Steppin' Razor

Hey guys. Sorry for the long lull in action. It's been mostly a busy month for me and couldn't get to post as much as I wanted. So now that I have some time now, I finally am going to unload a huge load of MMA and Pro Wrestling angst right NOW!

- The big thing going around the water cooler right now is the Bisping/Hamill match and how we need to fix the ten point must system. I say thee Nay! Nay I say! It is the incompetence of judges that needs to be addressed in that fight. As well in other fights. Don't get me wrong, I too wish to see the ten point must system retooled to be more concise, but even if we let quantum physicists fix the system, Cecil Peoples and The Three Stooges will still find a way to muck it all up. We're supposed to have clean, clear cut judging in MMA. How is it that these yahoos still judging events when they have showed total signs of incompetence? Hold judges accountable somehow or risk a major title fight being held in total scrutiny from the main stream media when these knuckleheads automatically score the other way the second round in a close fight just because they didn't want to think about it.

- Speaking of Yahoos, Fightlinker was always on the bandwagon and "The Jedi" Luke Thomas is starting to show his true colors as well. Kevin Iole...you fucking suck. You don't know moves and technique. You know fuck all about strategy. You make shit up and then when there is polite debate and decent, you go and call those who wasted time and effort "keyboard warriors" and then just after you that you turn into a keyboard warrior and called a fighter nothing short of a criminal even though the one you should be blaming is the ref who let the fight go too long in the first place.

And then...this is good...and then you have the audacity to call yourself a "MMA expert". That's like calling an asshat traveling tourist a "train conductor" because he rode a lot of trains and likes to piss on the baggage men. What makes you qualified Kevin? What? You're in good with Dana. What's that make you? Good? You're not good. You just know how to hide. How to lie. Me? I always give facts. Even if I don't know the answer.

In the end Kevin, you might be on your fourth volume of your autobio in your nice mansion as you get lauded over by the sports media as one of the biggest named reporters in combat sports and I'll still be here, working my 9 to 5 still praying to the gods Art Dore doesn't kill anyone still over a cold plate of Italian poutine. But I will have something that you will never have or understand. I will be able to look people in the eye and tell them with a straight face that I have educated and gotten more people in to the sport with a better understanding then you even will.

So say goodnight to the Bad Guy.

- Gary Shaw is the worst thing to happen to MMA. Hey Gary. Yes, Mr. Shaw. Over here! Yes thank you. You say you want more weight classes. Yeah, um.....not going to happen. Well how many does Boxing have? 17? 17 weight classes? Wow. You know what 17 weight classes tell me? That it's easy not to make a commitment to Boxing. That dedication has no place. Sure, I know they're great fighters. What's gonna stop them from gaining a couple pounds just to duck fighters though? I can be the greatest fighter in my weight class, but I wouldn't have the gold to prove it because the ding dong who really has the belt is too busy trying to conquer the weight classes around the one he actually won gold in the first place. That's why MMA doesn't have 17 weight classes.

- Pavlik will not save boxing.

- Bob Arum is delusional.

- So Mark Cuban wants to work with Vince MacMahon. Yeah umm.....are you that eager to flush your reputation down the drain Cuban? They just did a global steroid bust, do you want the consequences filtering into you business? If so, you're a bigger fool then you look dude

- Free Vancouver! Support CMMAA!

New Dawn Fades

A chance to watch, admire the distance,
Still occupied, though you forget.

-Ian Curtis, New Dawn Fades

The buzz around the MMA community is the new Sports Illustrated cover for this week. Of course I've posted said cover above. The article is also real nice. Go check it out.

Of course this getting everybody hyped now. Everyone dancing, Singing "calu calai" Making love to their people and throwing big bashes.

The general consensus believes that we've finally won. Victory is ours.

Yet all I see are bodies of the fallen.

Yes, this is a great victory...but not MMA. UFC maybe, but not MMA. If this was a big victory for MMA, we would be hearing about more companies beside the UFC.

At first, I thought this was deja vu. Back in 1987, Vince MacMahon had a total strangle hold on the pro-wrestling industry. He was taking the best pro-wrestlers out of the territories and put them in his league, all the while giving syndicated tapes to local channels to compete with the local promotions in their areas. This two headed beast help popularize...you thought I was going to say pro-wrestling didn't you? No, pro-wrestling was stagnate by the end of '87. WWF is what the people wanted. If you weren't WWF quality back in that time, to hell with ya.

Now we're in 2007.

