Suwama has vacated the AJPW Triple Crown title after testing positive for COVID-19.
All Japan Pro Wrestling announced this morning that Suwama has tested positive and as a result, will vacate the title. He was scheduled to defend the championship against Jake Lee on June 26 at the Ota Ward Gymnasium in Tokyo. No further details regarding the Triple Crown title were announced.
Tokyo Sports further reported that Suwama had felt sick around the 18th, then tested positive the following day. The original COVID-19 test Suwama took was negative, but a follow-up PCR test later confirmed the positive result.
Suwama held the Triple Crown title for 454 days, defeating Kenyo Miyahara on March 23, 2020. He was on his seventh reign as champion, a record for the title. The title defense against Lee would have been his eighth title defense.
Another AJPW wrestler, Zeus, was pulled from last year’s Real World Tag League in November after testing positive for COVID. He returned to in-ring action the following month.
Hana Kimura’s memorial show takes place this evening at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan.
The show commemorates the one year anniversary of Kimura’s death. Kimura, 22, passed away on May 23, 2020 by suicide, believed to be brought on by cyberbullying following an incident that aired on a reality show Kimura was on called Terrance House. In pro wrestling, Kimura was best known for her run in Stardom, where she held the Artist of Stardom title twice and the Goddess of Stardom title once.
Those scheuled to compete on tonight’s card include Super Delfin, HUB, Yuko Miyamoto, Munenori Sawa, Kaori Yoneyama, Cherry, Hanako Nakamori, Yuki Miyazaki, ASUKA (Veny), Kagetsu (coming out of retirement for one night only), Mio Momono, and Mika Iwata.
The show is available on FITE for $14.99, with all proceeds going to Kyoko Kimura, Hana’s mother. The show will have English commentary, with ROH’s Ian Riccaboni and World Famous CB (Cheeseburger) calling the action.
The show starts at 10 pm Eastern time.
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Show Report —
We started off with some words and music, including from Hana’s favorite musician, DJ Yamamura — a former wrestler himself. Over commentary, CB told some stories about his time with her. They thanked Sumie Sakai for allowing the English commentary to come together for this show. CB explained that “Matane” is an informal good-bye, like “see you later.”
They showed a display that laid out many of Hana’s pieces of gear throughout her career. Riccaboni (perhaps accidentally) revealed that longtime Stardom wrestler and Hana stablemate HZK would be wrestling tonight.
“Super Ref” Keigo Yoshino spoke.
Jungle Kyona came out to the Tokyo Cyber Squad theme. She said some words and referenced TCS, getting emotional at the end. “Yes sir!”
Ilk Park performed a dance number soundtracked by AWANIKO, the idol group Hana used to be a part of.
A video played showing Hana’s entrance from when she was in WRESTLE-1 with the signature Ribera jacket.
HUB, Shisaou, & Eisa8 defeated Shota, FUMA, & Mil Mongoose
These wrestlers all come from different companies, many of which Hana worked for at some point. This match was all indie sleaze, in the best way. Shisaou wrestles more frequently as GAINA. HUB was Hana’s favorite wrestler.
HUB and Mongoose performed some lucha libre to start. FUMA and Eisa8 tagged in with a more grounded grappling style. Finally, Shisaou and Shota tagged in. Shota played total heel, firing himself up and being easily overpowered by Shisaou.
A big senton from HUB on Shota got two. Shota tried to attack with chops on Shisaou but was dropped right away with a forearm and a bodyslam followed by a splash for two. HUB locked in a sleeper on Shota who fought his way out but was immediately shut down with a clothesline. Shisaou hit an assisted splash, but Mongoose ran in to break up the pin.
Shota took out his opponents with a tope suicida as FUMA took down Eisa8 in the ring with repeated kicks. A soccer kick got a near fall. Eisa8 came back with a leg drop bulldog and a meteora for two. FUMA and Shota tried to double team Shisaou, but the big man fought them both off.
Shisaou hit a Last Ride followed by double knees from Eisa8 for a close near fall. Mongoose entered the match with a handspring back elbow and a tiger feint kick. He went for a submission, but HUB fought out. Shota and FUMA cut HUB off with a double suplex before Mongoose hit a springboard corkscrew senton for two.
HUB took out his opponents with the tail attacked to his mask. His partners stacked up all three of his opponents and HUB hit a senton on all three. HUB hit a double underhook facebuster, but Mongoose blocked the frog splash and hit a Code Red for a close near fall.
Mongoose went for a dive but was met with HUB’s tail. HUB came back with a tail-assisted clothesline for two. He followed it up with a Jackhammer for another two. A hangman’s powerbomb finally gave HUB’s team the win.
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Ram Kaicho won the All-Star Battle Royal
Super Delfin, Miyuki Takase, Mika Iwata, DASH Chisako, Shotaro Ashino, Fuminori Abe, Menso-re Oyaji, Seigo Tachibana, Hagane Shinnou, Yuko Miyamoto, Chihiro Hashimoto, Ram Kaicho, Cherry, Yuki Miyazaki, Hanako Nakamori, Moeka Haruhi, Banana Senga, Gabai Jichan, and Lingerie Mutoh were the initial participants, with many surprise entrants throughout.
We got some triple stack spots at the start. A devilish group arrived, including Yusuke Kodama, Aiger, and Andras Miyagi, and eliminated Haruhi. Jichan entered the mix but was overwhelmed before stabbing Aiger and another member to eliminate them. Lingire Mutoh hit a shining wizard on Kodama and Jichan locked on an assisted crab on Miyagi, but Cherry rolled the crab around and eliminated Jichan.
Hana’s music played and a wrestler came out dressed just like her, doing her entrance and mannerisms. It was Sakura Hirota. All the wrestlers as well as the referee attacked her. Menso-re gave hip tosses to many of the wrestlers in the match before being met by a series of chops from Takase. Delfin downed Menso-re with a palm strike and a tornado DDT to eliminate him. Takase immediately rolled Delfin up to eliminate him.
Iwata and Hirota exchanged kicks. Hirota locked on the Hydrangea, but everyone ran in to break it up. Mutoh took her out with a Shining Wizard but slipped on the top rope. He caught Sirota in the Figure Four, but the competitors covered both for a double elimination.
