by David Bixenspan | [email protected] | Follow @davidbix
TV tonight:
WWE a Cinco de Mayo celebration at 6:00 p.m; ET on WWE Network celebrating lucha libre in American wrestling. It’s hosted by Los Matadores who are, of course, not only not Mexican, but are Puerto Ricans pretending to be Spaniards
ESPN has WWE: Behind-The-Curtain, the E:60 documentary about the WWE Performance Center and NXT at 8:00 p.m. ET. There’s a trailer on ESPN’s YouTube channel. There’s also a Tyler Breeze-centric “extra” on ESPN.com. Lots of great stuff here, including him rehearsing his entrance (while getting pointers from Dusty Rhodes) before the character debuted. Newsday has an advance review of the documentary.
No new UFC content on Fox Sports 1, but Fox Sports 2 has replays of the shows that debuted last night, Fighter’s Cut: Chris Weidman and UFC Fight Flashback: Weidman vs. Machida, at 11:00 p.m. ET and 11:30 p.m. ET, respectively.
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The newest issue of Figure Four Weekly is up on the site for subscribers (subscribe here) with a look at the 10th anniversary of the death od Chris Candido including what he meant to indie wrestling at the time, hy he was such a uniqu figure, and much more. Plus, as always, we have all of the usual reviews and international news.
Also, now available for the first time on Kindle (meaning Kindle devices and anything with the Kindle app) is Fall Guys, the seminal 1937 book that has been described as being like the 1930s version of the Wrestling Observer. It was surprisingly not on Kindle already, so we put together a nice version with a full table of contents w/ chapter marks, proper formatting on everything, etc. Right now it’s available from the American, Canadian, and Australian Amazon/Kindle stores OR you can also buy it from anywhere in the world on PayHip, who will provide you with both Kindle and ePub (every other e-reader) format files, and you can either sideload them to your device or have them email it to your Kindle.
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Part one of the life and times of Verne Gagne is the lead story on a jam-packed issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that is out today. We’ve also got the most detailed look at the Jon Jones situation, the UFC light heavyweight title, as well as Ronda Rousey in WWE, Extreme Rules coverage, Payback notes, UFC 186, the life of Ashura Hara and four former wrestling personalities get elected to public office in one week.
Latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter: May 4, 2015 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Verne Gagne bio part 1, Jon Jones stripped of UFC title, bios of Ashura Hara & Rudy Reyna
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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.
The Wrestling Observer ranges weekly from 35,000 to 50,000 words covering pro wrestling and MMA internationally. Each issue has coverage and analysis of all the major news, plus every issue breaks major news stories before the Internet sties and has the most complete look at the pro wrestling and MMA business anywhere, plus history pieces available nowhere else.
Our lead story looks back at the wrestling career of Verne Gagne, one of the most noteworthy pro wrestling of the 20th century. We look at the booking of Gagne, the story of the promoter who promised Gagne an all-time attendance record for a title defense and he turned the match down and why, we look at the end of his career, Sports Illustrated ranking him as an athlete, his football career, his involvement in one of the biggest college wrestling matches of all-time, how Gagne spoiled the first Cael Sanderson record, Gagne and the Olympic games, starting as a pro wrestler, his rise to the top, his winning the world jr. title, and why he never won the NWA world heavyweight title. We look at the creation of the AWA title, when the world title started getting fractured and why, the ironies of both Verne Gagne and Roy Shire as promoters, the expansion of the AWA, the AWA lifestyle, the biggest AWA angles, and Gagne vs Billy Robinson.
We also look at his training wrestlers, the Hogan era and the peak of the AWA.
We also have full details of the Jon Jones story, both why he got suspended and complete police records as to what happened this past week with his auto accident. We look at his losing sponsors, Cormier vs. Rumble Johnson, UFC’s position, and Cormier talks his title shot.
We also have more on Dana White’s comments on Ronda Rousey in WrestleMania and the WWE’s reaction, as well as UFC fighters doing pro wrestling in recent years.
We’ve got a full rundown of the Extreme Rules PPV, a look at Payback, plus match-by-match ratings and poll results from the show.
We also look at the Daniel Bryan situation, who is being groomed for a unique babyface push to stardom, disappearing of the curb stomp, next NXT special, Samoa Joe and WWE, Furious 7 box office marks, NXT on tour, a TV documentary on one of the biggest shows in WWE history coming, and notes on talent cut this past week by WWE.
