Daily Update: NXT TakeOver, WWE notes, Kizuna Road

THE ROUND-UP

THE LATEST NEWS

THE LATEST AUDIO

We’re looking for reports on the Raw show in Champaign, IL, Smackdown in Dubuque, IA and ROH in Dallas to newstips@wrestlingobserver.com.

NXT TAKEOVER AT 8 P.M. EASTERN SATURDAY NIGHT FROM THE ALLSTATE ARENA IN CHICAGO ON THE WWE NETWORK

  • Tommaso Ciampa vs. Johnny Gargano street fight
  • Aleister Black vs. Lars Sullivan for NXT title
  • Kyle O’Reilly & Roderick Strong vs. Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch
  • Shayna Baszler vs. Nikki Cross for women’s title
  • Ricochet vs. Velveteen Dream

ROH FROM GILLEY’S IN DALLAS AT 8 P.M. EASTERN ON HONOR CLUB

  • Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian vs. Shane Helms & Delirious
  • Young Bucks vs. The Boys
  • Marty Scurll vs. Jay Lethal vs. Flip Gordon
  • Cody vs. Shane Taylor
  • Tenille Dashwood vs. Thunder Rosa
  • Matt Taven & TK O’Ryan & Vinny Marsegila vs. Atlantis & Guerrero Maya Jr. & Stuka Jr. for ROH six man titles
  • Mark & Jay Briscoe vs. Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr. for ROH tag titles
  • Silas Young vs. Cheeseburger vs. Punishment Martinez vs. Jonathan Gresham vs. Scorpio Sky vs. Adam Page – If anyone pins Young, they get an immediate TV title shot afterwards

NEW JAPAN FROM TOKYO KORAKUEN HALL ON SUNDAY AT 5:30 A.M. EASTERN ON NEW JAPAN WORLD

  • Yota Tsuji vs. Yuya Uemura
  • Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi vs. Tomoyuki Oka & Shota Umino
  • Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Ren Narita vs. Yujiro Takahashi & Taiji Ishimori
  • Togi Makabe & Jeff Cobb & Toa Henare & Kushida & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Toru Yano & Yoshi-Hashi & Rocky Romero & Sho & Yoh
  • Tetsuya Naito & Evil & Seiya Sanada & Bushi & Hiromu Takahashi vs. Takashi Iizuka & Taichi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Desperado & Taka Michinoku
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi & Juice Robinson & David Finlay vs. Kazuchika Okada & Jay White & Tomohiro Ishii
  • Michael Elgin vs. Hirooki Goto for Never Open weight title

WWE MONEY IN THE BANK AT 6:30 P.M. EASTERN SUNDAY NIGHT FROM THE ALLSTATE ARENA IN CHICAGO ON THE WWE NETWORK

  • A.J. Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura in a last man standing match for the WWE title
  • Men’s Money in the Bank ladder match: Braun Strowman, Bobby Roode, Kevin Owens, Finn Balor, Samoa Joe, The Miz, Rusev and a member of New Day
  • Women’s Money in the bank ladder match: Charlotte Flair, Naomi, Becky Lynch, Lana, Natalya, Alexa Bliss, Sasha Banks and Ember Moon
  • Nia Jax vs. Ronda Rousey for Raw women’s title
  • Seth Rollins vs. Elias for IC title
  • Carmella vs. Asuka for Smackdown women’s title
  • Roman Reigns vs. Jinder Mahal
  • Daniel Bryan vs. Big Cass
  • Bobby Lashley vs. Sami Zayn
  • Luke Harper & Erick Rowan vs. Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows for Smackdown tag titles

NEW JAPAN FROM TOKYO KORAKUEN HALL ON MONDAY AT 5:30 A.M. ON NEW JAPAN WORLD

  • Yota Tsuji vs. Yuya Uemura
  • Shota Umino & Ren Narita vs. Yujiro Takahashi & Taiji Ishimori
  • Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Tomoyuki Oka
  • Togi Makabe & David Finlay & Toa Henare & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Toru Yano & Yoshi-Hashi & Sho & Yoh
  • Tetsuya Naito & Evil & Seiya Sanada & Bushi vs Takashi Iizuka & Taichi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Taka Michinoku
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi & Michael Elgin & Juice Robinson & Jeff Cobb & Kushida vs. Kazuchika Okada & Hirooki Goto & Jay White & Tomohiro Ishii & Gedo
  • Hiromu Takahashi vs. Desperado for IWGP jr. title

Raw will be Monday night in Grand Rapids, MI while Smackdown has a house show on Monday night in Fort Wayne, IN, and the WWE Network is taping a show at Royal Albert Hall in London.

NEW JAPAN FROM TOKYO KORAKUEN HALL ON TUESDAY AT 5:30 A.M. ON NEW JAPAN WORLD

  • Kushida & Ren Narita vs. Yujiro Takahashi & Taiji Ishimori
  • Togi Makabe & Jushin Liger & Tiger Mask vs. Toa Henare & Tomoyuki Oka & Shota Umino
  • Rocky Romero & Sho & Yoh vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Desperado & Taka Michinoku
  • Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano vs. Takashi Iizuka & Taichi
  • Michael Elgin & Juice Robinson & Jeff Cobb & David Finlay vs. Kazuchika Okada & Hirooki Goto & Jay White & Yoshi-Hashi
  • Super Strong Machine retirement celebration
  • The Masked Machines (Hiroshi Tanahashi & Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi & Ryusuke Taguchi & Hiroyoshi Tenzan) vs. Tetsuya Naito & Evil & Bushi & Seiya Sanada & Hiromu Takahashi

Smackdown and 205 Live will be taped on Tuesday night in Toledo with the only thing announced being Mustafa Ali vs. Hideo Itami vs. Buddy Murphy for the No. 1 contender position in the cruiserweight division on 205 Live. There is also a WWE Network taping on Tuesday at Royal Albert Hall in London.

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.

SATURDAY NEWS UPDATE

WWE

Pro Wrestling

  • The participants for this year’s G1 Climax will be announced at NJPW’s Kizuna Road show tomorrow morning, which begins at 5:30 a.m. Eastern time and has Hirooki Goto challenging for Michael Elgin’s NEVER Openweight Championship in the main event. The G1 blocks and top matches will be announced on Monday and Tuesday.
  • The Briscoes had travel issues and didn’t appear at last night’s ROH show in San Antonio. The Kingdom took their place, with The Young Bucks, Marty Scurll & Hangman Page defeating Davey Boy Smith Jr., Lance Archer, Matt Taven & Vinny Marseglia in the main event.
  • The Winnipeg Free Press ran a story on Kenny Omega and Chris Jericho’s title wins at Dominion, which includes quotes from Omega, Jericho, and Dave Meltzer.
  • In an in-character interview with Sports Illustrated, Cody Rhodes named himself, Omega, Kazuchika Okada, Charlotte Flair, and John Cena as the five best wrestlers in the world.
  • Thursday’s episode of Impact averaged 276,000 viewers on Pop TV. That’s down from last week’s 296,000, which was up against the Washington Capitals clinching their Stanley Cup win. Both shows drew a 0.07 rating in the 18-49 demo.
  • After undergoing neck surgery, Jazzy Gabert said she’s been given the green light to return to the ring by her doctor. Gabert noted that she’s available for bookings. Gabert’s neck issues kept her from being signed by WWE after last year’s Mae Young Classic.
  • Kimber Lee, Viper, Nicole Savoy, Rachael Ellering, Kelly Klein, and Jamie Hayter were among the wrestlers announced for the 2018 Stardom 5 Star Grand Prix.
  • Kenny Johnson released a 15-minute documentary on Mike Parrow, his career in pro wrestling, and his journey to coming out as gay.
  • A singles match between Rush and LA Park will headline next Friday’s CMLL Arena Mexico show.

UFC/MMA

Daily Professional Wrestling History: WCW Great American Bash 1996

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