Hulk Hogan and Gawker lawsuit.

Wrestling Observer Newsletter

The Latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter: February 15, 2016 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Daniel Bryan retires

The newest issue of the Wrestling Observer is one of the best of the year.  A very detailed look at the end of Bryan Danielson’s career and retirement. Looking back at sports, pro wrestling and the ramifications that are and are not being talked about.  Danielson’s retirement is a big story, both his short and long term impact on pro wrestling.  How his story will act as a catalyst for change not only within pro wrestling but all contact sports.  If you are a wrestling fan, a sports fan or a science fan, this may be the most important issue of the year.

Bryan Danielson’s retirement speech, career highlights, home town, character both in and out of the ring, booking, the crazy way he ended up as champion for the first time, the birth of the “Yes” chant, the build to WrestleMania 30 & 31, the various exams, why he wanted to continue wrestling and WWE didn’t, his goals outside of WWE and why he changed his mind in the last few weeks.

The quandary he was in about continuing his career, how his career began, the formation of ROH and the changing landscape of independent wrestling, the changing ideas of what a pro wrestling headliner can look like, the first time I ever saw him wrestle while sitting with Red Bastien and Nick Bockwinkel

The suspension of Titus O’Neil, a longtime WWE star talking about going into another sport, another star looking at retiring soon, lots of WrestleMania plans including an early summer major match, Steve Austin’s WrestleMania status, update on promotion of Stephanie McMahon, star who may be interested in returning, Fast Lane, A.J. Styles talks his beginnings in WWE and how hard he tried to hide the Royal Rumble story, how DDP figured in Styles’ return, Linda McMahon forms a new company, Roman Reigns in Raw main events, WWE cuts five in developmental, new WWE books. New announcer hired, Update on many Tough Enough competitors from the past season, plans for a WWE show taped this summer, international star WWE has interest in, as well as a look at all the weekend house shows from WWE & NXT with business notes.

PLUS MUCH MORE! CLICK HERE FOR A FULL WRESTLING OBSERVER PREVIEW

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Click here for the most requested Wrestling Observer back issues.

Check out the latest Online Wrestling Observer BACK ISSUE: Jan 4, 1999 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Starcade review, Jaguar Yakota retires, more
A look at how promotions did in 1998 overall, a review of Starcade with Nash pinning Goldberg, Jaguar Yakota retires, plus tons more.

SUNDAY’S NEWS UPDATE

Today’s Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kenny Omega IC title match main event (available on New Japan World) was a must-see match.  Really everything after intermission was great but when it comes to storytelling and accomplishing a goal (Omega had to be made as a new superstar in one match because of the departures of A.J. Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura; but Tanahashi couldn’t be hurt because he’s more important than ever) this was a masterpiece.  

Ronda Rousey will be on the cover of this year’s Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue that comes out this week.  There will be three different covers.  She will also be on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on Tuesday promoting the cover. (thanks to Jon Southerland)

Congratulations to Milena Roucka (Rosa Mendes) who gave birth to a baby girl, Jordan Elizabeth Schubenski, yesterday.

A likely WrestleMania match with Stardust vs. Stephen Amell started with an angle shot yesterday at the Dallas Comic Con where Stardust crashed Amell’s Q&A and threw waster in his face.  The angle had actually been planned at a different convention, but the original show they were going to shoot it on was canceled.

WWE

  • Baron Corbin and Cameron are on the current California house show tour.  Corbin worked a three-way with Fandango and Viktor of the Ascension last night.  Cameron was in a six-women’s match back as part of Team BAD.
  • Vince McMahon’s father’s home in Fort Lauderdale in the 70s. (thanks to Matt Farmer) 
  • Even as late as the day of the show (yesterday), all the commercials in Fresno for the house show were built around Roman Reigns defending the WWE title against Sheamus.  He lost the title weeks ago, Sheamus was injured, and Reigns replaced John Cena on the European tour as soon as Cena was hurt.
  • The WWE was nominated for some CableFax Digital Awards including Bert App, Digital team of the Year, Digital Marketing Campaign (WrestleMania 31), Social Good Campaign (Conor’s Cure), Social Media Campaign (WrestleMania 31), Best Social Media team and Best use of Facebook.
  • MMA writer Jack Slack breaks down Shinsuke Nakamura’s bom a ye.
  • Becky Lynch talks Tuesday night’s Smackdown tapings in Ontario, CA at here. 

