There were no surprises in this year’s G1 Climax 28 announcements.
Twenty names were announced for this year’s tournament, all a member of the New Japan roster. Champions Kenny Omega, Michael Elgin and Jay White will be competing, while top stars like Tetsuya Naito, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kazuchika Okada will also be in action. As far as debuts go, this will be the first tournament for both White and Hangman Page.
Block formatting for this year’s tournament will be revealed on tomorrow’s show, where it’s likely the roster will be split in two. The big matches for each show will be revealed on Tuesday morning’s show. It was also announced that all nineteen shows will feature English commentary.
Here is the full list of participants for this year’s G1 Climax 28 tournament:
For the first time since retiring eight years ago, Shawn Michaels has expressed interest in returning to the ring.
In an interview with Sky Sports, Michaels now says that he doesn’t dismiss the idea of returning to the ring for a one-off.
“It would have to be done the right way and just for one match rather than something that ran for longer” he told them. “It could be possible but people would have to accept they wouldn’t be getting the Showstopper, Mr WrestleMania, and that I’m 52 years old now.”
Michaels last wrestled at WrestleMania 26 back in 2010, losing to the Undertaker in a streak vs. career match. After giving a farewell speech the next night on Raw, he has sporadically appeared on WWE programing in a non-wrestling capacity. He currently helps train wrestlers at the WWE Performance Center.
In the article, Michaels mentioned Daniel Bryan, Johnny Gargano and AJ Styles as people he would like to face if he were the Shawn Michaels of ten years ago.
Following last night’s Best of the Super Junior finals, two new matches have seen set for this weekend’s Dominion event on 6/9.
Hiromu Takahashi defeated Taiji Ishimori to become this year’s tournament winner. As expected, he called out Will Ospreay, who came to the ring. Ospreay, after mentioning that he had beaten Takahashi twice before, accepted his challenge.
Meanwhile, Marty Scurll and Yujiro Takahashi jumped Hiroshi Tanahashi after their match which led Jushin Thunder Liger, who was at ringside on commentary, to come in and clear house. Based on commentary, it appears that Tanahashi, Liger and Rey Mysterio will team up to challenge three members of the Bullet Club, with Scurll and Takahashi being likely candidates.
Here is what we have for Dominion so far. The rest of the card is likely to be released in the coming days.
Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega for the IWGP title in a 2/3 falls match
Tetsuya Naito vs. Chris Jericho for the IWGP Intercontinental title
EVIL and SANADA vs. The Young Bucks for the IWGP tag team titles
Hirooki Goto vs. Michael Elgin vs. Taichi for the NEVER Openweight title
Will Ospreay vs. Hiromu Takahashi for the IWGP Jr. title
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Rey Mysterio and Jushin Thunder Liger vs. The Bullet Club
It all boils down to the final two in tonight’s Best of the Super Junior finals.
Hiromu Takahashi and Taiji Ishimori will battle to determine the twenty fifth Best of the Super Juniors winner. With Will Ospreay eliminated, it seems very likely that the winner of tonight’s main event will challenge for the IWGP Jr. heavyweight championship, possibly at Dominion on 6/9.
The two had a confrontation right after Takahashi defeated KUSHIDA to win the B block. Takahashi was laying in the ring when Ishimori snuck up from behind and tried to do something off the top rope. Takahashi bolted, not wanting a confrontation right after winning his match. They will face off against one another for the first time ever in tonight’s main event.
With this being the final go home show before Dominion, there will likely be more build towards that event. Aside from the usual tags, the co-main event will pit Will Ospreay and Kazuchika Okada against Kota Ibushi and Chase Owens, with the idea being that Okada is facing Kenny Omega’s best friend just days before he clashes with Omega himself.
Join us for live coverage of the event this morning at 5:30 a.m. EDT. Kevin Kelly will be on English commentary, along with a special guest color commentator.
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Flip Gordon and Chris Sabin defeated Tiger Mask and Shota Umino
A pretty solid opener, but nothing special Some nice back and forth, mostly. Gordon got the win for his team with a springboard 450 splash using his knees. Enjoy that finish while it lasts.
Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano and YOSHI-HASHI defeated Minoru Suzuki, Taka Michinoku and Takashi Iizuka
So stop me if you’ve heard this one, but a Suzuki-gun tag team broke down into a brawl early in the match. Suzuki this time focused on YOSHI-HASHI, pelting him with a chair. Suzuki attempted the Gotch piledriver, but YOSHI-HASHI managed to escape.
The finish had everyone in the ring. Michinoku raked Yano’s eyes. Yano came back alive, low blowed Taka Michinoku and pinned him with a roll up. It was there.
Hirooki Goto and Roppongi 3K defeated Taichi, El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru
Stop me if you heard this one, but a Suzuki-gun tag team broke down into a brawl early in the match. Yes, they used steel chair shots here too. Desperado threw SHO into the crowd and smashed his knee into a chair. Kanemaru and the rest of the heels worked on the bum leg.
