Several main events have been confirmed for WWE’s return to Europe next week ahead of the Clash in ItalyPLE event on Sunday, May 31. The show in Liverpool on the 28th will be headlined by Cody Rhodes defending his WWE Championship against Gunther, with Jacob Fatu vs Solo Sikoa in a Street Fight.
The June 2nd event will also be headlined by Cody Rhodes vs Gunther, with Jacob Fatu taking on Drew McIntyre in a Street Fight on that card. Several names have also been confirmed to appear on these shows, including Oba Femi, Rhea Ripley, Trick Williams, Charlotte Flair, Tiffany Stratton and Danhausen.
WWE European Tour Main Events
These are the current advertised matches for WWE’s European tour next week:
Liverpool – 5/28
WWE Championship Match: Cody Rhodes vs. Gunther
Street Fight: Jacob Fatu vs. Solo Sikoa
Intercontinental Championship Match: Penta vs. Dominik Mysterio
Plus the following are advertised: Oba Femi, Rhea Ripley, Trick Williams, Charlotte Flair, Tiffany Stratton, Danhausen
Strasbourg, France – 6/2
WWE Championship Match: Cody Rhodes vs. Gunther
Street Fight: Jacob Fatu vs. Drew McIntyre
Plus the following are advertised: Seth Rollins, The Vision, Oba Femi, Rhea Ripley , Trick Williams, Charlotte Flair, Tiffany Stratton
WWE European Summer Tour 2026 starts with LIVERPOOL IN ONE WEEK! 🤩
London’s O2 Arena is set to host WWE Raw and SmackDown on back-to-back days this summer.
WWE announced today that it has added a new SmackDown date to its June calendar. One night after Raw takes place at the venue, the O2 Arena in London will host SmackDown on Tuesday, June 23. Broadcast plans for the show were not disclosed. If it airs live on Netflix overseas, there would be a three-day gap between that airing and when the episode debuts in its normal Friday time slot in the United States.
This is SmackDown’s go-home show for WWE’s Night of Champions PLE that’s being held in Saudi Arabia the following weekend.
In addition to the SmackDown date, WWE has added a house show in Sheffield, England to the tour. That show is happening on Wednesday, June 24.
There are now 16 shows in total set for the tour, which has stops in the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, France, and Portugal. It includes WWE’s Clash in Italy PLE being held in Turin on May 31.
WWE summer 2026 European tour dates —
Thursday, May 28: House show at M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool, England
Friday, May 29: SmackDown at Olimpic Arena Badalona in Barcelona, Spain
Sunday, May 31: WWE Clash in Italy at Inalpi Arena in Turin, Italy
Monday, June 1: Raw at Inalpi Arena in Turin, Italy
Tuesday, June 2: House show at Zenith de Strasbourg in Strasbourg, France
Wednesday, June 3: House show at MEO Arena in Lisbon, Portugal
Thursday, June 4: House show at Palacio Vistalegre in Madrid, Spain
Friday, June 5: SmackDown at Unipol Arena in Bologna, Italy
Saturday, June 6: House show at Palazzo dello Sport in Rome, Italy
Sunday, June 7: House show at Nelson Mandela Forum in Florence, Italy
Monday, June 8: Raw at Accor Arena in Paris, France
Saturday, June 20: House show at Utilita Arena in Cardiff, Wales
Sunday, June 21: House show at Utilita Arena in Birmingham, England
Monday, June 22: Raw at O2 Arena in London, England
Tuesday, June 23: SmackDown at O2 Arena in London, England
Wednesday, June 24: House show at Utilita Arena in Sheffield, England
Tickets for the two newly announced shows are going on sale to the general public on Thursday, May 14 at 10 a.m. BST. A pre-sale will begin two days prior to that at the same time.
Three new dates have been added to WWE’s summer 2026 European tour.
At the end of May, WWE heads to Europe for a slate of events surrounding the company’s Clash in Italy PLE. There are now 14 shows scheduled following the addition of stops in Liverpool, Cardiff, and Birmingham. All three of those events are house shows, with the Liverpool event now set to kick off the tour on May 28. The other two shows are happening near the end of the tour on June 20-21.
Tickets for the new events are going on sale to the general public this Friday (April 10) at 10 a.m. local time.
Cody Rhodes, CM Punk, Drew McIntyre, Liv Morgan, Rhea Ripley, Stephanie Vaquer, Jade Cargill, and Gunther are some of the names advertised to compete on the tour. It consists of eight house shows, five TV dates, and one PLE.
Here are the full list of dates:
Thursday, May 28: House show at M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool, England
Friday, May 29: SmackDown at Olimpic Arena Badalona in Barcelona, Spain
Sunday, May 31: WWE Clash in Italy at Inalpi Arena in Turin, Italy
Monday, June 1: Raw at Inalpi Arena in Turin, Italy
Tuesday, June 2: House show at Zenith de Strasbourg in Strasbourg, France
Wednesday, June 3: House show at MEO Arena in Lisbon, Portugal
Thursday, June 4: House show at Palacio Vistalegre in Madrid, Spain
Friday, June 5: SmackDown at Unipol Arena in Bologna, Italy
Saturday, June 6: House show at Palazzo dello Sport in Rome, Italy
Sunday, June 7: House show at Nelson Mandela Forum in Florence, Italy
Monday, June 8: Raw at Accor Arena in Paris, France
Saturday, June 20: House show at Utilita Arena in Cardiff, Wales
Sunday, June 21: House show at Utilita Arena in Birmingham, England
Monday, June 22: Raw at O2 Arena in London, England
Following the June 8 episode of Raw, WWE briefly heads back to the United States before then returning for the final three stops of the tour.
