Tag: tito ortiz

Daily Update: Leon Slater, AAA, Tito Ortiz

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

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This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

*Coverage of the Tokyo Dome show

*How did the show accomplish what should have been its key goals

*Thoughts on Aaron Wolf

*Business notes on the show

*Yota Tsuji and the title name change

*The end of the Bullet Club

*Shinsuke Nakamura and his thoughts

*Angle with Will Ospreay

*Records that Tanahashi set during his career

*Tanahashi’s background

*Notes on his last IWGP title win that wasn’t supposed to happen

*The unique way he became a mainstream figure in a news story

*How his career exploded from there

*How Tanahashi differed from prior IWGP champions and how that changed who could hold that title

*The Tanahashi era that turned around New Japan

*A look at his record setting 13 Tokyo Dome career main events

*Various title wins and career awards

*2025 Business Year in Review

*A look at all the shows that drew 15,000 fans

*Biggest individual draws of the year

*Crowds of 15,000 or more by promotion  and how the main companies did

*How UFC PPV gates wer

*The biggest pro wrestling drawing card every year from 1916 to 2025

*What wrestlers were No. 1 for the year the most years in their career

*The 50 biggest arena draws  in pro wrestling history based on the standards of their era

*New Year Dash coverage

*The year in matches, who had the most great matches in 2025, most over the course of a career, top ten arenas of all-time and new records set in 2025 by a promotion for a year as well as for a city

*A look at the life of Johnny Legend, a cult celebrity wrestling fan, his work with Freddie Blassie and Andy Kaufman, and his promotion, Incredibly Strange Wrestling.

*The most detailed look at the ratings of the pro wrestling TV shows and details regarding who watches

*Advanced ticket sales for WWE, AEW and TNA events

*AEW stars headed to CMLL next week

*Another Arena Mexico sellout

*Legendary pro wrestling promoter turns 101

*Old living wrestling personalities

*Ted DiBiase files lawsuit

*The Ted DiBiase Jr. case

*A look at the career of Bob Boyer/Bobby Bold Eagle, who wrestled from 1955 to 1987

*Documentary planned on 80s tag team

*Notes on WrestleMania week shows

*Update on the WBD sale

*Former UFC champion goes for boxing world title

*Update on the home for WWE’s library

*Plans for TV shows this month

*How much Dwayne Johnson has made from the WWE contract he signed two years ago

*Those added to WWE, those leaving, those injured and those they are interested in

*How the Holiday week house shows did

*Why WWE’s weekly  audience on Netflix should go up close to 12 percent over the next three months.

This Week’s Back Issue

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Monday Update

WWE NXT Showdown Leon Slater
Image Copyright: WWE (Image credit: WWE)

[email protected]

— Bryan and I will be up tonight to talk about Raw, the story in the front page on WWE, and the rest of the pro wrestling news with Wrestling Observer Radio tonight.

— I have a story on the front page of the site covering WWE wrestlers, how many dates they worked, wins and losses, all the annual stuff we get every year but some comments because of some notable things with the change in schedule.

— Raw already took place today and results are on the front page. They built a SNME match for 1/2 with Iyo Sky & Rhea Ripley defending the tag titles against Roxanne Perez & Liv Morgan.

— Shingo Takagi of New Japan and Natsupoi of Stardom announced that they have gotten married. The two met in 2024 when Takagi made a guest appearance on a Stardom show.

— TNA has stopped listing the Leon Slater vs. Myron Reed match for Thursday’s AMC TV debut.  This coincides with talk that Slater may be booked for some of the WWE shows this week in the U.K. Frankie Kazarian vs. Mike Santana remains the main event with Nic Nemeth saying he’s challenging the winner, The Hardys & Elijah face Mustfa Ali & Jason Hotch & John Skyler and The Iinspiration defends the Knockouts tag titles against Heather & M By Elegance. Perez Hilton will also appear on the show.

— Paramount’s price will go from $7.99 to $8.99 per month for the lowest priced tier starting on Thursday and premium (ad free, but not during UFC) goes from $12.99 to $13.99 per month.

— Before the Raw taping in Dusseldorf, Germany, they taped two singles matches for Main Event:

  • Maxxine Dupri b Ivy Nile via ankle lock in 6:01
  • Otis & Akira Tozawa b Julius & Brutus Creed in 6:18.

— Tito Ortiz was announced as being inducted into the Huntington Beach Sports Hall of Fame this year. He will be honored on 2/1 at The Huntington Club. We never did get the Ortiz vs Chael Sonnen match in RAF that Ortiz cut one of the worst promos ever for.

— They have 2,615 tickets out for Wednesday’s Dynamite in Phoenix. Real capacity would be about 3,500. The goal of late seems to be 3,000 so they have a shot at it.  With MJF vs. Bandido you would hope to hit that mark.

— Hazuki vs. Mei Seira has been noted to us as another weekend match worth going out of your way to see.

— AAA has a show on Saturday night at the Juan de la Barrera Gym in Mexico City which is sold out. A few keys is that this is the debut show on Fox One in Mexico and there has been no promotion at all, nor has a lineup been released. PWInsider lists Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley being there.  FoxOne hasn’t promoted it at all but they do list a one-hour block from 9-10 p.m., meaning that they won’t be airing at  least the first hour of the show. WWE not promoting the first show live on a new network is very much unlike them.

— Templairo’s CMLL middleweight title defense against Bandido is set for Sunday at Arena Mexico. That’s the only specific date for a match that CMLL has announced for this weekend as well. Given there is a war on the Mexico City turf on Saturday night, you would think both sides would release match lineups. You would believe wrong.

— The movie “Night Patrol” with CM Punk will debut at the theaters on Friday.

— Pro Wrestling Revolucion announced they will have Dragon Gate tryouts on 4/12 at their training Center in San Jose. Someone from the tryout will get a chance to wrestle for DragonGate inJapan.

— Greaeme Lloyd, who played major league baseball from 1993 to 2003 for a number of teams, one of only a handful of Australians to do so, wrestled for Oceania Pro Wrestling over the weekend in Melbourne, winning a Battle Royal. There is not a long list of former major league baseball players who have done a pro wrestling match.  