Takase and Shinnou had a great strike exchange; both are really talented. Shinnou rolled Takase up for the elimination.
Deathmatch legend Jun Kasai’s music played and he arrived, skewers in hand. Everyone bailed to the floor to escape Kasai except Iwata, who wanted an autograph. Ashino interrupted and took Kasai out with a German, which pissed Iwata off. Ashino and Iwata faced off before Hashimoto arrived. Ashino dispatched Iwata as the powerhouses Ashino and Hashimoto exchanged shoulder blocks.
Wrestlers entered the ring repeatedly as Ashino and Hashimoto just body-slammed everyone. Ashino caught a spear from Hashimoto and hit a vertical suplex, but Hashimoto came back with a German as both got covered for the double elimination.
Former ECW champion and current ZERO1 champion Masato Tanaka made a surprise entrance and eliminated both Shinnou and Kodama right away. Miyazaki cut him off as she faced off with Cherry. Miyazaki planted Cherry for the elimination.
The next surprise entrant was the legend and current Michinoku Pro president Jinsei Shinzaki. Shinzaki locked everyone in arm-wringers before going to the top, but everyone just pushed him off the top. Nakanori eliminated Senga with a crossbody.
Current GLEAT/AJPW/AEW wrestler and Dragon Gate legend CIMA made his entrance next, sending Abe to the floor for an elimination. He and Nakanori then eliminated Miyazaki before CIMA eliminated Nakanori. Chisako brought a chair into the match but was stopped by Miyamoto, where we got a paraide of people stealing the chair from each other. Iwata and Kasai worked together to eliminate Chisako with the Kasai splash.
Miyamoto grabbed the chair but Kasai stole it from him and smacked it over Miyamoto’s head for the elimination. Kasai and Iwata celebrated, but Iwata kicked Kasai low to eliminate him. The other competitors then eliminated Iwata.
The final three were CIMA, Tanaka, and Kaicho. The men ignored the minuscule Kaicho until they got tied up in the ropes and Kaicho eliminated both to win.
– Kaicho gave everyone the middle finger to celebrate. After the match, she cut a promo.
This is an absolute all-star lineup of joshi talent. ASUKA, who you may know as Veny from their time in AEW, was joined by a live rap performance for their entrance. Kagetsu and Hazuki were former stable-mates of Hana’s and came out of retirement for this match. Many of the wrestlers in this match were among Hana’s best friends in real life.
Yama-san and Natsupoi started off. The former played to the crowd until Natsupoi cut her off, leading to a nice choreographed high speed sequence. Syuri and Konami tagged in for a rematch from their Budokan match earlier in the year. They grappled to a stalemate before exchanging kicks.
ASUKA and Kagetsu tagged in, leading to by far the loudest crowd reaction of the night. They had a test of strength, which ASUKA won. They each hit a shoulder block before Hazuki and Momono tagged in with an acrobatic sequence that Momono won with a dropkick. Kyoko Kimura, Hana’s mother, tripped up Momono, allowing Hazuki to take control with a face wash.
Konami and Yama-san posed over Momono before Jungle Kyona entered and they all did the Tokyo Cyber Squad posed. Konami turned on Kyona as usual. Momono escaped and tagged in Natsupoi, allowing her team to take control. Yama-san did her “DEATH!” schtick but was flattened with a dropkick. She came back with throat chops and tagged in Konami, who took out Natsupoi with a running kick.
Natsupoi tried to fight Konami off, but Konami went for an armbar. Konami caught Natsupoi through the ropes with a triangle choke followed by a running dropkick. She locked on an Octopus stretch (Hana’s finisher), but it was broken up. A fisherman’s suplex from Konami got two. Kagetsu tagged in after a double team with Konami.
Kagetsu taunted Natsupoi but was met with more dropkicks. Momono entered the fray and they took Kagetsu down with a double blockbuster followed by a jackknife pin for two. Syuri sent Kagetsu into the corner with a shotgun dropkick followed by a leg drop bulldog for two. She went for a sitdown Sharpshooter, but it was broken up right away as Syuri and Kagetsu traded forearms.
A stiff forearm from Kagetsu fired up the crowd. She followed it up with a strike sequence and a chokeslam for two. Syuri cut her off with a high kick leading to a double down. Momono and Hazuki tagged in and Momono took Hazuki down with a headscissor takedown and a dropkick. They traded forearms until Momono stomped out Hazuki’s foot, so Hazuki took her down with a pump kick and Hana’s signature running boot.
Hazuki sprung in with a dropkick for two before locking on a crossface. Momono had to fight to reach the ropes. She and Natsupoi dropkicked Hazuki and Yama-san before Momono landed a diving crossbody on Hazuki for two.
ASUKA tagged in and crushed Hazuki with a German. Hazuki avoided a ripcord and Kagetsu hit ASUKA with the Oedo Tai sign. Kagetsu and Hazuki hit stereo tope suicidas on their opponents. Konami hit a German on ASUKA followed by a diving senton from Yama-san. Hazuki hit a Falcon Arrow for two.
Hazuki tried to keep up the offense but was met by a spinning heel kick from ASUKA for two. ASUKA followed it up with a top-rope Orihara moonsault, landing on their feet. Everyone landed dives on Hazuki before Syuri hit a double-knee gutbuster. Hazuki fought out of a powerbomb but ASUKA was able to cradle Hazuki for the win.
– After the match, ASUKA cut a promo, followed by Kagetsu. Kyoko Kimura spoke next. It looked like ASUKA issued a challenge to Kagetsu, and Kimura had to sanction it.
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ASUKA defeated Kagetsu
ASUKA overpowered Kagetsu right away. They landed a handspring elbow. Kagetsu fired back with a dropkick, but ASUKA popped up and immediately took Kagetsu out. Kagetsu kicked ASUKA off the top rope and landed a trifecta of topes.
Back in the ring, Kagestu landed a springboard dropkick and a running forearm followed by a running dropkick. ASUKA fired back with a crushing forearm. They exchanged more forearms in the center of the ring. Kagetsu landed a high kick, so ASUKA came back with a thrust kick. Kagetsu kipped up and hit her strike sequence but was cut off with a spinning heel kick for a double down.
