1906 

Kansas City, Kansas:
– Frank Gotch defeated Fred Beel to win the American Heavyweight Title

1930

St. Louis, Missouri:
– World Champion Jim Londos beat Milo Steinborn to retain the title
– Fred Grubmeier beat Ray Steele 

1965

Dothan, Alabama:
– Chris and Ken Lucas defeated The Mysterio Medics to win the Gulf Coast version of the NWA Southern Tag Team Title

1967

St. Paul, Minnesota:
– AWA Tag Team Champions Mitsu Arakawa & Dr Moto beat Bill Watts & Rock Rogowski (Ole Anderson)
– Dr X beat Mighty Igor Vodik
– Harley Race beat Bob Geigel
– Luke Brown beat Bill Green
– Rene Goulet beat Chris Markoff dq
– Eddie Sharkey beat Steve Druk

1968

Dallas, Texas:
– Fritz Von Erich & Dan Miller defeated The Spoiler & Gary Hart to win the NWA American Tag Team Title (later to become the World Class World Tag Team Title)

1969

Brisbane, Australia:
– King Curtis Iaukea defeated Billy Robinson to win the IWA title

1970

– Kim Il and Pak Song defeated Gorgeous George, Jr. and Rufus R. Jones to win the NWA Texas Tag Team Title

1971

– The Royal Kangaroos (Jonathan Boyd and Norman Frederick Charles) defeated Beauregard and Dutch Savage for the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Title

1973

Miami, Florida:
– Buddy Colt defeated Eddie Graham for the NWA Florida Heavyweight Title

Vancouver, British Columbia:
– Buck Ramstead and Mr. X (Guy Mitchell) defeated The Samoans (Afa and Sika) to win the Vancouver version of the NWA Canadian Tag Team Title 

1975

Miami Beach, Florida:
– Omar Negro (Buddy Moreno/Omar Atlas) drew Bruce Swayze (Patrick’s uncle)
– Mike Graham beat Bob Orton Jr. via DQ to retain the U.S. jr. heavyweight title
– Karl Von Steiger beat Abe Jacobs
– Bob Roop beat Bill Dromo
– The Destroyer (Killer Kowalski) no contest Big Bad John
– Billy Robinson beat The Great Malenko to retain the Southern title
– Rocky Johnson & Thunderbolt Patterson beat Rip Hawk & Roger Kirby via DQ to retain the Florida tag team titles
– Terry Funk beat Cyclone Negro to retain the NWA title

1977 

San Juan, Puerto Rico:
– The Hollywood Blondes (Jack Evans and Larry Sharpe) defeated Carlos Colon and Victor Jovica for the WWC North American Tag Team Title – Jose Rivera and Invader I defeated The Samoans (Afa and Sika) for the WWC World Tag Team Title
– Joe Novak defeated Hercules Ayala for the WWC Caribbean Heavywight Title

1978

Toronto, Ontario, Canada:
– Dino Bravo defeated Gene Kiniski to become the first holder of the Toronto version of the NWA Canadian Heavyweight Title

Dallas, Texas:
– Tiger Conway, Jr. and Bull Ramos defeated Killer Karl Krupp and Mark Lewin for the NWA Texas Tag Team Title

1979

New York City:
– Bob Backlund defeated Bobby Duncum in a Texas death match to win the vacant WWF World Heavyweight Title 

1985 

Ames, Iowa:
– Bob Brown defeated Brett Sawyer to win the NWA Central States Heavyweight Title

1987

Acapulco, Mexico:
– El Gran Markus, Jr. defeated Super Halcon for the Mexican National Heavyweight Title

1988

Bayamon, Puerto Rico:
– Hercules Ayala defeated Ricky Santana for the WWC Puerto Rico Heavyweight Title 

1989

Mayaguez, Puerto Rico:
– Leo Burke defeated Carlos Colon to win the WWC Universal Heavyweight Title 

1993 

Tokyo, Japan:
– Gran Hamada defeated Villano IV to win the WWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Title

1994

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania:
– Tommy Dreamer & Cactus Jack defeated Tommy Cairo & The Sandman
– ECW World Champion Shane Douglas defeated Ron Simmons
– ECW World Tag Team Champions The Public Enemy defeated Sabu & Taz

