After returning to Lucha Libre AAA using his WWE name and mask, Sin Cara (Jorge Arias) has announced a name change.
On his Twitter and Instagram accounts last night, Sin Cara revealed that his new in-ring name is Cinta de Oro. Lucha Blog notes that Sin Cara had been wearing a gold ribbon on his mask to honor the original Cinta de Oro: “WWE’s Sin Cara today announced he was going to switch his name to Cinta de Oro. That’s the name of a Ciudad Juarez legend who trained him; he’s been wearing a gold ribbon on his mask as a way to honor him the last few years.”
The original Cinta de Oro passed away in 2016. Sin Cara posted a picture that looks to show Cinta de Oro’s sons giving their approval for him to use the name.
Sin Cara publicly announced on November 11 that he had requested his release from WWE. He had the request granted earlier this month, with WWE announcing on December 8 that Sin Cara, Luke Harper, and The Ascension had been released.
Sin Cara appeared for AAA at Guerra de Titanes over the weekend. Video of the segment is available to watch below:
Asuka & Kairi Sane vs. Charlotte Flair & Becky Lynch TLC match for women’s tag title -These four were taken off the house show last night. I don’t know that it was to practice but usually big women’s matches they do practice runs before them. That’s a good thing. Kabuki Warriors at last word were -185 favorite to retain the title.
Bray Wyatt (not The Fiend) vs. The Miz non-title – At least no red tinting. I don’t know what to expect because the Bray Wyatt character hasn’t done a match in forever. Wyatt is a -245 favorite as of last word. He was -900 yesterday. That means a lot of late money has come in on Miz winning.
Bobby Lashley vs. Rusev tables match – They have advertised this match at all the house shows, including Starrcade, and never delivered it. I was always told the first match would be at TLC. Lashley is a -140 favorite. If the idea is to keep this going, and given all the TV time devoted to it and the fact it has done well in the quarters (don’t get mad at the messenger here guys) makes that probable, Lashley should win with Lana helping out. They need to keep a reason as well after the divorce.
New Day vs. Revival Smackdown tag titles in a ladder match – Should be very good and could easily be great. The New Day is a -280 favorite to retain.
Viking Raiders open challenge for Raw tag titles – No odds. Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson were the guys last week but we’ve heard nothing since.
Aleister Black vs. Buddy Murphy – They’ve done this on house shows. Black wins with black mass. Makes sense. Black is a-750 favorite. You know for action this match will be good but the question is crowd reactions.
Andrade vs. Humberto Carrillo pre show match, This is a rematch of the very good match they had on Monday night, so should be entertaining once again. They could 50/50 it and have Andrade win, since Andrade is in the plans. But Carrillo seems to be the guy with the push right now.
The A.J. Styles vs. Randy Orton match that was at one point on this show, but never announced, will instead be on Raw tomorrow night from Des Moines, IA. There will be no live Raw on 12/23 so they are taping two shows tomorrow night.
WWE took a step forward this past weekend by resolving their situations with a few wrestlers who wanted out of the company.
In quick succession on Sunday, WWE announced that Luke Harper, Sin Cara, and The Ascension had been released: “WWE has come to terms on the releases of Jonathan Huber (Luke Harper), Sin Cara, and Ryan Parmeter (Konnor) and Eric Thompson (Viktor) of The Ascension. WWE wishes them all the best in their future endeavors.”
Harper’s release saga was nearly eight months long. He went public with his request via a statement he posted online on April 16. He spent the next five months off of television before then returning in a pretty significant angle at Clash of Champions, helping Erick Rowan defeat Roman Reigns in their no disqualification match.
Our biggest issue of the year, the 2019 Hall of Fame issue is out with complete balloting results, breakdowns by category, bios of the new entrants, comparisons with how everyone did last year, as well as who will be on next year’s ballot who will be removed from next year’s ballot, breakdowns on how each new inductee did in different groups and a look back at a lot of stellar careers. We also talk about the future of the Hall of Fame.
Feature on the development of pro wrestling in France at the turn of the previous century and the wrestler generally considered most responsible for establishing pro wrestling in that country.
The two Tokyo Dome shows, as well as New Japan’s last three events of 2019. We look at the good and bad aspects of the lineups and the comparisons with last year. We look at the retirement of Jushin Liger, the signing of Dragon Lee and his change to Ryu Lee and talk about the different titles at stake.
