Tag: n1 victory tournament

Daily Update: NXT No Mercy, Sonny King, N1 finals

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Daily Update

Latest News

Latest Audio

Latest Free YouTube Video

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

  • A look at the wrestling career of Sid Eudy, his death, his career highlights, the injury that basically ended his career, other major inopportune injuries, his going from place to place and more.
  • When he first started which is earlier than most have noted.
  • The Lord Humongous gimmick
  • The Skyscrapers and why it ended
  • The Four Horsemen period
  • His first PPV main event
  • A number of stories related to Brian Pillman including the squeegee story
  • His leaving WCW for WWF and his first WrestleMania main event and how that finish didn’t happen as planned
  • The failed drug test before WrestleMania
  • The Hoosier Dome match
  • Quitting WWF
  • Return to WCW and the plan for him to win the world title and how it fell through
  • Situation with Arn Anderson
  • How he ended up getting his WWF title run in 1996-97
  • The injury that ended his WWF career
  • The ridiculous win streak gimmick in WCW
  • All In coverage from London
  • The update on contract negotiations
  • Why the MAX deal didn’t happen last year
  • The upcoming stadium shows
  • Business notes on how All In did
  • All Out update
  • Notes on new contracts
  • Future of Bryan Danielson
  • WWE weekend preview
  • RevPro anniversary show
  • Look at the ratings over the past two weeks
  • International TV ratings
  • The longest match ever held at Arena Mexico
  • Japanese tournament updates
  • Oldest male wrestler ever to participate in a major match
  • Deaths of Villano V and Fritz Von Goering
  • Tony Khan talks creative process
  • Bryan Danielson talks his discussion with Vince McMahon about doing G1
  • MMA star Benji Radach passes away
  • Mark Shapiro talks new WWE ideas
  • Netflix doc notes
  • Shapiro talks Netflix deal

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter Back Issue

Friday Update

– We have two new shows up on the site. Our week in review show with Garrett Gonzales talking Sid Vicious, lots of history, talks about what draws, and more. We also have last night’s show with Bryan talking Bash in Berlin and Collision.

WWE has NXT No Mercy tonight from Denver:

  • Ethan Page vs. Joe Hendry for the NXT title
  • Oba Femi vs. Tony D’Angelo for the North American title
  • Roxanne Perez vs. Jaida Parker for the NXT women’s title
  • Kelani Jordan vs. Wendy Choo for the women’s North  American title
  • Wes Lee vs. Zachary Wentz
  • Ridge Holland &  Andre Chase vs. Nathan Frazier & Axiom for the NXT tag titles

There were 6,700 tickets out as of this morning for the show. It’s pretty impressive since Raw is in the same building tomorrow and has more than 10,200 tickets out.

– We’re doing weekend polls for both Bash in Berlin and NXT No Mercy. You can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down, or a thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]

– I want to thank everyone for their comments on the Observer story on Sid Vicious in the current issue.  

– Sonny King, who was a significant star in the 70s and into the 80s as both a wrestler and manager, passed away yesterday at the age of 79.  He was part of the fourth WWWF world tag team champions with Chief Jay Strongbow, beating King Curtis Iaukea & Baron Scicluna in two straight falls in Philadelphia. However, in a story few remember, somehow the tape got screwed up.  So they brought the Philadelphia ring to Hamburg the next night and redid only the third fall, and made it a one-fall match, and that’s the version that aired on WWWF television on both shows. King managed Afa & Sika in Georgia in 1982 when they feuded with Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy. He also was stabbed during his career which nearly ended his life, but came back. He also was a regular tag team partner of Junkyard Dog in the heyday of Mid South Wrestling feuding with the likes of Butch Reed, Ernie Ladd, and Buddy Landel. We’ll have a full story on him on the site in a few days.

– The reason there was no Bloodline segment on SmackDown is because much of the family went home for Afa’s funeral which took place this weekend.

We’re looking for reports from these shows:

  • AEW last night in Sioux Falls, SD (matches not on the live show)
  • TNA TV tapings last night in Louisville, KY

We’re looking for results, finishes, and angles at [email protected]. What we do know is that Arianna Grace and Karmen Petrovic were at the TNA tapings and they set up a Jordynne Grace TNA women’s title match.

– As noted on Friday, Nielsen made an error in reporting the AEW rating. Overall it’s nothing of note. The show was first place for the night, but it was readjusted from 0.22 to 0.23 because Nielsen had been told the show would be 69 minutes and it was 65 minutes. So the first four minutes of the next show were factored into the first released number, and the rating obviously dropped big when wrestling ended. In actuality, the final segment had 715,000 viewers and a show-high 336,000 in 18-49. This was the Bryan Danielson interview. It was also first in every male demo for the show.

