Daily Update: WWE notes, ROH, Impact ratings rebound

THE ROUND-UP

THE LATEST NEWS

THE LATEST AUDIO

We’re looking for reports on the WWE shows with Raw in Paris, France on the last day of its tour, Smackdown in Amsterdam, Holland, and NXT in San Antonio and Vince, FL.

UFC FROM SANTIAGO, CHILE ON SATURDAY

Fight Pass at 6:30 p.m. Eastern

  • Claudio Puelles (154) vs. Felipe Silva (156)
  • Henry Briones (136) vs. Frankie Saenz (136)
  • Enrique Barzola (145) vs. Brandon Davis (146)

FS2 at 8 p.m. Eastern

  • Humberto Bandenay (145) vs. Gabriel Benitez (145)
  • Poliana Botelho (115) vs. Syuri Kondo (116)
  • Brandon Moreno (125) vs. Alexandre Pantoja (125)
  • Zak Cummings (170) vs. Michel Prazeres (170)

FS1 at 10 p.m.

  • Chad Laprise (171) vs. Vicente Luque (170)
  • Andrea Lee (125) vs. Veronica Macedo (126)
  • Guido Cannetti (136) vs. Diego Rivas (136)
  • Jared Cannonier (205) vs. Dominick Reyes (205)
  • Alexa Grasso (115) vs. Tatiana Suarez (115)
  • Demian Maia (171) vs. Kamaru Usman (170)

EVOLVE ON SATURDAY NIGHT IN SUMMIT, IL AT 9 P.M. EASTERN

  • Austin Theory vs. DJZ for WWN title
  • Matt Riddle vs. Shane Strickland non-title
  • Chris Dickinson & Jaka vs. The End for tag titles in an anything goes match
  • Keith Lee vs. James Drake
  • Tracy Williams vs. Dominic Garrini
  • AR Fox vs. Zachary Wentz
  • Anthony Henry vs. Stevie Fierce
  • Matt Knicks & Chris Castro & Isaias Velazquez vs. J Spade & amarok & Jonny Flezx
  • Darby Allin vs. Trey Miguel vs. Myron Reed vs. Snoop Strikes

Sunday has WWE Smackdown finishing up the European tour in Munich, Germany, while NXT runs in Houston.

NEW JAPAN FROM KIRA, JAPAN ON SUNDAY ON NEW JAPAN WORLD

  • Tiger Mask vs. ACH
  • Flip Gordon vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru
  • Taiji Ishimori vs. Bushi
  • Will Ospreay vs. ACH

EVOLVE ON SUNDAY NIGHT IN LIVONIA, MI AT 8 P.M. EASTERN TIME

  • Matt Riddle vs. Keith Lee in a no rope break match for WWN title
  • Chris Dickinson & Jaka vs. James Drake & Anthony Henry for tag titles
  • Tracy Williams vs. Odinson
  • Darby Allin vs. Shane Strickland
  • Austin Theory vs. Trey Miguel
  • DJZ vs. Zachary Wentz
  • AR Fox vs. Myron Reed
  • The End vs. N8 Mattson & Orlando Christopher

Raw will be Monday from Albany, NY. 

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

  • Taiji Ishimori & Chase Owens vs. Flip Gordon & Tomoyuki Oka
  • Minoru Suzuki & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. ACH & Shota Umino
  • Yoshi-Hashi & Yoh vs. Will Ospreay & Gedo
  • Tetsuya Naito & Bushi vs. Tiger Mask & Toa Henare
  • Sho vs. Chris Sabin
  • Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Dragon Lee
  • Marty Scurll vs. Kushida
  • Hiromu Takahashi vs. Desperado

Smackdown and 205 Live will be Tuesday in Worcester, MA, with Billie Kay vs. Lana, Naomi vs. Sonya Deville, and Samoa Joe vs. Big Cass in MITB qualifying matches.

F4W NEWSLETTER: Figure Four Weekly: All In sells out within 30 minutes

For all of the hype and expectations ahead of tickets going on sale, Sunday was going to be when the unknown became known for Cody Rhodes and The Young Bucks. And with tickets for their Labor Day weekend All In show selling out in 29 minutes and 36 seconds, the Bullet Club’s success could be a landmark moment for professional wrestling. What began as Cody taking a Dave Meltzer tweet as a bet, where Meltzer responded to someone last May and tweeted that he didn’t think ROH could sell out a 10,000-plus seat building anytime soon, has now become the first show in the United States to do so in almost 20 years.

