It was barely seven months ago when Randy Couture provided the emotional high point in UFC history when he defeated Tim Sylvia in front of the hottest crowd in company history, winning the heavyweight title just a few months before his 44th birthday.
With his fifth title win, it solidified Couture as perhaps the best fighter in UFC history, but absolutely the most successful in the clutch, and the best representative the company ever had to the public. The company didn’t have television in 2003. Couture as a 40-year-old soft-spoken tough Greco-Roman wrestler as champion in a sport seen in many places as savagery could have been marketed as a hero to middle-aged America. But on 3/3, UFC seemed at a popularity peak.
He was the underdog, as he was in most of his big fights. He was giving up size, power, striking ability and youth to a 6-8 ogre-like man who dwarfed him the day before at weigh-ins. UFC was criticized for making the match.
While still recovering from the serious neck injury that has kept him out of action for more than a year, former WWE Champion Big E continues to remain active with a role in a new movie.
Announced on Monday, Big E (Ettore Ewen) is part of the cast of F Plus (F+), a family comedy that stars former UFC two-division champion and The Expendables action star Randy Couture.
Jonathan Davenport, a wrestling gear designer and friend of Big E’s, wrote the screenplay. Big E will play Cliff Barker, but the specifics on the role are unknown as of now. The movie also stars comedian Tommy Davidson (In Living Color) and Jennifer Esposito (Crush, Blue Bloods, NCIS, The Affair).
According to Deadline, the movie “follows a group of young teenagers who plan the perfect heist to break into their middle school to alter their failing test grades.”
Production on the movie recently wrapped up thanks to a SAG-AFTRA waiver granted to some independent film productions during the current actors/writers strike. The film’s worldwide rights have already been acquired by Premiere Entertainment which was also part of today’s announcement.
The release date is unknown because those rights have not been sold. According to Deadline, Premiere “will introduce the film to domestic and international buyers during the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in September.”
While he has been out of a neck brace for some time, Big E. said during a SummerSlam press conference that “has no answers” when it comes to a potential in-ring return and that he’s got differing opinions on whether he should return to wrestling. He said there is no timeline for a decision and that he physically feels good.
A few decades from now, when most of what takes place now is long forgotten, some things will be remembered. A few will be remembered as actually being more significant than they were at the time they actually took place.
When Roger Maris hit his 61st home run, breaking Babe Ruth’s record, and a record that was among baseball’s holy grails until the steroid-induced changes in that game knocked it off, there was actually a small crowd at the park that day. Years later it became one of the great moments in baseball history. In wrestling vernacular, the Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat match at the Louisiana Superdome, which many consider as the greatest match of the greatest series of matches of that era, was actually performed before an embarrassing crowd.
It’s impossible to know how things will look with the benefit, and often, the detriment of hindsight. But after this weekend, this much is clear. Dana White’s catchphrase about boxing being your father’s sport, which sounded like some clever thing, and totally full of crap, that Vince McMahon would say when knocking the NFL in 2001, is on the verge of happening. And if that’s the case, the Gotch and Hackenschmidt of this story may very well be Ken Shamrock and Royce Gracie. But the Hulk Hogan and Roddy Piper will be Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell. Well, except that neither of them is either a carny or insane.
Someday, sadly, Father Time will catch up to the most successful champion in UFC history.
But for now, it will have to wait. 41-year-old Randy Couture captured the UFC light heavyweight championship, becoming the first four-time champion in the 11-year history of the sport, by stopping 26-year-old Vitor Belfort after three rounds, in a rematch of the 1/31 fluke where Belfort captured the title.
On 8/21 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Couture is now both a two-time heavyweight champion and two-time light heavyweight champion, with a tenure that dates back to a title win back in 1997 from Maurice Smith. In even more interesting news, after his match, Couture issued a challenge to Pride’s champion, Wanderlei Silva, who was sitting at ringside. While UFC officials were adamant that Couture did this on his own and it was not a planned angle, the fact was, Pride had released both in Japan, and in the U.S. in a press release, that Silva was going to Las Vegas.
