Daily Update: Weekend wrap-up, CMLL, Total Bellas

THE ROUND-UP

THE LATEST NEWS

THE LATEST AUDIO

We’re looking for reports on these weekend shows:

  • NXT Thursday in Oklahoma City
  • NXT Friday in Jacksonville
  • Smackdown yesterday in Amsterdam, Holland
  • NXT yesterday in San Antonio
  • NXT yesterday in Venice, FL
  • WWE today in Munich, Germany
  • NXT today in Houston
  • Evolve today in Livonia, MI

Reports from these shows can be sent to newstips@wrestlingobserver.com.

EVOLVE ON SUNDAY NIGHT IN LIVONIA, MI AT 8 P.M. EASTERN TIME

  • Matt Riddle vs. Keith Lee in a no rope break match for WWN title
  • Chris Dickinson & Jaka vs. James Drake & Anthony Henry for tag titles
  • Tracy Williams vs. Odinson
  • Darby Allin vs. Shane Strickland
  • Austin Theory vs. Trey Miguel
  • DJZ vs. Zachary Wentz
  • AR Fox vs. Myron Reed
  • The End vs. N8 Mattson & Orlando Christopher

Raw will be Monday from Albany, NY. 

NEW JAPAN FROM TOKYO KORAKUEN HALL ON TUESDAY AT 5:30 A.M. ON NEW JAPAN WORLD

  • Taiji Ishimori & Chase Owens vs. Flip Gordon & Tomoyuki Oka
  • Minoru Suzuki & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. ACH & Shota Umino
  • Yoshi-Hashi & Yoh vs. Will Ospreay & Gedo
  • Tetsuya Naito & Bushi vs. Tiger Mask & Toa Henare
  • Sho vs. Chris Sabin
  • Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Dragon Lee
  • Marty Scurll vs. Kushida
  • Hiromu Takahashi vs. Desperado

Smackdown and 205 Live will be Tuesday in Worcester, MA, with Billie Kay vs. Lana, Naomi vs Sonya Deville and Samoa Joe vs. Big Cass in MITB qualifying matches.

F4W NEWSLETTER: Figure Four Weekly: All In sells out within 30 minutes

For all of the hype and expectations ahead of tickets going on sale, Sunday was going to be when the unknown became known for Cody Rhodes and The Young Bucks. And with tickets for their Labor Day weekend All In show selling out in 29 minutes and 36 seconds, the Bullet Club’s success could be a landmark moment for professional wrestling. What began as Cody taking a Dave Meltzer tweet as a bet, where Meltzer responded to someone last May and tweeted that he didn’t think ROH could sell out a 10,000-plus seat building anytime soon, has now become the first show in the United States to do so in almost 20 years.

WON NEWSLETTER: May 21, 2018 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: USA potentially paying big money for Raw, more

A look at how the new WWE television contract situation will change the game once again is the lead story in the new issue of the Observer. Look at why the stock price is up, what analysts thought WWE would get with its deal, what kind of level we’re talking about now, interest level, where Smackdown may end up, the value of an episode of Raw and how that relates to PPV and where the key events should take place, and the long-term value of both UFC and WWE.

This issue also has a big feature on the All In show and weekend, with notes on the business, what questions were answered and what weren’t, who is on the show, ticket breakdown, secondary market numbers, how it compares with big WWE shows, as well as the largest crowds other non-WWE companies have done and other groups in the last 32 years to have drawn 10,000 for a live show. Also look at how unique this really is and the business of the Starrcast event.

Look at the new President of New Japan, Harold Meij, what his hiring means, what he brings to the table, one of his ideas that has already been used, just how much of a success he was in the toy business and his goals for New Japan’s future.

Also, look at NXT business numbers for the first three months of the year and compare it with last year at the same time.

There is an update on Money in the Bank, matches announced, other directions and look at the Ronda Rousey vs. Nia Jax direction.

Read about the lawsuit against C.M. Punk that is coming to the wire, thoughts on the John Cena/Nikki Bella storyline, NXT Takeover Chicago news, WWE wrestler media appearances, a list of new WWE signees from the U.K. and details of the contracts.

