On this week’s Wrestling Weekly, former pro wrestler, commentator, and trainer Les Thatcher and I discuss why every promotion seems to be in a creative rush these days. as well as the value of championships.
We also talk about how just about every major promotion has something in common over the last several weeks (and in some cases, much longer than that). We also look at Bruce Prichard taking over as WWE SmackDown Executive Director for Eric Bischoff, week 2 of NWA Power, how to train Cain Velasquez and Tyson Fury for big matches in a small amount of time, and more. Thanks for listening and have a great weekend~!
On his social media accounts today, Cain Velasquez posted a statement on his retirement from mixed martial arts and new career in professional wrestling:
To the UFC, my family, friends, and all the fans, thank you for the past 11 years. Thank you to all my coaches, teammates and agents. I am so blessed to have been able to have a career doing something I absolutely love. I knew from the time I was a junior in college I wanted to be a fighter and after graduating from college, I set off on my journey of becoming a fighter with the goal of being UFC Heavyweight champion. There are few people in this world that can say they have achieved what I have, and I am forever grateful for the opportunities and position I held being a part of the UFC. With my official retirement from the UFC, it’s time for the next chapter.
A year ago, when I went to my first WWE show, I fell back in love with a sport that I had watched and participated in since I was a child. From that moment, I have been doing a crash course on all things that relate to pro wrestling. I’ve been training at different gyms, going to shows and watching more matches then I would like to admit, but I can honestly say I eat, sleep and breath wrestling now. The contract is signed and I’m on my way to my next goal which is Universal Champion.
WWE Universe, thank you for welcoming me with open arms.
WWE confirmed last Friday that Velasquez has signed a multi-year deal with the company. He’ll challenge for Brock Lesnar’s WWE Championship at Crown Jewel in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Thursday, October 31.
Velasquez had two pro wrestling matches before signing with WWE. He made his in-ring debut for Lucha Libre AAA at Triplemania XXVII this August, teaming with Cody Rhodes & Psycho Clown against El Texano Jr., Killer Kross & Taurus. At AAA’s Invading New York event, Velasquez, Psycho Clown & Brian Cage faced Texano, Taurus & Rey Escorpion.
In his last UFC fight, Velasquez lost to Francis Ngannou via first-round knockout this February.
Two expected matches for Crown Jewel were made official at WWE’s media event in Las Vegas this afternoon.
WWE Champion Brock Lesnar vs. former UFC Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez has been confirmed for Crown Jewel, along with Braun Strowman vs. boxing star Tyson Fury. The show is taking place at King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Thursday, October 31 and will air live on the WWE Network.
WWE hasn’t said that Lesnar’s title will be on the line against Velasquez.
Lesnar became WWE Champion by defeating Kofi Kingston on last week’s SmackDown on FOX premiere. Velasquez then made his WWE debut and attacked Lesnar in a post-match angle.
In storyline, Velasquez was getting revenge after Lesnar attacked Rey Mysterio and Dominik on Raw. The story for Lesnar vs. Velasquez is also playing off of Velasquez’s win over Lesnar from the UFC. At UFC 121 in October 2010, Velasquez defeated Lesnar via first-round TKO to win the UFC Heavyweight Championship.
ESPN’s Marc Raimondi reported today that Velasquez “has signed a lucrative, multi-year contract with WWE and has also notified the UFC of his retirement.”
Velasquez had his first professional wrestling match for Lucha Libre AAA at Triplemania XXVII this August. He then wrestled at AAA’s Invading New York show in September.
The build to Strowman vs. Fury also began on last Friday’s SmackDown on FOX premiere. They got into a confrontation on that show and then had a pull-apart brawl on this week’s Raw.
Top Rank boxing founder Bob Arum appeared at today’s press conference and introduced Fury.
Crown Jewel is the fourth event in WWE’s 10-year deal with the Saudi General Sports Authority. It began with the Greatest Royal Rumble in April 2018.
A five-on-five tag match is set for Crown Jewel, with Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair coaching the teams against each other. It will be Seth Rollins, Rusev, and three partners vs. Randy Orton, Baron Corbin, and three partners.
Former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez picked the right time to try his hand at professional wrestling.
Months after making his in-ring debut, the 37-year-old has signed a “lucrative, multi-year” deal with WWE according to ESPN’s Marc Raimondi’s sources and has informed UFC that he is retiring, withdrawing from USADA’s testing pool.
On Friday at a press conference in Las Vegas, it was announced that Velasquez will face WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar at this month’s Crown Jewel event in Saudi Arabia. It’s unclear whether the match is for Lesnar’s title.
Velasquez himself hasn’t officially announced the news as of this writing nor has UFC publicly acknowledged it.
Velasquez has wrestled twice thus far this year, once at AAA’s TripleMania and again at their New York Uprising event. There was interest from New Japan Pro Wrestling and All Elite Wrestling in signing Velasquez, but after he appeared in the show-closing segment of last Friday’s SmackDown’s debut on Fox, it signaled that a WWE deal was imminent.
Velasquez famously defeated Lesnar for the UFC heavyweight gold at UFC 121 in December 2010. After racking up a 13-1 record and two title reigns, injuries besieged the Mexican-American star and he fought just three more times (1-2) over a six year stretch. He last attempted a comeback in February, but was defeated by Francis Ngannou in just 26 seconds.
A “major announcement” will be made at a WWE media event in Las Vegas, Nevada this afternoon:
It appears that Brock Lesnar vs. Cain Velasquez and Braun Strowman vs. Tyson Fury will be announced for Crown Jewel. Lesnar, Velasquez, Strowman, Fury, Paul Heyman, Rey Mysterio, and Paul “Triple H” Levesque are schedule to be at the press conference, which is taking place at the T-Mobile Arena.
Lesnar won the WWE Championship on last week’s SmackDown on FOX premiere. After the match, Velasquez made his WWE debut and attacked Lesnar. In storyline, the attack was revenge for Lesnar laying out Mysterio and Dominik on Raw.
Fury appeared at SmackDown’s FOX premiere and got into a confrontation with Strowman. On this week’s Raw, a pull-apart brawl between the two closed the episode.
Crown Jewel is taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Thursday, October 31. It will be the fourth event in WWE’s 10-year deal with the Saudi General Sports Authority, which began with the Greatest Royal Rumble in April 2018.
Today’s press conference will stream live on the WWE Network, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and WWE.com. It will be available to watch below starting at 3 p.m. Eastern time/noon Pacific:
It appears that two expected WWE matches will be made official this Friday.
WWE has announced a press conference for noon Pacific time at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on Friday. It will be with Brock Lesnar, Paul Heyman, Cain Velasquez, Rey Mysterio, Braun Strowman, Tyson Fury, and Paul “Triple H” Levesque.
As of last week, Lesnar vs. Velasquez and Strowman vs. Fury were planned to take place at Crown Jewel in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on October 31.
Lesnar won the WWE Championship from Kofi Kingston on last week’s SmackDown on FOX premiere and was attacked by Velasquez in a post-match angle. There was also a confrontation with Strowman and Fury on that show, which led to a pull-apart brawl between Strowman and Fury headlining Raw this week.
This Friday’s SmackDown is taking place at the T-Mobile Arena hours after the press conference. The episode will be the start of the WWE Draft.
The Staples Center in Los Angeles, California hosted a historic night for WWE on Friday.
SmackDown made its debut on FOX, with appearances by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Cain Velasquez taking place on the episode. The Rock appeared in the opening segment, helping Becky Lynch verbally and physically lay the smackdown on Baron Corbin.
