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Today has a lot going on as UFC 104 takes place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, headlined by Lyoto Machida vs. Mauricio Shogun Rua for the light heavyweight title and Cain Velasquez vs. Ben Rothwell in a heavyweight match.

We're also looking for reports on tonight's WWE tribranded house show in State College, PA, the TNA  house show in Racine, WI. and the Dream show in Osaka with a show that airs live on HDNet at 2 a.m. Eastern and 11 p.m. Pacific time.

Sunday has the WWE Bragging Rights PPV at the Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh, with Randy Orton vs. John Cena in a 60:00 Iron man match for the WWE title, Undertaker vs. Batista vs. C.M. Punk vs. Rey Mysterio for the World title and Team Raw of DX & Kofi Kingston & Mark Henry & Jack Swagger & Big Show & Cody Rhodes vs. Chris Jericho & Kane & Matt Hardy & R-Truth & Fit Finlay & David Hart Smith & Tyson Kidd.

TNA also has a house show in Green Bay on Sunday.

Monday has Raw TV from Buffalo as well as he K-1 World Max tournament from the Yokohama Arena. This won't air until Halloween night on tape in the U.S., but is probably the closest thing to a guaranteed great show as there is.

Tuesday has Smackdown & ECW tapings from Rochester, NY. Already announced is Christian vs. Yoshi Tatsu for the ECW title.

A look at Shane McMahon's departure from WWE with comments from several people who have worked with him in recent years, possible future, and analysis is the lead story in this coming Monday's issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

The issue looks at his resignation, the reaction of Vince McMahon, and possible reasons why this is taking place now. We also look back historically at several different times when Shane McMahon was expected to run a promotion and that in all cases for a variety of different reasons it never materialized. We look at what league he is in financially when it comes to being able to start a franchise.

We look at what he would and wouldn't bring to a new venture, reactions to his job running a division from both the inside and outside, and a look at people in other businesses in similar situations.

Monday's issue is available right now to web site subscribers. You can also get the Observer by mail subscription with details below.

We have a huge feature on the life and times of Lou Albano that will be out next week.

We've got a look at where TNA stands after Bound for Glory, including the pros and cons of the current direction. We look at the problems continuing with the company's inability to get paying customers, even to its biggest show of the year.

We look at the Kim Couture angle and why it's doomed to fail, the injuries on the show, how everything builds to Turning Point as well as a TNA major main event scheduled for after.

We've got notes on the signing of Nigel McGuinness and how it happened and why he is in the main event picture so quickly, as well as notes on the short-term direction of Kurt Angle and Mick Foley.

We also have an updated Turning Point lineup, match-by-match coverage with star ratings for Bound for Glory as well as poll results on the show.

We also have the story behind the changing of the main event at Bragging Rights. We also look at the funny story to some, but not to at least one of the participants who ended up not there, regarding the match where the Smackdown team changed.

We've got notes on Jerry Lawler's reaction to the Memphis mayoral race, one of the last significant business deals put together by Shane McMahon that will affect PPV buys, Maria Menounos talks about being a wrestling fan, notes on the change to Kofi Kingston, John Cena being pulled from house shows soon, several WWE surveys regarding PPV numbers being down as well as the effect of MMA.

We've got a major story on Linda McMahon's political campaign, including the early days and involvement of pro wrestling, as well as new places her comebacks have made her vulnerable to opposition.

We also have notes regarding two Hall of Famers who are in talks about guest hosting Raw and updates on time frames they are looking at. We've got funny notes on WWE booking, updates on FCW, Punk talking about who he wants to face at WrestleMania and hints at a stipulation, as well as a rundown on all the weekend WWE events, including some huge shows in Mexico. We also have notes on how WWE has changed the Mexico landscape and scary numbers for the locals with the new ratings being released.

We also look at names announced for what will be most likely the most-watched television event of the year worldwide, the annual New Year's Eve Dynamite show. We look at who has been chosen for the main event, what matches are scheduled and what four major pro wrestlers are headlining.

