Wrestling

Ring of Honor has announced in its newest newswire that Anarchy Championship Wrestling staple and former ACW American Joshi Champion Barbi Hayden will be making her ROH debut in a Women of Honor singles match against “The Wrestling Goddess” Athena on June 1st in San Antonio, TX. Athena is coming into this match with a big win in a recent Four Corners Survival bout against the likes of MsChif, Cherry Bomb and Scarlett Bordeaux. To attend this show, you can purchase tickets here. Who do you think will come out on top?

Earlier today Pro Wrestling:EVE was at the Rushcliffe Arena in Nottingham, England for the 2013 “Queen of the Ring” tournament, with eight stars vying for the chance to be crowned “Queen of the Ring” and earn a future shot at the EVE Championship. In addition, the championship itself was also defended, as Nikki Storm retained her title in controversial fashion, lamping her opponent Rhia O’Reilly with the title belt directly in view of the referee and getting herself disqualified. The pair had pulled out all the stops, in a tense and aggressive match abundant with conflict, both verbal and physical. The finish occurred when the referee was inadvertently knocked out by O’Reilly, who brought the belt into the ring, sensing an opportunity to capitalise on the situation. However, despite her having Storm down for the three count, the ailing referee had failed to see the pin, and Storm then took  it upon herself to end the match early and on her terms, meaning the championship remains firmly around her waist. The tournament, which was unique in not featuring a single English wrestler, was won by “Portugal’s Perfect Athlete” Shanna, who saw her way through three great matches to earn her crown. Her first round match was against rising Canadian star Leah Von Dutch, pinning her with a sit-out implant buster. The  first round was also notable  in featuring the Owens twins, Kasey and Leah, going one-on-one against each other for the first time in EVE. In a close-fought match, Kasey eventually got the better of her sister, rolling her up with an inside cradle to advance to the next round. Meanwhile, veteran Joshi wrestler Emi Sakura sealed her spot in the semi-final, defeating The Glamour Gym’s Carmel Jacob in a fine match, and Kay Lee Ray pulled off a huge victory against Alpha Female, rolling into the ring before the ten-count following a hard tumble to the outside and counting Alpha out. However, after the match a bitter and jealous Carmel Jacob ran to the ring and beat Ray down, leaving her status in the tournament up in the air. The first semi-final was a somewhat one-sided affair, as Emi Sakura made relatively quick work of a valiant Kasey Owens, who took flurry after flurry of stiff strikes and stinging chops, and although she was more than able to dish a beating out herself when the rare chance arose, Sakura’s experience paid off in the end, landing a beautiful corkscrew moonsault for the three-count. Her opponent in the final was arguably decided before the second semi-final had even begun, as although Kay Lee Ray showed a remarkable display of guts, refusing to back down and holding her own against Shanna despite her previous assault at the hands of Jacob, the on-form Shanna was relentless, picking up the win once again with her sit-out implant buster. The final was a plum tie in every sense, with both wrestlers putting on a clinic of athleticism, technique and grace in the ring, matching each other move-for-move. In the end, a brutal doublestomp from Shanna while Sakura was in the tree of woe was all that separated the two, and Shanna was proudly crowned EVE’s 2013 Queen of the Ring. Following the match, Nikki Storm came out to address the new number one contender to her title, before making a hasty exit, whetting our appetites for what might happen next. See below for the full results: “Queen of the Ring” Tournament – First Round Matches: * Emi Sakura def. Carmel Jacob. * Kasey Owens def. Leah Owens. * Shanna def. Leah Von Dutch. * Kay Lee Ray defeated Alpha Female by countout. “Queen of the Ring” Tournament – Semi-Finals: * Emi Sakura defeated Kasey Owens. * Shanna defeated Kay Lee Ray. Pro Wrestling: EVE Championship: Rhia O’Reilly defeated Nikki Storm by disqualification – Nikki Storm retains the championship. “Queen of the Ring” Tournament – Final: Shanna defeated Emi Sakura.