Drug test suspensions of Robert Roode and Primo Colon and why guys can look the way they look with drug testing and how WWE’s testing greatly differs from others, a look at the releases of Luke Harper, The Ascension and Sin Cara, major change for Miz & Mrs., WWE star hints leaving, Canadian ratings, signing of Oney Lorcan, Tribute to the Troops coverage, Lana death threats, Ronda Rousey talks potential return, current plans for holiday shows, celebrity training for a WWE stint, a rundown on the different people at the last tryout camp including a former MMA champion, the boyfriend of a reality show star and a number of high level women athletes including a former WNBA player, an incident at a house show, value of WWE stock, most-watched show on the WWE Network as well as a rundown of all the WWE and NXT arena events over the past week with business notes , results and highlights.
2019 Tokyo Sports awards, including what wrestles historically have had the most MVP trophies and the most match of the year trophies.
TLC PPV including the changes in the show and the ticket demand.
Next Wednesday ratings battle and why it is the most interesting in several weeks.
Dave Bautista’s career, the NWO, and look back at the program that made Bautista’s career and the good and the bad of the NWO.
New Japan tag team tournament, whether the changes in format worked, the business of the final night, standings, match-by-match coverage and star ratings of the last night.
Saturday’s UFC show from D.C. with the business notes on the show and match-by-match coverage.
Look back at the life of Andy Robin, a U.K. star who was one of the greatest performers in the history of pro wrestling in Scotland.
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.
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.
SUNDAY NEWS UPDATE
Bryan and I will be back tonight talking Hall of Fame and TLC, plus the rest of the news, with Wrestling Observer Radio tonight after the PPV show. You can also send questions to the show to [email protected]. We’re taking polls on the UFC show last night, ROH show Friday night, NWA show yesterday and TLC from WWE tonight, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with the best and worst matches to [email protected]”>[email protected]. We’re also looking for reports from the ROH show today in Philadelphia and the NXT show in San Jose tonight to [email protected]
We are sad to report the death of Randy Culley, who used a number of names including Moondog Rex, half of various Assassins tag teams, was originally part of the WWE Demolition tag team with Bill Eadie (very briefly), Deadeye Dick in WCW with Dutch Mantell, The Nightmare in Mid South. The cause of death has not been reported but Culley was 69 years old.
UFC 245 was the most searched topic on Google yesterday with 1.2 million searches. Max Holloway was No. 7 and Amanda Nunes was No. 10. That indicates a solid amount of interest in the show. It was one of the best shows of the year which we ran down on the show today. The Kamaru Usman vs. Colby Covington main event as a fight of the year candidate.
There was a Night of Appreciation for Bobby Eaton last night in Knoxville. Brad Logan won Battle Royal, Jax Dane b The Barbarian, Ryan Dookie & Shane Williams & Bobby Fulton & Brad Thomas (managed by Tracy Smothers) b George South & Bill Dundee & Stan Lee & Beau James, Jordan Cage b Gustavo Aguilar, Matt Sigmon & Elliott Russell b Brandon & Brent Tate (who used to be The Boys in ROH). Kenzie Paige Henry & Dream Girl Ellie b Sahara Seven & Cali Young, Chase Owens b Crazzy Steve, Devin Devine & Mik Drake b Richard Holliday & Paul Roma.
Gary Michael Cappetta did ring announcing at the show. Jim Cornette handled the ceremony which included taped messages from Road Warrior Animal, Teddy Long, Luke Williams, The Steiner Brothers, Nikita Koloff, Raven, Enzo Amore, The Rock & Roll Express, The Revival and Steve Austin. Austin said he was the biggest Eaton fan, said Eaton was the best and that he taught him so much. In the 80s, Eaton was always considered as one of the elite in-ring wrestlers in the world, like the top tier. Also there for the show were Les Thatcher, Bobby Fulton, William Regal, David Taylor and Tom Prichard. Long after the Midnight Express, Eaton was part of the Blue Bloods with Regal & Taylor in WCW. Dustin Eaton said his father was awesome. Regal said he asked for Eaton to be his tag team partner. Eaton was given a championship belt that called him “Lifetime legend” and the crowd reacted huge.
Two weekend matches people have been raving about was the six-man tag main event of the Warrior Wrestling show on Friday with Will Ospreay & Amazing Red & Rocky Romero of New Japan vs. The Rascals of Impact. Most reports have it ****1/2 to *****. The other is today’s Ben K Open the Dream Gate title defense against Naruki Doi, which has gotten praise as a match of the year candidate. With so crazy of a weekend I haven’t had a chance to see either match yet.
Jumanji: the Next Level is projected to do $60.1 million at the box office this weekend. That beats projections going into the weekend of $50 million.
WWE
Regarding Sin Cara using that name in AAA last night at Guerra de Titanes, there was no deal worked out with him or WWE to be allowed to use the name. He was on a 90 day non-compete. We’ll see how this transpires.
