Another match has been added to Sunday’s Zero Hour pre-show for AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door pay-per-view.
The bout will see House of Black (Malakai Black & Brody King) vs. Private Party (Isiah Kassidy & Marq Quen) vs. Tomohiro Ishii & Kyle O’Reilly vs. Gabe Kidd & Roderick Strong.
Kidd & Strong teamed up on Friday’s Rampage for the first time, defeating The Infantry with Kidd taking umbrage with Strong’s celebration with The Undisputed Kingdom afterward.
This is the first time O’Reilly and Ishii have teamed up, but they have been on opposite ends of the NJPW ring twice before in 2016.
Black & King will be looking for their second straight win following the recent storyline injuries to Buddy Matthews while Quen & Kassidy are looking to rebound from a loss to The Learning Tree on last week’s Collision.
Here’s the updated card for Sunday’s PPV:
AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland defends against Will Ospreay
Ladder match for the vacant TNT Championship: Konosuke Takeshita vs. Mark Briscoe vs. Jack Perry vs. Lio Rush vs. Dante Martin vs. El Phantasmo
Title for title: TBS Champion Mercedes Mone vs. NJPW Strong Women’s Champion Stephanie Vaquer
AEW Women’s Champion Toni Storm defends against Mina Shirakawa
IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Jon Moxley defends against Tetsuya Naito
Owen Hart Foundation men’s tournament quarterfinal match: Bryan Danielson vs. Shingo Takagi
MJF vs. Hechicero
Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Orange Cassidy
The Elite (Kazuchika Okada & The Young Bucks) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi & The Acclaimed (Anthony Bowens & Max Caster)
The Learning Tree (Chris Jericho, Big Bill & Jeff Cobb) vs. Samoa Joe, Hook & Katsuyori Shibata
Zero Hour: Kris Statlander & Momo Watanabe vs. Willow Nightingale & Tam Nakano
Zero Hour: Owen Hart Foundation women’s tournament quarterfinal match: Saraya vs. Mariah May
Zero Hour: Mistico & The Lucha Bros (Penta El Zero Miedo & Rey Fenix) vs. Titan, Yota Tsuji & Hiromu Takahashi
Zero Hour: House of Black (Malakai Black & Brody King) vs. Private Party (Isiah Kassidy & Marq Quen) vs. Tomohiro Ishii & Kyle O’Reilly vs. Gabe Kidd & Roderick Strong
It’s a special edition of the Big Vinny V Show today with TNA Impact plus Nic Nemeth vs. Tomohiro Ishii from NJPW Windy City Riot.
Impact this week is headlined by Kon vs. PCO in Monster’s Ball, a good old-fashioned extreme-style garbage match with some utterly ridiculous pre-match stips. We also have the setup for the Motor City Machine Guns’ farewell to TNA, Mustafa Ali gathering forces in his war against Jake Something, and Crazzy Steve defending the Digital Media championship against Laredo Kid.
Then it’s time for Nemeth vs. Ishii, an excellent match where the Wanted Man tried to beat the Stone Pitbull at his own game. All this and more on the Big Vinny V Show!
NJPW’s Frontier Zone match will make its return as Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano & Boltin Oleg take on Ayato Yoshida, Takuro Niki & Chicharito Shoki at Sakura Genesis. The Frontier Zone concept pits members of the NJPW roster against wrestlers from smaller promotions. Yoshida, Niki & Shoki are representing 2AW (Active Advance Wrestling).
NJPW wrote:
Since its inception in Ryogoku last October, the Frontier Zone has given wrestling fans the chance to sample brand new wrestling from outside the major scene, and that’s the case at Sakura Genesis when 2AW, Active Advance Wrestling gets involved!
Ayato Yoshida, Takuro Niki and Chicharito Shoki will be representing the group in Sumo Hall. It’s a return to the cerulean blue for Yoshida, who wrestled sporadically in NJPW between 2017 and 2019, which included a World Tag League 2018 team with then Young Lion Shota Umino. NJPW fans may remember 25 year old Chicharito Shoki from All Star Junior Festival last March, while 23 year old Takuro Niki will be looking to show the future of his promotion and NJPW at large. This young trio will have a tough time against veterans Toru Yano and Tomohiro Ishii, as well as the huge Boltin Oleg- catch how they fare by tuning in early for Sakura Genesis!
Airing on the pre-show, Ishii, Yano & Oleg vs. Yoshida, Niki & Shoki will kick off the action at Sakura Genesis.
Sakura Genesis is taking place from Sumo Hall in Tokyo on Saturday, April 6. The show will air live on NJPW World.
Here’s the full lineup:
NJPW Sakura Genesis 2024 —
IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Tetsuya Naito defends against Yota Tsuji
NEVER Openweight Champion EVIL defends against Shingo Takagi
Jon Moxley & Shota Umino vs. Jack Perry & Ren Narita
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion SHO defends against YOH
IWGP Tag Team Champions KENTA & Chase Owens defend against Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI
Three-way match: IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney defend against KUSHIDA & Kevin Knight) and Francesco Akira & TJP
SANADA, Yuya Uemura & DOUKI vs. Jeff Cobb, Great-O-Khan & Callum Newman
Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI vs. David Finlay & Gedo
El Desperado & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Zack Sabre Jr. & Kosei Fujita
Nic Nemeth vs. Tomohiro Ishii, plus two more new matches have been added to NJPW Windy City Riot.
After issuing a challenge to Ishii in a video on Wednesday, NJPW made a match between the two official for Windy City Riot at the Wintrust Arena in Chicago on Friday, April 12.
In another new bout added to the card for Chicago, Jack Perry will go one-on-one with Shota Umino in a rematch from the first round of the New Japan Cup. Perry won the first meeting between the two after targeting Umino in his first excursion into NJPW.
Also added to Windy City Riot, Hikuleo & El Phantasmo will defend the NJPW Strong Openweight Tag Team Championship in an open challenge four corners bout. The three challenging teams have yet to be revealed.
Windy City Riot will air on Friday, April 12 at 8 p.m. Eastern time on NJPW World pay-per-view.
Following Wednesday’s new match announcements, here is the current lineup for Windy City Riot:
Tetsuya Naito vs. Jon Moxley
Hiromu Takahashi vs. Mustafa Ali
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Nic Nemeth
Jack Perry vs. Shota Umino
Four corners open challenge: Hikuleo & El Phantasmo defend the NJPW Strong Openweight Tag Team titles against three teams TBA
Riot rules tornado tag: Eddie Kingston & three partners TBA vs. Gabe Kidd & three partners TBA
A match for the International title will take place on Saturday’s Collision.
