Daily Update: SmackDown battle royal, Rollins, Mayweather & McGregor

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SmackDown and 205 Live will be taped tonight in Ontario, CA. Announced for the show is a Battle Royal for the WrestleMania title shot, which is some sort of an angle situation, Nikki Bella vs. Natalya falls count anywhere and Naomi vs. Alexa Bliss for the Women’s title.

NXT will be taped at the University of Central Florida Gym on Wednesday night. This will be all the shows leading into WrestleMania, so we should have the full TakeOver card on Wednesday night. 

There will be a Raw house show on Wednesday night from Dusseldorf, Germany and we’re looking for reports on the show. 

FIGURE FOUR WEEKLY: 2/20/2017: Looking at pro wrestling’s stellar 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 20, 2017: WWE financials, death of Chavo Guerrero, more

An update on the WWE’s WrestleMania plans and then two PPV’s leading to WrestleMania is the lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. We update the situation with the Seth Rollins vs. HHH proposed match, new matches that have changed due to injuries, update injured talent and a new proposed championship match on the Mania show, as well as more on different planned matches.

We also look at plans for both Elimination Chamber and Fast Lane.

We’ve got full coverage of the New Beginning in Sapporo show headlined by Kazuchika Okada vs. Minoru Suzuki, with match-by-match coverage with star ratings, poll results and business notes. We look at the build up angle and the story behind the main event, and this week’s show in Osaka.

We look at the big coup by WWE Studios working with Dwayne Johnson, a current WWE star being talked about for doing MMA, Kurt Angle talks wrestling in WWE, NXT Takeover Orlando notes, and lots of thoughts on the XFL documentary and key points that were not in.

We also have more WWE WrestleMania week plans, more on Mike Adamle and his battle against dementia and his background, update on a lot of WWE injuries, a surprise coach at the Performance Center and update on where that come from, and another WWE movie project.

We also have tons of notes on the wrestlers brought to the Performance Center this past week as well as other athletes for tryouts, including who they are and their backgrounds including some very unique prospects. We also look at the most-watched shows of the past week on the network as well as a rundown of all the WWE and NXT arena events this past week with both highlights and 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 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: 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.

TUESDAY NEWS UPDATE

WWE

  • A sit-down interview with Seth Rollins addressing Triple H, Samoa Joe, and his status for WrestleMania will air on next week’s Raw.
  • After Shinsuke Nakamura said that he would like to face AJ Styles at WrestleMania, Styles responded on Twitter: “@ShinsukeN how’s this? Sorry, but I do have a match at Wrestlemania. N fact, I’ll be headlining Wrestlemania after tonight.”
  • The ten entrants in tonight’s battle royal to supposedly determine a new number one contender for the WWE Championship are: AJ Styles, John Cena, Dean Ambrose, The Miz, Luke Harper, Baron Corbin, Dolph Ziggler, Kalisto, Apollo Crews, and Mojo Rawley.
  • Steve Austin was backstage at last night’s Raw recording an episode of his podcast with Kevin Owens.
  • Diamond Dallas Page spoke to ESPN about his career and his post-wrestling projects after news broke that he would be part of the 2017 WWE Hall of Fame class.
  • 2K Sports released a Hall of Fame showcase pack as WWE 2K17’s latest downloadable content.
  • Brian Kendrick vs. Akira Tozawa and Jack Gallagher vs. Tony Nese are advertised for tonight’s 205 Live.

Pro Wrestling

  • The first WWN Champion will be crowned over WrestleMania weekend at the EVOLVE vs. PROGRESS Mercury Rising supershow. The champion will be determined by a multi-man elimination match featuring current or former champions from WWN promotions. Drew Galloway has been announced for the match.
  • EVOLVE’s latest mini-doc profiles ACH. ACH was also interviewed by Title Match Wrestling.
  • John Pollock interviewed Matt Riddle on the latest episode of Live Audio Wrestling.
  • Lionheart tweeted that he’s been suspended by ICW for what was apparently a real physical altercation with Joe Hendry. He previously explained the incident.
  • Marco Corleone’s (the former Mark Jindrak) career in Mexico was profiled by ESPN.
  • Joey Janela announced an appearance by Earl Hebner for his WrestleMania weekend show.

UFC/MMA

  • Freddie Roach was on this week’s edition of the MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani and was asked about the potential Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather boxing super-fight. Roach said: “It looks like it’s gonna happen. Everything is pointing in the right direction. I think Conor will have his hands full with a boxer like Floyd. But he’s sellable, he’s making some noise.” Roach also said that Mayweather came to his gym three months ago to ask if McGregor had approached him about training for the fight and said that he was going to fight McGregor and they would make a lot of money.
  • Cris Cyborg also appeared on the MMA Hour to talk about being cleared by USADA after receiving a retroactive TUE and dealing with people who have a negative perception of her.
  • Derrick Lewis posted on Instagram that he broke his foot in his fight against Travis Browne last Sunday.
  • Scott Coker said in an interview with Daily Star Online that Fedor Emelianenko felt like the postponement of his fight against Matt Mitrione was a sign from God that it wasn’t the right time for him to fight on Saturday.

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).
  • 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
  • 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).

Today in professional wrestling history (2/21): WCW SuperBrawl 1993

CONTACT INFORMATION

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