Daily Update: FloSports sues WWN, Ric Flair returns home, EVOLVE

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FIGURE FOUR WEEKLY:Figure Four Weekly 9/18/2017: Remembering Bobby Heenan

When someone passes away, whether it’s a celebrity or someone in our lives, a usual lament is that we didn’t appreciate them enough while they were alive. It’s typical human nature for us to not fully grasp how important someone is until they’re gone. But in the sadness that has surrounded the death of Bobby “The Brain” Heenan, it’s clear that wasn’t the case with him.

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WRESTLING OBSERVER NEWSLETTER:September 25, 2017 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: The deaths of Bobby Heenan and Otto Wanz

It’s a double issue this week of the Observer with major stories on Bobby Heenan and his career as well as Heenan behind the scenes, a story on the WWE Network and behind the different ideas they’ve talked about, as well as lengthy pieces on historical figures Otto Wanz and Ruben Juarez.

Look at Henan’s different roles in wrestling, how he got started, the WCW era, the AWA years, leaving WWE and why he may have never been brought back by WWE full-time.

Find out all the different ideas thrown out in the recent WWE Network survey, as well as the viability of some of them.

With Otto Wanz, look at his AWA title, his biggest career matches, how he got started in boxing and wrestling, a story regarding he and Arnold Schwarzenegger, the heyday of the CWA and how it was different from every other promotion in the world and what made it such a great territory to learn in, and what made him famous as a celebrity in Austria.

This issue contains details on the Vince McMahon/Kevin Owens angle, WWE bringing back the Starrcade name, the sale of WCW to WWF in 2001, the legacy of Starrcade, the first Starrcade, how Vince McMahon destroyed Starrcade and helped drive Jim Crockett Promotions out of business, the new Starrcade show, the next NXT Takeover show, more on Ric Flair, Ronda Rousey in WWE notes, Nikki Bella on Dancing With the Stars, Chris Jericho’s cruise idea in detail, and a Shayna Baszler update

Get an update on the Impact promotion and its move of TV to Ottawa, looking at the plans, the GFW name, the building they are going to, the pros and cons of moving, the situation with Jim Cornette, what happens to the ATT angle, and much more.

This issues runs down of the CMLL 84th anniversary show, the two mask vs. mask matches and match-by-match coverage with star ratings.

Also look at the New Japan Destruction in Hiroshima show, the angles, why King of Pro Wrestling looks like one of the best shows of the year, new lineup for Destruction in Kobe and match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results.

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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. 

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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: August 28, 2000 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Hall of Fame issue

In our largest one year inclusion in history, seven new members were named to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame in a balloting of performers, front office people, reports, historians and some well known wrestling experts. Four of the newcomers were voted on by the largest voting panel to date and three others were chosen largely by lobbying from historians providing research as to why they clearly belonged.

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THURSDAY NEWS UPDATE

While we don’t have much in the way of details on this, FloSports has sued WWN for $1 million over the idea that when they signed the contract with them, they were misled about their streaming numbers. The suit was filed in Travis County Court in Texas, the location where FloSports is based. The belief is that WWN is going to countersue. WWN matches this weekend will remain on FloSlam. 

WWE is sending Cedric Alexander to Evolve for shows this weekend on 9/22 in Livonia, MI and 9/23 in Summit, IL. Alexander will replace Davey Richards, who is out of action with a knee injury. Alexander faces Zack Sabre Jr. the first night and Fred Yehi the second night. Both matches will not be available on FloSlam but the rest of the shows will be.

9/22 in Livonia, MI at 8 p.m. Eastern:

  • Sabre Jr. vs. Alexander
  • James Drake & Anthony Henry vs. Ethan Page & ACH for Evolve tag titles
  • Matt Riddle & Keith Lee vs. Chris Dickinson & Jaka
  • Tracy Williams vs. Darby Allin
  • Fred Yehi vs. DJZ

9/13 in Summit, IL at 9 p.m. Eastern:

  • Riddle vs Williams for the WWN title anything goes
  • Sabre Jr. vs. Keith Lee for Evolve title
  • Alexander vs. Yehi
  • Stevie Fierce vs. GPA vs. Matt Knicks vs. Bryce Benjamin for the Freelance title
  • Allin vs. DJZ
  • Drake vs. Austin Theory
  • Ethan Page & ACH vs Dickinson & Jaka

All CMLL shows in Mexico City are canceled until anything changes due to the effects of the Earthquake on Tuesday that hit Mexico City. The government in the city has asked that all sports and entertainment events be canceled as long as the city is in a state of emergency. Arena Mexico and Arena Coliseo are fine to be used after a government inspection, so wrestling will start back up when the state of emergency ends. It’s notable that today in Mexico is the national holiday, Dia de Lucha Libre.

