Week in Wrestling #10 - 10-2-15
By: Larry Causion Jr. CausionCreations.com
Posted: Friday, October 2, 2015
Credit: Dave Meltzer
Posted: Friday, October 2, 2015
Credit: Dave Meltzer
Wrestling News From the week of
September 26 - October 2, 2015
September 26 - October 2, 2015
Cena off the Road
WWE U.S. Champion John Cena will be taking time off from wrestling shortly for what the WWE has described as personal reasons.
While we don't know the exact time frame that he will be gone, the 38-year-old Cena isn't advertised on anything after the Hell in a Cell PPV special in late-October starting with the next night's RAW in San Diego, CA. As of now, he is being advertised for their December shows.
As part of the time off, WWE officials have confirmed he will not be appearing on any dates during the company's upcoming 10-day European tour that will see them do shows in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, and Germany.
Cena recently regained the U.S. title from WWE World Champion Seth Rollins at WWE Night Of Champions, and is set to face Rollins in a steel cage match for the title this Saturday at the Madison Square Garden show on WWE Network.
WWE U.S. Champion John Cena will be taking time off from wrestling shortly for what the WWE has described as personal reasons.
While we don't know the exact time frame that he will be gone, the 38-year-old Cena isn't advertised on anything after the Hell in a Cell PPV special in late-October starting with the next night's RAW in San Diego, CA. As of now, he is being advertised for their December shows.
As part of the time off, WWE officials have confirmed he will not be appearing on any dates during the company's upcoming 10-day European tour that will see them do shows in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, and Germany.
Cena recently regained the U.S. title from WWE World Champion Seth Rollins at WWE Night Of Champions, and is set to face Rollins in a steel cage match for the title this Saturday at the Madison Square Garden show on WWE Network.
SummerSlam in Brooklyn
WWE announced on 9/28 that SummerSlam was going to stay in Brooklyn for the next two years.
SummerSlam had been a Los Angeles tradition from 2009 to 2014, running the Staples Center. The company liked the attention it got working with celebrities and with the access to mainstream media. The decision was made to bring it to the New York area, originally at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, NJ, this year, because WrestleMania was scheduled for California.
After the Izod Center closed down, WWE moved the show to the Barclays Center, which ended up hosting three straight nights, as they booked an NXT show on Saturday, SummerSlam on Sunday and Raw on Monday. All three shows sold out, the first time in company history that they ever sold out an arena of that size three straight nights. All three nights drew more than 13,000 paid, with the WWE’s set-up capacity being 13,438 tickets, although they claimed numbers closer to the high 15,000s.
SummerSlam drew a $1.3 million gate, which I believe is the largest gate ever for a non-WrestleMania show in the U.S. It also had the most secondary market interest for tickets of any SummerSlam in history, and was the most expensive ticket to get because the ticket supply was so much lower than that of WrestleMania.
SummerSlam has historically been WWE’s No. 3 show of the year, behind WrestleMania and Royal Rumble. But they are now positioning it as No. 2, with more activities planned during the week in the city and the three straight nights.
Announced for next year is an NXT show on 8/21, SummerSlam on 8/22 and Raw on 8/23 at the Barclays Center. In 2017, it will be 8/19, 8/20 and 8/21.
The plan at one point was to bring the show back to Los Angeles in 2016, and also under consideration was the new MGM Arena, which opens over the summer, and was looking for huge events including major concerts, a Floyd Mayweather fight and UFC 200.
WWE announced on 9/28 that SummerSlam was going to stay in Brooklyn for the next two years.
SummerSlam had been a Los Angeles tradition from 2009 to 2014, running the Staples Center. The company liked the attention it got working with celebrities and with the access to mainstream media. The decision was made to bring it to the New York area, originally at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, NJ, this year, because WrestleMania was scheduled for California.
After the Izod Center closed down, WWE moved the show to the Barclays Center, which ended up hosting three straight nights, as they booked an NXT show on Saturday, SummerSlam on Sunday and Raw on Monday. All three shows sold out, the first time in company history that they ever sold out an arena of that size three straight nights. All three nights drew more than 13,000 paid, with the WWE’s set-up capacity being 13,438 tickets, although they claimed numbers closer to the high 15,000s.
