SUN UPDATE: TripleMania, G-1, Sheamus injury, Smackdown womens tag, John Cena, UFC fighters get letter

By Dave Meltzer

We’re looking for your thoughts on today’s TripleMania show, as well as today’s G-1 show from Tokyo and yesterday’s G-1 show from Nagoya, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to Dave Meltzerdave@wrestlingobserver.com”>

We’re also looking for reports on the WWE shows yesterday in Sydney, Australia and Victoria, BC, today’s show in Vancouver, and the NXT shows in Starke, FL on Thursday ad Orlando on Friday.

AAA TripleMania 25 from Arena Ciudad in Mexico City on regular PPV at 7 p.m. Eastern

Drago & Goya Kong & Dinastia & Pimpinela Escarlata vs. Daga & Sexy Star & Mini Psycho Clown & Mamba

Cibernetico & Chessman & Averno defend the trios titles against Jack Evans & Fenix & Angelico and El Hijo del Fantasma & El Texano Jr. & Pentagon Jr.

Blue Demon Jr. & La Parka vs. Mesias & Electroshock

Los Villanos III & IV & V vs. The Psycho Circus

Alberto El Patron vs. Brian Cage hair vs.. hair

Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Myzteziz

There will also be a Hall of Fame induction ceremony for both Perro Aguayo Jr. and Hector Garza.

Raw will be Monday night in Everett, WA. Stephen Amell of the TV show Arrow will be a guest doing an angle with Stardust.  No Brock Lesnar or Paul Heyman advertised this week, nor John Cena.

G-1 Climax on Tuesday morning at 5:30 a.m. Eastern from Tokyo Korakuen Hall

Jay White & Mascara Dorada vs. Cody Hall & Yujiro Takahashi

Kushida & Captain New Japan vs. Karl Anderson & Tama Tonga

Hirooki Goto & Yohei Komatsu vs. Michael Elgin & David Finlay

Satoshi Kojima & Yuji Nagata & Tomoaki Honma & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Shinsuke Nakamura & Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii & Yoshi-Hashi

Tetsuya Naito vs. Doc Gallows

Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Katsuyori Shibata

Kota Ibushi vs. Toru Yano

A.J. Styles vs. Bad Luck Fale

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Togi Makabe

Smackdown will be Tuesday night in Portland, OR.

The life and times of Roddy Piper is the lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.  We also have coverage of WWE financials and why the stock is going through the roof, the rise of Ronda Rousey and UFC 190 numbers, the G-1 Climax tournament update and the full story behind the 2002 pitch made to WWE about a gay asskicking wrestler.  

The latest Wrestling Observer: August 10, 2015 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Roddy Piper passes away, WWE Q2 results & analysis

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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 is an extensive look at the career of Roddy Piper.  We start by looking at the cause of death, and Piper’s role in the national expansion of WWF and the first WrestleMania.  We look at how Piper differed from almost every wrestler in WWF when he came in, why Piper didn’t work certain shows, Piper working outside WWF while under contract, how he flopped in his first WWF run, his runs in California, Oregon, Georgia and the Carolinas before WWF, the feud with Jimmy Snuka, the Hogan-Piper program, The War to Settle the Score, the original WrestleMania and how it changed the history of wrestling, his period in WCW, his relationship with Mad Dog Vachon, his issues with Kevin Nash, how he got started in pro wrestling, the story behind his babyface turns and the loss at WrestleMania to Bret Hart.

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We look at UFC 190 and the storyline that led to Ronda Rousey setting her highest PPV mark.  We look at how things have changed for Rousey since February, the interest level of her fight,  Rousey vs. Cyborg, ratings in Brazil and the U.S. and match-by-match coverage.