This issue has more on Amy “Lita” Dumas breaking ranks on Greatest Royal rumble, update on movies with big WWE names, a unique world class athlete WWE has just signed, why Cass is in trouble, who hasn’t won in 2018, and new matches and new injury updates.

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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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.

SUNDAY NEWS UPDATE

Nothing in wrestling, MMA or boxing trended this past weekend other than there were 50,000 searches on Friday for Tom Magee, the former wrestler and strongest man competitor who was beaten badly by six men near his home in Mar Vista, CA.

Great article on the final days of Randy Savage.

We’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback for our interview with Cody Runnels on Thursday talking All In, Dusty Rhodes, his career in WWE and his mindset toward the business.

The Avengers was knocked out of the top spot in the movie rankings in week four by Deadpool 2. Avengers is estimated right now to do $28.67 million this weekend. Rampage with Dwayne Johnson is figured to be at No. 9 with 1.5 million and Blockers at No. 17 at $400,000.

The biggest wrestling news this week is that the CMLL Anniversary main event, in September, based on the angle shot on Friday, looks to be Rush vs. L.A. Park in a hair vs mask match. If that’s the case, I expect the biggest gate in the history of the promotion for that show.

The new season of Total Bellas debuts tonight at 9 p.m. on E! The rating will be interesting since there has been more promotion for this show than ever before with the Nikki Bella/John Cena angle.

WWE

  • Regarding reports of a Big Cass knee injury on yesterday’s show in Amsterdam, Holland, Cass has been selling a knee injury coming off the Smackdown angle on Tuesday. He wrestled on today’s show in Munich in a tag match with The Miz against Daniel Bryan & Tye Dillinger. 

