Major changes have taken place to both of today’s WWE Holiday Tour house shows in New York City and Tampa, Florida.
WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns will not take part in the advertised main event in Tampa as he, Jimmy Uso and Jey Uso vs. Drew McIntyre, Sir Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods had been the advertised main event. McIntyre and Sheamus are now challenging The Usos for the SmackDown Tag Team titles on that show.
At Madison Square Garden in New York, Becky Lynch, Seth Rollins, WWE Champion Big E and Bianca Belair are off that show. Big E vs. Rollins vs. Kevin Owens, and Lynch vs. Belair in steel cage matches had been the advertised main events. Edge was brought in for MSG and will now be facing Owens in a cage match in a first-time matchup. Natalya was also reportedly brought in to New York for the show.
There is no word from WWE as to the reason for the changes to the lineups, but earlier in the week, it was reported that a number of both WWE talents and staff had tested positive for COVID-19 following last weekend’s house shows. Sunday marked the beginning of a five-day stretch in which WWE is running two shows a day. On Saturday, WWE holds their Day 1 pay-per-view in Atlanta, GA.
Dave Meltzer noted on Twitter that “there are people being kept off the shows who haven’t tested positive to minimize risk so the PPV headliners are at less risk of having to miss the event on Saturday.”
While not directly admitting he has the virus, Rollins did tweeted the following on Sunday indicating he was home:
Merry Covid Christmas to me!!!! I LOVE FOOTBALL!!!
Joseph Currier looks at the successes and failures of WWE’s latest nostalgia episode.
WWE went back to the nostalgia well for last week’s Raw Reunion episode.
The show featured dozens of returns and was capped off by Steve Austin, Ric Flair, and Hulk Hogan all making appearances. Austin led a toast to Monday Night Raw to close the episode, with all of the returning wrestlers coming out and taking part in what was genuinely a sincere moment. Austin didn’t give out stunners to anyone. There was no one to come crash the segment. He spoke about all of the returners being a family, and it was intended to be a real celebration for all of them.
Raw Reunion also included an increasingly rare appearance by John Cena, D-Generation X, Kevin Nash & Scott Hall saved Seth Rollins from AJ Styles, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson, Bray Wyatt attacked Mick Foley and put him in the Mandible Claw, and there were nine 24/7 title changes. R-Truth started and ended the night as 24/7 Champion, with Drake Maverick (twice), Pat Patterson, Gerald Brisco, Kelly Kelly, Candice Michelle, Madusa, and Ted DiBiase holding the title between Truth’s reigns.
The new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter has details on WWE’s second quarter financials. Financially, things look great. But product popularity continues to fall, slowly but steadily.
We cover how WWE was able to beat most projections and bring in higher profits in the second quarter, even with most key metrics showing declines.
We discuss how the company’s finances look going forward, as well as two big television deals on the horizon.
We also have news on what could end up being the most important pro wrestling show of the year, AEW’s TV debut. We break down the two key busiess aspects to the story, and discuss what those in the TV industry expect in terms of ratings for the show.
We cover Jerry Lawler’s lawsuit against Hardeman County, TN regarding the death of son Brian one year ago.
The new issue also covers C.M. Punk and the rumor mill that seems to follow him everywhere. We talk about the reaction to his discussion of AEW in a recent interview, as well as those who say they expect him to go back to WWE.
We also have the latest on the SummerSlam card, and how the show is doing on the secondary ticket market. We also cover how the other WWE shows in Toronto that week are doing in terms of ticket sales.
We have coverage of UFC 240 from this past weekend, and have business notes on nthe show, and also detailed television ratings for the prelims.
There’s also a run down of the ratings of all the major TV shows, along with detailed demo info for the WWE shows and results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.
ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
THURSDAY NEWS UPDATE
Garrett Gonzalez and I will be doing a show tomorrow night on Harley Race. There is so much to say about him. The NWA did a nice video of Nick Aldis talking about him and I’m sure there will be many others. Race epitomized blue collar pro wrestling, just a tough guy who did believable interviews and was a master performer inside the ring. An ironic part about Race is some modern fans who hear old-timers complain about using too many finishers and them not being finishes, nobody did that move than Race. It was always funny that he’d use every finishing of the 70s even in his TV squash matches, including piledrivers, and then job guy would kick out of all of them until he’d win with his delayed vertical suplex. A few people grumbled about it then, but not many. And in title matches, he did it even more. He was exceptional at the art of beating someone while elevating them at the same time. When he’d face the upcoming athletic young babyface as champion, he’d win at the end, but give them so much offense against the world champion that people left with the idea that in a few years that guy was going to be something. When Don Muraco first came to Florida in 1974, I can recall he and Race having a classic where Muraco came within a hair of beating Race, who was not the world champion at the time, but as a former champion and perennial top contender, was protected in booking and it was matches with Race and Jack Brisco that made Muraco into a babyface people thought would be world champion some day. You can now substitute Muraco with literally every top young wrestler of that era and the story was identical.
No matter how it goes, the on-sale for the AEW show in Washington, DC tomorrow on 10/2, the first TNT live show, will be a major news story. All Out will establish the path to the women’s championship and the title will be decided on the first show. It will be similar to how the men’s title match was created coming out of Double or Nothing.
Donald Trump’s sons are expected to be at ringside supporting Colby Covington in his fight with Robbie Lawler on Saturday in Newark, NJ on ESPN.