ASUKA hit a stiff series of strikes including a slap and a superkick for two. They pulled Kagetsu to the corner, but Kagetsu rolled out of the way of the moonsault. Kagetsu used the Oedo Tai sign on ASUKA and hit a Samoan driver before heading to the top rope, where she hit the 450 splash for two. She locked on the Hydrangea, Hana’s finishing octopus stretch, on ASUKA. ASUKA was able to reach the ropes after a fight.
Kagetsu climbed to the top rope again where she was met with a slap from ASUKA. They traded forearms up top, with Kagetsu eventually sending ASUKA to the mat, but ASUKA popped up with a rolling hurricanrana takedown. A Blue Thunder Bomb from ASUKA got two. They followed it up with a great spinning heel kick for a close near fall.
ASUKA hit a high chokeslam on Kagetsu for another near fall. They blew a kiss to the sky and hit the northern lights bomb for the victory.
– After the match, ASUKA cut another promo addressing Kagetsu. Kagetsu, exhausted, said a few words. Everyone in the crowd gave a standing ovation for Kyoko Kimura.
Kyoko stood in the ring with a portrait of Hana. The three did the Tokyo Cyber Squad pose. “Yes sir!” closed the live portion.
The rest of the show was an incredible fifteen-minute video package in remembrance of Hana, essentially recapping her career from start to finish.
The video was followed by a long moment of silence. After, Kyoko stood in the ring holding a portrait of Hana while the announcer listed Hana’s experience and accolades. The ten-bell salute followed, with Kyona ringing the bell.
Finally, we got some video tributes. TAJIRI was the first, explaining what “Matane” means, and then most of the talent from the show and others from outside the show all were shown saying “Matane.” There was way too much talent to name, but suffice to say, if you follow Japanese wrestling, you’ll see people you recognize. The biggest names were probably Keiji Mutoh and Kenny Omega. The final image was Kyoko saying “Matane” followed by “We love Hana, Hana loves everyone.”
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Final Thoughts:
On December 30th of last year, I covered the stunning AEW Brodie Lee tribute show and said “I genuinely can’t conceive of a more beautiful and fitting tribute to a man who was universally beloved.”
Those same words now apply to this Hana Kimura memorial show. The opener featured six wrestlers punching above their weight, the battle royal was spectacular and hilarious, and the double main events would have been incredible matches even outside the context of this show.
Finally, the video package put together at the end of the show that essentially recapped Hana’s career from start to finish was absolutely perfect, encapsulating her character and how she came to be so widely popular. Even those with no connection to her life and career will love the double main event and the closing videos.
Dave Meltzer recaps the AEW Blood and Guts special, both nights of NJPW’s Wrestling Dontaku.
Also in this issue:
Idea of War Games, Blood & Guts coverage, understanding the ratings and business notes.
Ospreay vs. Takagi, Dontaku coverage and New Japan COVID issues explained.
Notes on the upcoming AEW & WWE PPV shows.
Saturday’s UFC coverage.
The life of Randy Savage, what was and wasn’t covered by A&E, aspects that were and weren’t true.
AAA Rey de Reyes coverage and a major bout of international stars set up with Omega vs. Andrade.
Debut of a new promotion with lots of international stars coming to PPV.
Dragon Gate Dead or Alive coverage.
Lots of new info on exactly how people watch the major wrestling shows.
How many different people actually tuned in to see the different wrestling shows last week and why it’s far more than people realize.
Champion Carnival finals notes.
Hall of Famer returns to start new major promotion.
Story behind the Reigns vs. Bryan match.
More into detail on the ratings than any other source, how every segment on NXT and AEW did as well as how it did with different age groups, genders and more, plus a look at all other wrestling shows of the past week.
Results of the major pro wrestling events of 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].
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
After having his match stopped last night on Raw, Humberto Carrillo wrote the following on Twitter: “Last night was the first time I couldn’t finish a match in my whole wrestling career, but when you push the limits as I do anything can happen in a split of second. This is not over @WWESheamus …. untill next time! #WWERaw”
WWE has applied to trademark the terms Nathan Fraizer, Bailey Matthews, Hit Row Records, Teoman, Meiko Satomura, Emilia McKenzie, and Stevie Turner.
A Karrion Kross promo aired during Raw last night, calling out Johnny Gargano ahead of Kross’s match against Austin Theory tonight on NXT.
Renee Paquette spoke to WrestlingInc on Adnan Virk receiving criticism of his commentary work on Raw. “Everyone’s putting in so much hard work,” she said. “So everyone just wants to do a good job, and everyone’s just really mean to everyone on commentary. Give the guy a break. He’s figuring it out. It just sucks. There’s no way around it.”
Sporting News spoke to Damian Priest on the current culture in the WWE locker room. “Everybody has been awesome to me – if I have a question or anything,” he said. “I could go up to say one of the guys in The New Day – they’ll take the time to just sit with me and talk and explain stuff to me, and guide me the right way. I’ve gotten that from everyone, and everyone has treated me great. I think that’s the easiest and my favourite part, was just how I’ve been treated and the culture of the locker-room. In past years and the old times, you would hear these nightmare stories. It’s nice to know that it is nowhere near that situation now, everybody is great. I really have no complaints. They are pros”
Helen Maroulis, who won a gold medal in women’s freestyle wrestling in the Olympics in 2016, spoke to WrestlingInc about being approached by WWE. “Yeah, I actually was approached in 2016. I had some really good conversations, and so they kind of explained to me what it was going to be like and talked about going out to the Performance Center. I know I have a couple teammates, quite a few teammates that have gone out there. It just didn’t feel like the right timing. I knew I wanted to come back and do another Olympic cycle, and I didn’t know if I would fit into that world to be quite honest. It’s a cool world. I have a lot of friends into it, but I was like, I don’t know if I can do this. I definitely don’t want to get hurt, that’s for sure. The acting, I mean, it’s one of those things, right? The same thing with MMA, just because you’re a good wrestler, doesn’t mean you’ll be good at these other things so until you go and see it for yourself, you just don’t know.”
