Daily Update: Rex Bacchus passes away, Rousey in MK11, Revival

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NEW JAPAN FANTASTICA MANIA FROM KORAKUEN HALL AT 4:30 A.M. FRIDAY MORNING ON NEW JAPAN WORLD

  • Jushin Liger & Ryusuke Taguchi & Audaz vs. Gedo & Taiji Ishimori & Templario
  • Angel de Oro & Titan vs. Okumura & Forastero
  • Satoshi Kojima & Toa Henare & Fujin & Raijin (Sho & Yoh) vs. Tetsuya Naito & El Terrible & Bushi & Shingo Takagi
  • Atlantis & Atlantis Jr. vs. Ultimo Guerrero & Gran Guerrero
  • Volador Jr. & Flyer vs. Caristico & Namajague (Desperado)
  • Soberano Jr. vs. Cavernario Barbaro
  • Dragon Lee & Mistico vs. Cuatrero & Sanson in the finals of the family tag team tournament

F4W NEWSLETTER: Figure Four Weekly: AEW roster starts to take shape

Plans for All Elite Wrestling started to come into focus at a rally in Jacksonville, Florida last Tuesday. A surprise appearance by Chris Jericho closed the event, with Jericho instantly becoming the highest profile signing AEW has made in its brief history. “I’m Chris Jericho, and I am all in with All Elite Wrestling,” Jericho said to begin his speech. “Surprise — I think we just took things to a different level, didn’t we?” Jericho said he’s not here with AEW for the money — he’s here because he believes in doing something new and different. 

WON NEWSLETTER: January 21, 2019 Observer Newsletter: Ring of Honor signs Rush, more

The latest in the land grab for top tier talent is that ROH has signed William Munoz Gonzalez, 30, better known as Rush, to an exclusive one-year U.S./Ontario market contract.

The deal, believed to be for approximately $155,000 per year, is added to Munoz’s five year deal with CMLL which runs until the end of 2020.

The contract takes Rush out of MLW’s attempt at the biggest match of its run, on the 4/4 show in New York a the Melrose Ballroom that was built around Rush vs. L.A. Park.

This is after the angle for the match was shot on the live special. Pentagon Jr. will face Park in that show’s main event. Pentagon Jr. had already been booked on the High Spots WrestleCon Super Show on 4/4 going head-to-head, but the agreement was already worked out where he and Fenix’s match would go on early on the High Spots show, and he would then go on last on the MLW show.

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THURSDAY NEWS UPDATE

Nothing really new regarding The Revival. At this point they have not been given their release and are scheduled for the Raw house shows this weekend.

MLW reported today that Chris Sims, who worked as Dr. Rex Bacchus, passed away this morning after a long battle with cancer.

Ronda Rousey was announced as voicing the role of Sonya Blade in Mortal Kombat 11.

World of Sport opens its tour tomorrow in Southampton, UK with Justin Sysum & Robbie X vs. Iestyn Rees & Kip Sabian, Rampage Brown vs. Will Ospreay, Kay Lee Ray vs. Viper vs. Bea Priestley, Sha Samuels & CJ Banks vs. Joe Hendry & BT Gunn, Crater vs. Gabriel Kidd and Grado vs. Martin Kirby. They also run Saturday in Newport, UK with Justin Sysum vs. Rampage for the WOS title, Nathan Cruz vs. Adam Maxted, Iestyn Rees & Kip Sabian vs. Gunn & X, Banks vs. Hendry and Ospreay vs. Kirby. SoCal Val will also be on all the shows.

WWE

  • Next week’s episode of Kevin Hart’s “Cold as Balls” will feature Ronda Rousey.
  • 2K announced a final call for entires into its WWE 2K19 Million Dollar Challenge, that leads to the winner against A.J. Styles in the game. The deadline to enter is 1/31 at midnight Eastern time. 
  • Big Show will be appearing in season two of Happy, a Syfy series. Show appears in four episodes. The show debuts on 3/27.

