Stephanie McMahon says WWE needs to bring another stadium show back to Australia.
McMahon was speaking at the Wells Fargo TMT Summit recently and mentioned WWE’s new exclusive partnership with Foxtel in Australia. She appeared to indicate that bringing a stadium show to Australia may be part of the deal.
You look at our new deal in Australia with Foxtel, where we need to bring a stadium event to Australia as well and how are we looking at that in terms of our international Premium Live Events? How does that work in terms of our domestic strategy?… How are we gonna be able to maximize our opportunities there?
WWE presented Super Show-Down from the Melbourne Cricket Grounds in Melbourne, Australia on October 26, 2018. The event featured Australian wrestlers The Iiconics (Peyton Royce & Billie Kay aka Cassie Lee & Jessie McKay) defeating Asuka & Naomi as well as Buddy Murphy winning the WWE Cruiserweight Championship from Cedric Alexander.
Stephanie also spoke about WWE’s “global localization” plan regarding opening up more Performance Centers around the world.
In addition to that, international is the focus for us, as we have discussed in the past but now we really have the opportunity to create what we call ‘global localization’ or ‘glocal’ where we can create local Performance Centers with local talent, replicate the lines of business that we have here in WWE and do it on a much smaller scale but ultimately, hopefully that’ll ladder up into the bigger product and potentially then creating a World Cup-type scenario which would be fun and exciting. It also then of course is an opportunity for talent to rotate throughout and we can have local stars that can ultimately come up to the main roster of WWE
WWE returns to Australia this morning for WWE Super Show-Down, a giant stadium show where Triple H and Undertaker will meet for what is being billed as their final singles match.
They have feuded off and on over the course of the last two decades, with their most infamous bouts happening in 2011 and 2012 at WrestleMania. Both men have been talking about the match for the last several weeks, culminating in an attack last Monday night where Undertaker and Kane laid out Triple H and Shawn Michaels. Both Kane and Michaels will be in the corner seconding their former tag team partners respectively.
Titles on the line this morning include AJ Styles defending the WWE title against Samoa Joe in a match where there must be a winner, Cedric Alexander vs. Buddy Murphy for the Cruiserweight title, The New Day vs. The Bar for the SmackDown tag team titles and Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair for the SmackDown women’s title.
Other key matches include Asuka and Naomi taking on the IIconics, The Shield taking on Braun Strowman, Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre in a six-man tag, the return of John Cena as he teams up with Bobby Lashley against Elias and Kevin Owens, Ronda Rousey teaming with the Bella Twins to take on The Riott Squad and Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz with the winner getting a WWE title shot.
Join us for live coverage starting at 5 a.m. EDT.
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The New Day defeated The Bar to retain the SmackDown tag team titles
This was a pretty solid opener. A standard WWE tag team match. People were kind of cold for this at first, but got into it by the end.
New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) started off hot, culminating with a big tope con giro by Kofi. The Bar catch Kofi and drives him into the post. Heels get the heat on Kofi. At one point, Sheamus went for the chest slaps on the ropes, but stopped at five to get heat.
Kofi finally makes the hot tag to woods as he ran wild on Sheamus. Sheamus, however, cuts him off and hits the Irish curse backbreaker. Woods blocked a brogue kick and went for a roll up. Cesaro is tagged in and hits the giant swing, followed by the sharpshooter. Kofi breaks things up but is taken to the floor by Sheamus.
Kofi connects with the trouble in paradise on Sheamus, then hits a double foot stomp on Cesaro as Woods held him up with his feet. Kingston then pinned Cesaro to retain the titles.
Charlotte Flair defeated SmackDown women’s champion Becky Lynch by DQ
I liked this match until the finish. WWE goes to the well far too often with these finishes, but it’s what they do when they want to extend a program for another two months. Solid work as a whole.
Lynch was aggressive early, targeting one of Flair’s legs. She dragged Flair to the outside and shoved her into the post. Flair tried to fight back with chops, but Lynch took her down with an armbar. Flair lifts her up with a sidewalk slam, then followed with a back suplex.
