Daily Update: The Rock on Hollywood Walk of Fame, Cody, UFC news

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FIGURE FOUR WEEKLY:Figure Four Weekly 12/4/2017: Looking at WWE’s match of the year candidates

While there’s still some time for WWE to shape how the company’s 2017 will be remembered, the beginning of December marked the end of this year’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards calendar. The insane output of high-end matches New Japan Pro Wrestling had during the voting period will rightfully lead to a strong showing in the Match of the Year category, but WWE’s in-ring year shouldn’t be forgotten. 

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WRESTLING OBSERVER NEWSLETTER:December 4, 2017 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: AJ Styles, Minoru Suzuki and more enter the Hall of Fame

What is usually the most talked about issue of the year, the Hall of Fame double issue is out with biographies of the five new entrants, why they were so important historically, as well as a breakdown of the voting in not just total votes, but broken down among those in the industry, reporters and historians.

Among the stories covered include the birth of major league pro wrestling in Japan and how it got so big so quickly including the booking behind it, the heyday of pro wrestling in Australia, as well as both the East and West Coast scene in the 60s and 70s. Plus, look at next year’s ballot.

This issue contains a feature on the history of Starrcade, how it started, its successes and failures over the years, including how Starrcade led to the growth of Crockett Promotions as well as the ending of the company. Look at the role Vince McMahon played in the killing of Crockett Promotions, the transition to Turner Broadcasting, the decisions that killed Starrcade as a major event, the rebirth of Starrcade, the Hogan vs. Sting and Goldberg vs. Nash matches and the tradition of Thanksgiving in Greensboro.

Read the full coverage of what led to the first Starrcade, what famous Starrcade matches were never supposed to happen, how tragedies and backstage brawls changed plans, how Starrcade led to the departure of Dusty Rhodes as booker of WCW and the role of Ric Flair.

There is also a feature on the career of Jim Cornette as a manger, including how he got into wrestling, how dominant he was as the best manager in his heyday, his biggest successes, the high point of Mid South Wrestling and Crockett Promotions, the economics of why SMW didn’t work and how wrestling changed in the 90s and why it is so different today, and why the reality is that ECW, SMW and JCP all went down for the same reason. 

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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. 

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WON BACK ISSUE: November 20, 2000 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Shinya Hashimoto fired from NJPW, Wrestlemania X7 sets records

Shinya Hashimoto, who headlined more big gates at the Tokyo Dome than any wrestler in history, was shockingly fired by New Japan Pro Wrestling on 11/13 after a weekend filled with turmoil after news got out he was negotiating with Pro Wrestling NOAH. The story was among many things that is threatening the future of the All Japan/New Japan relationship, which started off with the big success on 10/9 at the Tokyo Dome and has since seemed to start falling apart.

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WEDNESDAY NEWS UPDATE

WWE

Pro Wrestling

  • In an excerpt of an interview with ESPN, Cody Rhodes said that they’ll have a date and venue within two weeks for the 10,000 seat show he and The Young Bucks are self-financing: “We’ll have a date and a place within two weeks. That’s why I went ahead and commented on the original story, because it’s far enough along in the process that people need to know it’s happening.”
  • The WWE United Kingdom Championship will be on the line as Pete Dunne defends against Joseph Conners at PROGRESS Wrestling’s show in Sheffield this weekend.
  • Smash Wrestling in Canada announced that they’ve suspended Michael Elgin’s bookings for December 17th and January 19th and Limitless Wrestling in Maine announced that Elgin has been replaced by Jeff Cobb on their January 19th show. The issues stem from how Elgin handled a sexual assault allegation that was made against Sean Orleans, who was a former student of Elgin’s and wrestled for his Glory Pro promotion until being let go after the allegation was made public. Both promotions released statements about their shows being inclusive, welcoming, fun, and safe environments, with Smash Wrestling citing Elgin’s potential knowledge of the incident before it was publicly revealed as the reason for their decision. Cobb being announced as Elgin’s replacement comes after private messages of Elgin criticizing Cobb as a tag team partner in NJPW had been released. Elgin issued a statement about the situation before later deactivating his Twitter account.
  • NJPW uploaded Hiroshi Tanahashi’s appearance on their monthly “Wonderland” talk show with English subtitles.
  • Jay White will be back in NJPW for the World Tag League finals show as the build to his match against Tanahashi at the Tokyo Dome continues.
  • ROH’s 16th anniversary weekend will take place at Sam’s Town in Las Vegas on March 9th and 10th, with a pay-per-view and television tapings scheduled for those dates. Tickets are on sale now for Ringside members and will go on sale to the general public at 1 p.m. ET on Friday.

UFC/MMA

Today in Professional Wrestling History: Gordy & Williams win AJPW tag titles

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