Daily Update: Big weekend, WWE Hall of Fame, Impact ratings

THE ROUND-UP

The Latest from the F4W Staff

NEWS

AUDIO

We’re looking for reports on tonight’s WWE house show in Syracuse, NY and NXT show in Gainesville, FL, to newstips@wrestlingobserver.com.

This weekend we’ll be doing polls on the New Japan Cup finals on late Sunday / early Monday night to dave@wrestlingobserver.com.

NEW JAPAN WORLD PRO WRESTLING RETURNS AT 7 P.M. EASTERN TIME ON AXS

  • Katsuyori Shibata vs. Tomoaki Honma
  • Yuji Nagata vs. Tetsuya Naito
  • Kenny Omega vs. Yoshi-Hashi
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Naomichi Marufuji
  • Kazuchika Okada vs Tomohiro Ishii

NCAA TOURNAMENT SEMIFINALS FROM THE SAVVIS CENTER IN ST. LOUIS ON ESPN AT 8 P.M. EASTERN TIME

  • 125 – Thomas Gilman, Iowa vs. Darian Cruz, Lehigh
  • 125 – Ethan Lizak, Minnesota vs. Jack Mueller, Virginia
  • 133 – Nathan Tomasello, Ohio State vs. Cory Clark, Iowa
  • 133 – Kaid Brock, Oklahoma State vs. Seth Gross, South Dakota State
  • 141 – Dean Heil, Oklahoma State vs. Anthony Ashnault, Rutgers
  • 141 – George Di Camillo, Virginia vs. Bryce Meredith, Wyoming
  • 149 – Zain Retherford, Penn State vs. Brandon Sorsenson, Iowa
  • 149 – Lavion Mayes, Missouri vs. Max Thomsen, Northern Iowa 
  • 157 – Jason Nolf, Penn State vs. Tyler Berger, Nebraska
  • 157 – Joey LaVallee, Missouri vs. Dylan Palacio, Cornell
  • 165 – Isaiah Martinez, Illinois vs. Isaac Jordan, Wisconsin
  • 165 – Vincenzo Joseph, Penn State vs. Logan Massa, Michigan
  • 174 – Zahid Valencia, Arizona State vs. Mark Hall, Penn State
  • 174 – Bo Jordan, Ohio State vs. Brian Realbuto, Cornell
  • 184 – Gabe Dean, Cornell vs. Nolan Byrd, Oklahoma State
  • 197 – J’Den Cox, Missouri vs. Jared Haught Virginia Tech
  • 197 – Kollin Moore, Ohio State vs. Brett Pfarr, Minnesota
  • 285 – Kyle Snyder, Ohio State vs. Jacob Kasper, Duke
  • 285 – Ty Walz, Virginia Tech vs. Connor Medberry, Wisconsin

CMLL EL HOMENAJE A DOS LEYENDAS AT ARENA MEXICO ON CMLL YOUTUBE CHANNEL

  • Estrellita & Marcela & Princesa Sugei vs. Amapola & Zeuxis & Tiffany
  • Dragon Lee & Titan & Stuka Jr. vs. Gran Guerrero & Niebla Roja & Euforia
  • Atlantis & Caristico & Marco Corleone vs. Rush & La Mascara & Kraneo
  • Ultimo Guerrero vs. Matt Taven for NWA middleweight title
  • Mistico & Volador Jr. & Valiente vs. Mephisto & Luciferno & Hechicero for CMLL trios titles
  • Diamante Azul vs. Pierroth mask vs. mask

        This show is not scheduled to air live on Claro Sports. It will be airing after its conclusion, which should be about 1 a.m. Eastern time, on the CMLL You Tube Channel.

Saturday has WWE Raw in Allentown, PA and Smackdown in Albany, NY. We’re looking for reports on both of those shows.

NCAA TOURNAMENT CONSOLATION ROUND MATCHES FOR THIRD AND FIFTH PLACE FROM THE SAVVIS CENTER IN ST. LOUIS AT 11 A.M. EASTERN ON ESPN U

UFC ON FIGHT PASS FROM THE O2 ARENA IN LONDON AT 1:30 P.M. EASTERN TIME

  • Lina Lansberg vs. Lucie Pudilova
  • Scott Askham vs. Brad Scott
  • Ian Entwistle vs. Brett Johns
  • Leon Edwards vs. Vicente Luque
  • Oluwale Bamgbose vs. Tom Breese
  • Marc Diakiese vs. Teemu Packalen
  • Timothy Johnson vs. Daniel Omielanczuk
  • Francimar Barroso vs. Darren Stewart
  • Joseph Duffy vs. Reza Madadi
  • Arnold Allen vs. Makwan Amirkani
  • Brad Pickett vs. Marlon Vera
  • Alan Jouban vs. Gunnar Nelson
  • Jimi Manuwa vs. Corey Anderson

