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SUN. UPDATE: HELL IN THE CELL PREVIEW AND NOTES, SAKURABA BACK, MAYHEM FLIPS OUT, WOL, BUDDY, MORE PDF Print E-mail
By Bryan Alvarez

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We're looking for your thoughts on tonight's Hell in a Cell 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 spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

We will have coverage of the show on the site.  Dave has a web connection issue and may not be able to provide live updates, but if he can, he will.  If not, the update will be delayed by a few hours.    

Besides the PPV tonight, Raw takes place Monday night in Wilkes-Barre, PA with Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers offensive line as guest hosts. TNA tapes Impact for next Thursday, on Monday in Orlando with Matt Morgan & Abyss vs. Kurt Angle & Mick Foley, ODB vs. Tara for the Knockouts title and Kevin Nash vs. Hernandez for the Legends title.

Dream also airs late Monday night/early Tuesday night at 7 a.m. Eastern time and 4 a.m. Pacific time on HDNet, featuring the final four of a feather weight tournament (first round with Joe Warren vs. Bibiano Fernandes and Hiroyuki Takaya vs Hideo Tokoro), the Super Hulk tournament (Bob Sapp vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou and Choi Hong-man vs. Minowaman) plus Joachim Hansen vs. Shinya Aoki for the Dream lightweight title.

Tuesday night in Smackdown & ECW tapings in Trenton, and a second night of Impact tapings in Orlando.

The Hell in a Cell PPV takes place tonight from Newark, NJ:

*C.M. Punk vs. Undertaker for the world title in the Cell. I think the storyline may be Undertaker's had more HIAC matches than anyone, and Punk has never had one. It's an interesting deal just like at Breaking Point. Clearly, it's too soon for Punk to lose the title. Undertaker doesn't need the title, and with his limited schedule, you can argue he shouldn't get it. But Punk beating Undertaker in this match isn't going to happen without a second straight massive screw job. For what it's worth, and all finishes change and the Montreal finish went back-and-forth, the Smackdown crew seems to think Undertaker is taking it this time.

*John Cena vs. Randy Orton in the Cell. They are coming off a great match, but this match will have to be completely different. It really doesn't matter who wins, because when you look at the landscape, unless DX breaks up, neither one has a ready-made new opponent. Can we hear the phrase "More rematches," anyone?

*DX vs. Legacy in the Cell. A DX breakup could give Legacy the win. Other than that, it would be a surprise to see DX lose two straight matches. Then again, it was a surprise to see them lose the submission match. This also will have to be completely different than their Montreal match. Unlike Cena vs. Orton, in this case, that's for the better.

*Chris Jericho & Big Show vs. Batista & Rey Mysterio for the tag titles. Jericho and Mysterio had fantastic chemistry in their feud a few months back. This is Mysterio's return from suspension and the dynamic looks to be the best match Jericho & Show will have as champs.

*John Morrison vs. Dolph Ziggler for the IC title. In theory, the most important match on the show because these two are climbing. Not as far as titles, but the guys ahead of them on the show are staying in their spots, win, lose or draw. These two have a chance to elevate themselves, or to be picked apart if something doesn't go right. Ziggler has been groomed for the title for months so there could be a title switch here.

*Mickie James vs. Alicia Fox for the Divas title. At least it'll go short.

*Kofi Kingston vs. The Miz vs. Jack Swagger for the U.S. title. This depends more on the Newark fans. You know the guys will work hard and provide action. Whether people will care enough about it is the question, and whether they'll be given time or not. Miz is due for a title win to me at this point, ahead of Swagger. Kingston's had it for long enough that it's probably better for him to be back in the chasing position.

On paper, you have six of the seven matches that should be good. The only drawback I can see is if they have either bad finishes, or the three Hell in a Cell matches in one night detract from the presentation, particularly since they have the blood limitation.

A look at symbolic end of eras for Pro Wrestling NOAH, K-1 and Ring of Honor on shows over the weekend is our lead story in Monday's issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. With a big week of international news, we look at all the major events including the Mitsuharu Misawa Memorial show at Budokan Hall, and its significance. We look at how K-1's show in Seoul, South Korea ended a last link to the glory days of that promotion. And we talk about the departure of Bryan Danielson and Nigel McGuinness, with their final two matches in Ring of Honor, as well as the hiring of Jim Cornette, and that promotion going forward.

We also talk about the 9/19 PPV battle with HBO boxing vs. UFC, which updated numbers. We look at the many lessons that the weekend showed. We look at what Mayweather's camp credited his increase in drawing power to. We also look at three more major battles involving boxing, UFC, Strikeforce and WWE over the next two months as the competition for PPV dollars only increases.

We have updates on TNA's Bound for Glory with several matches not yet announced, a change with a major TNA group, reaction to Jim Cornette being gone as well as how the tapings last week went without him, and notes on the futures of Vince Russo and Jeff Jarrett, as well as an update on booking and TNA's problems with a longtime media supporter.

We also update Bobby Lashley's MMA situation including why he has no new fights scheduled, what show he's been told he's on, but probably isn't and why this would be. We also look at a note on TNA attempting to get one of the greatest wrestlers in history to make an appearance at Bound for Glory in one of its already scheduled matches.

We also look at a movie with three onetime major wrestling stars in it, including the roles they play, and have notes on TNA's international shows.

We also have notes on Dana White talking about Herschel Walker, talks regarding the return of an MMA icon to UFC and why right now it's not happening, lots of new UFC matches being signed, Tito Ortiz talks promos and pro wrestling, as well as trash talk between Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin.

