Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including the latest on all of Vince McMahon’s legal cases, Netflix and MAX streaming details, this Corey Graves story, the end of Bellator, the RAW report, mailbag, and tons of other news. A fun show as always so check it out~!
Timestamps: Start: The latest on the Vince McMahon cases 11:00: Commercials on Max, WWE Raw length 22:17: Corey Graves’ tweet, Matt Riddle gone from AAA & signs with MLW 25:43: Ratings 29:17: Bellator as a brand name appears to be dead, Tyson Fury says he’s retired, Holly Holm gone from UFC, UFC 311 still on for LA 37:05: WWE Raw recap 1:00:59: Mailbag
With the UFC calendar ready to kick into gear this weekend, I wrap up my annual MMA year in review series with a look back at October through December 2023, joined by Paul Fontaine.
Some of the highlights in our 80-minute conversation:
The UFC and USADA splitting up and the messy situation that ensued
Francis Ngannou shocking the combat sports world with his decision loss to Tyson Fury
Conor McGregor officially announcing his UFC return date
PFL finally closing the deal on Bellator and their potential upside in a UFC-dominated world
The UFC’s return to Madison Square Garden that saw two new champions crowned without the planned Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic main event
UFC signing a record deal with Bud Light and the backlash that followed
Islam Makhachev continuing his dominance
Leon Edwards closing the door on Colby Covington’s UFC relevancy
Some of Paul’s favorite fights and a prediction for what planned fight might not happen
One of our two traditional biggest issues of the year of the Observer came out this week, the 2023 Hall of Fame issue:
2023 Hall of Fame voting standings for all candidates
Hall of Fame coverage, career highlights of the seven new inductees and one major feature story on a European legend, plus who is off the ballot next year, who will be added to the ballot next year, every first ballot Hall of Famer, every person historically elected with more than 75 percent of the vote and the top 30 in each category for reporters, historians, active pros and retired pros.
Match of the week and performer of the week
A look at Full Gear and Survivor Series
UFC 295 full coverage
The end of an era with Bellator and MMA on Showtime
Coverage of DDT’s Ultimate Party with Chris Jericho, Hiromu Takahashi and a great title match on top
PWG on hiatus and its ever changing role in pro wrestling
The most complete ratings report, demo coverage, competition for the shows and segment-by-segment notes, plus comparisons with one year ago.
Notes on Flip Gordon becoming a regular in CMLL
Newcomers to watch out for including one spectacular newcomer at Arena Mexico
Stardom and All Japan tag tourneys
New Japan tag tournament notes and this week’s shows
Lone Star Shootout from New Japan
Women’s wrestling sets all-time attendance mark
Tony Khan’s Continental Classic
Lots of AEW stars in mainstream acting gigs
International TV ratings
Upcoming ticket advances for WWE & AEW
How times have changed greatly for UFC regarding Conor McGregor
Dana White gos on rampages about sponsors and critics of another sponsor
UFC’s greatest fighters of all-time
New UFC major fights
Bellator champion suspended regarding drug test failure
Fury-Ngannou PPV update
Retired star gets giant money offer to return from Middle East
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Monday Update
Bryan and I will be back tonight with Wrestling Observer Radio covering the Bellator sale to PFL, Raw, AEW injuries, hierarchy change in Japan and more. Our weekend show was Saturday night after Full Gear.
One of our two biggest issues of the year is out right now on the site, the 2023 Hall of Fame issue, on the site with the complete voting, as well as a great story on George Kidd which should easily answer the question of how he got voted in.
Some more notes on the Bellator sale to PFL. Donn Davis was on the MMA Hour today and said that the deal was finalized on Saturday, that they will be announcing a new television deal in about three weeks, that the PFL vs. Bellator champion vs. champion show will be in the first quarter of 2024, likely in February. He also said that Bellator bantamweight champion Patchy Mix and middleweight champion Johnny Eblen won’t be on that show as Bellator doesn’t have tournament champions in those divisions, but the other Bellator champions will face the winners on Friday’s PFL tournaments on that show.
Davis also claimed that Dana White is now worried because 30 percent of the top 25 guys in Fight Matrix are now with his organization, the same as UFC. The actual numbers are 62 percent for UFC and 25 percent for PFL/Bellator. He said they would do two PPV shows next year.
Raw tonight is in Grand Rapids, MI. The expectation is one of the biggest ratings for Monday Night Football in years for the Philadelphia Eagles vs. Kansas City Chiefs game where Taylor Swift will meet the parents of boyfriend Travis Kelce for the first time. To me if Raw does better than 1.4 million viewers and an 0.42 people should be celebrating like crazy. It could do significantly worse and if it does, I wouldn’t read a thing into it. This is one of those ratings that if it’s bad you can just throw it away because it means nothing. Tonight’s show is expected to set up Drew McIntyre and maybe Randy Orton for War Games on Saturday although Smackdown teased they may have changed plans and will go with LA Knight. There will also be a singles match with the member of each men’s War Games team to determine the man advantage, Becky Lynch vs. Xia Li, Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Chad Gable and Raquel Rodriguez vs. Nia Jax. There were just over 7,000 tickets out for the show this morning.
We’re looking for reports from tonight’s show in Grand Rapids with the Main Event bouts and anything else not on the live show to [email protected]
We’re also looking for your thoughts on Full Gear, thumbs up, down or middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected] The reaction to this show was very polarizing, and for that matter to many of the matches. There were people who hated even the best matches whether it be for the violence or the storyline and people who loved those same said matches, people who said show of the year and people who outright hated the show.
Tam Nakano officially vacated her World of Stardom title at the press conference since she won’t be able to return by the 12/2 PPV show in Nagoya. On 11/28, Suzu Suzuki will face Hazuki to go to the 12/2 show in a title match. The opponent will be the winner of a tournament with Maika, Mina Shirakawa, Momo Watnabe and Ami Sohrei. The Goddesses of Stardom tag titles were also vacated due to an injury to Natsupoi, who held the title with Saori Anou. Maika & Megan Bayne, who won the recent tournament, will fight against a team to be named on 12/2 for the vacant titles. Giulia also faces AZM for the New Japan Strong title.
While MJF is in great pain from a dislocated hip, it did pop back in and he is scheduled to appear at TV this week.
WWE from last night in Saginaw, MI:
Sami Zayn b Dominik Mysterio in 10:00 with the helluva kick
Becky Lynch b Zoey Stark in 10:00 with the man handle slam in escaping the Z 360
Omos b Akira Tozawa in 7:00 with a choke slam after MVP distracted Tozawa. MVP offered $10,000 to anyone who could knock Omos off his feet. He teased he’d pick fans to try but Tozawa came out
Cody Rhodes b Damian Priest in 13:00 after Priest went into a unpadded turnbuckle and hit three Cross Rhodes.
Nia Jax b Raquel Rodriguez in 6:00 with the annihilator
Gunther b Chad Gable to keep the IC title with a cradle off a Gable ankle lock
Seth Rollins won a three-way to keep the world title over Drew McIntyre and Shinsuke Nakamura. Rollins pinned Nakamura after Nakamura took both a Claymore kick and a curb stomp. The crowd cheered McIntyre who didn’t play heel until after the match when he blew off Rollins’ handshake (thanks to Christopher Warren and Tom Skulley)
Mark Shapiro, the President and COO of TKO, will be participating in the UBS Global Media and Communications Conference on 12/4.
The New Japan tag tournament continues at 4:30 a.m. Eastern tomorrow morning from Korakuen Hall with these bouts: Hirooki Goto & Yoshi-Hashi vs. Hikuleo & El Phantasmo (IWGP tag champs vs. New Japan Strong tag champs), Taichi & Yuya Uemura vs. Yota Tsuji & Zandokan Jr., Lance Archer & Alex Zane vs Bad Luck Fale &* Jack Bonza and Minoru Suzuki & Yuji Nagata vs. Atlantis Jr. & Soberano Jr.
At press time TKO stock fell to $75.29 with the latest judge ruling in the Cung Le case and the announcement of PFL buying Bellator. I can’t see the latter having any effect at all on UFC, but the court ruling could cost the company a giant amount of money. Plus Judge Boulware ruled that if the Le case is successful, that the second case that will follow, the Kajan Johnson case which is identical, they could file for injunctive relief immediately on completion meaning a bad hit in the first case will likrly result in an immediate bad hit in the second case. It doesn’t look like a smart move for TKO to allow that case to go to trial because the monetary risks could be gigantic.
Also today in the case the court denied UFC’s motion to reopen discovery. One of the things the plaintiffs are arguing would be maximum one-year contracts for MMA fighters which would totally change the industry.
There was little in the Google searches this week related to combat sports. The only thing over the past week to make it was Shakur Stevenson with 100,000 searches for No. 9 on Friday. No UFC or AEW cracking the top 20 on Saturday. Not all AEW PPV’s crack the top 20 but a lot of them do and most UFC shows do
All Japan tag tourney tomorrow at Shin-Kiba in Tokyo has Cyrus & Ryan Davidson vs Katsuhiko Nakajima & Hokuto Omori. The Saito Brothers vs. Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani, Suwama & Hideki Suzuki vs. Hayato Tamura & Galeno del Mal, Ryuki Honda & Yuma Anzai vs. Japan Tokyo Kuroshio (Ikkemen Jiro) & Seigo Tachibana and Kento Miyahara & Yuma Aoyagi vs Shuji Ishikawa & Ren Ayaabe. Miyahara & Aoyagi have been tearing it up so far in the tournament.
Miyahara & Aoyagi vs. Honda & Anzai from yesterday in Nagoya, a 30 minute draw, was said to be even better than their previous match, which was great. Also lots of praise for the Okada & Tanahashi & Ishii vs. Ren Narita & Tomoaki Honma & Ryusuke Taguchi match for the Never trios titles which was far better than expected and Mirai vs. Saori Anou from the Stardom PPV show, although most were saying with the injuries that overall the Stardom PPV show wasn’t anything special.
Miyu Yamashita defends the Tokyo Joshi Pro Princess of Princess title against Delmi Exo on the 12/7 MLW show at the Melrose Ballroom in New York that also includes Alex Kane vs. Matt Cardona for the MLW title and Satoshi Kojima vs. Tom Lawlor. MLW also runs 1/6 with Kings of Colosseum at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia.
Mike Santana vs. Channing Decker with Jerry Lynn as referee will be on the 12/16 Greektown Wrestling show in Toronto.
GCW from Friday night in Seattle: Jordan Oliver b Alex Price, MaKi Itoh b Nicole Matthews, Jimmy Lloyd NC Sawyer Wreck, Kevin Ku & Dominic Garrini retained the tag titles over Lloyd & Wreck, The Bollywood Boz and Manders & Mance Warner, Gringo Loco & Arez & Latigo b Laredo Kid & Rey Horus & Aramis, Santana Jackson b Matt Cardona, Effy & Allie Katch & Dark Sheik b Judas Icarus & Travis Williams & Evan Rivers, Blake Christian b Schaff to keep the GCW title, Joey Janela b Mike Bailey
Defy from Saturday night in Seattle: Sebastian Wolfe b Matt Brannigan, Cody Chhun b Gringo Loco to win the Primolucha title, Guillermo Rosas b Thiccy Riccy, Bollywood Boys b Effy & Curry Man to keep the Defy tag titles, Shaff b Jordan Oliver to keep the Northwest title, Vert Vien b Allie Katch to keep the Defy women’s title, Judas Icarus & Travis Williams & Evan Rivers b Nick Gage & Mike Bailey & Artemis Spencer, KENTA b Joey Janela to retain the Defy title.
Smackdown on Friday in Chicago is at 15,338 tickets out. After expanding capacity, they have 2,000 tickets out that are being priced at $20. For AEW’s Dynamite on Wednesday, they are up to 3,700 tickets out and if you are in the area if you use the code BG2XP1 you can get two tickets for $14.50 each plus fees. So while not the kind of crowd AEW has drawn there in the past, they will probably wind up above 4,000 at Wintrust Arena in Chicago which isn’t bad with two WWE shows including Survivor Series this week.
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Friday Update
Terry Funk’s funeral took place this afternoon in Amarillo. I don’t believe it was taped and wasn’t able to see it. Among those in attendance were Dory Funk Jr., Ted DiBiase, Manny Fernandez, Chris Hero, Tommy Dreamer, C.M. Punk, Dan Spivey, Joe Malenko, Stan Hansen, Tully Blanchard, Don Frye, Barry Blaustein and Mark Youngblood. We hope to have more on it later. It’s still hard to believe he isn’t with us anymore.
