Daily Update: Evolve 71, McMahon PACs Trump, McGregor’s NSAC fine

The Round-Up

NEWS

AUDIO

EVOLVE 71 IN YBOR CITY, FL

  • Timothy Thatcher vs. Drew Gulak
  • Chris Hero vs. Matt Riddle
  • Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Fred Yehi
  • Ethan Page vs. Sami Callihan
  • Dustin vs. Darby Allin
  • Tracy Williams vs. Jason Kincaid

Raw will be Monday night in Denver featuring the return of Bill Goldberg after 12 years. There will also be a SmackDown house show in Laramie, WY on Monday night.

SmackDown be Tuesday, also in Denver, featuring A.J. Styles vs. James Ellsworth for the WWE title and Alexa Bliss vs. Naomi.

Please send reports to dave@wrestlingobserver.com and newstips@wrestlingobserver.com for these shows:

  • WWE Raw in Calgary
  • WWE SmackDown in Phoenix
  • NXT in Winter Haven, FL
  • ROH in Dearborn, MI
  • WWE Raw in Colorado Springs, CO
  • WWE SmackDown in Nampa, ID

Figure Four Weekly 10/10/2016: New details emerge in WWE concussion lawsuit filing – On Friday (October 7th), WWE filed a reply in support of their motion to dismiss Vito LoGrasso and Evan Singleton’s concussion-focused lawsuit. In terms of new information, the most newsworthy passages concern the deposition of Vince McMahon, which has otherwise been sealed from public view… 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, Oct 17, 2016: Details on the return of Goldberg to WWE, the return of Ronda Rousey to action in UFC, more.

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:,WON September 20, 1999: Eric Bischoff fired from WCW, Beyond the Mat review, more – Although wrestlers were singing “Ding, Dong, the Witch is dead,” Friday night in Baltimore, when the word of Eric Bischoff’s re-assignment within Turner (read that as a nice way of saying firing) reached the wrestlers, once the initial happiness wore off and reality set in, the reality is little has changed… Subscribers click here to continue reading.

Sunday News Update

Bryan and I will be back tonight with Observer radio. We’ll be covering the weekend news as well as taking your e-mail questions. This will be a very mailbag heavy show hopefully so you can send stuff to mailbag@wrestlingobserver.com.

Regarding the Observer Hall of Fame, please get ballots in as soon as possible, if you have one (reporters, historians, executives or active and former competitors). Technically the deadline was last night but if you get it in within the next few days it’ll be counted. But don’t delay because once I finish this week’s issue, the first thing I’m doing is the ballots.

The October 10 Observer lists the full ballot. Everyone on the ballot has a case to be in, but only a few can get in this year, which is going to make this a very interesting year to say the least. 

There’s been some mainstream press this weekend regarding Linda McMahon having donated $6 million to a super PAC that supported Donald Trump, with donations in August and September. The donations were noted because when Trump was going through primaries, she was critical of his remarks about women, and this goes back months before all the latest news stories came in. “He’s not helping, certainly to put women in the best light,” said McMahon a few months ago. “Maybe he regrets them, maybe he doesn’t. I realize he punches hard when he punches back, but that’s just over the top.” But she since publicly stated she was a strong Trump supporter. For those thinking Trump’s comments should kick him out of the WWE Hall of Fame, it would appear that isn’t about to happen.

Conor McGregor was fined $75,000, not $150,000, as had been reported all over the place over the past week. In quite the weird story, Nevada Athletic commission Executive Director Bob Bennett told MMA Fighting yesterday that McGregor and Dana White both implied that McGregor wouldn’t fight again in Nevada due to the size of the fine and McGregor said he wasn’t paying it. Bennett claimed the fine was $75,000 and the reason they said $150,000 is they valued his community service work at $75,000.

A number of WWE stars missed the Friday night house show in Edmonton due to a snowstorm in the city that made getting in difficult. They had more than enough guys to run a full show and the main events, Kevin Owens, Seth Rollins, Sami Zayn, Chris Jericho and Cesaro were all there, but New Day, Titus O’Neil, Darren Young, Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel missed the show. The full crew was in Calgary last night.

The return of Bill Goldberg to Raw tomorrow night after some 12 years is the big story. To answer questions, Goldberg’s appearances on Raw at this point are not scheduled for a match, although him doing the old time Goldberg 30 second spear and jackhammer match shouldn’t be impossible and would probably get over at least once as nostalgia. Paul Heyman is not booked on Raw on Monday, nor is Brock Lesnar. Everything is subject to change but Lesnar in particular has all of his stuff laid out well in advance. Even a few years ago a Goldberg return would have been good for a 3.6 rating. Now, if they do a 2.4, people will be doing cartwheels, or at least they’ll want to being doing them. 

