Daily Update: USADA suspends Gleison Tibau, Aldo-McGregor Countdown

We’re looking for reports from tonight’s WWE house show in Johnson City, TN (Roman Reigns vs. Sheamus plus Big Show, New Day, Dudleys, Charlotte and Paige) and NXT in Largo, FL at Dave Meltzer

NEW JAPAN WORLD PRO WRESTLING RETURNS ON AXS TV AT 9 P.M.  EASTERN

Tomohiro Ishii vs. Tomoaki Honma for Never Open weight title – This was one of the best matches of 2015

Hiroshi Tanahashi & Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata vs. Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows & Tama Tonga

BELLATOR TONIGHT ON SPIKE AT 9 P.M. EASTERN FROM THE SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY GYM

Adam Piccolotti (155.8) vs. Mario Soto (155)

Virgil Zwicker (207.2) vs. Brian Rogers (205.8) – Zwicker missed weight and fined 20% of purse

Derek Anderson (155.8) vs. Patricky Pitbull Freire (155.6)

Daniel Weichel (144.8) vs. Georgi Karakhanyan (146)

Josh Thomson (155.4) vs. Pablo Villaseca (155)

CMLL LIVE AT WWW.CLAROSPORTS.COM FROM ARENA MEXICO AT 9:30 P.M. EASTERN (this may be geo-blocked but it hasn’t been the last several week)

Oro Jr. & Soberano vs. Arkangel de la Muerte & Canelo Casas

Marcela & Princesa Sugei & Vaquerita vs. Amapola & Tiffany & Zeuxis

Angel de Oro & Brazo de Plata & Maximo Sexy vs. Ephesto & Kraneo & Luciferno

Euforia & Niebla Roja & Ultimo Guerrero vs. Barbaro Cavernario & Mephisto & Thunder

Dragon Lee vs. Kamaitachi for CMLL lightweight title

Mistico & Super Parka & Volador Jr. vs. Felino & Negro Casas & Shocker

AXS FIGHTS AT 10 P.M. EASTERN WITH LEGACY FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIPS FROM BOSSIER CITY, LA AT DIAMOND JACKS HOTEL & CASINO

Kalvin Hackney (146.9) vs. Cody Walker (146.4)

David Bosnick (148.9) vs. Kevin Aguilar (143.9)

Jonathan Martinez (127.9) vs. Matt Schenll (125.9)

Ariel Beck (124.9) vs. Andrea Lee (124.9) for the women’s flyweight title

Alex Morono (169.1) vs. Derrick Krants (169.3) for the welterweight title

NEW JAPAN TAG TOURNAMENT ON NEW JAPAN WORLD TOMORROW FROM KOBE

Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Michael Bennett & Matt Taven

Hiroshi Tanahashi & Michael Elgin vs. Kazushi Sakuraba & Toru Yano

Saturday has WWE house shows in Augusta, GA (Roman Reigns vs. Sheamus, plus Big Show, New Day, Dudleys, Charlotte and Paige), WWE in Fayetteville, NC (Kevin Owens vs. Dean Ambrose, Tyler Breeze vs. Dolph Ziggler, Rusev vs. Ryback), NXT in Citrus Springs, FL and ROH in Fort Lauderdale at the War Memorial (Jay Lethal & Donovan Dijak vs. Young Bucks, Roderick Strong vs. Delirious for TV title, Matt Sydal vs. Jay Briscoe, Bobby Fish vs. ACH, Adam Cole vs. Kenny King, Moose vs. Dalton Castle vs. Cheeseburger vs. Rhett Titus, Mark Briscoe vs. Will Ferrara plus War Machine and Kyle O’Reilly).

LIVE ON NEW JAPAN WORLD FROM NAGOYA AT 2 A.M. EASTERN AND 11 P.M. PACIFIC LATE TOMORORW NIGHT

Yuji Nagata & Tiger Mask & Captain New Japan & Sho Tanaka vs. Manabu Nakanishi & Ryuske Taguchi & Mascara Dorada & Yohei Komatsu

Jay White & David Finlay vs. Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian

Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima & Juice Robinson vs. A.J. Styles (who is unlikely to be wrestling due to his back injury) & Cody Hall & Yujiro Takahashi

Hiroshi Tanahashi & Michael Elgin & Kushida vs. Matt Taven & Michael Bennett & Gedo

Shinsuke Nakamura & Tomohiro Ishii vs. Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows

Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata vs. Tetsuya Naito & Evil

Kazushi Sakuraba & Toru Yano vs. Bad Luck Fale & Tama Tonga

Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma vs. Kazuchika Okada & Yoshi-Hashi

Sunday has WWE in Charlotte (Roman Reigns vs. Sheamus, plus New Day, Dudleys, Charlotte and Paige) and in Florence, SC (Kevin Owens vs. Dean Ambrose, Tyler Breeze vs. Dolph Ziggler, Rusev vs. Ryback).