Lynch withstood Flair chops and tried an exploder, but Flair took her to the ground. Lynch tackled her off the top rope. Both Flair and Lynch exchange nearfalls. They exchange strikes until Flair connects with a spear. She tries to follow with a moonsault, but Lynch gets the knees up and goes to the top rope herself, but Flair dodges a guillotine leg drop.
Flair went for a Boston crab, but Lynch escaped to the floor and grabbed the title. Flair speared Lynch into the guardrail, then speared her again back in the ring. She applied the figure eight but Lynch, who was within grasp of the Women’s title, grabbed it and smacked Charlotte with it right in front of the referee for the DQ. Cool!
Flair went to grab Lynch after the match but Lynch cut her off and slammed her into the guardrail. She followed with a running knee strike, laying out Charlotte.
John Cena and Bobby Lashley defeated Kevin Owens and Elias
Simple match, nothing really special. Lashley had the heat on him forever until Cena made his comeback and got the win, that’s literally it.
Lashley and Elias started things off. Lashley worked over both he and Owens. He was about to tag in Cena, but Elias shoved him off the apron as Owens superkicked him for the heat. Lashley fought back with some right hands, but an attempted spear sends Lashley crashing to the floor.
Owens hit the bullfrog splash, but Lashley finally manages to cut off Elias and makes his comeback on Owens. He then hit the AA and his new finisher (a punch) for the win.
Cena thanked the fans after the match. He said WWE was his home and will always be his home. His life is changing, but will never forget where he came from. He said that he was no idea what his future is, but he is standing here with people making some noise. He thanked the fans one final time before leaving.
The IIconics came out. They got a big pop, but not much of a reaction after the pop. They said that there is no better place to be at and no better group of people to be here in front of.. They said that while their opponents aren’t bad, they will show their country that they are iconic.
The IIconics defeated Asuka and Naomi
There really wasn’t anything to this. Very short, extremely basic match. No real heat for this until the finish.
The IIconics came out. They got a big pop, but not much of a reaction after the pop. They said that there is no better place to be at and no better group of people to be here in front of.. They said that while their opponents aren’t bad, they will show their country that they are iconic.
IIconics got the heat on Naomi early but she quickly took things over, tagging in Asuka. The two work over Royce and Kaye, sending them to the floor with a double hip attack. Kaye blasted Asuka with a knee as the referee sent Naomi back to the apron.
Both IIconics worked over Asuka until she landed a German suplex on Kaye and tagged in Naomi. She hit a springboard moonsault on Royce. Kaye took Naomi to the floor as Royce shoved Asuka into the barricade. The IIconics then double teamed Naomi, with Royce blasting her with a knee for the win. People were into the IIconics winning as they celebrated after the match.
AJ Styles defeated Samoa Joe by submission to retain the WWE title
The work in this match was actually excellent, and overall this was a great match. The crowd hurt it a bit, though — the only time they were really alive was when a table was brought out. Still, this told a good story and was executed well.
The two brawled in the aisle as they made their way into the ring for the bell. AJ was in control early, landing kicks to Joe’s chest. Joe fired back with a chop. Joe hit a running knee that sent Styles to the floor, then followed with a big suicide dive.
Joe followed with a snap suplex to the floor, then applied a trapezius hold. He continues working over Styles, slingshotting him into the turnbuckle. Styles tries to back a brief comeback, but Joe slams him down and exits the ring, grabbing a chair. Styles dropkicked the chair into Joe’s face, derailing him.
Styles beat Joe with the chair, then opened it in front of Joe. He went for a splash in the corner, but Joe grabbed him and slammed him through the chair. Joe took out a table, which the crowd popped for, and places it as he takes Styles to the top rope. Styles slipped through, however, and powerbombed Joe through the table.
Joe grabbed his knee on impact, telling the referee “it popped”. Styles went after the knee. Styles went for the calf crusher but Joe countered with the coquina clutch. Styles escaped to the floor to escape the hold. Styles hit the 450 on Joe’s bad knee. They brawl on the outside, with Styles hitting the phenomenal forearm on the guardrail.