YOH made a hot comeback, but got stopped by Kanemaru’s whiskey spray to the face. Kanemaru went for the Deep Impact DDT but YOH countered and scooped him up into a bridge for the win. Better than the previous bout.
The heels beat up on CHAOS after the match. Taichi posed with the NEVER title over the fallen Goto, alluding to their match next weekend.
Marty Scurll and Yujiro Takahashi defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi and Henare
Henare was worked on for a bit before Tanahashi made a great hot tag. Henare came in and looked good, hitting Takahashi with a big suplex. Takahashi bit one of Henare’s fingers. He tried to do the same with Tanahashi, but he escaped.
Henare kicked out of a fisherman’s buster from Takahashi, but Takahashi finished him off with the Pimp Juice DDT. Another fine tag team match, but again absolutely nothing special.
Scurll attacked Tanahashi after the match, latching on the chicken wing. Liger, who was on commentary on the outside, had enough and made the save for Tanahashi. This sets up Liger, Tanahashi and Mysterio against Marty Scurll, Yujiro Takahashi and someone else from the Bullet Club.
Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, BUSHI and SANADA defeated Ryusuke Taguchi, Dragon Lee, ACH and KUSHIDA
This had a quicker pace than the other matches and started off really strong. Everyone came in and looked good. ACH, who was jumped by Naito right before the match started, tried to finish it with SANADA. He went for a roll up, but SANADA kicked up. He went to lift him in the suplex position, but he blocked it and went for the Skull End. With no other options, ACH submitted.
Chris Jericho appeared on the titantron. He admitted he didn’t headline Budokan back in 1997 when Naito was there, but he headlined WrestleKingdom 12. He mentioned the fact people voted him off of WrestleKingdom 8’s main event.
It’s okay, he says. Naito doesn’t have to know he is. He doesn’t need to know. He’s going to help Naito become a star, then he’ll know who he is. He closed the promo by calling him a certain word we can’t use here. Let’s just say everyone in New Japan LOVES to use the F word.
Naito says Jericho talked too much. He has too much free time on his hands, taking selfie camera videos. He’s going to shut that big mouth of Jericho’s at Korakuen Hall.
Kazuchika Okada and Will Ospreay defeated Kota Ibushi and Chase Owens
A lot of this was back and forth. Okada was worked on for a bit by Ibushi and Owens, then Ospreay came in and was worked on too.
They built to a confrontation between Ospreay and Ibushi after a double pele kick took out their partners. They exchanged some offense and it was absolutely insane. Ibushi took him out with the Golden Triangle moonsault.
In in the ring, Owens went for the package piledriver, but Okada blocked it. He hit the dropkick, struck Owens with a v-trigger (a message to Kenny Omega) and pinned him with the Rainmaker. Another solid match with good build towards next weekend’s show.
Hiromu Takahashi defeated Taiji Ishimori to win the Best of the Super Juniors tournament
This was an excellent bout, probably on par with some of the recent finals that was some of the best wrestling all year. Lots of excellent callbacks from the previous night, as well as some killer offense by Takahashi and some terrific work from Ishimori. Dunno how high I’d go, or where it is on the scale of awesome matches, for me I feel it’s definitely up near the top.
They start off quick. Takahashi goes for the sunset flip bomb, but Ishimori flips over him as they two begin to brawl on the outside. Takahashi takes Ishimori into the crowd. He ran towards one end of Korakuen Hall to the other, sending Ishimori falling to the floor. He tries to follow with a powerbomb on the concrete steps but Ishimori counters with a hurricanrana, sending him down the stairs in a nasty way.
Ishimori takes him back in the ring, then sends Takahashi back out by sending him into some chairs on the outside. Takahashi makes it back in the ring, but is taken down by a sliding German suplex out of the ring by Ishimori. Takahashi escapes and connects with the sunset flip bomb to the floor.
Takahashi follows by sliding Ishimori out of the ring in a wheelbarrow position, sending him face first to the mat. He follows with a shotgun dropkick hat sends Ishimori into the crowd. Ishimori launched himself with a springboard, but Takahashi took him out with a lariat.
Ishimori finally came back to life by putting in the move that gave him the spot in the finals — the crossface. Takahashi manages to escape, but when he tries to mount some offense Ishimori sets him back down with the crossface once again. Ishimori tries everything in his power to prevent Takahashi from getting to the ropes, but finally he gets a foot on the bottom rope and manages to free himself.
Takahashi sends Ishimori flying into the post with a giant belly to belly suplex. After connecting the dynamite plunger. Takahashi connects with what can best be described as an inverted powerbomb off the top rope and to the floor.
