FRI. UPDATE: LOTS of TV tonight, Lesnar, McGregor, Year’s biggest crowds yesterday, Andre Battle Royal NXT entrant and more

  • F4W Staff
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By dave@wrestlingobserver.com”>Dave Meltzer

The last weekend before WrestleMania has a ridiculous amount of wrestling and MMA television tonight.

We’re looking for reports on tonight’s WWE house show in Tucson (John Cena, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Rusev as the headliners) at dave@wrestlingobserver.com”>dave@wrestlingobserver.com

New Japan on AXS at 8 p.m. (note the hour earlier start time)

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi for the IWGP title from the 2014 Tokyo Dome show (I’ve already seen this episode and it’s great)

NCAA wrestling tournament semifinals at 8 p.m. tonight on ESPN

125 – Alan Waters (Missouri) vs. Nathan Tomasello (Ohio State) and Thomas Gilman (Iowa) vs. Zeke Molsey (West Virginia)

133 – Chris Daranes (Minnesota) vs. Cody Brewer (Oklahoma) and Cory Clark (Iowa) vs. Jimmy Guibon (Penn State)

141 – Logan Steiber (Ohio State) vs. Kevin Jack (North Carolina State) and Mitchell Port (Edinboro) vs. Chris Mecate (Old Dominion)

149 – Drake Houdashelt (Missouri) vs. Chris Villalonga (Cornell) and Jason Tsirtsis (Northwestern) vs. David Habat (Edinboro)

157 – Isaiah Martinez (Illinois) vs. James Green (Nebraska) and Dylan Ness (Minnesota) vs. Brian Realbuto (Cornell)

165 – Alex Dieringer (Oklahoma State) vs. Bo Jordan (Ohio State) and Taylor Walsh (Indiana) vs. Ethan Ramos (North Carolina)

174 – Taylor Wilips (Pittsburgh) vs. Kyle Crutchmer (Oklahoma State) and Matt Brown (Penn State) vs. Mike Evans (Iowa)

184 – Gabe Dean (Cornell) vs. Victor Avery (Edinboro) and Nate Brown (Lehigh) vs. Kenny Courts (Ohio State)

197 – J’den Cox (Missouri) vs. Kyle Snyder (Ohio State) and Kyven Gadson (Iowa State) vs. Connor Harmann (Duke)

285 – Nick Gwiazdowski (North Carolina State) vs. Connor Medbery (Wisconsin) and Mike McMullen (Northwestern) vs. Adam Coon (Michigan)

        Ohio State right now is well ahead of Iowa in first place and has five wrestlers still alive as far as championship contention.  Ohio State has never won an NCAA team title.  Iowa has three still alive for a title.  Missouri is third and Cornell is fourth.

TNA Impact at 9 p.m. on Destination America

Taryn Terrell vs. Gail Kim vs. Awesome Kong for Knockouts title

Austin Aries vs. Samoa Joe (Joe’s final TNA match)

Low Ki vs. Rockstar Spud for X title

Matt Hardy vs. James Storm

Bobby Lashley vs. Kurt Angle for TNA title

I was told this was TNA’s best television show in a long time, particularly the main event.

Legacy FC tonight at 9 p.m. on AXS

Wesley Barnes vs. Amir Dadovic

Aaron Conway vs. Doug Usher

Rusty Crowder vs. Gui Curry

Joe Elmore vs. Clay Harvison

Matt Betzold vs. Rodrigo Lima

Tommy Jones vs. David Vitkay

Cody East vs. Brice Ritani-Coe for heavyweight title

Titan FC on CBS Sports tonight at 10 p.m.

