WED UPDATE: WWE adds Brock Lesnar to Raw, Roman Reigns on boos, and more
Show notes for tonight:
UFC Tonight airs at 8:00 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1
NXT at 8:00 p.m. ET on WWE Network hasApollo Crews vs. Johnny Gargano, Dana Brooke & Emma vs. Peyton Royce & Billie Kay, Tyler Breeze vs. Tommaso Ciampa, and a main event of Finn Bálor & Samoa Joe vs. Enzo Amore & Colin Cassady in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic..
A rerun of last week’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter airs at 9:00 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1 and it’s titled “Recognize the Enemy.” Conor McGregor tries to push Urijah Faber into fighting T.J. Dillashaw and one of the coaches does not react well to how this week’s fight goes.
Impact Wrestling at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on Destination America is the last actual show shot at the most recent tapings and is th theoretical go-hom show for this Sunday’s Bound for Glory pay-per-view.
The Ultimate Fighter at 10:00 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1 is titled “A Faithless Foe.” It has Connor McGregor lecturing the fighter who lost last week, a Team Faber fighter skipping practice, and more.
ROH at 11:00 p.m. ET on Destination America has Matt Sydal vs. KUSHIDA, Moose vs. Watanabe vs. Adam Page vs. Will Ferrara, and Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Adam Cole.
Please send reports from major shows, recommended links, etc. to [email protected]:
****
Figure Four Weekly:
The newest issue of Figure Four Weekly is now up for subscribers (subscribe to the site here and get access to Figure Four, the Observer, tons of audio, and more) featuring a look back at how exactly WWE lost the WWF name. Forget the stories you’v heard, this detailsexactly what the World Wildlife Fund objected to, what WWE agreed to and why, what scandals worried the fund, and more. On top of that, we have all the usual stuff like Vinny’s reviews and international news from Dr. Lucha Steve Sims and and Alan”4L” Counihan.
The recnt FREE Figure Four Weekly is still up with a look at the crazy story of why Gawker thinks the FBI may have helped Hulk Hogan cover up his racist and homophobic comments. A judge has ordered the FBI to turn over the records of their investigation, and what Gawker is saying in court about what has and hasn’t been turned over paints a very interesting picture.
Also, now available for the first time on Kindle (meaning Kindle devices and anything with the Kindle app) is Fall Guys, the seminal 1937 book that has been described as being like the 1930s version of the Wrestling Observer. It was surprisingly not on Kindle already, so we put together a nice version with a full table of contents w/ chapter marks, proper formatting on everything, etc. Right now it’s available from the American, Canadian, and Australian Amazon/Kindle stores OR you can also buy it from anywhere in the world on PayHip, who will provide you with both Kindle and ePub (every other e-reader) format files, and you can either sideload them to your device or have them email it to your Kindle.
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
We’ve got a double issue of the Observer this week because of coverage of so many big shows and all the stuff that has come out of the past week with WWE. Sept. 28, 2015 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Sting, Night of Champions, Bellator Dynamite, more
Our lead story covers the Sting injury, the Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar Hell in a Cell match and the interesting back story and questions it brings up, lots of long-term looking at where WWE is headed as well as full coverage of the Night of Champions show. We also cover the second season news for Lucha Underground, the Atlantis vs. La Sombra mask vs. mask match, Akira Hokuto’s announcement about her breast cancer, Bellator’s Dynamite show and what went right and wrong, New Japan’s Destruction in Okayama, ROH’s All-Star Extravaganza, the Pro Wrestling NOAH angle where they tease the end of the company, USADA responds to Thomas Hauser, Josh Gross’ story on the Vitor Belfort drug test and why it’s not nearly as simple as people are making it out to be, AAA’s next major show and record low ratings.
Rates are:
For the United States, it is $13 for 4 issues, $32 for 12, $61 for 24, $101 for 40 and $131 for 52. In Canada and Mexico, rates are $14.50 for 4, $35 for 12, $67 for 24, $111 for 40 and $144 or 52. In Europe, you can get the fastest delivery and best rates by sending to [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
Our lead story covers the WWE weekend, notably the Sting injury and Undertaker-Lesnar announcement.
We go through the injury, including Sting’s interview comments after the fact and his description of Seth Rollins and the injury, as well as his current thoughts on if he will wrestle again. We also talk about what he does and doesn’t know, what he’s said publicly about the injury, why the match wasn’t stopped, and what we can learn from it.
We also look at how the Lesnar vs. Undertaker Hell in a Cell match changes WrestleMania, and look at those potential changes. We look at the different directions they can go with the key talent for next year’s show. We also look at the rest of Hell in a Cell as far as what is on the books and what name isn’t listed yet in the top matches. We look at the problem in the arena at the end of Night of Champions.
We’ve got complete Night of Champions coverage, with records, business, poll results, match-by-match coverage and star ratings.
FOR A FULL OBSERVER PREVIEW CLICK HERE
If you are a new subscriber ordering 24 or more issues, you can get one free classic issue of your choice sent to you today. With a 40 issue subscription, you can get two free classic issues sent to you today.
New subscribers ordering 24 or 40 issues have to let us know what major stories of the past 11 years you are most interested in and we’ll send the issue with the best coverage of that story. We’ve got coverage of every major PPV event and world wide spectacular, every major star switching promotions, histories of companies like FMW, Rings and New Japan, retirement and obit issues of every major star who fits into those descriptions over the past 11 years, as well as our biggest issue every year, the annual awards issue, and our most controversial issue of every year, the Hall of Fame issue.