1995

WWF In Your House: Hershey, Pennsylvania:
– The Undertaker defeated King Mabel in a Casket match
– Bret Hart pinned The British Bulldog to retain the WWF Title

Mexico City, Mexico:
– Dr. Wagner, Jr. defeated Atlantis to win the CMLL World Light Heavyweight Title

1999

Nashville, Tennessee:
– Masato Tanaka defeated Mike Awesome for the ECW World Heavyweight Title

2000

WCW Starrcade: Washington, DC:
– Kevin Nash & Dallas Page defeated Shawn Stasiak & Chuck Polumbo to win the WCW World Tag Team Titles
– Goldberg defeated Lex Luger
– Scott Steiner defeated Sid Vicious to retain the WCW World Title

2005

ROH Final Battle: Edison, New Jersey:
– Austin Aries and Roderick Strong defeated Sal Rinauro and Tony Mamaluke to win the ROH Tag Team Titles
– Bryan Danielson defeated Naomichi Marufuji to retain the ROH World Title
– KENTA defeated Low Ki to retain the GHC Junior Heavyweight Title

2006 

WWE Armageddon: Richmond, Virginia:
– The Undertaker defeated Mr. Kennedy in a Last Ride Match
– Chris Benoit defeated Chavo Guerrero to retain the US Title

Raw ratings on Monday were up to 3.04 million viewers, an increase of seven percent, likely due to a combination of Bill Goldberg’s appearance keeping the third hour from too much of a decline and slightly easier football competition.

The one notable difference is that the second hour was the highest instead of the first hour. The usual pattern is first hour highest in the winter and second hour in the summer due to daylight savings time. The difference was the first hour and early second hour went against the Rose Bowl game with Penn State vs. USC which did 15.74 million viewers, which is more than almost all NFL games have been doing against Raw.

Much of the second hour and all of the third hour went against the lower-rated Sugar Bowl game with Auburn vs. Oklahoma, which did 9.52 million viewers, which is lower than most NFL games have been doing on Monday.

Last week’s show went against the Cowboys-Lions NFL game that did 18.61 million viewers, the best of the season.

Raw finished 8th for the day on cable, trailing only college football related programming on ESPN, and beating all the news channels, which were way down.

It was the most-watched Raw since the November 28th show headlined by the Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks women’s title match.

Next week, going against the college football championship game, will be the last episode against football until the fall. The traditional bounce-back show should be on January 16th.

The three hours were:

8 p.m. 3.04 million viewers
9 p.m. 3.16 million viewers
10 p.m. 2.94 million viewers

Here’s a chart from Paul Fontaine that looks at the last 10 weeks of Raw ratings compared to the last four years:

Streaming services are all the rage in pro wrestling. We have the WWE Network, of course, along with smaller services like Stardom World or New Japan World. Now, DDT and its network of promotions have launched their own streaming service called DDT Universe.

Launching last night, there’s already tons of content up on the site, featuring movies dedicated to the Ironman Championship, a prestigious belt featuring former champions such as a ladder, steel chair, and Vince McMahon’s Hollywood Walk of Fame star, as well as an entire section dedicated to street fighting. Here’s what you need to know:

Wait. So what exactly is DDT?

Dramatic Dream Team is an indie promotion in Japan. They’re more comedy based than other promotions, and feature some truly out there matches that no company anywhere has really tried to emulate, aside from maybe HUSTLE.

In the past, they’ve had weird stipulation matches like a No Cry match (where whoever cries first is the loser) and have even had entire cards take place in camping grounds. In other words, it’s closer to the wackiest moments of Monday Night Raw rather than a New Japan or All Japan show.

Did I mention this promotion is the home of Yoshihiko, the blow up doll? Here it is taking on Kota Ibushi.

How much does it cost?

900 yen, or 7.91 dollars per month as of this writing.

Is DDT the only promotion on the streaming service?

No, you’ll also get content from smaller indie promotions like DNA, BASARA, Tokyo Women’s Pro (all which are child companies of DDT), Ganbare Pro and UNION.

Will they be doing shows live?

Yes! You can check out their schedule here, including start times and dates. They’ll update their schedule at the end of each month. Since they currently have their schedule listed through the end of March, the next update will probably be in April. They have their first show next week, with a ton of live streaming events scheduled for February and March.

How do I sign up?

Check out the link here. Be sure to switch the language of the site to English. You’ll also see “Account Services” on the sidebar, where you can login or register. You can register under “New Name Registration,” where you put in your information and go from there.