UFC

MISCELLANEOUS

  • The Evolve roster for the 4/2 show in Dallas at Noon, with a main event of Will Ospreay vs. Ricochet, also includes Timothy Thatcher, Johnny Gargano, Zack Sabre Jr., Chris Hero, Sami Callihan, Drew Gulak, Tracy Williams, TJ Perkins, Matt Riddle, Anthony Nese, Ethan Page and Fred Yehi.
  • The California-based Pro Wrestling Revolution promotion will join the WWNLive.com family of shows with an iPPV on 2/27 headlined by Juventud Guerrera. 
  • CZW’s 17th anniversary show was last night in Voorhees, NJ before an SRO crowd:  Masada b AR Fox, Amazing Gulaks b Dub Boys, Joey Janela b Lio Rush to keep the Wired title in a 2/3 fall match, Dave Crist & Zachary Wentz & Dezmond Xavier b Neiko Sozio & Frankie Prichard & Conor Claxton, Danny Havoc b Rickey Shane Page, Blk Jeez & Pepper Parks b EYFBO to keep CZW tag titles, Sami Callihan b Speedball Mike Bailey (excellent match), Matt Tremont b Devon Moore in a ladder match to keep the CZW title.  They inducted WWE referee Drake Weurtz (Drake Younger) into the CZW Hall of Fame at intermission.  Next show is 3/3 with Callihan vs. Masada, Bailey vs. Jonathan Gresham and Fox vs. B-Boy. 
  • Stardom from Friday in Nagoya:  Evie b Haruka Kato, Kaori Yoneyama b Kellie Skater, Santana Garrett & Chelsea Green b Kairi Hojo & Hiromi Mimura, Hiroyo Matsumoto b Jungle Kyona, Io Shirai & Mayu Iwatani b Biper & Kaitlin Diemond to keep the tag titles.  Next Korakuen Hall show is 2.21.16 (thanks to Al Haft)
  • Victory Commonwealth Wrestling on 3/13 in Toronto at Lee’s Palace.
  • C4 on 3/19 in Ottawa at the Vanier Columbus Club with Mathieu St. Jaques vs Joey Janela.
  • Paragon Pro Wrestling TV tapings from Sunday in Las Vegas.  They taped four weeks worth of shows:  Tyshaun Prince won over Eric Wright and Anthony Green, Caleb Konley & Drew Donovan b Jay Riley & Jesse Sorenson, Royce Isaac b Anthony Green, Whirlwind Gentlemen b The Shadows, Jesse Sorensen b Drew Donovan-DQ, Alex Chamberlain b Mikey O’Shea in a PPW title match, Wes Brisco b Tyshaun Prince-DQ, Darin Corbin b Crash Test Cody, Gangrel b Greg Romero, Jay Riley b Caleb Konley, Eric Wright & Anthony Green b Greg Romero b ?, Royce Isaacs b Remy Marcel, Caleb Konley & Drew Donovan NC Jay Riley & Jesse Sorsensen, Alex Chamberlain b Gangrel (thanks to Mike Trask)
  • VIP Wrestling from Friday night in Arlington, TX before 230 fans:  Jerome Daniels b Bolt Brady, Tim Storm & Apoc b Jaxson Stone & Bam Bam Malone, Sinn Bodhi b Markus Burke, Scott McKenzie & Kristopher Haiden d Kenny Steele & Orion Taylor, Gregory James & Jason Silver d Graham Bell & Luke Langley, Green Man b Marcus Love, Raymond Rowe b Keith Lee, Jessica James b Bree Ann Hatfield, Andy Dalton won three-way over Johnny Gargano and Davey Vega, Ricky Sparks & Houston Carson b Brian Cage & PJ Black to keep tag title, Tim Storm & Apoc b Ricky Sparks & Houston Carson to win tag title.  Next shows are 3/4 in Fort Worth with New Jack vs. Masada and must be 18 or older to attend; and there is a 4/3 after WrestleMania party featuring Jake Roberts.
  • ECWA on 2/20 in New Castle, DE at the United Asbury Methodist Church headlined by Bobby Shields vs. Azrael.
  • St. Louis Anarchy from last night in Alton, IL:  Kevin Lee Davidson & Sean Orleans & Kody Krash b Justin D’Air & Luke Langley & Graham Bell, Matt Cage b Paco Gonzalez, Christian Rose b Mike Outlaw, Bucky Collins b Stephen Wolf, Zakk Sawyers b Steve O Reno, Evan Gelistico & Adam Caster won a four-corners tag title match over Devin & Mason Cutter, Alexandre Rudolph & Jake Parnell and Nick Iggy & Kerry Awful, Davey Vega b Jeremy Wyatt, Ricky Starks b Mikey McFinnegan, Andy Dalton b Jojo Bravo, Chris Hero & Trik Davis b Danny Adams & Everett Connors, Mat Fitchett b Gerald James in 2/3 falls to win the heavyweight title (thanks to Patrick Brandmeyer)
  • All Star Wrestling on 2/20 in Chilliwack, BC at the Tzeachten Community Center and 2/26 in Surrey, BC at the Cloverdale Fairgrounds Alice McKay Building.
  • Smash Wrestling on 2/20 in Toronto at the Frankin Horner Community Centre featuring Chris Hero and Eddie Edwards plus the Super Smash Brothers, Mike Bailey, Johnny Gargano, Frankie the Mobster, Candice LaRae and more.
  • Steel City Pro Wrestling on 2/28 in Hamilton, ONT at 2 p.m. 
  • Jim Cornette appears on 3/5 at 11 p.m. at the Laugh It Up Comedy Club in Poughkeepsie.
  • A Mick Foley podcast interview.
  • Shayna Baszler interview about her 3/6 match with Colleen Schneider at the Premier show, and also talks about Daniel Bryan
  • Interview with Jimmy Valiant
  • Brainbuster Pro Wrestling from last night in Holly woof, FL:  Maxx Stardom won over Chasyn Rance, Mike Monroe, Chico Adams and CT Brown, Shaniah Ariyana b Angel Rose, DWB b Earl Cooter, Josh Powers b Eli Vega, Ace Andrews & Rex Bacchus b Michael Patrick & Leo Brien, Jonny Vandal b AJ Jannazzo, Maxwell Chicago b Aaron Epic, Shawn Prime b Craig Classic. Next show is 5/14/16
  • The Crash from Friday night in Tijuana:  Black Boy won elimination match for jr. title over Proximo, Mirage, Septimo Dragon and Jinzo, El Hijo del Pirata Morgan b Angel Metalico, Arez & Geniodel Aire & Super Nova b Tony Casanova & Star Boy & Zarco, El Texano Jr. & Mr. Maldito & Taurus b The Psycho Circus, Blue Demon Jr. & Fenix & Rey Hours b Teddy Hart & Johnny Mundo & Pentagon Jr. (thanks to Kris Zellner)
  • Maryland Championship Wrestling from last night in Joppa, MD:  Drake Carter & Shaun Cannon b Rob Locke & Joe Keys, Delirious b Fenix Fury, Brandon Scott b Sean Studd, Eric Chapel & Diry Money kept tag titles over Bo Nekoda & Oakley Woods, Ken Dixon b The Bruiser, Bill Collier & Paul Jordane b Sexy Steve & Jimmy Stars, Shane Strickland (Killshot in Lucha Underground) b Facade, Matt Hardy b King McBride via DQ so McBride retained his MCW title.  Matt & Jeff Hardy b McBride & Ken Dixon
  • NWA Mid South on 2/20 in Dyresburg, TN at the Herb Welch Wrestle Plex with Matt Riviera & Rob Conway defending the NWA tag title against Bobby Fulton & Dexter Hardaway, Greg Anthony defends the NWA National title in a three-way against Rodney Mack and John Saxon
  • Pure Wrestling Association on 3/6 in Kitchener, ONT at the Registry Theatre
  • Crossfire Wrestling on 3/20 in St. Catherines, ONT at the Merritton Community Centre at 4 p.m.