WON NEWSLETTER: May 21, 2018 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: USA potentially paying big money for Raw, more

A look at how the new WWE television contract situation will change the game once again is the lead story in the new issue of the Observer. Look at why the stock price is up, what analysts thought WWE would get with its deal, what kind of level we’re talking about now, interest level, where Smackdown may end up, the value of an episode of Raw and how that relates to PPV and where the key events should take place, and the long-term value of both UFC and WWE.

This issue also has a big feature on the All In show and weekend, with notes on the business, what questions were answered and what weren’t, who is on the show, ticket breakdown, secondary market numbers, how it compares with big WWE shows, as well as the largest crowds other non-WWE companies have done and other groups in the last 32 years to have drawn 10,000 for a live show. Also look at how unique this really is and the business of the Starrcast event.

Look at the new President of New Japan, Harold Meij, what his hiring means, what he brings to the table, one of his ideas that has already been used, just how much of a success he was in the toy business and his goals for New Japan’s future.

Also, look at NXT business numbers for the first three months of the year and compare it with last year at the same time.

There is an update on Money in the Bank, matches announced, other directions and look at the Ronda Rousey vs. Nia Jax direction.

Read about the lawsuit against C.M. Punk that is coming to the wire, thoughts on the John Cena/Nikki Bella storyline, NXT Takeover Chicago news, WWE wrestler media appearances, a list of new WWE signees from the U.K. and details of the contracts.

This issue has more on Amy “Lita” Dumas breaking ranks on Greatest Royal rumble, update on movies with big WWE names, a unique world class athlete WWE has just signed, why Cass is in trouble, who hasn’t won in 2018, and new matches and new injury updates.

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SATURDAY NEWS UPDATE

WWE

Pro Wrestling

  • ROH is opening a new dojo in Baltimore with a tryout camp on June 23rd and 24th. Delirious, BJ Whitmer, Joey Mercury, Jonathan Gresham, and Will Ferrara will be full-time trainers.
  • ROH has also announced Mark Haskins as Nick Aldis’ partner for his match against The Young Bucks at Honor Rising: Edinburgh on May 24th. Silas Young will be defending his Television title against Joe Henry in Edinburgh, and Women of Honor Champion Sumie Sakai defending against Chardonnay, Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Hangman Page, and Cody Rhodes vs. Scorpio Sky are set for Doncaster on the 27th.
  • Ratings for Impact rebounded a bit this week, doing 326,000 viewers and a 0.07 rating in the 18-49 demo. That’s in comparison to the 296,000 viewers and 0.06 rating that the show averaged the previous week. Impact had competition from the NHL playoffs for both weeks but didn’t go against an NBA game during that period. Ratings had been on a bit of a downward trend since Impact went against last month’s NFL draft.
  • In addition to his appearance on Wrestling Observer Radio, Cody Rhodes discussed the success of All In and what his career has been like since leaving WWE on this week’s episode of the Edge & Christian podcast.
  • Yuji Nagata, Will Ospreay, Taichi, Jay White, Toru Yano, and Shota Umino have been added to the Strong Style Evolved UK shows in Milton Keynes on June 30th and Manchester on July 1st. They join Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii, Taiji Ishimori, and Minoru Suzuki.
  • Shimmer noted that they will be launching a streaming service in about three weeks with roughly their first 150 hours of content available.
  • Independent wrestler Britt Baker graduated from dental school today.
  • Kevin Kelly tweeted an update on NJPW’s Katsuya Kitamura: “Inactive right now due to neurological issues. Concussion related. He’ll return to wrestling when he’s right.”
  • Jinny cut a promo about her PROGRESS Women’s Championship match against Toni Storm that’s taking place in Manchester tomorrow.
  • Naomichi Marufuji said he wants to start “full-scale interaction” between Pro Wrestling NOAH and AJPW.
  • Entertainment Weekly has a behind-the-scenes look at the second season of Netflix’s GLOW.

UFC/MMA

Daily Professional Wrestling History: WWF Judgment Day 2002

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