Ishimori blocks the time bomb, plants Takahashi with a reverse rana but Takahashi jumps right back up and hits a reverse rana of his own. A striking exchange follows, with Ishimori getting the better of it. Ishimori drills him with double knees in the corner and then does it again for a pinfall attempt, but Takahashi kicks out.
Takahashi avoids a bloody cross finish and traps Ishimori with the triangle. Ishimori tries to escape, even trying to deadlift his way out but couldn’t do it…until he does, and drives Takahashi into the ring post.
Takahashi comes back to life and plants Ishimori with the piledriver from last night and sinks in the triangle again. Ishimori gets to the ropes. Takahashi hits the running Death Valley Driver into the corner and hits the Time Bomb to win the Best of the Super Juniors tournament.
Takahashi takes the mic after the match. He doesn’t like being called best of the super juniors.He’s taking this all the way to the IWGP Jr. title. That brings out Ospreay, who congratulates him. He says that he’s beaten Takahashi twice already and he’ll prove it again at Osaka.
Hiromu says thank you, meow. He says this our Super Junior tournament. His dream is to take back the title and wear the belt around his waist at Korakuen Hall. That popped the crowd. The show ends with the usual streamer show. Somehow, he ended up breaking the trophy, taking apart one of the wings. Oops!
The finals for this year’s Best of the Super Juniors are set.
For the first time ever, Hiromu Takahashi and Taiji Ishimori have advanced to the finals and will face one another tomorrow morning at Korakuen Hall to decide the 25th Best of the Super Junior winner. With Will Ospreay out of the equation, it is very likely that the winner of the tournament will challenge him to a title match at Dominion on 6/9.
Ishimori advanced by beating YOH. He needed a win in order to tie with Will Opsreay, and since he beat Ospreay he would win the tiebreaker and advance to the finals. He was at ringside, cheering fellow CHAOS member YOH on as he was rooting for an upset. Despite some close near falls and great support from the crowd, Ishimori trapped YOH in a crossface and earned the submission win. Ospreay, stunned, helped YOH to the back.
Meanwhile, Takahashi had his hands full with one of the most biggest stars in the division, KUSHIDA. In a match with tremendous heat, Takahashi managed to score the upset win after hitting an inverted piledriver and submitting KUSHIDA with a triangle.
The finals of the Best of the Super Juniors starts tonight at 5:30 a.m. EDT. There will be English commentary.
Tonight decides who’s in and who is out of the Best of the Super Junior 25 finals.
Both block finals will take place tonight. KUSHIDA and Hiromu Takahashi will headline tonight’s show. Considering some of the matches that the two have had in the past over the IWGP title have been absolutely wild, this is one bout that is sure to excite Korakuen Hall this morning.
As far as who is alive, things go like this. For Block A, if Ishimori wins, he’s in no matter what. Ospreay needs to win and have YOH beat Ishimori in order to advance. If Ishimori and Ospreay both lose, then it gets more complicated. Either way, ACH and Kanemaru are eliminated no matter what.
Block B is simpler. Whoever wins between Hiromu Takahashi and KUSHIDA tonight makes it to the finals. One person who will still be alive if they falter, however, is Scurll. He needs to win his match tonight against SHO, then hope for a tie between Takahashi and KUSHIDA.
Join us for live coverage this morning at 5:30 a.m. Eastern. There will be English commentary.
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A Block Match: ACH defeated Tiger Mask
ACH entered wearing a Tiger Mask mask. ACH rolled to the floor after Tiger sweeped his legs. Tiger followed him outside, and ACH chopped the post with his good arm. Tiger went to work on the arm. ACH missed a frog splash, and Tiger continued attacking the right arm.
ACH made a comeback, hitting a lariat, and a top rope frog splash for a nearfall. He hit a Tiger Driver, earning a nearfall. He went for another, but Tiger reversed it, and hit one of his own, also for a nearfall.
They went to the top rope, and Tiger hit a double underhook superplex for a nearfall. Tiger went for a Tiger suplex, but ACH countered, and rolled him up for the pin. Tiger Mask is eliminated from contention. A short, simple opener. They didn’t do much.
Both men finish the tournament 3-4.
A Block Match: Yoshinobu Kanemaru defeated BUSHI
BUSHI attacked Kanemaru during the introductions. He sent him to the floor and went for a suicide dive, but Kanemaru moved, and BUSHI slammed into Tomoyuki Oka, sending him into the crowd. Kanemaru slammed another of the Young Lions on BUSHI. Back inside, he used a camel clutch, and teased ripping off BUSHI’s mask.
Kanemaru hit a drive-by dropkick on the apron, then DDT’ed BUSHI to the floor. BUSHI beat the count, making it back inside at 15. BUSHI choked Kanemaru with his t-shirt, then hit a rana and a missile dropkick. Kanemaru countered a neckbreaker with a botched tornado DDT, then hit an inverted DDT.
