MON. UPDATE: Jon Jones, King of the Ring, Reyna passes away, WWE developmental
By [email protected]”>Dave Meltzer
Smackdown, Main Event and King of the Ring will be taped Tuesday from Moline, IL.
New Japan World at 4 a.m. Eastern Wednesday morning from Kumamoto, Japan
Sho Tanaka & Yohei Komatsu & Jay White vs. Rocky Romero & Trent Baretta & Gedo
Satoshi Kojima & Captain New Japan vs. Yujiro Takahashi & Cody Hall
Yuji Nagata & Tiger Mask & Mascara Dorada vs. Manabu Nakanishi & Ryusuke Taguchi & Kushida
Steve Anthony vs. Jushin Liger for NWA jr. title
Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Big Daddy Yum Yum for NWA heavyweight title
Tetsuya Naito & Tomoaki Honma & Alex Shelley vs. Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows & Kenny Omega
Kazuchika Okada & Yoshi-Hashi vs. Bad Luck Fale & Tama Tonga
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata vs. Shinsuke Nakamura & Kazushi Sakuraba & Toru Yano
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Togi Makabe for Never Open weight championship
We’re looking for your thoughts on both Extreme Rules show and UFC 186, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]”>[email protected]
We’re also looking for live reports from tonight’s Raw in Green Bay, with Superstars matches, dark matches and anything else that wouldn’t be evident from watching the live show.
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The newest issue of Figure Four Weekly is up on the site for subscribers (subscribe here) with the most extensive look at Doug and Tommy Gilbert’s lawsuit against WWE and ESPN that you’ll find anywhere, with lots of details about WWE’s history with lawsuits over video royalties, which past cases are or aren’t relevant to this one what people often misunderstand about the Jesse Ventura lawsuit, when WWE actually started paying every wrestler royaltis, and much more. Plus, as always, we have all of the usual reviews and international news.
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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We’ve got a double issue this week of the Observer, a big one if you’re into history as we look at Tennessee wrestling legend Ron Wright and his crazy career, as well as look at the career of Takeshi Morishima and have a huge write-up on the Cauliflower Alley Club and the legend that is Nick Bockwinkel. Plus our lead story looks at the current WWE situation, and we’ve got a detailed story on the Lucha Underground promotion and its two week Ultimate Lucha shows that will end the season. We’ve also got UFC coverage and a number of court cases to look at.
Latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter: April 27, 2015 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Daniel Bryan update, Takeshi Morishima retires, Ron Wright bio
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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 updates the Daniel Bryan situation and the strange lack of information out on the subject, as well as runs down every match on the show and where WWE goes from here.
We also look at UFC’s PPV this week being off the Dish Network.
We’ve got an update on Lucha Underground, including the end of the TV season, what talent and fans were told about the future of the company, the public reason for the hiatus, what’s the real question going forward, its prospects, where the promotion stands right now for the future and what it needs, plus a full rundown of Ultima Lucha, the last two episodes of the season and what angles to look for the next season.
We’ve got a look at the career of Takeshi Morishima, with his title history, awards won, how he got started in pro wrestling, who he was compared to, why he never reached his potential, why he got the ROH title, his matches with Bryan Danielson, his outstanding 2007 year, what went wrong when he got his big push. We also look at his early career, his WWE tryout and what happened there, a well as some of his biggest matches.
We look at the legal situation involving Rampage Jackson and how things changed this past week.
We’ve got a look at UFC’s attempt to run in New York, going through both the legislature and the court system to be able to run in December at Madison Square Garden. We look at the crazy hypocrisy in New York laws, the real story behind them, the Culinary unions latest attempt to keep UFC out of New York, and UFC’s latest move in going to court.
We also look at Saturday’s show in Newark, NJ, who came out of it as stars, ratings info and other business notes plus match-by-match coverage.