Champion Orange Cassidy will face NJPW’s Tomohiro Ishii. As with his previous run as champion, it has been pushed that Cassidy’s body is taking a toll due to all the title matches he has been granting. It comes just weeks before his title match against Roderick Strong at Revolution on March 3.
Both Deonna Purrazzo and AEW Women’s Champion Toni Storm will be in action prior to their match at Revolution next month. Purrazzo will face Kiera Hogan, while Storm will take on Queen Aminata. Other matches will see Jon Moxley & Claudio Castagnoli take on CMLL stars Star Jr. and Esfinge, Mark Briscoe will face Brody King, and Brian Cage will be in action.
An appearance by Adam Copeland is also set. After picking up a win over Minoru Suzuki, Copeland has made it clear he wants another match against former friend Christian Cage.
Live coverage for Collision begins at 8 pm ET.
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Sir Elton John welcomed us to Collision live from the Dollar Loan Center in Las Vegas, one day before “The Big Game.” Can we get sued for calling it the Super Bowl? Let’s not find out. Tony Schiavone, Nigel McGuinness, & Kevin Kelly were on the call.
Blackpool Combat Club (Claudio Castagnoli & Jon Moxley) defeated Esfinge & Star Jr.
This lacked heat, as Esfinge and Star Jr. aren’t the level of stars as the other CMLL representatives in this feud. The match was a fine win to keep the feud going as the bigger CMLL names are in Japan for New Japan’s Fantasticamania tour. The BCC will be keeping busy though, as the post-match brawl with FTR indicated.
We got highlights of the BCC’s tainted win over the CMLL representatives, leading to this match tonight. Kevin Kelly informed us that Volador Jr, whose been a key part of this feud, helped to train both Esfinge and Star Jr. Moxley and Star Jr. started, with Star Jr. locking up Moxley in a reverse bow and arrow. Castagnoli stomped on the grounded Star Jr. to allow Moxley an easy escape. After Esfinge caught Moxley with a kick, the luchadores sent the BCC to the outside, then sent them fleeing at the tease of a dive.
Castagnoli and Esfinge tagged in, with Castagnoli snatching Esfinge up in a Giant Swing. Star Jr. tagged in and took both men to the floor with a headscissors/armdrag combination. The luchadores both scored with big dives. Star Jr. went for a springboard, but Castagnoli leveled him with a European uppercut.
After a commercial, Star Jr. took Castagnoli down with a headscissors. Both men tagged out, with Esfinge running wild on both BCC members. Esfinge locked Moxley in an Indian Deathlock pinning scenario, but Castagnoli cut off the pin. Star Jr. took down Moxley and Castagnoli before Esfinge scored a nearfall with a top rope splash. Esfinge hit a springboard lungblower, but Moxley came back with a lariat. Moxley applied a La Magistral cradle for a nearfall, once again mocking the luchadors.
Moxley and Esfinge traded shots before Star Jr snuck a tag in. Castagnoli caught Star Jr. on a crossbody attempt, before lifting him into a cutter from Moxley. Castagnoli hit Esfinge with the Ricola Bomb before Moxley scored the submission on Star Jr. with a cross-arm breaker.
After the match, Moxley grabbed the mic and told them to take that message back to the CMLL locker room. Moxley said that any team could step to them if they wanted to take a shot, leading to FTR coming out. Moxley piefaced Harwood, leading to a locker-room clearing brawl between the four men.
Daniel Garcia defeated Shane Taylor (w/ Lee Moriarty)
This was such a well-worked match. Garcia got frustrated early as Taylor overwhelmed him but stuck to his plan of targeting the big man’s leg. This felt like a win Garcia earned. Credit to both him and Taylor, who sold the leg well here. Another spotlight win for Garcia, who is on his way to a TNT Title match against Christian Cage.
Matt Menard joined commentary, as per usual for Garcia’s matches. Garcia started out ducking Taylor’s big punches, but Taylor snuck one in as the referee was breaking them up in the ropes. Garcia went to take Taylor down with a single leg, but Taylor caught him with a forearm to knock him down. Taylor caved Garcia’s chest in with a chop, but Garcia fired up with forearms. Garcia landed a Dragon Screw Leg Whip, but Taylor booted Garcia out of the ring as he started working on the leg.
After a commercial, Taylor dropped Garcia with a headbutt as he tried to start a comeback. Garcia avoided a leg drop on the apron, then avoided a corner charge before firing up with strikes. Garcia hit a low dropkick before stomping a mudhole through Taylor’s bad leg. Garcia hit a pair of dropkicks to the leg, but Taylor came back with a pop-up powerbomb and a forearm for a nearfall. Taylor went for the Marcus Garvey Driver, but the leg gave out, allowing Garcia to escape. Taylor backdropped Garcia out of a piledriver, but Garcia held onto the leg and locked on a leg lock to score the submission win.
We got a recap of Sting & Darby Allin’s AEW Tag Team Title win on Dynamite, and the bloody assault on them from The Young Bucks afterwards.
Eddie Kingston was backstage with Lexy Nair. He was disgusted at the Young Bucks actions on Dynamite, comparing it to Bryan Danielson’s actions last week, stealing the spotlight from Bryan Keith. Kingston challenged Danielson to a Continental Crown Title match at Revolution, where Danielson would have to shake Kingston’s hand if he lost.
Brian Cage (w/ Prince Nana) vs. The Outrunners (Turbo Floyd & Truth Magnum) (w/ Chance the Gila Monster)
Chance The Gila Monster is the mascot for the Vegas Golden Knights of the NHL. Gila Monsters are a type of lizard, common to desert climates. In the time it took for me to type that, Cage had already destroyed both Outrunners, tapping out Floyd with a Texas Cloverleaf. Chance did Prince Nana’s dance with him before Cage jumped him from behind. Before Cage could continue, Hook came out and brawled to the back with Cage.
The Undisputed Kingdom & Tomohiro Ishii were in the back with Lexy Nair. Taven and Bennett were upset at being dropped from the CHAOS group a few years ago. Strong told Ishii that he would be going after him if he won the title, noting that he’d lost a title – the ROH Television Title – to Ishii six years prior. Strong went to shake his hand, but Ishii pulled back.
Adam Copeland Addresses the Crowd
I was interested in if Garcia’s interest in the TNT Title would interfere with Copeland’s path and AEW made sure to address that here, setting up a top contender’s match for Dynamite.
