The latest WWE and AEW News and Results
Dave Meltzer and I are back with our Friday episode of Wrestling Observer Radio, talking about all the big news from today’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Here were some of the things we covered:
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– Bryan and I will be back tonight talking about all the latest news, including this week and next week’s Smackdown, the first AEW show in Arlington, TX and G-1, as well as Jake Paul vs. Mike Perry with Wrestling Observer Radio tonight.
– Although Judge Richard Boulware said he would make his ruling on whether to accept the $335 million settlement by TKO in the Cung Le lawsuit over this past week, it came and went with no news.
– There will be a one-night tournament on Tuesday night at Arena Mexico with Flip Gordon, Templario, Valiente, Esfinge, Rugido, Zandokan Jr., Stuka Jr. and Averno and the winner will get the shot at MJF and his International title on 8/2 at Arena Mexico. It’s notable because the tradition at Arena Mexico is angles are shot for the night of the week, so it’s rare a Tuesday night tournament will lead to a Friday night match, but times are changing.
– The story of Naomichi Marufuji going to SummerSlam was overblown. The actual story is that Marufuji will be announcing the show for the Japanese broadcast on ABEMA PPV, but he will be doing so from Japan.
– Added to the ROH Death Before Dishonor show on Friday night in Arlington, TX is Diamante vs. Leyla Hirsch in a Texas death match.
– Skye Blue suffered an ankle injury last night in her match with Hikaru Shida and they stopped the match immediately upon orders of the doctor. Shida’s win was planned and was to set up Shida vs. Britt Baker on Wednesday night’s show in Nashville.
– We’re looking for reports on these weekend shows:
– We’re looking for results, finishes and highlights to [email protected]. We’re also doing polls from both nights of G-1 in Osaka as well as last night’s TNA Slammiversary show in Montreal, thumbs up, down or middle, best and worst match for each show to [email protected]
– As expected by most, Jake Paul, the actual boxer, had his way with MMA fighter/Bare Knuckle boxer Mike Perry, who is smaller and comes from a different sport. Paul scored several knockdowns and won via sixth round stoppage. Paul then issued a challenge to Alex Pereira, the UFC light heavyweight champion, but of course not under MMA or kickboxing rules but boxing rules, a sport Pereira only competed in once, in 2017. This fight can’t happen because Pereira is under contract with UFC who will never let him do that fight
Perry, who was the top star of Bare Knuckle Fighting, which Conor McGregor owns a piece of, saw McGregor rip on Perry who claimed that he’d never fight in BKFC again. Perry said that wasn’t going to happen, saying, “Me and him are both owners of BKFC, so he can’t fire me. We can fight in Bare Knuckle. Look at me. I lost to Jake Paul. Why don’t you go fight Jake Paul in boxing with the gloves on? I think it would be worse that Conor McGregor vs. Mayweather.”
McGregor made these tweets, which he then deleted, writing, “Perry took a pay cut to take that fight btw. It was a wish of his. Astounding. He will not be offered a return to the BKFC ring. He can do a few matches of his new Dirty Boxing thing with MMA sparring gloves he has set up. We wish him well, Wish granted.
After Perry responded saying he was a oc-owner, McGregor said “Michael you are not an owner in BKFC. Not an iodta. You have the tiniest minute dot of a share in the social media app. Which is promising, in fairness. But it’s’ a speckle you have. You own nothing in (BKFC). Not an iota. And trust me, you are out, bro.”
– At yesterday’s UFC show it was announced that the 8/3 co-main event in Abu Dhabi of Nick Diaz vs. Vicente Luque is off. The reason given was travel issues. No more details were said. The claim is they are looking at still holding the fight later in the year. This would have been Diaz’s first fight since 2021, when he lost to Robbie Lawler. The new No. 2 bout on the show is Shara Magomedov vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk in a middleweight bout. Umar Nurmagomedov vs. Cory Sandhagen is the main event.
– In Google searches, the Jake Paul vs. Mike Perry boxing match did 1 million searches yesterday and was No. 1. The only other stuff related to boxing, wrestling and MMA that cracked the lists this week were Hulk Hogan, Dana White and Linda McMahon on Thursday speaking at the Republican convention at 500,000 (No. 3 for the day) and Paul vs. Perry was No. 9 on Thursday with 100,000. The UFC show yesterday did not crack the list.
