Daily Update: Extreme Rules odds, BOSJ finals, WCPW

THE ROUND-UP

The Latest from the F4W Staff

NEWS

AUDIO

We’re looking for reports from the Raw show in Reading, PA, Smackdown in Bridgeport, CT, ROH TV tapings in Chicago Ridge, IL (Young Bucks vs. Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian, Jay White vs. Punishment Martinez, Jay Lethal vs. Caprice Coleman, Bobby Fish vs. Silas Young, Dalton Castle & The Boys vs. The Rebellion, Flip Gordon vs. Jonathan Gresham) and NXT in Venice, FL to dave@wrestlingobserver.com.

UFC 212 FROM THE JEUNESSE ARENA IN RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL

6:30 p.m Eastern on Fight Pass

  • Marco Beltran (126) vs. Deiveson Alcantara (126)
  • Luan Chagas (171) vs. Jim Wallhead (170)
  • Jamie Moyle (116) vs. Vivianne Pereira (113)

Prelims at 8 p.m. Eastern on Fox Sports 1

  • Iuri Alcantara (136) vs. Brian Kelleher (134)
  • Johnny Eduardo (136) vs. Matthew Lopez (136)
  • Antonio Carlos Jr. (185) vs. Eric Spicely (184)
  • Raphael Assuncao (136) vs. Marlon Moraes (136)

PPV at 10 p.m. Eastern

  • Yancy Medeiros (171) vs. Erick Silva (171)
  • Paulo Borrachinha (186) vs. Oluwale Bamgbose (184)
  • Vitor Belfort (185) vs. Nate Marquardt (186)
  • Claudia Gadelha (116) vs. Karolina Kowalkiewicz (115)
  • Jose Aldo (145) vs. Max Holloway (145) for UFC featherweight title

Sunday we’re looking for reports from Smackdown in Glens Falls, NY and ROH in Collinsville, IL (Christopher Daniels defends ROH title against the winner of the Rumble earlier in the show; Young Bucks vs. Matt Taven & Vinny Marseglia, Jay Briscoe vs. Shane Taylor, Bully Ray & Mark Briscoe, Caprice Coleman & Rhett Titus vs. Silas Young & Mark Briscoe, Frankie Kazarian vs. Flip Gordon).

WWE EXTREME RULES PPV AT 7:30 P.M. EASTERN TIME SUNDAY ON THE WWE NETWORK

  • Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor vs. Samoa Joe vs. Bray Wyatt for a title shot at Brock Lesnar in July
  • Dean Ambrose vs. The Miz for IC title in a title can change hands via DQ match
  • Hardys vs. Sheamus & Cesaro for tag titles in a cage match
  • Alexa Bliss vs. Bayley for the women’s title in a kendo stick on a pole match
  • Neville vs. Austin Aries for the cruiserweight title in a submission match
  • Rich Swann & Sasha Banks vs. Noam Dar & Alicia Fox

Raw will be Monday in Wilkes-Barre, PA. There will also be a Smackdown brand house show in Elmira, NY, and the NXT European tour begins with a show in Aberdeen, Scotland.

FIGURE FOUR WEEKLY: 5/30/17: How the WWE Network changed the pro wrestling marketplace

Though the service launched over three years ago, it’s still becoming increasingly apparent that the WWE Network has forever changed the pro wrestling marketplace. FloSports raising the month-to-month rate of its streaming products, including FloSlam, for new subscribers to $29.99 per month has most recently reignited the conversation about the pricing of wrestling broadcasts.

Subscribers click here to continue.

WRESTLING OBSERVER NEWSLETTER: June 5, 2017 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Record low Raw ratings, death of Frank Deford, more

A look at what the record low ratings for Raw mean and don’t mean, and the value of Raw to the USA Network, is the lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Also, have a look at legendary sportswriter Frank Deford, the current WWE creative direction, more on the push of Jinder Mahal in India, the promotion you’ve never heard of that just drew 58,000 fans to a show this past week and how they did it, and the Best of the Super Juniors tournament coverage.

Also inside is a rundown of the business over the past two months for WWE, Impact and ROH, and a look at the reality of cord cutting and what it means, WWE business metrics, DVR usage, why Raw’s ratings tell only a small story about its value to USA, the television industry as a whole, do ratings matter, and changes in the PPV business.

Examine my time working with Frank Deford and The National, as well as his career, and his work.

Plus, look at the next two WWE PPVs, the main event planned for SummerSlam, and the direction the title picture is going, and more on Jinder Mahal as champion, WWE’s worldwide decisions and the quandary of doing business in India.

Check out the KSW promotion and the angles and stories that drew 58,000 to a show this past week, including notes on their top stars.

There are updates on WWE Network and other promotions airing on it, William Regal talks what WWE wants in talent and puts over a Rugby League star signed and who he was high on that the previous regime saw nothing in, and the new system vs. old system, Hulk Hogan, WWE injuries, Cena’ return, box office for Cena, Batista and Rock, contract expiring for an international star, lots of new women starting with the company, Lucha Libre star signs with the company, new TV show the company is behind with three of its stars, new WWE product in marketing deal with other companies, longest winning streaks, and WWE U.K. deals.

