Daily Update: SummerSlam preview, EC3, NXT UK

THE ROUND-UP

THE LATEST NEWS

THE LATEST AUDIO

We’re doing weekend polls on NXT Takeover and SummerSlam 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 ROH shows yesterday in Doncaster and today in London to newstips@wrestlingobserver.com.

WWE SUMMERSLAM FROM THE BARCLAYS CENTER IN BROOKLYN AT 5:30 P.M. EASTERN ON WWE NETWORK

Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns for Universal title — There are a lot of different ways this can go. WWE still treats Reigns as if he’s the top guy in the promotion, and beating him again at this point wouldn’t seem smart. This could be Lesnar’s last match for a while as his latest short-term deal expires with this show. But he could sign again. In the end, if they offer him the same as he’d get for a Cormier main event, WWE is physically safer on him, so logic would say he’d do it. He could sign and still lose. The question also revolves around Braun Strowman and his role. Vince McMahon always does unique finishes in big Lesnar matches to get people talking. I expect the same here. The other big story is whether the crowd will turn on this match. Reigns is currently a -160 favorite. Keep in mind that as of this writing, smart money wasn’t in and smart money to any great degree hasn’t been coming in for months so these odds aren’t indicative of inside knowledge as they used to be.

A.J. Styles vs. Samoa Joe for WWE title — Given TV, it appears this program is going to keep going after this match. So the finish shouldn’t be clean either way in a first meeting or have enough wiggle room to lead to the program continuing. Styles is a -460 favorite, which are long odds, so people don’t believe Joe will take the title.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Seth Rollins for IC title — After the disappointment of the Iron Man Match, I think this match will probably be a contender for best match of the show. Dean Ambrose and Drew McIntyre are in the corners and one would think it’s building to a tag team program unless Ambrose turns on Rollins right away. Ziggler is a very slight favorite at -125.

Alexa Bliss vs. Ronda Rousey for Raw Women’s title –– While her matches are heavily choreographed, more than anyone, Rousey clearly has something special and every one of her matches has delivered at a far higher level than even the most optimistic expectations. The storyline has been strong so expect good stuff here. Rousey is a -300 favorite and I don’t think she should fail the second time going after the title.

Carmella vs. Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair for Smackdown Women’s title — Carmella is listed at -110, making her the favorite, Lynch is +175 and Flair is +220. I expect Flair and Lynch to carry the match. The idea is the best friends are in a situation where one is about to win and Carmella sneaks in is the call that would take the least amount of time to think of.

Bludgeon Brothers vs. New Day for Smackdown tag titles — Really doesn’t matter who wins. Should be a good match if they get the time to have a good match as you never know on a 13 match show how much time people will get other than you know the top guys will get their time. The Bludgeon Brothers are -140 favorites.

Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz — This is a big one as really with the hype and angles and that this is the first match after years of building, they should have great heat and it should be one of the best matches on the show. Miz is a -190 favorite which, if they are doing a longer program, he should get his hand raised, perhaps on a DQ, in the first meeting.

Braun Strowman vs. Kevin Owens for Money in the Bank briefcase — The Money in the Bank briefcase is at stake. The whole match story is about the idea that we all know Owens can’t beat him or be competitive, but he can manipulate him. Strowman is a -260 favorite.

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Jeff Hardy for U.S. title — Randy Orton will likely get involved. The obvious direction, if they go that way, is Orton’s distraction causes Hardy to lose. At one time this would be looked at as a potential awesome match. Not sure now. Nakamura is a -530 favorite so it looks like people are expecting that type of a finish.

Finn Balor vs. Baron Corbin — Doesn’t really matter who wins, both are going to be staying in similar TV positions. Since Corbin clearly won the last TV match and beat him up after, in WWE booking, that makes Balor the favorite and he’s listed at -270.

Elias segment — Obviously in some form this will involve Bobby Lashley.

Cedric Alexander vs. Drew Gulak for cruiserweight title in preshow match — Jack Gallagher and Brian Kendrick are both banned from ringside.  Alexander is a -155 favorite to win.

B Team vs. The Revival for Raw tag titles in preshow match — They’ll likely be hampered by time and put in that position. The B Team are -290 favorites.

Rusev & Lana vs. Andrade Cien Almas & Zelina Vega in preshow match — These kind of mixed tags are usually going to be entertaining for what they are. Lana and Vega don’t have to carry a match like in a singles. Almas & Vega are -290 favorites.

ROH SUNDAY IN LONDON ON FITE TV

  • Jay Lethal vs. Mark Haskins for ROH title
  • Young Bucks vs. Jody Fleisch & Jonny Storm
  • Marty Scurll vs. Jay Briscoe
  • Ayesha Raymond vs. Kay Lee Ray

Raw will be Monday at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman will be there.

