Daily Update: Fastlane preview, Eddie Gilbert Day, Brody King

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We’re looking for your thoughts on tonight’s Fastlane from Cleveland so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to dave@wrestlingobserver.com” target=”_blank”>dave@wrestlingobserver.com

WWE FASTLINE FROM THE QUICKEN LOANS ARENA IN CLEVELAND AT 6 P.M. EASTERN

Roman Reigns & Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose vs. Drew McIntyre & Baron Corbin & Bobby Lashley — Reigns has his first match back tonight. This should be a very strong match with The Shield together and Reigns in particular will likely garner huge reactions.

One would think they would win and they are -600 favorites from 5 Dimes. And one would think a Mania direction for Reigns will be teased here or done tomorrow. Keep in mind we haven’t had smart money swaying odds for months so these odds are not based on insider knowledge, but with Mania, the feeling is most of the bouts have a significant favorite.

Charlotte Flair vs. Becky Lynch — Lynch must win to get into WrestleMania. Lynch is a -565 favorite. Ronda Rousey is expected at ringside causing problems. While Lynch is expected to win, they could do some outside stuff to keep her from winning to set up a match at TV this week so the probable logical result is a certainty as far as Lynch getting into the match, and it could happen tonight but also could be saved for the next few days. Their last singles match was one of the best women’s matches in company history.

Daniel Bryan vs. Kevin Owens for WWE title — This one should be good. Owens is a little rushed into this spot that was originally scheduled for WrestleMania until Kofi Kingston got taken out. Bryan is a -475 favorite.

Bayley & Sasha Banks vs. Nia Jax & Tamina for the Women’s Tag Team titles — My feeling is they should have Bayley & Banks establish the belts before beating them and Oddsmakers agree as they are -505 favorites.

Asuka vs. Mandy Rose for the SmackDown Women’s title — There isn’t really a planned direction for Asuka obvious for Mania, but she remains a strong -570 favorite.

The Revival vs. Aleister Black & Ricochet vs. Chad Gable & Bobby Roode for the Raw Tag Team titles — If they are given time, they could tear the house down as Revival vs. Roode & Gable has done at house shows for weeks. Revival are favored at -215 to retain, while Black & Ricochet are +215 and Roode & Gable are +1000.

The Usos vs. Shane McMahon & The Miz for the SmackDown Tag Team titles — The Usos are the biggest favorites on the show at -825. The question is whether there is a turn by Miz and Shane on each other here.

Rey Mysterio vs. Andrade (pre-show match) — These two have had great television matches and this on paper is a super match. As a pre-show match is may be rushed for time, but these two work perfect with the strengths of the other. Mysterio is a -180 favorite.

Big E & Xavier Woods vs. Shinsuke Nakamura & Rusev (pre-show match) — New Day is a -135 favorite. No reason this match wouldn’t be good past it’ll probably air shortly after 6 p.m. with the crowd arriving. 

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

  • Togi Makabe vs. Colt Cabana
  • Davey Boy Smith Jr. vs. Toru Yano
  • Minoru Suzuki vs. Satoshi Kojima
  • Seiya Sanada vs. Hirooki Goto

Raw is Monday night from Pittsburgh. Ronda Rousey, Dave Bautista, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins are all scheduled.

Smackdown and 205 Live will be taped on Tuesday night in Dayton. 205 Live has the semifinals of the tournament for a WrestleMania shot at Buddy Murphy’s cruiserweight title with Tony Nese vs. Drew Gulak and Oney Lorcan vs. Cedric Alexander.

NEW JAPAN CUP ON WEDNESDAY MORNING AT 6 A.M. EASTERN FROM OKAYAMA ON NEW JAPAN WORLD

  • Taichi vs. Tomohiro Ishii
  • Yoshi-Hashi vs. Chase Owens

F4W NEWSLETTER: Figure Four Weekly: Roman Reigns announces his leukemia is in remission

“When I made my announcement, I said that I was going to swing for the fences. We did better than that, y’all. We didn’t just swing for the fences, we hit a home run.”

The entire professional wrestling world breathed the sigh of relief they’ve been waiting four months for as Roman Reigns announced last Monday that his leukemia is in remission.

Reigns shared the positive update while appearing on WWE television for the first time since revealing his battle with leukemia, which had returned 11 years after he was first diagnosed with the disease.

WON NEWSLETTER: March 11, 2019 Observer Newsletter: Death of King Kong Bundy

Read the update on the situation with Roman Reigns as the lead story in the new issue of the Observer, talking about his leukemia diagnosis with more details as to the strain, his health situation and what he did in his four months away as well as other athletes with similar strains.

