Elsalvajeloco

Win or lose, I think the Aspinall fight would have been the best note to retire on because that would have been the closest to a top HW in his prime that Jon would have fought. The Ngannou fight wasn't gonna happen so that's the next closest thing. That and somehow an unintentional ground swell of interest made it seem more important than probably actually was. If this was boxing, especially in the height of HBO/TVKO PPV or Showtime/SET PPV, that is a fight you overpay the participants because the ceiling for what could actually be made would probably make the guaranteed purses a drop in the bucket. It's a fight you have to get made. Plus, with the lack of quality opponents for Aspinall, he needs to be legitimized. He beats Jon Jones, then he is a made man and whoever beats Aspinall then becomes a made man. He loses, then no harm, no foul. He only lost to one of the three or four best MMA fighters in the history of the sport.

As much as I can get nostalgic about the Steiners vs. Owen/Bret, most of it is just a pale imitation of what you would have seen in New Japan or All Japan at the time but sans any type of story. The execution is phenomenal, but you can tell whoever agented the match just told them to go out and do whatever until they hit their time cue to go home. The Action Zone match with the Kliq members of Shawn/Diesel vs. Kid/Razor is superior IMO.

Poor Robocop might not get a bonus cause Do Bronx got knocked into the shadow realm and Joshua Van and Brandon Royval were getting their Gatti/Ward on.

If you're going give someone a special bonus like UFC 300 with 300,000 dollar bonuses, you would give it to Brandon Royval and Joshua Van.

Welcome to the hurt business, baby Bubba. It ain't Hendo-Bisping I egregious and also Herb Dean didn't exactly intervene at the right time to stop it.

Apparently, Kevin Iole is retiring with the last show he is covering being UFC 317 tonight. Damn, Meltzer is going to outlast all of his contemporaries.

Here is this week's template: EVENT #18 POINT TOTAL: 245 Cage Warriors 191: Gittins vs. Giordano II (06/28/2025) - Manchester, England, United Kingdom (BEC Arena) Liam Gittins vs. Alessandro Giordano - Gittins, DEC James Power vs. Omar Tugarev - Power, TKO, R2 Michael Pagani vs. Tim Wilde - Pagani, DEC Adam Cullen vs. Lukas Cruz - Cullen, TKO, R2 Teddy Stringer vs. Torpal Merjoev - Stringer, SUB, R2 Omiel Brown vs. Edgar Escarrega - Brown, SUB, R2 EVENT #19 POINT TOTAL: 245 OKTAGON 73: Eckerlin vs. Pukač (06/28/2025) - Hamburg, Germany (Barclays Arena) Christian Eckerlin vs. Robert Pukač - Eckerlin, DEC Adam Pałasz vs. Kasim Aras - Aras, TKO, R2 Kaik Brito vs. Joilton Lutterbach - Lutterbach, TKO, R3 Niklas Stolze vs. Jessin Ayari - Ayari, DEC Jonas Mågård vs. Farbod Iran Nezhad - Mågård, DEC Wahed Nazhand vs. Faridun Shokhnazarov - Nazhand, DEC Beno Adamia vs. Zhalgas Zhumagulov - Zhumagulov, DEC BONUS EVENT #1 POINT TOTAL: 245 MVP Boxing on DAZN: Paul vs. Chavez Jr. (06/28/2025) - Anaheim, CA (Honda Center) Jake Paul vs. Julio César Chávez Jr. - Paul, DEC WBA Super World & WBO Cruiserweight Championship: Gilberto Ramirez vs. Yuniel Dorticos - Ramirez, DEC Holly Holm vs. Yolanda Vega - Holm, DEC Floyd Schofield vs. Tevin Farmer - Schofield, DEC Avious Griffin vs. Julian Rodriguez - Griffin, TKO, R8 Raul Curiel vs. Victor Rodriguez - Curiel, DEC Joel Iriarte vs. Kevin Johnson - Iriarte, TKO, R4 Victor Morales Jr. vs. Rene Alvarado - Morales Jr., TKO, R4 Alexander Gueche vs. Vincent Avina - Gueche, DEC Joshua Edwards vs. Dominicc Hardy - Edwards, TKO, R2 John Ramirez vs. Josue Morales - Ramirez, DEC EVENT #20 POINT TOTAL: 245 UFC 317: Topuria vs. Oliveira (06/28/2025) - Las Vegas, NV (T-Mobile Arena) Ilia Topuria vs. Charles Oliveira - Topuria, TKO, R2 Alexandre Pantoja vs. Kai Kara-France - Pantoja, DEC Brandon Royval vs. Joshua Van - Van, DEC Beneil Dariush vs. Renato Carneiro - Carneiro, DEC Payton Talbott vs. Felipe Lima - Lima, DEC Jack Hermansson vs. Gregory Rodrigues - Rodrigues, TKO, R2 Hyder Amil vs. Jose Delgado - Delgado, DEC Viviane Araujo vs. Tracy Cortez - Cortez, DEC Terrance McKinney vs. Viacheslav Borshchev - McKinney, TKO, R2 Niko Price vs. Jacobe Smith - Smith, TKO, R3 Jhonata Diniz vs. Alvin Hines - Diniz, TKO, R2 The Event #18 & Event #19 deadline is Saturday, June 28, 12:00 p.m. CT The remaining Saturday events deadline is June 28, 5:30 p.m. CT

