Daily Update: Mistico, WBD, weekend schedule

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This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

  • The new issue of the Wrestling Observer is up on the site right now:
  • The updated details of the biggest lawsuit that ever faced TKO
  • Build to SummerSlam and All In
  • Updated PPV numbers on Forbidden Door, Money in the Bank and Diaz vs. Masvidal
  • G-1 is starting and a look at the first week of the tournament
  • The first Fantastica Mania show in the U.S.
  • The latest moves by Janel Grant’s legal team regarding Vince McMaahon’s doctor, the motion, why they are doing this and more on Vince’s doctor including bigger celebrities than Vince that he’s worked with along with legendary fighters
  • Pro Wrestling NOAH runs Budokan Hall with A.J. Styles
  • A look at the N-1 tournament
  • Longtime NOAH star retires
  • NOAH star joining New Japan and Bullet Club
  • A look at Marigold’s biggest show in its history with Iyo Sky plus Sareee vs Giulia
  • Giulia timeline updated of going to WWE
  • Upcoming Marigold PPV shows
  • A look at the Category A Observer awards and favorites after six months of 2024, who should win MVP in pro wrestling and MMA, match & fight of the year
  • The closing months of  WCW looked at as Lenita Erickson says she played a part in killing Eric Bischoff’s TV deal that would have kept the company alive
  • Lots of talk regarding different negotiations to get the company
  • The most detailed look at the ratings from the past week
  • What place did the pro wrestling and MMA shows finish in the ratings
  • How the different shows did  with ratings, segment-by-segment, competition and placings as well as other notes on viewership
  • Lots of big things coming to Arena Mexico
  • Leyenda de Plata tournament
  • 11 companies join together with a united front to government
  • Death of Ken Hoffman and the major title change that happened because of what he wrote in the newspaper
  • Notes on a number of wrestling movies and documentaries
  • MLW with big show with lots of CMLL talent
  • More on Bloodsport with WWE talent
  • TNA looking at biggest crowd in years
  • As AEW talks with WBD about  a new deal, lots of things are going on in that world
  • International ratings and streaming numbers
  • Advance ticket sales for all upcoming AEW & WWE shows
  • More on Nate Diaz lawsuit against promoter
  • Peacock raising prices
  • WWE Survivor Series notes
  • Lots of new WWE dates
  • Cody Rhodes talks AEW

