SAT UPDATE: WWE at MSG, UFC 192, AAA, Hulk Hogan court victory, and more
Show notes for tonight and the rest of a ridiculously busy weekend:
UFC 192 from the Toyota Center in Houston:
Main Card on pay-per-view at 10:00 p.m. ET:
Daniel Cormier [c] (205) vs. Alexander Gustafsson (204) in a five round fight for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship
Ryan Bader (206) vs. Rashad Evans (205)
Shawn Jordan (265) vs. Ruslan Magomedov (236)
Joseph Benavidez (126) vs. Ali Bagautinov (125)
Jessica Eye (136) vs. Julianna Pena (135)
Prelims on Fox Sports 1 at 8:00 p.m. ET:
Yair Rodriguez (145) vs. Dan Hooker (146)
Alan Jouban (170) vs. Albert Tumenov (170)
Adriano Martins (156) vs. Islam Makhachev (156)
Rose Namajunas (115) vs. Angela Hill (115)
Prelims on UFC Fight Pass at 6:30 p.m. ET:
Francisco Trevino (160) vs. Sage Northcutt (156)
Chris Cariaso (126) vs. Sergio Pettis (126)
Derrick Lewis (265) vs. Viktor Pesta (237)
Even with the original semi-main event of Johny Hendricks vs. Tyron Woodleybeing cancelled due to Hendricks being hospitalized during his weight cut, this is a really deep card for good fights. That’s pretty impressive given the sheer size of this card and the UFC roster. The odds for the main event have been surprisingly wide all things considered, unless you think Gustafsson has benefitted immensely from Jon Jones’ bad training camp in their fight and it’s boosted his career. Even if that’s the case, and that’s questionable, he’s still, at worst, just behind the top guys and a very tough stylistic matchup for Cormier. Make sure to check out the Fox Sports 1 prelims as the top contenders for Fight of the Night are on there, espcially Tumenov vs. Jouban.
Here is our live update post: UFC 192: Cormier vs. Gustafsson live results and coverage
WWE at Madison Square Garden as part of the Brock Lesnar Go to Hell Tour live on WWE Network at 8:00 p.m. ET:
Brock Lesnar vs. Big Show
John Cena vs. Seth Rollins in a cage match
New Day vs. Dudleys for tag titles
Kevin Owens vs. Chris Jericho for IC title
Randy Orton vs. Sheamus
Dolph Ziggler vs. Rusev
Here is our live coverage: WWE Live from MSG live results: Brock Lesnar vs. Big Show, John Cena vs. Seth Rollins cage match
Shine 30 IPPV live on WWNLive.com at 9:00 p.m. ET
Santana vs. Evie for Shine Championship
Allysin Kay vs. Sweet Saraya Knight anything goes
Jessicka Havok vs. Kay Lee Ray
Madison Eagles vs. Su Yung
Leah Von Dutch vs. Malia Hosaka
Kimber Lee vs. Taylor Made
Leva Bates (Blue Pants) & Mia Yim (Jade) vs. Rhia O’Reilly & Sammi Baynz
Ivelisse vs. Thunderkitty
Jayme Jameson vs. Shazza McKenzie vs. Kellyanne vs. Liberty
Tonight we’re looking for reports from:
* WWE in Bangor, ME (Ryback, Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, Wyatt Family)
* TNA in Salem, VA (Ethan Carter III vs. Drew Galloway for the TNA title, Gail Kim vs. Awesome Kong for Knockouts title, Kurt Angle vs Eric Young, Bobby Roode vs. Andrew Everett for King of the Mountain title, Wolves vs. Eli Drake & Jessie Godderz for tag title, Ken Anderson vs Tyrus and Earl Hebner Hall of Fame Ceremony)
* NXT’s matinee in Louisville, Kentucky at the Louder than Life Music and Food Festival
On Sunday night…
TNA Bound for Glory PPV on Sunday at 8 p.m. from Concord, NC
Ethan Carter III (c) vs. Matt Hardy vs. Drew Galloway for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship with Jeff Hardy the special guest referee
Eddie Edwards & Davey Richards (c) vs. Trevor Lee & Brian Meyers for the TNA Tag Team Championship
Abyss, Aiden O’Shea, Chris Melendez, Jesse Godderz, Ken Anderson, Mahabili Shera, Tyrus, Eli Drake and Robbie E in a Gauntlet for a title shot
Gail Kim (c) vs. Awesome Kong for the TNA Knockouts’ Championship
Tigre Uno defends the TNA X Division Championship in an Ultimate X match
Bobby Roode (c) vs. Bobby Lashley for King of the Mountain title
Kurt Angle vs Eric Young in Angle’s first match back from his tumor surgery
AAA Heroes Inmortales iPPV at 7:00 p.m. ET on InternetTVLuchaLibreAAA.com from San Luis Potosi
Alberto El Patron vs. Johnny Mundo for AAA Mega Heavyweight Championship
Rey Mysterio Jr. & Psycho Clown & ? vs. El Hijo del Fantasma & El Texano Jr. & Myzteziz
Antonio Pena Cup tournament: Aero Star, Blue Demon Jr., Nino Hamburguesa, La Parka, Averno, Chessman, Cibernetico, Electroshock, El Hijo del Pirata Morgan, & TBA
Joe Lider & Pentagon Jr. defend AAA tag titles against Jack Evans & Angelico and Steve Pain & Daga
Taya Valkyrie defends Queen or Queens title against Goya Kong, Hiedra and two mystery women
Also on Sunday, we’re looking for reports from:
* WWE house show in Worcester, MA (John Cena vs. Seth Rollins, Rusev vs. Dolph Ziggler, New Day vs. Dudleys).
