Daily Update: New Day vs. The Elite, ROH & MSG, WWE 2K

THE ROUND-UP

THE LATEST NEWS

THE LATEST AUDIO

We’re looking for reports on tonight’s NXT house show in Louisville to newstips@wrestlingobserver.com.

IMPACT ON POP TV TONIGHT AT 8 P.M. EASTERN

F4W NEWSLETTER: Figure Four Weekly: A week of closure for CM Punk

What promised to be one of the most important seven-day periods of his life ended up being a week of closure for CM Punk. The week began with triumph and, though he was soon discharged and didn’t suffer any serious injuries, ended with Punk being transported to the hospital. On Tuesday, after roughly two hours of deliberation, the jury ruled in Punk and Colt Cabana’s favor in WWE doctor Chris Amann’s defamation lawsuit against them. 

WON NEWSLETTER: WON Preview (June 18, 2018): Omega vs. Okada reaches new heights

A look back at the Okada-Omega IV match is the lead story in the new jam-packed double issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter this week. The story goes back to the previous matches, the story behind the match, the booking of Okada-Naito, the Okada title reign, how Okada is viewed in Japan right now, what is next for New Japan, the future of Chris Jericho in New Japan, New Japan President Howard Meij talks the future and match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results.

Look at UFC 225, C.M. Punk’s second fight, the story behind Yoel Romero’s weight issues, business notes on the show and match-by-match coverage with poll results.

Examine Jeff Hardy’s guilty plea in a DUI case and WWE standards, advertised matches for the Extreme Rules PPV in July, thoughts on a new UFC news talk show, Ronda Rousey contract info, WWE campaigning for an Emmy nomination, a SummerSlam main event update, the Corey Graves/C.M. Punk issue, a Rey Mysterio/WWE note, NXT at the Download Festival, UK show cards, Survivor Series ticket update, Cena and Rock movie updates, wrestler returning to WWE action from injury, tons of talk of the XFL, and Bret Hart talks drama in WWE matches.

Read about the most-watched matches from the past week on the WWE Network, as well as coverage of all the WWE and NXT events over the past week with results, highlights and business notes.

Preview Money in the Bank and Takeover, look at the career that led Ronda Rousey into the UFC Hall of Fame including her pre-UFC career, a new streaming service that will cover dozens of promotions all over the world, and the sad death of Arkangel de la Muerte.

Read more on ROH talking about running Madison Square Garden and all kinds of things going on.

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.

THURSDAY NEWS UPDATE

So the big thing of the day was the showdown between the New Day and The Elite playing Street Fighter. So this is how the story went. It was supposed to be a best of three, with Nick Jackson vs. Kofi Kingston, Kenny Omega vs. Big E and Austin Creed (who goes by this name in the video game world, his real name is actually Austin Watson) vs. Matt Jackson. Kingston and Omega won, and then Woods beat Matt to take two of three.

Omega, playing heel, then said this was really all about he and Woods/Creed who were the real game players. So they did a best of nine series, which, shockingly, came down to the ninth game and Omega won.

As part of the stipulations, the losing team had to eat a pepper. Woods/Creed said he would eat all three for his team since he lost. So he ate two and the crowd was cheering him. Omega got mad people were cheering Woods/Creed even though he lost, and he said anything Woods/Creed could do, he could do better. He ate one and guzzled down water with it. Both guys were feeling sick and they put each other over. It’s been more than 18 months since the two teams have wanted to do something to work with each other. It sounded impossible when both teams wanted it, and probably still is, but who knows.

Lots going on behind-the-scenes on the ROH running Madison Square Garden story. WWE is doing everything possible to block it, and it is possible they will succeed in that goal. A behind-the-scenes game is going on and it’s too early to know for sure how it will turn out.

A huge story on President Trump and his Trump Foundation which is under attack notes that the biggest donors were the McMahons.

2K has a press conference on Monday to announce the cover superstar for WWE 2K 19. The cover superstar will also reveal news about the new game and host a Q&A session. The press conference takes place at 11 a.m. Eastern at www.2K.com.

