The trailer for the upcoming Darren Aronofsky directed moving starring Mickey Rourke is out and wrestling fans should definitely check it out.

In the fight before the main event, James Kirkland beat up Brian Vera for 8 rounds before the referee stopped the fight. Vera looked terrible except he could take everything Kirkland was giving him. Vera threw one punch, a lead right, and didn’t even really throw anything else. He would even drop his left hand every time he was going to throw a right. It was just an awkward fight. He had zero balance. Kirkland looked good, but he let Vera hit him enough to puff up his right eye.

Hatton is coming out in a fat suit and to his own theme song.

Ricky Hatton vs. Paulie Malignaggi

Round 1
Malignaggi looks a bit like Macho Camacho in his trunks. Malignaggi stays low and continues to get caught underneath Hatton’s arm, which is causing breaks. Hatton’s trunks are so long that they’re nearly capris. Malignaggi was quick and in and out, and probably eked out the round, but not much happened.

Round 2
Hatton’s chasing him and getting caught throwing a lunging right. Malignaggi is moving to his left and following it up with a left hook. Hatton stung him with a right hand and the only thing that held him up was Hatton. Malignaggi got in a shot of his own, but Hatton got the better of the exchange. Hatton stole that round at the end.

Round 3
Malignaggi is still elusive, but Hatton’s head movement is much better this round. Hatton is doing a lot of damage to the body in the clinch. He threw a left hook that landed as well.

Round 4
Malignaggi is really eating the right hand. He’s not really getting off before Hatton gets inside and then Malignaggi just has to hold on until the break.

Continue Reading »

Cactus Jim and I are going to the HP Pavilion tonight to watch Strikeforce: Destruction. The goal is to try and blog the phone from my mobile phone while watching the show.

Here’s a link to photos taken at the show.

1. Zakary Bucia vs. Adam Steele

Bucia got on top and locked in a guillotine for the tap very quickly.

Winner: Zakary Bucia

2. Alvin Cacdac vs. Jose Palacios

They had some good exchanges with both guys scoring. Cacdac went for the takedown but Palacio ended up on top, but Cacdac reversed position and ended up on top when the round ended.

Palacios had a triangle but Cacdac got out of it and tapped him out to a rear naked choke.

Winner: Alvin Cacdac

3. Brad Royster vs. Darren Uyenoyama

Royster had a guillotine early on but Uyenoyama worked for a rear naked for a lot of the round.

Uyenoyama spent the entire round working for submissions nearly getting an armbar.

It was on the feet for most of the third. Uyenoyama was back on top of him working for the submission as the round ended.

Winner: Darren Uyenoyama

Dave Meltzer says Uyenoyama is heading to Japan next year for Dream’s featherweight tourney.

Continue Reading »

Well haven’t done one of these in a while so I figured I should step up. Some random thoughts on old stuff I’ve watched recently.

ALL JAPAN 1993

Kobashi & Misawa vs. Hansen & BIG BOSS MAN (?)

Boss Man in All Japan!!! Weirdness, but greatness. He immediately gets the crowd into him by busting out a bunch of crazy athletic stuff with Kobashi. Yes Big Boss Man doing a bunch of crazy athletic stuff. IT RULED~! Misawa tries his hand with the former Midnight Express bodyguard and gets met with a sweet backbreaker. All his signature stuff like the slide to the outside into the uppercut and the windup punch gets met with a load of OOOH’s and AHHHH’s. Stan Hansen, not to be outdone, goes nuts on Kobashi, DDT’ing him on the floor, throwing a chair at his face and then hitting the sickest kneedrop you’ve ever seen (with knee pad rolled down I might add). Both gaijin then win my heart forever by taking turns droppin’ PHAT ASS ELBOWS. Finish came with Boss Man making the crucial mistake of going for a top rope splash and getting a moonsault from Kobashi and Frog Splash from Misawa for the Uno-Dos-Tres.

IWA Japan 1995 2nd Anniversary

So I haven’t seen much mid 90’s garbage wrestling from Japan in my time, but upon being directed to a bunch of stuff from someone who knows good wrestling, I decided to check it out. What I got was the greasiest, sleaziest, most scummy pro wrestling I’ve ever seen. AND IT WAS AWWWWESOME!

Cactus Jack vs. Tarzan Goto

Cactus was so the fucking man here. He cut a promo at the end, slapping himself and screaming and such and it was gold. So much heinousness in this match – bottle breaking, bottle STABBING, a giant flip bump from the top to the floor, etc. etc. I liked that Tarzan Goto guy too and man was that lad over. I’d only ever heard his name before, but never seen him. They did a bunch of hot nearfalls which I really wasn’t expecting including one from the ugliest/greatest brainbuster I’ve ever laid my eyes on. Goto won with DDP’s old pancake move onto a chair.

(No Rope Barbed Wire, Barbed Wire Boards & Thumbtacks Death Match)
Kenji Takano vs. Shoji Nakamaki

I don’t know which guy is which so I’ll just go with “little guy” and “big guy”. The little guy was insane and WILLING to die for his cause. The big guy was more than happy to help him out by killing the hell out of him. There’s a fine line for me between cool deathmatch stuff and grotesque, “I don’t wanna watch that” deathmatch stuff. These guys went right up to said line but never crossed it which made it very enjoyable. Everything meant something within the context of the match (even the face first thumbtack bump). Big guy won with a big guy knee drop.

I called into the Angrymarks.com Thursday Night Podcast, hosted by friend of the site Stevie J, our own Big D, and Killa Kev. I joined about 30 minutes in and spent most of the rest of the show discussing UFC 91, my relationship with pro wrestling and how it helped me become an MMA fan, as well as how Stevie J and Big became fans of MMA as well. We even talked boxing late in the show. It was a really fun show and I want to thank Stevie J for having me.

If you want to check out the show, go to Angrymarks.com. You can listen on that page. If you want to listen for me, fast forward to near the 30 minute mark. Big D goes on an angry rant about 5 minutes before I come on.

On F4WOnline/Wrestling Observer today, it was posted that the UFC and Jon Fitch have come to a settlement.

Here is a direct quote from the report.

Jon Fitch spoke with Lorenzo Fertitta today and agreed to sign the merchandising contract. He is back in UFC and will fight Jan. 31 against Akihiro Gono as scheduled.

Christian Wellisch has also been reinstated. He had agreed to sign the merchandising contract but was fired as part of the blow-up between Dana White and Zinkin Entertainment, his management company. Right now things are being negotiated regarding the other fighters affected but those aren’t settled yet.

Also on the site, Dave Meltzer said that it wasn’t only the video game issue, but more so an issue between DeWayne Zinkin and Dana White.

The videogame issue was part of it, but these have been problems simmering for many years, long before most of the fighters in question were even in the UFC.