I thought this cost money. Why am I getting content for free by just registering?

The first month of DDT Universe will be free. The service will start charging after the month trial is up. When it does, you can use a credit card or Paypal to pay for the site, or do nothing if you’re not into the service.

Anything else I should know?

You can check out the tag section here that has tags for a bunch of wrestlers. Keep in mind that a lot of the content so far seems to be from the last couple of years, so not everything from DDT or its other promotions is on here.

And that’ll do it for DDT Universe! I’ve played around with it thus far and really enjoy what they have up there. Video quality is great and the site is easy enough to figure out without too much hassle. The logo buttons on the right side of the screen could be bigger (they lead to content from each promotion) but otherwise it’s a very well organized collection of videos.

With live streaming starting next Sunday, it’s another great destination for live Japanese wrestling if you’re looking for another streaming service to explore.

There were renewed far-Right protests in Germany on Thursday night as violent attacks against migrants spread across the east of the country.

Around 800 protestors gathered in Chemnitz, the scene of neo-Nazi riots earlier in the week following the suspected killing of a man by two immigrants.

Protestors faced off against police outside a political meeting where regional officials sought to calm residents but the situation appeared peaceful as night fell.

Hundreds of miles to the north, a Syrian man was seriously injured after he was attacked and beaten with an iron chain by three Germans in a sign the violence is spreading.

In Chemnitz, regional officials were booked and jeered as they tried to reassure locals at a restive town hall meeting.

Michael Kretschmer, the regional prime minister of Saxony state, struggled to make himself heard above catcalls as he called on people to remain calm and respect the law.

“I had tears in my eyes when I heard today that a Chinese woman who has lived here for 13 years had water thrown over her, and felt it was a message for her to leave,” he said.

Outside the protestors chanted “We are the people” and held aloft banners saying Chemnitz must not become an “African colony”.

Violent protests over the killing of Daniel Hillig, a German-Cuban man, in Chemnitz at the weekend have shaken Germany.

An Iraqi and a Syrian have been arrested on suspicion of the stabbing on Sunday night.

A prison officer admitted yesterday he was responsible for leaking an arrest warrant for one of the men to far-Right groups who shared it on social media.

Authorities said the officer had been suspended pending a full inquiry.

Thumbs In Middle.

Mainly because my expectations were so low for this show but I actually found it an enjoyable show. The crowd made it feel much more like a real good SmackDown vs. a PPV show but I thought the wrestling and storyline progressions were solid. Main event and Orton/Harper were both very good. This was a show that should have been over at the 2.5 hour mark rather then 3 plus. 
 
Unlike Jim From Virginia, I was not super excited for three women’s matches but I thought Nikki/Natalya until the lame finish was a really good match. Feel bad for Natalya as she is so talented but just used to get others to look good in the ring and she did. This was best I’ve ever seen Nikki Bella look. 
 
James/Lynch was a solid women’s match.
 
Naomi/Bliss was a little sloppy in a few spots, including the finish but it was fine. 
 
Tag Team Turmoil match was fun. Actually thought after the Usos beatdown that they may actually go with the Ascension winning so they did a good job. American Alpha are really good but they just aren’t connecting on the main roster like they should. Hooking them up with Kurt Angle would get them there. 
 
Harper/Orton was a really good pro wrestling match. Built nicely and did the job to show Harper should be a main eventer on SmackDown.

Worst Match: Kalisto/Crews vs. Dolph. When it was Dolph and Crews it was fine. Crowd was oddly into this match and into Dolph. However, it really annoyed me when Kalisto came limping down then did all sorts of lucha things fine then half-heartedly would grab his back.
Best Match: Elimination Chamber. Really entertaining match. Looks like Corbin-Ambrose program coming out of it which I like. Corbin has come a long way in ring. Styles-Cena just work incredibly well together. Miz’s facials in the pod was really great. Wyatt pinning Cena clean was surprising. Solid job of rehabbing Bray as a monster. Great transition to the finish. 

Glad I did not drink as Kevin Dunn’s camera work gave me the spins. 
 