Raw will be live Monday in North Charleston, SC.  Nothing special has been announced for the show. 

Smackdown and Main Event will be taped on Tuesday in Jacksonville.

Figure Four Weekly

Figure Four Weekly (11/23/15): Lots of Updates in Hulk Hogan-Gawker case
Lots of news including a win for Gawker, the new police report, the remaining mysteries of the case, what Bubba the Love Sponge is saying, and more.

Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Mick Foley’s talk on WWE creative and a look at all the new moves WWE tried this week on television is the lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.  We look at the changes WWE attempted after a week of record low ratings, as well as the fan questionnaire sent out, what can be learned from it, and why they are asking exactly the wrong people.  

We also look at the strengths and weaknesses of the current WWE business, as well as why the ratings may be important, but other factors are probably more important,when it comes to WWE’s next television deal.  We look at the different potential changes in the landscape look at what aspects of business are and aren’t improving, as well as WWE’s business in the big picture.  

He also update the situation with A.J. Styles, and the New Japan tag team tournament with standings and notes on the tournament matches over the past week.

We also look at the TLC PPV update, more on La Sombra in WWE, questions about all the shoulder injuries, WWE security at live shows, Cena movie release, Brad Maddox firing, Maddox’s WWE history, talents WWE has shown interest in, WWE overseas tour lineup and WWE weekend live event notes and business.

We have a look at the debut of the new Rizin promotion, major announcements for the first weekend of shows, the tournament, just how big Bob Sapp vs Akebono was the first time.

We also have a story on the domestic abuse claims by the girlfriend of Tomoaki Honma, and his response.

We look at the realities of the free agency of Benson Henderson, judging of the key fights, as well as  full rundown of UFC’s debut in South Korea this past week.

We’ve got notes of TNA’s canceled tour of India, notes on the death of Tommy Gilbert and El Bello Greco, along with a feature on Stan Holek, a member of two of the most decorated tag teams of the 50s and 60s, the Lisowski Brothers with Crusher and the Neilson Brothers with Art Neilson.  We look at the unique reason why all of his success was as a tag team wrestler, his biggest rivals, and his 13 runs as world tag team champion. 

We’ve got a feature on the retirement of Act Yasukawa and the sad reason it happened.

We’ve also got the awards ballot for the 2015 awards and information on how well Hell in a Cell did this year on PPV.  

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

The Latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter: December 7, 2015 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: WWE attempts to right the ship, New Japan tag league update, more

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@wrestlingobserver.com” target=”_blank”>dave@wrestlingobserver.com

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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. We’ve got coverage of every major PPV event and world wide spectacular, every major star switching promotions, histories of companies like FMW, Rings and New Japan, retirement and obit issues of every major star who fits into those descriptions over the past 11 years, as well as our biggest issue every year, the annual awards issue, and our most controversial issue of every year, the Hall of Fame issue.

Click here for the most requested Wrestling Observer back issues.

TODAY’S DAILY UPDATE

Gleison Tibau would be the first drug test failure since the USADA/UFC drug testing program began (Mirko Cro Cop was not a test failure).  Tibau has been provisionally suspended based on the results of an out of competition drug test.  The nature of the test failure has yet to be announced.

As noted yesterday, the Aldo vs. McGregor Countdown show will be on Saturday at 3 p.m. Eastern on FOX.  The Countdown show on FOX means a big audience will be watching.

Joey Ryan has gotten a ridiculous amount of mainstream publicity for a spot in his match with Danshoku Dino in Japan.  It’s gotten coverage in ESPN, Maxim, the New York Daily News, The Soup, Fox Sports, SB Nation, Deadspin and Vice.  Here is an article on it and here is the video (the article has an old video linked)

The pre-sale for the Raw after WrestleMania on 4/4 in Dallas sold out today.  There will be more tickets put on sale to the public tomorrow, but that will also sell out immediately.   

I just watched the 3/30/84 episode of Mid South Wrestling on the WWE Network.  Granted, that was a few weeks before the most successful period in the history of that company (the last Stampede matches with Bill Watts & Stagger Lee vs. The Midnight Express), but my God, the promos, focus and character development between then and now is like night and day.  They are still missing the boat not releasing the shows in a weekly episodic manner because scatter shot shows here and there only give you about 30% of the flavor of the stories and personalities.

