Alvarez said the injury is legitimate and is likely the sprain they reference last night. It’s unclear where the injury was first sustained.
Vaquer last wrestled at WrestleMania 42 in a losing effort to Liv Morgan.
*******************
Tonga has been out of action since the April 17 SmackDown when he was in the Andre the Giant memorial battle royal. His absence on last Friday’s SmackDown brought into question whether he had been released given the day’s cuts since he wasn’t mentioned on the show.
Alvarez said Tonga is out with an undisclosed injury, but is expected back fairly soon.
On WWE Raw, Mysterio appeared with his arm in a sling and told Damian Priest that he was banged up, so he brought in Santos Escobar to team with JD McDonagh later in the show against Ricochet and Andrade. Priest didn’t like the idea but told Escobar to handle things.
Fightful Select reported that Mysterio’s injury was legit, and they have not heard of a timetable for his return. They also reported that Mysterio had been pulled from WWE’s recent European tour. His last match was on the April 15 edition of Raw, where he lost to Andrade.
McDonagh and Escobar on Raw went on to lose to Ricochet and Andrade. Immediately after the match, Priest came in and laid out the winners. He then told Mysterio and McDonagh that he didn’t need them, but they needed him.
Another Judgment Day member, Rhea Ripley, announced she would be out of action due to a shoulder injury on last week’s Raw, vacating the Women’s World Championship. Becky Lynch won a battle royal on Monday to become the new champion.
The injury occurred during a match where he, Shelton Benjamin, and Cedric Alexander faced the Lucha House Party (Gran Metalik and Lince Dorado) and Riddle. Dave Meltzer reported on.Wrestling Observer Radio this morning that MVP needed getting help to the back while the cameras were off . He appeared on Raw Talk later that night in crutches. Additionally, PWInsider reported this morning that MVP had traveled to Brimingham, Alabama.
Riddle scored the win for his team in the match, pinning MVP with a knee strike and a floating bro. After the match, Riddle was laid out by Bobby Lashley. Riddle is scheduled to face Lashley for the United States title at Elimination Chamber this Sunday in a triple threat match that also includes Keith Lee.
After returning to WWE last year, MVP aligned himself with Lashley. His association with Lashley would later turn into managing his own stable, adding Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin to the mix.
It has been confirmed that the storyline injury to Elias is a real injury, putting him out of action.
Dave Meltzer has confirmed that Elias was written out of television last week due to a torn pectoral muscle. WWE.com noted that Elias had suffered broken ribs and a torn pectoral muscle as a result of the hit and run angle on SmackDown last week. The injury will put him out of action for months.
The angle that aired last week on SmackDown had Elias stretchered out of the WWE Performance Center parking lot after he was struck by a car that was registered to Jeff Hardy, who was later arrested and accused of hitting Elias.
Hardy appeared at the end of last week’s SmackDown, causing Sheamus to become distracted, losing to Daniel Bryan in the semifinals of the Intercontinental title tournament. Hardy explained on this week’s show that he passed all of the sobriety tests the police gave him, and a witness has since come forward saying they saw someone with red hair and a beard running out of the car, with Hardy noting that Sheamus fits that description.
Elias, who originally advanced to the semifinals of the tournament to face AJ Styles, was removed from the tournament, allowing AJ Styles to advance to the finals via a bye.
Styles and Daniel Bryan will face one another this Friday on SmackDown for the Intercontinental title.
Samoa Joe suffered a concussion during last night’s episode of Raw.
Dave Meltzer is reporting that Joe suffered the concussion during his and Kevin Owens’ match against Seth Rollins and Buddy Murphy for the Raw Tag Team titles. Joe went for a dive during the match and landed on the floor as they went to commercial. When they came back, they showed that Joe was escorted to the back during the commercial break.
Although the injury looked like a part of the storyline, Joe was legit injured during the match and him being removed from the match was not planned. Meltzer is also reporting that the concussion is being monitored through usual protocol.
Joe had returned to Raw in late December after being out several months due to a broken thumb. He saved Kevin Owens from a three-on-one beatdown against Seth Rollins and AOP and had been feuding with the trio for the last several weeks.
