Team Onita vs. Team PCO ten-man tag team match set for WrestleCon SuperShow

WrestleCon has added a ten-man tag team match to Thursday’s Mark Hitchcock Memorial SuperShow lineup with Atsushi Onita captaining one team and PCO captaining the other.

Their teammates will be announced the day of the show.

The show is set for the Fairmont Hotel in Dallas, Texas, airing live on FITE.tv.

WrestleCon announced last week that fans at the show will be given the opportunity to vote for the best match of the night with the participants receiving a $5000 bonus. 

The updated lineup for the WrestleCon SuperShow is listed below:

  • Team Onita vs. Team PCO ten-man tag team match
  • Minoru Suzuki vs. Biff Busick
  • The Briscoes (Jay & Mark Briscoe) vs. The Rottweilers (Low Ki & Homicide)
  • Bandido vs. “Speedball” Mike Bailey
  • Tomohiro Ishii vs. Timothy Thatcher
  • Mia Yim vs. Athena (fka WWE’s Ember Moon)
  • Jonathan Gresham, Black Taurus & Ace Austin vs. Michael Oku, Rey Horus & Laredo Kid
  • The Rock N’ Roll Express have also been announced for the show

Mia Yim to face former Ember Moon at WrestleCon SuperShow

A match between former members of the WWE women’s division has been added to this year’s WrestleCon SuperShow.

Mia Yim vs. Athena (formerly known as Ember Moon) will take place at WrestleCon’s Mark Hitchcock Memorial SuperShow on Thursday, March 31. The show is being held at the Fairmont Hotel in Dallas and will air live via Fite TV.

Yim and Athena were both released by WWE on November 4 of last year. They officially became free agents when their non-compete clauses expired last month.

Athena returned to the ring at a show for Warrior Wrestling in February, while Yim has yet to have her first match since being released.

“To those wondering why I’m not back in the ring yet.. February is a busy month. With the wedding and the move, I decided to not take any bookings until March to focus on getting everything handled at home first,” Yim tweeted last month. “So don’t worry, I’ll see you all in the ring in March.”

This year’s WrestleCon convention begins on March 31 and ends on Saturday, April 2. The updated SuperShow lineup is listed below:

  • Minoru Suzuki vs. Biff Busick
  • The Briscoes (Jay & Mark Briscoe) vs. The Rottweilers (Low Ki & Homicide)
  • Bandido vs. “Speedball” Mike Bailey
  • Tomohiro Ishii vs. Timothy Thatcher
  • Mia Yim vs. Athena
  • Atsushi Onita, Jonathan Gresham, The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express (Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson), Michael Oku, Black Taurus, and PCO set for action

Tomohiro Ishii vs. Timothy Thatcher set for WrestleCon SuperShow

A new bout has been added to the Mark Hitchcock Memorial SuperShow at WrestleCon. 

NJPW’s Tomohiro Ishii will face Timothy Thatcher on the Thursday, March 31 event at the Fairmont Hotel in Dallas as part of WrestleMania weekend’s festivities. The show will air live on FITE TV at 9 p.m. Central time. 

Ishii will also be in action the following day at NJPW Strong Lonestar Shootout, facing Chris Dickinson on that card. 

Thatcher is coming off a WWE NXT run that began when he signed in February 2020. He debuted on NXT TV in April 2020, with his last match in the company airing in August 2021. News of Thatcher’s WWE release broke on January 5, 2022.

Here is the updated card for the SuperShow: 

  • Minoru Suzuki vs. Biff Busick
  • The Briscoes (Jay & Mark Briscoe) vs. The Rottweilers (Low Ki & Homicide)
  • Bandido vs. “Speedball” Mike Bailey
  • Tomohiro Ishii vs. Timothy Thatcher
  • Atsushi Onita, Jonathan Gresham, The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express (Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson), Michael Oku, Black Taurus, and PCO set for action

Good Brothers vs. The Briscoes set for Impact Multiverse of Matches

Impact has made their first match announcement for Multiverse of Matches at WrestleCon on Friday, April 1. 

Impact World Tag Team Champions The Good Brothers will take on ROH World Tag Team Champions The Briscoes. 

The Briscoes have already been announced for ROH’s Supercard of Honor event on the same night, although their opponents for that show have yet to be announced.

Impact’s Multiverse of Matches will be held at the Fairmont Hotel in Dallas with a 9 p.m. Central time kickoff, while Supercard of Honor is set for a 7 p.m. Central start in nearby Garland, Texas. 

Following Multiverse of Matches, Impact will also present an Impact Provincial Wrestling Federation show at 12 a.m. Central time on Saturday, also at the Fairmont Hotel.

