Daily Update: WrestleMania odds, Galloway, Nakamura

THE ROUND-UP

The Latest from the F4W Staff

NEWS

AUDIO

We’re looking for reports on any of the events in Orlando that have taken place over the past few days with the exception of the Evolve, ROH & NXT shows to newstips@wrestlingobserver.com.

We’re also taking polls this week on WrestleMania, NXT Takeover and ROH Supercard of Honor, so you can send a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle on all three shows to dave@wrestlingobserver.com.

Regarding WrestleMania, we’ve got a preview in the current issue of the Observer regarding each match so will just update the match-by-match with betting odds. Keep in mind that even with long odds in many matches, that’s based on just expectations from news out, like logic is that Lesnar is winning given next year’s Mania plans but the real smart money hasn’t come in strong based on close odds in a few matches.

PRESHOW STARTS AT 5 P.M. EASTERN TIME

With only two pre-show matches, the first hour of the show may be just talking since they will be going live for one hour on the USA Network at 6 p.m. Eastern.

  • Andre the Giant Battle Royal — As noted, a few NXT names including Killian Dain and Tian Bing have been added. Bing is in it because of WrestleMania airing in China on iPPV this year. Dain was likely picked because of his size. The two betting favorites have been Sami Zayn at -125 and Braun Strowman at -110. With odds that close, that seems to indicate smart money isn’t in, but there has been a lot of betting movement toward Zayn.
  • Neville vs. Austin Aries for the NXT title — Neville is a -1750 favorite at +950.

PPV AT 7 P.M. EASTERN

  • Brock Lesnar is -3250 and Bill Goldberg is +1350.
  • Roman Reigns is -900 and Undertaker is +675.
  • Randy Orton is -750 and Bray Wyatt is +450.
  • John Cena & Nikki Bella at -1975 and Miz & Maryse are +975.
  • Seth Rollins is -1750 and HHH is +850.
  • A.J. Styles is -1625 and Shane McMahon is +775.
  • Bayley is -1500 to keep the women’s title with Sasha Banks and Charlotte both +1400 and Nia Jax +5500.
  • Kevin Owens is a -1750 favorite in the U.S. title match with Chris Jericho at +850.
  • Baron Corbin is -1750 to get his hand raised as a major favorite over Dean Ambrose at +850.
  • In the Raw ladder match, Enzo & Cass are favored at -175, with Gallows & Anderson at +168 and Sheamus & Cesaro at +1100.
  • Smackdown women’s title: Naomi is a -420 winner to win the title. Carmella is +320, Alexa Bliss, Becky Lynch and Mickie James are +9500 and Natalya is +13500.

Raw is Monday night from the Amway Arena in Orlando. The show is usually the most talked about and most-watched Raw of the year. The expectation is there will be a few debuts on both Monday and Tuesday.

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

  • Manabu Nakanishi & Jushin Liger & Hirai Kawato vs. Takashi Iizuka & Desperado & Taka Michinoku
  • Yuji Nagata & Tomoyuki Oka vs. Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens
  • Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima & Tiger ask vs. War Machine & David Finlay
  • Hirooki Goto & Toru Yano & Gedo & Jado vs. Minoru Suzuki & Zack Sabre Jr. & Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Taichi
  • Tomohiro Ishii & Baretta vs. Kenny Omega & Bad Luck Fale
  • Juice Robinson & Kushida vs. Tetsuya Naito & Hiromu Takahashi
  • Kazuchika Okada & Yoshi-Hashi vs Katsuyori Shibata & Togi Makabe
  • Seiya Sanada & Evil & Bushi vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi & Ryusuke Taguchi & Manabu Nakanishi for Never trios championship

Smackdown will also be live from the Amway Arena in Orlando on Tuesday. Expect some surprises on that show as well as they want to make a tradition of the Tuesday Smackdown show over Mania week also being something special.

