Daily Update: UFC in Stockholm, Impact, Best of the Super Juniors

THE ROUND-UP

The Latest from the F4W Staff

NEWS/REPORTS

AUDIO

We’re looking for reports on today’s WWE shows in Augusta, GA (Raw crew) and Chattanooga, TN (Smackdown crew), today’s Progress show in London, a well as Friday night’s Raw show in Pikeville, KY to newstips@wrestlingobserver.com.

NEW JAPAN BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIORS LIVE ON MONDAY AT 5:30 A.M. FROM KORAKUEN HALL

  • Dragon Lee & Marty Scurll vs. Taka Michinoku & Taichi
  • Ricochet & Juice Robinson & Hirai Kawato vs. Seiya Sanada & Evil & Hiromu Takahashi
  • War Machine & David Finlay vs. Tama Tonga & Tanga Roa & Yujiro Takahashi
  • Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Bushi
  • Tiger Mask vs. Desperado
  • Volador Jr. vs. ACH
  • Kushida vs. Ryusuke Taguchi
  • Kazuchika Okada & Will Ospreay vs. Kenny Omega & Bad Luck Fale

Monday has Raw from Greenville, SC with Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns and Finn Balor vs. Bray Wyatt vs. Samoa Joe. Smackdown has a house show on Monday night in Macon, GA.

NEW JAPAN BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIORS ON WEDNESDAY FROM OSAKA (A BLOCK FINALS ON NEW JAPAN WORLD)

  • Jushin Liger vs. Taichi
  • Dragon Lee vs. Taka Michinoku
  • Ricochet vs. Marty Scurll
  • Hiromu Takahashi vs. Will Ospreay

Smackdown and 205 Live will take place in Atlanta on Monday including a women’s match with Charlotte Flair vs. Becky Lynch vs. Carmella vs. Tamina vs. Natalya with the winner getting a shot at Naomi’s title at the Money in the Bank PPV.

FIGURE FOUR WEEKLY: 5/22/2017: Jinder Mahal is actually WWE Champion

Even after having over a month to prepare for the possibility, it’s hard to believe that Jinder Mahal is actually WWE Champion. Title wins like Mahal beating Randy Orton at Backlash aren’t really supposed to happen in pro wrestling. When you have the ability to control wins and losses, challengers are theoretically built up over time and have enough credibility when they win a championship that the result is either obvious or hardly surprising.

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WRESTLING OBSERVER NEWSLETTER: May 29, 2017 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: WWE weekend show reviews, CMLL drama, plus tons of news

A detailed look at why Jinder Mahal got the WWE title, the strange situation of NXT Takeover blowing away the main roster PPV, and what the audience for all the U.S. shows that aren’t Raw and Smackdown say about what fans want from extra hours of wrestling are all part of the current issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

A look at the business and interest levels of WWE Backlash and NXT Takeover, plus what happened with ticket sales when the Backlash card was announced, the Jinder Mahal push, and how to judge it, and how something like this has never been done and look at other tries to make lower card guys into champions quickly and the result.

Upcoming big shows, plans for a major match coming up soon that hasn’t been hinted at, as well as full coverage of Backlash & NXT Takeover with match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results.

Updates on SummerSlam ticket sales, Dwayne Johnson’s week and how Saturday Night live did with him as host, updates on a lawsuit regarding WWE Network royalties, a storyline change, plans for a special Smackdown, updates on WWE injuries, more on the WWE women’s tournament, update on different wrestlers talking to WWE, rugby star may be signing with WWE, the three most-watched wrestling matches in the history of cable television, plus business notes and show highlights from all the WWE events this past week.

One of the craziest stories ever, with the Alvarado family’s destruction of Ultimo Guerrero’s car, how it happened, why it happened, the story behind CMLL firing two of its champions, who didn’t get fired, how the athletic commission is handling this and politics behind what happens next.

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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: May 1, 2000: Justin Credible wins ECW Heavyweight Championship, safety concerns in Japan, tons more

When the smoke cleared after nine months of title changes largely forced upon him and designed to surprise, Paul Heyman finally went back to the original Plan A–as the latest surprise. Justin Credible (Peter Polaco), who Heyman had planned to be ECW heavyweight champion dating back more than 18 months, with the idea of not putting the title on him until he had a national television outlet, and being the wrestler that Rob Van Dam would chase in the company’s top program, wound up with the title after two more switches at ECW’s “Cyberslam” show on 4/22 in Philadelphia at the ECW Arena.

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SUNDAY NEWS UPDATE

Bryan and I will be back tonight for Wrestling Observer radio covering the weekend news, UFC today, Best of the Super Juniors as well as how KSW drew 58,000 fans yesterday and taking your questions that can be sent to mailbag@wrestlingobserver.com.

Strong UFC show today, at least in the key bouts. Alexander Gustafsson had a near perfect performance, looking the best he’s ever looked, in front of his home crowd who made him appear to be a major superstar, he got the knockout of Glover Teixeira in the fifth round and then proposed to his girlfriend after the win. She said yes. He pretty much has to face the Cormier vs. Jones winner after this show. He said he hopes Cormier wins, noting he likes Cormier. Cormier joked about how Jimi Manuwa was cheering on Gustafsson (they are friends) but Gustafsson looking that good cost Manuwa his shot at the winner.