– Mike Flynn

**********

Thumbs Up

Best Match: Elim Chamber
Worst Match: Nikki Bella vs. Natalya

For the first couple of hours, this was a glorified SmackDown episode. With American Alpha pretty much beating every team on the roster, either they have to create a new tag team from parts — perhaps Dolph Ziggler teams with Baron Corbin — or they do another sort of gauntlet for WrestleMania.

Luke Harper had a great match, but no matter how the announcers screamed that “win, lose, or draw, he’s proven he can be a main eventer,” he’s still slated in the middle as a guy who can’t win the big match.

– Jeff Cohen

**********

Thumbs up really liked the show overall.

Worst Match: Mojo vs. Hawkins on the pre show. On the main card everything was solid.
Best Match: Luke Harper vs. Randy Orton. Loved the story! I think this is for sure Luke Harper’s best singles match.

Randy is great at putting guys over even with winning the match. This was one of Orton’s best matches.

– Allan Hendrix

**********

Thumbs Up

Best Match: Elimination Chamber, Harper vs. Orton.
Worst match: Kalisto & Crews vs. Ziggler

This show was far better than I expected it to be, honestly. Everything feels like they at least found their footing or understood the story they needed to tell. Overall, a very solid follow up to the Rumble, which was the best PPV they’ve done in years.

They did everything they could to fix the bad idea of the Ziggler handicap match, I guess, but apparently they just decided they want to have Ziggler lose all the time and look bad doing it. This is the same guy six months ago was in a feud at SummerSlam for the World title. He also supposedly threatened a man’s life on television a month ago and I forgot he was even in the Rumble until he was out there.

All that aside, the show was good, all the women’s matches were solid, if a bit sloppy. Guess is a multi-woman at mania, maybe a ladder or something? Seems weird to have this many moving pieces, but I don’t know what they’d do otherwise.

I’m really hoping they give AJ the big showcase he deserves, too because while Bray won the match, this felt like the AJ Styles and friends show. Elimination Chamber matches are usually fun, but honestly seeing AJ come up with new moves to do in all of WWE’s gimmick matches is one of the best things about the product right now. I love Owens and Cesaro, but AJ has to be the best wrestler WWE’s had at least since Bryan was fully healthy, right?

Speaking of Bray, while it’s been kind of a foregone conclusion since you reported the card, it was nice to see him get a win, especially pinning AJ and Cena. They’ve overlooked Bray it seems from time to time, but just looking at his WrestleMania appearances, he faced Cena his first time, Undertaker his second, verbally sparred with the Rock last year, and this year he’s walking in as champ and feuding with Orton. That’s a tough four-year run to beat.

Seems like they’re setting up Corbin vs. Dean for the IC belt, too. Anyway, the only big question left it seems like is what they wind up doing with AJ, and to a lesser extent with Joe and Zayn, for Mania. I’m going to be disappointed if they take the belt of Kevin and put it on Goldberg, but that seems inevitable at this point. I will say, it feels ridiculously hot shotty that they’ve had the WWE Championship belt change hands two times in a month, we might have it change hands again at Mania, and the Universal title, presumably, is going to shift three times after Mania. Seems silly.

– Jonathan Beckner

**********

Thumbs in the middle

Best: Elimination Chamber
Worst: Ziggler vs. Crews/Kalisto 

 This show continues the SmackDown exclusive show trend of having a solid yet totally forgettable undercard followed by a great main event involving AJ Styles. 
 
I thought this was the best Elimination Chamber match in years, probably since the 2011 Elimination Chamber PPV. I’m glad Wyatt finally won the title but the timing of it feels out of nowhere and kind of “too little too late.” Unless the writers have an awesome story in mind for Wyatt vs. Orton, I really don’t understand them booking this as the WWE title match, but then again there is a lot I don’t understand about WWE booking. 

– Nick Randall

**********

Thumbs Up

Best Match: Chamber
Worst Match: Mojo vs. Hawkins

SmackDown in my opinion continues to deliver for the most part despite having one hand tied behind their back for the most part with a much smaller roster of stars than Raw.  There are certainly some things they can be doing better, but they seem to be trying.

The worst part of the show wasn’t wrestling, it was the Carmella & Ellsworth nonsense. No offense to Mr. Ellsworth, but I don’t find a reason for him to be employed. His short stint has run its course. Now he needs to fade back to the local wrestling he was doing before.

Mojo Rawley vs. Curt Hawkins while nothing special was better than I expected. It wasn’t the quick squash I was assuming they would do. Mojo rightfully wins.

