Daily Update: SummerSlam odds, NXT Takeover, Heyman and J.R. interview

THE ROUND-UP

The Latest from the F4W Staff

NEWS

AUDIO

We’re looking for your thoughts on SummerSlam tonight, as well as last night’s NXT Takeover and ROH War of the Worlds shows, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to dave@wrestlingobserver.com.

We’re also looking for reports on the GFW tapings from yesterday and today, as well as the ROH show in Edinburgh, Scotland (Cody & Marty Scurll vs. Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian, Dalton Castle & The Boys vs. Young Bucks & Hangman Page for trios titles, Jay Lethal vs. Silas Young street fight, Mark & Jay Briscoe vs. Ultimo Guerrero & Rey Bucanero, Bully Ray vs. Evil, Tetsuya Naito & Bushi & Seiya Sanada vs. Kushida & Mistico & Titan, Kenny King vs. Josh Bodom and Hiromu Takahashi vs. Mark Haskins) to newstips@wrestlingobserver.com.

SUMMERSLAM SUNDAY AT 5 P.M. EASTERN FROM THE BARCLAYS CENTER IN BROOKLYN ON THE WWE NETWORK

*Brock Lesnar vs. Samoa Joe vs. Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman for Universal title – I’m using the updated Bovada odds here. Want to mention that the full smart money isn’t in so these odds do not reflect information for actual finishes and are just the betting favorites right now. If we get a smart money report, we’ll update it, but with the show starting early, that may not happen. I expect this should be a good match and probably have a creative finish, because if you notice, Lesnar matches are usually booked with the idea of finishes to get people talking. Lesnar is a -300 favorite with Joe +400 and Strowman at +800 and Reigns at +1000. The big story concerns the Undertaker appearing. There was a photo that circulated showing him on a plane to New York and that photo hasn’t been debunked. One would think if he does appear, this would be the match and given the promos, it would be to screw Reigns out of the title. But we’ll see. Even with a long show, I expect the crowd will be really up for this one.

*Jinder Mahal vs. Shinsuke Nakamura for WWE title – Nakamura is a -600 favorite to win the match, but that doesn’t mean the title. For all the reasons they put the title on Mahal, it doesn’t seem the right time for him to lose it, unless it’s a quickie thing. This will be interesting how good the match is. They are in a position on a big show where they should deliver a great match, but Mahal hasn’t had a great match on a PPV yet, and Nakamura hasn’t since he left NXT.

*A.J. Styles vs. Kevin Owens for U.S. title with Shane McMahon as referee – Styles is a -400 favorite to retain. These two have the capabilities to have the match of the show.  Most likely McMahon will play into the finish and probably build for something with him down the line.

*John Cena vs. Baron Corbin – This is notable that Corbin is a -150 favorite and I can’t imagine fans betting that way and there have been some insiders already betting. Any kind of a result other than Cena winning would mean all speculation about Corbin being punished or them giving up on him would be overblown and it would have just been a swerve to make you think that, given Corbin losing the briefcase only takes intrigue off the show and made no sense to happen last Tuesday. But if he wins, it’s an overall plus for him for the week. But this is a key match. Every Cena match gets more leeway and he’s also very good at storylines working so if this match isn’t good, Cena won’t be the one blamed. Corbin had a lot of heat last night at the show with “You f***ed up” chants at NXT. I’ve got to think this match will be put together for him to have as good a match as possible.

*Sheamus & Cesaro vs. Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose for Raw tag titles – Ambrose & Rollins are -250 favorites. In their first match back, they shouldn’t lose. Whether it should be a DQ or gimmick finish is different, but them losing unless it’s a great finish would seem like not the right idea. On paper this should be really good. 

*Alexa Bliss vs. Sasha Banks for Raw women’s title – Bliss is a -280 favorite to retain the title in this substitution match. The company is clearly high on Bliss. Women’s title matches have been hit and miss, but Banks usually does well under these circumstances.

*Naomi vs. Natalya for Smackdown women’s title. For reasons I’m not clear of, and perhaps it’s just an oversight, I can’t find Bovada odds for this match. Five dimes has Natalya as a -125 favorite so essentially it’s a pick em. There’s also the chance of a cash-in by Carmella, but my gut is that there’s more heat cashing in on Naomi than Natalya.

*Finn Balor vs. Bray Wyatt – After Wyatt’s disappointing program with Randy Orton, he needs to have a good match here. Their TV match wasn’t much. With Balor as The Demon, he’s a -600 favorite. It’s too soon for him to lose as The Demon.

*Randy Orton vs. Rusev – They on paper should have one of the best matches of the show, but it really feels more like two guys put together because they didn’t have anything else for each other and Orton is a top name. Rusev is a -900 favorite here. That seems long odds unless there is some insider info. It feels with so many matches on the show that this is one people aren’t talking about. I guess it could be a sleeper and Orton could use a good PPV match and some momentum right about now.

*Big Show vs. Big Cass with Enzo Amore in a shark cage. Cass is a -175 favorite. I really can’t see the logic of Show winning the match at this time unless they are looking for Enzo to finally get some revenge.

