Month: July 2020

Home / Month: July 2020

WWE RAW – March 5th Episode:
– Asuka vs. Nia Jax (Opening Contest) = Winner: Asuka

The streak lives to see another day. @WWEAsuka #RAW pic.twitter.com/TTEtt8qiyo
— WWE (@WWE) March 6, 2018

– The Bar (Sheamus & Cesaro) vs. The Revival (Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder) (Non-Title Match) (If The Revival wins, they will get a title shot for the RAW Tag Team Championships at WrestleMania) = Winners: The Bar (Sheamus & Cesaro)

They ARE The BAR… and they will NOT be facing #TheRevival in New Orleans. #WrestleMania #RAW @WWESheamus @WWECesaro pic.twitter.com/oGgBCH73xn
— WWE (@WWE) March 6, 2018

– John Cena vs. Goldust = Winner: John Cena

Momentum is on @JohnCena‘s side as his Road to #WrestleMania takes him through #WWEFastlane THIS SUNDAY! #RAW pic.twitter.com/cuJOAxcAsV
— WWE (@WWE) March 6, 2018

– Bayley vs. Absolution Member Mandy Rose = Winner: Bayley

#Absolution caused chaos in the wake of @itsBayleyWWE‘s victory, but @SashaBanksWWE wasn’t about to sit and watch it happen! #RAW pic.twitter.com/npFuCkq4Z9
— WWE (@WWE) March 6, 2018

– Braun Strowman vs. Elias (Symphony of Destruction Match) (Falls Count Anywhere Rules) = Winner: Braun Strowman

A Monster Among MUSIC prevails in the first-ever #SymphonyOfDestruction Match! @BraunStrowman #RAW pic.twitter.com/1HG556Wn7B
— WWE (@WWE) March 6, 2018

– Bray Wyatt vs. Rhyno = Winner: Bray Wyatt

.@WWEBrayWyatt takes down The #ManBeast @Rhyno313 in quick and devastating fashion! @HeathSlaterOMRB #RAW pic.twitter.com/1BaLk090s2
— WWE (@WWE) March 6, 2018

– Finn Balor & Seth Rollins vs. The Miz & The Miztourage (Curtis Axel & Bo Dallas) (Main Event) = Winners: Finn Balor & Seth Rollins

A game of one-upmanship leaves @WWERollins and @FinnBalor looking a little like THIS after tonight’s #HandicapMatch… #RAW pic.twitter.com/sFyh5ESh3o
— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) March 6, 2018

WWE SmackDown Live – March 6th Episode:
– Jinder Mahal vs. Randy Orton (Opening Contest) = Winner: Jinder Mahal

NOBODY kicks out of the #Khallas!@JinderMahal DEFEATS @RandyOrton just days before #TheViper challenges @REALBobbyRoode for the #USTitle. #SDLive #WWEFastlane pic.twitter.com/eRCyjac7lf
— WWE (@WWE) March 7, 2018

– Becky Lynch vs. Carmella = Winner: Becky Lynch

.@BeckyLynchWWE got @CarmellaWWE trending and TAPPING as the #IrishLassKicker gets the win with the #DisArmHer! #SDLive pic.twitter.com/KcZjIGzKJw
— WWE (@WWE) March 7, 2018

– WWE Champion AJ Styles vs. Dolph Ziggler (Non-Title Match) (Main Event) = Winner: No Contest

Sorry, @HEELZiggler and @AJStylesOrg…
Your match just got interrupted by The #KevinAndSamiShow! #SDLive pic.twitter.com/Tuk6Zv6IP1
— WWE (@WWE) March 7, 2018

– WWE Champion AJ Styles vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn vs. Baron Corbin (Non-Title Match) (Fatal Five Way Match) (Main Event) = Winner: Sami Zayn

WHAT ABOUT THE PLAN?!?!@SamiZayns pins his BEST FRIEND @FightOwensFight to pick up the victory in the #Fatal5Way bout! #SDLive pic.twitter.com/uQTLHsZYtf
— WWE (@WWE) March 7, 2018

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It was previously reported that Shane McMahon announced last night on SmackDown Live that he was taking an indefinite leave of absence from his job as SmackDown Commissioner but before leaving, Shane made Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens for WrestleMania 34.
SmackDown ended with Sami and Owens destroying Shane in the ring and then the backstage area, adding to the speculation on Shane adding himself to the match at WrestleMania 34 to make it either a Triple Threat or perhaps a 2-on-1 Handicap Match with Owens and Sami teaming up.
Shane was selling the attack on SmackDown in a big way as the show ended on last night. Paramedics tended to Shane and prepared to take him away on a stretcher as he gasped for air. WWE announced on their website that Shane suffered a laryngeal contusion, trapezius and rhomboid strains. WWE also noted that Shane was taken to a local medical facility and they expect to have more updates in the next 24 hours on the injuries, which are likely just part of the storylines.

Below is WWE’s full announcement on Shane’s condition:
Shane McMahon suffers several injuries while being attacked by Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn on SmackDown LIVE
After announcing he would be taking an indefinite leave of absence from his role as SmackDown LIVE Commissioner, Shane McMahon was brutally attacked by Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, whom he had just placed into a match against each other at WrestleMania. McMahon suffered several injuries during the attack, WWE.com can confirm.
“He sustained a laryngeal contusion when the steel chair was wrapped around his head and thrown into the turnbuckle,” WWE medical staff said.

KO & Zayn continued the onslaught by dragging McMahon to the back and powerbombing him onto a metal rack, resulting in further injuries.
“He was then thrown onto the metal rack, which resulted in trapezius and rhomboid strains,” medical staff continued.
McMahon is currently being evaluated to make sure his airway is not compromised. Further updates on McMahon’s status are expected in the next 24 hours. Stick with WWE.com for more details as they become available.