WWE

  • For those of you who have enjoyed Bruno Sammartino interviews on our show, the JBL legends show that airs after Raw tomorrow night will feature Sammartino as a guest. That’s one I’ll be going out of my way to see.
  • Emma, even though listed on Raw, is working for the Smackdown brand this weekend as a replacement for Becky Lynch.
  • An interview with A.J.Styles is here.

VARIETY

  • ROH signed a deal with Sport TV in Portugal, the biggest sports channel in the country, and starts this coming week. (thanks to Renato Simoes.
  • Two matches from Pro Wrestling NOAH from last week have been put up on New Japan World the GHC tag title match with Naomichi Marufuji & Toru Yano vs. Kazuchika Okada & Yoshi-Hashi and the Gedo & Jado jr tag title win over Atsushi Kotoge & Daisuke Harada.
  • We have an unheard of two straight weekends without a major U.S PPV type show with the UFC three weeks break and WWE’s next big show on 11/30. It gets crazy from there as November is loaded, particularly Survivor Series weekend which will be one of the biggest weekends of the year. Thus, with no major events, there was nothing pro wrestling or MMA related on the Google search list the past several days. However, if you want to watch a great match, this is the best match from Arena Mexico on Friday night and it features both Mascara Dorada & Dragon Lee.
  • The other big thing on Friday night was the submission work by Mackenzie Dern, who has the potential to be a major MMA star. Her ground game as far as pure Jiu Jitsu is already as good as any woman in the sport.      
  • I Believe in Wrestling did an iPPV last night with the debut of former UFC fighter Seth Petruzelli in Orlando, before the Evolve show: CT Brown b JD Amazing, Thea Trinidad b Amber Nova, Michael Patrick & Leo Brien b Rex Bacchus & Li Bryan, Leo O’Farrell b Chico Adams, Courtney Stewart & Kaci Lennox b Raegan Fire & Mila Naniki, Seth Petruzeleli b Braydon Knight, Jonny Vandal & Tyranus b Mike Reed & Josh Hess. Next show is 11/5. The show is available for replay. (thanks to Al Haft)
  • Wrestlecircus presents its debut show toady at 5 p.m. in Austin, TX at the Ironwood Hall with Davey Boy Smith Jr. & Raymond Rowe vs. Colt Cabana & Ethan Carter III, Willie Mack vs. Hangman Page, Tony Nese vs. Sammy Guevara, DJZ vs. Scorpio Sky, Keith Lee vs Donovan Dijak, plus Dick Justice Lance Hoyt and Lince Dorado appearing. So you’ve got NOAH, ROH, WWE, Lucha Underground, New Japan and TNA all represented on the same show. 
  • Appalachian Mountain Wrestling from Saturday night in Happy, KY: Kyle Maggard b Brandon Taggart, Super Destroyer b Matty B, Justin Tyler Morris b Stevie Phillips, Jordan Krage b Jalen Russell, Eddie Browning DDQ Beau James.
  • Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling from last night in East Carondelet, IL before 275 fans: Moondog Rover b Purple Passion, Superstar Steve Fender NC Curt Gannon, Gary Jackson & Big Jim Hoffarth b Waco & Daniel Gunner, Marc Houston b Johnny Blade, Curtis Wylde & Dave Vaughn b Jimmy & Bobby D, Mike Sydal b Keita Yano, Vic the Bruiser b Sean Vincent, Ron Powers b Ken Kasa. Upcoming shows are 11/5 in Swansea, IL with Ron Powers & Gary Jackson vs. Brandon Espinosa & Attila Khan 2/3 falls in a cage, 11/19 with a Flash Flanagan meet and greet in East Carondelet and 12/10 with Jimmy Hart as the special guest. Larry Matysik also noted that their 10/1 gross was $9,700 in a benefit show for the Swansea Volunteer Fire Department two weeks ago.
  • There is alive MA show on 10/21 in Fresno, CA at the Tower Theater called 559 Fights. That’s the promotion that regularly runs the Tachi Palace Casino in Lemoore, CA.
  • Yesterday morning’s Lucha Xtreme TV show in Fresno: Skitzo b Shadow James, Big Dogg b Brandon Groom-DQ, Homicide b Donny Suarez. Next show is today at 7 p.m. in Fresno at the Fair on the Pavilion Stage which is a free with a fair admission with Homicide vs. Groom for the vacant Lucha Xtreme title.
  • James Storm and Joey Ryan appear tonight at a show in Corinth, MS which also features Cody Rhodes vs. Matt Cross
  • An article on Villano III, who is on the Hall of Fame ballot, is here.
  • Here is a story on Vincent Sammartino, Bruno’s grandson, a high school football player in Pittsburgh.

Today in Wrestling History (10/16): TNA Bound for Glory 2011

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