Daily Update: Omega’s decision, HHH conference call, Tito vs. Chael

THE ROUND-UP

The Latest from the F4W Staff

NEWS

AUDIO

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

  • Drew Galloway vs. Moose for the Grand championship
  • Hardys vs. DCC vs. Decay for the TNA tag team titles
  • Rosemary vs. Jade in a Monster’s Ball match for the Knockouts title
  • Eddie Edwards vs. Bobby Lashley for the TNA title in a 30:00 Iron man match

NEW JAPAN AT TOKYO KORAKUEN HALL AT 4:30 A.M. EASTERN TIME ON NEW JAPAN WORLD

  • Yuji Nagata vs. Takayuki Oka
  • Jushin Liger & Tiger Mask & Yoshitatsu vs. David Finlay & Hirai Kawato & Henare
  • Gedo & Jado & Yoshi-Hashi vs. Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Takashi Iizuka
  • Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr. & Lance Archer
  • Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma & Juice Robinson & Katsuyori Shibata vs. Will Ospreay & Hirooki Goto & Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi & Michael Elgin & Manabu Nakanishi & Kushida & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Tetsuya Naito & Seiya Sanada & Evil & Bushi & Hiromu Takahashi
  • Kazuchika Okada & Rocky Romero & Baretta vs. Minoru Suzuki & Taka Michinoku & Taichi

FIGURE FOUR WEEKLY: 1/23/2017: Previewing the unpredictable Royal Rumble

Whatever your feelings are on WWE inevitably using part-timers to boost another WrestleMania season, it’s undeniable that their inclusion has added intrigue to the 2017 Royal Rumble. Suggesting otherwise would be presenting alternative facts. Even with their limited presence on television, Goldberg, Brock Lesnar, and The Undertaker have added a level of unpredictably — even if it’s only perceived — to next Sunday’s show at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas that hasn’t been matched in recent years… Subscribers click here to continue.

WRESTLING OBSERVER NEWSLETTER: January 30, 2017 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Royal Rumble preview, part 2 of Jimmy Snuka bio, plus tons of news

The WWE has what may be its most intriguing Royal Rumble in years coming up on 1/29 in San Antonio at the Alamodome. Usually, the winner of the Rumble is either fairly well known, or common sense breaks it down into only a few possibilities. And in some years, because of depth, the match feels like a lot of guys biding their time and fans waiting for the few key guys and pick up when they arrive…

While everyone has been focused the past few weeks on the changes in the U.K. scene, and how that would affect the worldwide business, another significant change, Mexico-based, which has major implications on the U.S. scene, was this week’s shake-up. On 1/21, Pentagon Jr., Garza Jr. and Daga showed up on The Crash promotion show in Tijuana, just one day after all three had worked AAA’s Guerrera de Titanes show in Mexico City…

Examining the life of Jimmy Snuka was always going to leave people, particularly those who grew up in the Northeast and were fans from early 1982 until early 1984, when he was at his hottest, with contradictory and confused feelings. Even though he lived to be 73 years old, almost everything he is best remembered for came in that two year period. Before that, he was an extremely talented pro wrestler who appeared in a number of territories and was a headliner almost from the start. But he was just one of dozens of great wrestlers working around the country, although he had unique… 

Click 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: January 3, 2000 Goldberg injured after car window stunt goes wrong, tons of news

It appears that Bill Goldberg will be out of the ring somewhere in the neighborhood of ten to 15 weeks as the word going around within the company but others are optimistically saying it’ll be closer to six weeks. The actual blow which cut up Goldberg’s arm did air on television which was an elbow shot into the window of the limo that didn’t break the first few times… Subscribers click here to continue.

THURSDAY NEWS UPDATE

Kenny Omega spoke to us on Wrestling Observer Radio about why he’s probably staying with New Japan.

Very busy weekend coming with Bellator tomorrow night, a somewhat loaded Arena Mexico show as well, plus UFC on FOX and NXT Takeover Saturday and the Royal Rumble on Sunday. The UFC main card and NXT Takeover will be going head-to-head.

There will be an NXT Awards show on WWE Network prior to Takeover at 7 p.m. Saturday night.

Paul Levesque did a conference call today which was to talk about Takeover, but most of the talk was about the U.K. There was nothing definitive said past they are looking at doing a weekly TV show from the U.K., but that’s been known.

He said that all talent knew ahead of time what the stipulations were regarding what they could and couldn’t do before they were signed, and said if there were any issues, it was not the WWE’s fault since they spelled everything out first. He also gave the indication that almost everyone who comes in will have to spend a stint in NXT due to the intense learning curve necessary.

The Tito Ortiz vs. Chael Sonnen fight had a 19% increase with DVR viewers figured in, doing 2.2 million viewers, while the Paul Daley vs. Brennan Ward fight with the great knockout had an 18% increase to 2 million viewers.

Ortiz spoke to Submission Radio about the fight: 

“The neck crank he got me on was really what made me sore. I mean, I’m having a lot of problems with my neck right now cause of it. I may have to get surgery, I’m not sure. I gotta get an MRI the other morning, but I’ve been having some numbness going down my left arm. That’s never happened before.”

“The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” was quick to slam any claims of the fight being fixed: “For people to say that the fight was fixed, f*ckin… it’s just ridiculous. Are you kidding me right now? I’m gonna give 14 weeks of my life, I’m gonna miss out on a Thanksgiving, miss out on a Christmas, miss out on a New Year’s to have a fixed fight? I’ve never been a part of that. If I wanted to do a fixed fight, I’d be doing WWE. For people to say that, that’s just really disrespectful. For any fighters to say that, that’s disrespectful –especially fighters that I helped out through their career. It’s just a disrespect.”

After such a successful and storied career, despite his current momentum, Ortiz explained why he’s in no rush to ride the wave or return to fighting: “You’ve got to understand right now, that my left arm is going in and out from being numb and not numb. That scares me. I don’t want to risk a chance of my going paralyzed for more fights. In 20 years, I’ve done everything I’ve wanted to do in MMA. It’s not hard because I push myself to the maximum. I’ve done as much as I possibly can do with my body, and my body can’t do anymore.”

Despite the ongoing bad blood between himself and Sonnen, Tito was optimistic about Chael’s future in Bellator despite the uninspiring loss: “They’ll get a lot out of him. The guy’s willing to step up and fight. He wants to fight. Him and Wanderlei Silva, that’s an amazing match. He said he’ll fight Rampage (Jackson), he said he’ll fight Fedor. If he can keep getting in the mat time. That’s what it is, getting in the mat time. You can’t take three years off and compete against guys on my level. No way”

WWE

  • CBS Sports has a story on the first Royal Rumble in St. Louis.

Miscellaneous

  • The big Eddie Edwards vs. Bobby Lashley TNA title match under Iron man rules for 30:00 airs as the main event of tonight’s Impact show. 
  • Bellator has signed Jenn Brown, an Emmy award winning sports broadcaster and television personality. She started this past Saturday night at the show at the Forum doing interviews. She will also host Bellator’s on-line fight coverage and conduct interviews during the show, and do on-air features as well as features for the Bellator.com site. She spent eight years as a sideline reporter with ESPN and for American Ninja Warrior.
  • UFC’s George Sullivan, who is already under suspension, but was scheduled to fight Randy Brown on 2/11 (his suspension ends on 1/31), is back to being provisionally suspended due to results of an out of competition test on 1/14. Sullivan has since claimed he started taking fertility pills three weeks ago to have a baby and all the paperwork is being sent in to clear this up. There still may be an issue if the substance is banned if he didn’t declare it on his forms.
  • Tim Marchman of Deadspin got into a Twitter war with Ted Cruz and then challenged any Cruz supporters to face him in an MMA fight. So this happened.
  • Edge, Christian, Rikishi, Great Khali and Saraya Knight have been added to the Wrestlecon lineup for WrestleMania weekend.
  • FITE TV has announced a Saturday night show called Fight for the Mind 2 featuring Tommy Dreamer, Chase Stevens, Tracy Smothers and Tom Prichard, with Jim Cornette on commentary. It’s to battle Alzheimer’s. They also have an MMA show from Alberta tomorrow night, and another from Australia on Saturday.  There is also a new SoCal Val interview with Adam Cole.
  • The Hardys vs The Ecktourage headlines Saturday night for MCW in Joppa, MD. There will be a 5 p.m. meet and greet with Matt & Jeff Hardy, Queen Rebecca & King Maxel. The main event has the Hardys defending their TNA tag team titles in a title vs. title match with MCW champions Dirty Money & Eric Chapel, managed by Kevin Eck. Melina defends the women’s title against Brittany Blake and Lio Rush faces Anthony Henry.
  • Big Time Wrestling on 2/10 in Raleigh at Dorton Arena and 2/11 in Spartanburg at the Memorial Auditorium, but Crockett hot spots, will have Meet & Greet and matches with Sting, Great Khali, Matt Hardy, Teddy Long, Billy Gunn, Carlito, Tony Atlas, Buff Bagwell and C.W. Anderson.
  • There is a new main event for the 2/17 Legacy Fighting Alliance show in Bossier City, LA at the Horeshoe Casino on AXS. Legacy featherweight champion Kevin Aguilar faces Damon Jackson. RFA featherweight champion Raoni Barcelos had to pull out due to injury for what was originally scheduled to be a title unification match.
  • SoCal Uncensored announced its 2016 awards
    Wrestler of the Year — Tyler Bateman
    Women’s Wrestler of the Year — Thunder Rosa (Lucha Underground character Kobra Moon)
    Tag Team — Andy Brown & Adrian Quest
    Most Outstanding — Eli Everfly
    Rookie of the Year — Brocy King
    Best promotion — PWG
    Match of the year — Ricochet & Will Ospreay & Matt Sydal vs. Young Bucks & Adam Cole
  • AAW on 2/4 in LaSalle, IL at the Knights of Columbus with Sami Callihan vs. Kongo Kong for the AAW title, ACH vs. Trevor Lee for the Heritage championship, Dave & Jake Crist vs. Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz, Jessicka Havok & Allysin Kay vs. Candice LeRae & Samantha Heights, Aldo Rose (Adam Rose) vs. DJZ and more. Plus AR Fox, Arik Cannon, David Starr, Davey Vega, Mat Fitchett and more. They also run 2/17 in Merrionette Park, IL with Sami Callihan, ACH, Trevor Lee, El Hijo del Fantasma, Dave & Jake Crist, Rey Fenix, Low Ki, Michael Elgin, Matt Riddle, Matt Sydal, Jack Evans, Chuck Taylor, Trent Baretta, Eddie Kingston, Abyss, Brian Cage, and more.
  • The Taz show on CBS Sports Radio will have a three-hour Royal Rumble post-game show starting at 11 p.m. on Sunday night. airing on more than 200 stations around the country including WFAN in New York, The Score in Chicago, The Fan in Dallas, and SportsRadio 610 in Houston.
  • NWA Smoky Mountain Wrestling on 2/11 in Kingsport, TN at the Civic Center with Chase Owens vs. Jason Kincaid for the Southeastern championship in what is billed as their last match in the promotion, with anything goes, must be a winner stipulations.
  • Dotty Curtis, the wife of Don Curtis, who is well known among the wrestlers in Florida, fell on Christmas Eve and fractured her L-1 vertebrae and has been in almost unbearable pain. She’s still in intense pain and can barely stand up. Scott Teal reported this and best of luck to her in a recovery.
  • IWF Loud and Proud with Tommy Dreamer and Tito Santana on 4/8 in Nutley, NJ at the Rec Center.
  • ECWA announced Zombiie King in the Super 8 tournament on 4/29 in Woodbury Heights, NJ.
  • There are two new wrestling books out at www.crowbarpress.com. They are “Wrestling in the Garden: The Battle for New York – Works, Shoots & Double-Crosses by Scott Teal & J. Michael Kenyon, the history and record of pro wrestling in the world’s most famous arena, and “Breaking Kayfabe: Shooting with the Legends of Wrestling” by Jeff Bowdren, with interview with 24 major wrestling stars of the past.
  • NWL Kansas City from last Saturday night: Max Edwards b Gil Rogers, Howlets b The Union, Jeremy Wyatt b Thor Theirot, Mancini Brothers b Kyle Mars & Luke Holiday, Red Cloud b Devlin, Blaine Meeks b Chad Barstow, Dak Draper b Ray Briggs, Royal Blood b Ken Dharma (Matt Sydal) & Niles Plonk (thanks to Brian Hoops)

F4W / WO EMPIRE WRESTLEMANIA GROUP INFO

BUS INFO:

  • The Empire bus to WrestleMania will cost $50.00 and will be round trip from Rosen Inn at 9000 International Drive 32819 (a few blocks away from Wrestlcon).
  • The bus will leave at 4pm (time subject to change) for WrestleMania and will leave WrestleMania no later then one hour after the show. If you would like a seat email Ed at f4wfan@hotmail.com or message him on the BOARD~! for Paypal payment instructions

DINNER INFO:

  • WHAT: Dinner at Texas de Brazil
  • WHEN: Friday March 31st
  • WHERE: 5259 International Dr Ste F1, Orlando, FL 32819 at 5 p.m. (they may open at 4:30 for us)
  • WHO: All your best empire buddies
  • DETAILS: The cost of the dinner will be $68.00 which includes the dinner, salad bar, soft drinks and tea, and dessert, tax and tip. This is a pre pay dinner and you can send payment to paypal at Srjaialaiot@yahoo.com (please send as a gift to a friend). Payments must be made by March 24th (if you wait until after that, Ed will charge an extra $5.00 for being a pain).

Today in Professional Wrestling History (1/26): CM Punk’s final match at Royal Rumble 2014

CONTACT INFORMATION

​