Bryan Alvarez:
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Dave Meltzer:
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We're looking for your thoughts on Saturday night's UFC 118, 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're also looking for reports on Sunday night's WWE show in Springfield, MA, the Raw show on Saturday night in Wildwood, NJ, and the tent show Sunday night in Cohasset, MA, as well as the Lucha Libre USA tapings Sunday night in Charlotte.
Tonight will be the finals of this season of NXT, done live, as well as Smackdown taped in Albany, NY.
Today's issue of the Observer is one of the bigger issues of the year, with a look back at the career of Scandor Akbar, notes on the future of NXT, notes on the main event for the PPV after Night of Champions with advertising out, an in-depth look at the firing of Serena Deeb by WWE, an update on the injury to Skip Sheffield and what comes next, how the death of Lance Cade has become a political issue for Linda McMahon and the issue with Chris Nowinski.
We also have a look at an interview Cade did just before his death where he openly talks about his WWE career, how and why he started using steroids, performance enhancing usage in modern WWE, as well as what pro wrestling legend is actually a relative of Cade that wasn't known. We also look at the very eery story about the three wrestlers who discovered the death of a performer nearly a decade ago. We also have more on the suspension of Tiffany as well as the legal issues she faces, as well as a member of the creative team being gone, the names of international stars who had a secret tryout with WWE over the pat week. We also look at more regarding WWE scouting for new talent.
We've also got an update on contracts with three of the biggest name performers in the sport, and their futures. We look at what is and isn't true about Alberto Del Rio and why one of the company's biggest stars isn't working house shows right now.
The issue will be on the site today along with a back issue from June 1993 new to the site. All are available right now for web site subscribers in the Wrestling Observer listings on the top of the page. You can also get the Observer delivered by mail, with details below. For those who are web site subscribers, not only do we have issues once and in big news weeks, twice every week, but also release one back issue per week, covering 1993.
All subscriptions for 12 or more issues will include what is traditionally our most talked about issue of the year, the 2010 Hall of Fame issue that comes out in September.
Our lead story looks at the wrestling career of General Skandor Akbar, one of the best known managers of his era. We look at the big names who he helped mentor in the sport, the letter Steve Austin wrote him, his death, how he got started as a pro wrestler, growing up as a Lebanese boy in rural Texas, what he was best known for, his friendship and feud with Danny Hodge, as well as comments by Austin, Bill Watts, Jim Ross and Hodge. We also look at what he was most well known for regarding modern fans, his first match and his biggest career disappointment.
We also look at the state of Strikeforce coming out of Saturday's show, looking at the future for King Mo, Bobby Lashley, Tim Kennedy, the officiating issues, the regulatory problems with Texas and how the Lashley situation is unique for U.S. pro wrestling. We also update on the possibility of the Batista fight, business notes on the show, match-by-match coverage with poll results.
We also look at the big question coming out of last week's WEC show from a business standpoint, as well as match-by-match coverage of the show with poll ratings.
We've also got coverage of the major international event of the week, the 10th anniversary show from Pro Wrestling NOAH, as well as the in-ring NOAH vs. New Japan program that continued, and the symbolism of the results and matches.
We've also got a list of the winners of the annual New Japan singles tournament dating back to 1974, with finals that include many of the biggest names in the history of the sport.
We also have the complete lineup for what is the longest lasting traditional event in pro wrestling history, dating back to 1934, including comments on the unique main event.
We also have updates on what Bryan Danielson is being allowed and not allowed to do, an original Raw diva who is now an elected political official, Carlito talks about WWE, management and his booking. Why a former WWE wrestler who appeared to be headed for the top is going nowhere. We also look at a ton of new WWE signings.
We've also got the real business numbers for SummerSlam, as well as the weekend business on both the international and domestic front, and details from the weekend house shows, including both events at Sumo Hall in Tokyo.
We also look at the ratings for every national MMA and pro wrestling television show in the U.S., as well as the segment-by-segment numbers for the major shows.
We also have our weekly results from the major league arena events held around the world as well as the major TV show reviews.
The Wrestling Observer ranges from 25,000 to 40,000 words covering pro wrestling and MMA all over the world.
Each issue has coverage and analysis of all the major news, plus every issue breaks major news stories before the Internet sites and has the most complete look at the business as a whole anywhere. The Observer is now in its 28th year of being the leading insider pro wrestling publication in the world. The biggest and most influential names in the pro wrestling industry as well as the MMA industry, from bookers, to promoters to Hall of Fame wrestlers and fighters to the biggest current names, both on camera, and behind the scenes, along with thousands of readers in all 50 states and 30 countries subscribe. Many have subscribed as long as 20 years or more straight. They get the most detailed and inside coverage of what is going on all over the world and an accuracy from having the most inside sources that can't be found on the web. Everyone from Wall Street to the major offices to the TV networks in U.S. and Japan turn to the Observer for what is going on in the business. 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. Just send your Visa or Master Card order with your name, address, phone number, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or you can order by faxing that information to 408-244-3402. You can also subscribe via paypal at www.paypal.com and using the This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it address or subscribe via check, cash or money order, as well as credit card, by mail, by sending to Wrestling Observer Newsletter, P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228.