I will be part of Wrestling MediaCon on 9/8 and 9/9 in Manchester, UK which will include a two-day tournament from Revolution Pro Wrestling and an Impact vs. U.K. show.

WWE

  • For the first time, Kambi is publishing star ratings for an NXT show. You can bet over or under on three matches:
    Ricochet vs. Velveteen Dream ****1/4
    Aleister Black vs. Lars Sullivan ***3/4
    Tommaso Ciampa vs. Johnny Gargano ****3/4   
  • A story on Luke Menzies moving from Rugby League to WWE.

UFC

  • UFC 227 tickets go on sale to the public tomorrow. The double headliner is T.J. Dillashaw vs. Cody Garbrandt for the bantamweight title and Demetrious Johnson vs. Henry Cejudo for the flyweight title. Other fights announced are Cub Swanson vs. Renato Moicano, Derek Brunson vs. Antonio Carlos Jr., Bethe Correia vs. Irene Aldana, Polyana Viana vs. J.J. Aldrich, Ricardo Ramos vs. Kyung Ho Kang, Danielle Taylor vs. Weili Zhang, Bharat Khandare vs. Buren Wuliji and Benito Lopez vs. Ricky Simon. Tickets range from $362.25 down to $62.10.
  • Tickets for the 2018 UFC Hall of Fame ceremony which takes place on 7/5 in Las Vegas at the Pearl at the Palms Hotel, go on sale at 10 a.m. tomorrow. Ronda Rousey and Matt Serra, as well as the Dan Henderson vs. Shogun Rua fight from San Jose, headline the ceremony.     
  • Jimmie Rivera vs. John Dodson has been announced for the 9/8 PPV, although no location is official for that show.
  • Bovada has these odds for prospective fights:
    Jon Jones -350
    Brock Lesnar +260
    Tyron Woodley -140
    Colby Covington +110 