Deadline.com reported today that Dave Bautista and Sylvester Stallone will co-star in a movie, “Escape Plan 3: Devil’s Station.”

Daniel Bryan on Twitter emphasized he would be coming back to wrestle, saying on a scale of 1 to 10, his wanting to return when he’s contractually able (one year from now) is an 11. He talked about wrestling members of the Bullet Club, the Young Bucks, Cody, Kenny Omega and Marty Scurll, as well as wanting to do a hair vs. mask match at Arena Mexico with Atlantis.

Ric Flair returned home today after a lengthy hospital stay.   

WWE

  • The Bella Twins did an interview with In Touch saying that they wanted to return as a tag team.
  • Roman Reigns talks No Mercy.
  • Charlotte Flair interview.
  • NXT dates have been announced for 11/9 in Phoenix, 11/10 in Las Vegas and 11/11 in Riverside, CA. A presale is going on today.
  • The New Jersey Devils announced WWE Night on 11/9 at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ for a game against the Edmonton Oilers. WWE stars are expected to attend the game.
  • A Go Fund Me has been set up for Shayna Baszler’s 33-year-old sister Eileen who is battling stage three breast cancer. She will need six months of chemotherapy, a double mastectomy and then radiation and hormone treatment.
  • Booker T will be hosting a podcast on 9/24 at 9 p.m. at Lucky Strike Hollywood on the corner of Hollywood and Highland after the conclusion of the No Mercy show. Appearing with Booker T are Kurt Angle, Rob Van Dam, Corey Graves and Dustin Runnels. All money raised will go to benefit victims of Hurricane Harvey.
  • The movie “The Wall” where John Cena has a lead role, will be coming to  Amazon on 10/20.
  • Total Bellas on E! last night did 575,000 viewers, slightly down from the prior week.
  • A story on Olympic wrestling gold medalist Erica Wiebe training at the Performance Center.

UFC

  • Matt Brown announced today that he will retire after his 11/11 fight in Norfolk against Diego Sanchez.
  • Nick Roehrick and USADA have agreed on a one year suspension based on a positive test for Clomiphene during an 8/8 out of competition test. That’s the same substance that both Jon Jones and Brock Lesnar failed for last year, and they both were also suspended for one year.
  • Weigh-in results for tomorrow’s UFC show in Saitama, Japan:
    Daichi Abe (171) vs. Hyun Gyu Lim (170.5)
    Shinsho Anzai (171) vs. Luke Jumeau (170)
    Syuri Kondo (116) vs. Chan-Mi Jeon (116)
    Jussier Formiga (126) vs. Ulka Sasaki (125.5)
    Keita Nakamura (170) vs. Alex Morono (170)
    Charles Roa (145.5) vs. Mizuto Hirota (150)
    Teruto Ishihara (145) vs. Rolando Dy (145)
    Gokhan Saki (205) vs. Henrique da Silva (206)
    Takanori Gomi (156) vs. Dong Hyun Kim II (156)
    Claudia Gadelha (115) vs. Jessica Andrade (116)
    Yushin Okami (203.5) vs. Ovince Saint Preux (206)
            Hirota missed weight by four pounds and was fined 30 percent of his purse. He also looked in terrible shape at weigh-ins.
  • Demetrious Johnson, Conor McGregor and John Cena are listed in the 50 fittest athletes. I can definitely see Johnson on the list. How the other two made it is beyond me. McGregor’s track record is for gassing out in long fights, and while Cena is very strong and has a good physique, fit is something completely different.

