Daily Update: Whittaker vs. Romero, NJPW, CM Punk

THE ROUND-UP

THE LATEST NEWS

THE LATEST AUDIO

We’re looking for reports on tonight’s WWE Raw house show in Jackson, MS as well as today’s NXT show in Derby, UK to newstips@wrestlingobserver.com.

We’re doing polls this weekend for both the Dominion show and UFC 225, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match for each show to dave@wrestlingobserver.com.

NEW JAPAN WORLD PRO WRESTLING TONIGHT ON AXS TV AT 8 P.M. EASTERN

  • Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi & Bad Luck Fale & Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa vs. Young Bucks & Cody & Hangman Page & Marty Scurll
  • Will Ospreay vs. Kushida for IWGP jr. title

MLW FUSION TONIGHT ON BEINSPORTS AT 8 P.M. EASTERN

  • MVP vs. Leon Scott
  • ACH vs. Rey Fenix
  • Fred Yehi vs. Tom Lawlor

CMLL FROM ARENA MEXICO TONIGHT LIVE AT 9:30 P.M. EASTERN ON THE CMLL FACEBOOK PAGE

  • Star Jr. & Oro Jr. vs. Raziel & Cancerbero
  • Triton & Drone & Fuego vs. Virus & Puma & Tiger
  • Soberano Jr. & Audaz & Titan vs. Cuatrero & Forastero & Sanson
  • Stuka Jr. vs. Hechicero
  • Rey Fenix & Mistico & Caristico vs. Ultimo Guerrero & Negro Casas & Cavernario
  • L.A. Park & El Hijo de L.A. Park & Volador Jr. vs. Rush & El Terrible & Bestia del Ring

QUINTET FROM TOKYO TONIGHT AT 2 A.M. EASTERN TIME ON UFC FIGHT PASS

NEW JAPAN DOMINION LATE TONIGHT AT 3 A.M. EASTERN TIME AND MIDNIGHT PACIFIC FROM OSAKA JO HALL ON NEW JAPAN WORLD

  • Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Desperado vs. Sho & Yoh for IWGP jr. tag titles
  • Jay White & Yoshi-Hashi vs. Juice Robinson & David Finlay
  • Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano vs. Minoru Suzuki & Zack Sabre Jr.
  • Hirooki Goto vs. Michael Elgin vs. Taichi for Never Open Weight title
  • Seiya Sanada & Evil vs. Young Bucks for IWGP tag team title
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi & Jushin Liger & Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Cody & Hangman Page & Marty Scurll
  • Will Ospreay vs. Hiromu Takahashi for IWGP jr. title
  • Tetsuya Naito vs. Chris Jericho for IC title
  • Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega 2/3 falls no time limit for IWGP title

Saturday we’re looking for reports on WWE Raw in Monroe, LA, Smackdown in Huntsville, LA and NXT in Derby, UK to newstips@wrestlingobserver.com.

KSW FROM GDANK, POLAND ON IPPV AT 1 P.M. EASTERN ON SATURDAY

  • Sebastian Przybysz (134.6) vs. Dawid Gralka (135.7)
  • Lukasz Rajewski (155.8) vs. Leo Zulic (154.4)
  • Chris Fields (204.8) vs. Wagner Prado (205.5)
  • Gracjan Szadzinski (155.8) vs. Paul Redmond (155.8)
  • Kleber Koike (149.2) vs. Marian Ziolkowski (149.6)
  • Erko Jun (225.1) vs. Tomasz Oswiencinski (252.1)
  • Michal Materla (197.8) vs. Martin Zawada (197.8)
  • Mariusz Pudzianowski (257.4) vs. Karol Bedorf (256.3)

UFC 225 ON SATURDAY FROM THE UNITED CENTER IN CHICAGO

Fight Pass at 6:15 p.m. Eastern

  • Dan Ige (146) vs. Mike Santiago (145)
  • Clay Guida (154) vs. Charles Oliveira (155)
  • Joseph Benavidez (125.5) vs. Sergio Pettis (126)
  • Rashad Evans (205) vs. Anthony Smith (206)

FS 1 at 8 p.m.