We’re looking for reports from these shows. Reports can be sent to [email protected]:
WWE Raw Saturday night in Oklahoma City
WWE Smackdown Saturday night in Nashville (entire show, not just the Smackville portion)
WWE Raw tonight in Springfield, MO
WWE Smackdown night in Cape Girardeau, MO
We’re also taking poll results from both New Japan shows this weekend in Nagoya as well as UFC 240 last night, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match from all three shows to [email protected]
Raw is Monday night in Little Rock with Brock Lesnar appearing, plus Seth Rollins vs. Dolph Ziggler, and a Samoa Joe/Roman Reigns confrontation.
NEW JAPAN G-1 CLIMAX TOURNAMENT TUESDAY MORNING AT 6 A.M. EASTERN FROM TAKAMATSU ON NEW JAPAN WORLD
Tomohiro Ishii & Tomoaki Honma & Yuya Uemura vs. Hirooki Goto & Yoshi-Hashi & Yota Tsuji
Toru Yano & Ren Narita vs. Jon Moxley & Shota Umino
Minoru Suzuki & Taichi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Jay White & Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens
Juice Robinson & Jeff Cobb & Toa Henare vs. Tetsuya Naito & Shingo Takagi & Bushi
Kota Ibushi vs. Bad Luck Fale
Will Ospreay vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
Kazuchika Okada vs. Lance Archer
KENTA vs. Sanada
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Evil
Smackdown and 205 Live are Tuesday in Memphis. Trish Stratus will be there for the angle to set up her SummerSlam match with Charlotte Flair, plus Dolph Ziggler vs. Finn Balor (maybe as Balor is ill right now), Xavier Woods & Big E vs. Elias & Drew McIntyre, and Billie Kay & Peyton Royce in a non-title match with Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville
Joseph Currier looks at two Network specials and what they could mean for the future of the service.
EVOLVE’s 10th Anniversary Celebration streamed on the Network opposite AEW Fight for the Fallen on July 13. Another in-ring special has also been added to the Network schedule for this month, with “Smackville” set to air this Saturday (July 27).
Smackville is similar to past specials like The Shield’s Final Chapter and WWE Starrcade. The WWE Network broadcast of Smackville will be an hour long. Kofi Kingston will defend the WWE Championship against Samoa Joe and Dolph Ziggler in a triple threat match, Finn Balor will face Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura in a rematch from Extreme Rules, and there will be a musical performance segment with Elias.
The Smackville name is playing off the show taking place in Nashville, Tennessee and the city’s Bridgestone Arena, which is the home of the Nashville Predators. The event was just a house show prior to the special being announced, and it will still feature some untelevised matches.
Televised house shows have been something WWE has surveyed subscribers about for a long time. Smackville feels very much like a by-the-numbers house show card. After already having defeated them in his most recent pay-per-view title defenses, Kingston is facing Joe and Ziggler again. Balor has already moved on to a storyline with Bray Wyatt and is set to take some time off from WWE after SummerSlam, so it seems unlikely that he’ll be regaining the Intercontinental title. The Smackville theme should play into the Elias segment, but it’s unlikely that it will have much meaning to the larger audience.
The new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter has details on the first episode of AEW on TNT, the possible name of the show, why the host city was chosen, and potential TV competition in the first few weeks of airing.
We detail the latest G1 Climax 29 shows, and how it compares to last year’s tournament.
We have coverage of Jon Jones and his latest potential legal trouble.
We cover Summerslam, how the card is shaping up, and the possible return of a WWE Hall of Famer on the show.
We look back at Saturday’s UFC show, and the business notes on the show.
We have details on Dragon Gate’s biggest show of the year, and have business notes on that as well.
We also have coverage of a wrestling star being part of Hollywood box office history.
There’s also a run down 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.
SUNDAY NEWS UPDATE
The weekend show is up with Jim Valley and I talking all of the latest news. Bryan and I will be back tomorrow night. The entire C.M. Punk/AEW situation was discussed in depth on the show.
Here is an update on the weekend WWE injuries:
Finn Balor was not injured as WWE stated, but was hospitalized with the stomach flu. No word yet on whether he’ll be able to wrestle Dolph Ziggler as scheduled on Tuesday.
