Interim Titles: A History Lesson

AEW’s path to crown an interim world champion is clear. Last Wednesday on Dynamite, #1 contender Jon Moxley beat Casino Battle Royal winner Kyle O’Reilly in a good back and forth contest. O’Reilly’s battle royal win was surprisingly damned with faint praise in the crowd and online. He’s a good wrestler, but some find the Undisputed Elite member boring.

NJPW was in a similar situation with their half of the interim title equation. Hiroki Goto is a good wrestler, but some find him dull as a character. No one expected Goto to beat Hiroshi Tanahashi at Dominion on Sunday, and they were right. Tanahashi pinned Goto in a highly engaging match despite the result never really being in question.

Jon Moxley will face Hiroshi Tanahashi to determine the interim AEW World Champion at Forbidden Door on June 26 in Chicago. CM Punk’s injury put a damper on things, but hopefully, the interim title will begin to right the ship. Of course, the end game down the line is the interim titleist colliding with Punk to determine an undisputed champion.

Does anyone know how the interim concept got started in the first place? I do, I do (eagerly raising my hand in class). So, here’s a history lesson.

Continue reading “Interim Titles: A History Lesson”

Looking Under the Hood at Lesnar vs. Lashley

Wrestling fans have been dreaming of a match between Brock Lesnar and Bobby Lashley from the moment Lashley made his WWE debut on September 23, 2005. Now, the dream is a reality. Lesnar will defend the WWE Championship against Lashley at the Royal Rumble on January 29 in St. Louis, Missouri.

Continue reading “Looking Under the Hood at Lesnar vs. Lashley”

Tito Ortiz vs. Alberto El Patron set for Combate Americas on 12/7

Former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Tito Ortiz will fight former WWE World Heavyweight Champion Alberto El Patron in an MMA bout on Saturday, December 7.

I’ll be covering the event live at http://www.gerweck.net.

Below is the press release for the big fight.

COMBATE AMERICAS, the world’s premier Hispanic Mixed Martial Arts sports and media franchise and FITE, the global digital platform specializing in premium combat sports, announced today a joint distribution agreement for the Pay Per View event.

Together, they will offer the much-anticipated, ‘Winner Take All’ showdown between two iconic combat sports legends – Tito Ortiz and Alberto “El Patrón” Rodriguez (formerly “Alberto Del Rio” of the WWE) – live from Payne Arena in McAllen, Texas, next to the U.S.-Mexico border, on Saturday, December 7, 2019 at 8pm EST to audiences worldwide with English and Spanish commentary feeds.

The Combate Americas live pay per view television event ‘Tito vs. Alberto – What Side Are You On?‘ pits two iconic superstars from some of the industry’s biggest fight franchises – UFC Hall of Famer and former world light heavyweight champion, Tito Ortiz , who will face multiple-time WWE Heavyweight Champion and former PRIDE and DEEP MMA star Rodriguez of San Antonio, Texas by way of San Luis Potosi, SLP, Mexico.

The content partnership between FITE and COMBATE AMERICAS was a natural fit to deliver a world-class event. FITE CEO Kosta Jordanov said, “we’ve long admired the content that Combate Americas delivers to massive audiences and wanted to be their distribution partner when they announced this stellar attraction.”

Campbell McClaren, CEO of Combate Americas said, “Combate Americas has been consistently delivering millions of global viewers to its live streams with every one of our events, so we immediately thought of FITE when we decided to offer this premium event via global pay per view.”

COMBATE AMERICAS: ‘TITO VS. ALBERTO – WHAT SIDE ARE YOU ON?’
PPV FIGHT CARD – DEC. 7TH – LIVE AT 9PM EST

CATCHWEIGHT (210 LBS.) MAIN EVENT:
Tito Ortiz (20-12-1) vs. Alberto “El Patrón” Rodriguez (9-5)

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STRAWWEIGHT CO-MAIN EVENT:
Melissa “Super Mely” Martinez (6-0) vs. Desiree “Dirty Dez” Yanez (5-1)

FEATURED FLYWEIGHT BOUT:
Dani Barez (11-4) vs. Joby Sanchez (13-5)

FEATURED FEATHERWEIGHT BOUT:
Levy “El Negro” Marroquin (12-3) vs. Enrique “Baby Bull” Gonzalez (8-3)

FEATURED CATCHWEIGHT (150 LBS.) BOUT:
Gaston “Tonga” Reyno (8-2, 2 NC) vs. Angel “Tito” Cruz (6-4)

FEATURED CATCHWEIGHT (118 LBS.) BOUT:
“Sexy” Dulce Garcia (1-0) vs. Marisol Ruelas (1-2)

FREE PRELIM FIGHT CARD
DEC. 7TH – LIVE AT 8PM EST (ADDITIONAL BOUTS TO BE ANNOUNCED)

LIGHTWEIGHT:
Jose “Luke” Flores (8-1) vs. Ismael “Marreta” Bonfim (13-3)

FEATHERWEIGHT:
Ricky “El Gallero” Palacios (11-2) vs. Jose “The Ghost” Ceja (4-5)

The WEIGH-IN for the ‘Tito vs. Alberto’ event will be streamed live on Friday, Dec. 6th AT 8pm EST from the venue via FITE, immediately following the free and global FITE in FOCUS show, starting at 6pm EST with exclusive interviews with the fighters, promoters, and surprise guests.