  • Rashad Coulter (247) vs. Chris De La Rocha (261)
  • Mirsad Bektic (146) vs. Ricardo Lamas (145)
  • Carla Esparza (116) vs. Claudia Gadelha (116)
  • Curtis Blaydes (254) vs. Alistair Overeem (244)

PPV at 10 p.m.

  • C.M. Punk (169) vs. Mike Jackson (170.5)
  • Andrei Arlovski (249) vs. Tai Tuivasa (261)
  • Megan Anderson (146) vs. Holly Holm (146)
  • Rafael dos Anjos (169) vs. Colby Covington (169) for interim welterweight title
  • Robert Whittaker (185) vs. Yoel Romero (185.2) – This fight is still in limbo as negotiations were still ongoing as of last report 

Sunday we’re looking for reports from Raw in Bossier City, LA Smackdown in Tupelo, MS and NXT in Derby, UK.

Monday has the live Raw from Little Rock with Sasha Banks vs. Natalya vs. Ember Moon vs. Alexa Bliss and Braun Strowman vs. Kevin Owens vs. Finn Balor vs. Bobby Roode plus a face-to-face confrontation with Nia Jax and Ronda Rousey. There is also a Smackdown house show in Jonesboro, AR, and an NXT show in Paris, France.

Tuesday has Smackdown and 205 Live in Memphis with Andrade Cien Almas vs. Sin Cara and Jack Gallagher & Drew Gulak & Brian Kendrick vs. Gran Metalik & Kalisto & Lince Dorado announced. There is also an NXT show in Antwerp, Belgium.

F4W NEWSLETTER: Figure Four Weekly: CM Punk stepping back into the octagon

With Dr. Chris Amann’s defamation lawsuit against him and Colt Cabana still being tried at the start of fight week, CM Punk’s return to the UFC has almost become an afterthought. But in his hometown of Chicago on Saturday night, Punk will be stepping back into the Octagon just a few months short of the two-year anniversary of his loss to Mickey Gall. His opponent, Mike Jackson, is a 33-year-old photographer and combat sports personality with more fighting experience than Punk but just as many professional MMA bouts. 

WON NEWSLETTER: WON Preview (June 11, 2018) CM Punk and Colt Cabana win lawsuit, more

The most in-depth look at the Dr. Christopher Amann vs. C.M. Punk and Colt Cabana trial is the lead story in the new issue of the Observer.

Look at the background of the case, the real reasons it happened, key moments that tipped the jury in the direction, testimony that came out that made WWE look bad and the lack of reaction to it.

Find out the effect on Punk’s fight preparation, Punk’s feelings on the timing, the moral victory aspect, the goal, and why it went to trial. Look at the major mistakes made by Amann’s attorney, and holes in WWE medical practices that are likely to be closed that current talent may not like.

This issue goes into detail on Punk’s last pro wrestling match, the 2014 Royal Rumble, what was planned what went wrong, how it went wrong, and how everyone reacted.

Look at the Dominion show, the card, the build, the storylines, who should win and how the decisions should take place, as well as looking at the Hiromu Takahashi vs. Taiji Ishimori match, Chris Jericho’s return to WWE, and full details of the last two nights of the Best of the Super Juniors tournament.

Find out about UFC weigh-ins after Dana White wants them moved back to the afternoon, with a look at the direct statistics saying what has changed over the past two years and comments from White about why he thinks it’s not working.

Look at the Shawn Michaels comeback talks, a rundown of Money in the Bank, value of WWE stock and why it rose this past week, Cena storyline, WWE pushing for an Emmy nomination, and new wrestlers that are signed and others who are getting tryouts. 

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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.

FRIDAY NEWS UPDATE

For this weekend we’ll be doing our Observer radio show on Saturday night covering UFC & Dominion. I won’t be doing Sunday Night’s Main Event this week but will be back next Sunday.