MISCELLANEOUS

  • Teddy Hart & Davey Boy Smith Jr., seconded by Brian Pillman II, face ACH & Rich Swann for MLW on 7/19 in Long Island City, NY. They will also be in he 40 man Battle Riot. 
  • Brad Pickett, a former UFC fighter who retired last year, has announced he is coming out of retirement with the ACB promotion and will be fighting on 8/11. Pickett said he has signed a multiple fight deal with the group. Pickett told MMA Fighting that he wants to face Takeya Mizugaki, who also fights for ACB.
  • A story on women’s pro wrestling in Mexico. (thanks to Chris Cruise)
  • Dynamite Cup is 6/23 in Lafayette, IN at the YWCA Gym.
  • There is a show on Saturday night in Alameda, CA at the Alameda High School with Godfather and Boogeyman in a Battle Royal.
  • Dynamo Pro Wrestling runs tomorrow night 6/15 at the FUBAR in St. Louis, MO. Doors are at 7:00, show starts at 8:00. 
  • CWE has a free show on 8/18 in Arborg, Manitoba as part of the Street Festival headlined by Mentallo. The promotion will also expand to British Columbia will four shows in November including 11/3 in Kelowna, plus shows in Vernon and Golden.
  • WSU on Saturday night in Voorhees, NJ at the Colossal Sports Academy has Mercedes Martinez defending her title against Tessa Blanchard, Kiera Hogan defends her Spirit title against Jordynne Grace and other women’s matches.
  • ECCW on 6/23 in Vancouver BC at the Russian Community Centre of Vancouver with a last man standing match with Sid Sylum vs. Pete Powers.
  • All Star Wrestling on 6/23 in Cloverdale, BC at the Fairgrounds headlined by Chris Masters vs. Tom Lawlor. They will also be honoring Diamond Timothy Flowers and Buddy Wayne.
  • Smash Wrestling on 6/24 in Kitchener, ONT at the Tannery with KC Spinelli vs Xandra Bale and Tarik vs Brent Banks vs. Tyson Dux vs. Sebastian Suave.
  • John “Gootch” Gautieri, a heel infield manager during the 70s for Roller Games passed away this past week. He was believed to be 86. Gautieri as I recall started out as a referee, then he became a heel referee and transitioned from there into being the heel manager of the Australian Kangaroos, who actually did play in Australia, and later the New York Bombers, who never played in New York.
  • Smash vs. CZW on 7/14 in London, ONT at Music Hall.
  • AAW on 6/23 in Merrionette Park, IL at 115 Bourbon Street has ACH vs. David Starr for the AAW title, Kimber Lee vs. Kylie Rae for the women’s title, Trevor Lee vs. Trey Miguel for the Heritage title, Sami Callihan vs. Brody King, Hudson Envy vs. Su Yung, plus Eddie Kingston, Colt Cabana, Curt Stallion, Jake Something, Stephen Wolf, Moose, Myron Reed, Paco, MJF and Ace Romero.
  • Hoosier Pro Wrestling on 6/30 at Aaron’s Lot at 2675 N. National Road in Columbus, IN featuring Rob Conway and Flash Flanagan. They are asking people to bring canned food to shock the Can Food Drive. Bring your own lawn chairs, but no coolers.
  • Legacy Fighting on 7/24 in Newport News, VA on AXS TV, headlined by James Nakashima (8-0) in a welterweight title match with Kyle Stewart (10-0).
  • Mick Foley will be appearing on the Svengoolie show on MeTV at 8 p.m. Eastern on Saturday night talking about his 20 Years of Hell talk show tour and will also be a contestant in a game show called “The Three Fright Facts of Foley.”
  • WWN and IPW Hardcore on 7/14 in Port Richey, FL at Gill Dawg headlined by Southern Posse vs. Dirty Blondes.
  • A Go Fund Me campaign has been set up by IHWE for one of its founders, Danny Casey, who wrestled as Bryan Balls Ryder. He had emergency heart valve surgery on Sunday and has three kids, including a baby girl born a few weeks ago and has a long recovery ahead.
  • A correction from a report earlier in the week, Grimm in Australia is not Simon Grimm, the former Simon Gotch, but an Australian wrestler who also wrestles as Matt Basso.
  • Will Ospreay is working 7/28 in Victoria, Australia for Gippsland Pro Wrestling.
  • House of Hardcore has booked Madison Eagles for all three days of their Australia tour in July, as well as Shazza McKenzie for Sydney and Queensland and Caveman Ugg for Sydney.
  • Krackerjack and Clem Bastow from the Behind the Belt podcast have a show called Night Massacre on 6/16 during the Night Mass programme at the Dark Mofo Festival in Hobart, Tasmania with Gino Gambino vs. Mad Dog McRea in a death match.
  • Pro Wrestling Phoenix from last night in Omaha, NE: Lars Metzger & Johnny Ruckus b Paul & Joey Daniels, Purple b Robert Storm, Duke Cornell b Brett Bishop, Pat Powers & Devin Carter b Tim Boston & Carson Rockwell, Moonshine Russell b El Bigote, Con Aritest b Willy Sweet, Branden Juarez b Preston Maxwell in a street fight
  • Some video from short films with Brian Kendrick, Christopher Daniels, Rocky Romero, MVP, JTG, Kat Waters, Shelly Martinez, The Hobo, and others. Stacking Pesos (final cameo), Hollywood Girls (2nd cameo), Team Asoka (first cameo)
  • A story on boxer Mitch Green, talking about negotiations through Lou Thesz to do a pro wrestling match in Japan.

Daily Professional Wrestling History: The Steiners win WWF Tag Team titles

12th Annual F4W Empire Vegas Convention

Greetings friends and fans of the F4W / Wrestling Observer website. It’s time to announce the details of the 12th annual F4W / Wrestling Observer Empire Las Vegas Convention~!

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 Gladys Gibson Doubles Match Classic! Already booked for the show are the teams Mia Yim & Leva Bates, Lufisto & Shotzi Blackheart, Samantha Heights & Brittany Blake, and Miranda Alize & Kylie Rae. Kris Wolf will also be appearing along with many more future stars. There may even be a classic star or two making an appearance. You won’t want to miss this show! Check out the convention’s Facebook page for all additional information.

CONTACT INFORMATION