Daily Update: NXT TakeOver, Ciampa, McGregor vs. Mayweather

THE ROUND-UP

The Latest from the F4W Staff

NEWS

AUDIO

We’re looking for reports on tonight’s NXT show from Evansville, IN to newstips@wrestllingobserver.com.

This coming weekend we’ll be doing polls for the NXT Takeover and WWE Backlash shows.   

NEW JAPAN WORLD PRO WRESTLING RETURNS ON AXS TV AT 8 P.M. EASTERN

  • Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Seiya Sanada
  • Tetsuya Naito vs. Jay Lethal for IC title

BELLATOR FROM LONDON AT 9 P.M. ON SPIKE (taped from earlier today)

  • Dan Vinni (169.4) vs. Alex Lohore (170)
  • D.J. Griffin (1764) vs. Baby Slice (165)
  • Augusto Sakai (263.75) vs. Cheick Kongo (244)
  • Linton Vassell (205) vs. Liam McGeary (205)
  • Rory MacDonald (170.1) vs. Paul Daley (170.8)

LEGACY FIGHTING ALLIANCE AT 9 P.M. ON AXS TV FROM PRIOR LAKE, MINNESOTA

  • Chad Curry (8-1) vs. Kyle Kurtz (7-4)
  • Damian Hill (12-7) vs. Nate Jennerman (8-2)
  • Brandon Jenkins (10-4) vs. Dan Moret (11-3)
  • Cameron Olson (7-2) vs. Julian Marquez (4-1)
  • Bobby Lee (8-0) vs. Jeff Peterson (4-3)
  • Chase Waldon (10-2) vs. Cully Butterfield (14-5)
  • Derrick Krantz (19-9) vs. Ben Neumann (12-4) for the welterweight title

CMLL FROM ARENA MEXICO AT 9:30 P.M.

  • Magnus & Sensei vs. Akuma & Espiritu Negro
  • Princesa Sugei & Silueta & Jarochita vs. Amapola & Zeuxis & Dallys
  • Titan vs. Cavernario
  • Atlantis & Angel de Oro & Valiente vs. Ultimo Guerrero & Gran Guerrero & Niebla Roja
  • Caristico & Mistico & Maximo Sexy vs. Negro Casas & Mephisto & Ephesto

NEW JAPAN BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIORS ON SATURDAY FROM MATSUZAKA ON NEW JAPAN WORLD (not live, should be up in the early afternoon)

  • Desperado vs. Bushi
  • ACH vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru
  • Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Volador Jr.
  • Tiger Mask vs. Kushida

EVOLVE ON SATURDAY AT 3:30 P.M. EASTERN TIME FROM SUMMIT, IL

  • Matt Riddle vs. Kyle O’Reilly for WWN title
  • Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Ethan Page for Evolve title
  • Chris Dickinson & Jake vs. Matt Knicks & Isaias Velazquez for Evolve tag title
  • Keith Lee vs. Donovan Dijak
  • Tracy Williams vs. Jeff Cobb
  • Lio Rush vs. Austin Theory

NXT TAKEOVER CHICAGO ON SATURDAY AT 8 P.M. ON THE WWE NETWORK

  • Bobby Roode vs. Hideo Itami for NXT title
  • Asuka vs. Nikki Cross vs. Ruby Riot for women’s title
  • Authors of Pain vs. Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa (?) for the tag titles
  • Tyler  Bate vs. Pete Dunne for U.K. title
  • Roderick Strong vs. Eric Young
  • Drew McIntyre vs. Wesley Blake (this is being taped for Wednesday’s NXT TV show)
  • Aleister Black vs. ? (also taped for Wednesday’s NXT TV show)

NEW JAPAN BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIORS ON SUNDAY FROM KIRA ON NEW JAPAN WORLD (not live, should be up in the early afternoon)

  • Will Ospreay vs. Taka Michinoku
  • Dragon Lee vs Taichi
  • Ricochet vs Hiromu Takahashi
  • Marty Scurll vs. Jushin Liger

EVOLVE ON SUNDAY AT 8 P.M. FROM LIVONIA, MI

  • Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Lio Rush for Evolve title
  • Matt Riddle vs. Jeff Cobb for WWN title
  • Tracy Williams vs. Kyle O’Reilly
  • Ethan Page vs Donovan Dijak
  • Fred Yehi vs. Keith Lee
  • Chris Dickinson  & Jake vs. Jason Kincaid & ? non-title
  • Allysin Kay (Sienna in Impact) vs. Priscilla Kelly

WWE BACKLASH SUNDAY AT 7:30 P.M. FROM THE ALL STATE ARENA IN CHICAGO ON THE WWE NETWORK

  • Randy Orton vs. Jinder Mahal for WWE title
  • Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Dolph Ziggler
  • Kevin Owens vs. A.J. Styles for U.S. title
  • Usos vs. Breezango for tag titles
  • Charlotte Flair & Naomi & Becky Lynch vs. Tamina & Natalya & Carmella
  • Sami Zayn vs. Baron Corbin
  • Luke Harper vs. Erick Rowan
  • Tye Dillinger vs. Aiden English (pre-show match at 7:30 p.m.)