Mansoor spoke to Arab News about his Raw debut against Sheamus. “It feels amazing. I’ve been on Super ShowDown, I’ve been on Crown Jewel, and those were big shows. But what I wanted most was to be consistent, and to be on a weekly program where I could show the world that I can perform every single week, not just once every few months.”
Atsushi Onita on his upcoming FMW revival project: “I complied my idea of deathmatch into shape. I will announce tomorrow about the ultimate deathmatch on July 4th. What kind of evolution will it make? FMW and I are like zombies, no matter how many times we die, we will back to live.”
AJPW’s Champions Night card, which is set to have a Triple Crown title defense between champion Suwama and challenger Jake Lee, has been postponed to June 26.
We have a loaded issue of the Wrestling Observer this week, with business and history features.
We update WWE financials, with comments from Nick Khan, Vince McMahon, Stephanie McMahon and Kristina Salen talking about the state of the company, the state of sports business, what media companies are looking at right now, AEW, plus a look at WWE revenue and profits. We also look behind the numbers at what they mean, how every category is doing and what categories the company is no longer reporting on. We also look at the decline of WWE ratings as compared to that of cable television and network television.
Also in this issue:
The new attempt at a unique concept PPV with the Triller promotion and Ben Askren vs. Jake Paul, the show, the match, the blitzed announcers, Ric Flair, comparisons to other similar things and long-term sustainability.
Kenny Omega vs Rich Swann match, followed by a story on famous title unification matches throughout pro wrestling history. We look at some of the biggest and most important matches of all-time that were two champions unifying a world title from 1920 to the present.
WrestleMania business numbers when it came to the two live shows, with real attendance, real gates and what it means.
New Smackdown announcing team, Pat McAfee talks his debut, Daniel Bryan talks his current situation and contract, thoughts on Daniel Bryan’s future, new hires and departures at WWE, change in show distribution, former star talks coming out of retirement, how the WWE & AEW shows rank among sports programming, WWE star bio released, Damien Priest talks Bad Bunny, more on Kalisto being let go, Dr. Wagner Jr. talks WWE, political reason for a winning streak, and most-watched YouTube segments on his week’s WWE programming.
A major feature on the career of Steve Austin and the A&E special, his background, how he got into wrestling, the WCW years, the Stone Cold name, life after wrestling, and what were key things not talked about on the documentary.
Mickie James garbage bag situation and the firing of Mark Carrano.
MLW’s new television deal, who else was in talks about that deal, MLW returning to shows with fans and a spinoff planned.
Coverage of this past week’s UFC show, business notes, where the top fighters are headed plus match-by-match coverage.
More detail on ratings than any other source, we have how every segment on NXT and AEW did as well as how it did with different age groups, genders and more, plus a look at all other wrestling shows of the past week.
Results of the major pro wrestling events of 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].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
FRIDAY NEWS UPDATE
Garrett Gonzalez and I will be back tonight talking the news of the week and previewing this weekend’s shows and we will also be doing shows Saturday night after UFC, Sunday after Impact and Monday after Raw. You can send email questions to the show to [email protected]
Shows from now through 5/11 in Tokyo, Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto have been canceled due to the government declaring a state of emergency in those cities due to rising COVID rates. The NOAH show in Yokohama, a suburb of Tokyo, is still on for tomorrow. All Japan will be running its scheduled shows on Sunday, next Thursday and 5/3 at Korakuen Hall but they will be empty arena shows.
In a surprise, after the great showing by Robert Whittaker last Saturday, UFC seems to be leaning toward Israel Adesanya vs. Marvin Vettori to headline the 6/12 PPV show.
Smackdown tonight on FOX. They have announced that 205 Live tonight has Tony Nese & Ariya Daivari vs. The Singh Brothers and Ashante Adonis vs. August Gray.
New Japan Strong tonight has the finals of the tournament for the New Japan Strong title with Tom Lawlor vs. Brody King at 10 p.m. Eastern on New Japan World. Also on the show is Rocky Romero vs. Wheeler Yuta and TJP & Clark Connors vs. Chris Dickinson & JR Kratos.
ESPN 2 has the opening of the PFL season tonight at 9 p.m. Eastern. It also airs in Spanish on ESPN Deportes. All matches are first round matches in the featherweight and lightweight tournament:
Lance Palmer (145.4) vs. Bubba Jenkins (146)
Movlid Khaybulaev (145.5) vs. Lazar Stojadinovic (145.8)
Natan Schulte (156) vs. Marcin Held (155.8)
Anthony Pettis (156) vs Clay Collard (154.6)
LFA live tonight on UFC Fight Pass from Shawnee, OK at 9 p.m. Eastern:
Zac Pauga (205.6) vs. Logan Nail (205.8)
Tabatha Ricci (116) vs. Shawns Ormsby (116)
Mark Martin (171) vs. Renato Valente (172.8) – Valente missed weight and had to pay a penalty to Martin
Bruce Souto (203.4) vs. Cristian Torres (207.6) – Torres had to pay a penalty to Souto for missing weight
Jake Childers (145.8) vs. Canaan Kawalhae (144)
Piera Rodriguez (114.8) vs. Svetlana Gotsyk (114.8) for the vacant strawweight title
A story on Bruno Sammartino being honored today by a park in Ross Township being named after him and his family being there for the changing of the name. (thanks to Mike Kuzmuk)
Very sad to read about the condition of Steve McMichael, the former Chicago Bears star who later announced and wrestled for WCW and is now battling ALS. It’s such a horrible disease. Best wishes to him and his family because they’ve got a tough fight ahead of them. McMichael has maintained his sense of humor in these very adverse circumstances.
For this week we will be doing polls on tomorrow’s UFC show and Sunday’s Impact Rebellion PPV show, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]
UFC PPV tomorrow lineup and weights in one of the deepest shows in a long time. The top four matches in particular are all big:
ESPN+ at 5:30 p.m.
Liang Na (116) vs. Ariane Carnelossi (115)
Aori Qileng (126) vs. Jeffrey Molina (126)
Kazula Vargas (155) vs. Rong Zhu (156)
Danaa Batgerel (136) vs. Kevin Natividad (135.5)
ESPN at 8 p.m.
Pat Sabatini (146) vs. Tristan Connelly (146)
Karl Roberson (185) vs Brendan Allen (186)
Dwight Grant (170) vs. Stefan Sekulic (171)
Alex Oliveira (171) vs. Randy Brown (171)
ESPN+ PPV at 10 p.m.
