Daily Update: Tye Dillinger & Cedric Alexander, G1 Climax, UFC notes

THE ROUND-UP

THE LATEST NEWS

THE LATEST AUDIO

F4W NEWSLETTER: Figure Four Weekly: The next step in WWE’s Women’s Evolution

WWE’s “women’s evolution” took its logical next step last week as the company announced its first all-women’s pay-per-view. Aptly, the PPV will be called “Evolution.” It will take place at the Nassau Coliseum in Long Island, New York on October 28. WWE is hyping that over 50 wrestlers from the past and present will be involved, with Trish Stratus, Lita, and Beth Phoenix already advertised. 

WON NEWSLETTER: (July 30, 2018) Wrestling Observer Newsletter: All women PPV WWE Evolution announcement, more

The WWE’s heavily promoted all women’s’ PPV show is the lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Look at the announcement made on Raw, whether this will be a regular event, the actual first women’s PPV in the U.S., and thoughts on the business of this.

Look at SummerSlam, with both the matches announced thoughts on those matches, and several other bouts that will either be added, are being pushed and the one match that hasn’t been teased at all that has been talked about a lot this past week.

Get in-depth notes on Matt Riddle and expectations of his coming to WWE and his prospects in NXT and on the main roster, names WWE is after, Dwayne Johnson’s annual income, Rock and wrestling again and what the holdup would be.

Look at the state of Impact Wrestling after its most well received major show of the year. Look at the change in the hardcore stigma of the company, and look at injuries on the show, the next month of television and the direction, as well as match-by-match coverage and star ratings of Slammiversary.

This issue has detailed coverage thus far of the G-1 Climax tournament. Look at the standings, the business, match quality; the ridiculous level of tournament matches thus far, injuries, this week’s schedule, plus match-by-match coverage and star ratings for all the shows of this past week.

Look at the Dragon Gate promotion after its biggest show of the year.

Read about the UFC Hall of Fame ceremony and Ronda Rousey, as well as a look back to 2013 when women were first signed to the promotion and the immediate decision for them to headline on PPV the first night in.

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WEDNESDAY NEWS UPDATE

WWE

  • Tye Dillinger and Cedric Alexander have both issued apologies after old tweets where they joked about rape were uncovered. In 2011, Dillinger wrote “Its not rape if they’re sleeping.” He apologized for the tweet last night: “I have no excuse for my old tweets. I was a different person six years ago, and I’m beyond ashamed at what I considered ‘humor’ . I’m so damn embarrassed and I’m truly sorry to anyone I’ve offended.” In 2012, Alexander wrote “Its not rape if you yell SURPRISE!” and sent out another similar tweet later that year. He apologized today: “Six years ago I found ‘humor’ in bad jokes. At the time it was a harmless joke between friends. In those 6 years I’ve become a father, husband & grown into a much different man. I have offended and hurt many with my past and for that I am deeply sorry & apologize for my actions”
  • The general election to decide the next mayor of Knox County, Tennessee is taking place tomorrow. Glenn Jacobs (Kane) is expected to easily defeat Democrat Linda Haney.
  • PWInsider reported that Mauro Ranallo is currently planned to be one of the announcers for this year’s Mae Young Classic.
  • Ronda Rousey appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert last night and Good Morning America today to promote the movie “Mile 22.”
  • Maria Kanellis arrived at the Performance Center today to begin training for her return to TV.
  • Kairi Sane and Akira Tozawa have been announced for WWE’s house show in Osaka, Japan on August 31.
  • WWE’s clip of Brock Lesnar appearing at the end of this week’s Raw, attacking Kurt Angle, and grabbing Paul Heyman by the face and threatening him currently has nearly 7.7 million views on YouTube. The video’s title “Brock Lesnar snaps and attacks Paul Heyman” likely contributed to that.
  • AJ Styles defeated Shinsuke Nakamura in a non-title dark match after SmackDown and 205 Live last night. Titus O’Neil defeated Mike Kanellis in the pre-SmackDown match. Both O’Neil and Kanellis are on the Raw roster.
  • Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson gifted his stuntman and cousin Tanoai Reed a custom pickup truck.

