Paul Orndorff, whose 1986 feud with Hulk Hogan was the most successful house show feud in pro wrestling history, passed away on 7/12 at the age of 71.
The death is sad because friends of Orndorff remember him as someone who always trained hard and was meticulous about eating, which led to one of the great physiques in wrestling’s body era in the 80s. But his body and mind betrayed him starting in the 80s with his body, and both getting progressively worse over the last decade.
Unlike many of his muscular counterparts, Orndorff was an elite worker in the ring until injuries during his landmark feud nearly ended his career, even though he came back and wrestled into his early 50s on a national basis.
But post wrestling was not good. He had a cancer diagnosis in 2011, but eight months after going public with it, announced he beat it. By 2016, he gave a moving speech about his life when honored by the Cauliflower Alley Club, who donated money to him to allow him to keep from losing his home. While the speech was good, he admitted having significant memory problems. One person who went out with him for drinks for two nights that week, noted to us that on the second night, he had no recollection they had gone out the previous night. His condition worsened, to full blown worst case dementia, to the point he didn’t even remember Gerald Brisco, who he had watched on television as a child and had been around for years, nor almost anyone but his family and longtime friend Brian Blair.
As expected, last Saturday’s UFC 264 did great business at the pay-per-view box office, bringing in just under 1.8 million buys worldwide.
Sports Business Journal’s John Ourand first reported the news Tuesday, confirming what Dana White had estimated on Saturday night after the Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier III-led show had ended.
Ourand added that 1.3 million of those buys were domestic on ESPN+ and 500,000 were international purchases.
He also reported that the prelims saw an average of 1.615 million viewers and was ESPN’s most viewed program of the day. The number is 11% better than when McGregor and Poirier fought in January (1.454 million). The early prelims did 830,000 viewers.
Here’s how the promotion and ESPN+ have done thus far on PPV this year via Ourand’s reporting:
UFC 257 (Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier II): 1.6 million buys worldwide (1.2 million domestic)
UFC 259 (Jan Blachowicz vs. Israel Adesanya): 800,000 buys worldwide (600,000 domestic)
UFC 262 (Charles Oliveira vs. Michael Chandler): 300,000 buys domestic
UFC 263 (Israel Adesanya vs. Marvin Vettori II, Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Brandon Moreno II, Nate Diaz vs. Leon Edwards): 600,000 buys worldwide (500,000 domestic)
Numbers for UFC 258 or UFC 260 were not released.
On a related note, ESPN+ subscribers will see their monthly cost increase to $6.99 a month, up from $5.99, with annual plans increasing to $69.99 per year, up from $59.99, starting in mid-August. As of now, the only way U.S. viewers can buy a UFC PPV is to have an ESPN+ subscription first.
We have a lot of different news stories headlining the new issue of the Observer. Our lead story looks at the condition of Terry Funk, his legacy and his generation of wrestlers.
Also in this issue:
Ticket sales for WWE and AEW shows including the four shows that will top 10,000 tickets sold, hottest wrestling tickets on the secondary market as well as this week’s UFC show, ticket sales for all AEW events on sale, every major WWE show including Madison Square Garden and every event this month, details on all shows and capacity of the buildings.
Schedule and some early details on the 2021 G1 Climax tournament.
The arrest of Jonathan Fatu (Jimmy Uso), his track record of arrests from the past and more reaction.
Grappl’s list of the best matches of 2021 so far as well as sleeper matches from small promotions worth checking out.
The biggest lawsuit settlement in WWE history, update on John Cena, Linda McMahon with Donald Trump, Daniel Bryan mentions on Smackdown, Thea Trinidad return to WWE, how often each company does rematches, Smackdown doing a split site show, changes to a WWE streaming product, huge match coming, wrestlers recently cut were to be put in a new group, notes on Breakout tournament competitors, International TV ratings for WWE and AEW, WWE exec honored as one of the best in the world except they fired him, new WWE marketing deal, the most viewed segments on YouTube of WWE programming this past week as well as the current WWE market value.
Update Dwayne Johnson’s planned launch of the XFL and explain the latest delays.
A story on the death of Cyanide Sid Cooper, a top U.K. heel who was both a major inspiration of the Lord Steven Regal character in WCW and Regal’s favorite wrestler as a young child, his matches, what he was known for, life after wrestling and more.
Coverage of AAA’s Verano de Escandalo.
A story on Chris Romero aka Chris Youngblood, from the famous Romero wrestling family, his family, including relatives few know about, his breaking into the business, how he became a big star in Puerto Rico, the heyday of The Youngbloods there, the death of Bruiser Brody, and the glory days of All Japan Pro Wrestling.
More detail on the ratings than any other source, we have how every segment on NXT and AEW did with different age groups, genders and more, plus a look at all other wrestling shows of the past week, how many different viewers the shows had, DVR numbers and how long the average fan watches.
Results of the major pro wrestling events of the past week.
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SUNDAY NEWS UPDATE
Bryan and I will be back tonight covering the ROH PPV show as well as previewing Raw, and covering other wrestling news stories. You can end questions to the show to [email protected]
Last night’s UFC 264 appeared to be massive. There were just under 12 million Google searches, which may have been the all-time record or if not is very close to it. Ronda Rousey vs. Holly Holm at just under 12 million was the largest I can recall. A huge UFC usually does 5 million and a pretty big one, like a Jon Jones fight, may be 2.5 million. So expect giant PPV numbers. Besides McGregor and Dustin Poirier, those cracking the top 20 were Greg Hardy (200,000), Sean O’Malley (200,000), Steven Thompson (100,000), Jessica Eye (50,000) and Ryan Hall (50,000). We’re looking for your thoughts on UFC 264 and tonight’s ROH Best in the World with thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle to [email protected]
ROH Best in the World starting at 7 p.m. tonight:
Demonic Flamita vs. Rey Horus
PCO & Danhausen vs. Beer City Bruiser & Brawler Milonas
Shane Taylor & Moses & Kaun vs. Dalton Castle & Dak Draper & Eli Isom for the trios titles
Josh Woods vs. Silas Young last man standing
EC3 vs. Flip Gordon
Mark & Jay Briscoe vs. PJ Black & Brian Johnson
Jay Lethal vs. Brody King
Jonathan Gresham vs. Mike Bennett for the Pure title
Rhett Titus & Tracy Williams vs Chris Dickinson & Homicide for the tag titles
Tony Deppen vs. Dragon Lee for the TV title
Rush vs. Bandido for the ROH title
This is ROH’s first show with fans in attendance since the start of the pandemic.