Styles went for the phenomenal forearm again, but Joe countered with the coquina clutch. He then followed with a sleeper suplex. Joe trapped Styles again in the coquina clutch, but bridged over him a la last month’s finish. Joe kicked out, but got trapped in the calf crusher. Joe tried to make it to the ropes, but submitted instead.
Ronda Rousey and The Bella Twins defeated The Riott Squad
This was another basic match. Like other matches on this card, it all built to a hot tag, comeback and pin. It was fine.
After Nikki and Ronda argued about who would start, Nikki started but was jumped by Riott. Brie and Morgan were in the ring for a bit, then Logan and Nikki. Heels got the heat on Nikki as there were frequent tags while working her over.
Nikki finally took out Logan with a springboard enziguri and tagged in Rousey who took down the Riott Squad with judo throws. The Riott squad take the Bella to the outside as Ronda took Logan and went for the armbar, but Morgan broke it up. The two tried to double team her, but Ronda took them both down and applied a double armbar on both women. They immediately tapped out.
70,309 was the announced number for this morning’s show.
Buddy Murphy defeated Cedric Alexander for the WWE Cruiserweight title
This was good and up to this point, had the most heat of anything on the show. People wanted Murphy to win badly and it got over huge when he won. Match itself was really good, full of hot action and cool moves.
Murphy was the total babyface here as the crowd were into him way more than the IIconics, probably because he’s from Melbourne. He hit a huge tope con grio. Murphy continued on offense until Alexander gave him a falcon arrow off the top rope, then followed with a tope con grio of his own.
Alexander went for the lumbar check but Murphy blocked it. Alexander hit a step up enziguri and went for Murphy’s law but Alexander instead hit the standing spanish fly and lumbar check…but Murphy kicked out.
Alexander went for a springboard, but Murphy connected with a big knee strike instead then planted Alexander with Murphy’s law for the win. This got over huge with the crowd.
The Shield defeated Braun Strowman, Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre
This was a great brawl. Good action good drama, there was a lot to like in this match, very well booked with a hot finish. Everyone looked good here.
All six men brawled once they were all in the ring. Ziggler got the better of Rollins as the bell rang. All of the heels ganged up on Rollins, not letting him tag out. He hit a slingblade on McIntyre and tried for a tag, but Strowman ended that quickly.
Rollins buckle bombs Ziggler, but Reigns and Ambrose aren’t on the apron, as they were laid out by Ziggler and McIntyre. Strowman goes to the top rope for a splash, but Rollins moves out of the way as he crashes. Rollins finally tags in Ambrose, who runs wild and even plants Ziggler with the dodon. They go at it until a double crossbody attempt sends them both to the floor.
Reigns is tagged in as he goes after McIntyre. He inadvertently hits Ambrose on the apron while fending off McIntyre. Everyone gets in. Strowman posts himself to the floor as Reigns laid out McIntyre. Eventually, all three appear on the apron. Ambrose follows, not happy about being struck.
Ambrose acts, attacking Strowman as they target McIntyre. They went for the triple powerbomb, but Strowman speared everyone. He throws Rollins and Reigns to the floor and takes him both out with shoulder tackles as Ziggler hit the zig zag, but Ambrose kicked out.
Strowman went to attack Ambrose, but Reigns countered with a spear that drove Strowman through the guardrail. Rollins took out McIntyre with a superkick as Ziggler took out Rollins. But Ziggler ended up walking right into Ambrose who hit the dirty deeds DDT for the win.
Daniel Bryan defeated The Miz
Miz immediately kicked Bryan in the ribs and focused on them early. Bryan fights back and connects with yes kicks but Miz fired back with Bryan’s running knee strike. Miz went for the skull crushing finale, but Bryan went for a cradle…and got the win. Well, okay. That was such a weird finish, though people were into it once they realized what happened.
It was announced that AJ Styles will defend the WWE title against Daniel Bryan at Crown Jewel. A rematch for the SmackDown women’s title will also take place this Tuesday.
Triple H defeated The Undertaker
This was a modern day Triple H main event where it went on for a really long time, felt plodding in a lot of places and had lots of smoke and mirrors. It wasn’t a bad match, and overall it was pretty alright, but there were periods where this wasn’t particularly interesting and felt more plodding than anything.
