Tag: steve mcmichael

Daily Update: Steve McMichael, KAIRI, WWE SummerSlam aftermath

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Daily Update

Latest News

Latest Audio

Latest Free YouTube Video

See Dave & Bryan in London

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

In this issue:

  • Match of the week and performer of the week
  • Feds investigating Vince McMahion and more
  • AEW signings Kenny Omega, Young Bucks and Adam Page, lots behind it with comments from any going into details on the reason the decision was made, their pact to stay together and far more
  • WWE financials for quarter two, including why the next TV deal is taking longer to negotiate, how every sector of business is doing, USA Network with and without WWE and looks to the future
  • SummerSlam, why matches were changed, the huge Saturday night of events, ticket sales and more
  • Updating All In, where it stands on all-tie records, two straight weeks of PPV shows, the last time it happened and the history, rumored matches and more
  • G-1 Climax, what everyone needs to advance to the final eight, cards for the rest of the tournament and running down the shows from the past week
  • UFC 291 coverage, the stories behind the stories, what is next, business notes
  • NXT Great American Bash notes with full coverage
  • The life and times of Adrian Street, his death, his start, the famous photo, his U.K. heyday, why he came to the U.S., thinking wrestling was real, meeting Linda and his life after wrestling
  • The most detailed look at the television ratings for all the pro wrestling and MMA shows, including what the numbers mean, rankings, segment-by-segment and how shows are doing compared with one year ago.
  • Promotion shooting new star to the top
  • One of the best matches of the year in Mexico
  • Top pro wrestler worked as an Uber driver during the pandemic
  • Why Stardom is bringing back 80s and 90s legends
  • Wrestle Kingdom notes
  • Minoru Suzuki match in a unique location
  • Second generation star celebrates his 50th birthday on show this past week
  • Update on the number of homes and carriage rates for the shows that carry wrestling and MMA
  • More on a new television wrestling promotion starting in the fall
  • More matches on All In weekend in London
  • Who Giulia is likely defending her New Japan Strong title against next
  • Men’s All Japan Strong title match in Defy
  • Business of AEW and its value
  • Tony Khan talks business growth
  • Update on WBD business
  • Health updates on AEW & WWE wrestlers out of action
  • Paul Levesque and Tony Khan exchange words
  • International TV ratings
  • Streaming numbers
  • Ticket sales for upcoming WWE & AEW shows
  • Top merchandise sellers in WWE & AEW
  • UFC pushing Slap Fighting at commission meeting
  • Dwayne Johnson buys a house for a UFC fighter
  • Backstage fight at show in Japan
  • Notes on Jake Paul vs. Nate Diaz
  • Crawford-Spence PPV numbers
  • WWE returns to India and details on that
  • Kevin Owens talks future
  • Former WWE personality working in TV news
  • WWE house show notes

This Week’s Retro Observer Newsletter

Ordering Info:

Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].

Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.

In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.

For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.

If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.

Sunday Update

Our weekend show covering SummerSlam. Collision, G-1 and more is up on the site now with Bryan. Our weekly Observer and news review with Garrett is also on the site right now. Bryan and I will be back tomorrow night after Raw.

Steve McMichael’s family said that the sepsis that hospitalized him is gone, but he’s still battling pneumonia. Best of luck to McMichael.

Kairi still has a few Japanese dates left to fulfill before she starts back with her new WWE contract.

WWE will be sending out a press release in the morning. I believe it will list the SummerSlam gate and whether it broke the domestic non-Mania gate record ($7.3 million) or the overall non-Mania gate record ($8.1 million at Clash of the Castle last year). Either way it was super successful and would be either 10th or 11th place all-time depending on if it beat the Clash of the Castle number.

Dakota Kai is not close to ready to return. She was brought in to congratulate Iyo Sky on winning the WWE women’s title.

We’re looking for your thoughts on SummerSlam, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]

Konnan said that the rules for the four-way with Rush, Psycho Clown, LA Park and Sam Adonis as the TripleMania main event for this coming Saturday in Mexico City at Arena Ciudad will be a first person getting pinned or submitted losing his hair or mask.

