Daily Update: Cornette on WWE Photoshoot, ROH, Aries

THE ROUND-UP

THE LATEST NEWS

THE LATEST AUDIO

We’re looking for reports on the Raw show in Oshawa, ONT, Smackdown in Corbin, KY, ROH TV tapings in Las Vegas and NXT in Fort Pierce, FL to newstips@wrestlingobserver.com.

NEW JAPAN FROM AMAGASAKI AT 2 A.M. EASTERN LATE SATURDAY NIGHT ON NEW JAPAN WORLD

  • Ryusuke Taguchi & Tetsuhiro Yagi vs. Yuji Nagata & Tomoyuki Oka
  • Desperado vs. Shota Umino
  • Michael Elgin & Juice Robinson & David Finlay & Toa Henare vs. Bad Luck Fale & Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens & Tanga Loa
  • Hirooki Goto & Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano vs. Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr. & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi & Togi Makabe vs. Takashi Iizuka & Taichi
  • Kazuchika Okada & Chuckie T vs. Seiya Sanada & Bushi
  • Kota Ibushi vs. Yoshi-Hashi in the New Japan Cup
  • Tetsuya Naito vs. Zack Sabre Jr. in the New Japan Cup

Sunday has a Raw house show in London, ONT.

WWE FAST LANE PPV ON SUNDAY FROM COLUMBUS, OH AT 7:30 P.M. EASTERN TIME

  • A.J. Styles vs. Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. John Cena vs. Baron Corbin for the WWE title
  • Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Rusev
  • Bobby Roode vs. Randy Orton for U.S. title
  • Usos vs. New Day for tag titles
  • Charlotte Flair vs. Ruby Riott for women’s title
  • Naomi & Becky Lynch vs. Natalya & Carmella

NEW JAPAN FROM TAKAMATSU AT 6 A.M. EASTERN MONDAY MORNING ON NEW JAPAN WORLD

  • Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Desperado vs. Ryusuke Taguchi & Ren Narita
  • Bad Luck Fale & Yujiro Takahashi & Tanga Loa vs. Yuji Nagata & Tomoyuki Oka & Shota Umino
  • Hirooki Goto & Yoshi-Hashi vs. Michael Elgin & David Finlay
  • Tetsuya Naito & Bushi vs. Zack Sabre Jr. & Taka Michinoku
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi & Togi Makabe & Juice Robinson & Toa Henare vs. Minoru Suzuki & Lance Archer & Takashi Iizuka & Taichi
  • Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii vs. Kota Ibushi & Chase Owens
  • Toru Yano vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr. in the New Japan Cup
  • Seiya Sanada vs. Chuckie T in the New Japan Cup

Raw will be live on Tuesday from Detroit. Both Brock Lesnar and John Cena are advertised for the show. Smackdown has a house show on Monday night in Dayton, OH.

NEW JAPAN FROM FUJI-SAN AT 5:30 A.M. WEDNESDAY MORNING ON NEW JAPAN WORLD

Smackdown, 205 Live and Mixed Match Challenge take place on Tuesday in Indianapolis. Matches announced are Cedric Alexander vs. Roderick Strong and Charlotte Flair & Bobby Roode vs. Rusev & Lana.

​F4W NEWSLETTER: Figure Four Weekly: Recapping Elimination Chamber and the Reigns-Strowman decision

What had been expected for nearly a year became official on Sunday night as Brock Lesnar defending the Universal Championship against Roman Reigns was announced for WrestleMania 34. Reigns defeated Braun Strowman, Seth Rollins, Finn Balor, John Cena, Elias, and The Miz in the main event of the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view to set up him challenging Lesnar at WrestleMania. The match came down to Reigns and Strowman, with Reigns finally putting him down with two spears.

WON NEWSLETTER: March 5, 2018 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Elimination Chamber review, Jon Jones hearing

An updated look at WrestleMania, explaining the booking of Braun Strowman, the Brock Lesnar angle and plans for John Cena and Ronda Rousey are all in the headline story of this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

Look at the story behind the Reigns promo, the goal of the promo, what is and isn’t reality about Lesnar, when Lesnar returns, Lesnar’s talks with UFC and his decision making right now and a reality check when we look back three years ago.

Also look at the John Cena interview, Undertaker, Rey Mysterio Jr., how the Rousey angle has gone so far, what the TV ratings said about Rousey’s debut, women’s title plans, as well as the rest of the WrestleMania and Fast Lane show.

Check out the Strowman situation for WrestleMania, flaws in the Elimination Chamber booking as well as full coverage of the show, with match-by-match rundowns with star ratings and poll results on the show.

Find out about Jon Jones’ hearing before the California State Athletic Commission and what it means, as well as the completely befuddling remarks made prior to the hearing.

Look at what may be a WWE drug scandal with the tease of 15 names being involved including one who purchased $140,000 worth of substances. Read the claims out there and teases of what else will be released. Find out about the realities of drug testing and the changing pro wrestling business from when the death rate was so high.

Look at what talent WWE is interested in, WWE signing a deal to do events in Saudi Arabia, lots of news regarding the concussion lawsuits filed against WWE, what happened in a deposition that went badly for the plaintiff in one of those suits, more on Ronda Rousey training, Chris Jericho’s 2018 schedule, why Apollo Crews’ last name was dropped and the Dusty Rhodes tag team tournament.

Examine the secondary market in New Orleans for WWE events, update on a deal to bring WWE into a 100,000 seat stadium this fall, Ric Flair becoming a celebrity in Latin America, UFC talent at WWE event and why they weren’t identified, Bianca Belair injury update, WWE headed to Japan and the most-watched shows on WWE.

