THE ROUND-UP
The latest from the F4W Staff
NEWS
TNA Impact Wrestling results: Cody & Brandi Rhodes vs. The Miracle & Maria
SmackDown does lowest ratings since the brand split
The Week In British Wrestling: It’s Foley out, Balor in for ICW’s big night
WWE Q3 financial notes: Network sub average dips; revenue to date up 8%
FloSports announces deal with WWNLive, launches pro wrestling streaming service
Urijah Faber to retire after UFC on FOX 22 fight
Lucha Underground results: Johnny Mundo vs. Sexy Star
WWE NXT results: Kota Ibushi & TJ Perkins vs. Mustafa Ali & Lince Dorado
AUDIO
B&V: HALLOWEEN SONG CONTEST, real or con, NXT, Lucha U, RAW, more! 10/28
WOL: WWE Network number, company profits, social media, more! 10/27
DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: A longform history of pro wrestling, pt. 4 10/27
No regular WWE house show tonight because there is only one house show this weekend and the Raw PPV show, since right after Raw and Smackdown, both crews leave for a two-week European tour. There are NXT shows tonight in San Jose with the touring crew and in Jacksonville with the less experienced crew.
For this weekend, we’ll be doing a poll for the WWE Hell in a Cell show on Sunday. Send poll opinions to [email protected].
NEW JAPAN WORLD PRO WRESTLING RETURNS ON AXS TV AT 9 P.M. EASTERN TIME
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Michael Elgin & Mascara Dorada vs. Tetsuya Naito & Evil & Bushi
Shinsuke Nakamura & Yoshi-Hashi vs. A.J. Styles & Kenny Omega .
This is Nakamura and Styles’ last match with New Japan. The post-match angle with Omega & The Young Bucks turning on Styles is great stuff, which took place after the match.
CMLL TONIGHT AT 9:30 P.M. EASTERN WITH THE HALLOWEEN SPECIAL SHOW AND UNIVERSAL TOURNAMENT FINAL FROM ARENA MEXICO
Bengala & Flyer vs. Metalico & Apocalipsis
Oro Jr. & Soberano & Pegasso vs. Disturbio & Okumura & Virus
Marcela & Estrellita & Sanely vs. Metalica & Amapola & Dallys
Dragon Lee & Mistico & Caristico vs. Mephisto & Ephesto & Luciferno
Rush & La Mascara & Pierroth vs. Ultimo Guerrero & Euforia & Niebla Roja
Volador Jr. vs. Valiente for the Universal tournament final
We’re looking for reports Saturday on the ROH show in Baltimore at the William J. Myers Pavilion (Bobby Fish vs. Hangman Page for TV title, Ultimo Guerrero & Okumura & Hechicero vs. Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian & Kamaitachi in the ROH trios tournament, Colt Cabana & Dalton Castle vs. Keith Lee & Shane Taylor, Silas Young vs. Kyle O’Reilly) and the NXT show in Bakersfield and Crystal River, FL to [email protected].
RESURRECTION FIGHTING ALLIANCE TONIGHT FROM PRIOR LAKE, MN ON AXS TV AT 10 P.M. EASTERN TIME
Antonio Sanchez (3-0, 137) vs. Mitch White (1-1, 134.6)
Damion Shehan (3-0, 155.6) vs. Bobby Lee (4-0, 155.6)
Ben Neumann (10-4, 170.8) vs. Jordan Larson (7-2, 171)
Frank Schuman (7-2, 170.6) vs. Chad Curry (7-1, 170.4)
Dan Moret (11-2, 144.8) vs. Raoni Barcelos (10-1, 144.6) for the featherweight title
Gerald Meerschaet (23-8, 183.8) vs. Chase Waldon (10-1, 185) for the middleweight title
Sunday, besides the WWE Hell in a Cell PPV show, there is a Smackdown brand house show in Allentown, PA.