We’ve got a long feature on the Tennessee legend, Ron Wright, who passed away this past week. We look at the legendary Ron Wright vs. Whitey Caldwell feud and some of the most famous matches, why Wright considered wrestling only a hobby, as well as his being shot at and his plane being blown up and other craziness of being perhaps the greatest heel ever in the backwoods towns in Tennessee and Kentucky. We look at his career from his amateur days as a teenager, the irony of the Caldwell feud, how he and Caldwell got into pro wrestling at first, plus comments from Les Thatcher, Jim Cornette and others.
We also look at his unique way of drawing blood, how he got his first pro wrestling break, the business that he and Caldwell did in the 60s, why he usually stayed in his home territory, and his own thoughts about his career.
We also look at the next season of Tough Enough, the change in Seth Rollins’ finisher, update on the business of Furious 7, More on the Russ McCullough lawsuit against WWE, Shawn Michaels talks the time he wanted to go to WCW and WWE asks him to be on next year’s WrestleMania, plus why he’s not interested in working in creative and his thoughts on who should be on top.
We also look at John Cena, Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns on top as draws, schedule of NXT tapings for the next year as well as a look at a number of not yet announced WWE overseas tours.
We also have notes on WWE movies, WWE stars who want a reality show about their lives, Barrett talks why he dropped weight, contract notes from lawsuits against WWE, the Gilberts lawsuit against WWE, Batista talks a potential return, Samoa Joe note, NXT dates outside Florida, Jey Uso update, what creative is told about the women characters and what is says about why people don’t care about the WWE Divas, ROH star blasts WWE stereotypes, NXT weekend shows and notes on the last week of the WWE European tour with business notes and highlights of all the house shows.
We also look at this year’s Cauliflower Alley Club banquet, looking at the history of the organization, who was there, the appearance of Nick Bockwinkel, highlights of speeches from the honorees, Jake Roberts’ complaint about indie shows, Jushin Liger defending his NWA jr. title, Gerald Brisco talking Brock Lesnar and Jack Brisco and much more.
We also look at Jeff Jarrett’s Global Force Wrestling as the first shows are announced, and look at what the company needs to be viable.
The Observer is the world’s most detailed weekly pro wrestling publication, in its 32nd year of publication, and is read by the biggest names in the pro wrestling, industry, MMA industry, sports world and on Wall Street.
We also have our regular features such as the most complete look at ratings, plus results of the major house show events each week in pro wrestling and MMA, and complete inside rundowns of all the TV shows.
Also in this week’s issue:
–Notes on the death of 80s star El Verdugo
–Latest from Arena Mexico
–Changes in CMLL weekly schedule
–Top indie vs. top CMLL star note
–More on AAA’s World Cup show this coming month
–Perro Aguayo Jr. situation remains in the news with a major press conference featuring a Congressman and many sports stars
–Dragon Gate announces huge show with three title bouts and a huge stipulation match
–Wrestler runs for the senate in Japan this week
–Update on Champion Carnival tournament
–Update on NOAH tag team tournament
–Notes on next New Japan big show
–Notes on New Japan newcomer
–Notes on current New Japan tour
–One of the major companies from the 90s returns and its history
–Promoter announces that a current UFC star will come in and challenge for their pro wrestling world title
–Biggest woman’s star ever and best drawing barbed wire match wrestler ever team up
–Lance Russell tribute in Evansville with Jerry Lawler
–Oldest living wresting personalities
–Sad update on former UFC & New Japan star Brian Johnston
–Dreamer gets TV deal
–Bill Apter writes autobiography
–New book coming on history of women’s wrestling
–Promotion folding
–Same person wins major pro wrestling title and pro boxing match within hours
–Another wrestling history book on the way
–Who is the only guy to be in Broken Skull Challenge, Tough Enough and Ultimate Fighter
–Nearly two hour match on Mexico show
–New Japan and ROH tour and lineups
–Notes on Taz leaving TNA
–Notes on Sanada laving TNA
–More on people’s pay being behind in TNA
–Funny story about TNA television in Canada
–Latest on TNA television
–More litigation involving Wanderlei Silva and the Nevada commission and how the ruling could hurt regulation of he sport
–More on the UFC July schedule
–Notes on the new season of Ultimate Fighter
–Background of the Dan Lambert-Glenn Robinson feud
–Two major MMA shows this weekend
–Dana White blasts AKA Gym and AKA responds
–Bill in Nevada to increase tax on live boxing and MMA
–Anderson Silva issues challenge for fight
–New UFC fights
–New Bellator fights
–Something to think about regarding Pacquiao-Mayweather and how big it really is
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.