Moose, Mickie James, Trey Miguel, Deonna Purrazzo, Matt Cardona, Chelsea Green, Ace Austin, Eric Young, Jordynne Grace, Rhino, Rich Swann, Steve Maclin, and Tasha Steelz are among the talent announced for Multiverse of Matches to this point.

The Briscoes to face The Rottweilers at WrestleCon SuperShow

Ring of Honor legends are set to face off in a tag team match at WrestleCon’s Mark Hitchcock Memorial SuperShow during WrestleMania week.

WrestleCon has announced that The Briscoes (Jay & Mark Briscoe) vs. The Rottweilers (Low Ki & Homicide) will take place at the Mark Hitchcock Memorial SuperShow on Thursday, March 31. The Fairmont Hotel in Dallas, Texas is hosting the event.

This is the second match to be announced for the WrestleCon SuperShow. It’s also been confirmed that Minoru Suzuki will face Biff Busick (formerly known as Oney Lorcan in WWE) at the event.

The Briscoes are the current ROH Tag Team Champions. They’re set to defend their titles at ROH Supercard of Honor in Garland, Texas on April 1, but the team that they’ll be facing has yet to be revealed. The Briscoes have recently been feuding with FTR on social media.

This year’s WrestleCon convention is taking place from March 31 to April 2. Atsushi Onita, Jonathan Gresham, Bandido, The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express (Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson), and “Speedball” Mike Bailey have also been announced for the SuperShow.

Minoru Suzuki vs. Biff Busick set for WrestleCon SuperShow

Minoru Suzuki will take on Biff Busick in Dallas.

WrestleCon made Suzuki vs. Busick the first official match announcement for the annual Mark Hitchcock Memorial SuperShow in Dallas at the Fairmont Hotel on Thursday, March 31.

The announcement came after Busick demanded a match with Suzuki earlier in the day.

The convention obliged, and the match is on. 

Suzuki and Busick join Mike Bailey, The Briscoe Brothers, The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express, Bandido, Jonathan Gresham, and Atsushi Onita as the talent officially announced for the SuperShow.

Oney Lorcan during his WWE tenure, Busick was part of the November 2021 WWE mass releases that included 18 different talents being cut.

Suzuki was announced for a pair of NJPW shows in the United States in April, including the Lonestar Shooutout on Friday, April 1 in Dallas, plus Windy City Riot in the Chicago area on Saturday, April 16. He currently holds the NJPW provisional KOPW 2022 trophy, and is set to defend it against Toru Yano in a dog cage match on Sunday’s NJPW New Year’s Golden Series event.

Daily Update: Josh Alexander, AEW & WWE ticket notes, Atsushi Onita

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MONDAY NEWS UPDATE

Happy Valentine’s Day. Bryan and I will be back tonight talking about the latest news as well as covering Raw tonight on Wrestling Observer Radio.

Best wishes to former referee Mickey Jay Henson, who is in very bad shape due to COVID-related pneumonia.

As noted on the front page, Josh Alexander reported that his Impact contact is expiring. He’s working on getting a new U.S. working visa since Impact got him his current one so for the time being can’t work in the U.S. It should be noted that Brandi Rhodes on the air on Impact made reference to Alexander saying that the only reason AEW even signed Page was to get to Alexander. It should be noted that Alexander is still open to staying with Impact but they haven’t made a new deal so nothing is certain.

Raw is tonight in Indianapolis on Syfy. If you have not specifically set your DVR for the show, it may not record automatically. That also goes for tomorrow’s major NXT Vengeance Day show. Damien Priest vs. A.J. Styles for the U.S. title was the only match announced as of this afternoon. There will be a Randy Orton & Riddle “Broga” (toga) party plus Brock Lesnar and Lita appear. This is the final live show before Elimination Chamber. The number should be up from last week if only because people are more familiar, plus Lesnar is on the show.

We are looking for reports from Indianapolis with any dark matches or Main Event matches or anything else notable from a live perspective to [email protected]

Our 2021 awards issue will be out on late Thursday night/Friday morning. Everything is fully tabulated.

We’re looking for your thoughts on UFC 271, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]

Dustin Poirier said that he will not face Conor McGregor for a fourth time. McGregor had wanted a rematch when he returned from his broken leg. Poirier did media Saturday and said he wanted to face Nate Diaz next.

The top five selling tickets over the last 24 hours in Ticketmaster shows thanks to Wrestle Tix are:

  • Tonight’s Raw in Indianapolis
  • Smackdown on 2/25 in Hershey, PA
  • Dynamite on Wednesday in Nashville
  • Dynamite on 4/6 in Boston
  • WWE on 3/5 in Madison Square Garden

Madison Square Garden had two for one tickets today. If you want them you can go to Ticketmaster and use the code HART by 10 p.m. Eastern tomorrow night. After the third lowest paid attendance in MSG in more than 80 years last time at the Garden Vince has loaded up with Brock Lesnar and Ronda Rousey and it’s the biggest house show lineup for the company in years.

