THURS. UPDATE: More on Hardy/Jericho/Helms from yesterday; Russo apologizes; TNA star in EA v game
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We're looking for reports from today's TNA show in Coventry, England at
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Impact lineup for tonight:
Brian Kendrick & Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley vs. Amazing Red & Generation Me
Red vs. Doug Williams for the X title
Daniels vs. Hernandez
Velvet Sky & Madison Rayne & Lacey Von Erich vs. Tara & Awesome Kong & Hamada
Sean Morley vs. Desmond Wolfe
Jeff Jarrett vs. Mr. Ken Anderson
Superstars tonight at 8 p.m. on WGN America
Bella Twins vs. Katie Lea Burchill & Jillian Hall
Chris Masters vs. Primo Colon vs. Chavo Guerrero - Winner is in the Rumble
Matt Hardy vs. David Hart Smith
They also do an angle with R-Truth and Chris Jericho
Tonight on Spike before Impact will be a tape of the August 17, 2006 Fight Night show featuring the 2006 match of the year, Diego Sanchez vs. Karo Parisyan, so if you haven't seen the match ten times before, you may want to tune in at 8:30 or so tonight.
The tour finishes with a Friday night show at the Manchester Evening News Arena and a Saturday night show at Wembley Arena in London.
Just a note that besides the WWE and TNA weekend shows, we're also looking for reports from the ROH & PWG shows at the wrestling convention in Los Angeles this weekend.
Our traditional best selling issue of the year, the 2009 awards double sized issue, comes out this coming Monday. The issue has a complete rundown of the annual awards, as well as a feature on what may be the biggest pro wrestling news story of the year, regarding the future of Monday night television, plus in-depth on Brock Lesnar and his return, a feature on Georgiann Makropoulos, as well as future booking plans from WWE, UFC, TNA and Strikeforce.
The issue is already available on the web site for premium subscribers.
We have a rundown of the winners and top ten finishers, as well as every winner in the 30-year history of the Observer awards dating back to 1980, as well as comments on the voting and winners.
Categories are
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We look at the life of Georgiann Makropoulos, with comments from Bruno Sammartino and others.
We've got notes on the next Dragon Gate USA PPV show.
We also have notes on a possible interview theme for Smackdown in a few weeks, as well as an update on WrestleMania, Dwayne Johnson in WWE, next year's WrestleMania, Royal Rumble preview, major WWE lawsuit settled out of court, why major business analysis publication believes WWE is going up, and some major star injury updates. We also have WWE developmental notes, Royal Rumble stats, The Miz growing up, update on WWE Legends Roundtable discussions as well as highlights from all the weekend WWE live events.
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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--Former Elite XC star arrested
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--Here are a few more notes regarding the Chris Jericho/Gregory Helms arrest story that isn't in the item already on the front page. Several sources are saying that Helms never hit the woman in the taxi, Ashley Storer. Helms left the taxi and ran off when the driver stopped at the gas station. Matt Hardy was chasing Helms and trying to get him to come back. The only other note is that Phillip Brooks and Jason Reso (C.M. Punk and Christian) were said to be the two who posted bond to get Jericho and Helms released about an hour later.
--The New York Daily News covered the story, using TMZ as the source at http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2010/01/28/
--Strikeforce will be airing in Canada on Super Channel on Bell TV at 10 p.m. Eastern on Super Channel HD 2 (Ch. 1278 on Bell TV) and Super Channel 2 (Ch. 327 on Bell TV). Super Channel 1 (Bell 326) replays it at 2 a.m. as well as 1 p.m. on Sunday.
--Vince Russo wrote an apology last night for using the term "fake wrestling on a fake wrestling show" in his web site blog where he got mad that someone timed last week's Impact with 16 minutes of wrestling in two hours. He said, after Taz called him upset, that fake was a bad word to use. He wrote about what a big fan he was, but has to look at it differently, "because as a writer, it is my job to get ratings--period. It is my job to treat our product as a television show, because at the end of the day--that's what it is. The more people we get to watch our show--the more successful we become. And it is my responsibility to get them to watch the show." I don't know if it's Russo or TNA itself, but do people pay zero attention to business? Historically, I'm not saying there is no correlation, because at times there is and at times there isn't, but ratings and success of a company are not the same thing. In March, UFC will do a Countdown show that gets maybe an 0.7 rating and a few days later get maybe 750,000 buys, which grosses $34 million for a company that uses its time to get stars over for a video game that sold more than 3 million copies. Is that show more or less successful than a TNA show that does a 1.3 rating and leads to a PPV that does 20,000 buys and grosses $700,000 and does a video game that sold a few hundred thousand copies?
--ROH tomorrow night at the LAX Hilton at Wrestle Reunion 4 has the Briscoes & Young Bucks vs. American Wolves & Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli, Jushin Liger vs. Austin Aries, Jerry Lynn vs. Kenny King, Tyler Black vs. Joey Ryan, Kevin Steen vs. Human Tornado, Roderick Strong vs. Delirious, Erick Stevens vs. Necro Butcher, Scotty 2 Hotty vs. Larry Zbyszko with Jonny Fairplay as ref and Colt Cabana & El Generico vs. Scorpio Sky & Scott Lost
--The episode of "Psych" starring John Cena last night did 4.4 million viewers, up 6% from the prior week. Huge gain in 18-34 demos, but not so much anywhere else.
