Daily Update: Tamina, Booker T & Graves, Okada vs. Ospreay

THE ROUND-UP

THE LATEST NEWS

THE LATEST AUDIO

We’re looking for reports on the WWE Raw show in Calgary, Smackdown in Sacramento and the ROH TV tapings at Center Stage in Atlanta (Silas Young vs. Kenny King for TV title, Mark & Jay Briscoe vs. Baretta & Chuckie T, Hangman Page vs. Christopher Daniels, Young Bucks vs. Frankie Kazarian & Scorpio Sky, Will Ferrara & Rhett Titus vs. LSG & Shaheem Ali) to newstips@wrestlingobserver.com.

UFC PPV FROM PERTH, WESTERN AUSTRALIA ON SATURDAY

Fight Pass at 6:45 p.m. Eastern time

  • Luke Jumeau vs. Daichi Abe
  • Jose Quinonez vs. Teruto Ishihara
  • Mizuto Hirota vs. Ross Pearson

FS1 at 8 p.m. Eastern time

  • Ben Nguyen vs. Jussier Formiga da Silva
  • Alexander Volkanovski vs. Jeremy Kennedy
  • Israel Adesanya vs. Rob Wilkinson
  • Damien Brown vs. Maestro Dong Hyun Kim

PPV at 10 p.m. Eastern time

  • Tyson Pedro vs. Saparabek Safarov
  • Jake Matthews vs. Li Jingliang
  • Cyril Asker vs. Tai Tuivasa
  • Mark Hunt vs. Curtis Blaydes
  • Luke Rockhold vs. Yoel Romero for interim middleweight title

Sunday has WWE Raw in Fresno, with John Cena on the show, and Smackdown in Oakland.

Raw will be Monday in San Jose featuring Apollo Crews vs. Matt Hardy vs. Finn Balor vs. Bray Wyatt for the final spot in the Elimination Chamber. There will also be a Smackdown house show in Stockton.

Tuesday will be a Smackdown / 205 Live and Mixed Match Challenge taping in Bakersfield. Dolph Ziggler vs. Baron Corbin for a spot in the Fast Lane title match, plus Elias & Bayley vs. Rusev & Lana and cruiserweight title tournament first round matches with Akira Tozawa vs. Mark Andrews and Drew Gulak vs. Tony Nese are all scheduled.

​F4W NEWSLETTER: Figure Four Weekly: Can a reboot salvage 205 Live?

The most newsworthy week in recent WWE history capped off with Ronda Rousey appearing at the end of the Royal Rumble on Sunday night. Instead of participating in the women’s Royal Rumble match itself, Rousey closed the show with an appearance that initially did little to reveal what’s next for her in WWE. She came out to “Bad Reputation” by Joan Jett, her old UFC walkout song, while wearing one of Roddy Piper’s leather jackets. 

WON NEWSLETTER: February 12, 2018 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Wrestlemania plans, All Japan streaming service

An update on the road to WrestleMania, including the future prospects for Brock Lesnar, the story behind Ronda Rousey, changes this past week and what they mean for upcoming shows and the next three PPV cards being looked at is the lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

Look at WWE vs. UFC for Lesnar, the contract term, the comparisons, why his leaving was a given at one point and isn’t right now, changes in the Chamber match and different directions things can go. 

Read about the XFL, the weak heel side of WWE, Rey Mysterio Jr. talks WWE return, Takeover for WrestleMania card, Dusty Rhodes tag team tournament, notes on 2019 WrestleMania, changes to 205 Live, storyline stemming from a crazy real-life story, another new Dwayne Johnson project, success of Jumanji, Raw U.K. numbers, debut of Ricochet in WWE, several injury updates, 205 Live touring, advance ticket sales for shows, movie with WWE star, plus some notes on people training this past week at the Performance Center tryouts.

Look at All Japan’s first show of the year and its Champion Carnival tournament, and streaming service.

Find out about the injury to Max Holloway and how UFC has shuffled around booking, what major match is now out the window, who is Yana Kunitskaya and why is she main eventing while having never fought in UFC, what prior ideas UFC had and notes on other major fights the company has tried to put together.

The UFC show in Belem, Brazil is reviewed with thoughts on Mario Yamasaki as referee, weight cutting, and lot of business notes on the show including the most intriguing business note of all when it comes to television and streaming.

This issue covers the debut show of 5 Star Wrestling on Freesports, looking at the matches and direction, as well as the situation with Booker T and Corey Graves as well.