ON THIS DAY IN WORLD PRO WRESTLING HISTORY: Dutch Mantell wins Southern AWA title

Wrestling Weekly: Daniel Bryan retires, Titus O’Neal suspension

Posted on by Victor Sosa

Les and Vic return after a brief absence to explain why they’ve been gone and to get into the biggest stories of the week. Of course, that means starting with the retirement of Daniel Bryan, aka. Bryan Danielson (12:23), including memories and personal interactions with him from Les and Vic’s theory on why Bryan was someone who no matter what WWE did or didn’t do with him, the fans just wouldn’t let him fade away. That takes us to the importance of “shifting gears” (32:13); why changing things up from normal patterns is good. 

Then, we’ll open up the mailbag (42:45) for Les to share his personal concussion history and how the business treated head injuries in his day, the suspension of Titus O’Neal (45:53) and what is appropriate conduct between wrestler and promoter, and who from today would Les have enjoyed getting into the ring with (69:05). Thanks for listening and have a great weekend~!

Right click save

WWE Fastlane: Will Roman Reigns become Stone Cold Steve Austin?

Posted on by Dan Velten

This month and for only the second time ever, WWE will present Fastlane, the now yearly traditional February PPV, I guess. The show takes place on February 21 from the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, headlined by a triple threat match between Roman Reigns, Brock Lesnar and Dean Ambrose for the number one contender slot to the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.

This year, WWE threw tradition out the window and made the Royal Rumble match a WWE World title bout in which Reigns had to defend his title against 29 others, from the number one position no less. Of course, he got tossed by the boss (HHH), but don’t worry, he’s getting a rematch at Fastlane, sort of.

Let’s look at how each competitor got here in storyline:

Reigns: He lost in the Royal Rumble so he is due a rematch. One would think he would simply demand his rematch at Wrestlemania, but The Authority made this Fastlane match before he thought of that, I suppose. 

Ambrose: He was the runner-up to HHH in the Royal Rumble, and is ALSO the current Intercontinental Champion. If this were the 80’s, that would make him the number one contender automatically. That’s valid enough to put him in the match, kinda.

Lesnar: He had an average showing in the Rumble, and prior to that, was last seen beating the Undertaker at Hell in a Cell in October. He’s the biggest draw, so yeah, he’s in, but in storyline, he hasn’t earned it. Why did The Authority do this? It makes no sense to put the former UFC champion in this match because he’s clearly a major threat unless… he’s joining The Authority. Speculation on my part would suggest to me that Lesnar is winning at Fastlane and turning heel, and will be gifted the title from HHH on Raw. Somehow this will lead to Reigns vs. Lesnar at Wrestlemania with HHH in Lesnar’s corner and The Rock in Reigns’ corner. But that’s purely speculation…

Prediction: Ambrose and Reigns team up to take out Lesnar early, but then both become consumed with hurting / one-upping each other and forget about Lesnar, who recovers and destroys Ambrose before turning his sites to Reigns. Reigns looks like he’s on the verge of defeat, but makes his comeback only to have HHH come to the ring and throw Lesnar the belt which he uses to put Reigns away, probably.

My guess is that the real reason they are doing this match as a three-way is because they remember the excellent three-way match with Lesnar, Rollins, and Cena from last year’s Royal Rumble and think that this match will be able to top that one.

I hope they are right, because the storyline is pretty stupid unless The Authority is just banking on the fact that this match will be so brutal, it won’t matter who wins because they’ll be too badly beaten to put up a fight against HHH at Wrestlemania. From The Authority’s perspective, why give Reigns a chance? They hate him! Why give Ambrose a shot? He is Reigns’ best buddy! Why put Lesnar in there? He is the most dominant force in the WWE and broke HHH’s arm! All this adds up to something fishy smelling.

