Week in Wrestling - Friday, February 24, 2017
WWE Championship Elimination Chamber Match
They opened with Cena vs. Styles and the crowd was hot for it. Ambrose came in at 4:54. Ambrose came off the top of the pod with a standing elbow on Cena. Cena gave Styles and Ambrose back suplexes at the same time. Wyatt entered at 9:07. Styles and Cena climbed the cage and Cena took a bump from halfway down, so he was selling for a while and out of action. Ambrose came off the cage with his elbow onto Wyatt, but instead Wyatt punched him. There was a tower of doom spot where Wyatt gave Styles a belly-to-belly superplex off the middle rope as Ambrose pulled Wyatt off with a power bomb. Corbin was in at 14:01. Corbin destroyed everyone, including giving Styles and Cena the End of Days. Miz was the final guy in at 18:20. Miz refused to get out of his pod which distracted Corbin and Ambrose pinned Corbin for the first elimination in 18:36. Corbin then destroyed Ambrose, throwing him through the plexiglass in one of the pods which exploded everywhere. He continued to destroy Ambrose, ending with the End of Days. Miz pinned Ambrose at 20:42. Cena pinned Miz with the Attitude Adjustment in 23:29.Cena did a crossbody off the top of the pods onto Wyatt and Styles. Suddenly Wyatt hit Cena with Sister Abigail for the pin in 29:07. Loud “Yes” chants as Cena was eliminated. The Wyatt vs. Styles action for the last five minutes was great. Styles used springboard 450 for a near fall. Styles went for the phenomenal forearm, but Wyatt turned it into Sister Abigail for the pin. ****½ - DM
SmackDown Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss vs. Naomi
They went back-and-forth with near falls. There was a weird spot with Naomi was supposed to miss her split-legged moonsault, or Bliss was supposed to get her knees up. It didn’t happen, so Naomi hit the move, but Bliss got up like it was a miss and Naomi sold and Bliss went right to an Oklahoma roll holding the ropes for a near fall. Bliss went for twisted Bliss and Naomi got her knees up, and then went for the split legged moonsault again and pinned her. Renee Young interviewed Naomi about her title win in the ring. Fans were chanting “You deserve it” and she started to cry. She got over her catch phrase “Can you feel the glow,”. **1/4 - DM
SmackDown Tag Team Championship Turmoil Match
Slater & Rhyno beat Breeze & Fandango in 4:35. Slater & Rhyno beat The Vaudevillains in 1:49. Usos beat Slater & Rhyno in 2:07. Jordan & Gable beat Usos in 4:57. Action picked up here. Jey missed seeing Jordan tag out, and when he was cradling Jey and Gable used a Japanese rolling crotch pin on Jey. After the match, the Usos laid out Jordan & Gable. They threw Jordan’s shoulder into the post. Jimmy splashed Jordan off the top rope. Jordan & Gable beat The Ascension in 3:13. The Ascension came out and Jordan & Gable were left for dead. Finally Gable pinned Victor after Grand Amplitude. *3/4 - DM
Luke Harper vs. Randy Orton
This started slow and turned into a very good match. Orton is so great with pacing, building and being his character. He also made Harper look strong. Even though Harper was the babyface in the match, and the crowd was behind Orton, is still worked, so opposite of the Ziggler match, in the sense Harper didn’t come out buried at all, and did big things to get over like a tope that sent Orton over the announcing table, a back suplex on the table and a two superkick combo for a strong near fall. The crowd was really into the near falls. Harper went for a discus clothesline, but Orton blocked it and hit the RKO for the pin. ***3/4 - DM
Becky Lynch vs. Mickie James
It was a nicely worked bout where James spent much of it working on Lynch’s left shoulder. James went for a DDT, Lynch back dropped her way out of it. Lynch went for the Disarmer, James turned it into a roll-up and Lynch reversed that into a folding press for the pin. ***1/4 - DM
Nikki Bella vs. Natalya
This turned into a good match, but the crowd crapped on the finish. Natalya got the sharpshooter, but Nikki reversed into the STF. They ended up fighting on the floor and both were counted out. Natalya attacked Nikki after the match. **3/4 - DM
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Apollo Crews & Kalisto vs. Dolph Ziggler (2-on-1)
There was nothing wrong with the actual wrestling, but the match was largely a disaster. It absolutely killed Crews & Kalisto as faces, and at a time when the fans at the arenas still haven’t realized Ziggler is a heel, he ended up being cheered wildly. *1/4 - DM
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Fast Lane
There is one PPV show until WrestleMania, which is Fast Lane on 3/5 in Milwaukee. The top two bouts are Kevin Owens vs. Bill Goldberg for the Universal title and Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman. It appears Sami Zayn vs. Samoa Joe, Bayley vs. Charlotte for the Raw women’s title and a Raw tag title program with Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson vs. Enzo Amore & Big Cass, and a Neville vs. Jack Gallagher cruiserweight title match has been announced. Zayn takes the spot the injured Seth Rollins would have had. The big intrigue is Reigns vs. Strowman, and what they do with Strowman at Mania.