🚨 Three NEW dates have been added on the WWE European Summer Tour, going through Liverpool (May 28), Cardiff (June 20) & Birmingham (June 21).
🎟️ Tickets for Liverpool & Cardiff go On Sale this Friday, April 10, with Exclusive Presale on Thursday, April 9, both at 10 AM BST.… pic.twitter.com/XMz6DJi2CM
WWE is making stops in Spain, Italy, France, Portugal, and the United Kingdom this summer.
This morning, WWE announced that Italy will be hosting its first-ever PLE this May. The show is part of a European tour that includes 11 stops in total, with three Raw episodes, two SmackDowns, and five house shows in addition to the PLE. Here are the full details:
Friday, May 29: SmackDown at Olimpic Arena Badalona in Barcelona, Spain
Sunday, May 31: WWE Clash in Italy at Inalpi Arena in Turin, Italy
Monday, June 1: Raw at Inalpi Arena in Turin, Italy
Tuesday, June 2: House show at Zenith de Strasbourg in Strasbourg, France
Wednesday, June 3: House show at MEO Arena in Lisbon, Portugal
Thursday, June 4: House show at Palacio Vistalegre in Madrid, Spain
Friday, June 5: SmackDown at Unipol Arena in Bologna, Italy
Saturday, June 6: House show at Palazzo dello Sport in Rome, Italy
Sunday, June 7: House show at Nelson Mandela Forum in Florence, Italy
Monday, June 8: Raw at Accor Arena in Paris France
Monday, June 22: Raw at O2 Arena in London, England
The general public ticket on-sale date for each event is Friday, March 13. CM Punk, Drew McIntyre, Cody Rhodes, Stephanie Vaquer, Jade Cargill, The Usos, Gunther, Sami Zayn, and Liv Morgan are the first names advertised for the tour.
Ahead of today’s PLE announcement, WWE filed a trademark for the term “WWE Clash” on February 17. Past Clash-branded shows include 2025’s Clash in Paris and 2024 and 2022’s Clash at the Castle (held in Cardiff and Glasgow).
A new date has been added to WWE’s January 2026 tour of Europe.
WWE announced today that it will hold a house show at Forest National in Brussels, Belgium on Tuesday, January 20. It will serve as the final stop of the European tour, which is happening in advance of the 2026 Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia.
Tickets for the Brussels live event are going on sale at 10 a.m. local time next Tuesday (November 25).
“WWE today announced that, due to overwhelming demand, the Road to Royal Rumble Tour will make an additional stop in Brussels, Belgium, on Tuesday, January 20, 2026, at the iconic Forest National,” WWE wrote.
“Fans in Belgium will get their chance to witness WWE’s world-class in-ring action up close as WWE Superstars gear up for one of the most explosive events of the year — the Royal Rumble. Attendees will have an opportunity to see Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes, Women’s World Champion Stephanie Vaquer, Jey Uso, Bronson Reed, Bron Breakker, LA Knight and many more.”
With this addition the European tour now has 12 dates, including four TV episodes:
Thursday, January 8: House show in Leipzig, Germany
Friday, January 9: SmackDown in Berlin, Germany
Saturday, January 10: House show in Glasgow, Scotland
Sunday, January 11: House show in Copenhagen, Denmark
Monday, January 12: Raw in Dusseldorf, Germany
Tuesday, January 13: House show in Mannheim, Germany
Thursday, January 15: House show in Newcastle, England
Friday, January 16: SmackDown in London, England
Saturday, January 17: House show in Gdansk, Poland
Sunday, January 18: House show in Nottingham, England
Monday, January 19: Raw in Belfast, Northern Ireland
Tuesday, January 20: House show in Brussels, Belgium
The Royal Rumble is being held in Riyadh on Saturday, January 31.
Bryan and I will be back tonight covering the weekend news and there is a lot of it. Our weekend show where we got into a ton of history and current news regarding Mania build, AEW’s getting boosted by the NCAA tournament, George Foreman and Bill Mercer, is on the site right now.
Janel Grant’s legal team has asked the court to let discovery and depositions start in her lawsuits against WWE, Vince McMahon and John Laurinaitis. All three defendants are trying to delay saying that until the judge rules regarding if the case can go forward or has to go to arbitration that such a thing should start. They are asking for internal communications and records from anyone they believe is significantly related to the case, current or former executives, employees contractors or agents at WWE, TKO and Endeavor all documents related to Vince McMahon’s payments to multiple women as well as travel records for McMahon, Laurinaitis and Brock Lesnar. (thanks to Post Wrestling)
The UFL opened its season Friday. Dwayne Johnson had flight problems and missed the game. The players had sent a letter to him regarding not agreeing to management terms and wanting pay increases and health care benefits and wanted to present it to him noting he himself was a former football player. I’m not suggesting one had to do with the other, but the labor issue there is real.
The back issue up on the site today is a very interesting one including WWE suspending a ton of wrestlers regarding a couple of PED investigations as well as the death of one of the most influential figures in pro wrestling history, Jim Barnett.
Last night’s UFC did 130,000 searches. It aired on ESPN 2 as opposed to just ESPN+, as was from Arena Ciudad in Mexico City with Brandon Moreno beating Steve Erceg in the main event.