The show ended with Velasquez making his WWE debut. After Brock Lesnar won the WWE Championship from Kofi Kingston in just seconds, there was an angle where Velasquez came out with Rey Mysterio and got revenge on Lesnar for Lesnar attacking Mysterio and Dominik on this week’s Raw.
You won’t have to wait long for the Brock Lesnar WWE title match with Cain Velasquez that was teased Friday night on SmackDown.
Lesnar vs. Velasquez is scheduled as the main event for the Oct. 31 Crown Jewel show in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The match was set up on tonight’s edition of SmackDown when Rey Mysterio brought in Velasquez after Lesnar had beaten Kofi Kingston for the WWE title in seven seconds. Velasquez confronted Lesnar, taking him to the ground briefly before Lesnar escaped.
As noted since Monday, the Mysterio angle and Paul Heyman interview on Monday’s Raw was to foreshadow a Velasquez vs. Lesnar match, although there were snags during the week, including Velasquez also negotiating with Tony Khan and AEW.
WWE offered a huge money deal for the match. It is unclear how long Velasquez has signed for, which would obviously make a difference in the match result.
Former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez confronted and beat down Brock Lesnar to close WWE SmackDown’s debut on Fox Friday night.
Following Lesnar’s short WWE title win over Kofi Kingston, Velasquez, a rookie pro wrestler who has been in the ring twice for AAA, walked out with Rey Mysterio. Wearing a large left knee brace over his jeans, Velasquez took off his shirt and double-legged Lesnar to the mat, laying in some ground and pound. Lesnar teased going back in the ring to fight, but eventually left with Paul Heyman to close the show.
While not yet announced, it’s assumed Velasquez has signed a WWE contract. AEW’s Cody Rhodes had mentioned they were interested in Velasquez and that he would take him on as a project. ESPN’s Marc Raimondi reported that Velasquez is in “advanced talks” with WWE, but hasn’t signed as of yet. Velasquez said he has been talking with both NJPW and AEW.
The 37-year-old Velasquez took the UFC heavyweight title from Lesnar in October 2010 via first round TKO. After struggling with injuries over the past few years, he returned to the UFC in February and lost to Francis Ngannou in just 26 seconds.
Velasquez is still under UFC contract, and it’s unclear what his status is with the company. WWE and UFC have a history of working together when situations like this arise as Lesnar returned to UFC for a fight at UFC 200. There’s also Ronda Rousey who never officially retired from UFC, but spent a year in WWE with Dana White’s blessing. Raimondi reported they approved his Friday appearance.
Velasquez worked out at the WWE Performance Center in July 2018 and said he had a positive experience. He made his debut at AAA TripleMania in a six-man tag match with the aforementioned Cody and also worked at their Invading New York show. He was also scheduled for their now-postponed Los Angeles event.
F4W NEWSLETTER: Looking at SmackDown’s move to FOX Joseph Currier looks ahead to SmackDown’s FOX premiere and what the move will mean. Plus, Bryan Rose’s Japan notes and Vinny V’s TV reviews.
While much of the focus has been on the AEW vs. NXT Wednesday Night War, WWE main roster television materially changes this week with SmackDown’s FOX premiere.
The magnitude of WWE airing live on network television every week has been apparent since news of the FOX move broke, but it didn’t fully set in until FOX started promoting the show. WWE personalities have been featured on FOX’s most valuable sports properties, with them appearing on NFL, college football, and MLB coverage. The promotion WWE would get on FOX was said to be one of the selling points of the deal, and FOX has already been as great of a partner as WWE could have hoped for. The promotional opportunities that FOX affords have the potential to make a real difference for WWE. Not every appearance will go perfectly (FOX’s Mark Schlereth saying Rey Mysterio was “like Nacho Libre” was pretty lame), but wrestlers being positioned as on the same level as other professional sports stars in FOX’s portfolio is gigantic for WWE.
WWE is also officially being given its own studio show on FS1. Renee Young and Booker T will host WWE Backstage, which premieres at 11 p.m. Eastern time/8 p.m. Pacific on Tuesday, November 5. There will also be a preview show after game three of Major League Baseball’s American League Championship Series on October 15. Young and Booker T will “weigh in on the biggest stories in WWE, and are joined by a rotating cast of guests and personalities, including current and former WWE Superstars.” The show is a FOX production, and it was reported last week that CM Punk has tried out for it.
WWE and FOX have worked in unison to make SmackDown’s FOX premiere as big as it could possibly be. Brock Lesnar will have his first match on either Raw or SmackDown since 2004 as he challenges for Kofi Kingston’s WWE Championship. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson will also make his first televised WWE appearance in over three years.
The Wednesday night war has started, and there’s no more detailed rundown than in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer.
We’ve got every aspect of the business covered, including:
How every match on both shows did when it comes to viewers, head-to-head, and how different demos fared.
What things WWE tried that worked, what didn’t work, and what failed.
The money demo, baseball competition, analyze where NXT gained and lost and what it says about AEW and competition, who had the advantage when it came to replays, was it a TNT nostalgia wrestling rating, average age for WWE and AEW shows, what audiences AEW beats WWE shows in, what AEW’s success under 35 showed, comments from key people about the ratings, and we also look at Canada ratings, the UK deal and what time slot is actually the key one for AEW in the UK.
Also:
Different tricks both companies took, who did the best job of hype, what comes next week and the non-wrestling aspects of the show.
Match-by-match coverage for both shows with star ratings.
Turmoil in CMLL, the departure of Rush and Dragon Lee, how Lee found out, the future of Mistico, Rush talks his future, as does Dragon Lee, the changes in CMLL that led to this, and all kinds of new policies that changes the world’s oldest wrestling promotion.
C.M. Punk, noting his lawsuit with Colt Cabana being settled, his screen test for a new WWE show, the latest on if he will wrestle, while Cody talks his thoughts about Punk in AEW.
Cain Velasquez in pro wrestling. We look at the Forum card being postponed, WWE’s meeting with him, what angles on Raw this week related to him, update on who has signed the most key guys of late and why Velasquez’s situation is so unique.
Smackdown premier on FOX and ticket interest, Hell in a Cell, the next Saudi Arabia show, Steve Austin, Ric Flair’s title reigns, update on a WWE Hall of Famer who may get cleared, Fourth generation McMahon may become a wrestler, how much Cena affected business, Dana White exchanges words with Matt Riddle, Braun Strowman’s new deal, Upcoming Evolve bouts with WWE stars, WWE market value declines and why, most-watched shows on the WWE Network plus a look at all the WWE & NXT arena events of the past week with results, highlights and business notes.
Coverage of CMLL’s biggest show of the year, the anniversary card, with match-by-match coverage and star ratings.
Coverage of ROH Death Before Dishonor, with match-by-match coverage, business notes, star ratings PPV numbers and more on Matt Taven’s new landmark ROH deal.
Coverage on this past weekend’s UFC show in Copenhagen, Denmark.
The death of Rick Bogner, look at his days as Big Tytan in Japan, the story behind the fake Razor Ramon in WWF, why his career ended, who got him into WWF but some of the guys he started out with talk about him.
Coverage of all the WWE television shows from the past week, in-depth looks at the ratings of all the major shows, the key demos for the WWE shows and what can be learned from them.
Results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.
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FRIDAY NEWS UPDATE
We’ll be back with coverage of tonight’s Smackdown, as well as more on the Wednesday night wars with a show later tonight.