– Wicked West Wrestling on 9/6 at 1735 National Avenue in San Diego has Paul London, Mecha Wolf, and Mickie Knuckles

– Kid Kash did his first match in six years last night for the Beside the Ring promotion. Kash & Ricky Morton won the main event over Hunter Wolfe, billed as 7 feet tall, and Mega Destroyer.

– Jonathan Gresham & Jordynne Grace beat Austin & Nikki Lane in the battle of husband and wife tag teams on yesterday’s Memphis Wrestling TV show. (thanks to  Brian Tramel)

– OVW drew 1,609 fans for its show last night in Pikeville, KY which is a great number for a non-WWE or AEW U.S. show. (thanks to Wrestletix).

– Ron Killings (R-Truth) performed shows Friday and Saturday night as well as has a show today in Manchester, NH as part of Lethal Weekend 7. For storyline purposes, he performed with his ribs all wrapped up since he’s doing a storyline injury from all the tsunamis from Bronson Reed.

– Yuma Aoyagi beat Kento Miyahara to retain the Triple Crown in Fukuoka today. Heard it was a great match.

– Kaito Kiyomiya won the N-1 tournament beating Kenoh in the final today in Osaka. Josh Briggs and Tavion Heights finished with NOAH on today’s show and will be back in Orlando tomorrow. Anna Jay finished with Stardom Saturday and also is returning home. El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. is back in action. Briggs on his last night beat Yoshiki Inamura.

– Tam Nakano won the World of Stardom title yesterday, the top belt in that group, beating Natsuko Tora. Maika won the Five Star Grand Prix beating Saya Kamitani in the final. Most had Maika’s semifinal win over Mayu Iwatani as the best match.

– Notes from the NJPW show in Washington, DC. Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tomohiro Ishii challenged Mikey Nicholls & Shane Haste for the New Japan Strong tag titles at Royal Quest on 10/20. Mina Shirakawa was said to be really over. She was in London as well.

– The NWA has a show on 9/27 in Queens NY at The Sacred Heart Catholic Academy.

– A video on the life and career of Baron Von Raschke, “The Claw” has been released on Prime Video.

Daily Update: Weekend matches, Olympics notes, G1 Climax updates

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Daily Update

Latest News

Latest Audio

Latest Free YouTube Video

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

*A detailed look at the  SummerSlam show, post-SummerSlam direction, thoughts on key matches,  business numbers, a record set that WWE fans and AEW haters seem to have missed, the press conference as well as a major note on the 2025 SummerSlam show.
*A look at TKO business, why the stock price rose, breaking down different categories, how much debt does the company have, the lawsuit settlement, the next negotiations and why WWE ticket prices are about to rise.
*More notes on the  move from USA to CW for NXT, why the second show will likely be loaded up, and how the television situation for both the WWE shows and announcing teams will be changing in the fall, and again in the winter.
*Early notes on the Olympics in wrestling
*Update on All In’s card and business notes
*A drug testing scandal involving the U.S. and USADA
*Full  coverage of the G-1 tournament an the best matches
*Steve McMichael goes into the NFL Hall of Fame and a look at  his life and his career
*Updates on the Janel Grant claim against Vince McMahon, a court ruling as well as Dr. Carlon Colker fires back at Grant.
*The most detailed look at the ratings for the past week.  The segment-by-segment, comparisons with last week and a lot of insight into where the major trouble spot is for AEW right now.
*MJF vs. Templario at Arena Mexico as well as one of the best matches of the year in Mexico on that show
*The biggest stipulation match of the year in Mexico
*What trivia distinction in Mexico does MJF have
*Former TNA champion wins major title in Mexico
*Last build for TripleMania including Dorian Roldan saying that they are going for a five star match with an undercard bout.
*Update on El Hijo del Vikingo.
*Stardom star out for a year
*NOAH’s debut 24 years ago last week
*Star of the N-1 tournament
*Jeff Cobb notes NJPW star turned down a major WWE offer
*Giulia’s final stuff in Japan
*A look back at Beauregarde, a 60s and early 70s star
*The Bruno Sammartino Cup in Italy
*Lots of TNA television notes for the next several weeks
*Tony Khan talks media rights
*Issues with WBD
*Lots more on Pentagon & Fenix leaving AEW
*AEW star gets television acting gig
*Advance ticket sales for upcoming WWE & AEW shows
*International TV ratings including AEW has unusually big numbers in U.K. and Canada
*Dana White and Richard Boulaware and the origination of the term  Black Gordman High School
*UFC announces a loaded show
*Conor McGregor flips out on Donald Trump
*UFC star subject to a drive by
*PFL announces a PPV show
*The latest boxing and pro wrestling PV numbers
*WWE & AEW July ratings and attendance and how things are moving
*Son of former WWE star signs NIIL deal and will continue college
*Update on Brock Lesnar