UFC
Colby Covington did have a broken jaw last night during the fight. In the scores going into round four, one judge had it 3-1 for Covington one had 3-1 for Kamaru Usman and the other had it 2-2 going into round five. All three of those scores are plausible. It came down to the fifth, which if it wasn’t stopped, was still an easy 10-8 for Usman so he should have won 49-45, 48-46 and one 47-47 even in theory had Usman not finished him.
Regarding any controversy on the Jose Aldo vs. Marlon Moraes scoring, it came down to round three. I had Aldo winning that round but it was close. Media scores were exactly 50-50 according to MMA Decisions so nobody got robbed and either winning shouldn’t be controversial.
MISCELLANEOUS
Matt Taven is going in for ankle surgery which explains the angle on the PPV where he lost and was taken out. Vincent suffered a broken finger in that match.
PCO and Destro drove from Montreal to Baltimore in the hearse to get to the ROH show. Destro had to rip open the hearse when it wouldn’t open. Both PCO and Destro do strongman stuff.
This was a note about the MTV show The Challenge on Wednesday nights from those close to the situation regarding ratings and why DVR numbers may be so high for AEW & NXT. “I know you briefly referenced an MTV show that beats AEW/NXT most weeks. That show is The Challenge. We are the number one podcast and touring live show about The Challenge. Wanted to give you a heads up for some stuff to look out for. I know there is a bit of crossover between Challenge fans and wrestling fans. Among our listeners we have a ton of wrestling fans and we’ve even begun scheduling our live shows around wrestling weekends. We’re doing the Tampa Improv Mania weekend and we did Chicago Improv this past November. MIZ started on The Challenge. Ziggler hosted the Season 33 reunion. CM Punk did Champs vs Stars. Overall it is a competition with drama etc so it does appeal to a similar audience. Like wrestling, their bread and butter is also 18-49.This coming week is the reunion for this season but then The Challenge will be dark for a few weeks between seasons 34 and 35. Season 35 will likely premiere around Feb. Might be interested to see how AEW/NXT do in the weeks with no Challenge whatsoever.”
RevPro from today in London’s York Hall: Sam Stoker & Lewis Howley b Speedball Mike Bailey & Mao, Shota Umino b Hikuleo, Gisele Shaw b Shanna, Evil & Sanada b Minoru Suzuki & Zack Sabre Jr., Minoru Suzuki b Mad Kurt, Dan Moloney won six-way over Kyle Fletcher, Ricky Knight Jr., Robbie X, Xenza Volto and Carlos Romo, El Phantasmo b TJP to keep British cruiserweight title, Rampage Brown & Great O’Kharn b Kings of the North, Michael Oku b Pac (thanks to Shannon Walsh and wrestlingwithdemons.net)
wXw 19th anniversary show from last night in Oberhausen: Oliver Carter b The Rotation, Jay Skillet won Shotgun title in a four-way over Absolute Andy, Avalanche and Veiet Muller, Leon van Gasteren & Walter b Prince Ahura & Maggot, Killer Kelly won a four-way over Sky Smitson, Roxxy and Baby Allison, Alexander James b Jurn Simmons in a Singapore Cane match, Amale b Meiko Satomura to keep the womens’ title, Lucky Kid b Kassius Ohno, Bobby Gunns won the wXw title in a four-way over David Starr, Timothy Thatcher and Ilja Dragunov when Norman Harass cost Starr the match (thanks to Shannon Walsh)
Darby Allin will be defending the Northeast Wrestling title tonight in Tel Aviv, Israel.
CWE on 12/27 in Winnipeg at Rookie’s Sports Bar with The Godfather Charles Wright as the special guest.
VIPW on 1/25 in Nanaoimo, BC at the Departure Bay Activity Centre with a TLC match main event. They also run 1/24 in Victoria, BC at the Royal Canadian Legion Branch with a last man standing match.
Northumberland Pro Wrestling on Cobourg, ONT on 12/27 at the Cobourg Community Centre with Tyson Dux vs. Tyler Tirva as the main event.
CWA No Surrender on 1/18 in North Little Rock, AR at the Maumelle Event Center.
WAR Wrestling on 1/11 in Lima, OH at the Bradfield Community Center.
Pro Wrestling EVE from yesterday in London: Sammii Jayne b Jinny, Sammii Jayne b Nina Samuels, Rhia O’Reilly b Jetta to retain the Eve title, Heidi Katrina b Mercedes Blaze, Laura Di Matteo b Nightshade, Gisele Shaw & Sammiii Jayne b Woke Queens to win the tag titles. Samuels vs. Jinny was announced for Wrestle Queendom 3. The Woke Queens will get a tag title match on that show. Yuka Sakazaki was announced for the show. O’Reilly vs. Di Matteo for the Eve title will headline. Millie McKenzie was scheduled for this show but pulled out due to illness. (thanks to Chris Gannon)
During today’s Packers vs. Bears game, both announcers casually talked bout Dick the Bruiser, noting he was Dick Afflis, who played for the Packers. He did from 1952-56 but ended up one of the biggest pro wrestling stars from the mid-50s into the early 80s.