Our most requested issues in our history are:
*November 17, 1997 (full details of everything leading to the most famous wrestling match finish of modern times at the Survivor Series plus a history of in-ring double-crosses)
*December 21, 1998 (the complete Vince McMahon-Bret Hart conversation right before the Survivor Series match so you’ll know exactly what was said–the conversation played in edited form both on the inaugural broadcast of Confidential as well as in Wrestling with Shadows, but everything that was said between the two about the match that was going to take place that same night)
*August 1, 1994 (the most detailed coverage anywhere of the Vince McMahon steroid trial, an issue praised in numerous newspaper article and Sex, Lies and Headlocks)
*March 26, 2001 (death of WCW and history of pro wrestling on the Turner networks)a
*October 22, 2001 (why the adult audience has left pro wrestling in such great numbers and what needed to have been done to save them)
*July 8, 1991 (Ric Flair leaves WCW as world champion/Zahorian steroid trial)
*February 8, 1993 (the life and times of Andre the Giant)
*May 13, 2002 (the life story of the most incredible pro wrestling career ever, a look at Lou Thesz, in one of the largest issues of our history)
*January 27, 2003 (part one of the two-part series covering the career and life of The Sheik)
*February 3, 2003 (Part two on The Sheik including thoughts from people who worked with him and where he stands historically)
*March 24, 2003 (history of the WWWF title, inside behind the Sammartino, Backlund and Backlund era)
*April 21, 2003 (history of WWF continues with the expansion nationally, the death of the regional territories and the rise of Hulk Hogan)
*May 12, 2003 (The life and death of Elizabeth and the rise of fall of Lex Luger)
*June 9, 2003 (Part 1 of history of WWF vs. WCW wars and what many say was the greatest year in U.S. wrestling; plus a look at Fred Blassie)
*June 16, 2003 (Freddie Blassie through the eyes of his biggest rivals and friends)
*July 28, 2003 (Part 2 of the history of the WWF vs. WCW war and the plans to make new superstars in the early 90s, what happened, and the night where the three biggest wrestling companies in the world combined for a joint show and what happened)
*August 25, 2003 (2003 Hall of Fame issue with huge profiles on the controversial career of Shawn Michaels, Chris Benoit as well as historical features on Earl Caddock and Francisco Flores)
*September 22, 2003 (Part 3 of the history of the WWF vs WCW war with the seeds that caused the collapse of the industry in the 90s, Zahorian trial, Gulf War controversy, Flair leaves WCW while holding world title and much more)
*October 27, 2003 (The fascinating life of Stu Hart plus the story of Road Warrior Hawk)
*January 19, 2004 (2003 Awards issue)
*February 2, 2004 (History of Toronto wrestling, Jack Tunney life story, Royal Rumble and Battle Royal history)
*February 23, 2004 (History of Guerrero family with Eddy’s win over Brock Lesnar)
*March 1, 2004 (History of WWF continues with the period that brought the company down in early 1992, the mistakes, the real stories and how the business changed)
*March 8, 2004 (History of Wrestlemania, its greatest matches and best and worst shows as voted both by wrestlers and non-wrestlers and Wrestlemania history books)
*July 5, 2004 (A look behind the scenes and Ric Flair’s book and his background with Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan)
*July 12, 2004 (A look at more on Ric Flair’s book and his comments on Bruno Sammartino, Bret Hart and Mick Foley)
*August 16, 2004 (History of the Olympians in pro wrestling)
*August 23, 2004 (2004 Hall of Fame issue and biggest issue of the year with huge profiles on Kazushi Sakuraba, Undertaker, Bob Backlund, Masahiro Chono, Ultimo Dragon, Kurt Angle and Tarzan Lopez–this counts as one issue if you are asking for a free issue, but ordered separately, due to size, is $6 in North America and $7 overseas)
*October 4, 2004 (the life and times of Big Bossman; as well as details of the life and times of one of the most influential men world wide in pro wrestling history, Jim Barnett)
