POST IT NOTES
**Wai Ting and I will be back Monday night with a new edition of Rewind-A-Raw. We will be reviewing Raw and discussing the future of Paige, Bill Goldberg’s Hall of Fame announcement and we will also be releasing the details for this year’s POST Wrestling “Royal Rumble Pool”.
SHOWS THIS WEEK
*Tonight – Rewind-A-Raw
*Tuesday – Rewind-A-SmackDown
*Thursday – British Wrestling Experience with Martin Bushby, Oli Court, and Benno
*Friday – The Roundtable Show with John Pollock, Wai Ting, Brian Mann and Martin Bushby
WRESTLING NOTES
**Tonight’s episode of Raw takes place from the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas. They are promoting a singles match between Asuka and Nia Jax for the show. There should also be a big feature on Bill Goldberg for the announcement of his Hall of Fame induction with tickets going on-sale for the Hall of Fame this week. The lingering question is what is addressed regarding the status of Paige as she had been announced for the Royal Rumble match and the only question is whether you have a big announcement regarding her future or simply take her out of the Rumble and keep her as a heel with Absolution with no specific announcement regarding her in-ring future.
**We have a huge story on the career of Bill Goldberg on the main page of the site following Monday’s announcement that he will headline this year’s WWE Hall of Fame class on Friday, April 6th in New Orleans, Louisiana. Goldberg issued the following statement on Monday regarding the Hall of Fame announcement:
Well, after being knocked on my ass all weekend w/ this damn flu, not a bad way to kick off the new week! I’d like to take this opportunity to thank each and everyone of you who has ever been a fan. This accomplishment could not of been made without you all. I’m very honored and humbled to be inducted! #whosnext ? Looks like #ImNext
**Impact Wrestling is holding their final night of television tapings tonight at Universal Studios. The roster is going to look significantly different by the time they get to these episodes in April with numerous departures over the past week and several new faces coming in as well. These tapings are going to air from February 1st until April 19th and lead into the promotion’s “Redemption” pay-per-view on Sunday, April 22nd.
**I have a review of this past Thursday’s MLW “Zero Hour” show up on the site. The highlight of the show was the singles match between Penta El Zero M and Rey Fenix. The promotion returns on February 8th with their “Road to the World championship” show.
**Eddie Edwards was injured at the Impact tapings on Saturday. There was an angle that involved Sami Callihan using a bat and the object ended up nailing Edwards in the face and he needed to be taken to a hospital. Edwards provided an update on Sunday that he suffered some broken bones and had a black eye, but he did return for the tapings on Sunday night.
**Jazzy Gabert underwent neck surgery on Monday morning after it was discovered she had three herniated discs in her neck. Gabert was in the process of having her medicals completed by the WWE when the state of her neck was discovered and the offer the WWE was ready to make was rescinded. A GoFundMe account has been set up to raise money for Gabert post-surgery and over 50% of the $4,000 goal has been raised so far.
**The SmackDown Live crew has a live event in Corpus Christi, Texas tonight. On Tuesday night, the television tapings are in Laredo, Texas with the following matches announced for SmackDown:
*Jinder Mahal vs. Xavier Woods in the United States title tournament
*Mojo Rawley vs. Bobby Roode in the United States title tournament
*Charlotte, Naomi and Becky Lynch vs. The Riott Squad
**Mauro Ranallo had a major scare on Sunday where he nearly choked to death while eating salmon. It was so bad that Frank Shamrock, who is Ranallo’s agent, had to perform the Heimlich maneuver with Ranallo stating that Shamrock saved his life. Ranallo alerted everyone to the story as a cautionary tale to learn the maneuver.
**The NWA has posted their “Empty Arena Match” between Tim Storm and Jocephus. The match was taped on Sunday at the Impact Zone in Orlando:
**The WWE stock closed at $32.18 on Monday.
MMA NEWS
**In one of the greatest scenes from any UFC broadcast, Sunday night’s Fight Night show in St. Louis featured the first appearance of Matt Hughes since his near-fatal accident last June where his truck was struck by an oncoming train. There was a video package for Hughes that aired on television and led to “A Country Boy Can Survive” by Hank Williams, Jr. playing in the arena as Hughes walked out. Hughes sat with Dana White and Dan Lambert for the remainder of the card at cage side. It was one of the most emotional scenes I have ever witnessed on a UFC broadcast.