The main show kicked off with Mickie James vs. Becky Lynch. Very solid match here and I do think James should have gone over in her first big match since returning, but it was good. I was quite tired of Otunga trying to say James had ring rust from being out of action for seven years. Finally JBL chimed in and corrected him saying she had been competing elsewhere. Also apparently Otunga doesn’t have the WWE Network cause he would have seen James compete quite well a few months back at NXT Takeover.

Apollo Crews & Kalisto vs. Dolph Ziggler was pretty basic.  Why they even put this match together is beyond me. They essentially buried all three participants in this match. Ziggler is a heel who never wins and Crews is a babyface who is now getting boo’d and can only win on a fluke or with a partner. This feud needs to end now. Rethink what to do with Crews before he ends up with Jack Swagger in the SmackDown basement or wherever they stashed him.

Tag Team Turmoil was pretty good. Although at this point since American Alpha has run through everybody on SmackDown. What can they do next? If they use any of these teams for a title match at Mania it’s going to seem pretty lame. They really need to bring in a new team like the Revival or somebody to freshen things up. Even move the Shining Stars over from Raw where they are doing nothing would be good.

Nikki Bella vs. Natalya had some good action. Wasn’t expecting a double countout finish especially since Nikki has to move onto feuding with Maryse I guess for the WrestleMania mixed tag. Apparently this feud is continuing. 

Randy Orton vs. Luke Harper was a good match. Started pretty slow, but really built well.Thought there might be a sliver of hope for Harper to win just to put him in position for a possible triple threat at Mania, but I guess they want to keep Orton strong for the Mania title match.

Naomi wins the Women’s Title from Alexa Bliss in a good match. Again thought it was too soon to take the title from Bliss, not that Naomi doesn’t deserve her chance. Bliss makes a good heel champ and at this point overall it looks like most of the title holders going into Mania will be faces. What happen to the days of having the heel champs defend and the big blow off of feuds where the face wins the title at Mania?

Elimination Chamber was the best match on the show. Always helps to have AJ Styles make whatever match he is in that much better. Bray Wyatt wins as has been predicted and now we have our Wyatt Family showdown for WrestleMania. During the match I feel like Miz was beaten pretty easily and clean by Cena which doesn’t do anything for me wanting to see them against each at WrestleMania. That just feels like a basic TV match. 

– Robb Block

**********

Thumbs Up

Hawkins vs. Rawley **1/2

As pre-show matches go I thought it was alright. Hawkins is a fairly steady hand, Rawley is green & raw, but he has presence, decent showmanship & some decent looking offense, I’m not as down on his gimmick as some are, & I thought he looked decent in places here. Think the timing could’ve been better on some of the kick-outs at the back-end & there were a few minor awkward moments, but again, I thought it was alright & they did more than you see in some pre-show matches.

Becky vs. Mickie ***1/4

Thought it was a good, solid match. Liked the layout. Little different with Becky blowing the beginning of her comeback, then Mickie cutting her off to transition back into the heat, then Becky restarting her comeback. Rhythm could’ve been better & execution of certain spots could’ve been crisper, but I liked it. Thought Mickie looked good, her technique was good for the most part, liked the way she controlled the pace during the heat, liked some of her choices & thought she generally looked very savvy & solid.

You could argue both needed the win, although with Mickie only just coming in the door, I thought it was a little early to beat her, & they’ve only given her one victory in a physical angle & a few promos to help her over, as well as the initial angle to bring her in, of course. Having said that, at least it was only a flash finish.

Worst Match: Crews & Kalisto vs. Ziggler *3/4

The match was what the match was, but as far as the booking I don’t know where to start & could go on about this for an age. 

Just such a bizarre situation with this two faces & one heel handicap match. There’s creativity, there’s variety, there’s innovation & then there’s stupidity. I’d class this entire situation as the latter. You can do it a certain way if it’s this dominant monster heel, or I suppose if it’s this guy who you’ve put a ton of heat on over an extended period of time — but it’s Dolph Ziggler.

And just these poor babyfaces. They’ve been battered at every turn & then are given a man advantage against Ziggler, it just kills them, it’s terrible. And this has done little for Ziggler either. I mean, you can do the “I go over, you get over” — but it’s gotta be the right situation & they’ve done it four times now, with it losing impact on each occasion. The guy clearly needs strong momentum right now & these half measures as well as heavily character based booking decisions aren’t helping. 