*November 15, 2004 (the full story of what happened between Kurt Angle and Daniel Puder, plus coverage of the most important week in the history of TNA)
*January 24, 2005 (2004 Awards issue, Rock and WWE part company)
*March 14, 2005 (the 50 biggest money players in the history of WWF and a look at their Hall of Fame)
*May 9, 2005 (the life and times of Chris Candido)
*June 20, 2005 (The full story behind Paul Heyman and the death of ECW, as well as coverage of One Night Stand, Hardcore Homecoming and behind the scenes of both shows)
*July 18, 2005 (death of Shinya Hashimoto and his records with a look at the fall of New Japan, the Matt Hardy angle, tons of WWE firings, Cornette firing in detail as well as problems of a WWE developmental territory in our biggest news issue of the year which is a double-sized issue and would be $6 on its own and $7 overseas)
*August 24, 2005 (2005 Hall of Fame issue with career profiles of Paul Heyman, HHH and Freebirds plus debut of MMA Hall of Fame)
*September 12, 2005 (History of Mid South Wrestling)
*October 10, 2005 (Life and Times of the Ultimate Warrior)
*November 21, 2005 (Life and Times of Eddy Guerrero and Crusher, double issue $6 on its own and $7 overseas)
*December 5, 2005 (The Eddy Guerrero special issue, double issue $6 on its own, $7 overseas)
*January 9, 2006 (The life and times of Superstar Billy Graham, plus New Year’s Eve 2005 coverage)
*January 16, 2006 (2005 Awards double issue, $6 or $7 overseas)
*April 3, 2006 (Story of Ann Calvello and the history of Roller Derby–many called this the best issue of the Observer ever)
*April 10, 2006 (Behind the scenes at the 2006 Wrestlemania/Hall of Fame week)
*July 24, 2006 (The History of the Von Erichs and World Class Championship Wrestling–the most unreal story ever in wrestling)
*September 4, 2006 (The Rise and Fall of Kurt Angle; 2006 Hall of Fame inductions of Eddie Guerrero, Paul Bowser, Masakatsu Funaki, Aja Kong and Hiroshi Hase including tons of wrestling history around the world from the 20s through the 60s, the evolution of working to not working in Japan, and a look at Guerrero in hindsight, double issue $6 or $7 overseas)
*October 9, 2006 (A look back nine years later at the life and legacy of Brian Pillman with tons of inside information about what made him tick as his real objectives)
*November 15, 2006 (History of WCW part one, Eric Bischoff’s book and how the industry was changed forever)
*November 20, 2006 (History of WCW part two, Why Jim Ross left WCW, How Bischoff changed the company, signing of Hulk Hogan, Beginning of Nitro, Jesse Ventura, Brian Pillman, Chris Jericho and signing Wrestlemania planned celebrity away)
*November 27, 2006 (History of WCW part three, When Bischoff challenged McMahon to fight; Truth and fiction around Bret Hart signing with WCW and why it didn’t click)
*December 6, 2006 (details behind Pride’s offers to sell promotion and Part four of History of WCW part four, Hogan-Goldberg match and why there was no rematch, WCW loses NBC network deal in 1999 and the real reasons the company fell apart)
*January 22, 2007 (2006 Awards issue, double issue $7 on its own, $8 overseas)
*February 14, 2007 (Life and Times of Bam Bigelow)
*March 5, 2007 (WWE begins plans that will change the business)
*March 12, 2007 (Life and Times of Mike Awesome)
*March 19, 2007 (Life and Times of Ernie Ladd)
*April 4, 2007 (Life and Times of Badnews Allen Coage–which many are calling one of the best issues in history)
*July 2, 2007 (Part one of the Benoit double murder-suicide)
*July 5, 2007 (Part two of the Benoit double murder-suicide)
*July 10, 2007 (Part three of the Benoit double murder-suicide)
*July 19, 2007 (Part four of the Benoit double murder-suicide)
*July 23, 2007 (Part five of Benoit double murder-suicide)
*July 25, 2007 (Part six of Benoit double murder-suicide)
*August 15, 2007 (The legend of the God of Japanese wrestling and his influence on MMA, Karl Gotch)
*October 15 (2007 Hall of Fame double issue, $7 on its own, $8 overseas including inductions of The Rock, Tom Packs and the original Strangler Lewis)
*November 12, 2007 (Life and times of Fabulous Moolah and history of U.S. women’s wrestling) .