Pro Wrestling

  • One of the biggest A Block matchups of the G1 Climax takes place overnight as Kazuchika Okada vs. Minoru Suzuki headlines in Fukuoka. The show will begin at 5:30 a.m. Eastern time and also features Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. EVIL in the semi-main event. Here’s the full card:
    Kazuchika Okada vs. Minoru Suzuki
    Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. EVIL
    Jay White vs. YOSHI-HASHI
    Togi Makabe vs. Hangman Page
    Michael Elgin vs. Bad Luck Fale
    Tetsuya Naito & SANADA vs. Kota Ibushi & Yujiro Takahashi
    Kenny Omega & Chase Owens vs. Tomohiro Ishii & Sho
    Juice Robinson & David Finlay vs. Zack Sabre Jr. & Taka Michinoku
    Hirooki Goto & Yoh vs. Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa
    Toru Yano & Gedo vs. Toa Henare & Ren Narita
  • Tanahashi (10 pts), White (8 pts), Suzuki (8 pts), EVIL (8 pts), Okada (8 pts), Fale (6 pts), and Elgin (4 pts) are still mathematically eligible to win the A Block. Omega (12 pts), Naito (10 pts), and Ibushi (8 pts) are still alive in the B Block. Everyone has three tournament matches left.
  • After their last event at the venue sold out almost immediately, there are still plenty of tickets left for NJPW Fighting Spirit Unleashed at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, California on September 30. Tickets went on sale at 1 p.m. Eastern time today.
  • Jado will miss the remainder of the G1 Climax tour due to a left foot injury.
  • ROH announced that this month’s three Honor Re-United tour shows won’t be airing live on HonorClub. They’re being shown live exclusively on Fite TV, with ROH noting that they’ll be available on demand on HonorClub “at a later date.”
  • ROH World Champion Jay Lethal vs. Adam Brooks in a non-title proving ground match is set for the Honor Re-United show in Edinburgh on August 16. Brooks will get a future shot at the title if he wins.
  • beIN Sports, which is the TV home of MLW, has been taken off Comcast/Xfinity amid a carriage dispute between the two sides. MLW airs on the station on Friday nights and then uploads their TV shows on YouTube at 6:05 p.m. Eastern time the next day.
  • A tribute/benefit show for Virgil Flynn III, who passed away last month, will be held at The Colonial Theater in Sacramento, California on August 4. All proceeds will go to Flynn’s family.
  • The build to Nick Aldis vs. Cody Rhodes at All In continued in the NWA’s latest video.

UFC/MMA

Daily Professional Wrestling History: Harley Race wins NWA United National Title

12th Annual F4W Empire Vegas Convention

Greetings friends and fans of the F4W / Wrestling Observer website. The 12th annual F4W / Wrestling Observer Empire Las Vegas Convention~! is just around the corner.

This year’s event will be taking place in Las Vegas from August 16th to the 20th and will again be in conjunction with WWE’s SummerSlam weekend a.k.a. Super China Buffet Day~! There will still be the usual events, but our big draw will be WWE’s summer blockbuster PPV, SummerSlam. As per tradition, we will all gorge ourselves at a Las Vegas buffet, and then watch SummerSlam in a rented out movie theater. All information and ticketing prices are available now. Sign up ASAP as spots are limited for some events. 

This year will also feature a Future Stars Wrestling show which will include the first ever Granny’s Doubles Match Classic! Already booked for the show are the teams Mia Yim & Leva Bates, Shotzi Blackheart & ???, Samantha Heights & Brittany Blake, and Miranda Alize & Kylie Rae. Also just booked for the show is a tag team Grappling Battel~! featuring Bryan Alvarez & Jack Jamieson vs. The Beach Bums (PeachMachine & Mikey G), You won’t want to miss this show! Check out the convention’s Facebook page for all additional information.

CONTACT INFORMATION