Kanemaru went for a brainbuster, but BUSHI slid out. He hit an enziguri, and Kanemaru slid to the floor. BUSHI tried another suicide dive, and connected this time. Back iniside, he hit a swinging neckbreaker for a nearfall. He went for the MX, but Kanemaru shoved him into the ref, who took a bump.
Kanemaru went for the whiskey mist, but BUSHI spraed him with the black mist. BUSHI used a backslide for a nearfall, but Kanemaru slid out. Kanemaru still had the whiskey in his mouth, and hit the whiskey mist, then hit Deep Impact for the win. BUSHI is eliminated.
This was fine, but they didn’t get much time. Both finish the tournament 3-4.
B Block Match: Ryusuke Taguchi defeated Chris Sabin
They started out working each other’s arms. Sabin hit a springboard armdrag. Taguchi did a series of dropdowns as Sabin ran the ropes, and Sabin hit a low dropkick. He hit a high cross from the top for a nearfall.
Sabin used a hammerlock and an abdominal stretch. He used a backslide for a nearfall, then used a Garvin stomp. Sabin used a chinlock, then hit a sunset flip. He hit another, but Taguchi countered with a dropkick. He hit a hip attack, then a crossbody from the top to the floor. He followed up with a tope con hilo, taking control of the bout.
Taguchi hit a springboard hip attack for a nearfall. They hit simultaneous lariats, leading to a double down. They traded chops. Sabin hit an enziguri and a yakuza kick, then connected with a top rope rana, and a missile dropkick, leading to a two count.
Sabin went for All Hail Sabin, but Taguchi countered. They traded La Magistral cradles. Taguchi slapped on the ankle lock, hit Dodon for a nearfall, then applied the ankle lock again, and Sabin tapped. A slightly above average match.
Both finish the tournament 3-4.
B Block Match: El Desperado defeated Dragon Lee
Lee jumped Desperado at the bell, hit a suicide dive, and followed with a tope con hilo. Lee got low-bridged, but bounced back immediately. He went for another tope, but Desperado moved, and Lee landed on his feet. My knees hurt just watching that.
Desperado hit Lee with a chair he had stashed under the ring, then sent him into the crowd. He used a chair to attack Lee’s left knee, which was taped up. Desperado posted the knee, then tied Lee to the tree of woe. Desperado went for the mask, but Lee escaped, and they traded lariats and strikes.
Lee hit a snap suplex, then a series of forearm strikes. He went for Desperado’s mask, and tore it badly. Lee missed a fottstomp, but connected with a dropkick. He hit the footstomp for a nearfall, and Desperado desperately tried to keep his face hidden.
Desperado hit a spinebuster, then used a stretch muffler, but Lee made the ropes. They traded nearfalls. Desperado hit a low blow right in front of the referee, who had to pretend he didn’t see it, and got the pin.
After the match, Desperado ripped off Dragon’s mask, and the Young Lions ran in to cover his face.
They worked at a crazy pace, and the match was probably good until the finish, but Desperado pulling on his torn mask the whole time was a major distraction. Both finish 3-4.
Tomoaki Honma came out for a promo, and announced that he’s returning to action on June 23.
A Block Match: Will Ospreay defeated Flip Gordon
They mirrored each other in the opening exchange. Both didn’t connect on dives to the floor, and both landed on their feet. Flip hit a standing moonsault for a nearfall, then hit a vertical suplex. Ospreay hit a back elbow and a dropkick in the corner. Ospreay torqued on Flip’s arms, and got a pair of nearfalls.
The pace slowed, as Ospreay grabbed a headlock. They picked it back up, as Flip landed on his feet out of a suplex, then hit a springboard dropkick. He followed with a springboard spear for a nearfall. Ospreay hit a 619, then hit a springboard clothesline. Ospreay went for the Storm Breaker, but Flip escaped. Ospreay hit a standing Spanish Fly, leading to a double down.
They traded elbow and forearm strikes. Flip connected with a rolling senton and a standing shooting star, but Ospreay countered with Cheeky Nandos. Ospreay went up top, but Flip hit a superkick, knocking Ospreay to the floor. Flip hit a springboard senton to the floor, then a 450 in the ring, earning a nearfall. Ospreay hit a cutter, and they did another double down.
Ospreay hit a sidewalk slam, then connected with the Robinson Special. He went for the Oscutter, but ate a superkick on the landing. Flip went foor the Four Flippy, but Ospreay hung him over the top rope, and hit a shooting star.
Ospreay hit a superkick and the Essex Destroyer for a nearfall. Ospreay teased a top rope Storm Breaker, then hit a top rope Oscutter. He immediately hit the Storm Breaker, and got the victory.
This was very good. They did less in the way of flips than you might expect, but they had a great match anyway. Flip finishes the tournament 3-4, and Ospreay 5-2. Ospreay will win the A Block with an Ishimori loss.