The former What Culture promotion, later rebranded Defiant, announced today that it was folding. The promotion was unable to use the kind of talent it could in the past due to the independent star era drying up.
WWE
WWE has canceled the entire Smackdown tour this coming weekend. They had scheduled shows on Saturday in Bowling Green,KY, Sunday in Danville, IL and Monday in Kalamazoo, MI. Refunds are available at the point or purchase. Can’t say I thought I’d see a day where entire tours are canceled at the last minute.
Dave Heath aka Gangrel was among the guest teachers this week at the Performance Center.
Sami Zayn and Rene Young will be part of the Sam Jam Comedy House in Toronto on 8/9 at 8 p.m. It will be a fund raiser for SamiForSyria, Zayn’s charity that helps provide medical care for Syrian refugees. You can also donate to SamiForSyria.com. Tickets are $15 in advance at baddogtheater.com/calendar
Finn Balor was on FS 1 doing an interview during the MLS All-Star game in Orlando. He noted that Orlando City manager and manager of one of the All-Star teams James O’Connor was his next door neighbor growing up in Ireland. (thanks to Brian Henke)
UFC
David Branch is off the 9/14 show in Vancouver, BC. Andrew Sanchez, who was Branch’s scheduled opponent, will now face Marvin Vettori.
Also added to the Vancouver show is Brad Katona vs. Hunter Azure and Michel Pereira vs Sergey Khandozhko.
MISCELLANEOUS
There is an incredible amount of media publicity in Mexico City right now for Cain Velasquez’s pro wrestling debut on Saturday night’s TripleMania show.
Crowbar Press is releasing what looks to be a major historical book in English called “The Rikidozan Years.”Japanese historians Koji Miyamoto and Haruo Yamaguchi put this book together with Scott Teal, with more than 300 photos and coverage of 978 different live events. Rikidozan was the single most important and influential pro wrestler of the 20th century, bar none,and that includes Santo (who was more beloved and a bigger cultural figure, but not as influential). For more info go to http://www.crowbarpress.com/index.html
Dwayne Johnson’s movie Hobbs & Shaw will debut tomorrow night.
Regarding the stuff on the blackboard in the background on yesterday’s Road To show, the Harrington dress code was about Chris Harrington, the Vice President of Business Strategy and his wearing a hat with his suit at the live events. Chad Glenn is the company’s Director of Finance. They were just inside jokes.
Referee Bryce Remsberg has signed a contract with AEW to both referee and work in the office.
Innovate Wrestling on 8/10 in Kingsport, TN at the Civic Auditorium.
New England Championship Wrestling on 8/10 in Randolph,MA the Intergenerational Community Center with Tony Atlas.
A correction from earlier this week, the 8/10 combined Smash, Shimmer, Rise and Femmes Fatales show in Toronto that we listed for a Noon start will actually be starting at 11 a.m. There will also be a 9 a.m. meet and greet with Bull Nakano.
NPC on Saturday night at Center Stage in Atlanta for an MMA show. There are less than 100 tickets left for the show. NPC is going for its tenth straight Center Stage sellout.
I Believe in Wrestling tomorrow night at Team Vision Dojo in Orlando.
Shine on 8/24 in Livonia, MI has Allysin Kay vs. Ivelisse vs Mercedes Martinez for the Shine title, plus Gabby Gilbert & Luscious Latasha vs. Ashley Vox & Delmi Exo and Nova champion Shotzi Blackheart vs. Natalia Markova. It will be the first part of a doubleheader with Evolve.
Pro Wrestling Revolution brings in El Hijo del Santo for a 10/5 show in San Francisco.
Combate Americas will create its first lightweight champion on a 9/20 show in Mexicali, BC live on Univision with Rafa Garcia (10-0) vs. Erick Gonzalez (10-3). Garcia is a protege of Cub Swanson.
There is a pro wrestling-related musical coming out called “Rockquiem for a Wrestler” which is about the life of Ivan Koloff. It’s expected to debut at the Triad Theater in the spring. There will be a short documentary released on the Philip Paul Kelly You Tube page tomorrow at Noon Eastern time regarding this. (thanks to Mike Kuzmuk)
MLW announced the signing of Douglas James. He is a pro wrestler with a background in Jiu Jitsu under Eddie Bravo and MMA and has been a regular in California for a few years. He debuts on he 9/7 show in Dallas at the NYTEX Sports Center..
LFA on 8/30 in Riverside, CA on AXS from the Municipal Auditorium has a show headlined by Jared Vanderaa (9-3) vs. Renan Ferreira (5-2).
Championship Wrestling from Arkansas on 10/12 in Hot Springs, AR at the Convention Center headlined by Buff Bagwell vs. Matt Riviera and Elijah Burke vs. Barrett Brown. Bob Orton Jr. will be appearing at the show as well.
Eric Arndt, the former Enzo Amore, said he will do his first match since being fired by WWE on 8/16 for Northeast Wrestling in Poughkeepsie, NY on the show headlined by Jon Moxley vs. Pentagon Jr.
Nikki Bella back in the news at (thanks to Barry Werner)
Alex Marvez talked to AEW’s website about growing up as a pro wrestling fan, doing a newsletter, writing a wrestling column and covering the NFL
Dustin Rhodes on Challenge Mania talks about going into acting, AEW, the match with Cody, the impact Goldust had on wrestling and him as a performer, where wrestlers should be in the Screen Actors Guild, dream opponents in AEW and more.