WWE last night in Vienna, Austria:
Seth Rollins b Dominik Mysterio via pedigree
Jey Uso b Ludwig Kaiser. Both were cheered but Jey was cheered more. Kaiser pretended to do the yeet and attacked Jey because they knew he’d be cheered
Lyra Valkyria b Zoey Stark to keep the IC title. No crowd reaction for these two
LA Knight b Shinsuke Nakamura to keep the US titel
Randy Orton & Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley b Miz & Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa
Penta b Chad Gable
Rhea Ripley b Liv Morgan in a street fight after also putting Raquel Rodirguez through a table
Gunther b CM Punk in a cage match to keep the world title. Punk got a mixed reaction. Gunther was cheered like crazy in Vienna. Punk knew his role and did a heel promo saying nobody boos someone from Chicago. Punk then cut a promo after thanking the fans for being great and said what a great champion Gunther was. Gunther and Punk then sang together after the match (thanks to Markus Weinold)
The Mark Hitchock Super show has added Zack Sabre Jr. & Bad Dude Tito & Shane Haste vs. Hechicero & Michael Oku & Flip Gordon on 4/17 in Las Vegas.
We’re looking for reports on these shows:
TNA Friday night in St. Joseph, MO
TNA last night in St. Joseph, MO
WWE today in Amsterdam, Holland.
We’re looking for results, finishes and highlights to [email protected].
Charlie Dempsey vs. MMA legend Shinya Aoki takes place on the 4/17 Bloodsport show in Las Vegas.
Kurt Angle, Kane, Swerve Strickland, Jake Roberts, Booker T, Jim Ross. Jerry Lawler, Ric Flair, Earl Hebner and the Steiners appeared yesterday at Galaxy Con in Richmond, VA. (thanks to Samuel Batts).
Stepanie Vaquer was at the UFC show last night in Mexico City and was shown and iD’d on the broadcast.
Shun Skywalker & Homare won the Rey de Parejas tournament in Deragon Gate beating Kota Minoura & Jason Lee in the finals today in Kobe.
Mina Shirakawa’s last match in Stardom with her contract expiring and going to AEW will be on Tuesday at Korakuen Hall against Maika.
Mayu Iwatani faces Syuri for the IWGP women’s title in the semifinal of the 4/27 show at the Yokohama arena with Saya Kamitani vs. Tam Nakan loser must retire for the World of Stardom title.
At the Rizin show today, Kyoji Horiguchi announced he was vacating their flyweight title and said he was going to the UFC with his goal to become the first Japanese born UFC champion. Rizin announced a tournament for the title. Horiguchi was in UFC 2013-2016 and lost when challenging Demetrious Johnson for the flyweight title. Ariel Helwani broke this news regarding Horiguchi returning a few days ago.
Geoff Neal is injured and off UFC 314, where he was to face Carlos Prates.
NWA has announced for its 5/17 Crockett Cup show in Philadelphia that Mike Knox & Trevor Murdoch are the first team announced. Thom Latimer vs. Rhino for the NWA title takes place on the show plus the debut of Natalya, who is going on loan from WWE.
Rich Swann joins PCO and Bishop Dyer in the 20 man Rumble for the Maple Leaf Wrestling title on 5/10 in Toronto .
House of Glory announced a new resetling school in Orlando, FL, and they also intend to run shows in Orlando using talent trained there.
Great Lakes Wrestling will honor Baron Von Raschke on 5/3 in South Milwaukee, WI at the Bucyrus Club and Event Center. He’ll be doing a meet and greet. This will be part of Crusherfest.
WWE is spending a couple of weeks in Europe this summer surrounding Clash in Paris 2025.
The company announced a slate of new European tour dates today, including shows in Ireland, the United Kingdom, and France. The tour runs from August 22 through September 1 and features four TV dates, five house shows, and a PLE.
Here is the full schedule:
Friday, August 22: SmackDown at 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland
Saturday, August 23: House show at M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool, England
Sunday, August 24: House show at Utilita Arena in Newcastle, England
Monday, August 25: Raw at bp pulse Live in Birmingham, England
Tuesday, August 26: House show at AO Arena in Manchester, England
Wednesday, August 27: House show at First Direct Arena in Leeds, England
Thursday, August 28: House show at Utilita Arena in Cardiff, Wales
Friday, August 29: SmackDown at LDLC Arena in Lyon, France
Sunday, August 31: Clash in Paris PLE at Paris La Defense Arena in Paris, France
Monday, September 1: Raw at Paris La Defense Arena in Paris, France
The SmackDown event in Dublin marks the first time WWE has ever held TV in Ireland.
Ticket information for the newly added shows has not been announced yet, but WWE has a mailing list for those interested in receiving pre-sale details. Cody Rhodes, Gunther, Jey Uso, Tiffany Stratton, Seth Rollins, Rhea Ripley, Bianca Belair, Charlotte Flair, and Sami Zayn are the first names advertised for the tour.
After Backlash 2024 in Lyon was praised for having such a loud crowd, WWE is now bringing a PLE to France’s capital city for the first time with Clash in Paris.
The end of August will be a busy time for wrestling fans in Europe with AEW & NJPW’s Forbidden Door pay-per-view set to take place in London on August 24.
Friday, March 14: WWE SmackDown at Olimpic Arena in Barcelona, Spain
Friday, March 21: WWE SmackDown at Unipol Arena in Bologna, Italy
Friday, May 28: WWE SmackDown at O2 Arena in London, England
The European tour is happening from March 14-31 during the build to WrestleMania 41. Orton’s plans for the April 19-20 event in Las Vegas have not been made official yet, but it looks like he’ll be facing Kevin Owens. Orton returned at Elimination Chamber by saving Sami Zayn from a post-match attack by Owens. He dropped Owens with an RKO and was going to punt him in the head until officials stopped the attack.
Elimination Chamber was Orton’s first appearance since being laid out by a piledriver from Owens last November.
CM Punk is no longer being advertised for two WWE European tour dates that he was previously listed for.
WWE’s website has removed Punk from the advertised talent for Raw’s episodes in Glasgow on March 24 and London on March 31. He was never officially announced for these dates but had been included among the wrestlers who were advertised as appearing.
