How ROH came to be, its start, highs and lows, peak, legacy and perhaps its ending
Match of the week and performers of the week
A look at the three NJPW Wrestle Kingdom shows and details
NJPW Best of the Super Juniors, World Tag League, and last major show of the year
The voting, politics and results of the 2021 Tokyo Sports awards for Japanese pro wrestling
History of every Japanese MVP of the last 48 years
The sad story of Jimmy Rave
Kevin Owens signs new WWE deal and a look back at his career
Update on WWE Day One PPV and notable business
Why WWE Raw may be struggling badly over the next month
Updates on ticket sales for all major WWE and AEW events
Those who have worked for AEW at WWE tryouts this week
AEW Winter is Coming Danielson vs. Page, which type of viewers grew the most, which didn’t, the realities of the rating and the ratings patterns of pro wrestling the last seven weeks
Thoughts on Jon Huber and his wife’s story
Thoughts on AEW potential additions
International TV ratings
The audience of all shows over the past week, what is the pattern across the board and why the pattern is something ratings or even 18-49s don’t tell you
Thoughts on two incredible matches on the same day and compare and contrast Danielson vs. Page and Takahashi vs. YOH
The beginning of Flair vs. Sting and the dozens of matches before the famous one in Greensboro
UFC 269, where things go from here for the key stars, one of the biggest upsets, business numbers and what stats UFC on TV was strongest in, plus fight-by-fight notes
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SUNDAY NEWS UPDATE
Garrett Gonzalez and I did the weekend news report last night. We will be back Monday night with another news show. Bryan and I will be back the day after Christmas as he’s on a family vacation and it was literally impossible for him to do a show.
The Jake Paul vs. Tyron Woodley legit sold out the Amalie Arena in Tampa with 17,801 fans. Paul knocked out Woodley badly with a devastating right that landed perfectly in the sixth round of their boxing PPV fight promoted by Showtime. Paul was ahead on judges cards at the point of the knockout. Woodley took the fight late when Tommy Fury pulled out. The clip was all over social media last night. There was also an NBA vs NFL battle were Deron Williams beat Frank Gore.
This is the lineup thus far for tomorrow’s Raw from Milwaukee. Damien Priest vs. Dolph Ziggler non-title, Bianca Belair vs. Doudrop, Finn Balor vs. Austin Theory, The Mysterios vs. A.J. Styles & Omos (getting the long-awaited Omos vs. Rey Mysterio visual), Queen Zelina vs. Rhea Ripley, and The Cutting Edge with Maryse and Miz TV with Styles & Omos.
Monday’s Raw is another one with a weak advance. They are doing two-for-ones in the market including pushing the two-for-one at last night’s Milwaukee Bucks game. To promote the show, at the Milwaukee Bucks game last night it was WWE Night with pre-taped segments with Drew McIntyre, Big E, Bobby Lashley and Liv Morgan.
We’re looking for reports from tonight’s WWE house show in Des Moines, IA to [email protected]
As far as Google searches for the week went, three items trended this week. Jake Paul had 2 million searches. Last night’s UFC show was No. 13 with 200,000. The only other thing boxing, wrestling or MMA related this past week was the death of Jimmy Rave was No. 20 on Wednesday with 50,000 searches.
Regarding last night’s UFC, the main controversy was Angela Hill once again lost a fight she should have won. Hill faced Amanda Lemos third from the top. Almost everyone had Hill winning rounds two and three. Media members were 92 percent for Hill, with almost everyone having her winning rounds two and three. Judge Michael Bell was the only judge who scored it that way. Douglas Crosby gave all three rounds to Lemos. Judge Junichiro Kamijo gave rounds one and three to Lemos.
Stardom did a Friday night PPV show from Osaka: Syuri b Waka Tsukiyama, Syuri b Mai Sakurai, Syuri b Lady C, Maika & Himeka & Natsupoi kept Artist of Stardom titles over Takuma Iroha & Rin Kadokura & Maria, Mayu Iwatani & Hazuki & Koguma b Tam Nakano & Unagi Sayaka & Mina Shirakawa, Starlight Kid & Konami & Saki Kashima & Ruaka b Momo Watanabe & Utami Hayashishita & Saya Kamitani & AZM-DQ in a captains fall elimination match, Maika & Himeka & Natsupoi b Mayu Iwatani & Hazuki & Koguma to keep the Artist of Stardom titles in an elimination ladder match.
In the eight woman match, the stipulations were that either Starlight Kid or Watanabe would have to leave their stable if their team lost and the match could only end when either Kid or Watanabe lost the fall. Watanabe got DQ’d on purpose and then joined Oedo Tai in the big news on the show. After the main event, Sayaka & Shirakawa & Sakurai challenged Maika & Himeka & Natsupoi for the Artist of Stardom titles on the next PPV show on 12/29 from Tokyo Sumo Hall.
wXw’s 21st anniversary show took place last night in Oberhausen, Germany: Oskar Munchow b Goldenboy Santos, Dover & Icarus b Fast Time Mondo & Stephanie Maze to keep the wXw tag titles, Bobby Gunns DCOR Michael Knight, Absolute Andy b Norman Harras to win the Shotgun title, Robert Dreissker b Vincent Heisenberg-DQ, Walter b Cara Noir, Levaniel won ladder match over Aigle Blanc, Dennis Dullnig, Hektor Invictus and Tristan Archer, Iva Kolasky b Skye Smitson to keep the women’s title, Axel Tischer b Jurn Simmons to keep the wXw world title. Walter vs. Noir went 24:00 and was said to be fantastic, described as just a tad below Walter vs. Ilja Dragunov bouts. Walter won with a side slam brainbuster. Walter was much lighter than in the past, and thanked fans for supporting wrestling in Germany. (thanks to Markus Gronemann)
WWE
Last night’s WWE results from Rockford, IL: Viking Raiders & Ricochet & Mansoor b Sheamus & Ridge Holland & Angel & Humberto, Otis b Dominik Mysterio, Carmella & Queen Zelina b Sasha Banks & Toni Storm to keep the tag titles, Shinsuke Nakamura & Rick Boogs b Happy Corbin & Madcap Moss, Big E won four-way to keep WWE title over Kevin Owens, Seth Rollins ad Bobby Lashley, Becky Lynch won three-way over Liv Morgan and Bianca Belair, Drew McIntyre & Rey Mysterio & King Woods b Usos & Roman Reigns
OTHER NOTES
Jordan Young, a member of American Top Team, who once lost to Tom Lawlor in an MMA fight, died this week at the age of 27. No cause of death has been announced. He was 12-2 in seven years of fighting with 11 stoppage wins. He once had give straight submission wins in Bellator. He lost to Lawlor earlier this year in the PFL.inlsaets aers
P.J. Polaco (Justin Credible) is doing an autobiography with Kenny Casanova that will be out this month. It covers his career and also has a foreword by former tag team partner Lance Storm.
Results from Friday night’s GCW show in Los Angeles: Mark & Jay Briscoe retained the GCW tag titles over Brody King & PCO in an excellent weapons filled brawl; Tony Deppen b Nick Wayne; Effy & Allie Katch b Matt Cardona & Chelsea Green. Cardona said he quit and that Brett Lauderdale can shove the Hammerstein Ballroom show in an angle; Jonathan Gresham retained the ROH title in a Pure rules match over AJ Gray. Gresham had the Octopus on and kept elbowing Gray in the head until the ref stopped it; Blake Christian b Alex Zayne (said to be the best match). This sets up Christian challenging Gresham for the ROH title at the Hammerstein Ballroom show; Jacob Fatu (who told the referee to announce him as the real f***ing head of the table) NC Matt Justice; Atticus Cogar b Jordan Oliver in a rope rope barbed wire match. A pane of glass and a flaming table were part of this (thanks to Ross Blair)
Roberto Soldic (20-3) beat Mamed Khalidov (35-8-2) in the main event of last night’s KSW 65 show in Gliwce, Poland. Soldic (20-3) won via second round knockout. Soldic is now both the welterweight and middleweight champion in the promotion. Salahdine Parnasse (16-1-1) regained the featherweight title from Daniel Torres (12-5) on scores of 50-45, 49-46 and 48-47.
Jessie Godderz defends his OWV title against Chris Adonis (Masters) on the 1/15 show at the Danny Davis Arena in Louisville. The show will air on FITE.
AJ Mendez noted the completion of her first feature film,Blade of 47 Ronin” which will debut on Netflix next year. It’s the sequel for the Keanu Reeves movie that is set several hundred years later.
Battleground Championship Wrestling will be running 3/26 at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia with Atsushi Onita vs. Bully Ray in a death match. Also announced was Brian Cage vs. Buddy Matthews.
Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling from last night in East Carondelet, IL: Frankie D b Richard Shaw, Tony Raze b Frank Dunbar, Shawn Santel & Mauler McDarby b Franco Varga & Bobby D, Gary Jackson b Rick Ruby to keep the Central States title in a 2/3 fall match, Sean Vincent b Billy McNeil, Flash Flanagan & Jason Breed & The Big Texan b Attila Khan & Kowalski & Ken Kasa in an elimination match (thanks to Patrick Brandmeyer)
The new Omicron variant of COVID-19 that became a major news story this week led to Japan closing its borders.
The announcement was made that as of 11/30, travelers could not come to the country, but it is not what it sounds like.
This will have some effect on the pro wrestling business. Basically wrestlers who have already obtained working visas will be able to return, and it’s been confirmed that Will Ospreay would be working the Tokyo Dome in the main event on 1/5 against the winner of the Shingo Takagi vs. Kazuchika Okada IWGP title match the night before. There was a one day period where New Japan officials were trying to get clearance for this and there was no answer regarding those leaving the country or those not in the country.
Those who have been in Japan over the past year, people like Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa, Jeff Cobb, Aaron Henare, Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens, KENTA and announcer Kevin Kelly (who will be staying in Japan from January through March and doing live English broadcasts of all the major shows until the end of the New Japan Cup) will all be allowed to come to Japan or in some cases stay in Japan.
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 talking Raw, NXT War Games, people whose contracts are expiring, Jeff Hardy and more with Wrestling Observer Radio tonight. You can send in questions for the show to [email protected]
Regarding Jeff Hardy, WWE hasn’t responded to any questions about his situation. Essentially on the Saturday night show in Edinburg, TX, Hardy & Xavier Woods & Drew McIntyre were facing Roman Reigns & The Usos in the main event. Hardy worked most of the match and then disappeared during the match and wasn’t there at the end. He was sent home and didn’t work in Corpus Christi, TX, last night, and WWE had to change that card around including several wrestlers there not wrestling because Rey Mysterio was moved to the main event and they didn’t have a partner for Dominik against Chad Gable & Otis.
Raw tonight has Big E vs. Kevin Owens in the second of three straight WWE nights with cage matches. It’s a non-title match from Memphis. Becky Lynch vs. Liv Morgan for the women’s title is the other main event, plus Miz TV with Edge. Raw goes against a Buffalo Bills vs. New England Patriots game on ESPN.
NXT has Kyle O’Reilly vs. Von Wagner on NXT tomorrow.
Tommy Fury pulled out of his 12/18 PPV boxing match with Jake Paul from the Amalie Arena in Tampa due to a medical issue that was not released. So Tyron Woodley will get his rematch with Paul after all on 12 days notice in an eight-round fight at 192 pounds (Woodley fought in MMA at 170). Paul beat Woodley in their first fight, largely due to Woodley being hesitant to throw. Woodley had wanted a rematch and Paul had blown him off saying he already beat him. It probably will still do some PPV business but I expect it will be well down from their first fight.
Khabib Nurmagomedov has announced his first MMA show in the U.S. for his Eagle FC promotion on 1/18 in Miami. Rashad Evans comes out of retirement on the show. Tyrone Spong vs. Big Foot Silva is the main event. Silva really shouldn’t be licensed to fight having been knocked out in eight of his last ten fights between MMA and Bare Knuckle. But it’s Florida.
WWE
WWE tonight and AEW Wednesday are doing last minute ticket price cuts on unsold seats.