SummerSlam drew a $1.3 million gate, which I believe is the largest gate ever for a non-WrestleMania show in the U.S. It also had the most secondary market interest for tickets of any SummerSlam in history, and was the most expensive ticket to get because the ticket supply was so much lower than that of WrestleMania.
SummerSlam has historically been WWE’s No. 3 show of the year, behind WrestleMania and Royal Rumble. But they are now positioning it as No. 2, with more activities planned during the week in the city and the three straight nights.
Announced for next year is an NXT show on 8/21, SummerSlam on 8/22 and Raw on 8/23 at the Barclays Center. In 2017, it will be 8/19, 8/20 and 8/21.
The plan at one point was to bring the show back to Los Angeles in 2016, and also under consideration was the new MGM Arena, which opens over the summer, and was looking for huge events including major concerts, a Floyd Mayweather fight and UFC 200.
SummerSlam PPV numbers
It’s hard to know what this exactly means, but the SummerSlam PPV numbers have come in, and the show on 8/23 at the Barclays Center headlined by Brock Lesnar vs. Undertaker drew 123,000 total buys, broken down as 36,000 in North America and 87,000 outside of North America.
The numbers were down 51.4% from last year’s show in North America, but down only 8.4% outside of North America.
Network numbers are likely substantially up from the same period last year, both in and out of North America. So it’s hard to know what these numbers mean since a significant drop would be expected. Perhaps the best comparison would be with Royal Rumble, because network numbers are probably not up substantially from Rumble, maybe 10-15%. Rumble, always a stronger business show, did 56,000 buys in North America and 107,000 buys outside of North America.
The other key matches on the show were the Seth Rollins vs. John Cena WWE vs. U.S. title match with the winner getting both belts, and Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose vs. Bray Wyatt & Luke Harper.
For a comparison, the 2014 SummerSlam show, which had Lesnar beating Cena to win the WWE title, Reigns vs. Orton, Stephanie McMahon vs. Brie Bella and Rollins vs. Ambrose in a lumberjack match did 74,000 buys in North America and 95,000 outside of North America. Network subscribers one year ago were substantially lower.
Once again, the lack of change on the international side year-to-year even though the network was only available in the U.S. at this point last year, tells you just how significant at this point last year the international subscribers listed in the U.S. category really were.
SummerSlam increased from 24,000 to 36,000 as compared to Battleground the month before on the domestic side, and increased from 52,000 to 87,000 on the international side. International PPV remains on a growth curve as compared to what would be expected as B shows in recent months have been gaining.
It’s hard to know what this exactly means, but the SummerSlam PPV numbers have come in, and the show on 8/23 at the Barclays Center headlined by Brock Lesnar vs. Undertaker drew 123,000 total buys, broken down as 36,000 in North America and 87,000 outside of North America.
The numbers were down 51.4% from last year’s show in North America, but down only 8.4% outside of North America.
Network numbers are likely substantially up from the same period last year, both in and out of North America. So it’s hard to know what these numbers mean since a significant drop would be expected. Perhaps the best comparison would be with Royal Rumble, because network numbers are probably not up substantially from Rumble, maybe 10-15%. Rumble, always a stronger business show, did 56,000 buys in North America and 107,000 buys outside of North America.
The other key matches on the show were the Seth Rollins vs. John Cena WWE vs. U.S. title match with the winner getting both belts, and Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose vs. Bray Wyatt & Luke Harper.
For a comparison, the 2014 SummerSlam show, which had Lesnar beating Cena to win the WWE title, Reigns vs. Orton, Stephanie McMahon vs. Brie Bella and Rollins vs. Ambrose in a lumberjack match did 74,000 buys in North America and 95,000 outside of North America. Network subscribers one year ago were substantially lower.
Once again, the lack of change on the international side year-to-year even though the network was only available in the U.S. at this point last year, tells you just how significant at this point last year the international subscribers listed in the U.S. category really were.