Besides Bianca Belair vs. Sasha Banks winning an ESPY for Best WWE moment (what a weird category if you think of it), Tyson Fury was named Best Boxer and Khabib Nurmagomedov Best MMA Fighter in the fan-voted awards last night.
Raw tomorrow night:
Bobby Lashley vs. Xavier Woods non-title
Sheamus vs. Humberto Carrillo U.S. title
Asuka vs. Naomi vs. Alexa Bliss vs. Nikki Ash
A.J. Styles vs. Ivar
Omos vs. Erik
Ricochet vs. John Morrison falls count anywhere
With so-so ticket sales for the 9/10 Smackdown show in Madison Square Garden, WWE has announced Raw talent has been added to the Smackdown show that night.
Travis Fulton, the MMA/boxing Iron Man who was held in the Linn County Correctional (Iowa) Correction Institution and awaiting trial on charges of child pornography and domestic violence appeared to have hung himself at 4 a.m. earlier today. He was pronounced dead at 5 a.m. after life saving measures failed to revive him. Fulton had more than 322 MMA fights from 1996 to 2019 as well as 75 pro boxing matches. He had more fights than any MMA fighter in history and fought a number of major names in his day.
Dynamite Mike Gammon, who is generally considered by insiders as the single greatest player in the history of Roller Derby, died on 4/12 from heart failure. The news just broke in the past few days since his family members did not want it released. The local newspaper in Castro Valley did have a mention of his death in April but made no mention of his Roller Derby past. Gammon, who was 78, was Rookie of the Year at 15, MVP at 17 and was billed as “The Fastest Man on Skates” throughout his career. He was the ultimate child prodigy. His mother was Gerry Murray, who along with Joan Weston was one of the two most popular women skaters of all-time and a national celebrity in the late 40s and early 50s and one of the first female athletes to get a number of endorsement deals. His father, Paul Milane, was one of the top male skaters in the 40s and his stepfather, Gene Gammon was the top blocker for the New York Chiefs when Roller Derby was so big four games per week aired on ABC and it was the most popular programming on the station. Mike was skating at 13 months and speed skating at three, and had incredible balance. During the national TV era (1948-1951) he was 5 to 8 and would do skating races and tricks at halftime. He was great as a oand even better as a work.
Kazushi Sakuraba will challenge for the GHC title on 8/1 against Naomichi Marufuji, who retained over Takashi Sugiura earlier today.
Suwama returned to the ring earlier today in a six-man tag after being out with COVID, which forced him to vacate the Triple Crown.
WWE
Money in the Bank odds from BetOnline.ag:
Men’s ladder match: Drew McIntyre -175, Seth Rollins +250, Big E +500, Riddle +500, Kevin Owens +600, Shinsuke Nakamura +1200, Ricochet +1600, John Morrison +2000
Roman Reigns -700 vs. Edge +400
Bobby Lashley -1000 vs. Kofi Kingston +525
Rhea Ripley -140 vs. Charlotte Flair -100
OTHER NEWS
Empire State Wrestling on 7/31 presents Brawlfest in Buffalo at the RiverWorks. It will be the first wrestling show open to the public in Buffalo since the pandemic.
St. Louis Anarchy from Friday night in Granite City, IL: James Bandy & Kayla Kassidy b Sean Orleans & Sophie King, Adrian Surge b Nick King, Derek Neal b Warhorse, Mikey won four-way over Deacon Cash, Kenny Alfonso and Victor Analog, Aaron Williams b BSTRD Cassidy, Even Gelistico & Billie Starkz b Christian Rose & Angelus Layne, Thomas Shire b Jake Dirden, Moonshine Mantell b Gnaris Garvin, Davey Richards b Everett Connors, Davey Vega & Mat Fitchett b Camaro Jackson & Campbell Myers to win the USA tag team titles, Jeremy Wyatt d Gary Jay 60:00 to retain the Gateway heritage title in a Pure Rules match (thanks to Patrick Brandmeyer). Mikey is the former Mikey McFinnegan.
A correction from Friday’s update. The Varsity Blonds are not wrestling on the 7/24 MCW show. They are only there to do an autograph signing. AEW announced this past week that Brian Pillman Jr. is now under an AEW contract. He had been under an MLW deal and being used on a per-date deal by AEW up to this point.
Mid Missouri Wrestling Alliance from last night in St. Louis: Ricky Cruz & Keith Smith Jr. b Rick Ruby & Freddie Fury, Kahyman & Damian Blade b Andrew Wilder & Jonathan Zulu, Damion Cortess & Frodo the Ghost b CJ Shine & Johnny Blade, Moondog Rover & Keith Smith b Jimmy D & Garrett Shanks, Kahyman & Damian Blade b Moondog Rover & Keith Smith, Ricky Cruz & Keith Smith Jr. b Damion Cortess & Frodo the Ghost, Ricky Cruz & Keith Smith Jr. b Kahyman & Damian Blade to win the tournament for the MMWA tag titles (thanks to Patrick Brandmeyer)
Melbourne Championship Wrestling from last night in Melbourne: Adam Brooks b Caveman Ugg to keep the MCW title, Tony Villani b Anth Cava, Royce Chambers b Gore, Natural Classics won three-way over Mile High Club and The Parea, Kellyanne b Delta, Mitch Waterman b Edward Dusk, Rocky Menero NC Slex. Next show is 8/14.
