Daily Update: WWE notes, LuFisto, Triplemania

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F4W NEWSLETTER: Figure Four Weekly: Main roster arrivals and WWE departures

Last week was a period of arrivals and departures for WWE.

Without much advance warning, Ricochet, Aleister Black, Johnny Gargano, and Tommaso Ciampa all debuted on Raw last Monday. After news of them being backstage was reported online, WWE tweeted out pictures of them to hype that they were at the show. Triple H then opened Raw and confirmed that they would be debuting later in the night. Ricochet made a save for Finn Balor and teamed with him to defeat Bobby Lashley & Lio Rush, Black defeated Elias, and Gargano & Ciampa got a win against Raw Tag Team Champions The Revival in a non-title match.

WON NEWSLETTER: February 25, 2019 Observer Newsletter: Elimination Chamber review

The show didn’t sell out, even in one of WWE’s best markets. The show had more good than bad, with the highlight being the main event, the men’s Chamber match where Daniel Bryan retained and the crowd got so strong behind Kofi Kingston in the Mustafa Ali slot that Vince McMahon changed plans for Fast Lane to put Bryan vs. Kingston on top.

The show was the brainchild of Motoko Baba, to run a big Baba celebration show in 2019, 20 years after his early 1999 death. With her passing away last year, it was her nieces and nephews who put the show together.

All but one count of Mark Hunt’s lawsuit against the UFC, Dana White and Brock Lesnar on the grounds they conspired against him to allow a juiced up Lesnar to fight him at UFC 200 was thrown out of court.

The 2020 Royal Rumble will take place on 1/26 at Minute Maid Park in Houston. Most likely that would also mean Takeover on 1/25 at the Toyota Center, Raw on 1/27 and Smackdown on 1/28.

FOX this weekend started advertising 10/4 as the debut of the new Friday Night Smackdown show.

“Fighting with My Family,” the Dwayne Johnson Seven Bucks Entertainment movie about Growing Up as Paige, which has its big national release on 2/22, has gotten great word-of-mouth so far.

Chris Jericho noted that while he and Gedo are on the same page, that New Japan management hasn’t talked with him about a new deal.

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WEDNESDAY NEWS UPDATE

WWE

  • WWE.com has started advertising Roman Reigns for upcoming episodes of Raw, including Monday’s show in Philadelphia. PWInsider reported that Batista is also scheduled for Monday’s Raw.
  • The Wrap has a clip of Reigns’ appearance on Nickelodeon’s “Cousins for Life.” The episode is airing at 8:30 p.m. Eastern time this Saturday.
  • After the angle where she was arrested on Raw, Becky Lynch posted a picture of her “mugshot” and wrote: “Ronda, you go back and get that BELT because I didn’t come this far to collect it from Stephaine. I came all this way to take it from you.”
  • Ronda Rousey then responded to Lynch: “That’s what I’m trying to do dumbass. You hobbling around trying to be a ginger crutch ninja and taking fake prison photos in the hallway isn’t helping”
  • Kevin Owens tweeted to Steve Austin after using the stunner as his finisher on last night’s SmackDown: “Hey @steveaustinBSR, I finally figured it out!” That was in response to what Austin wrote after Owens used the stunner on Reigns at Royal Rumble 2017: “Damn. I guess I gotta teach @FightOwensFight how to do a GD Stone Cold Stunner. Put some stink on it, kid. @WWE #royalrumble”
  • Austin responded to a video of Owens’ stunner from SmackDown: “Highly effective. When executed properly the results are complete devastation.”
  • In an interview after his match on SmackDown, Matt Hardy explained returning as part of The Hardy Boyz by saying he’s “learned how to control the woken wonder” that’s inside of him. Matt said he’s back together with Jeff to prove they’re the greatest tag team in time and space.
  • WWE Network News reported that tomorrow’s Black History Month-themed additions to the Network’s Hidden Gems section are:
    Ernie Ladd & Art Thomas vs. Dusty Rhodes & Dick Murdoch (AWA, 1972)
    Thunderbolt Patterson & Bill Watts vs. Ole & Gene Anderson (Georgia Championship Wrestling, 1977)
    Big Daddy Ritter (Junkyard Dog) vs. Jim Neidhart (Stampede Wrestling, 1979)
    Booker T and Craig PIttman “engage in some friendly amateur wrestling at the WCW Power Plant” (WCW, 1998)
  • Alexa Bliss posted video of her practicing new moves in the ring with Mike Quackenbush at the Performance Center.
  • Cruiserweight Champion Buddy Murphy set up that he won’t be on 205 Live over the next few weeks, claiming that he’s going back to Melbourne, Australia for a vacation. WWE is currently doing a tournament on 205 Live to decide Murphy’s challenger for WrestleMania.
  • In celebration of the WWE Network’s fifth birthday, the full episode of “WWE 24: Goldberg” has been uploaded to YouTube.

Pro Wrestling

  • LuFisto announced that she’s decided 2019 will be “the last year of LuFisto” in the ring. She wrote that she’s canceled many bookings and may cancel more, though she hasn’t decided when and where her in-ring career will come to an end. She wrote about knee issues she’s dealing with, noting that she’ll need a full knee replacement before she’s 50. LuFisto ended her post by thanking everyone and saying she’s forever grateful for their love and support.
  • Blue Demon Jr. vs. Dr. Wagner Jr. in a mask vs. hair match is now official for Triplemania XXVII at Arena Ciudad de Mexico on August 3.
  • LAX challenged Low Ki & Ricky Martinez to a match at Impact’s United We Stand show in Rahway, New Jersey on April 4.
  • The United We Stand iPPV is included in Fite TV’s Fite Fest package of more than 20 WrestleMania week live events for $119.99.
  • Ace Romero vs. Simon Gotch has been added to MLW Intimidation Games in Cicero, Illinois this Saturday.

UFC/MMA

  • Episode three of Embedded for UFC 235 is now available.
  • A press conference for UFC 236 will be held in Las Vegas at 3 p.m. Pacific time this Friday. Max Holloway, Dustin Poirier, Kelvin Gastelum, and Israel Adesanya will be in attendance.
  • Sage Northcutt will make his ONE FC debut against Cosmo Alexandre in Singapore on May 17.
  • Northcutt said the UFC offered him a fight against Demian Maia before he left for ONE.
  • Tyron Woodley said he’s out $10,000 after not being able to make a Super Bowl weekend event due to being tested by USADA.
  • Ariel Helwani reported that the UFC wants to book Kevin Lee vs. Gregor Gillespie: “UFC hoping to book Kevin Lee x Gregor Gillespie, sources say. According to sources, Lee was pushing to fight Islam Makhachev on the Russia card, but UFC was more interested in the Gillespie fight. Hasn’t been finalized yet, but current plan is to book it in May, if all goes well.”
  • Marlon Vera vs. Frankie Saenz is off Saturday’s UFC 235 card due to Vera having an illness.

Daily Pro Wrestling History: NXT Arrival

Ed in San Antonio presents the WRESTLEMANIAWeekend Events (more to be added):

  • Sunday, April 6th, at 12:00 pm: Lunch (all you can eat) at Churrascaria Plataforma ($90 per person), located at 316 W. 49th street in Manhattan. Purchase tickets here~!
  • Luxury Bus to MetLife Stadium for Wrestlemania: We will depart from the Hilton Midtown (site of Wrestlecon) located at 1335 Avenue of the Americas. Departure time is 4:00 pm and will return from MetLife approximately 30 mins after the event. Times are subject to change, and cost $67.00 per person for the round trip. Purchase tickets here~!

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