We also look at the Demetrious Johnson conundrum, the flyweight division, the business of UFC 186 and match-by-match coverage.
We look at the career of Ashura Hara, including his biggest matches, why his career at the top in All Japan suddenly ended, his appearance in G-1, his rugby background, his IWE start, some of his famous matches and the 1987 tag team tournament.
We also look at four pro wrestlers elected to public office this past week.
We also have a bio on exotico star Rudy Reyna, including his start in pro wrestling, how much of a shoot his act was, his health issues and career highlights.
The Observer is the world’s most detailed weekly pro wrestling publication, in its 32nd year of publication, and is read by the biggest names in the pro wrestling, industry, MMA industry, sports world and on Wall Street.
We also have our regular features such as the most complete look at ratings, plus results of the major house show events each week in pro wrestling and MMA, and complete inside rundowns of all the TV shows.
Also in this week’s issue:
–More on the World Cup tag team tournament
–New major AAA shows
–AAA & Lucha Underground notes
–Top promotion star breaks nose and gets teeth knocked out
–Dragon Gate builds to one of its biggest events of the year on iPPV
–Update on New Japan World
–Kidani talks New Japan pay
–How business is going with New Japan
–New Japan big show rundown
–Update on Jeff Jarrett and Global Force Wrestling
–Different names being talked about
–Jarrett and Eric Bischoff and Jarrett’s reactions to stories
–Bischoff history
–Missy Hyatt charges dropped story
–Bill Goldberg says he’ll wrestle again and more notes on the subject
–A look back at Bill Goldberg in WWE and why it didn’t work
–Why Goldberg’s career in Japan ended
–Funny note on Kevin Nash
–Japanese star looking at working indie dates in the U.S.
–More notes on the future of Lucha Underground
–How close are they to being No. 2 in the market
–Notes going into the second season
–Why there is a premium on guys who can wrestle well
–Update on Adam Cole in ROH
–Notes on the booking of the ROH/New Japan shows
–Notes on the broadcasting of the entire tour
–ROH final show before the New Japan tour
–Notes on Jeff Hardy’s injury
–ROH star returns from injury
–Lots on Billy Corgan signing with TNA and his thoughts on wrestling creative
–Wrestling stars get engaged
–Rampage Jackson talks TNA
–Another longtime performer out of TNA
–Taryn Terrell heel turn notes
–UFC on FOX ratings notes
–Notes on the Reebok sponsorship in UFC
–Reaction to those numbers
–UFC fighter sues another UFC fighter over a sponsorship deal gone bad
–UFC signs one of the best wrestlers in the world as a project
–Lots of new UFC fights
If you are a new subscriber ordering 24 or more issues, you can get one free classic issue of your choice sent to you today. With a 40 issue subscription, you can get two free classic issues sent to you today.
New subscribers ordering 24 or 40 issues have to let us know what major stories of the past 11 years 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 11 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)a
*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 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.
We now 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., $20 for shipping costs to Canada and $25 for shipping costs outside North America. You can order the book the same way you order the newsletter.
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Tuesday Daily Update
— As always, we’re looking for SmackDown/Main Event taping spoilers/reports, so if you’re going to be at the tapings in Ottawa tonight, please send a report to [email protected].
— Elsewhere on the site:
– Chris Jericho has popped up in upcoming WWE live event ads.
– The latest on Sami Zayn’s injury as of last night. He’s getting a MRI on Thursday. As noted, he injured the shoulder pumping his fists during his entrance, which sounds similar to Randy Orton suffering a shoulder injury banging on the mat before the RKO. In Orton’s case, it was a sign of a reoccuring problem.
– ESPN’s Michelle Beadle posted a more detailed explanation of her tweet about how Triple H’s endorsement of Floyd Mayweather turned her off to WWE.
— JTG is releasing a book tomorrow titled “Damn! Why Did I Write This Book?,” which is about his time in WWE. This is the press release he sent out:
DAMN! WHY DID I WRITE THIS BOOK? Is a compilation of short stories all focused around the four letter word that has ended more wrestling careers than steroids, pills and alcohol combined. HEAT!
HEAT – A “black cloud” that follows a superstar after a personal conflict or misunderstanding between two individuals or more backstage.
In Damn! WHY DID I WRITE THIS BOOK, I take the reader, on a journey, from the beginning of my career, to the final curtain call; sharing stories on how I battled Heat from day one, while managing to piss off more people for writing this book!!!
