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        We're looking for reports on last night's WEC show on Versus, 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're also looking for reports on today's Raw show in Toledo, Smackdown in Huntington, WV, TNA in Mankato, MN, as well as last night's Raw show in Terre Haute, IN, Smackdown in Bristol, TN and ROH show in Indianapolis at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

        Monday has the live Raw from Indianapolis, while there is a rare Monday night Smackdown house show in Pikeville, KY.  Masahiro Chono has his 25th anniversary show on Monday at Tokyo's Sumo Hall.

        Tuesday has a Smackdown taping in Lexington, KY.

       An examination of the WWE major programs, where they stand, and how they are handicapped by the current PPV theme situation, is the lead story in one of two issues of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter coming out this week.  

        A second issue lead story will be the history of the golden age of pro wrestling in Northern California.  We used the Hall of Fame biography on Roy Shire, who promoted pro wrestling in Northern California from 1961-1981, as a theme to look back at one of the strongest territories during those years.  This is one of the biggest historical pieces we've ever undertaken, as we look back at who Roy Shire was, who Ray Stevens was, Pat Patterson, Moondog Mayne, Pepper Gomez and so many others.

        The first issue is available on the web site right now to premium members.  The second issue, which will be a collectors item issue, will be on the web site tomorrow.  Details are below on getting the issues themselves delivered via mail.

        We look at the background of Punk vs. Undertaker, what happened, why it happened, and decisions that have been changed and where things go from here.  We also look at the other main event programs in the company going forward.     

        The San Francisco feature looks at the heyday, the many ways the wrestling industry today has been impacted by Shire as a booker, the legend of Ray Stevens, the story behind the famous Cow Palace Battle Royals that led to the Royal Rumble, a look at the most famous shows Shire put on, his biggest feuds, and a rundown of 20 years of ups and downs.

        We look at Roy Shire as a wrestler in the 50s, how he got started as a promoter, the heyday of National All-Star Wrestling, one of the highest rated wrestling television shows in the country, with lots of comments from people who were around from the start.  We look at Roy Shire's first show ever at the Cow Palace, Shire's first big angle, his most remembered angles, the Stevens vs. Gomez feud, Shire's philosophy of what a wrestling match was, and the ironies of his run and how that relates to Vince McMahon, Verne Gagne, Bill Watts and others who came after him.

        We look at Stevens vs. Sammartino, the Texas death matches, the atmosphere during the heyday of wrestling at the Cow Palace, the end of the Ray Stevens era, the Pat Patterson era, how television shaped the history of pro wrestling in this part of the country.  We look at Shire burning out as a booker, the heyday of Moondog Mayne, Bob Roop, Kevin Sullivan and Buddy Rose, attempts to buy and steal the territory and what actually killed the territory.

        We look at his decision to shut down, his final show, as well as the first pro wrestling personality to pose on a Playboy cover (and it was more than 30 years before Sable) as well as the alumnus of Roy Shire's wrestling who went on to become a major television star and had one of the most successful wall posters of anyone over a ten year period.  

        We look at Shire's philosophy of television, as well as the big name sports star he tried to lure into pro wrestling as well as his famous feud with a boxing Hall of Fame legend.  We look at his problems getting along with people, some of the most controversial issues during his run, and so many of the obstacles he dealt with.  We look at his attempts to kill pro wrestling after his run was over.

        We also have full coverage of the two major shows of the week.  We've got coverage of the WWE Hell in a Cell show, with poll results, business notes, match-by-match coverage with star ratings and more.  We also have coverage of Dream 11, looking at the good, bad, ugly, with match-by-match coverage and more on the company's next show.

        We also look at Kimbo Slice and UFC setting record ratings with the Ultimate Fighter reality show.  We look at just how strong the show was with Males 18-34, the records set as well as other records which were not set.  We look at the change in marketing of Slice, the fight itself, Roy Nelson talks about Kimbo and his future and lessons to learn regarding marketing of Slice.

        We also have a look at the SummerSlam buys, how they compare with last year both worldwide and domestic, and the key lessons of this year's show now that the numbers are in.

        We also have updates on Jeff Hardy and his court situation, Rock's appearance, Linda McMahon's campaign, Undertaker's future, Jim Ross' future and things to look for, as well as a former WWE star who canceled an interview saying he was negotiating to come back, injury updates, some new WWE doctrines, more on Matt Hardy, the WWE's best selling DVDs this year, as well as updates in other business categories.

        We also have a look at a new WWE signing, who was top three in the world in another sport, what former WWE star actually set up a famous Hollywood marriage, as well as the origin of the name of the current WWE star.

