We also have our usual weekly features with results of the major arena shows from around the world, and the major TV show rundowns and 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
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Also in this week's issue:
--A look at this past week's Arena Mexico show
--More on the retirement of Tinieblas
--Mexico ratings
--Notes from this past week's AAA TV taping that included Jeff Jarrett and Abyss
--Major debut this week
--A look at Dragon Gate USA's next series of shows
--A look at a number of new Dragon Gate title matches
--All Japan vs. New Japan & Big Japan main event
--More on the New Japan tour of the Northeast
--Two major stars team up for the first time in nine years on a major show main event in August
--Shinya Hashimoto's son faces another major test
--Notes from the Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame inductions
--Mark Lewin, Ivan Koloff, Destroyer and others induct people
--Notes on the debut of the new Urban Wrestling Federation on PPV
--One of the greatest wrestlers in U.S. history in the Danny Hodge era passes away
--Dory Funk Jr.'s return to St. Louis
--What happened with Terry Taylor in TNA
--Mick Foley's charity work
--TNA star whose contract expires shortly
--Desmond Wolfe talks
--Someone who was going to be brought to TNA is now on hold
--Plight of the X Division
--A look at the TNA weekend house shows
--A look at UFC in New York and the steps of how it may or may not get approval
--A look at the next UFC show
--Update on Jose Aldo Jr.
--Upcoming ticket sales for UFC events
--Update on Nick Diaz's career
--Major new sponsor headed to UFC and another close to coming
--What quote motivates Lorenzo Fertitta
--Demographic studies of UFC and what is shows about popularity on the current sports scene
--Notes on UFC's two major sponsors and how long they are committed for
--Another UFC fighter imitating Ric Flair
--The Jon Jones vs. Rashad Evans feud from this week
--More on the guy Tito Ortiz bailed out and how it is giving UFC bad local publicity
--Nevada commission makes judging concession
--Dana White talks women fighting
--White compares UFC to boxing and wrestling
--Dietary change causes UFC fighter to lose 30 pounds
--Lots of upcoming UFC fights
--A look at Bellator's summer tournament
--Pacquiao vs. Mosley numbers
--Two former UFC stars arrested this past week and details
New subscribers ordering 24 or 40 issues can get free issues from the last 18 years. You can get 2 free back issues by ordering 40 or more
issues and one for 24. Let us know which stories you are most interested in and we'll send the issue with the best coverage of that story. We've
got coverage of every major PPV event and world wide spectacular, every major star switching promotions, histories of companies like FMW, Rings and New Japan, retirement and obit issues of every major star who fits into those descriptions over the past 18 years, as well as our biggest
issue every year, the annual awards issue, and our most controversial issue of every year, the Hall of Fame issue. Our most requested issues in
our history are:
*November 17, 1997 (full details of everything leading to the most famous
wrestling match finish of modern times at the Survivor Series plus a
history of in-ring double-crosses)*December 21, 1998 (the complete Vince McMahon-Bret Hart conversation
right before the Survivor Series match so you'll know exactly what was
said--the conversation played in edited form both on the inaugural
broadcast of Confidential as well as in Wrestling with Shadows, but
everything that was said between the two about the match that was going
to take place that same night)
*August 1, 1994 (the most detailed coverage anywhere of the Vince McMahon
steroid trial, an issue praised in numerous newspaper article
and Sex, Lies and Headlocks)
*March 26, 2001 (death of WCW and history of pro wrestling on the Turner
networks)
*October 22, 2001 (why the adult audience has left pro wrestling in such
great numbers and what needed to have been done to save them)
*July 8, 1991 (Ric Flair leaves WCW as world champion/Zahorian
steroid trial)
*February 8, 1993 (the life and times of Andre the Giant)
*May 13, 2002 (the life story of the most incredible pro wrestling career
ever, a look at Lou Thesz, in one of the largest issues of our
history)
*January 27, 2003 (part one of the two-part series covering the career
and life of The Sheik)
*February 3, 2003 (Part two on The Sheik including thoughts from people
who worked with him and where he stands historically)
*March 24, 2003 (history of the WWWF title, inside behind the Sammartino,
Backlund and Backlund era)
*April 21, 2003 (history of WWF continues with the expansion nationally,
