TNA Knockout Velvet Sky missed last night’s non-televised event in Poughkeepsie, New York, after she was involved in a car accident due to the blizzard.
The former Knockout champion wrote on her Twitter that her truck spun out of control due to the weather conditions and she ended up in a ditch. She was not injured but was shaken from what happened.
“Sorry to the fans that were wanting to see me tonight, but I won’t be at the Impact show,” she wrote. “I’m sitting in wait for a tow truck to rescue me.”
Monday Night RAW tomorrow will take place from the nation’s capital with another three hour show.
Taped for the New Year’s eve broadcast are John Cena and The Miz vs Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow; Antonio Cesaro vs Sgt. Slaughter; Heath Slater and Drew McIntyre vs Kane and Daniel Bryan; Dolph Ziggler vs Sheamus; Big Show vs Ricardo Rodriguez; Wade Barrett vs Kofi Kingston for the Intercontinental title. Plus a bunch of other vignettes and other in-ring segments with The Shield, Ryback, CM Punk, AJ, etc.
Hulk Hogan’s new bar and restaurant in Tampa, titled Hogan’s Beach, will officially open tomorrow with a New Year’s Eve Masquerade event.
The restaurant – located at the Best Western Bay Harbor hotel – is offering a 4 course dinner and a bottle of champagne for $125 per couple or else just $10 if you want to be at the bar for the big event.
On his Twitter, Hogan announced that Jimmy Hart will be the host of the evening while Ric Flair, Matt Morgan, Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart, Al Perez, and one of the Bushwhackers will be in attendance. He also added that he hoped Brutus Beefcake and the Nasty Boys will be joining the party.
Last night, Ric Flair and his daughter Ashley dropped by at the restaurant and Hogan posted the photos on his Twitter and referred to Flair in the photo as “The MASTER.”
At UFC 155 Cain Velasquez made sure that everyone knew Junior Dos Santos beating him was because he wasn’t at 100%. A lot of fighters attribute a loss to injuries and not being able to come into a fight at full strength. Give Dos Santos his credit though because he has been able to stop most men with his striking but that was not the case tonight. Tonight was all Cain and he was ready for the boxing skills with suburb movement to stay clear of the strikes.
Velasquez came out as his usual self tonight; highly aggressive and looking to implement his will. Much like he did against Brock Lesnar to capture the title and in his most recent fight with Antonio “Big Foot” Silva. Velasquez was firing off punches and looking to take the fight to the ground. Velasquez shot for numerous singles that the then champ was able to pull his leg out of the way of. Velasquez finally got JDS down midway through the first round after he dropped him with a right hand. From there on Velasquez showed the wrestling skills that made him a two time All-American and two time Pac-10 champion at Arizona State University.
Cain smothered JDS with ground and pound and wrestling never giving him any space for pretty much the rest of the 25 minutes that these two men fought. Velasquez fought of a knee bar early and even tried for an arm-bar late in the second round against the black belt BJJ artist. The rest of the fight was more of the same as Velasquez would get the take down beat on dos Santos for a little bit; dos Santos would get up to his feet and Cain would be all over him against the fence working another take down. When they would look to stand and strike it was Velasquez who would be getting the advantage and dos Santos would back up as Cain came forward until he was pinned against the cage again. Dos Santos was able to land some punches but he didn’t look like he had much on them as he was clearly in trouble in the first. For the next four rounds dos Santos looked extremely exhausted as he was spending most of the time supporting not only his 239 pounds but also the 240 of Velasquez who was all over him.
Velasquez connected with a high kick to the throat of JDS in the last round and another big take down to put a stamp on the evening and take the unanimous decision with scores of 50-45, 50-43, and 50-44 from the judges. With the win the now two-time heavyweight champion moves his record to 11-1 and revenges the 64 second loss of his belt. While Junior dos Santos record now stands at 15-2 and ends a ten fight win streak in his first defeat in the UFC.
“I knew that Junior was a tough striker and he was able to end our last fight that way, so I was prepared for him this time,” said Cain. “I was able to use my striking and my grappling to control him and get the title back.”
“Velasquez is a tough opponent,” said the always-gracious dos Santos. “His grappling is great and tonight his striking was great as well. Congratulations to him on his victory.” Before leaving the Octagon, dos Santos vowed to rematch Velasquez again and do as the new champion did and recapture the belt.
On the final UFC event of 2012 Jon Anik and Joe Rogan took to doing the commentary on a card of 12 fights from MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Of the twelve fights eight went the judges for a decision, one ended by a submission and three by way of TKO.