NCAA TOURNAMENT FINALS FROM THE SAVVIS CENTER IN ST. LOUIS ON ESPN AT 8 P.M. EASTERN TIME

WORLD SERIES OF FIGHTING AT 11 P.M. EASTERN ON NBC SPORTS NETWORK FROM THE TURNING STONE RESORT IN VERONA, NY 

  • Bekbulat Magomedov (17-1) vs. Donavon Frelow (6-1) for vacant bantamweight title
  • Lance Palmer (11-2) vs. Andre Harrison (15-0) for the featherweight title
  • Blagoi Ivanov (14-1) vs. Shawn Jordan (19-7) for the heavyweight title

PWG FROM RESEDA, CALIFORNIA ON SATURDAY NIGHT

  • Shane Strickland vs. Dezmond Xavier
  • Adam Cole vs. Sami Callihan
  • Keith Lee vs. Brian Cage
  • Jeff Cobb & Matt Riddle vs. Dave & Jake Crist
  • Lio Rush vs Trevor Lee
  • Zack Sabre Jr. & Marty Scurll vs. Chuck Taylor & Trent Baretta
  • Young Bucks vs. Rey Fenix & Penta 0M vs. Ricochet & Matt Sydal for PWG tag titles 

NEW JAPAN CUP SEMIFINALS LATE SATURDAY AT 2 A.M. EASTERN TIME ON NEW JAPAN WORLD

  • Bad Luck Fale vs. Evil
  • Tomohiro Ishii vs. Katsuyori Shibata

Sunday has WWE Raw in Hershey, PA and Smackdown in Allentown, PA.

NEW JAPAN CUP FINALS LATE SUNDAY AT 2 A.M. EASTERN ON NEW JAPAN WORLD

  • Bad Luck Fale vs. Evil winner vs. Tomohiro Ishii vs. Katsuyori Shibata winner

Raw will be Monday night in Brooklyn at the Barclays Center with Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman advertised, plus a Chris Jericho highlight reel and locally advertised is Jericho & Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens & Samoa Joe. Smackdown’s Monday night house show will be in Worcester, MA.

Smackdown & 205 Live will be taped on Tuesday night in Uncasville, CT at the Mohegan Sun Casino.

FIGURE FOUR WEEKLY: 3/13/2017: Impact Wrestling’s identity problem

With the departure of The Hardys and the beginning of a new era, the promotion formerly known as TNA Wrestling is once again trying to establish a new identity. That began on the first episode of Impact under the new regime, where they officially ditched the name TNA in favor of Impact Wrestling and promised to make the company great. Changes in ownership and creative as Anthem Sports & Entertainment took over meant that a rebrand was inevitable, but the timing comes just as TNA was finally starting to carve out a unique place in the pro wrestling landscape… Subscribers click here to continue.

WRESTLING OBSERVER NEWSLETTER: March 20, 2017: Situation with Broken Matt Hardy and Anthem Sports, Wrestlemania card, more

This is a major news issue of the Wrestling Observer, with lead stories including full details on the legal questions regarding the Hardys’ gimmick, why Impact made the move they did, with the arguments from both sides and why they happened when they did.

Also look at the U.K. television battle with updates on ITV and WWE plans in the market.

There is a rundown of the 2018 WrestleMania main event as currently planned and long-term goals for the company and the top talent.

A WrestleMania show update for this year is included.

News on top talent leaving WWE after WrestleMania, NXT to Europe, Nakamura main roster update, Dwayne Johnson talks WrestleMania, several WWE injury updates, John Cena’s schedule, a look at wrestlers and other athletes WWE had in camp this past week including an Olympic silver medalist, WWE Hall of Fame, Jack Swagger, post-WrestleMania plans, WWE value and most watched shows on the WWE Network, is all inside.

Check out a full rundown of all the WWE and NXT live events over the past week with business notes, results and highlights.

Other major stories are on the New Japan Cup, the state of ROH talent and popularity, the 15th anniversary show coverage, who was Dennis Stamp, just how big a difference PEDs are in UFC, how much the top executives and the McMahon family earned last year, and the Japanese national poll on who the greatest pro wrestling stars ever to work Japan were.

