Daily Update: Neville, Bisping talks retirement, Eddie Guerrero

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The Latest from the F4W Staff

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Raw is from Atlanta. Roman Reigns returns on the show and there will be a three-way with Bayley vs. Mickie James vs. Dana Brooke for the final spot on Team Raw for the Survivor Series.

Smackdown and 205 Live will take place Tuesday from Charlotte. Matches announced are New Day vs. Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn, Baron Corbin vs. Sin Cara and Natalya vs. Charlotte Flair for the women’s title.

FIGURE FOUR WEEKLY:Figure Four Weekly 11/6/2017: Examining Jericho and Omega’s Tokyo Dome matchup

In a match that seemed impossible not all that long ago and was still pretty shocking when the announcement was made, Chris Jericho will face Kenny Omega for New Japan Pro Wrestling at the Tokyo Dome on January 4th. That was confirmed in a video at NJPW’s Power Struggle event last weekend after Omega had defeated Trent Barreta to retain the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship.

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WRESTLING OBSERVER NEWSLETTER:November 13, 2017 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Chris Jericho makes surprise return to NJPW, GSP returns, more

The story of how the Kenny Omega vs. Chris Jericho match came to be, including what is and isn’t true regarding Jericho’s contract with WWE, is one of the lead stories of a loaded up double-issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. This issue also has coverage of UFC 217, NJPW Power Struggle and Impact Bound for Glory, an update on Survivor Series, a look at the career of Manami Toyota, and the last two months of business breakdowns for WWE, ROH and Impact.

The lead story details the announcement of Jericho vs. Omega, the video, the twitter feud, where the idea of the match came from and the steps that had to be taken to get it approved. Look at Jericho’s last WWE contract, what the nature of the NJPW deal really is, Omega’s NJPW contract and when it expires and his thoughts on 2018, and why NJPW made the match.

Check out the business of New Japan World, the lineup for the Tokyo Dome and why the matches are taking place, the goals for the Tokyo Dome, the NJPW return to the U.S. and pitfalls of the date and place, as well as a look the upcoming NJPW tag team tournament and full schedule.

Look at the return of GSP, the MSG UFC show, the three title changes, the PPV numbers, the live numbers, TV numbers, and other business notes. Plus, look at the future for the three weight classes impacted by the title changes and the reality of the GSP performance, full coverage of the show with poll results.

Read the update on Survivor Series, the Owens-Zayn incident that resulted in them being sent home, the updated card, ticket sales, and this week’s WWE title change backstory.

This issue has an update on the concussion lawsuit including new claims by attorney Konstantine Kyros about wrestlers who have suffered from CTE and living wrestlers having problems with dementia, more on Ric Flair’s 30 for 30, lots of news on the departure of Austin Aries from WWE, the common theme of those being let go, WWE star gets a new TV non-wrestling show and why this War Games is really nothing like the original.

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WON BACK ISSUE: Nov. 17, 1997 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: The Montreal Screwjob, pt. 1 and Nov. 24, 1997 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: The Montreal Screwjob, pt. 2

It will go down in history as the single most famous finish of a pro wrestling match in the modern era. Twenty or 30 years from now this story, more than any famous wrestler jumping promotions, more than any prominent death, and more than any record setting house, will be remembered vividly by all who watched it live, and remembered as legendary from all who hear about it later. Through the magic of videotape, the last minute of this match will live forever, and be replayed literally millions of times by tens of thousands of people all looking for the most minute pieces of detail to this strange puzzle.

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MONDAY NEWS UPDATE

Bryan and I will be back tonight talking Raw, Jack Swagger, Michael Bisping, Survivor Series and the rest of today’s wrestling and MMA news with Wrestling Observer radio. You can send in questions for tonight’s show to mailbag@wrestlingobserver.com.

A huge storm is expected tonight in the Seattle area. If there is a power failure due to the storm, we may not be able to do a show. We’re sending out best to Bryan, Vinny, Granny and everyone else in the Seattle area.

Today’s MMA Hour was one of the most news laden in a long time, with the announcement of Jack Swagger signing with Bellator and Michael Bisping announcing his retirement as of the 3/17 show in London. Bisping, who first faces Kelvin Gastelum on 11/25 in Shanghai, China, said that he feels fine, he’s in shape and has no injuries from the GSP fight last week. He said he had planned to retire in London, but this fight came up and it’ll be his next to last fight. Both Bisping and Swagger (as a mystery guest) were on the show live to talk about their decision.

The Shield’s first match back together is tonoight on Raw tonight against The Miz & Sheamus & Cesaro as the main event. Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman are on the show to talk about A.J. Styles. The final person on the Raw team for Survivor Series will be determined tonight. The decision has been going back-and-forth between Bayley and Paige (who is in Atlanta) so we’ll see how that ends up.

PWInsider has reported that WWE is talking with Neville about a return. We do know that he had plans outside that were being held up because WWE was not going to release him from his contract.

Today is the 12th anniversary of the death of Eddy Guerrero. I’d like to talk about him tonight on the show, so if you’ve got any Guerrero questions you can send them to mailbag@wrestlingobserver.com.

Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff did some tweets that have gotten people talking:

Hogan wrote: “When it rains it pours. I will never say I’m bored again. Business is getting crazy off the chain. Better than ever, one more time around the block! Thank u God. I am grateful.”