* WWE house show in Portland, ME (Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, Ryback, The Wyatt Family).
* Another NXT matinee in Louisville at the Louder than Life Music and Food Festival.
Raw on Monday night will be at the TD Garden in Boston. Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman are advertised.
Please send reports from major shows, recommended links, etc. to newstips@wrestlingobserver.com: for major shows, best match/worst match/thumbs up or down or in the middle poll responses should be sent to dave@wrestlingobserver.com.
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Figure Four Weekly:
The newest issue of Figure Four Weekly is now up for subscribers (subscribe to the site here and get access to Figure Four, the Observer, tons of audio, and more) featuring a look back at how exactly WWE lost the WWF name. Forget the stories you’v heard, this detailsexactly what the World Wildlife Fund objected to, what WWE agreed to and why, what scandals worried the fund, and more. On top of that, we have all the usual stuff like Vinny’s reviews and international news from Dr. Lucha Steve Sims and and Alan”4L” Counihan.
The recent Figure Four Weeklywith a look at the crazy story of why Gawker thinks the FBI may have helped Hulk Hogan cover up his racist and homophobic comments. A judge has ordered the FBI to turn over the records of their investigation, and what Gawker is saying in court about what has and hasn’t been turned over paints a very interesting picture.
Also, now available for the first time on Kindle (meaning Kindle devices and anything with the Kindle app) is Fall Guys, the seminal 1937 book that has been described as being like the 1930s version of the Wrestling Observer. It was surprisingly not on Kindle already, so we put together a nice version with a full table of contents w/ chapter marks, proper formatting on everything, etc. Right now it’s available from the American, Canadian, and Australian Amazon/Kindle stores OR you can also buy it from anywhere in the world on PayHip, who will provide you with both Kindle and ePub (every other e-reader) format files, and you can either sideload them to your device or have them email it to your Kindle.
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Wrestling Observer Newsletter
If you saw the JBL interview with Eric Bischoff, or even if you didn’t, we have what is already one of the most talked about and praised issues of the Wrestling Observer this year up on the site right now. The main theme is fact vs. fiction, covering both the WWE historical view of the Monday Night Wars and the Eric Bischoff version, going through every point and cutting through things like outright B.S., faulty memories and interesting truths.
The new double issue also covers SummerSlam in Brooklyn, the real story behind the UFC announcing a show in Madison Square Garden, Jon Jones’ legal punishment and future, coverage of both of the New Japan PPV shows this past week as well as a look at their direction as they build toward King of Pro Wrestling and later, the Tokyo Dome show, UFC in Japan and a look at that business, the retirement of Rich Franklin, a Hall of Famer running for Mayor, the retirement show of Genichiro Tenryu, more concerning drug testing questions, SummerSlam PPV numbers and what we can learn from them, as well as the death of German legend Axel Dieter Sr.
The latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter: October 6, 2015 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Analysis of Bischoff Network interview, Jones plea and tons 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 Meltzer
You can also order print issues at www.paypal.com directing funds to 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.
The Wrestling Observer ranges weekly from 35,000 to 50,000 words covering pro wrestling and MMA internationally. Each issue has coverage and analysis of all the major news, plus every issue breaks major news stories before the Internet sties and has the most complete look at the pro wrestling and MMA business anywhere, plus history pieces available nowhere else.
We look at Eric Bischoff and his role, both good and bad, in what the pro wrestling industry has turned into. We look at the WCW boom, the creation of Nitro, the early war, the NWO era, the peak and the fall of WCW.
We look at the mistakes made, the fall of WCW, the emergence of Bill Goldberg, the real origination of the streak idea, We look at the rapid decline of the company and why. We look at how and when things went down, as well as why, how history shows the merger excuse doesn’t hold water, the complete b.s. of the WWE’s Monday Night War narrative. We look at the dying days of WCW and Eric Bischoff’s plan he never got a chance to implement.
We look at Eric Bischoff’s background, how he got into wrestling, his first meeting with Verne Gagne, his WWF tryout as an announcer, his connection with Japan, the unique case of Sonny Onoo, and the death of the AWA.