Cody Bollinger vs. Andrew Harrison

Brett Johns vs. Walel Watson for bantamweight title

Chase Gormley vs. Jon Madsen (who once beat Brock Lesnar in high school) for the heavyweight title

Pat Healy vs. Kurt Kinser for the lightweight title

Desmond Green vs. Kurt Holobaugh for the featherweight title

CMLL Dos Leyendas at Arena Mexico in Mexico City

Dark Angel & Estrellita & Marcela vs. Amapola & Dallys & Tiffany

Stuka Jr. & Blue Panther Jr. & The Panther vs. Virus & Vangellys & Hechicero

Stuka Mistico & Titan & Valiente vs. Negro Casas & Felino & Cavernario Barbaro

Dragon Lee vs. Kamataichi mask vs. mask

Volador Jr. & Maximo vs. El Terrible & Rey Bucanero double hair vs. hair 

NCAA wrestling tournament All-American placing matches are 11 a.m. Saturday on ESPN U and ESPN 3  

UFC Saturday from Rio de Janeiro

Fight Pass at 7 p.m. Eastern

Fredy Serano (125) vs. Bentley Syler (126)

Jorge de Oliveira (156) vs. Christos Giagos (155)

FS 2 at 8 p.m., note not the usual station

Cain Carrizosa (155) vs. Leonardo Mafra (155)

Drew Dober (156) vs. Leandro Silva (156)

Katsunori Kikuno (146) vs. Kevin Souza (146)

Akbarh Arreola (156) vs. Francisco Trinaldo (155)

FS 1 at 10 p.m.

Andre Fili (145) vs. Godofredo Pepey (145)

Gilbert Burns (154) vs. Alex Oliveira (155)

Shayna Baszler (136) vs. Amanda Nunes (136)

Tony Martin (156) vs. Leandro Santos (156)

Josh Koscheck (170) vs. Erick Silva (171)

Ryan LaFlare (171) vs. Demian Maia (171)

The NCAA wrestling tournament finals will be Saturday night at 8 p.m. on ESPN

We’ll be looking for reports on WWE house shows on Saturday in Phoenix (John Cena, Randy Orton, Seth Rollins, Big Show, Rusev) and Anaheim (Roman Reigns, Daniel Bryan, Kane, Bray Wyatt, Dean Ambrose, Bad News Barrett).

WWE continues with house shows on Sunday in San Diego (John Cena, Randy Orton, Seth Rollins, Big Show, Rusev) and Ontario, CA (Roman Reigns, Daniel Bryan, Kane, Bray Wyatt, Dean Ambrose, Bad News Barrett).

Both Raw and Smackdown will be taped on Monday night in Los Angeles at the Staples Center.  It’s really the most important Raw of the year, because it’s the last one building WrestleMania.  Everyone including Brock Lesnar is booked.  Sting is not advertised but it would make no sense for him not to be there.

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The newest issue of Figure Four Weekly is up on the site for subscribers (subscribe here) with a look at whatever is going on with NXT, plus notes on the upcoming WWE Jerry Lawler DVD as well as all of the usual reviews and international news.

The Kindle edition for non-subscribers isn’t up yet, but you can still get the February 6th issue, featuring a a eulogy for the Pro Wrestling Illustrated Almanac and Book of Facts (which Kappa Publishing announced it is no longer producing) as well as all of the usual reviews and international news. It’s available on the American, UK/Ireland, Canadian, and Australian Amazon Kindle stores, as well as various other regional Kindle stores that I’m probably forgetting. 

Also, now available for the first time on Kindle (meaning Kindle devices and anything with the Kindle app) is Fall Guys, the seminal 1937 book that has been described as being like the 1930s version of the Wrestling Observer. It was surprisingly not on Kindle already, so we put together a nice version with a full table of contents w/ chapter marks, proper formatting on everything, etc. Right now it’s available from the American, Canadian, and Australian Amazon/Kindle stores OR you can also buy it from anywhere in the world on PayHip, who will provide you with both Kindle and ePub (every other e-reader) format files, and you can either sideload them to your device or have them email it to your Kindle. 

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We’ve got a jam packed issue of news this week in the Observer, with the fallout of UFC 185 and the two title changes, The New Japan Cup and where the booking is going, the build toward Invasion Attack, more comments on the Bill DeMott situation in WWE, more on Rampage Jackson’s Bellator contract and Scott Coker, under oath, goes through what happened in negotiations and why Bellator is suing, , plus we’ve got features on Larry Zbyszko and Tatsumi Fujinami and the WWE Hall of Fame, New Japan attempts to rebuild NOAH with a storyline that has gotten mainstream ink and the bus accident and problems leading to the Rey de Reyes show.

