FRI. UPDATE: UFC in Texas Stadium, 2014 card and match of year, NXT lineup, lots of big shows
By Dave Meltzer
Huge weekend of events coming up. We’ll be doing weekend polls on Battleground and opening night of G-1 this week. We’re not going to do polls on every G-1 show, but will do them for the major shows.
We’re looking for reports on tonight’s WWE show in Newark, NJ (John Cena vs. Kevin Owens, Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose), ROH in Las Vegas (Austin Aries & Jay Lethal & Moose vs. Jay Briscoe & Dalton Castle & Kyle O’Reilly, Rocky Romero & Barreta vs. Young Bucks, Christopher Daniels vs. Mark Briscoe, Bobby Fish vs. Matt Taven, ODB vs. Nanae Takahashi, Willie Mack vs. Silas Young) and NXT in Cocoa Beach, FL at dave@wrestlingobserver.com”>dave@wrestlingobserver.com
Bellator tonight at 9 p.m. from the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, CT on Spike
Michael Page (171) vs. Rudy Bears (170.75)
Chris Honeycutt (171) vs. Paul Bradley (171)
Brennan Ward (171) vs. Roger Carroll (171)
Paul Daley (171) vs. Dennis Olsen (173) – Olsen was fined for missing weight
Douglas Lima (170) vs. Andrey Koreshkov (170) for Bellator welterweight title
New Japan World Pro Wrestling on AXS TV at 9 p.m.
A.J. Styles vs. Minoru Suzuki – this won the 2014 match of the year award
Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Hirooki Goto
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Tomohiro Ishii
This card itself from Korakuen Hall also won the 2014 card of the year award
Legacy Fighting Championships tonight at 10 p.m. on AXS TV from Hinckley, MN at the Grand Casino Hinckley Hotel
Derrick Krantz vs. Brock Larson for vacant welterweight title
Zak Ottow vs. Jacob Volkmann
Tommy Speer vs. ?
Nick Wagner vs. Chase Waldon
Augusto Mendes vs. Donald Williams
Derek Getzell vs. Kenneth Glenn
We’re looking for reports on Saturday’s WWE shows in Peoria (Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt) and Danville, IL (John Cena vs. Kevin Owens, Prime Time Players vs. New Day) and NXT in Venice, FL.
UFC on Saturday from Glasgow, Scotland for a morning/afternoon show
Fight Pass at 10 a.m. Eastern
Chris de la Rocha (245) vs. Daniel Omielanczuk (242)
Marcus Brimage (136) vs. Jimmie Rivera (135)
FS 1 at 11 a.m. Eastern
Paul Redmond (145) vs. Robert Whiteford (146)
Mickael Lebout (155) vs. Teemu Packalen (155)
Ilir Latifi (206) vs. Hans Stringer (205)
Paddy Holohan (126) vs. Vaughan Lee (126)
Leonardo Mafra (155) vs. Stevie Ray (155)
Leon Edwards (169) vs. Pawel Pawlak (170)
Joanne Calderwood (115) vs. Cortney Casey (114)
Joseph Duffy (155) vs. Ivan Jorge (154)
Evan Dunham (156) vs. Ross Pearson (155)
Michael Bisping (185) vs. Thales Leites (185)
Titan Fighting Championships from Saturday night from Kansas City’s Scottish Rite Temple on UFC Fight Pass live
Pat Healy vs. Marcus Edwards for vacant lightweight title
Kurt Holobaugh vs. Andre Harrison for vacant featherweight title
Brett Johns vs. Anthony Gutierrez for bantamweight title
Tim Elliott vs. Iliarde Santos for vacant flyweight title
Jose Landi-Jons vs. Tyler Stinson
Freddy Assuncao vs. Cody Bollinger
Isaac Vallie-Flagg vs. Jason Witt
Phil Hawes vs. Lucas Rota
Vince Eazelle vs. Desmond Green
William Joplin vs. Sirwan Kakai
Mike Bruno vs. Dakota Cochrane
Battleground Sunday in St. Louis on PPV and the WWE Network starting at 7 p.m. Eastern time
Seth Rollins vs. Brock Lesnar for WWE title
John Cena vs. Kevin Owens for U.S. title
Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt
Randy Orton vs. Sheamus
Prime Time Players vs. New Day for tag titles
R-Truth vs. King Barrett in the pre-show match
No word on what happens to Big Show and Miz, if they wrestle in a single or not. Ryback is off the show due to a staph infection. There are likely to be some matches added.
New Japan G-1 Climax fight night from Sapporo at 2 a.m. Eastern and 11 p.m. Pacific on New Japan World
Yohei Komatsu & Tiger Mask & Jushin Liger & Yuji Nagata vs. Tomoaki Honma & Mascara Dorada & David Finlay & Jay White
Hirooki Goto & Captain New Japan vs. Cody Hall & Yujiro Takahashi
Shinsuke Nakamura & Yoshi-Hashi vs. Karl Anderson & Tama Tonga
Michael Elgin & Satoshi Kojima & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii & Gedo
Tournament matches:
Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Doc Gallows
Togi Makabe vs. Toru Yano
Tetsuya Naito vs. Bad Luck Fale
A.J. Styles vs. Katsuyori Shibata
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kota Ibushi
Raw is Monday night from Kansas City. It will be the start of the build up for SummerSlam. Brock Lesnar is advertised on the show. There are rumors Undertaker will be there or in some form will be part of the show.