A Block Match: Taiji Ishimori defeated YOH
YOH hit a flying forearm, sending Taiji to the floor. He followed with a tope, and immediately went for covers back in the ring, getting three quick nearfalls. Taiji hit a seated senton, a hangman legdrop, a drive-by, and a standing moonsault, earning a nearfall. Ospreay came to ringside to watch the match, and Taiji jawed with him.
YOH rebounded, hitting a dragon screw, a back elbow, a footstomp, and a neckbreaker. Taiji sent YOH to the floor, then hit a Golden Triangle. They took their time getting back into the ring. Taiji hit a knee strike, then slapped on a crossface, but YOH made the ropes. Taiji hit a dropkick, and a handspring enziguri. He covered, but YOH slid out and hit a superkick, leading to a double down.
They traded strikes, but Taiji go tthe upper hand, and hit a ton of short forearm blows. They went to the top, and YOH hit a superplex into a falcon arrow, getting a two count.
Taiji hit a knee strike and a lungblower, getting a nearfall. He went for the Bloody Cross, but YOH turned it into a backslide for a nearfall. He got another close nearfall, but Taiji applied the crossface, and YOH tapped.
A very good last few minutes, and they did a great job in convincing the audience that YOH might pull off the upset. Taiji Ishimori wins the A Block at 5-2, and advances to the final. YOH finishes 3-4.
B Block Match: SHO defeated Marty Scurll
Scurll caught one of SHO’s imaginary arrows and laid into him with strikes. He hit a superkick on the apron, then went to work on SHO’s left hand in the ring. Scurll continued to dominate the early going, using a modified sharpshooter, sending SHO crawling to the ropes.
Scurll hit a superplex for a nearfall. SHO ducked a lariat and connected with a spear, as he looked to find his footing. SHO hit three lariats, and sent Scurll to the floor with a dropkick. Back inside, SHO went for a suplex, then hit a backstabber into a cross armbreaker, but Scurll reached the ropes.
They traded superkicks, and Scurll hit a brainbuster, earning a two count. Scurll slapped SHO across the face twice, and SHO sold as though he was still feeling the damage from the brainbuster. They exchanged simultaneous strikes and lariats, and both collapsed to the mat.
Scurll rolled into a cradle for a nearfall, and SHO followed with a lariat. SHO went for the SHock Arrow, but as Scurll tried to fight it, he settled for a piledriver. Scurll made it to his feet, and did the finger break on both of SHO’s hands.
Scurll stomped on SHO’s head, but SHO kept fighting. Scurll swung the umbrella, but SHO ducked it, and broke the umbrella in half. He followed up with a powerbomb on the knees for a two count. He went for Shock Arrow, but couldn’t connect the hands after the finger break.
Scurll hit a lariat and applied the chicken wing, but SHO escaped, and locked on a choke, then hit a bridging german for a nearfall. SHO applied a rear naked choke and a body triangle, but Scurll climbed to the second rope and jumped off, breaking the hold.
Scurll stomped on SHO’s hand, then jumped on his head, then applied a hammerlock and rained down elbows on SHO. They teased a stoppage. Scurll went for the chicken wing, but SHO powered out, and hit the Shock Arrow, and got the pin.
I don’t like hard slaps to the face. Putting that aside, this was the best match on the show to this point. Scurll is eliminated from contention, and finishes at 4-3. SHO finishes 3-4.
B Block Match: Hiromu Takahashi defeated KUSHIDA
Collar and elbow tie ups. Lots of them. They locked up for a long time, and it worked.These guys are great. Hiromu went for the sunset bomb, but KUSHIDA blocked, and hit a senton bomb from the top rope to the floor. KUSHIDA used a wristlock, setting up the Hoverboard later. He stomped on Hiromu’s left hand, then used an armscissors, continuing to work the left arm.
KUSHIDA went for a handspring elbow, but Hiromu countered it into a german. He followed with a shotgun dropkick from the apron to the floor. Back inside, he hit a lariat and a dropkick, and begged KUSHIDA to fight back. Hiromu used a tarantula, then a senton from the top rope. He then moved to a sleeper hold as the pace slowed.
They picked it back up with a hip toss and a cartwheel dropkick from KUSHIDA. He teased BAck to the Future and applied the Hoverboard, but Hiromu locked his hands, escaped, then hit a flying headscissors. KUSHIDA applied an armbar, but Hiromu reached the ropes.
KUSHIDA hit a dropkick to the left arm. he went for a lariat, but Hiromu turned it into a powerbomb. KUSHIDA hit a Pele kick, but Hiromu caught him coming in and suplexed him into the corner. Hiromu went for a Frankensteiner, but KUSHIDA blocked it. KUSHIDA applied a kimura, then jumped to the mat, jamming Hiromu’s damaged left arm.
