Daily Update: No Mercy odds, Mayu Iwatani injury, Jeff Hardy

THE ROUND-UP

The Latest from the F4W Staff

NEWS

AUDIO

We’re doing polls this weekend on ROH Death Before Dishonor, NJPW Destruction in Kobe and WWE No Mercy. You can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match for all three shows to dave@wrestlingobserver.com.

We’re also looking for reports on these shows:

  • WWE Smackdown last night in Rio Rancho, NM
  • Big Time Wrestling Friday night in Raleigh
  • Big Time Wrestling Saturday night in Spartanburg
  • WWE Smackdown tonight in Las Cruces, NM
  • WWE NXT tonight in Amherst, MA
  • Evolve last night in Summit, IL
  •         Reports can be sent to newstips@wrestlingobserver.com.

WWE NO MERCY AT 7:30 P.M. EASTERN TIME SUNDAY FROM THE STAPLES CENTER IN LOS ANGELES

Before posting the latest odds, I want to note that it’s again clear at this writing that it’s clear much of the smart money hasn’t come in so these odds are mostly from people who don’t know and the lines set. There were the 5Dimes odds as of this writing. Often the big changes may come in the last three hours before the show.

  • Brock Lesnar vs. Braun Strowman for Universal title — This first time meeting has a great deal of interest. People are expecting a great match out of it as well. Lesnar was the -445 favorite. What we can say is that when this match was first planned, which was months ago, Lesnar was not losing. Strowman has gotten a lot hotter since.
  • John Cena vs. Roman Reigns — This is also a first-time-ever meeting coming off some strong and focused interviews in recent weeks. Cena is hurting even though I’m sure he won’t admit to it publicly but you can see it in the way he’s been moving. Still, this is a big match and Cena is usually strong in those and Reigns almost always is strong in those, and may see this as the match that will highlight the show Reigns is the -335 favorite.
  • Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose vs. Cesaro & Sheamus for WWE tag titles — These four had a great match at SummerSlam. It feels too soon to change the titles back, but Vince has been doing a lot of flip-flopping of late. Ambrose & Rollins are strong favorites at -585.
  • The Miz vs. Jason Jordan for IC title — The Jordan angle is dead. Miz is a good heel and Jordan is a great in-ring talent, but I wonder how the people not buying the Angle deal will hurt the match. Miz is a -175 favorite.
  • Finn Balor vs. Bray Wyatt — The storyline for this match is that Balor will not be the Demon this time. Balor is a -1000 favorite, the biggest on the show.
  • Alexa Bliss vs. Emma vs. Bayley vs. Nia Jax vs. Sasha Banks for Women’s title — At one point yesterday, due to a lot of betting on Jax, this was taken off the boards. Intrestingly, Jax is not a big favorite. In fact, while Bliss and Jax are favorites, nobody really is. This is a pass-around title, but this is not the time to change it as they’ve been building the idea of Bliss vs. Jax for months, and when they do that singles match, it will be hurt if Jax has already had a run for the title, or if Jax is defending that match won’t mean nearly as much. The odds are Jax at +110, Bliss at +130, Emma at +600, Bayley and Banks both at +1500.
  • Neville vs. Enzo Amore for Cruiserweight title — Enzo is listed at -160, so he’s favored to at least get his hand raised. This will be interesting since Neville is one of the best wrestlers in the world, and Enzo, well, he isn’t.
  • Apollo Crews vs. Elias (preshow match at 7:30 p.m.) — Elias is a -210 favorite and even that seems low as given how each guy is pushed, it would indicate Elias wins easy.
            On paper, this is a strong show, well at least the top three matches all figure to be great. From there it figures to be just a normal show.

Raw will be Monday night from Ontario, CA. Neither Brock Lesnar nor John Cena are being advertised for Raw this week even though both will be in Southern California the night before. Smackdown has a house show Monday night in El Paso, TX.

Smackdown and 205 Live will be taped Tuesday night in Glendale, AZ.