– Mike Perry announced this week a new promotion with new rules. He announced a company called Dirty Boxing Championships that he’s starting along with his team at First Round Management, Adam Kovacs (Karate Combat) and Josh McLean. It will combine boxing with five ounce gloves and allow limited ground-and-pound. It will be fought in an 18×18 boxing ring with strikes allowed from fists, slaps, palms and elbows. If someone is knocked down, they can finish with ground-and-pound. The person punching has to remain on his feet. They are looking at debuting in September or October.
– AEW didn’t have the Elton John Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting open on last night’s show in Arlington, TX. No word as to why. It was expensive to use and there have been cutbacks on using some expensive music.
– Tonight’s A&E Biography wll be on Mark Henry at 8 p.m.
– The story behind the International belt from last night’s TNA show is that former Vermont promoter Gary Hathaway hold old plaques from one of the International title belts from Quebec in the 80s. They made a belt to look like the one used for International Wrestling, dominated by Dino Bravo, in the late 70s through mid 80s. a In storyline, AJ Francis bought it from Gino Brito and since the lineage goes back to the 30s it’s why he used names like Bravo, King Tonga (Haku) and Lou Thesz. The big crowd (more than 3,000 but not the 4,000 number used, I was told 3,500 max) was a tribute to the promotional work of PCO, as well as local wrestlers who were allowed into a dark match Battle Royal if they sold a certain number of tickets. PCO, who sold a ton of tickets himself, got the biggest live reaction followed by Mike Bailey and Joe Hendry. Hendry’s T-shirt for the weekend said “Oui Believe” instead of “I believe.” Lots of you screwed Bret chants for Earl Hebner, whose surprise appearance was booed more than anyone on the show. AJ Francis was second. This was the first time French language commentator Marc Blondin worked ringside on a PPV after a 40 year career. The security guard who held Bailey’s feet in the angle at the end with Ali was Zak Patterson, the son of author Bertrand Hebert (Patterson, Andre & Mad Dog bios as well as the great Montreal history book,). Hebert worked with PCO in promoting the show locally. Former area stars Paul LeDuc, Richard Charland, Louis Laurence (who trained Vampiro originally) and Gilles “The Fish” Poisson/Louis Cyr were in attendance. Kim LeDuc, who founded the first all-women’s promotion in Quebec in 2006 was also there (thanks to Pat Laprade)
– At tonight’s tapings in Montreal, new champion Nic Nemeth defends against Mustafa Ali and PCO defends the International and Digital belts against Moose. There will also be a PCO/Steph De Lander wedding angle. Other bouts have Jordynne Grace & Eric Young vs. Alex Hammerstone & Ash By Elegance, Jake Something vs. Steve Maclin and Masha Slamovich vs. Jody Threat.
– At the DDT Peter Pan show, which went five hours, was told there were great matches with Konosuke Takeshita vs. Masato Tanaka, Tetsuya Endo & Yuki Iino vs. Go Shiozaki & Atsushi Kotoge for the KO-D tag titles and Yui Ueno vs Mao for the KO-D title was said to be awesome. The champions retained in both matches.
– Raul Rosas Jr. vs Aoriqlieng was added to the UFC show at The Sphere on 9/14. Since the show is going to emphasize Mexican-American and Mexican fighters, Rosas being on it makes sense. Rosas, who is 19, the youngest fighter on the roster, is 3-1 in UFC competition.
– The NWA announced world tag team champions Blunt Force Trauma defending against 2023 Crockett Cup winners Mike Nox & Trevor Murdoch on the 8/31 NWA 76th anniversary show at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia.
– Defy from Friday night in Seattle: Artemis Spencer b Mark Haskins (from UK), Marina Shafir b Amira to keep the Defy women’s title, Anthony Bowens & Randy Myers b Ricky Gibson & Eddie Pearl, Man Like DeReiss (UK) b Evan Rivers, Sebastian Wolfe b Coco Flash, Cody Chhun & Guillermo Rosas b Sinner & Saint and champions Bollywood Boyz to win the tag titles. Next show is 9/20 at Washington Hall in Seattle. Max Caster wasn’t able to make the show due to the Microsoft glitch that caused all the computer errors including at many airports.