A story on the new autobiography by Dylan Postl, the former Hornswoggle can be found here.
We’re looking for reports on yesterday’s WWE show in Singapore, tonight’s NXT show in Crystal River, FL and tomorrow’s WWE show from Tokyo to [email protected]
We’re doing weekend polls on ROH Best in the World tonight, NJPW Summer Showdown tomorrow morning and AEW Fyter Fest tomorrow night. 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]
NEW JAPAN WORLD PRO WRESTLING ON AXS TV AT 8 P.M. EASTERN
Kenny Omega vs. Tetsuya Naito in the 2017 G-1 Climax finals
ROH BEST IN THE WORLD FROM UMBC CENTER IN BALTIMORE AT 8:30 P.M. EASTERN ON PPV AND HONOR CLUB
Rush vs. Flip Gordon
Jonathan Gresham vs. Silas Young in pure rules
Kelly Klein & Jenny Rose vs. Mandy Leon & Angelina Love
Dragon Lee vs. Dalton Castle
Mark & Jay Briscoe vs. Nick Aldis & mystery partner returning to ROH
Marty Scurll & PCO & Brody King vs. Tracy Williams & P.J. Black & Mark Haskins for six-man titles
Shane Taylor vs. Bandido for TV title
Matt Taven vs. Jeff Cobb for ROH title
CMLL TONIGHT FROM ARENA MEXICO AT 9:30 P.M. EASTERN ON THE CMLL FACEBOOK PAGE AND CMLL YOUTUBE PAGE (YouTube goes up after the show)
Tomohiro Ishii & Yoshi-Hashi vs. Chase Owens & Yujiro Takahashi
El Phantasmo vs. Rocky Romero for British cruiserweight title
Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa vs. Juice Robinson & Mikey Nicholls for IWGP tag titles
Will Ospreay vs. Robbie Eagles for IWGP jr. title
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kazuchika Okada vs. Bad Luck Fale & Jay White
We’re looking for reports from Saturday’s Smackdown show in Jackson, MS, NXT in Venice, CA and Saturday’s ROH TV tapings in Philadelphia (Jeff Cobb vs. Dalton Castle vs. Kenny King vs. Jonathan Gresham, Briscoes vs. Dragon Lee & Rush, Marty Scurll vs Flip Gordon, Angelina Love vs. Jenny Rose vs. Tasha Steelz vs. Stella Gray, Silas Young vs. Josh Woods and Sumie Sakai vs. Karissa Rivera to [email protected]
UFC ON ESPN FROM THE TARGET CENTER IN MINNEAPOLIS AT 6 P.M. EASTERN
Junior Albini (266) vs. Maurice Greene (256)
Amanda Ribas (115) vs. Emily Whitmire (115)
Dalcha Lungiambula (205) vs. Dequan Townsend (205)
Jared Gordon (155.5) vs. Dan Moret (155)
Eryk Anders (205) vs. Vinicius Moreira (206)
Journey Newson (135.5) vs. Ricardo Ramos (136)
Paul Craig (204) vs. Alonzo Menefield (204.5)
Drew Dober (156) vs. Marco Polo Reyes (155)
Vinc Pichel (155.5) vs. Roosevelt Roberts (156)
Demian Maia (171) vs. Anthony Rocco Martin (170.5)
Joseph Benavidez (126) vs. Jussier Formiga (125.5)
Francis Ngannou (255.5) vs. Junior Dos Santos (249)
EVOLVE ON SATURDAY NIGHT FROM QUEENS, NY AT 6 P.M. EASTERN AT WWW.WWNLIVE.COM
Adrian Alanis & Liam Grey vs. Brandon Watts & Randy Summers
Harlem Bravado vs. Babatunde
J.D. Drake vs. Stephen Wolf vs. Sean Maluta vs. John Silver
Shotzi Blackheart vs. Brandi Lauren
Josh Briggs vs. Arturo Ruas
Eddie Kingston & Joe Gracy vs. Anthony Greene & Curt Stallion for tag titles
Tyler Breeze vs. A.R. Fox
Roderick Strong vs. Anthony Henry
Austin Theory vs. Leon Ruff for Evolve title
AEW FYTER FEST AT 7:30 P.M. SATURDAY NIGHT FROM THE OCEAN CENTER IN DAYTONA BEACH AT 7:30 P.M. EASTERN
Frankie Kazarian & Scorpio Sky vs. Private Party vs. Trent Baretta & Chuck Taylor as part of the tag team title tournament
Alex Jebailey vs. Michael Nakazawa hardcore match
Yuka Sakazaki vs. Riho vs. Nyla Rose
Christopher Daniels vs. Cima
Adam Page vs. Jimmy Havoc vs. MJF vs. Jungle Boy
Cody vs. Darby Allin
Jon Moxley vs. Joey Janela unsanctioned match
Young Bucks & Kenny Omega vs. Pentagon Jr. & Fenix & Laredo Kid
MLW ON BEIN SPORTS SATURDAY NIGHT AT 9 P.M. EASTERN SATURDAY NIGHT
Sunday has a Smackdown house show in Monroe, LA.