Fans have an opportunity to see their favorite TNA stars up close and personal at "TNA Slammiversary Fan InterAction” Saturday, June 1. Here is the complete lineup of superstars attending and autograph sessions. TNA Wrestling Slammiversary Fan InterActionDoors Open 8:00AMMiddlesex Ballroom & Grand Ballroom (Salon A)Crowne Plaza Boston- Woburn15 Middlesex Canal Park DriveWoburn, MA 01801 CLICK HERE TO ORDER FAN INTERACTION AT SHOPTNA.COM For autograph sessions 1 and 2, fans are permitted any two (2) items to have autographed per wrestler plus one (1) photograph taken w/ your camera. There will be staff present to take your photograph.  Wrestler 8x10 photographs are included in your Fan InterAction ticket purchase and will be at each autograph table. The ShopTNA Merchandise stand will open at 8:00AM Fan InterAction Autograph Session 1: 9:00AM-11:30AMMiddlesex Ballroom Austin AriesBobby RoodeChristopher DanielsKazarianJoseph ParkSamoa JoeKenny KingChris Sabin 9:00AM-11:30AMSalon A Christy HemmeSoCal ValTaryn TerrellODBGail KimMike TenayTodd KeneleyHector GuerreroWillie Urbina Fan InterAction Autograph Session 2: 12:00PM-2:30PMMiddlesex Ballroom Bully RayDevonD.O.C.Garett BischoffKnuxMr. AndersonWes BriscoTaz 12:00PM-2:30PMSalon A James StormGunnerJeff HardyKurt AngleSuicideJay BradleyChavo Guerrero, Jr.Hernandez Main Event Session3:00PM-5:30PM Hulk Hogan (1 Item Signed and 1 one professional 4x6 photograph per person)Your photograph will be taken by a TNA representative

By Josh NasonAs we type this, we have double coverage of tonight's UFC 160 event with Dave Meltzer doing his thing from San Jose, while Mike Sawyer is live at cageside in Las Vegas as well. If you like what they're doing, share a link on social media, will ya?Our Panel:- Dave Meltzer (35-19): Wrestling Observer founder & writer- Todd Martin (36-18): Weekly FFD guest | LA Times | Sherdog- Mike Sempervive (30-24): Wrestling Observer Live | Big Audio Nightmare- Mike Sawyer (34-20) of ToughTalkMMA.com- Josh Nason (38-16): Wrestling Observer web editor, social media guy- Oliver Copp (31-23) of combat sports insider fame- Bryan Alvarez (30-11): Figure Four Weekly founder and writerUFC Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez (11-1) vs. Bigfoot Silva IIDespite what Dana White says, this is the rematch no one cares to see. Yes, Silva decimated Alistair Overeem but is there really enough evidence in the last year to believe anything will change from the last time these guys fought? As a reminder, Velasquez bloodied Silva up in 3:36 one year ago tomorrow. Since that annihilation, Silva defeated Travis Brown by 1st round TKO and famously KO'd Overeem. Does he have a chance? Of course. Is it a good change? Based on history, likely not.Velasquez: Meltzer, Alvarez, Copp, Sempervive, Sawyer, Martin, NasonJunior dos Santos (15-2) vs. Mark Hunt (9-7)There's a lot at stake for both men in this co-main event. For dos Santos, he needs to prove he can rebound from the five round ass kicking that Velasquez dealt to him last December. That fight snapped a ten fight win streak that saw him become UFC heavyweight champion and a star in Brazil. But it's easy when you're winning, right? We get to see how JDS rebounds from his UFC loss.To do so, he has to end one of the best MMA stories in years. I won't recount the whole Hunt story (try Google if you have no idea what I'm talking about), but that the 39-year-old is quite possibly one win away from a title shot is incredible. He's won his last four with T/KOs finishes in three. Against Stefan Struve in March, he showed the ability to work on the mat which was astounding. In the end, he broke Struve's jaw in the third round and set himself up for a major step up.JDS has fought tough men before (remember the Roy Nelson fight?) and Hunt will need to have the best performance of his combat sports career to beat him. But maybe, just maybe, he's got one more hands of granite rabbit to pull out of his hat.JDS: Meltzer, Alvarez, Sempervive, Sawyer, Martin, NasonHunt: CoppGlover Teixeira (20-2) vs. James Te Huna (16-5)The further up the card you get, the more hard hitting the fights are. The 33-year-old Teixeira has won 18 straight, but had a seven fight finish streak snapped in a January unanimous decision win over Rampage Jackson. A little bit of the shine disappeared in the Jackson win as many media were hoping for a finish to help propel a new 205-pound contender up the charts. He takes a step down in name value against Te Huna, but there is no easy fight here. The 31-year-old New Zealand native (now fighting out of Australia) has won his