TitoAlberto

To ORDER the Dec. 7th PPV Event Worldwide via FITE – Click HERE – Also available via cable and satellite PPV. Check your local listings.

About FITE

FITE is the premium digital streaming platform for combat sports featuring over 1,000 premium live events per year. FITE is available globally through its iOS and Android mobile apps, Apple TV, Android TV, ROKU and Amazon Fire TV. In addition, FITE supports Chromecast, PS4, Xbox, and 7,000 models of TV sets, streaming MMA, Pro Wrestling, Boxing, Bare Knuckle and Traditional Martial Arts live events to its 2.2M registered viewers. Available online at www.FITE.tv. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram and on Facebook at https://facebook.com/fitetv.

About Combate Americas

Combate Americas is the premier Hispanic Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) sports franchise, rapidly becoming the number two sport after soccer, for Spanish speaking fans worldwide. The Combate Americas franchise includes live event and original shoulder programming on some of the biggest television, OTT and digital platforms in Spanish and English, including Univision and Univision Deportes Network (UDN), DAZN, ESPN, GOL, Pluto TV and Facebook Watch worldwide. The company also owns and operates a multi-platform media studio, La Jaula Studios. This event is not sponsored or affiliated with WWE or UFC.

Combate Americas CEO Campbell McLaren, also the co-founder/co-creator of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), has been described by New York Magazine as “the marketing genius behind the UFC,” while Yahoo Sports has said he “knows more about the sport than just about anyone in it today.” With an unprecedented and cutting-edge product and a blue-chip ownership and management team, Combate Americas is poised to break new ground and bring about a new era in world championship level MMA competition.

The New UFC Legacy Championship Belt

The UFC unveiled their new Legacy Championship belt, which will be awarded to those who win title bouts and used for the duration of their career inside the octagon. The belt is customized for each individual champion by the athlete’s country and weight class. The red stones on the side plates represent each title defense.

The women’s championship belt will be slightly smaller. However, identical to the men’s belt in every other detail. Each belt comes with a plate on the backside with a unique serial number assigned to the specific champion. UFC President Dana White’s engraved signature is also included for authenticity.

The first eight countries that were home to UFC champions will represent flag iconography on the belt. USA, Canada, Brazil, Netherlands, Poland, Belarus, UK, and Ireland. Mark Coleman (USA) was the inaugural heavyweight champion.

The first belt will be presented at the UFC’s debut on ESPN+ streaming service when Henry Cejudo defends the flyweight title (125 lbs.) against bantamweight king (135 lbs.) T.J. Dillashaw. Both fighters will enter the octagon with the proceeding title belt, which the new legacy design and awarded to the winner.

The global motif of the belt is representative of a true world championship. The belt actually says “world champion,” unlike the previous incarnation. The center plate looks clunky and lacks a certain sleekness.

Overall, the new title looks very 2019 and carries an ambitious exhibit of accomplishment and celebration.

Brock Lesnar is the Belle of the Ball

Brock Lesnar is once again the life of the party when it comes to professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Following Daniel Cormier’s heavyweight title victory at UFC 226 in Las Vegas this past Saturday, Lesnar entered the octagon, and the fireworks ensued.

Cormier called out Lesnar to enter the cage, Lesnar entered, shoved Cormier, cut a promo burying the UFC’s heavyweight division, and warned the new champion “I’m coming for you, motherfucker.” Cormier replied saying “Push me now; you’ll go to sleep later.”

The min-scuffle had everyone inside the T-Mobile Arena on their feet, and everyone else abuzz as the UFC’s next big money fight was virtually announced in grandiose fashion. MMA purists and pro wrestling aficionados hate the idea of Brock Lesnar being the center of attention for very different reasons.

In the realm of real fighting, Brock Lesnar tested positive for steroids in his last fight. He still has six months left on his suspension and hasn’t won a fight since 2010. This attacks the sport’s reputation because legit contenders are waiting in the wings.

In the realm of fake fighting, Brock Lesnar is the WWE Universal Champion. He’s the epitome of a part-time wrestler, which diehard fans loathe. The champ hasn’t appeared since April and has one match left on his contract, which expires in August.

This week on Raw, there was zero mention of Lesnar or the Universal Title. This was weird because the main event feud between Roman Reigns and Bobby Lashley is supposed to decide the next contender for the title.

WWE’s evasion of the subject could mean they were unaware of Lesnar’s UFC plans. Also, Lesnar officially entered the USADA drug testing pool, which means his suspension has resumed and is eligible to fight Cormier in early January 2019.

In the UFC, Cormier vs. Lesnar is a fight that is going to rain money. This means Lesnar will most likely not work a pro wrestling match until the bout takes place. Even if he makes another WWE appearance between now and the fight, it will probably be a lackluster affair.