EVOLVE ON SUNDAY AT 8 P.M. EASTERN FROM BROOKLYN, NY AT WWW.WWNLIVE.COM
Brandi Lauren vs.Natalia Markova
Curt Stallion vs. Sean Maluta
Josh Briggs vs. Brandon Taggart
Eddie Kingston & Joe Gacy vs. AR Fox & Leon Ruff vs. John Silver & Alex Reynolds vs. winner of the opener on Saturday in a four-way non-title match
Anthony Henry vs. Arturo Ruas
Tyler Breeze vs. Anthony Greene
JD Drake vs. Babatunde for WWN title
Austin Theory vs. Roderick Strong non-title
Raw is Monday in Dallas with Braun Strowman vs. Bobby Lashley in a falls count anywhere match. Smackdown and 205 Live are Tuesday in San Antonio.
After a lack of interest heading into the pay-per-view, Stomping Grounds was a show that exceeded expectations.
Given that there weren’t really any surprises at the PPV, that’s probably mostly due to expectations being set too low. Nothing on the show was dramatically better than it should have been. The PPV succeeded where most good WWE shows do. Even if the build was underwhelming, a talented roster was able to go out to the ring and have good matches throughout much of the card.
A look at the WWE’s move to bring in Paul Heyman and Eric Bischoff is the lead story in this week’s issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. The story talks about what led to the moves, the questions about the moves that aren’t answered, the Heyman-McMahon history, the Bischoff decision, and how Wall Street and AEW fit into this equation.
We also look at the end of the political career of Antonio Inoki, a look at plans for Extreme Rules, business notes on ticket sales for the summer’s biggest events, the business this past week of WWE, the reaction to Seth Rollins vs. Baron Corbin, full coverage of Stomping Grounds with match-by-match rundowns, star ratings and poll results.
We also look at the retirement of Riki Choshu, a look back at his heyday, his awards, his as a headliner and booker and as a creator as well as his retirement mach.
We also look at the July 13 night of wrestling that will be loaded as far as different offerings go, with ESPN+, AXS, WWE Network and B/R Live all offering shows at the same time. We look at how and why this happened.
We also look at changes to WWE television, why the Rollins vs. Bryan match went like it did, and what the internal feeling is about the changes. We also look at the rounds system, 24/7 title news, declines in Raw viewership over the past year in different demos, new WWE signings, WWE injury updates, Noam Dar talks Adrian McCallum, Lio Rush update, WWE canceling shows and why, television industry exec talks wrestling and television landscape and how the mentality of TV has changed, WWE name changes, first Smackdown on FOX news updates and the market value of WWE.
We also look at all the NXT and WWE main roster events over the past week with match results, highlights and other business notes.
We’ve got full coverage of this past week’s UFC show with business notes.
ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
FRIDAY’S NEWS UPDATE
Bryan and I will be back tonight covering the latest WWE news, as well as the ROH PPV and other topics. You can send questions to [email protected]
Regarding the promotinal e-mail blast that went out earlier today pushing Paul Heyman for Raw and Eric Bischoff for Smackdown this week as the big stars in Dallas and San Antonio, that was both legit and a subject of a lot of controversy. It wasn’t supposed to be released like that and Bischoff was not even scheduled for the show. The idea is to push the idea that it’s all new to boost ratings after the last few weeks. But Bischoff was not even scheduled to be in San Antonio as of this morning (Heyman was to be in Dallas but he’s at every Raw). It is possible that Vince McMahon has in the last few hours or will contact Bischoff about being in San Antonio based on the advertising going out.
For the Smackdown house shows this weekend, neither Randy Orton nor Daniel Bryan are advertised for the shows.
The Dallas Morning News has an article on New Japan Pro Wrestling and next week’s show in Dallas.
WWE
Eric Bischoff canceled a Canadian tour on Tuesday over a new contract that would prohibit such shows so that tells you roughly when the deal was finalized.
MISCELLANEOUS
The incredible Kenny Omega vs. Tetsuya Naito G-1 Climax final for 2018 is on AXS tonight.
Impact and River City Wrestling have a joint show on 7/5 in San Antonio at Freetail Brewery at 7 p.m.. The card has Tessa Blanchard & Rich Swann & Willie Mack vs. Jake & Dave Crist & Sami Callihan as the main event.
Heath officials are attempting to get all fans at the 6/23 Welcome to the Wreckroom Pro Wrestling show in New Albany, IN to get tested for HIV and Hepatitis C due to blood exposure. Those at the show who may have had blood exposure should call 812-948-4726. More information here.
AAW tonight in Merrionette Park, IL at 115 Bourbon Street has LAX vs. Besties in the World vs. Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz for the tag titles, Jake Something vs. Try Miguel for the Heritage title, Jimmy Jacobs vs. Mance Warner in a loser leaves town match, Kris Statlander vs. Priscilla Kelly, Eddie Kingston & Curt Stallion vs. AR Fox & Myron Reed, Jacob Fatu vs. Kongo Kong and more.
IWF on 8/25 in Nutley, NJ at the Rec Center featuring Tito Santana, Bull James, Gary Michael Cappetta and more. They also run 10/11 in Wayne, NJ at the PAL.
Pro Wrestling Eve has three shows this weekend you can check out here. They already had one show today.
Tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. Eastern from the Resistance Gallery in London
Kay Lee Ray vs. Mayu Iwatani vs. Su Yung vs. Millie McKenzie
Viper & Utami Hayashishita vs. Jamie Hayter & Kagetsu
Arisa Hoshiki vs. Laura Di Matteo
Jordynne Grace vs. Yuu
Jetta & Erin Angel vs. Debbie Keitel & Valkyrie
Sunday at 11 a.m. Eastern from York Hall in London
Kay Lee Ray vs. Viper in both women’s final match with promotion for the Eve title
Utami Hayashishita vs. Jamie Hayter vs. Nina Samuels for Eve International title
Mayu Iwatani vs. Kagetsu
Arisa Hoshiki vs.Roxxy
Millie McKenzie & Charli Evans vs. Jetta & Erin Angel to create the first Eve tag team champions
Session Moth Martina vs. Su Yung hardcore mach
Laura Di Matteo vs. Jordynne Grace
Michael Elgin vs. Adam Knight headlines for CWE tonight in Winnipeg at Rookie’s Sports Bar. Also appearing are Konnan and Lanny Poffo.
KSW returns to London for its 50th show on 9/14 at SSE Wembley with Phil DeFries (17-6) defending the KSW heavyweight title in the main event. Norman Parke (27-6-1) vs. Marian Ziolkowski (21-7-1) is announced for the show.
Women of Wrestling owner Jennie Buss, founder David McLane and stars Tessa Blanchard and The Beast will be appearing at the San Diego Comic Con on 7/20 and 7/21 along with Michael Kingston’s Headlocked Comics. Blanchard will be appearing 7/21 from Noon to 2 p.m. with McLane. Buss, McLane and Beast will be on 7/20 from 1-3 p.m.;
Jushin Liger’s last match in the Carolinas will be on 7/7 in Charlotte at the Grady Cole Center as John Skyler & Ethan Case & Liger face Caleb Konley & Zane Riley & Jake Manning. Rocky Romero is also on that show.
Powerslam.tv announced they’ve signed up Premier Wrestling Xperience out of Charlotte.
Lisa Varon (Tara/Victoria) is scheduled for the Wizard World Comic Con 8/22 to 8/25 in Chicago.
559 Fights run tomorow in Visalia, CA at the Convention Center.
I Believe in Wrestling on 7/5 at the Team Vision Dojo for the Florida J Cup.
Bestia 666 vs. Mance Warner has been added to the 7/6 MLW show in Cicero, IL at the Stadium.
Trina Michaels has an interview with @vegasbadboyz talking about her wrestling career and AEW.
TMart Promotions presents The Gathering in Charlotte at the Hilton University Hotel from 8/15 to 8/18 with Harley Race, Ricky Steamboat, Barry Windham, Bobby Eaton, Stan Lane, Dennis Condrey, Jim Cornette, Randy Rose, Bob Backlund, Sgt. Slaughter, Ron Simmons, Lex Luger, Larry Zbyszko, Stan Hansen, Greg Gagne, Kendo Nagasaki, Carlos Colon,John Tatum, Missy Hyatt, Sheik Adnan Al-Kaissie, Jim Duggan, Jake Roberts, Greg Valentine, Ivan Putski, Masked Superstar, Magnum T.A., Buff Bagwell, Baron Von Raschke, Nord the Barbarian, Warlord, Barbarian, Ken Patera, Shane Douglas, Austin Idol, Bill Dundee, Dark Journey, Davey Boy Smith Jr., Scarlett Bordeaux, Katarina and more.
An interview with PCO for tonight’s PPV.
In the latest Because WCW podcast, British wrestling veteran Dean Ayass and Yahoo sports columnist Liam Happe are joined by Mike Quackenbush to look over the cultural impact of the arrival of the luchadors in WCW.
NEW JAPAN WORLD PRO WRESTLING ON AXS TV TONIGHT AT 8 P.M. EASTERN
Kota Ibushi vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Ryusuke Taguchi
BELLATOR FROM TEMECULA, CALIFORNIA AT 9 P.M. EASTERN ON PARAMOUNT AND DAZN
Joe Schilling (186) vs. Keith Berry (186)
Andrey Koreshkov (170.6) vs. Mike Jasper (171)
Daniel Strauss (155.6) vs. Shane Kruchten (155.8)
Saad Awad (156) vs. Brandon Girtz (155.6)
CMLL FROM ARENA MEXICO AT 10:30 P.M. TONIGHT (LINK)
Pegasso & Stigma vs. Akuma & Disturbio
Kawato San & Tigre & Virus vs. Black Panther & Blue Panther Jr. & Drone
Esfinge & Triton & Flyer vs. Templario & Felino & Rey Bucanero
Dragon Lee & Mistico & Titan vs. Cuatrero & Sanson & Negro Casas
Cavernario vs. Forastero for Mexican light heavyweight title
Caristico & Valiente & Volador Jr. vs. Tetsuya Naito & Rush & El Terrible
IMPACT AGAINST ALL ODDS AT 10 P.M. EASTERN TONIGHT ON PURSUIT
Glen Gilbertti vs. Scarlett Bordeaux
Brian Cage vs. Killer Kross
Taya Valkyrie vs. Jordynne Grace for the Knockouts title
COMBATE AMERICAS TONIGHT AT 10 P.M. EASTERN ON DAZN AND 1 A.M. ON UNIVISION DEPORTES FROM CASINO DEL SOL IN TUCSON, AZ
Eduardo Alvarado (136) vs. Andy Perez (135.8)
Jose Alday (134.4) vs. Gustavo Lopez (134.9) for the vacant bantamweight title
Saturday has as dual branded WWE show in Wheeling, WV and NXT in St. Augustine, FL. We’re looking for reports to [email protected].
UFC ON SATURDAY FROM THE WELLS FARGO CENTER IN PHILADELPHIA
ESPN+ at 3:30 p.m.