This issue also contains a WrestleMania week schedule.

WWE & ITV’s moves for television in the U.K. are examined, plus a major rundown of former and current ROH talent, what is happening with WWE, ROH business and full coverage of the PPV with match-by-match coverage and star ratings.

Coverage of the UFC show in Brazil over the past week as well as the WWE house show in Madison Square Garden is in this issue.

Details on the ratings for all of the national shows over the past week, including a breakdown of who was watching all of the WWE shows are inside.

Examine the results of the major league arena events held all over the world this past week, as well as notes on the various TV shows.

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.

WON BACK ISSUE: February 21, 2000: 1999 attendance numbers, WCW turmoil, tons more

For the year, WWF increased attendance 20%. Monday night Raw ratings for the year as an average increased from a 4.40 average in 1998 to a 6.04 average in 1999, a 37% increase. PPV buy rates for the year increased from a 1.02 average in 1998 to a 1.25 average in 1999 which is a 23% increase. In 1998, WWF sold out 33.5% of its house shows while the figure increased to 63% of its shows in 1999. Average live gate per arena show increased from $188,482 in 1998 to $286,495, a whopping 52% caused by a combination of the increase in attendance and an increase in average ticket price from $18.84 to $23.84… Subscribers click here to continue.

FRIDAY NEWS UPDATE

It’s a loaded weekend of shows with big shows from New Japan, the biggest non-WWE wrestling event of the year in the U.S. with the NCAA tournament with tomorrow night’s final expected to do 19,000 fans at the Savvis Center. The last time the tournament was held at the Savvis Center the six sessions drew 113,013 fans. There’s also PWG, UFC and WSOF events.

The main story in the NCAA tournament is that Kyle Snyder, the favorite at heavyweight, suffered a rib injury in his match earlier today. Regarding the tournament, there was an article I just read about the event at the Savvis Center noting the Savvis Center is on the site of the former Kiel Auditorium, saying that Kiel Auditorium was most famous for pro wrestling, talking about the 1937 Lou Thesz world title win over Everett Marshall, noting that Verne Gagne, Joe Scarpello, Danny Hodge, Bob Marella (Gorilla Monsoon), Dale Lewis, Jack Brisco, Jim Raschke (Baron Von Raschke), Bob Backlund and Steve Williams all wrestled at the Kiel and that Brock Lesnar won his NCAA title in the new building.

This is one of the most unique seasons in history, as every single weight class has a dominant performer who hasn’t lost, which also means the competition for the Hodge Trophy is the deepest in the history of the award. Going into tonight undefeated are Gilman, Tomasello, Heil, Retheford, Nolf, Martinez, Valencia, Dean, Cox and Snyder.

For WWE house shows this weekend, the Raw crew is pretty much full with everyone except Chris Jericho. Jericho isn’t scheduled tonight or tomorrow but is listed as returning for the Hershey, PA show on Sunday. On the Smackdown side, John Cena is working the entire weekend. Randy Orton is off Saturday and Sunday, but will be working Worcester on Monday and TV on Tuesday.

Today’s Tomohiro Ishii vs. Seiya Sanada New Japan Cup second round match is up on New Japan World. Sanada is so talented physically and they worked together well, plus had a great responding crowd to perform before. 

Tonight’s Arena Mexico show isn’t airing live on Claro Sports. The show looks good aside from the main event, which could be the worst match of the night. The trios title match on a big show like this should be awesome. Ephesto was pulled from that match due to blood poisoning and Hechicero is taking his place, which is an upgrade for match quality. The show will air On Demand on the CMLL YouTube channel tonight. Not sure when it’ll be up but it will be late, probably around 1-2 a.m. Eastern time.

There is a big WrestleCircus show tonight on iPPV from Austin, TX

  • Matt Hardy vs. Colt Cabana
  • Matt Riddle vs. Brian Cage
  • John Morrison vs. Sammy Guevara
  • Joey Ryan vs. Scorpio Sky
  • Jeff Cobb vs. Jax Dane
  • Rachael Ellering vs. Tessa Blanchard
  • Davey Boy Smith Jr. vs. Carson