At the time of this writing, Robert Whittaker wants the non-title fight with Yoel Romero. Nothing is official. There are two issues here. If Romero wins, it both weakens Whittaker as champion having lost but puts you in a position to book Romero at middleweight, where he’s failed to make weight twice in a row. But if you don’t have the fight, you weaken the show and cheat the customers. There’s also the issue of Romero fighting after being in such bad shape today that the commission had to make him stop cutting weight. I honestly hope and think that this happening this week is a blessing in disguise. With Dana White already furious about this, having this happen will at least bring more attention to a topic that should have been addressed five years ago or longer. In the end, measures should be put in place that make it difficult to cut more than a few pounds. I don’t know of how you can ban weight cutting completely, but there are ways you can force people to fight at closer to their real weight, which should be the goal. The goal right now is to have people fight after being dehydrated to as low as they can get, and then hope nobody goes to the hospital this week and wait for next week.

Tomorrow’s New Japan show, which you could call the second biggest of the year, is actually, because of the main event and to a degree the Jr. title match, it right now feels like it’s the biggest show for in-ring itself, will also be shooting angles for a number of upcoming shows including the 7/7 show at the Cow Palace. The Cow Palace card should be announced in a couple of days, as should the Daytona Beach show.

New Japan When World’s Collide takes place on 6/29 in Daytona Beach, CA at the Ocean Center.This will be a show promoted as part of the CEO 2018 Fighting Game convention. We’ll have more on it in a few days, but announced as appearing are Kenny Omega, who is the co-promoter of the event, Kota Ibushi, Tetsuya Naito, Hiromu Takahashi, Jushin Liger, Juice Robinson, Ryusuke Taguchi, David Finlay, Dragon Lee, Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, Sho, Yoh, Rocky Romero, Chase Owens and Jeff Cobb.

There will be ads for Cow Palace tickets and promoting the show starting tonight on New Japan programming on AXS. They will start advertising the show in the Bay Area next week.

A note on the death of Anthony Bourdain, who passed away from suicide at the age of 61. He became a big fan of wrestling in recent years after attending a live event, and was friends with Titus O’Neil in WWE and also did one of his shows on CNN when he was in Pittsburgh with Adam Cole and Britt Baker. He was also a big MMA fan and trained in BJJ and was known by a lot of the UFC fighters.

For the WWE house shows, the entire Raw crew is scheduled for the tour other than Brock Lesnar and Ronda Rousey. On the Smackdown side, neither A.J. Styles nor Daniel Bryan are being advertised for the shows this weekend. Rousey is being advertised for Monday in Little Rock for Raw and Styles and Bryan are both advertised for Memphis on Tuesday for Smackdown.

The metal-meets-wrestling podcast, Metal Injection’s Squared Circle Pit talked to C.M. Punk about how he got into music and wrestling and the similarities, and asked a question if he would attend All In in Chicago:

“No, I got some crippling anxiety when I’m in crowds now. My wife has it really bad, so it gets amplified if she’s with me. Unless it’s a Stanley Cup Final or an occasional Cubs game, I don’t think you’ll see me surrounding myself in a sea of people.” (thanks to Robert Pasbani)

Tonight is one of the more loaded CMLL shows of the year with the debut of Rey Fenix in what on paper looks to be a great semifinals. Plus, the L.A. Park vs. Rush program continues and a great on paper match with the New Generation Dinamitas.

WWE

  • Ronda Rousey will be working an 8/5 house show in Savannah,GA. The building made that announcement and WWE has confirmed it with local media. (thanks to Ross Blair)
  • Steffanie Newell in NXT, who used to be Nixon Newell in the U.K., will from this point forward be Tegan Nox.
  • WWE is advertising a “Street Fighter” battle between Xavier Woods and KENNY OMEGA, but also showing his twitter and him in a short video. Omega is referred to as “an independent wrestler,” which is hilariously petty. (thanks to Thomas Sliwka)

