In a press conference held Saturday in Japan, Satomura announced that she will have her last match in April of 2025, as that date coincides with her 30th anniversary. Tokyo Sports reported on Friday that Satomura was considering retirement.
She also announced that in September, she will wrestle a series of matches in her own promotion, Sendai Girls, and was open to the idea of wrestling for other promotions. AEW’s Emi Sakura appeared at the press conference and said she would like to face Satomura before her retirement.
Satomura started wrestling in 1995, wrestling for GAEA until the promotion closed in 2005. The following year, she founded Sendai Girls. During her run in GAEA, she made several appearances in WCW.
In 2020, she signed with WWE as part of NXT UK, where she became the final NXT UK Women’s Champion. When the brand folded, she made several appearances in the United States, losing a unification match at Worlds Collide 2022 to Mandy Rose and Blair Davenport in a three-way match. She also faced Roxanne Perez for the NXT Women’s Championship at NXT Roadblock 2023, where she also lost.
This summer, WWE is heading to Japan for its first shows in the country since 2019.
WWE will hold house shows in Osaka and Tokyo this July. Cody Rhodes, Shinsuke Nakamura, Drew McIntyre, Bobby Lashley, IYO SKY, and Asuka & Kairi Sane are advertised to appear at the three events.
Here are the dates and locations for the shows:
Thursday, July 25: Edion Arena in Osaka
Friday, July 26: Sumo Hall in Tokyo
Saturday, July 27: Sumo Hall in Tokyo
“Tickets will be available at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, June 1, 2024 from E-Plus, Lawson Ticket, Ticket Pia and Kyodo Tokyo,” WWE wrote. “Fans interested in an exclusive presale can visit eplus.jp/wwe/ for more information on signing up.”
In 2019, WWE held two house shows at Sumo Hall. They notably featured what ended up being Triple H’s final matches as an in-ring competitor. Triple H teamed with AJ Styles, Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows to defeat McIntyre, Lashley, Baron Corbin & Samoa Joe the first night. The next night, Triple H & Nakamura defeated Joe & Robert Roode.
WWE’s international travel schedule was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic following those 2019 events.
In a new exclusive report for subscribers, we have details on what’s to come with Rossy Ogawa’s new Marigold promotion, including their working relationship with WWE, and Giulia’s immediate and long-term future with both companies.
Wrestling in Japan is one of Matt Riddle’s goals for 2024.
While speaking with MuscleManMalcolm at Friday night’s Jake Paul vs. Andre August boxing match, Riddle was asked about his future goals. Riddle says he’s going to keep wrestling. Competing in Japan is one thing on his bucket list:
I would say, I’m going to keep wrestling, you know? I’m really good at it, so keep doing that. Probably just go do some things I haven’t done before. I’ve never wrestled in Japan, so I think that’s on the bucket list in 2024, amongst other things.
Riddle named AEW star Kenny Omega as a dream opponent that he wants to face, though Omega is currently out of action indefinitely due to diverticulitis.
Riddle responded when asked about dream opponents:
I don’t know, Kenny’s hurt now. I saw that, indefinitely, that was sad. I really wanted to wrestle him. I figured, you know, my release that could have been an opportunity but now it’s not.
Riddle noted that he’s excited for what’s next and there are a ton of potential opponents out there.
Omega posted a photo from the hospital Friday and announced that he’s out of action indefinitely. Omega said he tried to keep pushing past the pain for as long as he could, but it became too much.
Riddle was released from his WWE contract on September 22. His release came during a set of post-merger roster cuts after WWE was officially acquired by Endeavor. The release also happened shortly after Riddle was involved in an incident at JFK Airport in New York City.
Riddle has been announced for indie dates including a match against Rob Van Dam for Big Time Wrestling in March 2024.
MuscleManMalcolm asked Riddle if he has any interest in facing Jake Paul in boxing. Riddle said he would prefer MMA, but he’ll fight anyone at any time. Riddle joked that he’ll do anything for some money.
Paul knocked out August in the first round of Friday’s bout.
Koichi Yoshizawa, who was the most important source of information about Japanese wrestling when it came to wrestling magazines and newsletters from the 1960s until the internet era, passed away on July 28.
He was 73.
Yoshizawa was a childhood fan of Rikidozan and all of the stars of that era and was one of Japan’s top wrestling historians because he went back so far.
Because he knew English, he was very close with most of the Americans that would tour Japan until about a decade ago when he started having health issues and wasn’t allowed to travel to shows.
Against doctors orders, I believe the last show he attended was The Destroyer Memorial show and told me had to go to Tokyo to see Abdullah the Butcher for the last time.
Yoshizawa sent letters to numerous magazines and newsletters from the 60s on with the results and news covering the major shows. He would send multiple letters per week and as the Observer became the leading insider source, he would call me multiple times per week.
He wrote and took photos for both the Japanese wrestling magazines, was affiliated with the sports newspapers, and wrote reports and took photos for every U.S. wrestling magazine during the magazine era heyday. While there were others from Japan affiliated with different wrestling magazines, he was by far the number one and most consistent source and without him there would have been almost no photos or coverage of Japanese wrestling in the U.S.
