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THE ROUND-UP
The Latest from the F4W Staff
NEWS
Noam Dar undergoes knee surgery, may be out for five months
ROH unveils new look for World Championship belt
WWE Tribute to the Troops results: Six-man tag main event
Impact Wrestling results: New Knockouts Champion crowned
AUDIO
WOL: ROH Final Battle, boomerang attacks, NXT on USA ratings, tons more! 12/15
B&V&G: Granny, NXT, THURSDAY NIGHT POTPOURRI! 12/15
WOL: NXT on USA Network, Clash of Champions, Dave Meltzer and more! 12/14
WOR: WWE and Facebook, Smackdown, 205 Live, Japanese awards, more! 12/14
WWE has shows tonight in Manchester, NH with the Raw crew, while there is an NXT show in Memphis and another in Cocoa, FL. We’re looking for reports on those shows to [email protected].
We’re also looking for your thoughts on tonight’s ROH Final Battle, thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected].
NEW JAPAN WORLD PRO WRESTLING ON AXS TV TONIGHT AT 8 P.M. EASTERN
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kota Ibushi for IC title
ROH FINAL BATTLE PPV AT 9 P.M. EASTERN TONIGHT FROM THE HAMMERSTEIN BALLROOM IN NEW YORK
Cody vs. Dalton Castle for ROH title
Young Bucks & Adam Page vs. Flip Gordon & Dragon Lee & Titan for six-man titles
Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley vs. Baretta & Chuckie T for ROH tag titles
Kenny King vs. Shane Taylor vs. Silas Young vs. Punishment Martinez for TV title
Matt Taven vs. Will Ospreay
War Machine vs. Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian
Tommy Dreamer & Bully Ray vs. Mark & Jay Briscoe in a street fight
BELLATOR FROM NEWCASTLE, ENGLAND AT 9 P.M. EASTERN (tape delay) ON SPIKE TV
Mohammed Yahya vs. Ash Griffiths
Lewis Monarch vs. Jeremy Petley
Phillip DeFries vs. James Thompson
Valerie Letourneau vs. Kate Jackson
Michael McDonald vs. Peter Ligier
CMLL TONIGHT FROM ARENA MEXICO AT 9:30 P.M. If for some reason the feed on Claro Sports is geo-blocked, it will still be available on the CMLL facebook page.
Star Jr. & Starman vs. El Hijo del Signo & Templario
Shockercito vs. Mercurio for CMLL minis title
Lady Maravilla & Marcela & Princesa Sugehit vs. Amapola & Dallys & Reyna Isis
Angel de Oro & Niebla Roja & Rey Cometa vs. Cuatrero & Forastero & Sanson
Cavernario & Mr. Niebla & Negro Casas vs. Ephesto & Mephisto & Sam Adonis
Caristico & Soberano Jr. & Ultimo Guerrero vs. Mistico & El Terrible & Volador Jr.
Saturday we’re looking for reports from WWE Raw in Syracuse, NY, Smackdown in Portland, ME and the ROH TV tapings in Philadelphia at the 2300 Arena (Dragon Lee & Titan vs. Young Bucks vs. Baretta & Chuckie T, Will Ospreay vs. Jay Lethal, Flip Gordon vs. Marty Scurll, Coast 2 Coast vs. War Machine and if Coast 2 Coast loses they must split up) to [email protected].
UFC FROM WINNIPEG SATURDAY
Fight Pass at 4:30 p.m. Eastern time
Jordan Mein (169) vs. Erick Silva (170.5)
FS1 at 5 p.m. Eastern time
Danny Roberts (170.5) vs. Nordine Taleb (170.5)
Oluwale Bamgbose (184.5) vs. Alessio DiChirico (185)
John Makdessi (153) vs. Abel Trujillo (155.5)
Galore Bofando (170) vs. Chad Laprise (170.5)
Julian Marquez (185) vs. Darren Stewart (185.5)
Jan Blachowicz (205.5) vs. Jared Cannonier (204)
FOX AT 8 p.m. Eastern time
Misha Cirkunov (205.5) vs. Glover Teixeiera (205)
Mike Perry (170) vs. Santiago Ponzinibbio (170.5)
Josh Emmett (148.5) vs. Ricardo Lamas (146)
Robbie Lawler (170.5) vs. Rafael dos Anjos (146)
WWE runs a Raw house show on Sunday in Allentown, PA.