The same thing is starting to happen now. Don't believe me? Quick, tell me the last local event you were at. Be honest.

None right?

Exactly.

And why not?

It's not UFC quality. Correct. You don't know the fighters. Correct. The promoter doesn't sound like a bald headed fifteen year old. Correct.

Don't feel too bad. I haven't gone to any local events either. Of course, unlike you, I have good reason not to.

If this were about MMA, you'd hear more about the IFL, Pro Elite, BoDog, anybody outside of UFC being promoted. Nah. UFC is the big name.

The UFC can have the worst roster in the history of MMA and people will eat it up because they're too lazy to look around and they'll just lash on the loudest and bright. Just like an angler fish.

And this isn't just MMA. I've seen it happen to a lot of different subjects. Even today.

So when do we start to celebrate?

We celebrate when the sport is fully sanctioned in the US and the world.

We celebrate when jerkwater promoters who don't know the difference between a gogplata to a Go Go Gadget Copter are stopped by the full extent of the law for abusing a clause that affords martial arts full autonomy.

We celebrate when fighters get better pay.

We celebrate when Japan cleans it's act up.

We celebrate when there is stable avenues in the sport for a high volume of fighters.

UFC got on Sports Illustrated. Good for them.

It's just a magazine cover.

PS: NASCAR is Pro-wrestling....but with cars.

PRIDE is to MC5 as UFC is to Rage.

So I'm going through all my LPs, and I pulled out Kick Out The Jams by MC5. Amid the scratches and pops of the record, my thoughts turn on a couple things. The thing that really comes up is how both original and cover versions of the song really reflect what is radiated from both Pride and UFC. The image and dramatic force radiated by both are on totally different levels.

For those not familiar with the song I'll try to be brief. KOTJ was the second song on the same titled album put out by the politically conscious group MC5 (Motor City 5) who will be later label the founders of Punk Rock. One of the big reasons the song was popular was that it started out with the line "And Now It's Time To.....KICK OUT THE JAMS MOTHERFUCKERS!!" The blatant use of "Motherfuckers" and playing a concert for anti-war protesters was very controversial at the time and it lead to the record company, Elektra, dropping the band. The album was and still is considered one of the best live albums so far.

Another reason KOTJ is so popular is that people seem to think there is a political message behind the song. They're pretty much wrong. This is a bullshit song. There is no political context whatsoever. "Kick Out The Jams" was just a musical rant about how bands waste peoples time by just jamming and not playing music and they should just "kick out the jams." On the the other hand, there is the underlying subtext of "being yourself and giving it your all". To give everything you got till you can't give no more.

PRIDE is (or was) the embodiment of that subtext. If you were going out into that ring, you pretty damn well need to be willing to leave it all in the ring because the other guy probably is. Being able to try almost everything possible to either get the win or try your damn hardest to keep the win from your opponent. In the end, whether you win, lose or draw, if you put it all out on the line and put on an enjoyable fight, you both are winners. You'll both will be coming back. You'd get deals and such galore, just because you left it all in the ring.

And that's how it should be. You're not only entertaining and impressing the fans at the event, you're showing to the judges in your match what you are capable of doing, how far you're willing to go in terms of risks taken and what your own willpower can provide in this situation. You just might also impress yourself in the match by see how quick of wits you have and what you can come up with in times of extreme stress. In the end, no matter if your arm is raised or you're on the mat, a bloody mass and out like a light, if you tried your hardest and gave it truly your all, you come out the winner just the same.

Now like all good songs, you're going to have your share of homages, covers and ripoffs. KOTJ is no different. In my listening to the various recordings of KOTJ covers, I've come to the conclusion that no one can do a standout performance of the song. Now before everyone gets their panties in the bunch, I urge you to hear me out as I explain myself.

It is a very simple and logical understanding that someone doing a cover will not be %100 percent as great as the original song. All that's asked of the person doing the cover is that they put a real great effort in either playing the song or totally putting your own spin on the material. Out of all the people who did covers for KOTJ (Rage Against The Machine, Hellacopters, Jeff Buckley, Silverchair, etc.), they do an awesome job playing the song. Awesome job. But everyone totally blows the subtext. In all of the covers, everyone plays the song like it's just another song. There is somehow this...underlining restraint that they have to play the song right. That's total nonsense. If you play the song full hilt, totally get into it, just show your balls and leaving every last bit of energy on the stage, if you fuck up a couple cords or screw up a couple lyrics, it won't matter to anyone because they see that you're totally into the whole song and are pretty much doing the same thing you're doing. Putting energy into the music. All these covers out today are the total blatant use of "motherfucker" line to an invisible band that's "just jamming" and then they totally contradict themselves by just jamming.