CZW Cage of Death from last night in Voorhees, NJ before a legit SRO crowd: Brittany Blake b Kris Statlander to win the title, John Silver b Conor Claxton, YDNB b Jimmy Rave & Steve Mack & Azrieal, KC Navarro won multi-person match, Ava Everett & Anthony Greene b Alex Reynolds & Mark Sterling in a no holds barred match, AR Fox b Jordan Oliver to win the Wired title, The Rep b Bear Country in a tag title match, Joe Gacy b Matt Tremont in an ultraviolent brawl, Jimmy Lloyd b Brandon Kirk in a cage of death match. (thanks to Bob Magee)
Ivelisse won the Shine title in the main event over Mercedes Martinez over this weekend.
Terry Funk talked to Bill Apter about his health, the loss of his wife Vicki, reminisces about the road and announces a rare upcoming appearance.
The recently released Sin Cara made an appearance tonight at AAA’s Guerra de Titanes event.
Sin Cara, real name Jorge Arias, made the save for Pagano tonight after he was attacked by a number of rudos. After the ring was cleared, Sin Cara cut a promo saying he was here to help his friend Pagano.
He was introduced using that name and was wearing the same mask that he had used during his WWE run. WWE has a trademark for the Sin Cara name in Mexico.
Sin Cara, along with Luke Harper and The Ascension were officially released from their contracts on December 8. They all have a 90 day no compete clause, meaning they cannot wrestle anywhere else until March 8.
Arias returned to WWE following an injury back in October and had been feuding with Andrade on the Raw brand, with their last match being a mixed tag match back on the November 4 edition of Raw. On November 11, Arias requested his release from the company on social media.
WWE took a step forward this past weekend by resolving their situations with a few wrestlers who wanted out of the company.
In quick succession on Sunday, WWE announced that Luke Harper, Sin Cara, and The Ascension had been released: “WWE has come to terms on the releases of Jonathan Huber (Luke Harper), Sin Cara, and Ryan Parmeter (Konnor) and Eric Thompson (Viktor) of The Ascension. WWE wishes them all the best in their future endeavors.”
Harper’s release saga was nearly eight months long. He went public with his request via a statement he posted online on April 16. He spent the next five months off of television before then returning in a pretty significant angle at Clash of Champions, helping Erick Rowan defeat Roman Reigns in their no disqualification match.
Two wrestlers have had their release requests granted by WWE.
WWE.com issued a statement today confirming that Luke Harper (real name Jonathan Huber) and Sin Cara (Jorge Arias) are no longer with the company: “WWE has come to terms on the releases of Jonathan Huber (Luke Harper) and Sin Cara. WWE wishes them all the best in their future endeavors.”
Sin Cara also posted a tweet announcing that he’s been granted his release: “As of today I have been granted my release from WWE. Thank you WWE Universe it has been an amazing adventure.”
Harper went public with his release request on April 16 of this year, while Sin Cara publicly announced his request on November 11.
November 11 was also the date that Sin Cara’s last televised match in WWE aired. He lost to Drew McIntyre on an episode of Raw that had been taped in Manchester, England.
Harper returned to WWE television in September and was involved in a program with Erick Rowan against Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan. He was announced as a member of the SmackDown roster following October’s WWE Draft, but he didn’t appear on the show after that.
Harper’s last televised match for the company was the battle royal on the Crown Jewel pre-show on October 31.
Harper applied to trademark his former indie name “Brodie Lee” last month.
We’re looking for reports on today’s Raw house show in Glasgow, Scotland, as well as tomorrow’s shows in Amsterdam, Holland and Lille, France, and Wednesday’s shows in Erfurt, Germany and Zurich, Switzerland to [email protected]
We’re also looking for your thoughts on AEW Full Gear, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]
Joseph Currier gives his thoughts on Crown Jewel and the travel delays the WWE roster faced after the show.
When Crown Jewel ended last Thursday, it seemed like things weren’t quite as awful for WWE as their previous shows in Saudi Arabia.
In the ring, this year’s Crown Jewel was probably the best event that WWE has had in Saudi Arabia. There were low points, but the show was focused more on the current roster and special attractions than relying solely on nostalgia. Though Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair were part of the show, they coached teams of current wrestlers and weren’t actually competing themselves. A major title change even took place, with The Fiend becoming Universal Champion by defeating Seth Rollins in their falls count anywhere main event.
