Daily Update: WWE notes, ROH War of the Worlds, RD Evans

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F4W NEWSLETTER: Figure Four Weekly: Winners and losers of the Superstar Shake Up

Part one of Ronda Rousey’s professional wrestling career officially came to an end at WrestleMania.

Nearly three months after Dave Meltzer first reported that Rousey was likely finishing up with WWE at WrestleMania 35, Rousey made things official this week. She wrote on Instagram that she was going on an “impregnation vacation” with her husband Travis Browne. ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, who Rousey is friendly with, then reported that Rousey is taking a hiatus from WWE to start a family.

WON NEWSLETTER: April 22, 2019 Observer Newsletter: WWE Superstar shake up results, more

A rundown of the fallout of the Superstar Shakeup leads off this week’s issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. 

Go through the moves, the names, the direction, what it says about 205 Live, those coming and going, key people not brought up, couples and read a depth chart of the new rosters.

Look at the situation with Undertaker, the U.K. talk show situation and what happened, how did it happen, update on Sasha Banks situation, update on Money in the Bank PPV, update on Luke Harper, Alexander Wolfe, WWE’s relationship with Stardom, and WWE injury updates.

Also look at UFC 236, with match-by-match coverage, poll result and business notes.

Examine the Viceland documentary and the situation that led to the Montreal screwjob, including claims by Jim Cornette and Vince Russo about being the architects, from the background, and why it happened.

Also look at the career of Rich Franklin as he goes into the UFC Hall of Fame.

Read a feature on the legacy wing inductees in the WWE Hall of Fame, including major write-ups on Jim Barnett and Primo Carnera, as well as Hisashi Shinma’s role in Japanese wrestling booking history.

Run down the ratings of all the major TV shows, along with detailed demo info for the WWE shows.

As always, read the results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week. 

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WEDNESDAY NEWS UPDATE

WWE

  • Squared Circle Sirens reported that Shadia Bseiso And Nasser Alruwayeh have been released by WWE. After signing with the company, they reported to the Performance Center in January 2018. Bseiso was the first Arab women’s wrestler to sign with WWE, while Alruwayeh was the first Kuwaiti man to sign with the company. The couple announced their engagement this January. Bseiso was part of last year’s  Mae Young Classic broadcast team as a backstage interviewer.
    Ariya Daivari defeated Oney Lorcan in a number one contender’s match on last night’s 205 Live. WWE has yet to announce when Daivari will be challenging for Tony Nese’s Cruiserweight Championship.
  • WWE stock was down a bit under one percent today, closing at $98.50 per share. The company will report its first quarter earnings tomorrow.
  • Charlotte Flair issued a statement to Pro Wrestling Sheet denying rumors that she and Andrade have gotten engaged. The statement was in response to TMZ reporting that Charlotte and Andrade are “getting serious” and Charlotte had been wearing a ring.
  • Ronda Rousey’s YouTube account uploaded a video where Travis Browne discussed the incident where Bret Hart was tackled at the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony. Browne said he hopes Hart’s attacker stops getting publicity.
  • WWE Network News reported that Mid-South Wrestlefest 1985 is being added to the WWE Network’s Hidden Gems section tomorrow morning.
  • NXT Champion Johnny Gargano threw out the first pitch at today’s Cleveland Indians game but was mistakenly referred to as a WCW triple crown winner on the video screen.
  • WWE Shop released their first T-shirt for Ali.

Pro Wrestling

  • Here’s the updated card for ROH’s War of the Worlds show in Toronto on May 9:
    ROH World Champion Matt Taven defending against PCO
    Jay Lethal vs. Satoshi Kojima
    ROH TV & NEVER Openweight Champion Jeff Cobb vs. Hirooki Goto vs. Brody King vs. Shane Taylor in a non-title four corner survival match
    The Briscoes vs. Mark Haskins & Tracy Williams
    Rush vs. PJ Black
    EVIL & SANADA vs. Vinny Marseglia & TK O’Ryan
    Yuji Nagata vs. Silas Young
    Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Hikuleo vs. Alex Coughlin, Clark Connors & Karl Fredericks
  • EVIL & SANADA vs. Kojima & Nagata is set for ROH’s War of the Worlds TV tapings in Villa Park, Illinois on May 12.
  • Former WWE creative team member/indie wrestler RD Evans posted a video referencing quitting at this year’s Hall of Fame ceremony. He’s changed his Twitter name to R.D. “Quitman” Evans. At the end of the video, Evans holds up a “Will Wrestle 4 Food” sign, says that’s a terrible idea and he doesn’t want to wrestle, and then changes it to “Will Wrestle Orange Cassidy 4 Food.”
  • At Starrcast II, Bret Hart and Tom Magee will take part in an event where they’ll discuss their famous “lost” match from 1986. Mark Henry, Allie, and Rosemary were also announced for Starrcast.
  • Starrcast has announced a photo op where fans will be able to take a picture with Tony Schiavone, David Crockett, and the Big Gold belt in front of what will appear to be the WTBS set.
  • AAW owner Danny Daniels issued a statement responding to tweets (including those by Ethan Page) that said AAW is telling wrestlers they can’t work for other promotions in the Chicago area: “i don’t tell people where to work. But as a business owner, I do choose to not use people that work in the area. I owe that to our fans who pay for tickets and are expecting a special show Other groups run the same building, or a half hour away so what makes AAW different from the rest ? It’s starts with who we put on the shows. Why am I going to bring in a talent and pay their rate, travel, hotel if they are going to be the area the following week or next day. That would be a silly investment right ? In an area that is so over saturated with pro wrestling, I try to book talent that are unique to the area to present a product that different from the pack. I’m not forcing anyone to work for me, that’s the talent’s choice that contact me looking for work. I let them know ahead of time though that I don’t use talent that works in the area. Some agree to it, some don’t. That’s decision is up to them at the end of the day. First and foremost, this is a business. It’s our money on the line, our families money on the line. We all have real jobs so AAW is just a passion to run the best company that we can possibly run. If this loses money, we shut down because it’s not fair to our families that our passion is hurting them.”
  • Chris Sabin tweeted that he underwent successful knee surgery.
  • Chris Van Vliet uploaded a 37-minute interview with AEW president Tony Khan.
  • The latest episode of Ten Pounds of Gold built up Nick Aldis’ NWA title defense against Marty Scurll at the Crockett Cup this Saturday.

UFC/MMA

  • Nicco Montano, Sean O’Malley, Marvin Vettori, and Augusto Mendes accepted six-month suspensions from USADA after testing positive for ostarine, which USADA said was “consistent with supplement contamination.” USADA noted that they found no evidence of intentional use. O’Malley, Vettori, and Mendes’ suspensions have already expired. Mendes was granted his release from the UFC last June.
  • Montano issued a statement on her suspension: “First and foremost, I would like to thank my friends, family, and all of my fans for their continued support during this difficult period in my life. As you all know, USADA was unable to locate the source of my contamination. I will continue to remain diligent in my responsibilities to USADA and the UFC. I would like to acknowledge Donna Marcolini and Jeff Novitzky with the UFC for their assistance in this process. This suspension has further inspired me to work even harder of achieving my goals in the UFC. I hope to make my return this summer.”
  • Dana White told CNN earlier this month about his plans in boxing: “I am making all my boxing moves after this summer. When this summer is over, you’ll be hearing a lot about what I’m doing in the sport of boxing.” In 2017, White talked about potentially promoting boxing under the UFC umbrella.

Daily Pro Wrestling History: Hogan vs. Bockwinkel at AWA Super Sunday

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