SAT UPDATE: Hulk Hogan gets a win in court, WWE 2K16 career mode, and more

Show notes for tonight:

UFC Fight Night: Barnett vs. Nelson airs live from Saitama Japan:

Main Card on Fox Sports 1 at 10:00 p.m. ET
Josh Barnett (239) vs. Roy Nelson (261) in the five round main event
Gegard Mousasi (186) vs. Uriah Hall (186)
Kyoji Horiguchi (126) vs. Chico Camus (126)
Takeya Mizugaki (136) vs. George Roop (135)
Katsunori Kikuno (145) vs. Diego Brandao (146)
Mizuto Hirota (146) vs. Teruto Ishihara (146)
 
Prelims on Fox Sports 2 at 8:00 p.m. ET:
Keita Nakamura (170) vs. Li Jingliang (171)
Nick Hein (155) vs. Yusuke Kasuya (156)
Naoyuki Kotani (156) vs. Kajan Johnson (156)
Shinsho Anzai (170) vs. Roger Zapata (171)
 
No Fight Pass Prelim due to the cancellation of Kid Yamamoto vs. Matt Hobar bumping up Kikuno vs. Brandao to the main card and Anzai vs. Zapata to Fox Sports 2.
 
While the main card is fun on paper, this feels like a noticeable step from the other recent Japan cards, even last year’s “Fight Pass Mania.” The lack of fighters like Mark Hunt, Takanori Gomi, Yoshihiro Akiyama, and now Kid Yamamoto make it feel like less of a special event.
 

New Japan Destruction in Kobe airs live tonight at 3:00 a.m. ET on New Japan World
Sho Tanaka & Yohei Komatsu vs. Jay White & David Finlay
Yuji Nagata & Jushin Liger & Tiger Mask vs. Manabu Nakanishi & Captain New Japan & Juice Robinson
Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma & Ryusuke Taguchi & Mascara Dorada vs. Tomohiro Ishii & Yoshi-Hashi & Rocky Romero & Baretta
Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima & Matt Sydal vs. Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows & Kenny Omega
Katsuyori Shibata vs. Tetsuya Naito
Kazuchika Okada & Toru Yano & Kazushi Sakuraba vs. A.J. Styles & Tama Tonga & Cody Hall
Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish vs. Alex Shelley & Kushida for IWGP jr. tag titles
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Bad Luck Fale for the Tokyo Dome title sho
Hirooki Goto vs. Shinsuke Nakamura for the IC title
 
Sunday has WWE in Syracuse, NY (John Cena vs. Seth Rollins; Chris Jericho vs. Kevin Owens) and Erie PA (Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt; Randy Orton vs. Sheamus).
 
Shooto Brazil airs live on UFC Fight Pass Sunday night at 6 p.m. Eastern time
 
Raw will be live from Buffalo on Monday night.  Brock Lesnar has not been advertised for the show even with th MSG special being next week.
 
SmackDown will be taped Tuesday in Albany, NY.

Please send reports from major shows, recommended links, etc. to [email protected]:

Wrestling Observer Newsletter:

We’ve got a double issue of the Observer this week because of coverage of so many big shows and all the stuff that has come out of the past week with WWE. Sept. 28, 2015 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Sting, Night of Champions, Bellator Dynamite, more

Our lead story covers the Sting injury, the Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar Hell in a Cell match and the interesting back story and questions it brings up, lots of long-term looking at where WWE is headed as well as full coverage of the Night of Champions show.  We also cover the second season news for Lucha Underground, the Atlantis vs. La Sombra mask vs. mask match, Akira Hokuto’s announcement about her breast cancer, Bellator’s Dynamite show and what went right and wrong, New Japan’s Destruction in Okayama, ROH’s All-Star Extravaganza, the Pro Wrestling NOAH angle where they tease the end of the company, USADA responds to Thomas Hauser, Josh Gross’ story on the Vitor Belfort drug test and why it’s not nearly as simple as people are making it out to be, AAA’s next major show and record low ratings.

 
Rates are:
 
For the United States, it is $13 for 4 issues, $32 for 12, $61 for 24, $101 for 40 and $131 for 52. In Canada and Mexico, rates are $14.50 for 4, $35 for 12, $67 for 24, $111 for 40 and $144 or 52.  In Europe, you can get the fastest delivery and best rates by sending to [email protected]  For the rest of the world, rates are $16.50 for 4, $44 for 12, $85 for 24, $141 for 40 issues and $183 for 52.
 
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order (P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228), you can get $1 off in every price range.
 
The Wrestling Observer ranges weekly from 35,000 to 50,000 words covering pro wrestling and MMA internationally. Each issue has coverage and analysis of all the major news, plus every issue breaks major news stories before the Internet sties and has the most complete look at the pro wrestling and MMA business anywhere, plus history pieces available nowhere else

Our lead story covers the WWE weekend, notably the Sting injury and Undertaker-Lesnar announcement.

