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2JULY 16, 2012 OBSERVER NEWSLETTER: ANDERSON SILVA VS. CHAEL SONNEN LIVE REPORT, KENNY KING LEAVES ROH, TNA DESTINATION X AND NEW CHAMPION, TONS MORE
3BY OBSERVER STAFF | STAFF@WRESTLINGOBSERVER.COM | @WONF4W
4TWITTERFACEBOOKGOOGLE+
5
6Wrestling Observer Newsletter
7PO Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228 ISSN10839593 July 16, 2012
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9UFC 148 PPV POLL RESULTS
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11Thumbs up 108 (61.0%)
12
13Thumbs down 27 (15.3%)
14
15In the middle 42 (23.7%)
16
17BEST MATCH POLL
18
19Forrest Griffin vs. Tito Ortiz 142
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21Cung Le vs. Patrick Cote 11
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23WORST MATCH POLL
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25Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Gleison Tibau 60
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27Mike Easton vs. Ivan Menjivar 51
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29Costa Philippou vs. Riki Fukuda 24
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31Demian Maia vs. Dong Hyun Kim 10
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33TNA DESTINATION X PPV POLL RESULTS
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35Thumbs up 111 (100.0%)
36
37Thumbs down 0 (00.0%)
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39In the middle 0 (00.0%)
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41BEST MATCH POLL
42
43Austin Aries vs. Bobby Roode 72
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45A.J. Styles vs. Christopher Daniels 37
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47WORST MATCH POLL
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49Andrews vs. Jigsaw vs. Only vs. Darsow 28
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51Zema Ion vs. Flip Casanova 26
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53Kenny King vs. Doug Williams 24
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55Mason Andrews vs. Kid Kash 10
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57Based on e-mails and phone calls to the Observer as of Tuesday, 7/10.
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59After one of its biggest shows in history, a two-plus year promotion that wound up setting records for UFC in just about every category possible except PPV numbers, the question becomes what is next for Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen.
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61Silva finished Sonnen with strikes on the ground at 1:55 of the second round to retain his UFC middleweight title in what the company was pushing as the biggest fight in its history.
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63It probably was on a worldwide basis with UFC’s explosion in popularity in Brazil, and Silva being its marquee star. In the U.S., it was in the top tier. The rematch between the man who is probably the greatest fighter in MMA history, but who never drew at the level of the greatest fighter in history, with an opponent who two years ago was just regarded as the next guy in the win streak, became this large for two reasons.
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65Dana White after, when speaking to a flood of worldwide media, particularly from Brazil, perhaps double any show in history with the possible exception of UFC 100, said it was not Chael Sonnen’s mouth and antics that sold the fight, and that it was the story of the first fight.
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67Of course, it was both, and other things, including two years of building, and Silva uncharacteristically cutting money promos vowing to break Sonnen’s bones and break his teeth. Neither happened. Sonnen dominated round one with an immediate takedown, and kept Silva on his back the entire five minutes. Sonnen was busy enough to not get a standup, and advanced his position to full mount late, but didn’t do serious damage.
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69Unlike in the first fight, when Sonnen came back in round two to do it all again, it didn’t happen. He couldn’t take Silva down. And he wasn’t going to last very long with him standing. The key spot was, after failing to be able to take Silva down, Sonnen tried something nobody would expect. He went for a spinning elbow, which Silva sidestepped and Sonnen threw so hard and missed that he lost his balance and went down. Silva then through a vicious knee, catching Sonnen in the upper chest. The move was perfectly legal. Sonnen, instinctively, although not the best for him, moved his head forward and the upper thigh hit his chin as the knee caught his chest. The upper thigh is legal, but Sonnen’s head snapped back. As it turned out, his head was hit so hard he but his tongue so badly that the tongue needed stitches. Silva started pounding but Sonnen got up, but was hurt badly. Silva was taking him apart with punches, decked him and then finished him with punches on the ground.
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71There are a number of variables between the two fights. Both fighters were two years older. While Silva went from 35 to 37 and Sonnen from 33 to 35, those years may be harder on people who are primarily wrestlers. Another question has to be asked regards weight cutting. While people rave about Mike Dolce in getting fighters to be able to cut significant weight, there is a flip side of putting your body through that torture. Sonnen cut from 205 to 185 in one day, and it was hoped he’d be 215 to 218 going into the cage, which is huge for the division. But it’s frequent that guys who are huge for the division, have a strong first round and then get tired. Sonnen was known for his conditioning in long fights, as the first fight with Silva showed. But in this fight, and his previous fight with Michael Bisping, he got tired quicker. That could be age, it could be a harder paced match and it could be weight cutting. Remember that wrestlers who cut excessive weight are only competing for six hard minutes, while a title fight is 25 minutes, so the positives of major cutting and having the strength edge early has less negative side effects than in an MMA championship situation.
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73After the match, there was some controversy. A lot of people watching thought the key blow was an illegal knee, including many sitting right in front, including myself, but the replays indicated otherwise. At first, Sonnen blew off any complaints. Silva, after the fight where Sonnen was booed out of the arena, told the Brazilian fans that they should show they are sports fans and give Sonnen a hand for his effort. He also invited Sonnen to a barbecue, stemming from Sonnen in the pre-fight banter saying how he wanted Silva’s wife to cook him a steak, medium rare. The Brazilian fans did give Sonnen a hand when Silva told them, but when Sonnen did his interview, those same fans turned on him again. At the post-fight press conference, Sonnen didn’t complain about anything. When it was noted that Silva had grabbed his shorts, he said that people do that, and he probably grabbed Silva’s back and maybe in the next fight he’ll do it. He said the better man won.
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75However, Sonnen’s main coach, Scott McQuarry on 7/9 called Keith Kizer at the Nevada State Athletic Commission and talked about filing a protest, claiming the knee was illegal. Kizer told him that it would be highly unlikely for the decision to be overturned, stating there are only four grounds to appeal the result of a fight, which would be if the winner failed a drug test, the scorecard was added up wrong, there was evidence that officials were paid off or the referee misinterpreting a rule. This was not a misinterpretation, but a judgment call by ref Yves Lavigne, and the replay indicated he was correct.
76
77McQuarry then told Bleacher Report that he was going to change his tactic and ask for a rematch.
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79“We deserve a rematch. If the only way Anderson Silva can win is cheating, we need to keep a closer eye on Silva before and during a fight. And we need a rematch now. Legal knee or illegal knee, there’s enough doubt with all the fouls to warrant a rematch.”
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81McQuarry also cited Silva rubbing Vaseline on his chest (which he was caught doing and the commission had him wiped down). He noted that the stuff gets into your pores and wiping someone down doesn’t fully solve the problem. Silva was also warned twice by Lavigne for holding Sonnen’s shorts in the second round prior to his onslaught.
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83“I know that Chael grabbed Silva’s shorts briefly too in response, but not for 15 seconds and two punches.”
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85Sonnen’s response was, playing good cop, “The referee’s judgment is what stands. I trust in the end that it works both ways. The referee makes the decision and that is the decision. We live with it. We would never go and appeal. A decision is a decision. And wherever the referee says the knee landed officially, that is where the knee landed. That is an excellent official, as they all are. He made his call and I will never complain and look back.”
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87The reality is the decision is not going to be overturned and Sonnen isn’t going to get an immediate rematch. It will take a major winning streak by him to get a third fight after two clean losses.
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89However, Silva’s behavior both in and before the match was criticized. During the weigh-ins, when the two men squared off for the face-to-face pose, Silva threw a shoulder strike at Sonnen’s face which led to a pull-apart. Keith Kizer, the Executive Director of the Nevada commission was heavily critical of Silva, including telling him that if he did anything like that again he would not be welcome to fight in the state.
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91Kizer said Silva came up with a lame excuse why he did it, first blaming Sonnen putting his head down and then saying he was upset about what Sonnen had said about his wife. Kizer and commission chairman Skip Avensino spoke with Sonnen about the incident and Sonnen wasn’t mad about it and recommended no action or fine be taken against Silva. However, the commission told Silva if he did something like that again, he would not be welcome to fight in the state.
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93They were also upset about him taking the Vaseline on his face and rubbing it on his body before the fight started. For years, greasing up when facing wrestlers has been a common theme among fighters, and in particular Brazilian fighters. But it’s usually done long before the fight, it goes into their pores and comes up when they sweat, thus making grabbing them and trying to take them down be more difficult. Kizer noted Silva has rubbed the Vaseline from his face on his body in the past, but this time it was more blatant. He said Lorenzo Fertitta saw it and pointed it out and referee Yves Lavigne wiped him off before the fight started.
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95Luke Rockhold, the Strikeforce middleweight champion, who is looking for a fight with Silva that politically can’t happen, was on The Fight Club show on Sirius that night and was critical of the champion.
96
97“I call it like I see it and (it) just looked dirty to me.”
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99“(Silva) greased himself again. After the Vitor (Belfort win last year) fight I saw him grease himself. I wasn’t very fond of that first one. He did it again, blatantly. And then the shorts grab. And then finally the knee. It ended up legal. But it looked like bad intentions.”
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101A number of people questioned the intent of the knee, but in the end, Silva is an accurate striker and while it’s possible he was aiming for the head, it’s more likely the knee landed exactly on target.
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103The show broke a number of UFC records, but not the big one. Early estimates have the show doing 1 million buys on PPV, which would put it in the same range as the Brock Lesnar vs. Cain Velasquez fight on October 21, 2010, and be the largest UFC number since that time. That’s a very early number and could vary greatly, as noted by the Mania numbers. But it handily beat Mania numbers as that show is estimated at 670,000 in North America.
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105It was believed to have been the 7th UFC fight in the seven figure range. The difference is that for all real purposes, this was a big fight without a Countdown special. Both the one episode Prime Time and the Countdown special debuted on Fuel and thus was probably only seen by the hardcore audience that was already sold on the fight. It had some replays on FSN, but that’s a far cry from appearing on FX or the hoped for airing on FOX.