We have an update on Jim Ross, notes on his Bell's Palsy attack as well as a look back at his past history with the malady, how it has affected his career, a look at his career dating back 35 years, and how, in various situations, he was brought back after the decision was made to take him off announcing, including what two wrestlers got him back in 1999, and how fan reaction at a show literally saved his job two years ago, update on his negotiations, as well as why he ended up with WWF and the strange circumstances of the announcement.

We've also got the updated business charts for WWE and TNA, looking at the summer with live attendance, gates, ratings of all the major TV shows, and PPV buys for both companies, so you can see where things are up and where things are down. We look at the first month where WWE showed a PPV increase, but how it is tempered by SummerSlam numbers.

We also look at a new promotion debuting in April that already has a three-pronged television deal for MMA, which will include weekly two-plus hour live shows on national television, as well as a major network recap show. We look at the schedule, as well as the viability of the project, and the format.

We've got a story on the death of longtime Japanese journeyman wrestler Ryuma Go, including how and why he got one of the biggest reactions on what can be argued was the biggest show, in terms of talent, in pro wrestling history that took place in 1995. We look at a wrestler who started at the age of 15, and went all over the world, and at one time was a cult television star in Japan. We also look back on his most famous program, where he ended a famous winning streak in a match 30 years ago this month that is still widely remembered in Japan.

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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-- Line-up and weigh-ins results for tonight's show. Don't forget, they'll be airing prelims live starting at 6 PT/9 ET with the PPV starting at 7 PT/10 ET. Dave and I will be up very, very late tonight with a full rundown and analysis of the show, plus tons of news. We'll also be back Sunday night with a review of the WWE Bragging Rights PPV plus news and notes on that show.

Stefan Struve (243.5) vs. Chase Gormley (262)
Kyle Kingsbury (205.5) vs. Razak Al-Hassan (204.5)
Jorge Rivera (185) vs. Rob Kimmons (185)
Yushin Okami (185) vs. Chael Sonnen (185)

Live fights on Spike
Antoni Hardonk (249.5) vs. Pat Barry (237)
Ryan Bader (205) vs. Eric Red Schafer (205.5)

Live fights on PPV

Josh Neer (156.5) vs. Gleison Tibau (157)
Anthony Johnson (176) vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida (170)
Joe Stevenson (155.5) vs. Spencer Fisher (155)
Cain Velasquez (238) vs. Ben Rothwell (265)
Lyoto Machida (202.5) vs. Mauricio Shogun Rua (204.5) for light heavyweight title

Yoshida, Neer and Tibau all made agreements to fight at the weights they weighed in at. Neer and Tibau both agreed to waive any issues over the opponent not making weight. When Yoshida's camp was told ahead of time that Johnson couldn't get below 176 (he was 208 the last time I saw him and rumors he was as heavy as 225 and not fat at that weight when he started dropping weight), they made an agreement that if he weighed 176, that Yoshida would get 20% of his purse.

-- I saw a picture of Anderson Silva at the weight-ins and he looked huge, and not in a good way.

-- The video player that was used for the weigh-ins will feature the post-show press conference as well moments after it wraps up. I'll put it up on the front page later on today. They aren't going live with the press conferences anymore because the wireless in the buildings sucks (ask anyone who has ever done ongoing play-by-play) and it's best to wait and stream it afterwards.

-- They've papered enough in LA that as of last night there were 17,000 tickets gone, so it'll be pretty much filled up by the time the show starts tonight.

-- DREAM weigh-in results for tonight's show:
1. Alistair Overeem (253) vs. James Thompson (277)
2. Eddie Alvarez (153.6) vs. Katsunori Kikuno (154.0)
3. Marius Zaromskis (167.2) vs. Myeon Ho Bae (166.8)
4. Zelg Galesic (187) vs. Kazushi Sakuraba (184.8)
5. Tokimitsu Ishizawa (183.3) vs. Katsuyori Shibata (183.3) in a battle of pro-wrestlers
6. Tarec Saffiedine (182.6) vs. Yoon Dong Sik (184.4)
7. Chase Beebe (138.6) vs. Yoshiro Maeda (138.2)
8. Kuniyoshi Hironaka (154) vs. Won Sik Park (154)
9. Keisuke Fujiwara (138.2) vs. Tomoya Miyashita (138.6)

-- Ed Soares is now saying that Paulo Filho is not, in fact, missing, but rather had a visa issue and that's why he's not on the show.

