THE ROUND-UP
The Latest from the F4W Staff
NEWS
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WWE Raw ratings down a bit, big first-to-third hour drop
Chris Jericho cruise to include ROH tournament hosted by Jim Ross
WWE Raw video highlights: The last stop before No Mercy
The Miz vs. Jason Jordan official for WWE No Mercy
Bayley returns, gets added to Women’s title match at WWE No Mercy
AUDIO
WOL: Raw, No Mercy, Jericho cruise, Total Divas new season, more! 9/19
DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: 1937 in pro wrestling; Bobby Heenan 9/19
WOR: Bobby Heenan Q&A, Raw report, Impact Wrestling, tons more! 9/19
Big Audio Nightmare: The good, bad & ugly of NJPW’s week 9/18
SmackDown and 205 Live are tonight in Oakland. A.J. Styles vs. Baron Corbin for the U.S. title is scheduled for the show.
FIGURE FOUR WEEKLY: Figure Four Weekly 9/11/2017: Is the WWE main roster ready for Asuka?
With her vacating the NXT Women’s Championship and the storyline of both brands negotiating for her to join them, it appears that it won’t be very long until Asuka arrives on the main roster. That segment with her relinquishing the title aired on NXT TV last week, with there having been no announcement of how the next champion will be decided. But whoever it is, whether it’s someone currently in NXT or one of the Mae Young Classic finalists, they’ll have a difficult time living up to the standard that Asuka set.
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WRESTLING OBSERVER NEWSLETTER: September 18, 2017 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Vince McMahon returns to TV, Mae Young Classic finals, more
The return of Vince McMahon for an angle with Kevin Owens and the copying of the Okada-Shibata spot is the lead in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer. This issue has a run through of the next few WWE PPV shows.
Look at the mechanics behind it, the double standard involved and the WWE’s attempt to heat up the product as football season starts.
Read a full rundown of the Mae Young Classic finals including thoughts on all 32 competitors, who has signed, who is likely to be signed, and who isn’t likely to be signed. Plus, look at business notes on the tournament, both on where the shows stood in WWE Network ratings and public interest as compared with the early weeks of the cruiserweight classic, as well as some very interesting notes about what caused the peaks of interest.
This issues has an update on the condition of Big Show, why Asuka is going to Raw, WWE headed to India, Mick Foley’s knee replacement, Foley’s next book, Ric Fair’s next book, return of injured wrestler, market value of WWE, plus notes on the weekend NXT shows and the first show of the Raw overseas tour.
Coverage of UFC 215, what happened to Ray Borg, the judging of Amanda Nunes vs. Valentina Shevchenko, what Shevchenko did wrong, how close a fight it really was, plus business notes on the show and match-by-match coverage with poll results.
Check out New Japan’s first big show since G-1 ended, the Destruction in Fukushima, and what went wrong, why it went wrong and the main event booking, plus match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results.
Details on the ratings for all the national shows over the past week, including a breakdown of who was watching all of the WWE shows, plus results of the major league arena events held all over the world this past week, as well as notes on the various TV shows.
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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 [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $13 for 4 issues, $32 for 12, $61 for 24, $101 for 40 and $131 for 52. In Canada and Mexico, rates are $14.50 for 4, $35 for 12, $67 for 24, $111 for 40 and $144 or 52. In Europe, you can get the fastest delivery and best rates by sending to [email protected]. For the rest of the world, rates are $16.50 for 4, $44 for 12, $85 for 24, $141 for 40 issues and $183 for 52. If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order (P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228), you can get $1 off in every price range.)
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.
WON BACK ISSUE: August 28, 2000 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Hall of Fame issue
In our largest one year inclusion in history, seven new members were named to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame in a balloting of performers, front office people, reports, historians and some well known wrestling experts. Four of the newcomers were voted on by the largest voting panel to date and three others were chosen largely by lobbying from historians providing research as to why they clearly belonged.
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TUESDAY NEWS UPDATE
WWE
Tonight’s SmackDown will feature Shane McMahon’s response to last week’s angle with Kevin Owens attacking Vince McMahon, AJ Styles will defend his United States Championship against Baron Corbin, Natalya hosting a “Celebration of Women” is advertised, and Jinder Mahal will continue his storyline with Shinsuke Nakamura.
205 Live tonight has the final build to Neville vs. Enzo Amore at No Mercy and follow-up to Jack Gallagher’s heel turn from last week.
Dave Meltzer tweeted that the advance for SmackDown tonight isn’t strong.
The New Day defending their tag titles against The Usos is official for Hell in a Cell on October 8th.
After Paige posted a photo of the Performance Center on Instagram yesterday, WWE.com ran an article teasing that she’s preparing for her comeback and could be returning to either Raw or SmackDown. She tweeted today that she’s feeling great after her second day at the PC.
Nikki Bella (and her partner Artem Chigvintsev) finished with the fourth highest score on last night’s Dancing With The Stars premiere. Their performance ended with Bella throwing Chigvintsev over her shoulder and pinning him.
Jessica Solt, Bobby Heenan’s daughter, spoke to the Tampa Bay Times for an obituary on her father. The article notes that Heenan died of organ failures that were brought on by his battle with cancer.
WWE.com posted video of Kassius Ohno and Joe Coffey shaking hands after their match in ICW.
Charlotte and Ric Flair’s book “Second Nature” is out today. Bleacher Report ran a longform profile of Ric and Charlotte to promote the book.
IGN debuted the first gameplay trailer for WWE 2K18.
The South China Morning Post has an article on Tian Bing wanting to make pro wrestling famous in China.
Pro Wrestling
Ed Nordholm told the Ottawa Citizen that Impact Wrestling’s tagline is “Less Talk More Action.” The article states that the company hopes to get about 500 fans a night at the Aberdeen Pavilion for Bound for Glory and the subsequent TV tapings.
PWG announced that their next shows will be on October 20th and 21st as part of All Star Weekend 13. Ricochet tweeted that he won’t be at WrestleCircus’ first anniversary show on the 21st due to it conflicting with PWG.
PWG also uploaded the preview video for the DVD of the first night of this year’s Battle of Los Angeles.
WhatCulture announced today that several key staff members (Adam Blampied, Adam Pacitti, Ross Tweddell, Sam Driver, and Jack King) will be leaving the website to focus on other projects. Blampied was WhatCulture Pro Wrestling’s on-screen general manager and the promotion will reveal his replacement at their “Refuse to Lose” show on October 2nd.
UFC/MMA
Though Edmond Tarverdyan said that he’d like to see Ronda Rousey fight Cris Cyborg, Cyborg isn’t interested in the matchup in the UFC and thinks it’d be more fitting to do it in WWE.
Demetrious Johnson vs. Ray Borg will be the semi-main event of UFC 216, with Tony Ferguson vs. Kevin Lee for the interim lightweight title still headlining the show.
Stipe Miocic is aiming to return in December or January and would have been open to fighting Jon Jones if the UFC could have put it together.
Sage Northcutt vs. Michel Quinones and Raphael Assuncao vs. Matthew Lopez have been added to UFC Fight Night in Norfolk.
Bellator will be using a special cage on Saturday that allows them to easily transition between MMA and kickboxing matchups.
Today in Professional Wrestling History: Rick Rude wins WCW International title
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