NEW JAPAN BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIORS LIVE ON MONDAY AT 5:30 A.M. FROM KORAKUEN HALL ON NEW JAPAN WORLD

  • Ricochet & Hirai Kawato & Tomoyuki Oka vs. Marty Scurll & Katsuya Kitamura & Shota Umino
  • Taka Michinoku & Taichi vs. Will Ospreay & Jado
  • Ricochet & David Finlay & War Machine vs. Tama Tonga & Tanga Roa & Yujiro Takahashi & & Marty Scurll
  • Satoshi Kojima & Juice Robinson & Jushin Liger & Dragon Lee vs. Tetsuya Naito & Seiya Sanada & Evil & Hiromu Takahashi
  • Volador Jr. vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru
  • Kushida vs. Bushi
  • Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Desperado
  • Tiger Mask vs. ACH

Raw will be Monday night in Grand Rapids, MI. There will also be a Smackdown house show on Monday night in Ypsilante, MI.

NEW JAPAN BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIORS TUESDAY FROM TOCHIGI ON NEW JAPAN WORLD (not live, should be up early afternoon)

  • Taichi vs. Hiromu Takahashi
  • Marty Scurll vs. Taka Michinoku
  • Ricochet vs. Dragon Lee
  • Jushin Liger vs. Will Ospreay

The Smackdown and 205 Live show will be taped on Tuesday night in Toledo.

FIGURE FOUR WEEKLY: 5/15/2017: Looking ahead to WWE’s weekend in Chicago

With the Allstate Arena set to host NXT TakeOver: Chicago on Saturday and Backlash on Sunday, this weekend may be one of WWE’s biggest of the year that doesn’t include one of their four signature pay-per-views. There are things to look forward to on both cards. All four title matches at TakeOver should deliver on some level, with Tyler Bate vs. Pete Dunne boosting a show that probably would have still been fine without it.

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WRESTLING OBSERVER NEWSLETTER: May 22, 2017: NJPW business up, ROH War of the Worlds review, tons more

An update on upcoming WWE big shows, the Braun Strowman injury and plans for his return, a lot of notes on New Japan business in a number of categories, the ROH-New Japan relationship, coverage of all the major shows this past week all over the world including first day Super Juniors, the life of Doug Somers and the age old pro wrestling style debate are the lead stories in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

The issue goes through plans for now as well as directions long-term for WWE, this weekend’s Takeover and Backlash shows, and booking for summer shows.

Plus, look at New Japan’s total revenue, growth, merchandise sales, Tokyo Dome goals, realities of New Japan World and why it has limitations as well as what has happened since the Tokyo Dome, AXS ratings for New Japan as compared with Impact, plans for broadcasting the Long Beach shows, the pro wrestling industry in Japan, updates on Tomoaki Honma and Katsuyori Shibata, the Hiroshi Tanahashi injury, as well as how business has done for several of the leading promotions in Japan this year.

Have a look at the ROH/New Japan relationship, coverage of ROH War of the Worlds with match-by-match rundown, poll results and star ratings, and the lineup for the ROH Best in the World show.

Check out UFC 211 and questions regarding drawing power of Stipe Miocic and Joanna Jedrzejczyk, a look at how Mayweather and Pacquiao became top draws, business notes for the show when it comes to ratings, PPV and live attendance and future booking direction of the winners, plus match-by-match coverage and poll results.

Read about a change in the broadcasting of Smackdown in a few weeks, what company’s spent the most this year on advertising on Smackdown and what the list tells you about value and ad rights, notes on the UK special, a list of a number of upcoming shows with Rock Lesnar, Dwayne Johnson updates including a poll on if he ran for President against Donald Trump. 

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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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WON BACK ISSUE: April 24, 2000: Death of Masakazu Fukuda, legal battles in the wrestling world, tons more

New Japan wrestler Masakazu Fukuda passed away of complications from a cerebral hemorrhage at 3:28 a.m. on 4/19 in the Public Kesennuma Synthesis Hospital in Kesennuma, Japan after collapsing in the ring on 4/14 at a match in the same city with Katsuyori Shibata. Fukuda, 27, was rushed to the hospital when, after Shibata hit him with an elbow drop that he was supposed to kick out of. Instead he collapsed and began snoring in the ring, which caused everyone to panic. 

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FRIDAY NEWS UPDATE

For the weekend, Bryan and I will be doing shows tomorrow night and Sunday night, covering the two WWE events as well as the New Japan shows. You can send questions for the show to mailbag@wrestlingobserver.com.

For the NXT show tomorrow night, they will be doing a one hour taping for the 5/24 NXT TV show prior to the Takeover matches which is where the Drew McIntyre vs. Wesley Blake match will take place as well as other matches including an Aleister Black match.

Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times look at why it’s a long way before Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather will be done. 

Whether this plays into the tournament, or just something said, Jushin Liger, after going 0-2 in the Super Juniors tournament, has vowed that he will not lose another match in the tournament.

