Daily Update: Jerry Lawler, Elias concert, SmackDown

THE ROUND-UP

THE LATEST NEWS

THE LATEST AUDIO

We’re looking for reports from the WWE Raw show in Norfolk, VA, Smackdown in Greeneville, NC and NXT in Cocoa, FL to newstips@wrestlingobserver.com.

NEW JAPAN G-1 CLIMAX FINALS FROM BUDOKAN HALL IN TOKYO AT 2 A.M. EASTERN LATE SATURDAY NIGHT AT 11 P.M. PACIFIC ON NEW JAPAN WORLD

  • G-1 Climax finals
  • Rey Mysterio Jr. appears

Sunday has a Raw house show in Roanoke, VA and Smackdown in Florence, SC.

EVOLVE FROM LIVONIA, MI AT 4 P.M. EASTERN TIME SUNDAY

  • Jaka vs. Saieve Al Sabaah
  • Walter vs. Anthony Henry
  • Shane Strickland vs. DJZ
  • Matt Riddle vs J.D. Drake
  • Tracy Williams vs. Chris Dickinson & Stokley Hathaway – Williams or Hathaway must retire with a loss
  • Joey Janela vs. Austin Theory vs. AR Fox for the WWN title

The go-home Raw for SummerSlam is Monday in Greensboro. As of one week ago, Brock Lesnar was scheduled on this show, but he is not advertised on it right now at we haven’t had it confirmed since last week. A three-way for the tag titles with the B Team defending against Matt Hardy & Bray Wyatt and The Revival is set for the show. Smackdown has a house show on Monday night in Columbia, SC.

Smackdown and 205 Live are taped on Tuesday night in Greenville, SC, with Cedric Alexander vs. Jack Gallagher in a non-title match and Lio Rush vs. Akira Tozawa both announced for the 205 Live show.

F4W NEWSLETTER: Figure Four Weekly: Matt Riddle’s future starts to become clear

It may have been a bit delayed, but Matt Riddle signing with WWE seems all but inevitable at this point. Riddle dropping the EVOLVE Championship to Shane Strickland at EVOLVE 108 this past weekend is only the latest indication of that. When Riddle pulled out of OTT’s SummerSlam weekend shows in Ireland, Dave Meltzer reported that WWE had reconsidered its position on Riddle.

WON NEWSLETTER: (August 13, 2018)Conor McGregor vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov to set records

A detailed rundown of WWE business is in the new issue of the Observer. Look at the company value; the WrestleMania quarter revenue, why profits are surprisingly low and why that really doesn’t matter right now, executive bonuses, profits for the first six months of the year, what is known about the WWE Network and actual WrestleMania ticket sales.

A look at the story behind the Conor McGregor vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov fight and PPV prospects is the other lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer. Look at how McGregor showed that if you can draw giant money you can get away with almost anything. 

Also look at what the big advance ticket sale for ROH in Madison Square Garden shows. Look at what should have been expected, the ticket broker market for the show, how many tickets were sold first day, the last time MSG sold out for wrestling, the largest U.S. non-WWE gate in history, and the big picture on the show. 

Read about Glenn Jacobs winning the mayoral race in Knox County, TN, other pro wrestlers who have won public office election, and the Jacobs campaign.

Also look in detail on the All In show with the lineup, ways to watch, how the WGN deal came about and more.

Read more thoughts on the WWE television situation in 2019 including the idea of NXT moving to television, what is and isn’t planned about that and how to make it work, as well as a flaws in doing so.

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.