Such is the plight of the UFC. Sure, they have great fighters and they do put out wonderful fights. They just don't encourage something of an effort to leave everything in the ring. You have people relying too much on "getting points" on judges scorecards to win. You have people relying on one style to stop and finish opponents instead of challenging themselves and try other avenues. And the overall product turns boring, mediocre or just nothing to write about fully. Sure, you're going to get a couple of great fight out of a UFC card, but when has anyone almost literally gush over a whole UFC card? When have you heard people talk about THE UFC card?

While I do credit Dana White for working with the NJSAC about getting knees on a downed opponent, it will still be up to time and effort before we see any result of this. It should also be noted that even if certain moves are legalized or banned, it's still up to the fighter to bring his S game or not. It is becoming harder and harder to validate theses guys who fight in the UFC as legit fighters if they're not willing to leave everything and more out on that ring. The McCulley/Hardonk fight is a great example of guys going out to fight but aren't willing to go balls out. Hardonk had this match, but didn't put an effort to try to win the match.While the only thing McCulley did was push weight. As the great Ric Flair would say, there are a lot of guys busting their ass to get the opportunity McCulley was given. To let it just waste away with that performance is a slap in the face to them all.

Next month, Zuffa will have full control over Pride. The indications on how it will be run is not good, but then again, weirder things have happened. The future is uncertain.

Will they actually play music or will they just be kicking out jams.

A look at Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in UFC

As many UFC fans now know, former PRIDE heavyweight Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira was introduced as UFC's latest acquisition at UFC 69. Many MMA fans -- both hardcore and casual – have asked me about Nogueira and his potential impact on UFC. Here are some of my thoughts on the fighter known as “Minotauro”.

Most MMA fans know that Big Nog -- as Nogueira is also known -- is a world-class grappler but they tend to forget that he also has Olympic-grade hands. In fact, he had the Brazilian and Cuban Olympic boxing teams begging for him to be on their teams. In the UFC, Nogueira could end up being the catalyst forcing fighters to get serious about their boxing because once he is in that cage and the bell rings, his fists could render a number of opponents unconscious. Nogueira’s punches are crisp, his jab is strong, and anyone who tries to bang it out with him will have a difficult time winning.

Hey! Honor the oyabun. Check out MMA Madness!

So UFC is on Sportscenter. So what?

First of all, I'd like to say great job to Zuffa for getting some semblance of MMA on ESPN. It must have been hard for them to get this far. They totally deserved props.

With that said, I think ESPN and Zuffa could have gone a lot farther with coverage, but with the Powers That Be at ESPN like they are, it's going to be a long time before we see a bit more content to future reports.

I know. I know. "Stop being a pessimist!" "You'll jinx us!" "Don't you want MMA to succeed?" The answer is Yes, I would love to see MMA succeed. But hear me out.

To me...that Sportscenter piece...was really lackluster. It did nothing to promote, it did nothing to inform and it did nothing to validate. It was nothing. In fact, I can do the whole segment in a couple sentences. Here we go:

Ultimate Fighting is the combination of all aspect of martial arts combat put together in a display of unarmed combat.

A reality star who won a chance at a title fight with the UFC Welterweight Champion surprised everyone by winning said championship.

That was the whole gist of the segment. Pitiful ain't it?

First off, they didn't promote Matt Serra as a "veteran fighter". They promoted him as a "reality star". While he did win his chance at the title on The Ultimate Fighter reality show, they made it sound like he was this chump off the street. Like anyone can get a title shot. I hope they do a little more research next time.

Another thing that irked me was that they only shown the title fight, like it was the only fight that mattered. That was very "Boxing" of them to do so. This was an awesome card that did needed some highlighting. If I was given say, thirty secs. to a minute for a package, I would not only put in the title fight, but some highlights of the Cummo/Haynes KO, Garcia/Huerta and also Swick/Okami. They I'd follow it up with some post fight quips. Not only am I showing every aspect of MMA, I'm also getting people to know the fighters as well. One of Boxing's hurting points is that you don't know much about the fighters. This is due to, yes, media outlets just showing title fights. More coverage means more knowledgeable people and also means more profit for everyone. It also dispels the "unpopular" myth. You give it time and effort, sports won't be "not popular enough". They'll be just "sports".