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SUNDAY’S NEWS UPDATE

  • Bryan and I will be back tonight covering G-1 and the TripleMania PPV as well as taking your e-mail questions to mailbag@wrestlingobserver.com
  • From last night’s show in talking about the women’s match on Smackdown, the commentary was done live.  Bryan watched and thought it may have been done after the fact, but that wasn’t the case.
  • Sheamus was off the weekend house shows due to either a diagnosed or fear of a concussion from the Raw main event on Monday.  
  • Great Hirooki Goto vs. Tomohiro Ishii main event on today’s G-1 show from Korakuen Hall.
  • Twitter numbers for today were Glover Teixeira at 11,400, and Roman Reigns at 40,600 stemming from the fan throwing a briefcase at last night’s show in Victoria, BC and nailing him in the back of the head.
  • Apparently the fan who threw the briefcase at Reigns was getting the wrestlers on the undercard to sign it first.
  • Regarding the controversial second round judging of the Michael Johnson vs. Beneil Dariush fight, apparently every media member on MMA Decisions gave the round to Johnson, which ended up as the swing round of the fight.  Two judges gave it to Dariush.  Johnson out landed Dariush 35-22 during the round and his punches were also harder and more impactful.  He also stopped every takedown attempt.  There have been worse decisions, but this was pretty bad. 
  • Michael Hayes and Kevin Von Erich are teasing one last match.  Kevin asked for a six-man tag where he would team with his sons against Hayes and two partners of his choosing.  Hayes claimed that before he came to Texas, nobody had ever heard of the Sportatorium or the Von Erichs.
  • John Cena is scheduled for Tough Enough on Tuesday.  He was not advertised for Raw on Monday, but it would be weird for him to be on Tough Enough if he’s not on Raw.
  • I will be appearing tomorrow at 1 p.m. on the MMA hour with Ariel Helwani at www.mmafighting.com
  • There is an NXT taping on Thursday night this week. The first hour taped will be the go-home show for Takeover.  The next three hours will be airing after Takeover.
  • UFC Chief Legal Officer Kirk Hendricks sent a letter to the fighters regarding the attempts by The Teamsters and the Culinary Workers Union to unionize UFC fighters.  As you can imagine, they weren’t encouraging them to join.  FrontRowBrian on his twitter has a copy of the letter. 
  • The UFC took out a huge ad in the Los Angeles Times promoting Ronda Rousey for her success, calling her the company’s biggest PPV draw as well as listing social media numbers.  A copy of the ad is on twitter
  • An article on Rey Mysterio promoting tonight’s AAA PPV
  • The Boston Globe has an editorial piece on Ronda Rousey
  • Regarding the story of Babe Ruth as a wrestling referee, in the movie, The Babe Ruth Story, starring William Bendix, there was a brief scene of Ruth as a referee of a women’s wrestling match (thanks to Irv Muchnick)
  • Preston City Wrestling from Friday in Preston, England:  El Ligero won over Ashton Smith, Dean Allmark, Charlie Garrett, Luther Ward and Ophidian, T-Bone & Rampage Brown b Josh Bodom & Ryan Hendricks, Iestyn Rees b Dave Rayne, Noam Dar b Drew Galloway, Dave Mastiff won over Bubblegum and Chris Masters to keep the PCW title, Lionheart b Rockstar Spud, Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish b Joey Hayes & Martin Kirby, Sha Samuels b Kris Travis, Dave Mastiff DDQ Samoa Joe.  Masters said farewell, being fired by General Manager Joanna Rose and turning face on the way out.  O’Reilly & Fish are set to face T-Bone & Rampage at the Supershow of Honor 2 card in November.  Travis had his first match back after cancer.  Next show is 8/29 which is the Bank Holiday Bash which is a free outdoor show in  Blackpool, England with Eddie Edwards, Davey Richards, Ken Anderson, Brian Christopher, Scotty 2 Hotty, Nick Aldis and Mickie James.  On 9/25 they have Tommaso Ciampa vs. El Ligero.  On 10/31 they have two shows with Ricky Steamboat and Jeff Jarrett.  Supershow of Honor 2 is 11/27 to 11/29 with Roderick Strong, Silas Young, Dalton Castle, Cedric Alexander, Kyle O’Reilly, Bobby Fish, Adam Cole, Michael Elgin, Delirious, Hanson, Ray Rowe and Doug Williams (thanks to Jan Buxton)