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According to Bill Bhatti of The Dirty Sheets, PWInsider’s Mike Johnson is completely wrong about The Undertaker and his role at WrestleMania 34. 
Bhatti insists not only will The Undertaker appear at WrestleMania, which Johnson did report, but that he will in fact wrestle John Cena. Johnson’s report said The Undertaker would appear and have some sort of confrontation with Cena, but would not be able to wrestle. 
Here is a link to The Dirty Sheets report:

https://dirtysheets.net/2018/04/03/exclusive-mike-johnson-completely-wrong-about-undertaker-vs-cena/

Image: SI

The fallout from Vince McMahon’s sudden shuttering of the XFL started with the league filing for bankruptcy last week and continued Tuesday with news that the league’s now-former commissioner is suing the WWE chairman.

According to The Athletic, lawyers for Oliver Luck filed a lawsuit against McMahon last week in Connecticut for unspecified damages due to a breach of their contract.

While the six page suit was heavily redacted, they surmised that a line that reads “Mr. Luck wholly disputes and rejects the allegations set forth in the Termination Letter and contends they are pretextual and devoid of merit” suggests Luck was fired for cause.

The Athletic also noted the suit says that McMahon’s Alpha Entertainment filed to have the bankruptcy court reject “Certain Executive Contracts”. That is assumed to mean Luck, and perhaps other executives, would be due none of their contracted salary. Luck was reportedly due $20 million over the life of his contract.

The 60-year-old is a former NFL quarterback who also was the first president and general manager of Houston’s MLS team as well as an NCAA executive. He was hired by McMahon in 2018 to head up the XFL revival, but was relieved of his duties on April 9th, the day before the league laid off all employees and players.

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1917 

Omaha, Nebraska:
– Earl Caddock defeated Joe Stecher by forfeit to win the World Heavyweight Title (Stecher lost the first fall and refused to wrestle the second fall)

1943

St. Joseph, Missouri:
– World Champion Wild Bill Longson beat Ronnie Etchison 
– Vic Holbrook beat Jack Hader 
– Sailor Fred Blassie beat Carlos Rodriquez 
– Cowboy Luttrall drew Jack Nasworthy

1953

Cleveland, Ohio:
– Buddy Rogers defeated Antonino Rocca to win the Ohio version of the Boston AWA World Heavyweight Title

1960 

Indianapolis, Indiana:
– Ray and Roy Shire defeated Dick Afflis and Gene Kiniski to win the Chicago/Indianapolis NWA World Tag Team Titles

1963 

Nashville, Tennessee:
– Gino and Tony Calza defeated The Medics (Tony Gonzales and Donald Lortie) to win the Mid-America NWA Southern Tag Team Titles

1965

Denver, Colorado:
– AWA Tag Team Champions Larry Hennig & Harley Race beat The Crusher & Verne Gagne

1966

Minneapolis:
– Verne Gagne beat Larry Hennig
– Crusher beat Chris Tolos by DQ
– Harley Race beat Dale Lewis
– Ernie Ladd beat Moose Cholak
– Reggie Parks drew Chris Markoff
– The Alaskan beat Bob Morgan

1969 

Los Angeles, California:
– Black Gordman defeated Alfonso Dantés for the vacant NWA Beat the Champ TV Title 

1976 

St. Louis, Missouri:
– Dick the Bruiser defeated Blackjack Lanza
– Gene Kiniski defeated Bob Backlund
– Harley Race draw Pat O’Connor in a non-title 30-minute match
– Wilbur Snyder and Ray Candy defeated Chuck O’Connor and Ox Baker 
– Betty Niccoli defeated Joyce Grable
– Lord Alfred Hayes defeated Guy Mitchell
– Tank Patton defeated Paul Christy

Mexico, City, Mexico:
– Fishman defeated Blue Demon to win the NWA World Welterweight Title

1978

Charlotte, North Carolina:
– Ric Flair defeated Mr. Wrestling to win the NWA United States Heavyweight Title 

Mexico City, Mexico:
– Perro Aguayo defeated Ringo Mendoza for the NWA World Middleweight Title 

1979

Memphis, Tennessee:
– Tony Charles won an elimination match
– Jimmy Golden & Ron Slinker beat Tommy Gilbert & Buzz Sawyer
– Southern Tag Champs Bill Dundee & Robert Fuller beat The Assassins via DQ
– Austin Idol & The Mongolian Stomper beat Jerry Lawler & Toru Tanaka in a no DQ match

1981

Kansas City, Kansas:
– Bob Brown and Terry Taylor defeated The Kelly Twins (Mike and Pat) for the NWA Central States Tag Team Titles

Portland, Oregon:
– Buddy Rose defeated Jay Youngblood to win the NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Title

1984

Memphis, Tennessee:
– The Super Gladiator drew Jesse Ortega
– Brickhouse Brown beat Ric McCord
– Tiger Mark & Harley Davidson beat King Konga & The Angel
– Jim Niedhart beat Art Crews
– Ox Baker beat Scott Shannon
– Southern Tag Champs Tommy Rich & Eddie Gilbert beat Koko Ware & Norvell Austin in a Texas death match
– Austin Idol beat Rick Rude via DQ in a strap match
– Southern Champ Jerry Lawler beat Randy Savage in a loser receives ten lashes match to win the Mid-America Title

1987 

– Jim Crockett Promotions purchased Bill Watts’ Universal Wrestling Federation

1988

Caguas, Puerto Rico:
– Carlos Colón won the WWC Universal Heavyweight Title by defeating Hercules Ayala