Most importantly for WWE, they got to put on the first-ever women’s match in Saudi Arabia. Natalya defeated Lacey Evans, and it went as well as could be expected. There were obviously restrictions, including what Natalya and Evans were allowed to wear. But the quality of the match was largely irrelevant to WWE. Natalya and Evans treated this like a milestone that they were honored to be part of. The audience also played their part, helping WWE’s narrative come off as more than just hollow messaging.
One of the craziest stories in pro wrestling history, one that will be talked about in autobiographies to come, involves the WWE’s trip to Saudi Arabia. We’ve got a complete rundown on what happened as well as details of a story that involved hundreds of millions of dollars, the stock market, mainstream media, and much more. The new issue also covers:
The decision to put NXT talent on main roster shows affected ratings for Raw, Smackdown and NXT.
A complicated story with a lot of issues, including a $60 million payment, let money, a new and better deal for WWE, lagging stock price, talent stuck in Saudi Arabia an extra day, a meeting called by Vince McMahon, what does and doesn’t add up among the different stories, the Smackdown show and how it went down, stock analyses look at WWE, and much more.
Coverage of UFC 244, with the story behind the fight, the stoppage of the main event, Nate Diaz’s 180 reaction on what he wants to do, Jorge Masvidal and the BMF championship, scary finishes, upsets and surprises along with match-by-match coverage and poll results from the show.
New Japan building two Tokyo Dome shows in January with key matches, angles being worked on, the retirement of Jushin Liger, the situation with Katsuyori Shibata, the return of Hiromu Takahashi, what Will Ospreay talked of, the upcoming tag team tournament, the junior tag team tournament, California shows as well as a full rundown of Power Struggle with match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results.
The Randy Orton contract, interest level of Crown Jewel, Lance Storm goes to WWE in a non-wrestling role and why now, Styles pushes for angle which changes storyline direction, another finish changed on Raw, NXT future plans, lots of WWE injury notes, WrestleMania kickoff party and plans for the next show in Mexico City.
Upcoming War Games matches, UK stars on main roster shows, WWE’s biggest house show week of the year, the most watched shows on the WWE Network, plus WWE’s first show in the U.K. and a rundown on all the NXT house shows.
Kenny Omega’s possibly going after yet another world title with coverage of DDT’s big show at Sumo Hall.
Coverage of the MLW PPV show, Dragon Gate’s Gate of Destiny with storyline notes and coverage and Pro Wrestling NOAH’s biggest event of the year at Sumo Hall.
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.
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.
MONDAY NEWS UPDATE
Bryan and I will be back tonight covering Raw and the latest wrestling news. You can also send questions for tonight’s show to [email protected]
The Monday Night Football having a gave with the San Francisco 49ers vs. Seattle Seahawks, plus three days since the taping of the show, if this does even 2.1 million viewers it shows live vs. tape means nothing even in 2019. Smackdown was actually the best since week two, but all WWE stuff is up due to the NXT stuff on the main brand, which does continue tonight.
WWE officials said that Jorge Arias (Sin Cara), who is working with the Smackdown brand, will be remaining on the European tour. Arias publicly said he was going to ask for his release earlier today.
Matt Sydal’s numbness on Saturday did not keep him off yesterday’s show in Brooklyn.
This is the current card for Starrcade on 12/1 in Atlanta which will be an hour-long WWE Network special:
Rusev vs. Bobby Lashley
New Day vs. Revival for the Smackdown tag titles
A.J. Styles vs. Kevin Owens for the U.S. title
Braun Strowman vs. Shinsuke Nakamura & Sami Zayn
Asuka & Kairi Sane vs. Charlotte Flair & Becky Lynch in a tornado match for the women’s tag titles
Seth Rollins vs. Randy Orton
Roman Reigns vs King Corbin
Bray Wyatt vs. The Miz for the Universal tile in a cage match
WWE
Raw tonight is a taped show with these matches:
Asuka & Kairi Sane defend the women’s tag titles against Becky Lynch & Charlotte Flair
Sin Cara vs. Drew McIntyre
The Singh Brothers vs. R-Truth for the 24/7 title
Seth Rollins vs. Walter
Rollins & Kevin Owens & Street Profits vs. Imperium
Cedric Alexander vs. Andrade
Soner Durson vs. Erick Rowan
Viking Raiders vs. Flash Morgan Webster & Mark Andrews
Randy Orton & Ricochet & Humberto Carrillo vs. A.J,. Styles & Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson
Walter beat Jordan Devlin to keep the UK title on the house show today in Vienna, Austria. Walter got a huge response in his first match back in that country in a long time.
The WrestleMania’s Legendary Moments special that aired on FOX will debut on Friday on the WWE Network.
