Daily Update: WWE UK, Cody vs. Aldis, Darren Till misses weight

THE ROUND-UP

THE LATEST NEWS

THE LATEST AUDIO

The WWE goes on the road with a Raw show on Sunday in Hampton, VA. The regular Raw crew will be there except Roman Reigns.

UFC ON SUNDAY FROM LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND

Fight Pass at 10:30 a.m. Eastern time

  • Trevor Smith vs. Elias Theodorou

FS1 at 11 a.m. Eastern time

  • Molly McCann vs. Gillian Robertson
  • Carlo Pedersoil Jr. vs. Brad Scott
  • Lina Lansberg vs. Gina Mazany
  • Tom Breese vs. Daniel Kelly
  • Eric Spicely vs. Darren Stewart
  • Claudio Henique da Silva vs. Nordine Taleb
  • Jason Knight vs. Makwan Amirkhani
  • Arnold Allen vs. Mads Burnell
  • Neil Magny vs. Craig White
  • Stephan Thompson vs. Darren Till

NEW JAPAN BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIORS FROM NAGOYA ON SUNDAY ON NEW JAPAN WORLD

  • Marty Scurll vs. Desperado
  • Chris Sabin vs. Dragon Lee
  • Sho vs. Kushida
  • Hiromu Takahashi vs. Ryusuke Taguchi

ROH ON SUNDAY FROM DONACASTER AT 12:30 P.M. EASTERN TIME ON HONOR CLUB

  • Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian vs. Toru Yano & Kenny King
  • Cody vs. Scorpio Sky
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Adam Page
  • Jay Lethal vs. Matt Taven
  • Dalton Castle & The Boys vs. Bully Ray & Punishment Martinez & Shane Taylor
  • Silas Young vs. Doug Williams for TV title
  • Sumie Sakai vs. Chardonnay for WOH title
  • Mark & Jay Briscoe vs. Evil & Sanada vs. TK O’Ryan & Vinny Marseglia vs. Young Bucks

Monday will be the live Raw in Richmond, VA. Seth Rollins defends the IC title against Jinder Mahal and there is a gauntlet for the final women’s spot in Money in the Bank with Sarah Logan, Liv Morgan, Dana Brooke, Bayley, Sasha Bans, Ruby Riott and Mickie James.

There is also a Monday night Smackdown house show in Fayetteville, NC.

F4W NEWSLETTER: Figure Four Weekly: WWE cashes in on TV rights boom

The company appears set to cash in on the live sports television rights boom they’ve been banking on since before their last deal with NBC Universal was agreed to in 2014. The Hollywood Reporter first reported on May 16th that the USA Network would likely be retaining Raw, with NBC Universal paying as much as three times more for the show than they did previously, which would equate to somewhere around $240 million annually. But in prioritizing Raw, it meant that SmackDown would be shopped around to other suitors.

WON NEWSLETTER: May 28, 2018 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: WWE making massive money for TV deals, more

The two biggest stories from an industry business perspective broke on consecutive days, the WWE deal with FOX and the UFC deal with ESPN. This issue has the most detailed coverage of both stories you’ll find anywhere, from the money, what the money means to both sides, what the deals entail, how this changes things for both companies and much more.

Look at Jimmy Pitaro’s thoughts on UFC to ESPN, the aging of the UFC and WWE audience, is UFC really the youngest skewing sport, the good and bad of the ESPN deal, the value of the WWE and its stock, Vince McMahon’s personal value with the stock, the timing and why these deals came in the way they did, value of streaming vs. television, the archaic pay structure in WWE, and the difference in television hours of WWE and UFC going forward with the new deals.

Read about the big shows upcoming, New Japan at the Cow Palace, All In, NXT Chicago, Money in the Bank and SummerSlam with a lesson on ticket sales, the secondary market and where people are coming from who are attending these shows.

Check out the angle this past week that could lead to one of the biggest matches in the history of Mexican wrestling, L.A. Park vs. Rush in a mask vs. hair match. 