This issue has a major story on the career of Chris “King Kong Bundy” Pallies. Look at how he broke into wrestling, the irony of his very first match, his first role, his first push, where the King Kong Bundy name came from, where the five count came from, what pop culture characters he inspired, the story behind his famous WrestleMania matches including one that has rarely been talked about. 

Also look at Jushin Liger’s retirement announcement. Read about his background, how he got started in pro wrestling, his New Japan Dojo legendary class, who he idolized and copied, his first match with the gimmick and what the plans are for his retirement.

This issue has an update on Tommaso Ciampa regarding the nature of his surgery, and what decisions NXT has to make.

Look at the career of Harley Race, how he broke into wrestling, the run that made him a national star and how he got the NWA world title, and how close he came to being champion a second time before it happened more than a year later. 

Read full coverage of UFC 235, with all the highlights, business notes, and match-by-match coverage and poll results. Also look at contracted base pay for the show.

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@wrestlingobserver.com or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to dave@wrestlingobserver.com.

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SUNDAY NEWS UPDATE

We’ve got a slew of shows going up over the next few days, including a great show you don’t want to miss with me, Garrett and Mike Tenay talking about The Destroyer Dick Beyer from a very unique pespective, plus Bryan and I will be covering Fastlane and today’s New Japan Cup tonight on another show. You can send e-mail questions to mailbag@wrestlingobserver.com. Tenay has retired from doing wrestling interviews but his knowledge his second to none and did the show because of his close friendship with Destroyer. 

The City of Lexington,TN named yesterday Hotstuff Eddie Gilbert Day in the city. Gilbert came from Lexington and was a star wrestler in many territories during the 80s and early 90s until his early death, and he was also a booker for a number of companies. He had a great mind for wrestling. They also held an Eddie Gilbert Tribute show last night in Jackson, TN at Oman Arena with Jerry Lawler & Doug Gilbert in a falls count anywhere match against Tommy Rich & Matt Riviera.

Dwayne Johnson was nominated for two Nickelodeon Kids Choice awards for his role in “Skyscraper.” The show airs on 3/23.

Matt Hardy released a video in his old Big Money Matt Hardy character.

If you want to bet on match quality for tonight, Kambi has listed these predictions for star ratings in the Observer that you can bet over or under on:

  • Bayley & Banks vs. Tamina & Jax ***1/4
  • Bryan vs. Owens ***3/4
  • Shield vs. Lashley & McIntyre & Corbin ***3/4
  • Revival vs. Roode & Gable vs. Ricochet & Black ***3/4
  • Asuka vs. Mandy Rose **3/4
  • Usos vs. Miz & Shane McMahon ***1/4
  • Charlotte Flair vs. Becky Lynch ***3/4

Our 2018 awards issue, which is one of the two biggest of the year, will be coming out later this week. We had lots of help this year in counting ballots and the guys did a great job on this. 

The prelim diagnosis is Brody King suffered a broken hand while wrestling for WSW in Australia on Friday night. He’s been at shows the last two days with a cast on his hand.

