Though details on how and when the first champion will be crowned have yet to be announced, AEW has set the date for when their Women’s title belt will be unveiled.
On this week’s Road to Fyter Fest episode, Brandi Rhodes announced that the AEW Women’s World Championship will be unveiled at All Out on Saturday, August 31. The show is taking place at the Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois.
The first AEW World Champion will be decided as Chris Jericho faces Hangman Page at All Out. Bret Hart made an appearance at Double or Nothing last month and unveiled that title.
AEW has also confirmed that they’ll be holding a tournament to determine their inaugural Tag Team Champions. Best Friends (Trent Barreta & Chuck Taylor) vs. SoCal Uncensored (Scorpio Sky & Frankie Kazarian) vs. Private Party (Isiah Kassidy & Marq Quen) has been announced for Fyter Fest in Daytona Beach, Florida on June 29. The winning team will advance to All Out, where they’ll have a chance to earn a first-round bye in the Tag Team title tournament.
Tony Khan appeared on the latest edition of the Steve Austin Show and said the Tag Team title tournament will be “one of the main focuses” of AEW television when it starts this fall. Khan said AEW will eventually introduce Women’s Tag Team titles as well.
This week’s episode of the Road to Fyter Fest is available to watch below:
We’re looking for reports on tonight’s WWE show in Winnipeg to [email protected].
BELLATOR’S BIGGEST EVENT OF THE YEAR TONIGHT IN MADISON SQUARE GARDEN ON DAZN
Top prelim bouts starting at 6:30 p.m. Eastern time
Rena Kubota (111.2) vs. Lindsay VanZandt (111.4)
Robson Gracie Jr. (168.6) vs. Oscar Vera (168.8)
Valerie Loureda (125) vs. Larkyn Dasch (125.8)
Heather Hardy (127.8) vs. Taylor Turner (127.8)
Aaron Pico (145.4) vs. Adam Borics (145.4)
Main card: at 10 p.m. Eastern time
Darrion Caldwell (134.6) vs. Kyoji Horiguchi (134.4) for Bellator bantamweight title
Eduardo Dantas (145.6) vs. Juan Archuleta (145.8)
Ricky Bandejas (136) vs. Patrick Mix (135.6)
Dillon Danis (175) vs. Max Humphrey (174.4)
Lyoto Machida (204.4) vs. Chael Sonnen (205.6)
Rory MacDonald (169.4) vs. Neiman Gracie (169.8) for welterweight title
NEW JAPAN WORLD PRO WRESTLING AT 8 P.M. EASTERN TONIGHT ON AXS TV
Shingo Takagi vs. Satoshi Kojima
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Juice Robinson & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Jay White & Chase Owens & Taiji Ishimori
Jon Moxley vs. Shota Umino
Dragon Lee vs. Will Ospreay for IWGP jr. title
Kazuchika Okada vs. Chris Jericho for IWGP heavyweight title
CMLL FROM ARENA MEXICO IN MEXICO CITY TONIGHT AT 9:30 P.M. ON THE CMLL FACEBOOK PAGE AND AFTER THE EVENT ON YOUTUBE
Triton & Esfinge & Rey Cometa vs. Polvora & Kawato San & Tiger
Valiente & Soberano Jr. & Atlantis Jr. vs. Cuatrero & Sanson & El Hijo de Villano III
Euforia vs. Rey Bucanero
Austin Theory & Caristico & Volador Jr. vs. Rush & Negro Casas & Cavernario
Block B in the Copa Dinastias tournament with Mistico & Dragon Lee, Ultimo Guerrero & Gran Guerrero, Angel de Oro & Niebla Roja and Mascara Ano 2000 & Sanson
IMPACT AT 10 P.M. ON PURSUIT TV IF SOMEBODY AT THE STATION IS AWAKE
Willie Mack vs. Michael Elgin
Rob Van Dam & Sabu vs. Ethan Page & Josh Alexander
Havok vs. Marsha Slamovich
Madison Rayne vs. Jordynne Grace
We’re looking for reports Saturday from the Raw show in Anaheim, CA and Smackdown show in Denver to [email protected].
MLW AT 9 P.M. EASTERN ON BEINSPORTS
Sami Callihan vs. Mance Warner
NEW JAPAN FROM KORAKUEN HALL IN TOKYO AT 5:30 A.M. EASTERN ON SUNDAY ON NEW JAPAN WORLD
The ending of Super ShowDown brought a scary end to what was an embarrassing night for WWE.
Goldberg vs. The Undertaker reinforced the amount of risk that exists when you put two 50-year-old wrestlers against each other. The match was laid out exactly as it should have been and was on its way to being good, but things fell apart when Goldberg got knocked out.
Goldberg (who already had a mark on his forehead going into the match) got busted open when he went for a spear into the corner and rammed his head into the post less than three minutes in. From there, things only got worse.
A look at Undertaker vs. Goldberg, Naito vs. Ibushi and why referees and doctors need to be stopping matches when talent is legitimately hurt is the lead story in the new issue of the Observer. Look at how small independents are ahead of the game when it comes to precautionary measures involving talent this past week.
