Daily Update: SmackDown, Okada, NJPW in the US

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FIGURE FOUR WEEKLY: Figure Four Weekly 6/26/2017: Cody Rhodes’ bet on himself continues to pay off

Cody Rhodes may have already completed most of the goals that he famously listed in a tweet after leaving WWE, but his biggest accomplishment since wasn’t something that was mentioned then. Rhodes defeated Christopher Daniels to win the Ring of Honor World Championship in the main event of Best in the World last Friday night.

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WRESTLING OBSERVER NEWSLETTER: July 3, 2017 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Summerslam plans change, Cody Rhodes wins ROH World title, more

A look at changes in WWE booking leading to SummerSlam, including a main event change and how this likely effects the WrestleMania plans for New Orleans is the lead item in the new double issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

Look at SummerSlam, Great Balls of Fire, Battleground and the Brock Lesnar vs. Samoa Joe program and how it’s viewed.

There is a feature on Cody Rhodes winning the ROH title, interpromotional champion vs. champion matches in the last 30 years and how rare they are, the last time one person won a major world title from two organizations at the same time, the last match of this type in the U.S. and how it came without any hype and its purpose was very different, plus different reactions to Cody Rhodes, the trickiness of the finish, the ticket demand for Long Beach, what show last year exceeded it, and father and son combos who both held world heavyweight titles.

This issue features the 2017 G-1 Climax tournament, including all tournament matches, the broadcast plans and times, key matches to look out for and more.

Check out the NXT Takeover card for 8/19 in Brooklyn, an idea floated for Asuka’s booking, the arrival of Bobby Fish, more teases regarding Daniel Bryan wrestling again, more on how WWE has changed from a medical standpoint over the years, WWE TV in India, a new TV commercial regarding John Cena, WWE looking to find out why people have canceled network or don’t watch the programming anymore, Mike Bennett talks his WWE signing, Raw guys on Smackdown shows and Smackdown guys on Raw shows this summer, an update on Io Shirai coming to WWE and her injury situation, an update on the Mae Young Classic and broadcast plans, the promotion of the Mae Young name and lots of new wrestlers in the tournament.

Look at T.J. Wilson’s new role, the most-watched shows on the WWE Network, the company’s worth, NXT television for the month of July, as well as notes on all the WWE & NXT house shows from the past week, highlights of the shows and business notes on the shows.

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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: June 12, 2000 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Paul Heyman meets with ECW talent, PRIDE 9 results, more

Paul Heyman, who hadn’t appeared at an ECW event since the Hardcore Heaven PPV, surprisingly, after missing the TV taping on 6/2 in New Orleans, flew to Pensacola, FL for the house show for a lengthy ECW team meeting.

The one hour long meeting was largely a pep talk, since most of the wrestlers hadn’t even spoken to Heyman in a month, and with smaller crowds, slightly declining ratings and late checks, morale had hit a new low.

Heyman went through a story about where he saw the wrestling business in the U.S. headed. The theory he had was that WWF and USA Network would settle their lawsuit before going to trial because both have so much dirt on the other that would come out in court that both sides stock prices would drop and suffer public embarrassment. At that point he figured USA Network would get a strong settlement and WWF would go to CBS Viacom, moving Raw to TNN on Monday nights. He talked about the chance that ECW would get on USA Network or possibly FOX.