A look at the different directions Brock Lesnar could go is the lead story in the new issue of the Observer. We look at the money he can generate for a fight with Jon Jones, the reality about his trying to fight today, why he’s a free agent right now, what Tony Khan said about Lesnar, and why, unless Dana White isn’t telling the truth, it’s unlikely he will fight. Plus we’ve got comments by both White and Scott Coker on fights they would want to make if he does want to fight.
Also in this issue:
Positive COVID tests of Dwayne Johnson, A.J. Styles, Kevin Nash, Glover Teixeira and others that came out this week.
Payback, including the genesis of the Roman Reigns heel turn, the Rey Mysterio injury, the booking of the show, plus poll results and star ratigns.
New Japan at Jingu Stadium, including Tetsuya Naito growing up going to the stadium, all three-time IWGP champions, most IC tilte runs in Japan, business notes, plans for the tour going on this weeeknd, plus match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results.
The departure of Mauro Ranallo from WWE, looking and his five years in the company, his background prior to the company, what old and new projects he’s expected to work on, and why he left.
The NXT title Iron Man match, next Takeover shows, Rey Mysterio television cartoon show, Paul Levesque stock sales, Levesque talks UK brnad, more on different allegations against WWE talent, returns of peope who have sit time out, change to Payback, Charlotte Flair news, Renee Young talks leaving WWE, Styles talks Heyman, lots of TV ratings updates internationally, new member of WWE Board of Directors, WWE market value and the most watched shows of the past week on WWE Network.
This past week’s UFC show.
Bio of Tom Anderson, who wrestled as The Claw and one half of the Masked Interns tag team. We look at two of the most tasteless angles in wrestiling that he was involved in, how one failed miserably and how the other was a huge business success. This includes the death of Alberto Torres, the heyday of the The Interns, the history of the masked doctors tag team and where it all came from, and classic stories involving Paul “Bear” Bryant, Ken Ramey, Lonnie Mayne, Beauregarde and what top promoter wouldn’t use the Interns and Ramey and why.
The life and career of Ric Drason, from bodybuilding to wrestling, including what two AEW stars he started, the glory days of Gold’s Gym in Santa Monica and the characters involved, his art work that sold millions of T-shirts, how one of the greatest wrestlers of all-time got his name from him, and why he had chacnes to be a star and the reason he never was.
A major change in how television ratings are done and how this is expectede to impact sports the most.
A comparison of the last week of AEW with competition and the show this past week where the only television competition was a replay show. We look at how this impacted every audience, what the audience numbers are likely to be for a regular unopposed Wednesday for AEW or NXT, and go in depth as to both sides of why WWE and USA would or would not want to move NXT. We also look at the huge change in the AEW audience from 8/12 to 9/2. We also have how the audience ebbed and flowed during the Iron Man match.
Ratings of all the major shows, the key demos and quarters for AEW and WWE, what happened head-to-head and what can be learned from them.
Results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.
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.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
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.
WEDNESDAY NEWS UPDATE
WWE
On his Twitch stream, AJ Styles said WWE wants him and other performers to continue streaming, saying “From the contacts that I’ve had, the information I got is WWE does want us to interact with our fans, and that means streaming. They want this to happen. They want you to have a YouTube channel. There are things they want you to do and be able to do, and what we knew was a little vague at first.”
Bonnie Hammer, who previously served as chair of NBCUniversal Content Studios, has now taken the role as vice chairman of the company.
Vic Joseph will join Corey Graves this week on WWE After the Bell.
In a clip posted after last night’s NXT, Robert Stone announced that Mercedez Martinez was no longer a part of the Robert Stone Brand. Martinez was later presented with a restraining order from Stone.
In another clip posted online, Drake Maverick told Killian Dain that he had spoken to William Regal and next week they’d be teaming to take on the Undisputed Era. Dain wasn’t happy and punched Maverick before walking away.
Josiah Williams is back with NXT after being furloughed in April.
Triple H wrote on Twitter following last night’s Rhea Ripley vs. Martinez steel cage match main event: “#RESPECT to both of these women. An incredible main event to end a huge episode of #WWENXT. Congratulations to everyone for #NXTSuperTuesday II.”