*December 31, 2007 (History of Ric Flair and the heyday of wrestling at the Greensboro Coliseum)
*January 21, 2008 (2007 Awards issue, double issue $7 on its own, $8 overseas)
*March 17, 2008 (Life and times of Johnny Weaver)
*March 24, 2008 (Life and times of Gary Hart)
*April 10, 2008 (Farewell to Ric Flair; My thoughts, Shawn Michaels talks of Flair’s meaning to him; Hall of Fame; Wrestlemania double issue, $7 on its own, $8 overseas)
*August 11, 2008 (Ric Flair leaves WWE; Updated history of pro wrestlers and MMA fighters who went to the Olympics)
* September 8, 2008 (2008 Hall of Fame double issue, $7 on its own, $8 overseas; part one of Killer Kowalski bio)
* September 15, 2008 (Life and Times of Evan Tanner)
* September 22, 2008 (The amazing career of Killer Kowalski, one of our most in-depth bios)
You can also order any of these issues on their own for $4 in North America or $5 overseas.
We now have available personally autographed copies of Tributes II, our latest book, as well as a DVD that comes with it talking more about the subjects in the book. The book covers the life stories of Lou Thesz, Wahoo McDaniel, Elizabeth, Fred Blassie, Road Warrior Hawk, Andre the Giant, Curt Hennig, Johnny Valentine, Davey Boy Smith, Terry Gordy, Owen Hart, Stu Hart, Gorilla Monsoon, The Sheik and Tim Woods..
To get all of those biographies as back issues of the Observer would be a $60 value today. This is a collection of some of the best Observer articles of the past several years in a hardcover, full-color format that is 239 pages. There is also a foreword by Bret Hart. The book price is $12.95 plus $3.50 for shipping costs in the U.S., $20 for shipping costs to Canada and $25 for shipping costs outside North America. You can order the book the same way you order the newsletter.
MONDAY’S NEWS UPDATE
The latest on Jon Jones is this. Jones has not yet turned himself into the Albuquerque police after an alleged hit and run after a three-car collision. The 25-year-old woman who Jones allegedly crashed into after a running a red light suffered a broken arm, but her pregnancy was not affected by the accident. Jones is being charged with a felony leaving the scene of a crime. A second car was also hit containing a 38-year-old male and three children ages 8 to 10. Jones is believed to have been driving a 2015 Silver Buick rental car from Enterprise in Albuquerque. The officers found a marijuana pipe with marijuana in it in the car that was abandoned, as well as paperwork belonging to Jonathan Jones, with indication he was an MMA fighter. They found his phone number and police called him multiple times with no response. A witness also recognized the man who ran as MMA fighter Jon Jones.
UFC has not made any announcements regarding Jones or his scheduled title defense against Anthony Johnson for 5/23. I’m not sure if UFC has bylaws regarding championships and within its contract with Jones with what they can or can’t do with a felony charge. The Nevada commission has already painted itself in the corner because of allowing Floyd Mayweather Jr. to fight with a number of domestic violence charges as well as serving time and Mayweather even had sentencing on him delayed once so he could fight. Those are the privileges of being a big draw. This felony charge combined with the January drug test failure should lead to:
Both UFC and Nevada drug testing him frequently from this point forward. Nevada has its rules and limitations regarding in and out of competition, but UFC should be more proactive with its testing and create rules where at least hard drugs are illegal for fighters in and out of competition. But until those rules are put in place, you can’t implement them now. But this can serve as a lesson on how to write rules for the new policy and why out of competition drug failures for hard drugs should be taken seriously.