last four, last decisioning Ryan Jimmo in February. His only loss in his last 11 was a submission defeat to Alexander Gustafsson over two years ago. With 10 T/KO wins in his last 16, he's got legit power but Teixeira's T/KO loss was in his first fight over 10 years ago. Both men are going to be hurting Sunday.Teixeira: Meltzer, Alvarez, Copp, Sempervive, Sawyer, Martin, NasonGray Maynard (11-1-1-1) vs. TJ Grant (20-5)In a bout for the No. 1 contendership for the lightweight title, Maynard returns to the cage for the first time in nearly a year. Why does that qualify him for a title shot? Good question. His last bout was that bizarre split decision win over Clay Guida in New Jersey, his first non-Frankie Edgar bout since August 2010. The unheralded Grant has been in the UFC since April 2009 where a 3-3 stint at welterweight resulted in a 4-0 run at lightweight. He's dispatc

Early reports suggest that Fast & Furious 6, staring WWE Superstar Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, will bring in more than $120 million this Memorial Day weekend. The film did $38.1 million on opening night, and is on track to lead this big movie weekend against Star Trek: Into Darkness and The Hangover: Part III. Fast & Furious 6 brought in almost $4 million more than its 2011 predecessor, Fast Five. Universal called to say FAST 6's success doesn't happen w/out #SamoanThor We ALL did it! #IncludingMyBabyOil twitter.com/TheRock/status… — Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) May 25, 2013

Welcome to our live coverage of UFC 160 from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.  We're looking for your thoughts on the show so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to dave@wrestlingobserver.comESTEVAN PAYAN VS. JEREMY STEPHENS, FEATHERWEIGHTS  First round: Stephens won the round, getting a few takedowns and connecting with strong punches late in the round that had Payan rocked just as time ran out. Payan made a few guillotine attempts off takedowns but nothing dangerous. Payan bleeding bad from the forehead. 10-8 Stephens Second round: Stephens got the takdown and is on top. Stephens remaiing on top and moved to side control, now has Payan’s back. He’s working for a choke. Payan slipped out. He’s trying again but doesn’t have the throat. Stephens right foot is covered in Payan’s blood. 20-17 Stephens. Third round: Hard body kick by Stephens. Stephens landed a right. Stephens took him down again and has his back. Stephens throwing knees to the back. Stephens took him down again. Stephens should win 30-26 Scores: 30-26, 30-26, 30-27GEORGE ROOP VS. BRIAN BOWLES, BANTAMWEIGHTS First round: Front kick by Roop to the body a hard knee. Trading punches. Body punch by Bowles. Roop is the bantamweight Semmy Schilt. Trading hard punches. Bowles landed a good one on Roop. Both swinging away again. Roop with a head kick. Punches and a high kick by Roop. Bowles with a hard right. Bowles landed more punches. Low kick by Roop. Roop with a kick and punch combo. Hard body shot by Bowles. Bowles knocked him down with a right and grabbed a guillotine. He doesn’t have it though. Bowles is in full mount. Bowles 10-9. Second round: Front kick by Roop. Body kick by Roop. Roop dropped him with a jab and Roop landed some big punches on the ground. Bowles is in a lot of trouble and it’s over. Roop ran to the corner and then superplexed one of his cornermen into the cage and did fake punches on him. It was a left jab that flattened Bowles. Bowles came out tired at the start of the second round. 1:43STEPHEN THOMPSON VS. NAH-SON BURRELL, WELTERWEIGHTS First round: Thompson grabbed a clinch. Burrell throwing knees and Thompson back with short body punches. Thompson landed a few punches and Burrell clinched. Thompson trying to keep distance. Now Thompson shot in and took him down as Burrell wasn’t expecting that. Burrell back up. Burrell tried to throw him, Thompson landed in mount and then got his back. Thompson 10-9. Second round: Thompson landed body shots. Left to the head by Thompson. Burrell back with punches and a knee. This is a good fight but crowd not really reacting. Thompson’s technical standup is fun to watch. Back in a clinch. High kick and punches by Thompson. Body punching by Thompson. Burrell threw a punch and Thompson ducked, tried a takedown but this time Burrell was ready and blocked it. Trading punches. Big high kick and punches by Thompson. Burrell back with punches. Spin kick just missed by Thompson. Burrell threw a flying knee and Thompson moved he almost went into the cage with the knee like Lesnar did on Sunday. They were back in a clinch, trading knees. Thompson’s round 20-18. Third round: Thompson landing kicks and Burrell with punches. Burrell landed lot of punches. Thompson’s strikes are lacking power as he’s tired. Burrell nailed him with a punch that hurt him and another punch. Thompson landing a good high kick and punches. Burrell with a hard left. Thompson got the takedown. Burrell right back up. Burrell missed a flying knee and Thompson got behind him. Burrell’s round so 29-28 Thompson Scores: 29-28, 30-27 and 29-28 for ThompsonKHABIB NURMAGOMEDOV VS. ABEL TRUJILLO, LIGHTWEIGHTS (WELL, SORT OF SINCE KHABIB MISSED WEIGHT)