SummerSlam increased from 24,000 to 36,000 as compared to Battleground the month before on the domestic side, and increased from 52,000 to 87,000 on the international side. International PPV remains on a growth curve as compared to what would be expected as B shows in recent months have been gaining.
WWE Ratings
Raw on 9/28 did a 2.32 rating and 3.32 million viewers (1.50 viewers per home), once again setting a new non-holiday mark for the show dating back to 1997, just under the 3.34 million viewers on 9/21 but well below the non-holiday record lows of a 2.42 rating set on 9/7 and 9/14.
The new record low they heading toward, which would be the lowest including holidays, would be a 2.24 rating and 3.14 million viewers for a show that aired on Christmas Eve in 2012. The last time Raw did a 2.3 rating non-holiday was October 27, 1997, a night they went not only against the NFL, but also against a Nitro show that did a 4.6 rating. If you want to think of it in another way, Nitro, as horrible as it was in 1999, never came close to a 2.3 until the summer of 2000, and that was against a Raw show that did a 5.3 rating.
Really, this number isn’t quite as “bad” as the week before for two reasons. The first is that the NFL game with the Green Bay Packers vs. Kansas City Chiefs drew 13.51 million viewers, up from the 12.48 million the week before (although that included the New York Jets, a team that will impact Raw more because of the New York concentration). The second is last week’s show came the day after a PPV, which left several questions and when ratings were supposed to be up. This week’s show, from putting John Cena on in two matches in the first 30 minutes and advertising Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt as the main event, had all the makings of a show where viewers would tune out in the third hour.
Smackdown on 9/24 did a 1.61 rating and 2.14 million viewers (1.42 viewers per home), the best number the show has done since 8/27, for a show headlined by Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose. The number was seventh for the night on cable, lower than the show usually does, but not bad considering the Washington Redskins vs. New York Giants game, meaning the New York market would be strong, did 16.88 million viewers on CBS and another 3.23 million viewers on the NFL Network. Prior to 9/3, only one non-holiday episode of Smackdown (the 8/13 show) had done worse.
Total Divas on 9/22 did 795,000 viewers, which is the second lowest rated episode in the history of the series, trailing only a May 11, 2014, episode that was mislabeled in the TV Guides and thus many viewers weren’t even aware it was on.
Total Divas on 9/29, the heavily promoted season finale based around Dolph Ziggler coming on to Nikki Bella and trying to get back with her, drew 1,158,000 viewers, a whopping 46 percent increase over the previous week.
Raw on 9/28 did a 2.32 rating and 3.32 million viewers (1.50 viewers per home), once again setting a new non-holiday mark for the show dating back to 1997, just under the 3.34 million viewers on 9/21 but well below the non-holiday record lows of a 2.42 rating set on 9/7 and 9/14.
The new record low they heading toward, which would be the lowest including holidays, would be a 2.24 rating and 3.14 million viewers for a show that aired on Christmas Eve in 2012. The last time Raw did a 2.3 rating non-holiday was October 27, 1997, a night they went not only against the NFL, but also against a Nitro show that did a 4.6 rating. If you want to think of it in another way, Nitro, as horrible as it was in 1999, never came close to a 2.3 until the summer of 2000, and that was against a Raw show that did a 5.3 rating.
Really, this number isn’t quite as “bad” as the week before for two reasons. The first is that the NFL game with the Green Bay Packers vs. Kansas City Chiefs drew 13.51 million viewers, up from the 12.48 million the week before (although that included the New York Jets, a team that will impact Raw more because of the New York concentration). The second is last week’s show came the day after a PPV, which left several questions and when ratings were supposed to be up. This week’s show, from putting John Cena on in two matches in the first 30 minutes and advertising Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt as the main event, had all the makings of a show where viewers would tune out in the third hour.
Smackdown on 9/24 did a 1.61 rating and 2.14 million viewers (1.42 viewers per home), the best number the show has done since 8/27, for a show headlined by Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose. The number was seventh for the night on cable, lower than the show usually does, but not bad considering the Washington Redskins vs. New York Giants game, meaning the New York market would be strong, did 16.88 million viewers on CBS and another 3.23 million viewers on the NFL Network. Prior to 9/3, only one non-holiday episode of Smackdown (the 8/13 show) had done worse.