UFC/MMA

  • Dana White has been everywherebuilding up the Ronda Rousey vs. Holly Holm rematch as well as plugging UFC 194.  What they are pushing is that Rousey is bigger than ever due to losing. There are metrics that confirm this but the real metrics that count we won’t know until she fights again.   Beyond that everyone expects if Rousey vs. Holm takes place it’ll be the biggest fight in UFC history.  They are pushing Holm as the great female combat sports athlete of all-time. 
  • UFC announced a 2/21 FS 1 card in Pittsburgh at the Consol Energy Center. 
  • The UFC show on 2/27 in London sold out the O2 Arena in 27 minutes.  So much for the idea that Gegard Mousasi vs. Michael Bisping as a main event fans didn’t want to see.

WWE

  • Mick Foley did a Facebook post talking about his son being hired by WWE and said that his writings this past week had nothing to do with it.  A key factor is that he did his son no favors with the writing team by writing that.
  • Unrelated to the story above:  The Wall Street Journal has a story on Mick Foley’s home
  • Ric Flair is booked to appear on 12/26 in Madison Square Garden for the post-Christmas house show and for Raw on 12/28 at the Barclays Center.
  • The 2/16 Smackdown show will be in Ontario, CA.  Tickets go on sale for the show on Thursday.
  • There will be a 2/6 house show in San Jose with the pre-sale starting at 7 a.m. this coming Wednesday. 
  • There will be a 1/31 house show in Columbus, GA with tickets going on sale today with the password WWELive
  • The stock was down 14 cents per share today to close the week at $17.18.  

New Japan tag tournament results from today in Takamatsu:

Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian beat Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi

Bad Luck Fale & Tama Tonga beat Hiroshi Tanahashi & Michael Elgin

Shinsuke Nakamura & Tomohiro Ishii beat Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima

A block standings

Tanahashi & Elgin 3-2

Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma 3-2

Kazuchika Okada & Yoshi-Hashi 3-2

Daniels & Kazarian 3-3

Kazushi Sakuraba & Toru Yano 2-2

Fale & Tonga 2-3

Nagata & Nakanishi 2-4

B block standings

Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata 4-1

Tetsuya Naito & Evil 4-1

Nakamura & Ishii 3-2

Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows 2-2

Tenzan & Kojima 2-3

Michael Bennett & Matt Taven 1-4

A.J. Styles & Yujiro Takahashi 1-4

MISCELLANEOUS

  • TNA has a taped PPV that starts airing tonight called TNA vs. The World.  The main events are Great Muta vs. Ken Anderson, Sonjay Dutt vs. Ethan Carter III and James Storm vs. Magnus.
  • Bill Apter has a show on 12/19 in Philadelphia at 2 p.m. at PhilaMOCA at 531 N. 12th St.  It’s a talk show with tickets $10 on the afternoon after the ROH Final Battle PPV show. 
  • One has a show tomorrow in Phnom Penh, Cambodia headlined by Lowen Tyanes vs. Rasui Yakhyaev
  • The Fight Network in Canada is now airing Paragon Pro Wrestling.
  • Live Pro Wrestling on 2/20 in Cornwall, ONT at the Agora Centre.
  • CMLL from Tuesday night in Guadalajara:  Furia Roja & Malefico b Explosivo & Star Black, Flyer & Leono& Starman b Artillero & Super Comando & Okumura, The Panther & Stigma & Triton b Puma King & Sangre Azteca & Tiger, Angel de Oro & Blue Panther & Stuka Jr. b Mephisto & Ephesto & Luciferno, Gran Guerrero & Euforia & Niebla Roja b Maximo Sexy & Mistico & Titan (thanks to Kris Zellner)
  • Absolute Intense Wrestling tomorrow night in Cleveland at the Dr. Martin Luther Church with Kikutaro vs. Colt Cabana, Tracy Smothers vs. Grado, Cliff Compton vs. Frankie Flynn, Matt Cross vs. Alex Daniels and more.  They also run 12/18 in Cleveland at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel with Ethan Carter III vs. Chuck Taylor, plus an appearance by Scott Hall.
  • Alpha 1 Wrestling on 12/13 in Hamilton, ONT at 166 Green Mountain Rd. with Eric Young vs. Scotty O’Shea, Alessandro Del Bruno vs. TJ Perkins and more.
  • CHIKARA finishes 2015 tomorrow night at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia with Top Banana headlined by Chuck Taylor & Drew Gulak & Orange Cassidy vs. Kobald & Obariyon & Kodama.
  • Freelance Wrestling tonight in Chicago at the Bottom Lounge with Colt Cabana, Grado, Kikutaro and Joey Ryan at 10 p.m.

Don’t forget today’s FULL Pro Wrestling History including International history:  Daily pro wrestling history (12/04): Sullivan, Tazmaniac win ECW Tag Team Titles