This Week’s Wresting Observer Newsletter Back Issue

Sunday Update

– Our weekend show with Garrett Gonzales is up on the site, where we talked heavily on the life of Kevin Sullivan. That show is likely very different from any other show you’ll hear about him because of different perspectives of so many different parts of his career and post-career. We also talked about the key stories in the Observer. Bryan and I will be back tonight talking about lots of different topics including weekend shows, G-1, N- 1 and more.

– Hulk Hogan turned 71 today.

– Yuya Uemura is out of the G-1 tournament due to an elbow injury suffered in his win over Yota Tsuji yesterday in Sendai. For Thursday, if Jeff Cobb, David Finlay or Ren Narita, all 5-3, win on Thursday then they all make the playoffs. If they lose, they will be in a pack that would include the winners of bouts with Tsuji, Hirooki Goto and Konsuke Takeshita who can make the playoffs with a win and the right head-to-head record involving everyone who ends up with a 5-4 record.

– Saw a clip. 50 years ago yesterday I was at the Cow Palace for a show headlined by Jack Brisco vs. Moondog Mayne for the NWA world title (one of only  two Brisco NWA title bouts at the Cow Palace). It was a good match. All Brisco matches in that era were, but far from the type of bout he’d have with Dory Funk Jr., Harley Race or Johnny Valentine. The most memorable thing about the night is that early in the show, ring announcer Allan Bolte came out and announced that Brisco wasn’t there and Roy Shire hadn’t heard from him all day (no cell phones in 1974). He said they are assuming that he won’t be there and we have a new main event of Pat Patterson vs. Mayne in a non-title match. They offered refunds (they had to, back then if a main eventer didn’t appear a promoter had to offer refunds per athletic commission rules). Patterson was going to win to set up a U.S. title shot  at Mayne. Then 30 or so minutes later, Bolte comes running out, “Jack Brisco has arrived! The world champion has arrived”. Shire never booked Jack Brisco again.

– Looking for reports from today’s RevPro show at York Hall, the two Stardom Five Star Grand Prix shows from the weekend and today’s ROH show in Arlington, TX. We’re looking for results, finishes and  highlights to [email protected]

– I’m still going through a lot of stuff but two matches I have seen that are pretty much must-sees are Kaito Kiyomiya vs. Ryohei Oiwa from the N-1 tournament. You will see Oiwa in a completely different light from that one. The other is Oleg Boltin vs. Konosuke Takeshita from yesterday. Takeshita needs to take it easy on some of those high angle bumps because he has the talent to be one of the five best for probably another decade if he works smart. My God, talk about making Boltin look good.  

– The Kennedy Blaydes German suplex at the Olympics yesterday.

– Kyle Snyder at 213 pounds only placed fifth at the Olympics. It was the first time the U.S. didn’t have a men’s gold medalist since 1968. Zain Retherford was injured in the first round and unable to continue. Spencer Lee got a silver medal. Aaron Brooks got a bronze. Kyle Dake got a bronze medal as well. Blaydes on the women’s side ended up with a silver medal.  

– Japan won the team standings.

– At the closing ceremonies several members of Team Mexico wore masks, notably one wearing a Rayo de Jalisco mask.  

– Masai Russell won the 100 meter hurdles yesterday, earning a gold medal. Russell is under contract to WWE as an NIL athlete.

– Raw on Monday announced Shayna Baszler & Zoey Stark vs. Iyo Sky & Kairi Sane, Bron Breakker vs. Sami Zayn for the IC title in a 2/3 fall match, Damian Priest vs. Carlito, and The Creeds vs. Otis & Tozawa, plus Rhea Ripley and Randy Orton are also announced. 

– The angle at today’s RevPro show at York Hall saw MJF beat Michael Oku to keep the American title using the Tiger Driver.  Oku sold an injury. MJF then teased doing the move to Amira Blair (Oku’s girlfriend). Will Ospreay made the save and basically said he would not hesitate to use the Tiger Driver on MJF at All In.

