Bryan Alvarez:
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Dave Meltzer:
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It's a huge weekend of activity starting tonight, with one PPV event, Smackdown, UFC on Spike and two live MMA events.
We're looking for your thoughts on tonight's Dragon Gate USA PPV, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it We will also be doing a poll tomorrow night after the CBS Strikeforce show. You can also send in comments on tonight's Strikeforce show and tonight's Sengoku show.
We're also looking for reports on tonight's Raw house show in Newcastle, England, tonight's Smackdown house show in Brussels, Belgium, tonight's ROH TV tapings in Philadelphia (Austin Aries & Kenny King vs. Colt Cabana & Tyler Black; Davey Richards vs. Roderick Strong; Chris Hero vs. Kenny Omega) and tonight's TNA house show in Murray, KY (A.J. Styles vs. Samoa Joe; Rhino vs. Abyss, Hernandez vs. Homicide). We're also looking for reports on last night's Smackdown house show Frankfurt, Germany.
Dragon Gate lineup for tonight at 10 p.m. Eastern and 7 p.m. Pacific on
most cable systems and The Dish Network (it is not cleared on DirecTV)
and will be replayed at 6 p.m. tomorrow:
*Dragon Kid vs. Masato Yoshino
*Mike Quackenbush & Jigsaw vs. Gran Akuma & Yamato
*Bryan Danielson vs. Naruki Doi
*Brian Kendrick vs. Cima
*Davey Richards vs. Shingo
*Young Bucks vs. Genki Horiguchi & Ryo Saito
Danielson vs. Doi and Richards vs. Shingo are probably the best
1-2 punch of matches on any PPV show this year.
Strikeforce tonight on Showtime at 11 p.m. Eastern from Fresno with
weigh-ins:
*Zoila Frausto (132.5) vs. Elisha Helsper (134.5)
*Thomas Diagne (155.5) vs. Merritt Warren (154)
*Luke Rockhold (185.5) vs. Jesse Taylor (186)(
*Brandon Cash (256) vs. Shane Del Rosario (240)
*Billy Evangelista (159) vs. Jorge Gurgel (159)
The main event was contracted at 155, but both agreed to fight at
a 159 pound weight
Sengoku late tonight on HDNet at 2 a.m. Eastern and 11 p.m. Pacific like
from Sumo Hall in Tokyo:
*Hirokazu Konno (142.9) vs. Tomoaki Ueyama (142.6)
*Yuichiro Yajima (125.2) vs. Ryota Uozomi (124.8)
*Ronnie Ushiwaka (142.4) vs. Shigeoki Osawa (142.9)
*Dave Herman (239.6) vs. Jim York (256.4)
*Yuji Hoshino (143.3) vs. Marlon Sandro (143.3)
*Akihiro Gono (167.6) vs. Kim Yoon Young (167.1)
*Stanislav Nedkov (203.9) vs. Kevin Randleman (203)
*Eiji Mitsuoka (154.3) vs. Kazunori Yokota (153.7)
*Satoru Kitaoka (154.3) vs. Jorge Masvidal (154.3)
*Mamed Khalidov (181.7) vs. Jorge Santiago (183)
*Hatsu Hioki (143.1) vs. Michihiro Omigawa (143.1)
Tomorrow night is headlined by Strikeforce on CBS and the Fedor Emelianenko vs. Brett Rogers fight. This, when it comes to the future implications on the business, is probably the single most important show of the year, because the rating of this show will have more of an affect on the future of a promotion than any event for any major company this year.
Raw will be in Minehead, England; Smackdown in Dusseldorf, Germany; TNA in Tupelo, MS and ROH in Edison, NJ.
Sunday has WWE house shows in Liverpool and Nottingham, England, as well as a TNA show in Jackson, MS.
Monday has the live Raw from Sheffield, England featuring Ricky Hatton as guest host, Smackdown in Cardiff, Wales and a TNA house show at the Wildhorse in Nashville, which includes former NFL player Frank Wycheck wrestling on the show.
Tuesday has Smackdown & ECW taped in Sheffield, England, with Undertaker vs. C.M. Punk as the dark match, John Morrison vs. Dolph Ziggler for the IC title on Smackdown and Christian vs. William Regal for the ECW title as the ECW main event. There is also a Raw house show that night in London in Cardiff, Wales.
Smackdown tonight has:
* Matt Hardy vs. Big Dave
* Punk vs. R-Truth
* Mysterio vs. Mike Knox
* Dolph & Hart Dynasty vs. Morrison & Cryme Tyme
* Beth Phoenix squash
* Drew McIntyre vs. Jimmy Yang
An update on the Hulk Hogan/TNA relationship is the lead story in this coming Monday's issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. We look at the real questions related to Hogan as far as running TNA, including what has been told to wrestlers he is recruiting about competition with Vince McMahon including a start date, as well as what those in TNA know and what Spike TV is saying.
