mobanmarketSUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY!!!
A HUGE night of action and we’ve got all your coverage! Donald Cerrone looks to rebound from a horrendous showing in his last fight, which he lost to current lightweight champion Raphael Dos Anjos. The cowboy Cerrone takes on fellow cowboy Alex Oliveira who is on a three fight win streak, last seen dispatching Piotr Hallman in November. Donald Cerrone has a chance to get back in the hunt for the lightweight title, and capitalize on his recent popularity surge stemming from people Googling “Donald,” and clicking the wrong result.
Starting at 8 pm eastern, WWE goes to war against UFC as the two shows will compete for viewers. Many news websites are anticipating an enormous amount of traffic and are preparing for server crashes. We at the WrestlingObserver.com are prepared! The action will heat up on the WWE Network and we will finally find out if Roman Reigns is still the guy, or if Vince has had one of his trademark changes of heart.
We’re doing polls on tonight’s WWE Fast Lane show, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to Dave@wrestlingobserver.com
WWE FAST LANE FROM THE QUICKEN LOANS ARENA IN CLEVELAND
You may want to DVR the UFC and flip on the WWE Network and watch live as WWE presents Fast Lane at 8 pm eastern (kick off show starts at 7 pm eastern only on the WWE network). You can still buy WWE Fast Lane on regular PPV, but if you do, WWE will laugh at you. Big Dave Meltzer will not laugh at you, and he’ll be providing our live coverage of the show.
Roman Reigns vs. Dean Ambrose vs. Brock Lesnar for the WrestleMania title shot – The winner of this, unless there is a swerve on Raw in the next week, is expected to win the WWE title at WrestleMania since it makes no sense for HHH to be champion except to put somebody over strong at WrestleMania. Obviously the plan was Reigns and has been for a long time. Tonight we’ll see if they stick with the plan or not. Originally it was Bray Wyatt costing Lesnar the shot to break them off into a new program. It all makes sense based on the original lineup, but it’s WWE. I also expect this will be a hot match with lots of storylines teased.
Kevin Owens vs. Dolph Ziggler for IC title – Since Ziggler won twice, Owens would be the favorite here. But it depends on what both men are scheduled for at WrestleMania. If Owens is to face somebody new, then he should go over clean. This should be really good.
A.J. Styles vs. Chris Jericho – This is another one dependent upon the WrestleMania plans. If Jericho goes heel tonight, the program should be kept going. I can’t imagine Jericho coming back without a WrestleMania program so we’ll see. By all rights, this should also be really good.
Charlotte vs. Brie Bella for Divas title – WrestleMania is being teased as Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks or Charlotte vs Banks vs. Becky Lynch, so a title change doesn’t look likely. The only way it would make sense is if it is one of those quick changes where it goes right back the next night or a week later.
Big Show & Kane & Ryback vs. The Wyatt Family – The goal of the match looks to be to get Braun Strowman over strong. That makes him the favorite to win the fall, but he could just do power spots with the big guys and the faces could beat Rowan or Harper.
Becky Lynch & Sasha Banks vs. Naomi & Tamina – Lynch & Banks will either come out of this as foes to lead to WrestleMania, or Banks should get a strong win here.
Kalisto vs. Alberto Del Rio 2/3 falls for U.S.. title (preshow match at about 7:30 p.m.) – It is weird that this is on the pregame show. This one could go either way and really depends on the WrestleMania plans for the U.S. title.
On paper, a good top three matches and the repercussions to WrestleMania make this a bigger than usual B show.
Check out our WrestlingObserver.com panel predictions.
UFC ON SUNDAY FROM THE CONSOL ENERGY CENTER IN PITTSBURGH
Early prelims only on UFC Fight Pass, followed by the Fox Sports 1 prelims at 7 pm eastern, and at 9 pm eastern on Fox Sports 1 we will find out, who is better at cattle wrangling. Ryan Fredrick will have all of your coverage. Follow him live @RyanJFrederick as well.
FIGHT PASS AT 5:30 P.M. EASTERN TIME
Shamil Abdurakhimov (254) Anthony Hamilton (263)
Kelly Faszholz (135) vs. Lauren Murphy (135.5)
Ashlee Evans-Smith (135.5) vs. Marion Reneau (135)
FS 1 AT 7 P.M.
Nathan Coy (170) vs. Jonavin Webb (169.5)
Anthony Smith (185.5) vs. Leonardo Augusto Guimares (184.5)
Daniel Sarafian (186) vs. Oluwale Bamgbose (185)
Alex Garcia (171) vs. Sean Strickland (170.5)
Shane Campbell (156) vs. James Krause (155.5)
Joe Riggs (186) vs. Chris Camozzi (185.5)
Dennis Bermudez (146) vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri (146)
Cody Garbrandt (140.5) vs. Augusto Mendes (142)
Derek Brunson (186) vs. Roan Carneiro (184.5)
Cowboy Donald Cerrone (170) vs. Cowboy Alex Oliveira (171)
Bryan and Dave will be back tonight, with a new Wrestling Observer Radio covering FastLane, the second ROH in Japan, and UFC.