    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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Also in this week's issues:
 
--More notes on Bound for Glory

--TNA title change

--TNA TV specials on Spike

--ROH wrestler booked on an upcoming TNA date

--Lacey Von Erich causes controversy

--Pilot shot of several former WWE and TNA Divas

--Mick Foley talks philosophies of gimmicks

--A look at the TNA European tour and the recent TNA Impact tapings

--An updated look at UFC revenue and how it compares with WWE revenue

--Lots of new UFC matches

--Dana White gets high ranking

--UFC cuts and why

--The next season of Ultimate Fighter

--Matt Hughes talks future

--Movie about to come out featuring three former or current UFC champs

--Sentencing for UFC fighter in a car chase with police

--Jim Lampley talks UFC

--Update on Strikeforce matches

--A new promotion talks a national TV deal

--Second Misawa memorial show

--Surprise on Japanese tour

--NOAH jr. tournament news

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--Notes on funeral services for B.J. Race, the wife of Harley Race, who was loved by all who knew her, Monday is a Memorial and Visitation at the Eldon Community Center at 103 S. Maple from 6-8 p.m. with a service at 8 p.m.  Tuesday is a funeral service at 1 p.m. at Mount Moriah Terrace Park in Kansas City with a graveside service at 2 p.m.  Flowers may be sent to either location.  In lieu of flowers, a donation can be made to the Eldon Community Food Pantry at 312 East 2nd St., Eldon, MO 65026.
 
--CBS did have a Fedor Emelianenko brief spot airing during the Florida-LSU football game yesterday (thanks to Jonathan Snowden)
 
--The Sydney Morning Herald at http://wwwsmh.co.au/news/sport/cage-rage-coming-here/ has a story on the proposed UFC show on February in Sydney, Australia.  To get an idea of the piece, the cut line under the photo with the piece read, "It's madness.  If this was the animal world, the RSCA would come down on you like a ton of bricks."  It claimed the sport is banned in ten U.S. states (actually New York and West Virginia).  They noted that competitors can use vicious tactics like "pound and ground" (Michael Cole is getting that term picked up on).  It claims UFC rules explicitly ban fighters from avoiding contact, faking an injury, or throwing in the towel and there is an absence of a blood rule.  The story noted UFC in negotiations for a television deal.
 

--Donald Cerrone was quite the good sport last night, conceding the fight to Ben Henderson even though it was a close decision.

--Bryan and I will be back tonight with our weekend update news show on the site.  We will be taping at about 8 p.m. Pacific time and 11 p.m Eastern and taking phone calls, earlier than usual, so if you're on the East Coast and usually don't get a chance to call, check the site at a little after 11 p.m. and we'll have calling info up. 

--If you are a premium member, a couple of things this past week we've gotten a ton of positive feedback on is the roundtable discussion with myself, Lance Storm and Bryan from Thursday, as well as the new Observer with the history of pro wrestling in Northern California and look at Roy Shire, Ray Stevens and the Cow Palace wrestling era.
 
--The Chicago Tribune has a story on Mike Adamle competing in the Iron Man triathlon which actually took place yesterday is at http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/  Adamle, 60, last did the triathlon at the age of 49, taking 14 hours to complete a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bicycle ride and 26.2 mile marathon run.  A funny part of the story is they brought up the angle where he slapped Randy Orton, and acted like it was a shoot and this gutsy move to slap a guy so much younger and bigger than him.
 
--Bill Walkowitz at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it is looking for tapes of Sylvana Souza's Atlantic Wrestling Federation shows from Manchester, NH and WWA New England shows from 1998
 
--CZW from last night at the Arena in Philadelphia:  Jon Dahmer b Hebrew Hammer, Rich Swann b Joe Gacy, Adam Cole b Alex Colon, Team Macktion b Azreal & Bandido Jr., Greg Excellent b Trent Acid, Devon Moore b Egotistico Fantastico, H8 Club & Jon Moxley b OMG & Scotty Vortekz & D.J. Hyde, Drew Blood b Ryan McBride, Sami Callihan b Eddie Kingston, Best Around b Blkout, Drake Younger b B-Boy (best match in CZW so far this year.  Next show is 10/24 in Townsend, DE with a Tournament of Death Rewind 8.5 and next Philadelphia show is 11/14 (thanks to Bob Magee)
 
--While not on the web side, there is a story in today's Newsday on page A72 on Deividas Taurosevicius, who beat Javier Vazquez last night via controversial decision in a prelim match on the WEC show.  It noted that he was scheduled on the Fedor vs. Josh Barnett card that was canceled, and then signed to the 9/2 WEC show that was moved to 10/10, and that Vazquez became a new opponent, replacing Mark Hominick, on 10/10 on 9/21.  It noted with all the changes he's been in essentially a six month training camp.  Taurosevicius was a star on Lithuania's national rugby team, but left the team when they toured the U.S. in 2002, deciding to stay here and try MMA.
 