NEW JAPAN AT KORAKUEN HALL AT 5:30 A.M. EASTERN TIME EARLY SUNDAY MORNING ON NEW JAPAN WORLD
Teruaki Kanemitsu vs. Hirai Kawato
Yoshitatsu & Juice Robinson vs. Yujiro Takahashi & Bone Soldier
Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima & Jushin Liger & Tiger Mask vs. Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi & Angel de Oro & Titan
Tomohiro Ishii & Yoshi-Hashi & Hirooki Goto vs. Tama Tonga & Tanga Roa & Chase Owens
Kazuchika Okada & Will Ospreay & Gedo vs. Kenny Omega & Young Bucks
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Katsuyori Shibata & Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma vs Tetsuya Naito & Seiya Sanada & Evil & Bushi
Fuego & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Rocky Romero & Baretta in the semifinals of the junior heavyweight tag team tournament
Ricochet & David Finlay vs. ACH & Taiji Ishimori in the semifinals of the junior heavyweight tag team tournament
WWE HELL IN A CELL SUNDAY AT 7:30 P.M. FROM THE TD GARDEN IN BOSTON
Kevin Owens vs. Seth Rollins for the Universal tile in a Hell in a Cell match
Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte for the women’s title in a Hell in a Cell match
Roman Reigns vs. Rusev for the U.S. title in a Hell in a Cell match
New Day vs. Sheamus & Cesaro for the tag team titles
T.J Perkins vs. Brian Kendrick for the cruiserweight title
Enzo Amore & Big Cass vs. Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson
Bayley vs. Dana Brooke
Cedric Alexander & Lince Dorado & Sin Cara vs. Drew Gulak & Tony Nese & Ariya Daivari in the preshow match
Raw will be Monday night in Hartford, CT. It will be the Halloween themed show, and Bill Goldberg is scheduled to appear. Ratings usually are down significantly so if they’re not, that would be attributed to Goldberg. There is also a Smackdown brand house show on Monday night in Trenton, NJ.
Tuesday will be the Smackdown tapings in Newark, NJ.
The Raw crew opens up the European tour in Frankfurt, Germany on Wednesday night.
Figure Four Weekly 10/24/2016: Deregulation of pro wrestling in Arizona – In Arizona, deregulation of professional wrestling wasn’t a pressing matter by any stretch when the topic was first broached in 1981. There was no major promotion running in the state and little to no full time work, with only one licensed promoter, who was running shows weekly in Phoenix… Current subscribers click here to continue reading.
F4W YouTube Page: Tons of clips and full free audio shows that you can tell your friends about, and much more to come! Make sure you subscribe today!
The Death of WCW by Bryan Alvarez and RD Reynolds is now available as an audiobook through Amazon.com and Audible. Bryan did the narration for the book and it runs almost fifteen hours, so grab yours today!
Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Oct 31, 2016: Billy Corgan vs. TNA, Urijah Faber retiring, more – The battle for control of TNA hit the courtroom this past week and we’ve got not only the blow-by-blow, but what it all means, in a detailed lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. We also break that two of the world’s best wrestlers are seriously considering coming to WWE in 2017, the retirement of Urijah Faber and his legacy, the Flo Sports pro wrestling streaming service and why it could be a game changer but what it needs to become one, notes on Hell in a Cell and much more in a jam packed news issue.
Our lead story breaks down the entire TNA situation, what was said in public who was said in private, who is screwing who, why this went to the courts, what are the motives of Billy Corgan, WWE’s interest in purchasing the company and so much said publicly that ended up not being true.
We look at the career of Urijah Faber, the rise of the WEC on his back, the rise of Sacramento MMA and his becoming the first under 145 pound major star.
We’ve got a preview of Hell in a Cell as well as a story on who goes last. We also update a story on how WWE’s biggest star may be banned from appearing in several states, one of WWE’s biggest stars is right now off Survivor Series and why, Paige’s neck surgery, WWE asks fans about lots of indie groups, an overseas show that will be taped for the WWE Network, lots of notes on new people signed by WWE and their backgrounds.
We also look at a TV pilot based on backstage in WWE from 16 years ago, Ryback vs. WWE over trademarks, a Shawn Michaels movie, update on James Ellsworth, A.J. Styles vs. Shawn Michaels, the strange story of Curtis Axel in Minneapolis on Monday, Randy Orton’s turn, Shinsuke Nakamura update, WWE developmental star arrested and suspended, and more.
We look at the new Flo Sports pro wrestling streaming service, its potential as well as pitfalls hindering it from reaching its potential. We look at how this could greatly benefit the indie scene, as well as questions on whether it can work long-term.
All that and more in this week’s new Wrestling Observer, 40,000 words of news and information you can’t read anywhere else in the world.
Current subscribers click here to continue reading.
Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to Dave Meltzer, or by using PayPal directing funds to [email protected].
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WON BACK ISSUE: October 4, 1999 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: WWF Unforgiven and UFC 22 reviews, tons more – The workload stemming from increasing the television demands of the WWF started to show through on 9/26 with a disappointing Unforgiven PPV show… Subscribers click here to continue reading.
Friday News Update
Just want to thank everyone for all their nice thoughts and messages the past few days. There’s not really a lot too say. My mother had a significant stroke on Monday night. It’s very tough because she was so active and this is a life-changing situation for her.