Scheduled for tonight is Kofi Kingston vs Brock Lesnar for the WWE title, Roman Reigns vs. Erick Rowan, Shane McMahon vs. Kevin Owens loses gets fired from the promotion in a ladder match, Charlotte Flair & Becky Lynch vs. Bayley & Sasha Banks, plus every major star they could round up including Dwayne Johnson, Hulk Hogan, Steve Austin, Ric Flair, Kurt Angle and tons of others FOX begins coverage of tonight’s show with a blue carpet kickoff show at 7:30 p.m. Drew McIntyre and the Usos are backstage at the show.
There were talks going on this past week for Cain Velasquez to debut on the show. We did not get it confirmed that a deal was made, but there is an obvious angle with Lesnar.
Konnan on his podcast talked about the possibility of Sofia Alonso leaving CMLL and starting her own promotion. This relates to the story in this week’s Observer. All I can say about this is I’m stunned he said it publicly, but there is smoke to that fire.
Scarlett Bordeaux has pulled out of a number of independent dates based on having signed a contract. She just had a WWE tryout.
Bellator announced a DAZN show on 12/21 in Honolulu headlined by Ilima-lei MacFarlane defending her flyweight title against Kate Jackson as well as A.J. McKee vs. Derek Campos in the featherweight tournament. Macfarlane sold out the Blaisdell Center last year in one of the most incredible emotional storybook nights in company history.
WWE
The cruiserweight title name has been changed from WWE cruiserweight champion to NXT cruiserweight champion, which tells you it’s now off WWE PPV shows and on Takeovers and NXT Wednesday shows.
Hulk Hogan was on Colin Cowherd today promoting the WWE 2K20 video game and tonight’s Smackdown show.
“Fighting With My Family” was the 99 cent video rental of the week on iTunes (thanks to Brian Henke)
The www.BetOnline.ag odds for tonight
Brock Lesnar -250 vs. Kofi Kingston +170
Lynch & Flair +100 vs. Banks & Bayley -140
Roman Reigns -200 vs. Erick Rowan +150
Kevin Owens -300 vs. Shane McMahon +200
Among the women who were with Velveteen Dream in his promo on Wednesday’s NXT show were Brandi Lauren, Avery Taylor, Kelsey Heather, Gia Roman, Marina Tucker and Tasha Steelz. Lauren and Taylor are regulars with Evolve (thanks to Shannon Walsh at wrestlingwithdemons.net)
UFC
Sheymon Moraes was cut by UFC this past week.
With Sergio Pettis’ UFC contract having expired and no deal reached for a new contract, the Pettis vs. Kai Kara France fight for 11/2 in Madison Square Garden has been changed to France vs. Brandon Moreno.
Muslim Salikhov vs.Laureano Starpoli, Enrique Barzola vs. Movsar Evloev and Jeff Hughes vs. Raphael Passoa have been added to the 10/16 show in Singapore.
Charles Oliveira vs. Jed Gordon, Warlley Alves vs. Randy Brown and Ricardo Ramos (as a featherweight) vs. Eduardo Garagrri have been added to the 11/16 show in Sao Paulo,Brazil.
AEW
Tickets for the 12/4 tapings in Champaign, IL went on sale today.
Chris Jericho was at last night’s New York Rangers game against the Winnipeg Jets in Madison Square Garden. His father played for the Rangers. He was shown wearing a Rangers jersey and was called “WWE Superstar.”
Jericho also was the guest yesterday on Ariel Helwani’s ESPN podcast.
On Wednesday, this was the most-read story in the Los Angeles Times
The Washington Post on Nyla Rose. (thanks to Chris Cruise)
MISCELLANEOUS
Bellator runs at 9 p.m. Eastern tonight on Paramount and DAZN
Andrey Koreshkov (170.8) vs. Lorenz Larkin (170.9)
Saad Awad (155.3) vs. Goiti Yamauchi (155.3)
Keri Melendez (117.9) vs. Mandy Polk (117.4)
Joe Schilling (186) vs. Tony Johnson (185.1)
The snakebit wXw weekend got worse today as both Eddie Kingston and Saraya Knight pulled out. Kingston cited a family emergency. Knight said she was suffering from a stomach bug. Vicious Vivien replaces her. David Starr, who was to team with Kingston in the tournament, will now pick a new partner. Dominic Garrini & Kevin Ku are now in the tournament as the replacements for Flamita & Bandido. Flamita will still be working the weekend in non-tournament matches. Of the original 12 teams, six have been changed. Jonathan Gresham has also been added for the weekend.
At last night’s show in Oberhausen, during the Timothy Thatcher ring entrance, the lights went out due to a technical failure. Results of the show were Jay Skillet & Russ Taylor & Alexander Dean b Maggot & Prince Ahura & The Roation, Dominic Garrini b James Runyan, Anthony Henry & JD Drake b Timothy Thatcher & Norman Harass, Leyla Hirsch b Samii Jayne, Alexander James b Daniel Makabe, Kyle Fletcher & Lucky Kid b Chief Deputy Dunne & Los Federales Santos Jr. (thanks to Markus Gronemann)
A correction from this week’s issue. Walter was not pulled from the weekend by WWE, but asked on his own that he wanted off to avoid hard travel since he’s working tonight at tomorrow for the NXT tapings and has to be in Orlando on Tuesday for his dress rehearsal with Kushida so asked out of working Sunday in Germany.
Scott Teal’s autobiography with Rocky Johnson will be out 10/14. Dwayne Johnson wrote the foreword. For more info you can go here.
The Calgary Hitmen hockey team announced Bret Hart Night on 11/2, in support of the Calgary Prostate Cancer Centre. Hart is a prostate cancer survivor. His older brother Smith also had prostate cancer which spread and he eventually passed away from it. Bret Hart will be signing before the game with all money going to the Centre and special $15 tickets with $5 going to the center are available, as well. After the game, the Prairie Wrestling Alliance will hold a four-match wrestling card on the ice. In return, tomorrow night, members of the Hitmen team will be at the PWA show at the Cedarbrae Community Centre.
Mick Foley will be starting a new speaking tour on Tuesday, going all over the country with different shows, including 11/10 in San Jose.
Will Ospreay is working 10/11 and 10/12 for Melbourne Championship Wrestling in Australia as the tag team partner of Kyle Fletcher. He replaces Mark Davis, who is out with a knee injury.
Robbie Eagles vs. Kai Drake on 10/11 in Sydney, Australia for Wrestling Go.
Rick Allen, who wrestled in the 90s as Sunny Beach for the Herb Abrams UWF, underwent quadruple bypass surgery last week according to PW Insider. Allen suffered a heart attack and still drove himself to the hospital, which probably saved his life.
Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Sgt. Slaughter, Mick Foley, Gangrel and Joey Janela are representing Headlocked Comics at the New York Comic Con today through Sunday at the Jacob Javits Center.
Tomorrow night’s MLW TV show on Bein Sports has Austin Aries vs. Brian Pillman Jr., L.A. Park & El Hijo de L.A. Park vs. Septimo Dragon & Magnus, and Dominic Garrini vs. Areil Dominguez.
Championship Wrestling from Arkansas on 10/12 in Hot Springs, AR at the Convention Center Hall D. Arn Anderson will be a special guest for a meet and greet.