Alex Perez (135.25) vs. Mark De La Rosa (135.5)
Maryna Moroz (125.25) vs. Sabina Mazo (125.5)
Ray Borg (137.75) vs. Casey Kenney (135.5)
ESPN at 5 p.m.
Kevin Holland (185) vs. Gerald Meerschaert (185.5)
Kevin Aguilar (145) vs. Enrique Barzola (145)
Ross Pearson (155.25) vs. Desmond Green (155)
Jessica Aguilar (115.25) vs. Marina Rodriguez (114.75)
Sodiq Yusuff (145.5) vs. Sheymon Moraes (145)
Paul Craig (205) vs. Kennedy Nzechukwu (205.5)
Michelle Waterson (115.5) vs. Karolina Kowalkiewicz (114.75)
Michael Johnson (146) vs. Josh Emmett (145.75)
David Branch (185.5) vs. Jack Hermansson (185)
Edson Barboza (155.5) vs. Justin Gaethje (155.5)
*Borg was fined 30 percent of his purse for missing weight.
Sunday has a dual branded WWE show in Hershey, PA.
ONE FROM TOKYO SUMO HALL AT 5:30 A.M. SUNDAY EASTERN ON B/R LIVE
Eddie Alvarez vs. Timofey Nastyukhin in lightweight tournament
Demetrious Johnson vs. Yuya Wakamatsu in flyweight tournament
Kevin Belingon vs. Bibiano Fernandes for bantamweight title
Aung La N Sang vs. Ken Hasegawa for middleweight title
Jing Na Xiong vs. Angela Lee for strawweight title
Edouard Folayang vs. Shinya Aoki for lightweight title
ROH SUNDAY AT 6 P.M. EASTERN AT THE UMBC EVENT CENTER IN BALTIMORE
Sumie Sakai & Jenny Rose vs. Kris Stadtlander & Tasha Steelz vs. Gabby Ortiz & Karissa Rivera
Cheeseburger & Eli Isom & Ryan Nova vs. LSG & Shaheem Ali & Colin Delaney
Kenny King vs. P.J. Black
Mark Haskins vs. Silas Young
Rush vs. Tracy Williams
Marty Scurll vs. Shane Taylor
Juice Robinson & Bandido vs. TK O’Ryan & Vinny Marseglia vs. Jay Lethal & Jeff Cobb
PCO & Brody King vs. Mark & Jay Briscoe for ROH tag titles
The final Raw before WrestleMania will be in Washington, DC with an all-hands on deck show including Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns and Ronda Rousey all advertised. There is also a Smackdown house show in Roanoke, VA.
The Smackdown and 205 Live tapings are Tuesday in Baltimore.
While interest has inevitably decreased over the years, the 2019 WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony feels like less of an essential part of WrestleMania weekend than ever.
There are a few major reasons why the Hall of Fame ceremony has lost some of its luster. As WrestleMania week has become a destination for promotions from the United States and abroad, fans have to make difficult decisions on how they’re going to spend their time and money.
The Conor McGregor situation is the lead story in the current issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Look at the investigation into him, his retirement, the timing, and why the retirement and Dana White’s reactions are both a public bluffing game.
Read the update on the WrestleMania card, both matches announced and those not yet announced, the Charlotte Flair title win and what it changes about the show, the multiple changes in the top part of the show, the women in the main event, the interest level in the different shows that week and more.
Also look at the New Japan Cup, with match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results, on the entire last week of the tournament and the final show.
Look at Vince McMahon’s stock sale, how much he sold, how much he got and why, as well as the XFL launch and problems with the AAF. Look at the AAF’s new goal.
Look at the retirement of the Bella Twins and their careers, the value of Total Divas and their future plans.
Examine the lawsuit settlement with the wrestlers who have sued Lucha Underground, and the interesting note of the person who backed out of the suit.
Also look at Cain Velasquez’s crossing over into pro wrestling and his deal with AAA, including what they attempted to do with him, the storyline building him up and the wrestlers it looks like he’ll appear with.
ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell,CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
FRIDAY NEWS UPDATE
Garrett Gonzalez and I will be doing a show tonight talking about all the news of the day. Bryan and I will be doing a show live together tomorrow night.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Endeavor, the parent company of the UFC, is getting ready to go public. We reported that a few weeks ago in the Observer. They are looking at doing so by the end of this year. Endeavor was valued at $6.3 billion in 2017 but it may be significantly higher because UFC itself is probably valued at $6 billion or more given it’s profitability will be similar to that of the post-FOX WWE. They noted that Endeavor had paid back $400 million in funding by Saudi Arabia to get them out of the company in the wake of the Khashoggi murder.
Regarding John Cena, there is a deal on the table that Cena is expected to agree to for a match at WrestleMania. It is not with Kurt Angle.
For the WWE this weekend, they are doing three house shows with talent from both brands. The list of those on tour is Drew McIntyre, Asuka, Finn Balor,Bobby Lashley, Rusev, Shinsuke Nakamura, Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair, Baron Corbin, Kevin Owens, Seth Rollins (first house shows in a long time), Braun Strowman, Samoa Joe, Kofi Kingston, Dean Ambrose,, Mandy Rose and A.J. Styles. For the Monday night Smackdown show in Roanoke, it’s the full-time crew which doesn’t include Miz, Rey Mysterio, or Daniel Bryan. Randy Orton is working Monday. Daniel Bryan will be on Smackdown on Tuesday.