WrestleMania and AT&T Stadium also had two for one tickets using the code WMLOVE until tomorrow at 10 p.m. They have a lot of tickets left to sell for that show.

Smackdown Friday did 2,231,000 viewers and 0.55 in 18-49, which is very good considering the Olympics. Rampage did 549,000 viewers and 0.19. The latter is low for the show but Rampage was still second on cable behind only the Olympics in the 10 p.m. time slot, and 10th for the night.

Atsushi Onita will be wrestling at the Wrestlecon show in Dallas over WrestleMania weekend. The annual Mark Hitchcock Memorial show has also announced Mark & Jay Briscoe, a farewell tour event for Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson, Bandido, Mike Bailey and Jonathan Gresham.

AEW

  • AEW will be having a presale on Wednesday for the 5/11 show just announced today from the UBS Arena in Long Island. This will be the start of the Owen Hart Cup, both a men and women’s tournament that takes place that month. The code is BELMONT
  • Matt & Jeff Hardy have three bookings as a team at this point once Jeff’s non-compete ends, with a 3/12 show for Big Time Wrestling in Webster, MA, 3/13 for Big Time Wrestling in Albany,NY at the Washington Avenue Armory against Matt Cardona & Brian Myers and 3/19 for the Patriotic Wrestling Federation in Clover, SC at the High School.
  • Dark Elevation tonight
    • Matt Sydal vs. Powerhouse Hobbs
    • John Silver & Evil Uno & Stu Grayson & Alex Reynolds & Alan Angels vs 2.0 & The Acclaimed & Daniel Garcia
    • Anna Jay & Tay Conti & Ruby Soho vs. Emi Sakura & Nyla Rose & The Bunny
    • Ethan Page & Scorpio Sky vs. Jaden Valo & Steve Pena
    • Dante Martin vs. Kevin Matthews
    • Thunder Rosa vs. Riley Shepard
    • Zack Clayton (Jersey Shore) vs. Serpentico.
    • This was taped in Atlantic City and several members of the Jersey Shore cast were at ringside.

UFC

  • Booker T was at the UFC 271 post-show press conference as media. He asked Dana White several questions and when Israel Adesanya saw him he popped seeing him.

OTHER NOTES

  • AAA Rey de Reyes on 2/19 will air live on FITE with a new set of English language announcements. The English announcement has been a disaster for years. The new team is Joe Dombrowski and Larry Dallas. Dallas has noted that he has been studying with Mike Tenay for this debut. He did a great job with Dragon Gate and was going to be there regularly until the pandemic hit.
  • The International Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame has reached an agreement with Albany Count in New York for 1,500 square feet of space within the MVP Arena, the city’s major indoor sports complex. The location will be on the first upper level within the atrium across from the offices of the Albany FireWolves Lacrosse team and will be available to fans during events within the arena. They hope to open in the spring or the summer.
  • Impact sent out a press release for its Gut Check on 3/6 in Columbus, OH at the Arnold Classic. It will be at 10 p.m. for an open trout at the Greater Columbus Convention Center. Lance Storm and John E. Bravo will run the camp. To enter you have to fill out a Gut Check registration form at impactwrestling.com
  • Defy results from Saturday night in Seattle: Joey Janela & Schaff b Royce Isaacs & Jorel Nelson, Adam Ryder b Derek Shaw, Jonathan Gresham b Cody Chhun to keep the ROH title, Bollywood Boyz b Ricky Gibson & Eddie Pearl to win the Defy tag titles in a ladder match, Trey Miguel kept the Impact X title over Titus Alexander and Guillermo Rosas, Christoper Daniels b Nick Wayne to keep the Defy interim title. This was where Darby Allin offered Wayne an AEW contract.
  • Phil De Fries (20-6) defends the KSW heavyweight title against Darko Stosic (16-4) in the main event of the 67th KSW show on 2/26 in Warsaw, Poland. De Fries will be making his sixth title defense. Stosic is 15-0 at heavyweight with ten knockouts, nine in the first round.
  • Lucha Masks has expanded from doing Lucha Masks to doing masks sold for Rob Van Dam and a number of NJPW masks, including three Bullet Club masks, two Shingo Takagi masks and one for Jay White, Tetsuya Naito, Kota Ibushi and Bushi.
  • MCW on Saturday in Dundalk, MD at the Flagship Cinemas Eastpoint with Lance Archer as the headline.