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TUESDAY NEWS UPDATE

WWE

  • Tonight’s SmackDown is a fairly loaded show even with it being on the Fourth of July. John Cena will return to WWE TV as a “free agent,” Naomi will defend her Women’s title against Lana, there will be a battle royal to determine Kevin Owens’ challenger at Battleground, and Wale will host a rap battle between The Usos and The New Day.
  • WWE briefly interviewed Wale prior to his appearance tonight.
  • Ratings for both Raw and SmackDown this week will be delayed until Thursday due to the Independence Day holiday.
  • With NJPW having been in the United States over the weekend, Kazuchika Okada was backstage at Raw in Phoenix, Arizona last night. He’s been at WWE events to visit friends while over in the US for shows with ROH before as well. Okada posted a picture with Shinsuke Nakamura and Finn Balor tweeted a picture of Okada wearing his Balor Club jacket.
  • Kairi Sane also posted a photo with Hideo Itami, Naomichi Marufuji, and Taiji Ishimori as Marufuji and Ishimori are in Orlando for GFW/Impact’s Slammiversary PPV and TV tapings.
  • Goldust wrote about Okada being backstage at Raw: “Okada came to see my feature film….. #TheShatteredTruth tonight and I told him @CodyRhodes was better than him.”
  • The second episode of the Steve Austin Show with Bayley came out today, with Austin and Bayley breaking down her match against Sasha Banks from NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn.
  • Kevin Owens tweeted that his parents bought his WWE DVD at the same video store in his hometown where his father rented a copy of WrestleMania XI for him in 1995.

Pro Wrestling

  • NJPW owner Takaaki Kidani said in an interview with Tokyo Sports that the G1 Specials in Long Beach were a “huge success” and they’d like to try a touring style in the US no later than March or April next year. Kidani also noted that they want to open an LA office this year and an LA dojo at the beginning of 2018. (thanks to Strigga for the translation)
  • The culmination of the storyline where The Young Bucks accidentally sent a DM to Dave Meltzer was featured on the latest episode of “Being the Elite.”
  • DeAngelo Williams and Moose claimed that Williams only trained for three days for his in-ring debut at Slammiversary.
  • The Miami Herald has an article on GFW/Impact honoring the victims of the Pulse Nightclub shooting. Tony Marrero, who survived the shooting, was also honored.
  • The Mirror has an update on Jim Breaks’ arrest and him getting into an altercation with Spanish police.
  • David Bixenspan wrote about the difficult road that women in wrestling have had to take to get to where they are now.
  • Also inspired by the release of GLOW on Netflix, National Post has a story on women’s wrestling in Canada.

UFC/MMA

  • Matt Hughes’ family updated his condition and said that he is off a ventilator and showing small signs of improvement.
  • BBC reported that Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor will begin the promotional tour for their boxing match at an event in London.
  • Chris Weidman lost his appeal of his loss against Gegard Mousasi at UFC 210.
  • Michael Bisping told Georges St-Pierre to “man up” and call Dana White to make their fight happen, but Bisping said that he would fight the interim middleweight title holder if he doesn’t face GSP.

Today in Pro Wrestling History: The first WarGames match

F4W Online / Wrestling Observer Vegas Convention Event Info

August 17-21; All times are TBA; Full information on the group Facebook page; Activities subject to change 

  • Thursday: Meet at the High Roller for Bowling at the Link; Party at Carnival Court at Hurrah’s
  • Friday: Kiss Mini Golf tournament at the Rio; Dinner at Texas de Brazil; Suite party (location TBA)
  • Saturday: Burgers with Granny for lunch; Future Stars of Wrestling show featuring Stephan Bonnar & Phil Baron, and co-main events: 3-way match with Leva Bates vs. Mia Yim vs. Hudson Envy, and “Filthy” Tom Lawlor vs. Thomas Santell (f.k.a. Antonio “The Promise” Thomas); NXT viewing party at the Sci-Fi Center
  • Sunday: SUPER CHINA BUFFET DAY at the Wicked Spoon Buffet at 1pm; SummerSlam viewing party at the Sci-Fi Center
  • Monday: Goodbye lunch at Chen Chen at NY NY
  • All website members will also receive a 15% discount on any purchases from the Las Vegas Fight Shop for the entirety of the convention

Texas de Brazil, Wicked Spoon, NXT and Summer Slam will all be sign up and pre-paid events, prices and collection begin in mid July~!

Pro Wrestling Tees is now carrying our latest line of F4W shirts. Support the Empire~! Grab yours today!

CONTACT INFORMATION

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