SUN. UPDATE: Extreme Rules Preview, Punk talks debut, McGregor special starts tonight, Flair draws big crowd, Big weekend in U.K., Rock movie

By dave@wrestlingobserver.com”>Dave Meltzer

We’re looking for your thoughts on both tonight’s Extreme Rules show, as well as last night’s UFC 186, 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”>dave@wrestlingobserver.com

Tonight is WWE Extreme Rules from Chicago at 7:30 p.m. Eastern time

*Seth Rollins vs. Randy Orton cage match for the WWE title with the RKO banned:  The two got strong reviews for their main events in Europe and Rollins on PPV never disappoints.  Most likely the finish will involve Kane as the guardian of the cage door, and that Rollins will retain the title.  Still, a cage match where the finish involves outside interference makes Orton look dumb for suggesting it unless he wins. 

*John Cena vs. Rusev chain match for the U.S. title – With the rules that you have to touch all four corners rather than score a pin, this enables them to book a match without the loser doing a job.  Usually these kind of finishes are done in matches Cena loses.  But this could go the other way since they have worked to protect Rusev from losing on big shows via pin.  The chain may be a hindrance to the match as opposed to a benefit, but Cena is still a good big show wrestler.

*Daniel Bryan vs. Bad News Barrett for the IC title – This match is still being advertised even though it may not happen.  Most expect it won’t.  This would be a great time to debut Finn Balor out of nowhere and have him pin Barrett for the vacant title.  But that probably won’t happen.  However, Neville in that position is more likely.

*Roman Reigns vs. Big Show last man standing – Most WWE last man standing matches are good.  Reigns should win here.

*Dolph Ziggler vs. Sheamus kiss my arse match – I can see Sheamus getting his hand raised, but Ziggler kissing his ass is a tough visual, so don’t be surprised at post-match shenanigans.

*Dean Ambrose vs. Luke Harper street fight – This should be one of the best matches on the show.  Ambrose should win, and Harper has been put at the level of the guy who puts over the top faces when you need a good match.

*Nikki Bella vs. Naomi for Divas title – The Bellas phantom babyface turn continues.  The story here is more how much time they get, and where they are positioned on the show.

*Tyson Kidd & Cesaro vs. New Day for tag titles (pre-show match at 7:30 p.m.) – These teams tore it up in multiple team matches in Europe.  This should be one of the better matches on the show.

        On paper, this one looks good.  The only questions are the finishes and where the new programs go from  here.  We’ll have live coverage on the site starting at about 7:30 p.m.  

Raw will be live on Monday from Green Bay.

Smackdown and Main Event will be taped Tuesday from Moline, IL.

New Japan World at 4 a.m. Eastern Wednesday morning from Kumamoto, Japan

Sho Tanaka & Yohei Komatsu & Jay White vs. Rocky Romero & Trent Baretta & Gedo

Satoshi Kojima & Captain New Japan vs. Yujiro Takahashi & Cody Hall

Yuji Nagata & Tiger Mask & Mascara Dorada vs. Manabu Nakanishi & Ryusuke Taguchi & Kushida

Steve Anthony vs. Jushin Liger for NWA jr. title

Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Big Daddy Yum Yum for NWA heavyweight title

Tetsuya Naito & Tomoaki Honma & Alex Shelley vs. Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows & Kenny Omega

Kazuchika Okada & Yoshi-Hashi vs. Bad Luck Fale & Tama Tonga

Hiroshi Tanahashi & Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata vs. Shinsuke Nakamura & Kazushi Sakuraba & Toru Yano

Tomohiro Ishii vs. Togi Makabe for Never Open weight championship

 
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The newest issue of Figure Four Weekly is up on the site for subscribers (subscribe here) with the most extensive look at Doug and Tommy Gilbert’s lawsuit against WWE and ESPN that you’ll find anywhere, with lots of details about WWE’s history with lawsuits over video royalties, which past cases are or aren’t relevant to this one what people often misunderstand about the Jesse Ventura lawsuit, when WWE actually started paying every wrestler royaltis, and much more. Plus, as always, we have  all of the usual reviews and international news.

Also, now available for the first time on Kindle (meaning Kindle devices and anything with the Kindle app) is Fall Guys, the seminal 1937 book that has been described as being like the 1930s version of the Wrestling Observer. It was surprisingly not on Kindle already, so we put together a nice version with a full table of contents w/ chapter marks, proper formatting on everything, etc. Right now it’s available from the American, Canadian, and Australian Amazon/Kindle stores OR you can also buy it from anywhere in the world on PayHip, who will provide you with both Kindle and ePub (every other e-reader) format files, and you can either sideload them to your device or have them email it to your Kindle. 