Co-Main Event Jim Miller vs Joe Lauzon
In a fight between two men known for their similarities in intensity and top-notch submission skills they put on a fight for the ages that had a ruckus crowd on their feet showing approval. The two men met in the middle and traded punches and kicks for most of the fifteen minutes. It was hard to predict that fight would make it that far after Jim Miller created a nasty gash above the right eye of Lauzon early in the first round. Miller got a hold of a single collar clinch and unloaded a barage of nasty elbows. Lauzon did fairly well at deflecting the ones coming from the side then Miller hit him in the forehead with an upward arching one that caused the gash and Miller would go for a standing arm triangle that turned the cut into a geyser and before long had the doctor in the cage evaluating Lauzon. The cage side doctor deemed him fit to continue and that is precisely what they did as they traded inside leg kicks that knocked the legs from under both men at different points.
In the second round Miller got the take down but Lauzon was able to get the sweep after trying to work for a submission on the arm of Miller. The ref had to pause the action again as Lauzon’s tape around his hand was becoming undone due to the fact that both men were now covered in Lauzon’s blood. Once the action resumed Miller was able to utilize a rubber guard until the Boston, MA native picked up Miller and slammed him back down to the canvas which caused the crowd to erupt again and everyone in aw of the kid who was bleeding all over but seemed to have more heart to continue. Lauzon would threaten a knee bar but once again due to the blood Miller was able to slide his leg out of danger.
The third round saw Lauzon once again as the aggressor and pressing the action. Lauzon was getting better of the striking as Miller was clearly tiring. Lauzon tried to lure Miller in after he slipped and went down to the mat. Miler wanted him back up so the ref abliged. Miller managed to also bust open Lauzon under the eye. Lauzon got the better of the striking and with a about a minute left Lauzon attempted a flying leg lock. Miller held on to one of the wrist of Lauzon to keep him from being able to finish the submission and Lauzon would switch to a guillotine but didn’t have enough time in the fight and as the horn sounds and they break Miller drops the back of his head onto the chest of Lauzon and lets out a huge “Holy… Shit” as the crowd, whom all of look to be on their feet, erupt in approval once again these two men put on.
The judges gave Jim Miller the unanimous decision victory by scores of 29-28×3.
Miller now moves into sole first place on the all time UFC lightweight wins list.
Lauzon after the fight would tweet that he needed 40 stitches and lost a lot of blood but that he was all good and props to Miller on a great fight.
Tim Boetsch vs Costa Philippou
Both men came into the fight on a four fight win streak but that would come to an end in round 3 for Tim Boetsh. Boetsch looked sharp in the first round working his striking while mixing in front kicks and take downs. During the break between rounds 1 and 2 Boetsch seems to be telling his corner that he was injured. Not wanting to quit though he went back out and Philippou would take over the striking after Boetsch connected with a punch that knocked his mouth piece out at the same time Philippou inadvertently pokes him in the eye. After the action resumed Boetsch clearly looked to be having trouble seeing and closing the distance. Philippou took advantage on the feet and as Boetsch couldn’t finish the take downs Philippou would end up in half guard on the top and drop punches and elbows until nearly half way through the final round when the ref had seen enough and stopped the fight.
Winner by TKO at 2:11 of round 3 Costa Philippou.
Yushin Okami vs Alan Belcher
Okami came out and did what Okami does; he gets his opponent to the canvas and grinds out a victory. Okami got Belcher to the canvas over and over and controlled him from the top even though the ref had to stand them up a couple times. Belcher had his best moment in the second as he was able to wobble Okami with a punch but Okami would get him against the cage and drag the fight back down.
Winner by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) Yushin Okami
Chris Leben vs Derek Brunson
Chris Leben in his return from a year long suspension suffered the same defeated fate that Garcia suffered against his short notice opponent. Brunson took the fight on ten days notice after Leben’s original opponent Karlos Vemola had to withdraw after suffering a fractured cheekbone. Brunson the former Strikeforce prospect put his collegiate wrestling skills to work early as he got the Crippler down and controlled him for most of the first round. In round 2 both men began their down hill slide as fatigue set it. Leben never really got off more than one shot at a time as Brunson was retreating and Brunson was able to get enough key take downs at the right time to secure the victory.
Winner by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) Derek Brunson
WWE will be taping their television shows for this coming week today and tomorrow due to the New Year holidays.
RAW is being taped tonight at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., starting at 7PM. USA Network will air this show on New Year’s Eve this coming Monday in RAW’s usual time slot.
Tomorrow, Smackdown will be taped at the Richmond Coliseum in Richmond, Virginia, for the show that will air on SyFy on Friday, January 4.
RAW returns live on Monday, January 7, from Tampa, Florida, with the return of The Rock and the Ryback vs CM Punk WWE title TLC match.