We have a big weekend of shows coming up. Garrett and I just finished our first show together without a guest in about a month, talking about the news of the week, All In, C.M. Punk and Jack Perry as well as some stories on Terry Funk and the upcoming WWE and AEW PPV shows. Bryan and I will be back Saturday and Sunday nights covering the PPV shows.
Front Office Sports reported on the PFL/Bellator sale talks. The story said that Bellator is valued at as much as $500 million and that the deal would be primarily cash but that Paramount, the owners of Bellator, would also get a percentage of the new company. They said it’s not clear if the deal goes through if they will merge into one company or continue as two separate entities but have matches between the promotions. Saudi Arabia has just invested $100 million in the PFL, which caused stock market concern for both WWE and Endeavor because of the idea Saudi Arabia funding a new MMA group could challenge UFC’s domination. The stock market freaked out yesterday and WWE stock tumbled, but today it came back and closed at $104.58 once people realized this won’t hurt WWE business at all and UFC’s financial deals are locked in for years.
As noted in the new issue, the announcement of the Sukeban promotion came this morning with the debut show on 9/21 at Capitale, a 750-seat theater in New York City. The show sold out instantly with tickets going on sale today. The show has top Japanese women, many of whom have appeared with Stardom this year, with new characters and put into different factions. The main event of the first show has Ichigo Sayaka (Unagi Sayaka) vs Countess Saoori (Saori Anou) with the winner going into a championship match on the second show. The trailer for the promotion.
Announced as signed to long-term deals to Sukeban are Ram Kaichow (as Atomic Banshee), Kaori Yoneyama (as Otaku-chan), AOI (as Midnight Player, Sayaka, Maya Yukihi (as Maya Mamushi), Saki (as Saki Bimi), Ancham (as Babyface), Yuu (as Crush Yuu), Rikio Iaiju (as Rik Blondie, Anou, Arisa Nakajima (as Commander Nakajima), Risa Sera (as Lady Antoinette) and Miyuki Takase (as Queen of Hearts).
Smackdown tonight features the return of John Cena in Hershey, PA. The show is sold out with 8,848 fans. Also announced is the return of Jimmy Uso, a Miz and LA Knight face-to-face segment to set up their match on Saturday’s PPV show in Pittsburgh, and Rey Mysterio & Santos Escobar vs. Autin Theory & Grayson Waller.
AEW announced Dennis Rodman appearing on tomorrow’s Collision show in Chicago at the United Center. Rodman was already in town for Conrad Thompson’s Starrcast event. AEW had 4,086 tickets out as of today for the show. There will be angles shot on the show for the PPV on Sunday. Ricky Steamboat will be there but the tease of him doing a strap match with Ricky Starks is to set up a match with someone against Starks. Someone other than CM Punk has been asked to do the match but if Punk is to be on the PPV this would in theory be the spot. Punk was still suspended as of today.
For what it’s worth we are told that at the WWE Store in Pittsburgh they have all the matches and segments spread on the walls of the store and have a Cody Rhodes-Grayson Waller segment with John Cena in the picture. (thanks to Tyler Dawson)
Rampage at 10 p.m. tonight on TNT:
Tag Team Battle Royal for a PPV shot at MJF & Adam Cole on Sunday
El Hijo del Vikingo & Nick Wayne vs. Kip Sabian & Gringo Loco
Adam Page vs Bryan Keith
Willow Nightingale & Skye Blue vs Taya Valkyrie & Anna Jay
The Vikingo match got great reviews.
UFC is tomorrow in Paris on ESPN+ starting at Noon Eastern time:
Zarah Fairn (140) vs. Jacqueline Cavalcanti (139)
Farid Basharat (136) vs. Keydson Rodrigues (134.5)
Nora Cornolle (136) vs. Joselyne Edwards (136)
Ange Loosa (171) vs. Rhys McKee (171)
Taylor Lapilus (135) vs. Caolan Loughran (136)
Morgan Charriere (146) vs. Manolo Aeccini (146)
William Gomis (146) vs. Yanis Ghemmouri (146)
Volkan Oezdemir (205) vs. Bogdan Guskov (205)
Benoit Saint Denis (156) vs. Thiago Moises (156)
Manon Fiorot (125) vs. Rose Namajunas (125)
Cyril Gane (250) vs Serghei Spivac (256)
Edge auctioned off his Toronto wrestling gear and gave 100 percent of the proceeds for Sami Zayn’s Syria campaign of having mobile hospitals in war-torn areas.
MLW tapes Sunday at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia with Alex Kane vs. Willie Mack for the MLW title, Jacob Fatu vs. Rickey Shane Page for the National title in a weapons of mass destruction match, Matt Cardona vs. Mance Warner in a kiss my foot match Maki Itoh vs B3CCA for a women’s title shot and Tracy Williams vs. Ichiban on the FITE+ live show. There will also be a Fusion TV taping. The show starts at 6 p.m. Eastern.
Pablo Frage, a Texas referee filed suit against Devon Nicholson and Texas promoter Jerry Bostic due to injuries suffered while working a match with Nicholson. He is asking for more than $250,000 alleging that Nicholson was carrying a beer and stumbling and shouldn’t have been allowed to perform. The lawsuit claimed Frage was supposed to cut himself in doing an angle but Nicholson wasn’t pleased with the amount of blood and put him in a choke and stabbed him in the head multiple times with a spike. Frage said he lost consciousness and with no medical staff on site, was rushed to the hospital where he received seven staples. He said since this incident in December 2021, he has continued so suffer from headaches, memory problems, depression and has scars
GCW and Renegades of Wrestling did a joint show in Sydney, Australia last Friday as part of a three-show tour and drew 350 fans. Maki Itoh was really over. El Hijo del Vikingo beat Gringo Loco in an AAA Mega title match in the main event. Caveman Ugg kept the Renegades of Wrestling title over Joey Janela. The crowd knew all the GCW guys like Allie Katch and Effy. Itoh beat Charli Evans. Steph De Lander also returned to Australia for this tour. People were raving about Vikingo. On Saturday in Melbourne, the ROW champ Aysha beat Itoh and Vikingo kept the title over Emman Azman. On Sunday in Brisbane, Itoh beat Allie Katch, Outback Adam beat Janela, and Vikingo retained his title over Mitch Ryder. (thanks to Dan Lennard and Kirk Beattie)
Paul Felder, a UFC commentator, announced that he has put his name back in the USADA testing pool. He noted that his hips are bad and he is not sure if he will fight again, but that he is back training and hopes to fight guys around his own age if he does fight.
Combate Global is on Paramount and Univision tomorrow night as well as Paramount + with a main event of Jose Ferriera (11-0) vs. Leonardo Morales (12-7).
CPW on 9/9 in Fairplay, WV with Ricky Morton, Tony Atlas and Shane Douglas doing meet and greets.
The debut of Collision, AEW’s ratings decline and reasons and what the return of Punk will tell us
The problems Collision will have from the get go
Why the success of Collision is so important financially to AEW
The reaction as far as cheering and booing for Punk outside of Chicago and what is far more important than booing or cheering
Oversaturation of television in the marketplace
Ticket sales for Collision and all AEW & WWE events this summer
Update on WWE negotiations
Value of WWE to a new station with interest
The situation with WBD and potentially getting WWE
How many homes the key stations that could carry WWE & AEW are in right now
Conor McGregor sexual assault charge
Lawyer Eric Anderson breaks down the judges ruling to continue the MLW lawsuit against WWE, WWE’s arguments on antitrust, the judges reaction and what comes next
B.J. Whitmer fired
Full details on G-1 Climax tournament, the blocks, the favorites, the key matches and some storylines to look for going in
Update on the Forbidden Door show and business and key things to learn from about the business results
UFC 289 coverage including the retirement of Amanda Nunes, why, what about the titles she retires and other storyline notes from the most recent show and business notes as well
Updates on WWE Money in the Bank
Full coverage of All Together Now, the Japanese show with New Japan, All Japan and NOAH’s top talent and how it went down
Coverage of Final X
The most detailed look at the ratings of the wrestling and MMA shows this past week, with key breakdowns, segment-by-segment, who watches, rankings in sports and entertainment for the week
An attempt to make a superstar with a new character later this month
Update on Rush in AAA and TripleMania
New Japan Strong goes to Japan
More on the longest world title reigns in wrestling history
Movie on wrestling star to be released in September
Against All Odds results and Slammiversary notes
New AEW hires
What was Brock Lesnar’s biggest-ever one night payoff?
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Ordering Info:
Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
Monday Update
Bryan and I will be back tonight talking the latest wrestling news as well as covering Raw, Forbidden Door and more.
MLW sent out this press release regarding the antitrust lawsuit surviving WWE’s attempts to have it thrown out of court, writing:
NEW YORK, NY – Kasowitz Benson Torres, on behalf of professional wrestling promotion company MLW Media, has defeated a motion to dismiss MLW’s amended complaint asserting federal antitrust and state law unfair competition claims against World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) for monopolizing and attempting to monopolize the market for the sale or licensing of media rights to professional wrestling events in the United States. MLW’s claims will now proceed to discovery. In denying the motion, Judge Edward J. Davila, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, held that MLW had sufficiently alleged all four elements of its antitrust claims— relevant market, market power, anticompetitive conduct and antitrust injury-and declined to dismiss the state law claims. Marc E. Kasowitz stated “We are pleased with Judge Davila’s well-reasoned opinion and look forward to recovering the substantial damages that MLW has suffered as a result of WWE’s many years of egregious anticompetitive behavior.”The Kasowitz Benson Torres team representing MLW Media is led by partner Marc E. Kasowitz and includes partners Christine A. Montenegro, Nicholas A. Rendino and Jason S. Takenouchi.
One thing I want to mention MLW has a very strong legal team. Still, this is a very formidable case and it’s noteworthy that WWE and UFC are now both being sued for antitrust reasons.
Both Bellator and the PFL at their weekend shows saw the public faces of the company, Scott Coker and Ray Sefo, acknowledge the talks of PFL buying Bellator. It’s definitely not a done deal but it’s serious enough that both sides are now acknowledging it. Such a deal would conclusively make PFL the No. 2 promotion in the world. Whether they would be kept separate or merged is unknown but we had heard of late that ESPN was interested in expanding its MMA coverage as far as aside from UFC.
Raw tonight is from the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland. Seth Rollins has an open challenge for the World heavyweight title a day before his title defense with Bron Breakker so they are pushing him as a fighting champion. Logan Paul is also on the show tonight. Trish Stratus faces Raquel Rodriguez in the final MITB qualifying match. Other bouts are Rhea Ripley vs. Natalya non-title, Matt Riddle vs. Ludvig Kaiser and Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Bronson Reed. They had more than 10,000 tickets out as of earlier today and keep in mind the last time in the market they did 5,600 for a Raw in December. Breakker is in Cleveland so expect him on the show to build things up for tomorrow. Tommaso Ciampa is also backstage.
Naomichi Marufuji will be holding a press conference today. We don’t know past it is supposed to be something significant.
Because today is the Juneteenth holiday, Nielsen ratings are delayed this week. The Friday numbers, normally in today, will be out tomorrow. Fast Nationals do indicate a big number for Smackdown. The Collision debut ratings will be out Wednesday morning and the Raw rating will be out Wednesday at just after 4 p.m. Eastern.
Now that people know what Collision is and that C.M. Punk is on it, tickets have moved very well since Saturday in several markets. Toronto for this coming week has topped 3,000 which I wouldn’t call good, but was great considering where it was two weeks ago. Hamilton for next week moved more than 600 tickets since doing a low-price ticket offer and is near 1,500 which isn’t good considering it’s an NBA sized building, but it was only 800 a few days ago. But the cheap four pack is no longer available even though they’ve got a ton of tickets they can move.
Regarding TSN in Canada and airing AEW Rampage and Collision, Paul Fontaine noted that when Rampage was in Canada, it was aired on TSN television (usually it’s only streaming). So he suspects that could be why the 6/30 Rampage (taped in Hamilton) will air on TSN television and why Collision airs live from Toronto this coming Saturday on TSN 5.
Wednesday’s Dynamite show has a chance to sellout Wintrust Arena in Chicago. It may fall a little short but it is at the 6,000 mark and 7,000 is a sellout.
The C.M. Punk promo did 1.1 million views which would be the largest for an AEW segment in a long time, although the Chris Jericho-Sting faceoff did 888,000, also very large for that.