MISCELLANEOUS

  • Highlights from the second day of Battle of Los Angeles and one of the year’s best shows
  • A story on the new documentary on the life of Ted DiBiase which will be playing as a one day special event in November at movie theaters.
  • Cody Runnels talks his match tomorrow night on the Death Without Dishonor PPV against Minoru Suzuki and also talked Dusty Rhodes.
  • Josh Mathews talks Bound for Glory in Ottawa, being hated by fans, rumors of the company having financial troubles, the GFW brand name, and if he thinks their headquarters will move to Toronto.
  • Shane Strickland is in the running for best pro athlete of Western Washington on KING5 Best of the West
  • AAW on 10/7 in LaSalle, IL at the Knights of Columbus with Penta 0M vs. Rey Fenix, Candice LeRae vs. Britt Baker, Rachael Ellering vs. Allysin “Sienna” Kay, Sami Callihan vs. AR Fox, Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz vs. Devin & Mason Cutter, Michael Elgin & Myron Reed vs. Shane Strickland & Keith Lee and Brubaker & Jake Something vs. Zero Gravity. 
  • AAW’s entire first round of the Jim Lyman Memorial tournament on 10/13 in Berwyn, IL at the Eagles Club has Michael Elgin vs. the loser of the Penta 0M vs. Rey Fenix match on 10/7, Fox vs. Xavier, DJZ vs. Andrew Everett, Mark Haskins vs. Eddie Kingston, Sami Callihan vs. Mat Fitchett, ACH vs. Curt Stallion, Jeff Cobb vs. Zachary Wentz and Brian Cage vs. Myron Reed. Also on the show will be an AAW title match with either Penta 0M or Rey Fenix defending against Trevor Lee, plus Zack Sabre Jr. & Matt Riddle vs. Keith Lee & Shane Strickland. The final eight will have a one-night tournament on 10/14 in Berwyn, IL at the Eagles Club.
  • MCW on 9/30 in Joppa, MD has Tribute to the Legends with Bill Goldberg, Kevin Nash, Christian, Bully Ray, Rick & Scott Steiner, Tammy Sytch, Rosemary, Joey Matthews, The Spirit Squad, Tony Atlas, Mandy Leon, Jillian Hall, Virgil, Francine, Brian Christopher, Bill Apter, Madison Rayne,Gary Cappetta, Robert Fuller, Henry Godwinn and many others at the MCW Arena for a convention from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. There is also a live show at 6:30 p.m.
  • CZW on 10/14 in Sewell, NJ at the New CZW Arena at the Rastelli Complex.
  • Eduard Folayang defends his One lightweght title against Martin Nguyen will headline the One show on 11/10 at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay, The Philippines. 
  • Monster Pro Wrestling on 10/7 in Edmonton at the Alberta Avenue Community Centre.
  • Innovative Wrestling on 9/30 in Bristol, TN at the VFW on W State St.
  • CWE will be doing wrestling matches at the Central Canadian Comic Con in Winnipeg from 10/27 to 10/29 with shows at all day long on 10/28 and 10/28 and a 7 p.m. show on 10/27.
  • There will be a live Raven Effect podcast on 10/5 in Los Angeles at the Hollywood Improv lab. Tickets are $15 to attend.
  • Destiny Wrestling on 10/15 in Mississauga, ONT at the Battle Arts Academy with John Morrison vs. Pete Dunne in the main event and Joey Janela vs. Josh Alexander
  • National Fighting Championship tomorrow night at Center Stage in Atlanta at 8 p.m. headlined by Eli Wynter (2-0) vs. Jared Gooden (8-2).
  • Michael DeMarco is looking to get in touch with a group of English speaking fans who are going to Japan for Wrestle Kingdom this January at the Tokyo Dome and other shows at that time.
  • All Star Wrestling on 9/29 in Richmond, BC at the Fridge Gym at the Fraserview Church for the first round of a women’s tournament with a Japan vs. Canada theme. The tournament, called the West Coast Classic tournament, continues on 9/30 in Surrey, BC at the Cloverdale Fairgrounds.
  • Xtreme Fighting Nation on 11/2 in Coconut Creek, FL at the Seminole Casino at the Pavilion.
  • MacKenzie Dern (3-0), the 2015 Abu Dhabi world submissions champion and multple-time BJJ world champion, returns to MMA on 10/13 in Phoenix at the Comerica Theater for a fight with IFBB fitness competitor Mandy Polk (3-3) for the Legacy Fighting Alliance on AXS TV.     
  • Capital City Championship Combat on 9/30 in Ottawa at the Vanier Columbus Club.
  • A Whatever Happened to story on 80s enhancement wrestler Darrell Nickel.

Today in Professional Wrestling History: Goldberg defeats HHH to win World Heavyweight title

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