Daily Update: Alpha Entertainment, Cody vs. Ibushi, McGregor

THE ROUND-UP

The Latest from the F4W Staff

NEWS

AUDIO 

We’re looking for reports from WWE Raw in Syracuse, NY, Smackdown in Portland, ME and the ROH TV tapings in Philadelphia at the 2300 Arena (Dragon Lee & Titan vs. Young Bucks vs. Baretta & Chuckie T, Will Ospreay vs. Jay Lethal, Flip Gordon vs. Marty Scurll, Coast 2 Coast vs. War Machine and if Coast 2 Coast loses they must split up) to newstips@wrestlingobserver.com.

UFC FROM WINNIPEG 

Fight Pass at 4:30 p.m. Eastern time

  • Jordan Mein (169) vs. Erick Silva (170.5)

FS1 at 5 p.m. Eastern time

  • Danny Roberts (170.5) vs. Nordine Taleb (170.5)
  • Oluwale Bamgbose (184.5) vs. Alessio DiChirico (185)
  • John Makdessi (153) vs. Abel Trujillo (155.5)
  • Galore Bofando (170) vs. Chad Laprise (170.5)
  • Julian Marquez (185) vs. Darren Stewart (185.5)
  • Jan Blachowicz (205.5) vs. Jared Cannonier (204)

FOX AT 8 p.m. Eastern time

  • Misha Cirkunov (205.5) vs. Glover Teixeiera (205)
  • Mike Perry (170) vs. Santiago Ponzinibbio (170.5)
  • Josh Emmett (148.5) vs. Ricardo Lamas (146)
  • Robbie Lawler (170.5) vs. Rafael dos Anjos (146)

WWE runs a Raw house show on Sunday in Allentown, PA.

WWE CLASH OF CHAMPIONS PPV FROM THE TD GARDEN IN BOSTON AT 7:30 P.M. EASTERN

  • A.J. Styles vs. Jinder Mahal for WWE title
  • Randy Orton & Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn with Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon as referees and if Owens & Zayn lose, they are fired from WWE
  • Baron Corbin vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Bobby Roode for U.S. title
  • Usos vs. New Day vs. Chad Gable & Shelton Benjamin vs. Rusev & Aiden English for tag titles
  • Charlotte Flair vs. Natalya in a lumberjack match for women’s title
  • Tyler Breeze & Fandango vs. Harper & Rowan
  • Zack Ryder vs. Mojo Rawley

NEW JAPAN FROM TOKYO KORAKUEN HALL AT 4:30 A.M. EASTERN EARLY MONDAY MORNING ON NEW JAPAN WORLD

  • Shota Umino vs. Tetsuhiro Yagi in Young Lion’s tournament
  • Katsuya Kitamura vs. Ren Narita in Young Lion’s tournament
  • Hirai Kawato vs. Tomoyuki Oka in Young Lion’s tournament
  • Jushin Liger & Tiger Mask & Henare vs. Taichi & Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
  • Togi Makabe & Kota Ibushi vs. Yujiro Takahashi & Leo Tonga
  • Hirooki Goto & Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano vs. Minoru Suzuki & Takashi Iizuka & Taka Michinoku
  • Satoshi Kojima & Kushida & Masked Horse vs. Rocky Romero & Sho & Yoh
  • Evil & Seiya Sanada & Bushi vs. Bad Luck Fale & Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa for Never six man titles
  • Kazuchika Okada & Yoshi-Hashi vs. Tetsuya Naito & Hiromu Takahashi

Raw is Monday night in Providence, RI. The only match announced so far is Drew Gulak vs. Cedric Alexander for the top contender for the cruiserweight title. There is also a Smackdown brand house show in White Plains, NY.

NEW JAPAN FROM TOKYO KORAKUEN HALL AT 4:30 A.M. EASTERN EARLY TUESDAY MORNING ON NEW JAPAN WORLD

  • Shota Umino vs. Ren Narita in the Young Lion’s tournament
  • Tomoyuki Oka vs. Tetsuhiro Yagi in the Young Lion’s tournament
  • Katsuya Kitamura vs. Hirai Kawato in the Young Lion’s tournament
  • Jushin Liger & Tiger Mask & Masked Horse & Kushida vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Taichi & Taka Michinoku & Desperado
  • Togi Makabe & Henare vs. Evil & Seiya Sanada
  • Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima & Kota Ibushi vs. Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa & Leo Tonga
  • Hirooki Goto & Yoshi-Hashi vs. Minoru Suzuki & Takashi Iizuka
  • Kazuchika Okada & Sho & Yoh vs. Tetsuya Naito & Bushi & Hiromu Takahashi

Smackdown and 205 Live will be taped on Tuesday at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ.