Gegard Mousasi vs. Rafael Lovato Jr. for the Bellator middleweight title was announced for a 6/22 show at SSE Wembley in London. Paul Daley and Jack Gallagher are also scheduled for that show.
WWE
Luke Harper wrote a long message about how he hasn’t been brought to television since 10/2 (when he had wrist surgery) and noted that six years ago he wrestled multiple matches at Axxess and was part of Undertaker’s WrestleMania ring entrance. Five years ago he watched John Cena wrestle Bray Wyatt. Four years ago he was in an IC title match. Three years ago he wrestled Brock Lesnar on a network special. Last year he won the tag team titles with his wife and sons watching. And Thursday he wrestles Dominik Dijakovic at Axxess. He said this will not be some throw away match at Axxess as he needs to prove at 39 he can still go.
Regarding the WWE schedule, and we’ll have a big article on it in the next issue with a lot of updates, WWE does have Raw scheduled on 7/1 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, five days before the New Japan G-1 show in the same building.
USA Network will be airing one hour of the WWE Hall of Fame at 11 p.m. on 4/8, right after Raw. (thanks to Arya Witner)
WWE and Atresmedia in Spain announced a deal to air a two-hour edited version of Raw on Saturdays at 1 p.m. and two hours of Smackdown on Sundays at 1 p.m.
James Wilder Jr., a running back who was part of Florida State’s national championship team years ago, has a WWE tryout upcoming. Wilder Jr. is currently a running back with the Toronto Argonauts of the CFL.
Seth Rollins talked to Newsweek about WrestleMania. (thanks to Mike Kuzmuk)
UFC
Francisco Trinaldo vs. Diego Ferreira has been added to the 5/11 show in Rio de Janeiro.
MISCELLANEOUS
All Japan’s Champion Carnival tournament starts on Thursday.
Combate Americas ha a show on 4/26 from the Galen Center in Los Angeles that will air live on Univision, Univision Deportes and DAZN with Melissa Martinez (5-0) vs. Caroline Gallardo (3-2). Former UFC fighter Angela Magana faces Kyra Batara.
Ladies Night Out on 4/27 in Texas City,TX at the World Gym Arena headlined by Penelope Ford. The show will air live on TitleMatch.com.
Stardom announced Hazuki defending the High Speed title against Dust for their show in Queens, NY on 4/5 at 4 p.m. which airs on FITE as an iPPV.
Pro Wrestlnig Eve has two shows in April, on 4/13 and 4/26 at the Resistance Gallery in London. The 4/26 show will be the Kris Wolf retirement show.
Matt Sydal returns to action on 4/21 in Lehavot Haviva, Israel for the Passover Bash at the Berale Club. He faces Rabbi Swissa for the IPWA title. He also will be doing a seminar at 2 p.m. that day. For those interested you can write to Gery Roif as [email protected].
Smash Wrestling on Sunday in London, ONT at the London Music Hall.
The Netflix film “The Dirt,” about Motley Crue, which was mentioned in the last Observer because Tarryn Terrell has a cameo, also should be noted that Tommy Lee is wearing a Hulkamania T-shirt since the movie is set during the 80s. (thanks to Joe Puccio)
Evolve on 4/13 in Ybor City, FL at the Orpheum:
Austin Theory vs. Raul Mendoza for the Evolve title
Angelo Dawkins vs. Eddie Kingston
Shane Thorne vs. Curt Stallion
Adrian Jaoude vs. Anthony Henry
Lacey Lane and Eric Bugenhagen from WWE are also on the show.
Ed in San Antonio presents the WRESTLEMANIAWeekend Event:
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~!
NEW JAPAN WORLD PRO WRESTLING AT 8 P.M. TONIGHT ON AXS TV
Taiji Ishimori vs. Ryusuke Taguchi for IWGP jr. title
Kazuchika Okada vs. Bad Luck Fale
CMLL TONIGHT FROM ARENA MEXICO AT 9:30 P.M. EASTERN HERE
Stigma & Oro Jr. vs. Nitro & Sangre Azteca
Rey Cometa & Fuego & Star Jr. vs. Virus & Kawato San & Tiger
Titan & Triton & Esfinge vs. Shocker & Rey Bucanero & Vangellys
Atlantis & Dragon Lee & Valiente vs. Sanson & Cuatrero & Forastero
Diamante Azul vs. Gilbert El Boricua
Angel de Oro & Niebla Roja & Caristico vs. Bestia del Ring & El Terrible & Rush
NEW JAPAN CUP ON SATURDAY MORNING AT 4 A.M. EASTERN FROM NAGOYA ON NEW JAPAN WORLD
Mikey Nicholls vs. Hikuleo
Lance Archer vs. Toa Henare
Will Ospreay vs. Bad Luck Fale
Kazuchika Okada vs. Michael Elgin
UFC ON ESPN+ FROM WICHITA, KANSAS AT THE INTRUST BANK ARENA AT 5 P.M. EASTERN
Dan Moret (155.5) vs. Alex White (154.5)
Alex Morono (170.5) vs. Zak Ottow (170)
Matt Schnell (135) vs. Louis Smolka (135.5)
Maurice Greene (264.5) vs. Jeff Hughes (254)
Grant Dawson (145.5) vs. Julian Erosa (145)
Yana Kunitskaya (135) vs. Marion Reneau(134.5)
Anthony Rocco Martin (170.5) vs. Sergio Moraes (171)
Omari Akhmedov (184) vs. Tim Boetsch (185)
Beneil Dariush (156) vs. Drew Dober (156)
Blagoy Ivanov (254.5) vs. Ben Rothwell (264.5)
Tim Means (171) vs. Niko Price (170.5)
Curtis Millender (170) vs.Elizeu Zaleski Dos Santos (170.5)
Junior Dos Santos (246.5) vs. Derrick Lewis (265.5)
WWE has shows on Saturday with Raw in Rochester, NY, Smackdown in Detroit and NXT in Crystal River, FL. We’re looking for reports on those shows to [email protected].