Before the match, it was announced that this would be a no DQ match. Early on, Triple H actually teased doing the old school spot, but Undertaker took him down with punches. Undertaker then connected with old school and hit the snake eyes in the corner but Triple H responded with a high knee. Undertaker and Shawn end up having a scuffle on the outside as Kane keeps him at bay.
Triple H threw Undertaker into the steel steps as he and Shawn set up a table. Triple H went for a pedigree on the Undertaker but Undertaker responded with a back body drop. They go at it with some back and forth in the ring before Undertaker takes him outside and sends him into the ring announcer’s area.
Undertaker sets up the table, but Triple H fights back until Undertaker throws Triple H over the barricade and into the crowd. They brawl around the arena, with Undertaker choking Triple H with cords at one point. He eventually takes Triple H back into the ring, laying out HBK with a punch and introducing a chair.
Putting Triple H on the table, Undertaker went to the apron and fought off HBK. Triple H went back to the ring, but Kane pulled him out. HBK superkicked Kane on the table as Triple H drove him into the table with an elbow. Back in the ring, Undertaker actually connected with the tombstone piledriver, but Triple H kicked out. The Undertaker punches out the referee as he continues to beat Triple H with steel chair shots.
Undertaker wraps the hair around Triple H’s head. HBK tried to reason with him. He entered the ring, but Undertaker punched him out. Triple H made a comeback and hit the pedigree, but Undertaker kicked out. So Triple H wrapped Undertaker’s head around the chair like Undertaker did to him earlier. From the second rope, he stomped on the chair and went for a cover, but Kane dragged the second referee out of the ring.
Shawn Michaels introduces the sledgehammer as he gives him the sledgehammer. Kane gives Undertaker another steel chair. Triple H wins, smashing the sledgehammer into the chair, striking Undertaker. There’s no referee, so Triple H went to use the sledgehammer again when Undertaker caught him in the hell’s gate. With no referee, both collapsed to the floor.
HBK went to use the sledgehammer on Undertaker, but Kane evened things out as Undertaker dumped HBK to the floor. Undertaker decided not to use the sledgehamemr and avoided the pedigree. He went for a tombstone on HBK, but Triple H blasted Undertaker with the sledgehammer. HBK then superkicked Undertaker and walked into a Triple H pedigree for the win.
HBK and Triple H were emotional after the match. Undertaker was slumped in the corner. He took the sledgehammer and handed it to Triple H. He responded by dumping it on the floor and extending his hand. Triple H helps Undertaker to his feet as all four men posed, pyro going off in a big celebration…
But it didn’t end there. Undertaker and Kane turned on Triple H and Shawn Michaels, with Undertaker laying out Triple H with the tombstone. Kane took HBK to the outside and chokeslammed him through the announce table. The announcers called this a betrayal as the Brothers of Destruction walked up the ramp to end the show.
There’s your build to Crown Jewel, where after facing off each other here tonight for the last time ever…Undertaker and Triple H will probably face off in a tag match next month.
We’re doing polls this weekend on the WWE Super Show-down from Melbourne, UFC 229 from Las Vegas and New Japan King of Pro Wrestling. You can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]. We’re looking for reports on tonight’s NXT show in Citrus Springs, FL to [email protected].
NEW JAPAN WORLD PRO WRESTLING AT 8 P.M. EASTERN TONIGHT ON AXS TV
Jushin Liger & Ryusuke Taguchi & ACH vs. Rocky Romero & Sho & Yoh
Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian vs. Hangman Page & Chase Owens
Hirooki Goto & Baretta & Chuckie T vs. Jeff Cobb & Chris Sabin & Flip Gordon
Tetsuya Naito & Evil & Seiya Sanada vs. Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr. & Zack Sabre Jr.
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kushida vs. Jay White & Gedo
Will Ospreay vs. Marty Scurll in semifinals of IWGP Jr. title tournament
Young Bucks vs. Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa for IWGP tag titles
Juice Robinson vs. Cody for U.S. title
Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi vs. Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii
El Hijo del Signo & Robin & Yago vs. Akuma & Camorra & Star Jr.