Had it not been for him, American knowledge and understanding of what was going on in Japan and its history would have been nonexistent at least until the early 80s, and he was the key source of information for virtually anyone covering Japanese wrestling until the internet era.
From the 60s on, at most of the major events in Japan he was very visible at ringside shooting photos. Even though he loved and was fascinated by American wrestling, he never came to the U.S.
His knowledge of Japanese wrestling history was extensive and he was exceedingly well liked. He was responsible for teaching me Japanese wrestling from when we first got in contact when I was 13.
*It’s one of the biggest issues of the year, given we have coverage of what will be the biggest story of the year, the Endeavor/WWE/UFC merger with all the details of how it happened and what it means, plus coverage of WrestleMania and all the major events of WrestleMania week
*The story behind the merger
*The new power structure of WWE and UFC
*All the financial details of the merger including stock, what stockholders will be getting
*How the deal went down and when
*Who will be negotiating WWE TV deals
*Vince McMahon’s worth based on what they are pitching valuation at and his actual stock worth as of right now
*How much top WWE execs were bonused from the sale and new contract for the top two guys in the company and its valuation
*How Vince McMahon changed Raw
*What are the big questions going forward regarding creative
*What employees and wrestlers were told
*Investigation of the deal
*Can WWE get out of the deal
*Financial benefits of the deal
*What it means going forward
*What happened internally in UFC from the deal
*Profits and revenue for UFC and WWE last year
*The history of Vince McMahon and UFC and secret story about a WrestleMania main event that never happened
*Coverage of WrestleMania
*Examining Rhodes vs. Reigns and the finish
*Real attendance figures and other business figures
*PPV numbers and which show had the most viewers
*What were the most watched matches after the fact
*Social media numbers and who drew the biggest and where there are contradictions
*Match-by-match coverage with star ratings as well as poll results
*AEW trying to run Wembley Stadium and more history of such
*A look at a famous period in wrestling history with the death of U.K. promoter Max Crabtree, and the debate over whether the Big Daddy era killed wrestling in that country or it was killed earlier and he just gave it a last life
*A look at the ROH Supercard of Honor, business notes, match-by-match coverage
*A look at NXT Stand & Deliver
*What happened with Gisele Shaw and Rick Steiner
*The most detailed look at the ratings over the past week and what they mean
*Arena Coliseo 80th anniversary event
*Build to the biggest show in Stardom history
*New Japan/Impact dual show
*One of the best bouts of the year took place this past week
Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
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If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
Sunday Update
We have new weekend shows up with Garrett Gonzales where we talk the news of the week the WWE sale, AEW to Wembley Stadium and the major business. Last night’s show with Bryan Alvarez we talk Smackdown, UFC 287, New Japan Sakura Genesis, AEW at Wembley, Battle of the Belts and Smackdown. Bryan and I will be back tomorrow night talking Raw and the rest of the news.
UFC last night announced the July 11, 2015, fight with Rory MacDonald losing to Robbie Lawler will be the fight inducted into the Hall of Fame on 7/6. I remember that fight well and it is a very deserving induction as it was one of the great fights in UFC history. I was named fight of the year in 2015 by Fighters Only, The Wrestling Observer, Bleacher Report, MMA Fighting and Sherdog.
UFC 289 was announced for 6/10 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, BC. The main event will have Amanda Nunes defend the welterweight title against Julianna Pena in the third meeting between the two, who have split two previous fights.
There are no hints past the idea of a combined show that will be announced on Wednesday involving New Japan, All Japan and Pro Wrestling NOAH. The announcement will take place Wednesday morning at 5 a.m. Eastern time.
AAA is expected to announce the El Hijo del Vikingo title defense for the first TripleMania imminently, like today or early in the week. The show is Sunday at the baseball stadium in Monterrey. It hasn’t been announced because the match was evidently just finalized. It will not be a match with Kenny Omega, although they do hope to do that rematch this year at a TripleMania show.
Tonight on A&E will be the long talked about Dusty Rhodes bio at 8 p.m. Eastern followed by WWE Rivals at 10 p.m. on Undertaker vs. Randy Orton.
There will be a four-way for the next shot at NXT champion Carmelo Hayes on Tuesday’s show. Dragon Lee and JD McDonagh are two of the four men announced. So most likely they will save Hayes vs Bron Breakker for the 5/28 show head-to-head with AEW.
The 24th annual Tragos/Thesz Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame ceremony will be 7/20 to 7/22 in Waterloo, IA. The Lou Thesz award will go to Bill DeMott. The Frank Gotch award will go to Haku. The Gordon Solie award will go to Conrad Thompson. The Jim Melby award will go to Tom Burke. The first Jack Brisco award will go to Les Thatcher. The trainer award will go to Larry Simon aka Boris Malenko. Joe Malenko will be there to accept the award.