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: February 19, 2001 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Yearly business breakdown, WCW shutdown nixed

The XFL went from television’s penthouse to its outhouse in record time as ratings plummeted on NBC to the point the entire league is already being labeled, just two weeks in, a major failure in most circles.It got so bad, that on 2/12, just eight days after the initial ratings for opening night came in at well above the levels even the most optimistic in NBC expected, that emergency meetings were held after an embarrassing show with a tremendous finish went 45 minutes long due to an alleged generator problem, an injury, and a double overtime.

SATURDAY NEWS UPDATE

WWE

  • Jim Cornette will appear on the episode of “WWE Photoshoot” that airs on the Network after Raw on Monday. The show features a wrestler (or someone in the industry) reflecting on their careers through being shown photos of some of their most memorable moments.
  • Wrestling DVD Network revealed the full match listing for WWE’s Randy Savage unreleased matches DVD that will be released in May.
  • Matt Hardy praised Jeremy Borash in an interview with SportBible: “”Personally I am very glad that Jeremy Borash is here in WWE. He’s got a great mind; a very creative person, a good friend of mine and he just deserves to work here. Coming to the WWE often validates your career in the business and he was kind of the glue that was keeping TNA together in many, many ways over the years. The fact that he’s here and actually hired by Triple H, and his role is to be an important part of NXT, I am very happy he’s got the opportunity. It’s something he’s deserving of.”
  • Hardy also spoke to Sky Sports about his return at last year’s WrestleMania.
  • WWE.com has a poll asking which member of Hardy’s “trusted platoon” people want to see appear in WWE most, with Queen Rebecca, Senor Benjamin, Vanguard 1, King Maxel, Lord Wolfgang, and Skarsgard the boat as the options. Senor Benjamin is currently in the lead with 36 percent of the vote, then Reby Hardy is in second with 24 percent.
  • Mustafa Ali cut a promo about his match against Drew Gulak in the Cruiserweight title tournament semifinals, comparing the situation to when he didn’t stand up to someone who was bullying a friend when he was younger.
  • Maria Kanellis-Bennett and Mike Bennett had their baby shower and revealed that they’ll be naming their daughter Fredricka Moon Bennett.
  • Charlotte Flair discussed WrestleMania and potentially facing Asuka in an interview with Hollywood Life.
  • The New Orleans Times-Picayune interviewed Baron Corbin about tomorrow’s Fastlane PPV.
  • The Detroit News spoke to Alexa Bliss ahead of Raw taking place in the city on Monday.
  • Infamous sucker punches are the subject of this week’s WWE video top 10 list.

Pro Wrestling

  • Ring of Honor put out a statement apologizing for the technical issues people had watching last night’s PPV on their website: “The issues that were affecting our site have been resolved. We apologize again to anyone who missed any of the action because of these technical issues. Don’t forget, you will be able to access the replay shortly after the event ends.”
  • Austin Aries tweeted after appearing at the ROH PPV: “If you are a Champion in pro wrestling, it should mean that company believes in your ability, and more importantly, in how you do business. Every company I represent as champion knows my intentions, and trusts me as a professional to do good business for them however I can.” Impact Wrestling’s Twitter account also referenced Aries’ appearance: “Looks like the champ made some waves last night. @AustinAries isn’t called The Belt Collector for nothing. Nowhere is off limits.”
  • Cody Rhodes thanked ROH/Sam’s Town staff for handling a fan who tried to jump the barricade during his match: “It’s the guy in the ring that is supposed to fight me. Please don’t jump the barricade. Thank you ROH/Sam’s Town staff for handling last nights mess swiftly.”
  • Ian Riccaboni interviewed Cody after last night’s angle with Kenny Omega.
  • Brandi Rhodes will debut for Stardom in April and is the first announced entrant for the 2018 Cinderella tournament.
  • NJPW’s four-show tour of Australia from February is now available to watch on New Japan World.
  • CEO Fighting Game Championships is partnering with NJPW for a wrestling show at the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Florida on June 29th.
  • Togi Makabe will miss the New Japan Cup tour shows through Monday due to a right knee injury. His status after that is in question, with a decision set to be made after Monday’s show.
  • After viewership reached its highest point since July for Eddie Edwards vs. Sami Callihan and the spot where Callihan accidentally hit Edwards in the face with a baseball bat, ratings for Impact were down this week. Thursday’s episode, which was called “Crossroads” and featured four title matches, averaged 325,000 viewers. While that’s down from the 365,000 viewers it did the previous week, it’s still the second-highest number since July.
  • After being released, Kimber Lee (Abbey Laith in NXT) wrote a message thanking WWE for the opportunities she was given: “Dear @WWENXT and @WWE ….. Thank You. Thank you for all the opportunities you gave me in the last year. Thank you for everything I was taught and I wouldn’t trade that chapter of my life for anything. Now my path may be changing, but the Crown Jewel is still very much alive.”
  • Kimber Lee will be facing Jessicka Havok and Meiko Satomura in a triple threat match for Pro Wrestling Revolver in New Orleans on April 7th. She’ll also be returning to Shimmer on April 7th and on April 14th and 15th in Berwyn, Illinois. And she’ll be wrestling for AIW in Merrionette Park, Illinois on April 13th and for Beyond Wrestling in Philadelphia on April 28th.
  • ESPN.com posted a profile piece on Fred Rosser (formerly Darren Young) ahead of his return to the ring last night.
  • Matt Riddle will face Will Ospreay at OTT’s ScrapperMania 4 show in Dublin on May 12th.
  • Rey Mysterio did a preview video for this morning’s Manchester United vs. Liverpool game for Manchester United TV.

UFC/MMA

Today in Professional Wrestling History: Bully Ray wins TNA World title

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