MCW tomorrow night in Joppa, MD features Rhett Titus vs. Dante Caballero for the MCW title plus a convention from Noon to 5 p.m. with Kane, Devon Dudley,Tito Santana, Joey Ryan and Rene Michelle. Ryan wrestles King McBride and Michelle is in a woman’s title match against champion Aria Palmer and Gia Scott.
Pro Wrestling Revolver tonight in West Des Moines, IA at the Val Air Ballroom with Larry D vs. Mad Man Fulton vs. Killer Kross, Brian Cage defends the Impact title against JT Dunn, Tessa Blanchard vs. Sami Callihan in a street fight, Lance Archer vs. Ace Romero plus Andy Dalton, Caleb Konley, Jake Manning, David Crist, Jimmy Jacobs, Jessicka Havok,Rich Swann, Jason Cade and more.
Combate Americas announced a new main event for 10/11 with Andre Barquero out due to a knee injury. For the show in Tucson, AZ, on Galavision, Jose Alday (13-4-1) now faces former UFC fighter Joby Sanchez (12-5) in a bantamweight main event. Jose Luis Calvo also had to pull out of the show due to a visa issue from Costa Rica. So Anthony Birchak (15-6) now faces Erik Aguilar Radleim (5-4) at a 140 pound catch weight.
TK O’Ryan, who has been out a long time with issues from a concussion, has announced a return on a CWE tour of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario from11/21 to 12/5.
MLW announced a 20 wrestler mystery box Battle Royal for the 11/9 show at the Gilt Nightclub in Orlando at 4 p.m. The idea is that nobody will be announced for the Battle Royal ahead of time so it’s a mystery.
Dory Funk Jr., Ricky Steamboat and Steve Corino, all former NWA champions, will do a meet and greet on 10/26 in Ocala, FL at the BANG V Sound Stage at 5 P.M. before the 6:45 p.m. show.
Today is the 56th anniversary of the first Bruno Sammartino vs. Gorilla Monsoon match for the WWWF title held outdoors at Roosevelt Stadium. Monsoon was a late replacement for Buddy Rogers. It was to be Rogers’ title rematch, moved outdoors because they were expecting more than 20,000 fans. Rogers pulled out of the show due to health issues and Monsoon was introduced as a monster heel, having won a tournament to get the title shot. Monsoon won via DQ to set up rematches in Madison Square Garden. (thanks to Mike Omansky)
CMLL begins its Gran Alternativa tournament tonight at Arena Mexico, which also has Euforia & Gran Guerrero defending the CMLL tag titles against Angel de Oro & Niebla Roja.
Bret Hart talked to Sean Mooney:on Prime Time with Sean Mooney podcast where he talked about WrestleMania IX, the Hall of Fame incident from earlier this year and more.
Lucha libre returns to New York City tonight as Invading NY takes place inside the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden.
Cain Velasquez is set for his first pro wrestling match in the United States, and his second match overall after debuting this summer in Mexico. On this card in New York he teams with Psycho Clown & Brian Cage against Texano Jr., Taurus & Rey Escorpion (who replaces Killer Kross).
Velasquez wrestling on the show is probably the most newsworthy attraction, but the trios match itself is billed as the semi-main.
The advertised main event is Blue Demon Jr vs. Dr Wagner Jr. in a continuation of their long rivalry. Their feud was seemingly blown off in an apuesta match at Triplemania, yet here they are once again facing off in a singles match as headliners.
The Lucha Brothers defend their AAA World Tag Team titles against challengers LAX. In another title match, Taya Valkyrie challenges Tessa Blanchard for the Reina de Reinas Championship.
Other AAA talent is scheduled for the show, but no other matches were announced ahead of time. More wrestlers from Impact were also expected to appear on the card.
Originally scheduled for the arena at Madison Square Garden, the show was eventually moved to the adjacent Hulu Theater. AAA previously ran the venue in the 1990s when the Hulu Theater was known as the Paramount Theater. This year, Impact Wrestling is co-promoting the show with AAA.
Invading NY is available on traditional pay-per-view and iPPV with an option of either Spanish or English commentary. Our live coverage begins at 6 p.m. Eastern time.
**********
The show opened with the ring announcers hyping the crowd. Hugo Savinovich and Matt Striker are calling the show in English. With the addition of Hugo, this is already the best AAA English language announce team ever (expect for maybe Mike Tenay & Chris Cruise on When Worlds Collide in 1994). That is however a low bar aside from When Worlds Collide.
Melissan Santos is the English language ring announcer.
Mascarita Dorada & Chris Dickinson defeated Dave the Clown & Demus
Dorada pinned Demus in an opener that connected pretty decently with the crowd. They loved Dorada. He did some David and Goliath spots with Dave the Clown. Dickinson was coming off of the Bloodsport show last night. What a vastly different show to wrestle on 24 hours later in relatively the same region. The match built to some highspot at the end. Dorada really got to shine. He did an amazing series of tilt-a-whirls before cradling Demus for the pinfall.
Team Impact (Josh Alexander, Michael Elgin & Sami Callihan) defeated Team AAA (Murder Clown, Drago & Faby Apache)
Elgin pinned Murder Clown after a Liger bomb. The match started with a wild brawl until settling into a more traditional trios match. Elgin really heeled on the crowd as they booed him a lot. Apache got to shine when she first made a save for Drago. Callihan stalked Apache, and then he spat in her face. She fired up and did a senton off the apron on Callihan. The rudos ganged up on Apache. She took a Magic Killer modified into a spike DDT. They got heat on her for several minutes.
Apache eventually countered into a Black Widow. Murder Clown cleaned house off a hot tag. The tecnicos rallied for a triple near fall. The rudos soon cut them off. Elgin did a double fallaway slam when he lifted both Drago and Apache. Drago moments later got a near fall with a Frakensteiner. Callihan executed a piledriver on Apache. Drago then hit Callihan with a Canadian Destroyer.
The parade of highspots continued until Murder Clown popped the crowd doing a tope con giro to the outside. Elgin cut off Clown and powerbombed him for the pinfall.
Daga defeated Puma King, Flamita and Aerostar in a four-way match
Daga pinned Puma King in a high flying spectacle. The match was really good if you like all action. Dagao becomes number one contender for AAA Cruiserweight Championship by winning this match. This was a video game stunt show. There was a ton of flying here, and too many highspots to keep track off. Everybody got their stuff in. Aerostar flew around like a wild man, but didn’t do anything too crazy. Puma King fought from underneath, but Daga ultimately delivered a Jay Driller for the pinfall.
Taya Valkyrie defeated Tessa Blanchard to win the Reina de Reinas Championship
Taya pinned Blanchard after the Road to Valhalla. This was really good. They hugged afterwards, but Tessa went heel and attacked her for a post-match beatdown. This built like an old school NWA title match, except it was filled with new age highspots. Blanchard is so damn great in the ring.
They started slow and built from there. The pace soon quickened. Taya fought from underneath. She did a flying crossbody off the top to the floor early on. Blachard dropkicked her into the ring steps, and then Blanchard turned up the heat. They had a slugfest after a double down as they match continued to build. Taya made a comeback, but Tessa caught her with a Canadian Destroyer for a near fall.
Taya kept getting near falls down the stretch. Blachard delivered a cutter, and Taya answered back with a knee strike. Taya then lifted Tessa for the double chickenwing facebuster, and Taya covered her for the title change.
They hugged and embraced after the match when Taya extended her hand to help Blanchard off the mat. Blanchard then heeled on her for a post-match attack where she got her heat back.
