Daily Update: David Otunga, Flair lawsuit, Tanahashi

THE ROUND-UP

The Latest from the F4W Staff

NEWS

AUDIO

We’ll be doing weekend polls for NXT Takeover tomorrow night and Survivor Series on Sunday, so you can leave a thumbs up, down or middle, along with a best and worst match to dave@wrestlingobserver.com.

We’re also looking for reports on tonight’s NXT show in San Antonio (Drew McIntyre vs. Adam Cole for the NXT title with Shawn Michaels as referee) and ROH also in San Antonio (Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian vs. Cody & Kenny Omega, Young Bucks vs. Flip Gordon & Scorpio Sky, Kenny King vs. Joey Ryan for TVG title, Jonathan Gresham & Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley vs. Matt Taven & Vinny Marseglia & TK O’Ryan, Dalton Castle vs. Marty Scurll, Esfinge & Rey Cometa vs. The Dawgs plus Survival of the Fittest first round matches with Jay Lethal vs. Punishment Martinez, Shane Taylor vs. Beer City Bruiser and Silas Young vs. Josh Woods) to newstips@wrestlingobserver.com.

NEW JAPAN WORLD PRO WRESTLING AT 8 P.M. EASTERN TONIGHT ON AXS TV

  • Ricochet & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Taichi for IWGP jr. tag titles
  • Kushida vs. Desperado for IWGP jr. title

BELLATOR ON SPIKE TONIGHT AT 9 P.M. FROM TEL AVIV, ISRAEL

  • Denise Kielhotz vs. Jessica Middleton
  • John Salter vs. Jason Radcliffe
  • Haim Gozali vs Arsen Faitovich
  • Noad Lahat vs. Jeremiah Labiano

CMLL AT 9:30 P.M. EASTERN TONIGHT FROM ARENA MEXICO WITH NOSTALGIA NIGHT

  • Super Muneco & Super Pinocho & Super Raton vs. Rocky Santana & Mr.Condor & Gallego
  • Blue Panther Jr. & Guerrero Maya Jr. & The Panther vs. Sagrado & Misterioso Jr. & Hechicero
  • Super Astro & Solar vs. Virus & Black Terry
  • Mano Negra & Octagon & Blue Panther vs. El Satanico & Negro Casas & Fuerza Guerrera
  • Volador Jr. & Rush & Dragon Lee vs. Ultimo Guerrero & Gran Guerrero & Euforia
  • Rayo de Jalisco Jr. & Dos Caras Sr. & Villano IV vs. Cien Caras & Canek & Mascara Ano 2000

We’re looking for reports on Saturday night’s ROH show in Dallas (Kenny King vs. Frankie Kazarian for TV title, Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin vs. Rey Cometa & Esfinge for tag titles, Dalton Castle & Jay Lethal vs. Young Bucks, Matt Taven vs. Cheeseburger, TK O’Ryan vs. Flip Gordon, Vinny Marseglia vs. Jonathan Gresham) to newstips@wrestlingobserver.com.

NEW JAPAN WORLD TAG LEAGUE SATURDAY MORNING AT 4:30 A.M. EASTERN TIME FROM TOKYO KORAKUEN HALL ON NEW JAPAN WORLD

  • Hirai Kawato & Shota Umino vs. Tetsuhiro Yagi & Ren Narita
  • War Machine & Tomoyuki Oka vs. Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa & Leo Tonga
  • Michael Elgin & Jeff Cobb & David Finlay & Katsuya Kitamura vs. Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano & Baretta & Chucky T
  • Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima & Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi vs. Bad Luck Fale & Chase Owens & Hangman Page & Yujiro Takahashi
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi & Togi Makabe & Henare vs. Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr. & Desperado
  • Kazuchika Okada & Will Ospreay & Gedo vs. Tetsuya Naito & Bushi & Hiromu Takahashi
  • Hirooki Goto & Yoshi-Hashi vs. Minoru Suzuki & Takashi Iizuka in tag tournament
  • Juice Robinson & Sami Callihan vs. Evil & Sanada in tag tournament