1990

Okayama, Japan:
– Kenta Kobashi and Tiger Mask (Mitsuharu Misawa) defeated The Can-Am Express (Doug Furnas and Dan Kroffat (Philip LaFon)) for the AJPW All Asia Tag Team Titles 

1992

Knoxville, Tennessee:
– The Junkyard Dog pinned Richard Morton
– WCW US Tag Team Champion Greg Valentine & Mike Graham defeated Marcus Alexander Bagwell & Tom Zenk
– Ron Simmons pinned Cactus Jack
– Nikita Koloff pinned Diamond Dallas Page
– Dustin Rhodes & Barry Windham defeated WCW TV Champion Steve Austin & Larry Zbyszko in a bunkhouse match
– Rick & Scott Steiner defeated WCW Tag Team Champions Arn Anderson & Bobby Eaton via disqualification
– WCW World Champion Sting pinned Big Van Vader
– WCW US Champion Rick Rude defeated Ricky Steamboat via disqualification

Paintsville, Kentucky:
– Bobby Blaze pinned Mike Sampson
– Tom Horner defeated Stan Lane via disqualification
– Kevin Sullivan pinned Brian Lee
– SMW Heavyweight Champion Tracy Smothers pinned the Dirty White Boy
– Ricky Morton & Tim Horner defeated Stan Lane & Bobby Eaton in a streetfight

1993

Manhattan, Kansas:
– Joey Maggs defeated the Russian Brute
– Maxx Payne defeated Johnny Gunn
– The Barbarian defeated Wrecking Crew Rage
– Van Hammer defeated Vinnie Vegas
– 2 Cold Scorpio & Cactus Jack defeated WCW World Champion Big Van Vader & WCW TV Champion Paul Orndorff 
– WCW/NWA Tag Team Champions Steve Austin & Brian Pillman defeated Ricky Steamboat & Shane Douglas

1994

Morristown, Tennessee:
– Mike Furnas defeated the Hornet
– Timothy Well & Steven Dunn defeated Tracy Smothers & Bobby Blaze
– SMW Heavyweight Champion the Dirty White Boy defeated Prince Kharis
– Bob Armstrong defeated Jim Cornette in a lumberjack match
– SMW Tag Team Champions Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson defeated Chris Candido & Brian Lee via disqualification

Kansas City, Kansas:
– Arn Anderson defeated Bobby Eaton
– WCW US Champion Steve Austin defeated Brian Pillman
– Kevin & Dave Sullivan defeated WCW Tag Team Champions the Nasty Boys in a non-title match
– Ricky Steamboat defeated WCW International World Champion Rick Rude via disqualification
– Sting defeated WCW TV Champion Lord Steven Regal in a non-title match
– WCW World Champion Ric Flair defeated Vader via disqualification 

1995

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania:
– T. Rantula defeated Cactus Jack for the Steel City Wrestling Heavyweight Title 

2003

Louisville, Kentucky:
– Doug Basham won the OVW Heavyweight Title by defeating Nick Dinsmore 

2004 

Quarryville, Pennsylvania:
– Minoru Fujita and Ikuto Hidaka defeated Josh Daniels and Matt Striker to win the Premier Wrestling Federation Universal Tag Team Titles

Milwaukee, Wisconsin:
– Zach Gowen and Silas Young defeated Jason Dukes and Skull Krusher for the Mid-America Wrestling Tag Team Titles
– Justin Kage defeated Austin Aries to win the NWA Midwest X Division Title 

IWA April Bloodshowers: Oolitic, Indiana:
– In a 30-minute Iron Man match, B.J. Whitmer (with Jim Fannin) defeated IWA Mid-South Heavyweight Champion Jerry Lynn, 2-1, to win the title

2005 

Newark, Delaware:
– Petey Williams defeated Puma to win the Super 8 Tournament 

2009

ROH Collision: Chicago, Illinois:
– Claudio Castagnoli defeated Kevin Steen
– Necro Butcher & Jerry Lynn defeated The Age of the Fall’s Delirious and Brodie Lee
– Tyler Black defeated Jimmy Jacobs, Austin Aries and Bryan Danielson
– ROH champ Nigel McGuinness defeated El Generico

2011 

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania:
– Adam Cole won the Combat Zone Wrestling Best of 2011 tournament

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Premier Boxing Champions held their second show on Friday, March 7th on Spike at the Citizens Bank Arena in Ontario, California. It was Premier’s debut on Spike as part of what Spike is billing as Friday Night Lights Out, with the theme of holding combat sports events nearly every Friday night that include Premier, Glory Kickboxing, and Bellator MMA.

Premier’s debut on Spike featured three fights, headlined by Andre Berto (30-3, 23 KO’s) stopping Josesito Lopez (33-7, 19 KO’s) in the sixth round at welterweight. Lopez was ahead on all three cards until he was dropped twice by Berto in the sixth, with referee Raul Caiz Jr immediately calling the fight after Lopez was dropped a second time without giving Lopez another ten count. It was a controversial finish, especially with the live audience as Lopez was clearly ahead and was the hometown favourite. Berto was booed heavily both during his entrance and post-fight interview.

Also on the card, Chris Arreola (36-4, 31 KO’s) beat Curtis Harper (12-4, 8 KO’s) at heavyweight in a close eight-round fight via decision on scores of 76-75, 78-73, and 77-74. The fight was much closer than the scores indicated, as many of the middle rounds could have been judged either way. Arreola scored a stunning knockdown in the first and looked to be close to finishing the fight, but Harper held on, making it close until he started to gas near the end.

In the opening match, Shawn Porter (25-1-1, 16 KO’s) knocked out Erick Bone (pronounced “Bo-Nay”) (16-2, 8 KO’s) at 2:30 of the fifth round at welterweight. Bone went into the fight on one days’ notice, replacing Robert Garcia who backed out due to illness. Bone fared well the first few rounds, but was overmatched and not in fight shape and was eventually knocked out by Porter. Bone flew in from New York on Thursday night when it became clear that Garcia wasn’t going to try and make weight.