Rachel Evers/Rachael Ellering suffered a knee injury last night in Fort Pierce. The severity of the injury is unknown at this point.
Karen Q suffered a broken ankle last night in Atlanta.
Riddick Moss suffered a broken nose but he isn’t expected to miss any time
Shayna Baszler was banged up a little, nothing serious and in fact worked last night. She didn’t wrestle on Friday night in Columbia, MO.
Dana White gave the indication that Cris Cyborg didn’t want to fight Amanda Nunes and was late in her career and wanted easier fights. Not sure I buy that one. He also said that he saw a video of the situation at the strip club with Jon Jones and that it was very favorable to Jones.
Dwayne Johnson will be on the Tonight show on Wednesday and with Kelly & Ryan on Thursday to promote Hobbs & Shaw.
ROH announced its annual Champions vs. All-Stars match on 8/24 at Center Stage in Atlanta.
WWE
Lacey Evans is scheduled to appear on Lifetime’s “Military Makeover” television show with Montel Williams.
As part of the four-part Showtime documentary on longtime fan Rick Rubin, part three discussed his love for pro wrestling and both HHH and Stephanie McMahon were guests.
For the weekend, two topics made the Google listings. UFC 240 had 500,000 searches, which is below what would be expected for that show. Gervonta Davis had 200,000 searches.
MISCELLANEOUS
Names listed for the Jericho Cruise at this point are Kenny Omega, Young Bucks, Cody, Adam Page, Brandi Rhodes, MJF, Britt Baker, Jungle Boy, Nyla Rose, Jericho, Ric Flair, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Sean Waltman, Booker T, Jake Roberts, DDP and Eric Bischoff.
Kevin Eck with the latest ROH news on their website.
Mike Quackenbush is doing a seminar 8/13 to 8/15 in Sydney, Australia for PWA.
ACW on 8/24 in Astoria, NY with Matt Striker appearing.
Wrestlerock from Friday nigh in Melbourne: Taylor King b Jett Rouka, Nick Bury b Emman the Kid, Matty Wahlberg b Ritchie Taylor, CK Dowie & DCT b Mitch Waterman & Mad Dog, Dunk Uncle Beej b Lochy Hendricks, Scarlett Bordeaux b Avary. Bordeaux used a Canadian Destroyer through a table on Avary to end the main event. (thanks to Kevin Chiat)
Ultimo Guerrero vs. Atlantis vs. Caristico in a three-way will headline the 9/1 Warrior Wrestling show in Chicago Heights, IL, the day after All Out.
SPW and OWE ran Thursday in Singapore: Social Misfits b Mighty Mighty & Big Good Jack, Alex Cuevas b Lindaman, Team Ace b Blue Nova & CK Vin, Reika Sakai b Alexis Lee, Cima b Trexxus, Destroyer Dharma won three-way over Butcherman and Aiden Rex, T-Hawk b The Statement (thanks to Kevin Chiat)
Defy from Friday night in Seattle with the first round of the 8XGP tournament: Sonico & Leon Negro b Super Crazy & Guillermo del Rosas, Matt Cross b Judas Icarus, Cody Chunn b Mike Santiago, Jacob Fatu & Josef Samael b L.A. Park & El Hijo de L.A. Park in a no DQ match for the PCW Ultra and Defy tag titles, Danika Della Rouge & Randy Myers b Sloan & Travis Williams, Artemis Spencer b Douglas James, Christopher Daniels b Schff, Tama Tonga b Ethan HD. The Parks match was said to be ****1/4 and included Samael throwing a fireball at Park. They also destroyed the merchandise table.
