Daily Update: WWE SmackDown, AEW Rampage, weekend preview

Daily Update

Latest News

Latest Audio

See Dave & Bryan in London

Latest Free YouTube Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFvMoeim8YM

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter:

In this issue:

  • The Punk interview and 1 Bill Phil
  • Tony Khan talks about the 1 Bill Phil comment
  • The business of AEW and profit/loss
  • The different ways this all could go in detail
  • Positives and negatives about working for AEW and WWE
  • The Collision announce team
  • The most detailed look at Collision ratings and what category was it tops among sports during the week
  • What TNT was doing in the time slot, what should be expected and what would be considered good
  • How each segment did
  • The Marc Raimondi ESPN piece 
  • Punk talks Adam Page
  • Contradictory stories
  • Original idea for Collision that changed
  • Full rundown of both Chicago shows with business notes
  • Preview of Forbidden Door and what business mark for AEW may be set and where it ranks all-time among Canadian gates
  • Notes on Danielson vs. Okada and Omega vs. Ospreay
  • Notes on PPV
  • The rest of the card
  • The Owen Hart tournament
  • Update on Wembley Stadium
  • Rickson Gracie battles Parkinson’s and a look back at a fighting legend in the underground days as well as his battles with a famous pro wrestler in Brazil
  • Money in the Bank update
  • Notes on Saturday’s UFC show
  • Tons of new major matches announced by UFC for the summer and fall
  • The most detailed look at the ratings for all the wrestling and MMA shows over the past week, how they do with different age groups, segment-by-segment and what WWE stars moved numbers big this past week
  • First wrestling company in history to hit 90 years consecutively in business
  • Multiple cities doing a 40th anniversary celebration for a Hall of Famer
  • Konnan talks heavily about Bandido and Rush
  • An issue with women’s wrestling fans in Japan
  • How the women’s wrestling fan base in Japan has changed multiple times
  • What happened to the key young Dragon Gate talent that was let go
  • Two wrestlers who started together, became big stars in different companies, have a dream match that sold out instantly
  • N-1 tournament including surprise entrants
  • New Japan Strong shows in Japan
  • A bill introduced in New York regarding regulating pro wrestling
  • Lots of injury updates
  • More on the MLW lawsuit against WWE
  • Impact stars on major television show in Canada
  • More on B.J. Whitmer case
  • Tony Khan talks working with Gedo and where AEW stands among start-ups in the sports brand space
  • Tony Khan talks Bill Goldberg
  • Update on Bandido
  • International TV ratings and streaming numbers for WWE and AEW
  • Ticket sale updates for all the major shows for WWE & AEW
  • Talks regarding the sale of Bellator, rumors about Tony Khan being interested and he shoots them down
  • Tons of drug suspensions handed out this week
  • Gable Steveson debuts on TV and what his goals for 2024 are

This Week’s Retro Observer Newsletter:

Moderators needed:

We are currently looking for two people to moderate our message board. Those interested please contact tonyleder@f4wonline.com.

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@wrestlingobserver.com or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to dave@wrestlingobserver.com.

Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.

In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.

For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.

If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.

Friday Update

Garrett Gonzales and I will be back today talking the week in wrestling, and previewing upcoming shows. Bryan and I will be back Sunday night after the Forbidden Door show.

The new issue of the Observer is out today and the lead story is a very detailed look at the debut of Collision, the return of C.M. Punk, and the many different ways it can go. It’s funny that one sentence 7,000 words in is the focal point when the actual story goes into so much detail on both the potential good and bad.

AEW revealed the Fight Forever roster.

We will be doing a poll this weekend on Forbidden Door, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to dave@wrestlingobserver.com

Smackdown tonight is in Lafayette, LA:

  • Shayna Baszler & Ronda Rousey vs. Alba Fyre & Isla Dawn face off to unify the WWE and NXT tag team titles 
  • Shotzi vs. Bayley for the MITB spot 
  • Santos Escobar vs. Butch vs. LA Knight 
  • Baron Corbin vs. Cameron Grimes
  • They had about 8,100 tickets out as of this morning for the show.

Rampage tonight at 10 p.m. on TNT:

  • Will Ospreay & Jeff Cobb & Kyle Fletcher & Swerve Strickland vs. Rocky Romero & Trent Baretta & Chuck Taylor & Yoh
  • The Acclaimed & Billy Gunn trios match
  • Anna Jay vs. Sky Blue in the Owen Hart tournament
  • Jack Perry vs. Douki
  • This is also the first Rampage that MJF appears on and Adam Cole is also on the show.