WWE is pushing this week as 25 years of Edge, who made his debut match on Raw on June 22, 1998.
WWE’s Samantha Irvin sang the national anthem before the Red Sox vs. Yankees game last night in Boston. They noted you could see her every Monday night on Raw. She lives in New Bedford, MA. Correspondent Arya Witner said she showed an amazing singing voice.
The full card for tomorrow’s NXT Gold Rush is Seth Rollins vs. Bron Breakker for the NXT title, Edris Enofe & Malik Blade vs. Josh Briggs & Brooks Jensen vs. Hank Walker & Tank Ledger for the tag title, Wes Lee vs. Tyler Bate for the North American title with Mustafa Ali as referee, Cora Jade vs Dana Brooke, Valentina Feroz & Yulisa Leon vs. Lash Legend & Jakara Jackson plus a Chase U pep rally for Thea Hail (who faces Tiffany Stratton for the women’s tile next week and Carmelo Hayes and Baron Corbin have a face-to-face to set up their match for next week.
A lot of notes on today in history. Today is the 21st anniversary of the first Impact event. It would have been the 85th birthday of Wahoo McDaniel. Yesterday would have been the 77th birthday of Bruiser Brody, who the Best Brawler award is named after.
New York State Senator Tim Kennedy has introduced a bill looking at reviewing the athletic commission bylaws for pro wrestling, and hoping to have it regulated differently than boxing and MMA.
Other Notes
Pro Wrestling Vision’s weekend shows in Sanford, DeBary and Orlando were canceled due to the arrest of Chasyn Rance, who runs the shows after being pulled over and it was serious enough that he was taken in. Team Vision Dojo sent a release claiming he was no driving under the influence but was driving aggressively to pass other drivers an there were no accidents and nobody was harmed. But they in the release said if Rance was drinking and driving it would be a strike on Rance and actions will be taken but that Rance messaged it was reckless driving and if that’s the case he will be back for teaching classes classes this week.
Defy runs Saturday in Portland, OR at the Wonder Ballroom with El Hijo del Vikingo vs. Komander, which basically means neither will be on the Collision/ROH tapings, plus Second Gear Crew vs. Bollywood Boyz in a street fight, Laredo Kid vs. Aramis vs. Gringo Loco and Vert Vixen & Viva Van vs Amira & Cat Power. they also run Saturday in Portland, OR with Bollywood Boyz vs. Juventud Guerrera & Matt Cross, Spike Trivet vs Artemis Spencer for the Progress world title and Vixen vs. Nicole Matthews vs. Session Moth Martina vs. Allie Katch for the women’s title,Charlie Crowley vs Gringo Loco and Schaff vs. Bryan Keith. They also run Sunday at 3 p.m. in Toronto before Forbidden Door.
MMA Mania reported that 58-year old Mark Coleman, who last fought in MMA 13 ears ago, will be fighting at a Celebrity Boxing show on 10/14 against Montell Griffin, 53, who was a very real boxer in his heyday with wins over James Toney and Roy Jones Jr (when beating Jones was a big thing still). As note is that both competed in the 1992 Olympics for the U.S., Coleman in wrestling and Griffin in boxing. As somebody who really likes Mark Coleman on a personal basis, this really saddens me.
In this week’s issue *Complete Royal Rumble coverage *Match and performer of the week *Highlights of the Rumble *The story of the Reigns-Zayn angle *Why Reigns vs. Zayn won’t be happening at WrestleMania *Records set at Royal Rumble *How many people watched Royal Rumble on Peacock *The 15 largest gates in pro wrestling history *PPV crossover with Full Gear and Survivor Series *Elimination Chamber update *Wrestlemania update *Return of Pat McAfee *WrestleMania sponsorship *Nick Khan talks WWE sale *Khan talks about the next rights deals *More on the Vince McMahon investigation and how much it cost WWE so far *WWE business numbers for 2022 *A look at the career of Fedor Emelianenko as he has his retirement fight *What pro wrestler brought Fedor into prominence *What former pro wrestling promotion did he first become a star in *A look at hs glory days in Pride *Who is the best heavyweight ever *The life and times of Lanny Poffo *His career high points *Winning the world tag team title at the age of 20 *Feuding with his brother *The big name historically Randy Savage was to feud with that never happened *The funeral of Jay Briscoe *Another new lawsuit filed trying to get Vince McMahon out of power *Legendary enhancement wrestler Kenny Jay passes away and the night he had a match with Muhammad Ali *Why he never became a bigger star *The story behind his match with Ali *2022 Wrestling Observer Awards allot *The most detailed look at the television ratings over the past week *International TV ratings for AEW and WWE *Streaming ratings for AEW & WWE *Ticket sales for upcoming shows *One of the oldest titles in history defended on Jericho cruise *Keiji Muto struggles through retirement matches *New Japan changes with New Japan Strong *Mercedes Mone talks her new Japan debut *Hiroshi Hase in controversy over doing a wrestling match last month *Why Kota Ibushi did Bloodsport *Thought on AEW doing house shows *Difference between AEW and WWE fans *Thoughts on MJF vs. Takeshita *New A&E wrestling schedule
Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
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In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
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Sunday Update
We’ve got two weekend shows up on the site. Our Friday show was with Adam Cole talking about all kinds of different things related to his career, his recovery from concussions, and growing up as a fan. Last night we did a show covering NXT Vengeance, the Friday shows, Fedor’s retirement and Lanny Poffo. Bryan and I will be back tomorrow night covering the latest news.
Regarding the story about WWE allowing NXT talent to work indies, this is basically what we’ve heard. Shawn Michaels on the post-show press conference said that it was just a one-time favor for Booker T, that Ivy Nile will be working a show for Booker T’s Reality of Wrestling show in Texas this coming Saturday night. We ere told by those in WWE that right now this only relates to Booker’s promotion. However, there are other independent promoters who have been told that if it goes well, they could open the door to working with them. Given Nick Khan has talked about a WWE sale within three months, any decision today could be completely different with new ownership anyway.
Even though it looked broken X-rays showed Dijak’s finger wasn’t broken last night.
The fast nationals for last night’s Bellator show on CBS were 928,000 viewers and an 0.15 in 18-49. This would not include the West Coast (except the Las Vegas market) which aired the show out of prime time. But the number was a major disappointment. The final number will be up a little from that number. Bu it won’t be a good number for CBS prime time. Last Saturday in the same time slot the network did 2,492,000 viewers and 0.22 in 18-49. They didn’t announce a return date which wasn’t a good sign. The show aired at different times. The actual rating won’t come out until Tuesday morning. In Providence, RI it didn’t run due to a local telethon. Las Vegas ran it on a three-hour tape delay. (thanks to Arya Witner)
We’re looking for your thoughts on these shows: *NXT Vengeance Day from last night *New Japan New Beginning in Sapporo from Saturday *New Japan New Beginning in Sapporo from Sunday *Stardom anniversary show in Osaka You can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]
We’re also looking for reports from tonight’s WWE house show in Pensacola, FL, and last night’s MLW TV tapings from Philadelphia. We’re looking for results, finishes, angles, etc. to [email protected]
There was just under 5,000 tickets out for the Pensacola show tonight.
WWE results from last night in Columbus, GA: Jimmy Uso & Solo Sikoa b Butch & Ridge Holland Candice LeRae b Piper Niven with a small package Braun Strowman & Ricochet b Ludvig Kaiser & Giovanni Vinci Gunther b Sheamus to keep the IC title Bray Wyatt b LA Knight in a black light street fight Charlotte Flair won over Liv Morgan and Sonya Deville to keep the Smackdown women’s title. Flair beat Deville with the figure 8 Bianca Belair b Bayley via DQ to keep the Raw women’s title when Iyo Sky interfered. Becky Lynch made the save Belair & Lynch b Bayley & Sky when Belair pinned Bayley after the KOD Cody Rhodes b Seth Rollins with crossroads (thanks to Jordan Ferguson)
As of earlier today, last night’s UFC show headlined by Derrick Lewis’ loss to Serghei Spivac had 200,000 searches making it the single most searched for item on the Internet. Bellator was No. 11 at 100,000. The NXT Vengeance show failed too crack the top 20, and that would be 20,000. During the week, no other item relating to wrestling, boxing or MMA hit the top 20 any other day.
For last night’s UFC, there was a controversy in the Doo Ho Choi vs. Kyle Nelson judging. Dana White said he thought Choi won. Judge Adelaide Byrd gave Choi all three rounds but with he point docked that would make it 29-27. Eric Colon had it 28-28 with Choi winning the first and Nelson the second and third even with the point docked. Chris Lee gave Choi the first, Nelson the second and had the third even with the point docked. 82 percent of the reporters cards were 29-27 for Choi.
REELZ TV has a documentary on Chyna from 9-10 p.m. I was interviewed for the piece over the summer. At 10 p.m. they have a documentary on Owen Hart and at 11 p.m. they have a documentary on Roddy Piper. This all leads up to Tuesday’s debut of MLW at 10 p.m. on the station.
Rampage right now is scheduled to air at 7 p.m. Eastern on 2/17 due to NBA programming (thanks to David Wolf)
Reader Brian Mazza wrote this to us after last night’s show on Lanny Poffo: “After listening to your podcast today with Mary Fries on Lanny Poffo, it reminded me of a very touching story from a meeting I had with him. I was helping out a friend who managed the Pro Wrestling HOF in Amsterdam, NY. Lanny came for a signing one weekend, and I was there to help manage things with my then 4 year old twins, Sam and Sophia (they may have been 3, this was either in 2014 or 2015). Anyway, I was wearing a Boston Red Sox cap or shirt when I met Lanny, and he wanted to know my twins’ names, and all about them. He took the time to ask if we’d like to hear a poem he wrote about Boston and the Red Sox.. He started and stopped, searched for his words, acting almost a bit embarrassed he had to stop to remember something. Then it clicked for him, and he rattled off the most amazing poem about Boston, the Sox, Ted Williams, Yaz, Fenway Park, and all that goes with it’s long history. It was absolutely amazing. I didn’t know what to say other than thank him and tell him how incredible that was. He finished off with asking if he could give my daughter Sophia a kiss on the cheek, and he did. She and Sam were very shy but mesmerized by his voice and rhyme. It was something that I will always remember, mainly for how he took something so random as a Red Sox hat and he went through his mental rolodex to pull out an amazing poem he had created. Truly one of a kind, and so great to my young kids.”
Bill Goldberg and the Young Bucks have been announced for autograph signigs at WrestleCon in Los Angeles over WrestleMania weekend.
Other Notes
American X Wrestling, which is Kevin Kelly’s promotion in Allentown, PA, has announced American Dreams on 2/18 at the Hamburg Field House. One of the events will be a tug of war with the Stars of Special Olympics in Pennsylvania vs. AXW wrestlers
Amanda Leve was awarded a PFL contract in the featherweight division after beat beat Mongolia’s Naranjargal Stend-Ayush on the Friday night show. The judging panel of Randy Couture, Paige VanZant and Tyron Woodley awarded Leve a contract.
Combat FC announced hat Michelle Waterson will make her debut with the group as an announcer on this Friday’s show in Boston. The show will air on UFC Fight Pass at 9 p.m. Eastern with Waterson working with Sean Wheelock.
House of Glory dedicated a show on Friday night in Queens, NY to Jay Briscoe with these results: Mane Event b Amazing Red & Brian XL to keep the tag titles, Mighty Mante b Nolo Kitano to keep the cruiserweight title, Violette b Viva Van to keep the women’s title , Encore won six-way over Lio Rush, Smiley, Daron Richardson, Ichiban and Raheem Royal, Low Ki b Detective James, Charles Mason b Bryan Keith to keep the Crown Jewel title, Jacob Fatu b JTG t keep the HOG title. Next show is 3/10. Kushida debuts on that show along with Fatu and The Mane Event.
Sami Callihan’s Wrestling Revolver from Friday night in Dayton, OH: Evil Uno b Jake Crist, Marina Shafir b Blair Onyx, Mike Bailey won over Madman Fulton, Gringo Loco, Jessica, Jarrett Diaz and Tyler Matrix, Wheeler Yuta b JT Dunn under Pure rules, Steve Maclin b Crash Jaxson in a no DQ match to keep the Revolver title, Ace Austin & Chis Bey b Jake Manning & Dan the Dad to win the Revolver tag titles, Billie Starkz b Allie Katch, Alex Shelley b Rich Swann to keep the Remix title, Myron Reed & Trey Miguel & Zachary Wentz b Mance Warner & Manders & Matthew Justice. Next show is 3/4 n Clive, IA.
