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Lots of tapings going on. Monday night's Raw was taped Monday afternoon and results are up elsewhere on the site. TNA tapes Monday and Tuesday night, and it is believed they're doing the Kurt Angle vs. Sting title rematch on one of the shows. On the Smackdown side, the rumor is that Harry Smith is set to debut, which would at least for the time being put an end to plans for the New Hart Foundation. Teddy Hart was out of the group anyway, although they could still use Nattie Neidhart as his manager. She could also ultimately come in with TJ Wilson if they have imminent plans for him.The creation of World Victory Road, Inc. and the Japanese MMA Association were announced at a press conference in Japan today. We'll have much more in the new issue of Figure Four Weekly that comes out tomorrow, but basically it's a way to try to fill the gap left by the death of PRIDE. The key at this point is that they don't have any sort of TV outlet, which is critical, though they claim they're working on one.
Konnan, who wrestled very briefly at the Antonio Pena Tribute show this past week, appears to be debuting regularly in AAA six-man main events starting this Friday.
Erik Paulson beat Jeff Ford in the main event of the HDNets Fight debut on Saturday night. This is Mark Cuban's new group.
Don't forget, Chris Jericho is the guest on Wednesday's members-only Figure Four Daily discussing, among things, his new book. We're told the book is out in some stores right now, and Lance Storm after reading it said it was the best wrestling book of all time, better even than Foley's first. Jericho is also the guest on next Sunday's Wrestling Observer Live with guest co-host Dave Meltzer.
Last night's Observer Live with co-host Lance Storm and guest Kaz of TNA is available here. Thanks as always to cutrer. A ton of past episodes are archived on our members-only BOARD as well.
Crawford Grimsley of the Cage Fighting Championships announced today that he'd put up $3 million for Randy Couture vs. Fedor Emelianenko. Each guy would be guaranteed $1 million and the winner would get a $1 million bonus. Don't hold your breath.
Joey Matthews has signed with TNA, which was why he was replaced by Nick Dinsmore as head trainer of the OVW developmental class last week. He worked a dark match at Bound for Glory.
Indy notes for the weekend courtesy the great DAN:
Human Tornado and Tony Kozina have been added to the main cards for Ring of Honor’s 10/19 Las Vegas show and the 10/21 San Francisco show.
IWA Mid-South ran two shows on 10/13, first holding an IWA vs. Elite Pro afternoon show, followed by the 11th Anniversary show. In results from the IWA vs. Elite Pro show: Jason Hades (Elite Pro) def. Lucky (IWA) (substituting for Billy Roc, who was sick); Deranged (IWA) def. Jay Jensen (Elite Pro); Rob Conway def. Joey Ryan in a match taped for the FSM DVD; Mickie Knuckles (IWA) def. Kimberley Kash (Elite Pro); Dysfunction & The Night Breed (Elite Pro) def. Ricochet, Eddie Kingston & Devon Moore (IWA) when Dysfunction pinned Moore; Acid (Elite Pro) def. Chuck Taylor (IWA); The Iron Saints (IWA) def. Team Taliban (Elite Pro); Brandon Thomaselli (Elite Pro) def. Ian Rotten (IWA) after interference from Vito Thomaselli to win the challenge. Sal Thomaselli was appalled at Vito’s actions, so they set up Ian & Sal vs. Brandon & Vito for the IWA “Simply the Best” show.
In the main IWA 11th Anniversary Show results: Chrisjen Hayme def. Ben McCoy with a 450 splash; Devon Moore def. Jason Hades, Troy Walters, Lucky, Dingo and Justin Dredd in a 6-way elimination match; Jack Thriller def. Jimmy Jacobs by submission; Deranged def. Brandon Thomaselli; Chuck Taylor def. Ricochet; Milwaukee’s Best (Dysfunction & Silas Young) def. Josh Abercrombie & Mickie Knuckles (subbing for Nate Webb) in a falls count anywhere match after interference from their valet Valerie Malone; BJ Whitmer def. CJ Otis; Jason Dukes def. Ian Rotten to retain the NWA Midwest X-Division Title in an old school IWA rules match after interference from Joey Ryan and Karl Anderson; Eddie Kingston def. Michael Elgin and Roderick Strong when he pinned Elgin; Joey Ryan & Karl Anderson def. The Iron Saints to retain the NWA World Tag Team titles. The Saints argued throughout, and Vito left alone after; Freak Show def. Insane Lane in a barbed wire boards-and-bat match after a dragon suplex into a board. During the show, Ian Rotten told everyone that the debts were getting too high, and there was a very good possibility that IWA will be done on December 7th. “The debts have gotten too great for both Ian and Jim [Fannin] to be able to continue and in all likelihood, barring a complete change of heart and reversal of fortune, December 7th will be the end of the road for IWA Mid-South.”