For this weekend, we’re doing polls on UFC 287 last night and New Japan Sakura Genesis from yesterday. We’re looking for a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match for each show to [email protected]
From last night’s UFC, Israel Adesanya said that he wasn’t interested in facing Alex Pereira again after knocking him out to win back the title. White indicated he wanted to see Pereira move to 205 pounds.
There has definitely been a change in the nature of Google searches. The placings are likely accurate but numbers are way down as compared to the past. For example, last night’s UFC, which would have normally done well over two million searches, did 1.3 million, even though it was No. 1 for Saturday. UFC 287 was first, Jorge Masvidal was fourth and Raul Rosas Jr., was sixth. On Monday, the death of Butch Miller was No. 15 and the WWE sale was No. 17. For the weekend, WrestleMania was at 320,000 and normally you would expect that to top one million. The WWE sale was No. 6 over the prior weekend.
As far as the two close fights last night, in the Luana Pinheiro vs. Michelle Waterson-Gomez fight that went 28-29, 29-28 and 29-28 to Pinheiro, media scores were 71% for Waterson-Gomez. Eric Colon gave Waterson-Gomez rounds two and three but Chris Lee gave Pinheiro one and two and Eliseo Rodriguez also gave Pinheiro one and two.
Cynthia Calvillo vs. Lupita Godinez, the scores were 28-29, 29-28 and 30-27 for Godinez. Colon gave Calvillo rounds two and three but Rodriguez gave Godinez one and two and Dave Tirelli gave all three rounds to Godinez. Media scores were 86 percent for Godinez and that wasn’t controversial at all, while the Waterson-Gomez result was controversial.
Former WWE performer Hiroko Suzuki (the wife of Kenzo Suzuki) was reelected at a member of the House of Representatives in the Chiba Assembly from Funabashi today. (thanks to Gerard Di Trolio)
Another former WWE performer, Barbra Blank (Kelly Kelly) announced that she is having twins. She had just announced last week that she was pregnant.
Thanks to Jared Brazil, Ryan Klinefieter, Jose Marquez, Kevin Pereira, Mark Villar and Arya Witner for their reports on Friday’s WWE & AEW shows.
Friday’s PFL results on ESPN:
*Larissa Pacheco beat Julia Budd in the main event on scores of 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28
*Bruno Cappelozza, who won last year’s heavyweight title, beat Matheus Scheffel via TKO at 2:15 of the first round
*Olena Kolesnyk beat Aspen Ladd on scores of 29-28, 29-28 and 28-28, Kolesnyk missed weight.
*Biaggio Ali Walsh, the grandson of Muhammad Ali, beat Isaiah Figueroa in just 1:42 of the first round via TKO.
Other Notes
Defy Wrestling from last night in Seattle: Vert Vixen b Miyu Yamashita to retain the women’s title, Bollywood Boyz b Ethan HD & Miles Deville, Cody Chhun b Michael Oku, Marina Shafir b Nicole Matthews, Randy Myers b Judas Icarus, Randy Myers b Evan Rivers, Christopher Daniels b Randy Myers via ref stoppage and if Myers lost , he had to leave Defy, Evil Uno & Alex Reynolds & Guillermo Rosas b Ricky Gibson & Eddie Pearl & Levi Cooper, Nick Wayne b Swerve Strickland via armbar to win the Defy title. Wayne was busted open during the match. This made a lot of news because after the match was over Strickland said that he wanted his title rematch on the 7/12 AEW Dynamite show in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, which will be Wayne’s AEW debut as it’s right after his 18th birthday. Wayne signed with AEW at 16 but the contract wouldn’t go into effect until his 18th birthday. (thanks to Shannon Walsh)
Bobby Fulton noted on Twitter that his tuxedo jacket that he’s had since 1984 as part of the Fantastics was stolen. He’s asked if anyone sees it put up for sale on eBay or elsewhere to contact him. He said it was stolen from him the NWA event this past week.
Dungeon Wrestling from last night at the Victoria Pavilion in Calgary before 1,300 fans: Mighty Mo Jabari & Shaun Moore b Chris Knight & Michael Blais, Zoey Sager b Jody Threat, Tiger Raj Singh b CK Krimson-COR, Billington Bulldogs b Bollywood Boyz to win the Dungeon tag team titles in a great match, Harry Smith b Bruno Blanco, Nick Aldis b Dirty Dango to retain the Stu Hart Heritage title. For a trivia note, Bret Hart is part of the team that books this promotion andBret came up with the main event finish, which was a finish he recalled as a child seeing Sweet Daddy Siki do in Calgary in the early 60s (thanks to Ross Hart and Mike McGuire)
Horror Slam Wrestling from Friday night in Brownstown, MI: Devon Ryker b Lucha Punk, Aaron Orion & Adam Wick b LJ Lawrence & Top Gun, Jeremiah Goldman & Easter Bunny b Breyer Wellington & Chinstrap Jesus, Easter Bunny b Big Murph, Atlas Hytower b James Fury, Tommy Vendetta b KJ Reynolds, Remington Rohr b Shane Mercer, Tony Garrix won over TJ Meyer and Chuck Stein, Malcolm Monroe III won three-way over Jimmy Lloyd and Bobby Beverly, DBA b Satu Jinn and Sean Tyler to become Death match champion. This was show a benefit to help with medical expenses and funeral expenses for fan Mike Biezszk, who passed away recently. They did a ten bell salute and sold memorial T-shirts. The Easter Bunny ended up being revealed as Jason Hotch of Impact. (thanks to Leonard Brand)
United Wrestling Coalition on 4/15 in Bordentown, NJ at the Bordentown Elks Lodge with a Battle Royal with the winner facing champion Tony Chini.