WWE CLASH OF CHAMPIONS PPV FROM THE TD GARDEN IN BOSTON AT 7:30 P.M. EASTERN
A.J. Styles vs. Jinder Mahal for WWE title
Randy Orton & Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn with Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon as referees and if Owens & Zayn lose, they are fired from WWE
Baron Corbin vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Bobby Roode for U.S. title
Usos vs. New Day vs. Chad Gable & Shelton Benjamin vs. Rusev & Aiden English for tag titles
Charlotte Flair vs. Natalya in a lumberjack match for women’s title
Tyler Breeze & Fandango vs. Harper & Rowan
Zack Ryder vs. Mojo Rawley
NEW JAPAN FROM TOKYO KORAKUEN HALL AT 4:30 A.M. EASTERN EARLY MONDAY MORNING ON NEW JAPAN WORLD
Shota Umino vs. Tetsuhiro Yagi in Young Lion’s tournament
Katsuya Kitamura vs. Ren Narita in Young Lion’s tournament
Hirai Kawato vs. Tomoyuki Oka in Young Lion’s tournament
Jushin Liger & Tiger Mask & Henare vs. Taichi & Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
Togi Makabe & Kota Ibushi vs. Yujiro Takahashi & Leo Tonga
Hirooki Goto & Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano vs. Minoru Suzuki & Takashi Iizuka & Taka Michinoku
Satoshi Kojima & Kushida & Masked Horse vs. Rocky Romero & Sho & Yoh
Evil & Seiya Sanada & Bushi vs. Bad Luck Fale & Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa for Never six man titles
Kazuchika Okada & Yoshi-Hashi vs. Tetsuya Naito & Hiromu Takahashi
Raw is Monday night in Providence, RI. The only match announced so far is Drew Gulak vs. Cedric Alexander for the top contender for the cruiserweight title. There is also a Smackdown brand house show in White Plains, NY.
NEW JAPAN FROM TOKYO KORAKUEN HALL AT 4:30 A.M. EASTERN EARLY TUESDAY MORNING ON NEW JAPAN WORLD
Shota Umino vs. Ren Narita in the Young Lion’s tournament
Tomoyuki Oka vs. Tetsuhiro Yagi in the Young Lion’s tournament
Katsuya Kitamura vs. Hirai Kawato in the Young Lion’s tournament
Jushin Liger & Tiger Mask & Masked Horse & Kushida vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Taichi & Taka Michinoku & Desperado
Togi Makabe & Henare vs. Evil & Seiya Sanada
Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima & Kota Ibushi vs. Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa & Leo Tonga
Hirooki Goto & Yoshi-Hashi vs. Minoru Suzuki & Takashi Iizuka
Kazuchika Okada & Sho & Yoh vs. Tetsuya Naito & Bushi & Hiromu Takahashi
Smackdown and 205 Live will be taped on Tuesday at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ.
F4W NEWSLETTER: Figure Four Weekly 12/4/2017: Looking at WWE’s match of the year candidates
While there’s still some time for WWE to shape how the company’s 2017 will be remembered, the beginning of December marked the end of this year’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards calendar. The insane output of high-end matches New Japan Pro Wrestling had during the voting period will rightfully lead to a strong showing in the Match of the Year category, but WWE’s in-ring year shouldn’t be forgotten. Though a full year of brand-exclusive pay-per-views and not having the Cruiserweight Classic may have led to a decline from 2016, WWE produced their fair share of matches that deserve to be in contention for best of the year.
WON NEWSLETTER: December 18, 2017 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: The metamorphosis of Chris Jericho, GSP vacates title, more
The story behind this past week’s Chris Jericho/Kenny Omega angles in Japan is the lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Look at the selling of the angle, betting on the match, usage of blood, storyline implications and other business notes regarding the match.
Find out about Georges St-Pierre vacating the middleweight title, the story behind it, whether he’ll fight again, Dana White burying GSP, and the business of why the fight happened.
Check out WWE’s new Facebook experiment, why it happened, an update on the rise in WWE stock, what type of profits long-term will justify the current stock price, what is up with 205 Live, the roster of the show and more.