--We have a new interview done yesterday with Rob Van Dam up on the site, talking TNA, ECW, his wife's health and his thoughts on how much wrestling he wants to do going forward.
--Alex Marvez interviews Van Dam at http://www.scrippsnews.com/node/509311
--On the Pride TV show that airs a week from tomorrow night on Spike, matches will be Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Dan Henderson, Mirko Cro Cop vs. Minowa-man, Shogun Rua vs. Akira Shoji, Igor Vovchanchyn vs. Francisco Bueno and Kazuhiko Hamanaka vs. Ryan Gracie.
--Human Tornado vs. Steve Corino has been added to the ROH 8th anniversary show on 2/13 at the Manhattan Center, as has Briscoes defending the tag titles against the Dark City Fight Club
--ABC News in San Francisco on the opening of the UFC Gym at http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/sports&id=7243533 What is notable about this piece is that absolutely nothing was said negatively about UFC, or even indicated UFC was even a controversial subject. The story focused on the family atmosphere, talking to a mom who loved the gym, as well as talked with former 49er great Roger Craig, along with Chuck Liddell and Dana White. (thanks to Jeff Gagliardo)
--Bobby Lashley was added to the EA Sports MMA video game roster
--Complete lineup and order of matches for the Sunrise, FL Strikeforce show
Dark matches
John Clarke (0-0) vs. Joe Ray (0-0)
Craig Oxley (0-2) vs. David Gomez (0-2)
David Zitnik (4-6) vs. Michael Byrnes (0-2)
Sabah Homasi (2-0) vs. John Kelly (3-0)
Hayder Hasan (2-1) vs. Ryan Keenan (3-0)
Marcos DaMatta (7-0) vs. Pablo Alfonso (5-1)
Jay Hieron (18-4) vs. Joe Riggs (32-10)
Live show
Bobby Lashley (4-0) vs. Wes Sims (22-12-1)
Robbie Lawler (16-5, 1 no contest) vs. Melvin Manhoef (24-6-1)
Herschel Walker (0-0) vs. Greg Nagy (1-1)
Cris Cyborg (8-1) vs. Marloes Coenen (17-3) for Women's 145 pound title
Nick Diaz (20-7, 1 no contest) vs. Marius Zaromskis (13-3) for Strikeforce welterweight title
--Lashley was on Dan Lebatard's radio show today and said he thinks he will be fighting Fedor Emelianenko before the end of this year. (thanks to Mark Coale)
--What MMA fighter has the most mainstream marketing potential?
Brock Lesnar 54.4%
Gina Carano 17.3%
Georges St. Pierre 13.5%
Quinton Jackson 6.3%
Fedor Emelianenko 2.3%
Chuck Liddell 1.7%
B.J. Penn 1.4%
Frank Mir 1.4%
Forrest Griffin 1.3%
Anderson Silva 0.4%
--Prediction on the Strikeforce rating for Saturday night
0.8 or lower 19.2%
0.9 9.0%
1.0 15.3%
1.1 9.6%
1.2 11.9%
1.3 8.5%
1.4 8.5%
1.5 7.3%
1.6 2.3%
1.7 1.1%
1.8 to 2.2 5.6%
2.3 or better 1.7%
1.0 to 1.5 looks to be the safe range
--Who do you consider the Wrestler of the Decade?
Kurt Angle 32.5%
Shawn Michaels 21.8%
Kenta Kobashi 10.2%
Chris Jericho 9.5%
John Cena 9.0%
HHH 7.0%
The Rock 5.4%
Randy Orton 2.6%
Mistico 0.9%
Dr. Wagner Jr. 0.8%
Perro Aguayo Jr. 0.3%
Yuji Nagata 0.1%
--Tajiri vs. Tommy Dreamer was announced for the debut of the new Smash promotion in Japan, Tajiri's new group which is running in Tokyo at Shinjuku Face on 3/26
--Countdown to UFC 109, besides airing at 12:30 a.m. on Saturday night on Spike, and a Wednesday at 11 p.m. airing on Versus, will also air this coming Monday night after Raw at 11 pm. on Spike, as well as a week from tonight at 11 p.m. after Impact on Thursday, and Saturday at 6 p.m.
--Joey Styles wrote a short piece on the WWE web site today on the death of Georgiann Makropoulos.
--A funny deal is the web site listed Hurricane as its superstar of the day this morning. The web site hasn't acknowledged the deal with him, but they did recall that award and replace him with Cody Rhodes.