– At yesterday’s All Japan show, Musashi issued a challenge to Naruki Doi for a World jr. title match and Doi turned him down saying he’d only defend against an All Japan roster member, Musashi then asked President Fukuda at the timekeeper’s table and asked to join the promotion full-time and Fukuda agreed, to a big pop and chants (thanks to Gerard Di Trolio)
– Bleeding Gums Wrestling ran a show at The Ice Factory in Perth, Scotland called Wire & Ice, featuring the first-ever no rope barbed wire death match in Scotland featuring Jack Harrop vs. Alton Thorne. Harrop won. Historian Bradley Craig noted to us that deathmatch culture has now expanded into Scotland.
– Ruthless Pro Wrestling from last night in Berwyn, IL: Schwartzy & Randi West b Brutus Dylan & Bull Bronson, Rickey Shane Page & Vincent Nothing b Zach Thomas & Gregory Iron, Remingon Rhor b Chuck Stein Shlak b Eric Dillinger, Tommy Vendetta b Otis Cogar, Judge Joe Dredd Casanova Valentine, Atticus Cogar kept the heavyweight title over Jake Crist, Malcolm Monroe III b Drake Younger (thanks to Leonard Brand)
The much-discussed Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul boxing match on Netflix will now take place on Friday, November 15th after needing to be rescheduled due to a recent Tyson medical issue.
The event will still emanate from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, with the same Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano co-main event rematch.
The decision to move was announced last week following Tyson suffering what was called ulcer complications after boarding a flight. It was stated that Tyson’s doctors instructed him to take it light on training for a period of time that caused concern due to the timeframe in which the July 20th fight was originally set to take place.
The fight between the 58-year-old Tyson and the 27-year-old Paul was first announced in early-March. It will be Tyson’s first fight of any kind since a November 2020 exhibition boxing bout with Roy Jones Jr. which was preceded by a 15-year-gap of inactivity.
One of the most anticipated sports spectacles of the summer is being postponed due to, of all things, an ulcer.
On Friday night, it was announced that the July 20th boxing match between legend Mike Tyson and social media sensation turned fighter Jake Paul is being moved back due to a well-publicized ulcer flare-up Tyson suffered on a plane trip recently.
Despite feeling fine afterward, the 58-year-old Tyson was reportedly advised to only do minimal-to-light training in the weeks ahead which didn’t work with his timeline ahead of the clash with the 27-year-old Paul.
The fight will still air on Netflix and will still emanate from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, with a new date promised by next Friday.
Tyson vs. Paul was first announced in early-March to much surprise. It will be Tyson’s first fight of any kind since a November 2020 exhibition boxing bout with Roy Jones Jr. which was preceded by a 15-year-gap of inactivity.
Dave Meltzer and I are back with Wrestling Observer Radio going over all the news in the latest issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Ryan Frederick joined us to recap UFC 299 and talk about Francis Ngannou losing to Anthony Joshua, Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul, and the upcoming UFC 300.
Then Dave and I go over the following:
Click here to listen (website subscription needed) or watch on YouTube (with video subscription).
In a fight that defies belief based on the combatants alone, boxing legend Mike Tyson will return to the ring to take on Jake Paul this July on Netflix.
The live event will take place on Saturday, July 20th at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. It will be Netflix’s first-ever boxing/MMA show as Paul’s company signed a deal with Netflix last November.
Tyson is 58 years old and hasn’t competed since an exhibition against Roy Jones Jr. in November 2020 that generated over 1 million pay-per-view buys. That fight was 15 years after his last one.
Tyson has continued his dalliances with pro wrestling in recent years, last appearing for AEW in 2022. He said in a February 2023 interview that he would rather be involved with WWE even though AEW pays more.
The 27-year-old Paul (9-1) is a YouTube star turned boxer who has made his name by defeating former MMA stars looking for a large payday like Anderson Silva, Ben Askren and Tyron Woodley.
