Daily Update: WWE house shows, Bruiser Brody doc, NJPW on AXS

THE ROUND-UP

THE LATEST NEWS

THE LATEST AUDIO

We’re doing polls this weekend for both NXT Takeover and Money in the Bank..

We’re looking for reports on tonight’s Raw show in Peoria, IL, NXT in Evansville, IN and ROH in San Antonio to newstips@wrestlingobserver.com.

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

  • Kazuchika Okada vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi

MLW ON BEINSPORTS TONIGHT AT 8 P.M. EASTERN

ROH TONIGHT AT 8:30 P.M. EASTERN TIME FROM THE AZTEC THEATER IN SAN ANTONIO ON HONOR CLUB

  • Flip Gordon vs. Rhett Titus
  • Bully Ray & Punishment Martinez & Shane Taylor vs. Cheeseburger & Delirious & Shane Helms
  • Jay Lethal vs. TK O’Ryan
  • The Boys vs. Matt Taven & Vinny Marseglia
  • Cody vs. Jonathan Gresham
  • Sumie Sakai & Tenille Dashwood vs. Kelly Klein & Thunder Rosa
  • Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian & Scorpio Sky vs. Atlantis & Guerrero Maya Jr. & Stuka Jr.
  • Young Bucks & Hangman Page & Marty Scurll vs. Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr. & Mark & Jay Briscoe

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

  • Shockercito & Stukita vs. Mercurio & Pequeno Nitro
  • Blue Panther Jr. & Pegasso & The Panther vs. Kawato San & Okumura & Universo 2000 Jr.
  • Esfinge & Titan & Triton vs. Felino & Puma & Tiger
  • El Hijo de L.A.Park & Niebla Roja & Valiente vs. Ephesto & Mephisto & Luciferno
  • Caristico vs. Dragon Lee
  • L.A. Park & Rey Fenix & Volador Jr. vs. Cibernetico & Rush & El Terrible

Saturday we’re looking for reports on the Raw show in Champaign, IL, Smackdown in Dubuque, IA and ROH in Dallas to newstips@wrestlingobserver.com.

NXT TAKEOVER AT 8 P.M. EASTERN SATURDAY NIGHT FROM THE ALLSTATE ARENA IN CHICAGO ON THE WWE NETWORK

  • Tommaso Ciampa vs. Johnny Gargano street fight
  • Aleister Black vs. Lars Sullivan for NXT title
  • Kyle O’Reilly & Roderick Strong vs. Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch
  • Shayna Baszler vs. Nikki Cross for women’s title
  • Ricochet vs. Velveteen Dream

ROH FROM GILLEY’S IN DALLAS AT 8 P.M. EASTERN ON HONOR CLUB

  • Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian vs. Shane Helms & Delirious
  • Young Bucks vs. The Boys
  • Marty Scurll vs. Jay Lethal vs. Flip Gordon
  • Cody vs. Shane Taylor
  • Tenille Dashwood vs. Thunder Rosa
  • Matt Taven & TK O’Ryan & Vinny Marsegila vs. Atlantis & Guerrero Maya Jr. & Stuka Jr. for ROH six man titles
  • Mark & Jay Briscoe vs. Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr. for ROH tag titles
  • Silas Young vs. Cheeseburger vs. Punishment Martinez vs. Jonathan Gresham vs. Scorpio Sky vs. Adam Page – If anyone pins Young, they get an immediate TV title shot afterwards

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

  • Yota Tsuji vs. Yuya Uemura
  • Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi vs. Tomoyuki Oka & Shota Umino
  • Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Ren Narita vs. Yujiro Takahashi & Taiji Ishimori
  • Togi Makabe & Jeff Cobb & Toa Henare & Kushida & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Toru Yano & Yoshi-Hashi & Rocky Romero & Sho & Yoh
  • Tetsuya Naito & Evil & Seiya Sanada & Bushi & Hiromu Takahashi vs. Takashi Iizuka & Taichi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Desperado & Taka Michinoku
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi & Juice Robinson & David Finlay vs. Kazuchika Okada & Jay White & Tomohiro Ishii
  • Michael Elgin vs. Hirooki Goto for Never Open weight title