Smackdown and 205 Live take place Tuesday night, always from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

F4W NEWSLETTER: Figure Four Weekly: ROH and NJPW sell out Madison Square Garden

With All In still a few weeks away, the second non-WWE pro wrestling show in the United States to sell over 10,000 tickets since the death of WCW is already official. Tickets for Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling’s G1 Supercard at Madison Square Garden went on sale last week, with the April 6, 2019 event selling out in just a few days. Approximately 9,000 of the 15,000 tickets were sold after the first day of the HonorClub pre-sale, they were up over 12,000 after a second day of pre-sales, and they sold out shortly after being made available to the general public last Friday.

WON NEWSLETTER: (August 20, 2018) Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Death of Jim Neidhart, ROH/NJPW sell out MSG

We’ve got a ton of news and analysis on why the next nine months will be so interesting in pro wrestling in the new double-issue of the Observer.

Look at the ROH/NJPW Madison Square Garden sellout and its ramifications. Look at how tickets went, how many were bought by ticket brokers, and how this compares money wise to the biggest non-WWE shows in North America,

Take an extensive look at the life and career of Jim Neidhart. Look back at Neidhart before pro wrestling as a world class shot putter, how he got his start in pro wrestling, and who talked him into trying pro wrestling, his attempts to play in the NFL,

There is an extensive look at the final three days of the G-1 Climax tournament. 

Also look at SummerSlam and NXT Takeover, with a look at the two shows, ticket sales and why Takeover looks to be such a strong event.

Examine the Colt Cabana lawsuit against C.M. Punk, and who saw that one coming.

Updated Rey Mysterio Jr. and WWE notes, the future of Matt Hardy, first match official in the women’s evolution PPV, wrestlers who are learning the production side, details on a lot of new WWE injuries, and matches advertised for 1,000th Smackdown,

Also look at Jeff Jarrett’s lawsuit against Anthem Entertainment.

Take in-depth looks at the ratings of all the major shows, the key demos for the WWE shows and what can be learned from them.

Read the results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.

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SUNDAY NEWS UPDATE

Bryan and I will be back tonight covering SummerSlam and the rest of the weekend news with Wrestling Observer Radio. You can send questions to the show to mailbag@wrestlingobserver.com,

There was a commercial last night during the NXT show about the U.K. television show, but nothing about a start date or time. 

Even though today marks a week since the end of G-1, New Japan has yet to announce any of its September shows. This is strange.

EC3’s right eye was a mess after the match last night. Hopefully it’s not an orbital fracture but it had the look of something close to that.  The word going around is they also feared a concussion.

HHH said that the finish of the Gargano vs. Ciampa match had technical plans change (I guess the finish itself) due to the dislocated kneecap. 

Mile 22, the Mark Wahlberg movie that was originally to be a vehicle for Ronda Rousey in a starring role, but her role was toned down, but still her most significant role to date, opened at No. 3 on the weekend charts with an estimated $13.62 million domestic. CriticLee on Fox in Detriot gave the movie a mild thumbs up and said Rousey did a good job. They also plugged her match tonight on the show talking about how they think she’ll win the title. (thanks to Jake Koch)

Joey Janela’s Lost in New York results from Friday night of a show people raved about: MJF b Nate Webb. Lead singer Brendan Brown of the group Wheatus hit a DDT on MJF during the match for a near fall. Kyle the Beast b Marko Stunt. Stunt tore the house down to the point that he was then invited into the All In Battle Royal. Sandman caned Stokely Hathaway. Teddy Hart b Chris Dickinson, Nick Gage b Sabu (subbing for Haku who canceled to attend Jim Neidhart’s funeral), Jimmy Lloyd over Tony Deppen, Orange Cassidy, G-Raver, Eli Everfly and Gringo Loco in a ladder match, Ethan Page b Penelope Ford, Jinsei Shinzaki (Hakushi) b Joey Janela, PCO b Matt Riddle after Destro revived PCO with a car battery. (thanks to Nick Mahmood and Leonard Brand)

Nothing yesterday or Friday cracked the top Internet searches. There’s been no big MMA news. Takeovers never hit mainstream. No UFC. SummerSlam will be among the highest for today, as it’s already No. 4 with 20,000 searches and probably should top 1 million by the end of the day, a level only the death of Aretha Franklin and Nick Jonas has hit. Tyson Fury was No. 18 with 50,000 yesterday.

