Daily Update: Jeff Hardy, G1 Supercard at MSG, Cyborg-Nunes

By Joseph Currier
Published: 12 Jul 2018, 18:14

THE ROUND-UP

THE LATEST NEWS

THE LATEST AUDIO

F4W NEWSLETTER: Figure Four Weekly: Brock Lesnar appears at UFC 226

Brock Lesnar made an in-person appearance and took part in his first pro wrestling angle since April this past Saturday night — it just wasn’t at a WWE show. While the Raw roster, with The Undertaker and Ronda Rousey as the special attractions, were at Madison Square Garden for a house show, Lesnar was at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas setting up his return to mixed martial arts.

WON NEWSLETTER: July 16, 2018 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Daniel Cormier/Brock Lesnar fallout from UFC 226

After 23 years of competing at the highest level in the world at two different sports, Daniel Cormier, just eight months before his 40th birthday and planned retirement, finally achieved his ultimate dream.

Cormier, saying he was fighting for legacy, became only the second simultaneous two division champion in UFC history, joining Conor McGregor. But his UFC heavyweight title win over Stipe Miocic on 7/7 in Las Vegas was far more than that.

Cormier went from a guy who said he finally achieved his “best-in-the-world” goal when he first won the light heavyweight title, only for his entire three year reign be marred by the fact he failed twice against Jon Jones, who the public saw as the real champion.

But not this time. Stipe Miocic was the real champion, with no debate attached. He overwhelmed Francis Ngannou and stopped Mark Hunt, Andrei Arlovski, Fabricio Werdum, Alistair Overeem and Junior Dos Santos, basically everyone in the division of any note except the frequently injured Cain Velasquez.

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THURSDAY NEWS UPDATE

WWE

Jeff Hardy spoke to the Canton Repository about toning it down on house shows and doing the swanton bomb less because his lower back has been hurting him: “Lately, my lower back has really been bothering me to the point where I haven’t been doing the swanton as much in the live events just to protect it. I think looking forward I’m gonna have to be more like that, because nothing lasts forever. I’ve been real lucky, and naturally on TV I always want to go all out, but in the live events, I might have to hold back a little. I’m glad my face paint has come back. That’s always fun for people to see, because it’s original and unique each and every night, and I love doing that. Growing up I was a huge fan of Ultimate Warrior and Sting, and I wanted to be a little bit of both of them.” Hardy has been using a Twist of Fate that ends like a stunner as a finisher lately.
Mike Kanellis celebrated reaching one year of sobriety: “This time last year I embarked on the most difficult journey of my life. I’m proud to announce that today marks 1 year sober”
Today is Universal Champion Brock Lesnar’s 41st birthday. Sami Zayn also turned 34 years old today and Shane Helms turned 44. Zayn tweeted that his birthday wish is to raise as much money as possible for his fundraising campaign to support displaced civilians in Syria.
3MB (Drew McIntyre, Jinder Mahal, and Heath Slater) and Hornswoggle (via phone) reunited to watch Hornswoggle’s WeeLC match against El Torito for WWE’s YouTube channel.
Kofi Kingston threw out the first pitch at last night’s Boston Red Sox game, which was WWE night at Fenway Park.
Wrestlers from SmackDown took part in a photo shoot where they dressed up as ECW wrestlers.
It was declared “Rusev Day” in Knox County as Rusev appeared with Glenn Jacobs on the campaign trail.
Cathy Kelley interviewed Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson on the red carpet for the premiere of his movie “Skyscraper” in New York City. Johnson talked about his daughter Simone wanting to be a pro wrestler and how much he likes being able to connect with the crowd when in a WWE ring.
WWE.com has an interview with Candice LeRae about her career, being a good role model, and marriage to Johnny Gargano.