— Andre Drapp, a European bodybuilder who became a major pro wrestling star, was born on this day in 1920. Ray “Thunder” Stern, a bodybuilder wrestler who became an aviation millionaire was born on this day in 1933. Luna Vachon would have turned 64 today. Big Dick Dudley would have turned 58 today. Brian Blair turned 69 today. The famed Minowa-man (Ikuhisa Minowa) of Japanese pro wrestling and MMA fame turned 50 today. Raquel Rodriguez turns 35 today. (thanks to Tony Richards)

— Komander has been added to the Jersey Championship Wrestling show on 2/1 at the Melrose Ballroom in New York. Other AEW talent on the show include Willow Nightingale, Billie Starkz, Lee Moriarty, Mike Bailey and Kevin Knight.

— Jason Oberlander was announced today as the new Chief Commercial Officer for the PFL.  He will lead PFL’s global partnership business overseeing all aspects of Sponsorship strategy revenue generation and partner innovation. He had been the founder and chairman of DRVN Sports & Entertainment. He’s worked for IMG, the NBA, MTV and Showtime.

–Austin Aries was announced for the 1/29 MLW Battle Riot event in Kissimmee, FL.

October 16, 2006 Observer Newsletter: Antonio Pena, Ortiz vs. Shamrock 3

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Antonio Pena, a true wrestling creative genius who is the only man to truly start a promotion from scratch and remain one of the major players in the industry in 2006, passed away on 10/5 after a reported heart attack. He is believed to have been 55 years old.

In hindsight, the death of Pena has brought to light almost an indisputable fact. There was nobody in pro wrestling who was more valuable to their company. Not Vince McMahon. Not anybody. The AAA promotion that Pena created in 1992, and has been very successful for much of the past 14 years, was on fire over the past year, drawing big crowds all over the country. With his death, the company is very much at a crossroads. There is complete uncertainty regarding its future, and probably by the end of the week, exactly what the new power structure is will be made clear. 

Pena, who came up with literally hundreds of ideas, many not successful, but some ultra successful, was the AAA promotion, a one-man promoter, booker and talent manager. His closest U.S. equivalent would be Paul Heyman, actually in many ways, with the difference is Pena’s vision had far more mainstream and long-term success, but being in prime time on the biggest TV station in the country is an advantage no U.S. promoter has had.

Subscribers can read this issue here.

August 28, 2006 Observer Newsletter: Shamrock/Ortiz, WWE SummerSlam

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

If you want to know the 2006 definition of drawing money, we’ve got the answer loud and clear. It’s the same thing that has always worked.

A feud that involves strong personalities, over motivations and issues people both understand and believe, with the feeling that what happens is somehow important. Two tough guys who people believe hate each other, and believe the reasons why. It is the hype that sells, not the promise of a great match. 

Our generation is not the generation of championship belts. That was the generation weaned on having one world champion in every weight class in boxing, and one local champ and one world champion in wrestling. By losing what made belts special, they’ve ruined them for the most part as draws, and now are simply props. Television exposure is, of course, a must. But the other big lesson of the year is that it is not exposure to the masses, but what you do with that exposure that counts.

Subscribers can click here to read this issue.

Anderson Silva, Tito Ortiz agree to September 11 Triller boxing match

Posted on by Josh Nason

The combat sports celebrity boxing trend will continue as former UFC champions Anderson Silva and Tito Ortiz will go to battle in a boxing ring.

The fight is expected to be the co-main event for a September 11th Triller event in Los Angeles that will be headlined by Oscar De La Hoya returning to the ring against former UFC champion Vitor Belfort. The news was first reported by MMA Fighting’s Damon Martin.

In June, former middleweight champion Silva (above) defeated Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in both his first post-UFC fight and first boxing match since 2005. Ortiz has never boxed professionally. The fight is expected to be held at a 195-pound catchweight.

The former UFC light heavyweight champion has retired from MMA several times and was last seen defeating former WWE star Alberto El Patron in an December 2019 MMA fight. He is coming off an aborted run as a city council member in Huntington Beach, California.

Former UFC champion Tito Ortiz steps down from city council

Posted on by Josh Nason

Image: Getty Images

Tito Ortiz is no longer the bad boy of the Huntington Beach, California, city council, stepping down from his position as Mayor Pro Tem on Tuesday night.

Elected by a record-setting margin in November, the former UFC light heavyweight champion and crossover star cited concerns about his family’s safety and media criticism as the reasons.

Reading a statement, an emotional Ortiz said he thought he was stepping into a bipartisan position but instead was met hostility and judgment on a weekly basis. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLJavIgJR2w

“To put it simply, this job isn’t working for me,” he said, “I did as best as I possibly could do and I hope I didn’t let anybody down.”

Throughout his short tenure, Ortiz drew criticism for his stance on not wearing masks including at his swearing-in ceremony in addition to his views on the pandemic. In January, the mayor of Kalmick, CA, and a fellow city councilman put forth an unsuccessful proposal to remove Ortiz from office. He also was an ardent supporter and friend of controversial former U.S. President Donald Trump.

It was revealed the 46-year-old filed for unemployment in February despite a $1500/month stipend for his city council job. He had claimed he was done with the city in late-February even though he was still on the council. He was also eligible for group medical insurance.

Ortiz has retired from MMA on several occasions. He last fought in December 2019 against former WWE star Alberto El Patron.

Daily Update: Jorge Masvidal, Tito Ortiz, Revolution

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

DAILY UPDATE

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  • Javascript also a huge plus

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WON NEWSLETTER: March 1, 2021 Observer Newsletter: 2020 Awards Issue, Elimination Chamber

The biggest and most-talked about issue of the year, the 2020 awards issue, is out today.  The issue covers the awards winners as voted on by the readership in these categories.  It also has all the top place winners for every category, comments on the awards for this year as well as a listing dating back to 1980 of all the awards winners in all the different categories.

We also have the performer and match of the week.

WWE Elimination Chamber show, with notes on direction, business, interest level, poll results and star ratings.

Also in this issue:

The new television war in Canada on Wednesday, how the first week went and what to look for, details on the WWE’s A&E Documentaries, who is being covered and more, reaction to Undertaker’s comments about current wrestlers being soft, migration of WWE Network to Peacock, Sasha Banks talks wanting to quit a few years ago, WWE business approaches, how WWE & AEW are doing as compared to televised sports this past week, Bill Goldberg on TV, notes on lots of new signees and are starting in camp including some not revealed yet, new WWE Network event, update on the Vince McMahon/Oliver Luck legal case, Ric Flair on why he doesn’t talk to the other Horsemen, Arn Anderson talks why a major international star flopped in WWE, WWE wins awards, the current WWE market value and the most-watched shows of the past week on the WWE Network.

This past week’s UFC show, the background, how it affects fighters going forward, and details behind the late changes in the show.