The latest issue of the Observer:  Mar. 23, 2015 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Two upset title changes at UFC 185, New Japan Cup, Bill DeMott notes, Bellator/Rampage injunction update

Website subscriptions, which include access to both current and older newsletters as well as every audio show in the history of the site as low as $9.99 per month!

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

The Wrestling Observer ranges weekly from 35,000 to 50,000 words covering pro wrestling and MMA internationally. Each issue has coverage and analysis of all the major news, plus every issue breaks major news stories before the Internet sties and has the most complete look at the pro wrestling and MMA business anywhere, plus history pieces available nowhere else.

The lead story covers UFC 185, the two surprise title changes, a look at the future for the fighters on the show, business notes on the show, early PPV notes, bonuses and match-by-match coverage with poll results.

We also look at the New Japan Cup, as well as the Invasion Attack show, changes in the original card and why, plus other New Japan World shows coming up, and full coverage of the New Japan Cup finals, with match-by-match coverage, star ratings and poll results.

We’ve got more on the Bill DeMott situation including more comments by different people, as well as DeMott’s first defenses.

We’ve got more from the deposition of Scott Coker on the Rampage Jackson lawsuit.  We look at how much Jackson earned while in UFC, how much he had earned in his tenure in Bellator, business notes on Jackson’s fights and how the relationship with Bellator fell apart, including Bellator’s plans for Jackson going forward.

We also look at the career of Larry Zbyszko, including notes on the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony, who is inducting who, how Larry Zbyszko started his career, what 90s feud was a copy of Sammartino vs. Zbyszko, a look at the feud, and why Zbyszko was never as hot again, how he got the AWA title, his lawsuit against WWE, what happened to Ray Stevens, notes on Tatsumi Fujinami, the politics of wrestling in the early 80s and where Fujinami fit in, the Fujinami vs. Choshu feud, the Fujinami vs. Flair matches and other WWE Hall of Fame notes.

We also have an update on Brock Lesnar and where he currently stands as far as what is next, how much Vince McMahon, HHH and others earned this past year, who are WWE’s biggest stockholders and how much of the company does Vince McMahon own, how much McMahon and HHH have earned the past several years, great incentives given for key WWE officials to stay, WWE video game notes, Notes on WWE ticket sales, WrestleMania ticket selling update, Vince’s stolen car found, updates on Kevin Owens and Jey Uso, and why others missed shows this past week.

We also look at fan behavior, DVD sales, lots of new WWE signees, WWE network changes, new WWE character, Cena movie, WWE night in Phoenix and Justin Gabriel talks leaving WWE.

We also have lots of updates from NXT, NXT house shows, WWE house show coverage and business notes.

We also look at Pro Wrestling NOAH’s first major show of the year, how well it did, coverage, angle hints, booking of the show as well as match-by-match coverage.

We also look at AAA’s attempt to put on Rey de Reyes, the problems with the show, the bus accident, injuries in the accident and more.

We also have more on PPV numbers for UFC, WWE and ROH. 

The Observer is the world’s most detailed weekly pro wrestling publication, in its 32nd year of publication, and is read by the biggest names in the pro wrestling, industry, MMA industry, sports world and on Wall Street.

We also have our regular features such as the most complete look at ratings, plus results of the major house show events each week in pro wrestling and MMA, and complete inside rundowns of all the TV shows.

Also in this week’s issue:

–Notes on CMLL’s first big show of the year

–More on plans for the AAA World Cup

–Wrestlers to get pushed in AAA

–Dragon Gate has iPPV coming up

–New Japan ticket sale notes

–More on Lisa Varon and the crazy story of the Squared Circle restaurant

–Lots more on WrestleMania week activities around the San Jose area

–A look at the NCAA championships, biggest stories and Hodge Trophy top contenders

–Lots of foreign stars head to England for Preston Championship Wrestling, including a star return from injury and a champion leaves