Anthony Smith (206) vs. Jim Crute (205.5)
Uriah Hall (185) vs. Chris Weidman (186)
Valentina Shevchenko (124.5) vs. Jessica Andrade (124.5) for flyweight title
Zhang Weili (114.5) vs. Rose Namajunas (114.5) for strawweight ttle
Kamaru Usman (169.5) vs. Jorge Masvidal (170) for welterweight title
Bianca Belair vs. Bayley was officially announced for the 5/16 WrestleMania Backlash PPV with the Smackdown women’s title at stake.
There will be a Hana Kimura Memorial show on 5/23 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. The show will be available to watch live all over the world although the carrier was not announced. But it’s an 11:30 a.m. start in Japan meaning it will start at 10:30 p.m. on 5/22 Eastern time.
WWE
Reader Chris Cassidy noted that even though the Drew McIntyre autobiography isn’t scheduled to be out until 5/4, he saw a copy at his Barnes & Noble store in Burlington, MA so it’s likely in many stores.
IWA from Saturday in Sydney, Australia: Randal the Masked Kamikaze b Head Hunter Rig, Charli Evans b Jessica Troy in a submission match, Sam Osborne b Robbie Zucco, Mehmet the Turkish Delight b Sam Osborne, Jimmy Townsend & Dazza b Will Kiedis & Brad Alexander, Tree Hugger Luchi b Apollo the Alpha Male, Jackson Kelly b Chris Abbot to win the IWA title that Abbott had held for more than 900 days (thanks to Kirk Beattie)
Glory Pro Wrestling from Saturday in St. Louis: Deacon Cash b Stephan Newton, Allie Kat b Hyan, Moses & Raim de la Suede b Chris Hendriz & ATM, Manders b Xavier Walker, Arik Cannon b Warhorse, Paco Gonzalez b Mat Fitchett, Jake Something b Myron Reed (thanks to Patrick Brandmeyer)
The PFL announced deals with BILD in Germany and RMC Sport in France/Belgium, with both networks carrying all events this season starting with tonight’s show.
KSW airs at 2 p.m. Eastern tomorrow on KSWTV.com. The main event has heavyweight champion Phil De Fries (264) vs. Tomasz Narkun (224), plus lightweight champion Marian Ziokowski (155) vs. Maciej Kazieczko (155).
MLW has put tickets on sale for its 7/10 show in Philadelphia at the 2300 Arena at www.MLW2300.com. Announced for the show are Jacob Fatu, Ross & Marshall Von Erich, Alex Hammerstone, Mil Muertes, Tom Lawlor, Myron Reed, Josef Samael, Mads Krugger, Alicia Atout, Calvin Tankman, Richard Holliday, Ikuro Kwon, Myron Reed, Gino Medina and Konnan.
AAW tomorrow night at 6:05 p.m. Eastern time will be on Twitch live from Villa Park, IL,. There are tickets available or the show. Matches announced are:
Ace Perry vs. Jake Lander
Matt Justice vs. Fred Yehi
Schaff vs. Davey Vega
Mat Fitchett vs. Thomas Shire
Hyan vs. Skye Blue 2/3 falls
Myron Reed vs. Brayden Lee for the Heritage title
Nakano won Stardom’s top championship tonight in the main event of the company’s tenth anniversary event, All Star Dream Cinderella, held this monring at Budokan Hall. Nakano defeated Giulia following a suplex hold, ending Giulia’s reign of 220 days. Giulia originally won the title at Cinderella Summer in Tokyo back on July 26.
Per the stipulations, Giulia had to shave her head as a result of the loss. Nakano originally was set to shave Giulia’s hair, but hesitated and instead handed it to another person who shaved off part of Giulia’s hair. The rest of her hair was later shaved backstage.
A second title change happened earlier in the show, when Natsupoi defeated AZM for the High Speed Championship.
Other top matches on tonight’s show had Utami Hayashishita defeat Saya Kamitani to retain the World of Stardom title, Mayu Iwatani defeating Yoshiko, Syuri defeating Konami to retain the SWA World Championship, and Donnal Del Mundo (Maika and Himeka) defeating Oedo Tai (Natsuko Tora and Saki Kashima) to retain the Goddess of Stardom Championship.
WWE got good news this week when the first company reports for Royal Rumble came in at about 485,000 buys and a 0.90 buy rate, more than double what Armageddon got in December. Even though it would be the second lowest buy rate for a Rumble in the 16 year history of the event on PPV, trailing only 1997, it was slightly ahead of the reported budget of 475,000 buys for the event. It would be down 5.8% from the 515,000 buys in 2003 (since buys often trickle in late, it is very conceivable it could end up near or even ahead of last year’s number), but way down from the record setting 670,000 buys in 2002.
Over the past two years, the Rumble buys have not been that much lower than those from Wrestlemania. In 2002, Rumble’s numbers were even more impressive because DirecTV didn’t run the show, yet it still set the record, and the buy rate itself was almost identical to that of Wrestlemania (which did 840,000 buys but was available in the nearly 10 million at the time DirecTV homes). Last year, Wrestlemania did 560,000 buys, so the buy rate was also very close.
Hideki Suzuki has left Japan, though it isn’t currently clear where his destination is.
Tokyo Sports reported this morning that the Big Japan Pro Wrestling star had left Japan with a one-way ticket, indicating he was leaving the country. The report was vague regarding where Suzuki would go other than he left via the international terminal. Suzuki previously guest trained at WWE’s Performance Center last year.
Training under Billy Robinson in the UWF Snake Pit dojo, Suzuki made his debut in 2008 for Antonio Inoki’s Inoki Genome Federation. He is best known for his run in Big Japan Pro Wrestling, winning their World Strong Heavyweight championship two times and winning the Strong Climb tournament in 2018. He has most recently started to appear for Pro Wrestling NOAH as part of Takashi Sugirua’s Sugiura-gun stable.
Two more recent signees to WWE include former Wrestle-1 star Jiro Kuroshio and Sareee, who has wrestled for both World Woman Pro Wrestling Diana and Seadlinnng.
