Daily Update: Conor McGregor under fire! Wooooo!

Pro Wrestling reacts to McGregor

Conor McGregor has some WWE folks upset because he’s using pro wrestling to get attention on social media to help build up his fight on 8/20. McGregor got exposed from a business standpoint in trying to use social media to get himself back on UFC 200 and doing his fake retirement for attention. So now it’s “I didn’t mean no disrespect to the WWE fans, what I meant to say was that I’d slap the head off your entire roster. And twice on Sundays.”

This isn’t a McGregor angle to build to an appearance, at least not right now. It could always wind up that way. If it was, McGregor would have insulted HHH and the McMahons and he was careful to do the opposite. But tons of wrestlers have responded, for Chris Jericho, who was the only one who made a joke of it, to Roman Reigns, Ric Flair, Dolph Ziggler, A.J. Styles, Curtis Axel, Sasha Banks, Baron Corbin, Kurt Angle and others.

Flair posted a photo of Dolph Ziggler wrestling at Kent State saying,“If anyone doubts whether or not Dolph could tie Conor in a knot, do yourself a favor and Google his accomplishments.”“After Diaz finishes you again, I dare you to try guys like Dolph, Brock or Fit. Oh, and you’re welcome for your gimmick.”

While it’s not a secret and actually quite obvious that McGregor’s gimmick is based on Ric Flair, which he has privately admitted although he publicly won’t. There was kind of an agreement that neither would ever say it. Flair also referenced it saying, “Coming from a guy who built a career copying my persona, I expected the type of class we get from Ronda or Anderson.” 

For more WWE reactions click here.

THE ROUND-UP

WWE Main Event results: The Hype Bros take on The Ascension

Wrestlers react to Conor McGregor saying he’d ‘slap the head off’ entire WWE roster

NJPW G1 Climax 26 night 14 results: EVIL vs. Tetsuya Naito

The Week In Lucha Libre: AAA, CMLL lead a fast and furious 17-day stretch

SCHEDULE, REPORTS & POLLS

We’ll be doing a poll this weekend on the G-1 Climax show in Osaka at the Edion Arena which starts at 4 a.m. tomorrow morning Eastern and 1 a.m. tonight Pacific time with thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to dave@wrestlingobserver.com.

We’re looking for reports on these shows to newstips@wrestlingobserver.com.

  • NXT in Pensacola, FL 
  • WWE in Stockton (Dean Ambrose vs. A.J. Styles for WWE title, Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins, Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt, New Day vs. Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson for tag team title, The Miz vs. Darren Young for IC title, Sami Zayn vs. Alberto Del Rio, Cesaro vs. Sheamus) and the NXT shows in New Orleans and Largo, FL
  • WWE in Fresno (Dean Ambrose vs. A.J. Style for WWE title, Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins, Randy Orton vs Bray Wyatt, New Day vs. Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson for tag titles, The Miz vs. Darren Young for IC title, Sami Zayn vs. Alberto Del Rio, Cesaro vs. Sheamus).

G-1 CLIMAX AT 5:30 A.M. EASTERN TIME MONDAY FROM THE YOKOHAMA CULTURAL GYM

  • David Finlay vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima
  • Satoshi Kojima & Captain New Japan vs. Kenny Omega & Yujiro Takahashi
  • Toru Yano & Yoshi-Hashi & Gedo vs. Tetsuya Naito & Evil & Bushi
  • Katsuyori Shibata & Michael Elgin & Kushida & Ryusuke Taguchi & Juice Robinson vs. Yuji Nagata & Tomoaki Honma & Manabu Nakanishi & Jushin Liger & Tiger Mask
  • Naomichi Marufuji vs. Tama Tonga
  • Tomohiro Ishii vs. Seiya Sanada
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan
  • Kazuchika Okada vs. Bad Luck Fale
  • Togi Makabe vs. Hirooki Goto

Monday has WWE Raw from the Honda Center in Anaheim. No Brock Lesnar or Paul Heyman scheduled on the show. Daniel Bryan will be appearing on the show.

Tuesday has Smackdown in Bakersfield. Neither John Cena nor A.J. Styles are scheduled for this show because they leaving Monday night after Raw for a house show in Auckland, New Zealand, starting a four-show Australia & New Zealand tour. Rhyno vs. Heath Slater is scheduled for this show.