–Update on the Lucha Underground promotion

–More on Rey Mysterio and his leaving WWE

–More on Spike TV and pro wrestling going forward

–ROH tries to sign major act

–Update on the ROH show over WrestleMania week

–A look at the ROH weekend shows and business

–TNA makes decision to strip Wolves of tag title

–Who the new champions are and how it happened

–Also notes on X title change

–TNA TV schedule

–TNA ratings in Germany

–Lots of newcomers in AN and two new factions

–TNA star misses TV for a while due to movie filming

–A look at what will happen on TNA television between now and early May

–UFC plans for New York state

–Next UFC show

–Lots of new UFC dates

–New UFC TV deal

–More on Rousey vs. Cyborg

–Why former TUF winner seems to have disappeared

–UFC fighter places in Jiu Jitsu tourney

–Two former Bellator champions test positive

–PBC signs a huge TV deal

–Notes on Phoenix Jones and his MMA debut

–Gracie vs. Hughes rematch signed

If you are a new subscriber ordering 24 or more issues, you can get one free classic issue of your choice sent to you today.  With a 40 issue subscription, you can get two free classic issues sent to you today.

New subscribers ordering 24 or 40 issues have to let us know what major stories of the past 11 years you are most interested in and we’ll send the issue with the best coverage of that story. We’ve got coverage of every major PPV event and world wide spectacular, every major star switching promotions, histories of companies like FMW, Rings and New Japan, retirement and obit issues of every major star who fits into those descriptions over the past 11 years, as well as our biggest issue every year, the annual awards issue, and our most controversial issue of every year, the Hall of Fame issue.

Our most requested issues in our history are:

*November 17, 1997 (full details of everything leading to the most famous wrestling match finish of modern times at the Survivor Series plus a history of in-ring double-crosses)

*December 21, 1998 (the complete Vince McMahon-Bret Hart conversation right before the Survivor Series match so you’ll know exactly what was said–the conversation played in edited form both on the inaugural broadcast of Confidential as well as in Wrestling with Shadows, but everything that was said between the two about the match that was going to take place that same night)

*August 1, 1994 (the most detailed coverage anywhere of the Vince McMahon steroid trial, an issue praised in numerous newspaper article and Sex, Lies and Headlocks)

*March 26, 2001 (death of WCW and history of pro wrestling on the Turner networks)a

*October 22, 2001 (why the adult audience has left pro wrestling in such great numbers and what needed to have been done to save them)

*July 8, 1991 (Ric Flair leaves WCW as world champion/Zahorian steroid trial)

*February 8, 1993 (the life and times of Andre the Giant)

*May 13, 2002 (the life story of the most incredible pro wrestling career ever, a look at Lou Thesz, in one of the largest issues of our history)

*January 27, 2003 (part one of the two-part series covering the career and life of The Sheik)

*February 3, 2003 (Part two on The Sheik including thoughts from people who worked with him and where he stands historically)

*March 24, 2003 (history of the WWWF title, inside behind the Sammartino, Backlund and Backlund era)

*April 21, 2003 (history of WWF continues with the expansion nationally, the death of the regional territories and the rise of Hulk Hogan)

*May 12, 2003 (The life and death of Elizabeth and the rise of fall of Lex Luger)

*June 9, 2003 (Part 1 of history of WWF vs. WCW wars and what many say was the greatest year in U.S. wrestling; plus a look at Fred Blassie)

*June 16, 2003 (Freddie Blassie through the eyes of his biggest rivals and friends)

*July 28, 2003 (Part 2 of the history of the WWF vs. WCW war and the plans to make new superstars in the early 90s, what happened, and the night where the three biggest wrestling companies in the world combined for a joint show and what happened)

*August 25, 2003 (2003 Hall of Fame issue with huge profiles on the controversial career of Shawn Michaels, Chris Benoit as well as historical features on Earl Caddock and Francisco Flores)

*September 22, 2003 (Part 3 of the history of the WWF vs WCW war with the seeds that caused the collapse of the industry in the 90s, Zahorian trial, Gulf War controversy, Flair leaves WCW while holding world title and much more)

*October 27, 2003 (The fascinating life of Stu Hart plus the story of Road Warrior Hawk)

