Daily Update: New Total Divas cast members, Impact ratings, G1
July 16, 2020 | News | No Comments
THE ROUND-UP
The Latest from the F4W Staff
NEWS
Rebecca and Matt Hardy welcome birth of second son
NJPW Road to Dominion results: Okada & RPG Vice vs. The Elite
Impact Wrestling results: Four titles on the line in India
Former NWA Junior Heavyweight Champion Ron Starr passes away
WWE San Juan, Puerto Rico, live results: Mahal vs. Orton
NXT Brighton, England, live results: McIntyre & Black vs. Roode & Almas
AUDIO
WOL: Lucha Underground, Ron Starr death, Dr. Lucha, more! 6/9
Wrestling Weekly: Harley Race, Masked Superstar, Rip Hawk 6/9
B&V&G: NXT, Lucha Underground, Granny’s Wrestling Report, more! 6/9
We’re looking for reports on today’s WWE Raw show in Jackson, MS, Smackdown in Sunrise, FL, NXT in Derby, UK and Northeast Wrestling in Waterbury, CT (Alberto el Patron vs sam Adonis, Penta 0M vs. Sami Callihan) to newstips@wrestlingobserver.com
We’ll be doing one poll this weekend, for the New Japan Dominion show at Osaka Jo Hall which, given the lineup, is really the company’s second biggest show of 2017, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to dave@wrestlingobserver.com.
NEW JAPAN WORLD PRO WRESTLING ON AXS TV AT 7 P.M. EASTERN TIME
Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano vs. Tama Tonga & Tanga Roa vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr. & Takashi Iizuka for IWGP tag team titles
Hiromu Takahashi vs. Dragon Lee for IWGP jr. title
Tetsuya Naito vs. Michael Elgin for IC title
CMLL FROM ARENA MEXICO TONIGHT AT 9:30 P.M. EASTERN TIME WHICH MAY AIR LIVE
Principe Diamante & Robin vs. Metalico & Arkangel de la Muerte
Estrellita & Marcela & Princesa Sugei vs. Dallys & Zeuxis & Amapola
Atlantis & Mistico & Dragon Lee vs. Ultimo Guerrero & Gran Guerrero & Euforia
Block B in Gran Alternative one-night tag team tournament:
Caristico & Soberano Jr.
Volador Jr. & Flyer
Niebla Roja & Drone
Angel de Oro & Oro Jr.
Mephisto & Raziel
Negro Casas & Canelo Casas
Valiente & Astral
Pierroth & Akuma
We’re looking for reports Saturday on WWE Raw in Alexandria, LA, Smackdown in Panama City, Panama, NXT in Derby, UK., AAW in Merrionette Park, IL (Sami Callihan vs. Michael Elgin, Trevor Lee vs. Penta 0M, John Morrison vs. Brian Cage, Abyss vs. Low Ki, War Machine vs. Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly, Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Mat Fitchet, Eddie Kingston vs. Jeff Cobb) and Northeast Wrestling in Pomona, NY (Rey Mysterio Jr. & Flip Gordon vs. Sami Callihan & Vinny Marseglia, Keith Lee vs. Dijak, Jerry Lawler vs. Sam Adonis.)
UFC FROM AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND
Fight Pass at 7 p.m. Eastern time
Thibault Gouti (154) vs. Maestro Dong Hyun Kim II (155)
J.J. Aldrich (116) vs. Chan-Mi Jeon (118) – Jeon missed weight and will forfeit 20 percent of her purse to Aldrich
FS 1 at 8 p.m.
Kiichi Kunimoto (170) vs. Zak Ottow (171)
Ashkan Mokhtarian (125) vs. John Moraga (126)
Luke Juneau (170) vs. Dominique Steele (170.5)
Damien Brown (155) vs. Vinc Pichel (156)
Mizuto Hirota (146) vs Alex Volkanovski (145)
Tim Elliott (126) vs. Ben Nguyen (126)
Ion Cutelaba (204) vs. Henrique da Silva (206)
Dan Hooker (156) vs. Ross Pearson (155)
Derek Brunson (186) vs. Daniel Kelly (186)
Derrick Lewis (265) vs. Mark Hunt (265)
NEW JAPAN DOMINION FROM OSAKA JO HALL AT 2:40 A.M. EASTERN AND 11:40 P.M. PACIFIC TIME ON SATURDAY NIGHT ON NEW JAPAN WORLD (both English and Japanese language feeds available)
David Finlay & Tomoyuki Oka & Shota Umino vs. Tetsuhiro Yagi & Katsuya Kitamura & Hirai Kawato
Tiger Mask W (Kota Ibushi) & Tiger Mask & Togi Makabe & Yuji Nagata vs. Manabu Nakanishi & Jushin Liger & Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan
Gauntlet series of matches for the Never Open Weight trios titles: Seiya Sanada & Evil & Bushi vs. Ricochet & Juice Robinson & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano & Yoshi-Hashi vs. Bad Luck Fale & Yujiro Takahashi & Hangman Page vs. Zack Sabre Jr. & Taichi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
Rocky Romero & Baretta vs Young Bucks for IWGP jr. tag titles
War Machine vs. Tama Tonga & Tanga Roa for IWGP tag team titles
Michael Elgin vs. Cody
Hiromu Takahashi vs. Kushida for IWGP jr. title
Minoru Suzuki vs. Hirooki Goto for Never Open weight title in a lumberjack death match
Tetsuya Naito vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi for IC title
Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega for IWGP title
Sunday has WWE Raw in Beaumont, TX, Smackdown in San Jose, Costa Rica (and yes, there were people asking me if there was a show here this weekend) and NXT in Derby, UK.
