Daily Update: Raw tonight, Dean Ambrose, Chris Jericho & NJPW

THE ROUND-UP

THE LATEST NEWS

THE LATEST AUDIO

Raw is in Hartford with the Superstar shake up. We’re looking for reports on the non-Raw matches to newstips@wrestlingobserver.com.

The show will have another Ronda Rousey/Stephanie McMahon segment, plus The Revival vs Matt Hardy & Bray Wyatt with the winning team getting a match with Sheamus & Cesaro in Saudi Arabia for the vacant tag team titles and Bayley vs. Sasha Banks.  

Smackdown and 205 Live will be taped on Tuesday in Providence. It will be day two of the Superstar shakeup plus Hideo Itami & Akira Tozawa vs. Lince Dorado & Gran Metalik in a tornado match.

WWE Raw has house shows on Wednesday and Thursday this week in Cape Town, South Africa. We’re looking for reports on those events to newstips@wrestlingobserver.com.

ALL JAPAN CHAMPION CARNIVAL ON WEDNESDAY AT 6 A.M. EASTERN TIME ON THE ALL JAPAN STREAMING SERVICE

  • Kai vs. Dylan James
  • Naomichi Marufuji vs. Yutaka Yoshie
  • Jun Akiyama vs. Yoshitatsu
  • Ryoji Sai vs. Yuji Hino

​F4W NEWSLETTER: Figure Four Weekly: Seven thoughts from Wrestlemania 34

With a card that was still strong on in-ring action, Sunday’s WrestleMania 34 ended up being one of the weirdest events that WWE has ever produced. The show seemed destined to become one of the best in WrestleMania history, starting off with two very good matches and peaking with Ronda Rousey & Kurt Angle vs. Stephanie McMahon & Triple H blowing away all expectations. The Undertaker answered John Cena’s challenge shortly after that, squashing him in under three minutes. And Daniel Bryan returned to the Superdome and made his in-ring return in what was a great moment.

WON NEWSLETTER: April 16, 2018 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Historic Wrestlemania 34 weekend reviewed, more

This issue contains complete coverage of WrestleMania, NXT Takeover, ROH Supercard of Honor and UFC 223, with match-by-match coverage, poll results and star ratings.

Look at WWE’s future direction after WrestleMania, exactly how everything went down with the decision to change the finish and have Brock Lesnar win and the current Lesnar contract, his UFC talks and more. Look at why this will be going down the same way very shortly.

Have a look at who did and didn’t know about Reigns losing, what the script said, what and when the referee was told, what happened backstage after the match, why Lesnar gets special privileges and what happens next with the title.

Read why Cena vs. Undertaker went down the way they did, the return of Chris Jericho, update on Rey Mysterio’s contract, and what is next for the Greatest Royal Rumble and Backlash shows.

Check out the WWE Network numbers and what we can learn from them, and WWE’s business projections for the year and for the next quarter. Find out the viewing patterns on the network and how much it was up per person and what that means, plus an update on network plans.

Read about the live business in New Orleans and what it really was the last time compared to what was announced.

This issue has full details on what happened with Conor McGregor, as well as all the different things that went into Khabib Nurmagomedov facing Al Iaquinta. Look at Floyd Mayweather in MMA, what is next for McGregor, what happened with McGregor that hasn’t gotten out yet, and the story behind the New York not calling it a title match.

Check out the coverage of Impact vs. Lucha Underground, Progress, Revolution Pro, House of Hardcore, Evolve, the Super Shows and all the major activities in New Orleans over WrestleMania week.

Read more on the death of Johnny Valiant, the end, at least for now, of Being the Elite, why WWE is back in the U.K. game and where the ITV project stands.

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MONDAY NEWS UPDATE

There should be a big audience for both Raw and Smackdown this week with the Superstar shakeup stuff. The Smackdown talent is booked for Raw since they don’t have a Smackdown house show tonight. However, the Raw talent for the most part is not booked for Smackdown since everyone leaves after Raw tonight for South Africa. It is possible they could hold one person back as a surprise or something.

