WrestleCon has settled their financial issue with the Marriott Tampa (Florida) Westshore over the cancellation of their WrestleMania weekend events.
“Thanks to Marriott Westshore for agreeing to honor the Force Majeure clause and not holding either our guests or WC responsible for the liquidated damages,” WrestleCon wrote on Twitter. “The Emergency Declaration by [Florida Governor Ron] DeSantis to cancel events over the next 30 days was a major factor.”
Marriott initially pushed back on WrestleCon trying to get out of their contract, claiming they were still owed more than $114,000 for the early cancellation as they were “prepared to perform as agreed.” This, despite WWE moving WrestleMania to Orlando, FL, and increasing regulations on groups of 50 or more congregating in an effort to combat the coronavirus.
The response was met with a backlash in the wrestling industry, most notably with Chris Jericho taking notice and calling out the company over their inital stance.
WrestleCon added that the New York Yankees and Steinbrenner Field (where the convention portion of their weekend events was happening) agreed to return their down payment due to the coronavirus outbreak in the United States.
The organization is still currently waiting for The Ritz in Ybor City (where their in-ring shows were to take place) to make a decision on refunding money over the cancellations, as well as the bus company they contracted.
These events come as WWE officially made plans to move WrestleMania 36 from Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, to their Performance Center in Orlando. All events that were to take place that weekend have either been cancelled or postponed to a later date.
Shingo Takagi and Bandido are set to face off over WrestleMania week.
WrestleCon announced today that Takagi vs. Bandido will take place at their Mark Hitchcock Memorial SuperShow in Tampa, Florida on Thursday, April 2. The show is taking place at The Ritz Ybor City and will begin at 8 p.m. Eastern time.
WrestleCon wrote that this may be the only match they announce for the SuperShow in advance. Will Ospreay, Black Taurus, Zack Sabre Jr., and Amazing Red have also been confirmed for the event.
Takagi and Bandido were both part of PWG’s Battle of Los Angeles finals in 2018. Jeff Cobb was the winner of that three-way elimination match.
Bandido headlined last year’s WrestleCon SuperShow, losing to Ospreay.
Takagi is also set for Pro Wrestling Revolver’s Pancakes & Piledrivers IV event during WrestleCon. He’ll face Chris Dickinson at the show, which is being held at The Ritz Ybor City at 11 a.m. Eastern on Saturday, April 4.
Impact Wrestling has also announced former seven-time NWA Tag Team Champion Chris Harris for TNA: There’s No Place Like Home.
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A former World, X-Division, and Tag Team Champion has been added to Impact Wrestling’s one-night-only revival of the TNA brand.
Impact announced today that Chris Sabin is set for TNA: There’s No Place Like Home. The show is part of WrestleCon’s events in Tampa, Florida during WrestleMania week.
Sabin has been out of action since suffering a torn ACL in January of last year. He wrote at the time that he expected to miss 8-12 months.
Sabin is the third wrestler announced for There’s No Place Like Home. Impact confirmed D’Lo Brown and Ken Anderson for the show last week and noted that they would both be representing their former Aces & Eights stable.
There’s No Place Like Home is taking place at The Ritz Ybor City on Friday, April 3. It will also be available live via Fite TV.
Two members of Suzuki-gun have been added to NJPW’s Lion’s Break Project 3.
Zack Sabre Jr. and El Desperado have both been announced for Lion’s Break Project 3. The show is taking place at The Ritz Ybor City on the afternoon of Thursday, April 2. It’s part of WrestleCon’s events in Tampa, Florida during WrestleMania week.
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Ren Narita, Karl Fredericks, Clark Connors, and Alex Coughlin have also been announced for Lion’s Break Project 3. The first two Lion’s Break Projects were held at the Anaheim Convention Center in 2018 and 2019 and showcased Young Lions, members of the NJPW roster, and other wrestlers.
At NJPW’s New Beginning in Sapporo night two on February 2, Sabre will defend his RevPro British Heavyweight Championship against Will Ospreay. Desperado & Kanemaru will challenge SHO & YOH for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team titles at the New Beginning in Osaka on February 9.
Sabre has also been confirmed for the WrestleCon SuperShow on the night of April 2.
Tickets will go on sale at noon Eastern on Monday (January 20).
The show will be available live via Fite TV.
Ethan Page had tweeted about the show back in October: “I remember getting ‘talked to’ for tweeting about TNA. Mania weekend @IMPACTWRESTLING is BRINGING TNA BACK for one night! I had to take my finger off the pulse for a quick second to tweet this out IM. SO. EXCITED. TNA! TNA! TNA! PUT ME IN THE KING OF THE MOUNTAIN!”