FIGURE FOUR WEEKLY: 3/27/2017: Looking ahead to WrestleMania 33

As what has now become nearly a full week of WrestleMania-related events begins, the card for WWE’s marquee event of the year is virtually complete. There are 12 matches announced for WrestleMania 33 heading into the final week of build on television, though some issues still remain. Triple H vs. Seth Rollins has to be officially announced, participants in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal have to be confirmed, and we’ll see if there are plans for the SmackDown tag titles and a few other notable wrestlers left without anything scheduled…

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WRESTLING OBSERVER NEWSLETTER: April 3, 2017: Massive WrestleMania weekend preview, plus tons of news

Your guide to WrestleMania is the focus of the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

The issue runs down the key matches, keys to what to look for, unique crowd reactions expected, the plight of Roman Reigns as the new face of the company, how booing top babyfaces is not unique to WWE today and why you have to look at business numbers and not who gets cheered and booed, plus a look at the public interest level in the top six singles matches on the show and what has the most and least interest generally.

Examine the Reigns situation, ticket sales for all the WWE events, thoughts on finishes and what, adjusted for inflation, were the biggest money pro wrestling events of all-time. Plus, look at this year vs. last year when it comes to incredible matches.

Have a look in depth at the legacy inductees into the WWE Hall of Fame, including just how big a name Rikidozan was in his prime in Japan, the amazing television ratings he did, the most-watched live pro wrestling match anywhere in the world in history, the backgrounds of the inductees and with June Byers, the story behind one of most legendary pro wrestling matches of all-time, the 1954 world women’s title unification match which was a completely legitimate shoot.

There is an update on Mauro Ranallo and his disappearance from WWE with a filled in the time line of what happened, why Ranallo’s close friend Bas Rutten pretty much points the finger at JBL, how it’s been handled and why it puts WWE in a tough situation as well as the Be a Star group.

Notes on a major business deal made by WWE, SummerSlam ticket sales, WrestleMania available in China, Hardys arrival, the inevitable changes in the UK market, Alberto & Paige getting married, Paige talks about her embarrassing situation, WWE star reportedly on the way out, Shawn Michaels talks about his offer to face A.J. Styles at WrestleMania, all inside, and Kane potentially running for Mayor of Knox County, TN.

Subscribers click here to continue.

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: March 6, 2000: WWF No Way Out review, Mick Foley retires, more

Unlike most other wrestlers of similar fame, to do a career retrospective on Mick Foley is best saved for an examination probably years down the road. He was the classic overachiever, who defied all the odds, and was possibly the single greatest influence inside the ring on styles changing in the business of the past ten years. In a career destined, because he wasn’t that great athletically and didn’t have what was believed to be the right look and physique, for being mid-card for life, he ended up when his career came to a close, as one of the five biggest stars in North America, and even as a best-selling author… 

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SUNDAY NEWS UPDATE

Bryan and I will be back tonight with Wrestling Observer Radio covering WrestleMania. You can send e-mail questions regarding topics related to news over the past few days to mailbag@wrestlingobserver.com. We’ve done shows every night from Thursday and will continue through tomorrow night after Raw. 

The second hour of the WrestleMania pregame show airs live at 6 p.m. on the USA Network.

There are a bunch of places including Leo Vegas, 32 Red and Unibet who are posting odds on what match will get the most stars in the Observer on Wednesday. I have nothing to do with this. In fact, I wasn’t even aware of this until yesterday. As of this morning, these are those odds:

  • Neville vs. Aries +150
  • Andre the Giant Battle Royal +2500
  • Bliss vs. Lynch vs. Naomi vs. Natalya vs James vs. Carmella +2500
  • Ambrose vs. Corbin +800
  • Raw tag title ladder match +1200
  • Bayley vs. Charlotte vs. Banks vs. Jax +250
  • Styles vs. Shane McMahon +1000
  • Jericho vs. Owens +150
  • Cena & Nikki vs. Miz & Maryse +1500
  • Rollins vs. HHH +500
  • Orton vs. Wyatt +800
  • Goldberg vs. Lesnar +1500
  • Undertaker vs. Reigns +500
  • Whether or not there will be a five-star match on the show +1500

The HHH vs. Seth Rollins match figures to have interference from Samoa Joe, plus Stephanie McMahon will be in HHH’s corner and she’s said so publicly on ESPN last night and will also be part of an elaborate ring entrance. There is certainly talk of Mick Foley being involved with this. It’s notable that Foley’s hip replacement surgery was held off until after this show and him costing HHH the match makes storyline sense.