AAA World Tag Team Champions Lucha Brothers (Pentagon Jr. & Fenix) defeated LAX (Ortiz & Santana) to retain their titles
Pentagon pinned Santana to win the match for his team. This was spectacular at times. The beginning of the match was typical Lucha Bros fare — meaning Pentagon milked “ciero miedo” and Fenix flew around doing crazy cool spots. The highspots only got crazier from there. There was a lot of tandem offense and intricate sequences.
LAX would not be outshined. They did dual dives over the ropes with each doing a tope con giro. That turned the tide in their favor for a moment. The false finishes began in the second half of the match. Ortiz with a reverse rana, and Santana followed with a big splash off the tope on Fenix. Pentagon made a save. He would do the same a few minutes later.
They all traded near falls. Lucha Bros got a double near fall doing a Sabu-RVD combo. LAX answered back with a two count off a frog splash. Penta traded Canadian Destroyers with LAX. Santana flew to the outside, and then LAX with a Doomsday Blockbuster for another close near fall.
Lucha Bros did their Mexican Destroyer finishing sequence. For that finish, Fenix drapped himself in the Mexican flag before he leapt off the top with a double foot stomp that assisted Pentagon with as a stuff package piledriver on Santana. Fenix — still drapped in the flag — flipped into a tope con giro to the outside to dispatch Ortiz. Pentagon then covered Santana for the pinfall.
Cain Velasquez, Psycho Clown & Brian Cage defeated Los Mercenarios (Texano Jr., Taurus & Rey Escorpion)
Velasquez pinned Taurus after doing a Lethal Injection. Yes, a freaking Lethal Injection. He looked good again. He did some MMA spots, but he also did plenty of lucha libre. Velasquez did a tilt-a-whirl and a flying headscissors. Plus he flew outside doing a crossbody off the top rope to the floor. He squared off with Taurus at the start, and they both would go on to be the two involved in the finish.
The trios match was given a last minute no DQ stipulation. I thought that would mean lots of weapons and/or blood, but it instead just meant the rudos got to cheat. They got heat on Cage until Psycho Clown ran wild off after a hot tag. Escorpion cut him off and ripped at his mask. Psycho answered back with a Code Red. The rudos’ spots kept backfiring on them. Texano brought his bullrope into the ring, but he whipped Escorpion by mistake. Psycho then got the bullrope and whipped the rudos.
Velasquez got back in the ring and executed a flying headscissors. Psycho and Cage did flip dives to the outside. Cain followed with a flying crossbody off the top on to everybody on the floor. Taurus cut off Cain, but Cage made a save to give Taurus a buckle bomb. Cage dealifted Taurus into a superplex. Texano rushed in to catch Cage with a sit-out powerbomb. Psycho then caught Texano with a sunset powerbomb. Escorpion press slamed Psycho into a gutbuster.
Velasquez was cleaning house when Escorpion fouled him. Velasquez regrouped for a tilt-a-whirl that he followed with a handspring into a cutter (Lethal Injection) on Taurus for the pinfall.
There was a ceremony celebrating Mexican independence with the Grito de Independencia. Mexico celebrates its Independence Day tomorrow.
Dr. Wagner Jr. defeated Bliue Demon Jr.
Wagner pinned Demon after rolling through to counter a flying crossbody. Wagner wrestled with his mask until he unmasked himself just before the finish. The closing moments were clunky as the finish did not go smooth. Impact wrestlers attacked Wagner after the match, and the AAA roster ran down to make the save for brawl that closed the show.
Some of their previous bouts were bloodbaths, but this was a basic match with no blood. Striker on commentary tried putting the match over as a chance to see witness a classic rivalry. Sure, okay.
They started slow as they worked the crowd, and they built to Demon doing a tope suicida through the ropes. That set up the heat spot as Demon began working over Wagner.
Wagner eventually made a comeback. He and Demon ripped and tore each other’s mask.
Wagner dared Demon to hit him, and Wagner then unmasked and fired up into a lariat for a botched two count. Demon then climbed the turnbuckles and jumped off into a flying crossbody. Wagner rolled through and covered Demon for the pinfall.
Impact wrestlers ran in after the match to attack Wagner. The AAA roster poured into the ring for the save. AAA stood tall over Impact after a short brawl. The AAA crew cleared the ring, and Wagner cut a promo before the show went off the air. During the melee, Cain Velasquez caught Callihan in a cross armbreaker.
Final Thoughts —
Overall, the show was good as far as match quality. There was not much on the show that was bad. It was far from the usual AAA trainwreck. However, the show felt more like a house show than a PPV. Most of the matches felt thrown together for the sake of filling out the card. Probably because much of the undercard was just that.
The women’s title match with Taya against Tessa Blanchard was good, and it stood out on this card. It was much more of a main event caliber match than the main event itself. Blue Demon facing Dr. Wagner was not bad, but it was more like an exhibition match than the continuation of a blood feud.
Cain Velasquez looked like a natural in his second match. He was in the match that was arguably the best thing on the show. Let the bidding war over him begin.
WWE CLASH OF CHAMPIONS AT 6 P.M. EASTERN SUNDAY ON THE WWE NETWORK FROM THE SPECTRUM CENTER IN CHARLOTTE
Seth Rollins vs Braun Strowman for Universal title – Rollins is a -400 favorite to retain the title. I think everyone would have him as the favorite, but those are long odds.
Kofi Kingston vs Randy Orton for WWE title – Kingston is a -185 favorite to retain. I could see Orton as the guy they’d want the title on when they move to FOX, so don’t rule out an upset title change here.
Roman Reigns vs. Erick Rowan no DQ – Reigns is a -290 favorite. Lots of expectations that Daniel Bryan will end up involved. This match is expected to get a lot of latitude.
Becky Lynch vs. Sasha Banks for Raw women’s title – Lynch is a -140 favorite to retain. This match needs to be good for the show as a whole. There’s no reason for it not to be, but Banks’ return will lose momentum if they go out and only do a decent match.
Bayley vs. Charlotte Flair for Smackdown women’s title – Bayley is a -155 favorite to retain the title
Braun Strowman & Seth Rollins vs. Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode for Raw tag titles – Roode and Ziggler are heavy favorites, at -280, to win the title here. Now this is Paul Heyman booking which isn’t the same, but if they lose, if it was Vince McMahon’s booking, the guy who lost the fall would come back to win the Universal title match.
Big E & Xavier Woods vs The Revival for Smackdown tag title – E & Woods are -185 favorites top retain the title.
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. The Miz for IC title – Nakamura is a -210 favorite to win. On paper, this doesn’t look like much. They have the chance to surprise people.
A.J. Styles vs. Cedric Alexander for U.S. title – Styles goes in as a -350 favorite to win and retain.
Nikki Cross & Alexa Bliss vs. Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville for women’s tag title – Bliss & Cross are -350 favorites to retain the titles. I would see those odds as bigger than they should be..
Drew Gulak vs. Humberto Carrillo vs. Lince Dorado for cruiserweight title. Gulak is a -230 favorite to retain. Carrillo is +220. Dorado is +1100, so nobody expects him to win.
To me, this show looks solid on paper in the sense nothing looks bad, but nothing stands out on paper as being great. When I look at star ratings predictions, this looks less impressive going in than most WWE shows. But there can always be surprises.
AAA FROM THE HULU THEATER IN MADISON SQUARE GARDEN IN NEW YORK AT 6 P.M. EASTERN ON PPV AND FITE TV
Cain Velasquez & Brian Cage & Psycho Clown vs. Black Taurus & Rey Bucanero & El Texano Jr.