KUSHIDA applied the Hoverboard, and Hiromu did a masterful job of selling it, before finally rolling through and hitting the Dynamite Plunger. Hiromu couldn’t follow up, and both men sold on the mat.
They finally got to their feet to trade strikes. Both were on the verge of collapsing. KUSHIDA went to take the arm for the Hoverboard, but Hiromu grabbed an arm and locked on the triangle. They teased a stoppage, but KUSHIDA fought and reached the ropes.
Hiromu followed with an inverted piledriver, then went back to the triangle, and KUSHIDA tapped. Hiromu Takahashi wins the B Block, and will face Taiji Ishimori in the finals tomorrow.
Ishimori showed up after the match as Hiromu cut a promo. He did the Bullet Club gun taunt, then left, as Hiromu promised to win the tournament and have fun doing it.
I personally liked the Scurll/SHO match more, but if you wanted to say that this was the best match on the show, I wouldn’t argue with you. Both of the final two matches are worth going out of your way to see.
Tom Magee, a former bodybuilder best known for his run in the WWE, was severely beaten outside of his home on Tuesday.
According to a CBS Los Angeles report, Magee, 59, was assaulted by as many as six men in what appears to be a conflict over a parking spot. Magee, who serves as a neighborhood watchdog, spotted the men outside and confronted them. He suffered a broken jaw, broken eye socket and a concussion in the process. He has since then been released from the hospital and is currently recovering at home.
The Los Angles police department are investigating the situation. Justin Lee, 20, and Degrate Bryant, also 20, were taken into custody on charges of assault with a deadly weapon.
Magee, who has a background in olympic weightlifting, gymnastics and a black belt in karate wrestled for the WWE from 1986 through 1990. Infamously, the story goes that Bret Hart did such a great job carrying him in his debut match that he was quickly pushed as a top prospect.
Despite a tremendous athletic background, Magee never progressed as a wrestler and eventually left pro wrestling after his departure from the WWE.
He later went into acting, with a notable role in the 1991 film Stone Cold with former NFL star Brian Bosworth.
Nick Busick, best known for his run in the WWE as Big Bully Busick, passed away today at the age of 63.
WWE confirmed the news on their website this afternoon. He had been battling cancer for a number of years and had surgery in 2016 to remove cancers in the brain and esophagus. In the last year, he had been diagosed with spinal fluid cancer and had just recently entered hospice care.
Busick started his career in 1977, wrestling as a enhancement talent for the then-WWWF. Over the years, he developed a bully persona that had him walk to the ring wearing a derby hat, sweater and handlebar moustache. He’s most remembered for his run in the WWF in the early ninties, being paired with Harvey Wippleman as his manager. As a heel, he battled against faces such as Sid, Bret Hart and the British Bulldog before departing the company in 1991.
After leaving the WWE, he would work as a bodyguard, largely disappearing from the pro wrestling scene. He also promoted mixed martial arts in the eastern Ohio area. His son Branko, a MMA heavyweight fighter, has fought for Bellator in the past sporting a 1-1 record.
Zack Ryder has some good news after suffering a knee injury prior to Raw on Monday.
Ryder posted on Twitter earlier this afternoon that no surgery would be needed.
“Got some good news this morning…MCL/ACL/Calf muscle strains…nothing completely torn…no surgery will be needed” he said. “Thanks to everyone who reached out. It’s time for #Raw to get #Zacked!”
Ryder suffered the knee injury during a match on Main Event against Mike Kanellis, his first appearance on Raw since being drafted from SmackDown in the Superstar Shakeup. He finshed the match, pinning Kanellis. Since he had to travel to Orlando to get an MRI done on the knee the following day, Ryder will miss the Greatest Royal Rumble event in Saudi Arabia on Friday. He was likely to be a part of the 50 man Royal Rumble bout.
Ryder missed six months of action back in December of 2016 when he suffered a ruptured patellar tendon during a battle royal on SmackDown.
Two big singles matches made Road to Wrestling Dontaku a memorable show.
This morning’s show at Korakuen Hall had a big main event, where Jay White finally delivered in a big way, squaring off against David Finlay who proved he can hang at a main event level. Meanwhile, Henare and Tomohiro Ishii had a hell of a brawl, made great by the heat throughout the entire match. If you need to watch only two matches from this card, those are your best choices though there was a ton of great build towards the Wrestling Dontaku shows next weekend.
Here are results from this morning’s card:
Yuji Nagata, Jushin Thunder Liger and Tomoyuki Oka defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Ren Narita and Shota Umino
Umino was eager to get in and showed a lot of fire throughout the match. Nagata locked Umino in an armbar, but his team broke it up. Umino struck Nagata with some hard slaps, but Nagata took him down, landed an exploder and sunk in the Nagata lock for the submission victory in a solid opener.