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We’ve got full coverage of the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony from two weeks ago along with a lot of backstage stories, truth vs. fiction on the stories told, as our lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.  We also have a ton of notes on ROH and the New Japan tour, Lucha Underground’s future and what it needs, TNA and Destination America along with notes on Taz, the Briscoes, Daniel Bryan, the latest lawsuits against WWE and UFC and a look at WWE & TNA business for February.

The latest Wrestling Observer:  April 20, 2015 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: WWF Hall of Fame feature, latest WWE concussion lawsuit, UFC Poland debut

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The Wrestling Observer ranges weekly from 35,000 to 50,000 words covering pro wrestling and MMA internationally. Each issue has coverage and analysis of all the major news, plus every issue breaks major news stories before the Internet sties and has the most complete look at the pro wrestling and MMA business anywhere, plus history pieces available nowhere else.

Our lead story updates the Daniel Bryan situation and the strange lack of information out on the subject, as well as runs down every match on the show and where WWE goes from here.

We also look at UFC’s PPV this week being off the Dish Network.

We’ve got an update on Lucha Underground, including the end of the TV season, what talent and fans were told about the future of the company, the public reason for the hiatus, what’s the real question going forward, its prospects, where the promotion stands right now for the future and what it needs, plus a full rundown of Ultima Lucha, the last two episodes of the season and what angles to look for the next season.

We’ve got a look at the career of Takeshi Morishima, with his title history, awards won, how he got started in pro wrestling, who he was compared to, why he never reached his potential, why he got the ROH title, his matches with Bryan Danielson, his outstanding 2007 year, what went wrong when he got his big push.  We also look at his early career, his WWE tryout and what happened there, a well as some of his biggest matches.

We look at the legal situation involving Rampage Jackson and how things changed this past week.

We’ve got a look at UFC’s attempt to run in New York, going through both the legislature and the court system to be able to run in December at Madison Square Garden.  We look at the crazy hypocrisy in New York laws, the real story behind them, the Culinary unions latest attempt to keep UFC out of New York, and UFC’s latest move in going to court.

We also look at Saturday’s show in Newark, NJ, who came out of it as stars, ratings info and other business notes plus match-by-match coverage.

We’ve got a long feature on the Tennessee legend, Ron Wright, who passed away this past week.  We look at the legendary Ron Wright vs. Whitey Caldwell feud and some of the most famous matches, why Wright considered wrestling only a hobby, as well as his being shot at and his plane being blown up and other craziness of being perhaps the greatest heel ever in the backwoods towns in Tennessee and Kentucky.  We look at his career from his amateur days as a teenager, the irony of the Caldwell feud, how he and Caldwell got into pro wrestling at first, plus comments from Les Thatcher, Jim Cornette and others.

We also look at his unique way of drawing blood, how he got his first pro wrestling break, the business that he and Caldwell did in the 60s, why he usually stayed in his home territory, and his own thoughts about his career.

We also look at the next season of Tough Enough, the change in Seth Rollins’ finisher, update on the business of Furious 7, More on the Russ McCullough lawsuit against WWE, Shawn Michaels talks the time he wanted to go to WCW and WWE asks him to be on next year’s WrestleMania, plus why he’s not interested in working in creative  and his thoughts on who should be on top.

We also look at John Cena, Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns on top as draws, schedule of NXT tapings for the next year as well as a look at a number of not yet announced WWE overseas tours.

We also have notes on WWE movies, WWE stars who want a reality show about their lives, Barrett talks why he dropped weight, contract notes from lawsuits against WWE, the Gilberts lawsuit against WWE, Batista talks a potential return, Samoa Joe note, NXT dates outside Florida, Jey Uso update, what creative is told about the women characters and what is says about why people don’t care about the WWE Divas, ROH star blasts WWE stereotypes, NXT weekend shows and notes on the last week of the WWE European tour with business notes and highlights of all the house shows.

We also look at this year’s Cauliflower Alley Club banquet, looking at the history of the organization, who was there, the appearance of Nick Bockwinkel, highlights of speeches from the honorees, Jake Roberts’ complaint about indie shows, Jushin Liger defending his NWA jr. title, Gerald Brisco talking Brock Lesnar and Jack Brisco and much more.

We also look at Jeff Jarrett’s Global Force Wrestling as the first shows are announced, and look at what the company needs to be viable.

The Observer is the world’s most detailed weekly pro wrestling publication, in its 32nd year of publication, and is read by the biggest names in the pro wrestling, industry, MMA industry, sports world and on Wall Street.
 