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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.
-- Albert Einstein. Sir Winston Churchill. Robert Kennedy. Ronald Reagan. Stephen Hawking. Dana White. Yes, Dana will be speaking at Oxford on October 13th. ESPN has a story on it with quotes from Dana here
-- As noted last night on our weekly FREE edition of Wrestling Observer Radio (scroll down the right-hand side of the front page to access it), Chris Jericho's contract is set to expire soon and as of last week he had not signed a new deal. He wants to stay with the company but there is an impasse, most likely having to do with the number of dates he works per month. He wants a lighter schedule to tour with his band and promote his book but WWE doesn't seem to want to set that precedent for people who don't have the tenure of, say, Undertaker.
-- Jericho on Twitter today said he'd been approached about doing the new season of Dancing with the Stars but couldn't due to scheduling issues. He said he hoped to do a season in the near future.
-- The new NXT rookies will likely debut tonight for what I'm sure will be a rocking five-episode season, as the Syfy contract expires October 1st and they have no broadcast home after that. We were told a few weeks back that they were going to have four guys and four girls competing this time, but things could change.
-- The Boston prelims did 1.1 million viewers, the lowest ever. Way to go Nik Lentz. The Spike weigh-ins did 380,000 viewers.
-- The Daily KOS has a story on Luna Vachon's death in their morning summary, bringing up the death of Luna Vachon and noted that prescription pain problems are a recurring theme with former WWE stars. Thanks to Paul Kacprzak.
-- Mick Foley has thoughts on Luna up here
-- Post Raw saw Sheamus defeat Cena and Undertaker in a Steel Cage match by crawling out the door. Thanks to James Brown for the report and for helping us out so much this past weekend.
-- Katie Vick was trending number 5 on Google this morning. LOL.
-- WWE knocked Jersey Shore a bit last night because TNA is doing a Jersey Shore character, and they ripped on Fear Factor a bit because of the Joe Rogan tie-in. An amazing program that was.
-- Shawn Michaels and Rebecca Michaels join the Experience with Weston and Jodi Clark for the second time tonight at 8 EST on the Sportsman Channel and the Pursuit Channel. More info is up at westonandjodi.com.
-- Alex Goff and his wife Rebecca were the two people wearing Granny's Gang T-shirts at the ROH show this weekend, and there are photos on her Facebook of the two of them posing with Jim Cornette and Stacy. Cornette will be our guest on Figure Four Daily with Todd Martin on Thursday talking more Smokey Mountain, ROH, etc.
-- Starting this week, Kindle editions of Figure Four Weekly will be available on Amazon for 99 cents per issue. It usually takes Amazon about 12-24 hours to get content live on the site, but as soon as it's up I'll post a link on the front page. We're also looking to up the quality of the formatting as I'm not too happy with how this week's issue came out. If you don't have a Kindle but have an iPhone, iPad, Droid, etc., there are Kindle apps you can download to read content on those devices. More info at Amazon.com
-- Cena is on Jimmy Fallon Thursday discussing Legendary.
-- Lance Storm has a great column here talking about the Dixie Carter Youshoot and her answer regarding why Vince Russo is still employed.
-- Audio of Pope D'Angelo Dinero on Right After Wrestling is up here
-- Alex Reid, who vowed to not have sex with Katie Price in the four weeks prior to his big fight next month, announced today that he had failed, and had sex with her after all.
-- TFC 11: Full Force MMA event will take place on Friday, September 10th at the Shaw Conference Center in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
-- Ed, Craig and Cutrer talk to Jerry Lynn here
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For the most in-depth and detailed news and analysis on pro-wrestling and MMA, always turn to Wrestlingobserver.com/Figure Four Weekly Online, the #1 website of its kind on the Internet. Members receive online access to both the Wrestling Observer and Figure Four Weekly newsletters and growing archives, Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer three times per week, the popular Bryan and Vinny Show twice per week, additional radio shows including Figure Four Daily with Alvarez, Mike Coughlin's Five Star Radio, the Dr. Keith Lipinski Show, The Adam and Mike Big Audio Nightmare, Tough Talk and the Karl Stern Wrestling History Show, the infamous BOARD, and more! Members also have full access to the thousands of hours of audio in our radio show archives which date back to 2005. For your convenience, we offer secure online payments using your VISA, Mastercard, American Express, Discover card or PayPal account. Don't miss out on the fun, sign up now! Don\'t miss out on the fun, sign up now!
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