We look at the sale of Georgia Championship Wrestling, Vince McMahon’s one-year run on TBS and problems with Ted Turner, where Bill Watts fit into the scene then, and the scene prior to the launch of Nitro.
We look at WCW before Bischoff got power, what really happened with Jim Ross and WCW, , moves by Bill Watts, . We look at the first Nitro, the real story behind Lex Luger, what Lex Luger really got, what really happened in WCW with HHH and Mick Foley, Foley getting into WWF, the story behind Bischoff’s firing of Steve Austin, the cruiserweight division and its double-edge sword, what was the point of no return, the Montreal screw job and why so many, even in wrestling, missed key points in that story, Mike Tyson at WrestleMania, Kevin Nash as a booker, DX invades Nitro and the Bischoff vs. McMahon challenge to a fist fight and the story behind the PPV that went 30 minutes over.
In the UFC Madison Square Garden announcement, we look at the thought process behind the strategy.
FOR A FULL WRESTLING OBSERVER PREVIEW CLICK HERE
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Saturday Daily Update
- On Thursday, the judge in the Hulk Hogan/Gawker lawsuit effectively ruled against the latest motions to unseal a number of filings in the case, though one filing (it’s not clear what) did get unsealed. While Hogan’s FBI casefile has gotten the most attention, there are are numerous other sealed filings in the case, including material that’s already public like internet and magazine articles. Hogan’s side also got the judge to approve a third party forensic investigqation of Gawker’s computers stemming from the allegations that they leaked Hogan’s racist comments to the National Enquirer and Radar Online. Gawker’s lawyers claimed they didn’t have that evidence (which sounds off) and actually accused Hogan’s side of the leak, which was not a great look. Gawker could lose the equivilent of a summary judgment if found to be behind the leak.
Gawker issued this statement:
Given the obvious public interest in this case, it is truly unfortunate that a large number of records remain hidden, and that the public is prevented from seeing both sides’ arguments and the basis for many of the court’s most significant rulings, The public should be able to know what happens in its court system.
- Anyone checking out the screenings of The Resurrection of Jake The Snake Roberts in and around New York? Talked to a friend who went to last night’s screening in Yonkers and was told it was excellent. The post-screeing Q&A was only about 10 minutes long and covered their interactions with WWE. They were asked about how they got so much WWE footage and it was explained that WWE had turned them down (too much swearing in the movie, apparently), but their lawyer told them that they were covered by the fair use exemptions pertaining to documentaries.
- Bill Apter’s book is now available at Amazon as both a paperback and Kindle download. It’s “officially” out a week from Tuesday, but ECW Press books always tend to be available early. This is the the first time I can recall the Kindle version being available before the street date, though. From what I’ve read of it so far, I highly recommend it. It’s designed to be a “bathroom read,” with chapters not in chronological order so you can just jump around at your leisure. Lots of great stories and Bill covers everything you’d hope to read about, from his role in the Jerry Lawler/Andy Kaufman angle to his departure from the Pro Wrestling Illustrated family for WOW Magazine to all of the things you’ve wondered about the magazines he was the face of.
- Johny Hendricks’ strength and conditioning coach discusses where his weight cut went wrong. Unsurpisingly, he put on too much weight betwen fights again.
- Zangief, the iconic Russian pro wrestler character of the Street Fighter video game series, is now official for the Street Fighter V roster.
- Drew Galloway talks to the Huffington Post about main eventing Bound for Glory.
- A dad “wrestling” his young son synced to a WWE audio track made the Today Show.
- Julianna Pena thinks female fighters should be paid ten times as much as male fighters.
- Xtreme Intense Championship Wrestling presents its 15 year anniversary event as the longest running wrestling promotion in Detroit history (XICW 200) tonight (7:00 p.m.belltime) at The Imperial House in Clinton Township, Michigan ft. Midwest Champion Rhino vs. Mike Bennett w/ Maria Kanellis, Xtreme Intense Champion Hakim Zane w/ Truth Martini vs Orlando Christopher in a Steel Cage, Silas Young vs Jake Something, Taeler Hendrix vs Ashley America, DBA and MM3 vs Tag Team Champions The Scarboni’s in a Fans Bring The Weapons Match, Zach Gowen vs Amazing N8, plus more! For the complete card and ticket info, visit XICWDetroit.com
- WWE’s next home video release is Sting: Into the Light on DVD and Blu-Ray, which comes out a week from Tuesday and is available for pre-order. The Blu-Ray version of WWE’s “Owen: Hart of Gold” Owen Hart DVD set is now available for pre-order, joining the DVD aftr it had been listed on its own for a week or so. The most recent release is SummerSlam 2015, which came out on Tuesday on DVD and Blu-Ray. The next archival/specialized release is Sting: Into the Light, which comes out on DVD and Blu-Ray on October 13th. They also have a special collectible “coffin edition” of “Undertaker: The Streak” coming out on November 17th.