Television ratings of the past week, including segment-by-segment numbers for the past two weeks on Wednesday, who was watching in different age groups, how different segments did on Raw & Smackdown and more.

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 did our weekend show last night talking about New Japan Castle Attack, Smackdown and the reaction to the awards, which was and continues to be hilarious.

Jorge Masvidal was announcing on last night’s Canelo Alvarez show on DAZN and later said he would be getting a welterweight title shot at Kamaru Usman in September. He said he just got word of it.  Ali Abdelaziz, the manager of Usman, denied what Masvidal said.  “Masvidal doesn’t decide anything,” he told MMA Fighting.  “He needs to sit down and keep working his wrestling.  When the champ makes a decision maybe he will give them an opportunity but for now, nothing happening.”

This has been one of the worst weeks for wrestling deaths in the U.S./Canada region.  Besides Don Serrano, Art Michalik and Johnny DeFazio, who all had interesting life stories, Dean Higuchi (Dean Ho) passed away on 2/20 but the word just around yesterday.  He was a bodybuilder and weightlifting powerhouse who wrestled from 1962 to 1983.  We talked about him on last night’s show and have a feature coming this week.  He was listed as 80 years old but that math makes no sense.  He was in the 1956 Mr. America contested and placed, opened up Dean Higuchi’s Gym in Honolulu in 1957, and also played college football prior to opening the gym. He was known as “The Happy Hawaiian” and worked most of his career in British Columbia, but was the top babyface for Roy Shire in the late 70s with a number of memorable feuds with Alexis Smirnoff, Buddy Rose, Don Muraco & Earl “Mr. Universe” Maynard and Roddy Piper.  He was WWWF tag team champion with Tony Garea.  He headlined other territories as well.  He helped mentor Ricky Steamboat when both were in Georgia.  He was a star everywhere he went.

For Google searches this past week, there were only two things that cracked the list.  Canelo Alvarez had 1 million searches for first place yesterday. UFC didn’t even crack the list, which is very rare, so the interest in last night’s show was at a low point.  Nothing else made the list all week except Big Show was No. 10 on Wednesday with 50,000 searches.

AEW’s women’s tournament special is now up on the Bleacher Report site:

  • Thunder Rosa vs. Riho in a U.S. semifinal
  • Ryo Mizunami vs. Yuka Sakazaki in the Japan final
  • Rin Kadokura & Mei Suruga & Hikaru Shida vs. Maki Itoh & Emi Sakura & Veny
  • The Rosa vs. Riho winner faces Nyla Rose in the U.S. final tomorrow on YouTube.  There will also be a Road To show tomorrow building the Wednesday Impact which would be expected to do a big number with Shaquille O’Neal wrestling and Paul Wight doing a interview on the show, plus Tully Blanchard’s first match on national television in decades with FTR & Blanchard vs. Jurassic Express.

WWE

UFC

  • We didn’t get to talk about it last night, but the Jmmie Rivera vs. Pedro Munhoz fight was great and worth going out of your way to see.  The Cyril Gane vs. Jarirzinho Rozenstruik main event definitely doesn’t fit into that category.
  • SportsBetting.ag put up these odd for UFC 261
    Valentine Shevchenko -335 vs. Jessica Andrade +275

AEW

  • AEW has opened up another 168 tickets for Wednesday’s show. The Sunday PPV sold out instantly. (thanks to William Zdon)  

OTHER NOTES

  • The Los Angeles Times talks Tito Ortiz as a City Councilman.
  • This week’s New Japan show on Roku which was released Thursday was Shingo Takagi vs. Hirooki Goto and Tomohiro Ishii vs. Evil from last February in Sapporo.  The channel had been accessed by almost any device and not just TV’s connected to  Roku.
  • Deathmatch Down Under announced Robbie Eagles vs. Mark Davis for 3/6 in Melbourne.  They’ve also changed their tag team tournament to teams only from Victoria to avoid any changes if there is a lockdown on the borders of the state of Victoria.  Australia has almost no cases and if they do they plan leaving or coming into the state.  (thanks to Kevin Chiat)
  • Stardom from yesterday in Nagoya: Tam Nakano b Gokigen Death, Momo Watanabe & AZM & Saya Kamtani won a three-way elimination trios match over Maika & Himeka & Natsupoi and Natsuko Tora & Saki Kashima & Konami, Utami Hayashishita b Ruaka, Mayu Iwatani b Lady C, Bea Priestley b Starlight Kid, Syuri b Unagi Sayaka, Giulia b Saya Iida
  • Stardom from today in Nagoya, the final show before late Tuesday night (U.S.) time on PPV from Budokan Hall:  Ruaka b Lady C, Starlight Kid won three-way over Saya Iida and Maika, Bea Priestley & Konami b Natsupoi & Himeka, Natsuko Tora & Saki Kashima b Mayu Iwatani & Gokigen Death, Giulia & Syuri b Tam Nakano & Unagi Sayaka, Utami Hayashishita & Momo Watanabe b Saya Kamitani & AZM
  • Progress results from yesterday on the WWE Network from London’s Theatre Peckham (taped ahead of time):  Warren Banks b Dann Black, Luke Jacobs b Ethan Allen, Kid Lykos & Kid Lykos II b Gene Mummy & Big Guns Joe, Elijah b Chuck Mambo, Luke Jacobs b Warren Banks to earn a Progress world title shot, Cara Noir b Chris Ridgeway to keep the world titel, Kanji won the Womens’ Thunderbastard match to get a title match with Jinny (thanks to Shannon Walsh and wrestlingwithdemons.com)
  • Results from the SWE East Texas Wrestlefeset from yesterday in Carthage, TX:  Christi Jaynes b Malia Hosaka to retain the SWE title, Action Jackson b Andrew Anderson, Rodney Mack won a gauntlet match, Niles Plonk b Adam Asher-DQ, Davey Boy Smith Jr. b Matthew Justice, Miranda Gordy b Amber Nova, SWE champion Charlie Haas b Frank Stone, Bam Bam Malone & Heart Throb Jaden b Rivero & Tommy Gunn, Blood Hunter b Michael Shafer, Mil Muertes b Tino Valentino, Boogeyman b DJ Michaels, Trevor Murdoch b Jeremy Wyatt to keep NWA National title, Christi Jaynes b Miranda Gordy-DQ to keep the SWE women’s title, Blood Hunter b Davey Boy Smith Jr., Mike Anthony & Jon Omari b Heart Throb Jaden & Bam Bam Malone.  Among those appearing as part of the show but not wrestling were Kevin Sullivan, Teddy Long and Melina.  James Beard was there to induct Terry Gordy into their Hall of Fame.