West Coast Pro from last night in San Francisco: Alan Angels & Kevin Blackwood b Chupacabra & Lazarus, Abigail Warren b Allie Katch, Super Best b Jordan Cruz, Vinnie Massaro & Bret the Threat b ?, Masha Slamovich b Brooke Havoc, Lee Moriarty & G-Rogue & Alpha Zo b Jack Cartwheel & Starboy Charlie & Kevin Knight, Mike Bailey b Vie To, Nick Wayne d Titus Alexander 30:00. There was a guy in a megaphone at the show who made a lot of noise and the promotion announced today that megaphones are banned from future shows. They announced 3/4 at the United Irish Cultural Center in San Francisco with Slamovich vs. Sandra Moone plus Lita as a special guest. They announced a 4/7 show featuring Aja Kong. (thanks to Joe McClelland)
Warrior Wrestling on 2/18 in Chicago at Thalia Hall has El Hijo del Vikingo defending the Lucha title against Black Taurus and Aramis in a three-way match.
Roman Reigns schedule in detail, what he is working, next title defense, current plans on his biggest summer match.
Behind the issues with Kota Ibushi and New Japan, where they started, where it stands and who is trying to smooth things over
WrestleMania Backlash, business numbers, match-by-match with star ratings and poll results
Update on all the big AEW & WWE summer shows, how tickets are moving, secondary market interest and million dollar gates
The unique ending of the UFC strawweight title reign by Rose Namajunas and what it says about scoring, cornering and how open scoring plays a part in this
Complete UFC 274 coverage with PPV numbers, TV numbers, match-by-match, what next and more
The Hall of Fame career of Daniel Cormier, someone who made it to the top in two different sports and becoming a UFC champion having never trained in striking until nearly the age of 30
Major joint promotion show lineup
Ratings for the past week, where wrestling ranks on cable, where AEW ranks as far as youngest skewing sports shows, how each AEW segment did, and realistic comparisons with last year’s numbers
Wrestling at Arena Mexico
Juice Robinson and his NJPW contract
Best of the Super Juniors notes
Tammy Sytch updates including sad situation with Bill DeMott
Ted DiBiase sued by Mississippi Department of Human Services
The life of popular referee and office person Charlie Smith of GCW fame
Ordering Info: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
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For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
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Friday News Update
Garrett and I will be doing Wrestling Observer Radio later today talking the news of the week and the current issue of the Observer.
Showtime just finished Bellator today. Logan Storley, a former Junior Hodge winner, captured the interim welterweight title beating Michael Page via decision using his wrestling.
Smackdown tonight on FOX has Naomi & Sasha Banks defending the women’s tag titles against Natalya & Shayna Baszler, plus Kofi Kingston vs. Butch and Randy Orton & Riddle will appear. Locally in Wilkes-Barre they are advertising a dark match with Bianca Belair vs. Becky Lynch vs. Rhea Ripley for the Raw women’s title.
A boxing show in Abu Dhabi with Floyd Mayweather and Anderson Silva scheduled to take place tomorrow in Dubai was canceled at the last minute with everyone in the country due to the death of UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The country ordered a three-day suspension of work to mourn meaning they had to cancel the show.
For the weekend, our only poll will be for the New Japan show on Saturday night in Washington,DC, which is headlined by Hiroshi Tanahashi defending the U.S. title against Jon Moxley, Juice Robinson and Will Ospreay. You can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]
We are looking for live reports on these shows this weekend:
Smackdown in Wilkes-Barre, PA (dark matches only)
Saturday night in Florence, SC
Sunday night in Roanoke, VA
We’re looking for results, finishes and highlights to [email protected]
UFC tomorrow is scheduled for ESPN at 7:30 p.m. with the main card at 10 p.m. on ESPN 2
Nick Maximov (184.5) vs. Andre Petroski (185)
Tatsuro Taira (125) vs. Carlos Candelario (126)
Virna Jandiroba (115) vs. Angela Hill (115.5)
Michael Johnson (155) vs. Alan Patrick (156)
Viviane Araujo (125) vs. Andrea Lee (125)
Jake Hadley (125.5) vs. Allan Nascimento (125.5)
Frank Camacho (155) vs. Manuel Torres (155.5)
Katlyn Chookagian (125.5) vs. Amanda Ribas (125.5)
Davey Grant (135.5) vs. Louis Smolka (136)
Ryan Spann (206) vs. Ion Cutelaba (205)
Jan Blachowicz (205.5) vs. Aleksander Rakic (205)
The New Japan Best of the Super Juniors tournament begins on Sunday.
The Kansas Athletic Commission will be the first in the nation to adopt fighter and corner safely licensing protocols. Concussion related education is part of the new protocols.
UFC
Jim Miller vs. Bobby Green looks to be happening on the 7/2 show according to MMA Fighting.
Michelle Waterson vs. Amanda Lemos is set for the 7/16 show as reported by Ariel Helwani.
Terrence McKinney vs. Erick Gonzalez is set for 8/6 according to MMA Junkie.
Vicente Luque vs. Geoff Neal is set for 8/6 according to ESPN.
Other Notes
Legacy Fighting Championships on UFC Fight Pass on 6/10 from the Bell County Expo Center in Belton, TX (a building the Von Erichs worked regularly in the 80s) is headlined by Muin Gafurov (17-4) vs. Herberth Sousa (15-1).
The LFA has a show at 9 p.m. Eastern tonight on UFC Fight Pass headlined by Italo Gomes vs. Meiquizael Costa.
MCW on Sunday on FITE has the Hardy Boys vs. Mike Bennett & Matt Taven, Ken Dixon vs. Moses vs. Brian Johnson vs. Nick Aldis, Mike Bailey vs. Joey Janela, Gia Scott vs. Mandy Leon, Action Andretti vs. Ninja Mack, AQA vs. KiLynn King and more. There is also a convention at Benifield Sports in Baltimore before the show with Sting, Britt Baker, Road Dogg, Billy Gunn, Hardys,Sammy Guevara, Tay Conti, Johnny Gargano, Pentagon Jr., Rey Fenix,Thunder Rosa, Jake Roberts, Toni Storm, Anna Jay, Kris Statlander, Rikishi and Demolition.
559 Fights on 5/21 in Visalia, CA at the Convention Center.
Ordering Info: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
Friday News Update
We are looking for reports from Smackdown tonight in Albany, NY. They will be taping both tonight’s show and next Friday night’s show tonight, so we’re looking for next week’s notes and any dark matches to [email protected]
Announced for tonight is Jey Uso vs. Riddle, Drew McIntyre vs. Sami Zayn in a lumberjack match, and a Ronda Rousey-Charlotte Flair contract signing for their I Quit match.
Rampage is tonight at 10 p.m. Eastern on TNT
Adam Cole vs. Tomohiro Ishii in an Owen Hart Cup qualifying match
Lance Archer vs. Serpentico
Eddie Kingston vs. Daniel Garcia – Everyone barred from ringside
Jade Cargill vs. Marina Shafir for the TBS title
Reports were Cole vs. Ishii was tremendous and Kingston vs. Garcia was top notch as well.
Bellator runs tonight and tomorrow night on Showtime. Tonight’s show starts at 10 p.m. Eastern:
Manny Muro (160) vs. Nate Andrews (159.2)
Grant Neal (204.2) vs. Christian Edwards (204.4)
Jornel Lugo (134.8) vs. Danny Sabatello (134.6) in a bantamweight tournament wild card match
Enrique Barzola (139.6) vs. Nikita Mikhailov (139.4) in a bantamweight tournament wild card match
Julianna Velasquez (124.8) vs. Liz Carmouche (125.0) for the Bellator flyweight title
Tonight’s show is their version of a real Tribute to the Troops show in the sense no tickets were sold the public and those at the show are servicemen and Hawaii first responders. Tomorrow night’s show with Cris Cyborg and Ilima-Lei Macfarlane is the one for the public in Hawaii.
Arena Mexico tonight has the final tournament for the Universal title tournament finals. The tournament has eight different division CMLL champions in a one-night tournament. The winner goes to the finals next Friday night, which is the building’s anniversary show. Those in the tournament tonight are Hechicero, Los Gemelos Diablos I & II, Titan, Sagrado, Dragon Rojo Jr., Niebla Roja and Stigma.
New Japan posted the May 4, 2021 match with Will Ospreay vs. Shingo Takagi on its YouTube channel. The match placed second in last year’ s Match of the Year awards behind the Young Bucks cage match with Penta & Fenix.
Combate Global tonight on Paramount + is headlined by Cristian Perez (8-1) vs. Sebastian Santana (8-4-1) starting at 10:30 p.m. Eastern time.
Combate Global announced a 5/29 show with bantamweight champion David Martinez (6-1) defending against tournament winner Frans Mlambo (13-5).
Matt & Jeff Hardy appear on 5/15 in Millersville, MD at the Benfield Sports Center for the MCW promotion for a first-time ever match with Matt Taven & Mike Bennett. The show also features Ken Dixon defending the MCW title against Moses, Nick Aldis and Brian Johnson, Gia Scott vs. Mandy Leon for the women’s title, Mike Bailey vs. Joey Janela vs. Chris Bey and Action Andretti vs. Willie Mack.
Eve tomorrow in London at The Venue in Great Portland Street has Nina Samuels vs. Elimia McKenzie, Emi Sakura vs. Charlie Morgan, Shoko Nakajima vs. Alex Windsor, Session Moth Martina vs. Max the Impaler and Jetta vs. Kasey for the Eve title as the main event.
LFA on 5/6 in Oshkosh, WI at the Oshkosh Arena live on Fight Pass has Daniel Arguesta (7-0) vs. Diego Silva (14-6) for the bantamweight title in the main event.
AAW on 4/29 at 115 Bourbon Street in Merrionette Park, IL has Mat Fitchett vs. Eric Young for the AAW title, Silas Young vs. Manders in a cage match, Ace Perry & Hammerstone defend the tag titles against Russ Jones & Heather Reckless, Ace Austin defends the Heritage title against Myron Reed, Gnaris Garvin vs. Josh Alexander and Mike Bennett vs. Fred Yehi.
AIW tonight in Cleveland, OH at the Odeon Concert Club has Matt Cardona vs. Josh Prohibition, Minoru Suzuki vs. Isaiah Broner plus Shazza McKenzie, Tom Lawlor, Matt Cross and others. The show streams live on IWTV starting at 7:30 p.m. Eastern time. Eddie Kingston will headline on 5/21 in Akron, OH at the Tadmor Shrine for AIW.
On Inside the NBA this morning, NBA commentator Scot Hastings challenged Charles Barkley to a match, cutting a Hogan-style promo. They showed a WrestleMania II graphic of Hastings as Hogan and Barkley as King Kong Bundy (thanks to Brian Henke)
West Coast Pro Wrestling tomorrow night in Eugene, OR at the MacArthur Court headlined by Davey Richards vs. Rocky Romero.
Dave Meltzer’s live report from Bellator 277 at the SAP Center in San Jose, California —
Linton Vassell (22-8) vs. Tim Johnson (15-8), heavyweights —
First round: Vassell landing knees to the body as Johnson tried to bull him into he fence. Johnson pushed him into the fence and throwing some punches. Johnson continues to hold him against the fence and throw punches. Johnson landed punches and got Vassell down and throwing punches. Vassell stumbled when he got up. Johnson got back on and landing more punches. Vassell reversed and now he’s on top throwing elbows. Vassell is throwing more punches from the top and it was stopped.
Result: Linton Vassell defeated Tim Johnson by TKO at 4:21 of R1.
First round: Pico got a big reaction. Pico took him right down. Edwards got up. Pico tagged him with punches and took him down. Pico landed good punches on the ground. Fans are chanting for Pico. Pico let him up and took him down again. Pico landing elbows on the ground. Pico let him up again. Head kick by Pico. Pico put Edwards down. . Pico landing body punches. Pico with another takedown. Pico got his fifth takedown. 10-9 Pico
Second round: Edwards missed a kick and went down. Pico with a big left. Pico with another takedown. Pico with punches on the ground. Pico landing body and head punches. Pico landed more punches and took Edwards down again. Pico landing elbows from the top. Pico landed punches and got another takedown. Pico 20-18
Third round: Pico with good punches. Pico with low kicks. Pico with a hard right and body punches put Edwards down and after more punches on the ground it was stopped.