Here’s what should have happenend: the day after the Royal Rumble, Reigns should have taken Vince McMahon hostage in the ring and demanded his rematch right then. That’s what “Stone Cold” Steve Austin would have done. Instead, just like John Cena would have done, Reigns just eats his crow and gets back in line. He’s so impotent! He put HHH out for a month! He KO’d Vinny Mac! He battled the beast and got screwed at Wrestlemania last year! WHY ISN’T REIGNS MAD? If they are trying to make the next John Cena, they’re doing a good job of it by having Reigns not really care about losing the belt. 

This guy is fighting The Authority! Yes, the storyline from 16 years ago is still happening, only instead of an ass kicking, beer swilling, bird flipping madman, we have a cool guy trying to remain cool by not caring. That’s not cool. In fact, that’s decidedly un-cool! Stone Cold didn’t care what Vince wanted. Stone Cold didn’t bother to ask. Stone Cold didn’t wait in line. He took what he wanted, and he was the coolest! Rebels are cool, not guys who take turns.

Hey WWE, we’re not thrilled with the character development of Roman Reigns. He’s mediocre at best. Please listen to us wrestling fans. It’s not that hard. If you’re hell bent on rehashing the storyline from 16 years ago, that’s fine, but go back and look at what worked then and start from there. It’s really simple WWE, just ask yourself one question: what would Stone Cold Steve Austin do?

The Week In British Wrestling: Scurll vs Ospreay, part 2; Grado loses title

Posted on by F4W Editors

We’ve got some of the best grapplers in the world doing great things on a weekly basis! Here’s 5 things you need to know about British wrestling this week:

1) Scurll & Ospreay do it again…

On January 16th, at the York Hall in Bethnal Green, Will Ospreay and Marty Scurll put on a masterclass of modern wrestling at Revolution Pro-Wrestling’s High Stakes event. Just 8 days later, at PROGRESS’s Chat Sh*t, Get Banged, across London at the Electric Ballroom in Camden, they did it again. The two matches, although they were both around 30 minutes long, could not have been more different. The first was all about showing how to link a series of moves into a flawless contest, the second – also virtually flawless – was about emotion and feeling and two men who hate one another.

Ospreay is being talked about in hushed tones, and watching him you do get the feeling that every time might be the last time, that before your ticket for his next appearance can be validated, he’ll be off to Orlando or Japan. Scurll had a glimpse of glory, runner-up in the first TNA Bootcamp, and you sometimes could be forgiven for thinking his time has passed. This past week – and a year of solid work as The Villain before that – shows that to be nonsense, and both men would enhance the roster of any company in the world. For now, though, they’re ours. Enjoy it while it lasts.

2) PROGRESS banged it…

As well as the superb main event detailed above, Chat Sh*t, Get Banged, named after a tweet from Leicester City (PROGRESS owner Jim Smallman’s team) footballer Jamie Vardy, delivered everything it promised. Mark Haskins – bearing the marks of a pounding by Kenny Omega in Swindon the night before – beat Zack Gibson to become the number one contender, and will face new PROGRESS champion Marty Scurll in Manchester on February 14th. Opening the card, The Origin beat FSU to retain the tag-team titles, and their next challengers will likely come from whoever wins the feud between the London Riots and the Sumerian Death Squad. They kicked off a three-match series on Sunday with a Michael Dante versus Rob Lynch encounter that was every bit as hard-hitting as a New Japan NEVER title match.

Coming dangerously near to stealing a show with so much talent having so many great matches, however, were the women, who turned a four-way into an intense twenty minute encounter, with even the most skeptical about the distaff athletes converted and delivering a standing ovation by the end. Dastardly Sloan ranger Jinny triumphed, and will face Leva Bates at the next ENDVR show in March, but there are so many threads still dangling between the four – Pollyanna, Dahlia Black, and Toni Storm made up the quartet – that this will run for the whole year. And that year will be a year in which PROGRESS promotes at least 22 shows, each one more anticipated than the last. It’s a great time to be a fan of British wrestling.

3) ICW turned a different corner…

The build-up to Square Go, Insane Championship Wrestling’s version of the Royal Rumble, was all about the feud between ICW Heavyweight champion Grado and his challenger, Chris Renfrew. Renfrew, the leader of the New Age Kliq, framed his challenge as defending the honour of ICW, although few outside NAK loyalists went along with that. But, after the dust had settled on Sunday’s show, it was Renfrew who came away with the title, leaving Grado – who debuted a new look, with new music – wondering where to go next.

Renfrew’s first challenge could come from his fellow NAKer, Wolfgang, who walked out of the Square Go match with a heavyweight title shot, after besting 29 other men to win a 12-month window to cash in his opportunity. The rules of Square Go allow for 5 wrestlers to bring weapons to the ring, and the lucky recipients were Noam Dar (steel chair), Timm Wylie (lead pipe), Red Lighting (kendo stick), Jack Jester (sex toy), and Sebastian, who brought his GZR tag-team partner Tom Irvin as his weapon. Also in the match were Dave Mastiff, Jimmy Havoc, Doug Williams, ICW owner Mark Dallas, and all the ICW regulars. Next up for ICW is their spring tour, visiting England, Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland, and it’s all building towards November’s massive Fear & Loathing IX.