If they are legally able, they should pull Jones from 5/23 to at least allow him to get help, and if he refuses, then suspend him. If he has to be suspended, he should be stripped of the title.
Either way, the best course of action is to put Daniel Cormier vs. Anthony Johnson on 5/23 in a five-round fight that would either be an interim or regular title fight. Cormier isn’t ready, and he’s training for a fight two weeks later so there is a good shot he’ll at least be close, Ryan Bader has volunteered to step in, although I don’t think Bader is deserving of that spot right now. Either way, that leaves the 6/6 show without a main event.
One witness to the accident told police that Jones got out of the car after the accident and ran to the hills, before turning around and coming back to grab a “large handful of cash.” Then, according to witnesses, he ran off and jumped a fence and wasn’t seen again.
The New York state assembly is expected to discuss the bill to legalize MMA in the state tonight.
Andrei Arlovski, a teammate of Jones, who also lives in Albuquerque, said on twitter that he was just involved today in a four car hit-and-run accident.
Rudy Reyna, a well known Exotico wrestler in Mexico dating back to the 70s, and who in AAA during its high point in the 90s, passed away yesterday after a lengthy illness at the age of 69.
WWE is really pushing the work of Sara Del Rey as the women’s coach in Orlando of late. HHH pushed that Del Rey is not just the women’s coach, but a coach for both the men and the women. An article on that subject
ESPN sent out a release that its E:60 documentary on the WWE Performance Center will air on 5/5 at 8 p.m. The storyline of the documentary was to follow three amateur wrestlers in the system and there will be interviews with Vince McMahon, HHH, Steve Austin, Hulk Hogan and Dwayne Johnson.
We’ve got nothing confirmed regarding King of the Ring. The belief is that there will be first round matches tonight and semifinals and finals on the one hour special tomorrow night, but WWE has not said anything. The impression we were given is that the original plan was not for the finals to be on Tuesday’s show as the original plan was for a series of Tuesday specials for King of the Ring and not just one. Things are apparently constantly changing.
WWE will be holding a Pat Patterson Appreciation night at the 5/4 Raw event at the Bell Centre in Montreal. The advertised main event is John Cena & Roman Reigns & Randy Orton vs. Seth Rollins & Big Show & Rusev. There was a Patterson Appreciation Night scheduled a few years ago in Montreal, but it was the night that Jerry Lawler had a heart attack so it was canceled. The Patterson Appreciation Night would be after Raw ends, even though it would probably be the best thing all night.
UFC Tonight will air at midnight on FS 1 followed by the second episode of the Conor McGregor “Notorious” show at 12:30 a.m.
Les Thatcher noted to us in our talk about unions and wrestling that in 1973-74, Georgia Championship Wrestling had a health plan situation the likes of which we talked about (and other promotions in that era did have something similar). Every wrestler in the promotion put up $10 of his weekly check and if someone in the crew was injured, they would help out with medical bills from the money saved. Thatcher, Johnny Walker and Bob Armstrong were put in charge.
Premier Wrestling on 6/7 in Gilroy, CA at the IFDES Lodge-Portuguese at 5 p.m. with JR Kratos (7-2) defending his Premier title against Dylan Drake (4-3). Tickets go on sale Friday at www.premierwerstle.com
17 years ago today was the night that DX drove that tank over to Nitro when both were taping in neighboring Virginia cities at the same time.
Future Stars of Wrestling from Saturday night in Las Vegas before 550 fans: Tyler Cintron won over Nick Bugatti and Greg Romero, J-Cash b Troy McClain-DQ, Cold Cold World b Hoss Hogg & Ryan Ramos, Vegas b Leon Hater, Ryan Taylor b Eli Quick, The Following b Clutch & Sugar Brown, Mike Dalite b Funny Bone, Phil Baroni (former MMA star) b Michael Modest, Tyshaun Prince NC Kevin Kross.
I believe that restaurants are being charged $10,000 to carry the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight on Saturday.
Also should be noted that the Tito Ortiz story was a hoax and he did not spend $257,000 on tickets to the fight.
