Week in Wrestling #30
Wrestling News From the week of
February 26th- March 4, 2016
February 26th- March 4, 2016
WWE Roadblock
HHH will have a tune-up fight of sorts before Wrestlemania in Dallas, defending the gold against Dean Ambrose at the newly-named Roadblock event in Toronto. The show will air live on WWE Network on Saturday, March 12th at 8 PM.
A show-long angle on Raw on 2/29 in Nashville between HHH vs. Dean Ambrose was designed to build to this match, and in the process it buried much of the hope I personally had for this company.
Ambrose, selling a beatdown from last week’s attack in the parking lot by Brock Lesnar, issued a challenge to HHH for the title in the opening segment. HHH said he’d give him his answer by the end of the show.
Ambrose was in the middle of a match with Alberto Del Rio in the main event when HHH came down. Ambrose attacked HHH, but HHH came back, laid him out with a pedigree, and agreed to the title match.
They believe that they are going to get Ambrose over as a never quits babyface by constantly beating him down and beating him but he keeps coming back. After HHH beat him down with the pedigree and left the ring, and Ambrose, still lying on his back, said “Thanks,” HHH came back and gave him another beating, throwing him over the announcers table and pounding on him on the table until officials tried to break it up.
While Ambrose will likely always get a reaction because the crowd likes him and he’s got a great promo delivery, at some point, unless he scores a big win that this is building toward, people may lose faith in him since he constantly gets beaten up in fights he starts and always loses to the top guys.
Also WWE announced that Brock Lesnar will wrestle Bray Wyatt on the show. This match was originally scheduled for this year's WrestleMania, but Dean Ambrose was moved into the Wyatt spot prior to the Fastlane PPV. Wyatt does not have a WrestleMania opponent as of yet, but it's expected that he and the rest of the Wyatt Family will compete in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal.
HHH will have a tune-up fight of sorts before Wrestlemania in Dallas, defending the gold against Dean Ambrose at the newly-named Roadblock event in Toronto. The show will air live on WWE Network on Saturday, March 12th at 8 PM.
A show-long angle on Raw on 2/29 in Nashville between HHH vs. Dean Ambrose was designed to build to this match, and in the process it buried much of the hope I personally had for this company.
Ambrose, selling a beatdown from last week’s attack in the parking lot by Brock Lesnar, issued a challenge to HHH for the title in the opening segment. HHH said he’d give him his answer by the end of the show.
Ambrose was in the middle of a match with Alberto Del Rio in the main event when HHH came down. Ambrose attacked HHH, but HHH came back, laid him out with a pedigree, and agreed to the title match.
They believe that they are going to get Ambrose over as a never quits babyface by constantly beating him down and beating him but he keeps coming back. After HHH beat him down with the pedigree and left the ring, and Ambrose, still lying on his back, said “Thanks,” HHH came back and gave him another beating, throwing him over the announcers table and pounding on him on the table until officials tried to break it up.
While Ambrose will likely always get a reaction because the crowd likes him and he’s got a great promo delivery, at some point, unless he scores a big win that this is building toward, people may lose faith in him since he constantly gets beaten up in fights he starts and always loses to the top guys.
Also WWE announced that Brock Lesnar will wrestle Bray Wyatt on the show. This match was originally scheduled for this year's WrestleMania, but Dean Ambrose was moved into the Wyatt spot prior to the Fastlane PPV. Wyatt does not have a WrestleMania opponent as of yet, but it's expected that he and the rest of the Wyatt Family will compete in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal.
Wrestlemania Card Complete
With four weeks of television left, we’re told there is a complete WrestleMania card, although at this point only three matches are announced.
The three, which are expected to be the show’s top three bouts, are HHH vs. Roman Reigns for the WWE title, Undertaker vs. Shane McMahon in a Hell in a Cell match for the control of Monday Night Raw, and Brock Lesnar vs. Dean Ambrose in a street fight.
At this point, there has been no mention of celebrities on the show. They haven’t even mentioned The Rock, although he is in a promotional videotape commercial for the show. But his being there has not been brought up in commentary since his last appearance on Raw in Miami. As noted, Rock, Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels and at least as of a week ago, Mick Foley, are all scheduled to have parts in the show at this point. The roles of all but Rock have been defined but whether all or some of the others will be announced ahead of time or do a cameo role similar to DX and the NWO last year is unknown.
