DAILY UPDATE
Latest News:
MLW Fusion results: Von Erichs vs. Contra Unit unsanctioned match
ICW Shug’s Hoose Party 6 night one results: Kushida vs. Jackie Polo
NXT Atlanta live results: Karen Q suffers injury
NJPW G1 Climax 29 night ten results: Moxley vs. Naito
UFC 240 live results: Max Holloway vs. Frankie Edgar
WWE Smackville live results: Kingston vs. Joe vs. Ziggler
Ali replaces Finn Balor at WWE Smackville
Latest Audio:
WOR: CM Punk, AEW, WWE injuries, UFC 240, more 7/28
DragonKing Dark: Oddities of Delaware 7/28
Free Show! Portland Wrestlecast: Tonya Harding’s controversial wrestling appearance 7/28
We’re looking for reports from these shows. Reports can be sent to [email protected]:
WWE Raw Saturday night in Oklahoma City
WWE Smackdown Saturday night in Nashville (entire show, not just the Smackville portion)
WWE Raw tonight in Springfield, MO
WWE Smackdown night in Cape Girardeau, MO
We’re also taking poll results from both New Japan shows this weekend in Nagoya as well as UFC 240 last night, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match from all three shows to [email protected]
Raw is Monday night in Little Rock with Brock Lesnar appearing, plus Seth Rollins vs. Dolph Ziggler, and a Samoa Joe/Roman Reigns confrontation.
NEW JAPAN G-1 CLIMAX TOURNAMENT TUESDAY MORNING AT 6 A.M. EASTERN FROM TAKAMATSU ON NEW JAPAN WORLD
Tomohiro Ishii & Tomoaki Honma & Yuya Uemura vs. Hirooki Goto & Yoshi-Hashi & Yota Tsuji
Toru Yano & Ren Narita vs. Jon Moxley & Shota Umino
Minoru Suzuki & Taichi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Jay White & Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens
Juice Robinson & Jeff Cobb & Toa Henare vs. Tetsuya Naito & Shingo Takagi & Bushi
Kota Ibushi vs. Bad Luck Fale
Will Ospreay vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
Kazuchika Okada vs. Lance Archer
KENTA vs. Sanada
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Evil
Smackdown and 205 Live are Tuesday in Memphis. Trish Stratus will be there for the angle to set up her SummerSlam match with Charlotte Flair, plus Dolph Ziggler vs. Finn Balor (maybe as Balor is ill right now), Xavier Woods & Big E vs. Elias & Drew McIntyre, and Billie Kay & Peyton Royce in a non-title match with Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville
F4W NEWSLETTER: Figure Four Weekly: Smackville, EVOLVE & the WWE Network
Joseph Currier looks at two Network specials and what they could mean for the future of the service.
EVOLVE’s 10th Anniversary Celebration streamed on the Network opposite AEW Fight for the Fallen on July 13. Another in-ring special has also been added to the Network schedule for this month, with “Smackville” set to air this Saturday (July 27).
Smackville is similar to past specials like The Shield’s Final Chapter and WWE Starrcade. The WWE Network broadcast of Smackville will be an hour long. Kofi Kingston will defend the WWE Championship against Samoa Joe and Dolph Ziggler in a triple threat match, Finn Balor will face Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura in a rematch from Extreme Rules, and there will be a musical performance segment with Elias.
The Smackville name is playing off the show taking place in Nashville, Tennessee and the city’s Bridgestone Arena, which is the home of the Nashville Predators. The event was just a house show prior to the special being announced, and it will still feature some untelevised matches.
Televised house shows have been something WWE has surveyed subscribers about for a long time. Smackville feels very much like a by-the-numbers house show card. After already having defeated them in his most recent pay-per-view title defenses, Kingston is facing Joe and Ziggler again. Balor has already moved on to a storyline with Bray Wyatt and is set to take some time off from WWE after SummerSlam, so it seems unlikely that he’ll be regaining the Intercontinental title. The Smackville theme should play into the Elias segment, but it’s unlikely that it will have much meaning to the larger audience.