As of this point, it’s unknown if this will be a sanctioned pro fight or exhibition one, the amount of rounds, glove size, etc. How much each fighter is getting paid is also unknown.
The live event will come more than five months before WWE kicks off their own live programming deal in January with Raw in the U.S. and all WWE content internationally.
It’s JAKE PAUL vs. MIKE TYSON — yes, really! — in a LIVE BOXING event at AT&T Stadium you won’t want to miss. Airing live on Netflix Saturday, July 20 #PaulTyson pic.twitter.com/ULXVeCYeH6
— Netflix (@netflix) March 7, 2024
Jake Paul is “so proud” of his brother Logan for becoming WWE United States Champion.
At Crown Jewel earlier this month, Logan Paul captured the first championship gold of his pro wrestling career. He defeated Rey Mysterio for the United States title. It was just the eighth match of Logan’s WWE run.
Jake told Sports Illustrated that no one could have expected Logan to be this perfect for WWE. Jake also joked about pictures Logan posted on Instagram with the United States title belt.
“It’s crazy how fast he’s excelled and ascended to be the United States Champion,” Jake said. “No one could have expected Logan to be this perfect for WWE. I don’t think anyone there expected him to be wearing the belt around naked, either. But I guess that’s what you get when you sign up with the Paul brothers.”
Jake said it’s amazing to see how good Logan is in the ring.
“What Logan’s doing, it’s amazing to see how good he is at the sport,” Jake said. “I’m so proud of him. And this is just the start of what he’s going to accomplish in WWE.”
Logan made his WWE in-ring debut at WrestleMania 38 in 2022. At last year’s Crown Jewel, Jake appeared as part of Logan’s match against Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns.
WWE has announced that Logan will be in action at the promotion’s Elimination Chamber premium live event in Australia in February 2024.
Jake Paul will have his next boxing match on December 15, facing boxer Andre August.
Logan Paul made it to Dallas just in time to be in his brother’s corner on Saturday.
After defeating Ricochet in the first match on WWE SummerSlam from Detroit last night, Logan appeared hours later in the American Airlines Center to see Jake Paul defeat Nate Diaz via unanimous decision in a 10-round boxing match.
Evidently, Logan didn’t even have time to change or could do so on the plane, as he arrived in Dallas while wearing his wrestling gear.
“I’m not changing, I’m not getting a medical check, I’m going right to the f—ing jet,” Logan told Marc Raimondi prior to SummerSlam. “No shower, no nothing. Immediate from A to B to C. … I’ve never missed a Jake Paul fight, and I don’t plan on missing a Jake Paul fight. He’s my little brother, and I want to support him in the biggest moments of his life.”
Logan Paul has arrived in Dallas after his success at SummerSlam (still in his ring gear) and is by Jake Paul's side 🤯 #PaulDiazpic.twitter.com/W9KkBVcxpM
— Chamatkar Sandhu (@ChamatkarSandhu) August 6, 2023
Logan arrived at a chaotic scene inside the arena. Footage of a ringside brawl in the crowd during the bout has circulated on social media and Logan can be seen amongst the nearby fans.
Logan Paul got into it with a fan ringside during Jake Paul vs Nate Diaz 😳 pic.twitter.com/ndkuZ4nZMO
— Happy Punch (@HappyPunch) August 6, 2023
Logan needed a pair of brass knuckles to defeat Ricochet at SummerSlam. It was his first singles victory in WWE since beating The Miz at SummerSlam last year. Logan also has an upcoming boxing fight scheduled. It was announced recently that Logan will fight on October 14 in Manchester, although his opponent has yet to be announced.
Ahead of his boxing debut against crossover star Jake Paul this Saturday, former UFC fighter Nate Diaz said WWE’s desire to be involved with a potential fight with Logan Paul prevented it from happening.
In an interview with ESPN, it was reported that Diaz’s management that there was “a very interesting and attractive offer” for a Diaz-Logan Paul fight. However, WWE wanting to be in the mix turned Diaz off.