AEW
Wednesday’s show at the UBS Arena in Long Island has topped 9,000 tickets out. Announced so far are The Dynamite Diamond Battle Royal, Young Bucks vs. Chuck Taylor & Rocky Romero, Jamie Hayter vs. Riho and Bryan Danielson vs. John Silver.
Mei Suruga is returning to Japan.
UFC
Amanda Ribas vs. Michelle Waterson is being looked at for 3/26 according to MMA Fighting.
Caio Borralho is being looked at to fight Jamie Pickett on 1/15. Borralho was to debut on 12/18 but visa issues got in the way.
Julia Avila is out of her 12/18 scheduled fight with Raquel Pennington due to a knee injury according to MMA Fighting.
OTHER NOTES
Adam Scherr, the former Braun Strowman, will be in action for Northeast Wrestling on 1/21 in Waterbury, CT at John F. Kennedy High School. Also listed as appearing is Matt Taven, Erick Redbeard (Rowan), Dan Maff, Sgt. Slaughter, Mercedes Martinez, Flip Gordon,Vinnie Marseglia and Wrecking Ball Legursky.
There is a fundraiser for Give Kids the World Village from 12/9 to 12/11 and feature appearances by Mick Foley, Matt Riddle, Scotty 2 Hotty, Raquel Gonzalez, Kacy Catanzaro, Kayden Carter, Robert Stone, Odyssey Jones, Xyon Quinn, Grayson Waller and Noelle Foley. The event takes place at Give Kids the World at 210 S. Bass Road, Kissimmee, FL 34746. There will be a meet and greet on 12/11 at 4:30 p.m. For a $100 donation you can mingle with and get photos of everyone and a poster that everyone will sign for you. For a $200 donation you can get autographs with everyone in attendance plus photos with everyone and a poster.
Scott Garland, the former The Scotty 2 Hotty, noted his WWE non-compete will end on 12/23 and he is looking to return to wrestling all over the world.
EVE results from Saturday in Walthamstow at the Signature Brew: Charlie Morgan b Nina Samuels, Laura Di Matteo b Unbreakable Rhio, Rhia O’Reilly & Skye Smithson b Debbie Dahmer & Heidi Katrina, The Ava White b Aurora eves, Angel Hayze b Chantal Jordan, Kasey b Mila Smidt to keep the International title, Emersyn Jayne b Jetta to win the Eve title. They will be doing two PPV live streams on 1/7 from 229 the Venue in London. Charlie Morgan vs Laura Di Matteo is on the show. Both will air on the EVE YouTube chanel and WatchWomensWrsestling.com
Glory Pro Wrestling from yesterday in St. Louis: Moses the Deliverer & Rahim de la Suede & Ethan Price b Paco Gonzalez & Matt Knicks & Chris Castro, Rohit Raju b Davey Vega, Trish Adora b Blair Onyx, Idris Abraham & Joe Coleman b Eli Rossi & The ATM, Mat Fitchett b Warhorse, Barackus won four-way over Davey Bang, Storm Grayson and Evin Kudic, Dan the Dad b Dak Draper, Karam & Xavier Walker b Camaro jackson & Kenny Alfonso in a tornado match, Mike Outlaw b Josh Alexander to keep the Crown of Glory title (thanks to Patrick Brandmeyer)
On the episode of the TV show “Young Sheldon” that aired on Thursday night on CBS, there was a clip of wrestling on television airing a 1983 match with Butch Reed vs. Magnum T.A from Mid South Wrestling. The show is actually set in Medford, TX (Eastern Texas so Mid South was the local promotion in the area) in 1990 (a few years after Mid South was sold). (thanks to David Taub)
Action Wrestling from Friday night in Tyrone,GA: Jaden Newman b Ashton Starr, Brogan Finlay & Bobby Flaco b Suge D & Kevin Ryan, Adam Priest b Matt Sells,Kevin Ku b Brett Ison, Arik Royal b Daniel Makabe, Damya Tangra b Landon Hale, Tank b Angelus Layne, Violence is Forever b The Skulk to win the tag titles, AC Mack b Anthony Henry. They announced Mack challenging IWTV champion Alex Shelley on the 1/21 show in Tyrone, GA which will air on IWTV.
Beyond Wrestling from yesterday in Providence, RI: Aaron Rourke b Teddy Goodz, Alex Shelley b Ruby Soho to keep the IWTV world title, Megan Bayne b Tasha Steelz, John Silver & Alex Reynolds b Mark Sterling & VSK, Masha Slamovich b Kimber Lee-DQ, Wheeler Yuta b Tracy Williams, Rickey Shane Page b Slade, Jaylen Brandyn & Traevon Jordan won three-way over Bear Country and Bobby Orlando & Bryce Donovan, Willow Nightingale b Max the Impaler, Alec Price b Blake Christian, Dutch b Dan Barry in a no DQ match
While in his heyday he did as many as seven shows in one day, Mistico worked three shows on Saturday, for three different promotions. Mistico’s rivalry with Averno from 15 years ago is back as they will oppose each other in a Guadalajara main event tomorrow with Mistico & Atlantis Jr. & Soberano Jr. vs. Averno & Mephisto (a major tag team in another era) & Principe Daniel. (thanks to Rene Ochoa)
Defy on 12/18 at Washington Hall has added Lio Rush vs. Carlos Romo from Spain.
The unlikely run of Jake Paul as both a boxer and pay-per-view draw continued Sunday in front of a raucous cloud in Cleveland, OH, as he defeated former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley by split decision.
The three judges scored the bout 77-75 (Paul), 77-75 (Woodley) and 78-74 (Paul).
In the post-fight interview, Woodley called for a rematch and got in Paul’s face, saying no one else would sell PPVs like he could. Paul said if Woodley got an “I love Jake Paul” tattoo tonight, they would run it back. Woodley agreed, even though they had already agreed to that stipulation prior to the bout.
While the first three rounds featured a lot of inactivity by the plodding Woodley, the former champion hurt Paul (4-0) in the fourth and patiently stalked him the rest of the round.
The rest of the fight was Woodley (0-1) not staying busy enough and Paul doing just enough to win rounds as both men often looked like the relative boxing rookies that they are.
It was an eight round professional bout fought at a 190-pound catchweight.
Paul was the younger of the two fighters and also the bigger of the two with four inches of height.
Paul was coming off a tremendously successful financial outing against former Bellator champion and UFC fighter Ben Askren, knocking him out in the first round. That was his last event for Triller before he signed a multi-fight deal with Showtime.
This was Woodley’s first ever professional boxing match. He was coming off four straight losses that ended his UFC run.
The card didn’t feature any other MMA fighters on the card, but Ariel Helwani was part of the broadcast team for the evening.
YouTube star and budding boxer Jake Paul is continuing his climb up the MMA food chain as he will face former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley in a boxing match.
The Athletic was the first to report the news which has yet to be formally announced. The fight will be on August 28th with the venue still TBA, expected to be announced this Saturday during the Logan Paul vs. Floyd Mayweather exhibition boxing match in Miami, Florida.
The 24-year-old Paul (3-0) is coming off a swift first round knockout of Woodley teammate and former Bellator/ONE champion Ben Askren in mid-April while the 39-year-old Woodley is riding a four-fight losing streak in the UFC. He became a free agent after his last fight, a March first round submission loss to Vicente Luque. His last win came in September 2018.
This will be Woodley’s first professional boxing match. He has seven knockouts and two knockout losses in 27 professional MMA fights over a twelve year career.
After the Askren fight did big business for Triller/FITE.tv, Paul signed a multi-fight deal with Showtime.
We’ve got a huge issue of the Observer this week with a lot of business notes, polls on the biggest shows of the last week, Match of the Week, Performer of the Week, New Japan Cup polls, several bios and updates on the biggest shows.
With WrestleMania upcoming, we run down the show, why certain matches have changed, update on the WWE COVID situation including who was ad wasn’t back, WrestleMana ticket sales updates and the demand, a look at both NXT Takeover shows, the WWE’s new location for filming starting on 4/12, as well as UFC tickets sales for its first show and the current level of demand for tickets for both events.
Also in this issue:
More info on the WWE Network migration to Peacock, what is being edited off and why, the release of Andrade and more background on him, Glenn Jacobs and the Knox County mayor situation, update on Samantha Tavel lawsuit against Matt Riddle, Lots of Hall of Fame news and bios, announcer will no longer appear on TV, Stephanie McMahon talks WWE without Vince McMahon, how wrestling shows ranked among the sports shows this past week, what was planned to happen with the U.S. title this year and why it didn’t happen, Daniel Bryan talks his future, his philosophy on wrestling, who he wants to wrestle with lots of surprises, his current schedule, Randy Orton talks his career, WWE gets new television deal, WWE legend puts home for sale, new WWE video game news, WWE documentary notes, injury updates and WWE stock price update.
A study done in Oslo, Norway which links steroid use to the aging of the brain and previous notes on things that could corroborate that regarding concussion recovery. We also give a background of when steroid use started in sports and how it got started in the U.S.
Fast Lane show, including a unique look in a number of different metro areas between the interest level in Fast Lane, one of WWE’s weakest shows in years for interest, and Revolution, which two weeks earlier set AEW’s PPV record, match-by-match coverage of the show with star ratings and poll results.
New Japan Cup coverage, New Japan Cup match-by-match rankings, star ratings and poll results, why the Bea Priestley angle went down, notes on double standards and why these double standards exist with some of the fan base, who was the New Japan Cup MVP and best performer, as well as the first time an earthquake caused a wrestling match to stop in the middle for 25 minutes, where New Japan goes from here with the big shows in April and May, as well as this week’s show.
Impact moving to Thursday.
A major feature on the life of Barry Orton, his claims that got him on TV in 1992 on Donahue, Geraldo, Larry King and other shows, his thoughts looking back, how he met Mike Tenay and his impact on Mike Tenay’s career and wrestling knowledge, what Orton said under oath and the lie detector test he took, the times Vince McMahon confronted him, as well as Orton sending Vince McMahon a letter with his idea of having a rock & roll gimmick.
Barry Orton on the Donahue show, Tom Cole and Orton, stuff that was and wasn’t taken out of context, Orton’s career ending, life after wrestling, his Calgary run as The Zodiac and where it came from and why it ended, and how his career started.
This past week’s UFC show, the star that filed, where the winners are headed, the age-old weight cutting problem, how the show did in different deos and fight-by-fight coverage.
A story on the death of Ed Farhat Jr., the son of The Sheik. We look at his days as Captain Eddie George as well as his attempts to follow his father in promoting wrestling in Michigan. We look at the heyday of The Sheik, the movie “I Like To Hurt People” that Ed Jr., had a role in, the end of the heyday period and more.
More detail on ratings than any other source, we have how every segment on NXT and AEW did as well as how it did with different age groups, genders and more, plus a look at all other wrestling shows of the past week.
Results of the major pro wrestling events of 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
Our weekend show, covering UFC, Smackdown, WrestleMania and other subjects is up on the site right now.
Dana White indicated they are looking at 7/10 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas for the Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier rematch. That would require Nevada to open up and allow them to run at full capacity. If not, and they were to move the show to a city they can full full capacity, I’m thinking they’d run a different main event.
Tyron Woodley’s contract expired with last night’s fight. Dana White gave the indication that they weren’t looking at signing him. Last night’s loss to Vicente Luque was his fourth straight loss and he’s about to turn 39 years old in two weeks.
UFC 260 was the most searched for topic on the Internet yesterday in the U.S. with 1.2 million searches. The key names were Stipe Miocic, Francis Ngannou, Tyron Woodley and Sean O’Malley. Based on this number, it was not a monster PPV. Besides searches related to UFC 260, the only thing this past week regarding combat sports that made the list was that Ben Askren was No. 8 on Saturday with 200,000 searches.
We pretty much explained the reality behind the weirdness last night where Dana White said he was looking at Derrick Lewis and not Jon Jones for the first title defense by Francis Ngannou. Another aspect of this story is that UFC is trying to pick up profits as much as it can for the likely IPO, and since ESPN gets the PPV money, UFC makes the same either way, whether it’s Jones vs. Ngannou or Lewis vs. Ngannou, but Lewis would take the fight for less money.