Get an in depth look at the 2017 Tokyo Sports Awards for Japanese wrestling and how the voting went.
This issue has a rundown on New Japan’s final major show of the year, the tag team tournament finals, including tournament standings, the final days, the business, match-by-match coverage, poll results and star ratings along with angle rundowns.
Coverage of this past week’s UFC show in Fresno with match-by-match coverage and business notes, and also look at the first Arolucha taping, the good and the bad, how it got started, goals, and what comes next for the company.
Read about the end of the Raven/Bagwell lawsuit for residuals for appearances on the WWE Network and how the argument regarding the actual issue never played into the end result, and what did kill it.
Plus, look at the Universal title match at Royal Rumble and how the plans changed, the Clash of Champions show, Raw after Mania, Paige talks her issues, TNA star coming to WWE, WWE injury notes, WWE 25th anniversary show notes, funny initials for a Mexican promotion being advertised while WWE was in town, a look at the HHH vs. Mahal match, New Day book, MMA fighter signs with WWE, as well as notes from all the weekend NXT and main roster house shows, business notes and highlights.
ORDERING INFO: 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].
Rates in the United States are $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.)
If you are a new subscriber ordering 24 or more issues, you can choose one free classic issue, or two free classic issues with a 40-issue subscription.
WON BACK ISSUE: November 27, 2000 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Survivor Series review, Stan Hansen retires, more
The rapidly changing world of wrestling changed once again, as a Steve Austin vs. HHH main event at Survivor Series didn’t end with a pinfall in the ring, but with a forklift dropping a car, purported to be with HHH inside, theoretically to a Wile E. Coyote like catastrophe (where the victim should be dead, but will, of course live to see another day). The angle, largely to explain HHH taking some time off to rest his back and hip injuries, kept HHH’s unusual streak alive of having done no pinfall jobs in singles matches on PPV.
FRIDAY NEWS UPDATE
Bryan and I will be doing shows the next four nights. Tonight’s show will cover the ROH PPV, preview the other weekend big shows, talk Rikidozan and the latest news. You can send questions for all the weekend shows to [email protected].
Roman Reigns is not scheduled for any of the Raw house shows this coming week nor for Raw in Providence. Strangely, the WWE web site also doesn’t list Brock Lesnar for Providence even though that has been scheduled for his return and as of this writing Lesnar is “absolutely” scheduled for the show. We’ll update on this later today. Randy Orton is also not scheduled for the only Smackdown house show this week which is in Portland, ME.
Today’s drama when it comes to the morning UFC weigh-ins saw Pietro Menga hospitalized with his kidneys shutting down. Menga weighed 155 two weeks ago when he was called to fight Tim Elliott at 125. He had been trying to add weight to fight at featherweight. But he agreed to the fight, was able to get to 131 when his kidneys shut down. Elliott was offered the fight at 135 but refused so the fight is off the show. Josh Emmett missed weight by 2.5 pounds against Ricardo Lamas in the semifinal. That fight will still be taking place but Emmett will be giving 30 percent of his purse to Lamas. This makes 56 fighters who have missed weight since June 4, 2016, when the early morning weigh-ins were instituted in UFC.
Tonight’s ROH PPV is also available on iPPV from FITE TV.
WWE Tribute to the Troops last night did 1,401,000 viewers. Last year’s show did 1,383,000 viewers but it was way down from all prior years.
Macaulay Culkin was at last night’s Bar Wrestling show in Southern California and got pub for it since he interfered in one of the matches. Joey Ryan & Candice LeRae were teaming with Santa Claus (Dick Justice) against Peter Avalon & Ray Rosas & Swoggle. Culkin interfered and helped Justice get the win by having Culkin recreate the character and moves in the first Home Alone movie. Other results form last night in Baldwin Park: Scorpio Sky b Hot Young Briley (Dolph Ziggler’s brother), Heather Monroe & Laura James b Delilah Doom & Solo Darling, Eli Drake b JTG, Taya Valkyrie b Raisha Saeed (Cheerleader Melissa), Reno Scum b Super Panda & Luchasaurus, Brian Cage b Ethan Cage. So Panda in a matter of weeks worked on shows with Macaulay Culkin at ringside and Luke Perry in the audience. Marc Raimondi of MMA Fighting has footage of the finish. (thanks to Jake Koch)
WWE
Alex Marvez updates the Rich Swann legal situation with quotes from his attorney.