Daily Pro Wrestling History: Ole Anderson & Stan Hansen win NWA Tag Team titles

CONTACT INFORMATION

Daily Update: Royal Rumble notes, GCW, Tito Ortiz

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

DAILY UPDATE

Latest News:

Latest Audio:

JOB LISTING: Web/UI Developer(s)

  • Experience with OnLamp (Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP)
  • GITHUB and Linux command line experience while be helpful as well.
  • CMS – Drupal and WordPress. vBulletin
  • Possible experience with AWS (s3 specifically), Dreamhost, UI development
  • Cloud based hosting experience a plus
  • Javascript also a huge plus

While this is a diverse request this doesn’t have to be just one person! If you fit any part of this please feel free to inquire.

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  • Send all inquiries to [email protected] with title WEB DEVELOPER.
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WON NEWSLETTER: February 1, 2021 Observer Newsletter: WWE Network-NBCU Peacock deal

The most in-depth look at the WWE’s new deal with the Peacock Network is the lead story in the new double-issue of the Observer.

We look at who the deal was put together, the finances behind it, is it a good deal for all parties, what goals there are for each side, how this affects the TV landscape and Smackdown in particular, how much money WWE was getting before and after from the Network, television vs. streaming when it comes to homes in the U.S., comparisons to UFC’s deal with ESPN, quotes from the key parties, the financial viability of NBC purchasing WWE, the stock price, network subscriber numbers, money in modern PPVs, WWE projected profitability, why the method wrestlers are paid makes no sense in today’s game, and notes fromall ke parties.

Also in this issue:

NBC shutting down NBC Sports Network affects both the USA Network and how it could impact WWE.

Amanda Huber’s timeline of the death of Brodie Lee from her interview with Tony Schaivone and Aubrey Edwards this week, his symptoms, treatments, and what the doctors thought.

UFC 257, including an update on the business of the show and television viewership, plus full coverage of what could end up as the biggest show of the year, and was one of the biggest PPV events in history.

2021 Royal Rumble, people rumored to be in that won’t be, others that could be, and thoughts on the build and the matches.

WrestleMania, Young Rock, Daniel Bryan talks his future, WWE talent listed among the most marketable in sports and losses in ad revenue to performs in social media accounts, Undertaker says current wrestles are soft and Bill Goldberg, Mick Foley and Drew McIntyre respond, Nick Khan talks future of rights fees, where AEW stands, NXT India, Teases of Japanese star signing, International TV ratings, most-watched  shows on the WWE Network and strongest athletes in WWE developmental.

New Japan’s show at Ota Ward Gym this past week with its parody main event plus the big shows upcoming this week.

WWE’s TV special for India and look at the talent from that country that the company wants to build a promotion around.

A huge story on Hank Aaron, Civil Rights, Bill Watts and how they all intersected in the early 90s.

Comparison piece on the greatest MMA fighters of all-time, looking at their wins, losses, bouts with major names and where they stand in relation to each other.

The death of El Hijo de Anibal and the legacy of the mask created by his father, one of the biggest stars of the 1970s, including the match that was the first big title match to give the UWA credibility.

 Television ratings of the past week, including segment-by-segment numbers for the past two weeks on Wednesday, who was watching in different age groups, how different segments did on Raw & Smackdown and more.

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 Royal Rumble as well as all the other major news. We also have a show from yesterday with Garrett Gonzalez where we preview the Rumble and talk about other news.

Lots of Royal Rumble notes. Don’t forget we’re doing polls on both the Royal Rumble and New Beginning in Nagoya from New Japan yesterday. Thumbs up, down or middle, best and worst match to [email protected].  

  • Men’s Rumble: Announced are Randy Orton vs. Edge to start the match. Others announced are Daniel Bryan, Bobby Lashley, AJ Styles, John Morrison, Mustafa Ali, Sheamus, Otis, The Miz, Cesaro, Jey Uso, Jeff Hardy, Sami Zayn, Dolph Ziggler, Shinsuke Nakamura, Big E, Rey Mysterio, Dominick Mysterio and Braun Strowman. Most figure with Orton and Edge starting that they’ll be in for a long time, maybe even final four. Orton winning would be a surprise since most figure The Fiend screws him at the end. There has been talk all week of a unique finish.  Edge and Bryan are favorites. Damien Priest could debut since he’s been ready to start on Raw or Smackdown for a few weeks. Last we heard was a Raw debut the day after the Rumble, but that stuff changes as he was first scheduled a few weeks back. This match will end the show and people have been saying how the ending will be designed to get people talking.
  • Women’s Rumble: Announced are Natalya at No. 30, Charlotte Flair, Nia Jax, Bianca Belair, Bayley, Tamina, Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan, Mandy Rose, Dana Brooke, Peyton Royce, Alexa Bliss and Shayna Baszler. Most expect Rhea Ripley, and Booker T actually all but said it in one of the pre-show programs. Belair and Bliss are the likely favorites if they don’t go with a surprise. I’d actually go with Ripley to win if it was up to me, her or Belair, so I’d say there’s a chance with her.
  • Roman Reigns vs. Kevin Owens Last man standing for WWE title. Nobody expects a title change, but WWE last man standing matches are usually really good, and this has been a great in-ring feud so far. Reigns was at last word a -1700 favorite, so literally nobody believes he’s not winning.
  • Drew McIntyre vs. Bill Goldberg for the Universal title. This almost surely has to be fairly short and McIntyre should win clean. Whether he does is another story. McIntyre is a -400 favorite,
  • Sasha Banks vs. Carmella for the Smackdown women’s title – Their first match was strong. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a title change to keep the program going, if only because the two men’s title matches don’t look like title changes.
  • Charlotte Flair & Asuka vs. Shyna Baszler & Nia Jax for the women’s tag title. This was moved to the pre-show so it should take place shortly after 6:30 p.m. since the five matches will fill the three hours. This could go either way. I don’t expect a long reign for Flair & Asuka since Asuka has the singles belt. Flair vs. Asuka would always feel like a direction, but it does appear Flair as a face vs.  Lacey Evans is one of the most pushed TV programs.

For what it’s worth,and it may not be worth much, Carlos Cabrera, the WWE Spanish language announcer, talked about an MMA star who may be in the women’s Royal Rumble.

There’s no word regarding if anyone else was pulled from today’s show for being in contact with Mia Yim (Reckoning) who announced yesterday she had tested positive for COVID. 

The Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Shingo Takagi match from yesterday’s New Japan New Beginning in Nagoya is worth going out of your way to see. It’s a classic match.

Regarding stuff in combat sports that trended on Google this week, the boxing match didn’t trend last night and there was no UFC last night. Nothing from pro wrestling did although the Royal Rumble today should do about 1 million searches based on previous years and be among the biggest things of the day. The only thing that did trend was Ben Askren was the sixth most searched for topic on the Internet on Tuesday with 200,000, based  on his fight with Jake Paul being announced.

Game Changer Wrestling’s 24 hour marathon on Fite TV raised $53,000 for wrestlers affected by COVID. Jordan Oliver faced Tony Deppen in what was supposed to be a 60 man Iron man match. But they were tied after 60 minutes. So they went another hour and Oliver ended up winning 7 falls to 6. There have been claims of this being the longest match in wrestling history and it was the longest in several years, but in the early days of wrestling many matches went longer.  For American pro wrestling, the most famous long match was July 4, 1916, Strangler Lewis vs. Joe Stecher, which went more than five hours and is still considered one of the biggest sporting events ever held in Omaha.  We actually had a feature on that with the actual play-by-play coverage from the Omaha World-Herald the night of the match a couple of years back.  Blake Christian lost a match where he would never wrestle in GCW again if he lost, which starts rumors of where he’s headed next.

There will be a vote tomorrow by the Huntington Beach, CA City Council on removing Tito Ortiz as Mayor Pro Tem.

New Japan World has another show at 4 a.m. tomorrow morning Eastern time from Korakuen Hall. It’s a four-match show:

  • Yota Tsuji vs. Gabriel Kidd
  • Koa Ibushi & Tomoaki Honma & Sho & Master Wato vs. Sanada & Tetsuya Naito & Hiromu Takahashi & Bushi
  • Kazuchika Okada & Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii vs. Evil & Yujiro Takahashi & Dick Togo
  • Elimination match: Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr. & Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Douki vs. Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa & Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo & Jado

There will also be another Korakuen Hall show at 4 a.m. Tuesday morning and another on Wednesday.

WWE

  • They are working on several documentaries and the next year’s video game this weekend. The roster is being scanned for the game today.

UFC

  • Jairzinho Rozestruk vs. Cyril Gane is  now the main event for a 2/27 show, over five rounds.  The fight was originally announced for 3/13.  The original main event was to be Dominick Reyes vs. Jiri Pochazka, but Reyes was injured and the match was postponed.
  • Alex Da Silva pulled out of this coming Saturday’s UFC show with a knee injury.  They are looking for a new opponent for Devonte Smith.

OTHER NOTES

  • Lio Rush on the Challenge Mania podcast talks how he wound up on a MTV Reality Competition Show after being let go by WWE in April. There is also a ton of eye-opening stuff about his last few months in WWE & how the Cruiserweight Title was used as a way to leverage him to stay without getting what he wanted financially. He talks about wanting to wrestle Kenny Omega and much more.
  • A story on the cause of death of a contestant on the John Cena-led show “Wipeout” that will be airing soon on TBS. (thanks to Mike Kuzmuk)
  • Bill Apter talks to ROH COO Joe Koff.
  • A feature on Jianna Bonomi, who helped write the lead story that was so well received in the Black Lives Matter issue of the Observer a few months ago. She also talks about hearing from Dwayne Johnson after something else she wrote and recovering from being hit by a drunk driver at 90 miles per hour that should have killed her and ended her competitive sports career.
  • Los Parks vs. TJP & Bu Ku Dao for the MLW world tag team title airs on Wednesday’s edition of MLW on YouTube and Fubo Sports.
  • VIP Wrestling from Friday night in Haltom City, TX:  Kari Wright b Cam Cole, Heather Monroe b Killa Kate, O’Shay Edwards & Ron Hunt & Kaun b Xander Gold & Tino Valentino & Huseman, Will Allday b Lou Gotti, Alejandra the Lion b Rock-C in a no DQ match, Chandler Hopkins b Matt Cross, Trish Adora b Rache Chanel, Shane Taylor b Izzy James, Jonathan Gresham b JD Griffey, JTG b Hammerstone to keep the VIP title (thanks to Shannon Walsh and wrestlingwithdemons.net)
  • In a huge upset, Daniel Torres (12-4) won the KSW featherweight title over Salahdine Parnaase (14-4-1) via knockout in 1:47  after a biceps strike on yesterday in Lodz, Poland. In the co-feature, Szymon Kolecki (9-1), a former Olympic gold medalist in weightlifting, beat Martin Zawada (29-16-1) via decision on scores of 30-26, 29-28 and 29-28. 

Daily Pro Wrestling History: Edge wins 2010 Royal Rumble

CONTACT INFORMATION

Tito Ortiz wins city council seat, Dan Rodimer Nevada race undecided

Posted on by Josh Nason

Image: LA Times

The combat sports world was represented Tuesday in two separate U.S. elections with one race still to be decided.

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz won one of three available city council seats in Huntington Beach, California, leading the pack with 14% of the vote (34,901 votes) as of the time of this story. A vocal Donald Trump supporter from their days on The Apprentice, the UFC Hall-of-Famer was running on a platform of “Make Huntington Beach Safe Again”.

The 45-year-old has retired several times from MMA and was last seen in a dominant win over Alberto Del Rio for Combate Americas in 2019.

In a race for Nevada’s Third Congressional District, former WWE developmental talent Dan Rodimer (R) is still waiting to see if he was successful in unseating incumbent Susie Lee (D). As of the writing, he was trailing Lee by roughly 5000 votes with 85% of the districts reporting according to the Associated Press. This is the 42-year-old’s second attempt at running for public office, losing in a bid for a Nevada senate spot in 2018.

He was under contract from 2006-07, working in Deep South Wrestling, Ohio Valley Wrestling, and Florida Championship Wrestling with one appearance on WWE Heat before being released. 

On a related note, the aforementioned WWE Hall-of-Famer Trump is still awaiting to hear whether he or Joe Biden won the U.S. presidency following Tuesday’s elections.

Daily Update: Kairi Sane, Tito Ortiz, Cody

Posted on by Bryan Rose

DAILY UPDATE

Latest News:

Latest Audio:

JOB LISTING: Web/UI Developer(s)

  • Experience with OnLamp(Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP)
  • GITHUB and Linux command line experience while be helpful as well.
  • CMS – Drupal and WordPress. vBulletin
  • Possible experience with AWS(s3 specifically), Dreamhost, UI development
  • Cloud based hosting experience a plus
  • Javascript also a huge plus

While this is a diverse request this doesn’t have to be just one person! If you fit any part of this please feel free to inquire.

