THE ROUND-UP
The Latest from the F4W Staff
NEWS
Mike Goldberg’s run with the UFC coming to an end on Friday
Raw ratings down slightly against big NFL number
The Miz vs. Dean Ambrose set for the first SmackDown of 2017
WWE SmackDown video highlights: John Cena returns to WWE TV
WWE 205 Live results: Rich Swann vs. Neville in a non-title match
John Cena makes a WWE title challenge for the Royal Rumble
WWE SmackDown live results: John Cena returns
UFC’s Josh Barnett flagged by USADA for potential violation
AUDIO
WOL: Mick Foley and his hip replacement, Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, more! 12/28
JNPO: UFC 207 preview with MMAjunkie.com’s Dann Stupp 12/28
B&V: Hogan vs. Sting plus the next night’s Raw and Nitro shows! 12/27
WOL: Solo Sempervive on Raw, Cody Rhodes & Brock vs. Shane 12/27
WWE has a Raw house show at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn and a SmackDown show in Nashville.
RIZIN ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT AT 1 A.M. EASTERN AND 10 P.M. PACIFIC FROM THE SAITAMA SUPER ARENA
Satoru Kitaoka vs Daron Cruickshank
Kanna Asakura vs Alyssa Garcia
Vadim Nemkov vs. Aliston Vicente in a tournament substitute bout
Yusuke Yachi vs. Mario Sismundo
Tatsumitsu Wada vs. Kai Kara-France
Yuki Motoya vs. Allan Nascimento
Kazuyuki Miyata vs. Andy Souwer
Tenshin Nakusawa vs. Nikita Sapun
Rin Nakai vs. Kanako Murata
Valentin Moldavsky vs. Szymon Bajor in the tournament quarterfinals
Amir Aliakbari vs. Heath Herring in the tournament quarterfinals
Baruto Kaido vs. Tsuyoshi Kosaka in the tournament quarterfinals
Mirko Cro Cop vs. King Mo Lawal in the tournament quarterfinals
FIGURE FOUR WEEKLY: 12/12/2016 The Paige/Alberto Del Rio relationship isn’t funny anymore
International Wrestling Revolution Group, or IWRG, has been one of Mexico’s top independent promotions for over two decades. Yet aside from the period where it was the Mexican home of Ultimo Dragon’s students when Toryumon was getting off the ground, the promotion rarely got much international attention… Subscribers click here to continue.
WRESTLING OBSERVER NEWSLETTER: December 26, 2016 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: WWE announces UK tournament, Urijah Faber retires, more
A look at WWE and New Japan gearing up for a changing pro wrestling landscape in 2017 with new moves and ideas planned by each side is the lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. The story notes the WWE new moves in the U.K., the U.K. scene, the top talent there, notes on who WWE signed and why they didn’t sign the biggest names, long-term WWE plans for the market, HHH talks about WWE producing so much content and thoughts on how this changes the mentality of a lot of wrestlers in the U.K.
New Japan is making moves to expand internationally and its owner, Takaaki Kidani, talks about what he feels are the weakness of the WWE business model and why he thinks they will be running into trouble in just a few years.
This issue examines Urijah Faber’s career and the rise of lighter weight fighters, the success of Paige VanZant as a drawing card and what that means going forward, as well as future thoughts on Michelle Waterson, Mickey Gall and the others from Saturdays’ UFC show.
WWE’s final PPV show of 2016, Roadblock End of the Line is covered. Also, there’s talk about public interest, business notes on the show, what happened in the key bouts, the booking and why things happened the way they did, along with match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results.
Finally, there is an update on Mick Foley, what the original plans were for him and why they changed, and why he’ll soon be taking time off. Also, an update on Zack Ryder, a new WWE signee, a successful WWE franchise, advertised main events for this week’s television, WWE star competes in major fitness contest soon, as well as the most watched shows on the WWE Network, inside this issue.
Subscribers click here to continue.
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].