Thread updated 2025 POINT TOTAL 1. DreamBroken: 251 2. Elsalvajeloco: 245 3. Hail Sabin: 15 EVENT TALLY: Elsalvajeloco 1st (9 events) DreamBroken 2nd (8 events) Hail Sabin 3rd (0 events)

UFC 317: Topuria vs. Oliveira June 28, 2025 Las Vegas, NV (T-Mobile Arena) UFC Lightweight Championship: Ilia Topuria (155) vs. Charles Oliveira (154.5) (vacant) - Topuria, KO (punches), R1 (2:27) UFC Flyweight Championship: Alexandre Pantoja © (125) vs. Kai Kara-France (125) (fourth defense) - Pantoja, SUB (rear naked choke), R3 (1:55) Brandon Royval (125.5) vs. Joshua Van (125.5) - Van, DEC (unanimous) Beneil Dariush (156) vs. Renato Carneiro (156) - Dariush, DEC (unanimous) Payton Talbott (136) vs. Felipe Lima (135.5) - Talbott, DEC (unanimous) ESPN / ESPN+ / Disney+ Preliminary Card: Jack Hermansson (185.5) vs. Gregory Rodrigues (186) - Rodrigues, KO (punch), R1 (4:21) Hyder Amil (145.5) vs. Jose Delgado (145.5) - Delgado, KO (knee and elbows), R1 (0:26) Viviane Araujo (125.5) vs. Tracy Cortez (126) - Cortez, DEC (unanimous) Terrance McKinney (156) vs. Viacheslav Borshchev (155) - McKinney, SUB (guillotine choke), R1 (0:55) ESPN+ / Disney+ / Fight Pass Preliminary Card: Niko Price (170.5) vs. Jacobe Smith (170.5) - Smith, SUB (rear naked choke), R2 (4:03) Jhonata Diniz (257.5) vs. Alvin Hines (259.5) - Diniz, DEC (unanimous) Event Bonuses ($50,000) Performance of the Night: Gregory Rodrigues Performance of the Night: Ilia Topuria Fight of the Night: Brandon Royval vs. Joshua Van Attendance: 19,800 Gate: $11.3 million

Yeah, I was gonna say something to the effect as well. However, I think DDP's ascent started just before the NWO thing started. They clearly have plans for him by April/May of 1996. He also during one of the taping cycles goes from rags to riches with the benefactor stuff (basically a rehash of what they already did w/ him stealing Kimberly's money), and he gets the neon color scheme gear going that he would wear for the next couple years. Also, they do the weird thing of having him win the Lethal Lottery but take away his title shot. I am guessing they didn't want him to job to The Giant and wanted to protect him. This begs the question: why make it for a title match anyway when you already have a valuable ring at stake? You didn't have to do a bait and switch. WCW booking at its finest.

