TUES UPDATE: Jon Jones, Total Divas season finale tonight, Kurt Angle returns, more
by David Bixenspan | davidbix@wrestlingobserver.com | Follow @davidbix
Show notes for tonight:
Total Divas’ season finale airs at 9:00 p.m. E! with an episoded titled “Return of the Ex.” Dolph Ziggler tries to woo Nikki Bella back from John Cena, Tyson Kidd breaks his neck (TitanTV’s description says he and Nattie have to deal with “career-ending news”), and Paige tries to be more tactful around everyone else. After Total Divas, tonight’s WAGs has Kelly Kelly’s bachelorette party.
WWE SmackDown and Main Event will be taped tonight in Albany, New York.
Please send reports from major shows, recommended links, etc. to newstips@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 recnt FREEFigure Four Weekly is still up with 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.
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
We’ve got a double issue of the Observer this week because of coverage of so many big shows and all the stuff that has come out of the past week with WWE. Sept. 28, 2015 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Sting, Night of Champions, Bellator Dynamite, more
Our lead story covers the Sting injury, the Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar Hell in a Cell match and the interesting back story and questions it brings up, lots of long-term looking at where WWE is headed as well as full coverage of the Night of Champions show. We also cover the second season news for Lucha Underground, the Atlantis vs. La Sombra mask vs. mask match, Akira Hokuto’s announcement about her breast cancer, Bellator’s Dynamite show and what went right and wrong, New Japan’s Destruction in Okayama, ROH’s All-Star Extravaganza, the Pro Wrestling NOAH angle where they tease the end of the company, USADA responds to Thomas Hauser, Josh Gross’ story on the Vitor Belfort drug test and why it’s not nearly as simple as people are making it out to be, AAA’s next major show and record low ratings.
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.
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
Our lead story covers the WWE weekend, notably the Sting injury and Undertaker-Lesnar announcement.
We go through the injury, including Sting’s interview comments after the fact and his description of Seth Rollins and the injury, as well as his current thoughts on if he will wrestle again. We also talk about what he does and doesn’t know, what he’s said publicly about the injury, why the match wasn’t stopped, and what we can learn from it.
We also look at how the Lesnar vs. Undertaker Hell in a Cell match changes WrestleMania, and look at those potential changes. We look at the different directions they can go with the key talent for next year’s show. We also look at the rest of Hell in a Cell as far as what is on the books and what name isn’t listed yet in the top matches. We look at the problem in the arena at the end of Night of Champions.
We’ve got complete Night of Champions coverage, with records, business, poll results, match-by-match coverage and star ratings.
FOR A FULL OBSERVER PREVIEW CLICK HERE
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.
New subscribers ordering 24 or 40 issues have to let us know what major stories of the past 11 years you are most interested in and we’ll send the issue with the best coverage of that story. 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.
Tuesday Daily Update
— From the main page:
Kurt Angle’s return match announced for Bound For Glory.
— Odd correction from over the weekend: The ruling by Judge Pamela Campbell keeping Hulk Hogan’s FBI filing sealed from media who requested it be made public was not denying the motion filed the day before. It turns out that in a story about themselves, the Associated Press got a major detail wrong, and they issued a correction last night. Judge Campbell has yet to rule on the mtion filed Thursday by the Associated Press, Scripps, and other media companies/news organizations.
— WWEDVDNetwork released a new preview clip of the upcoming “Sting: Into the Light” documentary, which is available for pre-order on on DVD and Blu-Ray (with plenty of extra features as always) for an October 13th release. The teaser video is a snippet of the Blade Runners portion of the documentary.
— Titus O’Neil talks to SI’s Extra Mustard. On Hulk Hogan: “It’s a tough situation for me to talk about. It’s been dealt with by the company, but for me, I’ve heard that type of talk from people who are way different than Hulk Hogan. He made a mistake, he’s paying for it, and it’s not my call to say what he is or he is not. I just try to live my life without having to worry about anybody calling me those names.”
— Dave has an article about Daniel Cormier at MMAFighting.com.
— Full details from WWN Live about Terry Funk’s involvement in their WWN Live Experience during WrestleMania weekend:
The WWNLive Experience returns to Dallas, Texas on April 1st-April 3rd, 2016. It’s the biggest wrestling weekend of the year! It’s in Texas! We had to pull out something special for this occasion. WWN is very proud to announce that we are honoring one of the greatest wrestlers to ever come from Texas. We will present Hall Of Famer Terry Funk with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the WWN Supershow: Mercury Rising on Saturday night, April 2nd. This will be our chance to thank Terry Funk for all his contributions and influence on the pro wrestling industry.
The party will continue on April 3rd with a very special and unique event. We are excited to announce the Funk’s Grill & BBQ Tailgate Party. This will take place across the street from Texas Stadium. It will feature world class BBQ with Terry Funk.
Terry Funk will be available for autographs and pictures at both the WWN Supershow and Funk’s Grill & BBQ Tailgate Party. We’ll have an official press release with all the details in the upcoming weeks, but we wanted to give you the scoop now.
— Bellator has added some fights to the October 23rd card, so here’s how it stands right now:
Main Card: (Spike – 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT)
Bellator Bantamweight Championship Fight: Marcos Galvao [c] (17-6-1) vs. Eduardo Dantas (17-4)
Bellator Middleweight Championship Fight: Brandon Halsey (9-0) vs. Rafael Carvalho (11-1)
Bellator Welterweight Feature Fight: Brennan Ward (11-3) vs. Dennis Olson (14-9)
Bellator Welterweight Feature Fight: Michael Page (8-0) vs. TBA
Preliminary Card: (Spike.com – 6:50 p.m. ET/5 p.m. CT
Bellator Featherweight Feature Fight: Isao Kobayashi (18-2-4) vs. Goiti Yamauchi (18-2)
Bellator Featherweight Feature Fight: Matt Bessette (15-7) vs. Kevin Roddy (15-15)
Bellator Welterweight Feature Fight: Matt Secor (6-2) vs. Jeremie Holloway (7-0)
Bellator 150-Pound Feature Fight: Pete Rogers Jr. (2-2) vs. Marius Enache (2-3)
— The documentary “At What Cost?: An Anatomy of Professional Wrestling. premieres Thursday, Oct. 8. Doors open at 7 p.m. at The Art Theater, 2025 E. 4th St., Long Beach, CA.
— Wrestlemerica has the Bullet Brawl this Friday night in Barnesville, Georgia. More details on their Facebook page.
— MCW live this Saturday in Joppa, Maryland has Jake the Snake Roberts, The Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase, The Headbangers, and more. Tickets available here