Defy from last night in Seattle with the finals of the Defy Super 8XGP tournament: Semifinals: Christopher Daniels b Cody Chunn, Artemis Spencer b Matt Cross, Ethan HD & Mike Santiago won over Modern Day Savages, Super Crazy & Guillermo del Rosas and Randy Myers & Schaff, Joey Janela NC Tama Tonga when HD & Santiago attacked both guys Douglas James b Travis Williams, Jacob Fatu & Josef Samael b Leon Negro & Sonico, Artemis Spencer b Christopher Daniels to win tournament and keep the Defy title (thanks to Scott Janicek)
Queen of the Rings from last night in Beaumont, TX: Phoebe b Raychell Rose, Heather Monroe b Alex Gracia, Thunder Rosa b Mercedes Martinez, Hyan b Amber Nova, Priscilla Kelly b Rock-C, Miranda Alize b Joey Ryan, Heather Monroe b Miranda Alize to win the Hurricane title (thanks to Shannon Walsh and wrestlingwithdemons.net)
Dragon Lee will be working a lot more ROH shows for the rest of the year.
Sendai Girls from last night in Manchester, UK: Viper won four-way over Gisele Shaw, Isla Dawn and Jody Threat, Aiger b Session Moth Martina, Dash Chisako b Kay Lee Ray,Valkyrie b Chris Brookes, Millie McKenzie & Charli Evans b Chihiro Matsumoto & Yuu, Toni Storm b Meiko Satomura
Chigusa Nagayo, one of the greatest female wrestlers of all-time, will be doing a seminar in Japanese Strong Style wrestling on 8/15 at the FTW World Wrestling Academy in Bohemia, NY. Some wrestlers from the tryout will be offered spots to work in Japan and train at the Marvelous Dojo. For more info you can e-mail [email protected] or call Bryan Idol at 631-574-2214.
Innovative Wrestling on 8/24 in Morristown, TN at the Tally Ward Rec Center.
For those going to Toronto for SummerSlam week, here are some shows:
8/7 at 4 p.m. has an OWE show
8/7 at 8 p.m. has Smash vs. Progress
8/8 at 4 p.m. has wXw Ambition
8/8 at 8 p.m. has Progress
8/9 at 4 p.m. has wXw
8/9 at 8 p.m. has Super Showdown 7
8/10 at Noon at Smash, Shimmer, Rise and Femmes Fatales
8/10 at 3 p.m. has OWE
ECWA will be relaunching on 9/21 in New Castle, DE at the Asbury United Methodist Church with a 7 p.m. show.
Lucha Toronto on 8/7 at the Opera House in Toronto with Joey Ryan, Puma King and Ethan Page.
PWP on Wednesday night in Omaha: Jack Darling & Uncle Ricky won three-way over Paul & Joey Daniels and Tim Boston & Seto Kobara, Branden Jaurez b Santos Barbosa, Willy Sweet b Logan James, Chris Havius & Preston Maxwell b Jaysin Strife & Con Artiest, Tony Cortez b Pat Powers-DQ, Purple b Moonshine Russell, Duke Cornell b Brett Bishop. Next show is 8/25 at the Waiting Room Lounge in Omaha.
70s star Buddy Colt talks about surviving a plane crash that ended his career and being a heel. (thank to Mike Kuzmuk)
It appears that WWE has officially taken the first steps towards Ronda Rousey, Becky Lynch, and Charlotte Flair all being involved in the main event of WrestleMania 35.
An angle where Vince McMahon suspended Lynch for 60 days and announced that Charlotte would be taking her place at WrestleMania closed last Monday’s episode of Raw. Charlotte aligned with Vince and fully turned heel, with Vince calling her someone with charisma, someone with charm, and someone who knows their lane and stays in it.
The show didn’t sell out, even in one of WWE’s best markets. The show had more good than bad, with the highlight being the main event, the men’s Chamber match where Daniel Bryan retained and the crowd got so strong behind Kofi Kingston in the Mustafa Ali slot that Vince McMahon changed plans for Fast Lane to put Bryan vs. Kingston on top.
The show was the brainchild of Motoko Baba, to run a big Baba celebration show in 2019, 20 years after his early 1999 death. With her passing away last year, it was her nieces and nephews who put the show together.
All but one count of Mark Hunt’s lawsuit against the UFC, Dana White and Brock Lesnar on the grounds they conspired against him to allow a juiced up Lesnar to fight him at UFC 200 was thrown out of court.
The 2020 Royal Rumble will take place on 1/26 at Minute Maid Park in Houston. Most likely that would also mean Takeover on 1/25 at the Toyota Center, Raw on 1/27 and Smackdown on 1/28.