*January 19, 2004 (2003 Awards issue)

*February 2, 2004 (History of Toronto wrestling, Jack Tunney life story, Royal Rumble and Battle Royal history)

*February 23, 2004 (History of Guerrero family with Eddy’s win over Brock Lesnar)

*March 1, 2004 (History of WWF continues with the period that brought the company down in early 1992, the mistakes, the real stories and how the business changed)

*March 8, 2004 (History of Wrestlemania, its greatest matches and best and worst shows as voted both by wrestlers and non-wrestlers and Wrestlemania history books)

*July 5, 2004 (A look behind the scenes and Ric Flair’s book and his background with Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan)

*July 12, 2004 (A look at more on Ric Flair’s book and his comments on Bruno Sammartino, Bret Hart and Mick Foley)

*August 16, 2004 (History of the Olympians in pro wrestling)

*August 23, 2004 (2004 Hall of Fame issue and biggest issue of the year with huge profiles on Kazushi Sakuraba, Undertaker, Bob Backlund, Masahiro Chono, Ultimo Dragon, Kurt Angle and Tarzan Lopez–this counts as one issue if you are asking for a free issue, but ordered separately, due to size, is $6 in North America and $7 overseas)

*October 4, 2004 (the life and times of Big Bossman; as well as details of the life and times of one of the most influential men world wide in pro wrestling history, Jim Barnett)

*November 15, 2004 (the full story of what happened between Kurt Angle and Daniel Puder, plus coverage of the most important week in the history of TNA)

*January 24, 2005 (2004 Awards issue, Rock and WWE part company)

*March 14, 2005 (the 50 biggest money players in the history of WWF and a look at their Hall of Fame)

*May 9, 2005 (the life and times of Chris Candido)

*June 20, 2005 (The full story behind Paul Heyman and the death of ECW, as well as coverage of One Night Stand, Hardcore Homecoming and behind the scenes of both shows)

*July 18, 2005 (death of Shinya Hashimoto and his records with a look at the fall of New Japan, the Matt Hardy angle, tons of WWE firings, Cornette firing in detail as well as problems of a WWE developmental territory in our biggest news issue of the year which is a double-sized issue and would be $6 on its own and $7 overseas)

*August 24, 2005 (2005 Hall of Fame issue with career profiles of Paul Heyman, HHH and Freebirds plus debut of MMA Hall of Fame)

*September 12, 2005 (History of Mid South Wrestling)

*October 10, 2005 (Life and Times of the Ultimate Warrior)

*November 21, 2005 (Life and Times of Eddy Guerrero and Crusher, double issue $6 on its own and $7 overseas)

*December 5, 2005 (The Eddy Guerrero special issue, double issue $6 on its own, $7 overseas)

*January 9, 2006 (The life and times of Superstar Billy Graham, plus New Year’s Eve 2005 coverage)

*January 16, 2006 (2005 Awards double issue, $6 or $7 overseas)

*April 3, 2006 (Story of Ann Calvello and the history of Roller Derby–many called this the best issue of the Observer ever)

*April 10, 2006 (Behind the scenes at the 2006 Wrestlemania/Hall of Fame week)

*July 24, 2006 (The History of the Von Erichs and World Class Championship Wrestling–the most unreal story ever in wrestling)

*September 4, 2006 (The Rise and Fall of Kurt Angle; 2006 Hall of Fame inductions of Eddie Guerrero, Paul Bowser, Masakatsu Funaki, Aja Kong and Hiroshi Hase including tons of wrestling history around the world from the 20s through the 60s, the evolution of working to not working in Japan, and a look at Guerrero in hindsight, double issue $6 or $7 overseas)

*October 9, 2006 (A look back nine years later at the life and legacy of Brian Pillman with tons of inside information about what made him tick as his real objectives)

*November 15, 2006 (History of WCW part one, Eric Bischoff’s book and how the industry was changed forever)

*November 20, 2006 (History of WCW part two, Why Jim Ross left WCW, How Bischoff changed the company, signing of Hulk Hogan, Beginning of Nitro, Jesse Ventura, Brian Pillman, Chris Jericho and signing Wrestlemania planned celebrity away)