Gary Cassidy of SportsKeeda reported that the WWE Live UK tour has been rescheduled to April/May 2021.
In an interview that will be uploaded tomorrow, Chris Van Vliet speaks to former presidential candidate Andrew Yang about WWE’s treatment of independent contractors, growing up as a wrestling fan, Yang’s thoughts on AEW, his favorite match of all time, and more.
Vince McMahon was on a list of 25 billionaires that dropped off the Forbes 400 list of richest Americans. He fell short of the $2.1 billion needed to make the list, with his net worth being $1.8 billion. Shad Khan made the list at #66 with a net worth of $7.8 billion.
Xavier Woods has been nominated for an esports content creator of the year award.
Killer Kelly has announced her engagement to wXw trainer Alexander James.
MMA
Randy Couture underwent surgery as a result of a ATV accident on Monday. The surgery put two plates on Couture’s shoulder. Mindy Robinson, Couture’s girlfriend, had minor injuries.
Dustin Poirier told ESPN that he would be ‘in’ to face Tony Ferguson at UFC 254 if the price is right.
With both nights of the draft, free agent roster additions, and even a trade now out of the way, the new rosters for Raw and SmackDown look to be set.
WWE’s handling of the draft may have been lackluster, but this is a pivotal time for the company. If WWE is really going to commit to the brand split and making Raw and SmackDown stand out as different from each other, they need to get the roster mix right. They’re also working with two different television partners and will need to make sure FOX and USA Network don’t feel like they’re playing second fiddle to the other.
WWE is a promotion that’s overloaded with talent. That would seem like the ideal environment for a brand split, but the company’s lack of top-tier stars has been a barrier to the roster split’s long-term sustainability. When there’s a ratings slip, it’s easy to say Becky Lynch or Roman Reigns not being on both shows is the reason for it. And while the Wild Card rule may not have been overly popular, any of its short-term effects were probably a positive for ratings.
Here’s what the new Raw and SmackDown rosters look like coming out of the draft:
Current subscribers click here to continue reading.
We have a huge double issue this week, with a special Hall of Fame feature, some shocking ratings news from overseas, New Japan’s international expansion, Randy Couture’s heart attack and coverage of the major shows.We also cover:
The situation with Nate Diaz and why the UFC 244 main event looks to be in jeopardy.
New Japan Pro Wrestling’s opening up a new U.S. outpost. We look at what the goals of the company are for 2020, who is in charge, why they are in charge, who surprisingly isn’t involved and why. We look at how the U.S. market has changed for New Japan, ticket sales for the upcoming shows, how it would be best served for New Japan in this market and the lessons learned from what they’ve done so far.
The difference between the fans in Japan and the U.S. for New Japan, the type of buildings they are looking at running and the ultimate goals.
Update on the situation with Randy Couture.
WWE Crown Jewel, with the lineup and circumstances of the show.
AAA Heroes Inmortales with the Kenny Omega vs Fenix AAA title change as well as a look at the rest of the show.
Xavier Woods, have all the Canadian TV ratings, 2020 NXT plans, Randy Orton update, Seth Rollins talks Kenny Omega, WWE news regarding lineup for the Mexico City show, major WWE signing, Update on 205 Live, WWE 2K commercial news, former Lucha Underground star talking with WWE, Dana White talks Cain Velasquez in WWE, former New Japan star teaching at performance center, reasons for the stock price decline, most watched shows this past week on the WWE Network, as well as a rundown of all the NXT and WWE shows, with match-by-match coverage and business news.
Impact Bound for Glory, with match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results.
A huge feature looking at the 2019 Hall of Fame elections, strongest and weakest candidates with bios on a lot of the different performers. We look at everyone’s strengths ad weaknesses as well as the leading still active candidates.
A complete rundown of the Wednesday night wars over the past two weeks, how both shows are doing in every segment and with every demo group. We look at the median age of viewers, how the World Series affected viewing and more.
Full coverage of all the WWE and AEW television shows from the past week.
In-depth looks at the ratings of all the major shows, the key demos and quarters for AEW and WWE, what happened head-to-head and what can be learned from them.