FOX this weekend started advertising 10/4 as the debut of the new Friday Night Smackdown show.
“Fighting with My Family,” the Dwayne Johnson Seven Bucks Entertainment movie about Growing Up as Paige, which has its big national release on 2/22, has gotten great word-of-mouth so far.
Chris Jericho noted that while he and Gedo are on the same page, that New Japan management hasn’t talked with him about a new deal.
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.
SUNDAY NEWS UPDATE
WWE
Dave Meltzer has sent in the following in regards to injuries that took place over the weekend:
There was an injury scare last night as Drew McIntyre seemed to have suffered a knee injury during a house show in Tupelo, MS. The match had to go home early, but he is believed to be fine.
Noam Dar suffered what could possibly be a serious knee injury suffered in a match against Mark Andrews during the NXT UK tapings yesterday. He is to be examined in the US when he comes back.
Mark Andrews was knocked out during the match with Dar. It may be a concussion, but the belief is that it wasn’t too serious.
Aleister Black said his goodbyes to NXT during a house show in Daytona Beach, Florida this weekend. He along with the other call-ups will still be part of the NXT TV tapings at least through the next TakeOver.
Dave Schilling, who has written in the past for Bleacher Report, VICE and The Guardian says that he will be joining the WWE creative team next month.
The Rock surprised moviegoers who were watching Fighting With My Family in Atlanta, appearing at a screening of the movie.
Nikki Bella won the WIN award this weekend for best actress in a reality series.
Pro Wrestling
David Finlay wrote on Twitter yesterday that he dislocated his shoulder during the ROH tag team title match on 2/23, writing “Thanks to everyone for all the positive vibes! I did dislocated my shoulder last night but it’s back in now. I’ll see a doctor when I’m home to see what the damage is but hopefully it’s nothing too serious. Thanks again to everyone. See you in the mountains!”
All Japan announced the blocks for this year’s Champion Carnival, which starts on April 4 and runs through April 29.
Block A has Kento Miyahara, Kengo Mashimo, Yuma Aoyagi, Zeus, Gianni Valletta, Ryouji Sai, Dylan James, Shuji Ishikawa,Yuji Okabayashi
Block B has Joe Doering, Jake Lee, Naoya Nomura, Yoshitatsu, Daichi Hashimoto, Sam Adonis, Suwama, Takashi Yoshida, Joel Redman
WALTER vs. David Starr, Fenix vs. Rey Horus, Axel Dieter Jr. vs. Maris Al-Ani, Pentagon Jr. vs. Mark Davis, Timothy Thatcher vs. Lucky Kid, Ilja Dragunov vs. Daisuke Sekimoto, Chris Brookes vs. Shigehiro Irie, and Jurn Simmons vs. Avalanche in a falls count anywhere match are the first round matches in this year’s wXw 16 Carat Gold tournament. The tournament is taking place from March 8-10, with those first round matches happening on the first night.
Starrcast LLC has applied a trademark for the term “Dead Man Talking.”
This week’s MLW Fusion episode is available on YouTube. It has Aerostar vs. Rey Horus, Mance Warner making his debut against Jimmy Yuta, and Rich Swann vs. Lance Anoa’i.
Ed in San Antonio presents the WRESTLEMANIAWeekend Events (more to be added):
Sunday, 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~!
A new report indicates that Sami Zayn will be taking time off to heal from nagging injuries.
Pro Wrestling Sheet reported today that Zayn is off the road currently to heal from knee and shoulder injuries that he has been wrestling with for a while. He will be reportedly travelling to Birmingham, Alabama to get the injuries checked out.
Before being called up to the main roster, Zayn injured his shoulder in a match against John Cena on WWE Raw for the United States title back in 2015. He spent the next seven months on the shelf before returning to NXT, eventually being called up at the 2016 Royal Rumble.
Zayn lost to Bobby Lashley this past Sunday in what was considered a largely one sided match that ended their feud. He had been paired with Lashley following WrestleMania, most infamously bringing Lashley’s sisters to Raw in a much derided segment.
There is no current timetable for when Zayn will return.
