Daily Update: Mean Gene special, Baba memorial card, UFC/ESPN

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We’re looking for reports tonight from the WWE Raw house show in Charleston, WV and the Impact tapings in Mexico City to newstips@wrestlingobserver.com.

We’ll be doing a poll this weekend on tomorrow’s NXT UK Takeover show from Blackpool, 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.

MLW ON BEINSPORTS AT 8 P.M. EASTERN TIME

  • Tommy Dreamer vs. Brian Pillman Jr. in a Singapore Cane match

NEW JAPAN WORLD PRO WRESTLING ON AXS TV AT 8 P.M. EASTERN TIME

  • Kazuchika Okada vs. Jay White
  • Will Ospreay vs. Kota Ibushi

CMLL FROM ARENA MEXICO TONIGHT AT 9:30 P.M. EASTERN TIME

  • Cancerbero & Raziel & Disturbio vs. Robin & Star Jr. & Super Astro Jr.
  • Drone & Esfinge & Guerrero Maya Jr vs. Kawato San & Sagrado & Tiger  
  • Polvora vs. Felino
  • Blue Panther & Rey Cometa & Triton vs. Mascara Ano 2000 & Rey Bucanero &Shocker
  • Kraneo & Volcano & Stuka Jr. vs. Mephisto & Ephesto & Luciferno
  • Euforia & Niebla Roja & Valiente vs. Bestia del Ring & Rush & Villano IV

IMPACT AT 10 P.M. EASTERN ON THE PURSUIT CHANNEL

NEW JAPAN WORLD PRO WRESTLING ON AXS TV AT 10 P.M. EASTERN TIME

  • Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi vs. Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii

Saturday we’re looking for reports from the Raw show in Knoxville, Smackdown in Johnson City, TN, NXT in Orlando, ROH TV tapings at Center Stage in Atlanta (Mark & Jay Briscoe vs. ? for tag titles, Nick Aldis vs. PJ Black for NWA title, Kelly Klein vs. Rockelle Vaughn for WOH title, Mark Haskins vs. Bandido, Sumie Sakai vs. Jenny Rose vs Madison Rayne, Tracy Williams vs. David Finlay, Silas Young vs. Eli Isom) and Impact tapings in Mexico City to newstips@wrestlingobserver.com.

WWE NXT UK TAKEOVER BLACKPOOL AT 2 P.M. EASTERN ON SATURDAY ON THE WWE NETWORK

  • Pete Dunne vs. Joe Coffey for UK title
  • Trent Seven & Tyler Bate vs. James Drake & Zack Gibson to determine first UK tag champions
  • Rhea Ripley vs. Toni Storm for UK women’s title
  • Eddie Dennis vs. Dave Mastiff no DQ
  • Travis Banks vs. Jordan Devlin

UFC THREE-HOUR SPECIAL ON ESPN AT 8 P.M. EASTERN TIME

  • Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Conor McGregor
  • Demetrious Johnson vs. Henry Cejudo
  • TJ Dillashaw vs. Cody Garbrandt I
  • TJ Dillashaw vs. Cody Garbrandt II

Sunday we’re looking for reports from Raw in Huntsville, AL, Smackdown in Lexington, KY, the NXT TV tapings in Blackpool, England, and the ROH show in Concord, NC.

ROH ON SUNDAY AT 7 P.M. EASTERN FROM THE CABARRUS ARENA IN CONCORD, NC ON HONOR CLUB

  • Jay Lethal vs. Dalton Castle for ROH title
  • Kelly Klein vs. Jenny Rose street fight for WOH tilte
  • Marty Scurll & Body King & PCO vs. Silas Young & Mark & Jay Briscoe
  • Jeff Cobb vs. Shane Taylor vs. Jonathan Gresham vs. Rhett Titus Proving Ground mach
  • Bandido vs. PJ Black
  • Matt Taven & TK O’Ryan & Vinny Marseglia vs. Shane Helms & Delirious & Luchasaururs in a Proving Ground mach
  • Baretta & Chuckie T vs. Juice Robinson & David Finlay
  • Mark Haskins vs. Beer City Bruiser

Monday is Raw in Memphis.

Tuesday has Smackdown and 205 Live tapings in Birmingham.

F4W NEWSLETTER: Figure Four Weekly: All Elite Wrestling becomes official

As the clock struck midnight and we entered 2019, All Elite Wrestling finally became official. Weeks of speculation culminated with AEW being formally announced at the end of a Being the Elite episode that was released at midnight Pacific time on January 1, 2019. With that came the announcement of Double or Nothing, which is the sequel to All In. While there are plenty of questions about what the roster for AEW will look like, the initial group of wrestlers has started to come into focus. 