WPW Fight at the Museum in Winnipeg last night drew a sellout 500 fans: Bobby Schink b Travis Williams to keep the WPW title, Mo Jabari won four-way over Kevin O’Doyle, Michael Allen Richard Clarke and Steven Crowe, Ava Lawless b Taryn from Accounting, Tyler Colton & James Korba b AJ Sanchez & Chad Daniels, James Roth b Michael Richard Blais, Red Hot Summer b Billington Bulldogs, Jody Threat b Seleziya Sparx to keep the women’s title. They announced a return on 5/12 (thanks to Blair Pacheco)
The Mahoning Drive In in Leighton, PA on 7/9 will have an afternoon wrestling show followed by airing an English translated version of the classic Mexican 1973 movie Santo & Blue Demon vs. Dracula & The Wolf Man.
AAW Ring of Fire on Friday night in Berwyn, IL at the Eagles Club with Masha Slamovich vs. Sierra, Jah-C & Calvin Tankman vs. Russ Jones & Schaff, Hartenbower vs. Levi Everett, Mance Warner vs. Robert Anthony and more.
The following is a free show. Click below to listen.
Mike Sempervive and I are back to talk all the news from a memorable week across the Japanese wrestling landscape on this 75-minute edition of the Big Audio Nightmare.
Topics include:
Satoshi Kojima winning the GHC Title at CyberFight Festival
THE SLAP and its ramifications on DDT, NOAH, Tetsuya Endo, and Katsuhiko Nakajima
Our initial thoughts on this year’s G1 Climax 32 lineup
A review of NJPW Dominion and how Jay White’s title win impacts the AEW Forbidden Door PPV
Hear all this and much more on the original alternate: The Adam and Mike Big Audio Nightmare!
The main event is set for next month’s joint NJPW-AJPW show at Korakuen Hall, celebrating the venue’s 60th anniversary.
In the headliner, NJPW’s Hiroshi Tanahashi will team with AJPW’s Kento Miyahara against NJPW’s SANADA and AJPW’s Jake Lee. Tanahashi and Miyahara teaming pairs the promotion’s long-time aces in a dream match.
The remainder of the April 16 card will also feature talent from both promotions teaming and facing off against one another. The day prior, a Joshi festival will be held as the Korakuen Hall 60th Birthday Festival commences.
Here are the lineups for each show:
Women’s Pro Wrestling Dream Festival, Friday, April 15 —
Hikaru Shida will take part in Ice Ribbon’s show at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo on March 20.
The announcement came during today’s Ice Ribbon event in the same venue. A video message from Shida played on the video wall during the event. Shida requested a tag team reunion with former partner Tsukasa Fujimoto at the March show. The duo previously held Ice Ribbon’s International Ribbon Tag Team Championship together on three separate occasions.
The March return will mark Shida’s first match with Ice Ribbon since a December 2018 loss to Risa Sera.
The day prior, Shida will wrestle at Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling’s Grand Princess ’22 event at Sumo Hall in Ryogoku. Shida is set to take on Hikari Noa at the show,
Shida went on hiatus from AEW last month and returned to Japan where she has also taken part in the MAKAI Genesis stage, theater and dance production, playing Princess Tsuru.
A former AEW Women’s World Champion, Shida was written out of AEW storylines after a loss to Serena Deeb in January. Shida had defeated Deeb in the TBS Championship tournament first round, but Deeb then attacked Shida, leading to a storyline injury which hampered her in a quarterfinals loss to Nyla Rose.
Dave Meltzer’s Giant Baba obituary from the February 8th, 1999, Wrestling Observer Newsletter may be one of his most massive obituaries in his history.
The size of a small book, the story of Baba is woven into many of the most important stories of pro wrestling history, especially that of Japan. We all know Dave is a huge fan of Japanese pro wrestling, so it’s no surprise that this was one of his most well researched and informative stories.
From his time as a student of Rikidozan to his final match and secret sickness, the story of Giant Baba is an incredible one so let’s discuss that on this week’s DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show.
ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
SUNDAY NEWS UPDATE
Garrett and I did our weekend show already today and talked about a number of different topics including how the audience for WWE and AEW has changed over the past year, Brodie Lee, the Brodie Lee tribute TV show, Hook, Cody Rhodes and answering questions.
As things stand right now, it is most likely Garrett and I will be doing tomorrow night’s show covering Raw and Bryan and I will be back on Wednesday.