Bischoff: “Game just changed. Stay tuned.” 

WWE

  • Right now the Raw invasion of Smackdown is scheduled for tomorrow’s show in Charlotte. Due to scheduling, they were handcuffed and couldn’t have done it the last two weeks even if they wanted to.   
  • Daddy’s Home 2, which John Cena has a decent role in, not one of the main players but he gets a lot of lines late in the movie, was No. 2 at $30 million in its opening weekend. Thor was No. 1 at $56.6 million. The movie got killed by critics. I saw it last night with my family and everyone laughed a lot, although I can see why it got killed by critics as well. The show did much better with audiences in exit polls. 
  • WWE has been pushing the Bill Goldberg 24 documentary which debuts tonight after Raw on the WWE Network.
  • Rob Conway is in Orlando coaching at the Performance Center this week.  
  • Slam Wrestling has a story on Jim Ross.
  • Cesaro talks about the upcoming show in Abu Dhabi, facing Kurt Angle and the Shield, his horrific injury to his teeth and his tag team partnership with Sheamus. (thanks to Mike Kuzmuk)

UFC

  • In a fight he asked for last week in his post-match promo, Ovince Saint Preux was announced as facing Ilir Latifi on the 1/27 FOX show from Charlotte.

MISCELLANEOUS

  • The NWA title match streamed live yesterday with Tim Storm retaining over Nick Aldis on the Championship Wrestling from Hollywood tapings. There are 38,000 people who have seen it so far.
  • A story on best people to do a 30 for 30 piece on wrestling.
  • The Bullet Club is doing an Ask the Elite thing on the Highspots Wrestling Network with Kenny Omega, Cody, Hangman Page, Marty Scurll and the Young Bucks. It starts at 7 p.m. Eastern time and is scheduled to run for four hours. 
  • The participants in the ROH autograph sessions this weekend which start 90 minutes before the show are:
    Friday in San Antonio: Kenny Omega (only show next week he’s booked on), Cody, Young Bucks, Marty Scurll, Esfinge, Rey Cometa and Deonna Purrazzo
    Saturday in Dallas: Cody, Alex Shelley, Chris Sabin, Esfinge, Rey Cometa, Dalton Castle, Jonathan Gresham and Karen Q
    Sunday in Oklahoma City: Cody, Young Bucks,Marty Scurll, Kenny King, Jay Lethal, Silas Young, Deonna Purrazzo
            Bully Ray will be at all the shows signing autographs during intermission.
  • We don’t have any details on this yet, but Rosemary appeared to be injured yesterday at the Shimmer tapings in Berwyn, IL. According to a live report by Lance LeVine, she was outside the ring during a lumberjack match and Vanessa Kraven did a big dive to the floor and Rosemary’s leg got crunched under her while catching. They helped her out and she at the time couldn’t put any weight on her leg. We haven’t heard anything more on this today.
  • Jiu Jitsu world champion Mackenzie Dern, who was one of the most talked about women on the MMA independent scene, has been announced to face Kaline Medeiros in her debut with Invicta on the 12/8 show, which airs on Fight Pass. Dern is now 4-0 in fights that have mostly aired on AXS TV. Her goal is to reach UFC by the end of next year.
  • MLW announced Joey Ryan for its 12/7 show in Orlando, facing Maxwell Jacob Feinstein for the show at Gilt Nightclub. That’s added to a Matt Riddle vs. Tom Lawlor main event plus a no DQ match with Shane Strickland & John Hennigan vs. Jimmy Havoc & Darby Allin.
  • Chuck Shepherd, who at one time was something of a well known writer, and was a big wrestling fan and Observer reader for decades, is retired and has some wrestling items from 1982-94 that he doesn’t want to throw away but would like for people to have, so if you’re interested and willing to pay shipping you can contact him at weird@tampabay.rr.com.
  • Revolution Pro Wrestling announced they would be having a tournament at their 1/6 and 1/7 shows in London to crown their first women’s champion. 
  • Total Combat Wrestling from last night in Milano, Italy: Jacob b Carlo Birra in an extreme rules match, Rocco Gioiello b Claudio Campari, Antonio Bellavita b Marieddu, II Marchese b Death Mask, Scandolo & Mefisto b Black Ice & Fenice Rossa. (thanks to Alessio Garbini)
  • Hermie Sadler, who was a NASCAR star and worked with TNA for years, as an announcer and promoted a lot of house shows for them, visited Jeff Jarrett over the weekend in rehab and the two had photos taken. Jarrett looked a lot better than he has in some time.
  • Thunder Bay Wrestling Supercard on 11/23 at the CLE Coliseum with Ken Anderson, Jessie Godderz and Nicole Matthews. 
  • A story on Kazuchika Okada wrestling over the weekend in Melbourne, Australia.
  • Tommy Dreamer spoke with The Wrestling Estate ahead of this Saturday’s House of Hardcore show in Philly, the first of his shows to be streamed live (for free) on Twitch. He discussed the deal, plans for WrestleMania weekend, Austin Aries returning, Bully Ray retiring and much more.
  • IPW announced Jimmy Jacobs, Christopher Daniels, Doug Williams and Jimmy Havoc for their show on 3/18 in Clapham Grand in Clapham, London, which is their biggest show of next year.

Today in Professional Wrestling History: Rated RKO win WWE tag titles

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