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107The show got coverage by ESPN, but not at the level of a major sporting event or close to what a 1 million buy boxing PPV would get. In watching Sports Center frequently over the weekend, there was coverage before and after, but it was not as a top story, nor on every show the night before, day of, or after. It seemed that maybe every third episode covered it. The pre-show coverage focused on Sonnen, although Tito Ortiz was in Bristol, CT a few days before the fight and did a number of shows.
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109Dana White did admit they didn’t break their all-time record and said he was disappointed because all kinds of trending before the show indicators were ahead of the pace of UFC 100 and he said he was really expecting to break that mark of 1.6 million buys. Still, it was the record for a middleweight title fight and the fight time that mark was ever achieved in any division besides light heavyweight or by Lesnar. The best markets per capita in the U.S. were Las Vegas, Honolulu, San Diego, Los Angeles, Dallas, Kansas City, San Antonio, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Houston, Washington, DC, and Charlotte. It was strong in all the usual Canadian markets.
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111The show did a sellout 15,016 fans at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. UFC has sold that building out many times, but never packed quite that many in. A significant number, perhaps 3,000 or more, came from Brazil. At times the Brazilian crowd was so vocal they took over the arena with loud chants and singing in Portuguese, as well as being very quick to boo when the action slowed down or was on the ground. The gate was announced at $7 million, breaking the U.S. record of $5.44 million set at UFC 100. It would be the company’s second largest gate, behind only the $12,075,000 at the Rogers Centre in Toronto last year for Georges St. Pierre vs. Jake Shields.
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113Other records set included the top three or four volume days of traffic on the company web site, the most widely viewed press conference (Silva, Sonnen and White on 7/3) in company history, breaking the old record by more than 1 million, a hell of a number for an Internet-only event that wasn’t promoted at all, and the largest crowd for a weigh-in in Las Vegas (a sellout of 8,000 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center).
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115The prelims on FX did 1.8 million viewers, making them tied for the second most watched in history. The record of 2 million viewers was set for UFC 126 (February 5, 2011) for the prelims for Silva vs. Vitor Belfort on Spike. The second largest number on Spike was the prelims for UFC 141 on 12/30 (the Lesnar vs. Overeem show) which also did 1.8 million. Actually, if you consider the prelims also aired on Fox Deportes (no number for that station was available at press time) in Spanish, the combined number for the prelims may have set the record.
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117In Brazil, the show aired on a subscription station, Combate, live and that station never releases ratings. There was a replay of only the main event from 2-2:30 a.m that night which did a 19 rating. We don’t have viewers but it would have been in the range of 22 million.
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119As far as what next, Silva has likely earned the nod as the greatest MMA fighter in history. His 15-0 record is the best in company history (the second best is Junior Dos Santos at 9-0). His middleweight title reign will top six years in October. His 10 straight title defenses is nearly double second place St Pierre who has six. When people brought up retiring, he said that he expects to fight ten more years.
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121At 37, he has shown no signs of aging. But it does appear that there is no middleweight on the roster who can beat him. But nobody ever beats Father Time, and eventually Silva will lose to him as well. It can happen in an instant and he’s at the age where one day he’s going to show up, be a little slower, and then he’ll be vulnerable.
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123Silva has said that he’s not wanting to move up to 205 pounds and said he had no interest in what would be the company’s potentially biggest fight in history against Jon Jones. Jones said the same thing. Ed Soares, the manager of Silva, said that Silva has said he can drop to 170, where he’d look to face St Pierre, in what would be as big and possibly a bigger fight since St. Pierre is a bigger draw than Jones. Silva’s next defense would likely come against whoever comes out of matches with Mark Munoz vs. Chris Weidman, Tim Boetsch vs. Hector Lombard and perhaps Brian Stann vs. Michael Bisping as the most impressive winner. All things being equal, Lombard, because of his long winning streak, may have the edge. Rashad Evans on Twitter talked about dropping, and Evans at 185 would likely be the biggest drawing opponent for Silva. But Evans’ camp later said that Evans was not dropping weight.
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125For Sonnen, his future is more in question. He is a star and can talk. He could likely spend years in the role Tito Ortiz has had since the end of 2006. The company has a lot of PPVs and Sonnen could headline or be a strong No. 2 on the card and make money. There’s far more money for him in MMA than WWE. Those in WWE have expressed interest in him, with the main issue that he’s 35 and the days of a guy walking in with no experience and being a headliner based on fame for the long haul may be over. Badnews Allen started at about the same age, as did Diamond Dallas Page, and both had very good careers, so it’s not impossible, but it doesn’t seem most likely.
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127Neal Melanson, Sonnen’s grappling coach (who also coaches Bryan Danielson), said he thought Sonnen was done fighting. Sonnen at the press conference after said he didn’t want to hang around and be just another fighter.
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129On Tuesday, he was non-committal, saying, “I don’t think any athlete should even begin to talk like that or even think like that until you let 30 days go by. In anything in life, you don’t want to make decisions based on emotion. You have very big highs and very big lows in this sport. You don’t want to make any drastic decisions. I think it’s an insult to the fans when guys just say I retired, when they really mean I will see everybody in 18 months because I am coming back. When I get to that point in my career, I will make this statement and I’ll never look back.”
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131In the other major fight, Forrest Griffin won a straight 29-28 decision over a retiring Tito Ortiz. The decision was close, although all three judges, myself and Fightmetric had Griffin winning rounds one and two and Ortiz winning three. What is notable is that with half points, I’d have had it a draw and judging the fight as a whole, I’d have had it for Ortiz, which explains why fans heavily booed the decision. When the fight ended, Griffin ran out of the cage and Dana White had to find him and tell him to go back, so it appeared he thought he had lost. Ortiz clearly thought he had won.
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133The decision was heavily booed in the building and it seemed like everyone I spoke with thought Ortiz won either the first round or the second round, and took the fight. Yet, our poll had 53% saying Griffin won, 39% saying Ortiz won and 8% thought it was a draw.
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135The first two rounds could have gone either way. Ortiz had two takedowns in round one, but was outstruck 24-17 in significant strikes. Griffin landed more and was controlling most of the standup, but was taken down twice but never hurt. In the second round, Ortiz knocked Griffin down and had him hurt momentarily. But once Griffin regained his bearings, his quickness saw him pick apart Ortiz most of the round and outstruck him 36-20 in significant strikes. In the third round, Ortiz got another knockdown and a takedown, although Griffin actually outlanded him 25-12 in that round as well. But Ortiz had control from the top long enough to take that round. It also should be noted that Ortiz’s punches were harder than those of Griffin. Ortiz said he was never hurt by Griffin’s pitter-patter punches. Ortiz did hurt Griffin when he connected. But in watching, Griffin had better quickness and movement standing and really dominated the standup in every round, except when Ortiz would land solid, he’d hurt Griffin in a way Griffin could never to do him. Even though my score was identical to all the judges, I was expecting an Ortiz win.
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137The fight felt like the end of an era for two of the biggest names in the company’s history. It was the last fight of Ortiz’s contract and he’s retiring, or at least that’s what he says. He’d only won once since 2006, and that may have been a fluke with Ryan Bader. That said, he was always facing tough opponents. Griffin, a former champion, really hasn’t been the same since his loss of the title to Rashad Evans. Griffin, who used to be known for his conditioning, got tired. But Ortiz got tired faster. That said, the fight was as good as it could have been as both fought their hearts out and it was easily the fight of the night. Both did come across like older fighters in their last hurrah.
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139It was the third meeting between the two, with Ortiz winning the first one in 2006 via split decision that he probably deserved but could have gone the other way. Griffin won the second via split decision in a fight he deserved, but also could have gone the other way. And while the third wasn’t a split decision, it may have been the closest of the three.
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141However, the spectacle of the Ortiz retirement didn’t play out nearly as well as it should have for a fighter who was such a big star. After the decision, Griffin grabbed the mic from Joe Rogan and as a comedian, interviewed Ortiz himself. It was funny to be sure, but it was the wrong time for it. Ortiz was furious after the fight, saying that in 1997, when he debuted, he was interviewed by Rogan after his win, and wanted to end his career being interviewed by Rogan.
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143Win or lose, UFC should have set up a video montage of Ortiz’s career and played it after the fight with clips of Ortiz live watching it cut in, and they should have followed him leaving the cage all the way to the back and done other things in production. The company runs so many shows and everyone is so worn down that they just go through every show the same, and they miss out on the moments that should become legendary memories. And this was one of those moments.
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145Overall, the show started off weak. There were six straight decisions to start the show, and five of the six fights weren’t very good. Then you had two fights end in less than one minute before an entertaining fight where 40-year-old Cung Le still had enough to beat Patrick Cote. Le achieved his career goal of a UFC win. But having watched Le fight for more than 15 years, it’s really a shame he was never in UFC when he was young. He may have never been champion, but he’d have been one of the most entertaining fighters there ever was. His speed, crazy kicks, scissors takedowns and German suplexes are a thing of the past. Here, he was still able to get in enough side kicks to win the decision. But the fight was more showing Cote really isn’t that good when it comes to UFC level in losing to a smaller, slow guy who doesn’t have much stamina, but still had enough ability here.
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147But the fights people paid to see delivered action and intensity so it was a good show. Not a great show, but people were paying to see Ortiz’s last fight and he delivered, and they were paying to see a conclusive ending to the Silva vs. Sonnen feud, one of the biggest in history, and they got that as well.
148
1491. Rafaello Oliveira (15-5) beat Yoislandy Izquierdo (6-2) via decision on straight scores of 29-28. Oliveira was on top most of the fight, but Izquierdo did outstrike him in the first round. Oliveira got $20,000 for the win and Izquierdo got $6,000 for the loss.