Punk is still scheduled for the following tour dates:
Monday, March 17: WWE Raw at Forest National in Brussels, Belgium
Friday, March 21: WWE SmackDown at Unipol Arena in Bologna, Italy
Saturday, March 22: House show at SSE Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland
Sunday, March 23: House show at Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham, England
Friday, March 28: WWE SmackDown at O2 Arena in London, England
Saturday, March 29: House show at Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna, Austria
Sunday, March 30: House show at Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam, Netherlands
The European tour is happening from March 14-31 during the build to WrestleMania 41. It’s expected that Punk will face Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns in a triple threat match at WrestleMania in Las Vegas this April.
*Lots of new news regarding AEW plans, new television show, how this impacts AEW, who will be the stars of the different shows and more.
*WWE creates a new world championship belt, the story behind it, the draft and changes in draft plans, and what NXT talent is ready now and can be stars later
*Full coverage of Stardom’s All-Star Grand Queendom, one of the biggest women’s events of the past 25 years. We look at business, Mercedes Mone, creation of a new championship, PPV numbers, the count out finish with match-by-match coverage with star ratings.
*The lawsuit filed by former WWE writer Britney Abrahams against the company, including stereotyping wrestlers, comments by writers, and much more
*WWE and AEW major shows between now an the end of August, matches, tickets out, interest levels and top feuds
*The next TripleMania show with the El Hijo del Vikingo vs. Kenny Omega rematch
*UFC full coverage from Saturday, results, details, business and future prospects
*The most detailed look at al the television ratings this past week, including what competition means, how things compare to a year ago, and what major change this week in television and how that impacts prime time wrestling
*Dragon Gate’s next major show
*All Japan Champion Carnival update
*Will Ospreay future
*New Japan Best of the Super Junior notes
*Notes on the New Japan shows this week
*Aaron Henare talks his greatest match with Shingo Takagi
*One of the greatest woman wrestlers of all-time, at 61 wins a tag team title
*The story of Don Luce, one of the most respected pro wrestling historians
*One of the all-time greats will have a statue put up in his home town
*Notes on the new season of Dark Side of the ring
*Devon Nicholson talks about the claims of Abdullah the Butcher
*New book deal about a gangland murder of a major 80s star
*Promotions piggybacking around AEW at Wembley Stadium
*MLW TV future notes
*Owen Hart Cup
*Kota Ibushi update
*Notes from All Access
*ticket advances for WWE & AEW shows
*Streaming and international TV numbers
*Two legendary wrestlers who later did MMA have documentaries out on them and finalists for Emmy Awards
*Bellator’s return to Hawaii
*Business notes on Tank Davis vs Ryan Garcia and crossover with the pro wrestling audience
*All of what went down with Nate Diaz in New Orleans
*Peacock business number and what that means for WWE
*Changes in Raw
*Law firm investigating WWE merger
*Lots of WWE injuries and talent questioning some of the training
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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Sunday Update
Bryan and I will be back tonight talking the latest news from the weekend such as the draft, European tour, AEW stuff and the week upcoming with Wrestling Obsever Radio. You can send questions to [email protected]
We’ll have more in the issue, but Gable Steveson went back to amateur wrestling at the U.S. Open over the weekend and not only destroyed everyone en route to winning the tournament, but was named Most Outstanding Wrestler regardless of the weight class.
Steveson faced the best heavyweights in the country, including NCAA champion Mason Parris, and won all four bouts with four tech falls (meaning ahead by ten points when it was stopped) and outscoring opponents 44-1. The win would put Steveson theoretically on the 6/10 event at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ, where he would face whoever is deemed as the No. 2 heavyweight, likely Nick Gwiazdowski, who Steveson beat in the finals. They would do a best of three and the winner would represent the U.S. at the world championships.
With the ease that he beat Parris, Steveson probably has a lot of regrets about not returning to attempt to win a third NCAA title earlier this year. As noted in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Steveson had an idea to do that as a surprise, but for reasons not detailed, it fell through.
There was a pro wrestling connection at yesterday’s San Francisco Giants vs. San Diego Padres baseball game in Mexico City — the first major league regular season game ever held there. Atlantis threw out the first pitch and WWE’s Rey Mysterio was among several wrestlers, mostly from CMLL, who were special guests.
WWE results from yesterday in Paris, France, which was the final night of the European tour (Thanks to Sebastian Mantilla Vargas)
Raw Women’s Champion Bianca Belair defeated Iyo Sky via DQ in a title match when Dakota Kai and Bayley interfered and Asuka made the save.
Asuka & Belair defeated Damage Ctrl when Belair pinned Bayley after the KOD
Damian Priest defeated Dolph Ziggler after interference from Dominik Mysterio. Dominik got ridiculous heat trying to cut a promo.
Dominik Mysterio defeated Dexter Lumis with help from Priest.
Baron Corbin defeated Rick Boogs for his first win of the year. The crowd cheered Corbin a ton and booed Boogs. This may have been an impromptu change since Boogs beat Corbin on every other show.
Seth Rollins defeated The Miz. This segment went almost 40 minutes with fans singing for about 35 minutes. Miz got a major babyface reaction but cut a promo in French turning himself heel.
Alpha Academy defeated Maximum Male Models. The Models first claimed they were from Paris, the fashion capital of the world, but then ran down the city because of all the garbage in the streets.
US Champion Austin Theory defeated Bobby Lashley and Bronson Reed to retain. Lashley speared Reed but Theory pinned Reed.
Cody Rhodes defeated Finn Balor. Rhodes was the most over of anyone. He cut a promo saying after all the sellouts in Paris that WWE should run a PLE in Paris.