G-1 CLIMAX AT 5:30 A.M. EASTERN TIME ON WEDNESDAY FROM THE YAMAGATA SPORTS CENTER

  • Ryusuke Taguchi vs. David Finlay
  • Satoshi Kojima & Manabu Nakanishi & Juice Robinson vs. Bad Luck Fale & Tama Tonga & Yujiro Takahashi
  • Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Captain New Japan vs. Bushi & Seiya Sanada
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi & Togi Makabe & Kushida & Jushin Liger & Tiger Mask vs. Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii & Hirooki Goto & Gedo & Naomichi Marufuji
  • Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. Kenny Omega
  • Toru Yano vs. Evil
  • Yoshi-Hashi vs. Tetsuya Naito
  • Katsuyori Shibata vs. Yuji Nagata
  • Tomoaki Honma vs. Michael Elgin

Figure Four Weekly: Figure Four Weekly 8/3/2016: Latest developments in wrestling related lawsuits – If it wasn’t clear before that the Hulk Hogan vs. Gawker lawsuit is a whole lot bigger than Hulk Hogan or even Gawker, the events of the last few weeks have made it more obvious than ever before. Of course, the revelation two months ago that billionaire Peter Thiel had been funding Hogan’s lawsuit (and others against Gawker) was a game changer, but the effects of Thiel’s influence weren’t as obvious… Subscribers click here to continue reading.

F4W YouTube Page: Tons of clips and full free audio shows that you can tell your friends about, and much more to come! Make sure you subscribe today!

Wrestling Observer Newsletter: August 8, 2016 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: WWE financial report, MMA rules change, UFC 201– There really wasn’t a lot of big news coming out of the second quarter WWE conference call.

Even though the idea of barely making a profit in the quarter of WrestleMania would have been disastrous most years, this year it was stated well in advance that due to the time frame of programming costs, this quarter would probably break even.

WWE pushed that it was the most revenue ever generated in a quarter, but with the fallout of WrestleMania and the new free subscribers from the prior quarter, that was inevitable. Some of them stayed with the service, some may have forgotten to cancel the service, and there are also the contractual increases in television revenue. Plus there was the Mania event revenue… Subscribers click here to continue reading.

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Wrestling Observer Newsletter BACK ISSUE: June 28, 1999 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Reaction to WWF contracted Sable appearing on WCW TV, more on Hart/WWF lawsuit – After a week, it is even less clear what WCW hoped to accomplish when putting Rena Mero on Nitro on 6/14… Subscribers click here to continue reading.

SUNDAY NEWS UPDATE

With the dominance of things related to the Olympics, nothing from yesterday’s UFC show did anything when it came to Google hits.

Donovan Dijak vs. Lio Rush vs. Jay White vs. Kamaitachi in a four-way where the winner gets a shot at TV champion Bobby Fish was added to the 8/19 ROH PPV show from Las Vegas.

WWE

  • Not sure if this has to do with wrestling, but the Ziggy comic strap yesterday had Ziggy and his dog seeing a plaque that read, “Graciously donated by the incredibly generous Wyatt Family.” (thanks to Brian Henke)
  • Speaking of which, Bray Wyatt worked against Randy Orton last night in Stockton. The match was kept short due to Wyatt’s ankle sprain from Tuesday
  • Former WWE and WCW wrestler Torrie Wilson in a photo feature on the noted girlfriends of A-Rod.