On top of all of that, it’s pretty similar to the situation with Neville & the cruiserweights a while ago, that here’s this guy who is a bigger star & has done more of substance, being positioned against guys who done little to impress the audience, that they have some degree of apathy for, & are bordering on an annoyance to them — so they of course choose the bigger star.

Plus, with the chair, the audience likes weapon use, & as we’ve seen many times, nowadays don’t feel sympathy as much for the characters, & are happy to enjoy weapon shots with little regard for the victim, regardless of who it is. It can still get the person over, but there’s little chance of heat (to be fair to them it is very difficult to get heat on a heel nowadays, but you think they’d notice & change accordingly, but maybe they don’t care, who knows), but even the prior isn’t going happen with such excessiveness. Also I preferred Ziggler’s mannerisms during the Lawler angle where he was this cold, miserable heel.

Quite the rant, but the whole thing is a complete mess.

Tag Team Turmoil ***1/4

Thought lack of pre-planning was definitely a problem here. They really needed to think ahead & build-up some of these teams prior to this, but of course that doesn’t happen with such short-term booking. I thought it was a decent match, thought Slater/Rhyno & American Alpha looked good, liked the layout with the first half focused on Slater & Rhyno, setting the table for an Usos-Alpha feud, & putting the babyface champions in a vulnerable position with them overcoming against the remaining heel team in big fashion.

Ascension would never be your first choice, but if you wanted do what they did with The Usos, Ascension was frankly the best option with the nature of their gimmick & stature, as opposed to the remaining heel teams.

Natalya vs. Nikki ***1/2

Finish was a shame, but I thought it was a strong effort & good match. Was a little thrown by the beginning of the match as it was not you’d expect for such a heated feud, but it made sense with the heel trying to play to her strengths & exploit the face’s weakness, only for the face to match her. I enjoyed the uniqueness with some of the submission work, some interesting hope-spots & an interesting layout overall. Thought Natalya was great as she always is, good presence during the heat & solid as a rock. Nikki was decent, although there were a few awkward moments. Again, good effort & liked it.  

Orton vs. Harper ****

Thought it was a very good match. I did think there were some rhythm issues & was a little sluggish at times, but it built great, Orton made Harper look good — although you can see his heel style bumping is restricted as he’s clearly trying to protect his neck, thought the crowd didn’t really know what to make of it initially & perhaps didn’t believe in Harper, who also wasn’t very over & perhaps could’ve done with greater preparation for the occasion, but they got them in the end & I thought the sell for the RKO was superb. Also on the sluggishness, I think it’d be of Orton’s benefit to drop some weight.

Alexa vs. Naomi **1/2

They were in a tough position, but I thought they did some nice & unique stuff, there was good effort, there was some feeble looking offense at times & things fell-apart a bit at the end, also intensity was an issue, but again, I thought it was ok.

Pretty surprised by the finish, but I don’t think Naomi is a bad choice. Her entrance is a big shine, she’s athletic & got lots of flashy offense, she looks good, is endearing & has personality, I’m not against it & think she could get fairly over. You aren’t gonna get a lot of rather good matches out of her, but I think she’s far from the worst option.

Best Match: Elimination Chamber ****1/4

Wild match. Lots of crazy stuff & nice spots, & the crowd was lapping it up. Glad they finally got rid of that grating on the outside (or perhaps just padded it up) & increased the heights so guys weren’t as restricted with stuff from above the Chamber. Styles made everyone look great & the bump from the top of the chamber was nuts. Ambrose worked ever so hard & took a nasty landing off that double German.

In addition, Cena appeared to hurt his leg on that torture rack spinning powerbomb of Styles’. Thought it was laid-out well booking wise, with Corbin looking real good prior to his opening elimination, & frankly there was no real easy option for who should go out first. They set the table nicely for an Corbin-Ambrose feud (which looked likely after the last Miz-Ambrose match) & put Wyatt over pretty huge, who got quite the reaction for his victory. Real good stuff.

– Tom Griffiths

**********

Thumbs up. Surprised how solid the show was.

Best Match: Harper vs Orton
Worst Match: Ziggler vs Kalisto & Crews

Missed the pre-show match. All of the women’s matches were good, which was important to holding this show together. Kept me engaged throughout. Thought everything worked well. The whole show made sense. 