Today is the one-year anniversary of the death of Jon Huber aka Brodie Lee. With the benefit of hindsight, the Jon Huber tribute show that AEW put on, for what it was supposed to be, was among the best television wrestling shows in history.
Big E wrote this for today about Jon Huber: “One year ago today, Jon Huber, one of my best friends on earth, passed away. I still have a dozen things I want to text him every day. I still remember the way he would type out laughter in text (“ha ha ha.”). I still have the play-by-play of his son’s amateur wrestling performance in my phone, as Jon anxiously & proudly watched on. The dream of driving fifteen minutes to his Tampa house for Sunday dinners when we retired still lingers. There will still never be anyone to fill his shoes. As painfully tragic as this has all been, there’s so much good to reflect on. I’m so grateful that so many people have made a commitment to keeping Jon’s memory alive. I’m so glad he so enriched the lives of so many people in and out of this profession. Brodie (he was always “Brodie” to me), the laughs we shared far surpassed the tears I’ve shed over you. I hope we all continue to honor you in the way you deserve. I still miss you and will always love you, my friend.”
WWE returns to the road with shows tonight in Madison Square Garden and the Amalie Arena in Tampa. Due to issues with a number of COVID positives, there will be key people missing on both shows. PW Insider reported that WWE sent Natalya, who is on the Smackdown side, to the Raw show in MSG and that they are trying to bring in Edge for a house show appearance due to those missing the show. Natalya on social media confirmed being on the way to the show.
We are looking for reports on both of today’s shows as well as all the shows this week including tomorrow’s Raw in Detroit and the Smackdown brand house show in Orlando. We’re looking for results, finishes and other highlights to [email protected]
Tonight’s MSG show may be the lowest attended show in the building in decades. There were less than 5,800 tickets out as of Thursday and because of business relationships, there would be more of those comped than any other arena they would run a house show in. This is with a show advertised around the first time there had ever been two cage matches on a cad in the building. Tommaso Ciampa vs. Pete Dunne for the NXT title will be on all the Raw brand house shows this week starting with MSG tonight.
Planned for Raw, and everything is subject to change due to and Omicron strain of COVID spreading, is A.J. Styles vs. Omos, Damien Priest vs. Dolph Ziggler for the U.S. title, Finn Balor vs. Austin Theory, Randy Orton vs. Otis and Miz and Maryse renew their wedding vows. If Montez Ford is cleared they will do the finals of the tag team tournament from a few weeks ago with the Mysterios vs. Street Profits, also depending on if Vince McMahon changes his mind.
Becky Lynch is appearing on the TMZ Merry Effin’ Christmas special tonight on FOX.
SB Kento appeared to have injured his knee at today’s Dragon Gate show. Kento & Hyo won the Open the Twin Gate titles at today’s show at the Fukuoka International Center Arena from Naruki Doi & Takashi Yoshida. Kai beat Yamato in 27:16 to win the Open the Dream Gate title in the main event.
For Wednesday’s Stardom PPV from Sumo Hall in Tokyo with the Utami Hayashishita vs; Syuri no time limit rematch, it will be on PPV. We should have more details on this tomorrow but there will be English broadcasting from Stewart Fulton and Waka Tsukiyama (who will likely join in match three since she’s working on the card).
On the DDT show at Yoyogi Gym, Konosuke Takeshita retained the KO-D title over Yuji Okabayashi and Harashima & Naomi Yoshimura beat Yuji Hino & The Bodyguard. Was told the Takeshita vs. Okabayashi match was great.
42-year-old Takanori Gomi, who last fought at 172 but fought most of his career at 155, faces Tenshin Naskuawa, who usually fights at 124 pounds and is a 23-year-old kickboxing star as the featured match of the traditional Rizin New Year’s Eve show at the Saitama Super Arena. It will be a two round exhibition fight under boxing rules. Nasukawa, who fought Floyd Mayweather under boxing rules at the New Year’s Eve show on December 31, 2018, has said he will be leaving kickboxing for boxing.
WWE
A stock analyst article on WWE. Not much to it, basically just that the stock has underperformed over the last six months. The big rally was when rumors flew that there may be a sale.
UFC
Kai Kara France vs. Askar Askarov is earmarked for the 3/26 show.
Jack Shore vs. Timur Valiev has been added to the 3/19 show. Valev replaces Umar Nurmagomedov. Share comes into the fight with a 15-0 record.
OTHER NOTES
A list of names scheduled for WrestleCon in Dallas in conjunction with WrestleMania include Windham Rotunda (Bray Wyatt), Mickie James, Scarlett Bordeaux, Atsushi Onita, Killer Kross, Sam Houston, Ricky Morton, Robert Gibson, Tommy Rich, Ted DiBiase Jr., Honky Tonk Man, Chelsea Green, Brutus Beefcake, Maria Kanellis-Bennett, Swoggle, Brian Myers, Matt Cardona and Velvet Sky.
Khabib Nurmagomedov’s Eagle FC announced a 3/11 fight in Miami with Kevin Lee vs. Diego Sanchez.