WON NEWSLETTER: July 29, 2019 Observer Newsletter: AEW announces TV details, more
The new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter has details on the first episode of AEW on TNT, the possible name of the show, why the host city was chosen, and potential TV competition in the first few weeks of airing.
We detail the latest G1 Climax 29 shows, and how it compares to last year’s tournament.
We have coverage of Jon Jones and his latest potential legal trouble.
We cover Summerslam, how the card is shaping up, and the possible return of a WWE Hall of Famer on the show.
We look back at Saturday’s UFC show, and the business notes on the show.
We have details on Dragon Gate’s biggest show of the year, and have business notes on that as well.
We also have coverage of a wrestling star being part of Hollywood box office history.
There’s also a run down the ratings of all the major TV shows, along with detailed demo info for the WWE shows and results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.
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 [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
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If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
SUNDAY NEWS UPDATE
The weekend show is up with Jim Valley and I talking all of the latest news. Bryan and I will be back tomorrow night. The entire C.M. Punk/AEW situation was discussed in depth on the show.
Here is an update on the weekend WWE injuries:
Finn Balor was not injured as WWE stated, but was hospitalized with the stomach flu. No word yet on whether he’ll be able to wrestle Dolph Ziggler as scheduled on Tuesday.
Rachel Evers/Rachael Ellering suffered a knee injury last night in Fort Pierce. The severity of the injury is unknown at this point.
Karen Q suffered a broken ankle last night in Atlanta.
Riddick Moss suffered a broken nose but he isn’t expected to miss any time
Shayna Baszler was banged up a little, nothing serious and in fact worked last night. She didn’t wrestle on Friday night in Columbia, MO.
Dana White gave the indication that Cris Cyborg didn’t want to fight Amanda Nunes and was late in her career and wanted easier fights. Not sure I buy that one. He also said that he saw a video of the situation at the strip club with Jon Jones and that it was very favorable to Jones.
Dwayne Johnson will be on the Tonight show on Wednesday and with Kelly & Ryan on Thursday to promote Hobbs & Shaw.
ROH announced its annual Champions vs. All-Stars match on 8/24 at Center Stage in Atlanta.
WWE
Lacey Evans is scheduled to appear on Lifetime’s “Military Makeover” television show with Montel Williams.
As part of the four-part Showtime documentary on longtime fan Rick Rubin, part three discussed his love for pro wrestling and both HHH and Stephanie McMahon were guests.
Mike Mooneyham talks Raw Reunion (thanks to Chris Cruise)
Seth Rollins talked to The Hindu about wanting to wrestle in India.
UFC
For the weekend, two topics made the Google listings. UFC 240 had 500,000 searches, which is below what would be expected for that show. Gervonta Davis had 200,000 searches.
MISCELLANEOUS
Names listed for the Jericho Cruise at this point are Kenny Omega, Young Bucks, Cody, Adam Page, Brandi Rhodes, MJF, Britt Baker, Jungle Boy, Nyla Rose, Jericho, Ric Flair, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Sean Waltman, Booker T, Jake Roberts, DDP and Eric Bischoff.
Kevin Eck with the latest ROH news on their website.
Mike Quackenbush is doing a seminar 8/13 to 8/15 in Sydney, Australia for PWA.
ACW on 8/24 in Astoria, NY with Matt Striker appearing.
Wrestlerock from Friday nigh in Melbourne: Taylor King b Jett Rouka, Nick Bury b Emman the Kid, Matty Wahlberg b Ritchie Taylor, CK Dowie & DCT b Mitch Waterman & Mad Dog, Dunk Uncle Beej b Lochy Hendricks, Scarlett Bordeaux b Avary. Bordeaux used a Canadian Destroyer through a table on Avary to end the main event. (thanks to Kevin Chiat)
Ultimo Guerrero vs. Atlantis vs. Caristico in a three-way will headline the 9/1 Warrior Wrestling show in Chicago Heights, IL, the day after All Out.