The one thing about the Paul Brothers is that their actual fights, as opposed to Logan’s pro wrestling matches, do garner a lot of interest. It doesn’t always translate to PPV buys but as far as curiosity goes, last night Jake Paul vs. Nate Diaz fight was the biggest thing by far of the week as far as Google searches with five million. For a comparison, SummerSlam had 200,000 which on the surface sounds very low (it’s the usual number for a WWE major event) but with the way they’ve been tabulating it’s not as concerning. SummerSlam was sixth for the Friday/Saturday weekend. lBut it does tell you just how much more general public interest there was in the fight. The UFC show had Tatiana Suarez at No. 9 and Cory Sandhagen at No. 11 yesterday. The other pro wrestling, boxing or MMA related stuff that placed this ast week were Steve McMichael at No. 12 on Friday, Diaz vs. Paul at No. 4 on Thursday and Vince McMahon (for being investigated) at No. 6 on Wednesday.

Nick Diaz issued a challenge to either of the Paul Brothers after Nate’s loss to Paul. 

As mentioned on the show last night, Brock Lesnar will be off for a while. We’re not clear when he’s scheduled to return but that was not his farewell. For Ronda Rousey, that was her farewell at least for now. She’s not expected back at any specific date and that’s why she did that finish with Shayna Baszler where she got choked out.

Also looking for reports from the N-1 tournament earlier today in Yokohama. The first night of NOAH’s version of G-1 saw: 

  • Shuji Kondo & Seiki Yoshioka & Stallion Rogers b Anthony Greene & Yo-Hey & Tadasuke
  • Manabu Soya b Katsuhiko Nakajima
  • Jack Morris b Yoshiki Inamura
  • Lance Anoa’i b Yuma Anzai
  • Yuki Yoshioka b Masa Kitamiy
  • Naomichi Marufuji & Atsushi Kotoge & Hi 69 b Kazuyuki Fujita & Amakusa & Junta Miyawaki
  • El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. b Daiki Inaba
  • Adam Brooks b Kenoh
  • Go Shiozaki b Saxon Huxley
  • Jake Lee b Timothy Thatcher

The show aired live on Wrestle Universe and the first three bouts are on YouTube.

WrestleTix has the attendance for SummerSlam at 51,477. It was crazy to see that Nick Khan said 43,000 tickets were sold on Wednesday at the investors call and while they did move a few thousand in the last few days, then announcing the 59,000+ number a few days later.

All In’s ticket advance yesterday surpassed the final number of the famous Hogan vs. Andre WrestleMania III attendance at the Pontiac Silverdome. It is now fourth place on the all-time list of paid shows, six if you include the two shows in North Korea. 

The G-1 Climax tournament has the C block final day on Tuesday. The C block winner faces Will Ospreay in the first round of the playoffs on Thursday in Funabashi. The second place finisher in C block faces Sanada in the first round of the playoffs.

Because I was watching Collision and SummerSlam and then did a show, I haven’t watched G-1 yet this weekend, but we got a lot of feedback from people raving about Ospreay vs. El Phantasmo generally calling it the match of the weekend.

Dennis Condrey was at Collision yesterday in Greenville, SC, and after the show was over, FTR and C.M.Punk brought it up and they brought Condrey in the ring. Punk also put over Ricky Steamboat and Condrey. Dax Harwood said Condrey changed the course of tag team wrestling and how because Condrey worked 300 days a year to get tag team wrestling over, he can be home with his family five days a week. Condrey said that FTR was the best tag team in the world and thanked FTR for keeping their name alive and having the similar music.

Fast nationals for Collision were 388K/0.12. Actual numbers won’t be out until Tuesday but it does show that SummerSlam likely drew a very large percentage of the usual AEW audience. UFC and Paul vs. Diaz didn’t help, but it does look like AEW is going to be hurt once a month on Saturdays against WWE major events.

Tom Lawlor vs. Shigehiro Irie will be on Saturday’s Defy show at Washington Hall in Seattle.

LuFisto, who deleted her Twitter after negative feedback to her comments on the AEW women’s locker room, which saw a lot of the AEW women respond denying it, has pulled out of her next Sunday Americanrana show in Worcester, MA. They are looking for an opponent for Dan Barry, who she was scheduled to face.

A story in the New York Post on DDP Yoga having helped Butterbean drop from about 515 pounds to 303.8 pounds.

Adam Wilcox noted to us that he purchased both All In and All Out from FITE (which handles the overseas PPV) and didn’t get any FITE credits for early purchases. He asked and was told that FITE no longer offers FITE credits for those who buy PPVs in advance as they previously had.