The 1/12 Invicta show will not be airing on AXS, even though Anthem Sports & Entertainment owns the promotion. It will instead air on YouTube and the MMA Junkie website. The main event has Alesha Zappitella vs. Jessica Delboni.
Petey Williams was originally scheduled for the Insane Wrestling Revolution holiday show on Wednesday in Monroe, MI but has bee pulled due to WWE commitments as he is now working for the promotion as a producer. Chris Sabin will be replacing him in a match with Trey Miguel to crown the group’s first U.S. champion. Other matches on the show include Madman Fulton vs. Dread King Logan, Rhino vs. Tommy Dreamer vs. Game Changers, Sam Beale vs. Kenny Urban and Swoggle & Konnor are in action. (thanks to Paul Meade)
A correction from the Observer is that the Atsushi Onita vs. Bully Ray match on 3/26 at the 2300 Arena will not be an explosive death match. There will be a stipulation added but they won’t be doing an explosive match because it’s not safe indoors and they don’t want to risk bad explosions.
LFA has announced shows on 2/4 in Hammond,IN at the Horseshoe Casino, 2/11 in Phoenix at the Arizona Federal Theater on UFC Fight Pass, as well as 2/25 in Niagara Falls, NY at the Seneca Niagara Resort & Casino.
Mike Sempervive and I are here with another Big Audio Nightmare to talk about a whirlwind week of news across the Japanese professional wrestling landscape.
Here’s what we discussed:
Katsuyori Shibata’s upcoming major announcement and the possibilities including where he would fit in as an in-ring competitor in current NJPW
What is and isn’t working in the Best of the Super Juniors and World Tag League
The departures throughout the scene including in AJPW and Ice Ribbon
The recent major shows from Stardom and NOAH and looking ahead to the big shows they each have coming up in the new year
All that and more, right here on the original alternative: the Big Audio Nightmare.
ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
TUESDAY NEWS UPDATE
WWE
The company trademarked several names on October 28, including Von Wagner, Alpha Academy, Queen Zelina, Toxic Attraction, GYV, and RK-Bro.
Main Event matches taped prior to Raw for this week include Liv Morgan vs. Tamina and Cedric Alexander vs. Jaxson Ryker.
The Miz released a statement on Twitter thanking dance partner Witney Carson and others after being eliminated from Dancing With The Stars last night.
Cesaro spoke to the Manchester Evening News about his upcoming series of matches against WALTER in the UK. “He’s somebody I always wanted to face,” he said. “We have a similar background, coming up through pretty much the same ranks in Europe and then travelling the world. I’m very, very excited that this is going to happen. I’m even more excited to see how excited the fans are to see that much. The fact that it’s only on live events makes me strangely excited because it just means it’s hopefully a legendary match that lives on in people’s heads. The fact it’s happening in England, in Europe, is very special. It’s cool to see that England gets something special. I still think we should run a pay-per-view over in England. The fact that they get this match and people are excited for it makes me feel really good.”
Mandy Rose spoke to Sean Ross Sapp about how she made her return back to NXT. “I got the call and I didn’t really get much explanation, which is kind of the usual. I didn’t expect anything less. It’s one of those things where they want you to help some of the other talent out, need a good heel, and I said, ‘Sure, why not.’ I live in Florida, it’s not that bad of a commute for me. I kinda just went with it and it worked out really well. I am in the process of helping a lot of the other talent and other women. In that process, I think I kind of evolved myself, in the best way possible. I kind of felt like I needed a little bit of a revamp or whatever it may be. I think we all go through those moments where are characters have to evolve and change a little bit or find some other layers to your character, in a sense. I have and I’m really enjoying this ruthless side of me. I knew I always had it, but sometimes you need the time and space for it. You know how it is on TV, it’s hard with the women getting…we’ve come a really long way but it’s hard with all of us and sometimes you can get lost in the shuffle.”
Corey Graves talked to Ryan Satin about recent comments made about Dana Brooke that was perceived as him burying her. “99.9% of the time, everybody realizes that it’s just me doing what I do,” he said (h/t NoDQ). I love walking the line and being provocative. I also make sure, and I try to take great care, that I don’t ever harm anybody from a character perspective. I always want to make people better. For instance, the Dana Brooke issue, I actually sent her a text message the next morning saying, ‘Hey, no hard feelings, it wasn’t personal.’ Full disclosure, I don’t know what’s going to happen on these shows. I am reacting. That’s my choice. There have been times where I sat in production meetings and I have ideas, but I prefer to not know what’s happening because I like to think my reactions are more genuine, I get to use my wit a little bit better.
Doudrop spoke to the Daily Star about online abuse she gets and how she doesn’t let it affect her.
PWInsider is reporting that Matt Tremont will likely remain hospitalized for up to a week due to the burns he suffered during a deathmatch against Atsushi Onita on Halloween night.
The Mainichi has an article on Japan easing COVID-19 limits on large events.Events across Japan can now have 5,000 spectators or 50 percent of venue capacity. Large-scale event spaces can have 10,000. Spectators shouring and cheering will be limited to 50 percent of venue capacity. Prefectural govenors can also implement their own policies.