While it was a valiant first effort, I won't be convinced that ESPN is committed to "ultimate fighting" until we see it covered consistently. UFC 70 will be the tipping point as to whether or not ESPN will cover it as "sport" or cover it as "Boxing". If it is covered as "Sport" then all as well. If it's covered as "Boxing", then Zuffa really needs to sit them down and talk to them about the sport. And I mean heart to heart.

But for now, The segment was hype. No substance.

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

1998-2007

As many of you may know by now, the Fertittas have bought PRIDE from DSE and is now running it as a seperate company. They now own the name, the library and the fighter contracts. In a way, they have finally won.

When I had heard the news, to be honest, I didn't want to happen. As a pro-wrestling fan, I and others have been bitter and cynical with these two in one deals and the results there in. As I was reading report after report, I kept hearing RD Reynolds in the back of my head.

Pride was not suppose to die.

I almost was going to call this article "Oct '95 part deux" in honor of the date Nobuhiko Takada's pro wrestling organization, UWFi, merged with New Japan Pro Wrestling. Fast forward twelve years later, and now you have, let's face it, Takada's PRIDE merging with UFC.

But I'm not. PRIDE, in a technical sense, is dead. It wasn't killed by egotistical fighters, bookers who had no clue how to make a fight or managers who throw money at problems rather then give up and coming fighters a chance at the big boys. What killed it was the very old Japanese belief that everybody knows everybody does wrong but it's turns evil if you get caught. Everybody knew the fight scene was in part, run by the Yakuza. Pride got punished when it was proven to be true.

So I should be happy, right? PRIDE is under new management and now everything will be hunky dory and we will finally see who's better who's best.

Not neccisarily.

From the Review Journal...

"This is a sport and we're going to follow the unified rules that were established in New Jersey and then in Nevada," White said. "It's a sport -- mixed martial arts -- and the sport should have the same rules everywhere. As far as I'm concerned, if an organization doesn't follow these rules, it's not MMA. It's something else, but that's not MMA."

Ok, just to make things clear. I'm am not for either rule set. There are many negatives for both. While Pride rules wouldn't be accepted on a social level, Unified rules will not be accepted on a technical level. With that being said, I think it was a really bad descion to totally eradicate the Pride ruleset. I can undrstand getting rid of stomps and soccer kicks. While Japan can accept that part of strategy, Americans aren't wired that way yet. We still have this thing where we have to reject our violent nature for some reason. Knees to a downed opponent is certainly debatable and does deserve debate. I think...when they abolished Pride rules, they got rid of the most important thing of any worth. The Yellow Card System.

For those who dion't follow PRIDE. The yellow card system is a penalty system that was used to stop intentional stalling. If you don't finish the fight or at least try to finish the fight, you were given a yellow card and you lose 10% of your purse. You're allowed two yellow cards and if you continue to stall or get worse by messing to the ref, you got a red card which took away 20-25% of the purse away. This was the whole meat of the whole ruleset. The Fertittas has something good in their hands that they could at least test out in Japan with the Unified rules and they blew it away. It's gone. Kaput! Fin! They wasted a great opportunity.

Also, the "Unified rules = MMA" comment Dana made really made him look like a fool. The Japanesse people are more knowledgeable about the fight game then people in the US. The statement Dana made is pretty much a dare to the japanesse people to leave. As soon as you get the first wrestler that lays and prays in PRIDE, I will garentee a huge chunk of the fanbase will leave. They know fighters when they see them and if you're going to feed them someone very boring be it striking and/or ground and they lay and pray the win, they will be off like a russian bra.

I'm sorry Mr. White, I can not and will not accept that unified rules are a way to go. It has a bias that benifits more simplistic styles and somewhat shun the advanced styles. It favors people who do not put much effort in their training over those who do. Thanks to the Unified rules, you have now made the ground poison.

I will be still watching, but the same intrest I had with PRIDE will not be the same when the Fertittas take control. I and other fans will look for greener pastures and follw new products that try to defy your rule.

And as the line goes from the song I reference in the title.

"I've finally decided my future lies beyond the yellow brick road."

UFC 68 Results

Jamie Varner d Jason Gilliam Sub R1
Gleison Tibau d Jason Dent UJD
Jon Fitch d Luigi Fiorevanti Sub R2
Matt Hamill d Rex Holman TKO (Strikes) R1
Jason Lambert d Renato Sobral KO R2
Matt Hughes d Chris Lytle UJD
Rich Franklin d Jason MacDonald TKO (Towel) R2
Martin Kampman d Drew MacFredries Sub R1
Heavyweight Championship: Randy Couture d Tim Sylvia UJD

Notes

Holman was just a can for Hamill, but it doesn't do anything for Hamill. Laying and hitting can get old quick.