SHWA from last night in Western Australia: Great George b Chadwick Jackson to win Pride title, Davis Storm b Seth Kincaid in a career vs. career match, Julian Ward b Zenith to win the SHWA heavyweight title, Pocket Rockets b Dux Brothers to keep the SHWA tag titles, Chris Target won Midyear Rumble. Next show is 8/78.
Due to the Delta Variant causing a new wave of COVID in Sydney, don’t expect any shows in that city for the next two months (thanks to Kevin Chiat)
IPW tonight in Battle Creek, MI at Full Blast and 7/24 in Muskegon, MI for War on the Shore aboard the USS LST 393 Battleship.
AAW on Friday night in Merrionette Park, IL: Schaff b Jake Crist, Laredo Kid b Ace Perry, Skye Blue b Hyan in an I quit match, Josh Alexander b Jake Something, Deonn Rusman & Joeasa b Ace Austin & Madman Fulton to keep tag titles, Manders b Robin Steele, Myron Reed b Hakim Zayn to keep the AAW Heritage title, Allysin Kay b Kris Statlander to win the AAW women’s title, Fred Yehi b Mance Warner in a cage match to win the AAW title in 31:16. Alexander and Schaff both wanted a match with Yehi. It was announced Eddie Kingston wants a title match on 8/7 in the same location.
Despite all the hype going into their trilogy fight, the main event of UFC 264 had a bit of an anticlimactic ending as Dustin Poirier defeated Conor McGregor by first round TKO after the Irishman brike his tibia at the end of the round.
Poirier had McGregor in trouble several times and his ground and pound had referee Herb Dean looking in closely to possibly stop it. McGregor was able to make his way to his feet as the round wound down and as the two exchanged punches, McGregor took a step back and his left ankle turned. He immediately fell on his rear and Poirier went for more ground and pound to try and finish it before time ran out.
McGregor was unable to stand, leading to the doctor’s stoppage. It appeared to be either McGregor’s ankle or shin that broke which Poirier thought was due to a checked kick earlier in the fight. McGregor denied that and said no such thing happened.
McGregor’s lower leg was placed into an air cast and he was stretchered out after an angry post-fight promo in which he continued to insult Poirier’s wife, saying, “This is not over.” He said it didn’t matter where it took place, but insisted they weren’t done with each other just yet.
He did have his moments in the round, landing a left that Poirier acknowledged post-fight as well as a guillotine choke that eventually put him into a worse position. He has now lost two straight for the first time in his career and three out of his last four.
A winner of three straight, Poirier now moves on to face lightweight champion Charles Oliveira who was at cageside. Poirier didn’t mention the fight in his post-fight promo and didn’t hold back in airing his displeasure for McGregor.
“Karma isn’t a bitch, it’s a mirror,” he said.
The show was a massive financial success in the UFC’s first full crowd Las Vegas show since March, bringing in 20,062 for a gate of $16.76 million. Dana White estimated 1.7 to 1.8 million buys.
After the show, White said McGregor will go into surgery Sunday and he will make a fourth fight between them. However, Poirier is still getting the next title shot.
Welcome to F4WOnline.com’s live coverage of UFC 264: Poirier vs. McGregor 3, emanating from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
After more than a year running most of their events behind closed doors at their Las Vegas headquarters, the Octagon finally returns to the T-Mobile Arena in front of a full crowd of fans in their home base, and they’re greeted to the biggest fight of the year featuring the biggest star in the sport’s history.
Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor will settle the score once-and-for-all in the main event in their trilogy bout. McGregor beat Poirier the first time they met, also in Las Vegas, in September 2014, but Poirier took the rematch, knocking out McGregor in the second round at UFC 257 in January in Abu Dhabi. Both men are looking to come out on top in the trilogy bout, where the winner will likely be next in line for a shot at the UFC Lightweight Championship.
In the co-main event, Gilbert Burns returns from his title fight loss, looking to derail the title shot plans of Stephen Thompson. Also on the main card is a heavyweight battle pitting Tai Tuivasa against Greg Hardy, a women’s bantamweight bout between Irene Aldana and Yana Kunitskaya, and a bantamweight bout between rising star Sean O’Malley and late-notice replacement Kris Moutinho opens the main card.
The prelims are filled with exciting match-ups from the top-to-bottom. In the featured prelim, former Interim UFC Welterweight Champion Carlos Condit takes on Max Griffin. Also on the prelims is a welterweight banger between Niko Price and Michel Pereira, and a featherweight bout that sees former TUF winner Ryan Hall make his return against the undefeated Ilia Topuria.
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].
Rivera with a leg kick early. Zhumagulov lands a combo as Rivera lands a knee to the body. They trade in close range. Rivera coming forward and landing body kicks. Rivera with more kicks. Zhumagulov with a combo. Zhumagulov lands a left hook. Zhumagulov lands as Rivera tries for a takedown and then Zhumagulov has a standing guillotine choke locked in tight and Rivera taps! What a finish by Zhumagulov.
Official Result- Zhalgas Zhumagulov def. Jerome Rivera by submission (guillotine choke) at 2:02 of Round 1
Tavares landing the jab early. They trade inside the pocket, Tavares got the better of it. Tavares with a leg kick. Tavares lands a right hand. Akhmedov lands a combo and Tavares with a leg kick. Akhmedov gets a brief takedown but Tavares scrambles up and they remain clinched. Tavares with a knee before they break. Akhmedov rocks Tavares with a punch and Tavares stumbles back and Akhmedov gets the clinch. We have a low blow on Tavares and a timeout. They get back to action and Tavares lands in close. Tavares with a nice low kick and Akhmedov misses a right hand. Tavares just misses a head kick but lands a leg kick. Akhmedov tries a takedown but Tavares defends and they both land close and Tavares stuns Akhmedov with a left hand. He lands another. 10-9 Tavares.