There will also be WOR shows next weekend on both Friday & Saturday covering the ROH PPV from Las Vegas and the UFC Fight Pass from London.
Raw will be Monday night in Detroit. Brock Lesnar is scheduled for the show.
Smackdown and Main Event will be taped on Tuesday night in Indianapolis.
If you’ve ever wanted to WATCH our radio shows here on the site, check out our new Youtube page! No full video shows, but lots of video clips, full free audio shows that you can tell your friends about, and much more to come! Make sure you subscribe today!
Figure Four Weekly 2/8/2016 Kevin “Mordecai” Thorn voices issues with WWE Network royalties, more
Former WWE Superstar Kevin Thorn voices his frustrations with the amount of money WWE pays in royalties for the WWE Network, plus more.
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
The Latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Feb 22, 2016 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: WWE 2015 Financial Report, Kevin Randleman passes
The 2015 business of WWE is the lead in a packed issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. We go through the keys to the current business: biggest revenue streams, why the stock was down, compare with the past, the truth about television ratings, house show business, social media effect, Vince McMahon talks ratings, what ratings mean right now and in the future, network numbers, both good and bad signs regarding those numbers, why numbers declined and will go up soon and what kind of seasonal gain can be expected.
The career of Kevin Randleman, his most famous matches, comments from Bas Rutten, comments he made about first getting into fighting, plus his career as a pro and college wrestler.
We also have a piece looking at matches that in one night changed promotions or made superstars, and how that fits in with this past week’s Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kenny Omega match. A full rundown of the New Beginnings in Osaka and New Beginning in Niigata shows, with match-by-match coverage, story behind both shows, star ratings and poll results. We also look at the big shows coming up for New Japan.
Click Here: Cardiff Blues StoreLots more about Daniel Bryan, details on his medical issues, lots of things not really put into perspective, Brie Bella;s retirement, Wade Barrett situation, Titus O’Neil suspension and fine, FastLane notes, the weirdness of the Fast Lane main event as it pertains to the company’s future, WWE injury updates, more on John Cena’s injuries, Cesaro talks his own injury and Bryan retirement, WWE Network notes, notes on wrestlers who received tryouts last week, Jericho vs. Styles notes, WWE star opening up a wrestling themed restaurant, plus highlights of all the NXT and WWE house shows over the past week and business notes.
WWE’s new Global Cruiserweight series concept, how the tournament will work, the schedule, the scouting of participants and more.
Bellator’s deal with Rampage Jackson and details of how it happened.
PLUS MUCH MORE! CLICK HERE FOR A FULL WRESTLING OBSERVER PREVIEW
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 Dave Meltzer
You can also order print issues at www.paypal.com directing funds to dave@wrestlingobserver.com
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 moonsault@mediaplusint.com 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 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.
Click here for the most requested Wrestling Observer back issues.
Check out the latest Online Wrestling Observer BACK ISSUE: Jan 11, 1999 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Finger Poke of Doom, Awards results, Sam Muchnick passes away
Details on World Title changes in 3 promotions including the Finger Poke of Doom, full results of the Observer Awards, plus tons more.
SUNDAY! SUNDAY! SUNDAY! CONTINUED! CONTINUED! CONTINUED!
Bryan and I will be back tonight covering Fast Lane and the UFC show in Pittsburgh, as well as the other wrestling and MMA news. You can send questions for tonight’s show to mailbag@wrestlingobserver.com.
John Cena is doing a lot of teases on social media, including teasing something with C.M. Punk (he just had back surgery and is under contract to UFC, so if there’s anything happening there it would both his and UFC’s approval) and Undertaker. It is well known that if Cena has able to wrestle at Mania, it would be against Undertaker. As of last week, that was not expected and there were other plans, but I never count Cena out of anything. Cena is the honorary pace car driver at the Dayton 500 today and has been shown on television on FS 1.
Late odds aren’t in for the show as of this writing.
The show wasn’t sold out as of last night but it was very close and either a sellout or near sellout is expected at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland. Detroit for tomorrow night will also be sold out or close to it. Its traditional that Raw ticket sales leading to Mania are the highest of the year.
Regarding today’s UFC show, the reason the Cody Garbrandt vs. Augusto Mendes fight is at a catch weight is that Mendes couldn’t make it. He took the fight on Monday as a late replacement and was 162 pounds at the time and had to make 136. He ended up getting to 142.
While nothing has been announced yet regarding Friday’s ROH PPV show, with Tomohiro Ishii and not Roderick Strong as TV champion, on yesterday’s show at Korakuen Hall they were teasing Ishii vs. Strong. So whether it’s a rematch at the PPV, or at the TV tapings the next day, the hint is certainly there.
Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson did their farewells at yesterday’s New Japan show at Korakuen Hall. They will start shortly in WWE.
