Daily Update: Eric Bischoff, Finn Balor, Jeff Hardy

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F4W NEWSLETTER: Figure Four Weekly: Recapping WWE Extreme Rules

Joseph Currier recaps Extreme Rules, which saw Brock Lesnar cash in to again become Universal Champion.

Sunday’s Extreme Rules pay-per-view ended with Lesnar cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase on Seth Rollins to win the Universal title. After Rollins & Becky Lynch defeated Baron Corbin & Lacey Evans in the main event, Lesnar and Paul Heyman came out with the briefcase. Rollins charged at Lesnar, but Lesnar gave him two German suplexes. The bell rang to start the match — and Lesnar hit an F5 to again become Universal Champion.

Rollins will get his rematch for the Universal title at SummerSlam next month. He won a number one contender’s battle royal on the post-Extreme Rules edition of Raw, defeating Randy Orton, Roman Reigns, Braun Strowman, Corbin, Rey Mysterio, Sami Zayn, Big E, Bobby Lashley, and Cesaro.

Rollins’ three-month reign as Universal Champion ended up being pretty lackluster. It started strong with a great defense against AJ Styles, but Rollins’ matches were only as good as his opponents allowed them to be. It’s difficult to succeed when the majority of your PPV title defenses are against Corbin.

WON NEWSLETTER: July 15, 2019 Observer Newsletter: Death of Paco Alonso, G1 Opening, more

A look at Paco Alonso and his role in running the most traditional of all pro wrestling promotions, and what happens next with CMLL, is the lead story i the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

We look at Alonso’s death, an update on who will be running the company, how things will stay the same, what could change, the 2008 Hall of Fame election,  and the career of Alonso as a promoter including the wrestlings wars he was in and the boom periods he presided over.  We also look at where things stand and why Alonso is the only promoter with so much tenure in the business who has never lost money promoting wrestling.

We look at the first show of the G-1 Climax tournament, including unique aspects of the crowd, the business notes and what was good and bad about the crowd, this week’s G-1 bouts, Dallas coverage with star ratings and poll results and will AEW and NJPW promote together any time soon.

We also look at a Saturday with five major shows, running down all of them and the story behind the change in WWE policy.

We also look at Dwayne Johnson and Conor McGregor earnings, Reigns winning award, new signings, Reigns talks why AEW isn’t competition, WWE’s latest network strategy, ideas that were nixed of late that were pitched, Eric Bischoff update, Stock price notes, new WWE television show, most-watched shows of the week on WWE Network as well as a rundown of all the arena events of the past week with results, highlights and business notes.

We’ve got full coverage of UFC 239, with all the different stories that came out of the show, the judging of Jones vs Santos, the future of several fighters, all of the business notes regarding the show as well as match-by-match coverage, fighter pay, and poll results.

We also look at the changes in All Japan Pro Wrestling and what it means going forward.

We also have coverage of the Impact PPV show, where Impact stands, how the PPV did, the crossover in buyers of Impact with other companies as well as match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results.

We also run down the ratings of all the major TV shows, along with detailed demo info for the WWE shows.

We also have the results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week. 

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TUESDAY NEWS UPDATE

by Joseph Currier and Bryan Rose

WWE

  • SmackDown tonight will be at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts. Several segments have been announced, including a town hall meeting hosted by Shane McMahon. Daniel Bryan will also make a “career-altering announcement.” Two matches have been set for tonight, including The IIconics vs. The Kabuki Warriors for the Women’s Tag Team titles and Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose vs. Ember Moon and a mystery partner. 
  • 205 Live tonight will see Chad Gable return to the brand to face Jack Gallagher in a rematch from last month. Akira Tozawa vs. Samir Singh is also set, and Mike Kanellis will be in action.
  • Per Dave Meltzer: “Eric Bischoff is not in Worcester tonight. Bischoff has had zero impact on tonight’s show, was not involved in any creative meetings putting it together.”
  • Pro Wrestling Sheet first reported that Finn Balor will be taking two months off from WWE starting sometime in August. Balor began a program with the returning Bray Wyatt on last night’s Raw.
  • TMZ Sports reported that police documents allege that Jeff Hardy was “passed out in a public stairwell and reeked of booze” prior to his public intoxication arrest on Saturday morning. It was also noted that Hardy admitted to police that he had been drinking vodka. Hardy paid a $153 ticket and — assuming he doesn’t fight the ticket in court — the case is considered to be closed.
  • Rhianna Sammut, a 17 year old who suffers from systemic mastocytosis, visited the WWE Performance Center, met with Stephanie McMahon, and attended an NXT taping on the latest edition of SportsCenter’s “My Wish” series.
  • New episodes of Miz & Mrs. will now premiere on July 23.
  • Jim Ross noted that he was invited to attend next week’s Raw Reunion but politely declined: “Because some are asking, I was cordially invited to attend #RAWReunion by @VinceMcMahon but I politely refused. @TonyKhan left it up to me. Nonetheless I hope the #RAWReunion is a ratings success.”
  • Today is Bobby Lashley’s 43rd birthday.

Pro Wrestling

  • GLOW’s Betty Gilpin was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in this year’s Emmy Awards. GLOW was also nominated for Outstanding Stunt Coordination for a Comedy or Variety Program, Outstanding Makeup for a Single-Camera Series (Non-Prosthetic), Outstanding Hairstyling for a Single-Camera Series, and Outstanding Period Costumes. WWE Raw wasn’t nominated for Outstanding Structured Reality Program.
  • The first episode of AEW’s Road to All Out, which will premiere on Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET, will feature a sit-down interview between Jim Ross and Shawn Spears.
  • John Nord was recently sentenced to five years probation following a March 23 arrest for felony driving while intoxicated/operating a car while under the influence of a controlled substance. The Star Tribune reported that Nord, 59, has ALS and uses a wheelchair.
  • Austin Gunn, the son of Billy Gunn, has been announced for ROH’s Top Prospect Tournament. The tournament will begin at Mass Hysteria in Lowell, Massachusetts on Sunday.
  • “Backstage at Fight for the Fallen” is the latest episode of Being the Elite.
  • MLW announced an agreement for MLW Fusion to begin airing on StarTimes in Africa this summer.
  • This week’s episode of Fusion is now available on YouTube. Teddy Hart & Brian Pillman Jr. vs. MJF & Richard Holliday in a ladder match for the MLW Tag Team titles headlined the show.
  • ROH World Champion Matt Taven threw out the first pitch at last night’s Boston Red Sox game.

UFC/MMA

  • Former UFC fighter Abel Trujillo has been arrested and charged with obscenity and sexual exploitation of a child in Colorado. His next court appearance will be on Thursday.
  • Alen Amedovski vs. John Phillips has been set for UFC’s show in Copenhagen, Denmark on September 28.
  • Cris Cyborg threw shade at UFC by praising Bellator’s Featherweight division. Her next match, which is against Felicia Spencer on July 27, is the final one under her UFC contract.

Daily Pro Wrestling History: WCW Bash at the Beach 1995

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