This issue updates the plans for PPV shows and time running with the latest changes made, an update on the legal situation with C.M. Punk and Dr. Christopher Amann. Look at the idea of other groups streaming on WWE Network and the latest talk on it. 

Read the plans for a WWE summer tournament, Dwayne Johnson’s latest business, movies with wrestlers, Cena & Nikki Bella, More WWE injury updates, wrestlers returning to WWE, U.K. tournament first round matches, new WWE signing, next MSG card, Mauro Ranallo news, TV ratings in the U.K., most-watched shows for the week on WWE Network, as well as a look at all the WWE & NXT live shows of the past week with match-by-match coverage and business notes.

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 Meltzer, or by using PayPal directing funds to Dave@WrestlingObserver.com. 

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SATURDAY NEWS UPDATE

WWE

  • While this hasn’t been officially announced, Toni Storm vs. Jinny vs. Killer Kelly vs. Isla Dawn is being advertised for WWE’s United Kingdom brand show at Royal Albert Hall on June 18th. The winner of that will challenge for the NXT Women’s Championship the next night.
  • The advertised cards for SmackDown’s house shows in Tokyo on June 29th and 30th have also been announced. Here’s the card for the first show:
    WWE Champion AJ Styles defending against Shinsuke Nakamura
    SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Bludgeon Brothers defending against The Usos, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson, and Rusev & Aiden English
    SmackDown Women’s Champion Carmella defending against Charlotte Flair
    Daniel Bryan vs. Big Cass (could change if Cass’ injury is legitimate)
    The New Day vs. Cesaro & Sheamus
    Asuka, Becky Lynch & Naomi vs. Peyton Royce, Billie Kay & Lana
    Andrade “Cien” Almas (w/ Zelina Vega) vs. Sin Cara
    The Miz and Samoa Joe are also advertised
  • The second show has: 
    WWE Champion AJ Styles defending against Shinsuke Nakamura, Daniel Bryan, and Samoa Joe
    SmackDown Women’s Champion Carmella defending against Charlotte Flair and Asuka
    SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Bludgeon Brothers defending against The New Day, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson, and Cesaro & Sheamus
    The Usos vs. Rusev & Aiden English
    The Miz vs. Sin Cara
    Becky Lynch & Naomi vs. Peyton Royce, Billie Kay & Lana in a handicap match
    Andrade “Cien” Almas (w/ Zelina Vega) and Big Cass are also advertised
  • At MegaCon in Orlando yesterday, Alexa Bliss brought a young fan to the stage and offered her words of encouragement after the fan told Bliss that she’s recovering from an eating disorder and asked if Bliss was ever told that she was too small to do things she wanted to achieve. Bliss has been open about recovering from eating disorder issues she had when she was younger.
  • In an interview with ESPN.com about his career and musical aspirations, Lio Rush spoke about the tweet he sent after Emma’s release that drew significant criticism: “It was definitely a difficult situation. I’ve worked so hard and spent years trying to brand myself and to show the world that Lio Rush is a top prospect in the professional wrestling world. So it was a bit rough to see so many people turn on me for that, but I’ve owned up to my mistakes. I have said my apologies. What else can you do? You live, you make mistakes and you learn. I know a big thing that I tweeted out shortly after that — ‘a mistake shouldn’t be your attacker, it should be your teacher.’ I’ve definitely learned from that situation. I definitely have not let that situation change the pacing of me succeeding in anything.” Rush had joked about Emma’s losses to Asuka in the tweet after her release.
  • Cesaro made an appearance in a promo that Juan Francisco de Coronado cut on Mike Quackenbush ahead of their match for CHIKARA today. De Coronado was the wrestler who lost to TJP on 205 Live this week.
  • Wrestling DVD Network has the full match listing for WWE’s DVD on The Shield that’s being released in July.
  • Natalya wrote about WWE’s recent European tour, teaming with Ronda Rousey, and how Sasha Banks and Bayley have respected her as a veteran: “They always made sure I had first dibs on everything from the food in catering to my seat on our tour bus and the charter plane we flew on because as Sasha put it, ‘You have veteran status, Nattie! You deserve it!’”
  • Mauro Ranallo appeared on the Jim and Sam Show earlier this week to promote his Showtime documentary, which premiered last night.
  • Rey Mysterio praised the latino talent in WWE and teased starting a stable with them.
  • WWE.com posted their 50 most liked Instagram posts in history. Mysterio backstage prior to appearing in this year’s Royal Rumble took the top spot, followed by the news that Daniel Bryan had been cleared to return to the ring.
  • This week’s WWE video top 10 list looks at surprises found under the ring.