UFC

  • This is the ESPN coverage schedule for UFC this week:
    Tomorrow:
    Ariel & The Bad Guy at 9 a.m. on ESPN+ Live
    Pre-Fight show at 6 p.m. on ESPN+ Live

    Saturday:
    Conor McGregor vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov fight at 3 p.m. on ESPNEWS
    Demetrious Johnson vs. Henry Cejudo II at 4p.m. on ESPNEWS
    TJ Dillashaw vs. Cody Garbrandt at 5 p.m. on ESPNEWS
    Prelims on ESPN+ at 6 p.m.
    More prelims on ESPN at 8 p.m.
    Main card on ESPN+ at 10 p.m.
    Post-fight show on ESPN+ after conclusion of the show

  • UFC tickets for the 3/9 show in Wichita, KS go on sale to the public tomorrow at 10 a.m. local time, priced from $125 down to $75. The card includes:
    Derrick Lewis vs. Junior Dos Santos
    Marion Reneau vs. Yana Kunitskaya
    Elizeu dos Santos vs. Curtis Millender
    Tim Boetsch vs. Omari Akhmedov
    Daniel Spitz vs. Jeff Hughes
    Blagoy Ivanov vs. Ben Rothwell
    Beneil Dariush vs. Drew Dober

MISCELLANEOUS

  • MLW announced closing a TV deal with Ego Total in Israel. The show will air Tuesdays at 6:10 p.m. local time.
  • AAW on 1/26 in Chicago at the Logan Square Arena was less than 20 tickets from sold out for Trevor Lee’s last appearance. The card has Penta 0M & Rey Fenix vs. LAX, ACH vs AR Fox, Kimber Lee vs. Jessicka Havok and Rey Hours vs. Trey Miguel.
  • Jim Cornette will be appearing at the Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo C2E2 on 3/22 to 3/24 in Chicago at the McCormick Place. He will be appearing all three days. On Saturday night 3/23, Cornette will host a VIP gathering for “Have a Beef with Jim Cornette.” The three hour show will feature Cornette talking on wrestling and life, talking NWA and WWF in Chicago, a Q&A, 8x10s with fans getting classic Chicago Italian Beef sandwiches. Admission is $65.
  • How things have changed department: When Ben Askren won the Bellator title, and was an assistant coach at Arizona State, his profile never even mentioned he did MMA. On 2/16, Arizona State Wrestling is promoting its first MMA Night to honor Cain Velasquez, Ryan Bader and the other ASU alums who became top fighters. (thanks to Will Tynor)
  • Hoosier Pro Wrestling on 2/2 at the 4-H Fairgrounds in Columbus, IN.
  • Jonah Rock’s last independent match in Australia before going to WWE will be 2/2 in Adelaide against Tommy Knight.
  • MCW Winter Blast tomorrow night in Joppa, MD features Jimmy Hart, Scott Steiner and Scarlett Bordeaux. They also run Saturday night in Hollywood, MD at the Hollywood Volunteer Fire Department with Scott Steiner, Jimmy Hart and Scarlett Bordeaux. Next week they run 1/25 in Felton, DE at the Delaware Auto Exchange with Boogeyman, and 1/26 in Manchester, MD at Manchester Valley High School with Jimmy Hart, Victoria and Boogeyman.
  • Pro Wrestling Revolver on 3/9 in West Des Moines, IA at the Val Air Ballroom with Johnny Impact vs. Rich Swann, Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz vs, Mat Fitchett & Davey Vega vs. LAX and Sami Callihan & Jessicka Havok vs. Daga & Tessa Blanchard. They also run 4/6 at 11 a.m. at WrestleCon at the Hilton Midtown Ballroom in New York with Sonjay Dutt vs. Matt Cross, plus Brian Cage, Sami Callihan, Jessicka Havok, Don Callis and Adam Brooks.
  • Combate Americas on 2/22 in Fresno at the SaveMart Center headlined by Pablo Sabori vs. Anthony Avila and the return of former Bellator champion Zoila Frausto vs. Jaimee Nievera. This is Frausto’s first fight in three years. The show is billed as Mexico vs. USA and airs on DAZN live.
  • An interview with Thunder Rosa.
  • An interview with Jay White for Digital Spy.
  • CWE has announced a 38 show tour from 3/26 to 5/2 throughout Canada and that Psicosis will be on the tour.

Daily Pro Wrestling History: Vader wins IWGP Heavyweight title

Ed in San Antonio presents the WON/F4W Empire Events for WRESTLEMANIA Weekend (more to be added):

  • Sunday, April 6th, at 12:00 pm: Empire lunch (all you can eat) at Churrascaria Plataforma ($90 per person), located at 316 W. 49th street in Manhattan. Purchase tickets here~!
  • Luxury Bus to MetLife Stadium for Wrestlemania: We will depart from the Hilton Midtown (site of Wrestlecon) located at 1335 Avenue of the Americas. Departure time is 4:00 pm and will return from MetLife approximately 30 mins after the event. Times are subject to change, and cost $67.00 per person for the round trip. Purchase tickets here~!

CONTACT INFORMATION