Live tonight from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, the UFC will present its last pay-per-view of the year, UFC 155: Dos Santos vs Velasquez 2. The last time these two met, Dos Santos gave Velasquez his first MMA defeat and also took away the UFC Heavyweight title on the first UFC on FOX show.
Weigh-ins were held yesterday afternoon at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, hosted as always by Joe Rogan with Dana White present. All fighters on the card made weight with Melvin Guillard having to cut weight twice in two weeks after he was supposed to fight in the TUF Finale but his opponent was sick.
You can watch the weigh-ins video in full below. Please note that the video will not play on BlackBerry and Android devices and is only available on the website, iPad, and iPhone apps.
Main card (airing on pay-per-view)
Chris Leben (185) vs Derek Brunson (185)
Yushin Okami (184) vs Alan Belcher (186)
Tim Boetsch (186) vs Costa Philippou (186)
Jim Miller (156) vs Joe Lauzon (156)
Junior dos Santos (239) vs Cain Velasquez (240)
Preliminary card (airing on FX)
Brad Pickett (136) vs Eddie Wineland (135)
Erik Perez (136) vs Byron Bloodworth (136)
Melvin Guillard (155) vs Jamie Varner (155)
Michael Johnson (154) vs Myles Jury (155)
Preliminary card (airing on Facebook)
Chris Cariaso (125) vs John Moraga (126)
Leonard Garcia (146) vs Max Holloway (145)
Phil DeFries (245) vs Todd Duffee (249)
TNA is selling a VIP ticket for their Genesis weekend for a cost of $99.99 which will get you access to four shows in total.
The VIP ticket will consist of early admission to the live IMPACT show on Thursday, January 10. VIP reception at the IMPACT Zone on Friday, January 11. Early admission to two 3-hour specials that TNA will tape for International partners on Saturday, January 12, along with a photo in the ring with Jeff Hardy after the tapings. And then early admission to the Genesis pay-per-view on Sunday, January 13.
TNA is selling this VIP ticket at ShopTNA.COM. No tickets will be mailed and fans in the area who wish to go will be able to pick up their credentials from the Blue Man Group area at Universal Studios on January 10.
Monday Night RAW did a 2.2 rating for the Christmas Eve show, the lowest rating since 1997 with an average of 3,143,000 viewers. The number was expected to be down due to the circumstances and next week it won’t be pretty either since it will be new year’s eve.
Hour one did 2,940,000 viewers, hour two did 3,271,000 viewers, while hour three did 3,219,000 viewers. In total, the show lost just over a million set of eyeballs compared to last week’s show. (Ratings compiled by Nielsen Media Research and put online by PWInsider.com)
Feed. Him. More. Fans inside Madison Square Garden jumped on the Ryback bandwagon yesterday as the former Nexus member wrestled Paul Heyman in a street fight.
The two didn’t really wrestle but Heyman ended up taking two bumps that at least made the very vocal fans inside MSG happy when the show was over.
After cutting a typical Paul Heyman promo on the NY crowd, Ryback came out and was attacked by The Shield. The Miz, Kane, and Daniel Bryan made the save and Heyman and Ryback ended up in the ring alone.
Ryback delivered his Shellshock finishing move on Heyman but after several chants from fans, he picked up Heyman and drove him through a table which was standing in the corner much to the appreciation of the fans.
You can see a video of the ending courtesy of YouTube user anajjar456 below.
Paul Heyman has been involved in the wrestling business sine he was very young and by the time he was a teenager, he managed to be a photographer for the then WWWF at a show in Madison Square Garden.
In his 30+ years in wrestling, there’s one thing that Heyman never managed to accomplish – wrestle in the world’s most famous arena, Madison Square Garden.
That will change tonight as the man formerly known as Paul E. Dangerously will be stepping inside the squared circle for his first ever wrestling match in The Garden against none other than Ryback!
Heyman doesn’t usually appear during non-televised shows but he does pop up every now and then when WWE hits New York or his beloved Philadelphia. With CM Punk still not fully cleared to wrestle tonight, the ECW mastermind will be stepping up to replace him, certainly chalking one off his bucket list.
When The Rock appeared on WWE television over the past year it has always been on Monday Night RAW. That will change however come January 2013 as the former WWE champion will also be coming to Smackdown.
On January 8, The Rock will be making his in person Smackdown television appearance for the first time in over eight years in his home town of Miami.
A new date has been added to The Rock’s WWE schedule as he will also be appearing on the January 22 tapings of Smackdown in Sacramento, California, which will be the last show before the Royal Rumble.