the death of the regional territories and the rise of Hulk
Hogan)
*May 12, 2003 (The life and death of Elizabeth, and the rise of fall of
Lex Luger)
*June 9, 2003 (Part 1 of history of WWF vs. WCW wars and what many say
was the greatest year in U.S. wrestling; plus a look at Fred Blassie)
*June 16, 2003 (Freddie Blassie through the eyes of his biggest rivals
and friends)
*July 28, 2003 (Part 2 of the history of the WWF vs. WCW war and the
plans to make new superstars in the early 90s, what happened, and the
night where the three biggest wrestling companies in the world combined
for a joint show and what happened)
*August 25, 2003 (2003 Hall of Fame issue with huge profiles on the
controversial career of Shawn Michaels, Chris Benoit as well as
historical features on Earl Caddock and Francisco Flores)
*September 22, 2003 (Part 3 of the history of the WWF vs WCW war with the
seeds that caused the collapse of the industry in the 90s,
Zahorian trial, Gulf War controversy, Flair leaves WCW while holding
world title and much more)
*October 27, 2003 (The fascinating life of Stu Hart plus the story of
Road Warrior Hawk)
*January 19, 2004 (2003 Awards issue)
*February 2, 2004 (History of Toronto wrestling, Jack Tunney life story,
Royal Rumble and Battle Royal history)
*February 23, 2004 (History of Guerrero family with Eddy's win over Brock
Lesnar)
*March 1, 2004 (History of WWF continues with the period that brought the
company down in early 1992, the mistakes, the real stories and how the
business changed)
*March 8, 2004 (History of Wrestlemania, its greatest matches and best
and worst shows as voted both by wrestlers and non-wrestlers and
Wrestlemania history books)
*July 5, 2004 (A look behind the scenes and Ric Flair's book and his
background with Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan)
*July 12, 2004 (A look at more on Ric Flair's book and his comments on
Bruno Sammartino, Bret Hart and Mick Foley)
*August 16, 2004 (History of the Olympians in pro wrestling)
*August 23, 2004 (2004 Hall of Fame issue and biggest issue of the year
with huge profiles on Kazushi Sakuraba, Undertaker, Bob Backlund,
Masahiro Chono, Ultimo Dragon, Kurt Angle and Tarzan Lopez--this counts
as one issue if you are asking for a free issue, but ordered separately,
due to size, is $6 in North America and $7 overseas)
*October 4, 2004 (the life and times of Big Bossman; as well as details
of the life and times of one of the most influential men world wide in
pro wrestling history, Jim Barnett)
*November 15, 2004 (the full story of what happened between Kurt Angle
and Daniel Puder, plus coverage of the most important week in the
history of TNA)
*January 24, 2005 (2004 Awards issue, Rock and WWE part company)
*March 14, 2005 (the 50 biggest money players in the history of WWF and a
look at their Hall of Fame)
*May 9, 2005 (the life and times of Chris Candido)
*June 20, 2005 (The full story behind Paul Heyman and the death of ECW,
as well as coverage of One Night Stand, Hardcore Homecoming and
behind the scenes of both shows)
*July 18, 2005 (death of Shinya Hashimoto and his records with a look at
the fall of New Japan, the Matt Hardy angle, tons of WWE firings,
Cornette firing in detail as well as problems of a WWE developmental
territory in our biggest news issue of the year which is a double-sized
issue and would be $6 on its own and $7 overseas)
*August 24, 2005 (2005 Hall of Fame issue with career profiles of Paul
Heyman, HHH and Freebirds plus debut of MMA Hall of Fame)
*September 12, 2005 (History of Mid South Wrestling)
*October 10, 2005 (Life and Times of the Ultimate Warrior)
*November 21, 2005 (Life and Times of Eddy Guerrero and Crusher, double
issue $6 on its own and $7 overseas)
*December 5, 2005 (The Eddy Guerrero special issue, double issue $6 on
its own, $7 overseas)
*January 9, 2006 (The life and times of Superstar Billy Graham, plus New
Year's Eve 2005 coverage)
*January 16, 2006 (2005 Awards double issue, $6 or $7 overseas)
*April 3, 2006 (Story of Ann Calvello and the history of Roller
Derby--many called this the best issue of the Observer ever)
*April 10, 2006 (Behind the scenes at the 2006 Wrestlemania/Hall of Fame
week)
*July 24, 2006 (The History of the Von Erichs and World Class
Championship Wrestling--the most unreal story ever in wrestling)
*September 4, 2006 (The Rise and Fall of Kurt Angle; 2006 Hall of Fame
inductions of Eddie Guerrero, Paul Bowser, Masakatsu Funaki, Aja Kong and
Hiroshi Hase including tons of wrestling history around the world from
the 20s through the 60s, the evolution of working to not working
in Japan, and a look at Guerrero in hindsight, double issue $6 or $7
overseas)
*October 9, 2006 (A look back nine years later at the life and legacy of