We look at how history looks at this, as well as both the advantages and disadvantages of promoting pro wrestling in 2010. We look at when Hogan is likely to return, as well as the one example of Raw vs. Impact head-to-head historically and why that example changed a lot of minds about going to Mondays.
We look at Hogan's income and what it will take for him to stay in TNA, thoughts from people in the company, where things stand, people who look to be safe, those who aren't, as well as the track record of Hogan since the folding of WCW, and Eric Bischoff. We look at the good and bad of the first TNA rating since Hogan, Hogan's drawing power in WCW. We also look at the level of media interest and fan interest of the announcement of Hogan coming in and comparing it with other major events in TNA history, including what two wrestlers led to significantly more fan interest based on Internet responses than Hogan, as well as their effect on long-term business.
The issue is available right now to premium subscribers on the web site. You can also get the Observer mailed to your home with details below.
We also have a look at the death of the Hustle promotion, the press conference talking about it, the hopes to revive it, as well as the unique list of major stars who performed for the promotion during its nearly six years of existence.
We also have a review of what is one of the best PPV shows of this year, the taped Dragon Gate "Untouchable" show, with match-by-match coverage and star ratings, including what was and wasn't good on the show.
We've got some updates on Survivor Series and even WrestleMania, ridiculous politics and Linda McMahon's campaign, notes on WWE PPV shows in 2010, notes on some guest hosts for Raw upcoming as well as how TNA ratings came up in WWE this past week.
We look at the HHH interview with Powerslam magazine and what does and doesn't make sense, as well, some notes on the 2010 Hal of Fame, an update on Edge's return, WWE movie notes, new DVD release and awards given the promotion.
We have notes on UFC's injuries and illnesses and how they affect and totally change the big show at the end of the year. We've got a detailed update on Brock Lesnar as well as a timetable of when he can possibly return, as well as what Paul Heyman was talking about regarding Lesnar turning down a movie role.
We've got updates on how UFC 104 looks to have done and comparing it with UFC 102. We also have tons of new UFC fights including the next probable Kimbo Slice match, as well as the lawsuit against a current member of the cast of Ultimate Fighter regarding a wrongful death. We have an update on UFC coming to a major market in 2010 and perhaps its first stadium show.
We also have more on DVR usage and how that affects Ultimate Fighter viewing this season as compared to last season.
We also have a rundown of the Pro Wrestling NOAH jr. heavyweight tournament, as well as an update on KENTA, and final standings. We also run down the New Japan tag team tournament.
We also have a history piece on the Super J Cup, leading to its fifth edition later this year. We look at the first four shows, including two shows that won Big Show of the Year, one of the great one-night performances in pro wrestling history, as well as how the Super J Cup led to one of today's biggest stars getting his first U.S. major league break, as well as spawning the tournament that led to the formation of today's top indie group.
We also have an addendum to the Bill Miller Hall of Fame story, with a look back at the start of the Bruno Sammartino vs. Bill Miller feud and the unique angle, which included a rare pinfall loss by Sammartino in a singles match.
We also have a look at the ratings for all the major pro wrestling and MMA shows on television over the past week.
We also have our usual weekly features such as the results of the biggest matches of the week and rundown of the major television shows.
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-- Hogan on Bubba the Love Sponge today reiterated that he is being brought in to run the company, he has no plans to wrestle there right now, and that a lot of changes are afoot.
-- WrestleMania tickets go on sale to the public tomorrow morning.
-- Weigh-ins for tomorrow's Strikeforce show on CBS take place tonight at 5 PM Central at the Sears Centre.
-- Brett Rogers will be on Last Call with Carson Daly tonight.
-- Chris on the ESPN hype for Fedor: I was watching ESPN throughout the day on Thursday and they seemed to make quite a few mentions of the Fedor vs Rogers fight. Since Rogers appeared on First Take the network has been playing up the fight a bit. I saw a show called Sports Nation which did a segment where the hosts pick what they're looking forward too most and do a poll of the fans on the same topic and the question was are you looking more forward to the Fedor vs Rogers fight or the upcoming movie Boondock Saints 2 and both hosts picked the Fedor fight, the male host kept playing up Fedor like he was Drago from Rocky and how he loves the mysterious Russian fighter who "we know nothing about" and who "wrestles bears and trains in Siberia" or something silly like that, and the female host corrected him and said "actually we know quite a bit about Fedor, he's been fighting for along time etc..etc.." so the male host looked like a geek. Sadly, while both hosts picked the Fedor fight as their choice, the movie won the fans vote something like 67% to 33%,. At least the fight is getting some mainstream play and MMA is being treated, for the most part like a big deal on ESPN which can only help the sport in the long term.