This is not just for projects related to F4WOnline.

WON NEWSLETTER: July 27, 2020 Observer Newsletter: Extreme Rules review, Good Brothers podcast, more

A look at the very good, and the very bad, of Extreme Rules is the lead story in the new double issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. We also have a back-of-the-book feature on Carlton Haselrig, one of the greatest American heavyweight wrestlers in the history of the sport of wrestling.

The new issue also covers:

Interest levels in Extreme Rules and with the rating the next day, the lesson that tells us about certain types of angles, the background of Seth Rollins vs. Rey Mysterio, along with match-by-match coverage, star ratings and poll results on the show.

An examination of all facets of the Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson departure from WWE, including what makes sense, what doesn’t, why, how come they were signed, how come they were given such a strong offer to stay, their release, A.J. Styles, angles set up for them in New Japan and AEW last year, the booking of Raw under Paul Heyman and much more.  This is a very detailed look not only at Gallows &  Anderson, but the roles of a number of different people and how Raw fell off the creative tracks

Impact Slammiversary with match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results on the show.

Stephanie McMahon’s interview in Ad Age covering wrestling during the pandemic, testing and what changes look to be permanent, as well as race relations.

The current plan for WrestleMania and how it has shifted, the new WWE Board of Directors, next week’s Raw show, NXT North American title thoughts, notes on the next Takeover, update on Wendy Barlow and COVID, WWE producer let go, WWE loses major international deal and how it went down, WWE TV personality get bullied by fans, idea nixed for Raw this past week and all the different changes to the show, Adam Cole-Pat McAfee angel, Bellas update, sports ratings and Canadian TV ratings for the past week, another example of WWE marketing that ha led to the situation they are in, market value of WWE and the most-watched shows of the past week on the WWE Network.

This past weekend’s UFC show.

A feature on Haselrig, a Pennsylvania sports legend who could have been an Olympic medalist or an all-time great NFL player, but drugs curtailed his career, but not before he set a heavyweight record that may never be beat and another record that almost surely will never be beat.

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

  • WWE uploaded a video of Kairi Sane reflecting on her career in WWE.
  • Triple H tweeted about Sane: “A truly unique young woman with the ability to capture hearts, minds (and pirate ships!!!) Proud of @KairiSaneWWE’s growth as a performer and her time spent with #WWENXT and @WWE.”
  • Variety published a story on WWE’s declining ratings and Vince McMahon’s various explanations over the last few quarters as to why ratings have been down.
  • This week’s episode of The Bump featured the show giving out their half-year awards called Bumpys. WWE.com has the full list of winners.
  • Jerry Lawler paid tribute to his son Brian, who passed away on this date two years ago: “Today is a sad anniversary. Two years ago today we got the horrible news that my son Brian had died. I miss him every day. We are headed  to his gravesite now to visit. #RIPBrianChristopher #GrandMasterSexay #ToolCool”
  • Talking to Wrestling Inc, Doc Gallows said that AJ Styles would likely want another match with the Undertaker, one with a crowd. “The Boneyard Match was them doing the best they could do with what they had as a resource at the time,” he said. “Creatively, it was where to go and what to do. But I think that probably AJ would like to give Taker that match with a big crowd and a big reaction. I know that.”
  • WWE uploaded a gauntlet match between Ricochet, Cesaro, Sami Zayn, Andrade, and Rey Mysterio from the July 29, 2019 edition of Raw and Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks vs. Bayley vs. Becky Lynch from NXT TakeOver: Rival from 2015.
  • Matt Riddle will be the guest on After The Bell with Corey Graves this week.
  • FS1 will air SummerSlam 2019 following its MLB coverage on August 11.

Other Wrestling

  • A seriesoftweets between FTR and Tony Khan revealed that FTR will “make a decision” today regarding their contracts with AEW.
  • In an interview with ESPN, Cody spoke about the status of a second weekly AEW show: “I think probably in four to six weeks I’ll have a firmer answer on that. That’s still very much the case. The format of that show might be different. It might rely on the production we have in place already, it might not. I know we’ve got all kinds of different plans converging on what we want. The goal of what the third hour would be is to showcase a different crop of talent from AEW. It’s very hard when you have this much talent and you only have a single weekly show. It’s hard to keep people in the mix. As a wrestler, it’s even hard to train for. The only way to train for wrestling is still wrestling. It’s been an adjustment, even without the pandemic.”
  • Jeremy Lambert of Fightful talked to Ricky Starks about his match on Dynamite tonight and working with Taz.
  • Ace Austin and Kylie Rae will make their GCW debuts on Sunday’s show in Indianapolis. ACH vs. Joey Janela has been announced for the event.
  • In the latest edition of the Aces High interview series, Hiroshi Tanahashi talked to NJPW‘s website about working as an assistant to Riki Choshu.
  • NJPW’s theme entrance music is now available on Spotify.
  • Thunder Rosa will defend the NWA Women’s title against Lindsay Snow on Mission Pro Wrestling’s Hell Hath No Fury event on September 18 in Buda, Texas.
  • A trailer is out for 12 Hour Shift, a black comedy horror film featuring Mick Foley and David Arquette.

MMA

  • Tito Ortiz has filed to run for a seat in the Huntington Beach, CA City Council, according to TMZ.
  • Ryan Bader told ESPN he has signed to defend his Bellator heavyweight title against Vadim Nemkov at Bellator 244, which takes place on August 21.
  • Brett Okamoto spoke to Stipe Miocic regarding his upcoming title fight against Daniel Cormier on August 15.
  • Manel Kape is out of UFC 252 following an ankle injury.

Daily Pro Wrestling History: Hansen & Gordy win All Japan tag titles

CONTACT INFORMATION

April 14, 2003 Observer Newsletter: Kurt Angle neck surgery

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Kurt Angle made the decision to go with the minimally invasive surgery techniques of Dr. Hae-Dong Jho, with an operation for his damaged neck scheduled on 4/11 in Pittsburgh.

The decision had been one of considerable controversy because it was contradictory to the diagnosis of Dr. Lloyd Youngblood, who had been the company’s go-to guy for wrestlers with neck problems. Youngblood had recommended that Angle retire, while Jho said Angle could be back in action in four to six weeks, although internally the expectations are that he won’t be back quite that quickly. No exact time frame estimate for his return can be accurately assessed until after the surgery.