There is one PPV show until WrestleMania, which is Fast Lane on 3/5 in Milwaukee. The top two bouts are Kevin Owens vs. Bill Goldberg for the Universal title and Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman. It appears Sami Zayn vs. Samoa Joe, Bayley vs. Charlotte for the Raw women’s title and a Raw tag title program with Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson vs. Enzo Amore & Big Cass, and a Neville vs. Jack Gallagher cruiserweight title match has been announced. Zayn takes the spot the injured Seth Rollins would have had. The big intrigue is Reigns vs. Strowman, and what they do with Strowman at Mania.
Rest in Peace George "The Animal" Steele
The wrestling world got some sad news last Friday morning as we learned George "The Animal" Steele died Thursday night at the age of 79 years old. Steele (real name Jim Myers) was in hospice care. Steele enjoyed a 20+ year career, gaining his largest mainstream fame in the WWF in the 1980s, playing the role of a slightly deranged, yet fun loving character that ate turnbuckles and had a green tongue. Originally a heel, he battled top stars like WWWF Champion Bruno Sammartino, Pedro Morales, and Bob Backlund as his run began in the promotion in 1967. One of his most notable feuds was with Randy Savage as Steele had fallen for his valet, Elizabeth.
The wrestling world got some sad news last Friday morning as we learned George "The Animal" Steele died Thursday night at the age of 79 years old. Steele (real name Jim Myers) was in hospice care. Steele enjoyed a 20+ year career, gaining his largest mainstream fame in the WWF in the 1980s, playing the role of a slightly deranged, yet fun loving character that ate turnbuckles and had a green tongue. Originally a heel, he battled top stars like WWWF Champion Bruno Sammartino, Pedro Morales, and Bob Backlund as his run began in the promotion in 1967. One of his most notable feuds was with Randy Savage as Steele had fallen for his valet, Elizabeth.
Rest in Peace Ivan Koloff
Ivan Koloff has passed away at 74 years old after a lengthy battle with liver disease where his health had recently started to decline considerably. Koloff was best known for giving Bruno Sammartino his only pinfall loss at Madison Square Garden on January 18th, 1971. Koloff ended Sammartino's nearly eight-year run as WWWF Champion in that match, which remains one of the most iconic moments in pro wrestling history. Koloff dropped the title to Pedro Morales shortly after beating Sammartino and left the promotion for a period due to the fear that him being there would create a bad incident because of the emotion the fans had after Sammartino's loss.His last major run on television was as part of the Russian trio in Jim Crockett Promotions alongside Nikita Koloff & Khrusher Khrushev.
Ivan Koloff has passed away at 74 years old after a lengthy battle with liver disease where his health had recently started to decline considerably. Koloff was best known for giving Bruno Sammartino his only pinfall loss at Madison Square Garden on January 18th, 1971. Koloff ended Sammartino's nearly eight-year run as WWWF Champion in that match, which remains one of the most iconic moments in pro wrestling history. Koloff dropped the title to Pedro Morales shortly after beating Sammartino and left the promotion for a period due to the fear that him being there would create a bad incident because of the emotion the fans had after Sammartino's loss.His last major run on television was as part of the Russian trio in Jim Crockett Promotions alongside Nikita Koloff & Khrusher Khrushev.
New Hall of Fame Inductees
Diamond Dallas Page and Teddy Long were announced the past two weeks at the latest acts going into the 2017 WWE Hall of Fame on 3/31 in Orlando, following Kurt Angle and The Rock & Roll Express.
Long, 69, has had long career in the pro wrestling business, best known for his run as the babyface General Manager of Smackdown. While Long would hardly be thought of at first as someone for a major pro wrestling Hall of Fame, Long was a good talker and very good at his role. Page, 60, was one of the many stars of the heyday of WCW in the Monday Night Wars era, but has done his best work since leaving wrestling with his DDP Yoga, best known for probably saving the lives of people like Jake Roberts and Scott Hall.
Diamond Dallas Page and Teddy Long were announced the past two weeks at the latest acts going into the 2017 WWE Hall of Fame on 3/31 in Orlando, following Kurt Angle and The Rock & Roll Express.
Long, 69, has had long career in the pro wrestling business, best known for his run as the babyface General Manager of Smackdown. While Long would hardly be thought of at first as someone for a major pro wrestling Hall of Fame, Long was a good talker and very good at his role. Page, 60, was one of the many stars of the heyday of WCW in the Monday Night Wars era, but has done his best work since leaving wrestling with his DDP Yoga, best known for probably saving the lives of people like Jake Roberts and Scott Hall.