We’re looking for reports from tonight’s WWE show in Bossier City, LA, with results, finishes and highlights to [email protected].
In Google trends for the week, the Giants-Padres game in Mexico City was No. 3 for today earlier in the day, and Mike Perry, who beat Luke Rockhold in the main event of the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship event, was No. 9.
The Bare Knuckle show from last night, which got the most interest by far of anything in combat sports, was No. 6 yesterday with 100,000 searches. On Friday, the new Guardians of the Galaxy move was No. 9 (Dave Bautista in the movie) and No. 18 was the WWE Draft with 20,000 searches.
Perry (3-0) beat Rockhold via second round stoppage at the Bare Knuckle event in Denver. Rockhold reportedly won the first round and hurt Perry early, but Perry hurt him back late in the round. His mouth looked like hell when it was stopped in the second round with some teeth knocked out. It’s really sad that these MMA fighters can’t make more money in their sport and go into this, but they are obviously getting paid well. Eddie Alvarez beat Chad Mendes via decision over five rounds in the other big fight on the show.
However, the biggest thing on the show was after Perry beat Rockhold, he called out Conor McGregor, who was at ringside. They had a staredown in the ring and McGregor acted like he’d be willing to face Perry. Perry also issued a challenge to Donald Cerrone.
Tonight on A&E in the wrestling block at 7 PM will be a replay of the Steve Austin biography episode. At 9 PM, it will be WWE’s Most Wanted Treasures featuring Steve Austin. Then at 10 PM, it will be the debut of Stone Cold Takes on America. This is the second week in a row A&E has built the Sunday night block around Austin after doing solid ratings last week.
I have got a lot of responses to three of the recent matches in NJPW. I will try and watch them, but those getting a number of rave reviews were Hiromu Takahashi’s IWGP Junior Heavyweight title defense against Yoshinobu Kanemaru on Thursday, yesterday’s tag title match with Aussie Open vs. Mikey Nicholls & Shane Haste, and the KOPW title match where Taichi won the title from Shingo Takagi in a match that went more than 43:00.
Suzu Suzuki, who announced a few days ago that she was leaving the Prominence promotion, is not officially announced as being with Stardom, but unless something unforeseen happens, she will end up as a regular there.
Tommy Dreamer was back producing at Saturday’s Impact tapings at Chicago’s Cicero Stadium. Also producing was Ricky Morton.
I don’t know how an anonymous person on Twitter is claiming that the new Britt Baker AEW T-shirt with her black eye promotes domestic violence. Baker is shutting it down and it was a story worthy of Fox News, so here were are. Literally, an unnamed person on Twitter said something ridiculous. Check out like every single person in wrestling’s Twitter feeds. (Thanks to Curtis Hierro)
Championship Wrestling from Florida debuts with Kevin Sullivan as booker with tapings on 5/27 and 5/28 in Pompano Beach, FL.
*Lots of new news regarding AEW plans, new television show, how this impacts AEW, who will be the stars of the different shows and more.
*WWE creates a new world championship belt, the story behind it, the draft and changes in draft plans, and what NXT talent is ready now and can be stars later
*Full coverage of Stardom’s All-Star Grand Queendom, one of the biggest women’s events of the past 25 years. We look at business, Mercedes Mone, creation of a new championship, PPV numbers, the count out finish with match-by-match coverage with star ratings.
*The lawsuit filed by former WWE writer Britney Abrahams against the company, including stereotyping wrestlers, comments by writers, and much more
*WWE and AEW major shows between now an the end of August, matches, tickets out, interest levels and top feuds
*The next TripleMania show with the El Hijo del Vikingo vs. Kenny Omega rematch
*UFC full coverage from Saturday, results, details, business and future prospects
*The most detailed look at al the television ratings this past week, including what competition means, how things compare to a year ago, and what major change this week in television and how that impacts prime time wrestling
*Dragon Gate’s next major show
*All Japan Champion Carnival update
*Will Ospreay future
*New Japan Best of the Super Junior notes
*Notes on the New Japan shows this week
*Aaron Henare talks his greatest match with Shingo Takagi
*One of the greatest woman wrestlers of all-time, at 61 wins a tag team title
*The story of Don Luce, one of the most respected pro wrestling historians
*One of the all-time greats will have a statue put up in his home town
*Notes on the new season of Dark Side of the ring
*Devon Nicholson talks about the claims of Abdullah the Butcher
*New book deal about a gangland murder of a major 80s star
*Promotions piggybacking around AEW at Wembley Stadium
*MLW TV future notes
*Owen Hart Cup
*Kota Ibushi update
*Notes from All Access
*ticket advances for WWE & AEW shows
*Streaming and international TV numbers
*Two legendary wrestlers who later did MMA have documentaries out on them and finalists for Emmy Awards
*Bellator’s return to Hawaii
*Business notes on Tank Davis vs Ryan Garcia and crossover with the pro wrestling audience
*All of what went down with Nate Diaz in New Orleans
*Peacock business number and what that means for WWE
*Changes in Raw
*Law firm investigating WWE merger
*Lots of WWE injuries and talent questioning some of the training
Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
Friday Update
Garrett Gonzales and I will be doing a show with Steve Keirn, talking Florida wrestling, WWE training, The Fabulous Ones and more today, and talking about his new autobiography. Bryan Alvarez and I will be doing our weekend show talking the draft tomorrow night.
Smackdown tonight is in Corpus Christi, TX for the first draft show. Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn vs. The Usos for the tag titles is the key match plus the draft. The building was set up for 7,536 fans. Cora Jade, Pretty Deadly and A.J. Styles are all there. No Drew McIntyre even though he’s listed as being drafted tonight.