Avispa Dorada & Jarochita & Marcela vs. Dalys & Metalica & Reyna Isis
Valiente vs. Gran Guerrero
L.A. Park & El Hijo de L.A. Park & Mistico vs. Cavernario & Ciber the Main Man & The Chris
World Grand Prix Elimination match: Dark Magic, David Finlay, Flip Gordon, Gilbert El Boricua, Jay Briscoe, Mark Briscoe, Matt Taven, Michael Elgin, Okumura, Caristico, Cuatrero, Diamante Azul, Euforia, Hechicero, Sanson, El Terrible, Ultimo Guerrero and Volador Jr.
QUINTET FROM THE ORLEANS ARENA IN LAS VEGAS AT 10 P.M. EASTERN TONIGHT ON FIGHT PASS
Submission grappling with four teams including Frank Mir vs. Satoshi Ishii and Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Urijah Faber
We’re looking for reports Saturday from the NXT show in St. Petersburg, FL to [email protected].
WWE SUPER SHOW-DOWN FROM MELBOURNE CRICKET GROUNDS AT 5 A.M. EASTERN SATURDAY MORNING ON WWE NETWORK
Undertaker vs. HHH
A.J. Styles vs. Samoa Joe for WWE title
Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose & Seth Rollins vs. Drew McIntyre & Dolph Ziggler & Braun Strowman
Ronda Rousey & Bella Twins vs. Ruby Riott & Sarah Logan & Liv Morgan
Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz – Winner gets WWE title shot
John Cena & Bobby Lashley vs. Elias & Kevin Owens
Cedric Alexander vs. Buddy Murphy for cruiserweight title
New Day vs. Sheamus & Cesaro for Smackdown tag titles
Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair for Smackdown women’s title
Naomi & Asuka vs. Billie Kay & Peyton Royce
UFC 229 ON SATURDAY FROM THE T MOBILE ARENA IN LAS VEGAS
Fight Pass at 6:30 p.m. Eastern
Ryan LaFlare vs. Tony Martin
Gray Maynard vs. Nik Lentz
Yana Kunitskaya vs. Lina Lansberg
Prelims on FS1 at 8 p.m. Eastern
Alan Patrick vs. Scott Holtzman
Tonya Evinger vs. Aspen Ladd
Jalin Turner vs. Vicente Luque
Sergio Pettis vs. Jussier Formiga
PPV at 10 p.m. Eastern
Michelle Waterson vs. Felice Herrig
Alexander Volkov vs. Derrick Lewis
Ovince Saint Preux vs. Dominic Reyes
Anthony Pettis vs. Tony Ferguson
Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Conor McGregor for lightweight title
NEW JAPAN KING OF PRO WRESTLING AT 4 A.M. EASTERN MONDAY MORNING ON NEW JAPAN WORLD
Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Desperado vs. Tiger Mask & Jushin Liger for IWGP jr. tag titles
Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma vs. Juice Robinson & Toa Henare
Young Bucks & Hangman Page & Chase Owens vs. Bad Luck Fale & Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa & Taiji Ishimori
Tomohiro Ishii & Hirooki Goto & Will Ospreay vs. Minoru Suzuki & Taichi & Takashi Iizuka
Kazuchika Okada & Toru Yano & Sho & Yoh vs. Tetsuya Naito & Seiya Sanada & Bushi & ?
Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Evil
Kushida vs Marty Scurll for IWGP jr. title
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Jay White for Tokyo Dome IWGP title shot
Kenny Omega vs. Kota Ibushi vs. Cody for IWGP heavyweight title
Raw will be Monday in Chicago. There will also be a Smackdown house show Monday night in Louisville.
Smackdown, 205 Live and Mixed Match Challenge are taped Tuesday in Indianapolis. Announced for Mixed Match Challenge are A.J. Styles & Charlotte Flair vs. R-Truth & Carmella and Braun Strowman & Ember Moon vs. Finn Balor & Bayley.