--Strikeforce announced officially a 3/26 show in Fresno headlined by the return of Lavar Johnson, a heavyweight knockout artists who beat Carl Seumanutafa in :18 on Showtime in May, against unbeaten Lolohea Mahe of Hawaii. Johnson was shot in the stomach, and nearly died, losing 60 pounds and being hospitalized for one month, several months back at a family party where some kids on the street randomly shot guns into the house, killing his cousin. Other matches announced are Abongo Humphrey moving to light heavyweight against George Bush III, Luke Stewart vs. Andre Galvao, Zoila Frauso vs. Meisha Tate in a women's match and Justin Wilcox vs. Bryan Travers. The show will air at 11:45 p.m. that night on Showtime.
--In celebration of Dragon Gate USA's first two shows finishing first and third in the Show of the Year awards as voted by Observer readers, they are doing a sale that ends at noon on Saturday where you can get DVDs of both shows and shipping will be free. You can call 267-519-9744 to order.
--Jack Evans, Gamma & Yamato were officially announced for the 3/26 and 3/27 Dragon Gate USA shows in Phoenix.
--Dule Hill was interviewed by The Futon Critic about guest hosting Raw this week. He said he's more a fan of Tony Atlas, Jimmy Snuka, Andre
the Giant and the Iron Sheik, but after working with John Cena, he's getting more into the current product. "I knew who a lot of the wrestlers were so it was just exciting for me. Wrestlers are like fantasy world for children and adults no matter whether you're a current fan or you watched years ago, but it's a fact that, `Wow, man, I'm with a wrestler. I'm hanging with a WWE wrestler."
--Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes are scheduled to appear at tomorrow night's Atlanta Hawks game to promote the PPV.
--Honky Tonk Man said that he was in talks with WWE to be inducted into the Hall of Fame this year, but declined the offer, since it coincided with a Wizard World Comic convention in Toronto he was already booked at. He noted that he had deals with Wizard World for ten conventions this year and he'd have to sign a non-compete for several months after the Hall of Fame, so it was not in his best interest to sign that contract.
--Don Frye has signed to do the next ten shows for Shark Fight Promotions as an announcer for their broadcasts on ESPN 1440 in Amarillo. His first show will be the 2/5 show from Lubbock, TX
--There is a convention by Tagteam promotions on 3/12 and 3/13 in Atlanta at the Sheraton Airport Hilton with Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson, Demolition Barry Darsow & Bill Eadie, Dennis Condrey & Bobby Eaton with Jim Cornette, Ivan & Nikita Koloff, Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell and Ivan Putski & Tito Santana, as well as Mr. Hughes, Tommy Rich and Johnny Valiant. For more info to go www.legendsmania.com
--Tuesday night in Guadalajara: In Memoria & Titano b Meteoro & Nube Roja, Angelo & Idolo b Saturno & Virgo, Neutron & Palacio Negro b Dragon & Exterminador, Blue Panther & La Mascara & Mascara Dorada b Averno & El Terrible & El Texano Jr.-DQ, Mephisto b Valiente to retain the NWA welterweight title. It was scheduled as Ephesto defending the CMLL light heavyweight title against Valiente, but he was injured so Mephisto took his place and put up his title.
--Jim Duggan headlines for NWS on 2/5 in Union, NJ at the Knights of Columbus Hall
--CHIKARA on 2/27 in Reading, PA at the Goodwill Fire Company Beneficial Hall has Mike Quackenbush & Jigsaw & Equinox & Lince Dorado vs. UnSTable & Brodie Lee
--Fox News today had a "Where are they now" feature on the TV sitcom "Webster," and noted that Alex Karras, who played the father, was a former pro wrestler. Karras, a famous football star in the 60s with the Detroit Lions, did some wrestling in the early 60s, including a match wit Dick the Bruiser which got national headlines at the time, and later played a wrestler in the movie "Mad Bull."
--OVW on Saturday night at the Danny Davis Arena in Louisville with every match being held inside a cage, including a six person gauntlet match with the winner becoming No. 1 contender for James Thomas' OVW title.
--There will be a dinner honoring Chief Jay Strongbow on 2/20 at the Regency House Hotel in Pompton Plains, NJ. Among those attending will be Mick Foley, who will be selling items to raise money for the Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame. Howard Finkel will be the MC, plus Dawn Marie, Davey O'Hannon, J.J. Dillon, Johnny Rodz, Pete Sanchez and many others are appearing, along with 95-year-old Angelo Savoldi, believed to be the oldest living pro wrestler. Foley's sale starts at 5 p.m. with the dinner at 7 p.m. For more info, you can call 973-897-5033
--Bob Calhoun compares Obama's State of the Union address with a John Cena promo for last month at http://open.salon.com/blog/bob_calhoun/2010/01/28/obama_channels_wwe_wres tler_john_cena_in_sotu At least he wasn't channeling a Linda McMahon promo.
--Florida indie wrestler Chasyn Rance is in the cast of the VH-1 Reality show "Tool Academy 3." The show debuts on 2/14 in the Sunday at 9 p.m. time slot.
--WAR on 1/16 at the UAW Hall in Lima, OH
--Junie Browning vs. Aaron Hall headlines Wild Bill's Fight Night on 2/5 in Duluth, GA. Browning was a guest at a recent show, and booed so heavily, that they decided to book him against a local fighter in the main event.
