THE ROUND-UP
THE LATEST NEWS
Miz TV with The New Day set for WWE SmackDown
Tom Magee recovering after severe assault outside home
WWE Newcastle live results: Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz
Randy Orton undergoes surgery for meniscus tear
The Revival appear at NXT house show, face Undisputed Era
Travis Banks, seven more announced for WWE UK tournament
NJPW Best of the Super Juniors night one results: Ospreay vs. Ishimori
Impact Wrestling results: Pentagon Jr. & Fantasma vs. Aries & Sydal
THE LATEST AUDIO
FREE WOL! WWE television negotiations, Smackdown rumors, All In, tons more! 5/18
B&V&G: Granny, NXT, THURSDAY NIGHT POTPOURRI! 5/17
WOR: Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer talk to Cody about All In and more! 5/17
We’re looking for reports from last night’s NXT show in Oklahoma City and tonight’s shows in Jacksonville and Dallas to newstips@wrestlingobserver.com.
NEW JAPAN WORLD PRO WRESTLING TONIGHT ON AXS TV AT 8 P.M. EASTERN
Hirooki Goto vs. Juice Robinson for Never Openweight title
Jay White vs. David Finlay for U.S. title
MLW TONIGHT AT 8 P.M. EASTERN ON BEIN SPORTS
Jason Cade & Jimmy Yuta vs. The Dirty Blondes elimination match
Trey Miguel vs. Kotto Brazil
Pentagon Jr. vs. Rey Fenix — Winner gets a title shot at Shane Strickland next week
CMLL FROM ARENA MEXICO TONIGHT AT 9:30 P.M. ON THE CMLL FACEBOOK PAGE
Astral & Electrico vs. Espanto Jr. & El Hijo del Signo
Blue Panther Jr. & The Panther & Drone vs. Puma & Tiger & Okumura
Fuego vs. Guerrero Maya Jr.
Angel de Oro & Mistico & Soberano Jr. vs. Sanson & Cuatrero & Forastero
Atlantis & Kraneo& Diamante Azul vs. Bestia del Ring & Rush & El Terrible
Volador Jr. & Flyer vs. Ultimo Guerrero & Templario in the finals of the Gran Alternative tournament
COMBATE AMERICAS AT 11 P.M. TONIGHT ON UNIVISION DEPORTES FROM THE AUDITORIO IN TIJUANA
Marco Antonio Elpidio vs Andres Quintana
Christian Quinonez vs. Viicius DeOliveira
Georgina Almeraz vs. Mierla Garcia
NEW JAPAN FROM KORAKUEN HALL IN TOKYO AT 5:30 A.M. SATURDAY MORNING ON NEW JAPAN WORLD
Shota Umino vs. Ren Narita
Will Ospreay & Yoshi-Hashi & Yoh vs. ACH & Tiger Mask & Tomoyuki Oka
Minoru Suzuki & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Flip Gordon & Toa Henare
Seiya Sanada & Bushi vs. Chase Owens & Taiji Ishimori
Dragon Lee vs. Sho
Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Desperado
Kushida vs. Chris Sabin
Hiromu Takahashi vs. Mary Scurll
We’re looking for reports on Saturday’s WWE shows with Raw in Paris, France on the last day of its tour, Smackdown in Amsterdam, Holland, and NXT in San Antonio and Vince, FL.
UFC FROM SANTIAGO, CHILE ON SATURDAY
Fight Pass at 6:30 p.m. Eastern
Claudio Puelles (154) vs. Felipe Silva (156)
Henry Briones (136) vs. Frankie Saenz (136)
Enrique Barzola (145) vs. Brandon Davis (146)
FS2 at 8 p.m. Eastern
Humberto Bandenay (145) vs. Gabriel Benitez (145)
Poliana Botelho (115) vs. Syuri Kondo (116)
Brandon Moreno (125) vs. Alexandre Pantoja (125)
Zak Cummings (170) vs. Michel Prazeres (170)
FS1 at 10 p.m.
Chad Laprise (171) vs. Vicente Luque (170)
Andrea Lee (125) vs. Veronica Macedo (126)
Guido Cannetti (136) vs. Diego Rivas (136)
Jared Cannonier (205) vs. Dominick Reyes (205)
Alexa Grasso (115) vs. Tatiana Suarez (115)
Demian Maia (171) vs. Kamaru Usman (170)
EVOLVE ON SATURDAY NIGHT IN SUMMIT, IL AT 9 P.M. EASTERN
Austin Theory vs. DJZ for WWN title
Matt Riddle vs. Shane Strickland non-title
Chris Dickinson & Jaka vs. The End for tag titles in an anything goes match
Keith Lee vs. James Drake
Tracy Williams vs. Dominic Garrini
AR Fox vs. Zachary Wentz
Anthony Henry vs. Stevie Fierce
Matt Knicks & Chris Castro & Isaias Velazquez vs. J Spade & amarok & Jonny Flezx
Darby Allin vs. Trey Miguel vs. Myron Reed vs. Snoop Strikes
Sunday has WWE Smackdown finishing up the European tour in Munich, Germany, while NXT runs in Houston.