What should have been a fairly innocuous six-woman tag match on last Monday’s Raw ended with Liv Morgan having suffered a concussion and with a social media controversy that has yet to fully die down. The Riott Squad faced The Bellas & Natalya on last week’s Raw as part of the build to Ruby Riott, Morgan & Sarah Logan vs. Ronda Rousey & The Bellas at Super Show-Down in Melbourne, Australia.
Headed up with a major history piece on the 30-year history of Ted Turner’s involvement with pro wrestling and coverage of a week of so many major events, it’s a double issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter this week.
Preview UFC 229 and why it is expected to be the biggest non-boxing PPV in history. Look at projections, some real numbers, some comparisons, and why Dana White says it wasn’t in Madison Square Garden.
The big story looks at Ted Turner and how he first got connected to pro wrestling in 1972, the role of Ray & Ann Gunkel, the wrestling war in Georgia that led to the two hour Saturday night block, the roles of Jim Barnett and Ole Anderson, and the first-ever Omni sellout.
Also look at the decision made by UFC and USADA to no longer announce drug test failures and why it wasn’t well thought out, as well as the reputation of USADA taking such a hit and the sad ironies of this.
Look at WWE Super Show-Down, ticket sales and ramifications.
Read the update on the 1,000th episode of Smackdown, WWE plans for NXT and ideas that have been talked about, major execs selling WWE stock.
Look at the big questions facing Bellator as they try and build their brand, as well as surprising notes of the Bellator brand vs U.S. pro wrestling companies and Saturday’s show in particular.
This issue has full coverage of ROH’s Death Before Dishonor with match-by-match coverage, business notes, polls and star ratings 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 Dave Meltzer, or by using PayPal directing funds to [email protected].
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FRIDAY NEWS UPDATE
WWE
Super Show-Down airs live on the WWE Network at 5 a.m. Eastern time tomorrow morning. It’s listed as running from 5 a.m. to 9 a.m.
Liv Morgan spoke to The Mirror about being cleared for Super Show-Down: “”I’m 100% cleared by the WWE doctors. They took great care of me. They have a very extensive concussion protocol, which we followed 100% and luckily I am feeling fantastic and we are ready to win.”
Elias spoke to Complex about the background of his character. When talking about various people, he had this to say about Triple H: “There’s a fear that I sense about him, and a reluctance to accept me…I don’t want to say he’s doing his best to keep his thumb on me, but while it feels like a lot of people want the best for me, it doesn’t feel like Triple H does.”
WWE announced yesterday that Vickie Guerrero and former developmental talents Theo Agbi and Josh Woods are recipients of this year’s WWE talent scholarships.
A new episode of Ride Along will air on the WWE Network after Monday’s Raw. It will feature Becky Lynch & Charlotte Flair “before their falling out” and Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville.
Travel packages for the 2019 Royal Rumble will be available starting on Wednesday, October 10 on the Royal Rumble travel website. Individual tickets will start on October 12.
WWE added their previous Australian stadium show, Global Warming, to the WWE Network today. The show, which took place on August 10, 2002 featured a main event pitting The Rock against Triple H and Brock Lesnar for the WWE Undisputed title.
Jeff Cobb vs. Eli Isom and Flip Gordon & Kenny King vs. The Kingdom (Vinny Marseglia & TK O’Ryan) have been added to ROH Glory by Honor night one in Baltimore on October 12.
Big Cass, now going as Big C, made his first indie appearance at a Championship Wrestling League event in Michigan and said that his no-compete had expired. He then turned heel, saying people didn’t deserve to know what happened that led to his release.
UFC/MMA
Jon Jones spoke to Ariel Helwani on his impending return to the UFC and the controversy surrounding it. He refutes being a “snitch”, saying he didn’t give any information on anyone. “USADA asked me to do a lot of things throughout this case, but one thing I didn’t do is snitch on anybody in MMA,” he said. “I definitely didn’t give up any information on anyone in the sport, nor do I know of anybody who’s doing these things in the sport. I think the whole snitching thing is pretty silly. It’s interesting to watch people jump to conclusions about things they don’t know what they are talking about. And that’s all I want to say about that topic.”