Result: Aaron Pico defeated Adli Edwards by TKO at :55 of R3.
Vadim Nemkov (15-2) vs. Corey Anderson (16-5) Light Heavyweight World Grand Prix finals —
First round: Nemkov with a low kick. Anderson landed punches. Nemkov back with punches but mostly landed short. Anderson tried for a takedown but didn’t get it. Hard elbow by Nemkov. Low kick by Nemkov. Nemkov failed on a takedown attempt. Anderson tried a takedown late and didn’t get it. Very close round. 10-9 Nemkov
Second round: Anderson landed a few punches and is working for a takedown. Anderson took him down. Andersen kept top position. Nemkov got back up with 40 seconds left. Anderson’s round so 19-19 after two.
Third round: Anderson landed a hard right. Anderson got another takedown. Nemkov tried for a guillotine as Anderson shot. Anderson got out and his back. The place went nuts for that. Anderson working for a choke. Nemkov was never in trouble. Anderson with punches on the ground and a hard elbow. The two bonked heads on the ground and Nemkov had a bad cut near his right eye. Ref Frank Trigg stopped the fight. Because it hadn’t gone three rounds, it was ruled a no contest. If the fight had gone three more seconds before the stoppage, Anderson would be champion because it would go to the cards and Anderson clearly won rounds two and three. Nemkov retained the title. They will have to do a rematch for the $1 million and Grand Prix finals. Anderson was clearly winning the fight and left screaming, “I’m the f***ing champ.”
Result: No Contest at 4:57 of R3.
A.J. McKee (18-0) vs. Patricio Pitbull Freire (32-5) for the Bellator Featherweight World title —
First round: Both tentative early. Fans were booing early. Little happened in the round. Pitbull with low kicks and landed a good right. More low kicks and punches by Pitbull. 10-9 Pitbull
Second round: Fans booing again due to the lack of action. Body kick by Pitbull. Low kick by McKee. Pitbull with some punches. McKee wanted Pitbull on the ground but Pitbull stayed standing. McKee started fighting at Th’s point. Pitbull with low kicks. McKee threw punches but Pitbull rocked him. Pitbull with more punches. McKee started throwing more but Pitbull beating him to the punch, 20-18 Pitbull
Third round: Pitbull hurt him with a punch and McKee took him down. Pitbull got back up. McKee took him down again and Pitbull with a tight guillotine and it looked like McKee was done. He hung on and finally escaped. That was great. Pitbull got his back and worked for a choke. 30-27 Pitbull
Fourth round: McKee with a body kick. McKee landing punches. Pitbull back with some punches, Head kick by Pitbull, Pitbull coming on late in the round. McKee shot for a takedown but didn’t’ get it. This round was close, could go either way 40-36 Pitbull
Fifth round: McKee shot for a takedown. and got it. McKee got a second takedown and got his back. McKee landed a few punches. McKee landing more punches. McKee landing more. Pitbull landed some good shots back. McKee landed well late in the round. This was McKee’s round. I’ve got it 49-46 Pitbull.
Result: Patricio Pitbull defeated AJ McKee by unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47, 48-47) to win the championship
Update on Shinjiro Otani, what happened, a review of his career and a look at Zero-1’s biggest show in years.
WWE officially announces its Principality Stadium show in Cardiff, Wales, a look back at the biggest UK events for WWE and the ticket demand.
Coverage of UFC 273 featuring a potential Hall of Fame fight with Khamzat Chimaev vs. Gilbert Burns, plus the judging in Sterling-Yan, the dominance of Alexander Volkanovski, business notes on the show and match-by-match coverage.
Full coverage of NJPW Hyper Battle and the angles leading to the return of New Japan to the Fukuoka Dome, a look back at the first show in that building, plus G1 and Best of the Super Juniors updates
Update on WrestleMania Backlash, ticket demand, matches being built, false advertising of Brock Lesnar and more
Ratings including rankings, oldest and youngest audience, affect of NBA playoffs, segment-by-segment numbers and comparisons with last year.
CMLL Champion of Champions tournament continuing
AEW star announces return from major injury
Hall of Famer announces the relaunch of his former promotion
All Japan Champion Carnival update
NOAH Sumo Hall lineups
NJPW star finishes up this week and background
Scott Hall funeral
New wrestling books
Biggest indie crowds of the year
The Strangler Lewis headlock machine
Discovery/Warner merger and AEW
NJPW & AEW deal
Story behind the debut of Satnam Singh
Ticket sales for upcoming AEW & WWE shows
International TV ratings
Streaming numbers for the major stuff of the past week
Cain Velasquez case update
UFC adds 2016 Fight of the Year to Hall of Fame
How much the top executives at WWE earn
Update on Vince McMahon vs. Oliver Luck
Update on all the name changes of WWE talent and why
Ordering Info: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
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Friday News Update
Garrett and I will be back tonight doing a show covering the news of the week late tonight.
Best wishes to Bill Laster (Billy Anderson), 65, a 70s and 80s star who was hospitalized after chest pains with an irregular heartbeat. Anderson was based in Southern California for much of his career and helped train a ton of wrestlers including Sting and Ultimate Warrior and is a regular at the Cauliflower Alley Club.
Rampage starts three hours early tonight at 7 p.m. Eastern on TNT, due to NBA basketball and features one of the biggest matches in the history of the show with Adam Page vs. Adam Cole for the AEW title in a Texas death match. The show also has Bryan Danielson & Jon Moxley & Wheeler Yuta vs. Billy & Austin & Colten Gunn and Ruby Soho vs. Robyn Renegade in an Owen Hart tournament qualifier. They are also taping Battle of the Belts tonight which will be Thunder Rosa vs. Nyla Rose for the women’s title, Jonathan Gresham vs. Dalton Castle for the ROH title and Scorpio Sky vs. Sammy Guevara for the TNT title.
Smackdown tonight on FOX has announced Ricochet vs. Jinder Mahal for the IC title and Drew McIntyre vs. Sami Zayn in a rematch. Randy Orton & Riddle will be on the show to confront the Usos.
NXT Level Up on Peacock has Roxanne Perez (formerly Rok-C) vs. Sloane Jacobs, Damon Kemp (Bobby Steveson) vs. Tony Donovan and Tatum Paxley vs. Kiana James.
As of earlier today, there were 6,500 tickets out for Worcester for WWE and 4,600 for AEW in Garland, TX.
Bellator has its biggest show of the year tonight in San Jose, CA. It will air at 10 p.m. Eastern and 7 p.m. Pacific on Showtime as well as on the Bellator YouTube Channel and Showtime Sports YouTube Channel with prelims starting at 7 p.m. Eastern.
The main card fights:
Tim Johnson (260) vs. Linton Vasell (239.6)
Aaron Pico (149.4) vs. Adli Edwards (149.6)
Vadim Nemkov (204.4) vs. Corey Anderson (205) for the Bellator Light heavyweight title & Grand Prix finals – winner gets $1 million
A.J. McKee (144.4) vs. Patricio Pitbull Freire (144.6) for the featherweight title
UFC runs tomorrow night from the Apex in Las Vegas
ESPN+ at 5:30 p.m. Eastern
Heili Alateng (135.5) vs. Kevin Croom (136)
Sam Hughes (115.5) vs. Istela Nunes (114)
Jordan Leavitt (155.5) vs. Trey Ogden (156)
Chris Barnett (263.5) vs. Martin Buday (264.5)
Rafa Garcia (155) vs. Jesse Ronson (155.5)
Brandon Jenkins (155.5) vs. Drakkar Klose (156)
Pannie Kianzad (136) vs. Lina Lansberg (135.5)
Devin Clark (223) vs. Williams Knight (251)
ESPN and ESPN+ at 8:30 p.m.
Mounir Lazzez (171) vs. Ange Loosa (171)
TJ Laramie (145.5) vs. Pat Sabatini (146)
Mayra Bueno Sliva (136) vs. Wu Yanan (136)
Miguel Baeza (171) vs. Andre Fialho (171)
Caio Borralho (186) vs. Gadzi Omargadzhiev (186)
Vicente Luque (171) vs. Belal Muhammad (170.5)
We are looking for reports on all the major shows this week including
AEW tonight in Garland, TX (Battle of the Belts, Dark & Dark Elevation needed)
WWE tonight in Worcester, MA (anything not on the live TV show)
West Coast Pro tonight in South San Francisco, CA
WWE house shows tomorrow in Erie, PA and Sunday in Syracuse, NY
We are also doing weekend polls for the NJPW show in Chicago headlined by Jon Moxley vs. Will Ospreay. You can leave a thumbs up, down or middle plus a best and worst match to [email protected]
While not a wrestling story, the USFL returns tomorrow night with the New Jersey Generals vs. Birmingham Stallions game on both FOX and NBC live. It is the first sports event to run live on two competing sports networks since 1967. FOX owns the league and NBC and FOX will both be broadcasting games and 67% of the games will be on network TV. This will also be the main competition for Dwayne Johnson’s XFL when he and his team hope to relaunch the league in 2023. A key for this is that while Vince McMahon’s XFL failed a second time, partially because while he was able to get TV, nobody would pay rights fees. In this league, both NBC and FOX are paying rights fees. While they hope to greatly top this number this week, the goal is when things get to normal by the third or fourth week, to get two million viewers per game as a success.
WWE
The Hell in a Cell PPV on 6/5 in Chicago is off to a solid start as they’ve topped 8,000 tickets out.
AEW
Tickets for the 6/15 show in St. Louis at the Chaifetz Center and 6/22 show in Milwaukee at Panther Arena went on sale today.
UFC
Alexander Volkov vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik in a battle of ranked heavyweights will be the main event on the 6/4 show.
Neil Magny vs. Shavkat Rakmonov, who is 15-0 with three straight finishes in UFC, face on the 6/25 show.
Other Notes
Impact has announced a deal with the Hudson Valley Renegades minor league baseball team that plays at Dutchess Stadium in Wappingers Falls, NY (near Poughkeepsie). On 4/21, Jordynne Grace, Rosemary, Scott D’Amore and Gail Kim will be at the team’s home game On 4/22, Moose and Tasha Steelz will be at the home game to throw out the first pitch. Members of the Renegades will be at the 4/24 Impact tapings at the Mid Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie.
Invicta announced its full card for 5/11 at Memorial Hall in Kansas City with the top bouts of Emily Ducote vs. Alesha Zappitella, Courtney King vs. Chelsea Chandler and Lindsey VanZandt vs. Jillian DeCoursey. The show will air live on the Invicta YouTube Channel.
NFC on 4/30 at The District in midtown Atlanta with an MMA show.
Tokyo Joshi Pro Princess of Princess champion Shoko Nakajima faces Alex Windsor in the main event for EVE on 4/23 in London.
CWE has announced shows on 5/26 in Prince Albert, SK, 5/27 in Yorkton, SK, 5/28 in Regina, SK and 5/29 in Carnduff, SK.
ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
MONDAY NEWS UPDATE
Bryan and I will be back tonight talking about Jimmy Rave, Jon Huber, Wrestler of the Year as well as tonight’s Raw. You can also send questions to the show to [email protected].
Today would have been the 10th anniversary for Jon and Amanda Huber. We are also just weeks from the first anniversary of Jon’s death. Amanda wrote a story about her life with Jon that I would label must read.
We’re looking for reports from St. Paul tonight for Raw with anything not on the live show, such as Main Event or dark matches. We are also doing polls on UFC 269 and ROH Final Battle, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumb s in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]
Raw is unknown tonight past Bobby Lashley will be doing an interview, Bianca Belair faces Doudrop in a match and Maryse returns. The Mysterios vs,. Street Profits match for a tag title shot scheduled for tonight is off. WWE said that there were injuries to both teams and the match would be rescheduled. Montez Ford was injured. Announced for dark matches are Becky Lynch vs. Bianca Belair for the women’s title and Big E vs. Kevin Owens vs. Bobby Lashley vs. Seth Rollins for the WWE title.
The competition tonight is the Los Angeles Rams vs. St. Louis Cardinals which, based on one team being 8-4 and the other being 10-2, should be significant competition.
For tonight’s show, they are moving people who were in the upper decks down in front of the camera. There were still a lot of seats in front of the camera not sold so they will have to be moving people and perhaps papering. They’ve also dropped prices although that is part of normal procedure is they start out with very expensive prices, and get the hardcores to buy the best seats early, and then drop prices near the show to try and drive late buys based on discounting.