The results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.
Current subscribers click here to continue reading.
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.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
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.
FRIDAY NEWS UPDATE
We have a couple of shows coming up in the next few days. We will be doing an interview show tonight as well as a second show looking back at the legacy of Championship Wrestling from Florida. Bryan and I will be back Saturday talking Bellator, UFC and the rest of the news.
Randy Couture walked home from the hospital today after suffering a heart attack on Wednesday. He lives three blocks from the hospital.
Ratings can be confusing and misleading but as far as the key numbers to advertisers and normalized to be fair, based on the actual audience that has access to the show as opposed to making it unfair based on homes that don’t even have the channel, these were the 18-49 ratings for this past week:
UFC .47
Smackdown .77
Raw 1.01
Total Divas .17
NXT .28
AEW .61
As far as costs to the network for the episode:
UFC $10 million
Smackdown $4.02 million
Raw $5.10 million
Total Divas $400,000
NXT $588,000
AEW $500,000 plus a percentage of advertising points
According to his son, La Parka was able to speak and identify people after his surgery on Wednesday and is off the respirator and breathing on his own.
Jake Hager fights Anthony Garrett on Bellator as noted above tonight. According to ESPN’s Marc Raimondi, AEW wrestlers Sammy Guevara, Santana and Ortiz are all in Uncasville, CT for the show and will be on Bellator tonight. So that’s a third bit of competition for Smackdown. Hager weighed in yesterday at 249, which is 11 pounds heavier than his last fight.
WWE
WWE tonight on FS 1 has Smackdown live at 8 p.m. For those on the West Coast, because it’s on FS 1 instead of FOX, it will start at 5 p.m., however FS 1 will be replaying the show for the West Coast at 8 p.m. WWE Backstage will have a special one hour episode at 10 p.m. after Smackdown ends. FOX will also be airing a one hour edited version of tonight’s Smackdown on the network on Sunday. It will air in most either before or after NFL coverage, generally at 5 p.m. Eastern but different on the West Coast, so it’ll probably do a larger audience than it does on Fridays.
FOX pushed tonight’s show during last night’s NFL game with Joe Buck mentioning it on FS 1 and pushed as the stars Sasha Banks, Roman Reigns, Bayley and Kofi Kingston. It was clear Joe Buck and Troy Aikman didn’t know who they were and Buck just called them Smackdown superstars They also pushed the replay show at 11 p.m. Eastern and Aikman brought up a photo of Andre the Giant with Joe Theismann in their production room from 1975. (thanks to Jeff Rozner)
Regarding Smackdown tonight, between the night and the station, the only way they’re topping 1.6 million viewers is if Hogan and Flair still have ratings juice after all of their recent appearances.
John Cena will be the top guest on Jimmy Fallon’s show on Sunday likely pushing his new movie. (thanks to Shannon Walsh).
UFC
Sam Alvey has pulled out of his 11/16 fight with Mauricio Shogun Rua for undisclosed reasons. They are looking for a new opponent for Rua on that show.
AEW
AEW goes head-to-head with Smackdown as TNT is presenting a prime time replay of Wednesday night’s show. It’s called AEW Extended as there was footage taped involving Kenny Omega, Hangman Page, Pac and Jon Moxley after the show went off the air on Wednesday that will air for the first time tonight at the end of the show. Like Smackdown, it will run 8-10 p.m. The angle is to build the Page vs. Pac match on the Full Gear PPV show on 11/9. Full Gear tickets have moved well since it started being pushed on television but it’s not quite sold out, but it’s not far from being sold out and probably will.
Sammy Guevera is working on the 12/15 IPWA show in Tel Aviv, Israel (thanks to Kevin Chiat)
MISCELLANEOUS
Both ESPN and MMA Fighting have reported that Sergio Pettis will be signing with Bellator.
AAA has a TV taping on Twitch on Saturday that has added what should be an incredible match with El Hijo del Vikingo vs. Black Taurus vs. Arez vs. Aramis (who got over so great at BOLA).