I dunno if Duggan was necessarily going off script. Right when the NWO was formed, I think they were trying to position Duggan as like the one person from Hogan's past and/or the patriotic guy who wouldn't turn his back on WCW and fans. Hence, the impassioned promo he cuts at one of the Disney MGM shows in the summer of '96. Problem is by the time the NWO was in its embryonic stages, Duggan was pretty much slotted as the underneath guy to other underneath guys. It's weird cause Duggan came into the company a couple years earlier, and they put him over guys like Austin and others who they should have been doing major stuff with. Then, he just did a 180 as time went on and had only been doing goofy stuff with people who are just slightly above enhancement talent. So I am assuming Eric gave Duggan some stuff to do for a few months just to please Hogan and then just like Ed Leslie, he transitioned to doing stuff just to pad out the bottom of the card. Tenta, Rotunda, and Ray Traylor among others are just there to be there. Hell, One Man Gang was there and you would have been missed it if you blinked a few times. I am doing a 1996 rewatch right now and right before the terrible Slamboree: Lethal Lottery PPV that very few people remember cause it preceded the Scott Hall debut and was made immediately irrelevant, they have Traylor and Tenta (now Shark) in regular clothes, out of character sitting in the crowd like buddies watching one of the matches as if it's a shoot on WCW Saturday Night. Like...they're not tagging at the PPV and I believe this is a week or so before Traylor shaves half of Tenta's hair off. It's completely bizarre and comes off as the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing. They're shooting angles on Saturday Night, which is now clearly the B show and not acknowledging them on Nitro and vice versa. I know Schiavone and a few others were responsible for producing Saturday Night. I am going to hazard a guess and say that maybe the Duggan stuff was some creative someone came up with, they ditched it at some point, and somehow they forgot they ditched it. This goes especially with Nitro going to two hours and clearly a lot of last minute stuff being added to the shows every week. They needed a continuity person really bad, and it's only going to get worse as time goes on.

I dunno about the UK, but Canada is pretty notorious about not letting people in.

Here is the template for this week: EVENT #17 UFC Fight Night on ABC 8: Hill vs. Rountree Jr. (06/21/2025) - Baku, Azerbaijan (Baku Crystal Hall) Jamahal Hill vs. Khalil Rountree Jr. - Rountree Jr., TKO, R2 Rafael Fiziev vs. Ignacio Bahamondes - Fiziev, DEC Curtis Blaydes vs. Rizvan Kuniev - Blaydes, TKO, R2 Myktybek Orolbai vs. Tofiq Musayev - Orolbai, DEC Nazim Sadykhov vs. Nikolas Motta - Sadykhov, TKO, R3 Muhammad Naimov vs. Bogdan Grad - Naimov, DEC Seok Hyun Ko vs. Oban Elliott - Elliott, TKO, R3 Ismail Naurdiev vs. Jun Yong Park - Park, SUB, R3 Melissa Mullins vs. Daria Zheleznyakova - Mullins, DEC Klaudia Syguła vs. Irina Alekseeva - Alekseeva, DEC Tagir Ulanbekov vs. Azat Maksum - Ulanbekov, DEC Mohammed Usman vs. Hamdy Abdelwahab - Abdelwahab, DEC The Saturday events deadline is June 21, 4:00 p.m. CT

UFC Fight Night on ABC 8: Hill vs. Rountree Jr. June 21, 2025 Baku, Azerbaijan (Baku Crystal Hall) Jamahal Hill (206) vs. Khalil Rountree Jr. (206) - Rountree Jr., DEC (unanimous) Rafael Fiziev (155.5) vs. Ignacio Bahamondes (155.5) - Fiziev, DEC (unanimous) Curtis Blaydes (258) vs. Rizvan Kuniev (264.5) - Blaydes, DEC (split) Myktybek Orolbai (165) vs. Tofiq Musayev (163) - Orolbai, SUB (kimura), R1 (4:35) Nazim Sadykhov (155) vs. Nikolas Motta (155.5) - Sadykhov, TKO (punches), R2 (4:17) Muhammad Naimov (146) vs. Bogdan Grad (146) - Naimov, DEC (unanimous) ESPN / ESPN + Preliminary Card: Seok Hyun Ko (169.5) vs. Oban Elliott (170.5) - Ko, DEC (unanimous) Ismail Naurdiev (186) vs. Jun Yong Park (186) - Park, DEC (unanimous) Melissa Mullins (136) vs. Daria Zheleznyakova (136) - Zheleznyakova, DEC (unanimous) Klaudia Syguła (135.5) vs. Irina Alekseeva (135.5) - Sygula, DEC (unanimous) Tagir Ulanbekov (126) vs. Azat Maksum (126) - Ulanbekov, DEC (unanimous) Mohammed Usman (244.5) vs. Hamdy Abdelwahab (264.5) - Usman, DEC (unanimous) Event Bonuses ($50,000) Fight of the Night: Nazim Sadykhov vs. Nikolas Motta