Pro Wrestling

  • Cody Rhodes vs. NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis at All In will be a title vs. title match if Cody wins the ROH World Championship from Dalton Castle before the show.
  • Here are quick results from today’s Best of the Super Juniors show:
    BUSHI defeated Will Ospreay
    Yoshinobu Kanemaru defeated Taiji Ishimori
    ACH defeated Yoh
    Flip Gordon defeated Tiger Mask IV
  • While going against the NBA playoffs for the first time since May 3rd, Impact averaged 263,000 viewers and a 0.06 rating in the 18-49 demo on Thursday night. That’s down from 326,000 and 296,000 viewers the previous two weeks. It was the lowest viewership number since February.
  • Joe Hendry will be debuting for Impact Wrestling at their TV tapings in Windsor, Ontario, Canada on June 1st and 2nd.
  • Jenny Rose vs. Kelly Klein and Sumie Sakai & Stella Grey vs. Gabby Ortiz & Riley Shepard have been added to ROH’s TV tapings at the Hammerstein Ballroom on June 2nd.
  • Joey Janela tweeted after facing Marty Jannetty for AIW last night: “I never seen a man fight through pain like I did tonight, as soon as I find out how much surgery is I will start the go fund me page to help him get the surgeries he so desperately needs! Thank you Marty!”

UFC/MMA

  • The UFCs weigh-in problems continued as Darren Till missed weight for his main event fight against Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson in Liverpool tomorrow. Till came in at 174.5 pounds, which is three pounds over the welterweight limit with the extra pound allowance. It does appear that the main event will go on, with Thompson getting 30 percent of Till’s purse and Till having to weigh in at 188 pounds or lower at a weigh-in before the show tomorrow. There will be more negotiations if Till misses that mark.
  • Dana White did an interview with BT Sport after Till missed weight. He said the situation sucks and is worse because it’s in Till’s hometown.
  • MMA journalist Mike Bohn pointed out that there have been 62 fighters to miss weight since the UFC instituted early weigh-ins. In the two years before that, 22 missed weight.
  • Khabib Nurmagomedov sent a message to Conor McGregor on Instagram, writing that the game has changed and there will be no locked buses with security if they face each other.
  • Gegard Mousasi won Bellator’s middleweight title and called out Rory MacDonald at Bellator 200. MacDonald responded by congratulating him and calling it the fight to make right now.

Daily Professional Wrestling History: Power outage at In Your House: Beware of Dog

12th Annual F4W Empire Vegas Convention

Greetings friends and fans of the F4W / Wrestling Observer website. It’s time to announce the details of the 12th annual F4W / Wrestling Observer Empire Las Vegas Convention~!

This year’s event will be taking place in Las Vegas from August 16th to the 20th and will again be in conjunction with WWE’s SummerSlam weekend a.k.a. Super China Buffet Day~! There will still be the usual events, but our big draw will be WWE’s summer blockbuster PPV, SummerSlam. As per tradition, we will all gorge ourselves at a Las Vegas buffet, and then watch SummerSlam in a rented out movie theater. All information and ticketing prices are available now. Sign up ASAP as spots are limited for some events. 

This year will also feature a Future Stars Wrestling show which will include the first ever Gladys Gibson Doubles Match Classic! Already booked for the show are the teams Mia Yim & Leva Bates, Hudson Envy & Shotzi Blackheart, Samantha Heights & Brittany Blake, and Miranda Alize & Kylie Rae. Kris Wolf will also be appearing along with many more future stars. There may even be a classic star or two making an appearance. You won’t want to miss this show! Check out the convention’s Facebook page for all additional information.

CONTACT INFORMATION