4) Alpha Omega kicked off their 2016 season…

While British wrestling has its areas of concentration, the north Lancashire coast is not exactly a hotbed of grappling action, despite the part the area played in the tradition and history of the sport in the UK. Preston City Wrestling operates 30 miles inland but the seaside is dominated by Alpha-Omega Wrestling, based in Morecambe, and presenting a series of well-attended, sensibly-booked shows that have kept fans in the area – and the adventurous traveller – entertained since they emerged in 2007 as the XWA. Initially owned by former FWA promoter (and on-screen personality) Greg Lambert, the promotion has passed through several hands but is still booked by Lambert, alongside current owner Charles Nelson Riley. The promotion tries to harken back to a time when wrestling was real, and while the success (or otherwise) might speak more about the people of the town than anything else, it’s a refreshing change in an era of kayfabe-breaking, social media-embracing meta wrestling, and more power to them.

Saturday’s Outbreak event, at Alpha-Omega’s regular Morecambe Winter Gardens home, attracted a healthy crowd to see heavyweight champion Stixx down Joe Hendry, the latest contender to try and break an 8-year undefeated streak. Also on the show, The Referendum (the top heel stable, all Scots and playing on the 2014 Scottish divorce from the UK which never quite happened), represented by Liam Thomson & Bobby Roberts, won the tag-team titles, Craig Kollins beat Chris Silvio, and Lana Austin & Alexis Rose defeated Nikki Storm & Carmel Jacob. With a roster that also includes Chris Ridgeway, Cyanide, and many of the northern standouts, Alpha-Omega are one of the UK’s best kept secrets, and might just be worth a trip to the seaside…

5) The shows keep coming…

As well as spending much of the year promoting spot shows around their south west territory, 4 Front Wrestling promotes several big shows a year, and this weekend presented New Year’s Wrestleultion, at the MECA in Swindon. The show was supposed to have been main-evented by a 4FW Heavyweight title match between Tiger Ali and Doug Williams, but a series of events led to Williams putting his title shot on the line against local favourite Samie Sahin and losing, before helping Sahin beat Ali to win the title which sent the hall crazy. Also on the show, Kenny Omega beat Mark Haskins to win the vacant 4FW Cruiserweight title, and then immediately vacated it because he’s a heavyweight now, Drago beat Pentagon Jr in a Lucha Underground showcase match, and Japanese women’s star Hikaru Shida beat Shanna. The women were also in action down the road in High Wycombe (Nadia Sapphire actually worked both shows), where Empress Pro-Wrestling presented Never Say Never Again at the Arts4Every1 Centre. Three of the four women from the PROGRESS match were in action, with Jinny losing to Kira Fox, Toni Storm beaten by Courtney, and Pollyanna teaming with Katie Harvey to defeat Rhia O’Reilly & Addy Starr. Robbie Brookside’s daughter, Xia, also worked the show.

With an eye on the next generation, IPW:UK staged Future 15 on Saturday, at the Community Centre in Selsdon. As well as a multi-man “scrum” match (won by ProJo head trainer Darrell Allen, and also featuring London Riot James Davis, Lord Jonathan Windsor, and the return of scene veteran Muscles Mansfield), women’s champion Tennessee Honey successfully defended her title against Elizabeth, tag-team champions DnD saw off Sammy Smooth & Maverick Mayhew, and Donovan Dijak collided with Rampage Jackson in a super heavyweight bout. Across the Thames Estuary, in Essex, Reloaded Championship Wrestling Alliance – a promotion part-owned by Will Ospreay – presented Fall Out at the Rainham Methodist Church. Ospreay worked the opener, defeating 2016 rookie of the year contender Malik, while his Swords of Essex tag-team partner Paul Robinson beat Ash Draven & Sean Wilson in a handicap match, by disqualification. Also on the show, which our spy highly recommended, were “Blackbelt” Tom Dawkins, and TNA Bootcamp nearlymen Chuck Cyrus and Priscilla.

RAW off-air notes, Superstars results

Posted on by F4W Staff

Submitted by Chris H

WWE Superstars:

  • Stardust def. Darren Young with the Crossroads.
  • Titus O’Neil def. Tyler Breeze with the Clash of the Titus.

RAW Notes:

  • HHH got a good reaction for his entrance but he was being booed by the end of his promo.
  • Crowd was very into AJ Styles, chanting his name many times and pulling for him over Jericho.  It will be interesting to see how long they tease the Styles Clash. That was probably match of the night.
  • The guys dressed up as Savage, Hogan, Rock, and Undertaker were sitting in the front row facing the hard camera.  The Savage guy started to stand and do the Macho Man motion during the Kane vs. Wyatt match.  He was asked to cut it out by security.  Then he did it again and security swarmed on them.  During the commercial break, they were playing some videos on the Tron with the lights out and it appeared that they were being ejected.  A few minutes later, they were being escorted to the seats you saw them in during the Rock segment.  The fans chanted for them a few more times but they didn’t draw attention to themselves again.
  • The Miz vs. Kalisto match just destroyed the crowd.  Miz’s long period on offense had people begging for the end.  They somewhat recovered for the main event but not fully.
  • They didn’t make a big deal about the Fast Lane announcement in the building after the opening promo.  Many forgot that it was even coming, as people started streaming for the exits once Reigns and Ambrose won, and especially when Rusev went through the table.
  • After the show ended, and Ambrose and Reigns left, Rusev recovered and took another monitor to the back, to add to his collection from last night.

