ESPN THE MAGAZINE INTERVIEW WITH RONDA ROUSEY
Ronda Rousey’s interview with ESPN the Magazine is out today. Lots of interesting notes, including her claim that she may not be able to eat apples and such for up to six months due to loose teeth based on the damage she took in the Holly Holm fight; that Holly rocked her 30 seconds into the fight and she wasn’t the same afterwards; how, despite her mother’s opinion (her mom wants to run him over with a car) she will be staying with Edmund; and how she needs to come back and “beat that chick”, aka Holm.
Smackdown and Tribute to the Troops will be taped tonight in Jacksonville.
The finals of the New Japan tag team tournament will be late Tuesday/early Wednesday from Sendai at 4:30 a.m. Eastern and 1:30 a.m. Pacific
Yohei Komatsu & Sho Tanaka vs. Juice Robinson & David Finlay
Jay White vs. Mascara Dorada
Jushin Liger & Kushida vs. Tiger Mask & Ryusuke Taguchi
Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima & Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi vs. Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows & Tama Tonga & Yujiro Takahashi
Michael Bennett & Matt Taven vs. Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian
Shinsuke Nakamura & Toru Yano vs. Bad Luck Fale & Cody Hall
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata & Michael Elgin vs. Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii & Kazushi Sakuraba & Yoshi-Hashi
Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma vs. Tetsuya Naito & Evil for the 2015 World Tag League tournament final
UFC Fight Night 80 on FIGHT PASS is Thursday and features Paige VanZant taking on Rose Namajunas. Also on the card is Sage Northcutt. Prelims start at 6:45/3:45PM ETPT, main card at 10PM/7PM ETPT.
Figure Four Weekly
Figure Four Weekly (11/23/15): Lots of Updates in Hulk Hogan-Gawker case
Lots of news including a win for Gawker, the new police report, the remaining mysteries of the case, what Bubba the Love Sponge is saying, and more.
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Mick Foley’s talk on WWE creative and a look at all the new moves WWE tried this week on television is the lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. We look at the changes WWE attempted after a week of record low ratings, as well as the fan questionnaire sent out, what can be learned from it, and why they are asking exactly the wrong people.
We also look at the strengths and weaknesses of the current WWE business, as well as why the ratings may be important, but other factors are probably more important,when it comes to WWE’s next television deal. We look at the different potential changes in the landscape look at what aspects of business are and aren’t improving, as well as WWE’s business in the big picture.
He also update the situation with A.J. Styles, and the New Japan tag team tournament with standings and notes on the tournament matches over the past week.
We also look at the TLC PPV update, more on La Sombra in WWE, questions about all the shoulder injuries, WWE security at live shows, Cena movie release, Brad Maddox firing, Maddox’s WWE history, talents WWE has shown interest in, WWE overseas tour lineup and WWE weekend live event notes and business.
We have a look at the debut of the new Rizin promotion, major announcements for the first weekend of shows, the tournament, just how big Bob Sapp vs Akebono was the first time.
We also have a story on the domestic abuse claims by the girlfriend of Tomoaki Honma, and his response.
We look at the realities of the free agency of Benson Henderson, judging of the key fights, as well as full rundown of UFC’s debut in South Korea this past week.
We’ve got notes of TNA’s canceled tour of India, notes on the death of Tommy Gilbert and El Bello Greco, along with a feature on Stan Holek, a member of two of the most decorated tag teams of the 50s and 60s, the Lisowski Brothers with Crusher and the Neilson Brothers with Art Neilson. We look at the unique reason why all of his success was as a tag team wrestler, his biggest rivals, and his 13 runs as world tag team champion.
We’ve got a feature on the retirement of Act Yasukawa and the sad reason it happened.
We’ve also got the awards ballot for the 2015 awards and information on how well Hell in a Cell did this year on PPV.
