WED. UPDATE: Lots more Jimmy Snuka notes; lawyer questions competency

by David Bixenspan | davidbix@wrestlingobserver.com | Follow @davidbix

Show notes for tonight:

NXT at 8:00 p.m. ET on WWE Network features has the start of the Dusty Rhodes memorial tag team tournament, with Baron Corbin and Rhyno vs. The Ascension on the show.

UFC Tonight airs at 8:00 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1.

Impact Wrestling at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on Destination America features P.J. Black (c) vs. Bobby Roode in a King of the Mountain Title match

UFC Ultimate Insider airs at 9:00 p.m. ET on Fox Sports with the episode that debuted over the weekend profiling Yair Rodriguez, Andrei Arlovski, and Conor McGregor.

UFC Main Event at 9:30 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1 has a new episode of UFC Main Event about the Lyoto Machida vs. Luke Rockhold fight from April in Newark, New Jersey.

UFC Main Event at 10:00 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1 is a rerun of the Demetrious Johnson vs. John Moraga episode to hype Johnson vs. Dodson this Saturday at UFC 191.

ROH at 11:00 p.m. ET on Destination America has Jay Briscoe vs. Adam Page, Cedric Alexander vs. Caprice Coleman, Cheeseburger vs. Brutal Bob Evans, and Jay Lethal (c) vs. Hanson for the ROH Televisiion Title.

Please send reports from major shows, recommended links, etc. to newstips@wrestlingobserver.com:

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Figure Four Weekly:

The new issue of Figure Four Weekly is now up for subscribers (subscribe to the site here and get access to Figure Four, the Observer, tons of audio, and more) featuring a hands-on look at WWE 2K16 from the 2K/WWE media event last week. There are also notes on WWE’s lawsuit against their Thai TV partner, including how this type of litigation is familiar territory for WWE and one past suit is exceptionally bizaree. On top of that, we have all the usual stuff like Vinny’s reviews and international news from Dr. Lucha Steve Sims and and Alan”4L” Counihan.

Last week’s FREE Figure Four Weekly is still up with a look at the crazy story of why Gawker thinks the FBI may have helped Hulk Hogan cover up his racist and homophobic comments. A judge has ordered the FBI to turn over the records of their investigation, and what Gawker is saying in court about what has and hasn’t been turned over paints a very interesting picture.

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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Wrestling Observer Newsletter:

A complete rundown of the WWE’s weekend in Brooklyn, with all the business notes, surprises and what is known about the future direction is the lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.  We also cover the decision to have Holly Holm replace Miesha Tate as Ronda Rousey’s opponent next, a UFC business year-in-review story, ROH big weekend, New Japan next tour, 2017 Mania and Daniel Bryan future note.

The latest Wrestling Observer: Wrestling Observer Newsletter August 31, 2015: SummerSlam weekend wrap-up, UFC business

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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.

We have rundowns of NXT Takeover, SummerSlam and Raw from Brooklyn.  We look at the Night of Champions card and what is and isn’t confirmed, the unique aspect of that weekend no PPV, the returns of Sting and the Dudleys, Dudleys tag title reigns, Jushin Liger’s WWE future, New Japan stars at SummerSlam, Bray Wyatt’s new Wyatt family member and his booking, Jon Stewart, Lesnar and Undertaker’s finish, business notes, NXT in the U.K., Wrestlers complaining about fans at Raw, as well as more on the problems in the WWE Diva Division and what isn’t working. 

We look at UFC’s 2015 business numbers and what they show about the UFC audience, the appeal of the audience to advertisers, how it compares with the audience at other sports, how much of this year’s increases have to do with Conor McGregor and Ronda Rousey and what their effects are on business as a whole.  We also look at who the new fans UFC has brought in this year are.

We also have full coverage of UFC from Saskatoon, with match-by-match coverage and business notes on the show.

We look at two major stars returning to a major promotion after seven years and their first programs, the CMLL Anniversary show main event, notes from the Arena Mexico shows from the past weekend Ultimo Dragon taping TV in Mexico City.

We also have notes on a top woman star being injured, a booker getting bad pub from television, a promotion so hot that their sold out events are going to be broadcast in movie theaters as well as upcoming tournaments in Japan.

We also have a look at the New Japan business and how it has increased over recent years, More on A.J. Styles challenging for the IWGP title, New wrestlers debuting in Japan including names not announced yet, lineups for the New Japan World shows in September, Hiroshi Tanahashi talks neck problem, Tanahashi talks theories of wrestling and Ricochet in New Japan.

