Daily Update: Brock Lesnar, NJPW on AXS, Arena Mexico

THE ROUND-UP

The Latest from the F4W Staff

NEWS

AUDIO

We’re looking for reports from tonight’s WWE Raw show in Edmonton and NXT show in Bel Air, MD to newstips@wrestlingobserver.com.

NEW JAPAN WORLD PRO WRESTLING ON AXS HAS A THREE HOUR SHOW TONIGHT FROM 7-10 P.M.

  • Katsuyori Shibata vs. Tomohiro Ishii in semifinals of New Japan Cup
  • Bad Luck Fale vs Evil in semifinals of New Japan Cup
  • New Japan Cup finals
  • Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima vs. War Machine for IWGP tag titles
  • Hirooki Goto vs. Zack Sabre Jr. for Never Open weight title
  • Hiromu Takahashi vs. Kushida for IWGP jr. title
  • Kazuchika Okada vs. Katsuyori Shibata for IWGP heavyweight title

CMLL LIVE FROM ARENA MEXICO AT 9:30 P.M. EASTERN TIME

  • Sangre Imperial & Magia Blanca vs. Virus & Raziel
  • Stuka Jr. & Guerrero Maya Jr. & Drone vs. Dragon Rojo Jr. & Polvora & Misterioso Jr.
  • Rush & Kraneo & Pierroth vs. Shocker & Vangellys & El Terrible
  • Dragon Lee vs. Cavernario
  • Diamante Azul & Angel de Oro & Niebla Roja vs. Gran Guerrero & Negro Casas & Euforia
  • Caristico & Soberano Jr. vs. Ultimo Guerrero & Sanson in the finals of the Gran Alternative tournament

UFC FROM KALLANG SINGAPORE ON UFC FIGHT PASS STARTING AT 4:30 A.M. EASTERN TIME/1:30 A.M. PACIFIC TIME LATE TONIGHT

  • Ji Yeon Kim (136) vs. Luci Pudilova (134)
  • Carls John de Tomas (131) vs. Naoki Inoue (124)
  • Russell Doane (135) vs. Kwan Ho Kwak (136)
  • Frank Camacho (169) vs. Li Jingliang (170)
  • Ulka Sasaki (125) vs. Justin Scoggins (126)
  • Alex Caceres (146) vs. Rolando Dy (146)
  • Cyril Asker (245) vs. Walt Harris (249)
  • Takanori Gomi (156) vs. Jon Tuck (156)
  • Rafael dos Anjos (170) vs. Tarec Saffiedine (170)
  • Colby Covington (171) vs. Dong Hyun Kim (171)
  • Andrei Arlovski (243) vs. Marcin Tybura (242)
  • Holly Holm (135) vs. Bethe Correia (136)

We’re looking for reports on Saturday’s Raw show in Calgary and NXT show in Poughkeepsie.

There is a Raw brand house show on Sunday in Springfield, IL.

WWE MONEY IN THE BANK ON SUNDAY AT 7:30 P.M. FROM THE SAVVIS CENTER IN ST. LOUIS ON THE WWE NETWORK

  • Jinder Mahal vs. Randy Orton for WWE title
  • Men’s Money in the Bank ladder match: A.J. Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura, Sami Zayn, Dolph Ziggler, Baron Corbin and Kevin Owens
  • Womens’ Money in the Bank ladder match: Charlotte Flair, Natalya, Carmella, Tamina and Becky Lynch. There is the tease of a sixth surprise entrant. Brian James has made it clear he wants Asuka on the Smackdown roster but nothing has been said officially on that.
  • Naomi vs. Lana for the women’s title
  • Usos vs. New Day for the tag team titles
  • Zack Ryder & Mojo Rawley vs. Colons (preshow match)

Raw TV will be in Evansville, IN on Monday night. There is also a Smackdown brand house show on Monday night in Indianapolis.

NEW JAPAN FROM TOKYO KORAKUEN HALL ON TUESDAY MORNING AT 5:30 A.M. EASTERN TIME ON NEW JAPAN WORLD

  • Tomoyuki Oka vs. Tetsuhiro Yagi
  • Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Taka Michinoku & Desperado vs. Jushin Liger & Tiger Mask & Shota Umino
  • Yuji Nagata & David Finlay vs. Manabu Nakanishi & Katsuya Kitamura
  • Togi Makabe & Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima vs. Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano & Jado
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi & Hirai Kawato vs. Tetsuya Naito & Hiromu Takahashi
  • Kazuchika Okada & Hirooki Goto & Yoshi-Hashi vs. Minoru Suzuki & Davey Boy Smith Jr. & Taichi
  • Seiya Sanada & Evil & Bushi vs. Ryusuke Taguchi & Juice Robinson & Kushida for Never Open weight six-man titles

Smackdown and 205 Live will be on Tuesday from Dayton, OH. Announced for 205 Live are Jack Gallagher vs. Tony Nese and Drew Gulak vs. Mustafa Ali.