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: May 8, 2000 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: WWF Backlash review, Sakuraba defeats Gracie, tons more

Mark Coleman was the big winner but Kazushi Sakuraba came out as the big hero in the highest profile MMA show in history on 5/1 at the Tokyo Dome. Coleman defeated Akira Shoji, got what amounted to a forfeit win over New Japan’s Kazuyuki Fujita and became the first man in nearly five years to tap out Igor Vovchanchin, who went into the tournament as the top rated heavyweight in the world, before 38,000 fans (ticket prices ranged from $950 for ringside down to $57 for the upper deck so the gate was several million dollars).

Subscribers click here to continue.

SATURDAY NEWS UPDATE

WWE

  • While Samoa Joe remains the favorite, a lot of money has come in on Seth Rollins for Sunday’s main event at Extreme Rules. Current odds at Paddy Power have Joe at 8/11, Rollins even, Finn Balor at 12/1, and both Roman Reigns and Bray Wyatt at 20/1.
  • GQ interviewed Jinder Mahal about his diet and recent rise in WWE.
  • WWE uploaded a video of Madusa discussing the upcoming Mae Young Classic and her time as a guest coach at the Performance Center.
  • The Rock tweeted to AJ Styles after Styles’ birthday (which was yesterday): “@AJStylesOrg hometown has been ‘phenomenal’ brotha. Shooting some epic scenes. Be safe on the road, keep killing and happy birthday.”
  • The Democrat and Chronicle in Rochester, New York has a story on Luke Harper and him being from the area.
  • Alexa Bliss spoke to the Baltimore Sun ahead of Extreme Rules.
  • WWE.com posted an “editor’s choice” list of underrated wrestlers. The Miz, American Alpha, Emma, Cedric Alexander, Curtis Axel, Apollo Crews, Liv Morgan, and Gran Metalik were mentioned.
  • This week’s WWE top 10 list on YouTube looks at Shield showdowns. Yesterday marked three years since the group disbanded.

Pro Wrestling

  • The Best of the Super Juniors finals produced an excellent match this morning, with KUSHIDA defeating Will Ospreay to become the tournament winner. NJPW should officially add Hiromu Takahashi vs. KUSHIDA to the Dominion card soon. That will mean that the top three matches at Dominion will all be rematches from this year’s Tokyo Dome show.
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi made an appearance at the BOSJ finals to confirm that he’ll still be facing Tetsuya Naito for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship at Dominion despite his biceps injury.
  • YouTube issued a strike against What Culture Pro Wrestling’s channel due to their “Fight Back” show violating the platform’s policy on spam and deceptive practices. The show was taken down and WCPW wrote that their ability to stream live on YouTube has been revoked. The promotion previously canceled their weekly “Loaded” tapings due to a change in YouTube’s policy that classified pro wrestling as non-advertiser friendly and made it incredibly difficult for them to monetize videos. The strike may have been issued because the logo of the show (which was branded as a response to YouTube’s decision) resembled the YouTube one.
  • WCPW’s Adam Blampied gave an impassioned speech about YouTube’s categorization of pro wrestling on the show. 
  • Revolution Pro Wrestling announced that Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Marty Scurll will take place at their Summer Sizzler 2017 show on August 17th at York Hall in London.
  • Ratings for this week’s episode of Impact on Pop TV were down, which isn’t surprising given that it was going against game one of the NBA finals. The episode averaged 287,000 viewers after averaging 305,000 the week prior.
  • AAA will begin airing on Front Runner TV in the UK starting on June 14th.
  • Kairi Hojo’s farewell to Stardom will take place tomorrow before she leaves for WWE.
  • Lio Rush tweeted that he’s been wrestling with a broken nose for the past two weeks. He wrote that he’s canceled a few appearances in the UK due to the injury.
  • PROGRESS Wrestling has uploaded the first two days of last weekend’s Super Strong Style 16 tournament to their on demand service. The final day will be uploaded tomorrow.
  • Division Pro Wrestling released full video of the Tom Lawlor vs. Kyle O’Reilly match that took place last month.

UFC/MMA

  • The UFC uploaded the fifth and sixth episodes of Embedded heading into tonight’s UFC 212 pay-per-view.
  • “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung is off of UFC 214 after suffering a knee injury. He had been scheduled to face Ricardo Lamas.
  • Ray Borg discussed being blindsided by the UFC trying to make Demetrious Johnson vs. TJ Dillashaw and said that Dillashaw could hold the flyweight division hostage if he wins the belt.

Today in Pro Wrestling History (6/3): Steve Austin wins his first WCW TV title

Pro Wrestling Tees is now carrying our latest line of F4W shirts. Support the Empire~! Grab yours today!

CONTACT INFORMATION

​