“The WWE came in and then they wanted to take over the whole thing,” Diaz told ESPN. “And I’m like, ‘I just got out of the UFC, why am I going to sign with WWE?’ I fight for real. I’m not gonna be doing a real fight on a WWE card or no funny sh*t like that.”
Logan said he heard that was one of Diaz’s reasons for not being interested any longer, calling it a “weak cop-out.”
The idea for Logan Paul vs. Diaz came after Jake Paul lost to Tommy Fury earlier this year, giving him his first defeat. That was believed to have killed a long-discussed Jake Paul vs. Diaz fight, hence why Logan Paul was being discussed for Diaz’s boxing debut.
Logan Paul is under contract to WWE and it’s unknown if there is specific language in his contract that prevents him from boxing unless approved by WWE. He will take on Ricochet at this Saturday’s WWE SummerSlam in Detroit, Michigan, that will go head-to-head with Jake Paul vs. Diaz.
WWE did not provide a comment to ESPN for the story.
Logan Paul may be opening the night at WWE SummerSlam.
On the latest episode of his Impaulsive podcast, Paul revealed that he has requested for his match to go on first at SummerSlam. Paul’s brother, Jake Paul, is facing Nate Diaz in a boxing match that same night. Paul said he’s planning to take a private jet from Detroit to Dallas so that he can walk to the ring with his brother for the fight.
Paul said the timing will be tight and it’s “barely possible” for him to make it to Dallas in time. Paul isn’t sure if he’ll be able to make it for the start of the fight.
“After SummerSlam, my brother who is fighting on the same night in Dallas, as soon as my match ends, I’m going to hop on a PJ [private jet], fly to Dallas in my gear, walk in the ring with my brother for his fight against Nate Diaz. I’m going to try to. I don’t know if I’m going to make it, but I think if I do, it’ll be minutes. Like, I walk into the venue, round one Jake Paul/Nate Diaz starts.”
Seth Rollins, who was the guest on Impaulsive, noted that Paul will have to open the show at SummerSlam.
“I requested first match,” Paul responded. “We did the math, it’s barely doable.”
Paul’s match for SummerSlam hasn’t been officially announced, but WWE’s plans are for him to face Ricochet at the event. That match may become official when Paul appears on Raw next Monday.
SummerSlam is being held at Ford Field in Detroit on Saturday, August 5.
The full Impaulsive episode is available to watch below:
After an acrimonious end to his run in the Octagon, former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou has found a new home: the PFL.
Announced on Tuesday, Ngannou will join Jake Paul and Kayla Harrison in the company’s Super Fight division which is reserved for pay-per-view events only.
According to the release, he will make his debut in mid-2024 “against a major global MMA star fighter to be chosen in the future.”
One of the main drivers for his issues with the UFC at the end of his run was money and their inability to come to a deal he felt was fair. With the PFL, Ngannou will earn 50% of revenue from PPV fights.
The 36-year-old rose to prominence in the UFC starting in 2015 with his vicious knockout power. With five straight wins punctuated by highlight reel finishes over Alistair Overeem and Andrei Arlovski, Ngannou earned his first title shot against then-champion Stipe Miocic at UFC 220 in January 2018. He was dominated by Miocic’s wrestling in a rout and then followed that up with a listless loss to Derrick Lewis that summer in one of the most-panned fights in recent history.
He would rally, stringing together four straight first round finishes over Cain Velasquez, Junior dos Santos and others before earning his second title shot in a rematch over Miocic. He rolled to victory, taking home the title at UFC 260 via second round knockout.
After later refusing to take a fight on the UFC’s schedule, the promotion created an interim title to Ngannou’s dismay that showed the fraying of their relationship. He would return to unify the belts at UFC 270 in January 2022, defeating Cyril Gane in a unanimous decision. He would later have knee surgery and his UFC contract eventually sunsetted as the two sides couldn’t come to a deal.
This past January, UFC president Dana White said Ngannou would never fight for the organization again, released him, and claimed they made him an offer to be the highest-paid heavyweight in MMA history. Ngannou said the offer was for $8 million to fight Jon Jones as part of a multi-fight contract while he had requested a three-fight deal to fight Jones twice and Miocic with no renewal clause.