It’s a solo holiday express edition of the Big Audio Nightmare this week as I guide you through the world of Japanese professional wrestling as we head into the final weeks of 2020.
Topics this week include:
The final word on Desperado vs. Hiromu
An in-depth look at the Tokyo Sports Awards
A preview of the Road to Tokyo Dome and a discussion of how the expanding COVID-19 outbreak in Japan could affect things
Previews of upcoming major shows from STARDOM, Dragon Gate, AJPW, and more.
Get all that and much more on this edition of the Big Audio Nightmare.
The Adam & Mike Big Audio Nightmare is back with another full episode covering everything that is going on in the Japanese wrestling scene.
We start by taking a deep dive at New Japan’s Power Struggle show, the briefcase controversy, and the various roads to Wrestle Kingdom for Kota Ibushi, Tetsuya Naito, and Jay White.
We then preview the opening night of the combined Best of the Super Juniors and World Tag League tour and give our thoughts on both tournaments.
From there, we look at the recent major shows from DDT, Dragon Gate, and best of all, TJPW’s Wrestle Princess show with an incredible main event. We also look ahead to major shows from STARDOM, AJPW and Big Japan.
With a huge feature on the crazy story of the original Hollywood Blonds tag team with the death of Jerry Brown, we’ve got a double issue this week of the Observer up on the site right now.
Our lead story looks at this year’s G-1 tournament looking at every card, the stories going into the card, the restrictions, the odds, and the new Will Ospreay, start time for every show, complete lineups, comments by Kenny Omega and Jon Moxley regarding this year’s new format.
Also in this issue:
Update on WWE Clash of Champions, with the matches announced, updates on titles not yet announced with matches and keys to the show.
The situation with Matt Riddle and Samantha Tavel.
Daniel Cormier getting COVID and a new UFC product being pushed.
Changes at the USA Network, Sasha Banks with a major acting gig, Update on Jeff Hardy, details behind the Paul Heyman/Roman Reigns pairing, new contracts signed in WWE, wrestler teases gimmick change, Mandy Rose angle, law being talked about reglated to the Sonya Deville incident, Retribution update, this coming week’s WWE television, Randy Orton new business, Ivar injury update, Ronda Rousey update, Next NXT Takeover, weird TV moment, Sports & International ratings, Jimmy Jacobs talks WWE protocol and Vince McMahon, injury update, movie with WWE performers, market value of WWE and the most-watched shows on WWE Network.
This past week’s UFC show with the stories behind the show and match-by-match coverage.
New Japan’s last show this past week before G-1, held at Korakuen Hall, with the matches and angles and what is being pushed.
Our huge feature covers the life and career of Jerry Brown, who teamed with Buddy Roberts to form the Hollywood Blonds, one of the greatest heel tag team acts of all-time. This major feature looks at their beginnings, their heyday in Quebec and Florida, places they went, who they faced, as well as the other territories they went, championships they held, the second version of the Hollywood Blonds people don’t remember, the mentality of the act and some crazy Jerry Brown stories, with lots of comments from Bill Watts, who put the team together.
Ratings of all the major shows, the key demos and quarters for AEW and WWE, what happened head-to-head and what can be learned from them.
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].
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.
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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.
MONDAY NEWS UPDATE
Bryan and I will be back with Wrestling Observer live tonight covering BTE, Raw, Japanese tournaments and talking Jack Brisco as well as taking e-mail questions for the show to [email protected].
Today would have been the 79th birthday of Jack Brisco, who passed away more than ten years ago. The front page has a huge story on his career.
There is a special Tuesday edition of Dynamite for one-hour before the two-hour live show in the normal time slot on Wednesday. The show will air after NBA coverage later at night with Brandi Rhodes vs. Anna Jay, Shawn Spears vs. Matt Sydal and Scorpio Sky vs. Benjamin Carter with Chris Jericho as announcer.
The CMLL 87th anniversary show takes place on Friday night and both women’s title contenders as voted by fans, Princesa Sugehit, who was to face Marcela for the CMLL women’s title, and Lluvia, set to face Metalica for the Mexican national women’s title, tested positive for COVID-19. There was an outbreak at Arena Mexico. There are lots of questions including Ultimo Guerrero, who is Lluvia’s boyfriend, who at this point is still listed for the show. The show is still happening and CMLL has announced that Lluvia and Sugehit will be getting title shots on Friday night shows when they can return.
G-1 returns on Wednesday morning on 5:30 a.m. from Sapporo:
Yuya Uemura vs. Gabriel Kidd
Jeff Cobb vs. Shingo Takagi
Kazuchika Okada vs Yujiro Takahashi
Minoru Suzuki vs Taichi
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Will Ospreay
Jay White vs. Kota Ibushi
We currently have polls going on for the first two G-1 shows from Osaka over the weekend with thumbs up, down, or middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]. We will also be doing polls for the Wednesday and Thursday shows this week. Kevin Kelly is recording English commentary and those will go up a few days later. The last three nights will have live English language commentary
Results from today’s Champion Carnival show at Korakuen Hall:
A block – Jake Lee b Kuma Arashi
B block – Shotaro Ashino b Shuji Ishikawa
A block – Zeus b Suwama
B block – Kento Miyahara b Yuma Aoyagi
With Suwama as Triple Crown champion, Zeus may end up with a title shot. The Carnival tournament resumes on Saturday night.
The N-1 tournament starts at 5:30 a.m. Eastern from Korakuen Hall tomorrow morning with Kenou vs. Shuhei Taniguchi, Kaito Kiyomiya vs. Masa Kitamiya, Go Shiozaki vs. Kazushi Sakuraba and Naomichi Marufuji vs. Takashi Sugiura
WWE
Raw tonight has Keith Lee vs. Drew McIntyre; a match with Angel Garza & Andrade vs. Seth Rollins & Murphy vs. Dominik Mysterio & Humberto Carrillo for the shot at the Street Profits on Sunday’s Clash of Champions PPV, and Braun Strowman vs.Dabba Kato in Raw Underground. Mike Johnson reported the return of Tom Phillips after two weeks and that Jerry Lawler is there. It would be no surprise to see Randy Orton get involved in the Lee vs. McIntyre match.