We go through the injury, including Sting’s interview comments after the fact and his description of Seth Rollins and the injury, as well as his current thoughts on if he will wrestle again.  We also talk about what he does and doesn’t know, what he’s said publicly about the injury, why the match wasn’t stopped, and what we can learn from it.

We also look at how the Lesnar vs. Undertaker Hell in a Cell match changes WrestleMania, and look at those potential changes.  We look at the different directions they can go with the key talent for next year’s show.  We also look at the rest of Hell in a Cell as far as what is on the books and what name isn’t listed yet in the top matches.  We look at the problem in the arena at the end of Night of Champions.

We’ve got complete Night of Champions coverage, with records, business, poll results, match-by-match coverage and star ratings.

FOR A FULL OBSERVER PREVIEW CLICK HERE

If you are a new subscriber ordering 24 or more issues, you can get one free classic issue of your choice sent to you today.  With a 40 issue subscription, you can get two free classic issues sent to you today.

New subscribers ordering 24 or 40 issues have to let us know what major stories of the past 11 years you are most interested in and we’ll send the issue with the best coverage of that story. We’ve got coverage of every major PPV event and world wide spectacular, every major star switching promotions, histories of companies like FMW, Rings and New Japan, retirement and obit issues of every major star who fits into those descriptions over the past 11 years, as well as our biggest issue every year, the annual awards issue, and our most controversial issue of every year, the Hall of Fame issue.
 
Click here for the most requested Wrestling Observer back issues.

Saturday Daily Update

— Hulk Hogan dodged a bullet yesterday as Judge Pamela Campbell, who’s presiding over his lawsuit against Gawker, denied a third party motion from the Associated Press and other news organizations to unseal the contents of his FBI case file. Gawker had successfully sued the FBI for the release of the case file, but Judge Campbell immediately sealed it all when they filed everything in the Hogan case. The motion had been filed just a day earlier and the ruling wasn’t a surprise given Cambell’s history in the case.

— On that note, Bubba th Love Sponge Clem has been accused of ratings tampering. 

— WWE and 2K Sports have released a trailer for the overhauled My Career mode in WWE 2K16. My Career will only be available in the Playstation 4 and Xbox One versions of the game, which coms out on October 27th and available for pre-order now.

— Kemonito got a puppy last night at Arena Mexico. Must-watch.

— Paragon Pro Wrestling sent out a press release because their TV show is moving from 6:00 a.m. ET to 8:00 a.m. ET every Saturday morning on Pop.

— AL.com has a nice article about Ray “Glacier” Lloyd. He talks about being a high school gym teacher before and after his WCW tenure but doesn’t mention his post-Glacier WCW gimmick of Coach Buzz Stern.

— Tom Prichard talks to Devon Nicholson about the murder of Bruiser Brody.

— WWE is working with the Florida Gators on their new charitable endeavor.

— Brian Fritz als talked to Titus O’Neill about the “Gator Good” campaign.

— Two Cold Scorpio has been added to tomorrow LuchaTo card in Whitby, Ontario.

— Preston City Wrestling results for last night from Keith Harris: Bubblegum retained the PCW Cruiserweight title over Xander Cooper, Dean Allmark & Ashton Smith. Ashton growing in confidence. Dean and Bubblegum great as usual. Iestyn Rees pinned Charlie “Good News” Garrett with a powerbomb. T-Bone pinned Dave Rayne with a suplex dropped into a Tombstone piledriver. Quick squash. El Ligero pinned Tomasso Ciampa with a tornado DDT. Sha Samuels choked out Lionheart with a scarf in a no-DQ match. Joey Hayes & Martin Kirby beat The Wards. Joey stole the pin. Drew Galloway pinned Noam Dar after an eye poke and two Tornado DDTs. Wild brawl all over the club before the bell rung. Pull apart brawl after the match. PCW Heavyweight Champion Dave Mastiff pinned Bobby Lashley clean with a cannonball in the corner. After the match, Team Single and Lashley beat down Mastiff. Martin Kirby attempted to cash in his Money In The Bank briefcase, but was stopped by Joey Hayes. In the end, Kirby, Hayes & Mastiff ran off the heels. Show wasn’t sold out, unlike many PCW events. Crowd laughed when Joanna Rose called Lashly a former TNA champio

— The Blu-Ray version of WWE’s “Owen: Hart of Gold” Owen Hart DVD set is now available for pre-order, joining the DVD aftr it had been listed on its own for a week or so.  The most recent release is SummerSlam 2015, which came out on Tuesday on DVD and Blu-Ray. The next archival/specialized release is Sting: Into the Light, which comes out on DVD and Blu-Ray on October 13th. They also have a special collectible “coffin edition” of “Undertaker: The Streak” coming out on November 17th.