**Here are the results of the UFC Fight Night event, which they announced as a sell out on television with 10,052 attending the show at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis and a gate of $812,995:
*Jeremy Stephens def. Dooho Choi by TKO at 2:36 of Round 2 – They were attacking each other with leg kicks throughout the first round and Choi hit a big combination near the end of the round. In the second, Stephens dropped Choi with a right hand and then dropped everything on top of Choi with a downward shot that rocked him and ended the fight with follow up strikes. It was the 14th win of Stephens’ UFC career that began in May 2007.
*Jessica-Rose Clark def. Paige VanZant by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) – VanZant broke her right arm in the first round but finished the fight. I had it 29-28 for Rose-Clark with VanZant winning the third round, which was the only close round. Rose-Clark had an awful week as her home was broken into and $30,000 worth of belongings were stolen and the burglar murdered her cat.
*Kamaru Usman def. Emil Meek by unanimous decision (30-27 all) – Usman dominated Meek with his wrestling and maintaining control on top of him for the duration of the bout. It was dominant but not exciting to watch. Usman stated after the fight that was competing at 30% health, which Dana White misinterpreted as Usman only giving 30% and didn’t love the fight. Usman is a contender at welterweight but this wasn’t the type of fight that will see him jump into a championship opportunity. Meek was furious after the fight but shook hands and congratulated Usman.
*Darren Elkins def. Michael Johnson by rear-naked choke at 2:22 of Round 2 – Elkins has quietly amassed a winning streak of six within the featherweight division. Johnson’s hands were looking great in the first round and he was faster than Elkins and landing a lot. In the second, Elkins got the takedown and Johnson was in trouble with Elkins applying the choke and getting the tap. Elkins wants to fight the #1 contender at featherweight to get a title shot.
*James Krause def. Alex White by unanimous decision (29-28 all) – Krause had trouble when standing with White, who rushed in and would frequently land with his wild combinations. Krause was composed and patient in working for his takedowns and then subduing White on the mat. I had the same score with Krause winning Rounds 1 and 2.
*Polo Reyes def. Matt Frevola by KO at 1:00 of Round 1 – This was as action-packed as a 60-second fight could be. Frevola is from Long Island but a good contingent of fans in the arena for him. Reyes was countering with right hands and a straight right knocked Frevola out.
*Irene Aldana def. Talita Bernardo by unanimous decision (30-27 all) – I scored the fight 29-28 for Aldana and gave the second round to Bernardo. Aldana was a superior striker and the significant striking edge was a key difference.
*Kyung Ho Kang def. Guido Cannetti by triangle choke at 4:53 of Round 1 – Kang calls himself “Mr. Perfect”, so he is either a big Ernesto Hoost or Curt Hennig fan. Cannetti has a lot of power and landed a big left hand before getting a takedown. Near the end of the round, Cannetti reversed to get top position and Kang applied a triangle for the submission with seven-seconds remaining.
*Jessica Eye def. Kalindra Faria by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28) – I scored the fight 29-28 for Eye and this was a very good fight. Faria was out striking Eye by a wide margin at the start and then each was going for ankle locks on the mat. Eye used a lot of wrestling and dominated her in the second round. The third round was close as Faria landed a side kick to the face but Eye countered with a right hand and took her down for the rest of the round. After the fight, Eye cut a promo that never could have aired on television with tons of cussing.
*JJ Aldrich def. Danielle Taylor by unanimous decision (29-28 all) – I had it 30-27 for Aldrich. Aldrich trains with Rose Namajunas, who was watching in the audience and she had Pat Barry in her corner. Taylor is only 5’0 and was giving up 7.5 inches in reach. Taylor hesitated a lot with her striking and that is where the fight was contested.
*Mads Burnell def. Mike Santiago by unanimous decision (29-28 all) – Santiago won the first round, but the rest of the fight saw him tire and Burnell continually take him down and control the fight on top. Burnell missed weight by four pounds so this was a catchweight fight at 150 pounds.