Impact is bringing about 25 wrestlers to Mumbai for the TV tapings that take place on Tuesday and Wednesday.

In the U.K. on Friday, they aired the previous week’s episode of Impact on Spike UK. To catch up they are going to air two episodes this coming Friday from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.. (thanks to Stephen Lyon)

As far as the movie box office goes this weekend, Baywatch was not a big hit and is projected to do $18.1 million for the weekend (including Wednesday and Thursday the expectation is $22.7 million) and actually finished below Guardians of the Galaxy 2 at $19.9 million in its fourth week. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales was the easy No. 1 at $62.2 million.

Today’s Best of the Super Junior results from Takasaki:

  • Ricochet (4-2) b Taka Michinoku (1-5)
  • Dragon Lee (4-2) b Jushin Liger (0-6)
  • Taichi (4-2) b Will Ospreay (4-2)
  • Hiromu Takahashi (4-2) b Marty Scurll (3-3)

        So there’s one day left in the block, which is Wednesday. Mathematically, Ricochet, Lee, Taichi, Ospreay and Takahashi can all win. In the B block, everyone is still alive. Tomorrow at Korakuen Hall has:

  • Tiger Mask (2-3) vs. Desperado (3-2)
  • Bushi (2-3) vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru (3-2)
  • Volador Jr. (2-3) vs. ACH (3-2)
  • Kushida (2-3) vs. Ryusuke Taguchi (3-2)

        So that’s a logjam. Any of the 2-3 guys if they lose are out. 

WWE

  • Just to clear stuff up, as of right now, there is nothing on the WWE schedule as far as live events go in India this year. Last year when Alberto Del Rio was there and still working for the company, he talked about a September tour this year but that isn’t happening.
  • Tajiri’s contract expired and he’s gone, which was known would happen when he was injured and WWE made it clear they weren’t interested in bringing him back due to his age.