Taichi, Taka Michinoku and Takashi Iizuka defeated SHO, YOH and Rocky Romero by DQ
This is the third time these three are facing one another on the tour. Last time, Iizuka caused a DQ by using the iron fingers of death. This played to the finish of tonight’s bout as Iizuka was looking to use them again on SHO, but he escaped. He went to use it again, but this time SHO’s teammates kept him at bay.
It still ended in a DQ, unfortunately. Taichi was about to use the microphone stand as a weapon. SHO got in a tug of war with him, and Taichi let it go. It struck the referee on accident, and since SHO was holding it he was disqualified. This isn’t a particularly interesting feud on this tour.
Togi Makabe, Michael Elgin and KUSHIDA defeated Will Ospreay, Toru Yano and YOSHI-HASHI
KUSHIDA and Ospreay started things out with a opening stretch that you gotta see, it was amazing. Basic, solid back and forth match that was pretty solid overall. Makabe picked up the win with the King Kong Knee drop on Yano.
Tomohiro Ishii defeated Henare
This was great. Ishii can get anyone into a match and knows how to make his opponents look great. Henare has a ton of potential Still green in some areas, but knows what kind of style he wants to do and demonstrated it here with Ishii, who was more than up to the task.
Things start off pretty basic. Some test of power spots. Ishii caught him in a Boston crab, but Henare escaped. Henare fired back with a shoulder tackle, then another off the top rope. Ishii cut him off, lands a number of forearms and plants Henare with a German.
Ishii hit a belly to back suplex, but as he was going for something else Henare trapped him in a pop-up Samoan drop. Henare got the better of Ishii in a slap battle and hit a spear for a great near fall. Ishii fought back, but ate another lariat by Henare.
Ishii rebounded and hit the sliding D, but Henare kicked out. He went for the brainbuster, but Henare turned it into a cradle. Henare went for a uranage but Ishii blasted him with a lariat that turned him inside out. He followed that with the brainbuster for the win.
Minoru Suzuki, Killer Elite Squad, Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Desperado defeated Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, SANADA, BUSHI and Hiromu Takahashi
Suzuki-gun had new music tonight as they came to the ring. It was fine.
LIJ jumped Suzuki-gun at the bell, but the tides soon turned as everyone brawled out of the ring, including Suzuki and Naito who battled into the crowd. Heels worked over BUSHI for a bit before tagging in SANADA, who cleared house.
Eventually it went to Naito and Suzuki, the latter working on the former’s bad leg which will very likely play a big part in their Intercontinental title match. It became a melee from here. BUSHI tried to take out Suzuki but it was of little use. He then grabbed Takahashi and planted him with the Gotch piledriver for the win.
Suzuki said some words after the match, all while resting his foot on Naito’s body. He made his exit, but Naito got on the mic and said some words to Suzuki, which he didn’t like.
Another video for the return of Bone Soldier. You’re all so excited, I’m sure.
Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto and Gedo defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi, Ryusuke Taguchi and Juice Robinson
Tanahashi and Okada went it at it. Story seems to be that heading into their match at Wrestling Dontaku, Okada is dominating Tanahashi, as he did so early on in the bout as well as after. After Goto and Juice went at it, Taguchi and Gedo were in the ring. Taguchi dominated until Okada broke things up and worked over Taguchi.
Taguchi’s teammates came to the ring to break things up, but Okada preserved and hit the elbow. Tanahashi tried to interfere, but Okada took him out with a dropkick. Okada looked like he was about to finish Taguchi, but instead leapt out of the ring and tombstoned Tanahashi. Back in the ring, Taguchi tried to outcounter Okada, but instead Okada caught him on the floor with the cobra clutch. Taguchi tapped soon after, ending a relatively fun bout.
Okada grabbed Tanahashi after the match like he was going to tombstone him on the outside again, but referees and other personnel stopped it before it could happen.
Jay White defeated David Finlay to retain the IWGP United States title
Great main event. The question here was if Finlay would bring it at this level, and the answer is a resounding yes — he was a great babyface here and people bought into him quickly, especially when he sold. White felt more in his element here than in recent high profile matches and it resulted in a great, heated match.
Very fast paced back and forth to start things off. Finlay got the advantage and took him into the crowd, where he threw White into nearby chairs. White cut him off and hit a neckbreaker off the middle rope.
White wore down Finlay with submissions, including the Muta lock. Finlay took White and clotheslined him to the floor. More fast action follows inside the ring. White blasts Finlay with a German suplex and connected with a brainbuster. White, in a callback to their Young Lion days, put Finlay in a in a Boston crab then transitioned into the liontamer position before Finlay escaped.
White backdropped Finlay out of the ring and onto the floor, then followed with a snap back suplex. Back in the ring, Finaly dodged a turnbuckle shot and does it to White instead. He clobbered White in the back of the head with a lariat and hit a spear for a nearfall.