Total Divas on 9/22 did 795,000 viewers, which is the second lowest rated episode in the history of the series, trailing only a May 11, 2014, episode that was mislabeled in the TV Guides and thus many viewers weren’t even aware it was on.
Total Divas on 9/29, the heavily promoted season finale based around Dolph Ziggler coming on to Nikki Bella and trying to get back with her, drew 1,158,000 viewers, a whopping 46 percent increase over the previous week.
WrestleMania Plans Follow Up
Steve Austin on Twitter seemed to close the door to any idea of facing Lesnar, saying it wasn’t going to happen. As of right now, Rock vs. HHH is still one of the projected main events, so that takes Rock out of any possibility of facing Lesnar, and takes Rollins out of any possibility of facing HHH.
Those in WWE close to the situation knew nothing about an Austin vs. Lesnar match. Every indication from Austin has been that he’s not going to wrestle again, and a few months back, when he did that promo on Lesnar and then I was told point blank he wasn’t going to wrestle at Mania and Vince was upset about the promo, that to me seemed to close the book on it. I do expect he’ll have a role in the show in some form, just because the goal is to make this the biggest Mania ever.
However, something must have changed in a major way, whether it’s network subscriptions, or a celebrity fight. It could be that Vince just came up with what in his mind is a better idea. Whatever the reason, he’s not saying past he made the call because he wanted to go in a new direction at Mania.
With Rock, Austin and Undertaker out of the picture, and Cena vs. Lesnar having been done many times, to me that leaves Rollins as champion in some sort of a no DQ type match where you know there’s no screwjob, and Lesnar challenging, or Reigns, since they didn’t give a finish of their match last year. Perhaps it’s a three-way.
Reigns (whether as face or a heel, and maybe as a strong heel it’ll get him out of kind of the malaise he’s in) still appears to be the slow build for a title shot on that card and their handpicked next superstar with the idea of a coronation at Mania, but the momentum isn’t in that direction right now. At this point, if that’s the direction, it would be a semi-cold title match if they go with it with him as a face, because the crowd already showed last year that Reigns isn’t getting over as a face against Lesnar even with Paul Heyman trying his damndest to make it fly.
Regarding Austin, there are still people who believe that they will shoot an angle on the talk show on 10/19 just because of the magnitude of the show, having nothing that feels that special and that would be the biggest match they could do. I guess on that night all the questions will be put to rest for good.
Vince also changed the original direction of Sting, who was never supposed to face Rollins originally. I don’t know that the Rollins vs. Kane match was originally for Night of Champions, but Kane was at first to come back a month earlier. Undertaker could still face Sting, but they’ve hurt that match badly and nobody is going to buy Sting winning. Plus, at this point, you can’t make any plans with Sting because of his neck.
Steve Austin on Twitter seemed to close the door to any idea of facing Lesnar, saying it wasn’t going to happen. As of right now, Rock vs. HHH is still one of the projected main events, so that takes Rock out of any possibility of facing Lesnar, and takes Rollins out of any possibility of facing HHH.
Those in WWE close to the situation knew nothing about an Austin vs. Lesnar match. Every indication from Austin has been that he’s not going to wrestle again, and a few months back, when he did that promo on Lesnar and then I was told point blank he wasn’t going to wrestle at Mania and Vince was upset about the promo, that to me seemed to close the book on it. I do expect he’ll have a role in the show in some form, just because the goal is to make this the biggest Mania ever.
However, something must have changed in a major way, whether it’s network subscriptions, or a celebrity fight. It could be that Vince just came up with what in his mind is a better idea. Whatever the reason, he’s not saying past he made the call because he wanted to go in a new direction at Mania.
With Rock, Austin and Undertaker out of the picture, and Cena vs. Lesnar having been done many times, to me that leaves Rollins as champion in some sort of a no DQ type match where you know there’s no screwjob, and Lesnar challenging, or Reigns, since they didn’t give a finish of their match last year. Perhaps it’s a three-way.