SPW and OWE ran Thursday in Singapore: Social Misfits b Mighty Mighty & Big Good Jack, Alex Cuevas b Lindaman, Team Ace b Blue Nova & CK Vin, Reika Sakai b Alexis Lee, Cima b Trexxus, Destroyer Dharma won three-way over Butcherman and Aiden Rex, T-Hawk b The Statement (thanks to Kevin Chiat)
Defy from Friday night in Seattle with the first round of the 8XGP tournament: Sonico & Leon Negro b Super Crazy & Guillermo del Rosas, Matt Cross b Judas Icarus, Cody Chunn b Mike Santiago, Jacob Fatu & Josef Samael b L.A. Park & El Hijo de L.A. Park in a no DQ match for the PCW Ultra and Defy tag titles, Danika Della Rouge & Randy Myers b Sloan & Travis Williams, Artemis Spencer b Douglas James, Christopher Daniels b Schff, Tama Tonga b Ethan HD. The Parks match was said to be ****1/4 and included Samael throwing a fireball at Park. They also destroyed the merchandise table.
Defy from last night in Seattle with the finals of the Defy Super 8XGP tournament: Semifinals: Christopher Daniels b Cody Chunn, Artemis Spencer b Matt Cross, Ethan HD & Mike Santiago won over Modern Day Savages, Super Crazy & Guillermo del Rosas and Randy Myers & Schaff, Joey Janela NC Tama Tonga when HD & Santiago attacked both guys Douglas James b Travis Williams, Jacob Fatu & Josef Samael b Leon Negro & Sonico, Artemis Spencer b Christopher Daniels to win tournament and keep the Defy title (thanks to Scott Janicek)
Queen of the Rings from last night in Beaumont, TX: Phoebe b Raychell Rose, Heather Monroe b Alex Gracia, Thunder Rosa b Mercedes Martinez, Hyan b Amber Nova, Priscilla Kelly b Rock-C, Miranda Alize b Joey Ryan, Heather Monroe b Miranda Alize to win the Hurricane title (thanks to Shannon Walsh and wrestlingwithdemons.net)
Dragon Lee will be working a lot more ROH shows for the rest of the year.
Sendai Girls from last night in Manchester, UK: Viper won four-way over Gisele Shaw, Isla Dawn and Jody Threat, Aiger b Session Moth Martina, Dash Chisako b Kay Lee Ray,Valkyrie b Chris Brookes, Millie McKenzie & Charli Evans b Chihiro Matsumoto & Yuu, Toni Storm b Meiko Satomura
Chigusa Nagayo, one of the greatest female wrestlers of all-time, will be doing a seminar in Japanese Strong Style wrestling on 8/15 at the FTW World Wrestling Academy in Bohemia, NY. Some wrestlers from the tryout will be offered spots to work in Japan and train at the Marvelous Dojo. For more info you can e-mail [email protected] or call Bryan Idol at 631-574-2214.
Innovative Wrestling on 8/24 in Morristown, TN at the Tally Ward Rec Center.
For those going to Toronto for SummerSlam week, here are some shows:
8/7 at 4 p.m. has an OWE show
8/7 at 8 p.m. has Smash vs. Progress
8/8 at 4 p.m. has wXw Ambition
8/8 at 8 p.m. has Progress
8/9 at 4 p.m. has wXw
8/9 at 8 p.m. has Super Showdown 7
8/10 at Noon at Smash, Shimmer, Rise and Femmes Fatales
8/10 at 3 p.m. has OWE
ECWA will be relaunching on 9/21 in New Castle, DE at the Asbury United Methodist Church with a 7 p.m. show.
Lucha Toronto on 8/7 at the Opera House in Toronto with Joey Ryan, Puma King and Ethan Page.
PWP on Wednesday night in Omaha: Jack Darling & Uncle Ricky won three-way over Paul & Joey Daniels and Tim Boston & Seto Kobara, Branden Jaurez b Santos Barbosa, Willy Sweet b Logan James, Chris Havius & Preston Maxwell b Jaysin Strife & Con Artiest, Tony Cortez b Pat Powers-DQ, Purple b Moonshine Russell, Duke Cornell b Brett Bishop. Next show is 8/25 at the Waiting Room Lounge in Omaha.
70s star Buddy Colt talks about surviving a plane crash that ended his career and being a heel. (thank to Mike Kuzmuk)
Daily Pro Wrestling History: Eddie Guerrero wins ECW TV title
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