150
1512. Shane Roller (11-6) beat John Alessio (34-16) on straight 29-28 scores. Alessio won a close first round with a late knockdown. But Roller took him down and got behind him, keeping back position and throwing punches and elbows for most of the round. In the third round, Roller ended up on top, and when Alessio got up, Roller took him down and got his back again. Roller kept back position and threw some punches but the crowd booed. Roller tried a choke. Alessio swept him on the ground with ten seconds left. Alessio was really mad about Roller mostly holding him down to win the fight. Roller was celebrating and fans booed him for doing so. A note on this fight is Roller had been fighting with a testosterone use exemption, but said he was getting off it because he didn’t want to be associated with the idea of cheating. He didn’t appear to look any worse than usual. Roller got $46,000 for the win and Alessio got $10,000 for the loss.
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1533. Costa Philippou (11-2, 1 no contest) beat Riki Fukuda (18-6) on scores of 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28. Fukuda is a former pro wrestler and protege of Riki Choshu. Boring fight. Crowd booed quickly. Philippou was taken down early in the first round, but was noticeably better in the standup in all three rounds. Fukuda was swelling from the left eye in the first round. By the third round, the crowd was booing both. Philippou was winning the standup in the second and third rounds. He got a nasty eye poke in the third round and went down. When he recovered, he fired up the crowd and landed some punches. Philippou got $32,000 for the win and Fukuda got $28,000 for the loss.
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1554. Khabib Nurmagomedov (18-0) beat Gleison Tibau (34-8) on straight 30-27 scores. Another dull fight that got booed. Little happened in the first round other than Nurmagomedov going for a takedown he never got. He probably won the first round since he was at least trying something while all Tibau did was defend. I had Tibau winning the second round even though none of the judges did. Nurmagomedov got his first takedown in the second round. Tibau also got a second round takedown. Tibau’s right eye was busted. Tibau got Nurmagomedov down in the third round and got behind him. Nurmagomedov escaped and kept working for a takedown. He landed more punches late to win the round. Nurmagomedov got $20,000 for the win and Tibau got $31,000 for the loss.
156
1575. Melvin Guillard (47-11-3, 1 no contest) beat Fabricio Camoes (13-7-1) on straight 30-27 scores. I didn’t see this getting out of the first round, figuring Guillard knocks him out quick, or gets submitted quick. Guillard rocked him early with a punch, but Camoes took him down to stop the flurry. Guillard got up and even took Camoes down, showing he wasn’t that scared of going to the ground. Guillard landed punches until Camoes swept him. Camoes got full mount and threw punches and elbows. The Brazilians were going crazy seeing their guy beat Guillard. Guillard escaped and got to his feet. The place went wild. Camoes went for a spin kick and lost balance and went down. Guillard was pounding on him from the top as time ran out. Great round. Camoes got two takedowns early in the second round. Guillard got up immediately from both. Camoes then got a third takedown. Camoes went for a spinning elbow, but it was blocked and Guillard got Camoes’ back. Guillard pounded on him late in the round to take it. In the third round, not much happened other than Camoes getting a takedown with 23 seconds left in the round and kept Guillard down. But not enough to win the round. Guillard got $72,000 for the win and Camoes got $8,000 for the loss.
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1596. Mike Easton (13-1) beat Ivan Menjivar (24-9) on scores of 30-27, 29-28 and 30-27. Another dull fight. Neither landed anything of significance in the first round, but Easton was at least the aggressor. Crowd booed both at the end of the round. Second was more of the same. Easton was moving forward and nobody landed anything of late. Easton did deliver a flying knee late. Crowd booed at the end of the second. Both turned it on in the third round. A lot of swinging and missing and crowd was even booing this one when there was action. Menjivar missed a spinning kick and Easton used it to get the takedown. This was not the night for spinning moves. Easton on top pounded the body until Menjivar got up. They traded punches as the crowd booed again. Easton got $20,000 for the win and Menjivar got $13,000 for the loss.
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1617. Chad Mendes (12-1) beat Cody McKenzie (13-3) in :31. Mendes landed a punch to the body and McKenzie went down, took five hard punches on the ground and it was over. McKenzie didn’t appear in Mendes’ league. Mendes got $36,000 for the win and McKenzie go $10,000 for the loss.
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1638. Demian Maia (16-4) beat Dong Hyun Kim (15-2-1, 1 no contest) in :47. This was Maia’s debut at 170 pounds. Crowd loved Maia. Kim was booed, but not heavily. Maia shot for a takedown and Kim fought him off with elbows. Maia got behind him, got the takedown and Kim looked like he broke his rib. Actually Kim got a muscle spasm in his side and was in too much pain to continue. Maia got $96,000 for the win and Kim got $44,000 for the loss.
164
1659. Cung Le (8-2) beat Patrick Cote (18-8) on straight 30-27 scores. Le dominated the first round with all kinds of kicks, mostly to the body. A big right hurt Cote in the first. Cote couldn’t figure him out and went for takedowns that he couldn’t come close to getting. In the second round, Le kept landing all his kicks. Cote came back with punches and Le was cut near the left eye. Le came back with punches and Cote was cut. Crowd was really into this. Le was tired and Cote started landing, but Le came back. At the end, Cote landed a lot of body punches and uppercuts. Close round and I had it for Cote. In the third round, Le accidentally kneed Cote to the groin. Le was tired. Le took him down and got his back. Cote tried another takedown and couldn’t get it. Both were landing late until Le got his second takedown of the round and did nothing from the top. Le said he dedicated his win to all of the 40-year-olds. He said he wasn’t sure if he was going to fight again but gave the indication he would. Le got $150,000 for the win and Cote got $21,000 for the loss.
166
16710. Forrest Griffin (19-7) beat Tito Ortiz (17-11-1) on straight 29-28 scores, with Griffin taking the first two. Even with Ortiz being cheered and having the sympathy of his retirement, Griffin was more of a crowd favorite. Griffin was faster standing but Ortiz took him down. Ortiz landed punches and elbows until Griffin got up. Lots of good trading and Griffin was landing more and taking over. Ortiz was getting nailed with tons of punches. Ortiz did answer back but Griffin was moving and landing. Second round saw Ortiz hurting Griffin with a punch and knocked him down. Griffin tied him up while he tried to regain his bearings. Loud chant for Ortiz. Both were tired. They were trading, and Griffin was getting the better of it. Ortiz got more tired as the round went on. Ortiz went for a takedown, didn’t get it and Griffin pounded on Ortiz standing until the end of the round. Third round saw both men get huge ovations as it started. Both got chants. Griffin was landing solidly but not hurting Ortiz. Griffin dominated until Ortiz decked him with a left. Ortiz took Griffin down as he got up. Ortiz was landing elbows from the top. Griffin got up and started working the body from the clinch and throwing a knee to the body and a front kick. Griffin dominated with all kinds of punches. Big standing ovation from the entire building at the end of the round. Then Griffin walked out and had to be ordered back by Dana White. Crowd booed the decision. But Joe Rogan then told the crowd he agreed with the scores. Griffin said he thought it was close and he wants a fourth round. Griffin said Ortiz gassed in the third round, but he also didn’t have enough left, and he was a little lazy in the second round and got caught. Griffin got $350,000 for the win along with his best fight bonus. Ortiz was listed at $325,000 for the loss and best fight bonus. I suspect both earned considerably more than what is listed.
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16911. Anderson Silva (30-4) beat Chael Sonnen (28-12-1) via ref stoppage at 1:55 of the second round. The two didn’t touch gloves. The place was buzzing with loud Silva chants, and Sonnen charged forward and took him down. He stayed on top for the rest of the round, but didn’t damage Silva badly. Sonnen was landing body and head punches. He started throwing palms to the ear. Fans were chanting “USA” followed by chants of “Brazil” The Brazilian contingent were booing and wanting a standup as Sonnen kept Silva down. Sonnen moved to full mount and landed a hard elbow, and several shoulder strikes. People cheered the round like crazy. When the second round started, Silva dared Sonnen to come forward. Silva even went for a takedown. They ended up in a clinch and trading knees. Sonnen tried takedowns and couldn’t get it. Silva grabbed Sonnen by the trunks to block him moving away. Sonnen escaped and tried a spinning backfist that didn’t work. Sonnen was stunned and Silva threw the knee. Silva hurt him on the ground but Sonnen got back up. Silva decked him a second time and finished him. Silva got a disclosed $275,000 (including a best knockout bonus) and Sonnen got a listed $50,000. Both got tons more than that.
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171
172An impasse between DirecTV and Viacom has resulted in 17 channels, including Spike TV (which airs Impact) and MTV 2 (which airs Bellator), being pulled on 7/11 and each side blaming the other.
173
174The problem has to do with economic issues and rights fees, which will end in a game of who will blink first. Viacom has asked for a 30 percent increase in carriage fees for its channels. This comes at a time when DirecTV subscriptions, like all of cable, are in a slow decline. DirecTV has claimed the increase amounts to more than $1 billion more they would have to pay, and pass over to the consumers. They blamed Viacom for asking for the increase and that they have the public’s interest at heart by trying to keep prices reasonable. They also portrayed Viacom’s insistence on all 17 channels being negotiated as a group, as opposed to individually which would mean less leverage, telling people Viacom is insisting you pay for channels you don’t even watch.
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176Viacom claims DirecTV is refusing to pay a fair price for their content and noted that the current price was from a deal negotiated seven years ago.
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178Other channels involved include Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, MTV, BET, VH1, Country Music Television, Logo, Spike, TV Land, MTV 2, VH1 Classics, Palladia, Nick Jr., NickToons and TeenNick.
179
180Viacom blamed DirecTV for dropping the channels without even seriously negotiating, noting they hadn’t even been in contact with them to talk since Tuesday morning. They categorized the increase they are asking for as being only pennies per day.
