Daily Update: Smackdown live tonight, Dean Ambrose injury

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WWE Smackdown is live tonight on USA Network, and features Intercontinental Champion Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens vs. Dolph Ziggler and Tag Champions The New Day vs. The Lucha Dragons. Our Steve Khan will have your live coverage starting at 8 PM EST. 

WWE is aware that last night’s Slammy Awards weren’t the most exciting of all time, made worse by the fact that several winners weren’t in the building.  There are discussions today about tweaking the format, including the idea of doing voting in advance so if someone wins and won’t be there, they can air a pre-tape.  Bryan and Mike talk a lot about this and other potential options on today’s new Wrestling Observer Live radio show and also Jeff Hamlin’s live coverage from last night.

And no, the Slammys are not rigged.  Poor Joey Styles, wasting two days of his life arguing about this with people on Twitter.  Actually, that’s his fault.  Check out full results from last night.

Impact has a soft debut on POP TV tonight with a best-of show that was originally going to air on Destination America before DA pulled the plug.  Next week will be a look at the TNA World Title tournament.  The actual launch that they will be plugging and promoting takes place in two weeks.

PRO WRESTLING NOAH’S FINAL BIG SHOW OF THE YEAR IS WEDNESDAY NIGHT AT THE TOKYO OTA WARD GYM

Yoshinari Ogawa & Hitoshi Kumano vs. Yoshihiro Takayama & Kaito Kiyomiya

Mohammed Yone & Mitsuhiro Kitamiya & Akitoshi Saito vs. Quiet Storm & Genba Hirayanagi & Captain NOAH

Kenou vs. Hajime Ohara

Maybach Taniguchi vs. Go Shiozaki

Takashi Sugiura vs. Takashi Iizuka no DQ

Shelton Benjamin vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima

Daisuke Harada & Atsushi Kotoge vs. Desperado & Taka Michinoku for GHC jr. tag titles

Taichi vs. Taiji Ishimori for GHC jr. title – Ishimori puts up his hair and name against the belt

Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr. vs. Colt Cabana & Chris Hero for GHC tag titles

Minoru Suzuki vs. Naomichi Marufuji for GHC title

The USA Network will air Tribute to the Troops on Wednesday night at 8 p.m., a taped show from Jacksonville.

Figure Four Weekly

Figure Four Weekly (12/21/15): Hulk Hogan and Nelson Frazier Lawsuit Updates
Transcript gives new insight into the FBI/Gawker dispute, plus WWE gives us a peek at what their termination notices look like in the Nelson Frazier wrongful death lawsuit.

Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Conor McGregor winning the UFC featherweight title, the story behind UFC 194 and the path of Roman Reigns to the WWE title are the lead stories in the new double issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter with coverage of so many major shows over the past week.

We look at McGregor’s financial  goals, the business of UFC 194 and the records set, early PPV projections, what is next for McGregor, TV viewership numbers in the U.S. and Brazil, , as well as the path of McGregor to being the No. 1 male star in the promotion.  We look at Frankie Edgar as a contender, potential of UFC 200 if Ronda Rousey and Conor McGregor are booked on the same show, the last two PPV shows, Rousey vs. McGregor as draws, Luke Rockhold’s middleweight title win, looking at the Yoel Romero vs. Chris Weidman judging and the future of the middleweight division.

We also look at the path of Roman Reigns to the WWE title, the increased viewership on Raw, where the new viewers came from and how viewership differed from recent weeks.  We look at the reaction to Reigns, and the storylines that led to that reaction.

We’ve also got complete rundowns on WWE TLC, NXT Takeover, as well as all three UFC events, including match-by-match coverage, business notes, star ratings and more.

We also have a look at Mauro Ranallo’s signing with WWE, his background, how the deal came to fruition and the path from announcing pro wrestling on TV while a teenage on national television in  Canada to the WWE 30 years ago, with stops in kickboxing, MMA and boxing in between.

PLUS MUCH MORE! CLICK HERE FOR A FULL WRESTLING OBSERVER PREVIEW

The Latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter: December 21, 2015 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Conor McGregor wins UFC Featherweight title, Roman Reigns WWE Champion

You can also order the print Observer right now and get it delivered to your door via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to Dave Meltzer

You can also order print issues at www.paypal.com directing funds to dave@wrestlingobserver.com

Rates are:

For the United States, it is $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 moonsault@mediaplusint.com  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 get one free classic issue of your choice sent to you today.  With a 40 issue subscription, you can get two free classic issues sent to you today. 

Click here for the most requested Wrestling Observer back issues.

Check out the latest Online Wrestling Observer BACK ISSUE: November 9, 1998 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Jesse Ventura wins Minnesota Governor election, WCW trailing WWF, more
Jesse Ventura becomes the Governor of Minnesota, WCW begins trailing WWF, ECW November to Remember recap, plus tons of news.

TODAY’S DAILY UPDATE

  • If you are a producer at radio station and are interested in airing Wrestling Observer Live, either the 12 PT/3 ET live show or the replay edition at 5 PT/8 ET, email bryan@wrestlingobserver.com and he can put you in touch with Darren Peck at Sports Byline USA.  Obviously, if you run a wrestling website you can “syndicate” the show yourself using the TuneIn Radio link available here and on the front page of this website.
  • Dean Ambrose needed six staples in his head following his cage match with Sheamus on Raw Monday night.

WWE/Pro Wrestling

  • NXT tomorrow has the return of Sami Zayn vs. Tye Dillinger, THE DRIFTER Elias Samson vs. Bull Dempsey, plus Chad Gable & Jason Jordan vs. Blake & Murphy vs. Vaudevillains vs. Hype Bros.
  • 2K Sports released a new DLC pack for WWE 2K16 today in the form of the Legends Pack. It includes The Big Boss Man, Trish Stratus, Roddy Piper, Dusty Rhodes, Lita, and Mr. Perfect. You can purchase it for $7.99 or as part of the DLC season pass, which is $24.99 and gets you just everything 2K will release. There’s a trailer for the DLC pack on WWE’s YouTube channel. They also released a new update for the WWE Supercard mobile game focusing on older wrestlers.
  • Maryland Championship Wrestling runs this Saturday in Joppa, MD with Ethan Carter III, Ashley Massaro, Chyna, the debut of Sean Studd (Big John Studd’s son), and more.
  • Wrestle Kingdom 10 Preview Series: The Cleaner vs. The Time Splitter
  • Jacques Rougeau joins the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling Podcast. On not being able to use the Mountie gimmick in Canada: “I was doing such a great job of making The Mounties look bad in Canada that they suspended me on TV and I wasn’t allowed to be used on TV anymore. So the only way I was allowed to wrestle was if I took off the sleeves, the shirt and kept the black pants and they would announce me as Jacques Rougeau. Everyone knew me as Jacques Rougeau anyway so that was fun. I think [the RCMP] took it all a little too serious. Like in movies and everywhere else there is always dirty Cops or bad Cops but they don’t ban the movie because the Cop is crooked. But I think that my character was becoming so strong that eventually they decided and voted on it and sent a letter to Vince saying that I wasn’t allowed to wrestle on TV in Canada anymore. Eventually and after that they let that character go because it wasn’t helping me at all so I took a year off and came back a year and a half later with Carl Ouellet as The Quebecers ithe the same suit and our music was ‘We’re not the Mounties.’ So I think Vince wanted to get back at them in a way.“

UFC/MMA

Here is today’s FULL Daily Pro Wrestling History including International history: Daily pro wrestling history (12/21): Jeff Jarrett wins USWA Southern Title