Dana White on ESPN said that with Michael Bisping injured, they are looking at doing Yoel Romero vs. Robert Whittaker to create an interim middleweight champion. White also told Brett Okamoto of ESPN that they would be running a PPV in Seattle in August with Demetrious Johnson as the headliner. They’d better stack the undercard.

As of last word it was still up in the air whether Tommaso Ciampa will be able to go tomorrow night for the ladder match as he suffered a sprained left ankle last night in his match in Highland Heights, KY.

WWE

  • More on Dwayne Johnson and the presidency. The New York Times covered the story. (thanks to Chris Cruise)
  • A story on Brie Bella giving birth via C section.
  • Nigel McGuinness talks announcing with Jim Ross.
  • Chris Jericho talks his last run in WWE on Busted Open radio.

MISCELLANEOUS

  • It looks like tonight’s Arena Mexico show is being geoblocked. Probably at about 9:30 p.m. I’ll try and tweet if there is any way to watch it live.
  • AXS TV will be replaying the 1/4 Tokyo Dome show in a four-hour time slot from 7 to 11 p.m. this coming Friday night. 
  • For the 7/1 live show on AXS TV, it is scheduled from 8 p.m. to midnight, but if the show goes long, it’s not an issue and there is no specific time cue to hit. If need be, the show can go as long as five hours as they have scheduled to replay the Kenny Omega vs. Kazuchika Okada match from Osaka at Dominion at midnight that night, and then replay the Long Beach show at 1 a.m. The Saturday night show will be geoblocked live on New Japan World, but will be available on the service the next day. The 7/2 show will be available live on New Japan World, and air on AXS from 8 p.m. to midnight on the following Friday.
  • Sean Waltman took a polygraph test live on Afterbuzz TV. Based on the results of the test, the administrator said that Waltman passed saying he did not having any meth on him and the pills taken were not meth when he was arrested at the Los Angeles airport, that he has lied previously to cover things up and talk his way out of trouble but has been completely truthful on what happened at the airport, and that he had never sold drugs or was not looking at selling anything that he had on him.
  • Mick Foley was in a New York Daily News article today talking about attending a Metallica concert on Wednesday night at the Nassau Coliseum: “I love this band. This is my first time seeing them here and I’m really excited.”  
  • Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling, which is the promotion that Larry Matysik books, is doing the 58th anniversary of Wrestling at the Chase show tomorrow night in East Carondelet, IL. Abdullah the Butcher and Matysik will both be there. They will also have a Bruiser Brody Memorial Battle Royal.  
  • While there were less than 1,000 viewers of the New Japan press conference live yesterday, the viewership was better than 18,000 as of this morning. The episode of Being the Elite this past week where they laid out the Marty Scurll story in a five month angle payoff has done something like 136,000 viewers.
  • ROH has announced Christopher Daniels vs. the winner of a gauntlet plus Bobby Fish vs. Jay Lethal and Jay Briscoe vs. Shane Taylor for 6/4 in Collinsville, IL (St. Louis area).
  • Brew City Wrestling tonight in West Allis, WI at the Columbus Club of West Allis with Cheeseburger & Tylor Sundae vs. Derek St. Holmes & Aesop Mitchell.
  • CWE tonight in Winnipeg at  Rookie’s Sports Bar.
  • AAW announced Sami Callihan vs. Juventud Guerrera for the AAW title as the main event for its 5/25 show in Berwyn, IL at the Eagles Club.
  • NFC MMA at the Electric Cowboy in Kennesaw, GA has announced a buy one ticket and get one free for its 76/30 show featuring Clay Harvison vs. Brandon Longano.
  • The Fight Network in Canada will be airing the Legacy Fighting Alliance show from Prior Lake, MN live at 9 PM. Eastern tonight. They also will be airing Glory from Holland starting at 1 p.m. tomorrow featuring Chi Lewis-Parry, who WWE was interested in (8-1) vs. Heady Gerges (48-18-1) in one of the main bouts. There will also be a one-night four-man heavyweight tournament, as well as heavyweight champion Rico Verhoeven (50-10, 14 knockouts) vs. Ismael Lazaar (30-2-2, 16 knockouts) and Robin Van Roosmalen (37-7) vs. Petchpanomrung Kiatmookao (156-35-2) for the featherweight title.
  • The FULL tour starts tonight in Puebla, built around Alberto El Patron and Jack Swagger. Tonight’s main event is Alberto & El Hijo del Dos Caras & Tinieblas Jr. vs. Swagger & Roy & Zak Knight (the brothers of Paige). They run tomorow in Toluca and Mexico City on Sunday.
  • AAA is running in Tijuana tonight with Kevin Kross & Kobra Moon vs. Dr. Wagner Jr. & Ayako Hamada.
  • Andy Richter visits the Cauliflower Alley Club to get their opinions on the 1996 Presidential Election.
  • Another story on Kenny King as a contestant on “The Bachelorette.”
  • UK wrestling icon Bubblegum talks about wrestling with Marty Scurll in front of 5 people, growth of UK scene, dealing with depression and the loss of Kris Travis. (thanks to Aaron Evans)

Today in Professional Wrestling History (5/19): WWE Judgment Day 2002

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