UFC FROM SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA ON SATURDAY NIGHT

Fight Pass at 6:30 p.m. Eastern time

  • Rashad Coulter vs. Tai Tuivasa
  • Jarrel Lausa vs. Eric Shelton
  • Alex Chambers vs. Nadia Kassem

FS1 at 8 p.m. Eastern time

  • Damien Brown vs. Frank Camacho
  • Anthony Hamilton vs. Adam Wieczorek
  • Will Brooks vs. Nik Lentz
  • Ryan Benoit vs. Ashkan Mokhtarian
  • Shane Young vs. Alexander Volkanovski
  • Elias Theodorou vs. Daniel Kelly
  • Bojan Velickovic vs. Jake Matthews
  • Tim Means vs. Belal Muhammad
  • Bec Rawlings vs.; Jessica Rose-Clark
  • Fabricio Werdum vs. Marcin Tybura

NXT TAKEOVER HOUSTON AT 8 P.M. EASTERN SATURDAY NIGHT FROM THE TOYOTA CENTER

  • Kassius Ohno vs. Lars Sullivan
  • Aleister Black vs. Velveteen Dream
  • Kairi Sane vs. Peyton Royce vs. Nikki Cross vs. Ember Moon for women’s title
  • Drew McIntyre vs. Andrade Cien Almas for NXT title
  • War Games: Eric Young & Killian Dain & Alexander Wolfe vs. Authors of Pain & Roderick Strong vs. Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly & Adam Cole

We’re looking for reports from ICW Fear and Loathing from Sunday in Glasgow, Scotland and ROH on Sunday night in Oklahoma City (Survival of the Fittest six-way finale, Kenny King vs. Chris Sabin for TV title, Christopher Daniels vs. Marty Scurll, Dalton Castle vs. Frankie Kazarian, Deonna Purrazzo vs. Mandy Leon).

NEW JAPAN TAG LEAGUE SUNDAY FROM TAKASAKI ON NEW JAPAN WORLD (will air on delay)

  • Baretta & Chucky T vs. Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa
  • Michael Elgin & Jeff Cobb vs. Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano

WWE SURVIVOR SERIES AT 6 P.M. EASTERN SUNDAY NIGHT FROM THE TOYOTA CENTER IN HOUSTON

  • Raw vs. Smackdown elimination match: HHH & Kurt Angle & Braun Strowman & Samoa Joe & Finn Balor vs. Shane McMahon & John Cena & Shinsuke Nakamura & Bobby Roode & Randy Orton
  • Brock Lesnar vs. A.J. Styles non-title
  • The Miz vs. Baron Corbin non-title
  • Charlotte Flair vs. Alexa Bliss non-title
  • Sheamus & Cesaro vs. Usos non-title
  • New Day vs. The Shield
  • Raw vs. Smackdown elimination match: Bayley & Sasha Banks & Alicia Fox & Nia Jax & Asuka vs. Becky Lynch & Naomi & Carmella & Tamina & ?
  • Enzo Amore vs. Kalisto (pre-show match at 6:30 p.m..)

NEW JAPAN TAG LEAGUE MONDAY FROM TOKOROZAWA ON NEW JAPAN WORLD (will air on delay)

  • Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi vs. Hangman Page & Yujiro Takahashi
  • Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima vs. Bad Luck Fale & Chase Owens

Raw will be Monday night from the Toyota Center in Houston.

NEW JAPAN TAG LEAGUE TUESDAY FROM YAMANASHI ON NEW JAPAN WORLD (will air on delay)

  • David Finlay & Katsuya Kitamura vs. Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr.
  • Togi Makabe & Henare vs. War Machine

FIGURE FOUR WEEKLY:Figure Four Weekly 11/13/2017: AJ Styles becomes a two-time WWE Champion

Adding another accomplishment to his already phenomenal career, AJ Styles became a two-time WWE Champion at last week’s SmackDown tapings in Manchester, England. Styles defeated Jinder Mahal to win the title, putting an abrupt end to a reign that seemed destined to go longer. The switch came less than two weeks before Mahal’s planned non-title champion vs. champion match against Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series

Subscribers click here to continue.