Regarding judging last night, almost nobody except the judges thought Michal Oleksiejczuk beat Modestas Bukauskas. I was pretty surprised when Oleksiejczuk won. Based on media scores, they were 95 percent for Bukauskas. Regarding the Miranda Maverick vs. Gillian Robertson fight where only one judge gave Robertson the second round, 96 percent of media scores gave Robertson round two, but that didn’t change the outcome as virtually everyone had it for Maverick either way.
Speaking of Ben Askren, whose interaction with Jake Paul at the Triller press conference is what put him on the list, this is his half comedic training video.
At the Global NAACP TV Awards held last night, they listed prominent sports deaths of black athletes from the past year and included James (Kamala) Harris, Rocky Johnson and Shad Gaspard.
This article explains why such a high percentage of the deaths in wrestling from COVID came from Mexico but why the U.S. numbers are purported to be worse. As one would figure, Mexico’s numbers aren’t quite accurate. I’m sure they aren’t in the U.S. either. The listed death total was 201,429 but the government acknowledged yesterday that the real number is more than 321,000, which per capita, is far worse than the U.S. The government quietly published a report listing the deaths as of 2/14 being 294,287. Mexico’s population is barely one-third that of the U.S. (thanks to Eric Krol)
New Japan runs Korakuen Hall at 5:30 a.m. tomorrow morning on New Japan World:
Tetsuya Naito & Shingo Takagi & Sanada & Bushi vs. Master Wato & Gabriel Kidd & Yota Tsuji & Yuya Uemura
Hiroshi Tanaashi & Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima vs. Jay White & Gedo & Jado
Will Ospreay & Jeff Cobb & Great O’Khan vs. Kota Ibushi & Yuji Nagata & Tomoaki Honma
WWE
We don’t have details on what role Logan Paul will have in WrestleMania past he is on the show and it will be in the Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens match. This was first reported by Ringside News.
Odds from www.BetOnline.ag for WrestleMania:
Bobby Lashley -115 vs. Drew McIntyre -115
Bianca Belair -300 vs, Sasha Banks +200
Rhea Ripley -200 vs, Asuka +150
A.J. Styles & Omos -160 vs, New Day +120
The Fiend -500 vs. Randy Orton +300
Bad Bunny -850 vs. The Miz +450
Raw tomorrow has Matt Riddle vs Sheamus in a non-title match. If Sheamus wins, one would think he would get a U.S. title match at WrestleMania. There will also be an Asuka contract signing with Rhea Ripley.
UFC
SportsBetting.ag lists Francis Ngannou as a strong -185 favorite if he was to defend against Jon Jones. The original opening odds were -200, but that led to almost all bets coming in for Jones. Last year when the fight was teased, Ngannou was listed at -145.
Joanne Calderwood vs. Lauren Murphy has been added to the 6/12 show.
OTHER NOTES
Billy Corgan and the NWA blocked Thunder Rosa vs. Queen Aminata from airing in a match scheduled for 5/22 in Magnolia TX that was to air on the Title Match Network. The match will take place for the live audience but the NWA would not allow her match to air. Others announced for the show include Sonny Kiss, Nyla Rose, Madi Wrenkowski and Raychell Rose.
SWE Fury TV Show before 1000 fans in Carthage TX:
The OMG’s defeated The Playa’s to earn a shot at the SWE Tag Team Titles
Lacey Von Erich received an Award on behalf of her father Kerry Von Erich
Christi Jaynes defeated Malaya Hosaka with Rosemary coming in after the match attacking Malaya.
Action Jackson defeated Andrew Anderson with The Boogeyman coming into the ring after the match eating worms.
SWE Fury TV Champion Rodney Mac defeated 3 men in a row to retain the Title
Full Show video is online at this link.
Big Cass has joined the SWE Fury roster and appeared on the Inside SWE Fury Podcast this week with James Beard. Full interview can be seen here.
NFL legend Ray Lewis was hired by the PFL to lead its newly created Athlete Advisory Board. Lewis’ job is to identify and recruit new talent and evolve the PFL’s culture and will in this role with Randy Couture.
Absolute intense Wrestling on 4/29 and 4/30 in Cleveland at the Odeon Concert Club
Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling from yesterday in Tokyo at Shinkiba First Ring: Yuka Sakazaki & Mizuki & Hyper Misao b Mahiro Kiryu & Mirai Maiumi & Suzume, Nodoka Tenma & Yuki Aino b Hikari Noa & Sena Shiori, Shoko Nakaima& Nao Kakauta & Haruna Neko b Yuki Kamifuku & Marika Kobashi & Arisu Endo, Sakisama b Moka Miyamoto, Maki Itoh & Miyu Yamashita & Raku b Rika Tatsuimi & Miu Watanabe & Pom Harajuku. This was Itoh’s first match back after going through quarantine from her U.S. trip. She vowed to win the Princess or Princess title from Tatsumi on 4/17 and with her star status as the face of the company move the promotion to bigger arenas (thanks to Shannon Walsh and wrestlingwithdemons.com)
Vincent Carolan will be on WBZ-AM 1030 in Boston this coming Saturday night 4/3 at 9 p.m. at the Morgan White Jr. show previewing WrestleMania as well as previewing the third season of Dark Side of the Ring. Fans can call the station, which can be heard in 38 states and part of Canada.
World League Wrestling from last night in Troy, MO: Brandon Espinosa b Sabotage, Kyle Roberts b Derek Stone, Mike Sydal b Jon Webb, Jayden Dominic Rose b Sean Patrick, Heartthrob Jade won Rumble Battle Royal (thanks to Patrick Brandmeyer)
Stardom from this afternoon in Osaka: Syuri won three-way over Momo Watanabe and Lady C, Bea Priestley & Konami b Mayu Iwatani & Saya Iida, Tam Nakano & Mina Shirakawa & Unagi Sayaka b Utami Hayashishita & AZM & Saya Kamitani, Natsuoka Tora & Saki Kashima & Ruaka b Giulia & Himeka & Maika, Natsupoi b Starlight Kid to keep the High Speed title. The last two trios bouts were the first round of a one-day tournament
Stardom from tonight in Osaka: Bea Priestley b Lady C, Momo Watanabe d Starlight Kid 15:00, Syuri & Natsupoi b Mayu Iwatani & Saya Iida, Giulia & Himeka & Maika d Utami Hayashishita & AZM & Saya Kamitani 15:00, Natsuko Tora & Saki Kashima & Ruaka won the tournament beating Tam Nakano & Saki Kashima & Ruaka. (thanks to Shannon Walsh and Wrestlingwithdemons.com)
Pro Wrestling Phoenix from Friday night in Omaha, NE: Moonshine Russell b Purple, JD Parker b Xander McIntosh, Seto Kobara & Tim Boston b Ryan Romantic & Jamison McGregor, Con Artiest won four-way over Pat Powers, Brett Bishop and Omar Pachecco, Mack Riggs b Joey Daniels, Duke Cornell b Nino Hatcher, Jack Darling b Branden Juarez in a dog collar match. Next show is 4/22 at the Waiting Room Lounge in Omaha)
In a fight that never matched up to the vitriol between both competitors, former UFC interim welterweight champion Colby Covington dominated former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley Saturday at UFC on ESPN+ 36.
Covington defeated Woodley by fifth round TKO when Woodley yelled out that he injured his rib while Covington was on top of him on the ground. That was simply an exclamation point on a fight that Covington had control from nearly start to finish.
The outspoken Covington (16-2) held Woodley in check in all areas, taking him down when he wanted, holding up against the cage when he wanted, and landing enough punches to set everything else up. Woodley did land some blows, but took more of a measured approach.
The fight never broke down into a brawl, nor did it feature any moments of tension or high drama between the two.
Afterward, Covington’s post-fight interview featured a promo about “the silent majority” who are ready to vote in President Donald Trump, how he sick of “woke athletes like LeBron James” and ended with a call out of current welterweight champion Kamaru Usman.
Usman defeated Covington last December by fifth round TKO and broke Covington’s jaw in the process. On the post-show, Covington was grasping at straws trying to tell Usman (who was on the ESPN desk) why he should get another shot at the title, saying Usman didn’t break his jaw, that he takes EPO, and that Usman winning was a controversial decision even though it was a finish.
On the post-show, Trump called Covington while he was on air to congratulate him.
This was Covington’s first fight since that loss while Woodley is now 0-3 since 2019. He was defeated by Gilbert Burns earlier this year.
In other notable results: Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone and Niko Price went to a majority draw in the co-main event while Khamzat Chimaev knocked out Gerald Meerschaert in 17 seconds, continuing his hype train as a future middleweight contender.
A look at how the major companies are looking at either running or not running is the lead story in this week’s issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. We also have a major feature on the characters from ABC’s 20/20, from David Schultz, John Stossell, Jim Wilson and Eddy Mansfield, as well as a feature on Gerald Brisco and how Vince McMahon got control of the TBS time slot for one year.
The issue also covers:
The schedule for UFC, WWE and AEW.
The time frame Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida talked about for live events, the hypocrisy sanctioning these events, why UFC isn’t running Las Vegas, ESPN’s change of policy, another state open to bring in wrestling, boxing and MMA, UFC’s first show back, update on Fight Island, Bellator plans and Scott Coker talks his ideas.
Another feature on WWE financials with Vince McMahon’s quotes on all facets of business going forawrd and what is and isn’t honest about them. We also look at why you can’t compare live attendance, what category does look good and what does’t, empty arena shows, costs of taping now and why Vince says the WWE Network should grow.
The firings of Cain Velasquez and Curtis Axel and the departure, at least for now, of Gerald Brisco.
How close Brisco and Vince McMahon have been, the 1984 purchase of GCW by McMahon and how it went down, how McMahon lost the time slot after one year, the WWE signing and usage of Vealsquez, and what major WWE decision-maker thought Axel would be one of the company’s signature stars.
The latest episode of Dark Side of the Ring on David Schultz. We look at the start of Schultz’s career, his feud with Hulk Hogan, slapping John Stossel, Eddy Mansfield, Jim Wilson, Jim Barnett, how Schultz got fired by WWE, Jim Cornette on the show, the Lou Thesz-Eddy Mansfield confrontaton, the deregulaton of wrestling, and how the story on Jimmy Snuka and the 20/20 story on wrestling intertwine.
New Monday night competition to Raw, 2K plans or 2020, How WWE stars get paid, wrestler who pulled out of tapings this past week, U.K. and Canada TV ratings, Taynara Conti and Mike Bennett talk being released, Jerry Lawler talks his remark bout Tozawa, Heath Slater talks his departure, David Starr talks current conditions and the most-watched bouts for the past week on WWE Network.
A harrowing story on Ilima lei-Macfarlane and her childhood going to the famed Punahou Schoolin Hawaii and the dirty secret the school covered up for decades that has just come to light.
Full coverage of the Impact Rebellion show with so many champions not there, as well as match-by-match coverage.
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.
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FRIDAY NEWS UPDATE
Dr. Anthony Fauci in the New York Times on the return of sports in the U.S: “U.S. disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci said that it “might be very difficult for major sports” in the U.S. to “return to action this year.” Fauci indicated that a “key variable” will be “whether the country can gain broad access to testing that quickly yields results.” He said, “If you can’t guarantee safety, then unfortunately you’re going to have to bite the bullet and say, ‘We may have to go without this sport for this season.’” He added, “I would love to be able to have all sports back. But as a health official and a physician and a scientist, I have to say, right now, when you look at the country, we’re not ready for that yet”.
So I finally got to see “My Dad is a Heel Wrestler” which is on NJPW World with English subtitles. I highly recommend it. Kokoro Terada, who plays Shota Omura, totally steals this film. Hiroshi Tanahashi is the lead in the movie playing the role of a babyface that was supposed to be the biggest star in Japanese pro wrestling, who was the most popular young wrestler in Japan a decade earlier, but a knee injury nearly ends his career and he comes back as a masked heel wrestler to hide his physical limitations.