For Friday ratings, Smackdown did 2,142,000 viewers and 0.50 in 18-49. Rampage did 503,000 viewers and 0.18 (tag title match did 0.22 and 601,000).
Showbuzz Daily hasn’t been updated today. The ratings are out so it could be a one day thing, but after that disappearance for months, you wonder every time as there is no message regarding it.
Sports Business Journal listed the WWE threesome of Nick Khan,Vince McMahon and Stephanie McMahon in their list of the top ten most influential sports executives. The top ten were listed more as a category with WWE in the top ten listing those three. Others in the top ten included ESPN, NBC Sports Group, Amazon, CBS Sports, Fox Sports and Warner Media/Turner Spots.
Bellator announced a title unification with heavyweight champion Ryan Bader (28-7,1 no contest) vs. Valentin Moldasky (11-1), the interim champion, taking place on 1/29 in Phoenix, which is head-to-head with the Royal Rumble. Also announced for that show is Darrion Caldwell vs. Enique Barzola.
WWE
WWE is doing two-for-one tickets for shows in Orlando and Jacksonville on 12/27.
AEW
AEW has shows on 2/16 at the Nashville Municipal Auditorium and 2/23 in Bridgeport,CT at the Webster Bank Arena (the same arena WWE uses). Presales for both shows are Thursday and the general public on sale will be Friday. They are also putting tickets on sale for Rampage and the Revolution PPV on 3/4 and 3/6 in Orlando on Thursday for the presale and Friday for the general public. With it being a small arena, the PPV tickets should go quick. That’s not to say they will for sure because Orlando is overloaded with wrestling.
Cody Rhodes and Amanda Huber are doing a Toys for Tots benefit on Wednesday and with a donation get a “Winter is Coming” print.
Going sneaker shopping with the Young Bucks on the show Sneaker Shopping, as they talk about losing a pair of Dior Jordan 1s, starting the trend of wrestlers wearing sneakers, and covering a pair of Travis Scott Fragment Jordan 1s with tacks for a match. (thanks to John Walaszek)
AEW Dark Elevation tonight:
Tony Nese vs. Alex Reynolds
Red Velvet & Kris Statlander vs. Nikki Duke & Tina San Antonio
Thunder Rosa vs. Gabbi Ortiz
Gunn Club vs. Joey Sweets & Antonio Zambrano & Jack Tomlinson
Emi Sakura vs. Notorious Mimi
Santana & Ortiz vs. Mike Verna & Anthony Gagnone managed b Prince Nana
Anthony Ogogo vs. Jaden Matthew
OTHER NOTES
Nick Dinsmore is putting together a “Eugene Retirement tour: The Last Call: One more Go Round.” He would like to work anywhere possible. He’s living in the Sioux Falls, SD area. For information contact him at [email protected]
Warrior Wrestling from yesterday in Tinley Park, IL: Aramis b Demonic Flamita to keep the Lucha title, Sam Adonis b Matt Taven, Fuego del Sol b Carlos Romo, Dante Martin b Joey Janela, Sky Blue won four-way over Gringo Loco, Axel Rico and Billie Starkz, Thunder Rose b Mercedes Martinez to retain the women’s title (people raved about this one), Will Ospreay won the Warrior title in a three-way over Blake Christian and champion Trey Miguel. Ospreay said he would be bringing the belt to the Tokyo Dome (thanks to Dave Gould)
Damage Inc. on Saturday night in Rockford, IL before about 200 fans: Kyzlyle & Mongo b Meathooks O’Bannon & Kavan O’Reilly to win the tag titles, Bryan Harley (dress as Santa Claus) b Norman Frankenstein (dressed as The Grinch), Masked Marauder b Nikki Vendetta, Rhino b Scott Spade, Chase Stevens & Micah Taylor b Moondog Maynard & Axel Abreyo, Masada & Axel Rico b Cody James & Chris Miller, James Storm retained Damage title over Eric Priest via DQ setting up a cage match in February. Randy Savage’s former girlfriend Gorgeous George and Bobcat managed Maynard and Abreyo and turned on them. (thanks to Mike Korn)
The amazing story on the life of Angelo Mosca, CFL legend, pro wrestling main eventer. His famous hit on Willie Fleming, feud with Joe Kapp, the 2001 old man fight all detailed. How Mosca got into pro wrestling, whatever happened to Angelo Jr., why he didn’t play in the NFL, and his biggest career matches. Mosca’s run in Toronto as the perennial Canadian champion
Previews of AEW Full Gear and WWE Survivor Series, business notes, ticket sales, secondary market, lineups and movie theater business
Lots more regarding who was let go by WWE
Ticket sales for major upcoming WWE & AEW shows, including notes on the head-to-head markets
More on Bryan Danielson’s decision to come to AEW
UFC in MSG, two title bouts, $10 million gate
NJPW Power Struggle coverage, as well as Best of Super Juniors and Tag League, plus match of the year candidate
Myths and facts regarding alcohol abuse treatments
Ratings with segment-by-segment notes, international TV ratings
Another major star leaves CMLL
AAA TripleMania Regia, Omega, Velasquez, Munoz Brothers, LA Park and Marvel comic superstars
Stardom’s next PPV show
Mach Hayato, Japanese prelim wrestler who inspired pro wrestling and MMA superstars
ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
FRIDAY NEWS UPDATE
Garrett and I just did a show today with Tony Khan talking Full Gear and a lot of other notes. Bryan and I will be doing a show tomorrow night with the news, talking about both Full Gear and the New Japan show in San Jose as well as other news.
On today’s call, Tony Khan said that the Battle of the Belts, which is the name of the new quarterly specials on TNT in 2022, right now looks to be one hour on Saturday nights, but that is to be determined.
He also hinted that there would be news on the Owen Hart tournament, perhaps as early as the post-show press conference tomorrow night. He hinted it would be a unique style tournament.
Smackdown tonight has announced Roman Reigns vs. King Woods and Shinsuke Nakamura & Rick Boogs vs. Humberto & Angel.
Rampage tonight from the Target Center in Minneapolis:
Dante Martin vs. Ariya Daivari (both are from Minneapolis, Daivari’s AEW debut)
Jungle Boy vs. Bobby Fish
Jade Cargill vs. Santana Garrett
Matt Hardy vs. Orange Cassidy lumberjack match
The Countdown to Full Gear airs at 11 p.m. tonight on TNT.
Bellator at 10 p.m. tonight on Showtime:
Arlene Blencowe (145.8) vs. Pam Sorenson (146)
Aaron Pico (145.4) vs. Justin Gonzales (145.6)
Tyrell Fortune (253.8) vs. Linton Vassell (239.2)
Cris Cyborg (145) vs. Sinead Kavanagh (145) for the featherweight title
UFC tomorrow at 1 p.m. Eastern from the Apex in Las Vegas:
Kennedy Nzechukwu (205) vs. Da Un Jung (204)
Marc Diakiese (156) vs. Rafael Alves (155)
Cortney Casey (125) vs. Liana Jojua (128.5) – Jojua was fined 30 percent of her purse for missing weight
Sean Woodson (145.5) vs. Collin Anglin (146)
Cynthia Calvillo (126) vs. Andrea Lee (125.5)
Thiago Moises (155) vs. Joel Alvarez (157.5) – Alvarez was fined 30 percent of his purse for missing weight)
Song Yadong (135.5) vs. Julio Arce (135.5)
Miguel Baeza (170.5) vs. Khaos Williams (169)
Felicia Spencer (145.5) vs. Leah Letson (145)
Ben Rothwell (265) vs. Marcos Rogerio de Lima (259)
Max Holloway (146) vs. Yair Rodriguez (145.5)
Congratulations to Rob Van Dam and Katie Forbes, who were married yesterday in Las Vegas.
Here are the gambling odds for both Full Gear and Survivor Series from www.BetOnline.ag:
Survivor Series:
Roman Reigns -500 vs. Big E +300
Becky Lynch -400 vs. Charlotte Flair +250
Men’s Smackdown team -200 vs. Men’s Raw team +150
Women’s Smackdown team -160 vs. Women’s Raw tam +130
Full Gear:
Adam Page -700 vs. Kenny Omega +400
Britt Baker -1000 vs. Tay Conti +525
Bryan Danielson -300 vs. Miro +200
Lucha Brothers -450 vs. FTR +275
C.M. Punk -1000 vs. Eddie Kingston +525
MJF -200 vs. Darby Allin +150
Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus & Christian Cage +150 vs.
Young Bucks & Adam Cole -200
Inner Circle -250 vs. ATT +170
Scott Coker spoke today about planning a Fedor Emelianenko retirement show coming summer in Moscow. Emelianenko said he wants one last fight and he wants it in Moscow.
New Japan Best of the Super Juniors opens tomorrow at 4:30 a.m. Eastern from Korakuen Hall on New Japan World with Japanese only commentary live (English commentary will go up a few days later):
Ryohei Oiwa vs. Yuto Nakashima
Douki vs. Bushi
Taiji Ishimori vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru
Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Robbie Eagles
El Phantasmo vs. Mater Wato
Yoh vs. Hiromu Takahashi
Sho vs. Desperado
Wrestle Universe airs a show tonight at 2 a.m. Eastern and 11 p.m. Pacific from the Yokohama Budokan for NOAH with English commentary and Kaito Kiyomiya & Masa Kitamiya vs. Keiji Muto & Naomichi Marufuji for the GHC tag titles, Masaaki Mochizuki vs. Kenou for the National title and Hayata vs. Aleja for the jr. title. Wrestle Universe is free from now until the end of the year.
Stephanie McMahon will be honored with the Corporate Leadership award by the March of Dimes Greater New York/New Jersey market on 11/30.
Jungle Cruise starring Dwayne Johnson debuts today on Disney Plus.
AEW
A few notes about show peaks for Wednesday’s Dynamite that we didn’t get until this morning so weren’t in the current issue. Bryan Danielson vs. Rocky Romero was the high point for ages 35-49. The Inner Circle/ATT angle was the high point for women 18-49. Jungle Boy vs. Anthony Bowens and a Kenny Omega-Adam Page video package peaked in 18-34. The Omega-Page contract signing peaked in 18-49.
UFC
Trevin Jones pulled out of his 12/18 fight with Raoni Barcelos according to MMA Fighting.
Mickey Gall vs. Alex Morono has been added to the 12/4 show.
Mario Bautista vs. Khalid Taha is set for a show on 2/19 according to MMA Junkie.
Tai Tuivasa had to pull out of his 11/20 fight with Augusto Sakai due to visa issues. Tuivasa broke the news on his instagram account.
Ed Herman vs. Maxim Grishin in a light heavyweight fight is set for 2/12.
Bill Behrens at [email protected] can book the following talent for matches or appearances: Johnny Curtis (Fandango), Mark & Jay Briscoe, Josh Woods, Jonathan Gresham, Jay Lethal, Shane Taylor, World Famous CB, Matt Sydal, Adrian Jaoude/Arturo Tiger Ruas, Griff Garrison, Marcus Kross, Cyrus the Destroyer, Moose, Hernandez, Christopher Daniels, Slim J, Sal Ranauro, TJP, Luke Hawx and Logan Cred/Madds Krugger. Plus for appearances he can book Sean Waltman, Al Snow, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Eric Bischoff, Devon Dudley, Stevie Richards, Shannon Moore and others.
MCW has the 20th annual Shane Shamrock Memorial Cup tonight in Joppa, MD, which includes an appearance of DDP. First round matches are Shannon Moore vs. Aaron Rourke, Ninja Mack vs. Sam Adonis, Jake Crist vs. Acton Andretti, Luke Hawx vs. KC Navarro and Myles Hawkins vs. PJ Hawx. They also run tomorrow night in Hollywood, MD at the Volunteer Fire Department with Rhino and Quinn McKay.
Melbourne City Wrestling returns on 12/11 with a show at their training academy.
AAW is back on 11/26 at 115 Bourbon Street in Merrionette Park, IL with Fred Yehi vs. Mat Fitchett for the AAW title, Allysin Kay vs. Skye Blue for the women’s title, Ace Austin & Myron Reed vs. Hakim Zane & Karam in a Bourbon street fight, Charli Evans vs. Christi Jaynes vs. Lady Frost vs. Sierra and Silas Young vs. Manders. Also on the show are Jake Something, Alex Zayne, Josh Alexander, Rich wan and Schaff.
NWA returns to Atlanta from 12/3 to 12/6 at the GPB Studios in Atlanta. They will be taping a new show on 12/3. They will be doing the Hard Times PPV on 12/4. They will be taping Powerrr on 12/5 and 12/6.