WRESTLING OBSERVER NEWSLETTER:November 20, 2017 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Survivor Series card changes, McGregor incident, more

A preview and an update on Survivor Series is the lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, looking at that show and the Takeover show.

Look at Conor McGregor’s behavior at the Bellator show in Dublin, and the tricky position punishing him is from all sides because of the money he generates. Also look at the fight out of left field for McGregor that people are already knocking heavily but would do gigantic business, how this may have already cost UFC a major main event.

The renewal of Lucha Underground, what is expected to change, notes no decreasing costs, and why some talent is happy but a lot of talent is less happy about this news. Also look at the Arolucha promotion, who is involved, when it’s scheduled to tape, and how the renewal of Lucha Underground greatly impacts them.

WWE is in India, what the show cancellation and Jinder Mahal title loss means, the business in India, and claim of biggest match ever in India.

Read about Daniel Bryan’s statements about returning to wrestling next year, and more on CTE. Take a look in depth at the economics of WrestleMania, how many tourists came to the show, how much tourists spent in Orlando and just how much more important WrestleMania is for a locale than even a few years ago. 

Examine the James Ellsworth cut, lots more on the Ric Flair 30 for 30, John Cena movie, update on WWE U.K., Chris Jericho cruise and 2018 schedule, the Randy Orton/Kevin Owens twitter back-and-forth, reaction to Owens & Zayn being sent home, Starrcade notes, Notes on indie asking price of a WWE wrestler just cut, injury updates, the next U.K. TV tapings, former WWE star talks coming out of retirement, as well as the current company value and most watched shows on the WWE Network.

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. 

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: October 30, 2000 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Death of Yokozuna, Bret Hart leaves WCW, more

Rodney Anoia, who was the heaviest superstar in the history of pro wrestling and a two-time WWF champion under the name Yokozuna, passed away suddenly on 10/23 in a Liverpool, England hotel room a few weeks after his 34th birthday. Anoia was the most successful of the huge Samoan clan of wrestlers started by Afa & Sika Anoia, his uncles, when they began wrestling in the early 1970s. He was one of the biggest stars in the business around the world during his WWF run, which lasted from late 1992 through 1996.

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FRIDAY NEWS UPDATE

On the heels of Ric Flair suing his former management firm, Legacy Talent and Entertainment, claiming they owe him at least $46,000, they claim the allegations are baseless and defamatory. They said, “Ric Flair has always been known to be dramatic and looking desperately for the spotlight. That’s fine as a wrestler but it is despicable when he blatantly lies. As anyone who read (articles on Flair) knows, Ric has always left a trail of destruction in his wake, whether it be from his ex-wives, the IRS, State Departments of Revenue, creditors, or from his former business partners and friends…the debris is everywhere.” They claim Flair was looking for money from a trust fund that he had not yet earned and the money in question is in his management’s trust account while both sides worked out a settlement.

David Otunga has pulled out of appearing on the Survivor Series show (he was never advertised to appear on the show to begin with) after the bad publicity stemming from ex-girlfriend Jennifer Hudson accusing him of domestic abuse in what appears to be a child custody battle. She claims ongoing harassing and threatening behavior and that he once pushed her. In her court filings, she said they argued because he believed she was dating one of her producers and she denied that was true. She called police last night to try and get Otunga thrown out of their home. The police came and ordered him to leave the Chicago area home that she owns.