Reigns (whether as face or a heel, and maybe as a strong heel it’ll get him out of kind of the malaise he’s in) still appears to be the slow build for a title shot on that card and their handpicked next superstar with the idea of a coronation at Mania, but the momentum isn’t in that direction right now. At this point, if that’s the direction, it would be a semi-cold title match if they go with it with him as a face, because the crowd already showed last year that Reigns isn’t getting over as a face against Lesnar even with Paul Heyman trying his damndest to make it fly.
Regarding Austin, there are still people who believe that they will shoot an angle on the talk show on 10/19 just because of the magnitude of the show, having nothing that feels that special and that would be the biggest match they could do. I guess on that night all the questions will be put to rest for good.
Vince also changed the original direction of Sting, who was never supposed to face Rollins originally. I don’t know that the Rollins vs. Kane match was originally for Night of Champions, but Kane was at first to come back a month earlier. Undertaker could still face Sting, but they’ve hurt that match badly and nobody is going to buy Sting winning. Plus, at this point, you can’t make any plans with Sting because of his neck.
Madison Square Garden show
The plan is for the entire show to be broadcast live. The show has only announced Lesnar vs. Show and New Day vs. Dudleys for the tag title. Advertised locally, and you know how much local advertising means when it comes to WWE lineups, are Cena vs. Rollins in a cage match for the U.S. title, Owens vs. Jericho for the IC title and Ziggler vs. Rusev.
Jericho is considering the Madison Square Garden show as the 25th anniversary of his pro debut. Jericho’s first match was October 2, 1990, a ten minute prelim draw against training partner Lance Storm at the Moose Lodge in Ponoka, Alberta. We haven’t heard that WWE has anything planned, but it would make sense. Since Jericho is scheduled to face Owens for the IC title, and it would be a shock if he wins, it’s likely to be in the middle of the show, with either Lesnar vs. Show or Cena vs. Rollins last.
The plan is for the entire show to be broadcast live. The show has only announced Lesnar vs. Show and New Day vs. Dudleys for the tag title. Advertised locally, and you know how much local advertising means when it comes to WWE lineups, are Cena vs. Rollins in a cage match for the U.S. title, Owens vs. Jericho for the IC title and Ziggler vs. Rusev.
Jericho is considering the Madison Square Garden show as the 25th anniversary of his pro debut. Jericho’s first match was October 2, 1990, a ten minute prelim draw against training partner Lance Storm at the Moose Lodge in Ponoka, Alberta. We haven’t heard that WWE has anything planned, but it would make sense. Since Jericho is scheduled to face Owens for the IC title, and it would be a shock if he wins, it’s likely to be in the middle of the show, with either Lesnar vs. Show or Cena vs. Rollins last.
NXT Takeover show
The 10/7 NXT Takeover show has Bayley vs. Banks in a 30:00 Iron woman match for the title. They are pushing really hard on TV that the women are in the main event for the first time ever. The crowd at Full Sail will make sure this is a good to great match. Also the finals of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team tournament (looking like Samoa Joe & Finn Balor vs. Baron Corbin & Rhyno) and Tyler Breeze vs. Apollo Crews.
The 10/7 NXT Takeover show has Bayley vs. Banks in a 30:00 Iron woman match for the title. They are pushing really hard on TV that the women are in the main event for the first time ever. The crowd at Full Sail will make sure this is a good to great match. Also the finals of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team tournament (looking like Samoa Joe & Finn Balor vs. Baron Corbin & Rhyno) and Tyler Breeze vs. Apollo Crews.
Hell in a Cell
For Hell in a Cell on 10/25 in Los Angeles, the only official matches are Lesnar vs. Undertaker and Reigns vs. Wyatt, both in Hell in a Cell matches. Obviously Rollins vs. Kane for the WWE title is being built. The Dudleys vs. New Day in a tables match was on the original lineup, and there’s no reason that wouldn’t take place. Owens vs. Ryback for the IC title is still being pushed, probably with some type of stipulation.