**The Fight of the Night was awarded to Jeremy Stephens and Dooho Choi and the Performance bonuses went to Polo Reyes and Darren Elkins with all four receiving an additional $50,000.
**This Saturday is a big night for MMA with the UFC 220 pay-per-view from TD Garden in Boston. This card will feature two championship fights, including one of the best heavyweight fights of the past decade with Stipe Miocic defending the title against Francis Ngannou. There is an enormous media push for Ngannou with the idea he could be a breakout star within the division and Miocic is looking to break the record for the number of heavyweight title defenses. The other major fight on that card features Daniel Cormier defending the light heavyweight title against Volkan Oezdemir, who only joined the UFC in February 2017 and has shown unbelievable knockout power in the division. Saturday also features Bellator’s first card of 2018 and the debut of the Paramount Network (which is the rebranded Spike TV) with Chael Sonnen fighting Quinton Jackson in the heavyweight Grand Prix and Douglas Lima defending the welterweight title against Rory MacDonald.
**UFC president Dana White appeared on the FS1 post-show on Sunday night and stated that Conor McGregor is proposing to fight in September. White stated that is too long to keep the lightweight title on hold and is moving forward with the idea of Tony Ferguson fighting Khabib Nurmagomedov and would have to strip McGregor of the title. McGregor won the title from Eddie Alvarez in November 2016 and has yet to defend the title. An interim version of the title was introduced this past October when Ferguson defeated Kevin Lee at UFC 216 to become the interim champion. The issue for Ferguson is that the obvious fight he wants is the big one with McGregor and the last time he signed to fight Nurmagomedov, the fight fell apart that week due to Nurmagomedov’s weight cutting issues.
**In a story that would have had many more repercussions a few years ago, the UFC will be running a pay-per-view on the eve of WrestleMania this year. UFC 223 is expected to take place on Saturday, April 7th from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The show will go head-to-head with the NXT Takeover special, although given the on-demand nature of the WWE Network, I don’t see either event being hurt much from running the same night. If anything, NXT’s bigger competition is all of the competing events within New Orleans that weekend. When the UFC ran a pay-per-view the night before WrestleMania 26 in March 2010, it was thought at the time that it did take a bite out of the WrestleMania number on pay-per-view, which was somewhat disappointing that year. The UFC pay-per-view in March 2010 featured Georges St-Pierre vs. Dan Hardy and Frank Mir vs. Shane Carwin and did in excess of 700,000 buys while WrestleMania fell below projections with around 885,000 buys that year.
**Below is the Countdown to UFC 220 special:
*****
THE 2018 MMA PREDICTION SHOW feat. Ariel Helwani
https://postwrestling.podbean.com/mf/download/3rk3me/THE-2018-MMA-PREDICTION-SHOW.mp3
*****
REWIND-A-WAI – Night After ‘Mania Raw 2013
(John Pollock and Wai Ting review Raw from the night after WrestleMania 29 featuring Dolph Ziggler’s cash in, birth of “Fandango-ing”, revolt during Orton vs. Sheamus and we welcome Espresso Executive Producer John Taylor at the end of the show)
https://www.patreon.com/posts/rewind-wai-2-raw-16353951
*****
REWIND-A-SMACKDOWN 1/9/18 – John Pollock & Wai Ting review SmackDown Live, Wai catches us up on this season of Total Divas, Pollock chats Brian Pillman book and we take your feedback
https://postwrestling.podbean.com/mf/web/u3tyfs/180109_RASD.mp3
*****
REWIND-A-RAW 1/8/18 – Balor Club vs The Shield, Strowman Attempts Murder, Woken Mat In-Ring Debut
https://postwrestling.podbean.com/mf/download/ma33g4/180108_RAR.mp3
*****
POST WRESTLING’S “WORST OF 2017 SHOW” with John Pollock, Wai Ting, Jason Agnew and Dan “The Mouth” Lovranski
https://postwrestling.podbean.com/mf/download/t9yvzr/POST-WRESTLING-The-Worst-of-2017.mp3
*****
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