As far as the super high priced tickets, they are apparently not selling so great as Darren Rovell reported there were 310 tickets sold on Stubhub with the highest ticket price going for $15,000, and the average at $6,547. (thanks to James Brown)
A fund raiser for a memorial wall at the Fort Homer Hesterly Armory in Tampa to commemorate its wrestling tradition
WWE Network is doing a Mayweather special on Friday night to take advantage of all the Mayweather publicity for Saturday.
At a show yesterday in El Paso, it was announced that Magno was stripped of his version of the NWA welterweight title since he has signed with WWE. Impostor and Bobby Zavala did promos wanting the vacated title (thanks to Kris Zellner)
CWE on Friday night in Winnipeg: Elite 8 tournament: Jason Kincaid b Chase Owens, Tyler Colton b Shane Sabre, Anderson Tyson Moore b Antonio Scorpio, Christopher Daniels b Carter Mason, Adam Knight b Danny Duggan, Tyler Colton b Jason Kincaid, Anderson Tyson Moore b Christopher Daniels, Robby Royce b Mr. Inkredible, Bobby Jay won Battle Royal, Anderson Tyson Moore b Tyler Colton
CWE on Saturday night in Steinbach, Manitoba: Fabulous Creebirds b Travis Cole & Adam Race, Bobby Collins b Carter Mason, Adam Knight b Shane Sabre, Dick Blood & Billy Blaze DDQ Peg City Punishers, Tommy Lee Curtis b Adam Race, Jason Kincaid won three-way over Christopher Daniels and Chase Owns. Next tour is 6/22 to 6/26 around Manitoba with Justin Gabriel.
Furious 7 fell to No. 2 at the box office this past weekend in Australia (thanks to James Stanios)
Bellator announced lightweights Malcolm Smith (4-4) vs. Luke Nelson (2-1) and middleweights Kain Royer (1-1) vs. Enrique Watson (1-0) in prelims for its 6/19 show in St. Louis headlined by Ken Shamrock vs. Kimbo Slice.
Smash Wrestling on 6/6 with shows at 4 p.m and 7 p.m at the Franklin Horner Community Centre in Toronto. The afternoon show is an all-women’s show with Vanessa Kraven, Allysin Kay, Heidi Lovelace, Cherry Bomb, Courtney Rush and Portia Perez.
Pro Wrestling Phoenix from Saturday night in Council Bluffs, IA: Ryan Slade b Joey Daniels, Paul Daniels b Pat Powers, Jeremy Wyatt & Mark Sterling b Dalton Lee Roth & Purple, L-Ray b Zac James, Ryan Slade b Bradley Charles, Tony Cortez b Abu Colossus-DQ, Darren Russell b Chainsaw King in a dog collar match. Next show is 5/23 in Council Bluffs at the National Guard Armory with Scotty 2 Hotty headlining the 10th anniversary show.
ON THIS DAY IN PRO WRESTLING HISTORY INTERNATIONAL (thanks to Graeme Cameron)
1980 – Cachorro Mendoza beat El Satanico in Monterrey to win the NWA middleweight title
1987 – Yumi Ogura & Kazue Nagahori beat Yumiko Hotta & Hisako Uno (Akira Hokuto) to win the WWWA tag titles and on the same show, Chigusa Nagayo beat Leilaini Kai to win the All Pacific women’s title
1990 – Keiji Muto & Masahiro Chono beat Masa Saito & Shinya Hashimoto to win the IWGP tag titles in Tokyo
1990 – El Hijo del Santo beat Charles Lucero in Monterrey to win the UWA welterweight title
2001 – Pimpinela Escarlata beat Espectro Jr. in Toluca to win Mexican national middleweight title
2008 – Keiji Muto beat Shinsuke Nakamura in Osaka to win the IWGP heavyweight title
2008 – Halloween & Extreme Tiger (Tiger Uno in TNA) beat Crazzy Boy & Joe Lider in Zapopan to win the AAA tag team titles
2011 – Mini Psicosis beat Octagoncito in Zacapoaxtla to win the AAA minis title
2014 – Takao Omori beat Jun Akiyama to win the Champion Carnival tournament
TOMORROW’S WWE NETWORK SCHEDULE (thanks to Bert Duckwall)
12:06 AM ET
WWE COUNTDOWN Counting down the Top Craziest Ladder Matches ever in WWE History, as voted by the WWE Universe.