181
182DirecTV blamed it on Viacom, saying they received a letter on 7/9 that told them to remove the channels on 7/11 if they don’t agree to a new deal or face legal action, claiming they sent that letter at the same time they were telling viewers DirecTV was responsible for pulling the channels. They claim they reached out to Viacom for the ability to continue carrying the channels while they continue to negotiate a new deal and they claim they never heard back so they had to comply with the legal threat to take off the programming.
183
184DirecTV also blamed Viacom for ratings drops for several of its major stations, saying they are giving away too much of their programming for free online, which lessens the broadcast value of those shows.
185
186DirecTV has 19.9 million subscribers, or about 20% of the homes most of the mainline stations like Spike, Nick and MTV are carried on. That won’t mean they’ll immediately lose 20% of their audience, because some people get both DirecTV and local cable and those viewers will be able to watch the shows. But it will still be a significant hit for all of the stations in total audience.
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188When it comes to ratings for Impact, this shouldn’t make much difference. The rating is the percentage of homes that have the station that are watching the station during a time slot. Thus, with fewer homes carrying Spike, that means the drop in viewers from those homes would have a negligible effect on ratings. It is possible there will be a small artificial increase in TNA ratings if you go on the theory that TNA draws a lower income audience and DirecTV skews heavier to higher income people. If that theory is correct, TNA’s ratings could increase based on losing homes that are less likely to be watching the show. Total viewership would be likely to drop close to 20%. The impasse will not affect TNA PPVs.
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190Usually these impasses are short-lived, as both sides have much to lose. All the Viacom stations being out of close to 20 million homes would cause substantial drops in ad rates and market share, and get DirecTV subscribers out of the habit of watching their shows, which is huge in modern society where weekly patterned viewing is so important. On the flip side, DirecTV is up for losing customers to Dish Network or cable from people who regularly watch those channels.
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192
193As amazing as this sounds, given the last several years, TNA seems to have taken over as the company that delivers the best consistent PPVs in the United States.
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195Destination X on 7/8 in Orlando’s Impact Zone, made three shows that were very good to excellent after the disappointing Lockdown. This show, which didn’t start out strong, was highlighted by Austin Aries winning the TNA title from Bobby Roode and A.J. Styles beating Christopher Daniels in a last man standing match.
196
197There are questions going forward. Can TNA maintain monthly shows in the very good to excellent range, and if so, how long will it take word of mouth to spread and rebuild numbers. One would think with social media that the time it would take to get word out should be instantaneous. But the reality is that when it comes to television ratings, growth is slow and hard to come by. Slammiversary last month was a positive sign, but this month the difference was Aries instead of Sting in the main event. If things stay steady or go up this month, that would be a good sign. But still, I don’t see how, even if they went down a little, anyone can say much negative about the show overall.
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199Whether this matters in 2012, and it really doesn’t that much to the current fan base, they are doing longer championship reigns and trying to establish champions. Aries, when he vacated the X title at 298 days, he was the longest reigning X champion in history. Vacating the title seemed to hurt the title, but with the story playing out and him winning the big belt, it creates the perception that the X Division champion is not the best of the opening match guys, but a genuine title contender. Aries would probably rank as the smallest “world” heavyweight champion in a promotion with national television in history, with the obvious exception of Rey Mysterio.
200
201Granted, there is a flip side to the argument, since the proposed Bound for Glory main event being built for months has been James Storm beating Roode for the TNA title. They didn’t pull the trigger on Lockdown to make the story last longer. But they beat Roode first. The problem is, you can’t have Aries hold the title for a week or two without it coming off as a gimmick reign. But there are also three months until Bound for Glory, and every major contender except Sting (who has his own program away from the title) is in the Bound for Glory series. If nothing else, Roode vs. Aries can be a great in-ring program, and the first match was a great kickoff. If that was the case, Aries should win the first and lose the last. If Aries beats Roode for the title, retains it on the next PPV in a street fight style match since it’s the Hardcore Justice show (I don’t even know that’s the main event, but it would the logical direction) and then loses in September on the same night Storm wins the Bound for Glory series, the big program ends up where they want it. I’d also have him defend it on TV once or twice against someone other than Roode to make people see him as a world champion so he can be stronger in the top tier club after he loses. Crimson would have been a good opponent because Crimson had been protected. The match would be tough, but Aries is very good and the size difference can make for a more impressive defense if it’s handled right. The problem with all title matches is just about every top name is locked up in that tournament.
202
203Roode could have won and gone into the Storm match as the longest reigning champion. There’s a strong argument that could made in that direction, but then the problem would be booking viable August and September main events. Still, it was surprising to see two things. The first was a fan poll, and granted, that may not mean much, where 71% of the TNA audience expected Aries to win. That says that the company did its job the last few weeks on television. One month ago, if you did a fan poll and asked who would win a Roode vs. Aries main event, I don’t know that people would have seen Aries at a world title contender. Plus, it establishes an August tradition of X Division champion vs. world champion, with it also being established that the X Division champion can win the title. That’s also good because August is when they do the Bound for Glory series, which means that all of your top contenders should be fighting for a shot in October, leaving difficult choices to be made for title matches from July through September every year, and at least this gives you something for July. It was also interesting to note that they actually did an interview where Jesse Sorensen, who has been out of action with a broken neck, brought up the idea that next year at this time he would be X champion and would try and cash it in. There are a number of factors, including Sorensen’s ability to come back, and then get over to main event level, that have to be established. Really at this point I’d call it a long shot, but they at least teased a long-term potential direction.
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205The highlight of the show occurred right after Aries pinned Roode clean with a brainbuster, with the big confetti celebration. It was played up the way a world title change should be played up. It would kill that moment if Aries lost it right away. There would be the argument that if he loses it immediately that it’ll add heat to Roode, but you can accomplish all that just as effectively in September.
206
207Roode, who beat Storm for the title on 10/26 at a TV taping in Macon, GA, with the beer bottle over the head finish that turned him heel, held the title for 256 days. It’s actually the second longest world title reign, because when TNA’s world title was called the NWA title, Jeff Jarrett held it 347 days from June 2, 2004 until May 15, 2005.
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209Daniels and Styles had a different match than their usual good to great match. They had the exact match the situation called for, a violent last man standing match. You can argue back and forth about the idea of blading in wrestling in 2012. If done sparingly, and TNA is doing it far less than years ago, it is effective when used. If it was banned like in WWE, I wouldn’t be opposed, either. And this match would have been great without it, but from a performance standpoint, it did add to it. They used furniture well, building to one climactic spot with a table as opposed to using tables to get easy crowd pops.
210
211The weakness of the show was something that would normally be the strength of a Destination X, which is the X Division. After the long period establishing a division that consisted of Aries and his one or two contenders of the month and nobody getting TV time, and few people left, they are rebuilding. But the rebuilding process consisted of using a lot of inexperienced guys who can do acrobatic moves but weren’t ready at this level. I was disappointed with all the awesome talent on an international level that they couldn’t have brought people in, even for just a few shows, such as they did with Low Ki and Jack Evans a year ago. Granted, Low Ki isn’t possible because at this point he shouldn’t do a job and he’s in Japan anyway. But whether it’s Evans, Juventud Guerrera, trying to work out a few days with Prince Devitt, Kushida or Kota Ibushi, there are spectacular guys who could have gotten over and to me, it’s always good for a promotion to have guys on the periphery. That is, guys who aren’t regulars, but have been on your shows and your fan base kind of knows them and thinks they are good, to call in when needed. With eight spots, this was a great place to have them and introduce them.
212
213Instead, the newcomers were Dakota Darsow (real name, son of Barry Darsow, the former Demolition Smash and Krusher Khruschev), who was local, and really wasn’t ready at this level; Rubix (Jigsaw from CHIKARA, real name Ed McGuckin), who looked good and could have been featured more; Mason Andrews (Scorpio Sky of Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, real name Schuyler Andrews), who has good moves and was fine to have there as one of the guys; Lars Only (Johnny Yuma from PWG, real name Andrew Polido) who didn’t look good; Kenny King from ROH who if you asked people who watch to pick someone from ROH for this tournament, would not have been among the first ten picks and was passable but didn’t stand out; Rashad Cameron (Sabian and Jeez from CZW, real name Darnell Kittrell) who was okay but not a standout; and Flip Casanova (a high flyer who was worked for a ton of indies including Dragon Gate USA of late under the name Flip Kendrick and in TNA, he shouldn’t use the Kendrick name given that name would make him sound like a fan who hero worships a guy who wasn’t even a star in TNA). Of the newcomers, several were people who writer David Lagana had worked with either for NWA Hollywood Pro Wrestling in California or with ROH.
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215The only one who stood out among the newcomers was Sonjay Dutt, who was in TNA in the past. Bringing in a few of these guys, hoping to build guys with potential, but augmenting the tournament with more proven guys would have put the title over more. The X stuff, which at times was the highlight of TNA shows, was the weakest part of the PPV.
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217The end result saw Zema Ion winning Ultimate X over Andrews, King and Dutt, and setting up Ion vs. Jesse Sorensen as a feud. No word on when Sorensen will be ready, as when he was backstage last month, he was said to still be in the neck brace. They were already pushing the direction with Ion teasing him and the announcers playing up how Ion has never contacted him once since the injury.
218
219In the match, Dutt separated his shoulder doing a standing shooting star press, where his feet got caught in the ropes which changed his trajectory and he landed almost on his elbow. It looked bad. The injury was so bad he did what used to be the cardinal sin in wrestling, which is leave the match and go to the back. Nowadays, there’s less of a stigma to it, which is probably for the better. Backstage, they popped his shoulder back into place and he came out and did the finish. The Ultimate X, while nowhere close to the level of the matches in the past, was good, and very impressive when you look at it. You had four guys who, for the most part, didn’t know each other and had never worked together, in a match that was likely laid out. Thus, they had to improvise when Dutt went backstage. They still had a good match. Dutt is expected to be out of action for several weeks, and hopefully this performance earned him a full-time spot.