Raw will be Monday in Lafayette, LA, featuring the return of Brock Lesnar with a likely confrontation with Samoa Joe. There will be no Monday night Smackdown show as that’s a traveling day to return from Costa Rica.
Smackdown and 205 Live will be on Tuesday night in New Orleans.
FIGURE FOUR WEEKLY: 6/5/2017: Looking at the timing of the Brock Lesnar vs. Samoa Joe dream match
Like with most things in pro wrestling, the most important part of a dream match is getting the timing right. It was almost a year ago that Kurt Angle wrestled Zack Sabre Jr. for Revolution Pro Wrestling during an overseas trip at York Hall in London. The live crowd appreciated Angle’s work and loved seeing him. The match itself was fine, mostly sticking to a formula that Angle had perfected during the latter stages of his career.
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WRESTLING OBSERVER NEWSLETTER: June 12, 2017: Extreme Rules and Best of the Super Juniors finals reviewed, tons of news
It’s a huge double issue week of the Observer, which includes a look at how the aging of the pro wrestling television audience is like that in other sports, but aging so much faster than any other, as well as the latest on the WWE summer direction, Extreme Rules coverage, Best of the Super Juniors coverage and major features on Kazushi Sakuraba and Joe Silva and how both have impacted the history of MMA.
Look at the Brock Lesnar vs. Samoa Joe match, the Lesnar direction between now and WrestleMania, the problems with the logic and finishes at Extreme Rules plus full coverage of the event including poll results and star ratings.
Examine the aging of the sports audience and where pro wrestling and MMA fit in, breaking down WWF vs. WCW in the heyday, where things stood ten years ago and where they stand now. Also, look at how that relates to other sports as well as how wrestling’s younger audience breakdown compares with that of other sports and how it has changed.
Check out the last shows of this year’s Best of the Super Juniors tournament, lessons from the tournament, business of the tournament, the epic last match, preview the Dominion show, Kenny Omega’s thoughts on his match with Okada this week, how this compares with other legendary series of matches, the Okada title reign, history of Super Juniors, a chart on how all the wrestlers in the tournament did and star ratings and poll on the last day.
This issue has Frank Deford’s autobiography and his views on Vince McMahon, more on the U.K. proposed network show, an update on Ric Flair 30 for 30, WWE star films movie over the weekend, notes on a lot of new talent signed to contracts that are starting in Orlando soon, WWE loading up the MSG house show, an update on the women’s tournament, Jack Swagger talks leaving WWE, the strongest power lifter ever in WWE, and the most-watched shows on the WWE Network this past week.
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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 Dave@WrestlingObserver.com.
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WON BACK ISSUE: May 15, 2000 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: WCW Slamboree review, drug testing for wrestling in NY, more
The bill in New York written by State Senator Tom Libous of Binghamton, which would require state mandated drug testing of all pro wrestlers that work in New York, if it passes, would without question wind up in some form or fashion completely changing the pro wrestling industry as we know it. Whether that’s good or bad depends upon your point of view. There are a few things clear about pro wrestling. Even if some promoters can argue that they can regulate their own companies, the fact is, this business is largely a total failure at regulating itself.
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FRIDAY NEWS UPDATE
Jimmy Lennon Sr., who is the only ring announcer in the Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame, becomes the first person in both the Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame and the International Boxing Hall of Fame when he gets induced this weekend in Canastota, NY. His son, Jimmy Lennon Jr., who was himself inducted a few years ago, is headed there for the ceremony.
Regarding tonight’s Arena Mexico show, if it’s not available on the Claro Sports site, we’ll put up a link at the start of the show.