PFL is calling this a “strategic partnership” as Ngannou will be an equity owner and chairman of PFL Africa, a subdivision of PFL that will crown champions on that continent with an eye toward having them compete for the PFL Global title. This follows their launch of PFL Europe earlier this year.
New Orleans police have issued an arrest warrant for former UFC star Nate Diaz following an incident over the weekend captured on social media.
Diaz is under suspicion of second degree battery, but is not in custody as of this writing. He has not made a statement as of now.
In the video seen below, Diaz appears to choke out Rodney Peterson, a Logan Paul lookalike, as part of a Saturday night brawl at 2:10 AM on Bourbon Street. Diaz was in town to corner a boxer for an event where he also got into an altercation earlier in the evening.
Police issued the warrant after seeing additional videos of the incident. Peterson suffered a gash on his head after falling on the ground after being choked out. Peterson has one pro boxing fight on his record and has also competed in amateur MMA several times.
Diaz will fight Jake Paul in August in Diaz’s boxing debut. He became a free agent last fall after the final fight on his UFC contract.
Former UFC fighter Nate Diaz will fight Jake Paul in a boxing pay-per-view that has been teased and built for years and will possibly lead to an MMA rematch.
Announced on Wednesday, the event is set for Saturday, August 5th at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, and air on DAZN’s PPV arm. It will be an eight-round fight at 185 pounds.
Diaz’s UFC contract expired last fall following his win over Tony Ferguson who was a last-minute replacement for Khamzat Chimaev in a strange shuffling of three fights due to missed weight.
This will be Diaz’s boxing debut while Paul (4-1) will be looking to rebound from his first loss in his young career, dropping a February decision to Tommy Fury. The YouTube star has built a career off defeating former MMA stars like Anderson Silva, Ben Askren and Tyron Woodley (twice).
Diaz has been in attendance for several of the fights and verbally sparred with Paul when doing so. He was notably ejected after a light brawl backstage during the Paul vs. Silva fight.
This will open up speculation that the two will follow this up with an MMA fight as Paul signed on to the PFL’s Super Fight division and immediately challenged Diaz to a series. Paul has said he would like to make his MMA debut in early-2024.
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This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter:
*The biggest issue of the year, the 2022 Awards issue is up on the site
*Winners and top ten finishes in dozens of categories related to both pro wrestling and MMA as well as as listing of everyone who had won an award dating back to 1980. We also have comments on the voting in the major categories and notes on different career breakthroughs.
*Match of the week and performer of the week
*Full coverage of Elimination Chamber, the decision on the main event, the WrestleMania direction, different options, WrestleMania ticket demand, records set at Chamber, and Tony Khan and Ariel Helwani
*Coverage of Keiji Muto’s retirement at the Tokyo Dome with the unique storytelling in the main event and some great matches underneath
*Mercedes Mone returns after nine months to win the IWGP women’s title with full coverage of New Japan in San Jose, Mone’s future in Japan, who is in for a major push in Stardom, notes on Stardom’s upcoming biggest show in its history and some of the top matches
*The most detailed look at the TV ratings over the past week for all wrestling shows, including segment by segment, why AEW Dynamite and WWE Raw were up and other notes
*Mercedes Mone talks coming to Stardom
*Stardom tournament updates and next big show
*Notes from the Yuji Nagata vs. Kento Miyahara Triple Crown change and future All Japan big shows
*What country is New Japan talking about touring soon
*Fantastica Mania notes
*Notes on the Jerry Jarrett funeral and more Memphis wrestling history
*The death of Richard Belzer and the incident with Hulk Hogan
*Kurt Angle talks health issues
*Death of Brian Bukantis
*WBD business update
*Contract notes on top AEW talent
*Lineup for Revolution
*Ticket advances for all WWE & AEW shows
*Streaming numbers for AEW & WWE
*International TV ratings including what show broke its all-time record in what country
*Congressman going after Power Slap
*New UFC fights
*More on WWE potential sale and value
*Details of how if there is a Saudi Arabian purchase of WWE and how interested they are in it, what that would mean
*Notes on the debut of Dwayne Johnson’s XFL
*A&E documentary notes
This Week’s Retro Observer Newsletter:
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Bryan and I will be back tonight talking Raw, WrestleMania updates, Jon Jones’ return and the other recent news with Wrestling Observer Radio tonight.