MISCELLANEOUS

  • Melbourne City Wrestling from last night in Melbourne: Gino Gambino b Campbell Crawford, Tome Filip b Jax Jordan, Vance Adams b Mike Burr-COR, Damian Slater & Marcius Pitt b Nick Bury & Mitch Waterman, Stevie Flilip won three-way over Fun time Phil and Jake Lindo Indi Hartwell b Erika Reed, Slex b Syd Parker to keep Intercommonwealth title. 
  • WrestleRock returns to Melbourne on 7/20.
  • The AWF show featuring fly-ins last night in Adelaide drew only about 30 fans while the local RCW group did 200 with local talent. Ryback was on the AWF tour and cut a promo and claimed that he left WWE because he had injury problems and WWE wasn’t going to give him time to heal. That’s a new one.
  • Courage Pro on 6/3 in Hamilton, ONT at the Legion Lights Infantry.
  • Clash Wrestling on 5/26 at the Taylor, MI Trade Center with James Alexander vs. DJZ, Neveah vs. Samantha Heights and more.
  • Santino Brothers Wrestling from Friday night in South Gate, CA: Jake Atlas & Dylan Kyle & Cam Gates b Robbie Phoenix & Dom Kubrick & Lucas Riley, Tyler Bateman b Matt Vandagriff, Douglas James b Zokre, Heather Monroe b Ayokia Muhrarah, Delilah Doom & Eli Everfly b Hoss Hogg & Jesse James, Brody King b Ruby Raze in an anything goes match. (thanks to Jake Koch)
  • House of Hardcore from last night in Philadelphia at the 2300 Arena before 400 fans: Bull James b Joey Mercury, Chelsea Green b Paredyse, Clayton Gainz b Ace Austin, Moose b Eli Drake, LAX (Santana & Ortiz) b The Squad (Kenny & Mikey), Alex Reynolds b JT Dunn, Brian Cage b Ace Romero, Dave & Jake Crist b Tommy Dreamer & Eddie Edwards, Willie Mack b Sami Callihan to keep the TV title. Edwards turned on Dreamer used a spike to the forehead out of the Jerry Lawler vs. Terry Funk empty arena match finish. This may have been taped for Impact. (thanks to Justin Henry and Jake Koch)
  • Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling from last night in East Carondelet, IL for the Wrestling at the Chase Anniversary show: Leland Race b Rex Fults, Big Texan & Shawn Santel & Mauler McDarby b Sean Vincent & Keith Smith Jr. & Bobby D, Curtis Wylde b Billy McNeil, Steve Fender b Dave Vaughan, Gary Jackson & Ken Kasa b Kowalski & Jake Prater, Savanna Stone b Wyldefyre, Curtis Wylde won Bruiser Brody Memorial Battle Royal, Ricky Cruz b Christopher Hargas in a cage match, Flash Flanagan b Marc Houston in a cage match. Barbara Goodish (Bruiser Brody’s widow) and David Schultz were the special guests. (thanks to Patrick Brandmeyer)
  • Metro Pro Wrestling from last night in Kansas City: Anthony Gutierrez b Rasheed Ali, Jake Dirden b Niles Plonk, Marti Belle b Lucy Mendez, Riegel Twins b Ace Steel & Michael Strider, Haku (original) b Hoodie Howlett in a Tongan street fight, Ken Dharma & Langley b Buns of Steel, Jeremy Wyatt b Dak Draper 2/3 falls. (thanks to Brian Hoops)
  • Lion’s Pride Sports from last night in Navasota, TX: Mike Dell b Danny Ramos to keep title with Shane Douglas as referee, Billy Gunn b Johnny Swole in a hair vs. hair match (Rikishi gave Swole the stink face and he and Gunn shaved Swole’s head), Lance Hoyt (Archer) & Davey Boy Smith Jr. b Big Daddy Yum Yum & Nobe Bryant,MVP b Max Castellanos, Terrale Tempo b Gangrel, Crimson & Jax Dane NC Brent McKenzie & Franco D’Angelo. (thanks to Steve Fullhart)
  • Shimmer is talking about moving its future releases from DVD to BluRay.
  • IPW 15th anniversary show from Auckland, New Zealand last night: Liger b Michael Richards, Vinny Dunn & Reuben de Jong b Short & Sweet, Kingi b Alfred Valentine, Dal Knox won Battle Royal, Jake Sheehan b Mason Daniels, Jakob Cross b Marcus Kool, XS b James Shaw & Jukebox Hero, Candy Lee b Shazza McKenzie, Liam Fury b Mr. Burns to win IPW title. Next show is 6/23. (thanks to Steve Ogilvie)
  • Jinny beat Toni Storm to win the Progress women’s title with help from Nina Samuels and Chakara. Storm said she was coming back after the title. The show was in Manchester and said to be the largest crowd for a Progress show in the U.K. outside of London.
  • Evan Ginzberg writes about growing up watching Bruno Sammartino in Madison Square Garden.
  • A trailer for Ginzberg’s movie 350 Days about wrestling which will have a one-day release at theaters around the country through Fathom Events.
  • Joe Thurman talks about breaking his back in the 90s wrestling Vader.
  • This is a facebook note on the funeral of Gwen “Skinny Minnie” Miller.

Daily Professional Wrestling History: NXT TakeOver Chicago

12th Annual F4W Empire Vegas Convention

Greetings friends and fans of the F4W / Wrestling Observer website. It’s time to announce the details of the 12th annual F4W / Wrestling Observer Empire Las Vegas Convention~!

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 and our site’s personal holiday, Super China Buffet Day~! As per tradition, we will all gorge ourselves at a Las Vegas buffet, and then watch WWE’s SummerSlam in a rented out movie theater. All information and ticketing prices are available. Spots are limited for some events. 

This year will also feature a Future Stars of Wrestling show which will include the first ever Gladys Gibson Doubles Match Classic~! Already booked for the show are the teams of Mia Yim & Leva Bates, Hudson Envy & Shotzi Blackheart, Samantha Heights & Brittany Blake, and Miranda Alize & Kylie Rae. Kris Wolf will also be appearing along with many more future stars. There may even be a classic star or two making an appearance. You won’t want to miss this show! Check out the convention’s Facebook page for all additional information.

CONTACT INFORMATION