THE ROUND-UP
THE LATEST NEWS
WWE announces Toni Storm for Mae Young Classic
NJPW Fighting Spirit Unleashed tickets to go on sale next week
Ellsworth comments on his future after this week’s SmackDown
Another sign that Matt Riddle is headed to WWE
WWE Q2 financials: Record revenue, Saudi Arabia deal, more
Conor McGregor makes plea deal for no jail time and no criminal record
NJPW G1 Climax 28 night eight live results: Kota Ibushi vs. SANADA
WWE NXT results: Aleister Black vs. Tommaso Ciampa
Lucha Underground results: Gift of the Gods title match
WWE SmackDown ratings up slightly, Miz & Mrs. starts strong
THE LATEST AUDIO
WOL: WWE finances, Conor McGregor, Dave Meltzer, JOHNNY IMPACT! 7/26
WOR: Smackdown, 205 Live, WWE finances, Hiromu update, New Japan, more! 7/26
F4D: Smackdown, Chop and Roll vs. Rock and Roll running commentary, more! 7/25
For this weekend, we’ll be doing a poll on the Saturday New Japan show from Nagoya since it’s the biggest show as far as a major building goes so far this tour.
We’re also looking for reports on tonight’s NXT shows in San Diego and Largo, FL to [email protected].
IMPACT AT 8 P.M. TONIGHT ON POP TV
This is the follow-up to Sunday’s Slammiversary show.
NEW JAPAN G-1 CLIMAX TOURNAMENT FRIDAY MORNING AT 5:30 A.M. EASTERN FROM SHIZUOKA
Hirooki Goto & Yoh vs. Toa Henare & Shota Umino
Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa vs. Zack Sabre Jr. & Taka Michinoku
Juice Robinson & David Finlay vs. Toru Yano & Jado
Tomohiro Ishii & Sho vs Kota Ibushi & Yujiro Takahashi
Kenny Omega & Chase Owens vs. Tetsuya Naito & Seiya Sanada
Minoru Suzuki vs. Michael Elgin
Evil vs. Hangman Page
Jay White vs. Bad Luck Fale
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Togi Makabe
Kazuchika Okada vs. Yoshi-Hashi
F4W NEWSLETTER: Figure Four Weekly: Looking at 205 Live two years after Cruiserweight Classic
While this month marks the two-year anniversary of the premiere of the Cruiserweight Classic, the division that the tournament spawned is still one of the most puzzling parts of WWE programming. From a rough start, to it becoming the Enzo Amore show, to it being rebooted when Paul “Triple H” Levesque took over as showrunner, 205 Live has been constantly changing and never able to fully find its footing since it debuted in November 2016.
WON NEWSLETTER: (July 30, 2018) Wrestling Observer Newsletter: All women PPV WWE Evolution announcement, more
The WWE’s heavily promoted all women’s’ PPV show is the lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Look at the announcement made on Raw, whether this will be a regular event, the actual first women’s PPV in the U.S., and thoughts on the business of this.
Look at SummerSlam, with both the matches announced thoughts on those matches, and several other bouts that will either be added, are being pushed and the one match that hasn’t been teased at all that has been talked about a lot this past week.
Get in-depth notes on Matt Riddle and expectations of his coming to WWE and his prospects in NXT and on the main roster, names WWE is after, Dwayne Johnson’s annual income, Rock and wrestling again and what the holdup would be.
Look at the state of Impact Wrestling after its most well received major show of the year. Look at the change in the hardcore stigma of the company, and look at injuries on the show, the next month of television and the direction, as well as match-by-match coverage and star ratings of Slammiversary.
This issue has detailed coverage thus far of the G-1 Climax tournament. Look at the standings, the business, match quality; the ridiculous level of tournament matches thus far, injuries, this week’s schedule, plus match-by-match coverage and star ratings for all the shows of this past week.
Look at the Dragon Gate promotion after its biggest show of the year.
Read about the UFC Hall of Fame ceremony and Ronda Rousey, as well as a look back to 2013 when women were first signed to the promotion and the immediate decision for them to headline on PPV the first night in.
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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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.
THURSDAY NEWS UPDATE
We did a new interview today that should be up shortly on the history of World of Sport Wrestling in the U.K. with John Lister, whose book, “Have a Good Week…Till Next Week: British Wrestlers of the TV era,” came out recently. The timing is notable with the ITV World of Sport Wrestling show starting this coming Saturday afternoon, which at the very least has led to spearheading WWE’s signing of wrestlers and creating a U.K. Division. At best, if it’s a success, could create a stronger competitive theme in what is right now one of the key wrestling cultures in the world.