Click here for the most requested Wrestling Observer back issues.
Wednesday Daily Update
From the main page:
SmackDown spoilers.
Raw ratings fall to record lows.
Today in history.
Beau James sent us a note with the unfortunate news that veteran Nashvile female wrestler Robbie Rage (not to be confused with the male wrestler who worked for WCW and NJPW) passed away at home on Monday night after suffering a heart attack. From Beau: She is the ex-wife of Gypsy Joe and started wrestling during the dying days of Kansas City. She also worked some for USWA and Bert Prentice’s Ozark Mountain Wrestling. Through the 90s she was the traveling opponent for both Debbie Combs and Candi Devine. She made a short come back in 2010/11. She was in her mid 50s.
WWE sent this out:
This October, on WWE Network, Brock Lesnar takes fans on the Go to Hell Tour, including a brand new stop in Boston on Monday Night Raw this Monday, October 5.
Then, this Saturday at 8 ET/5 PT, watch the historic special Live from MSG: Lesnar vs. Big Show as The Beast Incarnate returns to Madison Garden for the first time in over a decade to battle The World’s Largest Athlete. On Oct. 19 immediately following Raw, The Beast will step behind the mic and answer questions from The Texas Rattlesnake in a live, no-holds barred interview on a brand-new Stone Cold Podcast. Finally, on Oct. 25 at 8 ET/5PT, the fiercest rivalry in recent memory will continue at Hell in a Cell when Lesnar clashes with The Undertaker in Satan’s Playground!
Roman Reigns talks to Fox Sports. On getting back fans who turned on him over the Daniel Bryan stuff: “It’s been a work in progress. The crowd is the crowd. You’re gonna take them as an individual performer how you take them. The key is how do you learn from them. How do you use whatever is happening reaction-wise to get better.”
Nick Diaz is saying UFC is offering him help with appealing his suspension and an interview with Jeff Novitsky gives us a reason to believe him.
ROH returns to Charlotte with the WINTER WARRIORS TOUR on Saturday, January 9th 2016 at the Cabarrus Events Center (4751 NC Hwy 49 North – Concord, NC 28025).5:30pm Doors Open/7:00pm bell time.
Bellator has added Bubba Jenkins vs. Jordan Parsons to “Bellator 146: Kato vs. Manhoef” on November 20th in Thackerville, Oklahoma.
Odd John Cena/League of Legends…thing at Kotaku Australia.
AXS TV officially announced the schedule for how NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 9 will air on the network:
Oct. 9 at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT
IWGP Junior Tag Team Championship four-Way Match – Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish; KUSHIDA and Alex Shelley; Rocky Romero and Alex Koslov; and Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship – Ryusuke Taguchi versus Kenny Omega
Oct. 16 at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT
Tetsuya Naito versus A.J. Styles
NEVER Openweight Championship – Tomohiro Ishii versus Togi Makabe
Oct. 23 at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT
Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima and Tomaoki Honma versus the Bullet Club (Jeff Jarrett, Back Luck Fale and Yujiro Takahashi)
Special Single Match – Kazushi Sakuraba versus Minoru Suzuki
IWGP Tag Championship – Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows versus Hirooki Goto and Katsuyori Shibata
Oct. 30 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT
Toru Yano, Naomichi Marufuji, Mikey Nicholls and Shane Haste versus Takashi Iizuka, Shelton X Benjamin, Lance Archer and Davey Boy Smith Jr.
IWGP Intercontinental Championship – Shinsuke Nakamura versus Kota Ibushi
Nov. 6 at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT
IWGP Heavyweight Championship – Hiroshi Tanahashi versus Kazuchika Okada
Today’s new match for NWAClassics.com subscribers is a really fun one on paper: Mr. Wrestling II vs. The Grappler.
Irv Muchnick delves further into why the Jimmy Snuka/Nancy Argentino case might have gone cold.
Aubrey Sitterson talks about wrestling venturing into geek culture at Geek.com.
Leva “Blue Pants” Bates has been added to Absolute Intense Wrestling “Girls Night Out 16” this Saturday October 3rd, 2015. Doors: 2:30PM. Bell: 3:00PM. Live From Our Lady Of Mount Carmel Tickets: Front Row VIP: $25 (Limited To 60) General Admission: $20.
Santana Garrett sent us a note that she has a new email address for bookings: Please use [email protected]. She’s no longer using [email protected].
If you missed it yesterday, WWEDVDNetwork released a new preview clip of the upcoming “Sting: Into the Light” documentary, which is available for pre-order on on DVD and Blu-Ray (with plenty of extra features as always) for an October 13th release. The teaser video is a snippet of the Blade Runners portion of the documentary.
On the latest Between the Sheets podcast, Kris Zellner and I are joined by Good Ol’ Will to talk about September 22-28, 1984 as covered in the Observer, Eastern/International Wrestling News, and Joe Shedlock’s “Wrestling.” We discuss Bobby Heenan jumping to WWF, Riki Choshu and friends jumping to AJPW, Jerry Lawler & Randy Savage jumping King Kong Bundy & Rick Rude, and WWF with mass jumps.
