Daily Update: NXT to USA, CMLL, Jorge Masvidal

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DAILY UPDATE

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F4W NEWSLETTER: Figure Four Weekly: Seth Rollins wins Universal title at SummerSlam

Joseph Currier gives his thoughts on SummerSlam 2019. Plus, Bryan Rose’s Japan notes, and Vinny’s TV reviews.

This year’s SummerSlam main event was a pivotal moment in the career of Seth Rollins.

If that wasn’t made clear going into the pay-per-view, it certainly felt true in the moment. As much as headlining a Big Four PPV is a huge spot for anyone, Rollins’ match against Brock Lesnar came at a time when Rollins was at a tipping point. He could either win and regain his momentum — or his character would probably have to go in a different direction.

With how WWE built to their match, Rollins winning was the right outcome. He had been viciously beaten down by Lesnar in angles on Raw each of the last two weeks. After the second attack, a subdued Rollins vowed to be at SummerSlam and guaranteed that he would defeat Lesnar.

Rollins came through on his guarantee. After hitting his third curb stomp of the match, Rollins pinned Lesnar to regain the Universal title. The match delivered on a much higher level than Rollins’ previous bouts against Lesnar. Rollins was put over strongly and positioned as the current top babyface in the company.

WON NEWSLETTER: August 19, 2019 Observer Newsletter: Summerslam and G1 Finals reviews, more

One of the most shocking and heated angles in modern wrestling is covered as the lead story in the new Wrestling Observer Newsletter. 

We discuss the angle itself, how it came together, and what it might be leading to. 

Reviews of WWE Summerslam and NJPW’s G1 finals, plus tons of news are also covered this week. 

We have results and star ratings from SummerSlam, as well as data and analytics on who bought the show on traditional PPV. 

Of course we have star ratings and business notes on the final G1shows of the year, as well as the readers’ poll for G1 MVP. We also examine how this year’s tournament compared to last year’s from a business perspective. 

We have a story on some changes to upcoming WWE house shows. We also have notes on WWE PPV buying habits in major markets in 2019.

As you might expect, we also have complete coverage of NXT TakeOver: Toronto, as well as star ratings for the matches. 

Also in this issue, Ryan Frederick covers this past weekend’s UFC show, and we have detailed TV ratings and business notes on the show. 

We have full coverage of all the WWE television shows from the past week.

As always, we have in-depth looks at the ratings of all the major shows,the key demos for the WWE shows and what can be learned from them.

We also have the results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week. 

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@wrestlingobserver.com or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to dave@wrestlingobserver.com.

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If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.

TUESDAY NEWS UPDATE

by Joseph Currier and Bryan Rose

WWE

  • SmackDown tonight takes place at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Daniel Bryan and Buddy Murphy will face off following last week’s confrontation. Two King of the Ring matches will also take place, as Kevin Owens will take on Elias and Apollo Crews will face Andrade.
  • 205 Live will have a Captain’s Challenge match, with Oney Lorcan, Jack Gallagher, Akira Tozawa, Humberto Carrillo & Isiah “Swerve” Scott facing Drew Gulak, Ariya Daivari, Mike Kanellis, Angel Garza & Tony Nese. Lorcan and Gulak are captianting the teams.
  • With NXT moving to the USA Network, the NXT TV tapings that were scheduled for September 11 and September 12 at Full Sail University have been canceled. Tickets for the September 11 tapings will be honored at the NXT on USA premiere on September 18. Tickets for the September 12 tapings will be honored at the NXT episode on September 25. Those who can’t make the new dates can contact NXTTickets@wwecorp.com with their name and order number for a refund. NXT on USA will be a two-hour show that airs live from Full Sail on Wednesdays from 8-10 p.m. Eastern time.
  • Mauro Ranallo confirmed that he’ll still be doing commentary for NXT when it moves to USA: “I had the honor of being part of the first #SmackDownLive broadcast on @USA_Network I am even more excited to be part of the @WWENXT broadcast team with @McGuinnessNigel & @TheBethPhoenix on USA! WE’LL DO IT LIVE!”
  • Following the NXT to USA announcement, WWE stock closed today at $74.51 per share. That was up 3.59 percent from yesterday.
  • Cedric Alexander spoke to Pro Wrestling Sheet about working with Paul Heyman: “It’s been great working with Paul. He’s really helped me feel more comfortable. He saw a match I had with Bobby Roode months ago on an episode of Main Event and he was a very big fan of it. He’s given me pointers on how to project myself better to fans and small little show business quirks. Because that’s one of the things I’m not 100% comfortable on sometimes, so talking in front of a camera is something that Paul has definitely helped me get more in tune with.”
  • Triple H talks about the move to the USA Network.
  • WWE PC’s YouTube has the first part of a Karen Q road trip video, which includes her injury.
  • “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt’s entrance video has been uploaded to WWE’s YouTube account.
  • The names and logos for the XFL’s eight teams will be unveiled at 12:30 p.m. Eastern time tomorrow.

Pro Wrestling

  • CMLL’s 86th Aniversario has been confirmed for Friday, September 27 at Arena Mexico. ROH’s Death Before Dishonor PPV is taking place in Las Vegas that night.
  • Chris Jericho tweeted about NXT’s move to USA: “Congrats to @WWENXT for making the big move to the @USA_Network! Runners always race faster when somebody is right behind them. Gonna be fun to see which team the world decides to join! #ChooseJericho @AEWrestling @AEWonTNT”
  • AJ Mendez (formerly known as AJ Lee) and actress Aimee Garcia are writing a four-part comic book series called “GLOW vs. The Babyface” that will launch this November.
  • This week’s MLW Fusion episode is now available on YouTube. LA Park faced Jimmy Havoc in a New York City street fight in the main event.

UFC/MMA

  • After Nate Diaz called him out this past weekend, Jorge Masvidal has accepted the challenge, wanting to fight in December.
  • Jon Jones wrote on Twitter regarding a potential Brock Lesnar fight: “Brock is way too slow, I’ll embarrass him.”
  • On Instagram, Conor McGregor commented on Nate Diaz’s win against Anthony Pettis: “3 years to the day myself and this Mexican warrior went to war. Congrats on the win this weekend Nate, it was motivating to see it for my own comeback. I don’t blame you not mentioning me for the trilogy bout post fight, you know what I’m like when I get going. Vicious. I loved the round 3 style from round 1 that you implemented. It’s what I was hoping you would implement for this bout and was glad to see you do it. I’ll be prepared for it when we go again. If we go again. If not, respect always. A war for the ages. No bitch talk. Just real sh*t.”
  • Ben Askren vs. Demian Maia has been set for UFC Singapore on October 26.
  • The UFC 241 prelims averaged 817k viewers, up from 240’s 722k.
  • UFC 242 prelims will air on FX due to a scheduling conflict with ESPN.
  • Khalid Taha vs. Bruno Silva has been moved from UFC 242 in Abu Dhabi to UFC 243 in Melbourne, Australia.
  • Cub Swanson will fight Kron Gracie at an Ultimate Fight Night event on October 12.

Daily Pro Wrestling History: WWE SummerSlam 2017

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