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 22, 2001 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Fusient Media to buy WCW, sale of UFC, more

After nearly a full year of various rumors, negotiations, and several near finalized deals, the sale of World Championship Wrestling by Time Warner to Fusient Media Ventures was officially announced on 1/11, literally hours before the announcement that the final step of the Time Warner/AOL merger had been cleared. Fusient Media Ventures, a one-year-old company headed by Brian Bedol and Stephen Greenberg, who are best known for starting up the Classic Sports Network, and then selling it to ESPN where it became ESPN Classics, for $175 million, is the parent company. 

SATURDAY NEWS UPDATE

WWE

Pro Wrestling

  • At the conclusion of the New Beginning in Osaka this morning, Kazuchika Okada challenged Will Ospreay to face him at NJPW’s 46th anniversary event in March. Okada is the IWGP Heavyweight Champion and Ospreay is the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion. Okada also mentioned wanting to be in the New Japan Cup in his post-match promo.
  • NJPW is opening their Los Angeles dojo in March. There will be training camps on March 19-23 and March 26-30. NJPW notes that the camps aren’t tryouts, but their officials will be there and they’re always looking for talent. The online application opens on February 13th and attendees need to provide their own transportation and lodging.
  • WrestleCon revealed that Kenny Omega will be appearing at their Supershow on Thursday and their convention on Friday during WrestleMania week. Omega’s match for the Supershow will be announced on Wednesday.
  • Jushin Thunder Liger will be wrestling at AAW’s 14th anniversary show in Merrionette Park, Illinois on March 16th.
  • In the most recent part of their interview with Newsweek, Ed Nordholm, Scott D’Amore, and Don Callis spoke about Impact’s future, Jeff Jarrett’s departure from last year, and more.
  • EC3 told Newsweek about leaving Impact: “Leaving Impact was a very difficult decision as I had six months left on a very lucrative and talent-friendly contract. Anthem lived up to that contract and always treated me with the utmost respect as a businessman and a person.”
  • Impact viewership was down this week, but the 294,000 viewers the episode averaged is still within the range that it has been doing since the end of football season. The previous week’s episode averaged 319,000 viewers.
  • Austin Aries spoke to The Mirror about his role with Impact and said he’d entertain the idea of going back to WWE if the situation was right.
  • Keith Lee vs. Minoru Suzuki and Tomohiro Ishii vs. Jeff Cobb will take place at OTT’s ScrapperMania IV at National Stadium in Dublin on May 12th.
  • Matt Riddle vs. Low Ki has been announced for Matt Riddle’s Bloodsport on April 5th during WrestleMania week. The theme of the event is that you can only win by knockout or submission.
  • Teddy Hart is scheduled for Impact Wrestling’s show in New Orleans on April 6th.

UFC/MMA

Today in Professional Wrestling History: TNA Against All Odds 2008

WRESTLING OBSERVER / F4W – WRESTLEMANIA 34 in NEW ORLEANS

UPDATED

Here we go again! It’s back to New Orleans for Wrestlemania 34 and a huge weekend of spectacular professional wrestling related fun and wackiness. EdinSanAntonio Productions along with the Wrestling Observer / Figure Four Empire~! is proud to present the annual Wrestlemania weekend trip details. This huge weekend includes a number of website “members only” events. Below are the two events currently scheduled. Click here for full event details.

WOR Podcast Taping:Purchase TICKETS for the Wrestling Observer Radio LIVE MAILBAG~! – ONLY 8 General Admission Tickets Remain!

  • WHAT: Wrestling Observer Radio LIVE Podcast Recording with Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez
  • WHEN: Friday, April 6th, 2018 – 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. (Doors open at 8:45 a.m. for VIP ticket holders and at 9:15 a.m. for general admission)
  • WHERE: The Bourbon Room, Royal St. Charles Hotel in downtown New Orleans; 135 St. Charles Ave., New Orleans, LA 70130

WO/F4W Brunch:Purchase TICKETS for the Wrestling Oberver BRUNCH~! – SOLD OUT~!

  • WHAT: All you care to eat brunch buffet on the morning of Wrestlemania 
  • WHEN: Sunday, April 8th, 2018 – T11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
  • WHERE: The Court of Two Sisters restaurant in downtown New Orleans; 613 Royal St., New Orleans, LA 70130

CONTACT INFORMATION

Support the Empire~! with F4W shirts. Grab yours today!

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