We also have updates on the Strikeforce show on CBS.

We've got more notes on Linda McMahon and Jerry Lawler running for office, WWE's COO talks more about the success of UFC, one of the reasons why Raw has been lackluster of late as well as why creative has so many inherent problems, a major angle that was put on hold and a lawsuit filed by a former WWF champion against the company.

We also look at the announced retirement of the person who was a major pioneer in Japanese MMA.

We also look back at Lester Welch, as well as a background of the Fuller/Welch/Golden/Fields wrestling family in the Southeast, looking back on the famous war in Atlanta. We look back at the first pro wrestling show ever held at the Omni in Atlanta, as well as the first sold out pro wrestling event at the Omni. We also look at how Lester Welch was responsible for the worked home town of one of the WWWF's biggest all-time stars.

We also have a look at AAA's Antonio Pena Memorial Show and the major storyline angle, as well as the return of a major star and what happened in negotiations with ex-WWE talent, as well as a more detailed look at the CMLL Anniversary show, as well as coverage of the last UFC Fight Night.

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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-- As noted last night, R-Truth vs. Drew McIntyre has been added to the PPV tonight, which is surprising in the sense that we now have eight matches for the PPV, more than they like to do, and that's on a show where they've got three Cell matches, all of which you'd expect to be given some time.

-- At least as of awhile back, we were told Orton vs. Cena was going on last, although these decisions probably changed daily. Also, this weekend the belief was that the finish of the Morrison vs. Dolph match had changed. May have changed again by the time you read this.

-- Just a quick note that Dave is having major computer issues related to a cable outside his house that is apparently faulty and will need to be replaced. His Internet is going in and out and he probably won't be able to do running play-by-play for Hell in the Cell tonight. I will be able to do it, but it will probably be delayed about two hours since I won't be able to start watching the show until 7 PM Pacific. If Dave's Internet starts working he'll be able to do it at 5 Pacific. Either way, we'll both be up late tonight with our post-PPV radio show, probably around 12:30 AM Pacific.

-- I'll also be up with Mike Sempervive doing Wrestling Observer Live free on this website, Sirius/XM Satellite Radio channel 122, and Sports Byline affiliates nationwide. We'll have all the info on how to listen on the front page at 3:00 PM Pacific/6 Eastern. Show is two hours long and we'll talk all the news in pro-wrestling and MMA, plus take your phone calls at 1-800-878-PLAY and your emails at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

-- Rhaka Khan's profile has been removed from the TNA website. No surprise there.

-- Ted DiBiase talks to the UK Sun here, including some comments about the Hell in the Cell PPV tonight.

-- Dave has a look at the crazy fall MMA schedule up here.

-- You must watch this video.

-- Miz has an interview here highlighted by him burying boxing and MMA for having main events that are three minutes long. Probably the wrong year to be doing that.

-- Ric Flair talks football with Mike Mooneyham here. The 12-year-old in me laughs at the headline.

-- There is a look at the huge Ultimate Collectibles signing extravaganza here, where Bobby Heenan made his first appearance in many years. Ice-T and his wife Coco, who apparently will be hosting Raw at some point, were there as well.

-- For those who listened to the Michael Schiavello show, Dream 11 airs Tuesday at 7AM ET/4AM PT. It's slightly tape delayed to accommodate TBS.

--Speaking of that show, they just announced that Kazushi Sakuraba would be fighting on the show against a boxer, Rubin Williams, who has never done MMA and has lost his last six boxing matches.  Williams did get a title shot at Jeff Lacey a few years back.  

-- Buddy Wayne was home from the hospital last night, three days after undergoing open heart surgery to replace a missing valve. For those that heard his last appearance on Figure Four Daily, he loves the new chair.

-- Shane writes: Just another note about Austin on Soccer AM Saturday. He said he had never been in a Hell In A Cell match and never wanted to be in one because it's so brutal. Funny thing is he was in one (the Armageddon 2000 six-way with Taker, Rock, HHH, Angle & Rikishi). Shows how much it meant to him I guess.

-- James in Ireland writes: The attendance of the TNA house show in the O2 Arena, Dublin was only around 2000 people. The O2 Arena in Dublin holds over 9000 people for boxing and wrestling events. WWE's house shows, UFC 93 and the recent Bernard Dunne Vs Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym fight were able to get that attendence. Also the posters used to advertise the TNA show were the same used for their European tour back in January, with the same roster advertised. The poster used then and now still advertised people like Gail Kim, Tomko, Sonjay Dutt, Shark Boy and Curry Man.

-- Stacy writes: A small but amusing tidbit you might like. On WWE TV shown in Australia they have banners promoting the tour for next August, complete with a new caption calling it the "Official WWE Tour", I guess to distinguish it from the Hulkamania tour, in case people didnt realise that Hogan had left the company.

-- HPW Wrestling "OUTRAGE", 10/3/09, Columbus, IN, Attendance 180 paid: Cousin Cooter pinned Fast Eddie, TVZ beat Garry Cherry & TJ Kemp, Bobby Black pinned Dylan Bostic, Jeff Ryzer pinned Donny Idol, Ox Harley & General Lee beat Hillbillly Jed & Jack Omen, Pastor Pain beat Diceman Ronnie Vegas with help from Michael Myers. HPW Returns to Columbus, In Saturday November 7th for their 11 Year Anniversary Show

 

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