Capital Championship Wrestling ran last night in Paulsboro, NJ at the Monster Factory. The Renegade Twins who were in a tournament pulled out because they were booked for last night’s ROH tapings and another wrestler pulled out to work the WOW tapings in Los Angeles: Harleen Lopez b Damaris Dawkins, JC Storm b Clara Carreras, Sara Leon b Miranda Vignette, Ultra Violette won four-way over champion Christina Marie, Delmi Exo and Jade to win the CCW women’s title. (thanks to Shannon Walsh)

DOA All Women’s show from last night in Portland, OR with Queen of Thorns tournament bouts: Amira b Bambi Hall, Nicole Matthews b Murphy Madsen, Abigail Warren b Tara Zep, Liiza Hall Izzy McQueen, Amira b Nicole Matthews, Abigail Warren b Liiza Hall, Rebel Kel b Shazzma McKenzie to keep the Grand championship, Nick Radford b Kel to win the title, Amira b Warren to win the tournament.

GCW on Friday night in Detroit: Jordan Oliver won over Adrian Alanis, Caleb Konley, Jimmy Lloyd, Shane Mercer and Rico Gonzalez, Masha Slamovich b Alec Price, Dominic Garrini & Kevin Ku b Ciclope Miedo Xtremo, Sawyer Wreck b Parrow, Komander b Joey Janela, John Wayne Murdoch & Reed Bentley b Mance Warner & andes, Cole Radrick b Crazy King, Effy & Allie Katch b Davey Bang & August Matthews, Blake Christian b Mike Bailey to retain the GCW title (thanks to Leonard Brand)

Daily Update: Steve McMichael, Robert Gibson, LuFisto

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Daily Update

Latest News

Latest Audio

Latest Free YouTube Video

See Dave & Bryan in London

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

In this issue:

  • Match of the week and performer of the week
  • Feds investigating Vince McMahion and more
  • AEW signings Kenny Omega, Young Bucks and Adam Page, lots behind it with comments from any going into details on the reason the decision was made, their pact to stay together and far more
  • WWE financials for quarter two, including why the next TV deal is taking longer to negotiate, how every sector of business is doing, USA Network with and without WWE and looks to the future
  • SummerSlam, why matches were changed, the huge Saturday night of events, ticket sales and more
  • Updating All In, where it stands on all-tie records, two straight weeks of PPV shows, the last time it happened and the history, rumored matches and more
  • G-1 Climax, what everyone needs to advance to the final eight, cards for the rest of the tournament and running down the shows from the past week
  • UFC 291 coverage, the stories behind the stories, what is next, business notes
  • NXT Great American Bash notes with full coverage
  • The life and times of Adrian Street, his death, his start, the famous photo, his U.K. heyday, why he came to the U.S., thinking wrestling was real, meeting Linda and his life after wrestling
  • The most detailed look at the television ratings for all the pro wrestling and MMA shows, including what the numbers mean, rankings, segment-by-segment and how shows are doing compared with one year ago.
  • Promotion shooting new star to the top
  • One of the best matches of the year in Mexico
  • Top pro wrestler worked as an Uber driver during the pandemic
  • Why Stardom is bringing back 80s and 90s legends
  • Wrestle Kingdom notes
  • Minoru Suzuki match in a unique location
  • Second generation star celebrates his 50th birthday on show this past week
  • Update on the number of homes and carriage rates for the shows that carry wrestling and MMA
  • More on a new television wrestling promotion starting in the fall
  • More matches on All In weekend in London
  • Who Giulia is likely defending her New Japan Strong title against next
  • Men’s All Japan Strong title match in Defy
  • Business of AEW and its value
  • Tony Khan talks business growth
  • Update on WBD business
  • Health updates on AEW & WWE wrestlers out of action
  • Paul Levesque and Tony Khan exchange words
  • International TV ratings
  • Streaming numbers
  • Ticket sales for upcoming WWE & AEW shows
  • Top merchandise sellers in WWE & AEW
  • UFC pushing Slap Fighting at commission meeting
  • Dwayne Johnson buys a house for a UFC fighter
  • Backstage fight at show in Japan
  • Notes on Jake Paul vs. Nate Diaz
  • Crawford-Spence PPV numbers
  • WWE returns to India and details on that
  • Kevin Owens talks future
  • Former WWE personality working in TV news
  • WWE house show notes

This Week’s Retro Observer Newsletter

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 Update

The new issue of the Wrestling Observer is up on the site today. We’ve already gotten a lot of positive feedback on our story on the life and career of Adrian Street.