Tavares with a left hand. They trade inside the pocket and both land and Akhmedov gets a takedown. Tavares works his way up against the fence and they’re clinched. They break. Tavares with a nice leg kick then another. He lands another. Tavares with a high kick. Akhmedov lands a right hand. Tavares with another leg kick and then Akhmedov lands one. Tavares with a body kick and Akhmedov grabs the leg and they trade punches before he lets go. Akhmedov lands a right hand. Tavares with a low kick and Akhmedov lands a counter right hand. Akhmedov lands another right hand after a Tavares leg kick. Tavares lands a knee. Akhmedov with a late right hand. 10-9 Tavares, 20-18 Tavares.
Akhmedov with a leg kick. Tavares with a leg kick and Akhmedov goes to the mat and Tavares lands another. Akhmedov misses a right hand. Tavares lands a right hand and then an upper body kick. Akhmedov just misses a right hand. Tavares with the jab and Akhmedov lands a counter leg kick. Akhmedov with a leg kick. Akhmedov shoots for a takedown but Tavares defends easily. Tavares with a leg kick and Akhmedov lands a right hand. Tavares with the jab. Tavares with a high kick then a low kick. Akhmedov lands some punches. Tavares with a combo and Akhmedov is sprinting away. Tavares with a head kick. Tavares with a combo. He lands a leg kick. Tavares with a spin kick late. 10-9 Tavares, 30-27 Tavares.
Official Result- Brad Tavares def. Omari Akhmedov by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
> Jennifer Maia (#4, 18-7-1, 3-3 UFC) vs. Jessica Eye (#7, 15-9 1 NC, 5-8 1 NC UFC) Women’s Flyweights
Eye lands early. Eye lands the jab as Maia lands to the body. Eye lands. Maia with a leg kick. Maia lands a big knee. Maia with a leg kick. They scramble to the mat for a moment then get up and exchange. Eye lands a right hand. They trade in close range. They trade and Maia with a left hook as Eye lands an uppercut. Maia with a high kick. Eye lands a combo and Maia lands a left hand at the end. Maia lands a combo. Eye with the jab. They trade punches. They land in an exchange and Eye gets a late takedown and ends the round on top. 10-9 Maia.
Maia landing first early on in the second. Eye with the jab. Eye applying the pressure. Maia lands a right hand. Eye gets a takedown but they scramble up quickly. Eye still coming forward and they both land. Eye lands the jab. Eye with a leg kick. Maia lands a nice right hand. Eye with a combo and Maia lands a knee up the middle. Eye with some low kicks. Maia with a right hand. They trade in close range. Eye has a big cut open and Maia lands a left hook. Eye with an inside leg kick. They clinch against the fence and end the round there. The cut on Eye is massive and it came from a clash of heads. 10-9 Maia, 20-18 Maia.
Eye with a leg kick. She’s coming forward. Maia lands a right hand. Eye lands a right hand. Eye with a leg kick. Eye lands a left hand. Eye keeps coming forward and both are landing. Eye with the jab and a leg kick. Maia with a right hand. Eye with a combo to the body. They both land in close. Eye lands a right hand. Eye with an uppercut and lands a left hand. Eye lands to the body. Eye lands a right hand to the body. They trade in close before clinching. They break. They trade. Eye’s cut has opened back up and she is bleeding badly. Eye lands a right hand and a left hand pops Maia’s head back. Close fight. 10-9 Eye, 29-28 Maia.
Official Result- Jennifer Maia def. Jessica Eye by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
ESPN PRELIMS | 8 PM ET/5 PM PT
> Trevin Giles (14-2, 5-2 UFC) vs. Dricus Du Plessis (15-2, 1-0 UFC) Middleweights
Du Plessis with a body kick. Du Plessis with a body kick. Du Plessis with a leg kick. He lands another. Du Plessis with a jumping kick as Giles was swinging. Giles with a combo but Du Plessis is able to land a right hand. Du Plessis with a leg kick. Du Plessis tries a head kick but Giles blocks it. Giles with a leg kick. Du Plessis tries for a takedown against the fence but Giles defending. He almost completes it but can’t. Du Plessis gets Giles down and is in side control. Du Plessis gets to the mount and takes the back and now goes for the leg. Giles scrambles out and they get to their feet and Giles has the back. Du Plessis looking for a kimura but Giles defends and Du Plessis ends up in Giles’ guard. Du Plessis moves to side control and then back to mount. He loses it but grabs the neck and has a guillotine but the round ends. 10-9 Du Plessis.
Du Plessis with a body kick. Giles looking to land the jab. Giles with a knee to the body. They were both looking to land as Giles pushes Du Plessis to the fence and lands. Du Plessis then lands a big right hand that drops Giles and some follow-up punches to finish it off. Big win for Du Plessis.
Official Result- Dricus Du Plessis def. Trevin Giles by knockout (punches) at 1:41 of Round 2
> Ryan Hall (8-1, 4-0 UFC) vs. Ilia Topuria (10-0, 2-0 UFC) Featherweights
Hall with a body kick. Hall with a spin kick to the head and Topuria blocks. Hall goes for the roll to the mat but Topuria slips away. Hall trying for his rollsto the mat but Topuria is running away essentially to get out of trouble. Topuria lands somekicks. Topuria has the back as they roll to the mat but Topuria scrambles out. Topuria lands a right hand. Hall with a body kick. Hall lands a left hand and is continuing to try to roll for a leg lock but Topuria is defending well. Hall was trying to roll and Topuria defends and started landing big punches from the top and knocks Hall out cold. What a finish by Topuria.