Tony Schiavone welcomed Adam Copeland to the ring for an interview. Schiavone noted that with both Swerve Strickland and Hangman Page facing Samoa Joe at Revolution, Copeland was next in the rankings and had his pick of titles to challenge for. Copeland noted that if he was at Dynamite, the attack on his friends Darby Allin & Sting wouldn’t have happened and warned the Young Bucks. He noted that the other champions were otherwise booked, all except Christian Cage.
Daniel Garcia came to the ring. Garcia noted that both of them had been picking up a lot of wins lately, with him having scored a win over the Patriarchy last week. Garcia said that he wanted a shot at Cage and the TNT Title, noting that he would fight through the line if it meant holding gold. Copeland said that something had to give, so he challenged Garcia to a match on Dynamite where the winner gets the shot at Cage. Garcia accepted and shook Copeland’s hand. Copeland pulled Garcia close and told him that he would kick his face in on Wednesday.
Kris Statlander, Willow Nightingale, & Stokely Hathaway were backstage with Renee Paquette. Hathaway said that Skye Blue & Julia Hart could hang out at all the Hot Topic’s that they want, but that didn’t make them badasses. Statlander & Nightingale wanted Hathaway to get a match signed, but Hathaway noted that Tony Khan had his number blocked.
Brody King (w/Julia Hart) defeated Mark Briscoe
This was an awesome brawl, with Briscoe’s eagerness to use weapons being his ultimate downfall. The post-match angle tells me that there’s more for these two on deck, and I’m excited about it.
McGuinness noted on commentary that the Briscoe family was expecting an eighth child, so congratulations to Mark and the Briscoe Bunch. Now that I think about it, they have more kids than the Brady Bunch did. Briscoe peppered King with strikes, but King came back with heavy shots before landing a cannonball in the corner. King clubbered on Briscoe, landing a senton for a nearfall.
After more clubbering, Briscoe avoided a corner charge and brought King to the floor, where he hit King with a running neckbreaker off the apron. Briscoe tossed a chair into the ring and used it to vault over the ropes onto King. Briscoe set up a table on the floor, but the referee reprimanded Briscoe and got him to move away from it. King caught Briscoe on a crossbody attempt and slammed him into a chair at ringside.
After a commercial, King caught Briscoe with a Bossman Slam for a nearfall. Briscoe fired back with chops and forearms, sending King into the corner with a flying forearm. Briscoe hit the ten punches in the corner before booting King to the floor. Briscoe hit a corkscrew moonsault to King on the floor. King fought out of a fireman’s carry and leveled Briscoe with a lariat for a nearfall.
Briscoe avoided a corner charge and hit the rolling Death Valley Driver. Julia Hart distracted Briscoe as he went up for the Froggy Bow, allowing King to send Briscoe through the table on the floor. King brought Briscoe back into the ring and hit the Gonzo Bomb for the win. After the match, King held Briscoe up for Hart, who pulled out a railroad spike and jabbed Briscoe in the head. King smeared Briscoe’s blood on his cast before shouting that the House Always Wins.
Bryan Keith was backstage. He said that he was all about his paydays and was going after all the stars. He said whether they were good, bad, or ugly, they had better be ready to pay up, sucka.
Deonna Purrazzo defeated Kiera Hogan
Purrazzo worked on Hogan’s arm as Schiavone noted both women’s trainers. Schiavone noted that Kiera Hogan was trained by Big Cat, which McGuinness thought meant Ernie Ladd, but Schiavone clarified as Curtis Hughes. Purrazzo was in control for most of this one, shutting down Hogan’s attempt at a comeback before scoring the win with the Venus Di Milo submission.
The announcers noted that due to NBA All-Star Weekend, there will be no episode of Collision next week. That means I have a week off. Huh. What do people do on Saturday nights?
Toni Storm (w/ Mariah May & Luther) defeated Queen Aminata
I was enthused by Steamboat Toni toning down the gimmick on Dynamite, but with her new film next week, she’s still going all in with it.
Storm made her entrance as Purrazzo was leaving, with the two crossing paths on the ramp. After early work on each other’s arms, Storm dropped Aminata with a Thesz Press. After a commercial, Storm dropped Aminata with a boot. Aminata avoided Sweet Cheeks Music, catching Storm in a small package for a nearfall before dropping her with a DDT. Aminata hit a snap suplex and a running kick for a nearfall. Aminata went to pick Storm up, but Storm caught her with a DDT for a nearfall.
Storm went for a piledriver, but Aminata caught her with an Air Raid Crash for a nearfall. Aminata went for a hip attack, but Storm tripped Aminata into the corner. Storm hit Sweet Cheeks Music before hitting the Storm Zero piledriver for the win. After the match, Storm took the mic and applauded her show of technical brilliance. She announced that she would be premiering a new film on Dynamite on Wednesday.
The announcers ran down the Dynamite card, with the addition of Skye Blue vs. Willow Nightingale.
AEW International Title Match – Orange Cassidy defeated Tomohiro Ishii to retain
This one started slow, as this crowd didn’t seem into Ishii to start. But the crowd fired up as the action built up, as these two ended up having a solid Collision main event.
Cassidy put his hands in his pockets and hit Ishii with a dropkick, but Ishii didn’t budge and sent Cassidy to the floor with a shoulder block. Cassidy eventually scored with a shoulder block of his own, but his forearms did not affect Ishii. Ishii backed him into the opposite corner, where he popped him with chops.
After a commercial, Cassidy fired up with a Stundog Millionaire and a tornado DDT. Cassidy hit a dive to the outside before another tornado DDT scored a nearfall. Cassidy hit a diving DDT off the top rope for a nearfall. Cassidy hit the soft kicks before laying into Ishii in the corner. Cassidy hit a hesitation dropkick, reminiscent of longtime Ishii rival Katsuyori Shibata. Ishii fired up, trading shots with Cassidy until Ishii hit a shoulder block that spun Cassidy out.
Ishii leveled Cassidy with a forearm for a nearfall. Ishii took Cassidy to the top rope, then hit a hesitation superplex for a nearfall. Ishii hit a German suplex and started laying in chops, but Cassidy stood through them. Ishii went for a big chop, but Cassidy finally collapsed. After the referee checked on Cassidy, Cassidy popped up and went for a Beach Break, but Ishii reversed it into a powerbomb. Ishii went for a sliding lariat, but Cassidy reversed it into multiple rollups that didn’t work. Ishii hit a headbutt but then ran into an Orange Punch. Cassidy hit the Beach Break, but Ishii kicked out.