NEW JAPAN FROM KIRA, JAPAN ON SUNDAY ON NEW JAPAN WORLD
Tiger Mask vs. ACH
Flip Gordon vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru
Taiji Ishimori vs. Bushi
Will Ospreay vs. ACH
EVOLVE ON SUNDAY NIGHT IN LIVONIA, MI AT 8 P.M. EASTERN TIME
Matt Riddle vs. Keith Lee in a no rope break match for WWN title
Chris Dickinson & Jaka vs. James Drake & Anthony Henry for tag titles
Tracy Williams vs. Odinson
Darby Allin vs. Shane Strickland
Austin Theory vs. Trey Miguel
DJZ vs. Zachary Wentz
AR Fox vs. Myron Reed
The End vs. N8 Mattson & Orlando Christopher
Raw will be Monday from Albany, NY.
NEW JAPAN FROM TOKYO KORAKUEN HALL ON TUESDAY AT 5:30 A.M. ON NEW JAPAN WORLD
Taiji Ishimori & Chase Owens vs. Flip Gordon & Tomoyuki Oka
Minoru Suzuki & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. ACH & Shota Umino
Yoshi-Hashi & Yoh vs. Will Ospreay & Gedo
Tetsuya Naito & Bushi vs. Tiger Mask & Toa Henare
Sho vs. Chris Sabin
Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Dragon Lee
Marty Scurll vs. Kushida
Hiromu Takahashi vs. Desperado
Smackdown and 205 Live will be Tuesday in Worcester, MA, with Billie Kay vs. Lana and Samoa Joe vs. Big Cass in MITB qualifying matches.
F4W NEWSLETTER: Figure Four Weekly: All In sells out within 30 minutes
For all of the hype and expectations ahead of tickets going on sale, Sunday was going to be when the unknown became known for Cody Rhodes and The Young Bucks. And with tickets for their Labor Day weekend All In show selling out in 29 minutes and 36 seconds, the Bullet Club’s success could be a landmark moment for professional wrestling. What began as Cody taking a Dave Meltzer tweet as a bet, where Meltzer responded to someone last May and tweeted that he didn’t think ROH could sell out a 10,000-plus seat building anytime soon, has now become the first show in the United States to do so in almost 20 years.
WON NEWSLETTER: May 21, 2018 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: USA potentially paying big money for Raw, more
A look at how the new WWE television contract situation will change the game once again is the lead story in the new issue of the Observer. Look at why the stock price is up, what analysts thought WWE would get with its deal, what kind of level we’re talking about now, interest level, where Smackdown may end up, the value of an episode of Raw and how that relates to PPV and where the key events should take place, and the long-term value of both UFC and WWE.
This issue also has a big feature on the All In show and weekend, with notes on the business, what questions were answered and what weren’t, who is on the show, ticket breakdown, secondary market numbers, how it compares with big WWE shows, as well as the largest crowds other non-WWE companies have done and other groups in the last 32 years to have drawn 10,000 for a live show. Also look at how unique this really is and the business of the Starrcast event.
Look at the new President of New Japan, Harold Meij, what his hiring means, what he brings to the table, one of his ideas that has already been used, just how much of a success he was in the toy business and his goals for New Japan’s future.
Also, look at NXT business numbers for the first three months of the year and compare it with last year at the same time.
There is an update on Money in the Bank, matches announced, other directions and look at the Ronda Rousey vs. Nia Jax direction.
Read about the lawsuit against C.M. Punk that is coming to the wire, thoughts on the John Cena/Nikki Bella storyline, NXT Takeover Chicago news, WWE wrestler media appearances, a list of new WWE signees from the U.K. and details of the contracts.
This issue has more on Amy “Lita” Dumas breaking ranks on Greatest Royal rumble, update on movies with big WWE names, a unique world class athlete WWE has just signed, why Cass is in trouble, who hasn’t won in 2018, and new matches and new injury updates.
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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If you are a new subscriber ordering 24 or more issues, you can choose one free classic issue or two free classic issues with a 40-issue subscription.
FRIDAY NEWS UPDATE
An article about the brutal beating of former WWE and New Japan wrestler Tom Magee, which has become a mainstream story.
Ric Flair had to cancel all three of his weekend bookings due to catching a bug, which, with his current condition, made traveling risky. He said he’s missing weekend bookings in New York, Dallas and Hot Springs, AR. The Sunday show in Hot Springs, AR for the CWA promotion has announced they are bringing in Lex Luger as a replacement. Flair’s situation is thought to not be serious, but he was advised against traveling and making it worse.
Randy Orton had minor knee surgery to repair a torn MCL this past week. He is at this point scheduled to return in two months.
Evolve is saying that it looks to be setting an attendance record for the promotion for Sunday’s Matt Riddle vs. Keith Lee headlined event in Livonia, MI.
WWE
It is expected on Tuesday’s Smackdown that Shinsuke Nakamura will announced the stipulation for his MITB match with A.J. Styles. That is not being advertised, however, what is being advertised is The New Day on Miz TV to announce which member of the team is in the MITB match.