Brock Lesnar vs. Dean Ambrose at WrestleMania 33 promised to be an epic encounter, but it was the complete opposite. Months later, it was revealed that Lesnar was in the midst of an MMA training camp at the time and didn’t want to risk injury by going all out in a worked match.

IThe last appearance on his WWE deal is worth six hundred thousand dollars. That number irks fans and insiders because current wrestlers are not even close to making that amount of money for one match. While WWE might be upset with Brock Lesnar in the short-term, the two parties will end up finding common ground like they always do. There is, however, a couple of options at WWE’s disposal.

They could always strip Lesnar of the title. However, that could kill any credibility needed to make a new champion since Lesnar was never beaten for the belt. Then again, the integrity of the championship might not be an issue. Many fans don’t consider Lesnar to be a “real” world champion because he barely defends the title.

Plus, the current storyline on television has Roman Reigns claiming to be the rightful champion due to referee error in his last match with Lesnar. If WWE decided to strip Lesnar of the title, it would perfectly fall in line with the ongoing story. The belt is taken off of Lesnar, and the company can push the narrative that Roman was right.

If Vince McMahon is going to allow Lesnar to hold the championship indefinitely, there is the unique option of making his UFC fight against Cormier for the WWE Universal Title. Daniel Cormier is a big pro wrestling fan and would relish the opportunity to be featured in a big-time role on Monday Night Raw if he beats Lesnar in the octagon.

Cormier is a major favorite to topple Lesnar, and his fandom of WWE would make it easy enough to do business with him. Cormier wins the title, has a brief stint inside the ropes and drops the belt, ensuring the legacy of the title is intact. There is always the chance Lesnar could beat Cormier. If that happens, doing business with him will be even more difficult than it is now because he will be worth more money.

Paying Brock Lesnar even more money than he is already getting for one single match in WWE seems outrageous on some levels. However, there is the possibility that Vince McMahon is secretly salivating at the idea of his champion winning the UFC title. It’s an unlikely scenario. Yet, stranger things have happened in the world of wrestling.

The angle inside the Octagon was designed to get people talking, and it worked. UFC has their next big money fight, and WWE has their next big money angle, if they choose to act on it. And it’s all thanks to Brock Lesnar, who from a business perspective, is the belle of the ball with multiple suitors to fit his Benjamin Franklin lined glass slipper.

UFC 225: Whittaker vs. Romero II Review

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Photo by Esther Lin of MMAFighting.com

Over the last couple of years, I have found MMA, and more specifically, the UFC to be a complete bore. The lack of stars and divisional relevance along with the oversaturation of events has made the majority of the fights a standard affair as opposed to something special. That all changes, at least for one night, as UFC 225 from the United Center in Chicago, produced meaningful fights from top to bottom. Continue reading “UFC 225: Whittaker vs. Romero II Review”

UFC 211 Preview: Miocic vs. Dos Santos 2

MMA content on my website has been few and far between as of late. I still follow the sport on a regular basis. Still, it’s become difficult to get excited about the fights due to an oversaturation of events that carry a decreasing amount of divisional relevance.

This Saturday will serve as a different story as UFC 211 presents a stellar main card. Two title fights, a welterweight bout that will solidify a #1 contender along with two great pairings will round out what could be the best show in years.

Continue reading “UFC 211 Preview: Miocic vs. Dos Santos 2”

Brock Lesnar: Fined, Suspended, and it Stinks

BROCK

Former UFC heavyweight champion and current WWE superstar Brock Lesnar received a one-year suspension earlier today by the Nevada Athletic Commission due to two failed drug tests for his fight with Mark Hunt at UFC 200 this past July.

Lesnar also agreed to pay a fine of $250,000 in a settlement, which equals to 10% of his disclosed $2.5 million purse for the fight. His unanimous decision victory over Hunt has been officially overturned into a no contest.  Continue reading “Brock Lesnar: Fined, Suspended, and it Stinks”

Alvarez fell into the Trap at UFC 205

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Featherweight champion Conor McGregor made history last Saturday when he walloped Eddie Alvarez to become the Lightweight Champion, making him the first fighter in UFC history to hold two titles in two weight classes simultaneously.

The fight capped off a monumental night of fights as UFC 205 was the first event in New York since the statewide ban was lifted after a nearly 20-year political battle.

Eddie Alvarez was the test to prove once and for all whether Conor McGregor was fact or fiction. McGregor aced the exam with relative ease, but Alvarez didn’t execute the best game plan. Continue reading “Alvarez fell into the Trap at UFC 205”

Ortiz vs. Sonnen Announced for Bellator 170

sonnenvsortiz

If you ever wondered what it would look like if two professional wrestlers fought each other in an MMA bout, Bellator will deliver the closest thing to it on January 21 when Tito Ortiz squares off against Chael Sonnen in a light heavyweight main event. They both grew up as wrestling fans and have nicknames that firmly pronounce their colorful personalities.

The bravado of Ortiz’s fiery clad “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” is the perfect foil to the boisterous Midwesterner in Sonnen aka “The American Gangster.”  If that’s not enough, the nucleus of their combative arsenal is a grinding wrestling style to punish their opponents against the cage.  Continue reading “Ortiz vs. Sonnen Announced for Bellator 170”