– A block in G-1 finishes the round-robin in a show at 4 a.m. Monday morning Eastern time:

  • Evil (5-3) vs. Shota Umino (3-5)
  • Tetsuya Naito (5-3) vs. Great O’Khan (4-4)
  • Shingo Takagi (4-4) vs. Jake Lee (4-4)
  • Sanada (4-4) vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (6-2)
  • Callum Newman (2-6) vs. Gabe Kidd (3-5)

– Sabre has already won the block. Even if he loses, and Evil and/or Naito win, he’s got singles wins over both of them he’s in first. If Naito or Evil win, they are in the playoffs. If they lose, that opens it up for O-Khan, Takagi and Sanada if they win. Then it comes down to tie-breakers.

– Regarding ordering All In on Triller, it is now available to order. It wasn’t until late Friday. Also, they have a deal where for $84.99, or a $15 discount, you can order both All In and All Out.  That’s only on Triller

– Ninja Mack is leaving NOAH after tomorrow’s show. He said that this isn’t a permanent departure but he’s leaving for now.

– Donovan Dijak vs. Gabe Kidd has been added to the 8/24 Rev Pro show in London at the  Copper Box Arena.

– House of Glory debuts on 9/5 in Chicago at the Logan Square Arena. That’s two nights before All Out. Mike Santana vs. Donovan Dijak is the main event plus Mustafa Ali, Zilla Fatu and a women’s title match with Megan Bayne defending against Kylie Rae.

– FTR is doing a meet and greet in conjunction with the 9/29 Prestige Wrestling show in Portland, OR at the Roseland Theater.

– Tavion Heights lost on today’s N-1 show at Korakuen Hall to Manabu Soya. Heights is now 1-2 while Josh Briggs is 2-1, after losing yesterday to Jack Morris. Fans were chanting for Heights today because of his cool suplexes.

– Anna Jay debuted in the Stardom Five-Star Grand Prix beating Saori Anou. It was a good match. We heard Mayu Iwtani vs. Tam Nakano on yesterday’s show was a great match, as was Syuri vs. Starlight Kid (thanks to Paul Adams)

– Empire State Wrestling is doing a charity event with the PUNT Foundation to host a BBQ party to support local  families fighting pediatric cancer. The event is 9/7 at the Rapids Fire Hall in Lockport, NY.  It will run from 1 p.m. to 6 pm.

 – Antony Smith vs. Dominik Reyes is scheduled for the 12/14 UFC PPV  show in Las Vegas at the T Mobile Arena.

– Brock Anderson will make his MLW debut on 8/29.  He will form a new Andersons tag team with C.W. Anderson of ECW fame.

Daily Update: SummerSlam fallout, Tony Ferguson, NOAH N-1 tournament

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Daily Update

Latest News

Latest Audio

Latest Free YouTube Video

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

The new issue of the Observer is up on the site right now featuring two very in-depth stories:

  • Judge Richard Boulware refuses to accept the $335 million TKO settlement in the Cung Le case, why, lawyers react, lots of inside ramifications of the case, how different settlements would work out for the biggest name fighters and the average fighters and what comes next and why they still can’t risk a trial.
  • AEW rights fees talks and what they mean, how much talent earns by percentage of revenues compared to other sports, estimating annual income at different rights points, cutbacks why the deal length is so important, noticeable TV cutbacks and ROH potential going forward.
  • SummerSlam preview, ticket sales, secondary market, expectations for finishes and favorites.
  • All In, update on new matches being teased, ticket sales, can they reach the next goal, PPV thoughts and promotion of the event.
  • Update on the G-1 Climax tournament
  • UFC 304 full coverage, what’s next for the fighters, new storylines, business notes, match-by-match rundown
  • What matches you need to see from G-1
  • A look at the retirement and career of Meiko Satomura
  • A detailed look at ROH Death Before Dishonor and the ROH brand
  • The life and career of longtime prelim wrestler Pete Sanchez/Gino Caruso
  • The most detailed look at  the ratings from the past two weeks  including where the top shows placed, breakdown on who is watching and changes, how badly the Olympics changed viewership and much more.
  • Death Triangle go to the hottest arena in the world and how the crowd reacted
  • One of the best high flyers in the world is almost ready to return
  • A look at two Stardom PPV shows and major title changes
  • Oldest male wrestler ever to do a match
  • Marigold tag team title decided and  Grand Prix singles tournament
  • Death of former Crockett wrestler who had a short career but was in with the biggest names in wrestling at the time
  • Modern legend retirement tour first main event announced
  • Dijak and MJF to RevPro
  • Bloodsport with talent from WWE, ROH and TNA
  • Update on PPV numbers from WWE, AEW, TNA and Diaz-Masvidal and Paul-Perry
  • Tony Khan and Shane McMahon
  • Top star returns to AEW
  • Lots of injury updates
  • Bill Goldberg talks Tony Khan
  • Merch sales
  • Highest ticket prices ever for an MMA event at The Sphere
  • Updates on Brock Lesnar