The Revival worked last night at the NXT show in Oklahoma City, losing an NXT tag team title match to Kyle O’Reilly & Roderick Strong. The Revival is also scheduled for Dallas tonight, San Antonio tomorrow and Houston on Sunday.
The animated comedy web series “Dallas and Robo,” where John Cena will be one of the voices, debuts on 5/30 on the WWE YouTube channel. All eight episodes of the series will go up that day.
Nia Jax is listed as the -140 favorite against Ronda Rousey for their PPV match. As a trivia note, this is the first time ever that Rousey has been listed as the underdog in any gambling odds.
UFC
Alexander Hernandez vs. Olivier Aubin Mercier has been added to the 7/28 show in Calgary on FOX.
Dennis Bermudez vs. Rick Glenn has been added to the 7/14 show in Boise.
MISCELLANEOUS
Bill Apter talks to Danny Sammartino about his father.
Bar Wrestling from last night in Baldwin Park, CA: Rey Fenix & Penta 0M b Willie Mack & Scorpio Sky, B-Boy b Douglas James, Brody King & Tyler Bateman b Rocky Romero & Kevin Mortenson, Xia Brookside b Joey Ryan, Delilah Doom & Eli Everfly b Brian Cage in a handicap mach, Taya Valkyrie & Luchasaurus & Super Panda b Kikutaro & Laura James Ryan & Heather Monroe, Hurricane Helms b Eli Drake. This was the group’s fifth straight sellout show. (thanks to Jake Koch)
A spot from the Cage match where he slams two people at once.
The next Bar Wrestling show will be 6/28, and it will be the company’s first anniversary show. Brian Cage & Melissa Santos headline against Delilah Doom & Eli Everfly.
AWF last night in Sydney, Australia: T-Hawk (Dragon Gate) b Dean Draven, Scotty Haim b Shane Saw, TNT b Cima (Dragon Gate) to keep the Commonwealth title, Albie & DJaysonic b Jake Gibson & Blacktown Brawler and Flaco & Giant Lindstrom and Mr. Mortis & Misfit and Jack Pain & Whiskey Sixx to win the tag titles, Kingston Eclipse b Lindaman (Dragon Gate), Ryback won three-way over Christopher Daniels and Suicide. The show only drew 60 to 100 fans. The same crew worked earlier today in Melbourne with T-Hawk beating TNT to win the Australasian title. TNT is the owner and booker of the promotion who had held the tite for 531 days. The Melbourne show drew under 100. Jay Lethal was booked for both shows but pulled off the tour due to his concussion from last week. (thanks to Kevin Chiat)
Roy Lucier is looking for AAA Kelian figures still in the package of Rey Misterio Jr., Blue Panther, Mascara Sagrada, Fuerza Guerrera and Psicoss at roywarrenlucier@yahoo.com.
Metro Pro on 6/9 in Kansas City headlined by Dak Draper vs. Jeremy Wyatt in a 2/3 fall match and Haku vs. Hoodie Howelett in a street fight.
Ground Zero Wrestling on 6/2 in Imperial Beach, CA with Tito vs. Douglas James vs. Ruby Raze in the main event.
All Star Wrestling on 6/23 in Surrey, BC at the Alice McKay building featuring Chris Masters and TomLawlow. They will also honor Diamond Timothy Flowers and Buddy Wayne.
All Star Wrestling on 5/25 in Vancouver, BC at the Wise Hall & Lounge with Tommy Dreamer vs Adam Ryder and Sinn Bodhi vs. Randy Myers.
SKM on 6/29 in Hagersville, ONT at the Hagersvlle Community Centre.
Wrestlelusion on 7/28 in Niagara Falls, ONT at the Scotiabank Convention Centre.
CWO on 6/10 in Grimsby, ONT at the Community Centre.
NSW on 5/27 in Hamilton, ONT with Josh Alexander vs. John Greed.
A movie called “350 Days” starring Bret Hart and Superstar Billy Graham will have a one-day screening at Fathom Events at movie theaters around the country on 7/12. The trailer is here.
Best in the West TV from last night in Fresno: Steve Tresario b AJ Kirsch (Kirsch blew out his knee legit and needed surgery), Adam Mayhem & Mike Rayne b Sinn Bodhi & Funnybone. Next taping is 5/19 in Merced,CA at the American Legion Post, and then 6/9 at Fresno City College. (thanks to Jon Southerland)
House of Hardcore on 6/1 in Napanee, ONT at the Lennox Agricultural Memorial Community Center with Tommy Dreamer, Willie Mack, Billy Gunn, Little Guido, The Squad, Braxton Sutter, Bull James and Angelina Love.
The North Shore Rumble is 6/2 in Beverly, MA at the Beverly/Salem Elks Lodge headlined by a 30 man Rumble.
Former UFC fighter Charlie “The Spaniard” Brenneman discusses his transition from Spanish teacher to fighter to motivational speaker/podcaster.
Daily Professional Wrestling History: WCW Slamboree 1997
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