Tessa Blanchard vs. Taya Valkyrie for Reina de Reinas championship
Pentagon Jr. & Fenix vs. LAX for AAA tag titles
Dr. Wagner Jr.vs. Blue Demon Jr.
NEW JAPAN DESTRUCTION IN KAGOSHIMA AT 5 A.M. EASTERN ON NEW JAPAN WORLD
Yuya Uemura vs. Clark Connors in Young Lions tournament
Ren Narita vs. Michael Richards in Young Lions tournament
Yuji Nagata & Ryusuke Taguchi & Shota Umino & Yota Tsuji vs. Manabu Nakanishi & Toa Henare & Karl Fredericks & Alex Coughlin
Tomohiro Ishii & Yoshi-Hashi & Sho & Yoh vs. Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa & Bad Luck Fale & Chase Owens
Bayley going through a long-anticipated character change was the latest step in WWE refocusing on the Four Horsewomen.
Bayley & Becky Lynch vs. Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross main evented last Monday’s episode of Raw. Sasha Banks ran in and caused a disqualification by attacking Lynch. Banks struck Lynch with a steel chair until Bayley took it away from her. But instead of playing peacemaker between her friends, Bayley smiled and pummeled Lynch with the chair herself.
After beginning her heel turn and reuniting with Banks, Bayley cut a promo explaining her actions the next night on SmackDown. The crowd alternated between cheering and booing her. Bayley told the fans that their reaction was confusing. Instead of going full bore with the heel turn, Bayley spoke about her friendship with Banks and called Banks the one person who has always had her back. Bayley disingenuously talked about being a hero and a role model. She said she was trying to show kids what it means to be loyal and noted that she couldn’t turn her back on Banks just because things got rough. Bayley said that SmackDown deserves a champion that gets the same kind of recognition as Lynch.
In a move that has great ramifications in pro wrestling, Anthem Sport and Entertainment has purchased a majority interest in AXS TV and HDNet Movies and will begin running the two channels.
The deal also includes purchasing the AXS TV library of concerts, pro wrestling and MMA content, which would include U.S. broadcast rights to old ROH, many years of New Japan, WOW, and some defunct MMA promotions as well as countless smaller MMA shows.
Mark Cuban, who founded the stations, and AEG, his partners, will continue to own a minority interest. Part of the purchase team included Anthem, headed by Leonard Asper, and entertainer Steve Harvey, who will enter into a strategic content development agreement.
The company will continue operating from studios in Los Angeles and Denver, as well as use Anthem studios in Toronto, Nashville and Europe. The office in Dallas was closed down.
While not stated in the sales press release, as noted over the months this day has been in play, that if it was to go through, that Impact would move from The Pursuit Channel, where it has been dying on the vine, and move to AXS.
The deal actually first started with an attempt by Anthem to get Impact on AXS when they got word in the latter stages of 2018 that they weren’t going to be renewed by Pop TV. AXS turned down the initial deal, since Impact did not have a good reputation in the wrestling world at the time and AXS had its own wrestling franchise with New Japan.
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SUNDAY NEWS UPDATE
Bryan and I will be back tonight to talk Clash of Champions, the AAA show and New Japan shows, and the rest of the news. Questions can be sent to [email protected]
With football dominating the weekend, the only things that cracked the Google trends were Tyson Fury at No. 5 yesterday with 200,000 searches, which is probably less than I’d have expected given the pub, and the UFC Fight Night was No. 14 with 100,000. As far as today goes, if Clash hits 200,000, that would be expected.
According to The Cubs Fan, AAA wrestlers who have been seen in New York and thus should be on the undercard of tonight’s show are Daga, Drago, Aerostar (meaning something insane will happen), Flamita, Mascarita Dorada, Demus and Lady Shani. Myzteziz Jr. and Dave the Clown have also said they are going to New York, but nobody has been them yet. La Hiedra is also expected.
Meiko Satomura won the Progress women’s title on their big show at the Alexandra Palace today.
WWE
Tamina returned to action last night at the house show in Macon, GA, facing Natalya. She had been out of action with a concussion for the past two months.
The oddsmakers are favoring A.J. Styles vs. Cedric Alexander to be the best match on the show with -192 odds. Second is “either Seth Rollins match” at -182.
20 new episodes of WCW Thunder will be added to the network on Monday. This would be shows from June 28, 2000 to November 6, 2000.
MISCELLANEOUS
Northeast Wrestling from Friday night in Waterbury, CT: Keith Youngblood b Chris Battle, Ron Zombie & Jimmy Preston b JP & Tommy Grayson, RJ Rude & Zane Bernardo won three-way over Private Party and Maine Street Posse to keep tag titles, Jake Manning b Mike Verna, JT Dunn b Rey Fenix, Wrecking Ball Legursky & CazXL b Bill Carr & Bull James, Darby Allin b Brian Anthony-DQ so Allin retained NEW title, Pentagon Jr. b Joey Janela. David Arquette did a surprise run-in on this show (thanks to Nick Mahmood)
nZo was at the show and didn’t wrestle. It should be noted in wake of the problems with CazXL (Brian Morrisey last night, that nZo, CazXL and Janela were all at the show Friday night together and there were no issues at all. Those at NEW praised Cass’ behavior the night before and noted he’s been a regular since June and nobody has a negative word to say about his behavior at any of their shows. nZo was only there for the meet and greet. Next show is 10/19 with Allin vs. Brian Anthony in a rematch, Rude & Bernardo defending tag titles against Thrillride & Ron Zombie, and Jungle Boy appears.
Stardom’s Five Star Grand Prix continued with a doubleheader yesterday in Osaka:
Noon show: Mayu Iwatani b Saya Kimitani, Hazuki b Avary, Tam Nakano & Arisa Hoshiki b AZM & Leo Onozaki, Momo Watanabe b Natsu Sumire, Hana Kimura & Jungle Kyona won three-way over Saki Kashima & Saya Iida and Natsuko Tora & Andras Miyagi, Jamie Hayter b Konami, Kagetsu b Bea Priestley
Late afternoon show: Natsuko Tora b Saya Kamitani, Konami & Avary b Arisa Hoshiki & Saya Iida, AZM b Saki Kashima, Tam Nakano b Momo Watanabe, Kagetsu & Hazuki & Andras Miyagi b Bea Priestley & Momo Watanabe & Leo Onozaki, Jamie Haytor b Jungle Kyona, Mayu Iwatani b Hana Kimura (thanks to Shannon Walsh and wrestlingwithdemons.net)
Jungle Kyona suffered a dislocated shoulder and is out the rest of the tournament. All of her scheduled future opponents get automatic forfeit wins. They already had to redo the tournament when Utami Hayashishita was injured. If you know anything about Japanese booked round-robin tournaments, they are very carefully crafted and something like this means they will have to redo all booking.
CZW from Friday night in Voorhees, NJ: Brandon Kirk won ladder match over KC Navarro, Anthony Greene and AR Fox to get a CZW title match, Joe Gacy won CZW title beating champion John Silver and Conor Claxton in a three-way, Anthony Gagnone & Matt Tremont b The Rep to keep the tag tiles but when Tremont turned on Gagnone, and then Maven Bentley turned on The Rep, Jordan Oliver b Dan O’Hare to keep the Wired title, Matt McIntosh b Kris Bishop, Joey Lynch b LSG, Gabriel Sky & Ikuro Kwan b YDNB, Jimmy Rave b Griffin McCoy, Bear Country b ?. Next show is 10/26. The ladder match was the annual Chris Cash ladder match. Cash’s family members were there as well as the parents of Lyle Wllliams, the former CZW photographer who passed away recently. (thanks to Bob Magee)
Tessa Blanchard had a strong main event with Serpentine (Thunder Rosa) at last night’s WOW TV show.