Pro Wrestling

While Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Tetsuya Naito were listed, it was somewhat notable that the other member of NJPW’s big four, Kenny Omega, wasn’t advertised along with them when ROH and NJPW announced their April 6, 2019 G1 Supercard for Madison Square Garden. It seems obvious that Omega will be added if he re-signs with NJPW. With The Young Bucks’ future also in question, Matt Jackson shared ROH’s tweet about the event and wrote “The World’s Most Famous Arena.” The show, which is taking place on the Saturday of WrestleMania weekend next year, will presumably be going up against NXT TakeOver.
Hangman Page is the seventh announced entrant for ROH’s International Cup tournament, joining Jimmy Havoc, Joe Hendry, Mark Haskins, Kip Sabian, Jonathan Gresham, and Christopher Daniels. There’s only one name left to be announced. The tournament has a United Kingdom vs. United States theme and will take place on next month’s Honor Re-United tour shows in Edinburgh and Doncaster, with the winner challenging for the ROH World Championship in London on August 19.
Dave Meltzer reported that Tessa Blanchard’s contract with Impact Wrestling is a two-year deal.
Josh Barnett appeared on this week’s episode of the Ross Report and discussed the G1 Special at the Cow Palace and the incident where Jim Ross injured his ribs/lungs.
Juice Robinson also talked the G1 Special and Ross’ injury on Sean Waltman’s X-Pac 12360 podcast.
On Guerrillas of Destiny’s YouTube channel it was indicated that, in storyline, Bad Luck Fale made the call for the Firing Squad to attack Omega and the rest of the Bullet Club.
David Arquette appeared on Sunday Night’s Main Event with Jason Agnew to reflect on his time as WCW Champion and talk his return to pro wrestling. Arquette’s interview starts at 1:02:30.
Santino Marella tweeted that his daughter is training to be a pro wrestler: “Today was day one of me overseeing my daughters training personally and acting as her head coach, @WWEPerformCtr is our goal for 2019”
The South China Morning Post has an article on HoHo Lun and his life since leaving WWE. His mother passed away in January after battling breast cancer, and her being sick contributed to his decision to depart WWE.

UFC/MMA

The UFC is trying to make Cris Cyborg vs. Amanda Nunes for Cyborg’s women’s featherweight title for UFC 232 in Las Vegas on December 29. Nunes tweeted a signed bout agreement for the fight to Cyborg, while Cyborg wants to return sooner than that and have it take place at UFC 228 on September 8. Nunes is the current women’s bantamweight champion.
Dominick Cruz alleged that Brock Lesnar is “absolutely doping” and said he’d be shocked if Lesnar is able to make it to his fight against Daniel Cormier due to USADA.
Junior dos Santos also said he believes that it’s “almost certain” that Lesnar won’t be clean.
Dana White and Brendan Schaub have been going back and forth in a war of words on social media. Schaub issued a “last warning” to White, writing that White would be a cardio kickboxing coach in Boston hoping to get a front row ticket to Schaub’s stand-up comedy show if Lorenzo Fertitta didn’t “save his ass.”
Frankie Edgar said Brian Ortega may have ruined his chance of getting a title shot by not agreeing to stay on the card in an interim title fight after featherweight champion Max Holloway had to be pulled from UFC 226.
Paul Felder confirmed that he broke his arm against Mike Perry at last Saturday’s PPV..
Alan Jouban is out of his scheduled fight against Danny Roberts at UFC’s Fight Night show in Hamburg, Germany on July 22 due to injury.
Ariel Helwani reported that Jose Torres will face Alex Perez at UFC 227 in Los Angeles on August 4.

Daily Professional Wrestling History: Vader wins WCW World title from Sting

12th Annual F4W Empire Vegas Convention

Greetings friends and fans of the F4W / Wrestling Observer website. It’s time to announce the details of the 12th annual F4W / Wrestling Observer Empire Las Vegas Convention~!

This year’s event will be taking place in Las Vegas from August 16th to the 20th and will again be in conjunction with WWE’s SummerSlam weekend a.k.a. Super China Buffet Day~! There will still be the usual events, but our big draw will be WWE’s summer blockbuster PPV, SummerSlam. As per tradition, we will all gorge ourselves at a Las Vegas buffet, and then watch SummerSlam in a rented out movie theater. All information and ticketing prices are available now. Sign up ASAP as spots are limited for some events.

This year will also feature a Future Stars Wrestling show which will include the first ever Gladys Gibson Doubles Match Classic! Already booked for the show are the teams Mia Yim & Leva Bates, Shotzi Blackheart & ???, Samantha Heights & Brittany Blake, and Miranda Alize & Kylie Rae. Also appearing will be Kris Wolf along with many more future stars. There may even be a classic star or two making an appearance. You won’t want to miss this show! Check out the convention’s Facebook page for all additional information.

CONTACT INFORMATION

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