WWE MONEY IN THE BANK AT 6:30 P.M. EASTERN SUNDAY NIGHT FROM THE ALLSTATE ARENA IN CHICAGO ON THE WWE NETWORK

  • A.J. Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura in a last man standing match for the WWE title
  • Men’s Money in the Bank ladder match: Braun Strowman, Bobby Roode, Kevin Owens, Finn Balor, Samoa Joe, The Miz, Rusev and a member of New Day
  • Women’s Money in the bank ladder match: Charlotte Flair, Naomi, Becky Lynch, Lana, Natalya, Alexa Bliss, Sasha Banks and Ember Moon
  • Nia Jax vs. Ronda Rousey for Raw women’s title
  • Seth Rollins vs. Elias for IC title
  • Carmella vs. Asuka for Smackdown women’s title
  • Roman Reigns vs. Jinder Mahal
  • Daniel Bryan vs. Big Cass
  • Bobby Lashley vs. Sami Zayn
  • Luke Harper & Erick Rowan vs. Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows for Smackdown tag titles

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

  • Yota Tsuji vs. Yuya Uemura
  • Shota Umino & Ren Narita vs. Yujiro Takahashi & Taiji Ishimori
  • Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Tomoyuki Oka
  • Togi Makabe & David Finlay & Toa Henare & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Toru Yano & Yoshi-Hashi & Sho & Yoh
  • Tetsuya Naito & Evil & Seiya Sanada & Bushi vs Takashi Iizuka & Taichi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Taka Michinoku
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi & Michael Elgin & Juice Robinson & Jeff Cobb & Kushida vs. Kazuchika Okada & Hirooki Goto & Jay White & Tomohiro Ishii & Gedo
  • Hiromu Takahashi vs. Desperado for IWGP jr. title

Raw will be Monday night in Grand Rapids, MI while Smackdown has a house show on Monday night in Fort Wayne, IN, and the WWE Network is taping a show at Royal Albert Hall in London.

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

  • Kushida & Ren Narita vs. Yujiro Takahashi & Taiji Ishimori
  • Togi Makabe & Jushin Liger & Tiger Mask vs. Toa Henare & Tomoyuki Oka & Shota Umino
  • Rocky Romero & Sho & Yoh vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Desperado & Taka Michinoku
  • Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano vs. Takashi Iizuka & Taichi
  • Michael Elgin & Juice Robinson & Jeff Cobb & David Finlay vs. Kazuchika Okada & Hirooki Goto & Jay White & Yoshi-Hashi
  • Super Strong Machine retirement celebration
  • The Masked Machines (Hiroshi Tanahashi & Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi & Ryusuke Taguchi & Hiroyoshi Tenzan) vs. Tetsuya Naito & Evil & Bushi & Seiya Sanada & Hiromu Takahashi

Smackdown and 205 Live will be taped on Tuesday night in Toledo with the only thing announced being Mustafa Ali vs. Hideo Itami vs. Buddy Murphy for the No. 1 contender position in the cruiserweight division on 205 Live. There is also a WWE Network taping on Tuesday at Royal Albert Hall in London.

F4W NEWSLETTER: Figure Four Weekly: A week of closure for CM Punk

What promised to be one of the most important seven-day periods of his life ended up being a week of closure for CM Punk. The week began with triumph and, though he was soon discharged and didn’t suffer any serious injuries, ended with Punk being transported to the hospital. On Tuesday, after roughly two hours of deliberation, the jury ruled in Punk and Colt Cabana’s favor in WWE doctor Chris Amann’s defamation lawsuit against them. 

WON NEWSLETTER: WON Preview (June 18, 2018): Omega vs. Okada reaches new heights

A look back at the Okada-Omega IV match is the lead story in the new jam-packed double issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter this week. The story goes back to the previous matches, the story behind the match, the booking of Okada-Naito, the Okada title reign, how Okada is viewed in Japan right now, what is next for New Japan, the future of Chris Jericho in New Japan, New Japan President Howard Meij talks the future and match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results.

Look at UFC 225, C.M. Punk’s second fight, the story behind Yoel Romero’s weight issues, business notes on the show and match-by-match coverage with poll results.

Examine Jeff Hardy’s guilty plea in a DUI case and WWE standards, advertised matches for the Extreme Rules PPV in July, thoughts on a new UFC news talk show, Ronda Rousey contract info, WWE campaigning for an Emmy nomination, a SummerSlam main event update, the Corey Graves/C.M. Punk issue, a Rey Mysterio/WWE note, NXT at the Download Festival, UK show cards, Survivor Series ticket update, Cena and Rock movie updates, wrestler returning to WWE action from injury, tons of talk of the XFL, and Bret Hart talks drama in WWE matches.

Read about the most-watched matches from the past week on the WWE Network, as well as coverage of all the WWE and NXT events over the past week with results, highlights and business notes.