Smackdown will be Tuesday night in Lincoln, NE.
The Conor McGregor phenomenon and the new direction of women in WWE and a history of women in WWE are the lead stories in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. The issue is on the site right now at July 20, 2015 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: UFC 189 report, WWE calls up NXT women
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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.
Our lead story talks about the Conor McGregor phenomenon, how it ushered in the new era of UFC, the business notes on the show, McGregor’s popularity in Ireland, why iPPV numbers probably set records, U.K. reaction, what to learn from McGregor vs. Mendes, how risky a gamble this fight was, similar gambles from the past, the story of the fight, McGregor vs. Aldo next, Ultimate Fighter and a full rundown of UFC 189.
We also look at WWE’s bringing up Charlotte, Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks this past week, and a look back at the history of women performers in WWE dating back to the Wendi Richter vs. Fabulous Moolah match in 1984. We look at the forgotten best women’s matches in main roster history and best workers, and failed attempt to market athletic women, what really happened with Aja Kong, We also look at the different ways this can go, how the angles changed, how the angle was done, as well as how UFC made it work and what was the same and different.
We also look at what may be UFC’s biggest event of 2016, the UFC 200 show.
We also look at the NXT show in Brooklyn and the busy weekend in the New York area, notes on when the next WWE network number will be released and what it would be up to, as well as break-even, and the peak number. We look at advance sales for Battleground and the card, Lennox Lewis admits to almost doing a mixed match with Brock Lesnar in 2003, the story behind that fight and why it never happened, William Regal explains what WWE is looking for in new talent in a fascinating interview, notes on the future of Smackdown, who are planned to be focal point of NXT, Ziggler, Cody Runnels, update on Tyson Kidd, key WWE exec gets fired and new major WWE stock purchase by one of the richest men in Holland.
We also look at an update on several legal proceedings involving WWE suits, notes on Tough Enough, as well as a rundown of the weekend NXT and WWE house shows with business notes on the shows.
We also look at this year’s UFC induction ceremony, how it has changed, its future goals, and the speeches by Bas Rutten, B.J. Penn, Matt Hughes Frank Trigg, Lori Blatnick and many others. We look at the histories of all the inductees as well.
We also have more on Fedor Emelianenko being shopped around for a comeback at the age of 38. We look at who he is, what he said just a few months ago about a comeback, if it is realistic to expect a match with Brock Lesnar, what Fedor said directly a few months ago about a match with Lesnar, as well as how UFC or Bellator can use him.
We also look at UFC’s Sunday show in Las Vegas and business notes on the show.
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:
–A look at the big weekly event at Arena Mexico
–Build to CMLL’s big summer show
–A major big show controversy and a lot of buck passing involved
–Top matches for this year’s TripleMania
–A look at this past week’s AAA TV taping
–Wrestling returns to Royal Albert Hall in London
–A major star celebrates 30th anniversary of his pro debut
–Third generation legend makes debut
–Wrestle-1 announces its own tournament
–Coverage of Wrestle-1 show from the past week
–Notes on the G-1 debut card
–Shinya Hashimoto death anniversary show
–More on Dusty Rhodes and one of his most famous angles
–A look at the build of Starrcade 85
–GFW’s road shows and TV tapings
–A look at the Waterloo wrestling Hall of Fame and this year’s inductions
–A match of the year candidate
–Former WWE star falls into more problems
–One match which features champions from New Japan, a top star of Evolve, the TNA world champion, a Lucha Underground champion, anther TNA wrestler as well as a WWE wrestler and an ROH wrestler all in the same match
–A look at Tommy Dreamer’s next show
–Update on Alberto Del Rio
–Update on Lucha Underground
–Movie being made about a Lucha Underground star
–More on ROH over WrestleMania weekend
–This week’s upcoming ROH show in Las Vegas
–A look this past week’s ROH show
–More on the future of TNA
–Update on Davey Richards
–Something to watch for when it comes to UFC fans
–Update on Travis Browne situation
–This week’s UFC show on FS 1 and Fight Pass Titan show
–More on C.M. Punk and his debut
–More on fighters and prospective TV show ideas
–Cris Cyborg, UFC and Invicta
–New UFC fights
–Lawsuit filed regarding Bellator
–This week’s Bellator show
–Notes on how new Bellator announcer used to write for a wrestling newsletter
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.
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FRIDAY’S NEWS UPDATE
- For this weekend, we’ll be doing shows on Saturday and Sunday, with the Saturday show covering UFC and Sunday show covering WWE (probably not New Japan).