UFC
UFC has released Gilbert Melendez after five straight losses. Given that Melendez helped build Strikeforce, I think if he wants to continue fighting he’ll be able to get into Bellator.
UFC is doing its own version of Survivor Series on 12/12 at 10 p.m. The show will be called Quintet Ultra and takes place on the Thursday before the final PPV of the year in Las Vegas, this being from the Red Rock Casino in Las Vegas. There will be four teams, one from UFC, one from Pride, once from Strkeforce and one from WEC. It will be usual Quintet rules with two teams of four under Survival rules. All matches will be grappling with finishes only by submission. Each team has a lineup and the winner advances and loser is eliminated. If nobody gets the submission, both are eliminated. It goes on until one team has no members left and they lose. The two winning teams meet in Ultimate Survival. Names announced for the show at this point are Takanori Gomi (Pride), Anthony Johnson (UFC), Gilbert Melendez (Strikeforce), Chad Mendes (WEC), Sean O’Malley (UFC), Kazushi Sakuraba (Pride), Jake Shields (Strikeforce) and Glover Teixeira (WEC). The show also has Gordon Ryan, one of the best heavyweight submission fighters in the world, against UFC’s Alaksei Oleinik.
AEW
Some will crack up at the comedy in the new BTE. Some won’t be happy.
MISCELLANEOUS
Evolve from yesterday in Brooklyn: Colby Corino & Sean Maluta b Michael Verna, & Kekoa, Reina Gonzalez b Alex Gracia, Babatunde b Brandon Taggart, Austin Theory b Curt Stallion, Matt Sydal & Anthony Greene & Harlem Bravado b Liam Gray & Adrian Alanis, & Leon Ruff, Anthony Gutierrez b Donovan, Arturo Ruas b Eddie Kingston-DQ, Shotzi Blackheart b Allysin Kay to win the Shine title, Joe Gacy b AR Fox, Josh Briggs won three-way over Anthony Henry and JD Drake to keep the Evolve title.
CWA on 1/18 in North Little Rock, AR at the Maumelle Event Center with Jerry Lawler vs. Matt Riviera, career vs. title.
Juventud Guerrera won the CWE Canadian jr. title on Friday night beating Angel Dorado in Yorkton, Saskatchewan. Guerrera is in the middle of a 31 day tour across Canada with 31 shows.
Pro Wrestling Eve’s final weekend show from yesterday in London: Millie McKenzie won three-way over Laura DiMatteo and Gisele Shaw, Mei Suruga b Lulu Pencil, Jetta b Kasey, Jazz won four-way over Mercedes Blaze, Rebel Kinney and Chakara, Millie McKenzie won She-1 tournament over Mercedes Martinez and Rhia O’Reilly. DiMatteo attacked O’Reilly and caused her to be eliminated. McKenzie said she will use her tournament win so she and Charli Evans would challenge Debbie Keitel and Valkyrie for the Eve tag titles in January. (thanks to Shannon Wash and wrestlingwithdemons.net)
Qatar Pro Wrestling will hold a press conference Thursday in Doha, Qatar to push a show on 2/20. Eric Bischoff will be at the press conference.
Koji Miyamoto will be hosting an 11/16 dinner talk show with Stan Hansen in Shibuya, Tokyo and an 11/17 Genichiro Tenryu and Dory Funk Jr. event in Meguro. It’s going to be a big week of All Japan 70s/80s nostalgia with The Destroyer Memorial show on 11/15 at the Ota Ward Gym in Tokyo. It is the family of Giant Baba (actually the nephew of Motoko Baba) who is the promoter of the show.
Combate Americas announced a 12/13 show in Stockton at the Arena that will air live on Univision and Univision Deportes. Zoila Frausto, the former Bellator champion, will headline the show against an opponent to be named. Another top bout will be a featherweight fight with Javier Reyes (8-3) vs. Jose Neal (6-4).
Rocky Mountain Pro on 11/14 in Golden, CO at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds for a TV taping for Fight UK TV and the Global Wrestling Network.
The Hannibal TV’s 2.5 hour shoot interview with former ECW Champion Justin Credible can be found here.
Sin Cara has become the latest WWE wrestler to take to social media asking for his release.
On Monday morning, Sin Cara (Jorge Arias) tweeted a statement in Spanish that said after praying Sunday night and thinking about his children, he had to make the “most difficult but sensible” decision to ask for his WWE release.