Dean Ambrose is being advertised for the Raw tour of South Africa. He is listed for the shows on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday but not on Thursday. We haven’t heard anything from WWE regarding this after asking.

Chris Jericho was on the StillRealToUs.com podcast and regarding New Japan, said: “Yeah, you know it was a good idea. It was good when it happened. We had a blast, but sometimes things just don’t work out. New Japan was a lot of fun. Not to say that I wouldn’t go back there again but as of right now, our relationship is pretty much finished at this point.” 

John Cena, due to his split with Nikki Bella, was the seventh most searched term on the Internet yesterday with more than 500,000 searches. 

Big Cass is backstage at Raw. That doesn’t mean he’ll be on the show. It only means he’s there.

We’ll have a lot more on this in the new issue, but the Professional Fighting League announced six weight class tournaments, with 12 people in each tournament, where each winner, who will be crowned on 12/31, gets $1 million. There will be a series of Thursday night shows on the NBC Sports Network in the summer and then playoffs. The promotion will debut on 6/7 at the Madison Square Garden Theater in New York with heavyweight and featherweight tournament fights. Marcos Galvao vs. Nazareno Malegarie, Josh Copeland vs. Jack May, Mike Kyle vs. Shawn Jordan, Caio Alencar vs. Jake Heun plus Steven Siler, Jared Rosholt and more appear.

WWE

  • Becky Lynch, Mickie James and Lana were all on the red carpet last night for the American Country Music Awards in Las Vegas. As noted before, Lynch on Saturday night was at the UFC show to see her boyfriend, Luke Sanders, fight.