WWE SmackDown and Joey Janela’s Spring Break 4 are other shows being held in Tampa on the Friday night of WrestleMania week.
Impact Wrestling’s next major pay-per-view will also take place in April. Terminal 5 in New York City will host Rebellion 2020 that month, but the exact date for the PPV hasn’t been revealed.
NJPW is running a Lion’s Break show as part of WrestleCon’s events over WrestleMania week in Tampa.
NJPW announced tonight that Lion’s Break Project 3 will take place at The Ritz Ybor in Tampa, Florida on Thursday, April 2 at 3 p.m. Eastern time. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Ren Narita, Karl Fredericks, Clark Connors, and Alex Coughlin are the first names confirmed for the show.
NJPW wrote that more information on wrestlers and matches for the show will be announced at a later date.
Ticket prices are listed as: Row A: $150, Row B: $120, Row C: $100, Row D: $90, Row E: $80, Row F: $70, Row G: $60, and Standing Room: $50. Tickets will go on sale this Thursday (January 16) at noon Eastern.
WrestleCon tweeted about changes to their schedule with Lion’s Break being announced: “After sitting on this for months, we are relieved this info is now public. This show will replace Europe v The World. ADDITIONALLY, our Festival de Lucha show will be rebranded as Wrestlecon Worldwide and be inclusive of all international talents.”
Lion’s Break Project 1 took place in November 2018 and Lion’s Break Project 2 took place last month. Both shows were held at the Anaheim Convention Center as part of CharaExpo USA. The cards showcased Young Lions, members of the NJPW roster, and other wrestlers.
NJPW’s Will Ospreay and Shingo Takagi have been announced for this year’s WrestleCon SuperShow, which is taking place at The Ritz Ybor at 8 p.m. Eastern on April 2. Jay White and El Phantasmo have been confirmed for ROH Supercard of Honor XIV at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland on Saturday, April 4.
From the heart of Midtown Manhattan, WrestleCon returned Friday morning with their US vs. The World show, available on Fite.tv.
Brian Pillman Jr. defeated Emil Sitoci
The Hilton Midtown crowd was small and scattered but enthusiastic from the start of the event. Excalibur was on commentary and mentioned most everyone was hungover from the festivities of the night before.
This was a decent match. Sitoci went after Pillman just after the bell rang. Pillman teased a pescado but used a mule kick instead. They brawled outside the ring. Pillman high kicked Sitoci against the guardrail until Sitoci was able to catch one of Pillman’s legs to shift the match back into the ring. Sitoci spent a few minutes continued working over the leg, but Pillman was later able to return the attack with a nice snap powerslam.
They started trading high spots. Sitoci did a split-legged moonsault and then Pillman used a cross body block from the top rope that Sitoci reversed. Pillman won with a swinging cross-arm neckbreaker to put Team USA up 1-0.
MJF defeated Ethan Page
Page started singing “You Are My Sunshine” on the mic, the one MJF sang on the Rosie O’Donnell Show in the mid-90s. The video of this resurfaced on social media this week and they used it as the match plot. Page passed the microphone around to crowd members and tried to get everyone to sing a few lines of the tune and MJF sold it perfectly.
In the ring, MJF mostly worked over Page’s arm and back with wear-you-down submissions as they bantered with each other and the crowd. There was more “Sunshine” singing, too. MJF won the match after using a piledriver and a lateral press with both feet on the ropes to put Team USA up 2-0.
David Starr defeated Daga by submission
This was a solid match that was unfortunately quite short. These two apparently had their coffee this morning because they both kicked the match off at a rapid pace with lots of rope running and reversals. Daga used an elbow suicida to the floor early on, and afterward, used short burst flurries of low kicks and stomps inside the ring. Starr acted like he was knocked out after Daga used a pop-up Death Valley Driver.
The two teed off on each other with elbows and chops that woke the crowd up with the sound. Starr used a power bomb with a jackknife pin but couldn’t keep Daga’s shoulders down. He used a modified Texas Cloverleaf with armbar hold for the win to put Team USA up 3-0.
Black Taurus defeated Darby Allin
This was a visual spectacle, both in the case of the wrestling but also in just how unique both look and how distinct they are from ach other. Like the Starr vs. Daga match, though, this was also a bit too short.
After their initial lockup, Taurus shoved Allin into the corner and paintbrushed him hard in the mouth. A minute later, Taurus slapped Allin hard again. Taurus offered his hand and Allin used it as an opportunity to cradle Taurus into a La Magistral for two. At this point, things really kicked off.