In the statement (seen below), Arias reflected on his 20-year career before giving the reason why he wants out (h/t to Mike Killam for the translation):
“I am so grateful for the opportunity they gave me. However, I realized that I am stuck in a place where I am not valued as an athlete or talent. I have worked hard and honestly for many years to polish my trade. I have been loyal and respectful, a team player, supportive, and I have waited patiently for the opportunity to show the world everything I can do. Unfortunately, after all these years, that opportunity never came or I feel that it will ever come while I remain where I am.”
He then went on to say that his best years are yet to come and thanked both WWE and the WWE fans for their support. He recently returned to Raw in an angle with Andrade and Zelina Vega.
Several other WWE wrestlers have publicly asked for their release in the past with Shawn Spears (the former Tye Dillinger) as the only successful one. Luke Harper and Mike Kanellis still remain with the company after pleading their case on social media.
After working in Mexican indies and AAA for years, the man eventually known as Incognito made his move on the U.S. stage with appearances in TNA and Chikara. He signed with WWE developmental in 2009 and changed his name to Hunico, making it to the main roster in 2011 as a fill-in for Sin Cara as the original was serving a 30-day wellness suspension. A Sin Cara vs. Sin Cara angle ensued and he eventually revived the Hunico name, teaming with Camacho. In 2013, Arias took back the Sin Cara character and formed the Lucha Dragons with Kalisto in both NXT and eventually, WWE.
Outside the ring, he was on the shelf for parts of the last few years with knee injuries. He also famously got into separate 2016 backstage altercations with both Chris Jericho and Simon Gotch.
Sin Cara is currently out of action after undergoing knee surgery on Tuesday.
After Sin Cara posted that he was in Birmingham, Alabama yesterday, WWE.com confirmed that he underwent surgery at the Andrews Sports Medicine & Orthopaedic Center last night. WWE noted that Sin Cara sensed that something was wrong with his right knee over the weekend, with surgery being done to remove scar tissue that was affecting his performance.
WWE.com also wrote that there’s no timetable for when Sin Cara will be able to return to the ring. He tweeted out a picture today marking his first day of recovering from the surgery.
Sin Cara last wrestled on television during his feud with Andrade “Cien” Almas. Almas defeated him on the July 10 episode of SmackDown and also won their rematch on the Extreme Rules pre-show. Sin Cara had been wrestling on house shows since their feud came to an end.
If you wanted another match for Extreme Rules, you got one.
Andrade Cien Almas will once again battle Sin Cara, this time as part of the preshow kickoff set to air before Extreme Rules. WWE confirmed the news this afternoon on their Twitter account. This would be a rematch from this past Tuesday’s match on SmackDown where Almas defeated Sin Cara pretty decisively after hitting the double knees in the corner.
This brings the match total for this Sunday’s Extreme Rules event to 12, including two kickoff matches. Here is the full card:
AJ Styles vs. Rusev for the WWE title
Roman Reigns vs. Bobby Lashley
Alexa Bliss vs. Nia Jax in an Extreme Rules match for the Raw women’s title
Dolph Ziggler vs. Seth Rollins in a 30 minute Iron Man match for the Intercontinental title
Carmella vs. Asuka for the SmackDown women’s title where James Ellsworth will be suspended above in a shark cage
Jeff Hardy vs. Shinsuke Nakamura for the United States title
Bludgeon Brothers vs. Team Hell No for the SmackDown tag team titles
Braun Strowman vs. Kevin Owens in a steel cage match
Finn Balor vs. Baron Corbin
Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt vs. the B-Team for the Raw tag team titles
Ahead of challenging for The Bludgeon Brothers’ Tag Team titles on Sunday, Daniel Bryan & Kane will appear on Miz TV to open tonight’s episode. Andrade “Cien” Almas will also face Sin Cara, and Samoa Joe will wrestle Tye Dillinger.
Almas vs. Sin Cara was originally scheduled to take place on the June 12 edition of SmackDown, but it was canceled when WWE explained that, due to Sin Cara suffering a storyline shoulder injury when Almas attacked him the previous week, Sin Cara wasn’t able to compete. Neither has wrestled on SmackDown since, and Almas has only wrestled twice on the show since being called up from NXT. Both of those matches were against enhancement wrestlers.
Sin Cara has been Almas’ regular opponent on house shows, and Almas defeated him in a dark match prior to last week’s episode.
Joe vs. Dillinger was set up in a post-show video last week. R-Truth told Joe that he didn’t stand a chance against Dillinger, Joe asked Dillinger if that was true, and Dillinger challenged him to the match.
WWE Champion AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura in a non-title match is also advertised for tonight’s SmackDown, along with Asuka vs. James Ellsworth in a lumberjack match. The show is being held at the SNHU Arena in Manchester, New Hampshire.
A segment has been added and another has been removed from tonight’s SmackDown.