-- Sad to report that Shiloh Pepin, known as "Mermaid Girl" from Discovery Channel and TLC documentaries as well as an appearance on Oprah last month, passed away yesterday at the age of 10. She was a huge wrestling fan and had gotten a chance of late to attend a WWE PPV event and watch her father manage John Cena Sr. at a Millennium Wrestling Federation show.

-- Interview with Dolph Ziggler here talking about being pulled from the PPV (he is still expected to appear on the show), Shane McMahon and more.

-- There is a look at the WWE Travel Packages here. Not cheap.

-- Video here of CM Punk visiting kids at a local children's hospital.

-- Fascinating article here about WWE and it's new PG mentality, how there are no more steroids, how their target audience is people 8 to 80, and more.

-- Hulk Hogan will have a press conference this coming Tuesday at the Mall Area of Madison Square Garden to launch his new book, My Life Outside the Ring. You can order the book right now by clicking here

-- Former Ottawa Pro wrestling and boxing promoter Howard Darwin died on Thursday. He was 78.

-- The Antelope Valley College Art Gallery will be presenting Sound of the Body Slams, a look at wrestling in documentary films, which will include the premier screening of Wrestling Then and Now, directed by Dwayne Walker and a special screening of Hard Knocks, a film by Arthur Cauty. Event takes place Saturday, November 7 from 7:30 p.m. to 10 p.m at the AVC Campus, Lancaster, CA, Building FA3, room 163.

-- Clips of Rampage from the A-Team movie from Entertainment Tonight are up here.

-- Site sponsor I Tap Boys! has unveiled a new women's MMA t-shirt here featuring their new logo. They'll be on site selling shirts and shorts at the Hooligan Inc.-promoted show in Mount Vernon, WA tonight at Skagit Valley College.

-- An article on indy worker Bull Pain is up here.

-- WWE.com has added a Where Are They Now? with Lex Luger, which you can check out by clicking here. That is DDP in the picture with him, and Page will be the guest on Figure Four Daily this Tuesday talking a number of new projects, one of which is a bit of a surprise.

-- Mike Mooneyham has a look at the Gordon Solie book here. You can order the book, which is apparently selling very well, by visiting the Crowbar Press website.

-- The Tri-State Wrestling Alliance (TWA) Reunion Show is today, Saturday, October 24, 2009 at the Flyer's Skate Zone, 601 Laurel Oak Road, Voorhees, NJ 08043 (856-309-4400). Doors open at 6:30 PM and Bell Time is 7:30 PM. Tickets are only $12 ringside and $10 general admission and will be available at the door. Al Snow vs. Steve Corino headlines.

-- Ring Wars Carolina's 2 Ring event. Proceeds to benefit Relay for Life. West Hoke Middle School. October 24, 2009, 7:30 pm

-- Pro Wrestling Uncensored will be making its debut on December 5th in Orlando with everyone from Shane Douglas to Jerry Lynn. They have premiered their brand new website here.

-- New episode of NWA Fusion Meltdown here.

-- Lucha in El Paso at the Wild West Ballroom last night: Principle RBD DRAW Drako, Metro & Pequeno Suicida d Hermes Jr. & Duke, Maquina 45 Jr & Black Panther b Scorpio Jr. & Peluchin Maldad, Takeda & Muneco Inferno & Crazy Boy 32 DQ Rocky Star & Cinta de Oro & Tigre Sagrado, Hijo del Santo & Cassandro & Mr. Leo b Mystyco & Bestia Jr. & Bestia II. Santo was given a plaque for his 27th year in wrestling before his match. Also, a cake, so that's a win.