Cassidy went for the Orange Punch, but Ishii caught him with a half-and-half suplex and a lariat for a nearfall. Ishii hit the sliding lariat for a nearfall. Cassidy slipped out of the Vertical Drop Brainbuster and hit the Orange Punch, but Ishii stood through it. Ishii hit another headbutt and caught an Orange Punch, but Cassidy snatched him into an inside cradle to score the win and retain the title.
After the match, The Kingdom came out from the crowd and laid Cassidy out with a Hail Mary piledriver. Ishii and Trent Beretta ran them off, but the damage was done as Collision ended.
Jack Perry has been announced for NJPW’s upcoming show in Chicago.
The promotion revealed on Tuesday that Perry, Tomohiro Ishii, ELP & Hikuleo, and Ren Narita will all be in action at NJPW Windy City Riot on Friday, April 12 in Chicago’s Wintrust Arena.
NEW TICKET RELEASE!! 💨 Windy City Riot 💨 Chicago- Wintrust Arena 💨 Friday, April 12
New Talent Announcement! 🌬️GOD 🌬️Ishii 🌬️Narita 🌬️Jack Perry
Over 4500 tickets to the show have been distributed as of last week. Additional tickets went on sale today. Our own Dave Meltzer addressed ticket sales to the show in last week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Meltzer wrote:
They opened up more seats for the 4/12 show in Chicago, headlined by Tetsuya Naito vs. Jon Moxley, Mustafa Ali vs. Hiromu Takahashi and likely Jack Perry vs. Shota Umino. They sold the new seats out immediately and are now at 4,559 seats out in a place that legit would sell out at 7,000. Why they haven’t opened it up for 7,000 when they’ve turned away people on both sale openings is beyond me
Perry made his NJPW debut at Battle in the Valley last month. He attacked Shota Umino before putting on an armband that read, “Scapegoat” and appearing to tear up his AEW contract. Perry hasn’t wrestled since being involved in a backstage altercation with CM Punk at AEW All In at Wembley Stadium last summer.
NJPW Windy City Riot lineup for Friday, April 12 —
Tetsuya Naito vs. Jon Moxley
Hiromu Takahashi vs. Mustafa Ali
Scheduled for the show: Jack Perry, ELP & Hikuleo, Tomohiro Ishii, Ren Narita
The AEW International title will be on the line as part of this Saturday’s AEW Collision as Orange Cassidy will defend against Tomohiro Ishii.
This will be the first time these two have gone one-on-one. The two have a brief history, teaming in November 2021 with a victory over The Butcher & The Blade.
With a win, Cassidy will earn his 10th successful title defense dating back to October of last year.
Ishii, who has never held an AEW title, will be making his first appearance in the promotion since June 2023. He will be looking for his first AEW singles win (0-4).
For Cassidy, this will be the latest defense against a CHAOS factionmate as he defended against Rocky Romero last month. There was also some friction last month after Trent Beretta lost to Wardlow on Dynamite and then shoved Cassidy after he offered to help him up.
Here’s the current lineup for Saturday’s event from Henderson, Nevada:
AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy defends against Tomohiro Ishii
NJPW has announced four matches for Royal Quest III.
The show takes place Thursday, October 14 from the Copper Box Arena in London. It will be headlined by Will Ospreay defending the IWGP United States/United Kingdom Championship against Zack Sabre Jr. The match was confirmed following Destruction in Kobe on Sunday.
Additional matches for the show announced on Monday include Shingo Takagi vs. Tomohiro Ishii. Takagi defeated Ishii in the G1 this summer and holds a 5-1 edge in their all-time head-to-head series.
Yota Tsuji will face Luke Jacobs on the show as well. Jacobs defeated Tsuji during Tsuji’s excursion to RevPro last year.
Trent Seven vs. El Desperado will also take place at Royal Quest III. It will be Seven’s first match for NJPW since 2016.
Also announced for the show in London next month is a six-man tag featuring Hiroshi Tanahashi, Eddie Kingston & Michael Oku facing the United Empire’s Jeff Cobb, HENARE, and TJP.
Official for Royal Quest III!
First time outside Japan- Takagi v Ishii!
Kingston, Tanahashi & British Champion Michael Oku v United Empire!
🇯🇵vs🇬🇧 Yota Tsuji v Luke Jacobs! El Desperado v Trent Seven!
NJPW’s G1 Climax 33 tournament continues today with C Block & D Block matches in Sendai.
In the main event, Tomohiro Ishii faces Tama Tonga in a battle of NJPW veterans. Both are looking for their first win of the tournament.
In the semi-main, Hirooki Goto faces Tetsuya Naito in another matchup of NJPW stalwarts.
The full lineup:
C Block: Tomohiro Ishii (0-1, 0 points) vs. Tama Tonga (0-1, 0 points)
D Block: Hirooki Goto (1-0, 2 points) vs. Tetsuya Naito (0-1, 0 points)
C Block: Shingo Takagi (0-1, 0 points) vs. HENARE (0-1, 0 points)
D Block: Shane Haste (1-0, 2 points) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi (0-1, 0 points)
C Block: Eddie Kingston (1-0, 2 points) vs. EVIL (1-0, 2 points)
D Block: Jeff Cobb (1-0, 2 points) vs. Alex Coughlin (0-1, 0 points)
C Block: David Finlay (1-0, 2 points) vs. Mikey Nicholls (1-0, 2 points)
D Block: Zack Sabre Jr. (1-0, 2 points) vs. Toru Yano (0-1, 0 points)
Our live coverage begins at 5:30 a.m. Eastern time.
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Recommended Matches
Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Toru Yano – While not a must-watch, this was easily the best Yano match since his 2019 encounter with Jon Moxley, and that’s worth a mention. ZSJ is remarkable at everything he does.
Jeff Cobb vs. Alex Coughlin – This was an engrossing match on a structural level and an outstanding performance from Coughlin.
HENARE vs. Shingo Takagi – If you’re a fan of this pairing or big-match-Shingo, this is a must-see.
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Results
Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Toru Yano
This was an entertaining/clever match, even if it was borderline absurd. From both men having young lion doppelgangers to Yano tapping ZSJ’s legs together, this was a silly Yano match from the beginning. In the end, ZSJ caught Yano with a rollup after Kosei Fujita provided some assistance.
ZSJ takes lead of D block with 4 points.
David Finlay defeated Mikey Nicholls
This was a slow-built match structured around prolonged segments of Finlay control. Finlay utilized this control to close the match with Oblivion.
David Finlay stays undefeated with 4 points.