Bigen basically gives you the Sharpie effect.

It's real. Just a ton of dye to keep it black.

1. Druski must have like a 24/7 emergency line with every entertainment PR/marketing agency cause he will do anything pseudo celebrity related. No questions asked. 2. Doesn't Dom have a deal with Wingstop? Is this gonna ignite some type of east coast/west coast beef in the chicken tender/chicken finger/chicken sandwich wars?

If you're timing out the show with entrances, video packages, and giving everyone no less than 13-17 minutes of in ring time, you're already at approximately 3 1/2 - 4 hours. If you added another match, you're adding another 20-25 minutes minimum. Then, you have the pre show. I imagine people would like to go home some time during this decade.

So apparently, TK negotiated their latest deal with Zaslav along with the CFO...which is pretty big news considering we haven't heard much involvement about AEW's relationship with the top brass. https://www.f4wonline.com/news/aew/tony-khan-aew-great-relationships-with-both-sides-of-impending-wbd-split/

Coachella might not be a crazy idea when you think about it. Now that the Palm Springs/Coachella Valley area has an actual arena now (Acrisure Arena), that might be feasible. I mean you can have a free show on the grounds with the younger wrestlers during the afternoon and then have your big show in the arena not too far away.

Jimmy should have been raising funds for the promotion instead.

Don't make WWE bring back the Wrestle Vessel and get the title intercepted.

They had two shows in Russia in 2018 and 2019. They has never been talked of going back since then.

Yeah, I dunno about if long history counts as a substitute for notable history. Like the WBC (World Boxing Council) and the WBA (World Boxing Association) are the two oldest sanctioning bodies post states/regions/countries and publications recognizing their own champions. They started out with only world champions. Then, once sanctioning fees and different politics got involved, you started seeing belts created for the hell of it. For example, the WBC International title was mainly a regional belt that existed in Asia and Europe. At some point, around 2002, WBC featherweight champion Marco Antonio Barrera gave up the world belt. However, he was also the linear featherweight champion (meaning the man who beat the man who beat the man etc.). So Barrera was the rightful world champion even though he no longer held any belt of the four recognized sanctioning body titles (the WBO was starting become recognized as the fourth after decades of being shunned). The Ring magazine title, the belt probably most famous for being used in the Rocky films and being the namesake of the Nat Fleischer magazine publication, has always been the placeholder for the rightful champion. Well, Manny Pacquiao dethroned Barrera for the featherweight crown with no actual sanctioning body title on the line. Then, Manny moved up to super featherweight and fought Barrera's most notable rival Erik Morales and who would also become one of Manny's most notable rivals eventually spawning a trilogy, a fight contest for the WBC International super featherweight title. Why? Because Barrera changed his mind about fighting for a WBC title aka the green belt as the WBC is a Mexican based organization and then became the WBC Super Featherweight champion. At that time, all three guys were more than talented enough to be called world champions. Yet, despite having four sanctioning bodies, they chose to all fought over one belt. Basically, a bunch of political nonsense. You would get a bunch of similar situations around that time and just made titles pretty much meaningless. The "International" title pretty much got phased out in favor of the things like the "Silver" title, the "Diamond" title, etc. Then, those got watered down and they pivoted to something else. These are just cogs in the machine. I highly doubt any world sanctioning body or regional sanctioning body like the BBBC or EBU gives a damn about anything except the actual organization name.

When Kris Moutinho wakes up, tell him it wasn't a truck that hit him. https://x.com/espnmma/status/1934052436647325788