PLUS MUCH MORE! CLICK HERE FOR A FULL WRESTLING OBSERVER PREVIEW
The Latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter: December 7, 2015 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: WWE attempts to right the ship, New Japan tag league update, more
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TODAY’S DAILY UPDATE
In a correction from earlier today regarding WWE and ESPN, WWE told us that while there was no segment on SportsCenter last week or this week, it was not “on hiatus” and they will return with a new guest interview next Tuesday.
John Cena was on The Today Show this morning plugging both American Grit, the reality show he has been filming in Washington State, and Sisters, a new comedy in which he apparently plays a heel drug dealer. He was said to have come off great on the show, and people rave about what a great sense of humor he has in appearances like this. He also talked about TRUMP. Cena will also be on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon tonight.
For those wondering, yes, the New Day strap-on unicorn horns SOLD OUT last night at Raw. To be fair, we don’t know what the supply was, but whatever it was, the demand was there.
WWE
Brock Lesnar, John Cena and Roman Reigns are all advertised for the February 8th WWE Raw taping in Seattle, WA.
Buzzfeed has a WWF in the 1990s quiz up. How far can you get?
WWE’s long-anticipated Owen Hart set, Owen: “Hart of Gold” is officially out on DVD and Blu-Ray. Elsewhere on the site, there’s a review of the set.
The presale for the February 13th WWE house show in Fresno starts tomorrow with the password being WWEFAN (The same code works on other shows during that swing through California).
UFC/MMA
At MMAFighting, Dave has an article about Josh Thomson wanting to fight six times in the next year.
Patrick Wyman’s full technical breakdown of Jose Aldo vs. Conor McGregor is up a Bleacher Report.
Other Wrestling
Here is today’s FULL Daily Pro Wrestling History including International history: Daily pro wrestling history (12/08): Harlem Heat wins WCW World Tag Team Titles
If you are a fan of the site, we still have F4W-related perks available up at Whale Scout’s Indiegogo page — the four guest spots on the Bryan & Vinny Show sold out immediately, but there is one giant IN-PERSON studio perk available (including airfare and lodging!), plus signed newsletters and more! Whale Scout is a registered 501(c)3 charity so your donation is tax-deductible. More information plus a message from Whitney is up on the Indigogo page. Thank you in advance for any donations!
Part two of Jim Ross’s interview with Kevin Sullivan on The Ross Report will be released tonight at 9:00 p.m.ET. He talks about the Benoit tragedy, how he’d book Brock Lesnar, what changes the wrestling business needs to make to grow, and more.
On the latest Between the Sheets podcast, Kris Zellner and David Bixenspan are joined by Phil Schneider to discuss December 1-7, 1992 including Jerry Lawler signing with the WWF and how that affected the USWA, Carlos Colon & Genichiro Tenryu making their Royal Rumble debuts as well as Rick & Scott Steiner coming into the WWF, the greatness of 1992 All-Japan, the even more greatness of the New Japan vs. WAR feud, and much more.
Part one of the MLW Radio Christmas spectacular is up featuring Dave Meltzer, MVP, Willie Mack, Juventud Guerrera, Angelico, Disco Inferno, Fantasma, Alex Greenfield and others.
There is a story here about Rachel Ellering, the daughter of Pretty Paul Ellering, who is breaking into pro-wrestling and just had her debut match teaming with Lance Storm in the main event of a Prairie Wrestling Alliance show. Lance is a bi-weekly guest on our members-only shows, and if you’re a subscriber you can listen to him talking about the match, how she has done in training thus far and more on last week’s Figure Four Daily.
Metro Pro Wrestling in Kansas City, Kansas results from December 5: – “Yoga Monster” Mike Sydal defeated The Math Magician; Kobra Kai Dojo beat The Commission, King Brothers & American Bulldogs to become the new Metro Pro Tag Team Champions; Redwing retained his Kansas Championship via disqualification against Kraig Keesaman, Redwing/Devin Thomas defeated Kraig Keesaman/Iceman; Ace Steel retained his Central States Championship against Ricky Morton after “Santa Claus” Bobby Eaton interfered and Jeremy Wyatt retained his Metro Pro Championship in the 80th minute of an Iron Man Match against Mark Sterling. Wyatt won 3 falls to 2.