There could be an Ambrose & Orton vs. Strowman & Harper match just because Wyatt vs. Reigns will now be a singles match. The planned Divas title match is Charlotte vs. Nikki Bella vs. Paige, although Banks made Nikki submit on Smackdown in a six-person match, so she could be added as well. Another program, which would more likely be a pre-show type deal, that was pushed on Raw was Stardust vs. Neville vs. Barrett.
For Hell in a Cell on 10/25 in Los Angeles, the only official matches are Lesnar vs. Undertaker and Reigns vs. Wyatt, both in Hell in a Cell matches. Obviously Rollins vs. Kane for the WWE title is being built. The Dudleys vs. New Day in a tables match was on the original lineup, and there’s no reason that wouldn’t take place. Owens vs. Ryback for the IC title is still being pushed, probably with some type of stipulation.
There could be an Ambrose & Orton vs. Strowman & Harper match just because Wyatt vs. Reigns will now be a singles match. The planned Divas title match is Charlotte vs. Nikki Bella vs. Paige, although Banks made Nikki submit on Smackdown in a six-person match, so she could be added as well. Another program, which would more likely be a pre-show type deal, that was pushed on Raw was Stardust vs. Neville vs. Barrett.
10/19 Raw in Dallas
There is talk of using Austin, Flair and Michaels to be an in-ring panel talking about who is going to win the climactic Lesnar vs. Undertaker match when they appear on the 10/19 Raw in Dallas, although that idea is likely to change many times between now and then.
There is talk of using Austin, Flair and Michaels to be an in-ring panel talking about who is going to win the climactic Lesnar vs. Undertaker match when they appear on the 10/19 Raw in Dallas, although that idea is likely to change many times between now and then.
Carlito
Regarding the item here last week about Carlito and returning, he was asked about it and said that it all depends on the money offer they make. As noted here, they made an offer that he considered low, and he turned it down, but he made it clear he’d come back with the right offer. The talks of unmasking Los Matadores and revealing them as Colons is still on the table.
Regarding the item here last week about Carlito and returning, he was asked about it and said that it all depends on the money offer they make. As noted here, they made an offer that he considered low, and he turned it down, but he made it clear he’d come back with the right offer. The talks of unmasking Los Matadores and revealing them as Colons is still on the table.
New Japan News
New Japan Pro Wrestling is currently getting its pieces of the puzzle arranged together to build its biggest show of the year on 1/4 at the Tokyo Dome.
This past week, with two PPVs, Destruction in Okayama and Destruction in Kobe, they changed three championships and seemed to continue the direction leading to an expected Kazuchika Okada vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi IWGP title main event.
Tanahashi retained his briefcase that he got for winning the G-1, beating Bad Luck Fale at the 9/27 event in Kobe, but has likely one last obstacle in Tetsuya Naito on 10/12 at the King of Pro Wrestling show at Sumo Hall in Tokyo. Fale and Naito were the two wrestlers who beat Tanahashi during the G-1 tournament.
Okada, who worked in tag matches against A.J. Styles on both major events this past week, will defend his title against Styles in the main event of the 10/12 show, which is the company’s biggest event between now and the Tokyo Dome show.
Nakamura beat Goto in a tremendous match to win back the title he’s pretty much synonymous with. It’s his fifth title win for a belt that was created in 2011. Nakamura won it from Goto first on July 22, 2012, and has elevated it into the strongest No. 2 title in pro wrestling, in the sense it has headlined a number of sold out PPV shows. The pattern is that Nakamura loses the title, as he did in 2013 to La Sombra, 2014 to Tanahashi and Fale, and this year to Goto, and then regains it.
If Nakamura is still champion, Styles could be a Dome contender given he has never challenged for that title and the company’s big four are Tanahashi, Okada, Nakamura and Styles.
The other title change was a surprise, as Kenny Omega regained the IWGP jr. title for a second time, beating Kushida on the 9/23 show. Omega was then pinned in a trios match by Matt Sydal on 9/27, setting Sydal up for a title shot on 10/12. Sydal had beaten Kushida in a non-title match in ROH, so Omega’s win came out of nowhere. It’s hard to make sense out of it because Kushida was being pushed as the new face on the Japanese side of the division, yet he’s in the opener on 10/12. Perhaps this will all make sense if Sydal ends up as champion and then defends against Kushida at the Dome, but if that was the case, Kushida beating Sydal in the U.S. in their first meeting would seem to make the most sense.