Charlotte defending the Divas title against Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks in a three-way is currently scheduled, after two straight non-endings in Lynch vs. Banks matches to get the title shot.
There will be a New Day vs. League of Nations match in some form, either a tag team or a six-man match. The hints we’ve had indicate more likely the latter. The New Day vs. A.J. Styles & Chris Jericho program is not scheduled to be part of WrestleMania. They have been pushing Sheamus & Rusev as a tag team of late. King Barrett is fully cleared and Alberto Del Rio is still being linked with Kalisto, which could lead to a blow-off match over the U.S. title but we haven’t been told of that yet.
There will also be a multiple person match of sorts. That is likely for Kevin Owens’ IC title although that hasn’t been confirmed. The idea is similar to last year’s IC title ladder match to load up on good workers.
Also on the show include another singles match with top guys with an angle expected to be shot over the next two weeks, a second women’s match as well as the Andre the Giant Battle Royal for everyone else not slotted in.
Aside from Shane McMahon, no surprise wrestlers are scheduled for the show, as all the legends will be in cameo roles, interview roles or as seconds or referees.
With four weeks of television left, we’re told there is a complete WrestleMania card, although at this point only three matches are announced.
The three, which are expected to be the show’s top three bouts, are HHH vs. Roman Reigns for the WWE title, Undertaker vs. Shane McMahon in a Hell in a Cell match for the control of Monday Night Raw, and Brock Lesnar vs. Dean Ambrose in a street fight.
At this point, there has been no mention of celebrities on the show. They haven’t even mentioned The Rock, although he is in a promotional videotape commercial for the show. But his being there has not been brought up in commentary since his last appearance on Raw in Miami. As noted, Rock, Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels and at least as of a week ago, Mick Foley, are all scheduled to have parts in the show at this point. The roles of all but Rock have been defined but whether all or some of the others will be announced ahead of time or do a cameo role similar to DX and the NWO last year is unknown.
Charlotte defending the Divas title against Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks in a three-way is currently scheduled, after two straight non-endings in Lynch vs. Banks matches to get the title shot.
There will be a New Day vs. League of Nations match in some form, either a tag team or a six-man match. The hints we’ve had indicate more likely the latter. The New Day vs. A.J. Styles & Chris Jericho program is not scheduled to be part of WrestleMania. They have been pushing Sheamus & Rusev as a tag team of late. King Barrett is fully cleared and Alberto Del Rio is still being linked with Kalisto, which could lead to a blow-off match over the U.S. title but we haven’t been told of that yet.
There will also be a multiple person match of sorts. That is likely for Kevin Owens’ IC title although that hasn’t been confirmed. The idea is similar to last year’s IC title ladder match to load up on good workers.
Also on the show include another singles match with top guys with an angle expected to be shot over the next two weeks, a second women’s match as well as the Andre the Giant Battle Royal for everyone else not slotted in.
Aside from Shane McMahon, no surprise wrestlers are scheduled for the show, as all the legends will be in cameo roles, interview roles or as seconds or referees.
Freebirds to the Hall of Fame
The WWE announced on 2/29 that The Fabulous Freebirds, in this case, Michael “PS” Hayes (Michael Seitz, 56), Terry “Bam Bam” Gordy (who passed away in 2001 at the age of 40), Buddy “Jack” Roberts (Dale Hey, who passed away in 2012 at the age of 65) and Jimmy “Jam” Garvin (James Williams, 63) will be inducted into the company’s Hall of Fame on 4/2.
It’s apropos for the Freebirds to be inducted at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, not far from the old Reunion Arena and Dallas Sportatorium where the four headlined during the heyday of World Class Championship Wrestling with battles against the Von Erichs.
While not announced, it is known that Kevin Von Erich, the only surviving member of the brothers that they feuded with, will be coming to the ceremony and may be inducting them.
The WWE announced on 2/29 that The Fabulous Freebirds, in this case, Michael “PS” Hayes (Michael Seitz, 56), Terry “Bam Bam” Gordy (who passed away in 2001 at the age of 40), Buddy “Jack” Roberts (Dale Hey, who passed away in 2012 at the age of 65) and Jimmy “Jam” Garvin (James Williams, 63) will be inducted into the company’s Hall of Fame on 4/2.
It’s apropos for the Freebirds to be inducted at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, not far from the old Reunion Arena and Dallas Sportatorium where the four headlined during the heyday of World Class Championship Wrestling with battles against the Von Erichs.