We also have our regular features such as the most complete look at ratings, plus results of the major house show events each week in pro wrestling and MMA, and complete inside rundowns of all the TV shows.
 
Also in this week’s issue:

–Notes on the death of 80s star El Verdugo

–Latest from Arena Mexico

–Changes in CMLL weekly schedule

–Top indie vs. top CMLL star note

–More on AAA’s World Cup show this coming month

–Perro Aguayo Jr. situation remains in the news with a major press conference featuring a Congressman and many sports stars

–Dragon Gate announces huge show with three title bouts and a huge stipulation match

–Wrestler runs for the senate in Japan this week

–Update on Champion Carnival tournament

–Update on NOAH tag team tournament

–Notes on next New Japan big show

–Notes on New Japan newcomer

–Notes on current New Japan tour

–One of the major companies from the 90s returns and its history

–Promoter announces that a current UFC star will come in and challenge for their pro wrestling world title

–Biggest woman’s star ever and best drawing barbed wire match wrestler ever team up

–Lance Russell tribute in Evansville with Jerry Lawler

–Oldest living wresting personalities

–Sad update on former UFC & New Japan star Brian Johnston

–Dreamer gets TV deal

–Bill Apter writes autobiography

–New book coming on history of women’s wrestling

–Promotion folding

–Same person wins major pro wrestling title and pro boxing match within hours

–Another wrestling history book on the way

–Who is the only guy to be in Broken Skull Challenge, Tough Enough and Ultimate Fighter

–Nearly two hour match on Mexico show

–New Japan and ROH tour and lineups

–Notes on Taz leaving TNA

–Notes on Sanada laving TNA

–More on people’s pay being behind in TNA

–Funny story about TNA television in Canada

–Latest on TNA television

–More litigation involving Wanderlei Silva and the Nevada commission and how the ruling could hurt regulation of he sport

–More on the UFC July schedule

–Notes on the new season of Ultimate Fighter

–Background of the Dan Lambert-Glenn Robinson feud

–Two major MMA shows this weekend

–Dana White blasts AKA Gym and AKA responds

–Bill in Nevada to increase tax on live boxing and MMA

–Anderson Silva issues challenge for fight

–New UFC fights

–New Bellator fights

–Something to think about regarding Pacquiao-Mayweather and how big it really is

If you are a new subscriber ordering 24 or more issues, you can get one free classic issue of your choice sent to you today.  With a 40 issue subscription, you can get two free classic issues sent to you today.
 
New subscribers ordering 24 or 40 issues have to let us know what major stories of the past 11 years you are most interested in and we’ll send the issue with the best coverage of that story. We’ve got coverage of every major PPV event and world wide spectacular, every major star switching promotions, histories of companies like FMW, Rings and New Japan, retirement and obit issues of every major star who fits into those descriptions over the past 11 years, as well as our biggest issue every year, the annual awards issue, and our most controversial issue of every year, the Hall of Fame issue.
 
Our most requested issues in our history are:
 
*November 17, 1997 (full details of everything leading to the most famous wrestling match finish of modern times at the Survivor Series plus a history of in-ring double-crosses)
 
*December 21, 1998 (the complete Vince McMahon-Bret Hart conversation right before the Survivor Series match so you’ll know exactly what was said–the conversation played in edited form both on the inaugural broadcast of Confidential as well as in Wrestling with Shadows, but everything that was said between the two about the match that was going to take place that same night)
 
*August 1, 1994 (the most detailed coverage anywhere of the Vince McMahon steroid trial, an issue praised in numerous newspaper article and Sex, Lies and Headlocks)
 
*March 26, 2001 (death of WCW and history of pro wrestling on the Turner networks)a
 
*October 22, 2001 (why the adult audience has left pro wrestling in such great numbers and what needed to have been done to save them)
 
*July 8, 1991 (Ric Flair leaves WCW as world champion/Zahorian steroid trial)
 
*February 8, 1993 (the life and times of Andre the Giant)
 
*May 13, 2002 (the life story of the most incredible pro wrestling career ever, a look at Lou Thesz, in one of the largest issues of our history)
 
*January 27, 2003 (part one of the two-part series covering the career and life of The Sheik)
 
*February 3, 2003 (Part two on The Sheik including thoughts from people who worked with him and where he stands historically)
 
*March 24, 2003 (history of the WWWF title, inside behind the Sammartino, Backlund and Backlund era)
 
*April 21, 2003 (history of WWF continues with the expansion nationally, the death of the regional territories and the rise of Hulk Hogan)
 
*May 12, 2003 (The life and death of Elizabeth and the rise of fall of Lex Luger)
 