Garrett and I did our week in review show talking a ton of different topics from SummerSlam, Adrian Street, All In, Dark Side of the Ring and much more. Bryan and I will be back tomorrow night talking SummerSlam and the other weekend news.

Steve McMichael, who is battling ALS, is currently in intensive care battling sepsis, which is what killed Adrian Street. The Chicago Tribune story on it. McMichael was unconscious when rushed to the hospital Thursday night and given antibiotics on an IV. He was awake today and his vital signs improved. He is also battling pneumonia. Those in Homer Glen, IL, a southwest suburb of Chicago, held a rally for McMichael outside of the hospital as well as pushed for him to go into the NFL Hall of Fame this year. (thanks to Eric Krol and others)

Robert Gibson of Rock & Roll Express fame underwent hip replacement surgery last week according to PWInsider.

Big E revealed today at press for SummerSlam that some doctors have suggested that he never wrestle again. He said he has interest in doing color commentary. He said he is happy he has no nerve damage and is taking his time making a decision about the future saying he wants to live a pain free life.

LuFisto is having it out with much of the AEW women’s locker room. She told her story on Twitter with complaints about backstage from a tryout and a number of the women responded about what a great locker room they have and how everyone is there for everyone in times of issues.

Smackdown tonight on FOX features Jey Uso vs. Solo Sikoa, Sheamus vs. LA Knight, Austin Theory vs. Cameron Grimes, and angle with Asuka, Charlotte Flair and Bianca Belair for their match tomorrow night. Knight is scheduled to be getting more of a push starting relatively soon. Paul Heyman will also be doing a feature called The History of Tribal Combat. Grayson Waller will interview Bayley and Iyo Sky. They are also announcing names for the SummerSlam Battle Royal. There were just under 8,900 tickets out for the show as of this morning. It will end up more than doubling the attendance of the last time WWE was in Dayton.

AEW Rampage on TNT at 10 p.m features Chuck Taylor & Trent Baretta vs. Jon Moxley & Claudio Castagnoli in a parking lot brawl. This match was taped starting at about midnight last night in Jacksonville. We’ve been told it was great. One person at the taping said it was pretty sick, and that they destroyed half of Downtown Jacksonville. Also on the show is Keith Lee & Hardys vs. Butcher & Blade & Kip Sabian, Anna Jay vs. Skye Blue and AR Fox & Swerve Strickland in a tag team match.

PW Insider noted that Randy Orton is in Detroit. That doesn’t necessarily mean he will be on SummerSlam or do a surprise appearance, but he is there.

Bobby Roode starts this week as a producer for WWE.

We’re looking for reports from Smackdown tonight in Dayton, with dark matches and anything not on the live show to [email protected]

Our only weekend poll will be for SummerSlam, you can leave a thumbs up, down or middle, best and worst match to [email protected]

Here’s some pre-show video from the Jake Paul vs. Nate Diaz fight tomorrow night:

WEIGH-INS PRESS CONFERENCE OPEN WORKOUTS

The G-1 shows this coming weekend are the last night of A block on Saturday at 4 a.m. Eastern from Osaka and the last night of B block at 1 a.m. late Saturday night from Osaka. For those on the West Coast, the New Japan show will start at about the same time as Collision ends and UFC ends on television, and maybe an hour or two after SummerSlam ends. The Observer goes into detail in all four blocks of who is alive, tiebreakers and such.

Combate Global is live on Univision and Paramount + on Sunday at 9 p.m. Eastern with Lucero Acots (3-2) vs. Silvia Juaneda (3-1) in the main event. This will be the first Combate show since the show after a major soccer game ended up No. 7 in the prime time rankings for the week a few weeks ago.

Hulk Hogan did a video interview with some stories. He claimed a sumo wrestler was making his debut and refused to put him over, so John Tenta came to the ring and the two got into a fight. Okay, the first part never happened, but there was an incident where Koji Kitao, a former sumo star, was unhappy about having to put over Tenta. They were in the ring and it was very tense. Neither would make the first move but it could have ended up in a fight. The bigger one is claiming that he and Vince McMahon were both offered a shot at buying UFC as partners, but they turned it down. He did say he regretted it. There was a time when SEG was in talks of selling UFC to Vince, but Vince ultimately decided against it, thinking that because you couldn’t control the outcomes and stars you put money into promoting could lose at any time, that there was no long-term future in it.