AEW Revolution on Sunday will once again be airing in movie theaters around the U.S. and Canada. It will also play at some Dave & Buster’s and some Tom’s Watch Bar locations. You can find a location in your area here.
The Tommy Fury win over Jake Paul via split decision yesterday in a boxing match in Saudi Arabia did 4.2 million Google searches which is a giant number. The guys both got giant paydays from Saudi Arabia. This was Paul’s first fight against an actual boxer and it was competitive. Paul knocked Fury down in the eighth round but Fury showed better boxing skills most of the way. The scores were 76-73 from two judges (meaning Fury won six of eight rounds and Paul got a 10-8 8th round) and 75-74 for Paul (meaning 4-4 in rounds).
The situation with Superstar Billy Graham and wife Valerie Coleman has gotten worse. Both have COVID to add to Billy’s other very serious health issues. That means Valerie can’t be near Billy in the hospital.
Want to wish Jay Dumont the best. His entire situation breaks my heart at this point.
Thanks to Kenny K, Shannon Walsh, Andrew Gotch, Ross Blair, Alex Keeling and Gerard Di Trolio for weekend reports.
We’re looking for reports from yesterday’s Impact tapings in Las Vegas to [email protected] as well as from Raw in Grand Rapids tonight for Main Event matches and anything else not on the live show.
Raw is tonight in Grand Rapids, MI. There are a lot of WrestleMania ramifications on the show. We’ll see if Brock Lesnar really is wrestling Omos at WrestleMania and the tag title match with Dakota Kai & Iyo Sky vs. Becky Lynch & Lita for the tag title will set up the title match with Ronda Rousey & Shayna Baszler, or at least that was what was planned last week and there’s no indication that has changed. Rousey last week was to appear on this show although she’s not been advertised. She was at the house show last night in Rockford, IL. Also announced is Cody Rhodes vs. Chad Gable which could be great, Street Profits vs. Jimmy Uso & Solo Sikoa which also looks good, Asuka vs. Carmella, Piper Niven vs. Candice LeRae ad Miz reveals the secret gift Maryse got him. WWE is hot as tonight’s show was 400 shy of a sellout this morning at 8,400 so with the walk-up it should sell out.
We’re looking for reports from the show as far as Main Event matches or anything not on the live show to [email protected]
The final show of the Fantastica Mania tour is at 4:30 a.m. Eastern tomorrow morning from Korakuen Hall. The big main event is Mistico vs. Atlantis Jr.. Atlantis Jr. has been given a big push the entire tour including beating Mistico in a tag. There are no title matches on the final night so they are counting on this as a dream match. Also Master Wato & Cavernario & Ultimo Guerrero vs. Desperado & Volador Jr. & Templario, Soberano Jr. vs.Hechicero, Dulce Gardenia vs. Okumura, Tetsuya Naito & Titan & Bushi & Hiromu Takahashi vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi & Ryohei Oiwa & Satoshi Kojima & Rey Cometa plus Tiger Mask vs. El Hijo de Villano III.
Titan beat Soberano Jr. to keep the CMLL welterweight title in today’s main event.
Here are the odds for the main matches on Revolution on Sunday:
MJF -5000 Bryan Danielson +900
Jamie Hayter -1000 Ruby Soho +3350 Saraya +450
Wardlow -500 Samoa Joe +300
The Elite -220 House of Black +350
Adam Page -600 Jon Moxley +350
Ricky Starks -400 Chris Jericho +250
FITE announced that Scotland’s Insane Championship Wrestling has joined its FITE +. ICW will air a new weekly show every Friday at 3 p.m. Eastern time which is prime time in the U.K., as will as four major events per year,.
Impact will be releasing a one-hour documentary on Josh Alexander at Noon Eastern tomorrow on their YouTube channel.
The Slap Fight finals on 3/11 at 9 p.m.., which was originally to be a PPV on ESPN + has been moved from ESPN+ to a free stream on the Rumble streaming service. It will be free worldwide. Darius the Destroyer vs. Wolverine is the main event.