Funeral services for Chris Romero (Chris Youngblood), who died in July, were announced for 11/27 at the Llano Cemetery in Amarillo at 2 p.m.
ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
SUNDAY NEWS UPDATE
We have two shows up on the site, a Friday night show covering AEW and WWE from Friday as well as a Saturday night show covering the fallout and all the weekend news. We’ll be back Monday night covering Raw and the G-1 A block finals.
The A block G-1 finals are at 5 a.m. Monday morning from the Yokohama Budokan:
Satoshi Kojima vs. Great O’Khan non-tournament
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Toru Yano
Shingo Takagi vs. Yujiro Takahashi
Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Tanga Loa
Kota Ibushi vs. KENTA
Ibushi, KENTA, Sabre and Takagi are all 6-2. If there is a tie in the standings at 7-2, the key match results to determine the winner are that Takagi lost to Ibushi and Sabre but beat KENTA. Sabre lost to KENTA but beat Ibushi and Takagi.
Regarding the ratings from Friday, the numbers and demos for the complete shows should be out about 4 p.m. Eastern but the quarters will likely be out a few hours later and minute-by-minute not until Tuesday. The Dynamite numbers from last night will be out Tuesday morning.
We’re doing a few weekend polls. The first is for Friday–What company presented the best overall product and what was the best match of the night to [email protected] Also we’re doing a poll on the A block finals from Yokohama, thumbs up, down or middle, best and worst match.
We’re also looking for reports from WWE last night in Rio Rancho, NM and tonight in El Paso, TX, as well as New Japan tonight in Philadelphia to [email protected]
Thanks to Travis L, Brandon Botah, Jorge Camacho and Eddie T for reports on shows this past weekend.
Nothing from Friday, nor yesterday’s UFC cracked the Google charts. The only stuff for the week was boxer Mickey Garcia was No. 18 yesterday with 50,000 searches; Joe Rogan was No. 7 on Thursday with his crackpot theories on COVID with 200,000, and Chuck Liddell was No 14 on Monday with 50,000. Liddell filed for divorce Friday from wife Heidi.
Right now the planned main events for the 12/26 show in Madison Square Garden are Big E vs. Bobby Lashley for the WWE title and Becky Lynch vs Bianca Belair.
Chris Jericho said that Junior Dos Santos was a natural at this. He said that they trained with him for one hour on Friday and that was it. This was a Tony Khan idea of using ATT as a heel group with Dan Lambert. Dos Santos did great for someone with no training in his first match Paige VanZant has come across as a real heel star the last two nights.
People were raving about the Pac vs. Andrade match that was taped last night and airs on television this coming Friday. Most called it the best match in Rampage history or the second best to Nick Jackson vs. Bryan Danielson. Keep in mind the first episode of Rampage was the first Kenny Omega vs. Christian Cage match.
Bellator last night had a show in Phoenix where Vadim Nemkov dominated Julius Anglickas to retain the light heavyweight title, finishing via Kimura at 4:24 of the fourth round. In the other light heavyweight Grand Prix tournament match, Corey Anderson dropped Ryan Bader right away and won with punches on the ground at :51 of the first round. Anderson faces Nemkov for the title and a $1 million tournament Grand Prix final at a date not yet announced. Brent Primus likely earned a lightweight title match by beating Benson Henderson 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28.
Gabriel Kidd has returned to New Japan, and did a promo talking about spending 18 months at the New Japan dojo during the pandemic and how that led to issues in communicating with his family. Kidd said that, in May, he wound up on top of a building with the thought of jumping off, but the two things that stopped him were the love of his mom and pro wrestling and how he had been picturing this moment of returning for a while now.
WWE
The 12/27 Raw show will be from Detroit.
OTHER NOTES
Impact will be airing a Daffney tribute show on Thursday at 10 p.m. on AXS.
Defy Wrestling from Thursday night in Los Angeles: Kevin Blackwood b Yuya Uemura, Super Panda won three-way over Jordan Oasis and Adriel Noctus, Bestia 666 & Mecha Wolf b Matt Vandergriff & Titus Alexander, Eddie Kingston b Rocky Romero, Viva Van b Sandra Moone, Christopher Daniels b Daniel Garcia, Ricky Gibson & Eddie Pearl b Jorel Nelson & Royce Isaacs. Sean Waltman and Damian 666 were at the show. Next show is 10/19 in Seattle at Washington Hall with Homicide and Jacob Fatu, and 11/20 in Seattle headlined by Tom Lawlor vs. Jon Moxley.
Insane Wrestling Revolution from Thursday night in Monroe, MI: Sam Beale b Bryan Castle, Kenny Urban b Nate Bock, Aaron Orion & Jack Price b DBA & Mysterious Movado, Alex Cluckey b Ben Boone, Shane Douglas & Dread King Logan b Rhino & Tommy Dreamer, Rod Lee b Dr. X, Trey Miguel b N8 Mattson, Trey Miguel b Kenny Urban, Trey Miguel b Malcolm Monroe,Trey Miguel b Sam Beale, Trey Miguel b Madman Fulton. Next show is 12/29 at the FOP Hall in on-roe with Trey Miguel vs. Petey Williams, Rhino& Dreamer vs. Chinstrap Jesus & Nate Bock plus Konnor of The Ascension and John E. Bravo (thanks to Leonard Brand)
EPW from Western Australia last night before more than 400 fans: Gavin McGavin b Kaz Jordan, Marcius Pitt b Edith Night, Cut Throat and The Some b Dan Moore, Michael Morleone b Joel Hagam, Aaron Hawk b Jesse Lambert, Damian Slater b Robby Heart, Bruno Nitro b Chris L Lazareth, Julian Ward b Davis Storm. Told the main event was great. Lambert got a big reaction Next show is 11/27. (thanks to Kevin Chiat)
SICW from last night in East Carondelet, IL: Waco b David Lee Walker, Big Texan & Ax Allwardt b Shawn Santel & Mauler McDarby-DQ, Danny Dollar b Rick Ruby, Bobby D b Superstar Steve Fender, Gary Jackson DCOR Kowalski, Flash Flanagan & Jason Breed b Ken Kasa in a handicap match to win the tag titles, Attila Khan b Gil Rogers. (thanks to Patrick Brandmeyer)
Memphis Wrestling over the weekend did an angle where Shane Russell, the son of Lance Russell, was attacked. Crazzy Steve and The Boogeyman are at today’s tapings.
ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
FRIDAY NEWS UPDATE
Garrett Gonzalez and I will be back tonight talking the WWE and AEW shows, the barbs back-and-forth and the latest pro wrestling and MMA news. I will be back Saturday night with Bryan talking AEW Dynamite and fallout from Friday.
This has certainly been a night of a lot of talk regarding WWE vs. AEW. The new issue up on the site has probably the most details of tonight’s shows, ramifications or lack thereof depending on results, and the whole competition thing.
WWE goes live from 8-10:30 p.m. and then replays from 10:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. on FS1. AEW goes live on YouTube from 9-10 p.m. and then live for Rampage on TNT from 10-11 p.m.
WWE show has:
Brock Lesnar appearing
Usos vs. Street Profits for tag titles
Becky Lynch vs. Sasha Banks
Carmella vs. Zelina Vega Queens Crown semifinals
Finn Balor vs. Sami Zayn King of the Ring semifinals
Sonya Deville vs. Naomi
AEW has:
YouTube:
Bryan Danielson vs. Minoru Suzuki
Tay Conti vs. Santana Garrett
Bobby Fish vs. Lee Moriarty
TNT:
C.M. Punk vs. Matt Sydal
The Bunny vs. Ruby Soho
Chris Jericho & Jake Hager & Sammy Guevara vs. Junior Dos Santos & Scorpio Sky & Ethan Page – Jorge Masvidal will be in the Dos Santos corner
FS 1 has the 10 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. segment commercial free. TNT will have a mostly commercial free first half hour. There will be a break after Punk vs Sydal most likely but there will be no break during the match.
Balor would be a heavy favorite over Zayn since the winner goes to Saudi Arabia and at least as of the last time, the government of Saudi Arabia wouldn’t allow Zayn there and Zayn had said he didn’t want to go in the first place.
For those in Canada, the WWE Network is available as a standalone streaming service. This removes having to have cable or satellite to have access to the network. (thanks to Oswald Jackson)
I’m not sure what this means, but Beyond Billionaire 100 has listed Tony Khan as the most loved billionaire in the world slightly ahead of Mackenzie Scott and Elon Musk. Vince McMahon was No. 7. It’s basically about the percentage of posts that mention him being positive. McMahon had about six times as many searches as Khan.
The 12/10 Smackdown taping in Cleveland was canceled. While not yet announced, the show that night will take place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Essentially it’s a favor for FOX execs due to taping where many of the top execs are based. Those with tickets to the show were being transferred to a Raw event in Cleveland on 3/7.
UFC on ESPN+ starting at 4 p.m. Eastern tomorrow
Istela Nunes (114.5) vs. Ariane Carnelossi (115.5)
Danaa Batgerel (135) vs. Brandon Davis (136)
Nate Landwehr (145.5) vs. Ludovit Klein (145.5)
Lupita Godinez (121.5) vs. Luana Carolina (125.5)
Danny Roberts (170.5) vs. Ramazan Emeev (171)
Andrew Sanchez (185) vs. Bruno Silva (185)
Manon Fiorot (125.5) vs. Mayra Bueno Silva (126)
Jim Miller (155) vs. Erick Gonzalez (155)
Andrei Arlovski (245) vs. Carlos Felipe (259)
Aspen Ladd (145) vs. Norma Dumont (145.5)
The Julian Marquez vs. Jordan Wright fight was canceled earlier today when Marquez fell ill. With Arlovski on the UFC show tomorrow, he will not be at tonight or tomorrow night’s AEW tapings in Miami.
Bellator weigh-ins for tomorrow night on Showtime at 10 p.m.
Vadim Nemkov (204.7) vs. Julius Anglickas (204) for light heavyweight title and tournament semifinal
Ryan Bader (204.1) vs. Corey Anderson (203.6) in a light heavyweight tournament semifinal
Benson Henderson (155.5) vs. Brent Primus (155.4)
Henry Corrales (135) vs. Vladyslav Parubchenko (145.4)
The movie “Dune” starring Dave Bautista debuts Thursday night both in theaters and on HBO Max.
Deadline reported that something went wrong at the filming of America’s Got Talent – Extreme earlier today. During a rehearsal, escape artist Jonathan Goodwin was injured while doing his act. Goodwin was pinned between two cars when a stunt went badly which caused an explosion. He was responsive and was hospitalized. Production of the series was shut down. Nikki Bella is one of the judges on that show, which will air next year on NBC.
Thanks to Daniel Kuester of Kansas State’s sports economics class for the fun time talking with the class on wrestling, MMA and boxing business.
WWE
Early odds for Crown Jewel at www.BetOnline.ag:
Roman Reigns -200 vs. Brock Lesnar +150
Big E -550 vs. Drew McIntyre +325
Becky Lynch -200 vs. Bianca Belair +180 vs. Sasha Banks +250
Riddle & Orton -250 vs. Styles & Omos +170
Edge -350 vs. Seth Rollins +225
Goldberg -300 vs. Bobby Lashley +200
Mansoor -1000 vs. Mustafa Ali +525
UFC
Aaron Phillips announced he is out of his fight scheduled for 10/23 against Jonathan Martinez. He said he’s been ill, headaches, low energy, extreme fatigue, groggy and sleeping in the afternoon. He said he’s tested negative for COVID and he’s trying to find answers as to what is wrong.
Miguel Baeza vs. Khaos Williams has been added to the 11/13 show.
Jeff Jarrett’s podcast with Conrad Thompson was nominated for Best Podcast Debut of the year.
Combate Global has a show tonight on Paramount + starting at 11 p.m. The main event has Dumar Roa (16-10) vs. Landry Ward (4-0).
On Wednesday, there was a pro wrestling category on Jeopardy. The contestants got every question right:
$200 – In this alliterative type of match, you need to touch your partner before you can be replaced in the ring
$400 – This beastly term can describe a powerful embrace or a move where a wrestler grabs you
$600 – Maintaining kayfabe means not letting on that the m,ach is this, the word kayfabe possibly came from with the help of pig latin
$800 – Perhaps a play on jobber, the Italian-sounding word is a wrestler hired to lose often The Rock uses it as a synonym for loser
$1,000 – The name of this masked wrestling is Spanish for Free Fighting.