Taurus’s agility is impressive; a power guy who can also move with fluidity, not unlike LA Park. He did some impressive rope-assisted flipping and arm-dragging in addition to some great looking power offense. Allin returned fire with his distinct punk lucha arsenal, including a tope suicida and a tornillo into the ring, both from the bottom rope.
Allin used a Coffin Drop (a flying trust fall, essentially) to the floor onto Taurus, whose base was so solid that you could see Allin bounce off of Taurus’s body while his stayed in place. Taurus eventually won the match with a spinning fisherman’s buster, making the score Team USA 3, The World 1.
Jiro “Ikemen” Kuroshio defeated Rich Swann
For context, Kuroshio’s entrance gimmick in Japan is that he teases getting into the ring to the full tune of Masaharu Fukuyama’s “Hello”. Instead of his usual three-to-five minute version, he did an abridged version of the schtick that lasted about a minute. I’m not sure if the crowd fully caught on or not. He also looked into the camera and shouted “I’m Japanese!”
Swann danced through pretty much the entire venue before the match and wore his Impact X-Divison belt to the ring.
They teased shaking each other’s hand for a while. This was a lot of comedy mixed with high flying. There were lots of thrust kicks from both wrestlers, and Ikemen did a huge tope con giro to the floor. He kept yelling “I’m Japanese!”, but this time in Japanese. He did a lot of “jacket punches” where he grabs his own jacket and throws punches.
I’m not sure if people got Ikemen or not. It seemed like the crowd wanted to like it but weren’t familiar enough with his gimmick. They were kind of quiet. Swann looked very good throughout this, but in the end, it was Ikemen who grabbed the win after a hammerlock powerslam followed by a picture-perfect moonsault to make the score USA 3, The World 2.
This was good but it felt like an exhibition match, and even more so of a showcase match for Ikemen as it was his first bout in the States.
The Rascalz (AR Fox, Zachary Wentz & Trey Miguel) defeated Australian Suicide, Adam Brooks & Robbie Eagles)
This was a USA vs Australia clash and once the Australian fans in the venue finished booing the Rascalz, the match was underway and never really let up in terms of pace. There seemed to be two guys running the ropes at all times.
This was a lightning quick and crisp spotfest where everyone looked fantastic with nonstop innovative moves. The spot of the match was when Brooks dove over a corner post, landed on Miguel, and did a Canadian Destroyer onto the apron while almost falling onto the ground; Brooks had safely hooked his ankles to the bottom rope.
From here, Brooks went on a Destroyer-spree, and then the match turned into an insane dive festival with everyone involved. Eagles did a tope con giro through the ropes and landed on the announcer’s dad. Australian Suicide did a Shooting Star Press onto all five wrestlers from the top turnbuckle to the floor.
The Rascalz won after a double team flying stomp finish to make the score Team USA 4, The World, 2.
A note about the crowd: They were completely silent unless they were cheering for spots, and which gave the feel of the match a weird flavor. This was a great match if this style is in your wheelhouse.
The Hart Foundation (Davey Boy Smith Jr. & Teddy Hart) defeated LAX (Santana & Ortiz)
This was not a good match. Hart came out with his cat and both teams posed a lot before Hart Foundation jumped LAX, the hometown favorites, and the match got underway.
The teams brawled into the mostly quiet crowd at the start. DBS did the Bret Hart figure four around the ring post spot to Santana, but because he’s so much bigger than Bre,t it made it looked like he was absolutely crushing Sanata’s leg.
The Harts controlled much this. Hart did a springboard moonsault into an elbow drop, while DBS did the delayed vertical suplex his father used to do.
At one point in the match, Santana put Hart into a sharpshooter. Smith came in moments later and the Foundation did a hip toss Canadian Destroyer for the abrupt victory. As I said, this had a strange energy about it. LAX didn’t do much.
Ortiz got on the mic after the match and said “Someday, somehow, you will suck my d*ck.” Hart disregarded that and cut a babyface promo on the crowd thanking them for all they had to put up with to get to New York. He also thanked Mike at Highspots for putting the show on and mentioned how much money he spends which the announcers enjoyed. The crowd seemed to love this and chanted for Hart on his way out. Smith essentially said the same thing afterwards. 4-3 USA is the score going into the final two matches.
Puma King defeated Sammy Guevara
This wasn’t great, but it wasn’t terrible. It was comedy than anything peppered in with a couple big spots. They gave each other the finger a lot and said “f*ck you* a lot before they started, which turned into an underlying story of the match.