Angle met with Jho again after Wrestlemania, and was leaning toward him until making the final decision a day or two later. In an article on the company’s web site, Angle cited the fact that after taking a year off for surgery from Youngblood, that a few years later, Steve Austin is in need of another neck fusion surgery.

Current subscribers click here to continue reading.

Tito Ortiz-Alberto Del Rio MMA fight changed to a ‘no decision’

Posted on by Josh Nason

When it comes to MMA, the beleaguered Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation has had quite a month, beginning with UFC 247 which featured several bizarre decisions including a major conflict of interest where a judge trained with one of the fighters he was judging.

On Wednesday, it continued as MMA Junkie reported that Tito Ortiz’s lopsided win over Alberto El Patron at December’s Combate Americas PPV has been changed into a no decision. Junkie got a quote from a state official which said the result was changed “pending further investigation.” 

Junkie also reported that the promotion was made aware of the change Tuesday, but they were unable to offer any further information. As of now, neither Combate CEO Campbell McLaren, Ortiz, or El Patron have commented publicly.

Because Ortiz won that night in Hidalgo, the result being changed likely means the issue is with him and not the former WWE star. However, the official gave no details as to what the investigation is regarding and who.

It was the first MMA fight for the former Alberto Del Rio since 2010 while Ortiz had fought the year prior against Chuck Liddell for Oscar De La Hoya’s failed MMA promotion.

Daily Update: TakeOver Portland, Tito Ortiz, Big Show

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

DAILY UPDATE

Latest News:

Latest Audio:

WON NEWSLETTER: WrestleMania 37 details, WWE financials, more

A look at next year’s WrestleMania in Los Angeles is the lead story in the new issue of the Observer. We look at the back story, regarding why the city wanted it in 2021 and WWE wanted it in 2022 and how the compromise was made.  We note deals of the new stadium, attendance, the legit all-time company attendance record, , notes from the press conference and a look back at the previous WrestleMania in Los Angeles.

Also covered in the new issue:

2019 WWE business rundown in every category, what was up, what was down, how much the new television deals added in this year’s fourth quarter, why there is uncertainty about stock analysts about the company, and TV deals late in renewing,.  We look at how badly the value of the company has dropped of late, what analysts are saying right now and what they are has to be done to get the company value back up.

Roster expansion, why production costs are so much higher, the decline over the past year in both network and PPV revenue, the arena business, the NXT house show business, merchandise, licensing, as well as a look at the company’s revenue and profits annually dating back to 1994.

More on the firing of Michelle Wilson and George Barrios from WWE, return of John Cena, Three more new members of WWE Hall of Fame, Becky Lynch talks pay, what wrestler looks to be leaving, future of MVP in WWE, UK ratings, most-watched shows on WWE Network and details of the weekend main roster and NXT arena events with business notes, results and highlights.

New Japan’s next show in Madison Square Garden, who are the key players and more dates for this year’s G-1 tournament.

Full coverage of New Beginning in Osaka, with business and creative notes, notes on all the upcoming title matches around the world, the latest angles, plus match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results.

XFL’s first week of television, the good, the bad, the TV deals and what it needs to stay at to be successful, plus live attendance and why the chances of survival are very different from the first time.

WWE Super Showdown, and Elimination Chamber shows.

Full coverage of UFC 247, with the background on the show, business notes, match-by-match coverage and poll results.

Regarding the Wednesday numbers, we’ve got full details, demos that each side won, how every segment did and what match ended up as the difference maker. 

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

We’re looking for reports from the WWE show last night in Eugene, OR, Warrior Wrestling last night in Chicago, WWE tonight in Kennewick, WA and the OTT show in Dublin yesterday to [email protected]. We’re also looking for your thoughts on the NXT Takeover show tonight, with a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected].

Bryan and I will be back tonight talking Takeover and the latest wrestling news. You can send questions to the show to [email protected].

Our F4W/WON Convention will take place once again in Las Vegas this year during Double or Nothing weekend. More information can be found here.

Takeover tonight in Portland has:

  • Adam Cole vs. Tommaso Ciampa for NXT title
  • Johnny Gargano vs. Finn Balor
  • Rhea Ripley vs. Bianca Belair for women’s title
  • Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly vs. Matt Riddle & Pete Dunne for tag titles
  • Keith Lee vs. Dominik Dijakovic for North American title
  • Tegan Nox vs. Dakota Kai street fight

On paper this show looks super. Lee vs. Dijakovic has the potential to be incredible and the tag title match, Gargano vs. Balor and Cole vs. Ciampa almost can’t help but be great. One would think they’d also try and shoot some angles for Wednesday and do a surprise intro or two.

Both Tito Ortiz and Simone Johnson have been training of late at the PC.

On the weekend Google searches, nothing from pro wrestling made the list. For today at this moment, Diego Sanchez was No. 4 with 50,000, largely due to Conor McGregor mentioning him, and Caleb Plant, a boxer, was No. 8 with 20,000. For yesterday, UFC was No. 12 at 50,000.  For Friday, boxer Ryan Garcia was No.8 at 200,000 and Tyson Fury was No. 10 at 100,000.

WWE

  • Raw tomorrow night is from Everett, WA, has Randy Orton vs. Matt Hardy, Bobby Lashley & Angel Garza vs. Rusev & Humberto Carrillo and Big Show is scheduled to be there (not advertised at this point).