Premier Boxing is, of course, the new promotion run by boxing agent Al Haymon. Premier held their first card on NBC on March 7th, the first time NBC had aired boxing in prime time since 1985. It looks like Premier is planning on running one show a month on Spike as part Spike’s combat sports themed Fridays. In addition to the monthly Spike shows, in 2015 the promotion has twenty events planned to be split between NBC and NBC Sports and perhaps somewhere around twenty events total planned for CBS and CBS Sports, too.

One of the most noticeable aspects of Premier’s debut on NBC was the lavish production values put into the show. On Spike, there seemed to be little drop in quality in production, if any drop at all. The massive entrance stage with the video wall returned. Fighters walked down to the ring alone. Premier brought back the 360-degree camera and the Hans Zimmer score and used headband cameras on some of the corner men as a gimmick to show replays from unique angles between rounds. Referee Jack Reiss also wore the headband camera during the first fight between Porter and Bone.

The commentary team was completely different compared to NBC, though. The Spike commentary team was clearly aimed at a much younger audience. The team featured Scott Hanson from the NFL Network, Jimmy Smith from Bellator, and Antonio Tarver. Commentary was good. The show was hosted by Dana Jacobson of CBS Sports and co-hosted by Thomas “Hitman” Hearns. Jacobson’s role was basically to introduce the show during the opening, explaining to the audience that this wasn’t our father’s boxing. Later she had a couple of segments with Hearns discussing the upcoming Mayweather-Pacquiao fight. Jacobson was fine and stands out as one of the few female broadcasters in combat sports, but Hearns was completely incoherent to almost comical effect. I can’t imagine that he’ll be brought back.

Unlike the NBC broadcast, the Spike show featured no commercials for Mayweather-Pacquiao, even though it was discussed throughout the broadcast. Spike, however, ran many commercials for both Glory and Bellator, frequently advertising Joe Warren’s upcoming title defense later in the month, as well as the signing of Kimbo Slice. Michael Chandler, Liam McGeary, and Tito Ortiz were shown in the audience.

From watching the show I feel like the deal Haymon has worked out with Spike may be different than the deals worked with NBC and CBS, although that’s speculation. Premier’s primary sponsor is Corona and they had the same ads throughout the show as they did on NBC. But the rest of the commercials were the same types of commercials normally run during other Spike broadcasts. There was even a Metro PCS commercial with a cameo by Ronda Rousey that aired a number of times.

“We obviously never talk about financial details but I will say that we are both heavily invested in this,” said Spike President Kevin Kay in an interview with Bloody Elbow. “Al is putting up a great deal and we are putting a lot into it as well and we are very excited. We plan on having boxing for years to come on Spike.”

The show started at 9pm ET and ran until 11:15pm ET, which was the window that was scheduled on Spike. The main event between Berto and Lopez, however, didn’t start until around 10:30pm ET and was booked for twelve rounds and there was a reasonable expectation that fight would go the distance, which might have carried the broadcast past 11:15. Spike had fifteen minutes of Cops scheduled from 11:15 to 11:30pm ET.

Berto, Porter, and to a lesser degree Arreola and Harper all got over as stars. Berto got over in similar to Broner as the obvious villain. Jimmy Smith even referred to Berto as “playing the heel” during the broadcast. Berto, Porter, and Arreola are three fighters who have been near the top and faced some top fighters, but have never won that one big fight to get them over as top stars. Comparing the lineup for the debut on Spike to the lineup for the debut on NBC, it is clear that the Spike show features more action fighters and less highly-ranked skilled fighters. It worked, because the show went three-for-three when it came to holding exciting matches.

The question is what kind of ratings Premier Boxing draws on Spike, whether the hype will carry over from the successful debut on NBC, and what kind of role Premier Boxing on Spike plays if Haymon is able to sign a pay deal with one of the major networks and moves away from the time buy business model.

Recent broadcasts of Glory and Bellator on Spike have done well. The latest Bellator show took place on February 27th and was one of their major tent pole quarterly shows with Liam McGeary beating Emanuel Newton to win the Light-Heavyweight title. It drew an average viewership of 872,000 and peaked at 1,200,000 viewers. Bellator’s three events in 2015 have averaged 734,667 viewers. Bellator’s final nine events of 2014, including the mega show with Tito Ortiz beating Stephan Bonnar in November that drew an average of 1.4 million viewers, averaged 815,000 viewers combined.

Glory drew a record rating for Glory 19 on February 6th, headlined by Rico Verhoeven retaining the Heavyweight title by stopping Errol Zimmerman. The show drew 542,000 viewers on average and peaked at 825,000 viewers. The record rating was an increase of nearly fifty percent from Glory’s previous event in November, which drew an average of 352,000 viewers.

With Bellator averaging over 700,000 viewers for its 2015 events and Glory drawing over 500,000 viewers for its sole event, one would expect with the hype that Premier Boxing brings from its successful debut last weekend that that ratings for its debut on Spike should be at least as good what Bellator draws, if not much better. It was a good night for Premier to debut on Spike, as ESPN wasn’t running Friday Night Fights this week. Showtime did have a ShoBox card on Friday night, though, which features lesser known prospects. Spike ran shoulder programming on March 6th to hype Premier’s debut.

It will be interesting in to see how the age demographic for Premier’s debut on Spike breaks down. The debut on NBC drew an average of 3.4 million viewers and peaked at 4.2 million. It did a 1.08 rating in 18-49, but had an average viewer age of 52 with the show’s viewership skewing to older males. Spike is clearly going after a different demographic compared to Premier on NBC, with the younger broadcast team and the typical Spike ads for video games, energy drinks, and clothing. Whether the 18-34 demo agrees that Premier on Spike is not their father’s boxing remains to be seen.