Toni Storm announced for WrestleCon 2022

Toni Storm is heading to WrestleCon.

WrestleCon announced today that Storm would be part of this year’s convention that takes place during WrestleMania weekend in Dallas. It is one of her first post-WWE appearances announced since leaving the promotion back in December.

It was reported back on December 29 that Storm had requested her release following a house show event in Washington, D.C., which was granted. She had debuted on the main roster back in July of last year and had just lost to Charlotte Flair on an episode of SmackDown that aired on Christmas Eve. Storm recently posted on Instagram that she is now taking bookings.

WrestleCon is scheduled to take place on March 31 through April 2. Guests already announced include Windham Rotunda, Killer Kross, Scarlett Bordeaux, The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express, Mickie James, Ultimo Dragon, Bull Nakano, Demolition, Adam Bomb, Lita, and more. Live shows will also take place from promotions such as Lucha Libre AAA, Impact, and New Japan Pro Wrestling.

AAA holding live event at WrestleCon in Dallas

WrestleCon announced today that AAA will run a live show on Thursday, March 31 as a part of night one of WrestleCon 2022 in Dallas. This will be the first AAA show in the United States since July 2021.

The show will begin at 5 p.m. Central time, running concurrently with night one of the convention. Fans who purchase either the SuperFan ticket package, or simply the night one ticket package, will also receive admission to the AAA event.

No matches or talent have been announced for the AAA show to this point, and it is not known whether or not the show will be taped or streamed.

AAA joins Impact Wrestling and New Japan Pro Wrestling as promotions holding live events in conjunction with WrestleCon. NJPW will be taping episodes of NJPW Strong during their show. There is no word as to whether or not Impact will be taping any content at their show.

Impact Wrestling running live event at April’s WrestleCon in Dallas

Impact Wrestling will be part of WrestleMania weekend activities as they will hold a live event during WrestleCon 2022 in Dallas, Texas.

The show is scheduled for Friday, April 1st at 9 PM local time as a separate ticketed event. It’s unknown whether it will be taped for Impact Plus or streamed live.

The show will go head-to-head with the return of Ring of Honor as they hold their Supercard of Honor pay-per-view in Garland, Texas.

The new addition to the schedule will continue a busy early slate for Impact as they return to holding monthly shows in different U.S. locations.

Here’s a look at their upcoming schedule:

– January 21st and 22nd: Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for TV tapings

– February 19th and 20th: New Orleans, Louisiana, for No Surrender/TV taping

– March 5th and 6th: Louisville, Kentucky, for Sacrifice/TV taping

– March 18th and 19th: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for TV tapings

– April 1st: Dallas, Texas, for WrestleCon 2022 live event

– April 23rd and 24th: Poughkeepsie, New York, for Rebellion/TV taping

NJPW heading to WrestleCon 2022 for Strong tapings

NJPW Strong is coming to WrestleCon.

The company announced that they will be returning to Dallas, Texas on April 1, 2022. A taping of NJPW Strong will be held at 5 pm on April 1 at the Fairmont Hotel, with meets and greets also being planned. More details will be announced in the future. 

WrestleCon noted on Twitter that the show is not part of the SuperFan ticket and an additional show will be held on April 1 for Session 3 ticket holders.

WrestleCon is set to take place WrestleMania weekend, March 31 through April 3. Guests already announced include Windham Rotunda, Deonna Purrazzo, Mattt Cardona, Chelsea Green, Killer Kross, Scarlett Bordeaux, Atsushi Onita, The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express, Mickie James, Nick Aldis, Sonny Onoo, Kurt Angle, Ultimo Dragon, and more.

NJPW Strong is next set to tape the New Beginning USA 2022 tour on January 15 in Seattle, Washington. They will then tape in February in Hollywood, California and in March in Tampa, Florida.

Bray Wyatt announced for WrestleCon 2022 in Dallas

The first talent announcement has been made for WrestleCon 2022, and it is the former Bray Wyatt. 

Windham Rotunda, known as Bray Wyatt and The Fiend in WWE, has been announced for the WrestleMania week 2022 WrestleCon in Dallas, Texas. 

WrestleCon 2022 will be held at the Fairmont Dallas hotel from March 30 to April 5, 2022. Ticket information will be made available here soon, while hotel reservations at a discounted rate are available here now. 

Rotunda’s WWE non-compete clause expired on October 30 after he was released by WWE on July 31. His final match with the company came at WrestleMania 37 in April, where he lost to Randy Orton. 

While AEW president Tony Khan has said that he would like to talk to Rotunda at the right time, Rotunda’s first post-WWE project is a feature film. The movie is a Callosum Studios production and expected to be a horror film.