Welcome to our live coverage of UFC 160 from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.  We're looking for your thoughts on the show so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to dave@wrestlingobserver.comESTEVAN PAYAN VS. JEREMY STEPHENS, FEATHERWEIGHTS  First round: Stephens won the round, getting a few takedowns and connecting with strong punches late in the round that had Payan rocked just as time ran out. Payan made a few guillotine attempts off takedowns but nothing dangerous. Payan bleeding bad from the forehead. 10-8 Stephens Second round: Stephens got the takdown and is on top. Stephens remaiing on top and moved to side control, now has Payan’s back. He’s working for a choke. Payan slipped out. He’s trying again but doesn’t have the throat. Stephens right foot is covered in Payan’s blood. 20-17 Stephens. Third round: Hard body kick by Stephens. Stephens landed a right. Stephens took him down again and has his back. Stephens throwing knees to the back. Stephens took him down again. Stephens should win 30-26 Scores: 30-26, 30-26, 30-27GEORGE ROOP VS. BRIAN BOWLES, BANTAMWEIGHTS First round: Front kick by Roop to the body a hard knee. Trading punches. Body punch by Bowles. Roop is the bantamweight Semmy Schilt. Trading hard punches. Bowles landed a good one on Roop. Both swinging away again. Roop with a head kick. Punches and a high kick by Roop. Bowles with a hard right. Bowles landed more punches. Low kick by Roop. Roop with a kick and punch combo. Hard body shot by Bowles. Bowles knocked him down with a right and grabbed a guillotine. He doesn’t have it though. Bowles is in full mount. Bowles 10-9. Second round: Front kick by Roop. Body kick by Roop. Roop dropped him with a jab and Roop landed some big punches on the ground. Bowles is in a lot of trouble and it’s over. Roop ran to the corner and then superplexed one of his cornermen into the cage and did fake punches on him. It was a left jab that flattened Bowles. Bowles came out tired at the start of the second round. 1:43STEPHEN THOMPSON VS. NAH-SON BURRELL, WELTERWEIGHTS First round: Thompson grabbed a clinch. Burrell throwing knees and Thompson back with short body punches. Thompson landed a few punches and Burrell clinched. Thompson trying to keep distance. Now Thompson shot in and took him down as Burrell wasn’t expecting that. Burrell back up. Burrell tried to throw him, Thompson landed in mount and then got his back. Thompson 10-9. Second round: Thompson landed body shots. Left to the head by Thompson. Burrell back with punches and a knee. This is a good fight but crowd not really reacting. Thompson’s technical standup is fun to watch. Back in a clinch. High kick and punches by Thompson. Body punching by Thompson. Burrell threw a punch and Thompson ducked, tried a takedown but this time Burrell was ready and blocked it. Trading punches. Big high kick and punches by Thompson. Burrell back with punches. Spin kick just missed by Thompson. Burrell threw a flying knee and Thompson moved he almost went into the cage with the knee like Lesnar did on Sunday. They were back in a clinch, trading knees. Thompson’s round 20-18. Third round: Thompson landing kicks and Burrell with punches. Burrell landed lot of punches. Thompson’s strikes are lacking power as he’s tired. Burrell nailed him with a punch that hurt him and another punch. Thompson landing a good high kick and punches. Burrell with a hard left. Thompson got the takedown. Burrell right back up. Burrell missed a flying knee and Thompson got behind him. Burrell’s round so 29-28 Thompson Scores: 29-28, 30-27 and 29-28 for ThompsonKHABIB NURMAGOMEDOV VS. ABEL TRUJILLO, LIGHTWEIGHTS (WELL, SORT OF SINCE KHABIB MISSED WEIGHT) First round: Trujillo landed a right as both were dancing. Trujillo rushed in. Trujillo rushed in again and got the takedown. Khabib tried a reverse into an armbar but Trujillo reversed back to the top. Khabib got behind him and t