“My goal is to try to give boxing exposure to younger viewers. I think that’s Spike’s place in this, because we have a large audience of 18 to 34 year olds that love combat sports,” Kay told Bloody Elbow. “If we can bring them to the table I think that’s what’s going to help secure boxing’s future. Because right now, we all know this, it’s an old sport. If we can bring 18 to 34 year olds to boxing that’s what’s going to secure the future of boxing because otherwise everyone is going to age out and that’s not going to be great for the sport.”

The hype that this is a boxing show for a younger generation is mainly window dressing. It’s still boxing like any other kind of boxing once the bell rings. It’s interesting that so many boxing promoters are trying to grab the attention of the 18-34 males right now, as that demo seems to prove elusive to the boxing industry. Another example is Jay-Z’s Roc Nation promotion, which debuted in January and, like Premier on Spike, was also promoted as being modernized boxing aimed at a younger, casual fan.

“We have actually been encouraged by Al [Haymon] and his team to ‘Spike it’,” Kay told MMA Fighting this week. “We go after different audiences. CBS is going to be weekend day times. They do things their way. NBC is prime time is almost quarterly – they haven’t fully released their schedule yet – those prime time events. And they’ll be doing some weekend day time as well. We have exclusively Friday nights once a month.”

“You go back to when we put the WWE as the lead in to The Ultimate Fighter. Everybody said, ‘Wrestling fans will never watch mixed martial arts.’ My thing was like, there’s 6 million people watching the WWE at the time. If I only get 20 percent of them, I’ll be a happy guy. I think we did better than that,” said Kay.

“I don’t know that’s there’s a tremendous crossover. Boxing tends to be older. It has been older for a long time. Mixed martial arts tends to be younger. I think we have the potential to draw new fans to each sport and I hope that we can do that,” continued Kay. “I think when you look at boxing and you see those numbers they put up on NBC, there’s a hugely strong boxing audience out there. If I can bring that to Spike – and particularly among the Latino community, among the African-American community – those would be so additive to the audience we already have, it would make me very happy. I think that would expand our audience base.”

Jeremy Wall can be contacted at jeremywall1984 at gmail dot com and followed on Twitter @jeremydalewall.

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by David Bixenspan | [email protected] | Follow @davidbix

TV tonight:

The 10 day showcase of each UFC weight class on Fox Sports 1 continues with a night of welterweight-themed programming:

7:00 p.m. ET – New episode of UFC Ultimate Insider (UFC’s magazine style show) revolving around Tyron Woodley, Johny Hendricks, Carlos Condit, & Rory MacDonald.

7:30 p.m. ET – Rerun of UFC Main Event (full fight preceded by footage from the Countdown special) featuring Nick Diaz vs. B.J. Penn from UFC 137.

8:00 p.m. ET – New episode of UFC Main Event featuring Robbie Lawler vs. Matt Brown from UFC on Fox 12 last July.

9:00 p.m. ET – Rerun of UFC Fight Flashback (documentary style presentation of an edited version of the fight) featuring Johny Hendricks vs. Robbie Lawler I from March 2014 for the vacant title.

9:30 p.m. ET – New episode of UFC Main Event featuring Johny Hendricks vs. Robbie Lawler II from December.

10:30 p.m. ET – New episode of UFC Fight Flashback featuring Georges St. Pierre vs. Johnny Hendricks from 2012.

****

The newest issue of Figure Four Weekly is up on the site for subscribers (subscribe here) with a look at the current state of wrestling content piracy in light of recent developments like Tommy Dreamer’s Facebook post and the arrest of WWE/UFC show capper “Sir Paul,” as well as early notes on the death of Perro Aguayo Jr. and 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. 

**** 

We’ve got a jam packed issue of news this week in the Observer, with the fallout of UFC 185 and the two title changes, The New Japan Cup and where the booking is going, the build toward Invasion Attack, more comments on the Bill DeMott situation in WWE, more on Rampage Jackson’s Bellator contract and Scott Coker, under oath, goes through what happened in negotiations and why Bellator is suing, , plus we’ve got features on Larry Zbyszko and Tatsumi Fujinami and the WWE Hall of Fame, New Japan attempts to rebuild NOAH with a storyline that has gotten mainstream ink and the bus accident and problems leading to the Rey de Reyes show.

The latest issue of the observer Mar. 23, 2015 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Two upset title changes at UFC 185, New Japan Cup, Bill DeMott notes, Bellator/Rampage injunction update, detailed WWE HOF notes

Website subscriptions, which include access to both current and older newsletters as well as every audio show in the history of the site as low as $9.99 per month!

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 [email protected]”>[email protected]

You can also order at www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected] 
 
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 [email protected]  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.
 
The lead story looks at Bill DeMott’s tenure as head trainer for WWE developmental.  We look at how he got started as a trainer, We look at the history of the WWE developmental program, why it was a surprise at first that DeMott was made head trainer, more on the complaints regarding DeMott, the claimed language used and how this relates to what pro wrestling was.  We look at injury issues in developmental, why cameras were put on all practices, if there was a feeling DeMott was a time bomb, and why WWE handled this the way it did.

We look at other firings in WWE caused by outside pressure, including the departure of Hulk Hogan in 1992.  We look at different things said  by different former WWE performers regarding DeMott and this situation.  We also look at talent development itself.

We up date Brock Lesnar’s contract situation and negotiations, his timing, how things that have taken place work in his favor.   We also update WrestleMania.