Guevara did a cool corkscrew dive to the floor. Puma King did his own version of the delayed vertical suplex in this match and then politely plugged his Youtube vlog to the crowd which got a “Puma King” chant for this. Guevara then took the mic and claimed, in fact, his vlog was the best in wrestling. He was booed.
They did a few big-ish spots until Puma King landed a pendulum Liger Bomb for the win. Puma King got the crowd to yell “f*ck you” at Guevara one last time before the rather over feline victoriously walked to the back. The score is now 4-4, but they didn’t play this up much on commentary.
Brian Cage defeated Masato Tanaka
I found it strange watching Tanaka walk out to hip hop music, but he did. He doesn’t look all that much different than he did in the late 1990s and possibly is even leaner now.
Unlike the other matches on this card, there was zero messing around beforehand. Cage muscled Tanaka at the start of this, at one point curling him like a bar of weights.
Cage did his version of the delayed vertical suplex here and followed up with a standing moonsault. The story here was Tanaka was the underdog because of his size and did a terrific job at selling Cage’s offense and showed lots of intensity anytime he would throw strikes.
They exchanged loads of strikes and power moves at each other midway through. Tanaka later used the Sliding D and got a big reaction. Cage then used a power bomb, a buckle bomb and the Drill Claw (nèe Steiner Screwdriver) for the win.
The crowd politely chanted for Tanaka after the match and that was it. Team USA wins 5-4.
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This wasn’t the greatest show of the weekend but wasn’t bad at all. One thing about dream match cards is that while they often look great on paper, it’s often a crapshoot on how they’ll turn out because of the variables. The sleepy and most-likely jet lagged crowd somewhat sucked the energy out of the building. Allin vs Taurus was the show stealer for me although each match had a taste of a number of modern styles that most anyone would enjoy.
From the Midtown Hotel in New York City, this is the Mark Hitchcock Memorial Supershow.
Masato Tanaka defeated Eddie Kingston
Tanaka, the former ECW champion and veteran of numerous Japanese promotions, hasn’t lost a step. These two went toe to toe exchanging strikes, but Kingston eventually was put down with The Sliding D. Post match, Kingston took the mic and informed the crowd that after 17 years of wrestling, this was his dream match. The two men showed respect before exiting the ring.
– The Lucha Brothers made their way out. Rey Fenix said they are the best tag team in the universe and those “other brothers” are scared. Pentagon Jr. said The Young Bucks are “putos” which received a “Putos Woop Woop” chant. Fenix said since there is nobody good enough to accept their open challenge, they might as well face each other. Penta immediately went for a roll up which led us to…
Rey Fenix defeated Pentagon Jr.
Incredible agility was shown by Fenix as he did a tigh rope walk into a penalty kick. This featured great action throughout and a split crowd. The finish was a springboard top rope Spanish Fly by Fenix. The brothers, two of the best in the world, embraced post match after this showcase.
Tajiri, DJZ, Puma King and Samantha Heights defeated Sammy Guevara and LAX (Santana, Ortiz, and Diamante)
The type of one of a kind entertaining mixed tag match makes WrestleCon a live event hit every year. LAX used their experience as a team to keep the advantage throughout but once Tajiri blew the green mist and hit the buzzsaw kick on Ortiz, it was a wrap.
Robbie Eagles defeated Arez and Flamita in a triple threat match
These three incredible high flyers did what they do best and showed out. Arez was the first to take it to the air with a tope. Eagles and Flamita exchanged strikes in the middle before setting up an incredible maneuver where Eagles went for a splash on Flamita yet Arez ran up the prone body of Flamita to catch Eagles in a Spanish Fly.
Later in the match, Flamita hit an over the top dive to one side and a huge moonsault to the other. Eagles scored the win with a 450. Unbelievable action in this one.
Jushin Thunder Liger, X-Pac, and ‘Hurricane’ Helms defeated Revolt! (Caleb Konley, Zane Riley, and Jake Manning)
Liger got the loudest reaction of the night, followed by streamers. Revolt! worked over Helms and Waltman throughout until Liger got a hot tag and ran wild until all hell broke loose. All six men were in the ring before Liger hit a brainbuster for the victory. The crowd celebrated along with the legendary Liger music. X-Pac thanked the crowd and talked about Liger’s retirement tour. Helms then said he begged for permission from “who he works for” to be here and be in the ring with Liger. This was another great moment.
Dragon Lee defeated Cavernario
This was said to be an excellent match that Dragon won with a sitout powerbomb. I say ‘was said’, because the FITE stream was out for this one so it’s definitely worth checking out once the VOD makes Highspots. Fans threw money in the ring post match.
Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Shane Strickland
This was a technical clinic with the crowd split down the middle. Strickland had to submit while being completely tied up in one of Sabre’s inescapable holds.
SCU (Daniels, Kazarian, and Scorpio Sky) defeated Orange Cassidy and Best Friends (Chuck Taylor and Trent?)
This will definitely be one of the most entertaining comedy matches of the week and I’m not sure how anything else will top it in that regard. Chuck and Trent came in wearing their Outsiders denim and looking real jacked. Cassidy used his expert defense to avoid everything Daniels tried on him. A slow motion striking exchange had the crowd going wild.
The comedy then broke down and we had ourselves a fight once Scorpio and Kazarian removed Cassidy’s sunglasses. Orange hit them with a double chokeslam all by himself. SCU survived his “juiced up” offense and were able to set up the Best Meltzer Ever for Daniels to score the pin. What a spectacle. What a time to be alive.
Will Ospreay defeated Bandido
Two of the most impressive athletes in wrestling went at it in a main event style match. Bandido had the power advantage but Ospreay’s ability to constantly land on his feet gave him the edge. The intensity picked up late and commentary even talked about how NJPW should be watching this as an audition for Bandido.
Ospreay hit a springboard frog splash into the front row which kept Bandido out for a count of nine. Eventually, he made it back in the ring and they went on an incredible run of finisher reversals and kickouts including a Rainmaker and Os-Cutter for a near fall that every one thought was it.
Will kept his composure and put Bandido down with the Storm Breaker for the victory. Check this one out once it makes the Highspots on demand service.
Dragon Gate wrestlers have been pulled from next week’s WrestleCon due to visa issues.
WrestleCon announced this afternoon in a press release that they had worked with an immigration attorney to directly work with Dragon Gate to bring wrestlers to the US. Despite negotiations through the proper channels, it still wasn’t able to be done.
“Unfortunately, after two separate visa application attempts, including conversations with the Japanese Consulate, the Department of Homeland Security, the National Visa Center and the Visa Office in Tokyo, we are left without any more time to make this possible” the release said.
WrestleCon explained that because they are not the primary employers of Dragon Gate talent, nor do WrestleCon offer annual employment contracts, there are no visa options for them to come in. A similar issue with PAC also forced WrestleCon to announce earlier this week that he would be unable to come to the US as well.
Black Label Pro later confirmed that with the visa issues, Masato Yoshino will be unable to appear at their Adventures in Wrestling event on April 5. Shigehiro Irie was announced as a replacement opponent for Jonathan Gresham.
The revised card for next week’s US vs. The World event, which also takes place on April 5, has been updated on Twitter.
New Japan had a similar issue earlier this year after they were unable to bring in a number of wrestlers to the United States due to the government shutdown. As a result, a number of independent and ROH contracted wrestlers were brought in to fill gaps.
We regret to inform you that PAC will not be at WrestleCon. We worked diligently over the past several months with our attorneys to ensure that he successfully received a Visa to travel into the United States. Our Visa application was filed in a timely manner, all fees were paid to attorneys, and all required information was disclosed to government officials. Our attorneys were confident there would be no issue and based on their experience and expectation, we advertised PAC on the assumption there would be no problem obtaining a Visa. However, after exhausting all efforts, we were unable to provide PAC the appropriate Visa to travel and work in the United States. We understand and share your disappointment of this unanticipated outcome, as does PAC.
Further, we would like to clarify that in no way will this unfortunate incident have any impact on his future with AEW. This issue is isolated to WrestleCon only.
Over the next few days, we will issue refunds on all photo ops and autographs that were purchased related to PAC’s appearance at the Convention. We will also replace graphics that featured him, so we appreciate your patience during these updates.
PAC was scheduled to appear at WrestleCon’s convention and multiple shows that are part of WrestleCon. Will Ospreay & PAC vs. CCK (Chris Brookes & Jonathan Gresham) had been announced for Revolution Pro Wrestling’s event in NYC on Friday, April 5, and PAC was set to face Rich Swann at Wrestling Revolver’s Pancakes & Piledrivers show on Saturday, April 6.
PAC vs. Hangman Page is official for AEW Double or Nothing in Las Vegas on Saturday, May 25.
We’re looking for your thoughts on last night’s Fastlane from Cleveland so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]” target=”_blank”>[email protected]
We’re also looking for reports tonight from Raw in Pittsburgh with anything that happened off Raw as well as reports from the Smackdown house show in Youngstown, OH to [email protected]
Raw is Monday night from Pittsburgh. Ronda Rousey, Dave Bautista, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins are all scheduled.