Not sure how Ziggler is a heel, losing a 2 on 1 where he did the smart thing to even the odds at the start. Doesn’t help Kalisto and Apollo for sure. One of the great things about SmackDown is everyone seems to have improved their place in the company pecking order. Except those two. 

Click Here: Cheap Golf Drivers

Harper looked great. Hard choice between the Chamber match and this, but I prefer a good 1 on 1 battle with a clean finish to the gimmick match any day. 

Naomi vs. Alexa Bliss was in a tough spot, but they did a good job. Naomi came off very well in the post-match interview and again on Talking Smack. 

Elimination Chamber was really well booked and worked. Again, everyone involved comes out looking good. Could easily see this as best match, too. 

The crowd was great and really helped the show come across well.

– Joe Daniel

**********

Thumbs in the Middle

Best Match: John Cena vs. AJ Styles vs. Dean Ambrose vs. The Miz vs. Bray Wyatt vs. Baron Corbin
Worst Match: Apollo Crews & Kalisto vs. Dolph Ziggler

Very good main event. I got legit bored watching earlier in the show, though. WWE over-saturation plus a B-show from the lesser-valued brand, along with three women’s matches.

It really annoyed me that the announcers clearly were not allowed to bring up the hypothetical of Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt until after the main event ended. Kind of like how they weren’t allowed to acknowledge Mickie James wrestling Asuka in NXT a few months back.

– Lou Pickney

**********

Thumbs Up

Best Match: Chamber
Worst Match: Mojo v Curt

Good but not amazing show. Was glad that having three women’s matches in the modern age wasn’t cringeworthy because there were some shows in that past at times that had to have two divas matches on one card and that was just death. The depth of the division still shows a little when you use all.

On the same note the tag division gets really exposed when you keep doing these scrambles and 10 and 12 men matches. I still strongly feel one women’s and one tag champs are the way to go and have them travel between shows. Again though the quality of the women’s matches all solid. May be in the minority but enjoyed the Bliss match the best. Naomi has revived her career starting with the new entrance idea and its a good story to have her defend in her hometown. The scramble had some cool moments but due to format it never gets going. 

 As has been pointed out; the handicap match concept had so many issues but parts of the actual match were good. Why wasn’t it just a three way where you could have the faces work together at times but still try to beat each other. They have no clue on Ziggler. He’s booked as a failure constantly and not in the “Daniel Bryan” way.

Harper-Orton was a standout performance by Harper back to his original breakout but could tell crowd is confused as it wants to love Orton and Harper has been a heel so long. Also the tough thing with a Harper solo push is he is ALWAYS going to be associated with the Wyatt Family gimmick it feels so will always be a feeling of reforming or inferiority. If they could get Orton over as a true heel I wouldn’t mind a Wyatt face turn as a modern day Undertaker considering how much the fans love the entrance etc.

Timing may not be right but I thought Chamber match was great. Not sure about this new Chamber, guessing due to safety and ease of fitting it around rings was the change. Even though everyone knew the finish I am glad they didn’t have a change of heart. The character needed a title win to advance. Hopefully this is not a case of four WrestleManias in a row where Wyatt loses or gets punked out (no match at 32).

hey have done a great job of making a group of legit title contenders of all the folks who were in the Chamber plus Orton. They could easily include Ziggler in there if they knew how to handle him. Fastlane has a bit more oomph behind it that could have made this a lame duck but the solid content put it in a good place.

– Michael O’Brien

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American denim giant Levi Strauss has teamed up with gun control groups saying it has a "moral obligation" to tackle the country’s "gun violence epidemic". 

“You may wonder why a company that doesn’t manufacture or sell guns is wading into this issue, but for us, it’s simple," Chip Bergh, the company’s CEO, said as he made the announcement. 

“Americans shouldn’t have to live in fear of gun violence. It’s an issue that affects all of us – all generations and all walks of life."

Levi Strauss & Co is the second company to voluntarily wade into political controversy in recent days after Nike signed Colin Kaepernick, a divisive figure in American football, to front its latest ad campaign.

Kaepernick began kneeling during the national anthem in protest at police brutality in 2016 but critics, including President Donald Trump, say he is disrespecting the American flag. 