Paige talked about crying when she was told about the movie about her life that Dwayne Johnson produced. (thanks to Mike Kuzmuk)
John Cena giving soccer predictions. (thanks to Lee Wall)
Jim Ross talks Conor McGregor in WWE, Brock Lesnar in UFC and more on Submission Radio.
UFC
Michael Bisping was ordered to pay $400,000 to former manager Anthony McGann in a lawsuit over McGann claiming he didn’t get his percentage of Bisping’s winnings. The case got very colorful, to say the least, including the judge feeling McGann made up evidence, and a skirmish between the two in the waiting room during the trial. (thanks to Lee Wall)
MISCELLANEOUS
An update on the Sinclair purchase of Tribune. (thanks to Chris Cruise)
Pato Soria, who was a big star in the 60s and 70s in the Guadalajara circuit, passed away today from cancer at the age of 75. He is the father of Shocker.
Marlon Sandro, a former champion of the Sengoku promotion and a former Bellator star allegedly injured fiancee Tayssa Wuensche yesterday in Rio de Janeiro. Friends of Wuensche posted that Sandro attacked her while she tried to get into a taxi at 4 a.m., throwing her on the ground and injuring her arm and knee and then choked her out in the middle of the street and hit her multiple times when she woke up. Wuenshe (who was Jose Aldo’s translator for his fight in Detroit with Max Holloway) said to MMA Fighting that she would not press charges because she cares too much about him and his kids. Andre Pederneiras of Nova Unioa said that Sandro has been kicked off the team.
An interview with George Carroll of New Japan Pro Wrestling.
Teddy Hart is out of jail and he will be facing Joey Ryan for Battleground Championship Wrestling tonight in Feasterville, PA at The Sportsplex. Billy Gunn vs. Bull James is also on the show as well as Tammy Sytch and a street fight with Dan Maff vs. Matt Tremont.
Low Ki vs. MVP was announced for the 1/11 MLW show in Orlando at Gilt Nightclub. Matt Riddle, Jimmy Havoc, MVP, Jeff Cobb, Tom Lawlor and Shane Strickland are also on the show.
ROH put tickets on sale for shows on 4/14 in Pittsburgh and 4/15 in Cleveland.
We’re sorry to report on the death of Grado’s mother, who passed away this morning.
AAW on 12/30 in Merrionette Park, IL at 115 Bourbon Street has Windy City Classic 13 with Rey Fenix vs. Jeff Cobb for the AAW title, Eddie Kingston vs. David Starr with the loser having to manage the winner for one year in a street fight, Sami Callihan & Dave & Jake Crist vs. Myron Reed & Stephen Wolf & Trey Miguel, Matt Riddle vs. ACH, Sean Waltman & Paco vs. Connor Braxton & Jake Something.
There is a show on 12/17 in Kennedale, TX at the Soccer Zone Arena with Penta 0M & Rey Fenix vs. M-ximo & La Mascara, Black Taurus vs. Keith Lee and Sammy Guevara vs. Flip Gordon vs. Ultimo Ninja vs Draztick Boy.
Promociones Maxilar runs the Auditorio in Tijuana tonight with Alberto El Patron & Dos Caras & El Hijo de Dos Caras vs. Dr. Wagner Jr. & El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. & Tinieblas Jr. on a show that will honor both Dos Caras and Tinieblas Sr.
The Crash is running two shows tonight. There is a show in Tezutulan with Rey Mysterio Jr. & L.A. Park vs. La Mascara & Carlito and Rush vs Brian Cage. They also run at Arena Neza with Ricochet & Sammy Guevara vs. Penta 0M & Rey Fenix plus Daga vs. Trevor Lee vs. Willie Mack vs Neza Kid as well as the debut of 90s woman star Mima Shimoda.
Diamond Dallas Page will be appearing on the Syfy Drama Superstition on 1/4 at 10 p.m.
Today in Professional Wrestling History: HHH, Kurt Angle win World titles at Armageddon 2002
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