Smackdown and 205 Live will be taped on Tuesday night in Dayton. 205 Live has the semifinals of the tournament for a WrestleMania shot at Buddy Murphy’s cruiserweight title with Tony Nese vs. Drew Gulak and Oney Lorcan vs. Cedric Alexander.
NEW JAPAN CUP ON WEDNESDAY MORNING AT 6 A.M. EASTERN FROM OKAYAMA ON NEW JAPAN WORLD
“When I made my announcement, I said that I was going to swing for the fences. We did better than that, y’all. We didn’t just swing for the fences, we hit a home run.”
The entire professional wrestling world breathed the sigh of relief they’ve been waiting four months for as Roman Reigns announced last Monday that his leukemia is in remission.
Reigns shared the positive update while appearing on WWE television for the first time since revealing his battle with leukemia, which had returned 11 years after he was first diagnosed with the disease.
Read the update on the situation with Roman Reigns as the lead story in the new issue of the Observer, talking about his leukemia diagnosis with more details as to the strain, his health situation and what he did in his four months away as well as other athletes with similar strains.
This issue has a major story on the career of Chris “King Kong Bundy” Pallies. Look at how he broke into wrestling, the irony of his very first match, his first role, his first push, where the King Kong Bundy name came from, where the five count came from, what pop culture characters he inspired, the story behind his famous WrestleMania matches including one that has rarely been talked about.
Also look at Jushin Liger’s retirement announcement. Read about his background, how he got started in pro wrestling, his New Japan Dojo legendary class, who he idolized and copied, his first match with the gimmick and what the plans are for his retirement.
This issue has an update on Tommaso Ciampa regarding the nature of his surgery, and what decisions NXT has to make.
Look at the career of Harley Race, how he broke into wrestling, the run that made him a national star and how he got the NWA world title, and how close he came to being champion a second time before it happened more than a year later.
Read full coverage of UFC 235, with all the highlights, business notes, and match-by-match coverage and poll results. Also look at contracted base pay for the show.
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].
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MONDAY NEWS UPDATE
Bryan and I will be back tonight covering Raw and the rest of the wrestling news with Wrestling Observer Radio. You can send question to the show to [email protected]
Also want to mention the show Garrett and I did with Mike Tenay yesterday, that so many have enjoyed. Like I mentioned yesterday, this is a very different show than we’ve done before and it was only due to the closeness of Tenay with The Destroyer that the show happened.
Regarding Dean Ambrose, I think anyone who watched that PPV and heard that commentary would think Ambrose is staying. I was told last night it wasn’t the case, or at least that he hasn’t signed (and granted those are two different things). They are doing a Shield tribute tonight so I think that will all be answered in a few hours based on however the angle goes down. Roman Reigns had a WrestleMania match (obviously) that is being kept secret and given we’ve only got a few shows left, hints could be coming tonight.
Tickets for New Japan in London and Dallas go on sale Wednesday. Based on advance codes, London is expected to sell out. Dallas is something that right now there is no indication about, but will be very interesting, since it is a G-1 show and people won’t know the lineup this week. It’s the first attempt at a major NBA arena in the U.S., and without Kenny Omega, Cody and The Young Bucks.
The funeral for Dick Beyer will be Saturday at 10 a.m. at One Church, 6 Scotland Road, Akron, NY 14001. Contributions can be made to either Hospice Buffalo or the Ilio DiPaolo Scholarship Fund. For those wanting to send message you can to www.mcandrewfuneralhomes.net
Regarding interest in the weekend shows. Fastlane had 200,000 searches yesterday, putting it in 10th place among every term in the U.S. on Google. Saturday’s UFC show on ESPN+ had 100,000 searches, putting it in 11th place for the day.
WWE sent out a release today pushing that they now have 1 billion social media followers. That’s a number adding up every account combined, meaning there are likely fans counted 30 or 40 or even 100 times if they follow everyone through all the different platforms. They count this as 501 million on Facebook, 226 million on Instagram, 221 million on Twitter, and 46 million on YouTube.
WWE
The movie Changeland, “which Randy Orton is a co-star in, is scheduled for a theatrical release on 6/7.
Valentina Shevchenko vs. Jessica Eye for the flyweight title looks to be happening on the 6/8 UFC PPV show in Chicago. Also announced for that show is Nina Ansaroff vs. Tatiana Suarez in a match which could determine a contender for the strawweight title.