220
221The other key match was in the Bound for Glory series, with Samoa Joe beating Kurt Angle in 14:26 with a choke. The most interesting part of this is that when the tournament started, they pushed the idea of the time limit being 10:00 and had time limit draws this year and last. Then they moved it to 15:00, probably because if these two had to do a PPV match in less than 10:00, both they and the fans would feel unsatisfied. But even though they did a finish with 34 seconds left, at no point was the time limit broached in the announcement, commentary, or anything. They had a dramatic addition to the story, and worked a match that both would establish the time limit and the finish, and they didn’t touch it. Joe had in the past gotten mad about time calls in matches. Because they are never, Joe’s feelings has been that doing them signals that the match is going to the time limit. But since it’s a specific part of the rules, doing at least a ten minute warning or a 12 minute warning to acknowledge the time limit adds to the match. It both gets over when you do a finish stronger, plus you don’t have this bell ring out of nowhere and everyone confused finish when you are doing the draw. It wasn’t the best Joe vs. Angle match, but it was still very good.
222
223The next TNA PPV is Hardcore Justice on 8/12 in Orlando. Aside from a probable Roode vs. Aries rematch, there will be three Bound for Glory series matches all under hardcore rules.
224
2251. Mason Andrews won a four-way last chance match over Dakota Darsow, Rubix and Lars Only in 8:20. These were the four losers in the TV qualifying matches getting a last chance because something fell through with Mark Haskins in the U.K., who was originally to be the 8th guy in the tournament. Match wasn’t good, although there were some showoff high flying moves. Andrews did a running flip dive on Darsow and Only. Rubix did almost a Fosbury flop dive (that Styles used to do when he was younger) over the top on the other three. They showed Kid Kash watching, since it was acknowledged the winner would face Kash immediately after this ended. There was a tower of doom spot where Darsow power bombed Andrews who superplexed Only. Rubix did a dropkick almost all the way across the ring on Darsow. Rubix was the guy the crowd wanted to see win and they chanted for him. The finish saw Andrews pin Only after a flying knee and a diamond cutter. *1/4
226
2272. Mason Andrews pinned Kid Kash to advance to Ultimate X in 8:05. Mostly Kash controlling the match doing the veteran vs. young guy style match. Crowd wasn’t into it though. Kash flipped off the cameras at one point. Kash did a springboard moonsault but Andrews got his knees up. Andrews made a comeback with a missile dropkick and a flying knee for near falls. They did some nice stuff in the match but crowd wasn’t with it most of the way. Kash went for the moneymaker, a double arm suplex dropped into almost a piledriver, but Andrews slipped behind him and got the pin with a schoolboy. **
228
2293. Kenny King pinned Douglas Williams to advance to Ultimate X in 10:36. Williams’ matwork was very good. Jeremy Borash, who did color with Mike Tenay and once again was very good, brought up how he was recently in England and saw World of Sport on TV. I didn’t even know they still aired those old shows. World of Sport was the national wrestling TV show that was canceled in 1988. Mike Tenay then brought up Borash seeing Johnny Saint and Rollerball Mark Rocco, who were two of the best workers from that era. It was the same veteran vs. young guy style. King did a twisting tornillo dive. But overall, King looked very green and it came across like Williams had to carry him. Crowd wasn’t much into it but Williams at least was very good here. Finish saw Williams use a schoolboy holding the ropes, but ref Brian Stiffler saw it. King got the pin after a fireman’s carry dropped into a spinebuster. **1/4
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2314. Sonjay Dutt pinned Rashad Cameron in 7:15. This was the best of the X singles matches. These two were flipping all over the place. Cameron did a running flip dive and did a “215" hand signal for Philadelphia’s area code. Dutt did a springboard splash for a near-fall and won with a spectacular looking moonsault into a perfect landing double foot stomp. Really one of the better finishes I’ve seen this year. **½
232
233Before the Zema Ion match, they did a video feature on Jesse Sorensen. Dr. Greg Dokka, his rehab spine specialist was on and said he expected that Sorensen would make a full recovery and have a long career in the ring. They showed him doing neck rehab work.
234
235Then they introduced Sorensen. It was set up for the crowd to give him a big reaction in the same place where he was injured. The reaction was good, but you can really see a lot of the tourists who aren’t TNA fans but may be there just to see wrestling had no connection. This was actually obvious throughout the show that you had two different types of crowds, a few hundred who were into most and a lot who weren’t. They showed his girlfriend and his mother at ringside. His mom was in tears. I can just imagine a mother going through what she did seeing your son in his 20s having to go through that. This may have been Sorensen’s first promo before a live audience, and if not, it was his first major one. He spoke from the heart, and said how before going out, Dixie Carter asked him if he felt nervous and he told her, “At least I can feel something.” There were people who chanted his name. He said how God put him on this Earth to be a pro wrestler, “This is what I am and this is what I always will be.” He thanked the fans for supporting him. Fans chanted “Thank you Jesse.” He made a promise that at Destination X in 2013, he’ll be the champion, cash it in and headline the PPV. That would be a wonderful story if he could and this one is more about the fans allowing it because anyone can write the big picture, you just have to fill in the pages on how to get there. Ion came out for his match as Sorensen left to make an obvious tease of a future program.
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2375. Zema Ion pinned Flip Casanova in 3:54. They pushed how Ion never called Sorensen, never texted him and never apologized or sent any messages. Casanova did a flip dive over the top. They said Casanova patterns his style after Volador Jr. At least they didn’t say Brian Kendrick. They also noted that Ion’s mother was a mail-order bride from the Philippines. Lots of flying in the short match but people weren’t into it. Ion flipped Casanova into a kneebreaker and then did a reverse Gori especial for the pin. *
238
239They had King, Dutt and Andrews do quick promos, short enough to not really mean anything. Roode came out to bully them saying that the X Division was going to fail and Roode’s match is the only one on the card that matters.
240
2416. Samoa Joe beat Kurt Angle in 14:36 in the Bound for Glory series, winning via choke, which as a submission, meant a ten point win. Mike Tenay said Joe vs. Angle was the best rivalry in TNA history. Crowd started the dueling chants right away. Angle took a high backdrop and went over the top rope to the floor. He looks so out of control when he takes that move it’s scary. Joe followed with an elbow suicida. Angle actually did a missile dropkick to Joe’s back. Angle opened a small cut on his own forehead with a head-butt. Angle went to the top for a belly-to-belly superplex, but Joe boxed his ears. Joe then came off the top rope with a leg lariat for a near fall. Joe followed with a reverse atomic drop, a high kick, a senton and a powerslam before going for an armbar. Angle reversed it into an ankle lock and Joe escaped. Angle hit three German suplexes. Angle went for the Olympic slam but Joe arm dragged out and did a running kick to the head. Joe went for the muscle buster but Angle slipped out and put on the ankle lock. Fans were chanting “tap, tap tap.” Joe escaped and as Angle charged, Joe delivered a uranage and a muscle buster. He went for the choke but Angle reversed him into the ankle lock. Angle pulled Joe to the center but Joe used the trunks to break the hold and got behind Angle and put on the choke with a body scissors. Angle was using elbows to the thigh, but couldn’t get Joe off. Finally Angle got to his feet, hit the Olympic slam and got a near fall. Angle tried the ankle lock again, but Joe kicked him off. Angle went for the Olympic slam again, but Joe got behind him and got the choke. This time Joe choked Angle all the way out and ref Earl Hebner stopped the match. After Angle got up to protest, saying that he had never tapped. They played it up that Angle had passed out and not that Hebner screwed him on the call. ***3/4
242
2437. A.J. Styles pinned Christopher Daniels in 17:39 in a last man standing match. To follow the beginning of the previous match, Borash said that Styles vs. Daniels was his favorite rivalry in TNA history. Daniels spit in his face to start the thing off with heat. A lot of brawling here. Daniels brought in a chair. Styles did a running springboard off the chair into the turnbuckles when Daniels moved. Daniels used a uranage on the chair. Styles bladed after Daniels was punching him in the forehead on the floor. Daniels did a suplex on the floor. Later, Daniels had the chair and Styles did a springboard elbow into the chair into Daniels. He threw Daniels head hard into the ring steps which actually looked far more scary than it reads. Daniels came up bleeding. Daniels tried to leave but Styles followed him and they ended up on the ramp. The crowd was really hot at this point. Styles gave Daniels an enzuigiri on the ramp and told the ref not to count to ten because he wasn’t done. Fans were chanting “Push him off” regarding being on the ramp. Styles set up the Styles clash, but Daniels reversed and back flipped him over. Both were covered in blood. Styles did a moonsault into a reverse DDT off an elevated stand on the ramp. Crowd loved the spot and led to the beginning of the “This is awesome” chants. Kazarian then ran out of the back and charged at Styles, knocking him off the ramp. They teased it as the finish but Styles was up at eight. Daniels got really mad that Styles was able to get up. Daniels pulled out a table. The crowd gave a face reaction to the heel pulling out the table. Then they followed with “Yes, yes, yes” chants. Daniels set up Angel’s wings, but Styles blocked, and ran from that position knocking Daniels into Kazarian, and Kazarian flew off the ramp. Styles did the Pele kick on the ramp and nearly fell off it himself. Styles then hit the Styles clash off the ramp and through the table. Both sold it big on the floor. Styles got up just before the count of ten while Daniels couldn’t. Place went nuts for that finish. ****1/4
244