WAR on 11/6 in Lima,a, OH at the Empowered Sports Center
Paradigm Pro Wrestling streams tonight on IndependentWrestling TV At 7 p.m. the main event is Myron Reed vs Suge D and Shane Taylor vs. Calvin Tankman. At 9:30 p.m. are two UWFI rules matches, Jordan Baker vs. Janai Kai for the women’s super middleweight title and Isaiah Broner vs. Matt Makowski for the Heavy Hitters championship. Davey Richards worked the first show against Cole Radrick and the second show against Austin Connelly. The shows are at American Legion Post 204 in Sellersburg, IN.
The top matches for KSW on 10/23 from Atlas Arena in Lodz, Poland have bantamweight champion Sebastian Przybysz (8-2) defending against Bruno Santos (10-2) and top draw Mariusz Pudzianowski (15-7) vs. Bombardier (2-0).
Insane Wrestling Revolution from last night in Monroe, MI before 250 fans: Sam Beale b Bryan Castle, Kenny Urban b Nate Bock, Death Threat Army b DBA & Mysterious Movado, Alex Cluckey b Benjamin Boone, Dread King Logan & Shane Douglas b Rhino & Tommy Dreamer, Rod Lee b Dr. X, Trey Miguel won six-way over N8 Mattson, Kenny Urban, Malcolm Monroe III, Sam Beale and Madman Fulton. Next show is 12/29 in Monroe. (thanks to Paul Meade)
Future house Publishing and Masked Republic are teaming up for an all-new bilingual series based on the life of the Munoz Brothers, Dragon Lee, Rush and Dralistico as well as their father, Bestia del ring. There will be English and Spanish text side-by-side so bilingual families can enjoy them.
PCO appears on 11/26 for AIW at Force Sports in Eastlake, OH.
Jimmy Hart, Typhoon Fred Ottman and Haku appear tomorrow afternoon at The Wrestling Collector in Stockholm,NJ.
Kenta Kobashi will be at tomorrow’s All Japan show at Ota Ward Gym in Tokyo as an announcer for the main events. The show is headlined by Jake Lee vs Kento Miyahara for the Triple Crown.
Bare Knuckle Fighting on 11/12 in Miami at the James L. Knight Center has Hector Lombard vs. Lorenzo Hunt for the cruiserweight world title and Luis Palomino vs. Dat Nguyen for the lightweight title
TripleMania coverage including the story behind the AAA title finish
Update on one of the biggest weekends in years, updated ticket sales, secondary market tickets, lineups, Punk teases, updates on All Out, WWE in MSG, Extreme Rules, Ashe Stadium
Wrestler and Match of the week and major show polls for the week
WWE settles nine lawsuits out of court
Coverage of New Japan Resurgence, story behind stars not being in G1 this year
CMLL Anniversary and the ridiculous machinations over the National heavyweight title
New Japan business updates
Numerous stories regarding COVID and pro wrestlers infected, and major Japanese figure from the past battling for his life
UFC business updates, lots of fighters talk pay
Nick Khan talks the TV sports business going forward
Detailed look at ratings for the past two weeks, quarterly breakdowns, demo numbers and the why behind the numbers
How WWE & AEW are doing internationally in ratings
Results of the major pro wrestling events of the past week
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If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
FRIDAY NEWS UPDATE
Garrett Gonzalez and I will be doing our show tomorrow. Mick Foley and Pat Laprade will be guests and we’ll be talking about Dominic DeNucci as well as tonight’s show, SummerSlam and more.
We’re doing polls this weekend on both SummerSlam and Takeover, thumbs up, down or middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]
Nick Khan’s mention about WWE up for listening to offers about buying yesterday got some news. He didn’t say anything that hasn’t been said multiple times since 2016. In fact he used almost the exact words George Barrios, in the same position, had used. But it did help the stock price which rose to $48.51 per share, up $1.26.
As noted in the current issue, we’ve received conflicting reports on whether the Bianca Belair vs. Sasha Banks match would take place at SummerSlam. WWE is still advertising it and there were reports both were cleared. PWInsider reported Banks was not in Phoenix tonight for the Smackdown tapings. Bianca Belair was in Phoenix. Their matches this past week were canceled due to a medical issue.
Something is happening at Rampage at the United Center in Chicago. C.M. Punk is not advertised but it’s a virtual certainty he makes his first televised appearance in seven years. Jon Moxley vs. Daniel Garcia, Jade Cargill vs. Kiera Hogan and Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus vs. Private Party in the four-team tournament first round are scheduled for the show.
For those in Canada, Rampage will air on TSN on a one-hour delay at 11 p.m.
Smackdown tonight has Rey Mysterio vs. Jey Uso and John Cena and Roman Reigns will talk, plus Edge is on the show.
A woman who was there for the accident where former UFC fighter Brendan Schaub saved three children, mad at people thinking he made it up, talked about the situation.
UFC tomorrow night from the Apex in Las Vegas:
On ESPN at 10 p.m. Eastern
Jared Cannonier (185) vs. Kelvin Gastelum (186)
Clay Guida (155) vs. Mark O. Madsen (156)
Parker Porter (262) vs. Chase Sherman (256)
Trevin Jones (135) vs. Saidyokub Kakhramonov (138.5)
Vinc Pichel (155.5) vs. Austin Hubbard (156)
Alexandre Pantoja (126) vs. Brandon Royval (125.5)
On ESPN 2 and ESPN+ at 7 p.m. Eastern
Austin Lingo (145.5) vs. Luis Saldana (146)
Brian Kelleher (136) vs. Domingo Pilarte (136)
Bea Malecki (135) vs. Josiane Nunes (136)
William Knight (206) vs. Fabio Cherant (205)
Roosevelt Roberts (154.5) vs. Ignacio Bahamondes (154)
Sasha Palatnikov (170) vs. Ramiz Brahimaj (171)
Kakhramonov missed weight and forfeits 20 percent of his purse to opponent Trevin Jones.
Bellator tonight on Showtime at 9 p.m. Eastern:
Jomel Lugo (137.4) vs. Keith Lee (140)
Marcelo Golm (252) vs. Billy Swanson (265.6)
Logan Storley (170.4) vs. Dante Schiro (170)
Cheick Kongo (247) vs. Sergei Kharitonov (264.8)
The scheduled Adam Borics vs. Jay Jay Wilson semifinal is off because Wilson missed weight by 4.4 pounds.
Kayla Harrison vs. Taylor Guardado will be the women’s 155 pound final for the PFL on 10/27 for $1 million as both won last night. Harrison beat Genah Fabian via first round TKO in 4:01 to move to 11-0 while Guardado beat Marina Morais by close split decision in last night’s semifinals on ESPN. In the heavyweight tournament, Bruno Cappelozza vs. Ante Delija will be the heavyweight final. Cappelozza beat Jamelle Jones via second round TKO and Delija beat Denis Goltsov via straight 29-28 scores. The winner of that fight on 10/27 also gets $1 million.
Odds on the first opponent for Bryan Danielson in AEW: C.M. Punk +175, Kenny Omega +450, Darby Allin +500, Sting +500, MJF +600, Chris Jericho +700, Sammy Guevera +700, Orange Cassidy +800, Cody Rhodes +900
Odds for C.M. Punk’s first opponent: Darby Allin -200, Bryan Danielson +275, Christian Cage +375, Orange Cassidy +600, Matt Hardy +700, Chris Jericho +800, Cody Rhodes +800, Jungle Boy +900, Sting +1000
Over/under star ratings for SummerSlam from Kambi:
Alexa Bliss vs. Eva Marie was not put on the boards
Drew McIntyre vs. Jinder Mahal **
Edge vs. Seth Rollins ****1/4
Styles & Omos vs. Orton & Riddle **3/4
Charlotte Flair vs. Rhea Ripley vs. Nikki ASH ***1/2
Usos vs. Mysterios ***1/2
Bianca Belair vs. Sasha Banks ****
Sheamus vs. Damien Priest ***1/2
Roman Reigns vs. John Cena ****1/4
Bobby Lashley vs. Bill Goldberg **
For results:
Eva Marie +250 vs. Alexa Bliss -400
Jinder Mahal +225 vs. Drew McIntyre -350
Seth Rollins +175 vs. Edge -250
Riddle & Orton -455 vs. Styles & Omos +280
Nikki Ash -118 vs. Charlotte Flair +130 vs. Rhea Ripley +400
Usos -500 vs. Mysterios +300
Bianca Belair -182 vs. Sasha Banks +130
Sheamus +175 vs. Damien Priest -250
Roman Reigns -650 vs. John Cena +350
Bobby Lashley -800 vs. Bill Goldberg +400
ROH Glory by Honor tonight from Philadelphia on Honor Club:
Bandido vs. Flip Gordon for ROH title
Jonathan Gresham vs. Rhett Titus for Pure title
Homicide & Brody King & Chris Dickinson & Tony Deppen vs. Rush & Dragon Lee & Kenny King & Bestia del Ring
Mark & Jay Briscoe vs. The Righteous
Danhausen vs. PJ Black vs. Mike Bennett vs. Demonic Flamita vs. Eli Isom & Dak Draper
Brian Johnson vs. EC 3
Rey Horus vs. Silas Young
Mandy Leon & Angelina Love vs. Vita Vonstarr & ?
Impact has a taped Emergence PPV on Impact+ and Fite TV tonight:
No Way & Fallah Bahh & Tasha Steelz & Savannah Evans vs. Crazzy Steve & Black Taurus & Rosemary & Havok
Madison Rayne vs. Taylor Wilde
Matt Cardona & Chelsea Green vs. Mahabali Shera & Rohit Raju
Petey Williams vs. Steve Maclin
Sami Callihan vs. Moose vs. Chris Sabin vs. Ace Austin for the No. 1 contender to the title
Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows vs. Rich Swann & Willie Mack vs. Rhino & Joe Doering
Deonna Purrazzo & Matthew Rehwoldt vs. Melina & Trey Miguel
Josh Alexander vs. Jake Something for X title
Christian Cage vs. Brian Myers for the Impact title
A correction from Monday. While the Rock Concert segment with The Rock running down Vickie Guerrero on the January 14, 2013 Raw was cut out, it was a musical rights issue and not a content issue and was off the WWE Network version as well.
UFC
Nina Nunes vs. Amanda Lemos has been added to the 12/18 show.
Rick Martel is doing his first private signing in 15 years for signedbysuperstars.com They are accepting mail order questions contact them at Facebook.com/signedbysuperstars.
If you ever want to see a legitimate women’s six person tornado match, here one is.
In a SlamWrestling.net column, Australian women’s wrestling star Shazza McKenzie shares her personal story, her struggles with body image, and the discovery that lipedema was the root cause of many of her issues. It’s a riveting read.
Full Impact Pro on 8/29 in Clearwater, FL at the OCC Road House with Jon Davis vs. JD Drake in the main event.
LFA on 9/24 in Oshkosh, WI at the Menominee Nation Arena with a light heavyweight title match as the main event. Josh Silveira (5-0) will be one of the participants. The opponent hasn’t been named yet.
Bare Knuckle Fighting on 9/10 in Omaha, NE at the Ralston Arena has Dakota Cochrane vs. Mike Richman as the main event plus Houston Alexander vs. Wes Combs.
Bellator on 10/1 at the SSE Arena in London has Douglas Lima (32-9) vs Michael Venom Page (19-1) and Leah McCourt (5-1) vs. Jessica Borga (3-3) as the top two fights. The show will air live on Showtime in the U.S.
AAW on 9/2 in Chicago at the Logan Square Arena, which is the Thursday of the week AEW is in town. Masks are required for all in attendance. Myron Reed defends the Heritage title against Ace Austin, Allysin Kay defends the women’s title against Jody Threat and Laredo Kid vs.Arez are announced, plus Fred Yehi, Juice Robinson, Josh Alexander, Davey Vega, Jake Something, Daniel Garcia and more.
Pro Wrestling Eve returns on 8/27 in London at The Venue on Great Portland Street with a 30 woman Rumble.
ICW in Scotland has its first event back with fans on 8/29 in Glasgow, Scotland at The Asylum.
90s AAA woman star Martha Villalobos is hospitalized currently due to COVID.
Trey Miguel has a seminar in Cleveland on Sunday at 1 p.m. For more info you can email [email protected]
Premier Championship Wrestling on Sunday at 5 p.m. At Turners Hall in Cleveland.