Both NJPW and WOW are pre-empted next Saturday on AXS. This was planned before the sale so don’t read this into a decision having been made. Not to say that getting rid of many involved with putting together both shows can be seen as a positive either.
Pro Wrestling EVE from last night in London: Holidead won four-way over Jetta, Charli Evans and Trish Adora, Mercedes Martinez b Jinnny, Jayla Dark & Laura Dimatteo b NightShade & Livvii Grace, Rhia O’Reilly b Roxy-DQ to keep Eve title (Roxxy won and was announced as champion, but it was overturned due to the interference and a rematch was set up later in the show), Sammii Jayne b Angel; Hayze,Milie McKenzie b Solo Darling, Mercedes Martinez b Charli Evans, Rhia O’Reilly b Roxxy to retain Eve title. NightShade and Grace and O’Reilly attacked Roxxy after. (thanks to Shannon Walsh and wrestlingwithdemonsnet
CWE on 10/18 in Fannystelle, Manitoba at the Fannyselle Hall. They also announced a debut in Ottawa on 12/6 which is the final day of their tour. This will be a joint show with Devon Nicholson’s Great North Wrestling.
Travis Banks (WWE) and Orange Cassidy (AEW) are both in the PWA Colosseum tournament on 10/18 and 10/19 in Sydney, Australia. They will likely have to make sure not to face each other for the obvious political issues.
Maya Yukihi beat Risa Sera to win the vacant ICExInfinity title. The big match on the show yesterday in Yokohama saw Tsukasa Fujinmoto over Sareee.
Twitch has the show in Taiwan with the Kenny Omega & Riho vs. Michael Nakazawa & Yuka Sakazaki comedy match main event.
Cain Velasquez’s second professional wrestling match is officially set.
In a press release that was issued today, it was announced that the former UFC Heavyweight Champion will team with Psycho Clown & Brian Cage in a six-man tag match against Taurus, Texano Jr. & Rey Escorpion at Lucha Libre AAA’s Invading NY event on Sunday, September 15. Impact Wrestling is promoting the show in partnership with AAA.
Velasquez made his pro wrestling in-ring debut at Triplemania XXVII last month, with Velasquez, Psycho Clown & Cody Rhodes defeating Taurus, Texano Jr. & Killer Kross.
A Tag Team title match has also been added to Invading NY. The Lucha Bros (Pentagon Jr. & Fenix) will defend their AAA Tag titles against Santana & Ortiz.
Invading NY was originally supposed to take place at Madison Square Garden but was moved to the smaller Hulu Theater at MSG. AAA Reinas de Reinas Champion Tessa Blanchard will defend her title against Taya Valkyrie at the show. Blue Demon Jr. vs. Dr. Wagner Jr. is also set.
In addition to promoting Invading NY, it was noted that Impact “will also provide guest stars to be featured in the event, as well as marketing and logistical support for the production.”
Invading NY will be available as a live iPPV via Fite TV.
ROH FROM THE NASHVILLE FAIRGROUNDS AT 8 P.M. EASTERN ON HONOR CLUB
Rush vs. Vinny Marseglia
Shane Taylor vs. Owens/LSG.Black winner for TV title
Matt Taven vs. Jay Lethal vs. Jeff Cobb vs. Kenny King in an elimination match – whoever beats Taven gets an ROH title shot, if Taven wins, whoever he beats last can never challenge for the titles
Mark & Jay Briscoe vs. Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson for ROH tag title
PCO & Brody King & Marty Scurll vs. Bandido & Mark Haskins & Tracy Williams for trios titles
NJPW SUPER J CUP FINAL NIGHT AT THE WALTER PYRAMID IN LONG BEACH TONIGHT
Tetsuya Naito & Bushi vs. Taiji Ishimori & Jay White
Super J Cup finals
Raw is Monday in New Orleans with Ricochet vs. Drew McIntyre and Miz vs. Baron Corbin in King of the Ring matches.
Smackdown and 205 Live are Tuesday in Baton Rouge with King of the Ring matches with Buddy Murphy vs. Ali and Shelton Benjamin vs. Chad Gable, plus 205 Live bouts with Jack Gallagher vs. Brian Kendrick and Kalisto vs. Ariya Daivari.
F4W NEWSLETTER: Figure Four Weekly: Sasha Banks returns to WWE Joseph Currier looks at the return of Sasha Banks and what it means for the women’s division. Plus, Bryan Rose’s Japan notes, and Vinny’s TV reviews.
The return of Banks gives Lynch the opponent she’s needed since WrestleMania. After winning the biggest women’s match in company history, Lynch was put in an impossible position by WWE. She had to maintain her momentum without having any credible opponents to face. Lacey Evans was a poor choice for her first challenger.
One of WWE’s most important goals should have been elevating Lynch and the women’s division further. It was always known that Rousey wouldn’t be with WWE forever. It’s great that Rousey was able to have main event-level matches with the company. It’s great that the Rousey/Lynch/Charlotte Flair rivalry was so deserving of its top spot going into WrestleMania.
But a year of progress doesn’t mean that much if you don’t continue to build upon it. Instead of Lynch facing someone who was near her level, her opponent was a wrestler who wasn’t even in a star in NXT.
The birth of the Wednesday Night War is the top story in the new edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
We discuss how the NXT to USA deal came about, when NXT wrestlers were told, how this impacts the WWE/Fox relationship, and what this means for the NXT brand, going forward.
We have details on the finances of the NXT to USA deal, and we break down the head-to-head aspect of NXT vs. AEW. We also have comments from a major television executive who gives his perspective on the deal, as well as the potential for audience burnout.
A story on the latest AEW TV taping sellouts is also featured in the new issue. We also have notes on the secondary ticket market demand for all of the AEW shows.
An obituary for Eddie Marlin is also in the new issue, with a ton of details on his life.
Also in this issue, Ryan Frederick covers this past weekend’s UFC show, and we have detailed TV ratings and business notes on the show.
We also wrap up our G1 coverage with a detailed breakdown of each individual’s star ratings for the tournament.
We have full coverage of all the WWE television shows from the past week.
As always, we have in-depth looks at the ratings of all the major shows,the key demos for the WWE shows and what can be learned from them.
We also have the results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.
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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SUNDAY NEWS UPDATE
We have two weekend shows up on the site. Bryan and I did a show on the latest news as well as the Super J Cup, and then Garrett Gonzalez and Jerry Jarrett did a show with me today talking Eddie Marlin, the wrestling promoters of the 70s and 80s, the decline of the NWA, network deficit spending for WWE by FOX and USA and why, and more topics.
Marc Raimondi reported last night that Cain Velasquez, who was at the New Japan show with his family, had an informal meeting with the promotion.
El Hijo del Vikingo was injured last night. We don’t have an update but it looked bad, like a knee dislocation. He was catching a guy on a routine cross body off the top but his legs were in a bad position and his leg twisted upon falling. For Rey Fenix, while he did wrestle last night in another tag match with his brother against Teddy Hart & Juventud Guerrera, he did very little, no flying and seemed to get hurt again and was helped out. He was first hurt on Friday night.