WWE stock closed at $83.84 per share today, giving the company a $6.469 billion market
Juice Robinson did an interview last night after his match with Kenny Omega and said he’s not only not going back to WWE but he’s never going. We noted WWE had interest in bringing him back.
The Tuff N Uff promotion out of Las Vegas, an amateur MMA group, starts Wednesday night at 8 p.m. Eastern on Bein sports, with an encore at 11 p.m. Eastern so prime time West Coast a well. After Wednesday the show will move to a weekly Friday night time slot and be promoted in conjunction with MLW as a Friday Night Fury TV block.
MLW has its two-hour TV special taped last week in New York tomorrow night at 8 p.m. on Bein Sports.
Those close to Conor McGregor are pushing that now that his court case is behind him, he is looking to make a deal to fight. He said everything as far as a future fight was put on hold pending completion of the case. UFC would like the fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov on 10/6 in Las Vegas.
NWA’s latest video on the Nick Aldis vs. Flip Gordon aftermath.
David Ismaller, the President of 2K Games said that they were expanding their WWE franchise. He told GamesInudstry.biz “We are looking to expand and grow our profile, whether it’s internally developing more products, or it’s adding more long-term partnerships to our 2K product line.”
The NXT show this weekend in Riverside, CA is sold out.
Mark Henry is representing WWE this weekend at the London Film & Comic Con in the U.KI.
A 9/18 show in Tulsa lists Carmella vs. Asuka for the women’s title and A.J.Styles & Daniel Bryan & Jeff Hardy vs. Shinsuke Nakamura & The Miz & Samoa Joe as the main events. That’s a TV taping meaning don’t read anything into those matches actually taking place.
For TV tapings in Toronto on 8/27 and 8/28, the 8/27 show is advertising Roman Reigns & Braun Strowman & Bobby Lashley & Seth Rollins vs. Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre & Kevin Owens & Baron Corbin as the main event. For 8/28 they are advertising Daniel Bryan & A.J. Styles & Jeff Hardy vs. Shinsuke Nakamura & Samoa Joe & The Miz. (thanks to Steve Khan)
In a trivia note, Tommaso Ciampa only had ten WWE singles matches on TV or Takeover shows before winning the NXT title even though he’s been with the company since 2015.
A story on the WWE house show coming to Atlantic City.
Chelsea Green talks about her recent WWE tryout, work visa issues, her upcoming movie role and a magical night at Disney. She said no matter what happens with the tryout, she’s more at peace than she has been in a long time: “That’s why I went in there so confident. I’m going to give it my all, but I’m also going to know my worth, know that I have options, and that’s the best feeling in the world.”
UFC
UFC tickets go on sale to the public tomorrow for the 9/8 show in Dallas at the American Airlines Center. Tyron Woodley vs. Darren Till for the welterweight title is the main event plus Nicco Montano vs. Valentina Shevchenko for the women’s flyweight title. Other bouts include Zabit Magomedsharipov vs. Yair Rodriguez, Jessica Andrade vs. Karolina Kowalkiewicz, Aljamain Sterling vs. Cody Stamann, Carla Esparza vs. Tatiana Suarez and Jimmie Rivera vs. John Dodson. It’s not necessarily a huge money PPV show but it’s a high-quality card.
MISCELLANEOUS
Pro Wrestling Revolver on 8/3 in Dayton at the Rockstar Pro Arena with Santana & Ortiz vs. OWE in the main event plus tag champs Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz vs. Neveah & Jessicka Havok, and Sami Callihan vs. Matt Palmer in a street fight.
CZW on Saturday night at the Colossal Sports Academy at the Coliseum in Voorhees, NJ has MJF wrestling, even though he injured his knee last week and we were originally told he’d be out for a few weeks, plus Matt Riddle vs. John Silver.
Marty Scurll and Flip Gordon have been added to the World Series Wrestling November tour of Australia.
Iron First Pro in Adelaide, Australia on 9/28 features Big Japan’s Hideki Suzuki against Jonah Rock. (thanks to Kevin Chiat)
NFC MMA on 8/11 runs Center Stage in Atlanta with Jeremy Wallace vs. Nick Geoffrion.
WWE coach Robbie Brookside will be doing a seminar at the 9/7 Evolve show in Joppa, MD.
These are the updated WWN lineups for next week:
8/4 in Philadelphia
Matt Riddle vs. Shane Strickland for Evolve title in a Hardcore match
Chris Dickinson & Jaka vs. Tracy Williams & TK Cooper for tag titles
Joey Janela vs. AR Fox
Darby Allin vs. Austin Theory
JD Drake vs. Jon Davis vs. Josh Briggs vs. Odinson
Anthony Henry vs. Saieve Al Sabah
8/5 in Melrose, MA
Joey Janela vs. Darby Allin for WWN title
Matt Riddle vs. Austin Theory non-title
Chris Dickinson vs. Tracy Williams no holds barred
Jaka vs. Josh Briggs
Shane Strickland vs. Saieve Al Sabah
Riddle is booked on the Evolve 8/11 show in Chicago and 8/12 show in Livonia, MI.