--The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has a review of Larry Matysik's book "Drawing Heat the Hard Way" at http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/entertainment/reviews.nsf/book/story/
 
--Poll on Smackdown
Excellent 26.4%
Good 50.0%
Average 12.3%
Fair 3.8%
Poor 7.5%
        30.3% of those responding didn't see the show
 
--Who do you expect to win this match?
Forrest Griffin 64.6%
Tito Ortiz 35.4%
 
Who is the best wrestler of this group?
Cowboy Bill Watts 29.1%
Giant Baba 26.4%
Mad Dog Vachon 18.2%
Whipper Billy Watson 17.8%
Stanislaus Zbyszko 8.5%
 
--USWO from Friday night in Nashville before 68 fans:  Psycho Medic & Travis Starr b Lee Cross & Convict, Bad Boy Dixon b Saint, L.T. Falk b Shaun Tempers-DQ, Shane Smalls b Chic Canyon, Lincoln Moseley b Chris Michaels-DQ, L.T. Falk & Wolfie D d Damien Payne & Josh Crowe, Ace Rockwell b Jeff Daniels
 
--USWO also ran last night in Nashville before 40 fans:  Psycho Medic b Violent T, David Matthews b Eric Hodge-DQ, Michael Jablonski b Convict, Bad Boy Dixon b Miss Rachel, Kevin Dunn d Damien Payne, Saint & Tim Renesto b Deathwish  (thanks to Jimmie Daniel)
 
--Not sure story behind this but Jerry Lawler did not appear at the Baltimore Comic Convention this weekend.  He was advertised to appear at the Headlocked booth (thanks to Mark Coale)  
 
--Thursday night in Naucalpan:  Halcon 2000 b Keshin Black, Eragon b Hijo del Signo, Jack & Miss Faviota b Epidemia & Heavy Boy, Exodia & Hombre Bala Jr. & Tetsuya Bushi b Arlequin Amarillo & Arlequin Rojo & Gringo Loco, Barba Roja & El Hijo del Pirata Morgan & Pirata Morgan Jr. b Los Oficiales in a non-title match.  The Morgans demanded an IWRG trios title match after winning.
 
--Major shows today in Mexico include Guadalajara with Maximo & Toscano & Volador Jr. vs. El Terrible & El Texano Jr. & Ray Mendoza Jr.  Arena Mexico has a special Sunday show with Blue Panther & Shocker & Strongman vs. Atlantis & Mr. Niebla & Ultimo Guerrero.  Santiago Escuintla has Jack Evans & La Parka vs. Alan Stone & Tigre Cota.  Saltillo has Mistico & Hector Garza & La Sombra vs. Averno & Mephisto & Negro Casas.  Ciudad Juarez has Cibernetico vs. Dr. Wagner Jr. vs. Mesias.  Arena Solidaridad in Monterrey has Mistico & La Sombra & Valiente vs. Negro Casas & Averno & Mephisto.  Perros Del Mal have their first TV taping in Ecatepec with Alebrije & Porky & L.A. Park vs. Perro Aguayo Jr. & Damian 666 & Halloween (thanks to Kris Zellner and Steve "Dr. Lucha" Sims)  
 
--High Voltage Wrestling from last night in Granite City, IL:  Kahagas b Eric Allen, Mississippi Madman b Matt Cage, Santana G b Mia Martinez, Jeremy Wyatt b Neil Diamond Cutter, Devin & Mason Cutter b Pierre Abernathy & Evan Gelistico, Cabal b Max Archer, Mike Sydal won Battle Royal, Donovan Ruddick b Mark Bland, Kahagas b Mark Sterling-DQ (thanks to Patrick Brandmeyer)
 
--TCW from last night in Marysville, WA:  Dash Ventura b Mike Santiago, Christopher Ryseck b Darren Chase, Tony Baroni & Nick Price b Damon James & Azul Angel, Sunni Daze b K.C. Spinelli, Cadillac Callis & J-Sinn Sullivan b Derek Drexl & Quiz, Dr. Kliever b Aaron Bolo (thanks to Charles Short)
 
--C4 Capital City Championship Combat on 10/16 in Ottawa at the Knights of Columbus Hall with Kevin Steen vs. Claudio Castagnoli and Michael Von Payton vs. Tyson Dux