MISCELLANEOUS

  • Preston City Wrestling’s 5th anniversary show from yesterday in Preston, England: Chris Ridgeway over Dave Birch, Kenny Williams, Jack Barno, Philip Michael and James Finn, Noam Dar b Sha Samuels to retain the PCW title, Viper b Sweet Saraya, T-Bone & Rampage Brown b James David & Rob Lynch and Roy & Zak Knight to keep the tag titles, Lionheart b Jeff Cobb, Dave Mastiff b Jay White, Bubblegum b El Ligero to win the cruiserweight title, Dave Rayne & Keith Myatt & Alex Boylin & Nordic Warrior & Danny Hope b Iestyn Rees & Joey Hayes & Martin Kirby & Sammy Smooth & Jimmy Jay, Noam Dar b Rampage Brown to keep the PCW title. Lionheart won with a low blow. Bubblegum vs. Ligero was the match of the night. (thanks to Jan Buxton)
  • Elite Canadian Championship Wrestling on 8/13 in Vancouver at the Russian Community Centre.
  • Former WWE wrestler Josh Woods, who was just cut from developmental, is taking bookings at Woods145@gmail.com. He has a non-compete until 9/3.  He will be continuing his pro wrestling training at the Team Vision Dojo.
  • Resurrection Fighting Alliance on 8/19 in Visalia, CA at the Convention Center live on AXS TV featuring Christos Gioagos vs. Arthur Estrazulas for the lightweight title which airs live on AXS TV.
  • The Scenic City Invitational pro wrestling tournament first night on Friday night in East Hampton, GA, before 225 fans (350 paid, due to tickets sold by the local high school baseball team to people who didn’t come): Jimmy Rave b John Skyler, Joey Lynch b Ray Fury, Billy Buck b Drew Delight, Anthony Henry b Lio Rush (best match), Gunner Miller b Mikael Judas, Chip Day b Odinson, Matt Riddle b Corey Hollis (who was on Raw against Braun Strowman on Monday), Chris Hero b Kyle Matthews (thanks to Larry Goodman)
  • La Resistance, Sylvain Grenier and Rene Dupree, will reunite on 9/10 in Quebec City, Quebec for NSPW. This will be the first time they’ve teamed together in Quebec, or Canada for that matter, in 13 years, since a July 7, 2003 match in Montreal where they won a squash for Sunday Night Heat against enhancement wrestlers Bobby “Rude” (how it was spelled at the time) & Tyson Dux. (thanks to Pat Laprade)
  • Best in the West on 8/20 in Fresno taped for FITE TV with Jeff Cobb vs. Virgil Flynn, Joey Ryan vs. Mike Rayne and Sheik Khan Abadi vs. Wiseguy. Christina Von Eerie and Mustafa Saed are also advertised. The show is at the VFW Hall #8900 at 3585 N. Blythe with a 6 p.m. start.
  • Lucha Xtreme TV results from last night in Fresno: Donny Suarez b Shadow James, Manny Fernandez & Donny Suarez DDQ Big Dogg & Skitzo, Homicide b Brandon Groom-DQ. Next taping is 8/21 in Hanford, CA at the Civic Auditorium with Homicide vs. Groom announced. They will also start a tournament for the Lucha Xtreme title that ends in October at the Big Fresno Fair. The last three champions, Jeff Cobb, JR Kratos and Mortal have all left the promotion without dropping the title. (thanks to Jon Southerland)
  • I Believe in Wrestling from last night in Orlando: Super Six Survival tournament first round: Jonny Vandal b Alex Todd, Brandon Scherer b Leo O’Farrell, Mike Reed b Bran Valor, Jon Cruz b Slade Porter, Chico Adams b Rey Xion, Tyranus b Siniestro, Raquel & MJ Knight & Jenson Fratelli b Raegan Farie & Layne Rosario & Ivory Robyn, Brandon Scherer won over Jonny Vandal, Mike Reed, Jon Cruz, Chico Adams and Tyranus in a six-way.  Next show is 9/3 with Rhett Giddins defending the Florida title against Scherer plus Santana Garrett and Raquel. (thanks to Al Haft)
  • UPW Headlocks and Homeruns from last night in Webster, NY: Victor Lord over Kevin Cartwright and Mike Skyros, Jordan Falco b Jeremy Jensen, HC Loc b Cloudy, Tygerslayer 08 & Interstate Educational System b Wet Bandits & WrestleFamily, Brooklyn Brawler b Marc Hauss, Dick Justice (managed by Dutch Mantell) b Jock Samson, Professor Wessler won Battle Royal, Dan Seven b Chris Cayden, Nick Ando b Cheech, Mattick b Maximo Suave in a cage match to win the UPW title. (thanks to Todd Brantley)

TODAY IN PRO WRESTLING HISTORY (8/7): Kurt Angle defeats Sting to win TNA gold

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