Brian Pillman with tons of inside information about what made him
tick as his real objectives)
*November 15, 2006 (History of WCW part one, Eric Bischoff's book and how
the industry was changed forever)
*November 20, 2006 (History of WCW part two, Why Jim Ross left WCW, How
Bischoff changed the company, signing of Hulk Hogan, Beginning of Nitro,
Jesse Ventura, Brian Pillman, Chris Jericho and signing Wrestlemania
planned celebrity away)
*November 27, 2006 (History of WCW part three, When Bischoff challenged
McMahon to fight; Truth and fiction around Bret Hart signing with WCW and
why it didn't click)
*December 6, 2006 (details behind Pride's offers to sell promotion and
Part four of History of WCW part four, Hogan-Goldberg match and why
there was no rematch, WCW loses NBC network deal in 1999 and the real
reasons the company fell apart)
*January 22, 2007 (2006 Awards issue, double issue $7 on its own, $8
overseas)
*February 14, 2007 (Life and Times of Bam Bam Bigelow)
*March 5, 2007 (WWE begins plans that will change the business)
*March 12, 2007 (Life and Times of Mike Awesome)
*March 19, 2007 (Life and Times of Ernie Ladd)
*April 4, 2007 (Life and Times of Badnews Allen Coage--which many are
calling one of the best issues in history)
*July 2, 2007 (Part one of the Benoit double murder-suicide)
*July 5, 2007 (Part two of the Benoit double murder-suicide)
*July 10, 2007 (Part three of the Benoit double murder-suicide)
*July 19, 2007 (Part four of the Benoit double murder-suicide)
*July 23, 2007 (Part five of Benoit double murder-suicide)
*July 25, 2007 (Part six of Benoit double murder-suicide)
*August 15, 2007 (The legend of the God of Japanese wrestling and his
influence on MMA, Karl Gotch)
*October 15 (2007 Hall of Fame double issue, $7 on its own, $8 overseas
including inductions of The Rock, Tom Packs and the original Strangler
Lewis)
*November 12, 2007 (Life and times of Fabulous Moolah and history of U.S.
women's wrestling) .
*December 31, 2007 (History of Ric Flair and the heyday of wrestling at
the Greensboro Coliseum)
*January 21, 2008 (2007 Awards issue, double issue $7 on its own, $8
overseas)
*March 17, 2008 (Life and times of Johnny Weaver)
*March 24, 2008 (Life and times of Gary Hart)
*April 10, 2008 (Farewell to Ric Flair; My thoughts, Shawn Michaels talks
of Flair's meaning to him; Hall of Fame; Wrestlemania double issue, $7 on
its own, $8 overseas)
*August 11, 2008 (Ric Flair leaves WWE; Updated history of pro wrestlers
and MMA fighters who went to the Olympics)
*September 8, 2008 (2008 Hall of Fame double issue, $7 on its own, $8
overseas; part one of Killer Kowalski bio)*September 15, 2008 (Life
and Times of Evan Tanner)
*September 22, 2008 (The amazing career of Killer Kowalski, one of our
most in-depth bios)
You can also order any of these issues on their own for $4 in North
America or $5 overseas.
Rates are:
For the United States, it is $12 for 4 issues, $29 for 12, $55 for 24, $91 for 40 and $118 for 52. In Canada and Mexico, rates are $13.50
for 4, $33 for 12, $61 for 24, $101 for 40 and $131 or 52. In Europe, you can get the fastest delivery and best rates by sending to
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. For the rest of the world, rates are $15.50 for 4, $41 for 12, $78 for 24, $126 for 40 issues and $163 for
52 .
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.
We also have available personally autographed copies of Tributes II, our latest book, as well as a DVD that comes with it talking more about
the subjects in the book. The book covers the life stories of Lou Thesz, Wahoo McDaniel, Elizabeth, Fred Blassie, Road Warrior Hawk,
Andre the Giant, Curt Hennig, Johnny Valentine, Davey Boy Smith, Terry Gordy, Owen Hart, Stu Hart, Gorilla Monsoon, The Sheik and Tim Woods. To get all of those biographies as back issues of the Observer would be a $60 value today. This is a collection of some of the best Observer articles of the past several years in a hardcover, full-color format that is 239 pages. There is also a foreword by Bret Hart. The book price is $12.95 plus $3.50 for shipping costs in the U.S., $10 for shipping costs to Canada and $12 for shipping costs outside North America. You can order the book the same way you order the newsletter.
--Georges St. Pierre vs. Nick Diaz for the welterweight title has been announced for 10/29 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. This comes after constant denials that Diaz would be facing GSP all weekend because of political roadblocks according to both Dana White and Scott Coker..
--Milt Avruskin, a Canadian wrestling announcer in the 70s and 80s, best known for being the announcer for International Wrestling based in Montreal during the Dino Bravo era, passed away on Saturday night at the age of 65.