*November 27, 2006 (History of WCW part three, When Bischoff challenged McMahon to fight; Truth and fiction around Bret Hart signing with WCW and why it didn’t click)

*December 6, 2006 (details behind Pride’s offers to sell promotion and Part four of History of WCW part four, Hogan-Goldberg match and why there was no rematch, WCW loses NBC network deal in 1999 and the real reasons the company fell apart)

*January 22, 2007 (2006 Awards issue, double issue $7 on its own, $8 overseas)

*February 14, 2007 (Life and Times of Bam Bigelow)

*March 5, 2007 (WWE begins plans that will change the business)

*March 12, 2007 (Life and Times of Mike Awesome)

*March 19, 2007 (Life and Times of Ernie Ladd)

*April 4, 2007 (Life and Times of Badnews Allen Coage–which many are calling one of the best issues in history)

*July 2, 2007 (Part one of the Benoit double murder-suicide)

*July 5, 2007 (Part two of the Benoit double murder-suicide)

*July 10, 2007 (Part three of the Benoit double murder-suicide)

*July 19, 2007 (Part four of the Benoit double murder-suicide)

*July 23, 2007 (Part five of Benoit double murder-suicide)

*July 25, 2007 (Part six of Benoit double murder-suicide)

*August 15, 2007 (The legend of the God of Japanese wrestling and his influence on MMA, Karl Gotch)

*October 15 (2007 Hall of Fame double issue, $7 on its own, $8 overseas including inductions of The Rock, Tom Packs and the original Strangler Lewis)

*November 12, 2007 (Life and times of Fabulous Moolah and history of U.S. women’s wrestling) .

*December 31, 2007 (History of Ric Flair and the heyday of wrestling at the Greensboro Coliseum)

*January 21, 2008 (2007 Awards issue, double issue $7 on its own, $8 overseas)

*March 17, 2008 (Life and times of Johnny Weaver)

*March 24, 2008 (Life and times of Gary Hart)

*April 10, 2008 (Farewell to Ric Flair; My thoughts, Shawn Michaels talks of Flair’s meaning to him; Hall of Fame; Wrestlemania double issue, $7 on its own, $8 overseas)

*August 11, 2008 (Ric Flair leaves WWE; Updated history of pro wrestlers and MMA fighters who went to the Olympics)

* September 8, 2008 (2008 Hall of Fame double issue, $7 on its own, $8 overseas; part one of Killer Kowalski bio)

* September 15, 2008 (Life and Times of Evan Tanner)

* September 22, 2008 (The amazing career of Killer Kowalski, one of our most in-depth bios)

You can also order any of these issues on their own for $4 in North America or $5 overseas.

We now have available personally autographed copies of Tributes II, our latest book, as well as a DVD that comes with it talking more about the subjects in the book. The book covers the life stories of Lou Thesz, Wahoo McDaniel, Elizabeth, Fred Blassie, Road Warrior Hawk, Andre the Giant, Curt Hennig, Johnny Valentine, Davey Boy Smith, Terry Gordy, Owen Hart, Stu Hart, Gorilla Monsoon, The Sheik and Tim Woods..

To get all of those biographies as back issues of the Observer would be a $60 value today. This is a collection of some of the best Observer articles of the past several years in a hardcover, full-color format that is 239 pages. There is also a foreword by Bret Hart. The book price is $12.95 plus $3.50 for shipping costs in the U.S., $20 for shipping costs to Canada and $25 for shipping costs outside North America. You can order the book the same way you order the newsletter.