Read complete coverage of New Japan Dominion, WWE Super Showdown and UFC 238, with business notes, poll results, match-by-match coverage and star ratings for the pro wrestling shows.
Look at the injury situation and risks, look back at the Undertaker vs. Mick Foley Hell in a Cell match and what resulted from that, and the heyday of All Japan Pro Wrestling.
Look at what happened with the attempt to put on a women’s match in Saudi Arabia, the silliness of TV coverage in the past and not allowing women to wrestle there, and more behind the scenes at the show.
Also look at the upcoming G-1 Climax tournament and who to expect to be in it, TV coverage in the U.S. expanding, the newcomers to G-1, who is out from last year, the new Super J Cup tournament, a history of the Super J Cup, G-1 announcement plans and New Japan going to Australia.
Look at a wrestling television show being voted on for a nomination for a major award, John Cena’s future, FS 1 talk show on wrestling, HHH working in Japan and latest cards, and a Sasha Banks update.
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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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
Not sure of the weekend schedule but Garrett Gonzalez and I will be doing a show on business sometime in the next 24 hours and Bryan and I will be doing a weekend show. The biggest weekend shows are Bellator tonight and Verano de Escandalo on Sunday. Verano de Escandalo tickets are almost sold and that is very rare for a show in Mexico because most tickets are still bought day of.
The final number of those who were in the queque and tried to get tickets for All Out on 8/31 in Chicago, the next AEW PPV show, was 72,500 after about 30 minutes, and that is verified as they actually gave people their number in line. Keep in mind a few things about that stat. Some people logged in multiple times. Some of those people were fake. And those who ordered tickets probably averaged at roughly three tickets per order. Based on how quick it took to sell out, how many went through, which factors in multiples and fakes, the actual number of tickets that would have been sold would be just over 130,000. That ticket demand first 30 minutes beat any WrestleMania in history and would be the highest for any pro wrestling show I’ve ever heard of. The only show higher would have been the first time UFC went to Rio when the ticket demand was legit 250,000 for a 16,000 seat arena. Obviously they way undershot in booking the Sears Center and these numbers are both insane and telling. Stubhub had 893 tickets on sale the last time I checked. With most prices going at 4x ticket value, there will be more put up as they are moving and people are putting more up just because of the markup. The secondary market was on fire today as well.
We do have tickets for Bryan and my show in Chicago but all combined show and tickets sold out in like a minute.
The story going around about Gedo being out as New Japan booker is false. No idea where it came from but New Japan has denied it, and Gedo has told friends he has no idea where it came from.
Takeover Toronto will have:
Adam Cole vs. Johnny Gargano for the NXT title
Velveteen Dream vs. Pete Dunne vs. Roderick Strong for the North American title
Shayna Baszler vs. Mia Yim for the women’s title
Street Profits vs. Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly for the tag titles
Finals of the Breakout tournament
WWE
Becky Lynch is not listed on tonight’s Raw show in Winnipeg but is listed for Anaheim and San Diego. Charlotte Flair is listed as being back on the road tomorrow in Denver for the Smackdown tour. No word on Andrade but he is not being advertised. Lars Sullivan is off with an injury.
Ric Flair and Ron Simmons were being interviewed today for an A&E documentary on Booker T according to Mike Johnson.
A story on A.J. Kirsch setting up Becky Lynch meeting a fan whose home was destroyed in one of the many Northern California fires.
Finn Balor will be signing at Eternal Con at NYCB Live on 6/22.
MISCELLANEOUS
Willie Williams, a karate expert who had a legendary match with Antonio Inoki on February 27, 1980 for the old WWF World Martial arts championship (I’ll tell the story of it, but it is one of the most famous matches in Japan of that generation), passed away last week at the age of 68. The match is fascinating to watch now, very intense, realistic but not real, but tensions were very high like you would rarely see. Nobody would do the job. In Japan in 2003 it was listed as the greatest martial arts fight of the 20th century. The legend of that match was such that in 1992 Akira Maeda brought Williams back to be one of the big stars in RINGS. His matches there were pro wrestling matches but he is listed as having a 9-4 MMA record. He actually did do one MMA fight but it was when he was about 45 years old. Inoki vs. Williams finally had their rematch at the Tokyo Dome in 1997 and he also wrestled for FMW. This wasn’t as famous as Inoki’s match with Muhammad Ali or Willem Ruska, but was more famous that his supposed (not real) fights with Andre the Giant, the later Ruska match, Chuck Wepner, Leon Spinks, Allen Coage, Shota Chochoshvili and others.
Steve Austin will return to podcasting on 6/18 with a show with Tony Khan as his guest.
The G-1 tournament blocks will be announced early Sunday morning during the broadcast of the Korakuen Hall shows. The main events for every show on the tour will be announced early Monday morning.
FITE TV has announced it is broadcasting Fyter Fest on 6/29 for iPPV outside the U.S. (B/R Live), the U.K. and Ireland. No word yet on the U.K. but the fact it was specifically excluded would indicate a deal being worked on.