*Akira Tozawa vs. Neville for cruiserweight title (preshow match) – This has been moved to the preshow, which hurts because the crowd is never much into preshow matches.  At the same time, the cruiserweights when on the main show have struggled for reactions even though from a working standpoint, these two are on paper as good as any two people facing each other on the show. Neville is the -140 favorite as of right now.

*Big E & Xavier Woods vs. Usos for Smackdown tag titles (preshow match) – These teams did have the best match on the last PPV show and their reward is being on the preshow. The New Day is a -800 favorite, which are pretty steep odds before smart money has come in.

*Matt & Jeff Hardy & Jason Jordan vs. The Miz & Curtis Axel & Bo Dallas (preshow match) – The idea is to use the popularity of the Hardys to help jump start the Jordan character, which has been flat since people don’t buy his gimmick. The babyface trio are the -270 favorites.

Raw will be Monday night from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. There will also be a Smackdown brand house show on Monday night in Albany, NY and Impact tapings in Orlando.

WHAT CULTURE PRO WRESTLING STACKED FROM THE O2 ACADEMY IN LEEDS, ENGLAND TUESDAY AT 2 P.M. EASTERN

  • Hiromu Takahashi vs. Mike Bailey
  • War Machine vs. Briscoes for WCPW tag titles
  • Kushida vs. Travis Banks
  • Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Ricochet

Smackdown and 205 Live will be taped Tuesday from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn and there will be Impact tapings in Orlando.

We’re doing polls this weekend for three shows, the ROH iPPV on Saturday, NXT Takeover on Saturday and SummerSlam on Sunday, so you can a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match for each show to dave@wrestlingobserver.com.

FIGURE FOUR WEEKLY: Figure Four Weekly 8/14/2017: PROGRESS comes to Boston

On the second stop of their weekend in the United States, British promotion PROGRESS Wrestling presented an intimate show in the Boston area on Sunday night. Things didn’t go quite as planned up to that point. It started when PROGRESS and WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne couldn’t wrestle on either show after being busted open in an indie match on Friday. Then, TK Cooper suffered an ankle injury in New York and the excessive heat in the crowded venue marred what otherwise appeared to be a fun show.

Subscribers click here to continue.

WRESTLING OBSERVER NEWSLETTER: August 21, 2017 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Ric Flair hospitalized, G1 Climax finals, more

An update on Ric Flair and extensive G-1 Climax coverage are the lead stories in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

Full coverage of G-1, including polls on the last three nights, G-1 MVP, G-1 best match and a chart showing star ratings for everyone in the tournament and who had the best top-end matches, who was the most consistent and more, in this issue.

Look at the finances of G-1, what are New Japan’s major programs and biggest shows for the next two months, full coverage of all three nights at Sumo Hall, a measure of the change in interest levels over the past year, a look at the return of Katsuyori Shibata, and U.S. G-1 television plans for the summer and fall.

Preview WWE’s SummerSlam weekend, injury updates, lineup changes, ticket sales and plans for next year.

There is an update on the Daniel Bryan situation and why his coming back to wrestle next year is so unique, more on the WWE Network in China, how streaming services have done in China, Ronda Rousey and WWE, Adam Cole and WWE, the Mae Young Classic, Mike Bennett talks drug addiction issues, Bayley talks about her injury, Sami Zayn raising money, Dwayne Johnson update, Scott Dawson update, Shayna Baszler talks Rousey in wrestling, UK ratings, the story of Jericho’s one-night comeback, how Dolph Ziggler’s fortunes faded, WWE market value and the most watched shows on the WWE Network.

Check out all the WWE and NXT arena events from the past week with highlights from each show and business notes.

Examine the situation with Alberto El Patron and GFW and why it is what it is, as well as notes on the upcoming GFW tapings, Alberto’s response, new talent coming, the situation with Lucha Underground and what happens if Lucha Underground is no more.

Subscribers click here to continue.

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: July 24, 2000 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: ECW Heatwave review, wrestling business uncertainty, more

While a hot PPV show and an impromptu brawl in the middle of the show stole the headlines, in the big scheme of things, with the future of the company at stake, those were only minor issues. After five years of the biggest boom period in the history of this industry, pro wrestling, ironically, like so many industries in this ever changing world, has never been faced with so much uncertainty

Subscribers click here to continue.

SUNDAY NEWS UPDATE

We have our third of four straight nights of shows tonight, covering SummerSlam and other news. We’ve got shows up on Friday night talking Bryan Danielson’s situation and last night covering NXT & ROH among other topics. You can send in questions to the show to mailbag@wrestlingobserver.com.

I will say this. If for any reason you missed the NXT Takeover show, you really should watch it. It was of a standard that it will be exceedingly difficult for SummerSlam to even come close to even with the far greater hype SummerSlam comes in with. As far as an entire show went, between the work of the guys and the production and the angles, it was a home run event.

As noted in the preview, the Akira Tozawa title match with Neville has been moved to the preshow. 

Betting odds on Jon Jones being there are -150 and odds on Undertaker being there are -100. Odds for Naomi and Natalya have been swinging back and forth.