Naomi Forced to Vacate Title
Naomi vacated the Smackdown women’s title due to a knee injury which she suffered on the finishing moonsault in her 2/5 title win over Bliss. At first they thought she’d be able to come back this week, but it was more serious than expected. The injury was described to be as not exactly the same as the one Rollins had, but similar. It wasn’t made clear if she’d make it back for WrestleMania but it won’t be a long recovery. She vacated the title in an emotional scene on the 2/21 Smackdown tapings in Ontario, CA.
Bliss then beat Lynch with the return of the illegal karate chop to the throat out of the 60s and holding the trunks for the pin, to get the title back.
Naomi vacated the Smackdown women’s title due to a knee injury which she suffered on the finishing moonsault in her 2/5 title win over Bliss. At first they thought she’d be able to come back this week, but it was more serious than expected. The injury was described to be as not exactly the same as the one Rollins had, but similar. It wasn’t made clear if she’d make it back for WrestleMania but it won’t be a long recovery. She vacated the title in an emotional scene on the 2/21 Smackdown tapings in Ontario, CA.
Bliss then beat Lynch with the return of the illegal karate chop to the throat out of the 60s and holding the trunks for the pin, to get the title back.
WWE UK
Regarding the WWE Network and deals with U.K. promotions, they are still on the table. Vince McMahon changed his mind so many times that the delay in announcing anything could have meant he did so again. But we’re told the delay is that WWE told ICW to get their house in order as it regarded trademarks and music and perhaps that WWE first wants to make its announcement about its own weekly television series in the U.K.
An example of this is that Drew Galloway’s entrance music will be specific to ICW and the WWE Network when the deal goes through, and he’s had Psycho Dalek finishing a new custom entrance track that he debuted last week on the What Culture iPPV show
Regarding the WWE Network and deals with U.K. promotions, they are still on the table. Vince McMahon changed his mind so many times that the delay in announcing anything could have meant he did so again. But we’re told the delay is that WWE told ICW to get their house in order as it regarded trademarks and music and perhaps that WWE first wants to make its announcement about its own weekly television series in the U.K.
An example of this is that Drew Galloway’s entrance music will be specific to ICW and the WWE Network when the deal goes through, and he’s had Psycho Dalek finishing a new custom entrance track that he debuted last week on the What Culture iPPV show
Shane vs AJ Styles?
Shane McMahon was added to the 3/13 Madison Square Garden show in the role of commissioner of Smackdown. By that point he’ll be in the middle of whatever WrestleMania plan there is for him, if there is one. At last word, it was still McMahon vs. A.J. Styles. It’s also notable that Styles is not booked for a match at MSG but is scheduled to make a special appearances.
Nakamura said publicly to Yahoo Japan that he hoped he could find a way onto the Mania card and wrestle Styles, noting that Styles doesn’t have an announced opponent.
Shane McMahon was added to the 3/13 Madison Square Garden show in the role of commissioner of Smackdown. By that point he’ll be in the middle of whatever WrestleMania plan there is for him, if there is one. At last word, it was still McMahon vs. A.J. Styles. It’s also notable that Styles is not booked for a match at MSG but is scheduled to make a special appearances.
Nakamura said publicly to Yahoo Japan that he hoped he could find a way onto the Mania card and wrestle Styles, noting that Styles doesn’t have an announced opponent.
WWE Financials
More than ever before, the pro wrestling business has become about getting the most money out of a smaller fan base. There are fewer people watching the product than at any point in at least 22 years, perhaps longer. But there are more hardcore fans, willing to spend far more money than ever before. In 2016, WWE generated more revenue than any point in history, although it is still not nearly as profitable as it was for most of the period.
This past year, WWE generated $729,216,000 in revenue and ended the year with $33,725,000 in profits. Both numbers were up from the 2015 totals of $658,768,000 in revenue and $23,927,000 in profits. Both profit numbers are lower than reported elsewhere because there ended up being foreign currency adjustments against the dollar that changed very slightly during the year that slightly decreased profits from the numbers reported.
It was the company’s most profitable year since 2010, which is when they started spending money to launch the WWE Network. The revenues are the largest in the history of the company, beating last year’s mark by 10.7 percent, but with overall subscriptions and guaranteed money from television going to rise each year, the revenue numbers are a lock to go up every year, guaranteed until 2019 and most likely from that point as well unless something bad happens to the U.S. television industry as a whole.
More than ever before, the pro wrestling business has become about getting the most money out of a smaller fan base. There are fewer people watching the product than at any point in at least 22 years, perhaps longer. But there are more hardcore fans, willing to spend far more money than ever before. In 2016, WWE generated more revenue than any point in history, although it is still not nearly as profitable as it was for most of the period.