His profession is kept from his young son, who has no idea of any of this, as the family kept it from him, but he follows his father to work and ends up at a wrestling show with the family of a girl he has a crush on. The movie is about young children and teenagers following pro wrestling and its heroes, with the current star of wrestling being Dragon George, played by Kazuchika Okada. The Z-1 tournament is coming and Cockroach is not at that level, largely due to knees that limit his mobility, but a series of injuries to others puts him in the tournament for what he believes will be the last time in his career.
Between all this, the Cockroach wants to turn face because his son and his son’s classmates think being a heel is bad, then wants to quit, ends up getting fired, and everything you expect in a formulaic sports movie then doesn’t happen. It ends up with a lesson that you can’t have a top babyface without a heel and that while wins and losses count in pro wrestling, the most important thing is entertaining the crowd. You will cry many times in the last 20 minutes, that’s how good Terada plays his role. Tanahashi is really good at playing essentially Tanahashi if he had never made it big.
It’s not at the level of the Mickey Rourke “The Wrestler,” but would be No. 2 as far as pro wrestling movies go. There are more similarities as far as the movie being a slice of the time frame with the 1974 movie “The Wrestler,” which was about the AWA in the 70s, while this is about New Japan Pro Wrestling in 2018, but this movie is far superior to that one. Plus you get all kinds of NJPW cameos including Manabu Nakanishi swinging the old Iron Sheik clubs.
Smackdown tonight has:
Otis vs. Dolph Ziggler in a MITB qualifier
Carmella vs. Mandy Rose in a MITB qualifier
New Day vs.. Forgotten Sons non-title match
King Corbin vs. Daniel Bryan
Jonathan Snowden’s biography of Ken Shamrock was released today. I was told this book is excellent.
Ariel Helwani reported today that Tyron Woodley was leaning toward accepting a main event with Gilbert Burns on the 5/23 UFC show that still doesn’t have a location. He said he was hoping for Colby Covington but he doesn’t want it.
Today is the 25th anniversary of the largest crowd in the history of pro wrestling, a show in North Korea headlined by Antonio Inoki vs. Ric Flair that drew 160,000 fans, although most were ordered to attend and had no idea what they were going to witness. A story on the two shows that week can be found here.
MISCELLANEOUS
MLW’s TV show tomorrow night: Octagon Jr. & El Hijo del Vikingo & Myzteziz Jr. defending the AAA trios titles against Jordan Oliver & Kotto Brazil & Myron Reed, plus Mocho Cota Jr. & Tito Santana & Carta Brava Jr. vs. Black Destiny & Fantastik & Rayo Star, both from Tijuana. Plus L.A. Park cooking and the build for Jacob Fatu vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr.
Impact on Tuesday has a tape of The North defending the tag team titles but not from the tapings in Nashville and Cousin Jake vs. Joseph P. Ryan in a rematch.
Super LTD announced today that it has acquired the North American distribution rights to “You Cannot kill David Arquette,” a movie about Arquette and his run through independent pro wrestling. More on that here.
Pro Wrestling Eve had scheduled three events this week in the U.K., which all ended up being canceled. So instead, tomorrow at 4 p.m. Eastern time and 9 p.m. Greenwich time they will be airing the “Road to Wrestling Queendom” special on their YouTube page with Kay Lee Ray, Dash Chisako, Kris Wolf, Piper Niven, Nina Samuels, Charlie Morgan, Millie McKenzie and more. On Tuesday, they will stream last year’s Wrestling Queendom show featuring Aja Kong vs. Piper Niven, a War Games match, a ladder match, plus Kay Lee Ray vs. Meiko Satomura. And on 5/8 they will have a 24 hour live stream featuring never before released matches with Manami Toyota, Emi Sakura, Toni Storm and a match with Paige vs. Nikki Cross. The stream starts at 7 a.m. Easter time, noon Greenwich time. These are one time only streams and they will not be added to the Eve YouTube library.
In a week of bizarre circumstances due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, one of the more heated rivalries in UFC could boil over this weekend in a location that still hasn’t been determined yet.
Former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley was scheduled to fight Leon Edwards this Saturday in London, but due to the impending mass gathering ban and travel restrictions there, UFC leadership decided to pull the event and find a new location in the U.S. instead.
Enter the controversial Colby Covington, who tweeted that he would like to face Woodley and “beat the f*ck” out of him on ESPN next week. He is recovering from a broken jaw suffered in his December 2019 loss to current welterweight champion Kamaru Usman, but has had heat with Woodley for some time. Dana White tried to make that fight several times in 2019, but was unable to do so. It’s unclear if Covington is medically cleared following that broken jaw.
ESPN’s Ariel Helwani tweeted that he has spoken with Woodley who was unware Edwards had to pull out as he’s turned off social media. However, he told his management he would like to fight Covington and Covington turned down the fight although Helwani said the fight possibility is very much alive. Gilbert Burns, who just knocked out Demian Maia Saturday in Brazil, also offered to fight Woodley.
The complicating factor is where to actually put on a show as Las Vegas is unavailable due to a Nevada state ban on combat sports. Helwani said UFC is “hell bent” on making their future shows happen, something White hammered home last night on SportsCenter.
The card that will happen also will look quite different as many of the UK and European fighters on the show cannot make the trip due to the travel ban. UFC matchmakers put out an email to agents earlier today and have plenty of interested parties ready to fight, undeterred by the health risks and lack of a publicly outlined COVID-19 testing plan by the UFC.
Rising star and UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya will look to defend his title for the first time this March against Yoel Romero, according to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto.
Adesanya vs. Romero will be the main event of UFC 248 on March 7th in Las Vegas once contracts are signed.
The undefeated 30-year-old won the title by second round knockout in a unification bout against Robert Whittaker last October, his seventh win in the UFC. Romero is an interesting choice as his first challenger given he has lost his last two fights and three of his last four. He missed weight for his last two title opportunities.
Paulo Costa was expected to get the shot, but is injured.
Like Adesanya-Romero, the bout has yet to be officially signed.
Woodley has been on the shelf since losing his title to Kamaru Usman last March, his first loss in five years. The 28-year-old Edwards, a winner of eight straight, has been calling for a big name and finally got one and in his home country.
A June 29th rematch of former UFC welterweight champions in Tyron Woodley and Robbie Lawler is off due to a Woodley hand injury, first reported by ESPN’s Brett Okamoto Friday morning.
Okamoto didn’t have details on the injury but said Woodley is going to see a hand specialist next week. He added that the UFC is going to attempt to keep Lawler in the main event and find another opponent.
The fight was set to headline the company’s return to Minneapolis for the first time in seven years that is also earmarked for ESPN.
Woodley and Lawler faced off in July 2016 when Woodley knocked Lawler out to win the UFC welterweight title. Lawler is coming off a controversial March loss to Ben Askren while Woodley lost his title to Kamaru Usman on the same show.
Woodley has had issues with his hand before, getting surgery due to a dislocated thumb last year.
Welcome to F4WOnline.com’s live coverage of UFC 235: Jones vs. Smith, emanating from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The Octagon returns home to Las Vegas with a stacked card featuring two big title fights, the returns of former champions and the much-anticipated UFC debut of one of the biggest UFC signings in a while.
UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones makes the quick turnaround as he defends the championship against Anthony Smith in the main event. Jones became the 205-pound champion once again when he defeated Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 232 in December, and he looks to continue his dominance in the division. Smith looks to score the biggest upset in UFC history, and he comes in with a lot of momentum after winning three straight fights since moving up to 205 pounds, and looking impressive in doing so.
The co-main event sees UFC Welterweight Champion Tyron Woodley make his fifth title defense as he defends against Kamaru Usman. Woodley is unbeaten in his last seven fights and is coming off a title defense against Darren Till at UFC 228 in September. Usman has won 13 straight fights and is seen as one of the biggest threats to Woodley at 170 pounds.
Also on the main card is the return of former UFC Welterweight Champion Robbie Lawler as he welcomes the debut of Ben Askren, the flashy former NCAA wrestling champion who is undefeated in 19 career fights. In the main card opener, former UFC Bantamweight Champion Cody Garbrandt looks to get back in the win column and into the title picture as he takes on Pedro Munhoz.
The stacked preliminary card airing on ESPN is capped off with a featherweight bout as long-time UFC veteran Jeremy Stephens looks to end the 12-fight win streak of Zabit Magomedshapirov. Also on the prelims is a light heavyweight bout between Misha Cirkunov and surging prospect Johnny Walker and a welterweight fight as original TUF winner Diego Sanchez battles Mickey Gall.
Follow along with our live coverage of the event beginning at 6:30 p.m. Eastern time with preliminary action all the way through the main card.
We are looking for your thoughts on tonight’s event, so send a thumbs up, a thumbs down or a thumbs in the middle along with a best fight and a worst fight to Dave at [email protected].
They trade early on. Cifers lands a right hand. Viana with some low kicks. Viana with a body kick. A lot of feeling out going on. Viana with a body kick and Cifers counters with a combo. Viana with a leg kick and then a body kick. They clinch and Viana pulls guard. Cifers with some punches from the top as Viana is going for a leg lock. Cifers gets to the half-guard and they get to their feet. Cifers with a right hand. Cifers drops Viana with a right hand. Viana gets back to her feet. Viana lands some kicks. Viana with a knee to the body at the end. 10-9 Cifers.
They trade punches. Cifers lands a punch. Viana with a combo ending with a body kick and Viana pulls guard. Cifers in the full guard and eats some elbows from Viana on the bottom. Viana controlling the positioning from the bottom. Cifers just hanging on from the top as she wants this fight on the feet. Cifers lands a hemmerfist. Viana with an elbow from the bottom. Viana landing some punches from the bottom. Cifers isn’t doing much from the top. Viana with more elbows from the bottom. Viana is winning this round from the bottom. Viana with more strikes from the bottom. 10-9 Viana, 19-19.
Viana with a some body kicks. Both land inside the pocket. Viana with a body kick and is starting to land more. She is landing kicks and knees. Cifers with a leg kick. They trade and Cifers lands a right hand. Viana lands a right hand to the body. Cifers with a right hand. Viana with a body kick and then lands some knees to the body. They clinch and Cifers lands a left hook on the break after eating some knees. Viana with a body kick. Viana with more kicks to the body and Cifers lands a counter right. They have a flurry late. Close fight. 10-9 Viana, 29-28 Viana.
Official Result- Hannah Cifers def. Polyana Viana by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Mazany attacking the body with some straight left hands. Chiasson with some body kicks. Chiasson with a body kick and Mazany counters with a left hand and then lands another left hand. They clinch against the fence. They break and Chiasson lands some punches and then drops Mazany with a hard right hand and finishes her with a few hammerfists on the mat. Impressive stoppage by Chiasson.
Official Result- Macy Chiasson def. Gina Mazany by TKO (strikes) at 1:49 of Round 1
> Edmen Shahbazyan (8-0, 1-0 UFC) vs. Charles Byrd (10-5, 1-1 UFC) Middleweights
Byrd with a leg kick. Shahbazyan lands a good combo. Byrd going for a takedown but eating elbows that are hurting Byrd badly and Byrd goes to the mat and is covering up and Byrd has been stopped by Shahbazyan. That was a brutal and violent finish.
Official Result- Edmen Shahbazyan def. Charles Byrd by TKO (elbows) at :38 of Round 1
ESPN PRELIMS | 8 PM ET/5 PM PT
> Diego Sanchez (28-11, 17-11 UFC) vs. Mickey Gall (5-1, 4-1 UFC) Welterweights
Sanchez comes out with a front kick but Gall counters with a big combo. Gall with a head kick that is checked. Gall with a knee to the body followed by an uppercut. They clinch and Gall with some body punches. They break and Gall with a combo. Gall lands a combo as they clinch. Sanchez trying for a takedown and Gall looks for a choke but Sanchez escapes and is on top. Sanchez gets in the guard as he eats some elbows from Gall. They stand and Sanchez with knees to the legs and then drags Gall down from the back. They get back up. Sanchez still has the back and Gall lands an elbow. Sanchez gets a takedown into the guard. Gall with some more elbows. Sanchez with elbows to the body. Sanchez in side control and looking to set up a choke. He runs out of time. 10-9 Sanchez.