— Bellator has added former featherweight champion Daniel Straus vs. promotional newcomer Henry Corrales to the undercard of the Ken Shamrock vs. Kimbo Slice show in June in St. Louis.
— At MMAFighting, Dave has an article about UFC revamping their hall of fame. Inductees will now be divided into wings: Modern Era fighters, Pioneers Era fighters, Contributors, and Fights, with the adoption of the Unified Rules in New Jersey being the dividing line between the two groups of fighters.
— When UFC was planning on basing the Reebok uniform payout structure on the fighter rankings, one of the fighters who was against it and often cited as unfairly penalized was Joe Lauzon. He’s a popular, veteran fighter, but he’s just outside the rankings these days and would’ve gotten the short end of the stick compared to what he gets now from sponsorships. Now that the pay will be based on the number of fights someone has in the company? He told MMAJunkie he’s happy with it:
“I’m obviously very, very happy about the change. I went from being basically bottom tier to close to the top tier. I think I’m in the second tier because I think it’s like 21 fights plus. I think I’m in the 16 to 20; this is going to be my 19th fight. I definitely think it’s a better way of doing it. Of course I’m going to be a little bit biased because I’ve had so many fights. I look at it as I’ve had a lot of fights. I’ve paid dues. It kind of makes more sense. I’m one of those guys that got the UFC some good recognition and some good attention.”
— Johnny Eduardo, who beat Eddie Wineland in one of the biggest UFC upsets of 2014 12 months ago and hasn’t fought since (plus he was coming off an unusually long layoff in THAT fight0, has finally been cleared after shoulder surgery.
— PC Gamer reviewed the newly released PC port of WWE 2K15. They scored it a 67 out of 100, which is not great. Complaints include just how outdated the roster is at this point (it was finalized last June, just before The Shield split up), the limited selection of women (including Paige seemingly being left out for no good reason), and an overall lack of attention to detail.
— AIW talks to Tim Donst in a video interview about his recovery from kidney cancer and whether or not he’ll be able to return to in-ring wrestling.
— An article in the new Forbes Magazine talks about the relaunch of Twinkies talks about WWE in the context of their relationship with Chef Boyardee years ago. It makes sense in context.
— Greg Oliver of Slam! Wrestling interviewed Jushin Liger at the Cauliflower Alley Club banquet. While there was a language barrier, Liger went out of his way to be accomodating and the article is a fun read.
— Mike Mooneyham’s latest wrestling column for the Charleston Post and Courier memorializes Verne Gagne and also takes a look at tonight’s ESPN WWE special. Worth reading as Mike’s stuff always is.
— The Midget Wrestling Federation got a writeup in the Idaho State Journal thanks to them running a show in Fort Hall.
— In Japan, May 5th, is synonymous with FMW, which had most of its biggest shows on that date a la NJPW running the Tokyo Dome on January 4th, including Atsushi Onita’s (second, and far from last) retirement, which came 20 years ago today on May 5th, 1995 at Kawasaki Stadium. To get an idea of how hot wrestling was in Japan at this time, this was not only the second packed stadium show of Golden Week 1995 (NJPW ran the Fukuoka Dome two days earlier for Wrestling Dontaku)) , but the third big stadium show in just over a month, as Weekly Pro Wrestling’s 13 promotion show at the Tokyo Dome took place on April 2nd.
The last big “FMW” show on May 5th was put on in 2003 by World Entertainment Wrestling (one of a few FMW successors) to memorialize Hiromichi “Kodo/Samson/Ricky” Fuyuki, who had recently lost his battle with cancer. A loaded show that included top stars from multiple promotions (including a Pro Wrestling Noah trios match, Shinjiro Ohtani vs. TAKA Michinoku in what had been something of a dream match for close to a decade, and a number of other really good matches) was main evented by a no ropes exploding barbed wire match with Shinya Hashimoto vs. Kintaro Kanemura.
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Hashimoto and Kanemura (who entered the ring in Fuyuki’s robe) were Fuyuki’s best friends, and they were going to do their damnedest to honor him in FMW’s signature stipulation match, something near and dear to Kanemura’s heart but somewhat foreign to Hashimoto. Fuyuki’s widow, in tears the whole time, came to the ring with his ashes in an urn. She handed the urn to both wrestlers, who each threw themselves into the explosive barbed wire, symbolically taking Fuyuki’s final bumps while noticeably also unable to keep themselves from crying on camera. Hashimoto won, but it didn’t really matter, because nothing could’ve outdone the scene at the beginning of the match.