- There have been several articles written last night and today regarding a UFC show in December at AT&T Stadium in Dallas, the site of WrestleMania. Kevin Iole reported that the Jose Aldo vs. Conor McGregor fight would likely be on 12/5 at the stadium, while Ariel Helwaini reported that fight as being at the stadium, but said the date would be different.
- “Trainwreck,” the Amy Schumer movie that has gotten tremendous reviews and features John Cena, is being predicted for a $25 million opening weekend.
- Ronda Rousey was the fourth most searched term on the Internet Wednesday with more than 200,000 total searches.
- Based on TV taped last night, the top matches for the 8/22 NXT show in Brooklyn are Finn Balor vs. Kevin Owens for the NXT title, Sasha Banks vs. Bayley for the women’s title, Jushin Liger vs. Tyler Breeze and Samoa Joe vs. Baron Corbin.
- Today is the 27th anniversary of the death of Bruiser Brody, who was stabbed to death by Jose Gonzalez in the shower at Juan Loubriel Stadium in Bayamon prior to a wrestling show. It’s almost impossible to believe not only that Gonzalez came back and was a major star, but he is still wrestling 27 years later and most fans and people in Puerto Rico don’t even know the incident ever happened.
- The St. Lucie, FL Mets baseball team is having NXT Night on Wednesday with NXT performers at the game.
- WWE’s Robbie Brookside sent out a tweet about a tryout camp at the Performance Center which included Tim Wiese, who was a member at one time of the German national soccer team as a goalkeeper. Brookside then deleted the tweet. (thanks to Tim Oster)
- For Canada, Saturday’s UFC will have the prelims from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on The Fight Network and the main card will be on TSN 2.
- CMLL on Tuesday night in Guadalajara: Magnum & Temblor b Mr. Trueno & Rey Trueno, Demus 3:16 & Pequeno Olimpico & Pierrothito b Meteoro & Stukita & Ultimo Dragoncito, Kraneo & Olimpico & Ripper b Brazo de Plata & Fuego & Stuka Jr., Maximo b Rey Escorpion to retain the CMLL heavyweight title due to help from Ultimo Guerrero, Euforia & Gran Guerrero & Ultimo Guerrero b Mistico & Volador Jr. & Valiente (thanks to Kris Zellner)
- The third season of “Amazing Race Canada” airing on CBC features Ontario pro wrestlers Nick Foti and Matt Guinta and UFC fighter Elias Theodorou. Theodorou’s team was the first one eliminated. The wrestlers are still in the competition and doing well (thanks to Steven Grant)
- Bibiano Fernandes faces Toni Tauru tomorrow in Yangon, Myanmar in the main event of the One Championship show.
- There will be a PBC show on CBS at 2 p.m. tomorrow followed by more fights at 8 p.m. on Showtime. The CBS main event is Carl Frampton vs. Alejandro Gonzalez Jr. and the Showtime main event is Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. vs. Marcos Reyes.
- “Trainwreck” opens on 8/6 in Australia (thanks to James Stanios)
- ROH tickets for WrestleMania week are on sale right now for Ringside members.
- Hirooki Goto will be debuting a new ring outfit based on the “God of Thunder” during the G-1 Climax tournament.
- On the Bob Backlund book we wrote about yesterday, the book will be more than 500 pages with 16 pages of photos from Backlund’s personal collection.
- Nick Aldis, formerly Magnus, is releasing a book called “The Superstar Body,” which is a book and physical training manual.
- On the MSN home page Kurt Angle’s surgeries are noted as “ex-WWE champ hospitalized.” Angle is home, and was home yesterday and seems to be doing well. (thanks to Neal Hager)
- A really strange deal is that Mike Jones, better known as Virgil with Ted DiBiase (another spoof at Dusty Rhodes), is doing a Go Fund Me campaign with the goal of making him a millionaire. It’s been open for 17 days and thus far he’s raised $70.
- Timothy Thatcher vs. Biff Busick and Chris Hero vs. Zack Sabre Jr. has been announced for the 8/16 Evolve show at the NYWC Sportatorium on Long Island. Thatcher vs. Sabre Jr. and Johnny Gargano vs. Ethan Page in an anything goes match was announced for 8/15 in New York.
- American Combat Wrestling tonight in New Port Richey, FL at the Kontos Event Center.
ON THIS DAY IN PRO WRESTLING HISTORY INTERNATIONAL (thanks to Graeme Cameron)
1973 – Sandy Parker & Masked Lee beat Jumbo Miyamoto & Mariko Akagi in Yokohama to win the WWWA tag titles
1987 – Mile Zrno beat Steve Wright in Vienna, Austria to win the CWA middleweight title
1988 – Dandy beat Kung Fu in Mexico City to win the NWA middleweight title
1990 – Terry Gordy beat Stan Hansen to win the Triple Crown
1992 – Felino beat America in Cuernavaca to win the CMLL middleweight title
2002 – Brian Adams & Bryan Clarke beat Keiji Muto & Taiyo Kea in Osaka to win the All Japan world tag team title
2004 – Deuce & Domino beat Paul London & Brian Kendrick in Milan to win the WWE world tag title