MISCELLANEOUS

  • As expected based on what happened Thursday, MLW champion Shane Strickland will make his first title defense against Pentagon Jr. on the 5/3 TV tapings in Orlando at Gilt Nightclub. Their TV show debuts on Friday night on Bein Sports.
  • ICW Fightclub tapings from yesterday in Newcastle, England before 300 fans: Dct b Stevie Boy, Mark Coffey b Jody Fleisch, Lewis Girvan & Aspin Faith b Arron Echo & Kenny Williams, Mikey Whiplash won three-way death match over Drew Parker and Clint Magera, Sons of Ulaid b The Purge, Big Grizzly b Ravie Davie, Jack Jester & Sha Samuels b Ashton Smith & Rampage Brown to win the tag titles, BT Gunn b Mark Haskins to keep the ICW world title. The tag title match was said to have a great story. Jackie Polo and Lionheart signed a contract for a match. The death match included barbed wire, thumbtacks, ladders and tables. The next big show in Barramania on 4/29. (thanks to Jordan Clark)
  • IPW on from Saturday night in Auckland, New Zealand before a sellout of 400 fans. The crowd was there to see former All Black rugby star Josh Kronfeld make his pro wrestling debut in a Rumble Style match. James Shaw & Jukebox Hero b CTRL, Liger (not Jushin Liger) and Michael Richards (not Kramer) co-won the Rumble, Mr. Burns b Big Ted, Britenay b Grace Lightning, Liam Fury b Vinny Dunn. Next show is the 5/19 anniversary show. (thanks to Steve Ogilvie)
  • Swoggle is promoting an All-Star Championship Wrestling show on 4/21 in Oshkosh, WI at the Menominee Nation Arena at 7 p.m. 
  • Will Ospreay has been announced for the SPW Southern Rumble show on 7/14 at ILT Stadium in Invercargill, New Zealand. Also announced for the show is Bea Priestley and Tenille Dashwood.
  • On Saturday night’s SoCal Pro show, at the end of the show, Sonny Onoo was on the video screen and announced that Ultimo Dragon would be facing Penta 0M on 9/15 for the promotion. (thanks to Arturo Garcia)
  • A correction from yesterday’s update on the Defy results. It was Schaff beating Brody King and not the other way around.
  • Shimmer results from yesterday in Berwyn, IL: 
    Volume 103: Cici Galavis b Harlow O’Hara, Karen Q b Tesha Price, Chelsea Green b Jessica Troy, Cheerleader Melissa b Aerial Monroe, Willow Nigthingale b Sierra, Tessa Blanchard & Indi Hartwell b Brittany Blake & Samantha Heights, Saraya Knight b Hyan, Kris Wolf b Kiera Hogan, Dust b Britt Baker, Delilah Doom & Leva Bates b Kikyo & Dynamite Didi, Nicole Matthews b Rachael Ellering, LuFisto & Hudson Envy b Mia Yim & Kay Lee Ray, Shazza McKenzie b Zoe Lucas to keep the Heart of Shimmer title, Kimber Lee b Rhia O’Reilly, Nicole Savoy b Su Yung to keep the Shimmer title.
    Volume 104: Veda Scott b Samantha Heights, Jessicka Havok & Nevaeh b Charli Evans & Jessica Troy, Melanie Cruise b Willow Nightingdale, Tessa Blanchard b Miranda Alize, Saraya Knight b Rain, Cheerleader Melissa b Leva Bates, Nicole Matthews b Kris Wolf, Shotzi Blackheart won six-way over Chelsea Green, Britt Baker, Marti Belle, Rachael Ellering and Su Yung, Vanessa Kraven b Mercedes Martinez, Dust b Shazza McKenzie to win the Heart of Shimmer title, Mia Yim & Kay Lee Ray b LuFisto & Hudson Envy, Nicole Savoy b Kimber Lee to keep the Shimmer title. (thanks to Jake Koch)
  • Shawn Michaels, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Sean Waltman, Lex Luger, Darren Young, Headbanger Mosh, Ernest Miller and Nick Aldis will be at the Tribute to the Legends convention on Saturday at 11 a.m. in Joppa, MD at the MCW Arena. Aldis will also defend his NWA title against Brandon Scott.
  • Scott Norton on Twitter wrote that due to being lied to and false advertised he will not be attending Saturday’s K&S Wrsetlefest at the MCW Tribute to the Legends show in Joppa, MD. We should note that MCW has been around for a long time booking top stars and we’ve never heard anything negative, and have heard a lot positive from people who have worked with them.
  • New Generation Wrestling on 5/6 has a TV taping in Hull City Hall in the U.K. with Nathan Cruz, Matt Myers, El Ligero, Robbie X, Rampage Brown, Joe Hendry, SoCal Val, Amir Jordan and others. 
  • Hoosier Pro Wrestling on 5/5 in Columbus, OH at the HPW Arena at the 4-H Fairgrounds featuring the debut of Cody Hawk.
  • Rockstar Pro on Wednesday night at the Rockstar Pro Arena in Dayton has Kevin Sullivan vs. Sami Callihan in a street fight.
  • Defy Wrestling on 5/4 in Missoula, MT at the MASC Studios has Flip Gordon vs. Matt Riddle.
  • Shine on 4/27 in Ybor City, FL on FITE and Club WWN is headlined by LuFisto vs. Kimber Lee plus Rain vs. Stormie Lee in a street fight and Mercedes Martinez & Ivelisse defend the tag title against Maria Manic & Penelope Ford.
  • ECCW on 5/5 in New Westminter, BC at the Sapperton Pensioners Hall headlined by B-Boy vs. Tony Baroni in a street fight. 
  • Lions Pride Sports on Saturday night in College Station TX featuring Jerry Lawler. They also run on 5/19 in Navasota, TX with Rikishi, Billy Gunn, MVP, Shane Douglas, Gangrel and Snitsky.
  • A cable access show in Michigan had this tribute to Machine Gun Mike Kelly.

Daily Professional Wrestling History: The first Super J-Cup

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