Both WWE shows today are sold out, as the Belfast, Northern Ireland show has been sold out for weeks.
We’re looking for reports on these weekend shows:
*Smackdown tonight in Corpus Christi (dark matches and anything off the air)
*Impact TV tapings tonight in Chicago
*NXT house show tonight in Jacksonville
*WWE house show Saturday in Beaumont, TX
*WWE house show Saturday in Paris, France
*Impact TV tapings Saturday in Chicago
*WWE show Sunday in Bossier City, LA
We’re looking for results, finishes and highlights from all these events to [email protected]
Tonight is the 67th anniversary of pro wrestling at Arena Mexico. The first show was April 26, 1956. The show is being headlined by the finals of the Universal champion of champions tournament with Templario vs. Atlantis Jr. vs. Dragon Rojo Jr. Plus Princesa Sugehit defends the women’s title against Zeuxis.
Results from today’s WWE house show in Belfast, Northern Ireland:
*Bianca Belair b Iyo Sky-DQ for the Raw women’s title
*Belair & Asuka b Damage Ctrl 2 vs. 3 when Belair pinned Dakota Kai with the KOD
*Damian Priest b Dolph Ziggler due to help from Dominik Mysterio
*Dominik Mysterio b Dexter Lumis with his feet on the ropes
*Rick Boogs b Baron Corbin with a press powerslam
*Seth Rollins b The Miz with a curb stomp
*Alpha Academy b Maximum Male Models
*Austin Theory won a three-way over Bobby Lashley and Bronson Reed to keep the U.S. title by pinning Reed after Lashley speared Reed
*Cody Rhodes b Finn Balor in a great match. Rhodes thanked Balor for inventing Bullet Club and without him there would have been no American Nightmare. He said he hoped to come back to Belfast with the title. (thanks to James S and Nfallon)
Here are the Backlash current odds from BetOnline
Brock Lesnar -150 Cody Rhodes +110
Seth Rollins +110 Omos -150
Austin Theory -125 Bronson Reed +150 Bobby Lashley +185
Rhea Ripley -1600 Zelina Vega +700
Matt Riddle & Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn -300 Usos & Solo Sikoa +200
MLW champion Alex Hammerstone said that the injury he recently received was a torn adductor muscle.
Those who signed up for the pre-sale for the AEW show at Wembley Stadium should have received their code earlier today. The idea of unique codes was to prevent scalpers. Those who have subscriptions to the AEW FITE service (a paying service in Europe where you get commercial free Dynamite & Rampage live) are also getting special codes and will have the first crack at tickets. VIP ticket sales are Tuesday from 9-11 a.m. local time. For those who got codes the presale will be Tuesday from 11 a.m. until Thursday at 8 p.m.
Among the matches scheduled to be taped tonight for Impact in Cicero, IL are
*Steve Maclin & Champagne Singh & Mahabali Shera vs. PCO & two mystery partners
*Jonathan Gresham vs. Mike Bailey
*Masha Slamovich vs. Killer Kelly
*Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley vs. Eddie Edwards & Kenny King
*Yuya Uemura vs. Bhupinder Gujjar vs. Moose & Brian Myers
*Jody Threat vs. Alisha Edwards
*The Coven vs. Deonna Purrazzo & Jordynne Grace
UFC has a full ESPN+ show from the Apex in Las Vegas from 4:30 – 10:30 p.m Eastern time tomorrow
*Hailey Cowan (137.5) vs. Jamey-Lyn Horth (135.5) – Cowan missed weight and had to forfeit 20 percent of her purse
*Journey Newson (138.5) vs. Marcus McGhee (140)
*Stephanie Egger (135) vs. Irina Alekseeva (140) – Alekseeva missed weight by four pounds and had to forfeit 30 percent of her purse
*Cody Durden (126) vs. Charles Johnson (125.5)
*Martin Buday (265) vs. Jake Collier (265.5)
*Josh Quinlan (169) vs. Trey Waters (171)
*Marcos Rogerio de Lima (262.5) vs. Waldo Cortes-Acosta (258)
*Julian Erosa (145.5) vs. Fernando Padilla (145.5)
*Rodolfo Vieira (186) vs. Cody Brundage (185.5)
*Caio Borralho (185.5) vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk (185.5)
*Song Yadong (136) vs. Ricky Simon (136)
Braun Strowman will serve as the Pace Car driver at the NASCAR race in Dover, DE on Sunday. It will air on FS1.
The Bamboozle, a New Jersey music festival that was going to host GCW shows, was canceled today. The festival was from 5/5 to 5/7 . The city of Atlantic city said that Bamboozle did not receive final permits after organizers failed to submit the necessary paperwork by the city’s deadline.
70s and 80s star Ron Fuller will get back in the ring on 5/6 in Rocky Top, TN, teaming with Mike Jackson for a tag team match.
Cody Garbrandt is expected to face Mario Bautista on the 8/19 UFC show according to MMA Fighting.
Other Notes
Abdullah the Butcher will appear for AIW Wrestling on 5/20 in Eastlake, OH at Force Sports.
XICW on 5/27 in Lincoln Park, MI at the Community Center features an autograph appearance of Kurt Angle.
WAR on 5/20 in Lima, OH at the Empowered Sports Center.
House of Glory Wrestling on 5/19 at the NYC Arena in Jamaica, NY has Jacob Fatu vs. Matt Cardona for the HOG title plus Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin vs. Midas Black & Jay Lyon
In the current issue of the Observer, there was a mention of Canadian wrestler Michael Blais doing an eight hour Infinity Gauntlet match on 5/13 as a fundraiser for the Stollery Children’s Hospital in Edmonton. It will be live streamed on YouTube from 10 a.m. to 7 pm. Eastern time. For more info on this you can go here.