While not announced, it is known that Kevin Von Erich, the only surviving member of the brothers that they feuded with, will be coming to the ceremony and may be inducting them.
Raw Ratings
Raw held up well, only falling four percent from the day after the Fast Lane PPV show, doing a strong first and third hour and averaging a 2.62 rating and 3,709,000 viewers (1.48 viewers per home).
The strong first hour is likely curiosity created by the return of Shane McMahon, as well as it being WrestleMania season. The show was heavily based around the McMahon family, with the wrestling on the show seeming secondary. It was also heavily pushed that The Undertaker would return on the show.
The third hour was the second best (trailing only the show the day after the Royal Rumble) final hour since August. That was a big surprise since the overrun went 14 minutes, which usually hurts when it goes that long, and Dean Ambrose vs. Alberto Del Rio didn’t figure to be a big draw. The third hour hook was whether HHH would give Ambrose a WWE title match, as HHH said he’d answer that question by the end of the show. The third hour number was also helped by Vince McMahon and Undertaker’s segment coming on at 10 p.m. The strong third hour with Ambrose as the key factor in the long overrun is notable because of the internal belief that Reigns has more casual appeal and potential while Ambrose’s bigger reactions is based on the hardcore audience. You need more evidence than one week, but this was at least some evidence strong saying the opposite.
The first hour did 3,951,000 viewers. The second hour did 3,660,000 viewers and the third hour did 3,551,000 viewers.
Raw was the highest rated show on cable, with The O’Reilly Factor, at 3,563,000 viewers, in second place.
Raw held up well, only falling four percent from the day after the Fast Lane PPV show, doing a strong first and third hour and averaging a 2.62 rating and 3,709,000 viewers (1.48 viewers per home).
The strong first hour is likely curiosity created by the return of Shane McMahon, as well as it being WrestleMania season. The show was heavily based around the McMahon family, with the wrestling on the show seeming secondary. It was also heavily pushed that The Undertaker would return on the show.
The third hour was the second best (trailing only the show the day after the Royal Rumble) final hour since August. That was a big surprise since the overrun went 14 minutes, which usually hurts when it goes that long, and Dean Ambrose vs. Alberto Del Rio didn’t figure to be a big draw. The third hour hook was whether HHH would give Ambrose a WWE title match, as HHH said he’d answer that question by the end of the show. The third hour number was also helped by Vince McMahon and Undertaker’s segment coming on at 10 p.m. The strong third hour with Ambrose as the key factor in the long overrun is notable because of the internal belief that Reigns has more casual appeal and potential while Ambrose’s bigger reactions is based on the hardcore audience. You need more evidence than one week, but this was at least some evidence strong saying the opposite.
The first hour did 3,951,000 viewers. The second hour did 3,660,000 viewers and the third hour did 3,551,000 viewers.
Raw was the highest rated show on cable, with The O’Reilly Factor, at 3,563,000 viewers, in second place.
Sami Zane to Main Roster
Sami Zayn is scheduled to be wrestling at WrestleMania at this point so he should be appearing on the main roster and on the main television very shortly. He’s also booked for the European tour.
Sami Zayn is scheduled to be wrestling at WrestleMania at this point so he should be appearing on the main roster and on the main television very shortly. He’s also booked for the European tour.
Reigns Nose Surgery
Roman Reigns nasal surgery may have been for a deviated septum on 2/23 in Tampa. That is not confirmed as far as what the surgery was for, just that the angle on 2/22 was done as a storyline to cover the surgery for a pre-existing issue, which is why they used the heavy blood in the angle. The reason WWE was so vague on the issue is because while it was nasal surgery and the angle is that he had a shattered nose, the surgery was for something different.
We don’t know for certain what the nature of the surgery was, only that the photos he showed were consistent with the aftermath of surgery for a deviated septum. Right now he’s advertised for the 3/7 Raw in Chicago, 3/12 Roadblock show in Toronto, but not the 3/14 TV in Pittsburgh
Roman Reigns nasal surgery may have been for a deviated septum on 2/23 in Tampa. That is not confirmed as far as what the surgery was for, just that the angle on 2/22 was done as a storyline to cover the surgery for a pre-existing issue, which is why they used the heavy blood in the angle. The reason WWE was so vague on the issue is because while it was nasal surgery and the angle is that he had a shattered nose, the surgery was for something different.