FIGURE FOUR WEEKLY:Figure Four Weekly 9/18/2017: Remembering Bobby Heenan

When someone passes away, whether it’s a celebrity or someone in our lives, a usual lament is that we didn’t appreciate them enough while they were alive. It’s typical human nature for us to not fully grasp how important someone is until they’re gone. But in the sadness that has surrounded the death of Bobby “The Brain” Heenan, it’s clear that wasn’t the case with him.

Subscribers click here to continue.

WRESTLING OBSERVER NEWSLETTER:September 25, 2017 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: The deaths of Bobby Heenan and Otto Wanz

It’s a double issue this week of the Observer with major stories on Bobby Heenan and his career as well as Heenan behind the scenes, a story on the WWE Network and behind the different ideas they’ve talked about, as well as lengthy pieces on historical figures Otto Wanz and Ruben Juarez.

Look at Henan’s different roles in wrestling, how he got started, the WCW era, the AWA years, leaving WWE and why he may have never been brought back by WWE full-time.

Find out all the different ideas thrown out in the recent WWE Network survey, as well as the viability of some of them.

With Otto Wanz, look at his AWA title, his biggest career matches, how he got started in boxing and wrestling, a story regarding he and Arnold Schwarzenegger, the heyday of the CWA and how it was different from every other promotion in the world and what made it such a great territory to learn in, and what made him famous as a celebrity in Austria.

This issue contains details on the Vince McMahon/Kevin Owens angle, WWE bringing back the Starrcade name, the sale of WCW to WWF in 2001, the legacy of Starrcade, the first Starrcade, how Vince McMahon destroyed Starrcade and helped drive Jim Crockett Promotions out of business, the new Starrcade show, the next NXT Takeover show, more on Ric Flair, Ronda Rousey in WWE notes, Nikki Bella on Dancing With the Stars, Chris Jericho’s cruise idea in detail, and a Shayna Baszler update

Get an update on the Impact promotion and its move of TV to Ottawa, looking at the plans, the GFW name, the building they are going to, the pros and cons of moving, the situation with Jim Cornette, what happens to the ATT angle, and much more.

This issues runs down of the CMLL 84th anniversary show, the two mask vs. mask matches and match-by-match coverage with star ratings.

Also look at the New Japan Destruction in Hiroshima show, the angles, why King of Pro Wrestling looks like one of the best shows of the year, new lineup for Destruction in Kobe and match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results.

Subscribers clike here to continue.

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.

WON BACK ISSUE: August 28, 2000 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Hall of Fame issue

In our largest one year inclusion in history, seven new members were named to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame in a balloting of performers, front office people, reports, historians and some well known wrestling experts. Four of the newcomers were voted on by the largest voting panel to date and three others were chosen largely by lobbying from historians providing research as to why they clearly belonged.

Subscribers click here to continue.

SUNDAY NEWS UPDATE

Bryan and I will be back tonight covering No Mercy, Bellator, Destruction in Kobe and the rest of the weekend news. You can send e-mail questions to the show to mailbag@wrestlingobserver.com.

There was an unplanned title change at a show earlier today in Nagoya, Japan. Mayu Iwatani was defending her World of Stardom title against Toni Storm. Iwatani had a bad landing on her hand in a freak accident and suffered a dislocated elbow. Referee Daichi Murayama immediately stopped the match. They were barely two minutes into the main event. The title had to be awarded to Storm for credibility reasons. Right now the belief is Iwatani will be out of action from three to six moths.

Jeff Hardy also didn’t work last night’s Raw show in Fresno due to his shoulder injury. That’s why the Hardys weren’t booked in a pre-show match today.

Tonight’s No Mercy show is expected to be sold out. The real number would be 14,000. 

Jim Cornette, Al Snow, Paul Burchill and Rockstar Spud all attended last night’s Matt Cappotelli benefit show at the Danny Davis Arena in Louisville. The show raised $6,000 for his medical bills as he’s battling a very aggressive form of brain cancer after beating the disease years ago the first time. 

A podcast that I did with Chris Jericho about the life of Brian Pillman will be airing on “Talk is Jericho” on 10/4, which is the week of the 20th anniversary of Pillman’s death. I’m pretty sure you’ll love the show.