Archie “Mongolian Stomper” Gouldie dead at 78

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Archie Gouldie, a headliner throughout the world for more than three decades as The Stomper as well as The Mongolian Stomper, passed away today at about Noon. He was 78.

Gouldie had been battling Alzheimer’s of late.  He fell and broke his hip two weeks ago.  He underwent hip replacement surgery, but never recovered from the surgery and passed away in his sleep.

While he worked all over the world, he was a legend as arguably the greatest heel in the history of Stampede Wrestling.  Gouldie was a tough ex-football player who attended matches in Calgary, and thought he was tougher than the wrestlers.  He hit the ring once in a match and grabbed the mic from Ed Whalen and challenged the wrestlers.  Stu Hart, the promoter and policeman at the time in the early 60s, invited him over to his house if he thought he was tough.  Hart, as he was known to do in that era, tortured the football player with wrestling submission moves, and beat
him so badly that he never came back to challenge wrestlers.  The feeling was that he was another weightlifter football player type who thought wrestling was fake and easy.

Several months later, Gouldie apologeticly asked Hart to train him. It wasn’t long before he was Hart’s biggest drawing card.  Because he was from Carbon, Alberta, there was never any pretending of who he was or that he was actually a monster who couldn’t talk from Mongolia while in that promotion.

He rarely did interviews in the United States, and had a number of different managers over the years including J.J. Dillon, Gary Hart and Don Carson. However, in Canada he was best known for menacing interviews, such as when he scared a young Bret Hart to death when he vowed to destroy the Hart House, brick by brick, while he was feuding with Stu. Later, Bret and Gouldie wrestled numerous times and Bret considered Gouldie one of the greatest wrestlers of the era. He came in and out (of the territory), holding the North American title eight times, if not more, with his best run coming in the late 60s.

Gouldie first became The Mongolian Stomper in 1963, in the Central States.  He had runs everywhere from California to Australia, as a top star, but the places he would have been best remembered would have been Western Canada and Tennessee.  He drew a number of sellouts as a Memphis headliner, and would be one of the most successful draws ever in that part of the
country aside from Jerry Lawler and Jackie Fargo.  In Eastern Tennessee, he was even better known as a monster like character who held the Southeastern title 11 times.

His last major run came playing an unstoppable monster role for Smoky Mountain Wrestling in the mid-90s.  He was well into his 50s, but a conditioning freak who was still muscular, particularly his legs, at that age from long bicycle rides to and from work.  The fans bought him as a monster and that status was always protected in the booking.  He and Kevin Sullivan had crazy brawls during that time period.

NXT Orlando TV taping spoilers: Finn Balor vs. Neville, Samoa Joe vs. Sami Zayn

Posted on by F4W Staff

Submitted by J.J. Williams

Dark Match:

  • Manny Andrade (La Sombra) beat Rich Swann: The Florida crowd still really doesn’t know who Manny is, but this match was good, kept it simple and mixed in some athletic spots, Swann connects immediately and was the crowd favorite here. Andrade won with a running double knees to Swann who was set in the corner.

2/10 TV show:

  • Baron Corbin beat Johnny Gargano: Loud boooes for Corbin instantly, his entrance looked great in this large venue with a row of spotlights down on him in the dark arena, felt like a star. Johnny did some good work out quicking Baron which seems to be how some of the better Corbin matches have gone lately. Baron won it with the End Of Days.
  • Zack Ryder & Mojo Rawley beat John Skyler & Corey Hollis: A less wild Hype Bros match than usual, they just worked the match and won.
  • Alexa Bliss (w/Black and Murphy) pinned Cameron: Having to decide which of the two heels to support, the NXT crowd of course chose Alexa Bliss here, Cameron has a different kind of negative reaction than Eva does, where the people just don’t seem in to her. Bliss is very animated and has great taunts, she won it with the Sparkle Splash off the top.
  • Elias Samson pinned Jessy Sorenson: Another basic win for Elias.
  • NXT Women’s Champion Bayley pinned Carmella with a roll through pin after a series of counters and nearfalls. The story told was they were friends having a wrestling match, there was no cheating, nothing overly violent yet they both clearly needed this win. Carmella even did two dives through the middle rope to the floor to wipe Bayley out. This felt like a way to not lower Carmella even in defeat, she just got outwrestled. Post match, Bayley raised Carmella’s hand, they embraced, when Nia Jax & Eva Marie ran down and roughed them both up, destroying Carmella before Asuka ran down, stared the heels off, and in this time Bayley had recovered and was tending to Carmella when Asuka and Bayley looked at each other. The place began a YES chant as the two had a moment in time. 

2/17 TV show:

  • Enzo Amore & Colin Cassady & Chad Gable & Jason Jordan beat NXT Tag Champions Dash Wilder & Scott Dawson & Blake & Murphy: Really good action here, long match, finish saw Jason Jordan take the best hot tag in wrestling, followed by an additional hot tag to Big Cass who then tagged Enzo for the splash off the top and the pin. 
  • Asuka beat Deonna Purrazzo: The rematch saw Asuka win yet Deonna gets in just enough offense to appear tough. Asuka is a star.
  • Tye Dillinger beat Alex Riley: Good reaction for Tye, a lot of Ten chants and he actually picked up a win. Riley is working as a bitter heel lately on the live event loop, hasn’t really gone in to it on tv yet he’s still working that way. None of the fire that got him fan support during his main roster run.
  • Samoa Joe vs. Sami Zayn was a double pin draw. Zayn used the Helluva kick and then collapsed on top of Joe but his shoulders were on the mat and the ref counted both of them down. They ruled the match a draw and later in the show they announced there would be a 2/3 falls rematch at the Full Sail taping to finally determine our number one contender.