NEW JAPAN CUP ON SUNDAY MORNING AT 2 A.M. EASTERN FROM AMAGASAKI ON NEW JAPAN WORLD
Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Ryusuke Taguchi
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Shota Umino
Evil vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
Tetsuya Naito vs. Kota Ibushi
WWE FASTLINE FROM THE QUICKEN LOANS ARENA IN CLEVELAND AT 6 P.M. EASTERN
Roman Reigns & Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose vs. Drew McIntyre & Baron Corbin & Bobby Lashley
Charlotte Flair vs. Becky Lynch – Lynch must win to get into WrestleMania
Daniel Bryan vs. Kevin Owens for WWE title
Bayley & Sasha Banks vs. Nia Jax & Tamina for women’s tag title
Asuka vs. Mandy Rose for Smackdown women’s title
Usos vs. Shane McMahon & The Miz for Smackdown tag titles
Rey Mysterio vs. Andrade (pre-show match)
Big E & Xavier Woods vs. Shinsuke Nakamura & Rusev (pre-show match)
NEW JAPAN CUP ON MONDAY MORNING AT 6 A.M. EASTERN FROM TAKAMATSU ON NEW JAPAN WORLD
Togi Makabe vs. Colt Cabana
Davey Boy Smith Jr. vs. Toru Yano
Minoru Suzuki vs. Satoshi Kojima
Seiya Sanada vs. Hirooki Goto
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.
“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].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell,CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
FRIDAY NEWS UPDATE
For the weekend house shows, Ronda Rousey will be working all the Raw shows this week. Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins are only working Fastlane. On the Smackdown side, Randy Orton, Rey Mysterio, The Miz, A.J. Styles and Daniel Bryan are working the weekend tour this week.
There has been a ton of pub in upstate New York on the death of The Destroyer. We’ll have a special show on The Destroyer on Sunday. A good article from the Buffalo News is here and some photos can be seen here. (thanks to Tom Mehs)
WaleMania has been announced for 4/4 at Sony Hall in New York. MLW is not affiliated with this show as in years past.
WWE
Tommaso Ciampa had his neck surgery yesterday. WWE.com has photos of the surgey.
UFC
UFC announced a main event of Ronaldo Jacare Souza vs. Yoel Romero for 4/27 in Sunrise, FL. Romero was originally to face Paulo Costa.
Aspen Ladd vs. Sijara Eubanks at bantamweight (Eubanks had been fighting at flyweight but had trouble making the weight) has been added to the UFC’s show on 5/18 in Rochester, NY.
MISCELLANEOUS
Ric Flair and Ricky Steamboat will appear on 6/23 at the Collar and Elbow Comic Expo in Texas City, TX.
World Series Wrestling from earlier today in Melbourne, Australia before just under 400 fans: Frankie Kazarian & Scorpio Sky b Flamita & Bandido, Kellyanne b Indi Hartwell, Abyss won three-way hardcore match over Syd Parker and Gino Gambino, Slex b Austin Aries, Marty Scurll & Brody King b Brian Cage & Adam Brooks, Jordynne Grace b Joey Ryan, Robbie Eagles b Christopher Daniels. Flamita & Bandido were great. Scurll match said to be ****1/4. Flip Gordon was there and said he wasn’t ready to return but still came. Grace vs. Ryan said to be very funny. Main event was great as well. (thanks to Dave Roughton)
Impact is partnering with TNT Pro for a Twitch show on 4/12 (air date 5/11) for Fort Campbell, KY at the Fort Campbell Army Post. It’s a military show. UFC once ran an event from the same building.
Innovative Wrestling’s Smoky Mountain Cup on 3/30 in Kingsport, TN at the Civic Auditorium.
Combate Americas announced the signing of Daniel Barez from Valencia, Spain, who faces Ivan Flores Hernandez on their 4/12 show in Monterrey, Mexico. Barez is the BAMMA flyweight championship in Europe.
Teddy Hart was announced for the Battle Riot special on 4/5 on Bein Sports for MLW from the Melrose Ballroom in New York.
Undertaker is doing a signing on 3/23 in Friendswood, TX.
AAW on 3/16 in Chicago at the Logan Square Arena has Sami Callihan vs. Jake Something for the AAW title, Kylie Rae vs. Jessicka Havok for the women’s title and Jimmy Jacobs vs. Mance Warner.
559 Fights on 3/16 in Fresno, CA at the Rainbow Ballroom at 7 p.m.
Glory airs tomorrow night on UFC Fight Pass starting at 3 p.m. Eastern time from Strasbourg, France.
The PFL announced that Sarah Kaufman has signed and will be part of their 155 pound women’s tournament. Kaufman had been fighting at 135. Two-time Olympic gold medal winning judoka Kayla Harrison and Kaufman are the two biggest stars in an eight-woman tournament with the winner getting $1 million.
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~!
