Daily Update: Nakamura, WWE notes, ROH International Cup

THE ROUND-UP

THE LATEST NEWS\

THE LATEST AUDIO

F4W NEWSLETTER: Figure Four Weekly: ROH and NJPW sell out Madison Square Garden

With All In still a few weeks away, the second non-WWE pro wrestling show in the United States to sell over 10,000 tickets since the death of WCW is already official. Tickets for Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling’s G1 Supercard at Madison Square Garden went on sale last week, with the April 6, 2019 event selling out in just a few days. Approximately 9,000 of the 15,000 tickets were sold after the first day of the HonorClub pre-sale, they were up over 12,000 after a second day of pre-sales, and they sold out shortly after being made available to the general public last Friday.

WON NEWSLETTER: (August 20, 2018 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Death of Jim Neidhart, ROH/NJPW sell out MSG

We’ve got a ton of news and analysis on why the next nine months will be so interesting in pro wrestling in the new double-issue of the Observer.

Look at the ROH/NJPW Madison Square Garden sellout and its ramifications. Look at how tickets went, how many were bought by ticket brokers, and how this compares money wise to the biggest non-WWE shows in North America,

Take an extensive look at the life and career of Jim Neidhart. Look back at Neidhart before pro wrestling as a world class shot putter, how he got his start in pro wrestling, and who talked him into trying pro wrestling, his attempts to play in the NFL,

There is an extensive look at the final three days of the G-1 Climax tournament. 

Also look at SummerSlam and NXT Takeover, with a look at the two shows, ticket sales and why Takeover looks to be such a strong event.

Examine the Colt Cabana lawsuit against C.M. Punk, and who saw that one coming.

Updated Rey Mysterio Jr. and WWE notes, the future of Matt Hardy, first match official in the women’s evolution PPV, wrestlers who are learning the production side, details on a lot of new WWE injuries, and matches advertised for 1,000th Smackdown,

Also look at Jeff Jarrett’s lawsuit against Anthem Entertainment.

Take in-depth looks at the ratings of all the major shows, the key demos for the WWE shows and what can be learned from them.

Read the results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.

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SATURDAY NEWS UPDATE

WWE

  • Shinsuke Nakamura told Sky Sports that moving to the United States is a longterm thing for him and his family. He said NJPW hasn’t contacted him and that he’ll probably stay with WWE when his contract expires, laughing after motioning that it depends on the money.
  • ESPN.come spoke to Daniel Bryan for a story about his career since his return to the ring. Bryan mentioned AJ Styles, Goldberg, Johnny Gargano, Roderick Strong, Nakamura, and Andrade “Cien” Almas as people that he wants to face. Bryan also said that he realistically wants to wrestle until he’s 70 years old.
  • Titus O’Neil gave a fan $100 to buy tickets to TakeOver after talking to her at a meet and greet and her saying that she wanted to go to the show but wasn’t sure if she’d be able to do so.
  • Jack Gallagher and Brian Kendrick, who have been aligned with Drew Gulak on 205 Live, are barred from ringside for Cedric Alexander and Gulak’s Cruiserweight Championship match on the SummerSlam pre-show.
  • WWE posted a three-minute behind-the-scenes video with Renee Young before and after she did commentary on Monday’s Raw.
  • During an interview with USA Today, Ronda Rousey was asked what the most difficult aspect of pro wrestling has been for her: “I grew up with apraxia, which is a motor speech disorder. I had years of speech therapy, and I’ve always had problems slurring or mispronouncing my words. In the ring, it’s so important that you speak so clearly and you’re easy to understand and that you don’t falter at all, that it makes me more nervous and more likely to actually mispronounce things. It’s been really great for me to be able to work on it and overcome those fears that I’ve had since I was a little kid.”
  • Jeff Hardy took part in a conference call with the media and gave an update on how he’s feeling: “I’m 40 now and I’ve been pretty banged up lately. Four nights a week is a lot of matches — I mean they add up. And doing that Swanton every night is just rough. I’ve actually cut that out of a lot of events and I’ve just been using the Twist of Fate as a finish and it’s helped my lower back out a lot. I pretty much now save the Swanton for television unless I’m feeling really good at a live event. I’m a little beat up, but my back is a lot better than it was a few weeks ago. I’ve been having this issue with my elbow, like a nerve issue, and my hand was asleep for probably seven weeks and it’s finally woken. But overall, I mean, I’m 40 years old, I feel pretty good to be wrestling the way I am today in 2018.”
  • ESPN.com published a story on AJ Styles and Samoa Joe’s history, their time in TNA, and their WWE Championship match at SummerSlam tomorrow.
  • Deonna Purrazzo tweeted about wrestling in her home state of New Jersey at an NXT house show in Asbury Park last night: “It all paid off tonight, at home. Thanks for the warm welcome Jersey, I’ve missed you #NXTAsburyPark #Virtuosa” Purrazzo & Dakota Kai defeated Bianca Belair & Lacey Evans
  • Bobby Lashley did an interview with Fox News to promote SummerSlam.
  • Mauro Ranallo appeared on this week’s episode of the Edge & Christian podcast.

Pro Wrestling

  • Mark Haskins won ROH’s United States vs. United Kingdom International Cup tournament at today’s Honor Re-United event in Doncaster and will challenge for Jay Lethal’s ROH World Championship in London tomorrow.
  • Jonathan Gresham addressed an incident where he faced “not so clever racism” from a fan at the Honor Re-United show in Edinburgh, Scotland on Thursday: “Fans from tonight’s event in Glasgow that think their not so clever racism is funny, you’re a sad human. And you’re one of the many things wrong with this world. You know who you are(guy in pantera shirt), fix yourself!”
  • Gresham later commented further on the incident and said the fan reached out to him to apologize: “Unfortunately, this is something myself and many others go through regularly. I pray I see that change in my lifetime. The good news, the guy contacted me with what I feel was a genuine apology. I want to thank everyone for the kind words and for reaching out.”
  • On this week’s Art of Wrestling podcast, Colt Cabana briefly mentioned his lawsuit against CM Punk without directly mentioning the lawsuit or Punk. He said he was really stressed out when the news got out and that all he wants is for the situation to be done with and to move on. He said he’s going to try not to say anything else about it until after everything unfolds. Cabana denied the rumors that him being backstage at a WWE show caused the end of his friendship with Punk. Cabana said he hasn’t been backstage at WWE since doing a podcast with Hornswoggle in 2013.
  • Kazuchika Okada, Ultimo Guerrero & Negro Casas defeated Mistico, El Valiente & Diamante Azul at CMLL’s Arena Mexico show last night. The full show is available to watch on YouTube, with entrances for Okada’s match starting at 1:20:58.
  • Los Ingobernables de Japon members Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, EVIL, and BUSHI have been announced for OTT’s Fourth Year Anniversary show at National Stadium in Dublin on October 13.
  • The Montreal Gazette ran a story on Jacques Rougeau’s final match, which is taking place today. The match is with Rougeau’s sons, but he said they don’t want to carry on with the family business.

UFC/MMA

Daily Professional Wrestling History: Bryan vs. Cena, Lesnar vs. Punk at SummerSlam 2013

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