2458. Zema Ion won Ultimate X over Sonjay Dutt, Kenny King and Mason Andrews to become the new X champion in 8:48. These guys had to go in right after the last match which was a very tough spot when you’ve got four guys who had gotten no TV push. King and Andrews had never even been in an Ultimate X match. Ion came off the top and the other three all hit him with a triple dropkick. Ion threw King off the top rope and King hit his head on the barricade. King was climbing and Dutt knocked him off with a missile dropkick. This was the spot where Dutt did the standing shooting star and got hurt. King missed a tornillo dive when Ion moved and crashed on the floor. Andrews did a running twisting dive on both. Andrews climbed and was hanging off the cables when King used a springboard spear into him and both crashed on the mat. Dutt came back and everyone started climbing. King and Andrews were upside down pulling themselves on the cable to the center. Andrews gave King a neckbreaker when both were in the center and they crashed on the mat. Dutt and Ion then climbed to the top of the structure, several feet above the cables. Both dropped down and were standing on the cables in the center. Ion had his hair spray container and sprayed in Dutt’s eyes. Dutt fell off the cables to the mat, which must have been hell jarring that shoulder. Ion unhooked the belt to win. ***1/4
246
2479. Austin Aries won the TNA title from Bobby Roode in 22:18. Borash talked about both men’s diet, noting Roode is the strictest dieter he knows, but that Aries is a vegetarian. Aries missed his low missile tope early and crashed into the guard rail. Roode took over, getting a near fall with a spear. Roode kept beating on Aries and told him to give up because he’s not even in his league. Roode worked the ribs, including using a reverse bearhug. Roode continued to try and humiliate Aries, both paint brushing his face and pie facing him. Aries was bleeding from the nose. Aries started a comeback, including a clothesline sending Roode over the top. Aries followed by hitting his low tope. He followed with a great missile dropkick. The only problem is so many guys on the undercard had done that move by that point it was almost like a cliche. Aries went for his running dropkick into the corner, but Roode caught him in the air, and powerslammed him for a near fall. Roode went for a spear but Aries sprawled and went for his last chancery. Roode was teasing a tap and then teasing a rope break. Aries started throwing Pride knees to the head. Roode reversed it into a crossface. Aries broke it and reversed back into a last chancery. Roode was in the hold drooling which made for a unique visual that added to the hold. Roode eyeraked his way out. He went for a superplex but Aries landed a knee while being lifted up. Aries then boxed Roode’s ear and Roode fell into the ring. Aries went for the 450. Roode got up, Aries landed on his feet and Roode got a near fall with a spinebuster. Roode tried the crossface again but Aries cradled him for a near fall. Roode threw Aries’ shoulder into the post and crossfaced him again. This time Aries had to get to the ropes to break it. Roode grabbed the belt and was looking to get disqualified. Ref Brian Hebner stopped him. As Hebner took the belt and was handing it to someone at the ring, Roode used a low blow, but Aries kicked out of the pin. Really good spot and Roode looked worried. People really got behind Aries at that point. Roode shoved Brian Hebner, but Hebner shoved him back. Aries hit his running dropkick into the corner. However, Roode reversed and threw Aries into Hebner. Roode got his belt again and this time nailed Aries with a belt shot, but Aries kicked out. Roode went for his fisherman suplex, but Aries turned it into a small package for a near fall. Roode then went for a spear, but missed. Aries punted him in the head and hit the brainbuster to get the clean win. Next came the confetti celebration. This came across like a real world title win that meant something. ****½
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249
250Spike and TNA announced this week the expansion of the Thursday night wrestling block to three hours, starting 7/12, with the return of “Rewind,” which aired on Spike in late 2010.
251
252The original incarnation of the show, which at the time aired after Impact at 11 p.m., was to recap the show and build for the next show. It was the idea of getting people’s reactions as opposed to traditional promos. The show did decent ratings for the time slot and was generally well received as a new concept. It helped add some depth to a lot of the characters who didn’t get as much interview time on the regular show. But ultimately the ratings weren’t strong enough since it was canceled after a few months.
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254The concept of the show came from Eric Bischoff and Jason Hervey, and because it was their baby, the main event on Impact would frequently go long and bleed into Rewind to artificially give “Rewind” a strong first quarter hour. On occasion, they even did gimmick matches on “Rewind,” although they didn’t do as well, as a large percentage of the wrestling audience didn’t stay for the show, perhaps because two hours of Impact was enough, and also because of the late time slot.
255
256“Impact Rewind” will air at 7 p.m. every week as a lead-in to Impact. This is part of the strategy to try and build TNA’s ratings, or at least keep them steady, with the impending Thursday night challenge of NFL games in the fall. Last year, during the limited NFL Thursday schedule, the TNA ratings were down compared to previous years. Moving to 8 p.m. at the end of May was designed to take some lumps early and establish the time slot, and thus, get the jump on the NFL, which will start its Thursday night games at 8:20 p.m.
257
258Thus far, even with the help of going live, ratings for Impact are down from last year’s levels and even after more than a month, a percentage of the audience was still tuning in at 9 p.m. The positives of the 7 p.m. change is the idea it’ll get part of the wrestling audience ready even earlier, and help to establish 8 p.m. Also, for “Rewind” itself, it’ll have a better shot at seeing what a show like this can deliver by airing in a better time slot. The negative is that it won’t get the benefit of reviewing a show that just ended if it ends with a hot angle, nor getting main events to bleed over. The original “Rewind” was canceled by Spike after a few months. It’s also going to be harder for a show like this to draw ratings as a preview show than a post-game show, and more pressure since anything after 11 p.m. isn’t considered as part of the station’s all-important prime time average.
259
260The move is good for TNA, since their business model is all about television production. Spike will help them produce another hour, plus it gives them another hour of product to sell on the international market. Its longevity is likely, once a few months are up and that 8 p.m. time slot is as established as it’s going to be, to depend on the ratings this does compared to what Spike normally would do in the time slot. If you’re looking at an over/under, Spike right now is averaging 650,000 viewers with World’s Worst Tenants in that time slot. Wrestling traditionally needs to be above the station average because it’s hard to sell advertising on, but I’m not sure given the TNA programming these days that a wrestling show at the average level would be that much of a negative.
261
262This move starts 11 days before WWE moves Raw to three hours. If you understand anything about the television business. Coincidence?
263
264
265New Japan this week announced the 22nd annual G-1 Climax tournament, traditionally the biggest event of the summer in Japanese wrestling.
266
267The tournament has shows on 8/1 and 8/3 at Korakuen Hall, 8/4 in Nagoya, 8/5 in Osaka at the Bodymaker Colosseum (the new name for the Furitsu Gym), 8/7 in Sendai at the Sun Plaza Hall, 8/8 at the Yokohama Bunka Gym, 8/10 at the Niigata City Gym, 8/11 at Korakuen Hall with the traditional finals on 8/12 at Sumo Hall. As noted, this year they are only running one date at Sumo Hall. At its peak, G-1 ran seven straight dates at Sumo Hall, and for much of its run it would run the last three nights there.
268
269This year’s A block has IWGP champion Hiroshi Tanahashi, Yuji Nagata, Satoshi Kojima, Karl Anderson, Shelton Benjamin, Toru Yano, Yujiro Takahashi, Minoru Suzuki and Pro Wrestling NOAH’s Naomichi Marufuji as the major name outsider.
270
271The B block has Togi Makabe, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Hirooki Goto, Tetsuya Naito, MVP, Rush (the CMLL light heavyweight champion), Shinsuke Nakamura, Kazuchika Okada and Lance Archer (former TNA and WWE wrestler Lance Hoyt and Vance Archer).
272
273The tournament is filled with former winners in Tanahashi (2007), Nagata (2001), Kojima (2010), Tenzan (2003, 2004 and 2006), Goto (2008) and Nakamura (2011).
274
275Since the idea of the tournament is to create a usually two or three major contenders for the IWGP title, Tanahashi is unlikely to win. They have had the IWGP champion win in the past just to show it can be done, but it’s a rarity. The idea is, the champion may lose once or twice in the round-robin. But you don’t want to overdo it and have the champion lose too often, because that minimizes the value of the wins. But two key losses can create two logical contenders, or maybe three, if the eventual tournament winner is not one of the two who beats the IWGP champion during tournament play.
276
277The tournament winner would headline the next major show with a title shot.
278
279The tournament is not going to have the usual Japanese final four, where the two top finishers in each block advance. Instead, the Sumo Hall show will feature the final night with announced matches of MVP vs. Archer, Goto vs. Naito, Tenzan vs. Nakamura, Makabe vs. Okada, Marufuji vs. Yano, Nagata vs. Suzuki, Kojima vs. Benjamin and Tanahashi vs. Anderson. Usually you get a lot of upsets on the final night because they keep so many people within shooting distance of No. 1, and they keep getting knocked off except for the winners of each block.
280
281This year is hard to predict. The key outsider (Marufuji this year) always is protected but almost never wins the tournament. On paper, two leading candidates would be Naito and Okada, because neither has ever won, and they’re both the hottest rivals for Tanahashi. They’ve been teasing Tanahashi vs. Naito for a while as both were vying for the IWGP title shot at Okada, which Tanahashi got and won the title. They are also both in the B block, which means they aren’t facing Tanahashi in the tournament. Even though Anderson has gotten over as a singles star, it’s unlikely he’ll be elevated into the title picture with a win over Tanahashi, and I can’t see Tanahashi not in line the final day. So this could be Tanahashi losing in the finals. Makabe and Nakamura are both top stars and it makes sense for either to be the spoiler to knock either Naito or Okada out. And Nakamura, Tanahashi’s biggest career rival, has been on the back burner for a while when it comes to title shots, so he’s also in play as a potential winner. Goto is also a possibility.
282
283The 8/1 show at Korakuen Hall has Goto vs. Rush, Takahashi vs. Suzuki, Nagata vs. Anderson, Makabe vs. Archer, Kojima vs. Marufuji, Okada vs. Tenzan, Naito vs. Nakamura and Tanahashi vs. Benjamin.
284
285The 8/3 show has three key matches, most notably the Okada vs. Naito rematch of perhaps Japan’s best title match of 2012. It also has Goto vs. Nakamura and Marufuji vs. Benjamin.