Pro Wrestling Sheet reported that Alexa Bliss and Nia Jax will be added to the cast of next season’s Total Divas show. Naomi had done an interview earlier this week saying she was also in the cast of the show for the new season.
The tentative schedule for New Japan is that the participants, A and B block, and probably the top matches on the biggest shows for G-1 will be announced during intermission on Sunday. There will also be a press conference on Monday night our time with the cards for both nights in Long Beach. I believe the press conference will be in time for us to cover it on our Monday night audio show.
Impact last night did 318,000 viewers, up 11 percent for the first show from India.
Regarding the political story reported in yesterday’s update in Las Vegas where a Judge had a superimposed photo of Dwayne Johnson with her appearing that Johnson was endorsing her in an upcoming election, Municipal Court Judge Heidi Almase today apologized on Facebook and fired campaign manager Jennifer Barrier. Barrier is the daughter of former Las Vegas pro wrestling promoter Buffalo Jim Barrier, and she claimed that she would get written proof that Johnson was fine with the endorsement saying that Johnson was a longtime family friend. Almase was embarrassed when people questioned the endorsement and said Barrier was fired for being unable to produce written proof that Johnson was okay with the apparent endorsement. Johnson is currently in Chicago shooting more scenes for the movie “Rampage.”
WWE
Kurt Angle talks issues with drug addiction and how bad it got, as well as who he would like to wrestle against. (thanks to Martin Hines)
John Cena will be on Jimmy Fallon tonight pushing Sunday’s debut of “American Grit” on FOX. The show was given a new day in an attempt to catch on.
Both Raw and Smackdown will be taking place on 9/11 and 9/12 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA. They are doing this more and more this year, with the idea that they are able to draw well the second night enough that it makes sense with the savings of production costs of running the same building two nights in a row as far as set-up costs and production not having to travel.
Congratulations to Mustafa Ali on the birth of his son, Rayaan earlier today.
The New York Post had a story on Lana’s return.
MISCELLANEOUS
Highspots is about to release a documentary on the late Bruiser Brody called “Wrestling’s Last Rebel.” Among those interviewed in the documentary are myself, Bill Apter, Bobby Fulton, Abdullah the Butcher, Stan Hansen, Tom Prichard, Killer Brooks, Slick, Herb Simmons, Larry Matysik (who wrote a book on Brody), Barbara Goodish, Bret Hart, Ron Bass, Emerson Murray (who wrote a book on Brody), Ricky Steamboat, Tony Atlas (who was there essentially when he died), Jim Ross, Jimmy Hart and Manny Fernandez.
Another documentary out called “The Trade,” about the life of Matthew Burns, Northeast independent wrestler Sick Nick Mondo, about the world of death match wrestling will have a screening on 6/20 in New York.
GRRRL, a clothing company that just signed a one year sponsorship deal with Cris Cyborg Justino, dropped her because she threw a punch a couple of weeks back at Angela Magana. In August, they had dropped their sponsorship of Julianna Pena based on her remarks about Ronda Rousey.
Tickets for the Impact show on 8/5 at the Staten Island Yankees Stadium went on sale this morning. Tickets are $70 down to $25.
Evolve on 6/24 in Melrose, MA:
Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Matt Riddle
Keith Lee vs. Ethan Page
Chris Dickinson vs. ACH
Jaka vs Fred Yehi
Tracy Williams vs. Jason Kincaid
Timothy Thatcher vs. Austin Theory
6/25 in Queens, NY at La Boom:
Matt Riddle vs. Keith Lee for WWN title
Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Jaka for Evolve title
Austin Theory vs. Trent Baretta
Chris Dickinson vs. Fred Yehi
They also announced that appearing on 7/8 in Charlotte and 7/9 in Atlanta will be Zack Sabre Jr., Chris Dickinson, Jake, Keith Lee, Ethan Page, ACH, Fred Yehi, Timothy Thatcher, Tracy Williams, Trent Baretta, Austin Theory, Jason Kincaid, Anthony Henry and James Drake.
AAW announced an 8/5 show in La Salle, IL at the Knights of Columbus with Keith Lee vs. Bob Holly as the main event. Also on the show are Sami Callihan, Rey Fenix, AR Fox, Jake & Dave Crist and more.
CWE on 7/14 in Winnipeg at Rookie’s Sports Bar.
NFC on 6/30 at Electric Cowboy in Kennesaw, GA is headlined by Clay Harvson vs Brandon Longano. They are also returning to Center Stage in Atlanta on 8/4.
Today in Pro Wrestling History (6/9): AJ Styles wins TNA X Division title
Pro Wrestling Tees is now carrying our latest line of F4W shirts. Support the Empire~! Grab yours today!
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