CZW “Choosing Sides” results from Philadelphia, PA: Brodie Lee & Cheech def. The Olsen Twins and ???; Danny Demanto & Jon Dahmer def. CJ O’Doyle & Ryan McBride. Demanto proceeded to cut a 10-minute promo burying O’Doyle; There was a Nicky Benz lounge singer segment thing with three CZW students and Greg Excellent that nobody could possibly care for; Ruckus def. Human Tornado in a ladder match to retain the CZW Title; Niles Young & Derek Frazier def. Andy Sumner & Drew Gulak to win the CZW Tag Team Titles; Sabian def. Danny Havoc to win the CZW Jr. Heavyweight Title after the Maven Bentley Association all laid out Havoc; DJ Hyde & Brain Damage def. Necro Butcher & Toby Klein; The Naptown Dragons def. Drake Younger & JC Bailey.
Lance Storm's latest column is up here.
Oliver Copp and Mike Sawyer, frequent MMA guests on Figure Four Daily, have their first radio show up here.
Game Plan with Rock held very steady this week, coming in at second place with $11.5 million.
A completely insane No Mercy PPV headlines this week's new 26,000-word Figure Four Weekly newsletter. We'll discuss the show in great depth, not only all the matches with star ratings, but also all the backstage machinations and such. What happened when Cena went down? What did WWE know when Vince McMahon appeared on ECW to talk No Mercy? When was the meeting to decide what to do? Why was the decision made to go with Randy Orton at the end? What were some of the arguments for what they ended up doing, and what were some of the alternatives that would have worked just as well, and perhaps better? Was there interest in the show? Was it a bad idea to hotshot the title and was this reminiscent, of, say, the ECW deal with Tommy Dreamer, Tazz and Mike Awesome? Did it hurt the belt? What other options were suggested, and what stars have been talked about in regards to moving from Smackdown to replace Cena? What are the chances of that happening? Why was CM Punk's match so short, and what was the story with Punk and Tony Atlas in ECW? A huge article looking at where WWE is today and where they're going in great detail. We've also got another cover story on the official death and final end of PRIDE, why it happened, who is to blame, and who should not be blamed. It's a sad story, but it's what has happened. We've got the latest in the Phil Astin case, what he's being accused of, what he's actually been charged with contrary to popular belief, latest on Congressional hearings, latest on superseding indictments, and another major TV outlet looking to do a major story on this. We'll talk about Raw's tanking ratings and what it means for the future, including how USA Network is reacting to it and steps they are taking. There is a battle of sorts going on here that could have major ramifications on the business. We have the latest on Cena's surgery and how long he'll be out, more notes on the Condemned, changes in developmental and wrestlers fired, update on Chris Jericho, the return of Tough Enough???, a storyline proposed by of all people Lilian Garcia, WWE Films news, what happened with Roddy Piper and why that Cyber Sunday deal fell through, Major Brothers have heat, Rock's movie notes, tons of notes on both the two-hour debut of Impact and the Kurt Angle DUI arrest, including what he was doing at the time, why cops went to his house, what he was doing when they talked to him, why he was taken to the hospital, why his license has been suspended, what his lawyer is saying publicly, TNA's reaction, and much more. We have two-hour debut ratings, funny notes from a Pacman interview, amazing notes from a Dixie Carter interview, notes on TNA in high-def, a big match signed for UFC in Newark, why this fight was signed and not another one, the rest of the card, update on Tito Ortiz, drug test failure in UFC and his penalty, Shogun undergoes surgery, Unleashed and TUF ratings, Serra talks Joe Scarola, update on Silva, changes in sports betting with UFC on the rise, the doom of UFC on HBO, what happened and what both sides are saying about it, a big UFC show in the Northwest that fell through, Nate Quarry talks back surgery, Strikeforce payouts and some weirdness about them, Tank Abbott vs. Kimbo Slice, why it fell through and whether it'll eventually take place, indy wrestler passes away, former New Japan champion attempts suicide, how he's doing at press time, new IWGP Champion, TNA to the Tokyo Dome?, tons of notes on Jonny Fairplay vs. Danny Bonaduce, lawsuits and such threatened, what the DA said about the case, tons of notes from a convention that went horribly awry, who was going to kill the promoter, notes on the San Francisco Cow Palace show, former OVW star on national TV, RVD talks health care and more, tons of notes from Mexico and ROH including notes on a new ROH Champion and results of both major shows this weekend (including the fourth PPV taping), Vince reviews some Mid-Atlantic from 1978 as well as Derby City Wrestling, which also sometimes appears to have been booked in 1978, and I have full reviews of every major TV show including Raw, Smackdown, TNA, Derby City Wrestling, Ultimate Fighter, Human Weapon and TONS more! Of course, as a member you also get full access to ALL new and archived radio shows dating back to 2005, plus all the new and archived (320-plus issues) Figure Four Weekly newsletters dating back to 2001. To sign up, please click here, or PayPal users can use the Quick Buy link at the top of this page to be online within 60 seconds. Rates start at just $7.99 per month (27 cents a DAY), so it's a steal. Thanks for your support!
Our latest FREE radio show, the October 9 Bryan & Vinny Show, can be downloaded here.
My newest Fight Network column is here with a look at Raw's recent ratings slide. If you like the columns, they're about 1/25th the length of each issue of Figure Four Weekly, and we've got 300 back issues archived from 2002-today, all available 24/7 with an online membership to this site. See below for more info and ordering details.
Some fighters think UFC salaries unfair
UFC 77 a second chance for fighter Sylvia
Josh Burkman savours a second chance in and outside the ring
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