*June 9, 2003 (Part 1 of history of WWF vs. WCW wars and what many say was the greatest year in U.S. wrestling; plus a look at Fred Blassie)
 
*June 16, 2003 (Freddie Blassie through the eyes of his biggest rivals and friends)
 
*July 28, 2003 (Part 2 of the history of the WWF vs. WCW war and the plans to make new superstars in the early 90s, what happened, and the night where the three biggest wrestling companies in the world combined for a joint show and what happened)
 
*August 25, 2003 (2003 Hall of Fame issue with huge profiles on the controversial career of Shawn Michaels, Chris Benoit as well as historical features on Earl Caddock and Francisco Flores)
 
*September 22, 2003 (Part 3 of the history of the WWF vs WCW war with the seeds that caused the collapse of the industry in the 90s, Zahorian trial, Gulf War controversy, Flair leaves WCW while holding world title and much more)
 
*October 27, 2003 (The fascinating life of Stu Hart plus the story of Road Warrior Hawk)
 
*January 19, 2004 (2003 Awards issue)
 
*February 2, 2004 (History of Toronto wrestling, Jack Tunney life story, Royal Rumble and Battle Royal history)
 
*February 23, 2004 (History of Guerrero family with Eddy’s win over Brock Lesnar)
 
*March 1, 2004 (History of WWF continues with the period that brought the company down in early 1992, the mistakes, the real stories and how the business changed)
 
*March 8, 2004 (History of Wrestlemania, its greatest matches and best and worst shows as voted both by wrestlers and non-wrestlers and Wrestlemania history books)
 
*July 5, 2004 (A look behind the scenes and Ric Flair’s book and his background with Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan)
 
*July 12, 2004 (A look at more on Ric Flair’s book and his comments on Bruno Sammartino, Bret Hart and Mick Foley)
 
*August 16, 2004 (History of the Olympians in pro wrestling)
 
*August 23, 2004 (2004 Hall of Fame issue and biggest issue of the year with huge profiles on Kazushi Sakuraba, Undertaker, Bob Backlund, Masahiro Chono, Ultimo Dragon, Kurt Angle and Tarzan Lopez–this counts as one issue if you are asking for a free issue, but ordered separately, due to size, is $6 in North America and $7 overseas)
 
*October 4, 2004 (the life and times of Big Bossman; as well as details of the life and times of one of the most influential men world wide in pro wrestling history, Jim Barnett)
 
*November 15, 2004 (the full story of what happened between Kurt Angle and Daniel Puder, plus coverage of the most important week in the history of TNA)
 
*January 24, 2005 (2004 Awards issue, Rock and WWE part company)
 
*March 14, 2005 (the 50 biggest money players in the history of WWF and a look at their Hall of Fame)
 
*May 9, 2005 (the life and times of Chris Candido)
 
*June 20, 2005 (The full story behind Paul Heyman and the death of ECW, as well as coverage of One Night Stand, Hardcore Homecoming and behind the scenes of both shows)
 
*July 18, 2005 (death of Shinya Hashimoto and his records with a look at the fall of New Japan, the Matt Hardy angle, tons of WWE firings, Cornette firing in detail as well as problems of a WWE developmental territory in our biggest news issue of the year which is a double-sized issue and would be $6 on its own and $7 overseas)
 
*August 24, 2005 (2005 Hall of Fame issue with career profiles of Paul Heyman, HHH and Freebirds plus debut of MMA Hall of Fame)
 
*September 12, 2005 (History of Mid South Wrestling)
 
*October 10, 2005 (Life and Times of the Ultimate Warrior)
 
*November 21, 2005 (Life and Times of Eddy Guerrero and Crusher, double issue $6 on its own and $7 overseas)
 
*December 5, 2005 (The Eddy Guerrero special issue, double issue $6 on its own, $7 overseas)
 
*January 9, 2006 (The life and times of Superstar Billy Graham, plus New Year’s Eve 2005 coverage)
 
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*July 24, 2006 (The History of the Von Erichs and World Class Championship Wrestling–the most unreal story ever in wrestling)
 
*September 4, 2006 (The Rise and Fall of Kurt Angle; 2006 Hall of Fame inductions of Eddie Guerrero, Paul Bowser, Masakatsu Funaki, Aja Kong and Hiroshi Hase including tons of wrestling history around the world from the 20s through the 60s, the evolution of working to not working in Japan, and a look at Guerrero in hindsight, double issue $6 or $7 overseas)
 
*October 9, 2006 (A look back nine years later at the life and legacy of Brian Pillman with tons of inside information about what made him tick as his real objectives)
 
*November 15, 2006 (History of WCW part one, Eric Bischoff’s book and how the industry was changed forever)
 