AIW on 8/12 is running shows every two hours at the Main Street Festival in North Canton, OH starting at 11 p.m through 9 p.m. with free admission. They also announced the J.T. Lightning Memorial tournament for 9/15 and 9/16 in Cleveland at Temple Live at 3615 Euclid Avenue.

Sareee ran a show earlier today at Shinjuku Face in Tokyo: Ibuki Hoshi b Chi Chi, Kaoru Ito & Kohaku b Jaguar Yokota & Kinzuma Tanaka, Mio Momon b iyuki Takse, Sareee & Kairi b Arisa Naajima & Takuma Iroha (thanks to Shannon Walsh)

Want to send our best wishes to Jay Dumont (Great Fowler) who will be undergoing a heart ablation procedure on Monday.

Ortiz is looking for independent bookings at [email protected]

Daily Update: Japan, Steve McMichael, MMA weigh-ins

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

DAILY UPDATE

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  • Cloud based hosting experience a plus
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While this is a diverse request this doesn’t have to be just one person! If you fit any part of this please feel free to inquire.

This is not just for projects related to F4WOnline.

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WON NEWSLETTER: April 26, 2021 Observer Newsletter: WWE financials, Ben Askren vs. Jake Paul

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.

OTHER NOTES

  • Kevin Eck’s weekly ROH news wrap-up .
  • A crazy story on former 80s star Misty Blue Simms. (thanks to Greg Beitel)
  • A story on Viktor of The Ascension tag team and what went wrong in WWE.
  • 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

Daily Pro Wrestling History: Mr. Perfect wins WWF Intercontinental title

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Steve ‘Mongo’ McMichael reveals ALS diagnosis

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Former Super Bowl champion and Four Horsemen member Steve “Mongo” McMichael has revealed that he’s battling ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis).

The 63-year-old McMichael shared his diagnosis in interviews with the Chicago Tribune and WGN. ALS, which is also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, “is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord.”

The Chicago Tribune wrote that McMichael initially thought he was dealing with a neck or spine issue, but it was first suggested that it could be ALS during a September 2020 visit to a neurosurgeon at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. In January, doctors at Rush University Medical Center confirmed the ALS diagnosis. A neurologist at the UIC Medical Center said in February that it’s likely the disease began setting in 36 months earlier.

“The recent progression of degeneration through McMichael’s limbs has been jarring. First his right arm went dead, then the left,” the Chicago Tribune wrote. “Then his left leg began to weaken significantly. Now his right leg is following close behind.” McMichael has also lost 50-60 pounds.

McMichael said one of the reasons he chose to reveal his diagnosis publicly is because he wants people to know why they’re no longer going to be seeing him around in public.

A GoFundMe campaign has been started to help with the costs of McMichael’s care. McMichael, his wife Misty, and their 13-year-old daughter Macy need to find a handicap-accessible home.

McMichael has applied for the NFL’s “88 Plan,” which provides former NFL players with financial help for medical and custodial care resulting from dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, ALS, and/or Parkinson’s disease. The Chicago Tribune notes that the plan should open the door for McMichael to receive up to $144,000 annually when approved.

The Chicago Bears, where McMichael played for 13 years during his NFL career, have provided the customized wheelchair that McMichael is using.

Obvious Shirts has “Team Mongo” T-shirts available for pre-order. All of the proceeds will be donated to McMichael and his family.

“I’m not in a depression, brother,” McMichael told the Chicago Tribune. “This disease came onto Lou Gehrig when he was still playing baseball. At least it waited until I was an old man. I’ve lived so long that I’ve seen and done things I want to forget.”

McMichael was a two-time Pro Bowler during his career as a defensive lineman in the NFL. After football, McMichael joined WCW in 1995 and was with the promotion until 1999. He worked for WCW as both a commentator and a wrestler and was part of the Four Horsemen. McMichael was a one-time United States Champion in WCW.

McMichael also appeared for the WWF in 1995 as part of Lawrence Taylor’s match against Bam Bam Bigelow in the main event of WrestleMania XI. McMichael was among the NFL players who accompanied Taylor to the ring.

“Hell yes, I would do it all over again,” McMichael told the Chicago Tribune about his career. “Because it’s that journey that’s the reward. It’s that climb and how hard it was to substantiate yourself as out of the ordinary. That kind of achievement isn’t just given to you.”

ALS currently has no cure. The ALS Association states that the average survival time for those diagnosed with the disease is three years, but about 20 percent of people diagnosed with ALS live five years, 10 percent will survive 10 years, and five percent will live 20 years or longer.