We don’t know for certain what the nature of the surgery was, only that the photos he showed were consistent with the aftermath of surgery for a deviated septum. Right now he’s advertised for the 3/7 Raw in Chicago, 3/12 Roadblock show in Toronto, but not the 3/14 TV in Pittsburgh
Shane McMahon Training
McMahon has been training with a number of different coaches to get in shape for his match, including strength and conditioning and Muay Thai. One of his coaches is Phil Nurse, a boxer and kickboxer from the U.K. best known as Georges St-Pierre’s striking coach. Nurse was the guy who rubbed all the Vaseline on GSP causing all the controversy in his second fight with B.J. Penn. Maybe they can copy that spot so Shane can escape from Undertaker’s gogoplata. Or maybe not.
McMahon has been training with a number of different coaches to get in shape for his match, including strength and conditioning and Muay Thai. One of his coaches is Phil Nurse, a boxer and kickboxer from the U.K. best known as Georges St-Pierre’s striking coach. Nurse was the guy who rubbed all the Vaseline on GSP causing all the controversy in his second fight with B.J. Penn. Maybe they can copy that spot so Shane can escape from Undertaker’s gogoplata. Or maybe not.
Styles Clash
There had been talk regarding whether to allow Styles to use the Styles Clash, because Vince McMahon had found out Yoshitatsu suffered a broken neck from the move and wanted to err on the side of caution. After Styles used it to beat Axel in his second singles match, they made the call to use the calf crusher as his finisher. Styles hadn’t used the Styles clash, nor even teased it because he was told it wasn’t going to be his finish, since that point.
Jericho wanted it in their PPV match, as much as anything because the move was over and to get a reaction, and got it in, and with no issues coming from it, the move is now okay to be used. But I believe they still want the submission move to be his finisher.
There had been talk regarding whether to allow Styles to use the Styles Clash, because Vince McMahon had found out Yoshitatsu suffered a broken neck from the move and wanted to err on the side of caution. After Styles used it to beat Axel in his second singles match, they made the call to use the calf crusher as his finisher. Styles hadn’t used the Styles clash, nor even teased it because he was told it wasn’t going to be his finish, since that point.
Jericho wanted it in their PPV match, as much as anything because the move was over and to get a reaction, and got it in, and with no issues coming from it, the move is now okay to be used. But I believe they still want the submission move to be his finisher.
WWE Earnings
Vince McMahon’s 2016 salary is listed as $1,325,000 and he is listed as being able to be bonused an equal amount this year if the year-end financials reach certain levels.
The salaries of some of the top executives were released by WWE this past week. The bulk of McMahon’s income for the year will come in the form of company dividends, which would have been $18,850,867 this past year. Unless he sells stock, it would be the same amount this year. The value of his company stock at press time is approximately $792 million.
In 2015, McMahon actually earned $3,308,998 between salary and bonuses, based on a salary of $1,239,923, incentive plan compensation of $2,050,000 and $19,075 in life insurance and 401 K payments. He was not paid as a performer after having a performers deal for many years.
Michelle Wilson, the Chief Revenue and Marketing Officer, earned $4,507,801, with the bulk of that, $3,099,994 coming in stock awards.
George Barrios, the Chief Strategy and Financial Officer earned $4,494,878, with identical money coming from stock awards.
Paul Levesque earned $3,112,654 which was broken down as a $573,269 salary as Executive Vice President of Live Events and Creative, $299,995 in stock awards, $26,000 in incentive plan compensation and $1,713,360 for his work as a performer. Levesque earned, through all sources, $2,775,186 in 2014, and $2,511,311 in 2013.
Levesque has a $1 million downside guarantee, which is generally the top downside in the company, with a few notable exceptions. His payments for appearing on Raw and doing PPV matches in 2015 greatly exceeded his downside.
Kevin Dunn, the Executive Producer, earned $4,758,170, earning the same $3,099,994 in stock awards as Wilson and Barrios. The stock awards of Dunn, Wilson and Barrios, based on the company’s financial performance this past year, saw all of the earnings multiply over 2014 levels.
Dunn, for a comparison, earned $1,791,492 in 2014 and $1,744,184 in 2013.