Kimbi has bets on what will be the highest rated bout in the Observer on Wednesday:

  • Universal title -167
  • U.S.title +125
  • Raw tag title +225
  • Smackdown tag title +225
  • Cruiserweight title +350
  • Raw women’s title +600
  • Smackdown women’s title +600
  • Balor vs. Wyatt +600
  • Cena vs. Corbin +600
  • Nakamura vs. Mahal +1000
  • Any other match +1500

NXT takeover wasn’t among the top searched items on Google yesterday. Terrence Crawford, who boxed last night on ESPN, was No. 15 with 50,000.

WWE

  • Those who appeared at Friday night’s WWE 2K Party, where they shot the angle with Dean Ambrose & Seth Rollins vs. Sheamus & Cesaro, were Bobby Roode, Samoa Joe, Braun Strowman, Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, Kurt Angle, New Day, Sheamus, Cesaro, Bayley,Sasha Banks, Alexa Bliss, Tyler Breeze, Fandango, Finn Balor, Bray Wyatt, Jinder Mahal and A.J. Styles. The biggest media question for a lot of them asked the most I’m told was thoughts on McGregor vs. Mayweather.
  • Paul Heyman bought 300 orders of shrimp tempura for the people who attended the show he did with Jim Ross on Friday night at the Gotham Comedy Club. Heyman said it wasn’t just shrimp tempura but the best shrimp tempura in the city. The show was said to be entertaining with a very emotional ending when Heyman talked about Jan Ross, talking her up so much Jim was crying on stage and a lot of people in attendance were crying as well. 
  • After last night’s show, particularly with Kurt Angle and Daniel Bryan shown watching, it looks like some NXT talent will be moving up imminently. The way the show ended would lead you to believe Roode would be the big star moving up, since they came out of the show with Drew McIntyre vs. Adam Cole as the title match feud. Authors of Pain losing was interesting although Sanity winning was planned a long time in advance. With Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly presented as new contenders, it does open up AOP, but it feels early for them.
  • Paul Levesque was on Jimmy Fallon Friday night plugging SummerSlam. It was during Fallon’s Thank You segment where he made a joke that HHH sounds like an extra strength hemmorhoid cream and not a pro wrestler. HHH came out to his music, slammed Fallon through the desk and sat in his chair and calmly plugged SummerSlam. (thanks to Jake Koch)
  • Mike Mooneyham, who is close friends with Ric Flair, writes on him.
  • Becky Lynch and Cris Cyborg were still working their Internet angle this week with Lynch calling her out for SummerSlam as late asFriday. 
  • Some interviews with Brian Fritz:
    Kurt Angle
    Alexa Bliss
    Bobby Roode
    Seth Rollins
    Bray Wyatt
    Braun Strowman
  • A Newsday interview with Kurt Angle talking Ric Flair.
  • The New York Daily News has a Lana photo spread.

MISCELLANEOUS

  • While this doesn’t have to do with wrestling or MMA directly, Dr. Bennet Omalu was on NPR saying that allowing young children to play tackle football is now child abuse given what we now know about the effects of concussions. (thanks to Cody Endres)
  • AAA wrestlers El Texano Jr. and Pagano debuted on the GWF tapings on Friday.
  • Davey Richards is back with Evolve starting on shows on 9/22 in Livonia, MI and 9/23 in Chicago.
  • GFW announced a Global Wrestling Network streaming service that would be available worldwide with Impact airing on the service for free. I’m sure there will be more details on this forthcoming. They also talked about doing shows in Germany, Austria and Switzerland “sooner rather than later”. (thanks to Himanshu D)
  • Pure Wrestling Association on 8/19 in Bradford, Canada at the Old Bradford Arena for the 2017 Carrot Cup. Rene Dupree, Josh Alexander and Davey Boy Smith Jr. will be appearing.
  • United Wrestling Coalition on 9/9 in Wrightstown, NJ at Kelly’s Banquet Hall.
  • Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling from last night before 325 fans for a sellout: Ax b Keith Smith Jr., The Starr Twins b Bobby D & Jimmy D, Manny Fernandez (the 80s star) b Waco, Troll b Big Texan, Keith Smith Jr., Ax, Jimmy D and Clint Poe in a bodyslam challenge, Mark Houston & Johnny Blade b Gary Jackson & Flash Flanagan, Curtis Wylde b Moondog Rover in a dog collar match, Ken Kasa b Superstar Steve Fender-DQ. (thanks to Larry Matysik)
  • 3LI Lucha Libre Live on 9/3 in Norristown, PA at the George Washington Carver Community Center features Canek Jr., Mascara Sagrada Jr. and El Hijo de Mascara Sagrada Jr., as well as Ricky Ryes, Will Ferrara and others.
  • Last night’s Terrence Crawford vs. Julios Indongo did a 0.7 rating for the show itself and 1.0 for the main event on ESPN based on preliminary numbers, making it the second highest rated boxing match on non-premium cable.
  • UPW on 9/9 in Rochester, NY at the eagles Club featuring Ethan Page, Jay Freddie and the debut of Eddie Kingston in the Upstate 8 tournament.

Today in Pro Wrestling History: Lord Steven Regal wins WCW TV Title

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