​F4W NEWSLETTER: Figure Four Weekly 12/4/2017: Looking at WWE’s match of the year candidates

While there’s still some time for WWE to shape how the company’s 2017 will be remembered, the beginning of December marked the end of this year’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards calendar. The insane output of high-end matches New Japan Pro Wrestling had during the voting period will rightfully lead to a strong showing in the Match of the Year category, but WWE’s in-ring year shouldn’t be forgotten. Though a full year of brand-exclusive pay-per-views and not having the Cruiserweight Classic may have led to a decline from 2016, WWE produced their fair share of matches that deserve to be in contention for best of the year.

WON NEWSLETTER: December 18, 2017 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: The metamorphosis of Chris Jericho, GSP vacates title, more

The story behind this past week’s Chris Jericho/Kenny Omega angles in Japan is the lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

Look at the selling of the angle, betting on the match, usage of blood, storyline implications and other business notes regarding the match.

Find out about Georges St-Pierre vacating the middleweight title, the story behind it, whether he’ll fight again, Dana White burying GSP, and the business of why the fight happened.

Check out WWE’s new Facebook experiment, why it happened, an update on the rise in WWE stock, what type of profits long-term will justify the current stock price, what is up with 205 Live, the roster of the show and more.

Get an in depth look at the 2017 Tokyo Sports Awards for Japanese wrestling and how the voting went.

This issue has a rundown on New Japan’s final major show of the year, the tag team tournament finals, including tournament standings, the final days, the business, match-by-match coverage, poll results and star ratings along with angle rundowns.

Coverage of this past week’s UFC show in Fresno with match-by-match coverage and business notes, and also look at the first Arolucha taping, the good and the bad, how it got started, goals, and what comes next for the company.

Read about the end of the Raven/Bagwell lawsuit for residuals for appearances on the WWE Network and how the argument regarding the actual issue never played into the end result, and what did kill it.

Plus, look at the Universal title match at Royal Rumble and how the plans changed, the Clash of Champions show, Raw after Mania, Paige talks her issues, TNA star coming to WWE, WWE injury notes, WWE 25th anniversary show notes, funny initials for a Mexican promotion being advertised while WWE was in town, a look at the HHH vs. Mahal match, New Day book, MMA fighter signs with WWE, as well as notes from all the weekend NXT and main roster house shows, business notes and highlights.

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. 

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 moonsault@mediaplusint.com. 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: November 27, 2000 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Survivor Series review, Stan Hansen retires, more

The rapidly changing world of wrestling changed once again, as a Steve Austin vs. HHH main event at Survivor Series didn’t end with a pinfall in the ring, but with a forklift dropping a car, purported to be with HHH inside, theoretically to a Wile E. Coyote like catastrophe (where the victim should be dead, but will, of course live to see another day). The angle, largely to explain HHH taking some time off to rest his back and hip injuries, kept HHH’s unusual streak alive of having done no pinfall jobs in singles matches on PPV.

SATURDAY NEWS UPDATE

WWE

Pro Wrestling

  • Here’s an update from Dave Meltzer on Wally Yamaguchi’s health: “He was out of his coma yesterday after suffering a serious stroke. He was breathing on his own. He has no movement on the right side of his body, but the left side of his body is okay. He can’t talk but he can listen and does understand what people are saying. He has improved greatly from the past two days. His former reporters from the heyday of GONG Magazine are there every day with him.”
  • With Cody losing the ROH World Championship to Dalton Castle last night, Cody vs. Kota Ibushi at NJPW’s Tokyo Dome show is now scheduled to be a non-title singles match. NJPW had noted that would be the case if Cody lost the title between when the match was announced and the Dome show.
  • ROH is taping their post-Final Battle set of television tapings at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia tonight. Brandi Rhodes vs. Stella Grey and Jessie Brooks vs. Gabby Ortiz are scheduled and will be the first two qualifying matches for the Women of Honor title tournament.
  • ROH will return to the Hammerstein Ballroom on March 3rd. Tickets go on sale this week.
  • Chris Jericho said his match against Kenny Omega is starting to get more excitement than Kazuchika Okada vs. Tetsuya Naito from people in Japan because it can transcend NJPW and may never happen again, though Jericho clarified that he’s never said this will be his last match in NJPW. Jericho also brought up WrestleMania X8 and him vs. Triple H going on after The Rock vs. Hulk Hogan when claiming that the main event doesn’t always close the show.
  • To build up their match, Okada pointed out that he’s only in co-main events when he’s facing Naito at the Dome.
  • Will Ospreay will return to Melbourne City Wrestling on February 24th.
  • Justin Credible apparently showed up intoxicated at Blitzkrieg Pro’s show in Enfield, Connecticut last night. The promotion issued a statement about what happened.
  • MLW is debuting a new VIP podcast with Dutch Mantell and Matt Farmer.
  • TMZ has another story on Macaulay Culkin’s appearance at Bar Wrestling, with Swoggle reacting to Culkin’s involvement. (thanks to reader Jake Koch)

UFC/MMA

Today in Professional Wrestling History: Sting vs. The Black Scorpion at Starrcade 1990

CONTACT INFORMATION

Support the Empire~! with F4W shirts. Grab yours today!

​