Sanchez with a right hook. They trade and Sanchez gets the clinch. They break. Sanchez with a body kick. Gall with a combo. Gall with a huge left hand. Sanchez with a huge knee that hurts Gall and Gall goes to the mat. Sanchez looking to finish and Gall tries to reverse but Sanchez gets back to the top and Gall is hurt. Gall is tired. Sanchez gets the back of Gall. Sanchez gets in the full mount and is landing from the top. Sanchez with elbows. Sanchez with more hard elbows. Gall in a whole lot of trouble as Sanchez gets into the mount. Sanchez with more elbows. Sanchez gets the back and flattens Gall out. Sanchez landing lots of punches and he finishes Gall! Sanchez with a classic showing and it is his first stoppage win since 2008.
Official Result- Diego Sanchez def. Mickey Gall by TKO (punches) at 4:13 of Round 2
They trade near the fence. Stamann misses a head kick. Stamann lands a left followed by a right hand. Perez trying to land the jab but Stamann ducking away. They trade and Stamann tries a takedown but Perez escapes. Stamann lands a left hand. Stamann with an inside leg kick. Perez with a left hook to the body followed by a right hand. Stamann goes for a takedown and lands a knee as they break. Stamann with a left hook. Perez with a leg kick. Stamann goes for a takedown and Perez lands an elbow. Stamann with a brief late takedown. 10-9 Stamann.
Perez coming forward but misses a head kick. They trade punches and Stamann now pushing forward. Perez with a leg kick. Stamann with a left hook as Perez was coming in. Perez lands a left. Stamann with a counter left hand. Stamann with a body kick and he goes for a takedown. Perez defends and they break. Stamann with a left hand. Perez just misses a spinning back fist. Stamann lands a right hand and then a front kick to the body. Perez with a leg kick followed by another. Stamann goes for a takedown against the fence. Stamann with a knee to the body. Perez getting warned multiple times to not grab the cage. 10-9 Stamann, 20-18 Stamann.
Perez lands a leg kick and then gets a takedown. Perez landing some leg kicks as Stamann is on the ground. Stamann gets back up. Perez goes for a single-leg and lands a left hook on the break. Stamann with a left hand to the body and then a right hand there. They trade punches. Stamann misses a high kick. Perez lands a left hand. Perez with a leg kick. Perez with another. Stamann with a combo. Stamann goes for a takedown but Perez defends it well against the fence. They are stood up by the referee. Stamann lands a left hook. Stamann with a right hand at the end. 10-9 Perez, 29-28 Stamann.
Official Result- Cody Stamann def. Alejandro Perez by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
> Misha Cirkunov (#14, 14-4, 5-2 UFC) vs. Johnny Walker (#15, 16-3, 2-0 UFC) Light Heavyweights
Cirkunov with a leg kick. Walker with a huge flying knee that drops Cirkunov and finishes him off with a few more punches. Right around 30 seconds. Walker is a star. He may have hurt himself celebrating. It was a perfect flying knee. This guy is terrifying.
Official Result- Johnny Walker def. Misha Cirkunov by TKO (flying knee, punches) at :36 of Round 1
> Jeremy Stephens (#6, 28-15, 15-14 UFC) vs. Zabit Magomedshapirov (#13, 16-1, 4-0 UFC) Featherweights
Magomedsharipov with a leg kick. Magomedsharipov with a left hand. Stephens with a nice leg kick. Stephens with another one. Stephens just misses a spinning back fist attempt. Magomedsharipov with a body kick. Magomedsharipov with a left hand. Magomedsharipov with a head kick. Magomedsharipov with a hard leg kick and then another. Stephens with a right hand to the body. Magomedsharipov with a spinning back fist that gets blocked. Stephens chasing Magomedsharipov around the Octagon. Magomedsharipov grabbed the fence to attempt a kick and got a warning. Magomedsharipov with a left hand and then lands a groin kick and we have a timeout. Magomedsharipov with a spin kick and tried an off the cage kick. Magomedsharipov with a hard body kick. Magomedsharipov with another body kick. 10-9 Magomedsharipov.
Stephens coming forward. Magomedsharipov with a hook kick. They trade punches in close range. Magomedsharipov with a left hand. Magomedsharipov with a head kick. Stephens with a combo and lands a hard right hand. Magomedsharipov with a left hand. They trade punches. Magomedsharipov grabs the single leg and completes the takedown. Magomedsharipov gets the back of Stephens as they get to their feet. Magomedsharipov gets Stephens down again and has his back with the hooks in. Magomedsharipov with punches from the back. Magomedsharipov with some big elbows and punches. Magomedsharipov gets the full mount. Stephens gives up his back. Magomedsharipov with some elbows and rolls Stephens over. Magomedsharipov back to side control. Dominant end to the round. 10-9 Magomedsharipov, 20-18 Magomedsharipov.
Stephens with an inside leg kick. Stephens with a right hand followed by a spinning back fist. Magomedsharipov with a kick to the body. Stephens with a left hand. Magomedsharipov circling around the Octagon. Magomedsharipov goes for a takedown but it is stuffed. Stephens with a left hand. Stephens is landing more this round. Magomedsharipov tries a takedown but Stephens gets away and throws a big right hand that just misses. Magomedsharipov with a left hand. Stephens with a left hand followed by a right hand. Stephens lands a big right hand. They are trading inside the last 30 seconds. Magomedsharipov lands a combo and a left hand and gets a late takedown but eats some punches from Stephens. 10-9 Stephens, 29-28 Magomedsharipov.
Official Result- Zabit Magomedshapirov def. Jeremy Stephens by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
PPV MAIN CARD | 10 PM ET/7 PM PT
> Cody Garbrandt (#2, 11-2, 6-2 UFC) vs. Pedro Munhoz (#9, 17-3 1 NC, 7-3 1 NC) Bantamweights
Munhoz lands a right hand as Garbrandt was going for a kick. They scramble and Munhoz goes for a leg lock but Garbrandt escapes and they’re on their feet. Munhoz just misses a head kick. Garbrandt with a high kick. Munhoz with a leg kick. They trade punches. Garbrandt with a combo. Garbrandt with another flurry but eats a leg kick from Munhoz. Munhoz with a spin kick and lands a right hand. They clash heads and Garbrandt is rocked from it and they go to the mat. Munhoz in the half-guard but Garbrandt gets up and lands a flying knee followed by a right hand that rocks Munhoz. They are trading in the pocket and both rocking each other. Garbrandt with a huge knee. They are trading big punches and Munhoz knocks Garbrandt out! Wow. Huge win for Munhoz. Garbrandt had Munhoz in trouble and made a reckless decision to trade punches instead of trying to be patient and finish it and it cost him the fight.
Official Result- Pedro Munhoz def. Cody Garbrandt by knockout (punches) at 4:52 of Round 1
Zhang with some kicks early. Zhang with some more kicks but eats a combo from Torres. Zhang with a leg kick. They trade. Zhang keeps going for the spin kick. They clinch and scramble to the mat and get back up and Torres lands a right hand. Zhang tries another spin kick and eats a right hand. Zhang trying for a takedown against the fence and jumps on the back and is looking for a standing choke. Torres being patient as she avoids the choke attempt and has Zhang on her back as they stand. Torres escapes and lands a right hand. Torres gets a takedown but Zhang rolls over to side control and lands some punches as the round ends. 10-9 Zhang.
Zhang throwing kicks. Torres lands a leg kick and Zhang just barely lands a spinning back fist. Torres with a combo. Zhang constantly throwing spin kicks. They trade body kicks. Torres with a left hook. Zhang with a side kick. Zhang with a left hook as Torres rushes in. Torres with a right hand. Torres with a combo. They clinch and both looking for underhooks. Zhang gets a takedown and is on top and lands. Torres reverses into the closed guard of Zhang. Torres with some hammerfists and ends the round on top. She may have stolen it late. 10-9 Torres, 19-19.
Zhang with a front kick and then a side kick. Zhang constantly coming forward and Torres has her timing down. Torres with a leg kick. Zhang with a combo and Torres fires back with a combo and they hurt each other. They clinch and Torres with a knee to the body before they break. They clinch again for a moment but break. Zhang with a leg kick. Zhang gets a trip takedown. Zhang in the half-guard and landing short elbows. Zhang keeping Torres on her back. Zhang with short punches. Zhang with short shots as the fight ends. Big round for Zhang. 10-9 Zhang, 29-28 Zhang.
Official Result- Weili Zhang def. Tecia Torres by unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
> Robbie Lawler (#6, 28-12 1 NC, 13-6 UFC) vs. Ben Askren (18-0 1 NC, 0-0 UFC) Welterweights
Askren going right for the takedown and has the back of Lawler. Lawler lifsts Askren up and slams him down and is landing punches and elbows and Askren in a lot of trouble. Askren looked out there and is cut wide open. Lawler landing more. They get to their feet and Askren still holding on. Lawler with a knee to the body and they break. Lawler with a left hand. Askren wobbly on his feet. They clinch against the fence. Lawler with a big knee. Askren still holding onto Lawler. Askren gets the back of Lawler and looking for a choke. Askren has a bulldog choke and Lawler looks out but wasn’t out and Herb Dean stopped the fight. Lawler wasn’t out and is upset and Herb Dean knows he messed up. Lawler never tapped. Lawler’s arm went limp and that is when Dean grabbed the arm and then stopped the fight. Lawler may have went out for a moment. This definitely controversial.
Official Result- Ben Askren def. Robbie Lawler by submission (bulldog choke) at 3:20 of Round 1
Woodley with a right hand that just misses. Usman gets a single-leg and Woodley has the neck looking for a guillotine as they go to the mat. Usman with right hands as the choke isn’t locked in. Usman with elbows to the thighs. Usman with a knee to the legs of Woodley. They get to their feet. They trade knees and then break. Usman shoots for a single leg. Woodley defends. Usman lands a right hand and they clinch. Usman with a knee to the body. Usman with uppercuts to the body. They are separated by Marc Goddard. Usman lands a short left and they clinch. 10-9 Usman.
Usman coming forward and they clinch against the fence. Usman with short punches and knees and foot stomps. Usman lands a big elbow as they break. They clinch again and Usman with a big takedown. Usman gets into full mount. Woodley is cut above his right eye. Usman looking to set up a choke. Usman with short elbows and punches from the mount. Usman in complete control of this fight so far. Usman still in the mount position. Usman with some elbows. Usman looking for an arm-triangle. Woodley is blocking it but eating punches to the body. Woodley gets out and survives the round. 10-8 Usman, 20-17 Usman.
Woodley just misses a right hand as Usman ducks under. They clinch and Usman with punches to the body. Usman with foot stomps. They are broken up from the clinch by the ref. Usman lands a left hand after faking a takedown attempt. Woodley is constantly backing up and not throwing any combos. They clinch and Usman with short body punches before they are separated. Woodley lands a right hand. Usman lands an elbow after a clinch and then they clinch again. Usman with a foot stomp and uppercuts to the body. 10-9 Usman, 30-26 Usman.
Usman with an uppercut and Woodley grabs the neck and gets taken down by Usman. Woodley looks lost in there. Usman with body punches on the mat. Usman with shoulder strikes on the mat. Woodley is doing absolutely nothing. He looks either tired or that he’s already given up. They are stood up again. They clinch and Usman with some knees and Woodley lands a few uppercuts and they break. Usman with a big uppercut and he is teeing off on Woodley. They are throwing big punches and Usman landing big combos. Woodley lands a knee. Usman with big punches and a big elbow. Usman with an uppercut. 10-8 Usman, 40-34 Usman.
Usman goes for a single leg. Woodley has the neck but is just hanging on. Usman with some knees to the legs and then some foot stomps. Usman with a big takedown against the fence. Usman with punches to the body and short elbows. Woodley is done and this one is over. We are getting a new champion crowned here. Usman with another big elbow. Usman with more body punches. Usman with a knee to the body now. Complete domination from Usman. 10-9 Usman, 50-43 Usman.