This Week’s Wresting Observer Newsletter Back Issue

Sunday Update

We have two weekend shows up on the site right now. My show with Garrett Gonzales on the week’s news including a talk with John Nash about the Cung  Le vs. TKO lawsuit is up along with last night’s show with Bryan talking SummerSlam, G-1, MJF at Arena Mexico, UFC, and lots of other WWE and AEW news.

Regarding the injuries last night, we don’t have any updates past that Jacob Fatu was supposed to be selling the leg after the splash, to keep him away from any confrontation with Roman Reigns. He was in a walking boot last night and people were talking about an ankle injury but nobody in WWE at the top level who would know has confirmed to us the nature of any injury or if it was just the planned angle. Logan Paul was injured in some form.

The show set all kinds of records and was the biggest money WWE event aside from a WrestleMania in history. Except for total attendance, where the largest SummerSlam was the 1992 show at Wembley Stadium, it was the second biggest ever. Wrestletix has it at 55,858. It wasn’t sold out as readers noted the South side of the highest deck was tarped and some other sections were tarped where tickets were sold and people were given lower and better tickets that hadn’t been sold. But in no way was this anything but an excellent crowd.

There was nothing of note at the press conference. There were no questions about Vince McMahon, Shane McMahon or anything, although there was one on Stephanie McMahon, who was there and shown during the show in the front row. Paul Levesque said she loves wrestling but has no official role in WWE and basically gave a you never know type answer regarding the future. Brandon Thurston was there but wasn’t called on for a question to Levesque. There were fans allowed in but they were not allowed to ask questions. There were a number of reporters also not allowed in due to space limitations with John Pollock being among them.

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]

Announced for Raw tomorrow night in Baltimore, which is basically sold out, is Sheamus vs. the returning Ludwig Kaiser, Miz & R-Truth vs. Austin Theory & Grayson Waller, New Day vs. AOP, Dakota Kai vs. Sonya Deville and Wyatt Sicks vs. Chad Gable & The Creeds. Obviously the show will be built around follow-ups from the Judgment Day and CM Punk-Seth Rollins angles.  The show is basically sold out.

Bron Breakker was acting as a babyface in his post-show interview. Drew McIntyre said that he was done with Punk, which means he’s not. Coming off the show I could see Gunther vs. McIntyre for Berlin, as Gunther has to be in the main event, and he’ll likely be a babyface in Germany. That’s just speculation as we’ll have a better idea after tomorrow night’s show.

A&E bios tonight are Trish Stratus at 8 p.m. and Becky Lynch at 9 p.m.

Tony Ferguson, at one point among the most popular fighters in the UFC, hinted at retirement after losing yesterday.  Ferguson submitted in the first round yesterday against Michael Chiesa on the UFC show in Abu Dhabi, hinted at retirement. He left one glove in the ring, but not the other. It was his eighth straight loss

Terrence Crawford who appeared on Smackdown twice in recent weeks, defeated Israil Madrimov at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles on scores of 116-112, 115-113 and 115-113. A lot of the rounds were close. We don’t have a breakdown but many had Madrimov as the winner.

Olympic wrestling will be all over Peacock over the next week. They have a session from 9-11 a.m. Eastern tomorrow morning for women’s freestyle and men’s Greco Roman. Amit Elor of the U.S., a medal favorite and multi-time world champion, has her first match in that session.  Tuesday has stuff from 5 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. and again from 12:15 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. There will be wrestling every day through next Sunday.  

NOAH’s N- 1 tournament started today in Yokohama. Titus Alexander beat WWE’s Tavion Heights, who returned to Japan where he competed in the 2021 Olympics, while Josh Briggs beat Ryohei Oiwa. NOAH’s top star, Kaito Kiyomiya, lost in the main event to former Open the Dream Gate champion Luis Mante of Dragon Gate.

Mina Shirakawa at last night’s Stardom show said that she would be leaving for a while to the U.S., so that would indicate maybe being back with AEW.