So far he is scheduled to appear in person on three RAW shows and two Smackdown shows in January plus the Royal Rumble pay-per-view itself.
The Internet pre-sale for the 2013 WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony will kick off tonight at 10:30PM EST and will run till January 11 at Midnight.
Next year’s Hall of Fame will take place at Madison Square Garden in New York, the only WrestleMania-related WWE event so far happening in New York City despite the whole WrestleMania week being marketed as happening in NJ and NY.
Prices will range from $55 to $155 plus additional taxes and fees. A $55 ticket will have $15 extra in fees plus the $155 will have an additional $25 in fees.
The pre-sale code you can use to purchase tickets is FAMOUS and you can get them at Ticketmaster.com.
The panelists for the Royal Rumble Fan Fest that will happen during the weekend of the Rumble in Phoenix at the U.S. Airways Center have been announced.
The first panel will take place on Saturday, January 26, from 3PM to 6PM and will tackle the much talked about Montreal screwjob. Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, and Jerry “The King” Lawler will be discussing the story and answer questions.
The second panel will be held on the same day from 6:30PM to 9:30PM and the topic will be Degeneration X. DX members Triple H, X-Pac, Road Dogg Jesse James, and Bad Ass Billy Gunn will be the panelists.
The third panel will be held on Sunday, January 27, from 9AM to Noon discussing WCW Nitro and the Monday Night wars. On hand to discuss the topics and answer questions will be Kevin Nash, the Big Show, and Booker T.
The teaser trailer for The Marine 3: Homefront, has been released featuring former WWE champion The Miz in the leading role.
The story about this third installment in The Marine WWE Studios’ franchise is about The Miz’s character trying to save a kidnapped family member and stop a terrorist attack masterminded by a militia group.
Randy Orton was supposed to play the lead role however he was replaced by The Miz after the U.S. Marine Corps unit that Orton served with when he was in the military complained about the poor choice since Orton went AWOL and arrested back then.
The Miz is the third guy to play the lead role in The Marine following John Cena and Ted DiBiase.
On December 29, the UFC will present UFC 155: Dos Santos vs Velasquez 2 live on pay-per-view from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The five-round fight for the UFC Heavyweight title will be the second between the two after Dos Santos defeated the then champion Cain Velasquez on the first ever UFC on FOX broadcast to give Velasquez his first MMA defeat as well as getting his hands on the UFC gold.
You can watch the full Countdown show to UFC 155 below.
Christmas holidays for the WWE Superstars and Divas are over and it’s back to non-televised live events starting today.
Between now and December 30 there will be 9 events, eight non-televised shows and one TV tapings with two shows each on the 26th, 27th, and 28th of December, RAW and Smackdown tapings on the 29th and then another two shows on the 30th.
The next show after the 30th will be on January 4.
The 20th anniversary of WWE’s Monday Night RAW will take place on January 14, 2013, at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.
Just six months after the 1,000th episode of the WWE flagship show, the company will once again present a special broadcast to commemorate the milestone.
The last time WWE celebrated such milestone apart from the 1,000th episode was in December 2007 when they did the 15th anniversary show. During that show, several former WWE Divas and Superstars appeared including Sunny, Mae Young, Bastian Booger, Godfather, Pat Patterson, Gerald Brisco, Rob Van Dam, Hulk Hogan, Lita, Trish Stratus and a bunch of others who participated in a battle royal.
Oh you didn’t know? The Road Dogg and Bad Ass Billy Gunn will be reuniting for some action this week as the duo are booked to appear at three RAW non-televised events.
The former five time WWE tag team champions will be at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan, on December 26, at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York, on December 27, and then at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York, on December 28.
Both Road Dogg and Billy Gunn work for WWE now with Road Dogg as a road agent and Gunn as a trainer down in Florida at NXT.
USA Network will air a new episode of Monday Night RAW tonight that is expected to have not so good viewership considering it is Christmas Eve.
The show will not be live and was taped this past Tuesday right after the live commercial-free Smackdown wrapped up.
Taped for tonight’s three hour show are Kane vs Cody Rhodes; Eve, Tamina, Aksana, and Rosa Mendes vs Layla, Kaitlyn, Natalya, and Alicia Fox; Sheamus vs Big Show in a lumberjack match; Zack Ryder vs David Otunga; The Miz and Kofi Kingston vs Antonio Cesaro and Wade Barrett; Brad Maddox vs Great Khali; Daniel Bryan vs Damien Sandow; The Usos, Justin Gabriel, Tyson Kidd, Santino, and Brodus Clay vs Tensai, 3MB, and Prime Time Players; John Cena vs Alberto Del Rio in a street fight.