What’s up Diva fans and welcome to this week’s Superstars Redux! This week on the “Tony Daaaawwww- not him again” brand we have some very interesting 8 Person Mixed Tag Team action as Planet Funk, Brodus Clay, Sweet T, Cameron and Naomi face-off against the unlikely twintastic team of Jimmy and Jey Uso and Brie and Nikki Bella. Considering The Usos are good guys, their involvement in this is weird, yet hey, this must be the first time two sets of twins have teamed up, right? That’s pretty cool. What is also pretty amazing is the fact this match, although on Superstars, looks to be the start of a storyline. WWE starting a storyline on their ‘F’ show and not on RAW, SmackDown, NXT, Main Event or Saturday Morning Slam? What have we done to deserve such a reward in the form of a storyline for the Divas? I have no clue, and I’m just going to let you all see what I’m blabbering on about before I collapse due to asking myself too many rhetorical questions. Let’s get this Redux on the road! We start with Cameron and Naomi and company already in the ring shaking their bits like it’s going out of fashion. Then the Usos come out and do a bit of shaking as well and then everything is capped off with the Bellas performing their completely out of time booty shaking as part of their entrance. By the way, I am loving the sexy gloves Brie and Nikki. I have never ever wanted to be Daniel Bryan or John Cena more than right now. Matt Striker makes a good point of explaining that the Usos and the Bellas are a pretty bizarre combo and I then think of how bad he must feel now that he has been lowered to sitting next to Tony Dawson every week. Poor Matt. The match starts with a dance off between Brodus Clay and one of the Usos and I’ll skip over all of the male action considering this website isn’t uso-dirt.com. At the 3:50 in the video, we finally get to see the girls in action, as Brie Bella tags herself in. Brie taunts Brodus before Naomi rushes in and lands a flurry of forearms across Brie’s mush! She then continues to work the head by beating Brie’s cranium into the top turnbuckle. Brie gets a measure of revenge by knocking Naomi’s cheeks off with a reversal kick in the corner and then she decides to work over Naomi’s other cheek area with a stiff kick. Brie attempts a rebounded pin from off the ropes yet Naomi grabs onto the aforementioned ropes, ducks a clotheslines and then levels Brie with her ‘Booty Call’! Then, the intriguing part of this match starts to ensue. Jimmy Uso is tagged back in, and him and Naomi have a little staredown. Then out of nowhere, Jimmy is taken out by a stunning hurricanrana from Naomi and he is completely taken aback! He says to Naomi: “What did you do that for? I thought we loved each other?” If we’ve learned anything from Gail vs Melina way back when on Superstars, it’s that we should never look into too much from what people say in a match on Superstars, yet are WWE blurring the lines of reality and storyline here? Interesting stuff! At the 5:35 mark, the Divas get involved yet again, as The Bella Twins butt bump Tensai on the second rope – and he is loving it! A clip of this move has been used on the Total Divas promo and since then, I guess Sweet T has learned to like the move being done to him! Tensai begs for one more butt bump but instead, he is WALLOPED by a Super Kick from Jimmy Uso – good god that sounded like it hurt! Jimmy then does a weird stare with his tongue stuck out and I don’t know if Naomi liked that, but still, there’s more storyline progression! Later at the 8:20 mark, Jimmy stares at Naomi yet again and it’s costly for him this time, as his second rope splash misses. which leads to Brodus Clay coming in and cleaning house, scoring the win for Planet Funk. Although she has won, Naomi is left looking less than happy and she can&

It looks like Shanna finally has some company in the second round of TNA’s Gut Check Challenge, as LuFisto and Nikki Storm have also advanced to the next stage. LuFisto won Bracket 11 with 192 votes to 105. Pro Wrestling: EVE Champion Storm topped Bracket 13 with 165 votes to 101. The two join “Portugal’s Perfect Athlete” Shanna, who won Bracket 2. The “Winner’s Bracket” will feature the victors from all 16 polls and will open on June 8th. After a week of voting, the winner of this final bracket will win a televised Gut Check on Impact. LuFisto tweeted about her success, saying: It’s Official! Winner of Bracket 11 @tnagutcheck! Thank you all! Now, let win this whole thing!!! :D fb.me/2naX7sD81 — LuFisto (@LuFisto) May 17, 2013 Good luck to LuFisto, Nikki and Shanna. We here at Diva Dirt will be right behind you all!