WON NEWSLETTER: January 14, 2018 Observer Newsletter: All Elite Wrestling details, Tokyo Dome, more

The most detailed coverage of All Elite Wrestling heads up the new issue of the Wrestling Observer. Take an extensive look at the promotion, from its beginnings, background on its owners, its front office structure, senior management, contracts with the top guys, different concessions, other stars being talked with, details behind the Chris Jericho signing, an update on Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi, and more on proposed television deals.

Look at the New Japan WrestleKingdom show. Read about the top matches, changing of talent, MSG show, Bullet Club changes, business surrounding WrestleKingdom big shows of 2019 and early 2020 as well as full coverage of the Dome show with match-by-match coverage, star ratings and poll results.

Read about the life of “mean” Gene Okerlund, his background before wrestling, his death and his wrestling career.

Look at the NXT UK Takeover show, update on several injured WWE stars, most watched WWE videos of 2018, new executive hire, and an injured wrestler may become an announcer.

Go in-depth on the Jon Jones situation covering the test results, how the story changed, what the experts said, what is misleading as well as the world of drug testing and PED usage.

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.

FRIDAY NEWS UPDATE

For this weekend, John Cena is on the Raw tour shows and both he and Ronda Rousey are scheduled for Raw in Memphis on Monday. On the Smackdown side, Daniel Bryan is working all of the shows. Rey Mysterio joins the tour in Lexington while Randy Orton is only listed for TV in Birmingham. It’s a weird week because the Smackdown crew goes on the road Saturday, but they don’t have Monday show meaning in theory they could show up at Raw.

There originally was a Smackdown house show on Monday in Chattanooga but it was canceled.

Kane will be at tomorrow night’s Raw house show in Knoxville to accept the $100,000 donation by WWE to the families of first responders. 

The movie “Fighting With My Family” makes its world premiere on 1/28 at the Sundance Film Festival prior to the 2/14 theatrical open. Dwayne Johnson and Dany Garcia will be attending the screening along with the cast of the movie. 

AXS is promoting a new Friday Night Fights block that starts next week, with New Japan at 8 p.m., Women of Wrestling at 9 p.m. and live MMA at 10 p.m.

Psycho Clown debuts on the Impact tapings tonight in Mexico City.

Based on the Oxford dictionary of the English language, the word “jabroni” is now an official word for loser.

WWE

  • There will be a special on Mean Gene Okerlund called “Let Me Tell You Something Gene” that will air following Raw this Monday on the WWE Network.
  • WWE has video of Pete Dunne, Finn Balor and Charlotte Flair talking about the new Performance Center in the UK. Full video of the press conference, including comments from Triple H can be seen here.
  • There are rumors that Ronda Rousey could be voicing Sonya Blade in the upcoming Mortal Kombat 11 video game.
  • Shawn Michaels, in an interview with the Daily Star, had high praise for Jordan Devlin.
  • There’s footage of R-Truth and Carmella’s all expenses paid vacation to WWE Headquarters.
  • The Calgary Flames have a player named Elias Lindholm, and whenever he scores they play the WWE’s Elias theme song. UFC has an Elias (Theodorou) and he’s a big wrestling fan as well. (thanks to Ryan Pike)
  • WWE Network Hidden Gems has uploaded Jerry Lawler & Greg Gagne vs. Riki Choshu & Masa Saito from May 14, 1988. Choshu & Saito were originally to face Shawn Michaels & Marty Jannetty on that show, except Michaels & Jannetty quit the promotion to join WWF one month earlier. (thanks to Brian Hoops)
  • We noted the weak secondary market in the new Observer for this year’s Royal Rumble. There is now a two-for-one ticket offer in Phoenix using the code: TMN241

UFC

  • ESPN+ has announced on-demand UFC content including the Conor McGregor vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov fight, a compilation of the 25 greatest fights in UFC history, UFC Reloaded, UFC Main Event, UFC Unleashed, UFC Fight Flashback and UFC Top Ten as well as all of UFC 229.
  • ESPN will be airing a three-hour UFC block tomorrow night at 8 p.m. as noted up top.
  • Ariel Helwani’s show will start airing weekly on ESPN 2 and on occasion at ESPNews. It will air every Tuesday night at 12 a.m. ET.
  • Anthony Smith, who will face Jon Jones at UFC 235, says he will do everything in his power to become a UFC champion.
  • Anderson Silva would like to see the UFC reinstate the TRT exemption policy
  • Cody Garbrandt will face Pedro Munhoz at UFC 235 on March 2.
  • Daniel Teymur will face Chris Fishgold at UFC Prauge on February 23.
  • Thomas Almeida vs. Marlon Vera was added to the 3/2 show in Las Vegas.