MISCELLANEOUS
Limitless Wrestling in front of 500 fans Saturday in Westbrook, ME: MJF became the company’s first champion in a fatal four-way over Ace Romero, Anthony Greene, and JT Dunn; Chris Dickinson defeated Tommy Dreamer in a hardcore match; Teddy Hart defeated Darby Allin; Jay Freddie and Put defeated The Butcher & The Blade; Ashley Vox defeated Brandon Kirk; Kris Statlander defeated Christian Casanova; Maine State Posse defeated The Shook Crew; The Platinum Hunnies defeated Brett Domino in a handicap match; Brad Hollister won a six-way over Josh Briggs, Pat Buck, Antoine Nicolas, Jake Something, and Donovan Danhausen. Next show on May 10 with Ethan Page.
Demand Lucha on 4/18 in Toronto with Joey Ryan, Rory Gulak, Phil Atlas and others.
Psicosis, Mentallo and Austrian MMA fighter Marin Pain headline for CWE on 3/26 in Rosau River First Nation, MB and the Ginew School Gym.
Tickets are on sale now for MLW on 6/1 in Waukesha, WI at the Expo Center. Announced on the show are Tom Lawlor, L.A. Park The Hart Foundation, Pentagon Jr., Rey Fenix, Low Ki, Salina de la Renta, El Hijo de L.A. Park, Simon Gotch, Jacob Fatu, Josef Samael, Ace Romero, Mance Warner and more.
The final night of the WSW tour of Australia from today in Sydney: Marty Scurll b Mick Moretti, Joey Ryan & Concrete Davidson b Matty Wahlberg & Carter Deams, Jack Bonza b Matt Diamond, Frankie Kazarian & Scorpio Sky b Mikey Broderick & Slex, Bandido b Flamita, Brian Cage b Christopher Daniels, Jordynne Grace b Shazza McKenzie in a women’s title match, Robbie Eagles b Austin Aries to keep the WSW title. The whole locker room paid tribute to Abyss, in his final appearance with the promotion since he’s now a producer with WWE.
Woman wrestler Leon apparently had her purse stolen in the U.K. Promoter Dan Read was super upset about it and feels that the U.K. will look bad to those in Japan because of it. A Go Fund Me for her regarding the losses which was close to being met at last word. It’s at https://www.gofundme.com/pro-wrestling-eve-fund-for-leon
All Star Wrestling on 3/22 in Chilliwack, BC at the Tzeachten Hall.
Matt Morgan will return to the ring on Saturday teaming with Deon James vs. Chico Adams & Braydon Knight at Team Vision Dojo in Orlando.
USA Championship Wrestlnig’s Tribute to Eddie Gilbert from Saturday in Jackson, TN: Chris Styles & Brandon White b Big Gravy & Alex May, Kevin Zion b Colorado Kid, Jimmy & Gary Valiant b Tony & LT Falk, Tom Prichard b Christian James, Jake Law & Matt Boyce b Starr Twins to win the tag titles, Jerry Lawler & Doug Gilbert b Tommy Rich &Matt Riviera. Bill Dundee was in the corner of Colorado Kid. Phil Hickerson was also there. Kevin Lawler was there as Freddie Gilbert. Riviera broke a beer bottle over Jerry Lawler’s head and Lawler came back to throw fire at Riviera.
MCW on 3/31 in Joppa, MD at the MCW Arena has Corey Graves and Renee Young appearing. The show will be at 2:30 p.m. that Sunday.
IWA East Coast on 3/16 in Nitro, WV at the King’s Way Outreach Center.
Ed in San Antonio presents the WRESTLEMANIAWeekend Events (more to be added):
Saturday, April 6th, at 12:00 pm: Lunch (all you can eat) at Churrascaria Plataforma ($90 per person), located at 316 W. 49th street in Manhattan. Purchase tickets here~!
Luxury Bus to MetLife Stadium for Wrestlemania: We will depart from the Hilton Midtown (site of Wrestlecon) located at 1335 Avenue of the Americas. Departure time is 4:00 pm and will return from MetLife approximately 30 mins after the event. Times are subject to change, and cost $67.00 per person for the round trip. Purchase tickets here~!
The Supershow is happening two days before Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling’s G1 Supercard at Madison Square Garden. Ospreay is the current NEVER Openweight Champion in NJPW after winning the title at this year’s Tokyo Dome show, while Bandido is signed to ROH and made his debut for the promotion in January.
Ospreay is also set to team with PAC against CCK (Chris Brookes & Jonathan Gresham) at Revolution Pro Wrestling’s WrestleMania week event on the afternoon of Friday, April 5. RevPro’s show is presented by WrestleCon and is also taking place at the Hilton New York Midtown Ballroom.