FIGURE FOUR WEEKLY: Figure Four Weekly 6/12/2017: Okada and Omega deliver another classic

After shaping the modern New Japan main event scene with his all-time classic series against Hiroshi Tanahashi, IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada is now firmly entrenched in his next rivalry which will go down among the greatest of all time. June 11th 2017 might go down as one of those wrestling dates that we just don’t forget.

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WRESTLING OBSERVER NEWSLETTER: June 19, 2017: Conor McGregor/Floyd Mayweather on, Okada/Omega classic, more

The Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor fight is actually happening, and the story behind it is the lead in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Plus, coverage of Dominion, with Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega II and one of the best shows in recent years, as well as an examination of Demetrious Johnson’s issues with Dana White, New Japan’s future booking, the Long Beach show, G-1, Money in the Bank and more.

Look at the ramifications and stipulations of Mayweather-McGregor and why it’ll be the most talked about fight for years to come, the key to whether it can do record numbers, the price tag, role of the media, and the real question of sanctioning and why it was.

Relive Omega vs. Okada II, the key to the story of the match, the next direction, the story behind Omega vs. Cody Rhodes, booking the finish, and why the circumstances weren’t the best to have a classic match. Understand the background of the match, the business of the match, why New Japan has so many different directions it can take right now, the U.S. title tournament, and when Omega-Okada airs on U.S. television. Check out the lineups for Long Beach, secondary market ticket demand, early thoughts on G-1 as well as the New Japan World shows for the rest of the month and notes on the main events.

Inside, there is match-by-match coverage with star ratings for Dominion, poll results and an amazing stat regarding poll results.

This issue also runs down the Money in the Bank show. Look at the card, what to look for in the show, ticket prices, a new segment added to the show, and also look at Great Balls of Fire and the direction things are headed toward SummerSlam.

Finally, more notes on the build to the Lesnar vs. Joe match, questions about the Cena return, lots of notes about SummerSlam and the top matches on the show, lots of injury updates, Kurt Angle talks former drug addiction, and why Finn Balor wasn’t at Raw.

Subscribers click here to continue.

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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WON BACK ISSUE: May 22, 2000 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Jumbo Tsuruta passes away, ECW Hardcore Heaven review, more

Tomomi Tsuruta, who started out as an instant sensation and went on to be one of the most enduring stars in pro wrestling history, passed away at 4 p.m. on 5/13, from complications after undergoing a kidney transplant operation in the Philippines. He was 49. Tsuruta was an undisputable Hall of Fame calibre performer. He was a major star in pro wrestling literally from the first week of his career in Japan.

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FRIDAY NEWS UPDATE

For the Raw shows this weekend, Finn Balor isn’t advertised on any of the shows until Monday’s Raw in Evansville. Also, Brock Lesnar is not scheduled for Raw on Monday but will be at the rest of the Raws through and the day after the 7/9 Great Balls of Fire PPV.

Tonight’s New Japan show on AXS TV features what is likely the last match of Katsuyori Shibata’s career, the Okada vs. Shibata match from 4/9 at Sumo Hall in Tokyo. It’s one of the best matches of this or any other year.

Tonight’s CMLL from Arena Mexico looks like one of the better shows of late with the Dragon Lee vs. Cavernario singles match. This will be a lightning match meaning one fall with a ten minute time limit. A storyline in the Gran Alternativa tournament is that Soberano Jr., who is the partner of Caristico in facing Ultimo Guerrero & Sanson, is the son of Euforia. Euforia is the regular tag team partner of Ultimo Guerrero. The show seems to be okay on Claro Sports tonight. If there is a change and they geo-block it, I’ll go on Twitter at 9:30 p.m. and try and link to a live feed.