286
287The 8/4 Nagoya show (always one of the biggest of the round-robin) has Tanahashi vs. Kojima as the main event and Nagata vs. Marufuji.
288
2898/5 in Osaka has Tanahashi vs. Marufuji as the main event plus Nakamura vs. Okada and Naito vs. Makabe. Tanahashi vs. Marufuji, as the New Japan top guy vs. one of NOAH’s biggest stars is Tanahashi’s biggest match of the round robin. It’s also one that he could lose. That way, you get a new title match with a challenger that isn’t from the ordinary pack, but then New Japan can have one of its guys beat Marufuji later. Marufuji may be the co-favorite with Tanahashi in the A block for that reason, as the big name outsider getting lots of wins in the tournament and losing a great match in the championship match is a former strong G-1 storyline. Plus, at that point, Okada or Naito beating him in the finals would be something.
290
2918/7 in Sendai is headlined by Tanahashi vs. Yano and Suzuki vs. Marufuji. 8/8 in Yokohama is Tanahashi vs. Suzuki (rematch of this year’s Tokyo Dome main event), Nakamura vs. Makabe, Nagata vs. Kojima and Marufuji vs. Anderson. 8/10 in Niigata is the only show where Tanahashi isn’t in the main event, with Goto vs. Okada on top of Tanahashi vs. Takahashi, plus Kojima vs. Suzuki.
292
2938/11 at Korakuen Hall, the night before, is always a big one because by that point the standings are tight and they usually have some surprises. That line-up is Tanahashi vs. Nagata, which is a killer main event, plus Goto vs. Makabe, MVP vs. Okada, Naito vs. Tenzan, Marufuji vs. Takahashi, Suzuki vs. Benjamin, Kojima vs. Yano and Rush vs. Nakamura.
294
295
296Kenny King, half of the Ring of Honor tag team champions, wrestled for TNA this weekend at its 7/5 TV show and its PPV three nights later, causing ROH to announce he was being dropped from the promotion and that the All Night Express were being stripped of their tag team titles.
297
298ROH stated that because of King appearing on the TNA television show, they felt he had breached a verbal agreement with ROH.
299
300The company announced on 7/10 that it would be doing an eight-team tournament, with the first round matches taking place on 8/3 at the TV tapings in Baltimore. Dates for the semifinals and finals will be announced later. Give how few dates ROH is running, at this point it would make sense to have both the semifinals and finals on the 9/15 iPPV show from Chicago, as opposed to doing semifinals there and the finals on 10/13 in Toronto. In the big picture, since they have only one house show left on the schedule (8/11 in Providence) after a show on 7/14 in Milwaukee, there is no necessity to rush, but three months with no tag champs is also a long time.
301
302The only team announced for the tournament thus far are Mark & Jay Briscoe. ROH doesn’t have much in the way of established teams for the tournament. The other established sort of star team in the promotion, Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin won’t be available since Benjamin will be in Japan for the G-1 Climax tournament on 8/3. That leaves times like the Bravados, the about to split Roderick Strong & Michael Elgin, Caprice Coleman & Cedric Alexander, perhaps The Guardians of Truth (Headbangers under the hood), bringing back The Young Bucks or teams like that and you still have three more slots to fill.
303
304King had signed a one-year contract with ROH that expired on 6/24, the same day he and Rhett Titus were given the tag team titles in a win over Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York. According to those in the company, they felt if he was going to leave, he shouldn’t have pushed so hard against the planned finish, which was the All Night Express getting killed and sneaking over on a miscue as opposed to them looking strong and going over.
305
306Those at ROH said that a verbal agreement was reached before the contract expired where King’s contract would be extended for 60 days, but during the extension, he would be allowed to negotiate with other promotions, but not wrestle for them. However, they conceded this was a verbal handshake agreement and King did not sign a written version of the agreement. King stated he was afraid other promotions may not talk with him if he was under contract, believing it would be tampering. As part of the deal, King was supposed to inform ROH of any outside offers.
307
308It should be noted that courts have held both oral and written agreements as being enforceable.
309
310Several ROH wrestlers of late that have had contracts expire were given similar agreements where they signed 60 day extensions that allow them the right to negotiate with other promotions. There is a lot of unhappiness among the wrestlers because of so few shows and what they expected to materialize with the Sinclair ownership hasn’t and the realization is Sinclair is not interested in spending the kind of money necessary to upgrade the product and due to that, they really aren’t on the ground floor of something about to take off. There’s no longer the mindset about being there and helping build a company that maybe could challenge TNA for No. 2, and there is no real upside of signing a long-term exclusive contract that would kill any options they have of going to TNA or WWE. We’re told every wrestler whose contract expired that was offered the option signed the deal, with the exception of King, who, according to those at ROH, verbally agreed to it, shook hands on it, but didn’t sign.
311
312King did inform ROH on 7/3 that he had a meeting with TNA on 7/5. Then, the morning of 7/5, he told one ROH official he would be on TNA television that night. He was told that would be in violation of their agreement. His response, according to a release by ROH, was that he had shaken hands on that deal and it seemed fair at the time, but others had told him it wasn’t fair so he was going to wrestle.
313
314King wrote that he was offered a contract extension but had reservations about it. He claimed his handshake agreement was that he wouldn’t do anything screwy as tag team champion or with the belt. He said he thought that meant do something like throw the belt in the garbage can or desecrate the belt, not simply appearing on TNA programming before dropping the ROH tag team title. He said he kept ROH officials up to date on everything going on with himself and TNA, as opposed to keeping it a secret from them. He said he could have easily kept quiet and they wouldn’t have known until he was going to the ring on Impact.
315
316He said that since he declined to sign his new contract extension, how could anyone think there was a verbal agreement, and that he took the biggest gamble of his career this past week.
317
318He praised ROH, saying, “I would like to thank ROH for the opportunity to master my craft against some of the best wrestlers in the world,” he wrote. “The last four years have been invaluable to my career. I have nothing but love and respect for the company that allowed me to find myself and grow as a wrestler.”
319
320There is irony in TNA using a wrestler still working for another promotion, given its own lawsuit against WWE. TNA likely felt it could do this with impunity, because at one point, when Christopher Daniels was under contract to ROH, TNA made a deal with ROH to use Daniels. ROH at the time agreed to allow them to use him but only under a mask as Curry Man, not as Daniels. However, TNA quickly violated the agreement. Those in ROH at the time admitted being mad, but also that they were not going to sue over it. This was before Sinclair Broadcasting purchased the company from Cary Silkin. However, Sinclair seems to want ROH to lose as little money as possible, and pursuing a claim legally for a guy like King, who was not a major player in ROH, even as tag team champion, would be unlikely.
321
322Those in TNA were said to be shocked that this caused any kind of an issue, as King represented that he didn’t have a contract and they didn’t see it like they were taking a key player in ROH. Unlike in another era, where taking the existing tag champ would be seen as a coup, from a TNA standpoint, if they even know, I doubt it was anything they dwelled on or made this big offer to take him. It was just them looking for new cruiserweights to fill a tournament at the last minute and he was available.
323
324His leaving, even in that matter, wouldn’t be seen as any kind of a big deal except he did so as tag team champion. He was really just another guy on the ROH roster and made no difference to business in ROH, nor will he in TNA. The person who may be hurt, temporarily, is Rhett Titus, his partner, who is no longer part of the All Night Express and will have to make his name as a single.
325
326King was also in a brief interview with Austin Aries where they talked about “Honor” in a way that came off as an insider knock on ROH, where Aries also came from. It’s something that no average fan would have seen, but the type of thing that would rub salt in the wounds of those in ROH.
327
328King had done a Highspots video with Rhett Titus several weeks back where he knocked ROH and even joked about what he said would possibly get him fired when the tape was released.
329
330King debuted with a win over Lars Only (Johnny Yuma from Pro Wrestling Guerrilla) in an X Division tournament qualifying match. The match fell apart badly, and both looked bad. King did redeem himself doing a solid post-match interview. Then three nights later on the PPV, he first beat Doug Williams and then was one of four people in an Ultimate X match for the vacant title, won by Zema Ion. He didn’t stand out in any of the matches and just came across as a guy in a match. His only real positive was his first interview, which wasn’t great, but he did exude some confidence and carry himself like a star.
331
332There are two ways to look at this. What King did was unprofessional on the surface, since he was tag team champion. But TNA was looking for X Division wrestlers now, not in a few months, and this was his opportunity and it may not have been there later. He was not under a written contract, and a lot of the ROH wrestlers were unhappy, thinking they would be working more dates and were of the impression Sinclair Broadcasting would be spending money to upgrade the product when they signed deals. A lot of the deals are coming due. Give there are so few dates on the ROH schedule, it was believed a lot of guys would not want to sign new long-term contracts, and would be looking elsewhere if there was interest, particularly if WWE and TNA are looking at hiring. King calling it a risk was correct, because in TNA, unless you have a guaranteed weekly contract, which few have, you get paid based on dates you are booked, and if they don’t need you and you don’t have a program, you aren’t getting paid. ROH contracts are similar in that you get paid based on dates working, and with so few dates on the schedule, you can’t make a good living in ROH. King does have his regular job. He did have a decent spot in ROH as tag champion, and did nothing to make one think he’s any kind of a lock to end up with a regular spot in TNA.
333
334King, who was in the second season of WWF Tough Enough in 2002, lives in Las Vegas and works primarily as a Chippendales dancer, wrestling on his days off.
335
336The “professional” way of switching promotions used to be that a wrestler would give two weeks notice and finish up dates before moving on. If the person was a main eventer, it would be four weeks notice. In some promotions, if someone wanted to leave as a champion, the professional thing was to give the promotion six weeks notice. But it’s a completely different era with people who don’t regularly go from job-to-job in wrestling. But it wasn’t that unusual for guys to walk out, even with championships, in that era, but it was definitely something frowned upon.