Jeff Cobb defeated Alex Coughlin
In a cool twist, this match was all about Coughlin proving he could match Cobb’s power. While Cobb did his fair share of power moves, it was all the more impressive when Coughlin stood toe-to-toe. Cobb ultimately ended Coughlin’s hubris with a Tour of the Islands.
Cobb continues his hot start, advancing to 4 points.
EVIL defeated Eddie Kingston
This match didn’t come together at all for me. EVIL, unsurprisingly, worked a dirty match from the opening bell. Eddie attempted to fight off the barrage but fell to Everything is Evil after a Dick Togo distraction.
EVIL remains on top with 4 points.
Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Shane Haste
Haste established control early and used it to wear down Tanahashi for long stretches. Tanahashi eventually launched a rally, enabling him to hit High Fly Flow and win the match.
Tanahashi is on the board with two points.
HENARE defeated Shingo Takagi
This match was comparable to a Shingo main event in a compressed package. Only after prolonged back-and-forth sequences, multiple major momentum shifts, and false finishes did HENARE manage hit streets of rage to close the match with less than 30 seconds in the match remaining.
HENARE has scored his first win in block action, earning 2 points.
Tetsuya Naito defeated Hirooki Goto
This was the kind of match you would’ve expected from this pairing a few years ago. Both guys were on the ball, leading to dramatic back-and-forth sequences. Naito was able to close with Destino, ending one of his best performances in a long while.
Naito earned his first points in D block.
Tama Tonga defeated Tomohiro Ishii
This was a reasonably standard Ishii affair. Most of the twists were built around Ishii avoiding the gun stun. Once Tama hit the gun stun, he followed up with a Jay Driller to win the match.
In a rematch from the 2019 NJPW G1 tournament, former AEW World Champion Jon Moxley will take on Tomohiro Ishii on Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite.
The two men were on opposite ends of a ten-man tag team match at Sunday’s Forbidden Door where Ishii, the Young Bucks, Eddie Kingston and Hangman Page defeated Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta, Shota Umino and Konosuke Takeshita.
Ishii picked up the win after hitting his sheer drop brain buster on Wheeler Yuta.
The two have only met once in singles competition with Moxley picking up the win in the aforementioned 2019 tournament. Including last Sunday, they have previously been on opposite ends of tag team matches four times.
Here’s the current lineup for Wednesday’s show from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada:
Jon Moxley vs. Tomohiro Ishii
Tornado tag team match: Sting & Darby Allin vs. “The Painmaker” Chris Jericho & Sammy Guevara
Owen Hart Foundation Women’s Tournament first-round match: Britt Baker vs. Ruby Soho
One of Kazuchika Okada’s partners for Wrestling Dontaku has been revealed.
New Japan’s website on Friday confirmed that Tomohiro Ishii will be one of Okada’s two partners. Previously, it had been announced that Okada would team with two mystery partners to take on current NEVER Six-Man Tag Team Champions Ren Narita, El Desperado, and Minoru Suzuki. The website noted that Ishii had made an appeal to be Okada’s partner at a recent non-televised live event.
Since losing the IWGP World Heavyweight title earlier this month at Sakura Genesis, Okada has shifted towards teaming with other people. At Capital Collision, he teamed with Hiroshi Tanahashi in a losing effort against The Motor City Machine Guns and Aussie Open, the latter of who won the match to become the new champions.
Here is the updated card for Wrestling Dontaku on May 3 in Fukuoka:
IWGP World Heavyweight Champion SANADA defends against Hiromu Takahashi
NEVER Openweight Champion Tama Tonga defends against David Finlay
NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champions Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado & Ren Narita defend against Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii, and a mystery partner
NJPW World TV Champion Zack Sabre Jr. defends against Jeff Cobb
Strong Openweight Champion KENTA defends against Hikuleo
Aussie Open will defend their NJPW Strong Openweight Tag Team titles in the main event of Collision in Philadelphia.
An injury to Hiroshi Tanahashi forced him off today’s card and out of what had been scheduled as a trios match main event with Tanahashi, Lio Rush, and Tomohiro Ishii facing TJP & Aussie Open. Travel issues also prevented TJP from making it to Philadelphia for the show.
The new main event for Collision in Philadelphia features Aussie Open defending the Strong Tag titles against Ishii & Lio Rush. Aussie Open won a triple threat match last night in Washington at Capital Collision to win the Strong titles.
A tournament to determine the number one contender to Kenny Omega’s IWGP United States title also kicks off today.
What had been advertised as Lance Archer vs. Juice Robinson will now be Archer vs. Fred Rosser due to a storyline suspension given to Robinson. The winner of today’s match will face either Tanahashi or Will Ospreay at NJPW Dominion in Osaka, Japan in June.
Today’s undercard:
Tetsuya Naito & Hiromu Takahashi vs. KENTA & Chase Owens
AEW International Championship: Orange Cassidy defends against Gabriel Kidd
Homicide & Rocky Romero vs. SANADA & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
TMDK’s Zack Sabre Jr., Shane Haste & Bad Dude Tito vs. Tom Lawlor, Jorel Nelson & Royce Isaacs
Clark Connors vs. The DKC
ROH Pure rules match: Alex Coughlin vs. Tracy Williams
El Desperado & Volador Jr. vs. Delirious & Kevin Knight
Our live coverage begins at 5 p.m. Eastern time.
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El Desperado & Volador Jr. defeated Delirious & Kevin Knight
Delirious started things off by leaping at Desperado, but after missing, he had Volador tag in before tagging out himself. Knight and Volador had a competitive sequence before Desperado tagged back into the match to take the lead. Delirious grabbed Desperado by the leg, pulling his team back into the match.
A hot tag to Volador after an extended period of opposition control led to a strong comeback. Only by escaping to the floor were Knigh and Delirious able to stay competitive.
Eventually, Desperado tagged in, leading to a strike exchange between him and Delirious. A frankensteiner/frog splash combination nearly scored the Knight/Delirious team the win. After Volador broke up the pin, he hit a backbreaker, setting Desperado up for a match-winning Pinche Loco.
Pure Rules: Alex Coughlin defeated Tracy Williams
I loved this match. From the compelling mat work to the explosive transitions, this was pure wrestling.
The match opened with mat work that quickly escalated. Williams and Coughlin locked hands, trading pins, holds, and bridges. Once the grip was broken, Williams dropped Coughlin and landed a suplex from the top rope before returning to working on the mat. From the mat, Coughlin secured underhooks, which nearly ended with a driver, but Williams flipped free and landed a suplex.