MISCELLANEOUS

  • Here is the current card for the Giant Baba Memorial Show taking place on February 19:
    Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Taka Michinoku vs. Masanobu Fuchi, Yoshiakai Fujiwara and Yuma Aoyagi
    SANADA & BUSHI vs. Jake Lee & Koji Iwamoto vs. Ayato Yoshida & Shota Umino
    A Giant Baba Memorial battle royal including Mitsuo Momota, Kim Duk, MEN’s Teioh, TARU, Ryujuki Hijikata,  Yuto Aijima and more.
    Satoshi Kojima, Yuji Nagata and Omasu Nishinura vs. Jun Akiyama, Takao Omori and Taiyo Kea
    Mil Mascaras & Dos Caras vs. Kaz Hayashi and NOSAWA
    Also announced for the show: Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tomoaki Honma, Great Kojika, Daisuke Sekimoto, Naomichi Marufuji, Kazushi Miyamoto, Tomohiko Hashimoto, Atushi Onita and Kendo Kashin.
  • Sean Atkinson, who was one of the top stars of the old RollerJam on TNN, and is the son of famous skaters Buddy Atkinson Jr. and Druscilla Scott, passed away on Wednesday from a bleeding ulcer and compound liver problems at the age of 51. His grandfather was Buddy Atkinson Jr. and grandmother was Bobbie Johnstone, who were two of the biggest stars from the 50s when Roller Derby was big on network television. Buddy Jr. was the best skating big man I ever saw. Sean was a hard working super talent who would have been a superstar had Roller Derby and Roller Games not pretty much died by point he’d have been in his prime years. Sean was married to Denise Loden, who was the top female star of RollerJam, and in the dying days of that promotion they did an angle that led to them “getting married” after Sean was a top heel and she was promoted like the babyface Golden Girl of that promotion. He grew up around Roller Derby and lived and breathed it, but had nowhere to go to really ply his craft. (thanks to Tom Wersderfer and Curtis Minato)
  • Reality of Wrestling has a video of Booker T training for a match against Rex Andrews that will take place tomorrow in Texas.
  • Minoru Suzuki visited Yoshihiro Takayama in the hospital recently.
  • The first three seasons of Lucha Underground are now available on DVD.
  • CHIKARA has a new mobile game out now for iOS and Android called Kingdom of Trios.
  • Mecha Wolf 450 is working on 3/2 in Perth, Western Australia against Craven for the AAW promotion.
  • World Series Wrestling announced debuting a women’s title on their next tour with a six-woman tournament over three days. Shazza McKenzie, Indi Hartwell, Savannah Summers and Jordynne Grace are announced so far in the tournament. Booked for the tour are Christopher Daniels, Scorpio Sky, Frankie Kazarian, Marty Scurll, Brody King and Flip Gordon. 
  • Eli Drake  comes to Australia for the FWA show in Sydney on 2/2. (thanks to Kevin Chiat)
  • Jonah Rock, who starts next month with WWE, is being billed as having his last match in Australia on 2/2 in Adelaide for Wrestle Rampage.
  • MCW on 1/18 in Joppa, MD at the MCW Arena has Jimmy Hart and Scott Steiner appearing, plus Scarlett Bordeaux will wrestle. Dante Caballero vs. Brandon Scott for the MCW title headlines.
  • IPW Hardcore Wrestling tomorrow night in Tampa at the Cuban Civic Club headlined by a 20 man weapons Battle Royal and Steve Madison vs. Mike Sullivan in a cage match.
  • Combate Americas has a 2/8 show on DAZN from Mexicali, BC at 10 p.m. Eastern headlined by Rafa Garcia (8-0) vs Edgar Escarrega (5-2-1) in a lightweight fight.
  • Evolve announced a 3/15 show in Melrose, MA.
  • Superkick’d tonight in Toronto at the Great Hall.
  • Jesse Ventura makes his first pro wrestling convention appearance on 3/9 in Queens, NY at the Big Event at the LaGuardia Plaza Hotel in Elmhurst, NY.
  • Court Bauer has been teasing a new international TV deal for MLW.
  • Dynamo Pro Wrestling on 1/19 in DeSoto, MO at the Knights of Columbus Hall and 1/26 in St. Louis at the Concordia Turners Gym.
  • CWE announced it will do a 38 day tour across Canada from 3/26 to 5/2 with shows in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, and Ontario.

Daily Pro Wrestling History: The first episode of Monday Night Raw

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