Daga won’t be used going forward by MLW. The promotion said that he pulled himself off the 6/1 show in Milwaukee saying he was going on vacation, only for them to find out he was wrestling in Mexico. He was then pulled from future bookings.
Slam Wrestling in Rauma, Finland on 6/29 has Sadie Gibbs vs. Meiko Satomura vs. Ivelisse in the main event, plus Tajiri vs. Starbuck, Shanne vs. Natalia Markova vs. Betty Rose and more.
Former wrestlers Jon Stewart and Cue Ball Carmichael have inked a developmental deal on a reality show called “The Graveyard Shift,” about murder and crimes committed after hours in the U.S. Adam Wilkenfeld (“Saw Dogs”) is the producer.
Ross & Marshall Von Erich have been announced for the 7/25 MLW tapings in New York at the Melrose Ballroom.
NSPW sold all of its 548 available tickets for its 11th anniversary show on 10/5 in Quebec City at the new Le Diamant. Le Diamant is partly the brainchild of Robert Lepage, an actor, playwright, stage director and award winning film director who is a part of Quebec’s entertainment landscape. Shawn Spears vs. Matt Angel will headline.
The Hannibal TV’s nearly 3 hour interview with UFC Hall of Famer and former New Japan Pro Wrestling Star Mark “The Hammer” Coleman is now posted free.
A year after All In began the path to the creation of All Elite Wrestling, the sequel event All Out sold out within 15 minutes of going on sale Friday morning.
Last year’s event at Chicago’s Sears Centre sold out in less than 30 minutes and drew 11,263 while Double or Nothing in Las Vegas, NV, sold out in four minutes for an attendance of 12,000.
Announced matches include Chris Jericho vs. Hangman Page for the first-ever AEW Championship while Jon Moxley will face Kenny Omega. The event is scheduled for Saturday, August 31st and will be available on PPV.
AEW’s next event Fyter Fest is scheduled for Saturday, June 29th in Daytona Beach, FL, available for free on B/R Live.
While they have yet to announce the official particulars like day or time, AEW will debut a two-hour weekly live TV show this fall on TNT, former home of WCW.
Ahead of tickets going on sale, AEW has confirmed another match for All Out.
AEW announced today that Jon Moxley will face Kenny Omega at All Out. The show is being held at the Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois on Saturday, August 31.
Moxley vs. Omega stems from the show-closing angle from Double or Nothing. After Moxley laid out Chris Jericho and a referee, he brawled with Omega. They made it to the prop of oversized poker chips on the stage. Moxley hit a double-arm DDT on them, then slammed Omega off of them.
This is the second match that’s been made official for All Out. Chris Jericho vs. Hangman Page is also set for the show. The winner of Jericho vs. Page will become the first AEW World Champion.
Jericho and Page being in the title match was set up via their wins at Double or Nothing. Jericho defeated Omega in the main event, while Page won the Casino Battle Royale on the pre-show.
Tickets for All Out will go on sale tomorrow (June 14) at noon Eastern time.
All Elite Wrestling has officially announced when their first World Championship match will be taking place.
It was confirmed today that Chris Jericho and Hangman Page’s match to determine the first AEW World Champion will take place at All Out on Saturday, August 31. The show is being held at the Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois during Labor Day weekend.
Going into Double or Nothing, AEW announced that the winner of Jericho vs. Kenny Omega would face the winner of the Casino Battle Royale at a later date to determine their inaugural World Champion. Page was originally scheduled to face PAC at Double or Nothing but ended up winning the battle royal after his match against PAC was canceled due to creative differences.
Tickets for All Out will go on sale on Friday, June 14. It will be the fourth show in AEW history, coming after Double or Nothing, Fyter Fest, and Fight for the Fallen.
All In also took place at the Sears Centre Arena during Labor Day weekend in 2018.
During their first ever pay-per-view Saturday, AEW announced their second PPV event, a location, and an on-sale ticket date.
A play on the All In event name that preceded the creation of AEW, All Out is scheduled for Saturday, August 31st at the Sears Centre in Chicago, IL, with an on-sale date of June 14th.
No ticket prices or method to purchase were announced.
The core of AEW — The Young Bucks, Cody, Kenny Omega, Adam Page, and others — came together to put on last year’s All In show, which sold out the Sears Centre in less than an hour. That show helped cement the viability of a new wrestling organization which led to the creation of AEW and Saturday’s Double or Nothing PPV event in Las Vegas.
All In is one of the most eagerly anticipated wrestling events of the year…unless you’re Flip Gordon, who, as of this writing, still isn’t booked on the show.
However, he is hosting a party in association with Pro Wrestling Tees called All Out: a pre-show event in the Sears Centre parking lot for those going to the event.
I recently spoke with Gordon on the All In show, why he hopes his “friends” that are involved with it do well, and his insight into just how hard Cody and The Young Bucks are working on the show.
Other topics included why he decided to make Ring of Honor his home promotion, why he thought he blew his 2017 tryout with them, how he combined his Army Reserve training with his wrestling dates, his work for New Japan Pro Wrestling, having the opportunity to wrestle Rey Mysterio for Northeast Wrestling, who he would love to face, and much, much more.