FRIDAY’S NEWS UPDATE

  • WWE REALLY is pushing for Brock Lesnar to sign Monday as opposed to waiting until the end of the month.  It’s really a game of who in the end isn’t going to blink. 
  • If you are an aspiring heel wrestler, check out the front page with today’s UFC press conference to see Conor McGregor.  If you’re a wrestling fan, you’d probably want to as well just to see how wrestling superstars used to act and what led to them drawing money before today’s industry changes.  Check out the video here.
  • If you have the WWE Network in Canada, you can get the network on WWE App on Android devices with the complete network.
  • Yesterday’s NCAA wrestling tournament drew 18,414 for the evening show and 18,383 for the afternoon show in St. Louis at the Scottrade Center.  Those will likely be two of the seven biggest wrestling crowds in the U.S. for 2015.  This year could wind up with six NCAA tournament matches as No. 2 through No. 7 for the year behind WrestleMania.
  • It is official that New Japan World will carry Invasion Attack live, not on tape delay, airing at 3 a.m. Eastern on 4/5.  That’s show A.J. Styles vs. Kota Ibushi for the IWGP heavyweight title main event show.  They will also be airing the 4/2 Korakuen Hall show live at 5:30 a.m. Eastern.  
  • There will be a single elimination tournament with Adrian Neville, Tyler Breeze, Finn Balor and Hideo Itami at the Fan Axxess on Thursday and the winner will appear at WrestleMania in the Andre the Giant Battle Royal.
  • Some notes on the new season of WWE Tough Enough.  They are looking for people between the ages of 18 and 30.  The pay is $100 per day. 
  • Bobby Lashley, Bram and Robbie E have signed TNA contract extensions. 
  • Bellator also announced the signing of Lashley to a new deal. 
  • I don’t know if they are available still, but as of 90 minute ago, there were newly released tickets for Raw on Monday night at the Staples Center. 
  • Tickets are available now for the 2016 NCAA wrestling tournament which takes place March 17-19, 2016 in Madison Square Garden.
  • The announcing talent working tomorrow’s UFC event is Jon Anik, Kenny Florian, Karyn Bryant, Brian Stann, Dominick Cruz and Heidi Androl.
  • Since nothing has been announced yet, I’m guessing the attempt to add a second Mick Foley show in San Jose on Wednesday isn’t happening.  If that changes, we’ll update.
  • This is a hockey articleand not a wrestling or MMA article, but if you don’t think it relates to both, you’re not seeing the future
  • From the Randy Couture roast held last night in St. Louis, featuring Chael Sonnen
  • An article in Think Progress on Lucha Libre
  • Justin Gabriel will headline a five night Manitoba show for Canadian Wrestling Elite from 6/22 to 6/26.
  • A note on the Kenny Omega thing on Comedy Central, it aired on Wednesday night, not Tuesday as we reported.  The guest who knew who Omega was ended up being comedian Ron Funches.  Here’s the segment http://on.cc.com/1AKNjsM (thanks to Brendan Faherty)
  • My WrestleMania week starts tonight with Premier Wrestling at Del Mar High School in San Jose.  JR Kratos (5-2) defends the title against Marcus Lewis (4-2) plus Timothy Thatcher (2-1-1) vs. Joe Graves (0-0-1). 
  • The presale code for WWE tickets for Raw on 5/25 at the Nassau Coliseum is PREWWE.  I guess the first code we were given ended up not working.
  • Patric Laprade and Bertrant Hebert will be at the Collector’s International at the Pierre Charbonneau Centre in Montreal today through Sunday selling and autographing copies of their book on the history of pro wrestling in Montreal.  If you are interested in wrestling history, that book is a must.  They also have three DVDs of old Montreal wrestling dating back to the 50s.  Raymond Rougeau will be with them Saturday and Frenchy Martin will be there Sunday.  Many former and  current Montreal Canadiens players will also be there.
  • Drew Galloway beat Andy Phoenix today in Burwood, Victoria, Australia, in an ICW rules match to win the Outback Championship title.  That is not a steak eating contest title.  Galloway put his ICW and Evolve title on the line in the match which drew 800 fans.  Also wrestling on the show were Alberto El Patron, Ken Anderson, Ricardo Rodriguez and Gangrel. (thanks to Josh Armour)
  • Rey Mysterio Jr. headlines tonight in Tijuana at The Auditorio teaming with Extreme Tiger against Perro Aguayo Jr. & Manik, plus Willie Mack vs. Ricochet.
  • CZW has its annual Best of the Best tournament on 4/11 in Voorhees, NJ at Flyers Skate Zone.  The 12 wrestler tournament has there first round matches announced so farJoey Janela vs. Joe Gacy vs Ruckus, Tommy End vs. Aaron Williams vs. Caleb Konley.  The other first round matches will be made on Monday involving Ruckus, Mike Bailey, Buxx Belmar, Jonathan Gresham, Trevor Lee, Andrew Everett and Tracy Williams.
  • Absolute Intense Wrestling tonight at 7:30 p.m. in Cleveland at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel School with 2 Cold Scorpio vs.  Ricky Shane Page, Josh Alexander vs. Dick Justice, Raymond Rowe vs. Johnny Gargano plus Chris Sabin, Candice LaRae, Flip Kendrick and more.
  • Hulk Hogan’s Micro Championship Wrestling on 4/3 in Essington, PA at The Deck at Harbor Ponite.