Official Result- Ilia Topuria def. Ryan Hall by knockout (punches) at 4:47 of Round 1
> Niko Price (14-4 2 NC, 6-4 2 NC UFC) vs. Michel Pereira (25-11 2 NC, 3-2 UFC) Welterweights
Pereira with the jab. Price pokes Pereira in the eye and we have a timeout. We get back to action and Price trying for a takedown against the fence. They break. Price with a body kick and Pereira grabs the leg and puts him on the mat but lets him up. They trade body kicks. They clinch and Pereira lands some knees. They trade punches inside the pocket. Pereira with a stiff jab and then a leg kick. Pereira with a combo and dumps Price on his back but lets him up. They clinch and Pereira pushes it against the fence. Pereira with a knee as they break. Price with a leg kick. Pereira with a left hook to the body. Pereira tried his cartwheel kick but landed a body kick late. 10-9 Pereira.
They trade kicks to start the second. Pereira with a hard leg kick and then a body kick. Pereira lands a right hand and Price falls to the mat. Pereira back flips into the mount and is landing punches from the top. Pereira looking for a kimura but lets go and is now looking for an arm-triangle choke. He gives up and goes back to landing punches. Price gives up his back but Pereira ends up working back to the mount. They work to their feet. Price now going for a heel hook but Pereira escapes. They trade jabs as they get to their feet. Both landing punches and Pereira is looking tired as Price lands. Price landing more towards the end as they clinch. They exchange at the end. 10-9 Pereira, 20-18 Pereira.
They are throwing wild punches to start the third and Pereira clips Price with a left hand. Price looks for the takedown against the fence but they break. Price with a leg kick and they trade right hands. We have a kick to the groin by Pereira and we have a timeout. They get back to action and Price lands a hard right hand. Pereira lands a right hand. Price pressuring and both are landing. They are both landing near the fence. Price lands a front kick right to the face of Pereira. They are both landing as they clinch and Pereira lands some knees. Pereira tries a takedown and they roll and Price lands some big elbows as they get up. Price with the jab and then some big punches. Price is pouring it on and they clinch. They break. Pereira trying a takedown and Price with some body shots. Price pouring it on late trying to finish but time runs out. Great fight. 10-9 Price, 29-28 Pereira.
Official Result- Michel Pereira def. Niko Price by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
> Carlos Condit (32-13, 9-9 UFC) vs. Max Griffin (17-8, 5-6 UFC) Welterweights
Griffin with a leg kick. Griffin throwing kicks. He lands another leg kick. He lands another. Griffin with another leg kick. Griffin only landing leg kicks but they’re effective. Condit lands a combo. Condit with a leg kick. They trade right hands. Condit with a body kick. They trade punches and Griffin knocks Condit down with a punch and starts landing from the top but Condit is able to get back to his feet. Condit with a jumping knee. Condit lands a right hand. 10-9 Griffin.
Condit with a body kick. Condit lands some punches and then lands a knee. Condit with a right hand. Condit with a leg kick. Condit with a left hand and Griffin lands a punch. Griffin with a leg kick. Condit with a body kick. Condit lands a right hand. Condit with a combo and lands to the body. Griffin with a right hand. Condit with a body kick. They trade punches and Condit with a spin kick. Condit with a nice right hand. They trade jabs. Griffin lands a right hand. They trade jabs. Condit with a combo and a body kick as he pressures Griffin. They trade jabs again. Condit with a late combo. Close round. 10-9 Condit, 19-19.
They trade to start the third. Condit with a high kick. They trade punches. Griffin lands a left hand. Griffin with a combo. Griffin with a body kick and then Condit lands a combo. Griffin with a right hand. Griffin with a combo that stuns Condit. Griffin pressing forward and landing and gets a takedown. They get up and scramble late. 10-9 Griffin, 29-28 Griffin.
Official Result- Max Griffin def. Carlos Condit by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
ESPN+ PPV MAIN CARD | 10 PM ET/7 PM PT
> Sean O’Malley (13-1, 5-1 UFC) vs. Kris Moutinho (9-4, 0-0 UFC) Bantamweights
O’Malley with a front kick. O’Malley with some leg kicks. O’Malley with a body kick then a right hand. O’Malley lands a right hand. Moutinho with a leg kick. O’Malley with the jab. Moutinho with a leg kick. O’Malley with a left hand then a front kick to the body. O’Malley is landing at will. O’Malley landing but Moutinho is swinging and did land. O’Malley with a left hand. O’Malley lands and Moutinho falls to the mat. He gets up and O’Malley is showboating as he’s landing and lands a spin kick. O’Malley still landing. Moutinho lands a right hand. O’Malley lands some punches and a front kick to the body. Moutinho with some leg kicks. O’Malley lands a left hand. O’Malley still landing and Moutinho lands a leg kick. O’Malley lands a series of punches. O’Malley with a knee then a right hand and lands a combo. O’Malley drops Moutinho at the end with a right hand. 10-8 O’Malley.
O’Malley with a spin kick to the body. He lands a front kick to the body. Moutinho talking trash but he’s wobbly still. O’Malley with a leg kick then some right hands. O’Malley with some jabs. O’Malley lands a right hand. He lands a body kick then a head kick. O’Malley with a right hand to the body. O’Malley with a combo. O’Malley continuing to land. He lands a body kick. Moutinho is still coming after O’Malley but eating shots. O’Malley continues to land. O’Malley continues to land combos. O’Malley still landing but Moutinho is coming forward and they clinch. Moutinho with a kick. 10-9 O’Malley, 20-17 O’Malley.
O’Malley landing to start the third. Moutinho lands a combo as he has O’Malley in trouble for a moment. O’Malley lands the jab. O’Malley with a body kick then a right hand. O’Malley with a head kick. O’Malley lands more hard shots. O’Malley with some kicks and a right hand. Moutinho with a leg kick. O’Malley with a combo. He’s teeing off on Moutinho now but somehow Moutinho is able to stay on his feet. Those were big shots landed by O’Malley. O’Malley pouring it on. Moutinho lands a right hand. O’Malley with more punches. O’Malley with the jab. O’Malley lands a right hand. O’Malley with some big punches and Herb Dean stops it late in the fight. Moutinho was eating a lot of shots but this could’ve continued but this was dominant by O’Malley.