MCW on 3/34 in Galena, MD at the Volunteer Fire Department and 3/11 in Joppa, MD at the RJ Meyer Arena.
Northeast Wrestling on 4/15 in Poughkeepsie, NY at the Mid Hudson Civic Center with Ricky Starks, Konosuke Takeshita, Matt Hardy, NZO, QT Marshall, Cole Karter and Willow Nightingale. Kurt Angle will be there as a guest.
Pro Wrestling EVE has added a 3/9 show at The Yard Theatre in East London, UK. The main event has Miyu Yamashita vs. Miyuki Takase in a last match between the two in Eve, plus Session Moth Martina & Natsuko Sumire vs. Nina Samuels & The Ava. They also run 3/8 at 229 The Venue in London for a sold out show headlined by Yamashita vs. Lizzy Evo.
United Wrestling Coalition on 3/11 in Bordenton, NJ at the Lower Banquet Hall at the Elks Lodge for their 27th anniversary show. They will also have a promotional Hall of Fame ceremony.
Innovate Wrestling on 3/4 in Kingsport, TN at the Civic Auditorium.
AIW Gauntlet for the Gold on 5/20 in Eastlake, OH at Force Sports features Miyu Yamashita.
Bill Behrens notes PJ Hawx and Devon Dudley ae taking dates. Devon will only take autograph and photo dates either alone or can be booked with Bully Ray. He will also manage his twin sons Terrence & Terrell. Others available at [email protected] include Joe Hendry, Flip Gordon, Chris Adonis, EC 3, Griff Garrison, Slim J, Jay Lethal, Al Snow, Ken Anderson, Moose, Earl Hebner, DDP and Eric Bischoff.
Aloha Stadium is Honolulu is no more. Lia Maivia ran a major show there in the 80s with Ric Flair vs. Siva Afi and Antonio Inoki vs Bruiser Brody. Aloha Stadium was best known for University of Hawaii football and the NFL Pro Bowl.
GCW announced a 4/22 date in Orlando,FL at the Englewood Center. As with all GCW shows, it’ll air live on FITE +.
Defy is reviving the legendary Pacific Northwest heavyweight title. The first champion will be decided on 3/11 at Washington Hall in Seattle with Homicide vs.Schaff.
United Wrestling Network tapes TV on 5/7 in Irvine CA at the Improv with Danny Limelight defending the UWN title against Zicky Dice.
After running up his record to 6-0 in the boxing ring against several former UFC champions and chastising UFC president Dana White on fighter pay issues, Jake Paul has signed a deal to compete for PFL where he will make his MMA debut in early-2024.
The New York Times first reported the news Thursday.
Paul is the first fighter and co-founder of the company’s PPV Super Fight division where revenues are shared 50% between the organization and the fighters. He will not be part of their regular season slate that also features a playoff format.
In the video seen below, Paul issued a challenge to former UFC star Nate Diaz for both a boxing match and an MMA fight six months later.
The multi-year, multi-fight deal includes a minority equity stake for himself and a business partner, former UFC CFO Nakisa Bidarian. Paul will also be the company’s head of fighter advocacy where he will promote shows and fighters. He is expected to keep pursuing his boxing career as well.
PFL, who airs on ESPN, debuted on PPV in November and are expected to air two more PPVs this year via ESPN+.
Paul has defeated Ben Askren, Tyron Woodley twice and Anderson Silva in boxing and according to PFL co-founder Donn Davis, the level of opponent the 25-year-old is looking for in MMA “will shock the world in terms of their status and name brand.”
Along the way, Paul has feuded publicly with the aforementioned White about issues like fighter pay. In the video below, Paul drove home that fighters are going to make more money in PFL and even tweaked his rival at the very end.
Paul, who said he was interested in WWE at one point, appeared at November’s WWE Crown Jewel to aid his brother Logan Paul against The Bloodline during Logan’s match against WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns.
Signed, Sealed, Delivered. Welcome to the Professional Fighters League @jakepaul pic.twitter.com/pgMDUprK6S
— PFL (@PFLMMA) January 5, 2023