AEW

MISCELLANEOUS

  • Friday’s RevPro show in London will go up on their service tomorrow morning U.K. time.  That’s where Will Ospreay beat Zack Sabre Jr. to win the British title.
  • PWA iPPV from last night in Australia:  Big Fudge b Dazza, Mikey Broderick won over Carter Deems, Silvio and Tree Hugger Luchi, Madison Eagles b Matty Wahlberg, Jack Bonza & Kingley b Jimmy Townsend & William Preston, Sam Osborne b Adam Hoffman, Ricky South b Mat Diamond, Ricky South b Headhunter Rig, Ricky South b Caveman Ugg-COR, Paris De Silva b Michael Spencer, AJ & Rhys Angel b Concrete Davidson & Shazza McKenzie, Jessica Troy b Steph DeLander (thanks to Kevin Chiat)
  • NEW from last night in New Bethany, CT:  Jake Manning b Brian Anthony, Keith Youngblood b NEW champ Dan Maff-DQ, Facebook champ Christian Casanova D Flip Gordon 15:00, Bear Country & Richard Holiday b Chris Battle & Mike Gamble & Dexter Loux, Traevon Jordan & Jaylen Brandyn b Aiden Aggro & Danger Kid, Wrecking Ball Legursky b Mike Verna, JT Dunn b Sledge, Brad Hollister b Brett Ryan Gosselin (thanks to Nick Mahmood)
  • SICW from last night in East Carondelet, IL:  War Machine b Richard Shaw, Billy McNeil b Jake Prater, Frankie D b Kowalski-DQ, Steve Fender b Bobby D, Ax Allwardt b Damian Blade-DQ, Mauler McDarby b Chris Kade, Gary Jackson & Gil Rogers b Ken Kasa & Christopher Hargas, Ricky Cruz b CurtisWylde with Tito Santana as referee (thanks to Patrick Brandmeyer)
  • EVE runs 3/7 at the Resistance Gallery in Bethnal Green, London, UK.  It will air live on FITE TV. Jazzy Gabert returns as Alpha Female to face Rhia O’Reilly. Gisele Shaw also faces Sammii Jayne, plus Holidead vs. Kasey.  Session Moth Martina from ROH will also be there.
  • Stardom from today in Tokyo:  Jamie Hayter b Hina, Momo Watanabe & AZM b Hana Kimura & Rina, Jungle Kyona & Itsuki Hoshino b Leo Onozaki (retirement match) & Saya Iida, Giulia & Maika b Konami & Leyla Hirsch, Natsuko Tora & Saki Kashima & Bea Priestley & Natsu Sumire & Zoey Skye b Mayu Iwatani & Arisa Hoshiki & Riho & Tam Nakano & Starlight Kid, Utami Hayashishita b Saya Kamitani to keep the Future of Stardom title, although she then vacated the title.
  • Ultimate Championship Wrestling from last night in Bay City, MI:  Nick Green b John E. Bravo, Adrian Chase & Alex Little & Brandon Marcinko b Nate Bock & Kyle Barrett in 3 on 2, Ingrid Isley b Kexy Blakk, Tommy Dreamer b Lawrence Jeter, Rohit Raju b Cousin Jake, Brooklyn Brawler & Bry Sullivan b Kurt Hendik & Kodiak K  Fabio Morocco, El Ridiculoso b Billy Ray Daniels in a ladder match. Sgt. Slaughter was a special guest and the show sold out. (thanks to Leonard Brand)
  • A story on former wrestler Patric Tanaka, who is now training wrestlers in Fargo, ND.
  • Sabu 90 minute interview with The Hannibal TV.

Daily Pro Wrestling History: Bret Hart wins WWF title at In Your House 13

CONTACT INFORMATION

Tito Ortiz submits Alberto Del Rio in Combate Americas main event

Posted on by Josh Nason

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz submitted former WWE champion Alberto Del Rio via first round submission in the Saturday main event of Combate Americas’ debut pay-per-view in Hidalgo, TX. 

The submission came at 3:10 in a fight that was so in the lightest sense of the word.

Del Rio posed no semblence of offense as Ortiz got the fight to the ground quickly and after working for a guillotine, Ortiz started landing some ground and pound. Ortiz eventually got a rear naked choke and Del Rio tapped quickly.

With the victory, Ortiz won Del Rio’s WWE title belt. Had Del Rio won, he would have taken home Ortiz’s UFC light heavyweight title.

Wearing a t-shirt that had a similar style to the classic Saturday Night’s Main Event logo, Ortiz walked out to “Real American” by Rick Derringer, the iconic walkout song for Hulk Hogan during his 80s WWF run. The promotion carried a “What side are you on?” tag line designed to play off the U.S. vs. Mexico border war narrative. This was despite the fact Ortiz is Mexican-American and Del Rio is a naturalized U.S. citizen.

This was both the promotional debut for both men and the first MMA fight for Del Rio since February 2010. Ortiz came out of retirement again for this fight after defeating Chuck Liddell last November for Oscar De La Hoya’s one-and-only MMA event.

Tito Ortiz-Alberto Del Rio headlining Combate Americas PPV debut

Posted on by Josh Nason

Former WWE Champion Alberto El Patron will fight former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz in the main event of Combate Americas’ debut pay-per-view on December 7th in Hidalgo, Texas, announced on Ariel Helwani’s ESPN show.

The fight will be at a 210 pound catchweight and the event itself will cost $39.99.

The former Alberto Del Rio signed with Combate last October, returning to a sport he hasn’t competed in since 2010. During that run, the 42-year-old went 9-5 and famously was knocked out by Mirko Cro Cop while wearing a mask at a 2003 PRIDE event. Helwani said El Patron (Jose Rodriguez) has been training with Bellator two-division champion Ryan Bader and UFC light heavyweight C.B. Dolloway for the fight.

After a tumultuous few years that saw El Patron released from both WWE and Impact Wrestling, he has been relatively quiet on the wrestling scene outside the co-creation of Nacion Lucha Libre with Chavo Guerrero.

The 44-year-old Ortiz is coming out of retirement again after runs with Bellator and a one-off fight with Oscar De La Hoya’s failed MMA effort last November when he knocked out Chuck Liddell. He signed with Combate, the brainchild of UFC co-founder Campbell McLaren, earlier this year. He has won four of his last five dating back to May 2014.

The two had a slight confrontation in August at a Combate event:

Combate Americas planning Tito Ortiz-Alberto Del Rio fight

Posted on by Josh Nason

The plans for a rumored fight between former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz and former WWE champion Alberto Del Rio are indeed moving ahead.

Combate Americas founder Campbell McLaren (seen above with Del Rio) confirmed as much while doing an interview with Spanish YouTube show Generacion MMA while giving no date or venue.

MMA Fighting reported the fight is being looked at for the final quarter of 2019 and that it would be at a 210-pound catchweight. In a February interview with Marca, Del Rio said he would doing one last fight this November at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, NV.

The 44-year-old Ortiz signed a deal with Combate in April while Del Rio (Jose Alberto Rodriguez) signed last October. While Ortiz has fought as recently as last November, Del Rio hasn’t competed in MMA since 2010.

The former wrestling star fought several times in Japan and Mexico between 2001 and 2010, compiling a record of 9-5. Most of his opponents were relatively unknown, although he did score a stoppage win over former UFC fighter Brad Kohler in the DEEP promotion in Japan in 2003.

Combate has made some headlines lately with good viewership numbers on Univision, edging out both UFC and Bellator in the same weekend. They also have a deal with DAZN.