Preview Money in the Bank and Takeover, look at the career that led Ronda Rousey into the UFC Hall of Fame including her pre-UFC career, a new streaming service that will cover dozens of promotions all over the world, and the sad death of Arkangel de la Muerte.

Read more on ROH talking about running Madison Square Garden and all kinds of things going on.

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.

FRIDAY NEWS UPDATE

For this weekend, Roman Reigns is back in action on all the Raw house shows. Braun Strowman isn’t being advertised for Friday or Saturday night. A.J. Styles is not booked in Dubuque on Saturday night, but the rest of the Smackdown crew is. Strowman and Ronda Rousey are booked for the PPV and Raw. Styles is booked for a house show Monday in Fort Wayne.

What would have been a strong match of the year candidate with Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP title from Dontaku in Fukuoka will be on tonight’s AXS show. Well, it was looking that way.

The Stephanie McMahon episode of Undercover Boss airs on CBS tonight. 

In the new Pivotshare streaming service that we wrote about yesterday on the site, Northeast Wrestling has noted to us that they are part of the Pivotshare Highspots network.

The Bruiser Brody DVD that Highspots put out will be available to stream for free for one day, on Monday, which would have been Brody’s 72nd birthday. I’m just telling you that you should make time for that. I have friends with no interest in wrestling who were fascinated by it, particularly the last few minutes where Tony Atlas goes into detail of the murder.

While Cibernetico’s return to Arena Mexico may ruin the quality of a main event that has a face trio of L.A. Park & Rey Fenix & Volador Jr., although the heat will be there, the Caristico vs Dragon Lee singles match should be a lot of fun, for at least the 10:00 they are allotted. 

WWE

  • Kambi has put up the over/unders for star ratings for Sunday, so you can bet on over and under:
    Styles vs. Nakamura ****1/4
    Rousey vs. Jax **1/4
    Rollins vs. Elias **1/2
    Men’s Money in the bank ****1/4
    Reigns vs. Mahal **3/4
    Bludgeon Brothers vs. Anderson & Gallows **
    Carmella vs. Asuka **
    Women’s Money in the Bank ***
    You can also bet on an exact star rating, bet on what wins best match, and bet on whether the Styles match or Money in the Bank match gets the most stars. (thanks to David Taylor)

UFC

  • UFC Hall of Fame tickets went on sale today. All tickets were just $20 with all proceeds going to benefit the Three Square Food Bank. It will be held at the Pearl at the Palms Hotel in Las Vegas on 7/5.
  • UFC announced two new fights for the 7/14 show in Boise, ID, which are Mike De La Rosa (9-1) vs. Elias Garcia (5-0) at bantamweight and Raoni Barcelos (11-1) vs. Kurt Holobaugh (17-4) at featherweight.

MISCELLANEOUS

  • Bellator’s Michael “Venom” Page scored a second round knockout of Michal Ciach in a boxing match last night at York Hall in London. Ciach came in with a 1-5 boxing record and went down and out on the first punch thrown in the second round, ending at 18 seconds. Page is now 2-0 as a boxer.
  • The second PFL card will be on Thursday at the Chicago Theater in Chicago, featuring the debut of two-time Olympic judo gold medalist Kayla Harrison. This will air on NBC Sports Network. 
  • Joey Janela and Penelope Ford have said they are going to work Evolve more regularly.
  • NFC MMA on 6/22 in Kennesaw, GA at the Electric Cowboy. Until midnight tonight, all tickets are 25 percent off the listed price. They also run 6/30 at the Infinite Energy Forum.
  • Dave Vaughn vs. Big Texan headlines Saturday night for SICW in East Carondelet, IL. 
  • CWE from last night in Morris, Manitoba: Mentallo b Brian Rich, Bobby Schink & Kevin Cannon b Dragneel & Jak Lydon, Tyler Colton b Kevin O’Doyle, Tasty Travis b Wildman Firpo, Danny Duggan b A.J.Sanchez. They run tonight in Winnipeg at Rookie’s Sports Bar.
  • Nuclear Heat Wrestling on 7/11 in Los Angeles at Hi Hat has a unique main event, with John Hennigan vs. Taya Valkyrie. So it’s a husband vs. wife match. They are calling it a Match Rimony match.
  • Barrie Wrestling on 7/7 at 5 p.m. at 49 Ferris Lane in Barrie, ONT.

Daily Professional Wrestling History: 1997 WCW Great American Bash

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, Lufisto & 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