Official Result- Sean O’Malley def. Kris Moutinho by TKO (punches) at 4:33 of Round 3
> Irene Aldana (#4, 12-6, 5-4 UFC) vs. Yana Kunitskaya (#5, 14-5 1 NC, 4-2 UFC) Women’s Bantamweights* (Aldana missed weight by 3.5 pounds)
Kunitskaya with some kicks to the legs and body early on. Kunitskaya with another leg kick. Kunitskaya with a body kick and then lands a right hand. Kunitskaya with a spin kick. They clinch against the fence. Kunitskaya with a knee. They trade knees and Kunitskaya lands an elbow as they break. They trade leg kicks and Aldana lands a right hand. Aldana with a left hook to the body. Aldana with a right hand and Kunitskaya with a body kick. Aldana with a combo and Kunitskaya just misses a spinning back fist. Aldana drops Kunitskaya with a left hook and gets on top and is landing punches. Aldana stands and is looking to get back on top and she does and starts landing left hands. Aldana with big punches and it is stopped. Big win for Aldana as she gets the stoppage.
Official Result- Irene Aldana def. Yana Kunitskaya by TKO (punches) at 4:35 of Round 1
> Tai Tuivasa (11-3, 5-3 UFC) vs. Greg Hardy (7-3 1 NC, 4-3 1 NC UFC) Heavyweights
Tuivasa with a leg kick. He lands another. He lands more. He lands another and Hardy lands a right hand. Tuivasa lands a right hand. Hardy hurts Tuivasa and then Tuivasa drops Hardy with a big left hand and Tuivasa lands a follow-up shot as the referee was rushing in to stop it. Big finish for Tuivasa, who then celebrates with his customary shoey.
Official Result- Tai Tuivasa def. Greg Hardy by knockout (punches) at 1:07 of Round 1
> Gilbert Burns (#2, 20-4, 12-4 UFC) vs. Stephen Thompson (#4, 16-4-1, 11-4-1 UFC) Welterweights
Burns with a body kick. Burns shoots in for a takedown and pushes Thompson against the fence. They battle against the fence. Burns is able to get Thompson down. Burns with a couple of punches from the top but nothing is really happening. Thompson works his way up but eats some punches from Burns. They break but neither can land before the round ends. 10-9 Burns.
Burns misses a high kick. Thompson just misses a spin kick. Thompson with a body kick. Burns with a leg kick. Thompson with a side kick. He lands a big one to the body. Burns with a leg kick. Thompson controlling the range and lands a high kick. Thompson lands a big spin kick. Burns lands a right hand. Thompson with a side kick. Thompson lands and Burns goes for a takedown but it’s defended. Thompson lands a right hand. Burns with a low kick and lands a right hand. Burns gets a takedown. They both land as they’re tied up on the mat. 10-9 Burns, 20-18 Burns.
Thompson with some kicks to start as he lands the side kick. Thompson lands a right hand and then a body kick. Thompson lands a wheel kick to the head and Burns goes down but gets up and lands a right hand. Burns shoots for a takedown but Thompson is able to keep it up. Burns gets the takedown. Burns lands a couple of punches but just holding Thompson down. Burns lands some left hands from the top. Burns grabs the neck and looking for a guillotine but Thompson escapes. Burns with some big punches from the top at the end though some were to the back of the head. 10-9 Burns, 30-27 Burns.
Official Result- Gilbert Burns def. Stephen Thompson by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
McGregor lands a spin kick to the body then a leg kick. They trade punches. McGregor with another spin kick. McGregor with a leg kick. Poirier lands a right hand. McGregor with a leg kick. McGregor with another leg kick and lands a left hand. Poirier lands some punches. They clinch and McGregor with a knee to the body. McGregor has the neck and looks for a guillotine. Poirier gets out and lands an elbow from the top. He lands another. McGregor throwing elbows from the bottom. Poirier lands some elbows from the top. Poirier lands a right hand. Poirier back into the guard and McGregor lands an elbow. Poirier lands from the top. McGregor lands an upkick and Poirier back on top landing. McGregor goes for the neck but Poirier gets out and they stand. Poirier drops McGregor late and ends the round landing from the top. 10-9 Poirier.
McGregor broke his ankle sometime in the first and the fight was stopped. He broke it when they both threw punches and McGregor fell back wrong and went down. He wasn’t dropped by Poirier. Poirier wins in anti-climatic fashion.
Official Result- Dustin Poirier def. Conor McGregor by TKO (doctor stoppage- injury) at 5:00 of Round 1
We have a lot of different news stories headlining the new issue of the Observer. Our lead story looks at the condition of Terry Funk, his legacy and his generation of wrestlers.
Also in this issue:
Ticket sales for WWE and AEW shows including the four shows that will top 10,000 tickets sold, hottest wrestling tickets on the secondary market as well as this week’s UFC show, ticket sales for all AEW events on sale, every major WWE show including Madison Square Garden and every event this month, details on all shows and capacity of the buildings.
Schedule and some early details on the 2021 G1 Climax tournament.
The arrest of Jonathan Fatu (Jimmy Uso), his track record of arrests from the past and more reaction.
Grappl’s list of the best matches of 2021 so far as well as sleeper matches from small promotions worth checking out.
The biggest lawsuit settlement in WWE history, update on John Cena, Linda McMahon with Donald Trump, Daniel Bryan mentions on Smackdown, Thea Trinidad return to WWE, how often each company does rematches, Smackdown doing a split site show, changes to a WWE streaming product, huge match coming, wrestlers recently cut were to be put in a new group, notes on Breakout tournament competitors, International TV ratings for WWE and AEW, WWE exec honored as one of the best in the world except they fired him, new WWE marketing deal, the most viewed segments on YouTube of WWE programming this past week as well as the current WWE market value.
Update Dwayne Johnson’s planned launch of the XFL and explain the latest delays.