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*November 27, 2006 (History of WCW part three, When Bischoff challenged McMahon to fight; Truth and fiction around Bret Hart signing with WCW and why it didn’t click)
 
*December 6, 2006 (details behind Pride’s offers to sell promotion and Part four of History of WCW part four, Hogan-Goldberg match and why there was no rematch, WCW loses NBC network deal in 1999 and the real reasons the company fell apart)
 
*January 22, 2007 (2006 Awards issue, double issue $7 on its own, $8 overseas)
 
*February 14, 2007 (Life and Times of Bam Bigelow)
 
*March 5, 2007 (WWE begins plans that will change the business)
 
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*March 19, 2007 (Life and Times of Ernie Ladd)
 
*April 4, 2007 (Life and Times of Badnews Allen Coage–which many are calling one of the best issues in history)
 
*July 2, 2007 (Part one of the Benoit double murder-suicide)
 
*July 5, 2007 (Part two of the Benoit double murder-suicide)
 
*July 10, 2007 (Part three of the Benoit double murder-suicide)
 
*July 19, 2007 (Part four of the Benoit double murder-suicide)
 
*July 23, 2007 (Part five of Benoit double murder-suicide)
 
*July 25, 2007 (Part six of Benoit double murder-suicide)
 
*August 15, 2007 (The legend of the God of Japanese wrestling and his influence on MMA, Karl Gotch)
 
*October 15 (2007 Hall of Fame double issue, $7 on its own, $8 overseas including inductions of The Rock, Tom Packs and the original Strangler Lewis)
 
*November 12, 2007 (Life and times of Fabulous Moolah and history of U.S. women’s wrestling) .
 
*December 31, 2007 (History of Ric Flair and the heyday of wrestling at the Greensboro Coliseum)
 
*January 21, 2008 (2007 Awards issue, double issue $7 on its own, $8 overseas)
 
*March 17, 2008 (Life and times of Johnny Weaver)
 
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*April 10, 2008 (Farewell to Ric Flair; My thoughts, Shawn Michaels talks of Flair’s meaning to him; Hall of Fame; Wrestlemania double issue, $7 on its own, $8 overseas)
 
*August 11, 2008 (Ric Flair leaves WWE; Updated history of pro wrestlers and MMA fighters who went to the Olympics)
 
* September 8, 2008 (2008 Hall of Fame double issue, $7 on its own, $8 overseas; part one of Killer Kowalski bio)
 
* September 15, 2008 (Life and Times of Evan Tanner)
 
* September 22, 2008 (The amazing career of Killer Kowalski, one of our most in-depth bios)
 
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We now have available personally autographed copies of Tributes II, our latest book, as well as a DVD that comes with it talking more about the subjects in the book. The book covers the life stories of Lou Thesz, Wahoo McDaniel, Elizabeth, Fred Blassie, Road Warrior Hawk, Andre the Giant, Curt Hennig, Johnny Valentine, Davey Boy Smith, Terry Gordy, Owen Hart, Stu Hart, Gorilla Monsoon, The Sheik and Tim Woods..
 
To get all of those biographies as back issues of the Observer would be a $60 value today. This is a collection of some of the best Observer articles of the past several years in a hardcover, full-color format that is 239 pages. There is also a foreword by Bret Hart. The book price is $12.95 plus $3.50 for shipping costs in the U.S., $20 for shipping costs to Canada and $25 for shipping costs outside North America. You can order the book the same way you order the newsletter.

SUNDAY’S NEWS UPDATE

With two PPVs this weekend, Bryan and I have two shows.  Up on the site is a show covering both last night’s UFC and all the latest news from WWE, TNA, previewing tonight’s show, Ronda Rousey, Bill Goldberg and more with Tom Lawlor joining up again.  We’re going to try and have Lawlor on as much as possible after UFC events going forward and some pro wrestling events as well.  Bryan and I will be back late tonight with Extreme Rules coverage.

–Regarding the story we talked about of Tito Ortiz spending $257,000 on two tickets to the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight, apparently it was something he did that was misinterpreted.  He didn’t buy tickets to the fight, but was in shock anyone would spend that kind of money buying tickets to the fight.

C.M. Punk was at the C2E2 convention today in Chicago for the announcement that he will be writing a new series of comic books for Marvel for “Drax the Destroyer.”  He also did a Q&A. Among the highlights:

*Told Jason David Frank, the Power Ranger dude, “Shut the f*** up” when it was brought up Frank’s continual challenges to him for an MMA fight.  It’s a grandstand deal because they are in far different weight divisions so there is no chance of it happening.