Tracy Williams vs. Stokely Hathaway in a career vs. career I Quit match will take place on the Livonia show.
Mary Hansen Mangone, a Roller Derby star of the 50s, passed away on 7/23 after a long illness. Another star, Loretta Behrens, was in a very bad auto accident also on 7/23 and was operated on and at last word was in critical condition. She still needed another operation.
Jonathan Gresham can be booked for appearance and matches through Bill Behrens at [email protected]. Gresham is a trainer at the ROH dojo and is based in Baltimore.
Ex-UK government Minister Ed Balls did a skit for Southern Legacy Wrestling for his documentary “Travels in Trumpland” that airs on BBC 2 on Sunday. (thanks to Lee Wall)
PWA is doing a Will Ospreay vs. Robbie Eagles rematch on 8/11.
Pro Wrestling Revolution on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Santa Rosa, CA Veterans Memorial Building with L.A. Park, El Hijo de L.A. Park, Damian 666, Bestia 666 and Rey Bucanero as headliners. The show will air on Twitch with Skyde & L.A. Park vs. Bucanero & Damian as the main event.
USA Wrestling on 8/5 in Jackson, TN at Oman Arena has a show with Jerry Lawler, The Rock & Roll Experss, Jimmy Hart, James Ellsworth, Buff Bagwell, Matt Riviera, Chris Michaels and more.
It is being reported that VH-1 will be taping at a Chicago show tonight called Galli Lucha for an upcoming reality show. (thanks to Jake Koch)
PCW Ultra tomorrow night on FITE TV from Wilmington, CA with Pentagon Jr. & Warbeast vs. Sami Callihan & OVE, Shane Strickland vs. Flip Gordon, Tessa Blanchard vs. Britt Baker, ACH vs. Dragon Lee, Brody King vs. ?, Hammerstone vs. Timothy Thatcher and Jake Atlas vs. Matt Cross vs. Rich Swann (if he’s healthy).
Matt Riddle wrestles tomorrow night in Voorhees, NJ for NeoFight Pro against Billy Avery, on a show that also includes Jonathan Gresham, John Sliver and monsters from Kaiju Big Battel.
Beyond Wrestling on Sunday in Worcester, MA has Joey Janela vs. David Starr in a no rope barbed wire match plus Matt Riddle & Tom Lawlor vs. Nick Gage & Matt Tremont, PCO vs. Brian Cage, Brody King vs. Josh Briggs, Tracy Williams vs. Wheeler Yuta, Jonathan Gresham vs. ?, Chris Dickinson & Jake & LAX vs. Jordynne Grace & Kimber Lee & Mia Yim & Skylar and Chuckie T & Orange Cassidy vs. Team Tremendous vs. Massage Force vs. Beaver Boys
July 24th Alternative Wrestling Radio featuring Mad Man Pondo, Doc Atrocity and Virgil Flynn III stories.
Daily Professional Wrestling History: Dusty Rhodes wins NWA title from Ric Flair
12th Annual F4W Empire Vegas Convention
Greetings friends and fans of the F4W / Wrestling Observer website. It’s time to announce the details of the 12th annual F4W / Wrestling Observer Empire Las Vegas Convention~!
This year’s event will be taking place in Las Vegas from August 16th to the 20th and will again be in conjunction with WWE’s SummerSlam weekend a.k.a. Super China Buffet Day~! There will still be the usual events, but our big draw will be WWE’s summer blockbuster PPV, SummerSlam. As per tradition, we will all gorge ourselves at a Las Vegas buffet, and then watch SummerSlam in a rented out movie theater. All information and ticketing prices are available now. Sign up ASAP as spots are limited for some events.
This year will also feature a Future Stars Wrestling show which will include the first ever Granny’s Doubles Match Classic! Already booked for the show are the teams Mia Yim & Leva Bates, Shotzi Blackheart & ???, Samantha Heights & Brittany Blake, and Miranda Alize & Kylie Rae. Also appearing will be Kris Wolf along with many more future stars. There may even be a classic star or two making an appearance. You won’t want to miss this show! Check out the convention’s Facebook page for all additional information.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Poll opinions: [email protected]
Feedback: [email protected]
Show results and news tips: [email protected]
Wrestling Observer Radio questions: [email protected]
Support the Empire~! with F4W shirts. Grab yours today!