Yesterday’s biggest surprise news involved Drew Galloway, back as Drew McIntyre, signing. This was said to have been a late put together deal as Galloway was scheduled in the main event of the WWN Super Show in a six-way title match and had to be “injured” early in the show and left. Matt Riddle won the WWN title which was the guy I had expected to win. McIntyre will be in NXT, not WWE, likely as they are looking for some potential singles main events to replace Shinsuke Nakamura. We talked a lot about Galloway and Jim Ross on the show we did last night and how these moves are U.K. market related. The indication we were given is Galloway will be able to drop the What Culture title in the ring, but Galloway was the key guy in plans for a number of different U.K. groups.

Jim Ross will be on the broadcast tonight. He has publicly said his contract talks with WWE went back a few months. We’ll have more on that in the new issue.

WWE

  • Stephan Amell and Rob Gronkowski are in town for WrestleMania.
  • ESPN is doing heavy coverage of WrestleMania all day long.
  • After Takeover went off the air, there was an in-ring deal for the fans in Orlando basically with Nakamura thanking everyone and giving the indication he’s leaving. He will be doing NXT house shows at least through the U.K. tour in May.
  • Paul Heyman has been heavily pushing Charlotte Flair all week as a new superstar and that she could main event a WrestleMania.
  • Jim Ross talks to David Penzer regarding if he’ll announce at WrestleMania 33, his thoughts on WrestleMania’s buildup, why TNA did not work under it’s old management and what new management is going to do to save the company.
  • Alexa Bliss is interviewed about tonight’s show.

MISCELLANEOUS

  • Rey Mysterio will appear 4/22 at the MCW Arena in Joppa, MD doing a meet and Greet at 4 p.m. Melina and Lio Rush will be wrestling on the show that night.
  • Appalachian Mountain Wrestling on 4/6 in Hazard, KY at the Chavies Elementary School, 4/8 in Hindman, KY at the Knott County Middle School Gym, 4/13 in Jackson, KY at the LBJ Elementary School and 4/14 in South McKee, KY at the Old Jackson County High School.
  • Legacy Fighting Alliance, which airs on AXS TV, has shows on 5/5 in Phoenix at the Comercia Theater and 5/19 in Prior Lake, MN at the Mystic Lake Showroom. The 5/5 main event has Matthew Frincu of Australia against Daniel Madrid. The 5/19 main event as Ben Neumann facing Derrick Krantz to determine the first LFA welterweight champion.
  • TCW from 4/1 in Leeds, England: Dara Diablo b Blake, Little Miss Roxxy b Ruby Summers, Dan Evans b JD Boom, Matt Myers b Gabriel Kidd, Wonderland b Pop Punk Kid and Jack Bandicoot, Lizzy Styles b Lana Austin, Caz Crash & Sam Wilder b Sons of Ulaid, Sean Only b CJ Banks. (thanks to Jan Buxton)
  • Combat Zone Wrestling from last night in Orlando with their biggest Best of the Best tournament to date: Shane Strickland won over Joey Janela, Lio Rush and Dezmond Xavier, AR Fox won over David Starr, Ricochet and Jason Cade, Michael Elgin won over Anthony Henry, Scorpio Sky and Zachary Wentz, David Crist won over Sami Callihan, Jake Crist and Rey Fenix, Joe Gacy b Brian Cage to keep the CZW title, Rickey Shane Page won over Ace Austin, Ethan Case, Caleb Konley, Alexander James and Tony Deppen to win an Ultimate Opportunity, Dave Crist b Michael Elgin, Shane Strickland b AR Fox, Matt Tremont b Penta 0M with Kevin Sullivan as referee in a bloodbath with weapons, Dave Crist b Shane Strickland to win the tournament. They announced Matt Tremont vs. Atsushi Onita on 8/5. CZW’s next show is 4/8 in Voorhees, NJ with Joe Gacy defending against Lio Rush, Jeff Cannonball vs. Tremont in a pit of thumbtacks and Scorpio Sky vs David Starr. (thanks to Bob Magee)

Today in Professional Wrestling History (4/2): Hogan vs. Savage at WrestleMania V

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