-- For those without CBS, Strikeforce will be airing the show live on PPV for $5.99 on the website.
-- Don't forget tonight's Dragon Gate USA PPV, which is a great show with two awesome matches. It premieres in the US on In Demand, Dish and TVN plus Viewer's Choice and Bell ExpressVU in Canada at 10 PM EST. If you love good pro-wrestling there is no logical reason to miss this show, especially since it'll be $14.95 on many cable systems.
-- Which is significantly less than WWE PPVs are going to cost next year, according to a leaked memo obtained by Mike Aldren. WWE is going to be raising prices starting with Royal Rumble to $44.95, which presumably means $49.95 if you want the HD version. On the bright side, they're dropping one event and will only run 13 shows in 2010, which is still one more than they need (two PPVs in October? I cannot think of one good reason for that). Obviously this is being done to offset the drop in PPV revenue this year due to less people buying PPVs domestically.
-- Sting does a pre-taped interview on Impact next week talking Hulk Hogan and his own future in wrestling.
-- Alex Marvez interviews Gabe Sapolsky here about tonight's show and the wrestling landscape in general.
-- Jonathan Snowden says Dan Henderson is the perfect addition to Strikeforce.
-- In the Brian Blair political race, Jimmy Hart throws in his hat -- for Blair's opponent.
-- Jim Ross talks a number of different subjects including WWE potentially starting their own TV network here.
-- A review of The Solie Chronicles up here.
-- Tonight on HDNet at 2:00 AM ET will be Sengoku 11 World Victory Road live from Tokyo. Main event is Hatsu Hioki vs. Michihiro Omigawa.
-- TUF last night did a 1.8 rating, down from last week's 1.9, but drew the same 2.5 million viewers. It was number one in males 18-49.
-- Corey writes: The website for the Civic Center in Charleston, WV has removed the listing for the WWE show on January 3rd, 2010. WWE.com never listed the date in their events calendar, and Ticketmaster never had a listing for the show either.
-- Another reminder that I'll be wrestling tomorrow in Marysville, WA at the Pacific Rim for Tulalip Championship Wrestling. Tons of people from the website are going to be there, including Craig, who will apparently be doing a live report for the Ed in San Antonio's Drunkcast radio show. More info is up at tulalipchampionshipwrestling.com. Hope to see some of you there!
-- Drunkcast is up here. Note it's a Saturday show, not a Friday show.
-- Poll on the Ultimate Fighter show for this week:
Excellent 21.1%
Good 61.7%
Average 8.3%
Fair 1.5%
Poor 7.5%
30.4% of those responding didn't see the show
Who do you expect to win next week's TUF match?
Roy Nelson 84.1%
Justin Wren 15.9%
What will do the biggest PPV number between now and the end of the year?
Pacquiao vs. Cotto 53.1%
Ortiz vs. Griffin 30.6%
WWE Survivor Series 9.7%
Penn vs. Sanchez 6.5%
Not sure what the 9.7% are smoking but Vince sure would like some
of it.
-- Irv Muchnick will talk his Benoit book at 7 EST at ringsidelive.com. I'll be on the show next week as well.
-- Rapid Pro Wrestling in Portage, Michigan at The Venue 3750 E Kilgore Rd Sunday November 8th @6pm Featuring Christin Abel and Josh Raymond, Louis Lyndon, Flip Kendrick, and more.
-- Cleveland All-Pro Wrestling returns to Belindas Nite Club friday, Nov. 13th at 7pm with The Stro, Mitch Ryder, Malia Hosaka, & Jessicka Havok. Head to www.myspace.com/capw for more info.
-- Insanity Pro Wrestling presents "Super Junior Heavyweight Tournament", Saturday, November 7, 2009, Fountain Square Salvation Army Corps, 1337 S Shelby St, Indianapolis, IN 46203.
-- ARW on Saturday, November 14th at Murray County High School (1001 Green Rd.) in Chatsworth, GA
-- IWC presents NOVEMBER PAIN 5, Saturday November 14th, 2009, Court Time Sports Center, 95 Enterprise Dr. - Suite 100, Elizabeth, PA. Belltime: 7:30 PM. Hernandez works the show.
-- Site sponsor itapboys.com has some cool "I Tap Boys" women's MMA logo shirts up, plus other shirts and shorts available
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