Official Result- Kamaru Usman def. Tyron Woodley by unanimous decision (50-44, 50-44, 50-45), Usman is the new UFC Welterweight Champion
> Jon Jones (C, 23-1 1 NC, 17-1 1 NC UFC) vs. Anthony Smith (#3, 31-13, 7-3 UFC) UFC Light Heavyweight Championship
Smith with a leg kick. Jones tries to land but Smith gets out of the way. Jones with a spinning back kick to the body followed by a low calf kick. Jones coming forward and lands another spinning back kick to the body. Smith with a head kick and Jones catches the leg and pushes him against the fence. They trade knees. Jones with some shoulder strikes. They break. Smith with a low kick. Smith trying to land a left hand. Jones with a side kick to the body. Smith just misses a right hand. Jones with a head kick that Smith blocks. Jones with a side kick to the body and then a leg kick. 10-9 Jones.
Jones with a leg kick and then one to the upper body and another to the leg. They trade right hands. Jones with a body kick. Jones with a leg kick and then one high. Jones with a spinning elbow as they clinch. Jones with more shoulder strikes. Smith lands a right hand and then lands a left to the body. Jones with a leg kick. Jones with kicks to the body and legs. Smith lands a left hook. Jones with more kicks. Jones lands a left hand and Smith backs up. Jones with a leg kick and then another. Jones with an overhand right. They trade body kicks. Jones with more kicks. Jones with a right hand to the body. 10-9 Jones, 20-18 Jones.
They clinch early on and Jones with short knees. They aren’t doing much otherwise. They trade knees but still not doing much. Jones was trying for a takedown but Smith was defending. Jones with left hands to the body. Jones with a big takedown and he lands an elbow as Smith spins to sprawl position. Jones with some body punches and then some knees. Easy round for Jones. 10-9 Jones, 30-27 Jones.
Jones tries for a flying kick but misses and Smith smiles. Jones with a high kick followed by a spin kick to the body. Jones with some elbows and punches. Jones with a flying knee and he takes Smith down. Jones may have landed an illegal shot. Jones with some kicks to the legs. Jones takes the back of Smith. Smith has no offense. Jones with an elbow. Smith is cut open badly from his nose. It was from the knee. They get to their feet. Jones with another takedown. Jones has the back and lands some nasty elbows and punches. Jones with a big knee to the body and then another. Jones landed an illegal knee. We have a timeout. The knee was illegal and Jones was docked two points. 8-8 round due to the point deduction. 38-35 Jones.
They come out trading and both men landing punches. Jones goes for a takedown but Smith defends and lands a right hand on the break. They clinch and Jones landing some knees and short punches and shoulder strikes. Jones tries a takedown but Smith slips away. Jones with some punches to the body followed by shoulder strikes and an elbow. Jones with some foot stomps. Jones with a flying knee to cap it off. 10-9 Jones, 48-44 Jones.
Official Result- Jon Jones def. Anthony Smith by unanimous decision (48-44, 48-44, 48-44), Jones is still the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion
As the saying goes, March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb. We get to see the UFC equivalent of the lion Saturday with UFC 235, the organization’s most potent card of the calendar year.
Featuring two good title fights, a former champion returning against a debuting undefeated Bellator champion, a former champion returning in search for redemption, and an undercard loaded up with intrigue, 235 is why fight fans are fight fans. Plus, for PPV buyers, this is as value-packed a main card as you’ll ever see.
UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones vs. Anthony Smith
UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley vs. Kamaru Usman
Robbie Lawler vs. Ben Askren
Tecia Torres vs. Weili Zhang
Cody Garbrandt vs. Pedro Munhoz
Jeremy Stephens vs. Zabit Magomedsharipov
Misha Cirkunov vs. Johnny Walker
Cody Stamann vs. Alejandro Pérez
Diego Sanchez vs. Mickey Gall
Edmen Shahbazyan vs. Charles Byrd
Gina Mazany vs. Macy Chiasson
Polyana Viana vs. Hannah Cifers
What are you most looking forward to?
Ryan: There is so much to look forward to as it’s one of the best overall cards in a long time. My top three: Jon Jones, Ben Askren, and Zabit Magomedshapirov. Jones is still on another level despite all of the drug test shenanigans going on, and is a pleasure to watch. I hope he has taken Anthony Smith seriously, but this should be another vintage Jones performance. I’m really curious how Askren is going to fare. He is undefeated but he also hasn’t fought in a long time, and Robbie Lawler is no joke. Magomedshapriov is a special talent, and he has a tough and unique test in the form of the veteran Jeremy Stephens. Zabit hasn’t fought someone who hits as hard as Stephens, and Stephens is the type of guy you have to beat if you want to be a true contender.
Paul: Almost everything. There are several fights on the show with established names going against up and coming stars which are the fights I love. Gall vs. Sanchez, Cirkunov vs. Walker, Stephens vs. Zabit, and Lawler vs. Askren kind of all fall into that category and I’m fascinated to see how they play out. Do the veterans have a little gas left in the tank or do the rising contenders get one step closer to stardom? It makes the fights feel important. And then, of course, you’ve got the title fights on top. This show really has everything I’m looking for.
Josh: Broken record alert: it’s basically the whole show. However, I will shine a light on Askren vs. Lawler because the fight could go several directions. Askren really has been something this week and with a win, there’s a lot of intrigue into what he could do next. I don’t know what to make of Lawler because he looked so bad his last time out…but he tore his knee to hell. I’m not a huge fan of wrestlefests, but if Askren makes this into one, it could be pretty entertaining.
Anything being slept on?
Ryan: Garbrandt vs. Munhoz is getting overshadowed. It’s easy to count Garbrandt out after seeing him get knocked out in back-to-back fights against TJ Dillashaw. It is time for him to prove that he is still a contender and that it’s just a case of Dillashaw having his number. Don’t blink watching this one as I feel Garbrandt has a huge chip on his shoulder.
Paul: There’s a fight on the Fight Pass prelims involving a 9-0 stud that’s only 21 years old and I think we could be looking at a future superstar. Edmen Shahbazyan can only get better and if early indications are anything, that could be scary. His opponent, Charles Byrd, has a middling record and this looks to be a showcase fight for young Edmen.
Josh: UFC and media have done a good job with the card overall, but I’m super intrigued with how Johnny Walker looks in his short-notice fight with a game Misha Cirkunov. Walker has been impressive in two UFC fights, but Cirkunov is tough. However, he did have back to back first round losses to hard punchers Glover Teixiera and Volkan Oezdemir before rebounding against Pat Cummins his last time out. If Walker connects flush, Cirkunov could be out quick like.
Anything not doing it for you?
Ryan: I like it all. If I’m pressed to name one fight I don’t care for, I guess it would be Mazany vs. Chiasson, only because it could be the most boring fight on the show. Most people might think that could be Woodley vs. Usman, but I find that one to be so compelling and interesting.
Paul: I feel the same as Ryan, but if I have to pick one that may not be terribly great, it would probably be the Tecia Torres vs. Weili Zhang fight on the main card. This has the potential to be one of those fifteen minute standup fights where both try to stay out of each other’s range and nothing much happens. I hope that’s not what happens but there’s a lot at stake in this one for both and hopefully they want to win more than they are afraid to lose.
Josh: Torres vs. Zhang. Hopefully, it will be entertaining but going into it, I don’t really care about either fighter or their prospects for the future.
What will be people talking about most after the show is done?
Ryan: Jon Jones is still the most dominant fighter on the planet, and made it somehow look as easy as ever. There is a new force at 170 pounds in the name of Kamaru Usman, and can you please let him shut Colby Covington up. Ben Askren is ready to fight for a UFC title right now. Cody Garbrandt has bounced back in a nice way, and ohnny Walker is still the most exciting prospect to come into the UFC in a long time.
Paul: Obviously what’s next for the two champions. There are challengers in waiting for both belts although if we crown new champions, the question will be whether you go to an immediate rematch or have one of those challengers get their shot. Thiago Santos has promised to challenge the winner of the main event and after his destruction of Jan Blachowicz last week, there’s a marketable fight against either Smith (which would be a rematch) or Jones. For the welterweight bout, there’s Colby Covington, who can’t stay away from a camera for more than 10 seconds this week, or the Askren/Lawler winner. And Johnny Walker may just sneak into the 205 title picture with another highlight reel KO over Misha Cirkonov.
Josh: We’ll be talking about a potential Jones vs. Thiago Santos fight for July or August, Woodley calling out Covington and forcing his way into making that fight happen, that Askren belongs in the UFC, and that that Garbrandt needs to change something up badly.
Who wins these five fights?
Jon Jones vs. Anthony Smith
– Jones: Josh, Ryan, Paul
Tyron Woodley vs. Kamaru Usman
– Woodley: Josh
– Usman: Ryan, Paul
Robbie Lawler vs. Ben Askren
– Askren: Josh, Ryan, Paul
Jeremy Stephens vs. Zabit Magomedsharipov
– Magomedsharipov: Josh, Ryan, Paul
Misha Cirkunov vs. Johnny Walker
– Walker: Ryan, Paul, Josh
Keep up with our live coverage tonight on WrestlingObserver.com.
2018 was an especially mixed year for WWE. It’s been an incredible year for WWE financially — even if that hasn’t always been mirrored by traditional metrics. They agreed to two transformative TV deals that will shape the company for years to come. WWE also reached a lucrative 10-year deal with the Saudi General Sports Authority, with the first two shows in Saudi Arabia being among the most controversial in the history of the promotion.
When the Tokyo Dome opened on March 17, 1988, the idea of pro wrestling there wasn’t even an idea.
The Dome was built to be the new modern home of two baseball teams, the Yomiuri Giants of the Central League, the team of Shigeo Nagashima and Sadaharu Oh years earlier, the unofficial national team that had all its games on NTV, and sold out every game. The Dome held 48,316 fans for baseball, but for years, every single Giants game announced the attendance as 56,000. The other team, the Nippon Ham Fighters of the Pacific League, which played there through the 2003 season, were the ones that the average person could get tickets to see.
The idea was baseball and concerts, the Rolling Stones (who have 19 Tokyo Dome sellouts), Michael Jackson (who sold 405,000 tickets for nine dates in December 1988), U2, Madonna and Japanese artists. But while it has housed numerous sporting events, including NFL and Major League Baseball, with the exception of baseball and concerts, it’s probably best known for pro wrestling.
Pro wrestling was still huge on television back then. All Japan, headed by Giant Baba, was a fixture on Nippon TV, one of the major networks. New Japan, on TV-Asahi, had matches airing in prime time.
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 Dave Meltzer, or by using PayPal directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $13 for 4 issues, $32 for 12, $61 for 24, $101 for 40 and $131 for 52. In Canada and Mexico, rates are $14.50 for 4, $35 for 12, $67 for 24, $111 for 40 and $144 or 52. In Europe, you can get the fastest delivery and best rates by sending to [email protected]. For the rest of the world, rates are $16.50 for 4, $44 for 12, $85 for 24, $141 for 40 issues and $183 for 52. If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order (P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228), you can get $1 off in every price range.)
If you are a new subscriber ordering 24 or more issues, you can choose one free classic issue or two free classic issues with a 40-issue subscription.
WWE Network News has the content listings for the Royal Rumble match and Rusev Day collections that are being uploaded to the WWE Network tomorrow.
This week’s Canvas 2 Canvas is a painting of the winged eagle WWE title from the late eighties and early nineties.
Pro Wrestling
Impact’s Homecoming event takes place tonight, returning to the Asylum in Nashville, Tennessee. Here is the card:
Johnny Impact vs. Brian Cage for the Impact World title
Tessa Blanchard vs. Taya Valkyrie for the Knockouts title
LAX vs. Fenix and Pentagon for the Impact tag team titles
Jake Crist vs. Ethan Page vs. Rich Swann vs. Trey for the X Division title
Eddie Edwards vs. Moose in a falls count anywhere match
Sami Callihan vs. Willie Mack
Eli Drake vs. Abyss in a Monster’s Ball match
Allie & Su Yung vs. Kiera Hogan & Jordynne Grace
NJPW’s post-Wrestle Kingdom press conference will stream on New Japan World for free at 10 p.m. Eastern time time tonight. It should include news for Fantastica Mania and New Beginning shows.