The movie “Girl on the Third Floor” starring Phil Brooks (C.M. Punk) and Triese Kelly Dunn is now playing at selected theaters.
Tickets go on sale Wednesday for the ROH show on 12/15 in Philadelphia at the 2300 Arena.
Innovate Wrestling on 11/16 in Kingsport, TN at the Civic Auditorium headlined by Toby Farley vs. Devin Driscoll.
MLW has announced they have released more ringside tickets for the 11/2 PPV show from Cicero, IL after they’ve worked out production needs They also announced a one hour pregame show at 7 p.m. Eastern that will air before the PPV on the PPV channels with Contra Unit vs. Spirit Squad vs. Dominic Garrini & Douglas James, Zenshi vs. El Hijo de L.A.Park, Savio Vega vs. Leo Brien and Gino Medina vs. Air Wolf.
The NWA announced it has sold out its 12/15 TV tapings at the PBS Studios in Atlanta for NWA Powerrr. It’s only about 150-250 seats depending on the setup. There are tickets left for the 12/16 tapings.
A show called Joshi Wrestling in Italy on 11/9 in Udine, Italy is attempting to do a crowdfunded show through Indiegogo using wrestlers from Ice Ribbon and other Japanese groups at https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/joshi-wrestling-in-italy#/
Jay White was interviewed by Project NZ tonight, nightly news/panel show on New Zealand television on Wednesday night.
wXw announced that Alexander Wolfe would be wrestling Bobby Gunns on their 11/29 show in Hamburg, Germany.
Combate Americas returns to the Save Mart Center in Fresno,CA on 11/22 for a show live on Univision with Igancio Bahamondes (9-2) vs. Salvador Becerra (7-2) at lightweight and Corina Herrera (4-4-1) vs. Caroline Gallardo (3-3) at strawweight.
All Star Wrestling November to Remember on 11/2 in Chilliwack, BC at the Tzeachten Hall. They also run 11/1 in Vancouver, BC at the Maritime Labour Centre.
Masters of the Ring on 10/27 at 8 p.m.on FITE TV with Melina Perez vs. Lisa Marie Varon (Victoria), Shane Douglas vs. Stevie Richards, Bu Kao Dao vs. Victor Andrews vs. DeJuan O’Neal 2/3 falls, Ken Anderson vs. Eli Drake, Billy Gunn vs. Shawn Spears, TJ Perkins vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr., James Storm vs. Fred Dosser vs Brian Cage. Larry Zbyszko and Salina de la Renta will be announcing.
Slamforce Africa, a promotion run by PJ Black of ROH, has an iPPV on 10/27 on Fite TV from South Africa headlined by Rob Van Dam vs. Black.
Austin Theory defends the Evolve title against Josh Briggs on 11/9 in Queens, NY. Adam Cole, Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa will all be doing a meet and greet at that show. Anthony Henry vs. JD Drake is also on that show in a no holds barred match. plus Babatunde vs. Eddie Kingston. Matt Sydal, going back to the name Evan Bourne, will be starting as a regular with Evolve on the 11/9 show.
Adam Cole is doing a seminar tryout for Evolve on 11/10 in Brooklyn, NY. This is open to wrestlers, referees and managers who have already completed training as well as to announcers who have already worked independent shows.
TMZ reported Thursday that former two-division UFC champion Randy Couture suffered a heart attack Wednesday and is in intensive care in a Los Angeles hospital.
Few details are available at this time, but the report said that Couture suffered the attack after a workout at Jay Glazer’s Unbreakable gym when he didn’t feel right. Amazingly, he walked himself to the hospital where he is expected to make a full recovery.
The 56-year-old is a three-time UFC champion and was one of the faces of the company in their formative years with classic bouts against Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell. He famously won the heavyweight title for a second time as an underdog in a dominant win over Tim Sylvia in March 2007.
The fourth member of the UFC Hall of Fame would later lose the title to Brock Lesnar in another famous fight beginning Lesnar’s first and only title reign.
“The Natural” retired after April 2011’s UFC 129 when he was knocked out by Lyoto Machida, closing out his career with a 19-11 record in his late 40s.