Williams struck Coughlin down before locking in a sleeper. Coughlin stood out of the sleeper, landing a powerbomb to reset the match in his favor. A vertical suplex from Coughlin scored him a nearfall.
In the end, the pair looked to trade strikes. Coughlin ducked a Williams lariat, hitting a bridging German suplex to win the match.
Clark Connors defeated The DKC
Before the match, David Finlay cut a promo. He berated ELP and hyped Connors. Finlay then declared he would be the first Bullet Club leader who “gets the Bullet Club before the Bullet Club gets him”. His Bullet Club would be willing to make cuts to maintain a roster of “killers”.
DKC rushed the ring to start the match, scoring a quick, if short, lead. It didn’t take long for Connors to reverse momentum. Connors dominated DKC, taking his time to pick him apart. Conners ended DKC’s only attempt at a rally with four nice spears. Connors then pinned DKC to win his first match with Bullet Club.
Team Filthy (Jorel Nelson, Royce Isaacs & Tom Lawlor) defeated TMDK (Bad Dude Tito, Shane Haste & Zack Sabre Jr.)
This match was a ton of fun. Lawlor and ZSJ have crazy chemistry, and the rest of TMDK gel very well with the West Coast Wrecking Crew—a great match.
Before the match could begin, Team Filthy was caught with a metal carabiner, a tube of super glue, and a toothbrush. The referee confiscated all of their foreign objects.
The actual match saw TMDK gain a short lead that ended when Nelson landed a sudden backbreaker, and Team Filthy rushed the ring. Team Filthy then used their advantage to slow the pace while isolating Haste.
Haste reversed a move from the top rope into a superplex, buying him a hot tag into ZSJ. ZSJ locked Nelson and Isaacs in submissions simultaneously to establish TMDK control. Lawlor was forced to tag in to help his team stay competitive.
ZSJ and Lawlor went back and forth. When ZSJ landed a strike, Lawlor answered with one of his own. When ZSJ locked in a hold, Lawlor established on of his own. This stalemate forced a double tag.
Tito and Isaacs tagged in, traded bombs for a few seconds, and tagged out. Haste and Nelson tagged in and also traded heavy strikes, forcing another double tag, leaving ZSJ and Lawlor alone in the ring once more.
ZSJ and Lawlor went off on one another. ZSJ caught Lawlor in a cobra twist as TMDK played defense. Lawlor broke free regardless, leading to a match breakdown. After a chaotic war between the teams, Lawlor landed a knee to the back of Tito’s head, leading directly to the pin.
The match began with Rocky turning down a drink from Kanemaru’s whiskey. After this, SANADA and Homicide had a fairly uneventful back-and-forth to start the actual competition. Rocky and Kanemaru soon tagged in and had a mat-based exchange that Rocky left with the upper hand.
Homicide tagged into the match, but Kanemaru gained the upper hand, forcing Rocky to involve himself again. The match then spilled to the floor, where Rocky and Homicide gained a significant lead.
A tag to SANADA turned the match back to J5G favored. A dropkick to Rocky and Homicide allowed SANADA to tie Rocky in the paradise lock.
Rocky saving Homicide from Skull End resulted in a match breakdown. Homicide scored a nearfall over SANADA with a cutter. Homicide tried to close again with the cop killer, but SANADA reversed, turning it into a bridging pin to win the match.
AEW International Championship: Orange Cassidy (c) defeated Gabriel Kidd
This was another great match on this show and another great Cassidy defense.
Kidd rushed Cassidy to try for an early lead, but Cassidy was able to hold on through the blitz. Cassidy landed a dive that forced Kidd to slow down, much to his favor. Kidd landed a big chop that sent Cassidy to the floor. Back in the ring, Kidd taunted Cassidy with his own mannerisms.
During Kidd’s control, a camera revealed David Finlay and Clark Conners were watching on from the balcony.
Kidd’s taunting proved to be his downfall as it allowed Cassidy to gain a leg up. Cassidy landed a super kick, a Superman punch, a top rope crossbody, and a DDT for a nearfall.
Cassidy climbed to the top for another dive, but Kidd caught him with a brainbuster. Kidd then tried choking Cassidy out with a visually impressive choke from the top rope. Kidd missed the moonsault follow-up, but he hit a spinning tombstone piledriver regardless.
Cassidy caught Kidd with an orange punch, but Kidd bounced off the rope with a lariat. Kidd tried to follow up with a kimura, but Cassidy transitioned into a mouse trap pin, which scored him the win.
Los Ingobernables de Japon (Hiromu Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito) defeated BULLET CLUB (Chase Owens & KENTA)
The opening scramble saw LIJ rush Owens to establish an early lead. Once KENTA involved himself, Bullet Club was able to take control.
KENTA ended an LIJ rally with a DDT but failed to hit the GTS. Hiromu answered with a dragonscrew, forcing a double tag. Naito made quick work of most Owens resistance, but a Destino reversal into snake eyes allowed Bullet Club to maintain their lead. A running knee forced Hiromu to make the save.
Owens reversed another Destino, but Hiromu was quick to help Naito recover. Finally, after another team-on-team brawl, Naito hit Destino to win the match.
After the match, Rocky Romero walked to the ring. He asked Hiromu about an All-Star Junior Festival in the United States. On August 19th in Philidelphia’s 2300 Arena, the All-Star Junior Festival will make its U.S. debut.
IWGP United States Heavyweight Title #1 Contendership Tournament Match: Lance Archer defeated Fred Rosser
Rosser came to the ring taped up following his brutal beatdown last night.
Archer cut a promo before the match. He threatened Rosser’s life before asking him to make this a Philadelphia street fight. He grabbed two kendo sticks, one for himself and one for Rosser. Rosser accepted for some reason.
This was a bad match.
Rosser was the first to strike, using the Kendo stick to the best of his ability, but Archer was able to wade the storm. On the outside, Archer slowly beat down Rosser, eventually fighting into the crowd.
At some point, they disappeared. The cameras couldn’t find them, and the fans chanted, “We can’t see.” Once the cameras did find them, they were meandering around the outside.
Archer continually attacked Rosser with kendo sticks, paying particular attention to his stitched head, eventually drawing blood. Archer then used a chair to continue his attack.
Rosser sidestepped an Archer attack, sending him crashing into a chair. Rosser took advantage, beating him with a kendo stick. After laying out Archer, Rosser locked in a stepover chicken wing. Before Archer could tap, Juice Robinson came out from the crowd and attacked Rosser, and because this was a street fight, there were no repercussions.