Tonight’s Monday night football game with the New Orleans Saints vs. Las Vegas Raiders will air on both ABC and ESPN. It will be interesting to see how the ratings end up and how this affects Raw doing its go-home show. Raw is not expected to do a good number tonight with the only wild card if Strowman vs. Kato has interest.
WWE inked a new deal with iQlYI Sports, for streaming in China. The shows will air in both Mandarin and English and will be available starting 9/22 with Raw and Smackdown airing live. The company will also start a subscription on-Demand service carrying the PPV shows.
The WWE Network is adding eight episodes of Velocity from May 25, 2002 to May 1, 2004.
Names announced for the NXT women’s Battle Royal for a title shot are Rhea Ripley, Candice LeRae, Tegan Nox, Xia Li, Shotzi Blackheart, Kacy Catanzaro, Aliyah and Kayden Carter.
NXT UK on Thursday has Kay Lee Ray vs. Piper Niven for the women’s title and Walter vs Saxon Huxley. The draw for the Heritage Cup tournament will also take place.
Stevie Ray announced his retirement on Facebook. He beat Michael Johnson via decision in his last fight in October and signed a four-fight deal after, but his knees are in bad shape. He said at this stage of his life he’s not up for a year of rehab and major surgery.
AEW
Dark tomorrow night has
Dark Order (Alan Angels & Preston Vance) vs. Ryzin & Xander Gold
Ben Carter vs. Lee Johnson
Will Hobbs vs. Serpentico
Stu Grayson & Evil Uno vs. Fuego del Sol & Rembrandt Lewis
Billy & Austin Gunn vs. Cruz & M’Badu
Penta El Cero M & Rey Fenix vs. Maxx Stardom & Dontae Smiley
Serena Deb vs. KiLynn King
Joey Janela & Sonny Kiss vs. Kevin Blackwood & Daniel Garcia
The Butcher & The Blade vs. Calvin Stewart & Puf
Ricky Starks vs. Christopher Daniels
Eddie Kingston vs Brian Pillman Jr.
MISCELLANEOUS
The UWN PPV show tomorrow night has:
Thunder Rosa vs. Priscilla Kelly for the NWA women’s title
Eli Drake vs. Watts
Danny Limelight vs. Kevin Martenson
Friendship Farm vs. Real Money Brothers
Chris Dickinson will appear on the UWN PPV show a week from tomorrow and Serena Deeb faces Allysin Kay..
CWE announced that due to the U.S./Canada border being closed as well as others not allowed in from foreign countries that their next tour will not have previously advertised Shane Douglas, Vincent, Jimmy Jacobs, Simon Marcellus Prime, The Mercenary, Koda Jacobs, Robin Lekime, Lory, Matt Taven or Silas Young. Shows in Alberta and Manitoba are limited to 100 fans but they are going to run. However at this point with crowds much lower than break even being allowed in Saskatchewan, British Columbia and Ontario, they can not host events in those provinces. None allow crowds of more than 50 people. It’s really notable with the size of crowds allowed in the U.S. and all our problems and how cases are so much lower in Canada yet the restrictions remain more stringent.
There is a BBC 3 documentary series called “Step Into the Ring” that will follow a group of aspiring wrestlers from Norwich in a reality show form, including one wrestler who has terrible vision, one with PTSD, one who is autistic and one who has Down’s Syndrome.
AAA has announced shows on 10/1, 10/29, 11/12 and 12/10 at 115 Bourbon Street in Merrionette Park, IL. All shows will be limited to only 50 fans, masks are required and social distancing is required. Tickets will go on sale tonight at 8 p.m. Central time at http://aawpro.ticketleap.com Announced for 10/1 are Mance Warner, Hakim Zane (Rohit Raju), Karam, Matt Justice, Stephen Wolf, Hyan, Christi Jaynes, Gringo Loco, Steve Manders, Benjamin Carter and Travis Titan.
The Big Audio Nightmare is back with a solo breaking news edition of the show!
I guide you through the breaking news of Jun Akiyama leaving AJPW to join the roster of DDT as well as the reports of several major stars and financial backers exiting the Zero-1 promotion.
We also take a look at the ongoing New Japan Cup, more on STARDOM’s return show, a preview of AJPW’s upcoming empty arena Triple Crown match, and much more.
The annual Champion Carnival tournament may still happen this year.
All Japan Pro Wrestling announced in a press conference this morning that they plan on running their annual Champion Carnival tournament in September. The tournament, which was originally supposed to run on April 6 through May 5, was canceled just days before the start of the tour. AJPW President Takeki Fukada hoped in a press conference announcing the cancelation that he hoped to run the tournament later this year.
Joel Redman, Lucas Steel and Davey Boy Smith Jr., who were all slated for the tournament, were removed from the tournament due to travel issues stemming from the spread of COVID-19. Fukada in today’s press conference said that foreigners would not be able to enter the tournament and it is likely that the tournament will be held with only Japanese wrestlers. Due to the evolving nature of the pandemic, the company did not announce a schedule.
The news comes as Japan has lifted its state of emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic in recent days, most notably in Tokyo. Most promotions will be able to hold events with no fans in attendance starting on June 19.
A story on the life of Shad Gaspard is the lead in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
We cover the circumstances of his tragic death, notes from his family and friends, his acting career, his childhood, his thoughts about MMA, what world champion MMA fighter did he tell to pursue MMA before pro wrestling, and look at his wrestling career.
Whether Vince McMahon is doing an end-around to get out of paying people money owed and then restarting the league. We look at why the people he owes money to believe that is the case.
The new issue also covers:
A preview for Double or Nothing II.
Update SummerSlam, more on Ric Flair’s new deal, more on Drew Gulak leaving WWE, brand-to-brand changes, IC title tournament, key person in directing television shows leaving, Backlash update, In Your House update, Jim Cornette’s comments on Becky Lynch and Dana Brooke, Seth Rollins and Dana Brooke respond, Glenn Jacobs talks shutting down businesses, WWE star nominated for major sorts award, Lio Rush talks leaving WWE, Nikki Bella talks her back, sports ratings for the past week, Canadian ratings for recent weeks, top amateur star talks going to WWE, WWE market value right now and the most-watched shows of the past week on the WWE Network.