Impact has uploaded a video of “Speedball” Mike Bailey signing with Impact Wrestling.
The former Tyler Breeze is a guest on this week’s Oral Sessions with Renee Paquette.
Masa Slamovich spoke to WrestlingNews.co about her signing with Impact Wrestling, recalling what she remembered when Gail Kim arrived to give her the contract. “Well at first, I was trying to explain to myself why she was coming out and I was like, man you know I mean we went a little over time with the entrances or something like that,” she said. “I’m like, alright, whatever. They’re probably sending out the next segment and I’m just going to take myself to the back. Then she turned towards me and she’s like, ‘No, come here.’ I’m like, wait a minute. What’s going on and the rest is history. You all saw the clip go around on Twitter that she offered me a contract and it was proof that I had done everything right while I did it. You know, I did everything my way because I’ve had quite the unconventional career so far and it still paid off and worked out. It was just an incredible moment.”
NJPW has released an interview with Kazuchika Okada, his first since winning the G1 Climax tournament.
Jordan Oliver on Twitter commented on his MLW release. “A week ago MLW released me, I did exactly what I wanted to do there and that is LEARN&GROW, I’m only 22 Years old and I’m one of the hardest working Mfs in the game. Get at me I’m ready to turn up X10.”
Yuko Miyamoto of Big Japan Pro Wrestling has suffered a fractured fibula and is out of this year’s Real World Tag League tournament for AJPW. He was scheduled to team with Takao Omori.
Updates on the WWE PPV shows heads up the new issue of the Observer, including proposed main events, ticket sales and the reason for the Hell in a Cell change.
Also in this issue:
Update on the health situation of Antonio Inoki.
Another Saudi Arabia lawsuit, the details in the suit and the two possible endings including comments from Jerry McDevitt.
Updated ticket sales for all the WWE shows through early September, demand and comparisons with AEW, plus why WWE books NBA buildings and blocks off most of the building while AEW runs smaller buildings.
Dwayne Johnson talking the presidency, Edge creative, Brock Lesnar in WWE, new WWE hires, house show changes, Ronda Rousey update, international AEW & WWE ratings, what WWE is looking for in tryout camps going forward, ESPY Award, Titus O’Neil, John Cena movie, vaccines in WWE, Andre the Giant history, WWE injuries, WWE new names, plus the most-watched videos of the past week and WWE market value.
The decision by New Japan Pro Wrestling to run three Domed stadium shows in the upcoming months and how the Saitama dates preclude them from their biggest named American stars, plus the attempt to run so many major shows on successive dates in July.
Full coverage of UFC 263, with poll results, match-by-match rundowns, and the future direction of the top fighters on the show.
Full coverage for NXT Takeover, including poll results, star ratings, direction after Takeover, the next two major dates for the promotion, as well as interest level in the show.
An update on Don West, the former TNA announcer, as he battles brain cancer.
The Federacion promotion, the latest company to try and make it as a major group in Mexico, what went wrong, and the history of new attempts to go national in that country.
Stardom Cinderella tournament finals and the main event that has gotten so much talk, Utami Hayashshita vs Syuri, with the background on the two, plus coverage of storylines and direction, match-by-match with star ratings.
More into detail on the ratings than any other source, how many different viewers the shows had, breakdown of who watches the shows and how they watch, DVR numbers and how long the average fan watches.
Results of the major pro wrestling events of the past week
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SUNDAY NEWS UPDATE
Bryan and I will be back tonight with Wrestling Observer Radio covering Hell in a Cell and the other wrestling news. If you’ve got any questions for the show you can send them to [email protected]. For those who didn’t listen to the Friday show, we’ve gotten a lot of compliments regarding the interviews with both Michelle Billington and Dr. Alex Patel on that show.
A Jon Moxley appearance was announced for the New Japan show at The Torch at the Los Angeles Coliseum on 8/14. Moxley is not allowed to work U.S. dates without the approval of Tony Khan, so for those who don’t see this as a sign of a positive working relationship between the two sides right now, you are trying way too hard to miss the obvious.
Natalya vs. Mandy Rose has been added to the WWE Hell in a Cell kickoff pre-show.
Six matches have been announced for Hell in a Cell. There is usually a pre-show match at 7:30 p.m. with the main show at 8 p.m. Odds are from Betonline.ag:
Seth Rollins vs. Cesaro: They had one of the highlight matches at WrestleMania so this should be great. Cesaro opened as the favorite but fans are backing Rollins with the idea of 50/50 booking and he’s now the -170 favorite. They had been running angles for this for weeks so even though it was a late addition it was likely always in the plans.
Alexa Bliss vs. Shayna Baszler: With the gimmick, expect more voodoo than wrestling. Bliss is a -1600 to -1000 favorite
Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn: These two always have great matches. Owens -350 favorite. This was a late addition but they had been running angles.
Rhea Ripley vs. Charlotte Flair for the Raw women’s title. Also likely to be a good match. Ripley is the -250 favorite.