337
338
339The San Juan-based World Wrestling Council, a one-time promotional powerhouse, held its 39th Aniversario show on 6/30 at the Ruben Rodriguez Coliseum in Bayamon.
340
341The history of Aniversario has been the ability to get top wrestlers from all the world and have matches that, for political reasons, would not be made anywhere else. The promotion debuted in the 1970s. While pro wrestling tours in Puerto Rico had done well before, the ability to sustain a full-time promotion had been tougher. But it was the emergence of Carlos Colon, a part-owner who made himself into a super babyface, that by the mid-70s through the late-80s made the promotion a powerhouse. The murder of Bruiser Brody in 1988 hurt not only wrestling’s popularity in the country, but also changed things as for years a lot of the top American talent refused to go. Some, like Abdullah the Butcher, went back quickly. Other former major stars went back later, but not for several years. But names that were big stars there like Ric Flair, Terry Funk, The Road Warriors and Stan Hansen never returned to the promotion.
342
343An example of the kind of lineup the shows used to have if you go back to September 17, 1983, the 14-match show drew in excess of 25,000 fans to Hiram Bithorn Stadium with matches like Hercules Ayala (a local legend) vs. soon-to-be-WWF champion Iron Sheik, Abdullah Tamba (Mexico’s version of Abdullah the Butcher) vs. Gorilla Monsoon (Monsoon at the time was a co-owner of the promotion), Pedro Morales (another native legend) defending the North American title against Ric Flair, King Tonga (Haku) defending the North American title against Dory Funk Jr., a unification match with NWA champion Harley Race vs. Universal champion Carlos Colon (which went to a 60 minute draw), Mil Mascaras & Dos Caras vs. The Infernos and Abdullah the Butcher vs. Andre the Giant. The next year drew nearly 30,000 fans and didn’t have the loaded undercard, but had one of the island’s best drawing feuds in history with Bruiser Brody & Stan Hansen vs. Colon & Abdullah the Butcher. 1986 had an eight-man tournament for the Universal title with Colon, Boris Zhukov, Abdullah, Giant Baba, Terry Funk, Barry Windham, Brody and Rick Martel (Colon beating Funk in the finals).
344
345Since then the promotion has both had high points, comebacks, and been on death’s door a number of times, including periods were wrestlers were months behind in getting paid. At one point it appeared down for the count and there were talks of selling it to the rival IWA, but Colon and Victor Jovica’s pride wouldn’t let them do it. While most have forgotten about the Brody murder, the bad pay and often no pay have scared people from going. It is one of the few places left where a young wrestler can get the experience of working like an old territory, even if the quality of workers isn’t there. Once WWE got on regular television and started touring, the days of the big crowds were over. IWA still exists, but hasn’t been the same since the death of owner Victor Quinones, and WWC is clearly the top full-time promotion on the island, for whatever that is worth.
346
347This year’s show drew 4,000 fans, which by modern standards in Puerto Rico for a non-WWE event, was good. And they still had matches that would be difficult politically to be put together. The weekend shows will be the only ones in the world that featured current WWE, TNA and ROH talent on the same bill. It’s the only place in the world that can happen, because Primo & Epico’s WWE deals allow them to work a few major shows each year in their home promotion.
348
349The show was highlighted by a main event where Carlito & Ray Gonzalez beat Thunder & Lightning in a double hair vs. double mask match. Carlito & Gonzalez were rivals as the two biggest stars of the promotion before Carlito went to WWE. Thunder & Lightning have been Puerto Rico’s top tag team, wearing masks, for about a decade. The build was simple and old-school. Thunder & Lightning had beaten up both guys in angles, and they did the story where Carlito & Gonzalez didn’t trust each other, hated each other, but eventually after more attacks, agreed to team up and even put up their hair to get their foe’s masks. The main event was described as everything a big show main event should be, good work, great heat, and a clean finish that left the fans leaving with what they paid to see. But overall work in the prelims was described as awful, filled with botched moves and in some cases much of the crowd was mocking the wrestlers.
350
351It was a three night series of shows opening on 6/30 in Ponce, PR, at the Pachin Vicens Auditorium. In the matches featuring imported talent, Melina pinned Velvet Sky, Epico pinned Universal champion Gilbert in a non-title match due to interference from manager Orlando Toledo backfiring. Davey Richards was pinned by Ray Gonzalez, while Carlito beat John Morrison (using that name, although he’d be allowed to since WWE allows WWC to use the WWE ring names) via DQ when Thunder & Lightning interfered.
352
353On 7/2 in San German, Apolo retained the Universal title pinning Morrison, while Gilbert pinned Shelton Benjamin and Xix Xavant & Sky beat Richards & Melina.
354
355The major show opened with a tribute to The Invaders. Three of the four Invaders were there, including the biggest star of the four, Invader #1, Jose Gonzalez, now 67, the man who killed Brody in the shower at Hiram Bithorn Stadium 24 years ago. Gonzalez, no relation to Ray, had his image remade as a babyface and historically would be the company’s second biggest star in history behind Colon. They showed video clips from all four, including a Ric Flair vs. Invader match from the early 80s for the NWA title.
356
3571. As the Invaders ceremony ended, a man called Mr. X and another masked man issued a challenge to the retired Invaders. Very short match where the Invaders went over.
358
3592. Tommy Diablo & Cuervo retained the WWC tag titles beating Diabolico & Angel in a match featuring mostly catcalls from fans due to missed spots.
360
3613. Romeo pinned Chris Joel in a match described as really bad.
362
3634. The New Chicky Starr Corporation (Chicky Starr & Xix Xavant & Jay Velez & Bolo the Red Bulldog) beat El Nuevo Mando (Orlando Toledo & Clemente & The Patriot Twins) in four vs. four match. Starr, who is 54, has been around as a star on-and-off since the late 70s, so he’s one of those local characters who was best known as a heel rival for Colon, but at this point they are always going to like him. Toledo is the new heel manager feuding with Starr, who is the old heel manager but now a face.
364
3655. Chris Angel pinned Davey Richards. Angel is a local bodybuilder who can’t wrestle. Nobody knew who Richards was so the crowd was dead and given the style clash, the match wasn’t much. The report was Richards worked hard but his opponent was useless.
366
3676. Apolo, a long-time Puerto Rican star, who had just gotten out of jail six days earlier on a domestic abuse conviction, beat Gilbert to win the Universal title. While no surprise, since real life actions rarely impact how wrestling fans react (Gonzalez was cheered here for decades as one of the top faces; and it’s not unusual for wrestlers in the U.S. who have committed crimes including spousal abuse be super babyfaces), but Apolo got the biggest pop on the show since he’d been gone for so long. He was in good shape considering it’s been years since he’s been around. He was El Leon in TNA years back. Chris Angel then attacked him. Before the match, Toledo did an angle where he wanted to have Angel lay out Apolo before he got to the ring. Before the match started, Angel came out while Gilbert was in the ring. Gilbert celebrated with the idea Apolo was going to be taken out, but Angel instead backed down when Apolo came face-to-face with him. Instead, after the title win, Angel attacked Apolo and left him laying with a spear, so they may be doing a three-way program for the title.
368
3697. Primo & Epico beat John Morrison & Shelton Benjamin. Even though Primo & Epico played faces, them being basically job guys for so long on WWE television has hurt them badly here, as Primo was once the company’s young superstar. Morrison was actually cheered the most of the four, particularly by the women. As far as actual wrestling went, this was the best match on the show.
370
3718. Melina pinned Velvet Sky. Both women were cheered but Sky the most of the two. Lots of fans were yelling sexual remarks at the two of them during the match but more as comedy rather than coming off vulgar. They billed this as Diva vs. Knockout.
372
3739. Carlito & Rey Gonzalez beat Thunder & Lightning in the double hair vs. double mask match. It was anything goes, must be a winner with Invader #1 as referee. The crowd was into both teams. Started out okay but it really picked up when Carlito did a dive outside the ring and crashed through a table. Barrabas, who is probably 70 or so, managed Thunder & Lightning. Barrabas was one of the early stars of the promotion in the 70s and was Carlos Colon’s original trainer. He’s gone through face and heel turns constantly over the years. The fans got the spot they wanted to see as Invader took out Barrabas. The last several minutes saw most of the crowd standing and going crazy with all the near falls. Gonzalez and Carlito did simultaneous back stabbers and then both put one of the masked men in figure four leglocks (Gonzalez’s finisher) at the same time. Thunder managed to kick Carlito off and knock him out of the ring. Carlito came into the ring with a chair and hit both masked men with it to the head (U.S. concussion research means nothing in small Puerto Rican offices with tradition). Lightning was still trapped in the figure four while Carlito kept hitting him with chair shots until he passed out and it was stopped. They did a deal where Thunder & Lightning at first refused to unmask. All kinds of security tried to keep them from leaving and they decked all the security until Thunder grabbed the mic and said nobody is going to tell them what to do, but they are men of their word and both took their masks off. The crowd ended up cheering them for doing so and was told this was in the **** range.
374
375The next night in San German, a rematch was held, where Thunder & Lightning not only won but destroyed Carlito & Gonzalez and left them laying. Thunder & Lightning said they lost the battle but would win the war, and wanted another shot at them during the promotion’s next major event, Septiembre Negro.
376
377
378A note regarding updated universes of the various cable stations. With people very slowly switching away from satellite and dishes, there has been a small drop, not enough yet to really matter but it is a worrisome trend.
379
380As of the end of June, the USA Network was available in 99,301,000 homes, which is 86.6% of the homes in the U.S. They peaked at nearly 101 million a year ago. Almost every station has shown similar declines. Spike TV is in 98,623,000 homes after peaking at more than 100 million. We don’t have a number for FX, but it’s in the 98.5 million range. Syfy is in 98,006,000 homes. MTV 2 is in about 75 million homes and Fuel is in 36.2 million homes.