Tonight’s CMLL show is expected to draw one of the biggest crowds of the year with nostalgia nights, with major stars dating back to the 70s in four of the six matches. Black Terry, Canek, Cien Caras and Dos Caras, who all wrestled in he 70s in California, will be wrestling on the show, along with top 80s flyer Super Astro, boom period rivals Octagon and Fuerza Guerrera, and Hall of Famer El Satanico. Last year’s show saw Negro Casas, Satanico & Fuerza Guerrera get huge reactions with the place going nuts, while the main event was one of the deadest matches of the year, but it drew a huge crowd. So they are repeating this with a similar main event with Rayo Jalisco Jr. (57) & Dos Caras Sr. (66) & Villano IV (52) vs Canek (65) & Cien Caras (68) & Mascara Ano 2000 (59). The show airs live, and will be available on the CMLL Facebook page for a replay viewing shortly after it ends.

Revolution Pro Wrestling announced Hiroshi Tanahashi for its 4/6 show in New Orleans which will be on Friday at 4 p.m. 

Adam Cole got seven staples in his head from a head-butt last night in a six-man tag match in Austin. He actually had to leave the match, go to the back, get taken care of, and then returned for the finish of his match.

WWE

  • WrestleMania tickets for New Orleans are now on sale to the public.
  • John Cena vs. Roman Reigns plus Sheamus & Cesaro vs. Dean Ambrose & Seth Rollins in a cage match are the two main events for the 12/26 show in Madison Square Garden based on this week’s card changes. 
  • You can now bet on the star ratings for Survivor Series. The predicted numbers that you can over/under are:
    Enzo vs. Kalisto *3/4
    Alexa Bliss vs. Charlotte ***1/4
    Brock Lesnar vs. A.J. Styles ****1/4
    Usos vs. Sheamus & Cesaro ****
    Raw vs. Smackdown men’s match ****1/2
    Miz vs. Baron Corbin **1/2
    Shield vs. New Day ****
    Womens’ elimination match **3/4
  • Bill Goldberg will be appearing on the TV show “The Goldbergs” on Thursday night on ABC.
  • Kalisto walked the red carpet in his mask last night at the Latin Grammy Awards.
  • The Miz talks MTV’s Evolution on Cheddar. (thanks to Mike Kuzmuk)

UFC/MMA

  • John Kavanagh, the trainer for Conor McGregor, said that he doesn’t think he’ll fight again until April or the summer.
  • The next season of Ultimate Fighter is going to be a gimmick where all the fighters on the show are undefeated. So they are looking for the best unsigned undefeated fighters at 145, 155 and 170 pounds. There will be a casting call for the show on 12/12 in Las Vegas at 8 a.m. at the Palace Station Hotel. The show will tape in January and February and debut later in 2018 on FS1. All fighters need to have at least three professional fights.
  • Ariel Helwani has reported that the probable first round matches in the Bellator heavyweight Grand Prix are Rampage Jackson vs. Chael Sonnen, Fedor Emelianenko vs. Frank Mir, King Mo Lawal vs. Ryan Bader and Roy Nelson vs. Matt Mitrione.

MISCELLANEOUS

  • Arkansas State Senator Greg Standrige died today in Russellville, ARK at the age of 50 due to complications stemming from prostate cancer. He was a big supporter of independent wrestling in the state and was instrumental in drafting Act 860 and allowed independent fund raising shows to be unregulated.
  • A story we noted weeks ago in the Observer on Brad Muster losing everything in the Northern California fires. (thanks to Irv Muchnick)
  • Lauren Van Ness vs. Santana Garrett and Sammy Guevara vs. Jason Cade have been added to the 12/7 MLW show in Orlando at Gilt Nightclub. Seth Petruzelli, the former UFC fighter, and Barrington Hughes, have also been added to the show.
  • Superkick’d tonight in Toronto at the Rock Show & Training Cetnre at 66-B Fraser Ave.
  • Carnage Pro Wrestling on 12/10 in Hamilton, ONT at the Christopher Banquet Hall.
  • Capitol Wrestling has inked a deal with Twitch as their live streaming partner with shows every Monday night.

Today in Professional Wrestling History: Shawn Michaels wins World title at Survivor Series 2002

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