Vince McMahon is the company’s leading stockholder, owning 39,272,641 shares, or about 51 percent of the company. Lindsell Train Limited of London, with 5,572,681 shares (7.3 percent) would be the second leading shareholder. Linda McMahon would be third largest shareholder with 4,306,036 shares (5.7 percent). Stephanie McMahon owns 1,904,210 shares (2.5 percent), making her the eighth largest shareholder in the company, also behind The Vanguard Group (4.8 percent), Eminence Capital (4.5 percent), Morgan Stanley (3.5 percent) and BlackRock Inc. (2.7 percent). Levesque owns 53,636 shares. What’s notable is that Shane McMahon no longer has a significant amount of stock, so he must have sold all or almost all of his stock that he and Stephanie were granted years ago. Stephanie had sold a significant amount of her stock a few years back to fund building a house.
Shane McMahon has not signed a contract with the company as a performer nor has he been hired for an executive position. The company noted that he is expected to be paid in excess of $120,000 for his role as a performer this year leading to WrestleMania. At this point, nobody seems to have been told anything but he’s returning short-term as a performer.
Vince McMahon’s 2016 salary is listed as $1,325,000 and he is listed as being able to be bonused an equal amount this year if the year-end financials reach certain levels.
The salaries of some of the top executives were released by WWE this past week. The bulk of McMahon’s income for the year will come in the form of company dividends, which would have been $18,850,867 this past year. Unless he sells stock, it would be the same amount this year. The value of his company stock at press time is approximately $792 million.
In 2015, McMahon actually earned $3,308,998 between salary and bonuses, based on a salary of $1,239,923, incentive plan compensation of $2,050,000 and $19,075 in life insurance and 401 K payments. He was not paid as a performer after having a performers deal for many years.
Michelle Wilson, the Chief Revenue and Marketing Officer, earned $4,507,801, with the bulk of that, $3,099,994 coming in stock awards.
George Barrios, the Chief Strategy and Financial Officer earned $4,494,878, with identical money coming from stock awards.
Paul Levesque earned $3,112,654 which was broken down as a $573,269 salary as Executive Vice President of Live Events and Creative, $299,995 in stock awards, $26,000 in incentive plan compensation and $1,713,360 for his work as a performer. Levesque earned, through all sources, $2,775,186 in 2014, and $2,511,311 in 2013.
Levesque has a $1 million downside guarantee, which is generally the top downside in the company, with a few notable exceptions. His payments for appearing on Raw and doing PPV matches in 2015 greatly exceeded his downside.
Kevin Dunn, the Executive Producer, earned $4,758,170, earning the same $3,099,994 in stock awards as Wilson and Barrios. The stock awards of Dunn, Wilson and Barrios, based on the company’s financial performance this past year, saw all of the earnings multiply over 2014 levels.
Dunn, for a comparison, earned $1,791,492 in 2014 and $1,744,184 in 2013.
Vince McMahon is the company’s leading stockholder, owning 39,272,641 shares, or about 51 percent of the company. Lindsell Train Limited of London, with 5,572,681 shares (7.3 percent) would be the second leading shareholder. Linda McMahon would be third largest shareholder with 4,306,036 shares (5.7 percent). Stephanie McMahon owns 1,904,210 shares (2.5 percent), making her the eighth largest shareholder in the company, also behind The Vanguard Group (4.8 percent), Eminence Capital (4.5 percent), Morgan Stanley (3.5 percent) and BlackRock Inc. (2.7 percent). Levesque owns 53,636 shares. What’s notable is that Shane McMahon no longer has a significant amount of stock, so he must have sold all or almost all of his stock that he and Stephanie were granted years ago. Stephanie had sold a significant amount of her stock a few years back to fund building a house.
Shane McMahon has not signed a contract with the company as a performer nor has he been hired for an executive position. The company noted that he is expected to be paid in excess of $120,000 for his role as a performer this year leading to WrestleMania. At this point, nobody seems to have been told anything but he’s returning short-term as a performer.
Hogan-Gawker trial
The Hogan-Gawker trial starts this week. According to a story in the Tampa Bay Times, when the judge read Gawker’s defense that the video was a matter of legitimate public concern, several jurors scoffed audibly. Hogan is expecting the biggest win of his career, and financially, it very well could be. Hogan Tweeted while in the court house, “Time for the real main event. I am going to slam another Giant! Hogan vs. Gawker! Watcha Gonna Do Gawker? Only Justice Brother.