WWE
Damien Sandow has been off the road due to a death in the family. He tweeted, “Thank you WWE for being accommodating and supportive. I truly appreciate it as does my family. Publicly traded but family oriented.”
The Miz will be on next week’s episode of “Supernatural,” called “Beyond the Mat.” During the show where is a pro wrestling scene where stuntman and former pro wrestler Paul Lazenby does a match with Aleks Paunovic, a former Canadian boxing champion. Lazenby had to teach him and guide him through a match with three hours of preparation and noted that the guy picked it up “like a champ. I was shocked at how fast he learned, and how well he was able to perform for someone with zero wrestling experience going in.”
An interview with Bray Wyatt is here. (thanks to Doug Cox)
Finn Balor praises trainer Robbie Brookside for his work in developmental.
A story on Charlotte Flair.
UFC
The UFC announced a major media day on 3/4, the Friday before the PPV, at 2 p.m., two hours before weigh-ins, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. They will be promoting all the major fights for the next several months. Announced for the event are Dana White, Junior Dos Santos, Ben Rothwell, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Tony Ferguson, Daniel Cormier, Jon Jones, Demetrious Johnson, Henry Cejudo, Luke Rockhold and Chris Weidman. Others will be added.
MISCELLANEOUS
Luis Santos stopped Rafael Silva in just 1:17 with strikes in yesterday’s One show in Jakarta, Indonesia. What’s notable is that Santos fought at 170 pounds. Santos couldn’t make 170 in his last fight with severe weight cutting, nor could he make 185 the next day. So that would indicate to me that One’s strictness on guys fighting at their real weight is not what it was purported to be. This is a big deal because everyone knows weight cutting is one of the biggest issues in the sport and we were hoping One’s new policy could be a blueprint.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has a story on Harley Race.
Most notable is that even in St. Louis, because the heyday was so long ago, they believe wrestling is more popular now than before. It’s far more lucrative, but everything in entertainment is.
We’re sorry to report the death of Scott Spangler, 49, who was a longtime ring announcer for Smoky Mountain Wrestling using the name Brian Scott. (thanks to Jamie Combs)
A story about a double amputee winning the state title in wrestling. (thanks to Jim Ward)
3PW from last night in Las Vegas: TJ Perkins won over Bryce Hamilton, Owen Travers and Ricky Mandel to win the PPW title, Big Duke b Markus Burke, Enemies of the State won four-way over Gods of War, Hellhounds and Los Foxstars, Funny Bone & Lucy b Sinn Bodhi & Mike Dalite, Tommy Purr b Evan Daniels, Wild Horse b Jace Battle, Disco Inferno & Tony b Leon Hater & Jayson Cash, David Lutzker b Jason Muse (thanks to Mike Trask)
Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling from last night in East Carondelet, IL before 200 fans: Chris Hargas & Brandon Espinosa b Jimmy D & Baracus-DQ, Britton Tucker b Jason Chaos, Ax DDQ Big Jim Hoffarth, Kahagas b Daniel Gunner, Dave Vaughn d Sean Vincent, Gary Jackson b Curtis Wylde-DQ, Ken Kasa & Ron Powers b Troll & Flash Flanagan. Very rare you hear this directly from the booker after the show: “Poor House. Truthfully, poor booking too, weak lineup, sometimes it happens.”
WrestleMerica from last night in Barnesville, GA before 400 fans: Glacier b Scotty Beach, Andy Anderson & Pain b Logan Creed & Johnny Nix, Antonio Garza NC Mike Jackson (the same Mike Jackson who was the star enhancement wrestler with Georgia Championship Wrestling, now 67 years old and he did a tope suicida), Iceberg NC Scotty Bullwinkel in a street fight, Ryan ? b Scotty Beach, Amber Gallows b Bambi (this was announced as Bambi’s retirement match) to retain the NWA women’s title, Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson b Southside Trash, Tyson Dean b Brad Attitude to win the WrestleMerica title. This was called Night of the Legends. Also appearing at the show were Ron Simmons and Jody Hamilton as The Assassin. Next show is 3/12 (thanks to Kris Zellner)
CWE from last night in Yorkton, Saskatchewan: Anderson Tyson Moore b Sigmon, Travis Cole b Bull Bodnar, Blazin Dick b Chase Owens & Tyler Colton to keep tag titles, Jason Kincaid d Danny Duggan, Colt Cabana b Rob Stardom . They ran tonight in Sherwood Park, Alberta.
Lucha Extreme TV from last night in Fresno: Anthony Idol DCOR Chat Douglas, Guerrero de la Muerta & Fantastico b Big Dogg & Skitzo-COR. Next taping is 2/27 in Hanford, CA at the Long Field Center (thanks to Jon Southerland)
A story on Devon Nicholson (indie wrestler Hannibal who was a wrestling Olympic alternate) trying to fight Roy Jones Jr.
ON THIS DAY IN WORLD PRO WRESTLING HISTORY: Chris Jericho wins World title, Barry Windham wins NWA World title