Daily Update: SmackDown & 205 Live, WWE Week, CM Punk

THE ROUND-UP

The Latest from the F4W Staff

NEWS

AUDIO

WWE has two shows in San Diego. There will be the joint-branded Tribute to the Troops taping at the Naval Base at 10 a.m., followed by the Smackdown / 205 Live show from the Valley View Casino Arena.

NEW JAPAN TAG TAM TOURNAMENT WEDNESDAY IN NAGASAKI ON NEW JAPAN WORLD

  • Hangman Page & Yujiro Takahashi vs. Minoru Suzuki & Takashi Iizuka
  • Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi vs. Hirooki Goto & Yoshi-Hashi

FIGURE FOUR WEEKLY:Figure Four Weekly 11/27/2017: Four who should be next on the WWE main roster

When WWE decides to call up wrestlers from NXT, they usually tend to be painfully drawn out or total surprises. The arrivals of Mandy Rose, Sonya Deville, Ruby Riot, Liv Morgan, and Sarah Logan on the main roster last week was more the latter. Of the five, only Riot (who was formerly known as Heidi Lovelace before signing with WWE) had wrestled a match on a TakeOver special. The other four had yet to even have full runs on NXT television aside from sporadic appearances.

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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. 

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: 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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TUESDAY NEWS UPDATE

WWE

  • As the build to Clash of Champions continues, there will be two non-title matches involving champions on SmackDown tonight. Baron Corbin vs. Bobby Roode and Charlotte Flair vs. Tamina are set for the show, along with The New Day vs. Rusev & Aiden English and a Bludgeon Brothers match. We should also get more of an idea of what WWE’s plans are for Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn at the PPV.
  • 205 Live will be built around an angle where Drew Gulak is in charge of The Zo Train with Enzo Amore not on the show. Most of the Raw roster is headed to Abu Dhabi for this weekend’s house shows in the United Arab Emirates and India. Gulak vs. Cedric Alexander is also set for 205 Live.
  • WWE officially confirmed that NXT will be airing on the USA Network on Wednesday, December 13th at 7 p.m. Eastern time as part of “WWE Holiday Week.” It’s listed as a one-hour special from Full Sail with Andrade “Cien” Almas, Ember Moon, SAnitY, Adam Cole, Aleister Black, and more advertised. With that, it would appear that the show will be one of the episodes filmed at the latest television tapings. Tribute to the Troops was set to be taped at Naval Base San Diego today and will air at 8 p.m. ET on December 14th.
  • Before Tribute to the Troops took place, WWE announced that Machine Gun Kelly would be performing at the event.
  • Our Paul Fontaine notes that last night’s first-to-third hour viewership drop was the second largest in history since Raw became a three-hour show.
  • Sasha Banks appeared on today’s episode of the Steve Austin podcast. There will be another episode next week with Banks and Bayley on it, and Elias and Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows also recorded shows with Austin.
  • Reby Hardy tweeted about Matt becoming “Woken” on Raw last night: “Who’d have thought, man. From brainstorming at Waffle House to tonight. My husband was confident in his execution from the jump, even when everyone told him he was dumb/nuts/irrelevant. NO ONE is irrelevant in today’s age of endless possibilities. MAKE YOURSELF.”
  • WWE 2K18 will be released on the Nintendo Switch tomorrow.
  • Carrie Fisher apparently had a box of Booty O’s cereal displayed in her kitchen window before she passed away.
  • ESPN interviewed Triple H about wrestling in India this weekend.
  • Tyler Bate met with fans in Burton today as part of an appearance for WWE.
  • WWE Shop released a “Rusev Day” T-shirt.

Pro Wrestling

UFC/MMA

Today in Professional Wrestling History: Randy Savage’s last match

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