*He doubted that his debut would be in Chicago, feeling that would put too much pressure on him.  That surprised me, because I figured Chicago or Las Vegas would be the two most likely cities.

*When asked his favorite action star, he said A.J. Lee, saying she’s a little ass kicker.

*He said he will fight when his coaches feel he is ready to fight.

What’s the over/under on Punk chants during the show tonight?

FS 1 will be airing UFC Tonight episodes Monday through Friday next week for 30 minutes.  Dana White will be the guest on Monday.  Cain Velasquez will be on Tuesday.  Rashad Evans will be on Wednesday.  Ronda Rousey will be on Thursday and Cris Cyborg will be on Friday.  The fact they have Cyborg as a special guest should tell you a lot.

Conor McGregor’s reality show “Notorious”  airs on FS 1 tonight at 12:30 a.m. Eastern time and will continue with new episodes nightly through Friday. 

Glenn “Kane” Jacobs turned 48 today.

Today is also the one-year anniversary of the death of Conor Michalek.

As far as Google searches go for yesterday, Wladimir Klitschko was no. 5 at 100,000 behind Nepal, Freddie Gray, Cecily Strong and NASCAR.  UFC 186 was No. 9 with 20,000, which is the lowest number I can ever recall for a UFC PPV show.

The judge who gave one round to Fabio Maldonado over Rampage Jackson was Luc Lefebvre, who gave Maldonado round two.

Furious 7 was no. 1 at the box office for the fourth straight weekend, estimated at doing $18,26 million, beating Paul Blart: Mal Cop 2 at $15.5 million.

Jim Ross wrote that he’s looking at doing a show on 8/19 at the Washington, DC Improv, but it is not definite yet.  He’s probably do that as part of an East Coast swing since he’s already booked at the Gramercy Theater in New York on 8/22, the day before SummerSlam.  Ross noted that his 30 minute set before Mick Foley’s one hour show that they did on Friday night at Full Sail University in Winter Park, FL, would not be televised, at least this week.  My impression is that it won’t be televised at all.  Foley’s show will air on Wednesday night on the WWE Network.

Maryland Championship Wrestling from Friday night in Glen Burne, MD drew 1,300 fans for a show headlined by Ric Flair.  Ll Green & Rick Powers b Drake Carter & Shaun Cannon, Drifty Money & Eric Chapel b Fed Up, Chuck Lennox & David Starr & Bo Nekoda b Brandon Scott & Lance Anoa’i & Fenix Fury, Sexy Steve & Jimmy Stars b Napalm & Solo, Buff Bagwell (unadvertised surprise) b Ken Dixon, Pat Bring b Sai Gon, Shane Strickland (Killshot in Lucha Underground) b Trevor Lee, Brian Cage b Cedirc Alexander, The Bruiser won three-way to keep the MCW tie over King McBride and Drolix.  Next show is 5/2 in Waldorf, MD at the Unique Sports Academy with Jerry Lawler and Rikishi.

Matt Hardy spoofs Go Fund Me fund raisers, saying that the original idea for them, which was good, has been perverted

Preston City Wrestling on Friday in Preston, England:  Juventud Guerrera won over Ryan Smile, Pete Dunne, Damiian Dunne, El Ligero and Charlie Garrett, Matt Taven & Michael Bennett b Martin Kirby & Joey Hayes, Dave Mastiff b Ashton Smith, Rob Van Dam b Bubblegum, Sha Samuels b Noam Dar, Zak & Roy Knight b Robbie Dynamite & Dean Allmark, Dave Rayne b Chris Masters in a blindfold match, T-Bone & Rampage Brown b Jeff Jarrett & Lionheart.  Jeff & Karen Jarrett and Eric Bischoff all turned on Lionheart in the main event.  Jarrett was wearing Bullet Club gear

The Saturday afternoon show:  Dave Mastiff b Noam Dar, Sha Samuels b Ashton Smith, El Ligero b Juventud Guerrera, Sabu b Pete Dunne, Roy & Zak Knight b Ryan Smile & Damien Dunne, Bubblegum b Lionheart, Chris Masters b Charlie Garrett, Joey Hayes & Martin Kirby & Rampage Brown & T-Bone b Jim & Lee Hunter & Matt Taven & Michael Bennett

Last night’s show:  The Hunter Brothers b Ryan Smile & Damien Dunne, Sha Samuels b Charlie Garrett, El Ligero b Pete Dunne, Joey Hayes & Martin Kirby & April Davids b Matt Taven & Michael Bennett & Maria Kanellis, Dean Allmark b Juventud Guerrera, Ashton Smith b Iestyn Rees, Rob Van Dam b Noam Dar, Lionheart & Dave Mastiff & Dave Rayne & Zak Knight & Roy Knight b Jeff Jarrett & Chris Masters & Bubblegum & T-Bone & Rampage Brown.