Harry Smith (Davey Boy Smith Jr.) and Aurelian Smith Jr. (Jake Roberts) have settled their differences after a phone conversation set up by Bret Hart when Hart and Roberts were at an autograph session.
Roberts agreed to drop all charges on Monday for an incident at WrestleCon where the two had a heated exchange of words and Smith threw coffee at Roberts and Roberts’ daughter went after Smith, who walked away.
Smith had been upset about things Roberts had said about his father on a podcast with Roddy Piper.
Both privately apologized to each other over the incident and Smith agreed to do a public apology, which he did before his IWGP Tag Team title match in Kumamoto, Japan that took place early Sunday.
“I’d like to announce publicly and officially that I spoke with Jake Roberts on the phone today and we squashed heat we have for what happened at the WrestleCon event,” wrote Smith. “I apologized and said I would apologize publicly as Jake agreed he would be dropping any charges pressed against me. I’m a man of my word and I’d like to say sorry to any fans that I stressed with this situation also. I wish Jake all the best and glad that we squashed the heat. I actually had spoken to Roddy Piper before he passed away about the podcast Jake and he did. I’m certainly glad we worked things out, as Roddy died [not] long after.”
Here are quick results from tonight’s WrestleCon SuperShow in New Orleans, Louisiana.
– Penta 0M defeated Joey Janela
Penta 0M picked up the win after a falcon arrow. There were a lot of piledriver teases throughout the match.
– Joey Ryan defeated Jerry Lawler by disqualification
Ryan came out wearing an outfit similar to Andy Kaufman and did a promo imitating him, challenging anyone to an intergender contest. His opponent was instead Jerry Lawler in a surprise. Lawler mentioned that it was 35 years ago today he piledrove Andy Kaufman at the Mid-South Coliseum and ripped on Ryan for imitating him. He also mentioned that Lawler could not piledrive him because it’s illegal in Louisiana.
Ryan told Lawler to touch his penis. He responded by throwing a fireball at Joey Ryan’s privates. Ryan ran from the ring as he was announced the winner.
– Tessa Blanchard, Tenille Dashwood, Nicole Savoy, Shazza McKenzie and Penelope Ford defeated MJF, Zane Riley, Caleb Konley, Jake Manning and Trevor Lee
This was a intergender match pitting five men against five women. The women picked up the win for their team by submitting the guys all at once.
– Tomohiro Ishii defeated Jeff Cobb
Ishii defeated Cobb after a brainbuster.
– Rey Horus and Rey Fenix defeated Bandido and Flamita
Fenix pinned Bandido with a muscle buster into a falcon to win the match. Match was said to be absolutely insane.
– The Mexicools (Super Crazy, Psicosis and Chico El Luchador) defeated Jason Cade & Matt Classic & Teddy Hart
Juventud Guerrera was also with the Mexicools at ringside. Mostly a comedy match. Super Crazy got the win for his team after rolling up Cade.
– Will Ospreay defeated Sammy Guevara, Shane Strickland and Adam Brooks in a fatal four way match
Ospreay scored the win with the Oscutter.
– Minoru Suzuki, Brian Cage and David Starr defeated Juice Robinson & Hiroshi Tanahashi & Sami Callihan
Suzuki scored the win for his team, submitting Callihan with an armbar. Tanahashi was a unannounced participant in tonight’s festivities.
– The Golden Lovers defeated Chuck Taylor and Flip Gordon
Taylor teased before the match who his tag partner could be, including a swamp monster, Dan Barry and Trent Baretta, who is the one actually being replaced iin the match. Gordon came out and said he didn’t come out here to team with Chuck Taylore wanted to talk to Omega about being a part of the All In show in September. Taylor eventually convinced Gordon to be his partner, though he lost the match after eating a Golden Trigger.
Both promotions announced the partnership today, and the theme of the show will be Impact vs. Lucha Underground matches. Pentagon, Fenix, King Cuerno, Drago, Aerostar, Killshot, Matanza, The Mack, and Jack Evans are among the Lucha Underground wrestlers scheduled to appear.
Austin Aries, Alberto El Patron, Eli Drake, Moose, Eddie Edwards, LAX, OVE and Sami Callihan, Trevor Lee, Brian Cage, Allie, Rosemary, and Taya Valkyrie have been announced for Impact, along with an appearance by Scott Steiner.
The show, which is part of WrestleCon’s WrestleMania week events, will take place at The Sugar Mill on April 6th and air live on Impact’s Twitch channel starting at 10 p.m. Eastern time. Their Twitch channel will also have “over 10 hours of original daily content” for three days during that weekend, including podcasts and behind-the-scenes footage.