He also expressed disinterest in fighting Daniel Cormier for a third time. “No, I don’t,” he said when asked. “I already have all the marbles when it comes to Daniel Cormier. I’ve beaten him twice. This game has never been personal. What is personal to me is chasing greatness, not individuals. So in the case of myself and Daniel Cormier, he needs to fight myself one more time if he ever wants to be considered one of the all-time greats. I don’t need to fight him again to be considered one of the all-time greats. I have many more years to prove it.”
Conor McGregor’s disclosed purse for UFC 229 is $3 million and Khabib Nurmagomedov’s is $2 million. The disclosed purses are only a portion of what they’ll make and don’t account for PPV buys.
The UFC uploaded the fourth and fifth episodes of Embedded for Saturday’s PPV, with the fifth episode including footage from yesterday’s press conference for Nurmagomedov vs. McGregor.
Nurmagomedov has posted a third video showing his training camp ahead of tomorrow’s show.
King Mo talked to MMA Junkie about interest in RIZIN and possible future matches in Bellator.
For all Observer readers that are planning to attend UFC 231 on December 8 in Toronto and stay overnight, Grant Zwarych, who sells Observer back issues for us, has arranged a great deal at the Holiday Inn Express at 111 Lombard Street in Toronto. The hotel is a short walk to Scotia Bank Arena, the Distillery District and St Lawrence Market. The rate includes breakfast for 2. The hotel also has one of the lesser expensive parking charges. Rate is available for both Friday & Saturday night.
Readers need to call the hotel directly at 416-367-5555 or can send an email to [email protected] and ask to book under the UFC 231 group block Dec. 7-9, 2018. Please be advised due to high volume of calls to the hotel some unanswered calls will automatically transfer to central reservation and the agent will not have access to the group block.
A room with a King bed is $170.00 (sgl/dbl occupancy, maximum 2 people per room), a room with 2 Queen beds is $175.00 (sgl/dbl occupancy, $10 for each additional person up to maximum 4 people in the room) plus applicable taxes. There is a stricter cancellation policy due to the great rate being offered. Readers must book by November 7 and cannot cancel after November 8 without a one night room & tax cancellation policy. If you have your tickets and know you are definitely going, this is a fantastic deal.
WWE has revealed Shawn Michaels’ role for Super Show-Down in Melbourne, Australia.
As was advertised in advance, The Undertaker made an appearance on Raw tonight to continue promoting his match against Triple H at Super Show-Down. During his promo, it was announced that Michaels will be in Triple H’s corner for the match and that Kane will be in Undertaker’s corner.
Michaels was on Raw two weeks ago as part of the build to Triple H vs. Undertaker, and WWE teased Michaels potentially coming out of retirement for his first match in over eight years. Dave Meltzer then reported that Michaels wrestling was “targeted, if not scheduled” for WWE’s return to Saudi Arabia on November 2. Meltzer wrote that it wasn’t planned to be a singles match.
Kane (real name Glenn Jacobs) hasn’t appeared on WWE television since winning his election to become mayor of Knox County, Tennessee last month. He’s noted that he wouldn’t rule out still making special appearances for WWE after becoming mayor.
Undertaker vs. Triple H at Super Show-Down is being billed as the final time they’ll ever face each other. The event will take place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on October 6 and will air live on the WWE Network.
Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair are now set for two high profile matches in the next couple of months.
WWE announced today on their website that Becky Lynch will face Charlotte Flair for the WWE SmackDown women’s title at WWE Super Show-Down. This is in addition to their match that has been announced for WWE Hell in a Cell later this month.
The two have been feuding since SummerSlam, when Charlotte took advantage of a prone Lynch and pinned her to become SmackDown women’s champion. Lynch didn’t like the outcome and jumped Charlotte, throwing her over the announcer’s table. The two have exchanged tense words since then and are first scheduled to meet in a title match at Hell in a Cell on September 16.