Lisa Marie Varon, better known as Victoria in WWE, announced on social media this afternoon that 2019 would be her last year wrestling, saying that a new adventure is to come.
TMZ Sports has footage of the David Arquette/Jocephus hair match from last night’s NWA pop-up event.
The War Kings (Crimson & Jax Dane) defeated Jay Bradley & Caleb Konley at the NW pop-up event to become the first team to qualify for the Crockett Cup, which is taking place in Concord, North Carolina on April 27.
Naomichi Marufuji will return to NOAH on their February 2 card. He has been out since November with a shoulder injury.
UFC/MMA
After Kamaru Usman said earlier this week that the fight between him and Tyron Woodley is a done deal for UFC 235, Ariel Helwani is now saying the same. Woodley in the past has said that he wants to face former interim champion Colby Covington.
Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson is looking to challenge Anthony Pettis, who has recently expressed interest in moving up to welterweight.
A recent report from MMA Weekly says that Brock Lesnar has yet to pay a $250,000 fine from NSAC for a failed drug test back in 2016 in his fight against Mark Hunt.
2018 was an especially mixed year for WWE. It’s been an incredible year for WWE financially — even if that hasn’t always been mirrored by traditional metrics. They agreed to two transformative TV deals that will shape the company for years to come. WWE also reached a lucrative 10-year deal with the Saudi General Sports Authority, with the first two shows in Saudi Arabia being among the most controversial in the history of the promotion.
When the Tokyo Dome opened on March 17, 1988, the idea of pro wrestling there wasn’t even an idea.
The Dome was built to be the new modern home of two baseball teams, the Yomiuri Giants of the Central League, the team of Shigeo Nagashima and Sadaharu Oh years earlier, the unofficial national team that had all its games on NTV, and sold out every game. The Dome held 48,316 fans for baseball, but for years, every single Giants game announced the attendance as 56,000. The other team, the Nippon Ham Fighters of the Pacific League, which played there through the 2003 season, were the ones that the average person could get tickets to see.
The idea was baseball and concerts, the Rolling Stones (who have 19 Tokyo Dome sellouts), Michael Jackson (who sold 405,000 tickets for nine dates in December 1988), U2, Madonna and Japanese artists. But while it has housed numerous sporting events, including NFL and Major League Baseball, with the exception of baseball and concerts, it’s probably best known for pro wrestling.
Pro wrestling was still huge on television back then. All Japan, headed by Giant Baba, was a fixture on Nippon TV, one of the major networks. New Japan, on TV-Asahi, had matches airing in prime time.
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 Dave Meltzer, or by using PayPal directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $13 for 4 issues, $32 for 12, $61 for 24, $101 for 40 and $131 for 52. In Canada and Mexico, rates are $14.50 for 4, $35 for 12, $67 for 24, $111 for 40 and $144 or 52. In Europe, you can get the fastest delivery and best rates by sending to [email protected]. For the rest of the world, rates are $16.50 for 4, $44 for 12, $85 for 24, $141 for 40 issues and $183 for 52. If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order (P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228), you can get $1 off in every price range.)
If you are a new subscriber ordering 24 or more issues, you can choose one free classic issue or two free classic issues with a 40-issue subscription.
THURSDAY NEWS UPDATE
(By Bryan Rose and Joseph Currier)
WWE
TMZ Sports talked to Gene Okerlund’s son Todd who said that his father died as a result of a bad fall last month, suffering multiple broken ribs. Four days before his death, he was admitted to a nursing home. He began to have trouble breathing and was admitted to a hospital on Wednesday where he passed away.
Vince McMahon tweeted a statement on Okerlund’s passing: “It was impossible not to crack a smile whenever ‘Mean’ Gene Okerlund entered a room. He was the voice behind so many of WWE’s most iconic and entertaining moments, and the WWE family will miss him immensely.”
The final set of NXT television tapings before TakeOver: Phoenix are being held at Full Sail University tonight.
WWE’s website has an interview with Dominik Dijakovic, who has started appearing on NXT TV in recent weeks.
Drake Maverick said on yesterday’s 205 Live that new faces will be arriving in 2019, though didn’t go into details.
Braun Strowman is doing a Polar Plunge to raise money for a Boys & Girls Club in Hartford, Wisconsin. He launched a GoFundMe campaign where donations can be made.
Wrestle Kingdom 13 airs live overnight, with the pre-show gauntlet match starting at 2 a.m. Eastern time. The show will air live on New Japan World with both English and Japanese commentary available. It’s also available to purchase as a standalone event on Fite TV. Here’s the full card:
IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega defending against Hiroshi Tanahashi
IWGP Intercontinental Champion Chris Jericho defending against Tetsuya Naito in a no DQ match
Kazuchika Okada vs. Jay White
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion KUSHIDA defending against Taiji Ishimori
IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion Cody Rhodes defending against Juice Robinson
IWGP Tag Team Champions Guerrillas of Destiny defending against EVIL & SANADA and The Young Bucks in a three-way match
Revolution Pro Wrestling Undisputed British Heavyweight Champion Tomohiro Ishii defending against Zack Sabre Jr.
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
defending against SHO & YOH and Shingo Takagi & BUSHI in a three-way match
NEVER Openweight Champion Kota Ibushi defending against Will Ospreay
Pre-show match: Togi Makabe, Toru Yano & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Yuji Nagata, Jeff Cobb & David Finlay vs. Hirooki Goto, Beretta & Chuckie T vs. Minoru Suzuki, Davey Boy Smith Jr. & Lance Archer vs. Hangman Page, Marty Scurll & Yujiro Takahashi in a gauntlet match to determine the number one contenders for the NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team titles
A new British Heavyweight title belt will be given to the winner of Ishii vs. Sabre at the Tokyo Dome.
Impact Wrestling announced that Johnny Impact’s Survivor castmates Nick Wilson (the winner of the season) and Davie Rickenbacker will be appearing and sitting front row for Impact’s World title defense against Brian Cage at Sunday’s Homecoming PPV.
The NWA has uploaded a video hyping the David Arquette/Jocephus hair vs. hair match at the NWA pop-up event on January 5.
PAC vs. Chris Brookes has been signed for Rev Pro’s March 24th event.
It has been announced that DDT will be working with Fight Club Pro in the UK going forward, exchanging talent.
PWA in Australia has announced a triple threat match featuring Jonah Rock, Robbie Eagles and Adam Brooks on January 13 in Sydney.
UFC/MMA
Kamaru Usman is saying that the deal is done and in March he will face current champion Tyron Woodley for the Welterweight title. Woodley disputes that, saying he will fight Colby Covington next.
Alexander Gustafsson isn’t ruling out a move to heavyweight after losing to Jon Jones.
Ovince Saint Preux will fight Misha Cirkunov at UFC 235.
Jairzinho Rozenstruik has signed with the UFC and will face Junior Albini in a heavyweight bout at UFC Fight Night Brazil on February 2.
Gokhan Saki will face Saparbek Safarov at UFC London on March 16.
Teruto Ishikawa vs. Kyung Ho Kang in a bantamweight bout is now set for UFC 234 on February 10.
Welcome to F4WOnline.com’s live coverage of UFC 228: Woodley vs. Till, emanating from the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.
The Octagon returns to Dallas with a 13-fight card featuring UFC Welterweight Champion Tyron Woodley defending against Darren Till in the main event.
Woodley returns to action for the first time since July 2017, making his fourth title defends against the undefeated Till. Till has had a quick rise up the welterweight rankings, earning a title shot following back-to-back wins over former title challengers Stephen Thompson and Donald Cerrone.
The card lost the co-main event on Friday after Nicco Montano was forced to withdraw from a scheduled UFC Women’s Flyweight Championship title defense against Valentina Shevchenko after being hospitalized due to health concerns. Montano suffered from the effects of a tough weight cut, and has since been stripped of the UFC Women’s Flyweight Championship.
Also on the main card, Zabit Magomedshapirov looks to extend his 11-fight win streak against late replacement Brandon Davis, women’s strawweight contenders Jessica Andrade and Karolina Kowalkiewicz battle for a potential title shot, Jimmie Rivera takes on John Dodson in a bantamweight bout and welterweight sluggers Abdul Razak Alhassan and Niko Price meet in an explosive contest.
Among the fights on the preliminary card, former UFC Women’s Strawweight Champion Carla Esparza takes on TUF winner Tatiana Suarez, and a bantamweight battle sees Aljamain Sterling take on Cody Stamann. Also among those fight on the prelims include original TUF winner Diego Sanchez and 30-fight UFC veteran Jim Miller.
Follow along with our live coverage of the event beginning at 6:15 p.m. Eastern time with preliminary action all the way through the main card.
We are looking for your thoughts on tonight’s event, so send a thumbs up, a thumbs down or a thumbs in the middle along with a best fight and a worst fight to Dave at [email protected].
They trade and Brooks lands a right hand. Sanchez lands against the fence and goes for a takedown. They scramble and Brooks grabs the back. Sanchez gets on top and looking for a choke. Brooks is looking for a heel hook and he has a good hold of Sanchez. Sanchez with some hammerfists and elbows from the top. Sanchez with some hard hammerfists from the top. They get to their feet and Sanchez looking for another takedown. They trade punches in the tie-up. 10-9 Sanchez.
Brooks lands a right hand and they exchange close before Brooks rushes out. Sanchez grabs a single leg as he shoots in for a takedown against the cage. Brooks gets the back and lands a couple of knees. Sanchez pulls guard and Brooks lands from the top. Sanchez spins to get his feet against the cage looking to explode from the bottom. Neither man able to do much on the ground as they look to improve position. Sanchez with a late armbar attempt but Brooks escapes. 10-9 Brooks, 19-19.
Brooks with a spinning back fist. Sanchez then tries one but Brooks landed his better. Brooks with an uppercut and grabs the body lock against the fence. They scramble to the floor and Brooks in side control and lands an elbow. Sanchez trying to get out from the bottom but eats some punches from Brooks.They scramble to their feet and Brooks lands a knee. They go to the ground again and Brooks in the guard. Brooks with some big ground and pound on the top at the end to likely seal the round, and fight, for himself. 10-9 Brooks, 29-28 Brooks.
Official Result- Jarred Brooks def. Roberto Sanchez by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
They trade jabs early. Aldana with a leg kick but eats a counter jab from Pudilova. Aldana with a leg kick. They go back to jab trading. Pudilova lands a right hand. They trade punches. Aldana lands a hard right hand and then a leg kick. Aldana with another leg kick but eats a combo from Pudilova. Aldana lands a jab. They trade and Pudilova lands a kick. Pudilova lands a couple of kicks and they then trade leg kicks. Pudilova with a flurry late and Aldana is in trouble but saved. 10-9 Pudilova.
They trade early and Pudilova remains aggressive. Pudilova is throwing a lot of volume but Aldana is landing slightly more of her strikes. Pudilova with a high kick. Aldana lands a hard right hand. They trade and Aldana stumbles. Pudilova rushes with Aldana against the fence. Pudilova with some more kick attempts. Aldana with a leg kick. Aldana witha big body kick. Aldana with a cracking jab and tries a takedown. They trade late. 10-9 Aldana, 19-19.
Pudilova lands a combo early. Aldana with some leg kicks and Pudilova with a high kick before Aldana circles away. Pudilova with some body kicks. Aldana lands a hard right hand. They trade. Aldana lands a good combo. She’s taking over the fight. Pudilova is throwing but not landing and Aldana is landing. Pudilova bleeding pretty good right now. They trade and Aldana lands better. Pudilova lands a nice left hand. Aldana with a front kick. Pudilova with a flurry. Aldana lands a knee in the clinch. They trade against the fence. Pudilova with a hard right hand late. Fun fight, close one. 10-9 Aldana, 29-28 Aldana.