We look at the unique Rampage Jackson Bellator contract, where he said they breached, notes on the Bellator PPV, his guaranteed fight money and bonuses.

We also look at Connor Michalek and the WWE Hall of Fame, WWE signs book deal, Notes on this year’s SummerSlam as well as the 2016 version, Daniel Bryan talks his return, the Rumble and his Mania match, current WWE value, Pat Patterson talks career to Chris Jericho, Patterson talks the first WrestleMania and Royal Rumble creation, John Cena honored, rundown of NXT shows and activities in Ohio, as well as a look at the WWE house shows and business notes from the past week.

We also look at the attempt with the Premier Boxing Championships to take boxing mainstream, and look at the debut show on NBC.  We compare the ratings and the difference in audience makeup to that of UFC.  We look at the PBC plans for 2015, and how they compare to what Vince McMahon did in 1984 and what the UFC did in 2005.  We look at upcoming events, what the goal is, decisions, talent pay and overall economics related to the show.

We update the New Japan Cup, with the next iPPV lineup, early notes on the Invasion Attack show along with coverage of the first two events.

We also look at PWG, its changes, what has happened regarding some ROH talent, as well as a look at their last show.

We also have complete win-loss records of all TNA talent in 2014.

We also look at WWE business for January in several categories, including live attendance and television ratings.

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:

–CMLL lineup for its first major show of the year

–What CMLL is doing for fans who watch Dos Leyendas at the movie theaters

–Tournament final to crown new NWA light heavyweight champion

–Finals of the incredible partners tournament

–Update on Alberto Del Rio injury

–AAA iPPV show this week ad notes on how to order

–A look at AAA’s TV tapings this past week in Mexico City

–A look at the debut of Brian Cage in AAA

–Keiji Muto loses W-1 title belt and a look at the singles and tag titles in the promotion, plus the cruiserweight tournament

–A look at this week’s Dragon Gate iPPV show

–Early notes on the next major Dragon Gate shows

–Notes on the 2015 Champion Carnival tournament

–First real big test of the new NOAH booking

–Notes on future of New Japan World

–New Japan stars headed to U.K.

–Shoot tournament to crown a pro wrestling world champion starts in April

–Special perks for Observer readers over WrestleMania weekend

–Tons of notes on activities and shows over Mania weekend

–Update on the first New Japan PPV, how it did, as well as an update on the future of Global Force Wrestling

–Notes on Northeast Wrestling doing an indie show that did more than 2,000 fans

–A look at Tommy Dreamer’s House of Hardcore show

–Notes on the wXw 16 Carat Gold tournament

–Major Lucha Libre stars headed to he U.K.

–70s star resurfaces after winning battle over cancer and wrestles his first match in 24 years

–Another former UFC fighter now training for pro wrestling

–Notes on the next ROH PPV show

–Notes on the ROH shows with New Japan

–More on the Samoa Joe vs. Jay Briscoe ROH title match

–The biggest threat to ROH right now

–Lineups for this week’s ROH house shows

–Matt Sydal injury notes

–A look at the next month of ROH television

–Changes in TNA television

–TNA tag team title notes

–Wrestler to debut this week with TNA

–New TNA TV contract

–Notes on this week’s UFC show 

–Thoughts on the new Johny Hendricks

–UFC to have a four hour live show on FOX

–New UFC fights

–Pay records for the last Invicta show

–More on PPV potential of Rousey vs. Cyborg

–More on Burt Watson quitting UFC

–Watson talks about his departure

–A look at UFC’s debut in The Philippines

–Next Bellator lineup featuring former star from Japan

–Renzo Gracie pleads guilty to assault charges

–Jason Miller arrested again

–Former UFC fighter tracks down robber

–Next Ben Askren fight

–Chael Sonnen returns to combat

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.
 

****

Tuesday Daily Update


Check out our WWE RAW TV Report by Rob McCarron from last night.
Wrestling Observer Radio 3/24: Perro Aguayo Jr., final Raw before WrestleMania, Smackdown tapings, tons of questions! with Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez.
More from the site check out today’s Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive as they talk to Gabe Sapolsky.  Wrestling Observer Live 3/24: Gabe Sapolsky talks heyday of indy wrestling, Mania weekend events, plus Raw go-home show
Stephanie McMahon did a relatively extensive (for her) interview with Fast Company that went up today. It centers around her role as Chief Brand Officer: The reasoning for when and where she is or isn’t in character, WWE’s social media presence, WWE Network, etc. Lots of buzzwords, industry terms, impressive-sounding numbers, etc. here. At the very least, she comes off well-prepared, probably more so than usual.
Last night, Jeff Jarrett and Global Force Wrestling announced some kind of GFW events for “this Summer” in Las Vegas. No talent announced, nothing about it being a TV taping (though one would think that if the shows are in Las Vegas, it’s to get a site fee to subsidize TV tapings and/or have easy access to tourists to fill out the audience), no specific date(s) listed, etc.
Chuck Mindenhall has a fantastic article at MMAFighting about Jason Thacker, the first fighter eliminated from the first season of The Ultimate Fighter who subsequently fell off the face of the Earth, at least when it comes to MMA. Especially worth reading if you’re into reality TV production aspect of the story, as he famously had no verifiable MMA fights going into the show and admits here that he did indeed make it up, misrepresenting his Muay Thai record on small local cards as a MMA record.
Off-site Dave Meltzer content from the last few days:

Discussing the death of Perro Aguayo Jr. on The Christopher Gabriel Program in Fresno.

Kurt Angle has no regrets when it comes to not doing MMA.

Fortunes changed for five at UFC Fight Night: Maia vs. LaFlare.