WWE

MISCELLANEOUS

  • Jun Akiyama helped draw a sellout for Pro Wrestling Revolution last night in San Francisco with about 1,100 fans and 150-200 turned away. Akiyama & Ultimo Dragon & Misterioso Jr. beat JR Kratos & Colt Stevens & Vinny Massaro in what was said to be a good main event. Tajiri beat Super Crazy. They return to the John O’Connell High gym on 6/23 with Caristico, Cavernario, Titan and Bestia 666. (thanks to Roy Lucier) 
  • Warrior Wrestling on Friday night in Chicago has SCU and there will be a give away of some VIP tickets to All In in Las Vegas at the show.
  • They also released this video of Pentagon Jr. & Fenix vs. Spain’s A-Kid & Carlos Romo.
  • Bryan Alvarez will be doing an open challenge on 4/5 for Black Label Pro Wrestling in Jersey City, NJ as part of WrestleMania week.
  • MLW has an interview with Jim Cornette.
  • Correspondent Patrick Tobin is looking for a ticket to Joey Janela’s Spring break show part Two on Saturday, 4/6. He can be contacted at ptof4w@gmail.com.
  • Lucha Patron on 4/20 in Santa Rosa, CA at Vets Hall with Juventud Guerrera, Hernandez and CMLL’s Tiger.
  • World Series Wrestling from yesterday in Melbourne, Australia before 400 fans: Bandido b Marty Scurll, Indi Hartwell b Jordynne Grace, Joey Ryan b Gino Gambino, Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian b Dowie James & Adam Brooks, Brian Cage won three-way over Flamita and Scorpio Sky, Shazza McKenzie b Erika Reid to quality for the women’s title tournament, Robbie Eagles b Slex to keep the WSW title with Austin Aries as referee. Flip Gordon, who is injured, was there and set up a game of musical chairs. Fat Ass Masa from Being the Elite was there for a meet and greet. Brody King had a cast on his arm at the meet and greet and couldn’t wrestle. Bandido won the musical chairs contest. Bandido vs. Scurll was close to ****. Aries was great as a heel ref. Abyss was also there and didn’t wrestle and choke slammed Aries after the match. SCU match was real good, a was Cage’s match and the main event. (thanks to Kevin Chiat and Dave Roughton)
  • WSW from today in Sydney: Mat Diamond b Mikey Broderick, Flamita & Bandido b Paris De Silva & Jude London, Marty Scurll b Slex, Austin Aries b Abyss in a Monster’s Ball match, Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian & Scorpio Sky b Mick Moretti & Jack Bonza & Adam Hoffman, Jordynne Grace won three-way over Shazza McKenzie and Kellyane to become the first WSW womens’ champion, Robbie Eagles b Brian Cage to keep the WSW title (thanks to Kevin Chiat)
  • Priscilla Kelly got her eye busted open real bad hard way last night at a Freelance show in Chicago. She was working with Kylie Rae. They kept going even with all the blood. Her eye looked really swollen after the match. During the match Kelly put her hand down her trunks and then put her fingers in Rae’s mouth and Rae did a great job of selling it. (thanks to Lance Levine and Shannon Walsh/Wrestling with Demons)
  • Pro Wrestling Eve from yesterday in London: Jamie Hayter b Dr. Britt Baker, Laura Dimatteo b Chardonnay, Emi Sakura b Kasey, Viper b Roxxy, Jetta & Erin Angel b Charli Evans & Millie McKenzie and McKenzie was suspended for 90 days storyline for attacking ref Rhia O’Reilly, Command Bolshoi b Leon to keep the Pure J open title, Kay Lee Ray b Nina Samuels to win the Eve title (thanks to Chris Gannon)
  • Defy drew a sellout of more than 700 on Friday night in Seattle: Schaff b Jaxon Stone, Cody Chhun & Sonico b Carl Randers & Guillermo Rosas & Big Jack, Jorel Nelson & Royce Isaacs b Judas Icarus & Eli Surge, Tajiri b Super Crazy, Darby Allin b Shane Strickland (Strickland announced this was his last match for the promotion and said fans would find out soon where he was going) in a death match (said to be ****) , Ultimo Dragon b Matt Cross, Artemins Spencer b Ethan HD. The locker room all came out in respect of Strickland when he announced it was his last show. He’s originally from the area. Next show is 4/13 in Portland, OR with Jimmy Havoc vs. Randy Myers. (thanks to Scott Janicek and Matt Farmer)
  • Shine on 3/16 in Woodside, NY at La Boom is headlined by Allysin Kay vs. Mercedes Martinez and Aja Perera & Aerial Monroe vs. Kiera Hogan & Dementia D’Rose, plus Shotzi Blackheart vs. Ivaellise, Su Yung, Priscilla Kelly, Holidead and Thunder Rosa.
  • World League Wrestling from last night in Moscow Mills, MO: Da’Marius Jones b Jayden Dominic Rose, Austin Cravens b Gil Rogers, Lucy Mendez b Stacey O’Brien, Kyle Roberts & Rex Fults b Camaro Jackson & Kenny Alfonso, Superstar Steve Fender b Brandon Espinosa-DQ, Jon Webb b Jack Gamble, Nick Aldis b Leland Race to retain the NWA world title with Harley Race in Leland Race’s corner. Adam Cole and Ryback were signing at the show and William Patrick Corgan was there with Aldis. (thanks to Patrick Brandmeyer)
  • Ignite Wrestling announced they would be doing both a digital and a print wrestling magazine.
  • Best of the West on 3/16 in Fresno, CA has its third anniversary show at the Best/West Arena at 5766 E. Fountain Way in Fresno. There will be a seminar at 2 p.m. with Matt Cross. The main event has Royce Isaacs & Jorel Nelson defending the tag titles against Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian plus Scorpio Sky vs. Tyler Bateman and Matt Cross vs. Wiseguy, plus Dave Dutra defends his heavyweight title.

Daily Pro Wrestling History: Bully Ray wins TNA World title

Ed in San Antonio presents the WRESTLEMANIAWeekend Events (more to be added):

  • Saturday, April 6th, at 12:00 pm: Lunch (all you can eat) at Churrascaria Plataforma ($90 per person), located at 316 W. 49th street in Manhattan. Purchase tickets here~!
  • Luxury Bus to MetLife Stadium for Wrestlemania: We will depart from the Hilton Midtown (site of Wrestlecon) located at 1335 Avenue of the Americas. Departure time is 4:00 pm and will return from MetLife approximately 30 mins after the event. Times are subject to change, and cost $67.00 per person for the round trip. Purchase tickets here~!

CONTACT INFORMATION