  • Acclaim Pro Wrestling on 9/12 in Ottawa at 379 Waverly Street
  • Pro Wrestling from Cleveland on Friday night that has no name:  Bobby Beverly b Andrew Palace, N8 Mattson b Joey Vengeance, Bryan Bowers b Nikki Valentino, Rickey Shane Page b Matt Cross, Dylan Bostic & Derek Direction b Idris Abraham & Aiden Prince, Jimmy Nutts b Jock Samson, Johnny Gargano b Tyson Dux (thanks to Jeff Gorman)
  • Jim Crockett’s granddaughter has just launched a non-profit organization helping veterans.  They have already donated $180,000 in 2015.  They are also posting tons of exclusive photos from Jim Crockett’s days as a wrestling promoter that have never been seen before at www.crockettfoundation.com
  • Dynamo Pro Wrestling from last night in Fenton, MO:  Keon Option b The Snitch, Rocket Mapache & Jackal b Brandon Aarons & Evan Morris, Brandon Espinosa b Paco Gonzalez, Justin D-Air b Jayden Fenix, Jack Gamble & Jon Webb b Michael Magnuson & Dave DeLorean-DQ, Mike Outlaw b Elvis Aliaga, Jake Dirden b Shorty Biggs (thanks to Patrick Brandmeyer)
  • Combat Zone Wrestling iPPV last night in Voorhees, NJ:  Sozio b Ryan Galleone, Sozio b Trooper Audubon, JT Dunn b Joey Janela, Penelope Ford & Takumi Iroha b Sumie Sakai & Brittany Blake, Greg Excellent NC Dick Justice, Chigusa Nagayo (the biggest woman’s pro wrestling star ever in Japan) & Takaaki Watanabe b Nate Carter & Dave McCall, Tim Donst b Frankie Pickard to keep CZW Wired title, Jake Crist b Danny Havoc in a barbed wire match, Dave Crust b Conor Claxton, Matt Tremont b Pepper Parks in a street fight, Matt  Tremont b BLK Jeez to win the CZW title.  Next show is 9/12 with AR Fox vs. Mike Bailey in a Chris Cash Memorial Ladder match (thanks to Bob Magee)
  • Destiny World Wrestling on 10/2 in Mississauaga, ONT at the Don Kolov Arena features Rey Mysterio Jr. and PJ Black and the show will be a TV taping.
  • Chris Dickinson vs. Ethan Page headlines 8/22 in Toronto at The Great Hall.
  • Lucha Xtreme TV from last night in Fresno:  Jesse Poole b Mike Strong, Brandon Pinion b Johnny Plinko, Brian Tannen b Mike Rayne (thanks to Jon Southerland)
  • Terry Crews, the actor, sent a positive message to Apollo Crews, the former Uhaa Nation, who took his name from him saying “Love the new name.  Represent it well.”
  • The WWE Network will be adding the April 6, 1998 and September 26, 1997 episodes of Nitro on Thursday.  
  • During a Northeast Wrestling show last night in Bethany, CT, a fan brought a coconut to the ring and asked Donovan Dijak to hit Matt Taven with it.  But it wasn’t a whole coconut, but a shredded coconut that you would buy for baking.  After the match, a Texas death match that Taven won, Taven poured it all over Dijak’s face when Dijak was on the ground selling the loss.  Dalton Castle also hit the deadlift German suplex on Warbeard Hanson at the show.  (thanks to Troy Cummings)
  • Robbie E this weekend appeared at Geekfest, a comic con in Newport, South Wales.
  • Ring Warriors has two shows on 8/15, with a 1 p.m. and a 7 p.m. show at the Tampa Letter Carriers Hall, both TV tapings.  Announced for the tapings are Bruce Santee, Monster Tarver, Sonjay Dutt, Wes Brisco, Lince Dorado, Santana Garrett, Chase Stevens, The Almighty Sheik, Mister Saint Laurent, Jessy Sorensen, Mr. 450, Maxwell Chicago and more.
  • On the ESPN.com web site, if you click on the “Mike and Mike” Big Mess video, there is a commercial for Werner ladders featuring Rey Mysterio and Alicia Fox. (thanks to Neal Hager)
  • ACE Wrestling from last night in Wallington, NJ:  EC Negro b CK Cross, Sonny Kiss b Azrieal and Lou Torres, Chris Raze b Astro Morales, Mike Donovan & Ricky Richards b Absolute Alvin & Mike Orlando, Maya & Black Zemis b William Wyeth & Tiny Johnson, Stockade b Chris Romano, Vince Steele b TJ Marconi-DQ, Ethan Carter III b Ricky Reyes.  Next show is 8/29 at the Morgan Jr. Arena.

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

1969 – Michiaki Yoshimura & Antonio Inoki beat The Crusher & Art Mahalik in Nagoya to win the All-Asia tag titles

1978 – The Queen Angels (Lucy Kayama & Tomi Aoyami) beat Nancy Kumi & Victoria Fujimi to win the WWWA tag titles and Maki Ueda beat Chabela Romero to win the All-Pacific title.  

1991 – Akira Nogami beat Jushin Liger in Tokyo to win the IWGP jr. title