The third title change was on 9/23 where Tiger Mask beat Steve Anthony, managed by Bruce Tharpe, to win the NWA jr. heavyweight title. They made it clear they are going with a Tiger Mask vs. Jushin Liger title match, but it wasn’t announced for 10/12, so it’s likely for November, or the Dome.
Business remains stable. The Okayama show drew 3,160 fans, which was reported as a sellout, but actually was a little shy of capacity and there were empty seats in full view of the cameras. The show felt more like a house show with a few big matches. Because of the quality of wrestling, it was good, but had the feeling at times of a routine Raw.
Kobe was legitimately sold out with 6,120 paid. It felt like a big card, with the usual pattern of good matches up-and-down the show, an excellent main event and the teases and builds for the next big show. You can see that everything make sense with the direction things seem to be going, but the issues we’ve talked about all year are there with the sameness and repeated matches. They desperately need a new top guy in the mix like Styles in 2014, especially with losing Minoru Suzuki. For the last several years this has felt like a hot and growing promotion, but to continue in that path, not only do they need an upgrade in television time, which isn’t happening, but a steady stream of new wrestlers who can climb the ladder to the top.
Ibushi should have been that guy, but it seems because he’s not full-time, they are slow to make it a big five with him. If he had beaten Makabe for the Never title, he could have faced Ishii, both fresher matches, and could have defended against Honma or Goto at the Dome, which would be fresher for that title than what appears to be the current direction.
They like to protect Makabe because he’s so famous mainstream (he’s a comedy figure on talk shows with the idea of being a well-known pro athlete who has a sweet tooth and bad eating habits, and is in a number of TV commercials), but Makabe wouldn’t have lost steam by losing to Ibushi and Ibushi can kill it on major shows in that spot.
New Japan Pro Wrestling is currently getting its pieces of the puzzle arranged together to build its biggest show of the year on 1/4 at the Tokyo Dome.
This past week, with two PPVs, Destruction in Okayama and Destruction in Kobe, they changed three championships and seemed to continue the direction leading to an expected Kazuchika Okada vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi IWGP title main event.
Tanahashi retained his briefcase that he got for winning the G-1, beating Bad Luck Fale at the 9/27 event in Kobe, but has likely one last obstacle in Tetsuya Naito on 10/12 at the King of Pro Wrestling show at Sumo Hall in Tokyo. Fale and Naito were the two wrestlers who beat Tanahashi during the G-1 tournament.
Okada, who worked in tag matches against A.J. Styles on both major events this past week, will defend his title against Styles in the main event of the 10/12 show, which is the company’s biggest event between now and the Tokyo Dome show.
Nakamura beat Goto in a tremendous match to win back the title he’s pretty much synonymous with. It’s his fifth title win for a belt that was created in 2011. Nakamura won it from Goto first on July 22, 2012, and has elevated it into the strongest No. 2 title in pro wrestling, in the sense it has headlined a number of sold out PPV shows. The pattern is that Nakamura loses the title, as he did in 2013 to La Sombra, 2014 to Tanahashi and Fale, and this year to Goto, and then regains it.
If Nakamura is still champion, Styles could be a Dome contender given he has never challenged for that title and the company’s big four are Tanahashi, Okada, Nakamura and Styles.
The other title change was a surprise, as Kenny Omega regained the IWGP jr. title for a second time, beating Kushida on the 9/23 show. Omega was then pinned in a trios match by Matt Sydal on 9/27, setting Sydal up for a title shot on 10/12. Sydal had beaten Kushida in a non-title match in ROH, so Omega’s win came out of nowhere. It’s hard to make sense out of it because Kushida was being pushed as the new face on the Japanese side of the division, yet he’s in the opener on 10/12. Perhaps this will all make sense if Sydal ends up as champion and then defends against Kushida at the Dome, but if that was the case, Kushida beating Sydal in the U.S. in their first meeting would seem to make the most sense.