Renato is just having a bad day. No one saw that punch coming in. This should be at least a bit disappointing, but it shouldn't hold Babalu back that much.

I'm sorry folks. Lytle/Hughes is godawful boring. Lytle's never been an exciting fighter. Pairing him with Hughes didn't do Hughes any favors other then show him he's got to brush up on stuff.

Franklin/MacDonald was expected. The outcome probably wasn't, but how it turned out was. Not going to hurt either man though.

How to describe Couture/Sylvia? What's a good analogy? It was like...It was like watching Randy beat on a big fish hanging on a hook and when the fish fell down, Randy would wrestle it. Where the hell was Tim's ground defense? Don't they teach ground defense at MFS?

(sorry this took long. I'm feeling under the weather.)

March Calender

MMA

Mar. 3rd

UFC 68: Heavyweight Title: Tim Sylvia vs. Randy Couture

Mar. 17

IFL: Sabres/Condors, Razorclaws/Andacondas

Mar. 24

WEC 2: Bantamweight Title: Eddie Wineland vs. Chase Beebe, Featherweight Title: Uriah Faber vs. Dominick Cruz, Welterweight Title: Carlos Condit vs. John Alessio

Boxing

Mar. 3

WBC: Jr. Featherweight Title: Israel Vasquez vs. Raphael Marquez

IBF: Flyweight Title: Vic Darchinyan vs. Victor Burgos, Super Middleweight Title: Robert Stiegliz vs. Alejandro Berrio

WBA: Welterweight Title: Miguel Cotto vs. Oktay Urkal

Mar. 7

WBA: Super Middleweight Title: Anthony Mudine vs. Sam Soliman

Mar. 10

IBF: Heavyweight Title: Wladimir Klitschko vs. Ray Austin

WBO: Flyweight Title: Omar Narvaez vs. Brahim Asloum

Mar 16

WBA: Jr. Featherweight Title: Celestino Caballero vs. Ricardo Castillo

Mar 17

WBC: Jr Lightweight Title: Marco Antonio Barrera vs. Juan Manuel Marquez

WBO: Jr. Featherweight Title: Daniel Ponce De Leon vs. Gerry Penalosa

Mar 24

WBA/WBC: Super Middleweight Title: Mikkel Kessler vs. Librado Andrade

Mar 30

WBO: Bantamweight Title: Jhonny Gonzales vs. Irene Pacheco

Pro Wrestling

Mar 3

ROH: FIP Title: TBA vs. Pac

Mar. 4

ROH: Tag Titles: The Briscoes vs. TBA

Mar 11

TNA: Heavyweight Title: Samoa Joe vs. Christian Cage, X Div. Title: Chris Sabin vs. Jerry Lynn.

Mar 30

ROH: TBA

Mar 31

ROH: TBA

Kurt Angle: Built To Spill

Kurt Angle A MMA Debut Again.

So the big fight over one of the most notable names in pro-wrestling has now begun. I thought it would have started sooner. Let's face it. Angle's probably going to go fight with Elite XC. They can deliver a nice check as well as the head of his most hated person, Daniel Puder, thanks to being in partnership with STRIKEFORCE. What's UFC gonna offer him? A fight with a C level fighter and a three year deal to sit on his ass at UFC events? No thank you sir! Better luck next time. Thanks for stopping by.

Do we really need Angle in MMA though?

Check this out. Two (technically three) MMA organizations are throwing large amounts of money at a guy whose physically broke down, mentally inflated and possibly stylistically obsolete. Whatever fight is matched up with Angle, it's pretty much going to look like a freak match where nobody wins. Angle is that big bulk can of tomato juice you can get at a good price at a bulk storehouse.

Now, don't get me wrong. I don't doubt Angle's wrestling ability. I think he's a great wrestler. I think it takes balls to everybody say it with me, "wrestle with a freaking broken neck." Good Good. I also think it takes balls to take on the degenerative sport of pro-wrestling, especially with the combat game like it was back in the day. What had happened though, was he got "spot fever" and instead of getting his neck fixed properly, he opted for a lesser option and to this day, still nag him. While some may argue that Vince had some part in it by overworking him, Angle still could have said no and at least try to recoup. Besides the neck, I seemed to have read reports (I be glad if anyone can confirm this.) that Angle can't lift his arms up fully as well as having multiple concussions. Even if he is on a limited schedule for MMA and even if he did train hard for six to eight months, he still will not be physically ready. His arms and neck will be targets for chokes or submissions.