There are still a few tickets left for my show a week from Saturday morning in Chicago at. I will be doing the show with Jim Valley as the host/moderator.
AEW will be announcing at least one more date tomorrow. I don’t know this, but I do expect the fall PPV to be announced next Saturday on the show.
Just a note according to those in AEW, Pac was not scheduled to be in Chicago this weekend for All Out until Jon Moxley was injured.
WWE:
With no major WWE, boxing or UFC shows this weekend, the only thing that trended in the combat sports genre was the engagement of Becky Lynch to Seth Rollins, which was No.20 on Friday with 50,000 searches. Are there any other genres where characters on the same television show or movie get engaged and it’s reported as Becky Lynch gets engaged and not Rebecca Quin? Like last week, I didn’t even think for a second to write that Hobbs got married.
Kambi’s over/under on the new Kenny Omega vs. Pac match is ****3/4.
Also some other new odds from Kambi (thanks to David Taylor and wwe.leaks.org) :
Viewers for the 9/18 NXT TV show
Under 1 million +130
1.0-1.49 million -110
More than 1.5 million +165
Viewers for the 10/2 AEW TV show
Under 750,000 -133
750,000 to 1.490 million +140
More than 1.5 million +190
Drew McIntyre and Baron Corbin are co-favrorites to win King of the Ring, slightly over Andrade McIntyre and Corbin are at +375 and Andrade is at +400.
Raw tomorrow night is going head-to-head with the MTV Video Music Awards show. In the past, that show has hurt ratings.
UFC:
UFC is working to get Kamaru Usman vs. Colby Covington as a main event for the 11/2 PPV show in Madison Square Garden.
MISCELLANEOUS:
Hobbs & Shaw is expected to finish fifth this weekend at the box office with $8.14 million, It opened in China this week and did $102 million in that country which is the largest August movie debut ever in China.
Combate Americas results from Friday night in Lake Tahoe, CA: Gustavo Lopez b Joey Ruquet via knockout in 1:45 in a bantamweight title match; Bruno Cannetti beat Andras Quintana via straight 29-28 scores in a featherweight title match and Jose Luis Verdugo b Erik Sanchez on straight 30-27 cores.
Warrior Wrestling announced a shuttle from Starrcast t their show in a bus that will be hosted by Brian Pillman Jr. For into on the Brian Pillman Jr. party bus it’s at https://wrestlingtravel.org/travel-packages/warrior-wrestling/
NEW from last night in Bethany, CT: Kip Sabian b Christian Casanova, Mike Gamble & Dexter Loux b Brett Ryan Gosselin & Ring Crew sweeper, Keith Youngblood b Mike Verna, Penelope Ford b Adira, Private Party b Randy Summers & Brandon Watts, RJ Rude & Zane Bernardo b Brian Anthony & Daniel Evans to win the tag titles, Luchasaurus b Chris Battle, Darby Allin b Wrecking Ball Legursky to win the heavyweight title (thanks to Nick Mahmood)
Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling from earlier today at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo: Yuki Aino b HikariNoa, Himawari Unagi & Pom Harajuku b Yumi & Mahiro Kiryu, Yuna Manase & Yuki Kamifuku & Mina Shiarkawa b Nodoka Tenma & Rika Tatsumi & Raku, Su Yung NC Yuka Sakazaki, Mizuki b Maki Ito, Shoko Nakajima & Riho b Mirai Maiumi & Suzume, Natsumi Maki b Gisele Shaw to become first International Princess champion, Misao & Sakisama b Miyu Yamashita & Miu Watanabe to keep tag titles (thanks to Shannon Walsh and wrestlingwithdemons.net)
Shine from Livonia, MI yesterday afternoon: Brandi Lauren b Avery Taylor, Leah Vaughn b Lindsay Snow, Aerial Monroe & Aja Pererea b Marti Belle & Jayme Jameson, Double D Rose DDQ Holidead, Shotzi Blackheart b Natalia Markova to keep Nova title, Ashley Vox & Exo b Luscious Latasha & Gabby Gilbert-DQ,Allysin Kay won three-way to keep Shine title over Ivelisse and Mercedes Martinez (thanks to Shannon Walsh and wrestlingwithdemons.net)
Blitzkrieg Pro and Big Time Wrestling show from last night: The Batiri won over Maine State Posse and East Coast Bastard Crew in a ladder match for the Blitzkrieg Pro tag titles, VSK b MJF, Bobby Orlando & Max Caster & Bryce Donovan b Facade & Todo Loco & Scotty Wild, Boogeyman b Orange Cassidy Bull James won Battle Bowl Rumble, Jake Hager b Richard Holliday (replacing Dan Severn), Kris Statlander b Skylar in a falls count anywhere match, Bobby Orlando b Kris Statlander to win the Bedlam title, Pentagon Jr. & Fenix b Juventud Guerrera & Teddy Hart. During the match Pentagon and Fenix were both unmasked, ended up getting each others’ masks and worked the rest of the bout intheri brother’s mask. Fenix looked to have reinjured his hamstring and was carried out by two members of the ring crew after the match. (thanks to Scott Crawford)
Stardom for today’s afternoon show in Osaka: Starlight Kid won three-way over Rina and Hina, Kagetsu & Jamie Hayter & Natsu Sumire b Bea Priestley & Utami Hayashishita & Leo Onozaki, Momo Watanabe b Saki Kashima, AZM b Hazuki, Hana Kimura & Konami & Avary b Mayu Iwatani & Tam Nakano & Saya Iida, Andras Miyagi b Jungle Kyona, Arisa Hoshiki b Natsuko Tora.
Stardom from today’s evening show in Osaka: Momo Watanabe & Leo Onozaki b Avary & Rinda, Kagetsu & Hazuki & Andras Miyagi b Ariisa Hoshiki & Starlight Kid & Saya Iida, Tam Nakano b AZM, Jamie Hayter b Natusko Tora, Natsu Sumire b Mayu Iwatani, Konami b Utami Hayashishita, Jungle Kyona b Bea Priestley, Saki Kashima b Haa Kimura
Jeff Cobb was announced for a 10/12 show in The Philippines for PWR, a card that TJ Perkins is also at.
Summer Rae and Tenille Dashwood appear on 10/16 for NHPW in Western Australia.
NHPW from last night in Perth, Western Australia: War b Jebediah, Rogan Karguis b Cannon Connors, Dallas McClane & Hercules Rockerfeller b King Shahil & Slam Sixx, Kenicki Wheeler b Creek Murdoch, Steph De Lander b Lena Kross, Julian Ward b Rory Holmes, Toa Henare won three-way over Vincent Sterling and Aaron O’Malley (thanks to Kevin Chiat)
The World Judo Championships are at Nippon Budokan. Hall withy 839 judoka from 147 countries. Shinya Aoki is there and Anthony Carelli is also there.
According to ESPN’s Marc Raimondi, former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez will continue his pro wrestling career on two U.S.-based AAA cards this year.
Velasquez made his official debut this month at AAA’s TripleMania event, teaming with Cody and Psycho Clown in a six-man tag match. The company has not officially announced him for either show.
On Friday, AAA announced the New York show was moving from Madison Square Garden to the Hulu Theatre.
Raimondi said Velasquez does plan on returning to MMA where he has fought sparingly over the past few years due to injury. His last fight was a quick FebruaryTKO loss to Francis Ngannou in Phoenix where he sustained torn knee ligaments.