2/24 TV show:

  • Chad Gable & Jason Jordan beat Blake & Murphy: Good match as usual, American Alpha get the win with the alley oop german suplex pin.
  • Apollo Crews beat Chris Girard (Biff Busick): The crowd wasn’t familiar with Girard, his work is different than anyone here right now, he throws vicious uppercuts, his chinlocks are tight and his strikes look strong. Apollo got the win with the big slam that Triple H taught him. 
  • Tommaso Ciampa beat Bull Dempsey: Good reaction for Ciampa, won the match via submission. 
  • Eva Marie & Nia Jax beat NXT Women’s Champion Bayley & Carmella: Bayley took enough punishment that when the heels got Carmella alone they were able to destroy her, Nia dropped multiple leg drops on her before Eva tagged herself in to take the glory and the win. A lot of heat on Eva, of course. 

3/2 TV show:

  • William Regal announced Joe vs. Zayn in a 2/3 fall match “next week” with the winner getting a title shot.
  • Vaudevillains beat Hugo Knox & Tucker Knight: Vaudevillains still entered to their cheerful music despite being on the heelish path lately. The newcomers making their tv debuts on the babyface side had some support but nothing like their house show reactions. 
  • Elias Samson beat Steve Cutler: Another decisive win by Elias.
  • Emma beat Santana Garrett: Nice reaction for Santana, full music and tv entrance, back and forth match showing what both women can do in the ring, the end of Santana came when she was hoping to try a high risk move yet Emma knocked her off the top in to a tree of woe, after putting the boots to her she held the advantage until winning via Emma Lock submission. Good showing for both, hope to see more of Santana.
  • William Regal introduced Austin Aries. Before Aries could even make it in to the ring Baron rushed him and beat him down, then looking at Mr. Regal in the ring, the Baron vs. The Indies feud continues.
  • NXT Champion Finn Balor beat Neville with the Bloody Sunday DDT to retain:  These two have always worked well together and this match was no exception, Neville took a few huge spills to the outside, even getting “Holy Shit” chants after the loud thuds. A lot of Neville offense that he doesn’t get the time on the main roster to showcase. They teased the Red Arrow a few times down the stretch before Finn fought back with a huge lariat knocking Neville inside out. The finish saw Finn hit the coup de grace, then hoisting Neville up in the Bloody SundayDDT for the win.  

“Iron” Mike Sharpe dead at age 64

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Michael “Mike” Sharpe (born October 28, 1951 – January 17, 2016) better known as “Iron” Mike Sharpe, passed away over the weekend at his apartment in Hamilton, ONT, at the age of 64.

Billed as “Canada’s greatest athlete,” Sharpe was a perrenial job guy in the 80’s and 90’s for WWF. He had his last televised match on June 6, 1995 losing in a tag team match to The Smoking Guns. After retiring from the ring, Sharpe made his living as a professional wrestling trainer, at his own school, Mike Sharpe’s School of Pro-Wrestling. 

PW Insider first reported the death of Sharpe, a second generation wrestler, whose father and uncle were one of the greatest tag teams in pro wrestling history in the 50s, and are best known for legendary matches in Japan with Rikidozan & Masahiko Kimura.

Sharpe was raised in a wrestling family. His father and uncle tagged together in the 1950’s. At age 25, Mike decided to follow his father’s footsteps and was trained by Dewey Robertson, and began working for Gene Kiniski’s NWA All-Star Wrestling in the 70’s.

Like his father, Sharpe Jr., took the ring name Iron Mike Sharpe. He started wrestling in 1976 in Canada, and worked smaller territories for several years, including runs in Stampede Wrestling.  At close to 6-foot-4 and 275 pounds, Sharpe was a big powerhouse who was known as a tough guy because of his amateur boxing background.  But he was missing the element that would make one a big star, when it came to the charisma.

He did decently well in territories like Mid South and Georgia in the early 80s, but was beat known for is run in the WWF from 1982 to 1989 as a lower card regular.

He started out getting a push, with Lou Albano as his manager, and having a loaded forearm brace, built for matches with champion Bob Backlund. But he never got a shot in Madison Square Garden (he did work with Backlund in some other cities) and his push ended, but he had a long tenure with the company as a reliable enhancement wrestler.  He was treated as a job guy with some credibility, nicknamed “Canada’s Greatest Athlete,” which was the nickname that Gene Kiniski used in the 50s, 60s and 70s.

Within wrestling Sharpe was known for being obsessively clean, and for always perfectly folding his clothes.  He would be constantly washing his hands while at shows and taking showers, and was known as Mr. Clean.  He was also compulsive when it came to training, and was known as a very well conditioned big man.

But in a cruel fate, with all that training, his health started to want over the past decade.  For years he was largely confined to a wheelchair and had lost one of his legs, and had been suffering from constant health problems.