LFA on 6/16 in Owensboro, KY at the Owensboro Sportscenter has John Sweeney (12-3) vs. Allan Begosso (7-2-1) for the interim bantamweight title and Dylan Budka (5-1) vs. Azamat Bekioev (15-3). It will air live on Fight Pass.
ISW tonight in Avenel, NJ, has a steel cage TLC match with Crowbar vs. Rick Recon. Also on he show is Bull James, Maven and Danny Morrison.
Floyd Mayweather’s next exhibition fight will be against John Gotti III on 6/11 from the Florida Live Arena in Sunrise, FL
WWE is heading back to Europe for a house show tour in April 2023.
It was announced today that WWE will return to the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland, and France for a house show tour that will run through April 26-29, 2023. The dates and locations for the events are listed below:
Wednesday, April 26, 2023 — Birmingham, UK (Utilita Arena)
Thursday, April 27, 2023 — Manchester, UK (AO Arena)
Friday, April 28, 2023 — Belfast, Northern Ireland (SSE Arena)
Saturday, April 29, 2023 — Paris, France (Accor Arena)
It’s advertised that the shows will feature Bobby Lashley, Seth Rollins, Bianca Belair, Matt Riddle, Bayley, Kevin Owens, AJ Styles, Finn Balor, and more.
Ticket pre-sales for the UK and Northern Ireland events will begin at 9 a.m. BST this Wednesday (October 26). The general public on-sales will start this Friday (October 28) at 9 a.m. BST.
The pre-sale for the Paris event begins at 10 a.m. CEST this Thursday (October 27), with the general public on-sale starting at 10 a.m. CEST on Friday (October 28).
Major players from five companies test positive for COVID causing changes in television or major shows.
Sunday’s Fukuoka Dome show and a look back at the previous pro wrestling events in the building that featured some of the biggest American stars of all-time.
The Discovery/Warner merger, what was said at the earnings call about cutbacks, and the different ways this can go for AEW
Streaming vs. television and the realities of the numbers
Wrestling on television in every category, who is up, who is down, factoring out cable losses, and reasons behind the ups and downs.
WWE & AEW shows coming up between now and August ticket sales, interest in the secondary market, how many seats WWE is setting up for the stadium shows
WrestleMania Backlash card update and business update
Saturday’s UFC report
New wrestling history television show series being filmed and who is behind it
Karl Lauer and the growth of the Cauliflower Alley Club
Ratings of all the television shows of the past week
Death of Toro Bill Jr.
Preview of TripleMania
Unique statement by L.A. Park about TripleMania
All Japan, Dragon Gate, NOAH and other Japanese events
This week’s PWG show
MLW answers the WWE’s attempt to get the lawsuit by MLW thrown out
Personnel changes in Impact
AEW injury notes
AEW’s Double or Nothing show
Updates on ticket sales for WWE & AEW shows
Promotion gets major television deal with Amazon Prime
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Monday News Update
Bryan and I will be back tonight talking Raw and the latest wrestling news from the weekend. You can also send questions for the show to [email protected]
WWE finished its tour of Europe with the show in Leipzig, Germany yesterday. The only Raw guys on the tour were Bobby Lashley, Randy Orton and Riddle. It’s a tough trip but they should be able to get to Greensboro tonight for the show as all are in PPV matches. The big item is probably however they explain what the stipulations will be for the six-man tag team match that was made on Friday with Orton & Riddle & Drew McIntyre vs. Usos & Roman Reigns.
No matches were announced for Raw in Greensboro tonight. The ratings-killing NBA playoffs have the Philadelphia 76ers vs. Miami Heat at 7:30 p.m. and Dallas Mavericks vs. Phoenix Suns at 10 p.m. For tomorrow, NXT goes against Bucks-Celtics and the the last half hour and West Coast feed goes against Warriors-Grizzles. Dynamite on Wednesday faces 76ers vs. Heat and the West Coast feed goes against Mavericks-Suns. Both Smackdown and Rampage got killed doing record lows on Friday by the NBA playoffs and NFL draft. Smackdown being taped may have hurt with younger viewers who were way down but the older viewers were not down at all from the prior week.
Stu Grayson was removed from the AEW roster page today. Nothing has been officially said by AEW but thus far when people are removed, they are basically gone. AEW hasn’t confirmed he’s gone but the word going around is that his contract expired and the two sides didn’t come to terms on a new deal. Grayson was one of those guys that nobody really talks about and wasn’t a big star, but inside the ring he was great.
The WWE earnings call will be on Thursday, so a lot of business news should break. Both Nick Khan and Stephanie McMahon are usually two of the key people on the calls.
Thanks to Matt Wexler. Denton D and CJ Johnston for the reports from last night’s Raw show in Fairfax, VA.
Street Profits b Alpha Academy
Theory b Finn Balor to keep U.S. title
Omos b Reggie
A.J. Styles b Damian Priest-DQ
Cody Rhodes b Seth Rollins
Bianca Belair won four-way over Becky Lynch, Rhea Ripley and Liv Morgan
We’re looking for reports from tonight in Greensboro for Raw with Main Event matches and any dark matches as well as anything else not notable from the TV show.
We’re doing polls on these shows from the weekend so if you saw any of them, we’re looking for a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]
Stardom Cinderella finals on Friday
NOAH second night at Sumo Hall on Saturday
AAA TripleMania on Saturday
New Japan Dontaku on Sunday
John Cena will be one of many celebrities co-founding a new Bourbon brand produced by Thomas Ashborne that debuts this month. Cena said he has spent 18 months developing the drink with the company.