This past year, WWE generated $729,216,000 in revenue and ended the year with $33,725,000 in profits. Both numbers were up from the 2015 totals of $658,768,000 in revenue and $23,927,000 in profits. Both profit numbers are lower than reported elsewhere because there ended up being foreign currency adjustments against the dollar that changed very slightly during the year that slightly decreased profits from the numbers reported.
It was the company’s most profitable year since 2010, which is when they started spending money to launch the WWE Network. The revenues are the largest in the history of the company, beating last year’s mark by 10.7 percent, but with overall subscriptions and guaranteed money from television going to rise each year, the revenue numbers are a lock to go up every year, guaranteed until 2019 and most likely from that point as well unless something bad happens to the U.S. television industry as a whole.
Emmalina Dropped
Pro Wrestling Sheet reported that the Emmalina idea was dropped because WWE producers after rehearsals felt she couldn’t pull off the character, which was supposed to be a throwback to Sable or The Kat, which is notable given that’s the exact opposite direction it appeared the division was going. You could argue it’s a step backwards in time that doesn’t fit, or it’s WWE trying to use women to not just appeal to the fan base into women’s wrestling but the fan base into selling sex. The reason for the long delay before her debut is they really wanted her to do the character so kept giving her more time to get it down, before finally giving up on it with the claim she wasn’t committing hard enough to the role and they just decided to let her be the heel Emma character she had been doing before she had back surgery.
Pro Wrestling Sheet reported that the Emmalina idea was dropped because WWE producers after rehearsals felt she couldn’t pull off the character, which was supposed to be a throwback to Sable or The Kat, which is notable given that’s the exact opposite direction it appeared the division was going. You could argue it’s a step backwards in time that doesn’t fit, or it’s WWE trying to use women to not just appeal to the fan base into women’s wrestling but the fan base into selling sex. The reason for the long delay before her debut is they really wanted her to do the character so kept giving her more time to get it down, before finally giving up on it with the claim she wasn’t committing hard enough to the role and they just decided to let her be the heel Emma character she had been doing before she had back surgery.
New Japan Pro Wrestling News -
- The only show of the week was a 2/21 special event at Korakuen Hall to celebrate Togi Makabe’s 20th anniversary as a pro wrestler. Makabe, who came from college judo, debuted on February 15, 1997, losing to Shinjiro Otani. The show drew 1,491 fans, and it’s never a good sign when a Korakuen Hall show doesn’t sell out, let alone one with a special theme.
- They started a Suzuki vs. Shibata program, which is so logical if you think about it stylistically. They brawled early and during an eight-man tag match. After the match, Suzuki cut a promo on Shibata, who ran in and attacked him again until the rest of Suzuki-gun jumped on Shibata.
- Makabe will be taking time off after the Anniversary show.
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Ring of Honor News -
- There has been surprisingly very little hype for the 3/10 show in Las Vegas. Even at the TV tapings in Pittsburgh on 2/11, it felt again like more focus was on the 4/1 show in Lakeland, FL. The only matches set for the 3/10 show in Las Vegas are Adam Cole vs. Christopher Daniels for the ROH title, Young Bucks vs. Rocky Romero & Baretta in a street fight for the tag titles.
- At the TV tapings on 2/11 in Pittsburgh, the biggest angle was Frankie Kazarian turning on Christopher Daniels and joining the Bullet Club. The deal with Bullet Club is that it is owned by New Japan, so Gedo has to approve of all members.
- They are pushing a Festival of Honor in conjunction with WrestleMania weekend that will take place in Lakeland, FL on 4/1, the day before WrestleMania, from 2 p.m. to 5:30 p.m before the show that night at the Civic Center. It’ll be an autograph session, plus they will have some women’s matches taking place. Besides the regulars, which will include Will Ospreay and Marty Scurll, they’ll have Cody, Yoshi-Hashi, Jushin Liger, Volador Jr. and Dragon Lee there.
- The first Christopher Daniels vs. Frankie Kazarian match will be on the 4/1 show in Orlando.
TNA News -
- Jeff Jarrett and Ed Nordholm met with ITV in the U.K. on 2/16 in Leicester, UK. We’re told the meeting went well. ITV is looking at launching World of Sport as a regular weekly television show, but they want to work with wrestling people to monetize the brand and get global distribution of the show. Anthem could put the show on The Fight Network and has connections for distribution, such as places that have deals with TNA as well. ITV was looking at Anthem to put some money in, get some responsibilities, in exchange for owning a % of the promotion.
- Nick Aldis (Magnus) was offered a contract to return. He hasn’t signed the deal.
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By: Larry Causion Jr. CausionCreations.com
Posted: Friday, February 24, 2017
Credit: Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Posted: Friday, February 24, 2017
Credit: Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter