Daily Update: Owens & Jericho angle, Flair’s birthday, Mayweather

THE ROUND-UP

The Latest from the F4W Staff

NEWS / REPORTS

AUDIO

WWE Raw is in Regensburg, Germany for the final night of the tour, as well as a SmackDown brand show in Moline, IL and an NXT show in Fort Pierce, FL.

EVOLVE AT 6 P.M. EASTERN TIME SATURDAY FROM LA BOOM IN WOODSIDE, NY

  • Fred Yehi vs. Chris Dickinson vs. Austin Theory vs. Anthony Henry
  • Jeff Cobb vs. Jaka
  • ACH vs. Jason Kincaid
  • Tracy Williams vs. Keith Lee
  • Ethan Page vs. Darby Allin
  • Drew Galloway vs. Matt Riddle
  • Timothy Thatcher vs. Zack Sabre Jr. for Evolve title

ROH/NEW JAPAN AT KORAKUEN HALL ON SUNDAY MORNING AT 4:30 A.M. EASTERN TIME ON NEW JAPAN WORLD

  • Kushida & Juice Robinson & David Finlay vs. Silas Young & Gedo & Jado
  • Sanada & Evil & Bushi vs. Jushin Liger & Tiger Mask & Delirious for Never six man titles
  • Kazuchika Okada & Hirooki Goto & Yoshi-Hashi & Will Ospreay vs. Bad Luck Fale & Yujiro Takahashi & Tama Tonga & Tanga Roa
  • Young Bucks vs. War Machine
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi & Dalton Castle & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Tetsuya Naito & Hiromu Takahashi & Damien Martinez
  • Katsuyori Shibata & Jay Lethal vs. Cody & Hangman Page
  • Mark & Jay Briscoe vs. Kenny Omega & Adam Cole

Sunday has WWE with a SmackDown brand house show in Cedar Rapids, IA.

ROH/NEW JAPAN AT KORAKUEN HALL ON MONDAY MORNING AT 4:30 A.M. EASTERN TIME ON NEW JAPAN WORLD

  • Kushida & David Finlay & Tomoyuki Oka vs. Silas Young & Gedo & Jado
  • Tiger Mask & Jushin Liger & Delirious & Dalton Castle & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Tetsuya Naito & Sanada & Evil & Bushi & Hiromu Takahashi
  • War Machine vs. Tama Tonga & Tanga Roa
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi & Jay Lethal & Juice Robinson vs. Bad Luck Fale & Yujiro Takahashi & Hangman Page
  • Hirooki Goto vs. Damien Martinez for Never Open weight title
  • Adam Cole vs. Yoshi-Hashi for ROH title
  • Mark & Jay Briscoe & Kazuchika Okada & Will Ospreay vs. Young Bucks & Kenny Omega & Cody

Raw will be live on Monday from Green Bay, WI. Bill Goldberg’s return is being promoted for what is the go-home show for Fast Lane. Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman are also booked on the show.

There will be a SmackDown brand house show on Monday night in Dubuque, IA.

SmackDown and 205 Live will be Tuesday from St. Paul featuring an A.J. Styles vs. Luke Harper match which supposedly will be for the WrestleMania title shot.

FIGURE FOUR WEEKLY: 2/20/2017, Looking at pro wrestling’s steller start to 2017

While making judgments about a year less than two full months into it probably isn’t a good idea, it’s clear that 2017 is already on pace to surpass its predecessor in terms of match quality. That’s not entirely unexpected. The stellar in-ring work that defined professional wrestling in 2016 didn’t come out of nowhere. It was the result of there being more qualified workers, more opportunities for them to work, and a wider variety of promotions for them to work for than there have been in many years… Subscribers click here to continue.

WRESTLING OBSERVER NEWSLETTER: February 27, 2017, Massive Ivan Koloff bio, death of George “The Animal” Steele, tons more

A huge feature on the life and career of Ivan Koloff is the lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, which is available right now. Plus, there are also features on George Steele, Nicole Bass, Johnny K-9, Diamond Dallas Page and Teddy Long.

The Koloff story talks about the most famous match of the 1970s in the U.S., his win over Bruno Sammartino, as well as his loss to Pedro Morales in WWWF title matches, the birth of Ivan Koloff, his days as Red McNulty, his first match with Sammartino, how he got the Koloff gimmick and who he was named after. This issue also looks at his title run with Sammartino the first time in Pittsburgh and then the WWWF, the most one-sided trade in sports history, the return of Koloff for his title win, the angle done to cover Sammartino, and the two big nights in Madison Square Garden.

Have a look at the creation of Ivan Koloff in Quebec and how he first made his name as a major drawing card, and look at his run in Australia where Gary Hart managed him. Plus look at his days in the AWA, Hawaii, St. Louis, Georgia, Florida, the second WWWF run, the role as top heel for the opposition, the tag team with Ole Anderson, his feud with Dusty Rhodes, and the emergence of Nikita Koloff and the other Russians in the 80s.

Examine the career of George Steele, the life and times of Johnny K-9, the strange world of Nicole Bass, and the WWE Hall of Fame inductions of DDP and Teddy Long.

Plus, details about the filming of “Fighting with My Family” after Raw and SmackDown this past week, notes on the movie, the phone calls to C.M. Punk in front of the fans, the Naomi injury, an update on Fast Lane, return of Finn Balor notes, a look at plans for a show after WrestleMania, the busy Raw brand schedule, WWE working with Indies on WWE Network update, WWE market value, most watched shows on WWE Network, plus details of all the WWE & NXT house shows over the past week along with business notes.

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 31, 2000, WCW departures, WWF Royal Rumble review, more

The soap opera surrounding WCW and the group of wrestlers who vowed to stick together got even stranger over the past week, with the company mired in even more uncertainty and friends who stuck together breaking apart. WCW sent unconditional release letters to Chris Benoit, Dean Simon (Malenko), Carlos Ashenoff (Konnan), Troy Martin (Shane Douglas), Eddy Guerrero and Perry Satullo (Perry Saturn) on 1/19, thus cancelling the planned meeting Bill Busch had agreed two days later to have with the group that same day, and allowing all of them to start with Titan Sports on 2/1 provided they agreed not to say anything publicly disparaging about WCW and agreed not to sue WCW… Subscribers click here to continue.

SATURDAY NEWS UPDATE

WWE

  • In an article on their website and a video on Instagram, WWE promoted an angle where Kevin Owens attacked Chris Jericho at a house show in Germany. They’ve been doing the angle on the shows this tour, but it appears that today’s could at least be acknowledged on TV with WWE saying that Owens may face fallout for his actions.
  • WWE.com posted an updated list of the 100 best matches on the Network in celebration of the streaming service’s third birthday.
  • Alexa Bliss and her parents were profiled on WWE’s “My Daughter is a WWE Superstar” video series.
  • Casey Michael of Squared Circle Sirens reported that Canadian weightlifter Isabel Lahela has signed with WWE and will be starting at the Performance Center in April.
  • Goldberg tweeted a congratulations to Asuka on having 149 wins in a row.
  • Mashable interviewed John Cena about his first impressions of the Nintendo Switch and his favorite video games as a child.
  • Mike Mooneyham wrote about WWE missing the opportunity to induct Ivan Koloff into their Hall of Fame while he was still alive.

Pro Wrestling

  • Today is Ric Flair’s 68th birthday.
  • Seasons one and two of Lucha Underground are set to be made available for streaming on Netflix on March 15.
  • In a bonus clip from FloSlam’s Matt Riddle documentary, Riddle was asked about Dana White and was critical of how White treats people.
  • NJPW World has an interview with Kenny Omega for subscribers about his return to Japan.
  • OTT announced Marty Scurll vs. Jay White for ScrapperMania on April 15th.
  • Dutch Mantell was contacted by Viceland for an appearance on a TV project about untold stories in pro wrestling.
  • Yoshitatsu vs. Volador Jr. will be the main event of next Friday’s CMLL show.

UFC/MMA

  • On Showtime Boxing last night, Floyd Mayweather appealed to Conor McGregor to make their potential boxing mega-fight happen and give the fans what they want to see. Mayweather also put over McGregor as a competitor and powerful puncher.
  • Despite Mayweather’s comments, Dana White told TMZ that he expects McGregor’s next fight to be in the UFC and against the winner of Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson.
  • Nurmagomedov, Ferguson, Tyron Woodley, and Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson participated in a media conference call ahead of UFC 209.
  • Dominick Cruz appeared on the Joe Rogan Experience.
  • From Paul Fontaine on last night’s Bellator show: “Last night’s Bellator 173 on Spike from Belfast was ‘a show.’ Liam McGeary beat up on journeyman Brett McDermott in the main event before the ref stopped it early in the second. McDermott was McGeary’s third opponent in five days and was actually retired before taking this fight. McGeary will face fellow UK fighter Linton Vassell on the company’s London show in May. Conor McGregor’s teammate, 20-year-old James Gallagher,  submitted Kirill Medvedovski in the first round of the co-main event. He then challenged AJ McKee to a fight on the London card. Another McGregor teammate, Sinead Kavanagh, lost in a women’s catchweight bout at 140 lbs to Iony Razafiarison by decision. Kavanagh was expected to win and was significantly larger than her opponent but got outwrestled badly to lose a one-sided contest. It really looked like a featherweight against a strawweight in there and the strawweight won. The other main card fight saw former UFC fighter Colin Fletcher lose by submission to French prospect Alex Lohore, whose record is now 11-1.”

Pro Wrestling Tees is now carrying our latest line of F4W shirts. Support the Empire~! Grab yours today!

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). THERE ARE ONLY 5 SEATS LEFT!
  • 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, including BIG DAVE MELTZER
  • 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).

CONTACT INFORMATION

​