The third title change was on 9/23 where Tiger Mask beat Steve Anthony, managed by Bruce Tharpe, to win the NWA jr. heavyweight title. They made it clear they are going with a Tiger Mask vs. Jushin Liger title match, but it wasn’t announced for 10/12, so it’s likely for November, or the Dome.
Business remains stable. The Okayama show drew 3,160 fans, which was reported as a sellout, but actually was a little shy of capacity and there were empty seats in full view of the cameras. The show felt more like a house show with a few big matches. Because of the quality of wrestling, it was good, but had the feeling at times of a routine Raw.
Kobe was legitimately sold out with 6,120 paid. It felt like a big card, with the usual pattern of good matches up-and-down the show, an excellent main event and the teases and builds for the next big show. You can see that everything make sense with the direction things seem to be going, but the issues we’ve talked about all year are there with the sameness and repeated matches. They desperately need a new top guy in the mix like Styles in 2014, especially with losing Minoru Suzuki. For the last several years this has felt like a hot and growing promotion, but to continue in that path, not only do they need an upgrade in television time, which isn’t happening, but a steady stream of new wrestlers who can climb the ladder to the top.
Ibushi should have been that guy, but it seems because he’s not full-time, they are slow to make it a big five with him. If he had beaten Makabe for the Never title, he could have faced Ishii, both fresher matches, and could have defended against Honma or Goto at the Dome, which would be fresher for that title than what appears to be the current direction.
They like to protect Makabe because he’s so famous mainstream (he’s a comedy figure on talk shows with the idea of being a well-known pro athlete who has a sweet tooth and bad eating habits, and is in a number of TV commercials), but Makabe wouldn’t have lost steam by losing to Ibushi and Ibushi can kill it on major shows in that spot.
TNA Bound for Glory
The current lineup for Bound for Glory on 10/4 in Concord, NC has Ethan Carter III vs. Drew Galloway vs Matt Hardy for the TNA title, Bobby Roode vs. Bobby Lashley for the King of the Mountain title, Gail Kim vs. Awesome Kong for the Knockouts title, an Ultimate X match for the X Division title (no names announced besides champion Tigre Uno), Eric Young vs. Kurt Angle, a Rumble style gauntlet match for a future title shot with Ken Anderson, Abyss, Mahabili Shera, Tyrus, Robbie E, Jesse Godderz, Aiden O’Shea (formerly Jay Bradley), Eli Drake and Chris Melendez, and Eddie Edwards & Davey Richards defending the tag team titles against Brian Myers & Trevor Lee, which is interesting since they just blew off the GFW angle and supposedly the GFW guys are gone, and now they’re back with no explanation.
The lineup on paper looks decently good. They are discounting tickets $5 for that show and all the shows coming up this week, as they’ve got house shows on 10/2 in Beckley, WV and 10/3 in Salem, VA, with the Earl Hebner Hall of Fame ceremony with Billy Corgan part of it.
The current lineup for Bound for Glory on 10/4 in Concord, NC has Ethan Carter III vs. Drew Galloway vs Matt Hardy for the TNA title, Bobby Roode vs. Bobby Lashley for the King of the Mountain title, Gail Kim vs. Awesome Kong for the Knockouts title, an Ultimate X match for the X Division title (no names announced besides champion Tigre Uno), Eric Young vs. Kurt Angle, a Rumble style gauntlet match for a future title shot with Ken Anderson, Abyss, Mahabili Shera, Tyrus, Robbie E, Jesse Godderz, Aiden O’Shea (formerly Jay Bradley), Eli Drake and Chris Melendez, and Eddie Edwards & Davey Richards defending the tag team titles against Brian Myers & Trevor Lee, which is interesting since they just blew off the GFW angle and supposedly the GFW guys are gone, and now they’re back with no explanation.
The lineup on paper looks decently good. They are discounting tickets $5 for that show and all the shows coming up this week, as they’ve got house shows on 10/2 in Beckley, WV and 10/3 in Salem, VA, with the Earl Hebner Hall of Fame ceremony with Billy Corgan part of it.