ON THIS DAY IN PRO WRESTLING HISTORY INTERNATIONAL (thanks to Graeme Cameron)

1970 – Ray Mendoza beat Carlos Colosetti in Mexico City to win the NWA light heavyweight title

1980 – Lizmark beat Cien Caras in Mexico City to win the NWA light heavyweight title

1983 – Villano III beat Perro Aguayo in Mexico City to win the NWA light heavyweight title

1986 – The Crush Gals beat The Jumping Bomb Angels to win the WWWA tag titles and Hisako Uno (now Akira Hokuto) beat Condor Saito to win the Japanese jr. title

1992 – Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada beat Aja Kong & Bison Kimura to win the WWWA tag titles in Tokyo

2012 – Manabu Soya & Takao Omori beat Dark Ozz & Dark Cuervo in Tokyo to win the All Japan tag tile

2013 – Shigehiro Irie beat Kenny Omega in Tokyo to win the KO-D open weight title  

TOMORROW’S WWE NETWORK SCHEDULE 

12:00 AM ET
WWE BEYOND THE RING Rey Mysterio: The Biggest Little Man showcases some of the high-flying Superstar’s most memorable moments and matches!

2:00 AM ET
WWE NXT The future is here. Witness the entertainers, the leading men and women, the Superstars of tomorrow – this is NXT!

3:00 AM ET
WWE SUPERSTARS WWE Superstars features the best of the best in matches you’ll have to see to believe. You never know what to expect – so expect everything!

4:00 AM ET
WCW MONDAY NITRO The New World Order attempts to completely take over Nitro while WCW’s top superstars are away competing on a tour in Japan.

6:00 AM ET
WRESTLEMANIA 10 Yokozuna defends the WWE Championship against Bret Hart; Razor Ramon and Shawn Michaels compete in an epic Ladder Match.

9:00 AM ET
MONDAY NIGHT WAR A controversial group of superstars set out to better sports entertainment and would rely on one another to do so.

10:00 AM ET
WWE BEYOND THE RING Rey Mysterio: The Biggest Little Man showcases some of the high-flying Superstar’s most memorable moments and matches!

12:00 PM ET
LEGENDS HOUSE The WWE Legends play a game of ‘How well do you know your roommates?’ Then the group receives a visit from Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels.

1:00 PM ET
WWE COUNTDOWN Counting down the Top Ten Most Mysterious Superstars of all time!

2:00 PM ET
THIS WEEK IN WWE Get caught up on all the highlights from Raw and Smackdown with This Week in WWE.

2:30 PM ET
WWE HALL OF FAME For the first time ever, the WWE Hall of Fame event is broadcast live in its entirety – only on the WWE Network!

6:00 PM ET
WWE COUNTDOWN Counting down the Top Ten Most Mysterious Superstars of all time!

7:00 PM ET
MONDAY NIGHT WAR The strategies that helped Eric Bischoff build WCW would hasten the decline of both he and his company.

8:00 PM ET
WWE HALL OF FAME For the first time ever, the WWE Hall of Fame event is broadcast live in its entirety – only on the WWE Network!

11:30 PM ET
SATURDAY NIGHTS MAIN EVENT Kamala battles Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts. The Hart Foundation defend the WWE Tag Title against The British Bulldogs. Randy Savage and more.