Nike’s decision to sign Kaepernick provoked a viral online campaign to boycott the company’s merchandise, with thousands of Americans sharing images of them burning their Nike trainers.

Mr Bergh acknowledged that his company’s decision to advocate for gun control was "controversial".

But in an article for the business website Fortune, Mr Bergh said companies with public and political power "simply cannot stand by silently when it comes to the issues that threaten the very fabric of the communities where we live and work".

He added that as head of a “values-drive company… and one of the great symbols of American freedom”  he had a responsibility to speak out on the issues of the day.

Mr Bergh added that he is not advocating to repeal the Second Amendment, the part of the US constitution that gives citizens the right to carry firearms, nor calling gun owners irresponsible. 

But he went on: "We can’t insulate ourselves from every threat. We can’t ‘harden’ every place we gather – whether it be our schools, workplaces, shops, churches, or entertainment venues. But we can take common-sense, measurable steps – like criminal background checks on all gun sales – that will save lives." 

Their kitchen is a rusty metal grill resting on two bricks. The lavatory is a nearby patch of waste ground. There is no running water and there are no showers.

Just a few hundred yards from Rome’s shiny, futuristic Tiburtina railway station, about 300 refugees and migrants live in a squalid encampment consisting of tents and shanty structures made out of scavenged timber and sheets of plastic.

Known as the Baobab Centre, it is one of the main nodes in the underground migration networks that have sprung up across the continent.

Baobab’s transient residents are the final trickle of a wave of migration from Africa and the Middle East that swept northwards through Europe in 2015, setting off a political…

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Tom Jones, a star in a number of territories during the 70s and 80s, passed away yesterday. We don’t have details available past he had serious health problems for years and had been suffering from dementia.

Jones wrestled regularly from 1965 to 1988. He was probably best known in the Leroy McGuirk territory, where he formed a championship tag team with Billy “Red Lyons” in 1971 and 1972. He also held championships in the Amarillo territory under a mask as The Gladiator, in Georgia, California, the Pacific Northwest, Florida, Alabama, and for Southwest Championship Wrestling.

He worked frequently as part of a tag team, known for his hot tags, with partners like Lyons, Mando Guerrero, Mr. Wrestling (Gordon Nelson), and S.D. Jones (who were often billed as the Jones Boys).

In the latter part of his career, he wrestled under a mask as Mr. Ebony, part of Devastation Incorporated, managed by Skandor Akbar, often wrestling against the Von Erich brothers.

He trained a number of wrestlers in Texas and Oklahoma.

A prominent Russian activist and critic of Vladimir Putin who was flown to Germany for emergency medical treatment appears to have been poisoned, doctors said on Tuesday. 

The findings will add to concerns that Mr Putin’s regime is poisoning its opponents following the Novichok attack in Salisbury. 

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Pyotr Verzilov, a member of the activist band Pussy Riot and publisher of a news website that is highly critical of the Russian justice system, was flown to Berlin at the weekend after falling mysteriously ill.

The 30-year-old suddenly became unwell after attending a court hearing in Moscow last week. He suffered a series of seizures on the way to hospital and temporarily lost his sight and hearing, along with the ability to speak and walk.

Mr Verzilov is now in intensive care at Berlin’s renowned Charite hospital, where doctors told a press conference on Tuesday he is out of danger.

“The impression and the findings that we now have, as well as those provided by colleagues from Moscow, suggest that it was highly plausible that it was a case of poisoning,” Prof Kai-Uwe Eckardt, the head of internal medicine at the hospital, said.

Mr Verzilov was suffering from anti-cholinergic syndrome, a condition in which certain neurotransmitters get blocked, Prof Eckhardt said. The rapid onset of his symptoms was highly indicative of poisoning.

It is unlikely doctors will be able to identify the poison at this stage, six days after it was ingested, he said.

There is no other plausible explanation for Mr Verzilov’s condition, Prof Karl Max Einhäupl, the director of the hospital and a leading neurologist, said.

Mr Verzilov was jailed for 15 days after he ran onto the pitch during last year’s World Cup final in Moscow along with other Pussy Riot activists.

He is co-founder of Mediazona, a news wesbite that focuses on human rights abuses in Russia’s judicial and penal systems. 

“I assume that he was deliberately poisoned and that it was either intimidation or even an assassination attempt,” Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Mr Verzilov’s former wife and fellow Pussy Riot member told Bild newspaper.