Here is the current card for WWE Super Show-Down, which will take place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, Australia on October 6:
The Undertaker vs. Triple H
AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe for the WWE title
John Cena and Bobby Lashley vs. Kevin Owens and Elias
Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz – winner gets a WWE title match
The Shield vs. Braun Strowman, Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre
Ronda Rousey and the Bella Twins vs. The Riott Squad
Cedric Alexander vs. Buddy Murphy for the WWE Cruiserweight title
The New Day vs. Cesaro and Sheamus for the WWE SmackDown tag team titles
Charlotte Flair vs. Becky Lynch for the SmackDown women’s title
Two more matches have been added to the card for WWE Super Show-Down.
WWE has announced Asuka & Naomi vs. Peyton Royce & Billie Kay for Super Show-Down, along with The New Day defending their Tag Team titles against Cesaro & Sheamus. The event is taking place in Melbourne, Australia on October 6 and will air live on the WWE Network.
Asuka made the save for Naomi in an angle on this week’s SmackDown, helping her even the odds against Royce & Kay. Naomi had defeated Royce before being attacked by them.
Super Show-Down will be a homecoming for Royce & Kay as they wrestle in their home country. Buddy Murphy will also be challenging for the Cruiserweight Championship in his hometown of Melbourne.
WWE announced tonight that Cruiserweight Champion Cedric Alexander will defend his title against Murphy at Super Show-Down in Melbourne, Australia on October 6. Alexander last defended the title against Drew Gulak on the SummerSlam pre-show, and their program has continued on 205 Live since.
Murphy wrestled in the main event of this week’s 205 Live, defeating Kalisto.
This is the seventh match to be announced for Super Show-Down. The show is taking place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and will air live on the WWE Network.
Here’s the updated card:
The Undertaker vs. Triple H (billed as the final time they’ll ever face each other)
The Shield (Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose) vs. Braun Strowman, Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre
WWE Champion AJ Styles defending against Samoa Joe
Ronda Rousey, Nikki Bella & Brie Bella vs. The Riott Squad (Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan & Sarah Logan)
Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz (winner gets a future shot at the WWE Championship)
John Cena & Bobby Lashley vs. Kevin Owens & Elias
WWE Cruiserweight Champion Cedric Alexander defending against Buddy Murphy
Styles and Joe’s feud has been built around Joe taunting Styles and his family. Their match at SummerSlam ended in a disqualification when Styles snapped and attacked Joe with a chair. Before Super Show-Down, Joe will challenge for Styles’ title at Hell in a Cell on September 16.
Here’s the updated card for Super Show-Down:
The Undertaker vs. Triple H (billed as the final time they’ll ever face each other)
The Shield (Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose) vs. Braun Strowman, Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre
WWE Champion AJ Styles defending against Samoa Joe
Ronda Rousey, Nikki Bella & Brie Bella vs. The Riott Squad (Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan & Sarah Logan)
Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz (winner gets a future shot at the WWE Championship)
Miz defeated Bryan at SummerSlam after Maryse gave him brass knuckles to use as a weapon.
John Cena vs. Kevin Owens was originally scheduled for Super Show-Down, but that’s been changed. Cena will instead team with Bobby Lashley against Owens & Elias.
WWE is also hyping that The Shield will be in action at Super Show-Down in some form after reuniting on Raw this week. Whether they’ll be in a six-man tag or separate matches wasn’t confirmed.
Triple H appeared on Monday’s Raw to hype up Super Show-Down, which will take place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and air live on the WWE Network. Triple H is facing The Undertaker at the show in what’s being billed as the final time they’ll ever wrestle each other.
With under two months left until the event, WWE has announced another match for their stadium show in Melbourne, Australia.
John Cena vs. Kevin Owens was added to the card for the show today. It’s being called “WWE Super Show-Down” and is taking place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Saturday, October 6. It will air live on the WWE Network at 4 a.m. Eastern time and will be available on pay-per-view globally.
In what’s being billed as the final time they’ll ever face each other, The Undertaker vs. Triple H is the only other match that’s been announced as of now.
Owens’ first feud after moving up to the main roster in 2015 was against Cena. Owens defeated him at Elimination Chamber 2015 and then lost to Cena at Money in the Bank and Battleground.
Cena hasn’t wrestled since April’s Greatest Royal Rumble, but he’s scheduled for WWE’s house show in Shanghai, China on September 1. Cena has teased that he’ll be debuting a new move in Shanghai.