Myself and Dylan Hales have started a new podcast, The Trade Marks, covering various topics related to intellectual property in pro wrestling. In the first episode, we discuss the arrest of WWE/UFC torrent capper/uploader “Sir Paul,” the probable secret WWE lawsuit against various John Does this week to allow them to seize bootleg merchandise within a five mile radius of WrestleMania as they have in previous years, and the recent strong anti-piracy push on the indie scene.
WWE Network is now available (a day early) to Telus Optic TV subscribers in Canada if you call into their call center.
Dory Funk Jr’s nex !BANG! TV Taping is this Saturday, March 28th, “!BANG! A MANIA” at !BANG! TV Sound Stage in Ocala, Florida. Showtime is 7:00pm – Doors Open at 6:15pm. The Main Event will be the Dory Funk Sr. Memorial Battle Royal.
Some today in history notes for March 24th:

George Wagner, the original Gorgeous George, was born 100 years ago today in 1915. If you’re interested in learning more about him than just the surface stuff that’s well-known, John Capouya’s biography of George is fantastic, a must-read for fans of wrestling history.

Jumbo Tsuruta made his pro wrestling debut 42 years ago today in 1973 in the west Texas territory owned by the Funk family. Before Owen Hart, Juventud Guerrera, or Kurt Angle were considered among the elite rookies in wrestling history, Jumbo set the bar, quickly becoming one of the best wrestlers in the world, a class he was in until contracting Hepatitis B in 1992. To check out just how good he as as a rookie, watch his oldest videotaped match, a NWA title shot against Jack Brisco in AJPW from January 30, 1974.

WrestleMania VII was 24 years ago in 1991, and its probably best known for Ultimate Warrior “retiring” Randy Savage in the co-main event, which Warrior felt was at least equal to the Sgt. Slaughter vs. Hulk Hogan main event in helping draw the crowd/PPV audience (and he’s probably right). His payoff at this show was one of the items centrral to the demand letter he sent Vince McMahon a few months later.

WCW Uncensored ’96 was 18 years ago in 1996. The second-annual Uncensored, it was simultaneously much better than the infamous first show (thanks to Konnan vs. Eddy Guerrero and Steven Regal vs. Fit Finlay) while having a much more memorable low point: (the 8 on 2 Doomsday Cage Match main event where Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage beat The Alliance to End Hulkamania (basically the Dungeon of Doom and the Four Horsemen assisted by Tiny “Zeus” Lister as Z-Gangsta and Jeep Swenson as The Ultimate Solution) on their own.

TOMORROW’S WWE NETWORK SCHEDULE
12:00 AM ET
WRESTLEMANIA REWIND Relive the historic final match of the WrestleMania IV tournament where Randy Savage took on the ‘Million Dollar Man’.

1:00 AM ET
WWE COUNTDOWN Counting down the Top Ten Most Memorable Superstar Debuts ever in WWE History, as voted by the WWE Universe.

2:00 AM ET
TUESDAY NIGHT TITANS Vince McMahon hosts Tuesday Night Titans with Lord Alfred Hayes. Guests include Bruno Sammartino, Roddy Piper, Bob Orton, and Ivan Putski.

3:00 AM ET
TUESDAY NIGHT TITANS Vince McMahon hosts Tuesday Night Titans with Lord Alfred Hayes. Guests include Rocky Johnson, Johnny Valiant, and Brutus Beefcake.

4:00 AM ET
PRIME TIME WRESTLING Join Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby ‘The Brain’ Heenan for Prime Time Wrestling featuring Hulk Hogan, Greg ‘The Hammer’ Valentine, and many more.

5:30 AM ET
WWE QUICK HITS WWE Quick Hits 4 brings you some of the most unique, entertaining, and sometimes outrageous clips, unearthed from the depths of WWE Network!

6:00 AM ET
MONDAY NIGHT WAR Backstage politics, corporate mergers, and questionable decisions would doom sports entertainment’s former powerhouse.

7:00 AM ET
WRESTLEMANIA REWIND Relive the historic final match of the WrestleMania IV tournament where Randy Savage took on the ‘Million Dollar Man’.

8:00 AM ET
WWE COUNTDOWN Counting down the Top Ten Most Memorable Superstar Debuts ever in WWE History, as voted by the WWE Universe.

9:00 AM ET
MONDAY NIGHT WAR Backstage politics, corporate mergers, and questionable decisions would doom sports entertainment’s former powerhouse.

10:00 AM ET
WRESTLEMANIA REWIND Relive the historic final match of the WrestleMania IV tournament where Randy Savage took on the ‘Million Dollar Man’.

11:00 AM ET
WWE COUNTDOWN Counting down the Top Ten Most Memorable Superstar Debuts ever in WWE History, as voted by the WWE Universe.

12:00 PM ET
MONDAY NIGHT WAR Backstage politics, corporate mergers, and questionable decisions would doom sports entertainment’s former powerhouse.

1:00 PM ET
WRESTLEMANIA REWIND Relive the historic final match of the WrestleMania IV tournament where Randy Savage took on the ‘Million Dollar Man’.

2:00 PM ET
WWE COUNTDOWN Counting down the Top Ten Most Memorable Superstar Debuts ever in WWE History, as voted by the WWE Universe.

3:00 PM ET
LEGENDS HOUSE The WWE Legends play a game of ‘How well do you know your roommates?’ Then the group receives a visit from Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels.

4:00 PM ET
LEGENDS HOUSE The Legends prepare for a roast of Roddy Piper. The group gets together for dinner, but lingering tensions threaten to disrupt the occasion.

5:00 PM ET
TOTAL DIVAS Eva Marie and Summer Rae battle outside the ring after being paired together; Ariane takes it too far when trying to become famous.

6:00 PM ET
WWE BEYOND THE RING Rey Mysterio: The Biggest Little Man showcases some of the high-flying Superstar’s most memorable moments and matches!