Finlay went for the stunner, but White spit at him instead, which Finlay didn’t like and retaliated with a STO. At this point, he introduced a table into the match . Both men fight on the apron as Finaly finally connected with a death valley driver. White somehow finds the wherewithal to grab Finlay and powerbombed him onto the table, which didn’t break, because this is Japan.
The two struggled to their feet as they exchanged blows. White went for the bladerunner, but White connected with a lumbar check and a last shot. Finlay lifted White up for something, but he countered and hit the bladerunner for the win.
After the match, White said that it was a valiant effort on Finlay’s part and that he deserved to be in main events. But he doesn’t deserve to be in the ring with him and tells the attendants to take him out in not so nice terms. He asks who is next, as he doesn’t know. He’ll keep an eye on the match between Okada and Tanahashi. He finished by saying either way, they will bleed with the Switchblade.
After months of questions, World of Sport Wrestling has resurfaced and is taping television imminently.
The next set of World of Sport tapings will take place over the course of three days, starting on May 10 and running through May 13. All of the tapings will take place at Epic Studios Norwich in Norfolk, England. It isn’t currently known what talent will appear at the taping, though some of the contracted talent for ITV include Dave Mastiff and Grado.
It had been reported in recent weeks in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the ITV contracted talent were told that the World of Sport promotion was looking to run shows again next month, with the idea of running a limited series. ITV has had interest in pro wrestling since taping and airing a pilot episode of World of Sport Wrestling back on New Years Eve 2016. They have not taped television since then, with a planned taping featuring Impact Wrestling talent being postponed back in May of last year due to prolonged contract negotiations.
At the same time, WWE is once again running shows in the United Kingdom. The upcoming United Kingdom Championship tournament will air in June at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
Two nights of trades and call ups have left Raw and SmackDown looking completely different.
Overall, nineteen new additions are heading to Raw, while SmackDown adds seventeen people to their roster. In addition, six people have been called up from NXT, along with the Authors of Pain, Ember Moon, No Way Jose and the IIconics who were called up last week.
Asuka, R-Truth, The Bar and Andrade ‘Cien’ Almas (with Zelina Vega) rounded out the Superstar Shakeup. Asuka made the save for Becky Lynch and Charlotte after a beatdown from the IIconics and Carmella, while R-Truth did a skit with The New Day and Tye Dillinger. Meanwhile The Bar, Almas and Vega all cut cell phone video promos hyping their move to SmackDown.
Here are the full list of people who have jumped ship:
Last night on Raw, the chyron for Apollo listed his full name for the first time in two months. His bio on WWE.com’s website also has him back as Apollo Crews. Back in February, his name was shortened to just Apollo for reasons that were never made entirely clear. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported last month that internal memos within WWE indicated that the name was changed due to having a similar name with Nikolas Cruz, the shooter behind the Parkland, Florida mass shooting.
Crews and the rest of Titus Worldwide came out last night to welcome Dolph Ziggler, who had just been traded from SmackDown. Titus invited Ziggler to join the group. As he was contemplating, Drew McIntyre came in and laid out Crews, headbutting him. The new team attacked both Titus and Crews, laying out Crews with a zig zag/Claymore kick combination.
Crews has been mostly teaming with Titus O’Neil ever since joining Raw in last year’s Superstar Shakeup.
The company announced today that Mysterio will appear at the Verano de Escandalo event which will take place on June 3 at Plaza de Toros La Monumental in Monterrey, Mexico. It wasn’t announced who he would face, with AAA saying that more details would be announced at a later time. Mysterio last wrestled for AAA back in 2016 during a tour of Japan.
This does not seem to affect the chances of Mysterio potentially heading back to the WWE, as he has kept himself open to a number of dates in different promotions all around the world. In addition to appearing at this year’s Royal Rumble, he has also been named owner of Aro Lucha and has appeared on shows that they have taped. He is also set for the Greatest Royal Rumble event later this month and has expressed interest in doing dates for New Japan Pro Wrestling, though nothing has been confirmed.
Mysterio is currently recovering from a torn biceps injury, though he is expected back shortly.
Several special guest commentators are set for the WrestleMania pre-show this Sunday.
WWE announced today in an article on their website that former women’s champion and Hall of Famer Beth Phoenix will join the announce team for the WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal. Meanwhile, Jim Ross and Jerry “the King” Lawler will be guest commentators during the Andre the Giant Battle Royal. The pre-show will also have the finals of the Cruiserweight championship tournament, which will pit Mustafa Ali against Cedric Alexander.
The panel for the pre-show, which will have breakdowns of most of the WrestleMania bouts, will comprise of Renee Young and Shawn Michaels, among others. The article also promises appearances from other wrestlers during the show.
The WrestleMania pre-show will start at 5 p.m. EDT on the WWE Network and will run for two hours. It will also be seen for free on WWE.com, the WWE App, Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest and Google+. The second hour will air live on the USA Network.