We’re looking for reports on these weekend shows:

  • Smackdown tonight in Lafayette, LA (dark matches only)
  • NXT tonight in Fort Pierce, FL
  • Impact TV tapings tonight in Atlanta
  • WWE house show tomorrow night in Monroe, LA
  • NXT tomorrow night in Citrus Springs, FL
  • Impact TV tapings tonight in Atlanta
  • AEW tapings tomorrow night in Toronto (ROH and dark tapings, anything not on the live show) 
  • WWE House show on Sunday in Mobile, AL
  • We’re looking for results, finishes and highlights as well as angle notes from the Impact tapings to dave@wrestlingobserver.com

Impact tonight at Center Stage for a TV taping:

  • Alex Shelley vs. Brian Myers
  • Deonna Purrazzo vs. Taylor Wilde
  • Chris Sabin vs. Trey Miguel
  • Gisele Shaw vs. Courtney Rush
  • Angels vs. Jonathan Gresham
  • KiLynn King vs. Masha Slamovich

UFC runs a show on ABC tomorrow from Jacksonville, FL. The show will air from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Eastern on ESPN, followed by 3-6 p.m. on ABC:

ESPN bouts

  • Sedriques Dumas (185) vs. Cody Brundage (185)
  • Jamall Emmers (146) vs. Jack Jenkins (145.5)
  • Trevor Peek (156) vs. Chepe Mariscal (154)
  • Zhalgas Zhumagulov (125.5) vs. Joshua Van (125.25)
  • Tabatha Ricci (114) vs. Gillian Robertson (116)
  • Mateuesz Rebecki (155.5) vs. Loik Radzhabov (157.25) – Radzhabov was fined 20 percent of the purse for missing weight
  • Randy Brown (171) vs. Wellington Turman (171)
  • Neil Magny (171) vs. Phil Rowe (171)

ABC bouts

  • Brendan Allen (185.5) vs. Bruno Silva (186)
  • David Obnama (146) vs. Gabriel Santos (145)
  • Austen Lane (245.5) vs. Justin Tafa (265)
  • Amanda Ribas (125) vs. Maycee Barber (126)
  • Josh Emmett (145.5) vs. Ilia Topuria (146)

These are the latest odds for Money in the Bank from BetOnline:

  • Seth Rollins -2000 Finn Balor +700
  • Usos -150 Roman Reigns & Solo Sikoa +110
  • Men’s match: LA Knight -200 Logan Paul +125 Damien Priest +150 Ricochet +2000 Santos Escobar +2000 Shinsuke Nakamura +2000 Butch +2000
  • Women’s match: Iyo Sky -250 Becky Lynch +200 Bayley +500 Zoey Stark +800 Trish Stratus +2000 Zelina Vega +2000
  • Cody Rhodes -700 Dominik Mysterio +400

Former two-time strawweight champion Rose Namajunas is moving moving to 125 pounds to face Manon Fiorot on 9/2 in Paris, France. MMA Junkie was the first to report this match. 

Anthony Smith vs. Ryan Spann was reported by MMA Junkie to be taking place on 8/26 in Kallang, Singapore in a rematch of a fight that Smith won via first round submission.

Other Notes

Tommy Dreamer is doing a seminar for experienced wrestlers on 7/1 in Omaha. The cost is $60. If interested you can email ProWrestlingPhoenix@hotmail.com Dreamer will also be wrestling on the PWP show that night in Omaha.

AFN, the video-streaming service geared toward those in the U.S.milarty stationed or assigned overseas, and Power Slap, announced a partnership this week. Service members can now watch the first season of Power Slap and the first major show for free on the platform.

Dwight Gooden will be working with ISPW tomorrow. Tonight the compan7y has a show in Belvedere, NJ at the Belvedere High School. Crowbar vs. Anthony Greene and Bull James vs. Rey Calitri are announced. There is a 6:30 p.m. meet and greet with Jimmy Hart. Gooden will be at the ISPW booth at the Garden State Comic Fest in Morristown, NJ at the Mennan Sports Arena tomorrow, with Jimmy Hart.

On Jeopardy last night, the returning champion, who has said he’s a fan of martial arts, was doing the Wanderlei Silva wrist roll (thanks to William Rausch)

El Hijo del Vikingo vs. Komander headlines tomorrow night’s Defy show in Portland, OR at theWonder Ballroom. The Second Gear Crew faces the Bollywood Boyz plus Laredo Kid vs. Aramis vs. Gringo Loco. You must be over the age of 21 to attend.

A new streaming service called Wremix debuted last night. It’s a free ad-supported platform that featured a Defy show as its debut featuring the KENTA vs. Nick Wayne match.

OLGB came up with a list of the ten most cost-effective sports personalities on Cameo, taking into account cost, ratings, worth and social media following. The top ten, in order, are Matt Hardy, Kurt Angle, Santino Marella, Paul Gasol (basketball), Rob Van Dam, Fred Jackson (football), Josh Cribbs (football), Jeremy Roenick (Hockey), Greg Jennings (football) and James White (football).

Santana Garrett has been added to the WOW promotion for its next set of TV tapings on 8/2 and 8/3 at the Belasco Theater in Los Angeles.