Mental focus is another aspect of MMA that I don't think Angle has. You need focus to see and understand what your opponent is going to do and how to proper defend against it. You need focus to control yourself as well. Focus helps control cardio and the power of your punches and kicks. My evidence for this is his interviews he did with Bubba the Love Sponge. Angle went on and on during his whole segment degrading Daniel Puder. Calling him "A piece of shit", 'moron", "limited", and pretty much saying he's a wannabe shootfighter*. Now, in my opinion, if I wanted to beat someone, I'd get under my opponent's skin. By getting under his skin, he begins to lose focus and by losing focus, he'll make mistakes. Clearly, Puder has gotten under Angle's skin and if the fight does get made between the two, training or no training, Angle will definitely lose focus and in turn, lose the fight.

While I did worry about his fight technique and wrestling ability being applied to an actual fight, it's good to hear that Angle is looking to go to a good school to build and augment his game. He's also interested in studying under Couture, which is also a big plus. Even though he is an Olympic wrestler, that was a long time ago. The fight game has evolved and mutated to the point that being "pure" is almost a detriment. I wouldn't mind seeing him train at Legends. Now all we need to know now is how much will he retain from working out and learning and how much of that retention will he actually apply to a fight? Will he be like a Matt Lindland, and almost complete fighter who can control the ground effectively or will he be like Rulon Gardner, a wrestler who just wants to dabble into MMA and never get really far as "filling out the requirements" like he always has. This, will be all up to Angle.

* PW Torch around November of last year.

UFC Card Complete and Notes

UFC: Uprising card.

PPV
Tim Sylvia Vs. Randy Couture
Chris Lytle Vs. Matt Hughes
Drew McFedries Vs. Martin Kampmann
Rich Franklin Vs. Jason MacDonald
Jason Lambert Vs. Renato Sobral

Dark Matches
Rex Holman Vs. Matt Hamill
Jon Fitch Vs. Luigi Fioravanti
Gleison Tibau Vs. Jason Dent
Jason Gilliam Vs. Jamie Varner

Notes:

This feels like another "Superstars" card. For those of the non pro-wrestling variety, Superstars was a show that was syndicated by the WWE. It really just consisted of matches made to make talent look good followed by a small mini-feud match to, y'know, keep you watching the show.

Interesting that Hamill is in the dark. I would have put him on PPV. I mean, yeah, his last match was a bit boring, but it was his second match. It would be understandable if it was his third or fourth match. This might possibly be the swing.

If I were to predict the fight of the night by looking at this card, I'd say it would be a tie between McFedries/Kampmann and Lambert/Babalu. Both look like pretty good match ups and they compliment each other in style.

Fight Calender: Feburary

Boxing:

Feb. 10

WBC WW Title: "Sugar" Shane Mosley vs. Luis Collazo

MMA:

Feb. 10

Elite XC: Shamrock vs. Gracie

Feb. 23

IFL: Toronto Dragons/Portland Wolfpack, Chicago Red Bears/NY Pitbulls, Robbie Lawler vs. Eduardo Pamplona

Feb. 24

PRIDE 33: PRIDE MW Championship: Wanderlei Silva vs. Dan Henderson

Pro-Wrestling:

Feb. 11

TNA: TNA Title: Christian Cage vs. Kurt Angle

Feb. 16

ROH: ROH Title: Homicide vs. Jimmy Rave

Feb. 17

ROH: ROH Title: TBA vs. Takeshi Morishima, ROH Tag Titles: Christopher Daniels/Matt Sydal vs. Jack Evans/Shingo

Feb. 18

WWE*: John Cena/Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker/David Batista

NJPW: IWGP Heavyweight Title: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Koji Kanemoto, IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title: Minoru vs. Wataru Inoue, Kurt Angle/Yuji Nagata vs. Travis (Tyson) Tomko/Giant Bernard

Feb. 23

ROH: ROH Title: TBA vs. BJ Whitmer

Feb. 24

ROH: ROH Tag Titles: TBA vs. Jay & Mark Briscoe, Samoa Joe/Homicide vs. Takeshi Morishima/Nigel McGuinness

Feb. 25

NWA: Super Porky vs. Colt Cobana

*While The Smackdown Tag Titles are defended, it will be in a gimmick match and has not been added.