WWE

  • John Layfield & Ron Simmons will be inducting Teddy Long into the WWE Hall of Fame.
  • Tinashe will be performing “America the Beautiful” at WrestleMania.
  • “Baywatch” opens 5/26 in the U.S. and 6/1 in Australia. (thanks to James Stanios)
  • “Moana” with Dwayne Johnson was the best selling DVD of the past week.
  • A story on Rich Swann is here.
  • Luke Gallows talks WrestleMania and coming to WWE.
  • A story about Bayley and WrestleMania is here.
  • A story about Natalya and WrestleMania is here.
  • The company was nominated for some Social Media Shorty awards. The award winners will be announced on 4/23 in New York:
    Best in Entertainment – WWE and WrestleMania
    Best Integration with Live TV – WWE
    Best Overall YouTube Presence – WWE
    Best Use of Comedy – John Cena Prank on the Cricket Wireless ad
    Best Brand Identity – Xavier Woods UpUpDownDown

MISCELLANEOUS

  • With the news about Io Shirai and Kairi Hojo and WWE, Stardom announced Shirai vs. Hojo for the World of Stardom championship at Noon on Monday at Korakuen Hall. The last singles match the two had was a killer.
  • Impact’s rating was up this week to 344,000 viewers.
  • With all the notes about the Okada vs. Ishii match, which placed third in the Observer’s match of the year balloting for 2016 airing tonight on AXS (should air at about 8:30 p.m.), don’t sleep on Tanahashi vs. Marufuji in a rare match between the longtime top stars of New Japan vs. NOAH.
  • There is an Evolution Sports Expo going on tomorrow at the Santa Clara Convention Center at 5001 Great America Parkway from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Among the events are boxing at Noon, a bench press contest at 2 p.m., MMA bouts at 3 p.m. and Muay Thai bouts at 3 p.m.
  • This interview from this morning has gotten a lot of talk, too bad the sound quality is bad.
  • Tier One Wrestling on 4/23 in Brooklyn, NY at St Finbar Catholic Church Gym on FloSlam has Penta 0M vs. Matt Riddle as the main event.
  • Krzysztof Soszynski, the former UFC fighter and pro wrestler is in the movie “Logan” in a short but memorable scene. Another former UFC fighter and pro wrestler, Frank Trigg, was on last week’s “Lethal Weapon” TV show before being called off by the cartel. (thanks to Jeff Parker)
  • NFC on 3/24 in Kennesaw, GA at the Electric Cowboy with an MMA show.
  • Masked Republic, the company that carries Lucha Libre merchandise, is opening a London office. They already have offices in San Diego, San Francisco and Mexico City. They will be selling Lucha Libre products through the website LuchaShop.com as well as working with U.K. promoters to sell merchandise at their events.
  • New England fights on 4/29 in Lewiston, ME at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee announced the first women’s MMA fight ever in the state of Maine on that show with Jessica Borga vs. Kerri Kenneson to crown the company’s Amateur women’s bantamweight champion.
  • Combate America runs 3/30 at the Auditorio in Tijuana on Fight Pass and Azteca America at 10 p.m. Eastern with an 11 bout show headlined by Marcel Rojo of Argentina vs. Ivan Flores of Monterrey, Mexico.
  • Lucha Xtreme has a live TV taping tomorrow in Fresno at the Full Circle Brewery at 620 F Street. It’s an outdoor patio show at 7 p.m. with a live band featured.

Today in Professional Wrestling History (3/17): The Rock vs. Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania X8

F4W / WO EMPIRE WRESTLEMANIA GROUP INFO

BUS INFO:

  • The Empire bus to WrestleMania will cost $50.00 and will be round trip from Rosen Inn at 9000 International Drive 32819 (a few blocks away from Wrestlcon). THERE ARE ONLY 5 SEATS LEFT!
  • The bus will leave at 3:30pm (time subject to change) for WrestleMania and will leave WrestleMania no later then one hour after the show. If you would like a seat email Ed at f4wfan@hotmail.com or message him on the BOARD~! for Paypal payment instructions.

DINNER INFO:

  • WHAT: Dinner at Texas de Brazil
  • WHEN: Friday March 31st
  • WHERE: 5259 International Dr Ste F1, Orlando, FL 32819 at 5 p.m. (they may open at 4:30 for us)
  • WHO: All your best empire buddies, including BIG DAVE MELTZER
  • DETAILS: The cost of the dinner will be $68.00 which includes the dinner, salad bar, soft drinks and tea, and dessert, tax and tip. This is a pre pay dinner and you can send payment to paypal at Srjaialaiot@yahoo.com (please send as a gift to a friend). Payments must be made by March 24th (if you wait until after that, Ed will charge an extra $5.00 for being a pain).

Pro Wrestling Tees is now carrying our latest line of F4W shirts. Support the Empire~! Grab yours today!

CONTACT INFORMATION

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