Revolution Pro results: AJ Styles vs. Zack Sabre Jr. plus a potential MOTY

Posted on by F4W Staff

Submitted by Joe Lemon 

Flash Morgan Webbster vs. Peter Dunne

Not an especially great opener. Both guys are still inexperienced & hadn’t previously wrestled on one of the big York Hall shows. Was by no means bad, but wasn’t the best opener. 

Big Damo vs. Speedball Mike Bailey

I’ve see Bailey a few times & had really enjoyed what I’d seen. Was curious here as to how he’d gel with Damo & they really delivered. Damo sold Bailey’s kicks well throughout & helped in Bailey getting over in front of a crowd who weren’t overly familiar with him. Damo won with an inverted Bloody Sunday DDT. Bailey took a lot of punishment throughout. Post match both guys shook hands in a show of respect. 

Colt Cabana vs. Doug Williams

Really fun match here working mostly British style. Both guys seemed to really enjoy the fact that they had the crowd when using British style. A fun back & forth match with flashes of comedy thrown in at points. Both guys exchanged various pin fall attempts & Cabana got the three. Post match Cabana cut a promo about his history in the company & claimed he wanted the British Heavyweight belt again. I’m assuming he & Zack will work a title match using British style down the road at some point. At this point Cabana was attacked by Lord Gideon Grey who was wearing the Mat Classic mask. Grey cut an awesome, angry promo on Cabana to set up a match between them next month.

Marty Scurll vs. Will Ospreay

This is where the show went into absolute overdrive. The stipulation was that the match was for the number 1 contendership for the British Heavyweight belt. All I can say is that these guys made the belt come across as one of the most valuable in the world with the way they worked this match. It was wrestled & put over as a big match & they used several tropes seen in major WWE/New Japan matches. We had the back & forth punches with the ‘yay’ & ‘boo’ chants, we had lots of fighting spirit, headsets, guys kicking out of & reversing signature moves & we even had Ospreay putting Scurll in his very own Chicken Wing. The match was crazy & ran for almost half hour. It ended when Marty used the Bryan Danielson elbows that he always used as ROH champ & then put Ospreay into the Chicken Wing which he passed out in.

I’ve attended every major Rev Pro show for over two years now & this was by some distance the most invested I’ve ever seen the crowd in a match. What made this even better was the fact it was two Brits that managed to put the crowd at fever pitch. I’ve been to a lot of live shows & I can honestly say this is the best match I’ve seen in the UK since Bryan Danielson vs Nigel McGuinnes at the first ROH Liverpool show in 2006. 

Jay Lethal vs. Mark Haskins 

Lethal wasn’t that over & he didn’t come across as a major star in the way outsiders often do. It was announced that it was for the ROH Title but that made no difference & the fans hardly reacted as if this was a big deal. The match absolutely fine, but I feel they suffered going on after Marty & Ospreay. The crowd was still very much calming down making the match hard to follow at points. I really think this would have benefited from opening the show. Lethal won with the Lethal Injection.

Sha Samuels, James Castle & Josh Bodom vs. Jimmy Havoc, Tyson T-Bone & Bram

This was exactly what it needed to be. An all around the venue brawl with lots of weapons & big spots. Havoc is super over based on his Progress work which helps his Rev Pro match’s. He’s done little in Rev Pro but most fans who attend the shows follow both promotions. Bram turned up as a surprise. He got a much bigger reaction than expected on his entrance, but once the match started this died down. Some solid comedy spots with the heels almost doing slapstick comedy at points. Havoc got the pinball on Bodom.

AJ Styles vs. Zack Sabre Jr

This was a very good match. It was very different to Marty vs Osprey in terms of pacing & style using a less is more approach. AJ very much wrestled Zack’s style of match here & really hung in there with him. Very technical throughout. Zack worked over AJ’s arm which he sold to great effect throughout. AJ looked very tired. I’m assuming the gruelling week he’s had wrestling was taking effect on him. The finishing sequence wasn’t quite as epic as I thought it was going to be. Zack did kick out of a one armed Styles Clash as well as a Bloody Sunday DDT. The match ended with Zack making AJ submit after trapping his arm.

*****

I’m sure you’ve seen AJ’s post match speech but it was a great way for him to leave the UK after a year of performing in Rev Pro. The AJ goodbye needed to close the show, but ideally the entire show would have benefited from Marty vs Ospreay going on last. Post show all anyone was talking about was just how great that match was. Again, I encourage you to check out Marty vs Ospreay! 

A great show with variety throughout & booked at a pace that used that variety to mostly positive effect. Scurll vs Osprey was on another level. Quite simply myself & 1200 other fans where blown away by their efforts.

WWE Hall of Fame tickets on sale now!

Posted on by Dan Velten

Act quickly, as tickets are currently on sale for the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony on 4/2 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

The ceremony is advertised for a 6:30 p.m. local start time and will be headlined by Sting. 

The pre-sale started this morning and we have received two different codes, being WWEVIP and AACVIP.

Tickets will be available until 11 p.m. Central time tomorrow night before they go on sale to the public on Friday.

Tickets for the event are expected to sell out quickly as the set up is usually about 10,000 seats and with so many people coming to the host city, the shows are a routine sellout.

As has become a yearly tradition, there is a group from this site that usually attends together. You can look for that thread on the Board~! under the Empire Get-Togethers “folder” or create your own. For more information on our website’s Wrestlemania meet-up info, you can email EdinSanantonio at [email protected] – yes, Ed is the one keeping hotmail alive.