WWE

  • There are plans to tape a last woman standing match with Asuka vs. Nikki Cross for the NXT women’s title at the tapings next week and for the match to air on the 6/28 show.
  • Pro Wrestling Sheet has reported that Serena Deeb, who had retired from wrestling due to concussions, is in talks with WWE about participating in the Mae Young tournament. Deeb was in WWE as part of C.M. Punk’s Straight Edge Society many years back.
  • WWE is filming more Southpaw Regional Wrestling segments.
  • WWE is discounting tickets doing a four-for-the price of three ticket special for the 7/7 show in Madison Square Garden using the code: MSGDAD
  • USA Today has a story on Lana and talks about growing up in Russia.
  • Bobby Roode talks about the life of a wrestler. (thanks to Mike Kuzmuk)
  • Lee England Jr., the famous violinist who played Shinsuke Nakamura’s entrance at a Takeover, is talked about here.
  • This is a really good article from Kevin Eck, who was on the WWE creative team for several years, regarding the Money in the Bank, including how Daniel Bryan’s career path changed, why Dolph Ziggler always got buried and more.

UFC/MMA

  • The Fight Network will be airing tomorrow morning’s UFC show from Kallang, Singapore starting at 8 a.m. Eastern time and be replayed at 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. for those in Canada. 
  • MMA Fighting has an update on Matt Hughes’ condition.
  • Bellator has announced a Fan Fest at Dave & Buster’s in Times Square a week from tonight in New York from 8-11 p.m. featuring Tito Ortiz and Royce Gracie.

MISCELLANEOUS

  • Wrestle Circus from 6/24 in Austin, TX has Brian Cage vs. Sammy Guevara, Adam Cole & Britt Baker vs. Sami Callihan & Jessicka Havok, Tama Tonga & Tanga Roa vs. Rocky Romero & Baretta, Scorpio Sky vs. Jeff Cobb, Rachael Ellering vs. Mia Yim, Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly vs. Penta 0M & Rey Fenix and John Morrison vs. Luchasaurus.
  • Flo Slam tonight at 9 p.m. has Style Battle from Ybor City, FL with Matt Riddle vs. Martin Stone for the WWN title and a one-night eight-man tournament. 
  • Evolve announced 7/8 in Charlotte will be Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Timothy Thatcher for the Evolve title, Chris Dickinson & Jaka defend the tag title against Anthony Henry & James Drake. On 7/9 in Atlanta, Sabre Jr. will headline against Fred Yehi.
  • Impact’s Scott D’Amore’s Can An Wrestling is doing a tryout on 7/7 and 7/8 at D’Amore’s school in Windsor, ONT for both Impact and Pro Wrestling NOAH. Naomichi Marufuji will be there for NOAH. There will be one person at the tryout who will be picked for a stay in NOAH at the Dojo learning wrestling and working there, and another will get three-months training at D’Amore’s school in Windsor and get an Impact developmental contract.
  • Impact also announced an 8/6 show in Bridgeport, CT at the Bridgeport Bluefish baseball stadium. Tickets are on sale now. Bobby Lashley, Alberto El Patron, EC 3, Eddie Edwards and Allie are advertised.
  • NSPW tonight in Quebec at the Horizon Center has Pete Dunne vs. Marko Estrada.
  • Destiny Wrestling on Sunday in Montreal at Bain Matheiu at 5 p.m. with Pete Dunne vs. Psycho Mike Rollins vs. Black Dynamite plus Santino Marella and KC Spinelli.
  • Kelly Klein of ROH has been added to the CWE tour of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia from 7/31 to 8/18.

Today in Pro Wrestling History: WCW Great American Bash 1996

F4W Online / Wrestling Observer Vegas Convention Event Info

August 17-21; All times are TBA; Full information on the group Facebook page; Activites subject to change 

  • Thursday: Meet at the Big Shoot for Bowling at the Link; Party at Carnival Court at Hurrah’s
  • Friday: Kiss Mini Golf tournament at the Rio; Dinner at Texas de Brazil; Suite party (location TBA)
  • Saturday: Burgers with Granny for lunch; Future Stars of Wrestling show featuring Stephan Bonnar & Phil Baroni; NXT viewing party at the Sci-Fi Center
  • Sunday: SUPER CHINA BUFFET DAY at the Wicked Spoon Buffet at 1pm; SummerSlam viewing party at the Sci-Fi Center
  • Monday: Goodbye lunch at Chen Chen at NY NY

Texas de Brazil, Wicked Spoon, NXT and Summer Slam will all be sign up and pre-paid events, prices and collection begin in mid July~!

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

CONTACT INFORMATION

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