WWE

  • The current odds on Kambi for what match will be the best tonight are:
    Cena vs. Reigns -142
    Tag titles +140
    Lesnar vs. Strowman +200
    Any other match on the show +1000
    They also have odds up where you can bet on how many stars each match will get.
  • Primo Colon returned last night in Rio Rancho, NM from a knee injury that has kept him out of action for three months.
  • The WWE Network has a Remembering Bobby Heenan collection up.
  • Mike Mooneyham talks Bobby Heenan.
  • The network will also be putting up short-form content starting Monday with things that had originally aired on WWE.com and on the WWE YouTube channel.
  • A story on the writing of Jinder Mahal’s theme.
  • The Minnesota Vikings did a pro wrestling parody.

MISCELLANEOUS

  • Akira Maeda was at the Bellator show last night in San Jose. Maeda was one of the biggest stars in the history of Japanese pro wrestling, and was the first headliner ever to sell out the Tokyo Dome for a show in 1989. Among others there were Herschel Walker, Frank Shamrock and Gina Carano.
  • A story on yesterday being the 100th birthday of El Santo and some of the things that happened in Mexico. (thanks to Chris Cruise) 
  • The New Yorker compares the situation with North Korea to a pro wrestling program.
  • Rob Salvatore at salv12@verizon.nhet is looking to sell his collection of Wrestling Observers dating back to 1992.
  • I Believe in Wrestling from Friday night in Orlando: Deon James b Carlos Gabriel, Amber Nova & Axx Clover & Faris Hakeem b C-Bunny & Slade Porter & Mike Austin, Kaci Lennox b Aria Blake, Salina de la Renta b Sofi Castillo, Mystery Man b Jon Cruz, Chasyn Rance d Jerrelle Clark, Jesse Neal b Jason Dugan, Chico Adams & Mike Parrow b Aaron Epic & Jonny Vandal. Next show is 10/13 at Team Vision Dojo.
  • NWL results from Friday night in Springfield, MO: Mike Outlaw b Leonel Howlett, Jet Royal b Niles Plonk, Jack Foster b Buddy Sheppard, Jeremy Wyatt b Anthony Gutierrez, Besties in the World b Ace Steel & Michael Strider, Maverick b Gary Jay to keep St. Louis title, Dak Draper b Thor Theriot to keep the K.C title. (thanks to Brian Hoops)
  • The Santino Brothers ran Friday night in Downey, CA and had a Southern California Hall of Fame ceremony with Man Mountain Dean being inducted (he passed away years ago, was a big draw in the 30s), Super Boy and Joey Kaos Munoz. Super Boy was there, and in his speech noted that he had never lost his mask, but wanted to pass it to his son. He then unmasked and gave his son the mask to use as Super Boy Jr. Lucas Riley & Koto Hiro & Vandergriff b Donnie Suarez & Chris Bey & Dom Kubrick, Heather Monroe b Delilah Doom, Robby Phoenix b Jorel Nelson, Tito Escondido b Alonzo Alvarez, Phoenix Star & Zokre b Hoss Hogg & Jesse James, Suede Thompson b Jake Atlas-COR, Doug James b Eli Everfly in an I Quit match, Brody King won three-way over Tyler Bateman and Ruby Raze to win the Santino Brothers title. (thanks to Steven Bryant)
  • Clash Wrestling from last night in Taylor, MI: Tommy Treznik & Dr. Wrecking Ball b Devin Shaw & Justin Pilgrim, Sepultra DeManbo b Sean Lawhorne, Cameron Sky b Jack Vaughn, Petey Williams b Juntai, Gavin Quinn b DBA, Justin Mane b James Alexander. (thanks to Leonard Brand)
  • A group called Big League Wrestling announced they would be on Fite TV on 11/26 with an Alberto El Patron vs. Matt Riddle match. (thanks to Jake Koch) 

Today in Professional Wrestling History: Shawn Michaels & Diesel win WWF tag titles

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