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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: December 5, 1999 WWF losing advertisers, Steve Austin gets good news regarding neck, more – If you’re looking for this week’s top story to be simplified into good vs. evil, you’re looking in the wrong place. After two years of the WWF’s new direction turning it into prime advertising for companies aiming products at in particular, teenage and young adult males, suddenly, this week advertisers were dropping like flies… Subscribers click here to continue.
WEDNESDAY NEWS UPDATE
WWE
John Cena returned to WWE television on last night’s SmackDown. Cena opened the show with a promo challenging whoever won the show’s WWE Championship triple threat main event to a title match at the Royal Rumble, and he came out at the end of the show to officially set up his match with AJ Styles at the Royal Rumble on January 29th at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
Also on last night’s show, America Alpha won their first tag team titles since being promoted to the main roster. Dissension between Randy Orton & Luke Harper was teased at the finish. Heath Slater appeared to suffer a leg injury during the match, but tweeted that everything is (mostly) fine on Wednesday.
Tonight’s episode of NXT is a special two-hour edition of the show featuring matches from their house show at the Edion Arena in Osaka, Japan earlier this month. That show was headlined by Shinsuke Nakamura regaining the NXT Championship against Samoa Joe, which already aired on TV. Two other title matches will also air tonight with DIY defending the tag titles against Tajiri & Akira Tozawa and Nia Jax challenging Asuka for the Women’s title.
Tajiri returns to main roster TV on next week’s edition of 205 Live. On last night’s episode, Neville defeated Rich Swann in a non-title match which likely sets up a Cruiserweight Championship match between the two down the road.
In a Facebook post, Mick Foley provided an update on the status of his health and the hip replacement that he needs. Foley wrote that he had intended to get the operation at the start of 2017, but never set a date because he doesn’t have health insurance. He claimed that the surgery would cost $60,000 out-of-pocket. In the post, Foley clarified that he’s on a handshake deal with WWE and doesn’t have a contract in his role as general manager of Raw.
WWE’s YouTube channel has a video looking at the 12 most talked about moments of 2016.
DDP spoke about his WWE DVD, which is set to be released in March.
PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING
Chris Hero will be wrestling for EVOLVE at their two shows over Royal Rumble weekend in San Antonio, Texas on January 27th and 28th. Hero will face Zack Sabre Jr. on the 28th.
The Ricochet vs. Will Ospreay match (along with the rest of the card) from Over The Top Wrestling’s first show that was filmed to air on FloSlam will stream on the service tonight at 8:30 p.m. ET.
Matt Riddle will face Tyler Bate at OTT’s show on February 5th.
New Japan World has made every title match of 2016 free to stream through January 4th.
Vader talks his WCW Starrcade match with Ric Flair, as well as his feud with Sting.
UFC / MMA
The UFC posted full video from Dana White’s media scrum on Wednesday afternoon. White spoke about Ronda Rousey not doing media for UFC 207, and tried to make sense of what’s going on with the lightweight division as they attempt to book a match for the interim title. He confirmed that Jose Aldo wanted a fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov, but Nurmagomedov’s father didn’t want him fighting. White also said that Tony Ferguson agreed to fight Nurmagomedov, but only for exactly what his opponent would make.
Cody Garbrandt stormed out of an interview with Dominick Cruz
Dana White confirmed that Amanda Nunes will be getting PPV points for UFC 207.
Jeremy Botter tweeted that talks are ongoing for Jim Rome to be Mike Goldberg’s replacement in the UFC broadcast booth.
Cain Velasquez posted a statement about being pulled from UFC 207.
Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports’ latest column focuses on Amanda Nunes ahead of her championship defense against Ronda Rousey on Friday night.
Miesha Tate appeared on FS1’s Undisputed to talk about Amanda Nunes vs. Ronda Rousey.
The UFC posted episode two of Embedded for UFC 207.
Today in Professional Wrestling History (12/28): Sting defeats Hollywood Hogan at Starrcade 1997
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