WWE Hall of Fame has been moved to Friday night with NXT Takeover on Saturday night. Also, both Raw and Smackdown will take place at the Amway Center in Orlando, which will be booked for events on Friday, Saturday, Monday and Tuesday along with Mania at the Citrus Bowl on Sunday. There are a ton of events all over Orlando on both Friday and Saturday night.
The official word from WWE is that Austin Aries has not been medically cheered to perform as a precautionary measure regarding the rest of this weekend’s NXT shows. Aries, whose left eye was stitched up and swollen badly, looking like someone who has an orbital bone fracture, although there is no diagnosis of the injury, took to a kick to the eye on Wednesday night from Shinsuke Nakamura in Fresno, the opening night of the NXT tour.
They are expecting a big crowd tonight at Arena Mexico and there will be a lot of Day of the Dead festivities at the show between matches so it will be a more entertainment oriented show with a different type of crowd than usual. They are also going with a face vs. face main event with Volador Jr. vs. Valiente in a 2/3 fall match for the Universal tournament of champions belt on top.
WWE stock fell $1.10 to $18.07 per share today, a major drop coming off the investment call yesterday. Usually the drop comes the day of the call, and there was a big drop at first, but the stock came back as the network subscription number being disappointing and earnings being blow most analysts projections was warded off by the meme that they would have $100 million in OIBDA in 2017. But today, Wells Fargo, KeyBanc Deutsche Bank and Pacific Crest all downgraded the stock, leading to the drop.
The UFC has removed Fabricio Werdum as its regular Spanish language analyst, after publicly complaining about the Reebok deal.
WWE
Roderick Strong was brought in to replace Aries last night in Sacramento and he and Oney Lorcan tore down the house. Nobody really knew either of them at first, but they tore the house down. It was said that it was like they thought they were in PWG and everyone else thought they were in WWE.
Allegheny Community College in Pittsburgh will be holding a two-session class next semester on 4/19 and 4/26 from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. called “The Extraordinary Life and Career of Professional Wrestling’s Living Legend Bruno Sammartino.” Chris Cruise, Sammartino’s close friend, will be teaching the class.
The company’s 10-Q filing released yesterday included several notes, including that the WWE’s financial stake in Flo Sports is $1 million, so they are a very small percentage owner and as part of the deal are silent partners meaning they have no input. There are a lot of people who have speculated that the Flo Sports channel is a WWE experiment to see if there is value in adding indies to the WWE Network, but the two are very much competition that the WWE initially was not happy about.
The 10-Q also listed that Stephanie McMahon has gotten a wrestling talent contract extension through October 7, 2019, or a new three-year deal.
Bob Backlund will be signing autographs and talking about his autobiography on Wednesday at the Westfield Mal in Meriden, CT at 2 p.m. as part of the 102.9 The Wahel Heath, Wellness and Safety Show at the mall.
Stephan Gorges, a stat freak who has now seen 23,000 WWE matches that he’s tallied, and listed the wrestlers with the most WWE matches that he’s seen: 1. Kane 887; 2. Big Show 770; 3. Chris Jericho 708; 4. Randy Orton 675; 5. John Cena 648; 6. HHH 591; 7. Kofi Kingston 584; 8 Dolph Ziggler 569; 9. Edge and The Miz 550.
Alexa Bliss talks her sports background, being a WWE fan and moving up from NXT.
UFC
Michael Bisping is pushing to get a fight with Nick Diaz on the 12/10 show in Toronto. Bisping had been talked with about doing a fight with Georges St-Pierre on that show, but negotiations fell through.
The New York Times had a major story on the decline in ratings for the NFL in the U.S. and the EPL in the U.K.
Somebody in a speeding car set fire to three vehicles in the neighborhood of Anthony Pettis. A witness, Carson Blaszak, said it took place at 1 a.m. early Thursday morning when there was a large bang and three cars were on fire, one of which was owned by Pettis. Milwaukee police believe the suspect used an accelerant to ignite two of the vehicles, and the fire spread to the car in Pettis’ driveway.
Fredy Serano vs. Hector Sandoval has been added to the UFC show in Sacramento on 12/17.
The TUF Latin America lightweight tournament finals will be Martin Bravo (10-0) vs. Claudio Puelles (7-1). They will be facing off for a UFC contract on the 11/5 show in Arena Ciudad in Mexico City.
Congratulations to Ariel Helwani of MMA Fighting on the birth of his daughter.
Ronda Rousey on Comedy Central’s Drunk History here.
VARIETY
An article on the TNA legal proceedings here.