Young Rock will be introducing Stone Cold Steve Austin as a character on the show. Veteran wrestler Luke Hawx, who has been on the TV show heels, will play Austin on the show. He first meets Austin who Austin is the ring announcer. Dwayne Johnson revealed Hawx in the role today. Today is Dwayne Johnson’s 50th birthday. He was also listed on the list of 100 Asian and Pacific Islanders who have most significantly impacted American culture and society over the past year.
AEW
Tony Khan is on a TNT commercial pushing Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.
UFC
Calvin Kattar vs. Josh Emmett was announced for the 6/18 show in Austin, TX as the main event.
The new season of Ultimate Fighter with Team Pena vs. Team Nunes debuts tomorrow night on ESPN+ and will have new episodes airing every Tuesday for the next 2 weeks. There will be men heavyweights and women flyweights as the weight classes.
Other Notes
Pro Wrestling Eve has its 12th anniversary special on 5/7 in London at Patchworks Leyton on 258 Church Rd. They will also be inducting someone into the Eve Hall of Fame.
Maria Kanellis and Bobby Cruise did a debut show called Women’s Wrestling Army in Providence, RI before about 50 fans: Miranda Alize b Lady Luck, Trish Adora d Big Swole, Kayla Sparks b Mazzerati, Tasha Steelz b Taya Valkyrie (neither the Impact nor AAA tile were at stake), Queen Bee b Christina Mane, Alex Gracia b Joey Threat-DQ, Alex Gracia b Jody Threat in a no DQ match, Queen Aminata b Gabby Ortiz, Nicole Savoy b Janai Kai, Allisyn Kay & Marti Belle b Willow Nightingale & Holidead. Holidead turned on Nightingale after the match (thanks to Arya Whitner)
Metro Pro Wrestling from Saturday night in Southgate, MI: Father Marquis & Brother Donte & Brother Ultra b Big Murph & Jason Demilo & Dean Hendrix, Kyler Coleman b Sam Beale, Lamario Starr b Iron Eagle, Isaiah Moore b Alex Van Zant, Soultaker b Spyder, Soultaker DDQ Molluck, Tanner Nix b Zach Gowen, Jack Price b Forever Young, Tommy Vendetta won gauntlet over Sean Lawhorn, LJ Lawrence, Lamario Starr, Brutus Atwell an Matt Breeding, TJ Meyer & Solo b Dre Jacobs & Chris Moore, Jason Hotch b Tony Deppen (thanks to Leonard Brand)
AIW Cibernetico de Mayo takes place 5/5 in Lakewood, OH at the Winchester Music Tavern. Eddie Kingston will headline for the promotion on 5/21 at the Tadmor Shrine in Akron, OH.
Paradigm Pro Wrestling returns to IWTV on Wednesday night at 10 p.m. Eastern and 7 p.m. Pacific super middleweight champion Jordan Blade vs. Sage Phillips, a trainee of Jonathan Gresham, under UWFi rules. Dominic Garrini vs. Austin Connelly, Gnaris Garvin vs.Derek Neal and Ray Jaz, a former All-American wrestler, faces Brandon Williams. This will run every Wednesday night for eight weeks.
Former ROH announcer Jeff Gorman has a new WWF history book called “King of New York,” which covers the first WrestleMania and finishes with the name change to WWE in 2002. He pick an MVP for every PPV show and also crowns the greatest performer in WWF history.
Kayla Miracle, who placed second in the women’s world championships in 2021 and a member of the last Olympic team, will battle for a spot on the U.S. World team in Final X on 6/8 at the Hulu Theater in Madison Square Garden.
The Springfield Lucky Horseman, a minor league baseball team Jeff Jarrett owns part of, has announced Jerry Lawler appearing at their 6/23 game and Kevin Nash at their 7/8 game, where they are asking fans to come dressed as their favorite wrestler.
WWE’s next European tour kicks off with a house show at Utilita Arena in Newcastle on Thursday, April 28. It will feature four house shows in total, with the tour concluding at QUARTERBACK Immobilien Arena in Leipzig on Sunday, May 1.
The following matches are set for the Newcastle and Leipzig shows:
Drew McIntyre vs. Bobby Lashley
SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair vs. Sasha Banks
Raw Tag Team Champions RK-Bro (Randy Orton & Riddle) vs. SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos (Jimmy & Jey Uso)
Gunther vs. Sami Zayn
The tour also includes stops in London, England (Friday, April 29) and Paris, France (Saturday, April 30). Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns and Ronda Rousey are only set to appear at those London and Paris events.
McIntyre will challenge for Reigns’ title at the London and Paris shows. Charlotte will defend her SmackDown Women’s Championship against Rousey at the events.
RK-Bro vs. The Usos is also set to take place in London and Paris.
Roman Reigns has been added to two stops on WWE’s upcoming European house show tour.
WWE has announced that Reigns will be wrestling in London on Friday, April 29 and Paris on Saturday, April 30. This will be the first time Reigns has wrestled in Europe since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
Ronda Rousey is also set for the London and Paris house shows. The tour will feature wrestlers from the SmackDown roster.
The tour has four stops in total, though Reigns and Rousey have only been announced for London and Paris. The tour dates are:
Thursday, April 28 — Utilita Arena in Newcastle, England
Friday, April 29 — The O2 in London, England
Saturday, April 30 — Accor Arena in Paris, France
Sunday, May 1 — QUARTERBACK Immobilien Arena in Leipzig, Germany
Reigns currently holds the Universal Championship. He’ll face off with WWE Champion Brock Lesnar in a winner-take-all title unification match in the main event of WrestleMania 38 night two on Sunday, April 3.