A story on the death of Cyanide Sid Cooper, a top U.K. heel who was both a major inspiration of the Lord Steven Regal character in WCW and Regal’s favorite wrestler as a young child, his matches, what he was known for, life after wrestling and more.
Coverage of AAA’s Verano de Escandalo.
A story on Chris Romero aka Chris Youngblood, from the famous Romero wrestling family, his family, including relatives few know about, his breaking into the business, how he became a big star in Puerto Rico, the heyday of The Youngbloods there, the death of Bruiser Brody, and the glory days of All Japan Pro Wrestling.
More detail on the ratings than any other source, we have how every segment on NXT and AEW did with different age groups, genders and more, plus a look at all other wrestling shows of the past week, how many different viewers the shows had, DVR numbers and how long the average fan watches.
Results of the major pro wrestling events of the past week.
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FRIDAY NEWS UPDATE
No show with Garrett Gonzales tonight as he’s on the road. Bryan and I will be doing shows tomorrow after UFC and Sunday after ROH. You can send questions to the show to [email protected]
Bryan and I will be doing our first show and meet and greet in more than a year on 9/5 in Hoffman Estates, IL at The Hyatt Place at 10 a.m. Tickets went on sale yesterday and the first two categories sold out instantly. There are still a few seats left, more information can be found here.
All Out tickets sold out instantly this morning as was noted that they would since almost all the tickets were sold in yesterday’s presale, which also went instantly. The current issue runs down ticket sales for the rest of the month as well as the biggest shows in September. The Wednesday Dynamite show that week at the NOW Arena has 4,200 tickets out while the Friday Rampage show is at 4,400.
WWE tickets officially went on sale to the public today for the 9/10 Smackdown show in Madison Square Garden. There were 6,400 tickets out as of a few hours ago, although for business reasons when WWE runs MSG there are usually a few thousand business trades and comps.
The injury to Pam Martinez (Bayley) is believed to be a torn ACL which was suffered while training at the Performance Center. WWE had mandatory training sessions for almost ,but not all, talent with the idea of getting them in better shape now that the schedule is going back to more live events. It looks like she’ll be out around nine months. On tonight’s Smackdown show, they’ll announce the replacement for Bayley in the match with Bianca Belair for Money in the Bank next week. One would think Sasha Banks would be the leading candidate to do a big match in a week.
Smackdown tonight has announced Cesaro vs. Seth Rollins and Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Baron Corbin as Money in the Bank qualifiers. The only other news we know is that Vince McMahon today was changing the scripts around and that as of this morning Jimmy Uso was scheduled to be on tonight’s show. He is there. 205 Live taped Tuesday has Asher Hale vs. Josh Briggs and Odyssey Jones vs. Grayson Waller.
New Japan Word has shows from Sapporo at 5 a.m. tomorrow morning and 1 a.m. late Saturday night. The second show has Zack Sabre Jr. & Taichi defending the IWGP tag titles against Tetsuya Naito & Sanada.
UFC 264 is tomorrow. ESPN coverage runs from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Eastern:
Hu Yaozong (185.5) vs. Alen Amedovski (186)
Zhalgas Zhumagulov (125.5) vs. Jerome Rivera (125.5)
Omari Akhmedov (185.5) vs. Brad Tavares (184.5)
Jennifer Maia (125.5) vs. Jessica Eye (125.5)
Trevin Giles (185.5) vs. Dricus Du Plessis (185.5)
Ryan Hall (145) vs. Ilia Topuria (145.5)
Niko Price (169.5) vs. Michel Pereira (170.5)
Carlos Condit (171) vs. Max Griffin (170.5)
PPV at 10 p.m.
Sean O’Malley (135.5) vs. Kris Moutinho (135)
Irene Aldana (139.5) vs. Yana Kunitskaya (134.5) – Aldana forfeited 30 percent of her purse for missing weight that badly
Tai Tuivasa (263) vs. Greg Hardy (264.5)
Gilbert Burns (170.5) vs. Stephen Thompson (170.5)
Dustin Poirier (156) vs. Conor McGregor (156)
Dana White claims the PPV advanced orders are at an all-time record pace. Of course, promoters claim a lot of things. But the show is a lock to do very well. White also said that Donald Trump will be sitting in the front row and it will be the first time Trump will have attended a sports event since he lost the election. By the way, he did lose the election.
A press conference to announce the Jake Paul vs. Tyron Woodley boxing match takes place on Tuesday at noon Pacific at the Novo at LA Live in Los Angeles. Showtime is promoting the show. Mike Coppinger reported the date of the show as 8/29.
New Japan Strong tonight at 10 p.m. Eastern on New Japan World has Josh Alexander vs. Rocky Romero, PJ Black vs. Alex Coughlin and The DKC vs. Barrett Brown
MLW’s Battle Riot which takes place tomorrow at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia will be airing on Bein Sport later in the month. The show is said to be sold out with full capacity
UFC
There are actually odds from SportsBetting.ag for the Espy awards. For Best MMA fighter the odds are:
Francis Ngannou +135
Khabib Nurmagomedov +155
Amanda Nunes +300
Rose Namajunas +325
For Best WWE moment:
Edge’s winning Rumble -200
Bianca Belair winning Rumble +180
Belair over Sasha Banks to win title at WrestleMania +500
Bad Bunny does a Canadian Destroyer +750
UFC has made a sponsorship deal with Jose Cuervo as the first-ever official Tequila of the UFC.
Khazmat Chimaev vs. Li Jingliang is earmarked for a 10/30 PPV show from Abu Dhabi.
ESPN reported UFC is looking at Mackenzie Dern vs. Marina Rodriguez to main event a show on 10/9.
Pro Wrestling Phoenix on 8/19 at the Waiting Room Lounge in Omaha.
Combate Global runs tonight on Paramount + at 10:30 p.m. with Marcos Lopez (5-3) vs. Henrich Wassmer (6-5) as the main event.