MISCELLANEOUS

  • The new season of Lucha Underground debuts Wednesday at 8 p.m. on El Rey. They are pushing the season hard around the debut of Jessie Godderz, who will be featured on the first show.
  • Impact has inked a deal with 52MX in Mexico. The show will start airing on 7/7 in the Saturday night at 9:30 p.m. time slot. (thanks to Himanshu D)
  • Kazushi Sakruaba’s Quintet promotion has its second show tonight on UFC Fight Pass. This is a Survival Series (the New Japan concept from the 80s) show, a shoot, with heel hooks and ankle locks banned and no striking. Fight Pass today announced a longer term deal with Quintet and they are working on a big show that would take place in October in Las Vegas with lots of huge names appearing, perhaps from both pro wrestling and MMA, as well as a December show in London.
  • Chido Comics and Masked Republic are dong a series of Lucha Libre comic books. There will be comic books coming out starting this year with Rey Mysterio Jr., Blue Demon Jr., Konnan, The Lucha Brothers (Penta 0M & Rey Fenix) and Cadetes del Espacio (the 80s tag team of Super Astro & Solar). The Mysterio comic book will debut at the San Diego Comic Con on 7/20 and Mysterio Jr. will be at the Comic Con promoting it.
  • Slex, JXT, Gino Gambino and Syd Parker have been announced for an IWA show on 8/25 in Western Sydney, Australia.
  • ROH announced Shane Helms & Cheeseburger & Delirious vs. Punishment Martinez & Bully Ray & Shane Taylor for 6/15 in San Antonio. Helms & Delirious also face Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian the next night in Dallas.
  • Shazza McKenzie will replace Chelsea Green on the 6/23 Future Wrestling Australia show. (thanks to Kevin Chiat)
  • Green had pulled out of several dates because she got a role in a Sci-Fi thriller movie being filmed this month.
  • Best of the West TV from last night in Fresno: Sheik Khan Abadi won three-way over Chris Bay and Virgil Flynn, Danny Rocket won Rumble Battle Royal. Next show is tomorrow at Fresno City College gym at 6 p.m. Mike Rayne vs. Funnybone for their title is the main event and Clayton Jack, the former All-American wrestler who was in WWE developmental, debuts as Grizzly Kal Jack. (thanks to Jon Southerland)
  • Dynamo Pro Wrestling is doing a tournament with the first round on 7/7, quarterfinals on 8/3 and semifinals and finals on 9/14. All three events will be in Graftonk, IL at the Loading Dock Bar and Grill, starting at 8 p.m. each night. 
  • House of Glory Wrestling tomorrow night in Jamaica, NY with Jeff Jarrett, Amazing Red, Ultimo Dragon, Sami Callihan, LAX and Jessicka Havoc.
  • Sumie Sakai & Jenny Rose & Mayu Iwatani & Tenille Dashwood vs. Kelly Klein & Kagetsu & Hana Kimura & Hazuki has been announced for the next ROH PPV show on 6/29 from Baltimore.
  • Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson headline on 6/8 in Niota, TN at the Niota Elementary School. It’s so awesome that in the poster for the show, it’s a photo of them from 30 years ago. Reminds me of when I’d see Mae Young advertised on shows in the Carolinas in the late 80s and they advertised them with glamor photos of Mae Young from the early 40s.
  • Pro Wrestling Eve tomorrow night in London at the Resistance Gallery in Bethnal Green has Kris Wolf vs. Kay Lee Ray, Viper vs. Charli Evans, Millie McKenzie vs. Addy Starr and Charlie Morgan vs. Kasey Owens in a mystery partner tag team match.
  • Pro Wrestling Eve also announced Strong Woman Style on 9/29 in London at Walthamstow Assembly Hall with Jordynne Grace vs. Chihiro Hashimoto plus Toni Storm, Kay Lee Ray and Charlie Morgan.
  • Scott Fishman spoke with Chris DeJoseph ahead of the Lucha Underground season four premiere.
  • An interview with Kevin Kelly ahead of tonight’s NJPW Dominion event.

Daily Professional Wrestling History: Triple H wins 1997 King of the Ring

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 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 Gladys Gibson Doubles Match Classic! Already booked for the show are the teams 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