With the show taking place in his hometown of Memphis, Tennessee, Jerry Lawler will be making an appearance and interviewing AJ Styles ahead of Money in the Bank. The segment will be part of the final build to Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura’s last man standing match for the WWE Championship at the pay-per-view.
Nakamura will be facing United States Champion Jeff Hardy in a non-title match tonight, with Daniel Bryan vs. Shelton Benjamin and a women’s Money in the Bank summit also set.
A match between Andrade “Cien” Almas and Sin Cara was originally scheduled but has been canceled as part of an apparent storyline where Sin Cara’s shoulder was “injured” when Almas attacked him backstage last Tuesday. Sin Cara posted a promo on Twitter where he called Almas a coward and said he’s coming for him.
Almas and Sin Cara worked against each other on this past weekend’s house shows.
Another match and segment are set for WWE’s final week of television before Money in the Bank.
On last night’s SmackDown, it was announced that Andrade “Cien” Almas will face Sin Cara next Tuesday. This will be Almas’ third match on TV since being called up and, with the other two having been squashes against enhancement wrestlers, it will be his first against a member of the WWE roster.
Sin Cara has also been Almas’ house show opponent since he debuted.
The storyline for Almas and Sin Cara’s feud is that they used to be friends before Almas’ association with Zelina Vega changed who he is. Almas attacked him during an interview last night after Vega interrupted Sin Cara and informed him of next week’s match.
There will also be a “women’s Money in the Bank summit” next Tuesday, which will be hosted by Paige and will feature Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, Naomi, and Lana. It will be the final build to the women’s ladder match and comes after Lynch submitted Charlotte and Naomi & Jimmy Uso defeated Lana & Aiden English last night.
Raw’s go-home show on Monday has Braun Strowman vs. Finn Balor vs. Kevin Owens vs. Bobby Roode, Sasha Banks vs. Ember Moon vs. Alexa Bliss vs. Natalya, and a face-to-face segment with Ronda Rousey and Nia Jax advertised.
Three matches have been announced for next week’s episode of SmackDown.
Two of those will be title matches, with Natalya defending her Women’s Championship against Charlotte Flair and Baron Corbin defending the United States title against Sin Cara. The winners of those matches will face off against their Raw counterparts in non-title champion vs. champion matches at Survivor Series later this month.
Natalya previously retained her title against Charlotte by getting herself disqualified at Hell in a Cell, which was the storyline reason given for their rematch. Corbin and Sin Cara, who was cleared to return to the ring today after suffering a knee injury at a house show over the weekend, have been feuding on television for the last few weeks.
The New Day vs. Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn was also announced for next week after Kofi Kingston defeated Zayn tonight. Owens tried to give Kingston a post-match beatdown but was ran off by Big E and Xavier Woods.
With the roster returning from their European tour in time for the episode, next week’s SmackDown will take place in Charlotte, North Carolina and will be the go-home show for Survivor Series. SmackDown should also confirm the final member of their Survivor Series men’s team ahead of the pay-per-view.
After suffering a knee injury at SmackDown’s house show in Spain on Sunday, Sin Cara has been cleared to return to the ring.
Our Dave Meltzer notes that Sin Cara was medically cleared today. Sin Cara, who has been involved in a feud with Baron Corbin on television, suffered the injury in a match against Corbin and Sami Zayn for the United States Championship.
Sin Cara was scheduled to be evaluated prior to yesterday’s house show in Lisbon, Portugal but ended up not wrestling on the event. He tweeted out a message apologizing to the fans in Lisbon for missing the show and wrote that he hopes to see them soon. The US title match was changed to Corbin vs. Zayn vs. Bobby Roode vs. Dolph Ziggler, with Corbin retaining after stealing the pin from Roode.
The earliest Sin Cara could return to action is at SmackDown in Manchester, England tonight, which has Jinder Mahal vs. AJ Styles for the WWE Championship, The Usos vs. Shelton Benjamin & Chad Gable for the SmackDown tag titles, and Becky Lynch vs. James Ellsworth scheduled.
With WWE’s European tour currently going on, both Raw and SmackDown will be taped at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England this week.
The SmackDown brand has a house show in Lisbon, Portugal while Raw is going on tonight. Sin Cara, who suffered an injury during his match against Baron Corbin and Sami Zayn in Spain yesterday, was scheduled to be evaluated today to see if he can wrestle at the show.
Triple H has been added to the SmackDown event in Lisbon after filling in for Roman Reigns on Raw’s first five stops in the United Kingdom. He teamed with Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose against Cesaro, Sheamus & Bray Wyatt in those matches.
Since Triple H won’t be appearing at any of the other Raw events in Europe, The New Day will be on SmackDown in Manchester tomorrow and then will wrestle on the Raw side for the rest of the tour.