A loaded Left Hand of God from Juice and a lariat from Archer allowed the Murderhawk Monster to secure a win and advance in the tournament.
After the match, Archer cut another promo. He called out Tony Khan and Kenny Omega. He said Omega couldn’t beat without help. He then said Khan couldn’t protect Omega for long. Archer said he’d win the tournament in Osaka and dethrone Omeaga at Forbidden Door 2.
NJPW STRONG Openweight Tag Team Championship: Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) (c) defeated CHAOS (Lio Rush & Tomohiro Ishii)
The feeling-out process ended early, as Davis called out Ishii. Ishii and Davis traded blows, but Rush tagged in, which caused a short brawl favoring CHAOS. Once Fletcher recovered, he rushed the ring allowing Aussie Open to take the lead.
Rush avoided a senton, buying him the time to tag in Ishii. Ishii fought off both of his opponents, standing tall after a shoulder tackle. Fletcher blocked the brainbuster and sent Ishii to the floor in an attempt to rally.
Fletcher tried to hit a dive from the rope, but Davis stopped him from doing so. This distraction allowed Rush to hit a super rana and re-establish control. Ishii and Rush isolated Fletcher, hitting him with multiple tandem moves.
Once Davis recovered, he hit the ring, helping Fletcher to survive the Chaos attack. This led to another Ishii/Fletcher exchange, ending with an Ishii brainbuster. Ishii could not finish, and a Saito sent him to the floor.
Rush landed a dive to the floor, buying Ishii enough time to recover. Together, Ishii and Rush knocked Davis off his feet. Ishii scored a nearfall with a lariat, but Davis reversed his brainbuster attempt into a suplex.
Rush tried to pick up where Ishii left off, but Davis dropped him with a crucifix powerbomb. Once Ishii could help Rush, they turned things back around. Ishii landed a lariat into a Rush frog splash, forcing Fletcher to make the save.
Fletcher and Davis worked together to fight back against the CHAOS pair. A lariat to Rush marked the end of a team-on-team struggle, leaving all four men on the mat.
A double boot set Rush up for Coriolis, but Ishii made the save. Fletcher dropped Ishii with a piledriver, leaving Davis free to land a piledriver of his own on Rush. Then Aussie Open landed a lariat and Coriolis to close out their first Never Openweight Tag Team championship defense.
Fletcher cut the show-ending promo, which was primarily braggadocious, with a slight jab at FTR inserted.
*Vince McMahon talks about returning and we talk about the prospects of that, including from those close to him *The Rita Chatterton story resurfaces, and we go back to look at the original story and current legal status as well as a new allegation against Vince McMahon that came up this week *What can’t happen to WWE as long a McMahon wants back in *What would have to take place before McMahon to return to power *What risks are there for the company *The Vice special on Vince McMahon and those who would and wouldn’t talk *Mandy Rose gets fired and details of why it happened and what the original plans were regarding the women’s title *ROH PPV coverage, Honor Club, PPV buys, ROH title change *Sasha Banks and Japan WWE, AEW prospects, a return t WWE and more *Notes on Wrestle Kingdom, the card,te story behind the card *Updates on Matt Riddle *Full coverage of UFC 282, hat happens next, business notes, what’s next for the fighters *ROH Deadline and the debut of Iron Survivor *Just how rapidly is cable losing homes, a list for the stations that air wrestling and MMA and what the numbers are now *Tokyo Sports awards and story behind it *PWG Battle of Los Angels *The most detailed look at the ratings for all wrestling shows on national TV including how each segment did, *Streaming numbers *Advance ticket sales for the major WWE & AEW events *Government works with Arena Mexico for a special event *CMLL’s next tournament *Konnan talks his health *Rules in place for independent promoters and usage of El Hijo del Vikingo *A look at a Mexico match of the year candidate *A look at another match of the year candidate *Finances of major wrestling conglomerate *Future of Kota Ibushi *Why the economics are going to be tougher for New Japan *Coverage of the New Japan tag tournament finals *Update on the MLW lawsuit against WWE *Huge match in London this week *AEW announces new television deal *Behind the Jericho loss to Action Andretti *What famous feud started in a similar fashion *People who have been world champion in the U.S., Japan and Mexico *UFC takes action regarding a suspicious fight *World MMA Awards *William Regal news *WrestleMania news
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Sunday Update
Garrett Gonzales and I will be back tonight talking the news of the week and weekend. If you have any questions for the show send them to [email protected].
We’re looking for reports from the the WWE house show tonight in Rochester, MN, as well as last night’s NXT show in Tampa and RevPro from York Hall in London to [email protected]
In last night’s UFC show, the Rafa Garcia bloodbath is because his artery was cut open by an elbow by Maheshate. The bleeding was on the side of the head and it didn’t affect Garcia’s vision. It took almost two hours to close the cut and stop the bleeding. Garcia said the doctors told him he’d lost 20 percent of his blood because of the cut in the artery. Garcia still won the fight 30-27 across the board despite all the bleeding.
In last night’s UFC main event, Jared Cannonier won over Sean Strickland by scores of 49-46, 46-49 and 49-46. Media scores were 65 percent to 35 percent in favor of Cannonier. Derek Clearly gave Cannonier every round but four. Judge Sal D’Amato only gave Cannonier the fourth round, so he and Clearly disagreed on all five rounds. Junichiro Kamijo gave only round three to Strickland giving Cannonier rounds 1, 2 4 and 5
Holly Holm vs. Yana Kunhitskaya was announced for a 2/25 UFC show in San Antonio.