Tuesday 10/8 will be a major night for pro wrestling as Dynamite and NXT will go head-to-head.  Dynamite is being moved that week. We don’t know the reason but it’s presumably the baseball playoffs. The last time this happened, both companies loaded up and I’m sure that will happen again.

G-1 continues with Tuesday & Wednesday shows at Korakuen Hall.

The final day of the TMart Charlotte wrestling convention is today with tons of major names including Mick Foley, Masahiro Chono, Jerry Lawler, Missy Hatt, Kevin Von Erich, Paul Wight, Sid Vicious, Nasty Boys, Al Perez, Jimmy Valiant, Velvet Sky, Angelina Love, Ken Resnick, Bill Irwin, Tommy Young,  Len Denton and Thunderbolt Patterson.

There was a show last night at The Gathering before about 400 fans: Justin Kindred b Jovannsi, Big Vito b Andy Anderson, Psycho Boy Fodder & Angelina Love b Bozworth &  Samantha Starr, Colby Corino b Movie Myx, Ricky Morton b George South with Tommy Young as referee (South apparently cut some hilarious promos on the fans) Marti Belle & Allysin Kay b Emily & ?, Pitbull Gary Wolfe b CW Andeson, Nate the Great b Kerry Morton, Court Montgomery and Bam Bam Bundy for the TMart promotion championship when Nate speared Bundy.  Nate seemingly retired after the match. (thanks to Jamie Combs)

Bryan Danielson vs. Jeff Jarrett will be a no time limit no DQ match with Ricky Steamboat as a special guest at ringside on Wednesday. No time limit is notable because that would indicate the match will be of some length.  

Troy Waugh, an MMA referee from 2008 to 2014 who worked on UFC, Strikeforce, Bellator and World Series of Fighting shows in that period , passed away over the weekend due to brain cancer.

Earlier in the week, Sheamus and Sonya Deville were at Major League Soccer’s All-Star Skills Challenge in Columbus, OH and presented the Crown Legacy’s Chituru Odunze with a title belt for winning the Goalie Wars competition. (thanks to Brian Henke)

The King Bees defend the NWA women’s world tag titles at the NWA 76th anniversary show on 8/31 in Philadelphia against Ella Envy  & Ms. Starr.

Kirk White’s Big Time Wrestling from Friday night in Newark, CA, which was sold out:  Kaka Meng b Dom Cirrus, Ishmae Vaughn b Jiah Jewell, Toa Liona (AEW) b Juicy Finau, Journy Fatu and Lossefa Parisi in a South Pacific War party match featuring lots of chair smashing, Starboy Charlie b Lince Dorado, Too Fresh b Vinnie Massaro & Levi Shapiro, Viva Van b Jada Stone, Marcus Lewis & Big Fonz b Aaron Solo & Robbie Eagles.  Lewis vs. Solo will headline the building for the BTW title on 10/18 (thanks to Jim Davis).

James Storm and Marti Belle appeared on Saturday’s Memphis Wrestling TV show.

ESW Keystone debuts on 8/17 at the Saga Club in Erie PA with Spencer Slade vs. Channing Decker as the main event.

Wrestler Bulldog Dan Hansen passed away on Thursday due to kidney failure. The CAC reported his death yesterday.

Two WWE NXT wrestlers to compete in NOAH N1 Victory tournament

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Two NXT stars are competing in this year’s N1.

During Saturday’s NOAH Destination event, it was announced that Josh Briggs will be competing in the A Block of the N1 Victory tournament, while Tavion Heights will take part in the B Block. The tournament, similar to NJPW’s G1 Climax tournament, begins on August 4 and runs through September 1 when the finals will be held in Osaka.

Here is the full list of entrants for this year’s tournament:

A Block:

  • Kaito Kiyomiya
  • Go Shiozaki
  • Masa Kitamiya
  • Rohei Oiwa
  • Jack Morris
  • Dragon Bane
  • Luis Mante
  • Josh Briggs

B Block:

  • Kenoh
  • Manabu Soya
  • Ulka Sasaki
  • YOICHI
  • El Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr.
  • Alpha Wolf
  • Titus Alexander
  • Tavion Heights

In last year’s tournament, Go Shiozaki defeated Kenoh in the finals to win for the first time.

Briggs has been on NXT television for several years, most recently breaking out as a singles wrestler after teaming with Brooks Jensen. Heights meanwhile has just started making regular appearances on NXT as the newest member.