Complete coverage of this past week’s UFC show.
A feature on the career of Kevin Randleman, the newest UFC Hall of Fame inductee, nothing his amateur wrestling days, his fighting days and his pro wrestling days. We look at his most famous fights and biggest pro wrestling matches.
A lot more looking back 21 years ago to the tragic death of Owe Hart. We look at comments by Martha Hart and Jerry McDevitt and go back through the legal proceedings.
The highest television rating for any pro wrestling match in history and the legend of Kim Il, a forgotten South Korean sports legend.
The movie “My Dad is a Heel Wrestler,” starring Hiroshi Tanahashi.
Full coverage of all the WWE and AEW television shows from the past week.
In-depth looks at the ratings of all the major shows, the key demos and quarters for AEW and WWE, what happened head-to-head and what can be learned from them.
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].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
MONDAY NEWS UPDATE
Bryan and I will be back tonight for Wrestling Observer Radio covering Raw and the latest wrestling news. You can send email questions for the show to [email protected]
The state of emergency restrictions in Tokyo are being lifted. Buildings will be reopened for sports events. As far as pro wrestling is concerned, we haven’t heard anything directly but there should be some news in the next few days.
Tonight’s Raw will have NXT wrestlers and company staff acting as fans. They needed something new because with the head-to-head competition of the season debut of Titan Games, which stars Dwayne Johnson, on NBC, that could have brought numbers down to record lows coming off last week’s second lowest in history performance. The MVP lounge with Drew McIntyre plus Nia Jax vs Natalya vs. Charlotte Flair for the next Raw women’s title shot at Asuka is on the show.
Also announced for Raw is Ric Flair giving his thoughts on the Randy Orton/Edge match prior to Backlash and an interview with WWE 24/7 champion Rob Gronkowski.
Matt Riddle’s main roster debut right now is scheduled to be imminent, so his cage match with Timothy Thatcher could either be his blow-off or lead to it.
There was a hilarious Vanguard One funeral on BTE that came out today. Actually the most newsworthy is that Marty Scurll does a cameo in the final segment and The Young Bucks wore an ugly outfit that was basically a spoof on one of the comedy outfits WWE creative came up with for The Revival on the way out.
There are a lot of questions about the future of the TV show Terrace House after the suicide death of Hana Kimura this past weekend.
Independent wrestling shows with crowds took place over the weekend in Tennessee. Bert Prentice ran USA Championship Wrestling on Friday night in Dickson, TN before 150 fans with city officials on hand to make sure everything ran according to guidelines. Prentice also ran Saturday in Jackson, TN also with a city official present. Greg Anthony’s Pro Wrestling Mid South ran Saturday night in Dyersburg, TN at the Herb Welch Wrestleplex before 100 fans were shut down at intermission when local police came, allegedly after being tipped off by a rival promotion complaining about them running a show with crowds. There was a new order that allows noncontact sporting events and activities and other social gatherings but also had this wording which seems to ban pro wrestling, and now everyone doesn’t know whether it’s allowable. This was the ruling that got Anthony’s show shut down:
“Contact sporting events and activities, where there is a requirement or substantial likelihood of routine close contact and adequate social distancing is not feasible, are prohibited, but this does not apply to collegiate or professional sports conducted under the rules or guidelines of their respective governing bodies. This also does not prohibit training or otherwise practicing the elements of such sports that do not involve close contact with persons.”
WWE
WWE is taping Raw & Smackdown for this week today and will tape next week’s shows tomorrow.
The next episode of Undertaker’s Last Ride will air on 6/14 on the WWE network.
There is no Dark Side of the Ring new episode, but there will be an After Dark episode at 9:30 p.m. talking about Owen Hart. So WWE will be unopposed this week on FS1 tomorrow and run the Florida Championship Wrestling documentary at 10 p.m. which previously aired on the WWE Network.
Kurt Angle referees Matt Riddle vs.Timothy Thatcher in a cage match on NXT next week as well as a three-way with Kushida vs. Drake Maverick vs. Jake Atlas for the A block in the cruiserweight classic tournament, an angle with Adam Cole likely to set up the NXT Takeover title match as well as Charlotte Flair & mystery partner vs. Io Shirai & Rhea Ripley.
UFC
Frankie Edgar vs. Pedro Munhoz has been added to the 7/11 UFC lineup.
AEW
Mike Tyson will be on Wednesday’s show that will also include a Battle Royal for the first shot at Cody’s TNT title, as well as the announcement of the date of Fyter Fest, which will headline with Jon Moxley vs. Brian Cage for the AEW title.
Matt’s wife Dana said that he has a broken rib. What I was told is that Matt wasn’t getting X-rays because he wants to avoid the hospital but that it feels the same as when he fractured a rib in the past. This injury took place on a stadium dive last Wednesday and he worked with it on Friday night when filming Stadium Stampede.
PCW in Melbourne has announced a 6/27 show but with governmental rules attendance will be limited to the first 50 people.
ROH is doing a trivia night on Thursday at 7 p.m. Eastern on Zoom. Any one or team interested in playing can e-mail [email protected] Deadline to sign up is 9 a.m. Thursday morning and teams should be 3-10 players..
Bill Apter talks to Al Snow about Shad Gaspard, who he helped train.
Mick Foley has a nice story about how he was trained in the past by woman wrestler Susan Sexton.
After watching this week’s Dark Side of the Ring episode on the Road Warriors, co-host Fumi Saito and I remember his friend Road Warrior Hawk on this week’s Pacific Rim Pro Wrestling podcast and give some background not covered in the documentary.
Fumi goes into detail about when the Road Warriors debuted in Japan, the Hell Raisers team Hawk formed with “Power Warrior” Kensuke Sasaki, and how Fumi met the man behind the paint, Mike Hegstrand.
We also answer a number of your #AskFumi questions on the beginnings of New Japan and All Japan Pro Wrestling including key moments in their early histories, the politics of the 1993 Dream Slam show, the origin of excursions for young lions in Japanese wresting, the most famous sumo wrestlers turned pro wrestlers, why Giant Baba didn’t maintain a working relationship with WCW like he did with the NWA, plus Adrian Adonis, David Schultz in Japan, and much more.