Results from last night’s WWE show in Moline, IL: Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson & Mia Yim b Damien Priest & Dominick Mysterio & Rhea Ripley when Gallows pinned Mysterio after the magic killer Madcap Moss & Emma b Karrion Kross & Scarlett when Emma pinned Scarlett with a roll-up A.J. Styles b Gunther-DQ in a title match when Gunther shoved dow the ref. Kevin Owens & Sheamus & Shinsuke Nakamura b Usos & Sami Zayn when Owens pinned Zayn with a stunner Street Profits b Alpha Academy when Ford pinned Chad Gable wit a frog splash Bianca Belair & Liv Morgan & Candice LeRae b Bayley & Iyo Sky & Dakota Ky wen Belair pined Sky after the KOD Austin Theory b Seth Rollins to keep the U.S. title after a low blow and A Town Down. Rollins laid Theory out with a curb stomp after the match, ducking Theory’s belt shot (thanks to Shannon Walsh, Ronnie Skilor, Brett Robertson, Don Feldman and Scott Minor)
RevPro from yesterday in London: Robbie X won the cruiserweight title in a four-way over Luke Jacobs, Dan Moloney and Will Kaven in an elimination match, Dani Luna b Kanji to win the Southside women’s title, Brendan White & Danny Jones b Callum Newman & JJ Gale in a street fight to keep the British tag titles, Zack Sabre Jr. b Leon Slater, Great O’Khan b Zak Zodiac to win the British title (it was held by Ricky Knight Jr., but vacated due to Knight’s injury), Michael Oku b Conor Mills, Will Ospreay b Tomohiro Ishii. People raved about the main event (thanks to Shannon Walsh)
GCW results from Friday night in Los Angeles: Jack Cartwheel won scramble match over Cold Radrick, Jordan Oliver, Titus Alexander, Nick Wayne and Alec Price, Starboy Charlie b Matt Cardona, Masha Slamovich won three-way over Sawyer Wreck and Dark Sheik, Gringo Logo & Latigo & Toxin b Arez & Kommander & ASF, Joey Janela b Pagano to keep the Extreme title, Willie Mack b Jimmy Loyd, Effy NC Charles Mason, Miedo Extremo & Ciclope b Johnny Yuma & BHK to keep the GCW tag titles, Nick Gage b Tony Deppen to keep the GCw title, El Hijo del Vikingo b Blake Christian
Defy from last night in Seattle: Giullermo Rosas won over El Phantasmo and Jordan Oliver, Artemis Spencer b Alex Shelley, Vert Vixen b Cat Power to keep the women’s title, Judas Icarus & Travis Williams b Schaff & Randy Myers, Titus Alexander b Joey Janela, El Hijo del Vikingo b Nick Wayne
The next show is 1/20 at ALMA Tacoma with Evil, Uno, Alex Reynolds and Marina Shafir
EPW from last night in Western Australia before more than 800 fans for their 21st anniversary show: Davis Storm & Mikey Nicholls b Jarrad Slate & Felix Young to win the EPW tag titles, Mikey Broderick b Mr. Thompson in a schoolyard brawl, Bruno Nitro won four-way over James Hartness, Lucas Fantasia and Joel Hagan to keep the Coastal title, Marcius Pitt & Damian Slater b Dan Moore & Bobby Marshall, Chris Target b Tyler Jacobs to win the SHWA title in a tables match, Aaron Hawk & Stella Nyx & Great George & Cannon Connors b King Shahil & Rogan Karguis & Chadwick Jackson, Julian Ward retained the EPW title over Taylor King and Michael Morleone (thanks to Kevin Chiat)
Sammy Guevara & Tay Melo are booked for Adrenaline Pro Wrestling on 2/25 in Melbourne, Australia.
People have been raving about the Mike Bailey vs. Bryan Keith match on Friday night’s Freelane Wrestling show in Chicago. The bottom rope broke five minutes into a 25 minute match. (thanks to Derek Walker, Lance LeVine and others)
Jose Delano (12-2) faces Gabriel Santos (9-0) for the LFA featherweight title on the company’s 1/28 show in Sao Paulo, Brazil on Fight Pass.
Bellator and Rizin have a press conference on Tuesday at 7 p.m. Eastern talking the New Year’s Eve show at the Saitama Super Arena which is headlined by a Best-of-five series with Bellator vs Rizin.
The Tuesday Night shows from Arena Mexico in Mexico City will start streaming on the CMLL digital media channels live, for free, on both Facebook and YouTube.
Stardom from today in Tochigi: Saya Iida won three-way over Saki Kashima and Lacy C, AZM won three-way over Maika and Himeka, Tam Nakano & Natsupoi b Natsuko Tora & Ruaka, Syuri & Mirai & Ami Sohrei b Giulia & Mai Sakura & Thekla, Starlight Kid & Momo Watanabe & Rina won three-way over Mayu Iwatani & Hazuki & Hanan and Utami Hayashishita & Saya Kamitani & Hina
Huge historical stories on the two promoters voted in talking about wrestling history all over the world
Notes on a lot of the people who were not voted in and their candidacy
Performer and match of the week
Full coverage of Saturday’s UFC show
Cain Velasquez returns to pro wrestling as AAA comes to the U.S., background, future, attendance, audience drawn and more
The most detailed look at the TV ratings from the past week, looking at the whys, what can be learned, segment by segment of the main shows, competition and more
Major mask loss in a cage show coming on January 1 to Arena Mexico
A look at the finals of the Stardom tag team tournament as well as the big show at the end of the year
What Hall of Fame candidate returns to Dragon Gate on Christmas
Several stars leaving All Japan
First IWGP women’s title defense to be held in the U.S.
New Japan tag team tournaments notes
Battle of Los Angeles news
Another major movie being produced on a 90s star and his unique story
Impact has one of its best matches of the year
A detailed look at Tony Khan’s explanation of William Regal’s departure and why he allowed him to go
Khan talks about Rampage going forward
Dustin Rhodes talks retirement
Notes on ROH PPV show
Notes on WWE going to new markets and ticket advances
Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
Tuesday Update
WWE
Following a Wall Street Journal report that Vince McMahon has interest in returning to WWE, the company’s stock sank to $73.73 after opening this morning at $76.01.
Variety reported that John Cena and Jason Momoa are teaming together for a action comedy movie titled ‘Killer Vacation’.
Cena narrated a video that aired on Raw Monday night looking back at WWE’s first Tribute to the Troops event in Iraq back in 2003.
Sports Illustrated has an interview with The New Day, where they talk about winning the NXT Tag Team titles for the first time. When Big E’s name is brought up, Kofi Kingston told Sports Illustrated that he was there in spirit. “Big E wasn’t here; but he was here. He’s always with us. We’re doing a lot of this in his honor. I woke up to a great text from him [Saturday] morning about our match. We’re in constant contact. We miss him, and without Big E, there is no New Day. We want him living a happy, healthy, safe life; and that’s what is paramount to us.”
Arn Anderson in a statement clarified that his contract with the company isn’t up for another year in a half, saying that he ‘misspoke’ in a recent interview on WrestlingInc where he said 2023 would be a year where he would be at a beach more than once. “If I created any incorrect narrative, I apologize,” the statement reads. “The truth is, I would like to be around for as long as I can contribute to the business and am still having fun.”
This week’s AEW Road To Winter is Coming, which focuses on MJF vs. Ricky Starks and the continuation of the best of seven series between Death Triangle and The Young Bucks.