The Hogan-Gawker trial starts this week. According to a story in the Tampa Bay Times, when the judge read Gawker’s defense that the video was a matter of legitimate public concern, several jurors scoffed audibly. Hogan is expecting the biggest win of his career, and financially, it very well could be. Hogan Tweeted while in the court house, “Time for the real main event. I am going to slam another Giant! Hogan vs. Gawker! Watcha Gonna Do Gawker? Only Justice Brother.
TNA looking for Investors
In the saga of TNA and money issues department, Mike Johnson reported this past week that TNA is looking for outside investors. While they are categorizing it as looking for money to fund new growth, the move comes at a time when Panda Energy has pulled back on funding the company.
The company has made some big moves this year, including signing talent to guaranteed money contracts just months after trying to get everyone off guaranteed deals and onto per date deal which left morale really bad when the promise of regular house shows in the latter part of 2015 failed to materialize.
The company had been looking for investors for some time, but it hadn’t been public. But apparently Dixie Carter has been at meetings in both New York and Los Angeles looking for funding.
The public admission of looking for outside funding is a change, as all previous stories that would lead to uncertainty about the future were always denied to talent, even though historically in every case it left the company with no credibility when the stories ended up being true.
In the saga of TNA and money issues department, Mike Johnson reported this past week that TNA is looking for outside investors. While they are categorizing it as looking for money to fund new growth, the move comes at a time when Panda Energy has pulled back on funding the company.
The company has made some big moves this year, including signing talent to guaranteed money contracts just months after trying to get everyone off guaranteed deals and onto per date deal which left morale really bad when the promise of regular house shows in the latter part of 2015 failed to materialize.
The company had been looking for investors for some time, but it hadn’t been public. But apparently Dixie Carter has been at meetings in both New York and Los Angeles looking for funding.
The public admission of looking for outside funding is a change, as all previous stories that would lead to uncertainty about the future were always denied to talent, even though historically in every case it left the company with no credibility when the stories ended up being true.
ROH 14th Anniversary show
Ring of Honor’s 14th anniversary show felt in some ways like as much a showcase for New Japan Pro Wrestling as anything.
The show, before a sellout of 800 fans on 2/26 at Sam’s Town Casino in Las Vegas, saw a unique crowd that came across quiet for the most part on the PPV, reacting in many ways like a Japanese audience except doing American-style chants.
The crowd was not so much into the ROH angles and storylines, but more into seeing characters, most notably The Young Bucks, Kenny Omega, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kazuchika Okada. Two of the matches, B.J. Whitmer vs. Adam Page, and the tag title match with War Machine (Ray Rowe & Hanson) retaining over The All Night Express (Kenny King, who got zero of a hometown reaction in Las Vegas) & Rhett Titus, died live. Whitmer vs. Page wasn’t very good and the crowd didn’t care.
The tag title match was put on right after a tremendous Never Open weight six-man title match with the Bucks & Omega vs. Matt Sydal & ACH & Kushida, and just couldn’t follow it. While well wrestled, the main event, where Jay Lethal retained his ROH title over Adam Cole and Kyle O’Reilly came off as anti-climactic as the crowd was nowhere near as into it as the trios title match.
On the positive front, the look of the show with the new production set-up and better lighting was the best and most major league of any ROH PPV to date. The show flowed well and the wrestling was largely good. The live crowd felt a lot more like people who traveled in as opposed to a Las Vegas crowd, in many ways feeling like they were there to see the New Japan stars, most of whom had never worked anywhere near the west coast.
New Japan had strong input into the booking of their talent. Tomohiro Ishii retained the TV title over the weekend, first beating Roderick Strong and Bobby Fish in a three-way, and then Cedric Alexander the second night. He’s expected back in May to defend the title. Tanahashi & Michael Elgin, who it felt like were being groomed for a tag team title program with Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma in New Japan, beat the Briscoes. Okada beat Moose, but as IWGP champion, there was no other result possible. Hirooki Goto beat Dalton Castle on the PPV, although Goto did put over Lethal the next night. Only Kushida was on the losing side, and that was because he was challenging for New Japan’s trios belts against New Japan regulars, and he didn’t lose the fall (Sydal did, who is also a New Japan wrestler).
An interesting note is that both in commentary and on graphics, they plugged New Japan on AXS and that Jim Ross would be announcing the shows starting this week. Andrew Simon of AXS was at the show as were execs from New Japan and parent company Bushiroad. Bushiroad is apparently looking to break into the U.S. market as far as its own company goes, as well as more aggressively promote New Japan in the market.