Official Result- Irene Aldana def. Lucie Pudilova by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
> Jim Miller (28-12 1 NC, 17-11 1 NC UFC) vs. Alex White (12-4, 3-4 UFC) Lightweights
They trade and Miller with a leg kick. Miller with another leg kick. Miller lands a straight left hand and then another. Miller lands and White goes stumbling down and Miller gets on top and is landing lots of punches. He’s close to finishing it but grabs the back and gets a rear-naked choke and White taps! Miller with a huge win in his 30th UFC fight.
Official Result- Jim Miller def. Alex White by submission (rear-naked choke) at 1:29 of Round 1
> Diego Sanchez (27-11, 16-11 UFC) vs. Craig White (14-8, 0-1 UFC) Welterweights
Sanchez runs right forward looking to land and goes for a takedown. Sanchez with a big slam. White going for a triangle. White with an upkick. Sanchez remains on top and is landing. Sanchez with more elbows from the top. Sanchez with big right hands from the top but White eating them well. Sanchez in side control looking for an arm. Sanchez postures up and lands more punches. More lands as the round ends. 10-8 Sanchez.
Sanchez again comes forward. He eats a knee from White but turns that into another takedown. White lands another upkick. Sanchez with more control from the top and he is landing punches. White has no ground defense and can’t get out from the bottom. Sanchez with more punches from the top. Sanchez in solid control in side control. He ends the round on top. 10-9 Sanchez, 20-17 Sanchez.
Sanchez fires some lefts but White with a body kick and then drops Sanchez with a hard punch. Sanchez recovers and gets White down and Sanchez is in his guard. White almost landed another upkick. Sanchez with an elbow. Sanchez with more punches from the top and White is trying to scramble out from the bottom but can’t do much. White trying to use the fence to help get from the bottom but Sanchez recognizes it. Sanchez back in the full guard and lands some elbows. White with more upkick attempts but Sanchez avoids them. Sanchez should cruise to the win here. 10-9 Sanchez, 30-26 Sanchez.
Official Result- Diego Sanchez def. Craig White by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
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> Charles Byrd (10-4, 1-0 UFC) vs. Darren Stewart (8-3 1 NC, 1-3 1 NC UFC) Middleweights
They are throwing punches early. Both land and Byrd gets a clinch. Stewart pushes Byrd against the fence but Byrd reverses position. They break and Byrd with a leg kick. Byrd lands a right hand and they clinch. Brief scramble to the ground before they tie up against the fence. They break and Byrd with a high kick before clinching back up. A lot of clinching in this one. Byrd with a nice elbow. They trade elbows on a break and Stewart lands a right hand. 10-9 Byrd.
Byrd with a leg kick. Stewart lands some body punches before they clinch. Stewart lands a left and then an overhand right. Byrd with an elbow off a clinch break. Byrd with some right hands and he is pouring it on Stewart. Stewart then rocks Byrd with a right hand. They trade right hands. Stewart is landing some big punches and then knocks Byrd down with a right hand and the referee stops it! Big stoppage by Stewart as he gets the win.
Official Result- Darren Stewart def. Charles Byrd by TKO (strikes) at 2:17 of Round 2
> Geoff Neal (9-2, 1-0 UFC) vs. Frank Camacho (21-6, 1-2 UFC) Welterweights
Neal with a fast combination. Neal lands another left hand. Neal with a head kick and Camacho fires back a combo. Neal lands a left hand. They trade in close range. Neal with another head kick but didn’t land as clean. Neal lands another hard left hand. Camacho is eating them clean. Neal lands another left hand. Neal is landing clean punches but Camacho is returning fire. They trade in close range. Neal drops Camacho late and looks for the finish by unloading punches but time runs out. 10-9 Neal.
Camacho goes for a takedown but it is stuffed. Neal then unloads with a left hand followed by a series of punches. Neal is unloadking more and lands a flying knee but Camacho is eating it all and coming forward. Neal then lands a head kick that knocks Camacho out cold. Wow. That is for the highlight reel.
Official Result- Geoff Neal def. Frank Camacho by knockout (head kick) at 1:23 of Round 2
Sterling with a couple of head kicks followed by right hands. Stamann tries a head kick. Sterling tries for a takedown but Stamann defends it. Sterling with a leg kick. He tries a head kick but it is blocked. Sterling shoots for a takedown but Stamann defends it against the fence. They trade and Stamann grabs the back. Sterling rolls out to escape but Stamann gets a body lock takedown. Sterling goes for a triangle but Stamann defending and escapes. They get to their feet. Stamann with a late takedown. 10-9 Sterling.
Sterling landing some punches and mixing up well. He lands a kick and Stamann tries to pull guard and Sterling on top. Stamann gives up his back and Sterling looking to take advantage. He does for a moment but Stamann gets up and wrestles him to the mat. They get to their feet. Sterling gets the back and gets Stamann to the ground. Sterling in side control and moves to mount. Stamann gives up his back. Sterling with right hands and flattens him out. Sterling looking for the choke but has Stamann’s arms trapped and lands punches. Sterling then gets Stamann to tap out after he grabs a leg in a weird position and has a kneebar locked in.. Wow. Sterling gets the impressive win.
Official Result- Aljamain Sterling def. Cody Stamann by submission (kneebar) at 3:42 of Round 2
Suarez gets a takedown after searching for it for the opening thirty seconds. Suarez with punches from the top. Suarez with some sharp elbows. Suarez postures up and lands some punches. Esparza looking for an arm but lets go. Suarez just holding Esparza down and doing great work. They get up and Suarez with a slam and lands some punches. Suarez just too much for Esparza right now. Suarez with some knees to the body. Suarez with more punches. Esparza tries to find an opening to get up but Suarez keeps her down. Dominant round by Suarez. 10-8 Suarez.
Suarez opens round two with another takedown. Esparza gets up but Suarez has the body lock against the fence. Suarez with a big takedown into side control and looking to pass over. Suarez in the full guard and lands some elbows. They get to their feet but Suarez with a trip takedown back into side control. Suarez with some elbows but Esparza escapes and Suarez takes her right back down. Esparza up and escapes back to punching range. Suarez with a high kick and then gets another takedown. Suarez ends with an elbow in side control. All her fight. 10-9 Suarez, 20-17 Suarez.
Esparza looks for a takedown but Suarez blocks it and then goes for one of her own against the fence and gets it. Suarez in firm control as she has top position. She’s going to cruise to a win unless she makes a huge mistake. Suarez trying to pass to mount but Esparza blocking it and Suarez goes back into full guard. Suarez with elbows from the top. Suarez gets the mount for a moment but loses it and gets it again. Suarez with heavy punches from the top and now some elbows. The fight is finally stopped by the referee and Suarez gets the win. Impressive showing.
Official Result- Tatiana Suarez def. Carla Esparza by TKO (strikes) at 4:33 of Round 3
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> Abdul Razak Alhassan (9-1, 3-1 UFC) vs. Niko Price (12-1 1 NC, 4-1 1 NC UFC) Welterweights
Alhassan with a leg kick and Price counters with a right hand. They are swinging for the fences early. Alhassan with some hard right hands and he is teeing off on Price. Alhassan loading on his punches and then he knocks Price out with a vicious series of punches. My god what a brutal finish. Impressive by Alhassan.
Official Result- Abdul Razak Alhassan def. Niko Price by knockout (punches) at :43 of Round 1
> Jimmie Rivera (#5, 21-2, 5-1 UFC) vs. John Dodson (#7, 20-9, 9-4 UFC) Bantamweights
Rivera with a leg kick. Rivera with another and Dodson counters by throwing some left hands that don’t quite connect. Rivera with a body kick and they tie up for a moment. Dodson with a big head kick and Rivera eats it. Rivera with a leg kick. Rivera grabs the back and tries to pick up Dodson for a slam but Dodson able to block it. Not a lot happening and we gets some boos. They trade. Dodson hurts Rivera for a moment with a left hand. They trade late. Dodson with a body kick. Not much to it. 10-9 Rivera.
Dodson tries to land the left hand but Rivera ducking under. Rivera with more inside leg kicks. They are exchanging in close range. Dodson with a high kick. Rivera lands a right hand. This is technically good albeit not as fast-paced as other fights tonight. Dodson with a body kick. Dodson is trying to find counters but isn’t throwing with much volume when there’s openings. We have a low blow now on Dodson. They trade getting back to action and Dodson with a late high kick that is checked. 10-9 Rivera, 20-18 Rivera.
Rivera tags Dodson with a left hand and Dodson stumbles back for a second. Rivera lands a right hand. Dodson lands a counter left. Rivera with a leg kick. Rivera with some right hands to the body. The crowd is booing some more. They’ve been treated to a lot of violence tonight. They continue to exchange in close range. With a minute left there isn’t going to be a finish here it seems. They trade body punches in the clinch at the end. 10-9 Rivera, 30-27 Rivera.
Official Result- Jimmie Rivera def. John Dodson by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
> Zabit Magomedshapirov (#15, 15-1, 3-0 UFC) vs. Brandon Davis (9-5, 1-2 UFC) Featherweights
Davis starts with a leg kick. Davis with some more and Magomedsharipov is switching stances. They trade punches. Magomedsharipov with a spinning back fist. Magomedsharipov tries a trip but Davis blocks it and wags his finger at him. Davis with a right hand. Magomedsharipov has his back against the fence and that might be trouble. They trade and Davis lands a nice uppercut. Magomedsharipov with a jumping switch kick. Magomedsharipov gets the back and looks for a takedown. Magomedsharipov with a slam but Davis props up. Davis landed a lot more in the round. 10-9 Davis.
Davis with some kicks but Magomedsharipov gets a takedown and has the back against the fence as they get to their feet. Magomedsharipov has the back and Davis is trying to crawl away. The boos are beginning to return. Magomedsharipov gets a big takedown but Davis gets back to his feet. Magomedsharipov still has the back. Magomedsharipov gets a takedown and has the back and is working for a choke. He has one almost locked in. Davis gets out. Magomedsharipov going for it again. Magomedsharipov has a kneebar locked in and Davis taps out. Impressive showing by Magomedsharipov.
Official Result- Zabit Magomedshapirov def. Brandon Davis by submission (kneebar) at 3:46 of Round 2
Andrade with a arrage of punches early and Kowalkiewicz is already in trouble. Kowalkiewicz circling away but Andrade landing more. Kowalkiewicz now throwing. Kowalkiewicz lands some punches. Andrade with another barrage. Andrade lands a hard right. Kowalkiewicz tags her but Andrade fires back with huge punches. Already crazy ninety seconds in. Andrade then knocks Kowalkiewicz out with a vicious right hand. One punch ended it. You rarely see that in the strawweight division. Andrade lines up for a fight with Rose Namajunas now.
Official Result- Jessica Andrade def. Karolina Kowalkiewicz by knockout (punch) at 1:58 of Round 1
> Tyron Woodley (C, 18-3-1, 8-2-1 UFC) vs. Darren Till (#2, 17-0-1, 5-0-1 UFC) UFC Welterweight Championship
Woodley with a hard right. They clinch and Till lands a knee and Woodley going for the takedown. Woodley has the body lock against the fence. They are broken up. That was quick. Woodley lands a right hand. Till with the jab. Woodley with a head kick. Till trying to find an opening. Woodley shoots but is stuffed. Woodley has the clinch against the fence. They are broken up again. Till lands a left hand. Till with a body kick. 10-9 Woodley.
Woodley drops Till with a right hand and is looking for a finish. He is landing big punches from the top but Till is surviving. Woodley with more punches from the top. Till looking to hold him in the guard. Woodley postures up as Till has weathered the storm. Woodley steps to half-guard. Woodley with some elbows. Till trying to scramble out. Woodley with more elbows. Woodley with more shots from the top. Till is hanging on. Woodley working for a choke and he gets Till to tap out! Tyron Woodley remains the champion as he finishes Darren Till.
Official Result- Tyron Woodley def. Darren Till by submission (D’arce choke) at 4:19 of Round 2 to remain the UFC Welterweight Champion