AAW tonight at 115 Bourbon Street in Merrionette Park, IL with Mance Warner vs. Fred Yehi for the AAW title, Kris Statlander vs. Allysin Kay for the women’s title,Deonn Rusman & Joeasa vs Ace Austin & Madman Fulton for the tag titles, Myron Reed vs. Hakim Zane for the Heritage title and Skye Blue vs. Hyan in an I Quit match, plus Manders vs.Robin Steele, Josh Alexander vs. Jake Something, Travis Titan vs. Isaiah Moore and more.
MCW on 7/24 at the MCW Arena in Joppa, MD has a meet and greet with Lio Rush, Brian Pillman Jr. and Griff Garrison, plus Sam Adonis vs. King McBride, Brian Johnson vs. Dante Caballero and Shane Taylor Promotions from ROH and Varsity Blonds from AEW will be wrestling on the show.
A Memorial Service for 80s pro wrestler Doug Anderson (best known as the father of Cheerleader Melissa Anderson) is tomorrow at 11 a.m. at Hillside Church at 635 Holbook Lane in Creswell, OR 97426. Donations in honor of Doug Anderson can be made to the Greenhill Humane Society at 88530 Green Hill Rd., Eugene, OR 97402.
Bill Apter will be doing a one man show at the Desmond Hotel in Albany, NY on 8/27. Tickets are available at www.prowrestlinghall.org The Apter show will be part of the International Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame induction weekend that takes place 8/27 to 8/29 in Albany.
Cage Fury Fighting Championships, the promotion C.M. Punk does the announcing, has an 8/14 show on UFC Fight Pass from Tunica, MS with Christian Rodriguez (5-0) against someone to be named for the vacant bantamweight title.
Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis-Bennett threw out the first pitch last night at the Chicago Cubs game at Wrigley Field.
On this day 92 years ago, Gus Sonnenberg beat Ed Strangler Lewis before 25,000 fans at Fenway Park in a two of three fall match in a rematch of the two setting a record gate a few months earlier. The Boston Globe had this story start on the front page of the newspaper and jumped to the sports section. (thanks to Paul Sosnowski)
With Ariel Helwani gone from ESPN, ESPN + has added two new talk shows with Helwani’s former co-hosts. Chael Sonnen will be doing a show with Jorge Sedano while Daniel Cormier will be doing a show with former NFL star Ryan Clark, a show that will talk both MMA and other sports.
There is a show Sunday at Jose Sulaiman Arena in Monterrey, Mexico with El Hijo del Santo & LA Park vs. Dr. Wagner Jr. & Fuerza Guerrera, with Vampiro scheduled to make an appearance at the event.
Pale Pro Wrestling on 7/24 in Arlington, TX with Josh Alexander, Richard Holliday, Calvin Tankman Gino Medina, Chandler Hopkins and an appearance by Ricardo Rodriguez at 360 Elite Avenue.
According to Dana White, July 10th’s UFC 264 sold out “in seconds” Friday, ensuring a sold-out crowd of nearly 21,000 for the trilogy fight between former two-division champion Conor McGregor and former interim lightweight champion Dustin Poirier.
This is the third U.S. event UFC has opened up to fans with the previous two (April 24th’s UFC 261 in Jacksonville, Florida, and May 15th’s UFC 262 in Houston, Texas) both selling out in a few minutes.
While the final attendance won’t be known until that night, it will break the previous record set for the T-Mobile Arena, surpassing UFC 229 (McGregor vs. lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov) which had 20,034 fans.
The question is what the final gate number will be. The aforementioned UFC 229 brought in $17.2 million, second best in company history behind UFC 205 (McGregor vs. lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez) which did $17.7 million for the company’s first-ever visit to Madison Square Garden in New York City.
This will be the UFC’s first show back in Las Vegas with fans since UFC 248 on March 7th, 2020.
For the first time since March 7th, 2020, UFC will run a show in front of fans in Las Vegas, Nevada, as Dana White announced UFC 264 will be held on July 10th at the T-Mobile Arena at full capacity.
The event will be headlined by Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier III, expected to be part of the traditional International Fight Week. Tickets will go on sale this week, but White didn’t give the date. He expects 20,000 fans in attendance, a number they have only hit once there. That was UFC 229, headlined by McGregor vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov which had 20,034 and a $17.1 million gate.
This will be the third U.S.-based show UFC has put on sale at full capacity in the past month. The first (April 24th’s UFC 261 in Jacksonville, Florida) sold out in minutes while the second (May 15th’s UFC 262 in Houston, Texas) also sold out within minutes for a combined 32,000+ tickets.
The last show UFC ran in their home city was UFC 248, headlined by middleweight champion Israel Adesanya vs. Yoel Romero, in front of 15,077 which did a $2.7 million gate. That was also the last show the company ran in the U.S. that had fans before the pandemic shut things down.
While not officially announced yet by the promotion, Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier both tweeted over the last day that they have agreed to a trilogy fight in the main event of UFC 264 on Saturday, July 10th.
It’s expected that the event will be the centerpiece of International Fight Week and will be open to fans, likely in Las Vegas, Nevada.
In their first meeting at featherweight, McGregor knocked Poirier out by first round TKO at UFC 178 in 2014. The two rematched at lightweight in January of this year at UFC 257 with Poirier defeating McGregor by second round TKO. The trilogy fight will also be at lightweight.
While the vacant lightweight title won’t be on the line, the show should be among the UFC’s best pay-per-views for the year, revenue-wise. The January event did more than 1.6 million buys worldwide.
McGregor (22-5) will be looking to avoid consecutive losses for the first time in his career. This will be the first time the Irish superstar has fought twice in a calendar year since 2016. Poirier (27-6-0-1) will be looking for his third straight win, the eight win over his last nine fights, and a shot at the winner of the May Michael Chandler vs. Charles Oliveira bout for the vacant title.