Ring of Honor’s 14th anniversary show felt in some ways like as much a showcase for New Japan Pro Wrestling as anything.
The show, before a sellout of 800 fans on 2/26 at Sam’s Town Casino in Las Vegas, saw a unique crowd that came across quiet for the most part on the PPV, reacting in many ways like a Japanese audience except doing American-style chants.
The crowd was not so much into the ROH angles and storylines, but more into seeing characters, most notably The Young Bucks, Kenny Omega, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kazuchika Okada. Two of the matches, B.J. Whitmer vs. Adam Page, and the tag title match with War Machine (Ray Rowe & Hanson) retaining over The All Night Express (Kenny King, who got zero of a hometown reaction in Las Vegas) & Rhett Titus, died live. Whitmer vs. Page wasn’t very good and the crowd didn’t care.
The tag title match was put on right after a tremendous Never Open weight six-man title match with the Bucks & Omega vs. Matt Sydal & ACH & Kushida, and just couldn’t follow it. While well wrestled, the main event, where Jay Lethal retained his ROH title over Adam Cole and Kyle O’Reilly came off as anti-climactic as the crowd was nowhere near as into it as the trios title match.
On the positive front, the look of the show with the new production set-up and better lighting was the best and most major league of any ROH PPV to date. The show flowed well and the wrestling was largely good. The live crowd felt a lot more like people who traveled in as opposed to a Las Vegas crowd, in many ways feeling like they were there to see the New Japan stars, most of whom had never worked anywhere near the west coast.
New Japan had strong input into the booking of their talent. Tomohiro Ishii retained the TV title over the weekend, first beating Roderick Strong and Bobby Fish in a three-way, and then Cedric Alexander the second night. He’s expected back in May to defend the title. Tanahashi & Michael Elgin, who it felt like were being groomed for a tag team title program with Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma in New Japan, beat the Briscoes. Okada beat Moose, but as IWGP champion, there was no other result possible. Hirooki Goto beat Dalton Castle on the PPV, although Goto did put over Lethal the next night. Only Kushida was on the losing side, and that was because he was challenging for New Japan’s trios belts against New Japan regulars, and he didn’t lose the fall (Sydal did, who is also a New Japan wrestler).
An interesting note is that both in commentary and on graphics, they plugged New Japan on AXS and that Jim Ross would be announcing the shows starting this week. Andrew Simon of AXS was at the show as were execs from New Japan and parent company Bushiroad. Bushiroad is apparently looking to break into the U.S. market as far as its own company goes, as well as more aggressively promote New Japan in the market.
Super J Cup Returns
New Japan owner Takaaki Kidani announced Thursday that the company will be bringing back the Super J Cup this year, a one-night junior heavyweight tournament that is clearly the company's shot at WWE's cruiserweight tournament on the WWE Network.
The Super J Cup will take place on 8/21 at the Ariake Coliseum. New Japan, Ring of Honor, CMLL, Pro Wrestling NOAH, Dragon Gate, Suzuki-Gun, Zero-One and K-Dojo all will participate.
They also announced the revival of the Tiger Mask television cartoon, which was a famous series in Japan during the 1970s. New Japan wrestlers will be characters in the new series which the company hopes will open up their audience more to kids. When making the annoucement, Kidani even made a remark that this is something WWE won't be able to do.
New Japan owner Takaaki Kidani announced Thursday that the company will be bringing back the Super J Cup this year, a one-night junior heavyweight tournament that is clearly the company's shot at WWE's cruiserweight tournament on the WWE Network.
The Super J Cup will take place on 8/21 at the Ariake Coliseum. New Japan, Ring of Honor, CMLL, Pro Wrestling NOAH, Dragon Gate, Suzuki-Gun, Zero-One and K-Dojo all will participate.
They also announced the revival of the Tiger Mask television cartoon, which was a famous series in Japan during the 1970s. New Japan wrestlers will be characters in the new series which the company hopes will open up their audience more to kids. When making the annoucement, Kidani even made a remark that this is something WWE won't be able to do.
Lucha Underground on iTunes
The company has signed a deal with iTunes where all episodes of season one will be available for $34.99 in SD and $44.99 in HD. They also have the already aired episodes of season two for sale as well. We had been told about this deal several weeks ago. What we were told about the deal at that time is that it would be announced and was pretty much done. At the time we were told, and the deal hadn’t been completely finalized but was told to us that it was happening, is that Lucha Underground would not be getting any money up front, which they were hoping to get, but would be getting a share of the revenue from the purchases.