Bianca Belair vs. Bayley in a Hell in a Cell match for the Smackdown women’s title. One would expect this to also be a strong match with Belair a -200 favorite.
Bobby Lashley vs. Drew McIntyre in a Hell in a Cell match for the WWE title. If McIntyre doesn’t win, he can never challenge for the title as long as Lashley has it. The way I’d read this is there is nobody else out there for Lashley other than Brock Lesnar. There’s no deal at this moment, but obviously they can make a deal. If that’s the direction, Lashley should win. If not, they’d better have a big outsider to bring in for Lashley or else McIntyre should win. I suppose they could go with Bill Goldberg or Bray Wyatt. There aren’t a ton of viable options. Lashley at last look was a -315 favorite.
We’re looking for your thoughts on the show, you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]
A few notes about the biggest things of interest this past week with combat sports. Earlier today, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. was the No. 6 most searched in the U.S. at 50,000 and Jermall Charlo was No. 7 at 20,000. Hell in a Cell wasn’t listed yet but usually WWE PPV’s of this type wind up about 200,000, although WrestleMania Backlash actually trended less than usual and below AEW’s Double or Nothing. For yesterday, Anderson Silva was No,. 9 at 100,000 and the UFC Fight Night was No. 15 with 50,000, which is near the bottom for this year for a UFC show. Nothing else cracked the top 20 all week.
For last night’s UFC show main event, judge Michael Bell gave the last four rounds to Chan Sung Jung over Dan Ige. Derek Clearly gave the last four to The Zombie. Sal D’Amato gave rounds two through four to Zombie. 100% of reporter scores went to him so there was little doubt. Most gave Zombie four rounds, some three like the judges so no controversy.
This is not Neilsen ratings but it is a direct measure of millions of homes on Friday night. AEW was up 5.2% in hours watched (essentially viewers in Nielsen) from the week before while Smackdown was down 5.3%. However, the Nielsen fast nationals had Smackdown up 4% and logic would tell you with Roman Reigns vs Rey Mysterio in a Hell in a Cell match that it should be up.
Eight police officers showed up at last night’s Gamechanger Wrestling show in Laramie, WY, billed as Outlaw Mudshow, during the main event thinking it had gotten out of hand. The show had Jordan Oliver b Gringo Loco, Chris Dickinson b 2 Cold Scorpion, Jimmy Lloyd b Allie Katch, Manders b Matthew Justice in a bullrope match, Effy b Warhorse, AJ Gray b Orin Viedt, Ricky Morton b Atticus Cogar, Nick Gage b Mance Warner to keep the GCW title
The Las Vegas Review-Journal has a story on Nick Khan, the WWE President, how he got started, and his bringing SummerSlam to the city. (thanks to Mike Kumzuk and others)
The final episode of WWE programming on A&E for this run is the Most Wanted Treasures final episode of the season from 8-10 p.m. going head-to-head with Hell in a Cell. The story is built around Ric Flair searching for old memorabilia including the robe he wore at the 1992 Royal Rumble.
Regarding the Triple Crown title that Suwama relinquished due to testing positive for COVID yesterday, it will be decided on 6/26 in a show at the Ota Ward Gym. Jake Lee will be in the match but his opponent has not been named yet.
WWE
WXIX interrupted Smackdown Friday night for a report on tornado warnings in Cincinnati (thanks to Brian Henke)
OTHER NOTES
Charlie Haas got into a dust-up last night at an independent show in Texas.
Tandi Devi, 75, the mother of Dalip Singh Rana (Great Khali) passed away earlier today in Ludhiana, India. She had been hospitalized for the past week and she had multiple organ failure.
Announced so far for the 40 man Battle Riot event for MLW on 7/10 in Philadelphia are King Muertes, Alex Hammerstone, Richard Holliday, TJP, Arez, Kevin Ku, Lee Moriarty, Gringo Loco, and Zenshi.
Stardom results from yesterday in Shizuoka: Rina b Lady C, Momo Watanabe b Hina, Giulia & Syuri & Maika b Konami & Saki Kashima & Fukigen Death, Utami Hayashishita & Saya Kamitani & AZM d Tam Nakano & Mina Shirakawa & Unagi Sayaka, Natsuoka Tora & Ruaka & Starlight Kid b Mayu Iwatani & Koguma & Hanan. This was the first match with Starlight Kid as part of Oedo Tai and against Stars since Oedo Tai won against her last week. (thanks to JoshiSunTimes.com)
Memphis Wrestling from last night at The WrestleCenter: Normal Mikhalkov b Justin Cole in a coward waves the flag match, Austin Lane b Derrick King, Dustin Star b Van Vicious, Nikki Lane b Paris Nelly-COR, Brett Michaels b Hollywood Horror Show, Blair & Briar Skimahorn b Lil Chris & Aaron Roberts & Zay Washington to win the tag titles (thanks to Brian Tramel)
CWE will be doing an Elite 8 iPPV show on 7/17. Announced so far are Mentallo, Shaun Martens, Kevin Cannon, and Tyler James.