1:06 AM ET
TOTAL DIVAS Nikki plans a future without boyfriend John Cena. Eva’s life is turned upside down when she must decide between family and her husband.
2:06 AM ET
WWE NETWORK EXCLUSIVE The action continues with exclusive interviews, matches and fallout LIVE from Monday Night Raw.
2:11 AM ET
TOUGH ENOUGH WWE Superstar Rey Mysterio and former NBA star John Salley are on hand to offer advice about teamwork to the dwindling group.
3:06 AM ET
WCW BEACH BLAST 1993 Sting and Dave Boy Smith face Big Van Vader and Sid Vicious. Ric Flair takes on Barry Windham. Dustin Rhodes faces Rick Rude.
6:00 AM ET
WWE COUNTDOWN Counting down the Top Craziest Ladder Matches ever in WWE History, as voted by the WWE Universe.
7:00 AM ET
TOUGH ENOUGH WWE Superstar Rey Mysterio and former NBA star John Salley are on hand to offer advice about teamwork to the dwindling group.
8:00 AM ET
TOTAL DIVAS Nikki plans a future without boyfriend John Cena. Eva’s life is turned upside down when she must decide between family and her husband.
9:00 AM ET
WWE COUNTDOWN Counting down the Top Craziest Ladder Matches ever in WWE History, as voted by the WWE Universe.
10:00 AM ET
TOUGH ENOUGH WWE Superstar Rey Mysterio and former NBA star John Salley are on hand to offer advice about teamwork to the dwindling group.
11:00 AM ET
TOTAL DIVAS Nikki plans a future without boyfriend John Cena. Eva’s life is turned upside down when she must decide between family and her husband.
12:00 PM ET
WWE COUNTDOWN Counting down the Top Craziest Ladder Matches ever in WWE History, as voted by the WWE Universe.
1:00 PM ET
EXCUSE ME! – A COUGAR COUNTDOWN EXCUSE ME! A Cougar’s Countdown takes us through the top ten most memorable Vickie Guerrero Moments.
2:00 PM ET
TOUGH ENOUGH The remaining contestants’ agility is tested when they are tasked with serving lunch to a busy crowd at a 50’s diner while on roller skates.
3:00 PM ET
TOUGH ENOUGH WWE Superstar Rey Mysterio and former NBA star John Salley are on hand to offer advice about teamwork to the dwindling group.
4:00 PM ET
WWE UNFILTERED WITH RENEE YOUNG In the premier of Unfiltered, Renee Young hangs out with WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins for a fun and revealing conversation!
4:10 PM ET
MONDAY NIGHT WAR WCW signs international superstars to bring an innovative, high-flying brand of excitement to Monday Nitro.
5:00 PM ET
WWE COUNTDOWN Counting Down the Top Ten Most Imposing Superstars ever in WWE history.
6:00 PM ET
WWE BEYOND THE RING Witness some of the rarest matches from Hulk Hogan’s 30-year career. This special is an absolute must-watch for all Hulkamaniacs!
8:00 PM ET
WWE NETWORK EXCLUSIVE To be announced, live WWE action and entertainment featuring top WWE stars.
9:00 PM ET
WWE UNFILTERED WITH RENEE YOUNG In the premier of Unfiltered, Renee Young hangs out with WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins for a fun and revealing conversation!
9:10 PM ET
MONDAY NIGHT WAR WCW signs international superstars to bring an innovative, high-flying brand of excitement to Monday Nitro.
10:00 PM ET
WWE COUNTDOWN Counting Down the Top Ten Most Imposing Superstars ever in WWE history.
11:00 PM ET
WWE NETWORK EXCLUSIVE To be announced, live WWE action and entertainment featuring top WWE stars.