By Mike Sawyer @ToughTalkMMAWelcome to my live coverage of UFC 160: Velasquez vs Bigfoot 2 live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.   Jeremy Stephens def. Estevan Payan by unanimous decision (30-26. 30-26, 30-27)BRIAN BOWLES VS GEORGE ROOP * Brian has been a pro since 2006. He has six wins by submission, three by knockout. He's the first fighter to KO Miguel Torres.* George has four wins by submission, three by KO. This is his second bout at bantamweight. For whatever its worth, he was a former High School QB. - Roop lands a nice front kick & a knee. He's so much bigger than Brian. George sure like to keep his hands low, and now is paying for it, as he catches a couple big shots to the chops. George lands a high kick. Brian drops him with a right hand and has him in a mounted guillotine. George escapes, but he's still mounted as the round ends. 10-9 Bowles - George comes out jabbing. He should be throwing those front kicks. Oh well. Bowles looks tired to me. George just dropped him WITH A JAB and is teeing off on him. ITS OVER~! George Roop def. Brian Bowles by TKO (strikes) at 1:43 of RD2 STEPHEN THOMPSON VS NAH-SHON BURRELL * Stephen has a combined 57-0 kickboxing record, which includes over 40 KO's. Has trained with GSP, Rashad Evans & Keith Jardine. He's competed in the Chuck Norris Combat League. He's a five-time world champion kickboxer.* Burrell has been a pro since 2010. This is his welterweight debut. He has six wins by KO, two by decision. He's the seventh youngest fighter on the UFC roster.  - Thompson comes out throwing a cute back kick. They clinch along the fence. Stephen throwing some nice body shots. Thompson gets a takedown, but not for long, as Burrell gets back up. Burrell landing some nice knees in the clinch.  Both guys swinging. They clinch and the crowd is getting restless. Burrell eats a shot, but still comes forward. Thompson gets a takedown that lasted about two seconds. - Boy is this a grinding round thus far. Holding each other up, landing knees to the body. Thompson has him up against the cage and lands a nice combo on the break. Uppercut lands by Burrell. Nah-Shon misses a flying knee and almost lands in the third row. - Burrell comes out fast and lands a few shots. More clinching along the cage. Both guys landing some kicks, but both are tired. Thompson digs to the body. He is VERY tired now. Stumbling around the Octagon like he's been on a bender with Edinsanantonio. They go the distance. Lets see how the judges have it.Stephen Thompson def Nah-Shon Burrell by unanimous decision  (29-28, 30-27, 29-28) KHABIB NURMAGOMEDOV vs ABEL TRUJILLO* Khabib has been a pro since 2008 and he's on a 19 fight winning streak, finishing 10 of his last 11. He graduated from Financial Academy with honors. Abel is on a five-fight winning streak. He has five first-round finishes. He attended William Penn University, majoring in strength & conditioning. They had the altercation at the weigh-ins yesterday that pissed off Dana White and made Mike Tyson VERY excited. Let's do this~!-  Abel just misses a wild right. He presses forward & takes him down, but Khabib is looking for an armbar & now takes his back. Huge slam by Khabib. Nice scramble, Abel back on top, but lands in a tight triangle as the round ends. 10-9 Nurmagomedov