Daily Update: WWE releases, Will Ospreay/Jay White, UFC notes

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F4W NEWSLETTER: Figure Four Weekly: WWE takes first steps toward WrestleMania 35 triple threat

It appears that WWE has officially taken the first steps towards Ronda Rousey, Becky Lynch, and Charlotte Flair all being involved in the main event of WrestleMania 35.

An angle where Vince McMahon suspended Lynch for 60 days and announced that Charlotte would be taking her place at WrestleMania closed last Monday’s episode of Raw. Charlotte aligned with Vince and fully turned heel, with Vince calling her someone with charisma, someone with charm, and someone who knows their lane and stays in it.

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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FRIDAY NEWS UPDATE

by Joseph Currier and Bryan Rose

WWE

  • PWInsider is reporting that TJP’s release from WWE wasn’t a case of him asking for his release like Tye Dillinger and Hideo Itami, whose releases were also confirmed today.
  • They are also reporting that Noam Dar is moving back to Europe and will be a part of NXT UK full-time going forward. Until then, he’s still working the 205 Live tapings.
  • Hideo Itami tweeted after WWE confirmed that he’s been granted his release: “Thanks again. See you soon as KENTA #GO2SLEEP  #GAMEOVER #BUSAIKUKNEE”
  • PWInsider reported that Becky Lynch is scheduled to appear on Monday’s episode of Raw. The show will include a 70th birthday celebration segment for Ric Flair.
  • Naomi responded to someone on Twitter about Jimmy Uso’s arrest from earlier this month: “I was NOT ticketed, I was NOT drinking, leaving the lot I was unaware that it exits to a 1 way street (it was dark snow no signs no traffic I was pulled immediately made a mistake and I own it) as for my husband he’s more of a man you’ll ever be & I’ll leave it at that #blocked”
  • Today is the official release day for “Fighting with My Family.”
  • Kofi Kingston is the guest on today’s episode of the Edge & Christian podcast.

Pro Wrestling

  • NEVER Openweight Champion Will Ospreay has challenged IWGP Heavyweight Champion Jay White to a non-title champion vs. champion match at NJPW’s 47th anniversary show on March 6.
  • Cody Rhodes tweeted about Arn Anderson no longer being with WWE: “Love AA. I stole all of his catchphrases & use them on a daily basis. He went to bat for young talent & at the same time is essentially responsible for all of the current top guys & ‘golden circle’. He’s not corporate, but that’s a compliment. Can’t take wrestlers outta wrestling”
  • Pop TV president Brad Schwartz spoke to Deadline about Impact Wrestling no longer being on the station: “Yes, we had a wrestling show every Thursday night, which by the way was one of our 10 highest-rated shows on the network. They wanted to keep going, obviously. It was two hours of original content every Thursday night, 52 weeks a year that would do 400 thousand-500 thousand viewers every Thursday night. We had to really start focusing on brand and expectation, and I think if you’re going to pitch yourself and tell audiences that you’re this place for premium content, Schitt’s Creek, Flack, Florida Girls, this type of stuff, then people need to know what to expect from you when they come to the channel.”
  • Eli Drake on Twitter said he would not participate in a one on one intergender match against Tessa Blanchard.
  • Gringo Loco vs. Myron Reed is set for MLW Intimidation Games in Cicero, Illinois on March 2.
  • Davey Richards is out of the upcoming Alpha-1 Here We Go Again card.

UFC/MMA

  • Mackenzie Dern is expecting her first child: “God makes everything so perfect! I am so happy to be able to share this news! I’m going to be a Mom! I love so much our family and now I have one more HUGE motivation for inside and outside the ring!! Thank you God for this blessing @santoswesley I also want to thank all my fans and sponsors for the support during all the life phases and I can’t wait to be back in the ring!”
  • Both Klidson Abreu (209) and Diego Ferreira (157) missed weight prior to UFC’s show in Prague tomorrow.
  • Max Holloway also shared some words regarding Georges St-Pierre, who officially announced his retirement yesterday.
  • A fight between Alexander Volkov and Alistair Overeem will be the main event for UFC St. Petersburg on 4/20.
  • Khalid Murtazaliev has accepted a two year suspension for a positive drostanolone (and its metabolite) test as the result of out-of-competition urine samples he provided on October 3, 2018 and December 6, 2018.
  • Roman Kopylov will make his UFC debut at UFC St. Petersburg.
  • Paul Felder is hoping to be discharged from the hospital tomorrow after suffering a collapsed lung this past weekend. He won’t be able to fly home until Wednesday regardless.

Daily Pro Wrestling History: Daily Pro Wrestling History (02/22): Sting defeats Hogan to win vacant WCW title

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~!

CONTACT INFORMATION