Daily Update: WWE DVD, return at Impact tapings, RevPro

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The Latest from the F4W Staff

NEWS

AUDIO

Today we’re looking for reports on the Impact tapings in Orlando, Raw is Bismark, ND, Smackdown in Kalamazoo, MI and House of Hardcore in to newstips@wrestlingobserver.com.

UFC FIGHT NIGHT FROM THE BRIDGESTONE ARENA IN NASHVILLE

Fight Pass at 6:30 p.m. Eastern time

  • Hector Sandoval (125.5) vs. Matt Schnell (126)
  • Bryan Barbarena (170) vs. Joe Proctor (170)
  • Cindy Dandois (135) vs. Alexis Davis (134.5)

FS 2 at 8 p.m. Eastern

  • Jessica Penne (115) vs. Danielle Taylor (115)
  • Scott Holtzman (156) vs. Michael McBride (155.5)
  • Brandon Moreno (125) vs. Dustin Ortiz (124.5)
  • Sam Alvey (184) vs. Thales Leites (186)

FS 1 at 10 p.m. Eastern

  • Jake Ellenberger (170.5) vs. Mike Perry (170)
  • Joe Lauzon (155.5) vs. Stevie Ray (156)
  • John Dodson (135) vs. Eddie Wineland (135)
  • Marcos Rogerio de Lima (210) vs. Ovince Saint Preux (206)
  • Al Iaquinta (154.5) vs. Diego Sanchez (155.5)
  • Artem Lobov (145) vs. Cub Swanson (145)

        de Lima was fined 30 percent of his purse for missing weight, which will go to Saint Preux for accepting the fight against someone who outweighed him by that much. The fine was 30 percent because de Lima has missed weight before and they are getting stricter with fines on this.

HOUSE OF HARDCORE ON SATURDAY NIGHT IN PHILADELPHIA AT THE 2300 ARENA ON FLO SLAM AT 8 P.M.EASTERN TIME

  • Penta 0M vs. Sami Callihan
  • Plus MVP and Brian Cage

EVOLVE FROM CLUB LABOOM IN QUEENS, NY SATURDAY NIGHT ON FLO SLAM

  • ACH vs. Austin Theory
  • Keith Lee vs. Kyle O’Reilly
  • Fred Yehi & Tracy Williams vs. Chris Dickinson & Jake for the tag titles
  • Darby Allin vs. Ethan Page last man standing
  • Zack Sabre vs. Drew Galloway
  • Matt Riddle vs. Timothy Thatcher for WWN title

NEW JAPAN AT KORAKUEN HALL LIVE ON NEW JAPAN WORLD SUNDAY MORNING AT 5:30 A.M. EASTERN TIME

  • Hirai Kawato & Tomoyuki Oka vs. Katsuya Kitamura & Shota Umino
  • Desperado & Taka Michinoku vs. Will Ospreay & Jado
  • Tama Tonga & Tanga Roa & Yujiro Takahashi vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima & David Finlay
  • Hirooki Goto & Toru Yano & Rocky Romero & Baretta vs. Minoru Suzuki & Takashi Iizuka & Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Taichi
  • Ryusuke Taguchi & Ricochet & Yoshitatsu vs. Seiya Sanada & Hiromu Takahashi & Bushi
  • Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii & Yoshi-Hashi vs. Kenny Omega & Bad Luck Fale & Chase Owens
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi & Juice Robinson vs. Tetsuya Naito & Evil

For Sunday, we’re looking for reports on the Impact tapings in Orlando, Raw in Fargo, ND, Smackdown in Hammond, IN and House of Hardcore in Philadelphia.

EVOLVE FROM THE SAINT FINBAR CATHOLIC CHURCH GYM IN BROOKLYN AT 8 P.M. EASTERN ON FLO SLAM

  • Ethan Page vs. Austin Theory
  • ACH vs. Jaka
  • Keith Lee vs. Darby Allin
  • Fred Yehi vs. Kyle O’Reilly
  • Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Lio Rush for Evolve title
  • Matt Riddle vs. Drew Galloway in an I Quit match

FIGURE FOUR WEEKLY: 4/18/2017: Shibata vs. Okada underscores the dangers of pro wrestling

I wasn’t thinking about the headbutt that may have ended Katsuyori Shibata’s career when the main event of Sakura Genesis ended. Instead, I was impulsively trying to fit Shibata vs. Kazuchika Okada into the hierarchy of matches I’ve seen over the past few years. I knew that it was my favorite match of the year so far, even surpassing Okada vs. Kenny Omega from the Tokyo Dome. It comfortably surpassed anything from 2016 for me as well, and I may have been able to go back further if it wasn’t for the fear of recency bias affecting my judgment too much.