This Week’s Wresting Observer Newsletter Back Issue

Friday Update

  • Garrett and I just finished our show talking all the major news from the week, from SummerSlam, All In, a giant weekend of events, biggest draws of the 60s, 70s and 80s, the last days of WCW, Ospreay vs. MJF, NBA & WNBA talks and more. Bryan and I will be back Sunday talking about a huge weekend of wrestling.
  • Mistico’s singles unbeaten streak which goes back several years is in jeopardy tonight in the Leyenda de Plata tournament at Arena Mexico. Mistico is in a singles tournament with Titan, Templario, Neon, Star Jr., Fugaz, Virus and Magia Blanca. The winner faces last week’s tournament winner, Angel de Oro in the tournament final on 7/26. The key is that most think Titan will be booked against  Death  Triangle from AEW in a trios match next Friday and to do so he can’t win tonight’s tournament.
  • Regarding WBD and the NBA, WBD has until Monday to match the  $1.8 million per year deal. Bill Simmons today said that Amazon as part of the deal will pay several years in advance with the idea of making it hard for WBD to match as they’d have to pay billions in t theory right now to be a match, although I easily can see this ending up in court.
  • There is a huge weekend of shows, with two Smackdowns taped tonight, a TNA PPV tomorrow, a Dragon Gate big show, UFC, Collision debuts in Arlington, TX, Jake Paul vs. Mike Perry and two nights of G-1 in Osaka.
  • Rampage tonight on TNT at 10 p.m.
    Kris Statlander vs. Sydni Wiannell
    Penta & Fenix vs. Private Party
    Chris Jericho & Big Bill vs. Outrunners
    Orange Cassidy & Kyle O’Reilly vs Mike Bennett & Matt Taven non-title
    Minoru Suzuki vs. The Butcher
  • We’re looking for reports on these shows:
    *Smackdown tonight in Omaha (everything but what airs live)
    *AEW Collision in Arlington, TX (everything but what airs live)
    *TNA TV tapings Sunday in Montreal.
    We’re looking for results, angles, finishes and highlights to dave@wrestlingobserver.com
  • We are doing weekend polls on the TNA show and both nights of G-1, thumbs up, down or middle along with a best and worst match to dave@wrestlingobserver.com
  • Hulk Hogan tells Bill Apter that they shouldn’t have ended  Goldberg’s streak.
  • Opening night of G-1 is at 4 a.m. Eastern this morning from Osaka live:
    Shota Umino vs Callum Newman
    Tetsuya Naito vs. Shingo Takagi
    Sanada vs. Jake Lee
    Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Great O’Khan
    Gabe Kidd vs. Evil
    El Phantasmo vs. Henare
    Jeff Cobb vs. Hirooki Goto
    Konosuke Takeshita vs. Yota Tsuji
    David Finlay vs. Yuya Uemura
    Oleg Boltin vs. Ren Narita
  • The second show will be late Saturday night at 1 a.m. also from Osaka.
  • UFC on Saturday from the  Apex on ESPN starting at 5:30 p.m. Eastern
    Mohammed Usman (236.5) vs. Thomas Petersen (258.5)
    Luanaa Carolina (125.5) vs. Lucie Pudilova (126)
    Loik Radzhabov (155.5) vs. Trey Ogden (156)
    Miranda Maverick (125.5) vs. Dione Barbosa (125.5)
    Brian Kelleher (136) vs. Cody Gibson (136)
    Jeong Yeong Lee (145.5) vs. Hyder Amil (145)
    Doo Ho Choi (146) vs. Bill Algeo (146)
    Cody Durden (125.5) vs. Bruno Silva (126)
    Kurt Holobaugh (155) vs. Kaynan Kruschewsky (154)
    Steve Garcia (144.5) vs. Seung Woo Choi (145)
    Amanda Lemox (116) vs. Virnda Jandiroba  (115.5)
    The scheduled semifinal with Brad Tavares vs Jun Yong Park was canceled when Park pulled out due to a medical issue which took place after he had made weight this morning.
  • Nicole Matthews and Max Caster are both off tonight’s Defy show in Seattle. Matthews is off due to an immigration issue and Caster had a travel issue coming from New York with flights canceled. Anthony Bowens will be on the show. The Defy show streams live at 11 p.m. Eastern on the Defy YouTube channel.
  • Jake Paul weighed in at 200 and Mike Perry at 196 for their fight tomorrow night inTampa. Paul at first came in at 200.4, missing the 200 max. He came a half hour later, under a towel, and made weight. This is the first time Perry has boxed under regular rules since his debut fight in 2015.  Uriah Hall is facing former  WBC champion Julio Cesar Chavesz Jr. while Amanda Serrano faces Stevie Morgan.
  • In today’s Observer we listed only John Tenta, Chris Jericho and Jon Moxley as the only wrestlers who have worked in Madison Square Garden, The Tokyo Dome, Arena Mexico and Wembley Stadium (the hardest of the four since only two shows have taken place there, one last year and one in 1992). There is actually a fourth, Juice Robinson.
  • It was noted to us that the reason the Dynamite show on ITV 4 on 7/5 with Will Ospreay vs. Daniel Garcia did lower numbers than usual (Ospreay main events of late had delivered a 31 percent increase over the usual Dynamite number) was because it went head-to-head with the finish of France vs Portugal in Euro 2024 (thanks to Dusan Manojiovic)
  • Tom Lawlor vs. Brutus Creed is scheduled for the 7/28 Bloodsport show in Brooklyn.
  • TNA Digital Media champion AJ Francis faces Real1 Nzo Amore for the title on tomorrow’s  edition of Memphis Wrestling.
  • WWE announced house show cards for 8/27 in Oberhausen, 8/28 in Stuttgart and 8/’29 in Frankfurt, Germany with Cody Rhodes vs. AJ Styles, Bayley vs. Nia Jax and Randy Orton & Kevin Owens & LA Knight vs. The Bloodline.  Advertised for 8/30 in Berlin, which is a Smackdown taping is Gunther & Ludwig Kaiser vs. Sami Zayn & Ilja Dragunov and Sheaus vs. Santos Escobar.
  • Cody Garbrandt vs Miles Johns is expected to take place on the 10/12 UFC show at the Apex.
  • Marcin Tybura vs. Serghe Spivac in a heavyweight rematch is scheduled as the main event of an 8/10 show at the Apex.
  • Kamille, who hasn’t wrestled for a long time, will be on the 8/9 Coastal Championship Wrestling show in Kissimmee, FL.