8:00 PM ET
WWE NXT The future is here. Witness the entertainers, the leading men and women, the Superstars of tomorrow – this is NXT!

9:00 PM ET
LEGENDS HOUSE The Legends prepare for a roast of Roddy Piper. The group gets together for dinner, but lingering tensions threaten to disrupt the occasion.

10:00 PM ET
TOTAL DIVAS Eva Marie and Summer Rae battle outside the ring after being paired together; Ariane takes it too far when trying to become famous.

11:00 PM ET
WWE NXT The future is here. Witness the entertainers, the leading men and women, the Superstars of tomorrow – this is NXT!

Read More

Furious 7 among the biggest opens in history

July 25, 2020 | News | No Comments

“Furious 7” last night did an estimated $67.3 million in business last night and estimates are now that the movie will do between $135 million and $150 million for its opening weekend, which would be one of the ten biggest movie opens of all-time.

The open is up 74% at the same point as Fast 6.

Dwayne Johnson and Ronda Rousey are among the ensemble cast for the movie.

Read More

Notes from today’s show:

– John Cena opened the show and talked about his win over Bad News Barrett.  He again put over the London crowd and explained the rules of a Russian chain match.  The two men will be chained together and to win, you have to touch all four corners.  Cena said that he may not be in that match because he’s going to defend the title several more times before the 26th.  He issued his open challenge.  Tyson Kidd & Cesaro came out.  Daniel Bryan also came out.  So instead of Cena defending as advertised, it wound up as a tag match for the main event.

– Bray Wyatt b R-Truth quickly with Sister Abigail

– Roman Reigns did a backstage interview.

– The Miz did an interview and said Mizdow got lucky and Mizdow is nothing without him.  Bad News Barrett came out and said we’re not in Hollywood, we’re in London and the people didn’t come to see a pretend movie star.

– Bad News Barrett b The Miz quickly.

– Renee Young interviewed Mizdow.  Miz interrupted and said Mizdow winning on Raw was a fluke and told Mizdow to stop stealing from his brand.  So they ended up setting up a match for Raw where the winner gets the Miz brand.  Summer Rae is now a face and slapped Miz.

– Neville b Sheamus via DQ.  Sheamus made fun of Neville’s height before the match.  Sheamus was DQ’d for slamming him on the desk.  He kept beating on him until Dolph Ziggler made the save.  They challenged each other and Sheamus vs. Ziggler in a loser kisses the winners ass match was added to the PPV.

– Kofi Kingston & Big E b Los Matadores

– Rosa Mendes was depressed after Fandango wouldn’t talk to her but Adam Rose wanted to talk to her.

– Big Show came out and cut a promo on Reigns.  Show said he could have finished Reigns on Monday but decided not to do it, and instead wants a last man standing match at the PPV.

– Cameron won three-way over Alicia Fox and Natalya

– Fandango b Adam Rose. Rosa tried to cost Fandango the match but it didn’t happen.  The crowd all did the Fandangoing after the match.

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– Bray Wyatt did an interview

– Intercontinental Champion Daniel Bryan & U.S. Champion John Cena b WWE Tag Team Champions Cesaro & Tyson Kidd in a non-title match.  Several fans hit the ring and started doing spots before the match until security took them out.  One gave another a rock bottom.  Cena worked most of the way until Bryan hot tagged in and used the Yes lock on Kidd for the submission.

Read More

Click:Automatic tea bag packing machine

The mayor of the medieval Tuscan hill town of San Gimignano says the Unesco world heritage site is being neglected by Italy’s central government after a 65ft stretch of its surrounding 13th century walls collapsed without warning following heavy rainfall.

San Gimignano, described sometimes as a ‘medieval Manhattan’ with its cluster of 13 soaring towers built by the rival Guelph and Ghibelline dynasties, is a popular stop for British tourists in easy reach of Siena.  As many as three million tourists from around the world visit each year.

Giacomo Bassi, the mayor, is furious that central government, because of cuts on local councils, will not allow him to spend some of the millions of reserves in the municipal bank account for upkeep of its monuments.

Repairs had been started recently on other stretches of the walls around San Gimignano that were considered more at risk of erosion. But a recent spate of wet weather undermined foundations in an unexpected area setting off the collapse on Tuesday afternoon of a section of 20 ft walls, local officials said.

"It is absurd that the Council of San Gimignano has 8 million (euros) in the bank and cannot spend them," the mayor,  who is also president of the Italian Association of Unesco world heritage sites, told la Repubblica newspaper. “This is a disaster.”

The collapsed wall has led to warnings about the state of similar historic towns

Firefighters used sniffer dogs to search the tumbled masonry but determined nobody was hurt – though the walls overlooked a new walkway around the town built recently for €1.2 million.

Mr Bassi sees the incident as symptomatic of wider neglect of small Unesco heritage towns by authorities in Rome. In 2014 there was a public outcry after a strip of wall around the nearby Etruscan town of Volterra collapsed.

"Our city is a universal heritage, everyone ought to help preserve it," the mayor said, "not just the 7,000 inhabitants of San Gimignano."

In Rome the Ministry of Cultural Heritage Secretary General Carla Di Francesco said officials had contacted San Gimignano’s council “to draw up as soon as possible a project for recovery and restoration of the walls". A private building company began securing the area on Wednesday morning and the Archaeological Superintendant for archaeology and fine arts for Siena, Arezzo and Grossetto was monitoring the situation, officials said.

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However the mayor says the Rome project for the town is "superficial" and expressions of concern in the capital are insufficient. “I launch an appeal because we are living through a national emergency, there must be action," he said.

“We mayors of these little, fragile jewels, can’t be left on our own.”