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WRESTLING OBSERVER NEWSLETTER: April 24, 2017: Jinder Mahal made #1 contender, Rosey passes away, more

A look at the life and times of Matt “Rosey” Anoa’i, more on the Mauro Ranallo situation, looking at Jinder Mahal’s push to the top, an update on Katsuyori Shibata and a look at the first-ever government investigation of an attempted fix of a UFC fight are just some of the lead stories in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

Have a look at the current WWE booking, the story behind the push of Jinder Mahal, realities of what pushing talent based on physique leads to, and how the network business models plays into this move.

Examine the life and career of Matt Anoa’i of the famed Samoan wrestling family, and notes from those who knew him and a rundown of his pro wrestling career, his near misses when it comes to a push, tragedies in the family, his runs outside WWE and more.

An update on the situation with Katsuyori Shibata, who was injured during one of the greatest matches in recent years, and a look at what happened after the match; look back at how the death of Masakazu Fukuda plays into the story, more on the match, as well as the road Shibata took from high school to selling out Sumo Hall and where he was supposed to be headed, inside this issue.

There is more on the Mauro Ranallo situation including his return to Japan with Rizin and how that was set up, his run in WWE, why the run didn’t work, backstage notes at WWE tapings, several wrestlers talk about that situation or their own situations, a look back at the Layfield/Blue Meanie incident and differences of opinion regarding who was responsible for what was happening.

Check out the roster switch over when it comes to house shows and the current plans for May lineups, Roman Reigns at the house shows this past weekend, the biggest surprise of the roster moves, update on The Hardys and the legalities of the broken gimmick, update on Bill Goldberg’s contractual situation and future with the company, and WWE injury updates. 

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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. 

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 27, 2000: More on WWF leaving USA Network, Beyond the Mat controversy, more

One of the two remaining roadblocks to the WWF/CBS deal was removed this past week when Chris-Craft Industries, Inc. agreed to sell its half of UPN to Viacom for $5 million. Chris-Craft had sought to block a clause in its dual ownership contract of UPN with Viacom, which gave either side the right to order the other to either sell its half or buy out the other company’s half. Viacom had, through that clause, ordered Chris-Craft to make a decision by 3/20.

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SATURDAY NEWS UPDATE

WWE

  • Charly Caruso and Sean Mooney took part in the filming of a DVD that WWE will be releasing that features unseen matches.
  • A new episode of “Table for Three” with AJ Styles, Shawn Michaels, and Kevin Nash will air on the WWE Network after Raw on Monday.
  • NXT’s Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford are now going by the name “The Street Prophets” as a tag team.
  • Whoever runs Vince McMahon’s Twitter account tweeted in celebration of Earth Day today: “We only have one Earth, let’s take care of it. Happy #EarthDay.”
  • Big E officiated a wedding in LA yesterday.
  • WWE’s latest top 10 list on YouTube looks at times the ring has broken during matches.

Pro Wrestling

  • As Dave Meltzer indicated in yesterday’s Daily Update, Matt Sydal returned to Impact Wrestling at last night’s tapings.
  • This week’s nearly live episode of Impact was watched by an average of 320k viewers on Pop TV. That’s a bit higher than it has done over the past few weeks, but still not much different than the show has been doing since the rebrand.
  • AIW co-owner Chris Bryan (Chandler Biggins), who has been in the hospital for over a month, had his health take a turn for the worse today. The promotion tweeted: “Chandler Biggins has taken a turn for the worse ,his heart stopped and he was revived with CPR but is currently not responsive.” And later wrote: “Chandler is being transported to the Cleveland Clinic to have tests run on his brain,these results will be a big factor on what happens.” Our best wishes go out to Bryan and his friends and family.
  • JT Dunn tweeted that he was diagnosed with a severe concussion and needs time off to heal mentally and physically.
  • Revolution Pro Wrestling will be hosting the 2017 British J-Cup tournament on July 8th at Walthamstow Assembly Hall. The promotion said that it will feature eight of the best junior heavyweights in the world.
  • Ring of Honor has announced Hirooki Goto, Will Ospreay & Roppongi Vice vs. Cody, Hangman Page & The Young Bucks for the War of the Worlds tour show in Dearborn, Michigan on May 10th.
  • The Orlando Sentinel ran a profile on the Guerrillas of Destiny.
  • ESPN posted a feature on Jervis Cottonbelly.
  • CBC News has an interview with Jake Roberts.
  • Tom Lawlor took part in a question and answers session on Reddit.

UFC/MMA

  • Conor McGregor posted on Instagram about potentially fighting Floyd Mayweather: “The focus has been solely boxing lately but make no mistakes, the kicking and grappling aspects, and everything else got to do with unlimited free fighting, is still very much present in my thoughts. Floyd may crap his jocks after all and if so I will go back to true fighting or just pick another boxer like manny or something. But whatever that’s another conversation.”
  • Amanda Nunes tweeted that she’ll defend her women’s bantamweight title “soon.”
  • Ariel Helwani reported that Valerie Letourneau is close to signing with Bellator.

Pro Wrestling Tees is now carrying our latest line of F4W shirts. Support the Empire~! Grab yours today!

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