SATURDAY NEWS UPDATE

WWE

  • Jerry Lawler and his lawyer spoke to WMC Action News 5 in Memphis for a story on Brian Christopher Lawler’s death. Lawler continued to express doubt that Brian committed suicide. Photos of Brian before he died were shown, with him having marks on both sides of his neck but not on the front. Jerry’s lawyer said that’s not consistent with Brian hanging himself with his shoestrings. Jerry also brought up a fight that Brian got into in jail the day that he died and that 20 cameras inside the jail weren’t working that night.
  • WWE has announced that Elias will be performing at the Gramercy Theatre in New York City at 5:30 p.m. Eastern time on August 18, the night before SummerSlam. It’s being called “Walk With Elias: A Special Live Performance.” Tickets are $20 each.
  • Tegan Nox (Nixon Newell) tweeted a drawing of the leg injury that she suffered during the Mae Young Classic.
  • WWE is teasing Aiden English vs. Andrade “Cien” Almas and Charlotte Flair & Becky Lynch vs. Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville for Tuesday’s SmackDown.
  • A new episode of Table for Three with Matt Hardy, Xavier Woods, and Zack Ryder will air on the WWE Network after Raw on Monday. The theme of the show is that they gathered “to discuss the power of using digital and social media platforms.”
  • A new episode of WWE Chronicle will air on the Network on Friday at 8 p.m. Eastern. It follows Samoa Joe from the night after WrestleMania to the build of him challenging AJ Styles at SummerSlam. The first episode of Chronicle featured Shinsuke Nakamura ahead of his match against Styles at WrestleMania.
  • During an interview with TMZ, Mick Foley said he told Vince McMahon to keep an eye on the Cris Cyborg vs. Amanda Nunes fight and that he thinks Cyborg will be larger than life and would make a great WWE wrestler down the line. Foley recently attended a UFC viewing party with Cyborg.
  • Titus O’Neil wrote about his interest in opening a public school like LeBron James did: “Just finished up a Phone convo w/my Bullard Family Foundation and @HillsboroughSch folks with hopes of moving forward with plans to start a PUBLIC school similar to @KingJames (ThxU)which will provide Free Tuition,Uniforms,Transportation,Food Pantry,Adult Ed Services and more!! When you take the Limits off the Possible it opens a Highway to the POSSIBILITIES I’m just an Ordinary Guy, With an EXTRAORDINARY VISION to duplicate the Love and Efforts that were used to get me to where I am today as a MAN!!”
  • The Washington Post published a story on WWE’s Evolution PPV, with it including quotes from our Dave Meltzer.
  • Charlotte Flair also spoke to The Press of Atlantic City about Evolution and women’s wrestling in WWE.
  • Today is Hulk Hogan’s 65th birthday.
  • Zelina Vega corrected someone on Twitter who said that she was still in a relationship with Austin Aries: “I am going to say this once: We are NOT together and have not been together for a very long time. We were certainly NEVER married or engaged. I’ve moved on a long time ago and do not wish to be associated with him.”
  • WWE ranked the 10 best endings in SummerSlam history. Randy Savage and Ms. Elizabeth’s wedding segment from SummerSlam 1991 took the top spot.
  • WWE posted a video of Pete Dunne talking about being a fan of Meiko Satomura and her being in the Mae Young Classic.

Pro Wrestling

  • The full card for the G1 Climax finals at Budokan Hall will be announced later tonight. It will feature A Block winner Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. B Block winner Kota Ibushi in the tournament finals, and Rey Mysterio is also scheduled to wrestle on the show. It will begin at 2 a.m. Eastern time.
  • Revolution Pro Wrestling will be holding television tapings at York Hall in London on September 5 and 6. Details on what the tapings are for have yet to be revealed.
  • Here are the updated lineups for Impact’s TV tapings at the Rebel Entertainment Complex in Toronto on Sunday and Monday:
  • Sunday —
    Pentagon Jr. vs. Sami Callihan in a Mexican Death Match
    Knockouts Champion Su Yung defending against Tessa Blanchard and Allie in a triple threat match
    X Division Champion Brian Cage defending against Fenix
    LAX vs. Tarik & Banks
    Joe Hendry vs. Tyson Dux
  • Monday —
    Pentagon Jr. & Fenix vs. Trevor Lee & Caleb Konley
    Rich Swann vs. Petey Williams
    Brian Cage vs. Kongo Kong
    Matt Sydal vs. Josh Alexander
  • Cage issued a challenge to the Bullet Club for the Chris Jericho Rock ‘N’ Wrestling cruise this October.
  • beIN Sports is back on Verizon Fios after the sides resolved their carriage dispute.
  • Pete Dunne’s match against Flash Morgan Webster at PROGRESS Wrestling’s show in Chicago tonight will be for Dunne’s WWE United Kingdom Championship. AR Fox will be filling in for the injured Kid Lykos as Chris Brookes & Fox defend the PROGRESS Tag Team titles against Flamita & Bandido .

UFC/MMA

Daily Professional Wrestling History: Masahiro Chono wins 1991 G1 Climax

12th Annual F4W Empire Vegas Convention

Greetings friends and fans of the F4W / Wrestling Observer website. The 12th annual F4W / Wrestling Observer Empire Las Vegas Convention~! is just around the corner.

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 Granny’s Doubles Match Classic! Already booked for the show are the teams Mia Yim & Leva Bates, Shotzi Blackheart & Sage Sin, Samantha Heights & Brittany Blake, and Miranda Alize & Kylie Rae. Also just booked for the show is a tag team Grappling Battel~! featuring Bryan Alvarez & ??? vs. The Beach Bums (PeachMachine & Mikey G), You won’t want to miss this show! Check out the convention’s Facebook page for all additional information.

CONTACT INFORMATION