--WWE played a rib on fans and Mark Henry last night in Des Moines. After the Smackdown tapings ended, they had a dark match scheduled with Randy Orton vs. Christian. But instead, Henry went out for a match with referee Scott James. They played his music over and over as he waited. Then they turned his music off. Henry started yelling at fans for heat waiting for an opponent. Then Tony Chimel, about ten minutes into this, said that they were waiting for Henry's opponent to come out and thanked everyone for their patience. About 15:00 in, Henry is mad. Then they play Hornswoggle's music but he doesn't come out. Then they play Khali's music. You can guess what happened there. Then Vince's music. Henry finally stormed off. (thanks to David Anderson)
--A quick note that Figure Four will be out today and the Observer will be up on the site tomorrow due to the holiday and other things setting us back. Observer radio will be tonight and if you've got any questions for tonight's show on MMA or pro wrestling you can send them to
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--TNT, due to NBA basketball, led the ratings race this past week with a 2.3 prime time rating to a 1.9 for USA and 1.4 for ESPN. Syfy was No. 16 at 0.8 and Spike was No. 25 at 0.6. Raw was No. 5 and No. 7, behind only NBA playoff broadcasts which were topped by Heat vs. Bulls games that did 7.3 and 7.0 ratings.
--Just to clarify everything, the West Coast Raw feed on Monday was the same as on the East Coast. All the technical difficulties remained.
--UFC 133 tickets for the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia go on sale 6/9 at 10 a.m. with tickets pried $500 down to $50. Officially announced are three headliners, Rashad Evans vs. Phil Davis, Vitor Belfort vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama and Rich Franklin vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira headline.
--The National Hall of Fame for wrestling will be honoring Pat Miletich at its 7/23 banquet with the George Tragos award. They are going to award an MMA fighter with it every year that uses wrestling to excel in MMA.
--THQ will unveil WWE '12 at the E3 convention 6/7 to 6/9 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
--A.J. Lee of WWE wrote that Kaitlyn and her our going to call themselves the Chick Busters as a tag team, until Trent Baretta gets pissed. She's probably only kidding on that.
--Kyoko Inoue vs. Sumie Sakai was announced for Saturday's CZW show in Philadelphia at the Arena. Inoue was one of the greatest women wrestlers of all-time in her era which would have been mid-90s.
--Poll on who you predict in Saturday's main event
Clay Guida 58.9%
Anthony Pettis 41.1%
That's kind of a surprise.
--The M-1 Global show on 6/4 is headlined by Uri Ivlev vs. Artion Damkovsky and Yaseuby Enemoto vs. Rafal Moks. The Guram vs. Bennett fight we listed for that show will be on an M-1 Gloal show on 7/8.
--The UFC prelims on Saturday night did a 0.9 rating on Spike.
--Dutch Pro Wrestling on Poeldijk, Holland before 702 fans: Santos b Emil Sitoci, Johnny Moss b Trouble Maker, Max Damon b Pac, Rhino b Kenzo Richards, Tengkwa b Joey Fields, Kevin Nash b Mark Kodiak (thanks to Sjoerd Zegers)
--EWA Pro Wrestling plus boxing from Saturday night in Pittsfield, MA before 400 fans: Cameron Matthews b William King, Maverick Wild & Mikaze & Brad Hollister b Dr. Reginald Hersy & Golden Burke & Zackary Pierre Beaulieu, Mistress Belmont b Mercedes KV, Brian Milonas & Max Bauer b Sebastian Reese & Don Chesterfield, Boxing: Anthony Stallone b Oscar De La Goya, Boxing: Todd Poulton b Brutus Beefcake via TKO
--The piece on Randy Savage mentioned Monday as being by Kurt Brown was actually written by Alfredo Esparza.
--In Your Face Wrestling on 6/25 in Ballston Spa, NY at the Community Center.
--MWF Night of Champions on 6/4 is in Bridgeport, CT at the Shehan Center with Shelton Benjamin vs. Slyck Wagner Brown, plus Paul Bearer, Jay Lethal and Eddie Edwards.
--Jerry Sags of the Nasty Boys is currently featured on the Travel Channel's Man vs. Food in a hot wings eating contest. It debuted last night and will air several more times this week (thanks to Neil Trama)
--New Era Wrestling on 7/9 in Shelbyville, IN at the Boys Club headlined by Damian Cole vs. Baron Von Kane.
--CWE on 7/19 in Winnipeg at 4Play Sports Bar.
--Texas All-Star Wrestling on Saturday night in the Kingdom Arena in Houston at the Olde Oaks Shopping Center.
--Larry Zbyszko returns to Orlando on 6/11 for I Belive in Wrestling headlined by Jerrell Clark vs. Craig Classic for a low up defense (thanks to Al Haft)
--Pro Wrestling Superstars, Past, Present & Future has an iPPV at
www.gfl.tv at 6/7 with Eddie Guerrero vs. C.M. Punk vs. Rey Misterio Jr., Bryan Danielson vs. Kid Kash vs. Extremo, Dino Bravo vs. Samu, Sid Vicious, Amazing Red, Steve Corino, Balls Mahoney, Kevin Steen, Abdullah the Butcher and El Generico.