MISCELLANEOUS

  • Northeast Wrestling did a sellout of more than 1,200 fans on Friday night in Newburgh, NY: Bill Carr b Brad Hollister, Jake Swagger (I think that’s the name he used) b Donovan Dijak (Swagger got good reviews, got his nose bloodied up), Wrecking Ball Legursky b Keith Youngblood (Legursky beat Youngblood and a bunch of guys down until Booker T ran in and Legursky bailed out), Deonna Purrazzo b Mandy Leon, Vinny Marseglia b JT Dunn, Hale Collins & Vik Dalishus (The Now) b Anthony & Chris Battle in a tag title match when Collins used an elbow drop off the top of the cage, Cody Rhodes b Adam Cole to keep the NEW title (Rhodes was the face, very hot crowd, said to be really strong matchafter Rhodes strongly put over Cole and talked about him going places like it would be his last time with the promotion).
  • NEW has a ton of stuff this summer. On 6/9 in Waterbury, CT they have Alberto El Patron vs. Sam Adonis (a star in CMLL), Penta 0M vs. Sami Callihan, Keith Lee vs. JT Dunn, Dijak vs. Flip Gordon plus Jerry Lawler, Kelly Kelly, Jake Roberts, Teddy Long, Marseglia, TK O’Ryan, Leon and Purrazzo. 6/10 in Pomona, NY has Rey Mysterio, Callihan, Lawler, Kelly Kelly, Adonis, Lee, Dijak, Ryback, Mick Foley, Corey Graves and Roberts. 6/25 in Bethany, CT has Cody Rhodes vs. Hanson for the NEW title. 7/8 in Niles OH has Cody Rhodes, Mick Foley, Lawler, Ryback, Jimmy Hart, Dijak, Hanson and more. Chris Jericho will be on one show this summer (not wrestling), Lita is scheduled to wrestle on a show and Mysterio is already booked for seven dates this summer.
  • Progress Wrestling from yesterday in London, England in the Strong Style 16 tournament: Jeff Cobb b Nathan Cruz, Mark Haskins b Flash Morgan Webster, Travis Banks b Jimmy Havoc, Zack Sabre Jr b David Starr, Jack Sexsmith b Zack Gibson, Tyler Bate b Pastor William Eaver, Flamita b Mark Andrews, Matt Riddle b Trent Seven. I don’t have results from today but apparently Cobb vs. Riddle tore the house down and Bate vs. Haskins was also really good. Cobb is wrestling Dunne tomorrow.
  • A video from one of the guys from the KSW group that drew 58,000 yesterday in Warsaw. Too bad Verne Gagne never had this guy against Hogan or Crusher.
  • There will be a Championship Wrestling from Florida Legends Fanfest on this coming Saturday at 2:30 p.m. in Odessa, FL at the American Legion Post 147, which will include a tribute to the Graham and Luttrall family. Cowboy Luttrall started the promotion and Eddie Graham brought it to tits peak. Hillsborough County Commissioner Ken Hagan wrote a commendation to both families and noted that both men used the promotion to help fund the Florida Sheriff’s Boys Ranch in Love Oak, FL, which is still in existence. It was noted that Dusty Rhodes for years was the biggest celebrity in the Tampa area, as were people like Eddie Graham, Jack Brisco and Boris Malenko. Among those attending are Steve Keirn, the Cuban Assassin, Bugsy McGraw, Nick Patrick, Jody Hamilton, Lady Maxine, Ricky Hunter and Manny Fernandez. Here is a story on it. (thanks to Mike Kuzmuk)
  • Four boxing matches and two MMA fights are scheduled for 6/1 at The Hangar at the Orange County Fair & Events Center in Southern California.
  • Eddie Krebs, a Roller Derby skater in the 60s and 70s, passed away on 5/16, but it was just announced on Friday at the family’s request. He was 72 and passed away due to cancer. He was an All-Star team member while with the Midwest Pioneers at least once, and in Frank Deford’s book “Five Strides on the Banked Track,” which talked about a Derby tour, noted Krebs as the boyfriend of Ann Calvello, when he was 26 and she was 40, and the joke was that she was so wild that he was looking 40 and she was looking 26. He later married another skater, Barbara Baker, but the two had split up.
  • Glory Pro Wrestling on Friday night in Alton, IL: Lukas Jacobs & Kevin Giza b Adam Slade & Jacob Creed, Davey Vega & Mat Fitchett b Channing Decker & Trent Gibson, Danny Adams & Paco Gonzalez b Brett Gakiya & C.J. Esparza, Shotzi Blackheart b Alexia Nicole, Kyle O’Reilly b Curt Stallion, Everett Connors won over Sean Orleans, Gary Jay, Jason Roberts, Logan James, Brandon Espinosa, Tyler Matrix, Jake Parnell, Mickey Muscles, Matt Kenway, Aaron Anders and Aaron Dzinic, Barackus b Ace Hawkins, Keith Lee b Michael Elgin, Davey Mveat & Mat Fitchett b Danny Adams & Paco Gonzalez to win the United Glory tag titles, Myron Reed b Rey Fenix to keep Glory title. (thanks to Patrick Brandmeyer)
  • Legacy Fighting Alliance on 6/30 in Shawnee, OK on AXS TV features Richard Odoms (12-3) vs. Jared Vanderaa (5-0) to create the group’s first heavyweight champion and Cortez Coleman (13-7) vs. Chris Harris (8-1).
  • Preston City Wrestling from Friday in Bradford, England: Philip Michael b Arcadian Kid & Alex Matthews, Soner Durson b Lewis Girvan, Chris Ridgeway b Zachary Wentz, Iestyn Rees & Lionheart & T-Bone b Martin Kirby & Joey Hayes, Matt Riddle b Angelico, Matthew Brooks b Dave Birch, Bubblegum b Dezmond Xavier. Main event said to be great and Riddle and Ridgeway’s matches also said to be very good. (thanks to Jan Buxton)
  • AWS had a women’s tournament in South Gate, CA last night: Rene Michelle b Shotzi Blackheart, Lufisto b Solo Darling, Ruby Raze b Jordynne Grace, Candice LeRae b Hudson Envy (said to be really good), Buggy Nova & Sage Sin b Samara & Violet Payne, Lufisto b Rene Michelle, Ruby Raze b Candice LeRae in 33 seconds, Laura James & Heather Monroe & Buggy Nova & Kikyo & Pizza Cat b Mondo Vega & Pinky, Mikey O’Shea & Chris Kadillak & Ryan Taylor, Ruby Raze b Lufisto (said to be really good). (thanks to Steven Bryant)
  • Battleground Championship Wrestling from last night in Fairless Hills, PA before 250 fans: Mike Verna b Buster Jackson, EC Negro b Nikos Rikos, Tommy & JP Grayson b Maxwell Jacob Feinstein & Valerio LaMorte, Bull James b Fallah Bahh, Willow Nightingate b Terra Calaway, Anthony Bennett b Beefcake Charlie), D.J. Hyde (CZW owner) b Pat Buck (Wrestle Pro owner) with help from Matt Tremont, Al Snow b Maxwell Jacob Feinstein.
  • NWA Smoky Mountain Wrestling from last night in Mt. Carmel, TN: Lenny Stratton b Liam Cross, Tyler Foshie b Dakota Jarrett, Austin West & Tyler Foshie b Jeff Kelpper & Mike Cooper, Heatseekers b Los Chicanos, Jeff Connelly & Travis Dyukes & Wild Bill & Draco b Cross Brothers & Cooper Jones & Craig Hyder, Axton Ray b Lenny Stratton in a boot camp match, Toby Farley b Caleb Courageous.
  • A video tribute to Buddy Rogers. (thanks to Chris Cruise) The Nashville Predators pro wrestling connection.
  • Mike Mooneyaham praises a Davey Boy Smith Jr. vs Vordell Walker match from this weekend.

Today in Professional Wrestling History (5/28): The Crusher & Dick the Bruiser win AWA tag titles

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