Announces for future shows in Preston is 6/5 headlined by A.J. Styles vs. Lionheart.  Styles accidentally broke Lionheart’s neck with the Styles clash and Lionheart made a big thing about how Styles should stop doing the move in articles and writings and Styles wasn’t happy he did it publicly rather than just contacted him.  So they are turning that into an angle.  7/11 they have an outdoor show with Team 3-D, Velvet Sky, Rockstar Spud and Ken Anderson.  8/7 they have Drew Galloway, Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish coming (thanks to Jan Buxton)

Barrons’ this week has a big article on the WWE saying they like the company but feel the stock has a long way to fall because the subscriptions to the WWE network aren’t near the projected targets and that many people drop subscriptions (thanks to Dave Katz)

Texas is considering dropping all random drug testing of high school athletes for steroids.  The state has spent $9 million testing 63,000 athletes over the last eight years.  The state has cut funding of the program every year and there are signs it’ll be dropped completely. (thanks to Lou Pickney)

UFC is opening a 46,000 square foot UFC Gym in La Mirada, CA at 14920 La Mirada Blvd.  It will be the fifth UFC gym in Southern California.  There are 125 nationally including  11 major ones.

AXS is co-promoting an MMA show called RFA vs. Legacy Superfights that airs on 5/8 at 10 p.m..  The show will feature four fighters from the RFA vs. four fighters from Legacy Fights.  Burt Watson will be doing his old UFC role and running backstage and pumping up the fighters before the fights, and a big part of the show will be showing Watson in action.  The main event has RFA flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja (15-2) vs. Legacy champion Damacio Page (19-9), plus RFA bantamweight champion Luke Sanders (9-0) defends against Terrion Ware (13-3) while the Legacy lightweight championship will be at stake with Dave Burrow (13-5) vs. Mike Bronzoulis (17-8) battling for the vacant title.  Former UFC fighter Yuri Villefort faces Adam Townsend.

Rock Star Pro Wrestling has an iPPV on Friday night in Dayton, OH at the Rockstar Pro Arena headlined by Shane Douglas vs. Dustin Rayz.

A.J. Styles vs. Jimmy Rave headlines on 5/8 for ProSouth Wrestling in Piedmont, AL at 627 Southern Ave.

Former wrestler New Jack was the special guest on The Special Without Brett Davis comedy show on TV in New York.

Grand Slam Wrestling on 5/9 in Moosic, PA at the Moosic Youth Center.

Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling from last night in East Carondelet, IL:  Sean Vincent b Daniel Gunner, Jim Hoffarth & Paloma Starr DDQ Ax Allwardt & Lucy Mendez, Daniel Eads b Curtis Wylde, Ken Kasa & Chris Hargas b Chaz Wesson & Keith Smith Jr., Little Kato b Bobby Dean, Red River Jack b Bull Bronson-COR, Flash Flanagan b Gary Jackson to win the Classic title (thanks to Patrick Brandmeyer)

Infinity Pro Wrestling on 5/30 in Bloomington, IN at the National Guard Armory.

L.A. Park, Pirata Morgan, Negro Navarro, Brazo de Oro, El Matematico and Blue Panther appear 5/17 in El Monte, CA at Florentine Gardens.

There was a big festival in Orlando at the WJRR Earth Day birthday celebration with 15,000 people that included a ton of wrestling using area wrestlers and outside the area wrestlers like Jody Kristofferson, Santana Garrett, Lince Dorado, Chasyn Race, Rhett Giddins, Crazy Mary Dobson, Mad Man Pondo and a ton of others.

Remix Pro Wrestling from last night in Marietta, OH:  Viper b Bulldozer, Chris Lerusso over Onyx, Adien Veil and Aaron Draven, Sassy Stephie & LuFisto & Veda Scott went to a draw, Jason Gory & Matt Conard & Ron Mathis b Chance Prophet & Young Bucks, Jock Samson b Marion Fontaine-DQ, Athena b Mickie James, A.J. Styles b Facade.  I saw a photo and it looked like they had a really big crowd for this.