WWE

  • Raw tomorrow night may be hurt in ratings by the MTV Music Awards. Those usually hurt a little but not major.
  • The company has been filming a documentary on A.J. Styles.
  • John Cena isn’t on the show tonight because he’s doing a movie with Jackie Chan in China. It’s the first time in 15 years he’s missed the show.

OTHER

  • There is an autobiography in the process of completion on 70s and 80s star Bugsy McGraw. We’ll talk more about it as it gets closer to release.
  • Saturday’s first night of the Stardom 5 Star Grand Prix tournament at Shinkiba in Tokyo: Starlight Kid won over Hanan, Shiki Shibusawa, Ruaka and Leo Onozaki, Kimber Lee b Natsuko Tora, Jamie Hayter b Natsu Sumire, Utami b Tam Nakano with a torture rack submission and the crowd was stunned by this result, Hazuki b Saki Kashima, Rachael Ellering b Jungle Kyona, Momo Watanabe b Nicole Savoy, Kelly Klein b Mayu Iwatani, Konami b Kagetsu.
  • Today’s second night also at Shinkiba First ring in Tokyo: Starlight Kid won over Hanan, Shiki Shibusawa, Leo Onozaki and Ruaka, Nicole Savoy b Natsu Sumire, Momo Watanabe b Jamie Hayter, Jungle Kyona b Kimber Lee, Utami b Natsuko Tora, Tam Nakano b Konami, Hazuki b Kelly Klein, Saki Kashima b Mayu Iwatani, Kagetsu b Rachael Ellering after spraying must. (thanks to Jake Koch)
  • OTT announced a 10/13 show in Dublin at Dublin National Stadium with Walter, Shane Strickland, Flamita, Bandido, Mary Scurll,Will Ospreay and Tetsuya Naito,Evil, Bushi and Sanada.
  • The Revolution Pro show from Friday headlined by Walter vs. Tomohiro Ishii and featuring a heavily praised CCK vs. Aussie Open match is already on their streaming service.
  • The first night of Stardom’s tournament is also up on their streaming service.
  • Hoosier Pro Wrestling on 9/1 in Columbus, IN at the 4-H Fairgrounds.
  • CWE on 9/15 in Fisher Branch, Manitoba at the Rec Center.
  • James Ellsworth & Frank the Clown (Noelle Foley’s boyfriend last we heard) will face RJ City & David Arquette on the Warrior Wrestling show on 9/2 in Chicago Heights, IL, the day after All In. The show will be at Marian Catholic High school.
  • Impact Pro Wrestling from last night in Auckland, New Zealand: Tony Kozina b Falcon Kid, Mr. Tangataes b Liger (not Jushin Liger), Jake Shehan b Magnum, Jakob Cross b Powerhouse T Rex, Vinny Dunn & Reuben de Jong b Double D & TBoon Curtis Castlewood b Little Ted, Britenay won three-way over Ashlee Spencer and Grace Lighting, Toa Henare DDQ Liam Fury, Liger b Liam Fury to win the New Zealand heavyweight title. This was Henare’s first match in New Zealand since he graduated from the New Japan dojo. (thanks to Kevin Chiat)
  • Pro Wrestling Eclipse from last night in Oshawa, ONT: Dewey Murray b Rob Sweet, AK 47 NC Rob Rage, Rob Rage won handicap match over Paul Idol and AK 47, Michael Elgin & Jake Lander b Sheldon Jean & Logan James, ZakkAtticus b Daddy Davis-DQ, Bruno Davis & Daddy Davis b Zakk Atticus & Cory Stone, Savannah Stone won three-way over Jody Threat and Tootie Lynn Ramsey, Cody Deaner b Phil Atlas (thanks to Dave Musgrave).
  • United Wrestling Coalition on 9/1 in Kelly’s Banquet Half in Wrightstown, NJ.
  • RCW in Calgary last night did a Smith Hart Memorial show before 200 fans. One of the local network news shows was there. Matt Hart, one of Smith’s sons, is a regular with the group. Michelle Billington, the former wife of Dynamite Kid, who goes to all the group shows, presented Matt with one of Dynamite’s blue capes that he wore early in his career. The crowd reacted big to this. Matt won the Smith Hart Memorial tournament beating the son of Impact’s Gama Singh. (thanks to Shawn Montreuil)
  • Daisuke Harada of NOAH comes to the U.K.for a match with Chris Ridgeway on 9/23 in Maidstone, Kent at the Maidstone Leisure Center. 
  • The New York Times did a story on indie wrestling. (thanks to Robert Centonzo and Barry Werner)

Daily Professional Wrestling History: WWF SummerSlam 2001

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