But this enables people who have no access to El Rey to watch season two, and people who didn’t have access to El Rey or Unimas to watch season one.
The company has signed a deal with iTunes where all episodes of season one will be available for $34.99 in SD and $44.99 in HD. They also have the already aired episodes of season two for sale as well. We had been told about this deal several weeks ago. What we were told about the deal at that time is that it would be announced and was pretty much done. At the time we were told, and the deal hadn’t been completely finalized but was told to us that it was happening, is that Lucha Underground would not be getting any money up front, which they were hoping to get, but would be getting a share of the revenue from the purchases.
But this enables people who have no access to El Rey to watch season two, and people who didn’t have access to El Rey or Unimas to watch season one.
Wrestlecon in Dallas
Besides Pentagon Jr., also added to Wrestlecon this year in Dallas from AAA/Lucha Underground are Fenix, Aero Star, Flamita, Cage, Ivelisse, Catrina, Melissa Santos and Drago. They will all be wrestling on the 4/2 show in Dallas that includes Will Ospreay vs. Marty Scurll (these two had two incredible matches recently in the U.K.) And Matt Hardy vs. Lance Storm.
The list of talent there for signing and in some cases wrestling is incredible, with Shawn Michaels, Kurt Angle, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Tully Blanchard, Raven, Shane Douglas, Tommy Dreamer, Mickie James, Billy Gunn, Marty Jannetty, Ricochet/Prince Puma, Rick & Scott Steiner, Lex Luger, DDP, Vince Russo, Abyss, James Storm, Eddie Edwards, Davey Richards, Trevor Lee, Rebel, Great Muta, Rob Van Dam, Paul Orndorff, Jake Roberts, Jim Duggan, Bobby Heenan, Ivan Putski, Road Warrior Animal, Tito Santana, Gene Okerlund, Bob Orton, Greg Valentine, Warlord, Barbarian, Magnus, Vince Russo, Bill Apter, Ed Ferrara, Chris Masters, Stacy Carter, Mike Barton, Bob Holly, Honky Tonk Man, Kelly Kelly, Melina, Terri Runnels, Ashley Massaro, Maryse, Thea Trinidad, Missy Hyatt, Scott Norton, Kevin Sullivan, Sami Callihan, Bobby Fulton, Andrew Everett, Carlito, One Man Gang, Daivari, Charlie & Jackie Haas, Scotty 2 Hotty, Brian Christopher, Savio Vega, Debra Marshall and Brian Myers.
I will be there!!!
Besides Pentagon Jr., also added to Wrestlecon this year in Dallas from AAA/Lucha Underground are Fenix, Aero Star, Flamita, Cage, Ivelisse, Catrina, Melissa Santos and Drago. They will all be wrestling on the 4/2 show in Dallas that includes Will Ospreay vs. Marty Scurll (these two had two incredible matches recently in the U.K.) And Matt Hardy vs. Lance Storm.
The list of talent there for signing and in some cases wrestling is incredible, with Shawn Michaels, Kurt Angle, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Tully Blanchard, Raven, Shane Douglas, Tommy Dreamer, Mickie James, Billy Gunn, Marty Jannetty, Ricochet/Prince Puma, Rick & Scott Steiner, Lex Luger, DDP, Vince Russo, Abyss, James Storm, Eddie Edwards, Davey Richards, Trevor Lee, Rebel, Great Muta, Rob Van Dam, Paul Orndorff, Jake Roberts, Jim Duggan, Bobby Heenan, Ivan Putski, Road Warrior Animal, Tito Santana, Gene Okerlund, Bob Orton, Greg Valentine, Warlord, Barbarian, Magnus, Vince Russo, Bill Apter, Ed Ferrara, Chris Masters, Stacy Carter, Mike Barton, Bob Holly, Honky Tonk Man, Kelly Kelly, Melina, Terri Runnels, Ashley Massaro, Maryse, Thea Trinidad, Missy Hyatt, Scott Norton, Kevin Sullivan, Sami Callihan, Bobby Fulton, Andrew Everett, Carlito, One Man Gang, Daivari, Charlie & Jackie Haas, Scotty 2 Hotty, Brian Christopher, Savio Vega, Debra Marshall and Brian Myers.
I will be there!!!