Absolute Internse Wrestling has a two-night tournament on 11/4 and 11/5 at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in Cleveland to crown new tag team champions including teams like Cryme Tyme and The Head Hunters, plus Tracy Williams & Matt Riddle, Little Guido & Tracy Smothers and others.
Bellator has a press conference scheduled this coming Thursday in Uncasville, CT at the Mohegan Sun Arena to build up the Tito Ortiz vs. Chael Sonnen fight, with Ortiz, Sonnen and Scot Coker appearing.
Freelance Wrestling from last night in Chicago at The Chop Shop before 200 fans: Alex Ohlsen (called Ohlberg, dressed as Goldberg) won a Halloween dress as a famous wrestler Battle Royal, Matt Cage over Shawn Phoenix, Suede Thompson, Anthony Henry, Stephen Wolf and Ethan Case, Suge D b Ethan Page-DQ, Ethan Page & Rose b Suge D & GPA, Stevie Fierce b Rob Matter, Isaias Velasquez & Ohlson & Mr. 450 Hammet b Matt Knicks & Kenny Sutra & Craig Mitchell in a great match, Brubaker & Kobe Durst & Colby Corino b Colt Cabana & Dick Justice & Space Monkey in a comedy match, Mustafa Ali b Lio Rush to keep the Freelance title in a great match (thanks to Lance LeVine)
Mountain Championship Wrestling from Saturday night in Pikeville, KY: Tony Anthony (not the 90s star of the same name) & Shannon Hayes b Russian Yetti & Beau James, Sgt. Claymore b Knuckles in a street fight, Grand Moki b Damien Black, Regulators & Crimson b New Age Demons, Rebel b Misty James, Big Rig b Tim Jernigan, Crazzy Steve b Thomas Cage. Next show is Saturday night in Pikeville featuring Gunner.
Smash Wrestling from Saturday night in Toronto: Xandra Bale b Leva Bates, Danyah b Ingrid Isley, Veda Scott b Vanessa Kraven, Heidi Lovelace b Jewels Malone, Cat Power b Jade, Mercedes Martinez b KC Spinelli, Rosemary b Allie in a cage match. This was pushed as U.S. vs. Canada with it being tied 3-3 before Rosemary won it for Canada. (thanks to Steven Ashe)
AMW on 11/3 in Chavies KY at the Elementary School.
The new IWA announced that Dale Gagne has joined Rob Russen and Sal Corrente in the management team.
The Tennessee Historic Trust has released its annual list of endangered properties in the state and on the list was the Mid South Coliseum in Memphis. (thanks to Kev Castle)
Former Bakersfield Jam owner Stan Ellis (who sold his NBA D League team to the Phoenix Suns in January) announced the formation of a new promotion, the Bakersfield Fight Club, and will partner with Roy Englebrecht Promotions for regular events at the Dignity Hath Event Center. They are planning six events in 2017, starting on 1/26, with the plan to hold shows on the last Thursday of every other month at 7 p.m. The shows will feature six pro bouts and one bout on every show between two of Bakers filed’s best amateur fighters.
Great North Wrestling on 11/5 in Hawkesbury, ONT at the Robert Harley Arena with Hannibal defending the GNW title against Rick Steiner, plus Sylvain Grenier & Rene Dupree as La Resistance and Wes Brisco appear.
Hoosier Pro Wrestling on 11/5 in Columbus, OH at the 4-H Fairgounds has its 18th anniversary show and its 12th annual Columbus Fireman’s Cheer Fundraiser and Toy Drive. Dynamite Dillen vs. Timmy Danger for their title is the main event.
Only 100 tickets remain for the National Fighting Championships show on 11/11 at Center Stage in Atlanta with the main event Bolo vs. Robert Neal.
Smash Wrestling on 11/11 in St. Catharines, ONT at Isaac’s Bar and Grill featuring Mark Haskins vs. Kevin Bennett and Matt Cross vs. Mark Andrews. They also run 11/12 in London, ONT at Cowboys Ranch with Mark Haskins vs. Tyson Dux, plus Joe Hendry vs. Kevin Bennett.
Pro Wrestling Phoenix from last night in Omaha: Pat Powers b Zac James, Paul Daniels & Joey Daniels NC Darren Russell & Hype Gotti, Darren Russell & Hype Gotti & Tony Cortez b Paul Daniels & Joey Daniels L-Ray, Robert Storm b Austin St. John, Dalton Lee Roth b Purple, Branden Juarez b Devin Carter, Pat Powers b Branden Juarez. Next show is 11/17 at the Waiting Room Lounge in Omaha. (thanks to Chris Havius)
Today in Wrestling History (10/28): Samoa Joe vs. Bryan Danielson at Glory By Honor
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