Mark Henry working toward helping youth fitness in Austin, TX

A story on Bill Murdoch, who write Jack Brisco’s autobiography and works endlessly for charities in the Asheville, NC region
 

ON THIS DAY IN PRO WRESTLING HISTORY INTERNATIONAL (thanks to Graeme Cameron)

1971 – Mick McManus beat Vic Faulkner in Nottingham to win the European middleweight title

1985 – Osamu Kido won the round-robin UWF tournament with a 6-1 record

1986 – Genichiro Tenryu beat Ted DiBiase in Tokyo in the tournament final for the vacant United National title

1994 – Los Payasos beat Cien Caras & Mascara Ano 2000 & Universo 2000 to win the vacant Mexican national trios titles in a tournament final in Aguascalientes

1998 – Kyoko Inoue beat Lioness Asuka in Tokyo to win the TWWF title 

2003 – Jonny Storm beat Chris Hamrick in Sudbury, UK to win the FWA All-England title

2004 – Negro Casas beat Emilio Charles Jr. in Puebla to win the CMLL middleweight title

2013 – Averno beat Mistico in Mexico City to win the vacant Mexican national welterweight title.  This is the current Mistico, not the one who became the first Sin Cara

 
TODAY’S PRO WRESTLING VIDEOS (thanks to Thomas Rude)

WWE

The JBL & Renee Show (Episode 126)

4/23/15 Top 10 WWE Smackdown Moments

4/20/15 WWE RAW “Slam Of The Week”

4/23/15 WWE RAW “Slam Of The Week”

4/25/15 WWE Top Ten:  Extreme Street Fight Moments

INDY TV SHOWS

Monster Factory TV (Episode 5)

4/25/15 NWA Smoky Mountain Wrestling TV

Powerbomb Championship Wrestling TV (Episode 22)

West Virginia Championship Wrestling TV (Episode 222)

4/24/15 Future Stars Of Wrestling “High Octane”

Imperial Wrestling Entertainment “BattleZone” TV (Episode 8)

MISC. STUFF

The Candice & Joey Show (Episode 108)

4/24/15 CHIKARA Event Center

TNA

What Happened After Eric Young Snapped?  Who Left On A Stretcher

TOMORROW’S WWE NETWORK SCHEDULE (thanks to Bert Duckwall)

2:00 AM ET
TOUGH ENOUGH The remaining contestants’ agility is tested when they are tasked with serving lunch to a busy crowd at a 50’s diner while on roller skates.

3:00 AM ET
WWE NXT Alex Riley looks to finally silence Kevin Owens in a heated rematch!

4:00 AM ET
WWE SUPERSTARS This week, WWE Tag Team Champions Cesaro and Tyson Kidd take on Los Matadores. Plus, Bad News Barrett battles Jack Swagger.

5:00 AM ET
OLD SCHOOL Old school WWE card features Andre The Giant and Hillbilly Jim vs Big John Studd and King Kong Bundy. The Hart Foundation and more.

6:00 AM ET
WWE EXTREME RULES 2015 On the night WWE goes extreme, Seth Rollins defends the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Randy Orton inside a Steel Cage and more!

9:00 AM ET
WWE EXTREME RULES 2015 On the night WWE goes extreme, Seth Rollins defends the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Randy Orton inside a Steel Cage and more!

12:00 PM ET
WWE EXTREME RULES 2015 On the night WWE goes extreme, Seth Rollins defends the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Randy Orton inside a Steel Cage and more!

3:00 PM ET
WWE EXTREME RULES 2015 On the night WWE goes extreme, Seth Rollins defends the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Randy Orton inside a Steel Cage and more!

6:00 PM ET
TOUGH ENOUGH The remaining contestants’ agility is tested when they are tasked with serving lunch to a busy crowd at a 50’s diner while on roller skates.

7:00 PM ET
FIRST LOOK: ALWAYS BELIEVE A First Look to watch exclusive content from WWE Home Video’s latest release, Ultimate Warrior: Always Believe!

7:30 PM ET
RAW PRE-SHOW From WWE Studios in Stamford Connecticut. Scott Stanford, David Otunga and Corey Graves cover all the events leading up to Monday Night Raw.

8:00 PM ET
MONDAY NIGHT WAR Mick Foley’s unorthodox style makes him an unlikely success story and a unique weapon for WWE in their war with WCW.

9:00 PM ET
WWE COUNTDOWN Counting down the Top Craziest Ladder Matches ever in WWE History, as voted by the WWE Universe.

10:00 PM ET
TOTAL DIVAS Nikki plans a future without boyfriend John Cena. Eva’s life is turned upside down when she must decide between family and her husband.

11:06 PM ET
WWE NETWORK EXCLUSIVE The action continues with exclusive interviews, matches and fallout LIVE from Monday Night Raw.

11:11 PM ET
TOUGH ENOUGH WWE Superstar Rey Mysterio and former NBA star John Salley are on hand to offer advice about teamwork to the dwindling group.<