We also look at WrestleMania in 2017, the Madison Square Garden network special the 2K 16 launch party, the next Stone Cold podcast, an update on Daniel Bryan and well as some of his own philosophies of wrestling, Dolph Ziggler talks contract, the end of Tough Enough, more on NXT talent and pay, stars with new deals, the WWE Divas title, HHH talks NXT, other stars talk who they’d like to see in WWE, Jericho talks Hogan and more.

We also note an indie show in Japan that outdrew Brock Lesnar and WWE at Sumo Hall, as well as the 40th anniversary of the pro debut of one of this era’s biggest stars.

We note the death of Duke Myers, his career highlights, GFW’s latest TV taping and everything that happened, Taz getting a new gig, Wale and pro wrestling, Terry Funk wrestling again in a few months, Jim Ross talk show, Leroy McGuirk into NWA Hall of Fame, Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Red, Alberto El Patron in Europe, promoter critical of Sabu and an update on Len Rossi.

We also look at the future of Lucha Underground, ROH/New Japan relationship update, next ROH PPV show, ROH weekend shows in Philadelphia and Brooklyn notes as well as the upcoming show.

We also update TNA.

We look at UFC’s marketing its fall and winter shows, what main events all UFC ‘s upcoming dates, Plans for the debut in Melbourne, Australia, and more notes on drug testing UFC athletes.

We also look at the next FOX show, lots of new fights, Ronda Rousey T-shirt sales, Anthony Johnson situation, Two UFC women fighters pregnant and new Fight Pass series.

We also look at a major wrestler signing, Alberto Del Rio in negotiations to be an announcer, early UFC promoter back running live shows and huge One championship bout.

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Wednesday Daily Update

— William E. Moore, the lawyer who represented Jimmy Snuka at his arraignment yesterday, told the Allentown Morning Call that not only was Snuka arrianged while wheelchair-bound and hooked to a feeding tube, but that he’s suffering from dementia stemming from decades of concussions. Due to a prior commitment, Moore will not be representing Snuka at trial if there is one.  He characterized Snuka as unintelligible and lacking any kind of recall, and is skeptical of the extent of Snuka’s involvement in his autobiography, but it was released three years ago and he was relatively coherent when he did his book tour. Interestingly, the article notes that Sharon Georgi, Snuka’s first wife who testified against him during the grand jury proceedings, was with him and his family when he surrendered to the police, and was also the one to post bail for him ($10,000 bond on $100,000 bail).

— Adam Clark, who wrote the article that triggered the case getting a fresh look, did a video interview that’s available at LehighValleyLive.com.

— Snuka’s WWE.com page was pulled after LehighValleyLive.com pointed out that it was still up, though he’s still listed on the Hall of Fame page.

— LehighValleyLive.com and WABC-TV in New York both talked to members of Nancy Argentino’s immediate family about Snuka being charged.

— The Allentown Mprning Call has a good timeline for the case that lays out the essential information.

— USA Today’s “The Big Lead” blog is the first mainstream outlet to focus on Vince McMahon and his role in the case.

— Irv Muchnick’s original article about the case is availablee on his website.

— Dave has an article about Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera’s career and retirement at MMAFIghting.com.

— News from Kris Zellner’s Lucha Report (full, illustrated version here):

L.A. Park told Medio Tiempo yesterday that he isn’t in EMLL for a long run and he only wants Rush’s hair that’s it. Park thinks that their apuestas match should be main eventing the Anniversario not Atlantis & Sombra because it’s a bigger match. Park said that he & Dr. Wagner Jr. are now the biggest stars there since they have come back although he thinks Wagner is a sellout for pandering to the fans and being friendly with the Ingobernales.

Mistico II will be a cast member on the TV Azteca/Telemundo reality variety show Si Se Puede where the cast of stars will try and do various forms of entertainment throughout the run such as dancing, magic, even beat boxing. I’m not sure if this is a show where they get voted off or what.

Volador Jr. vs. Johnny Mundo vs. Mephisto actually did happen in Los Angeles on August 30th and my dear friend Alfredo Esparza was there with this report

— From Bellator:  Not one, but two must-see bouts have been added to the preliminary portion of “Bellator 143: Warren vs. Davis” on September 25 at State Farm Arena in Hidalgo, Texas, with the addition of undefeated Darrion “The Wolf” Caldwell (7-0) versus Shawn Bunch (4-1) and heavyweight action seeing Chase Gormley (12-4, 1 NC) against Dan “The Man” Charles (9-3). The contests will take place during the prelims of “Bellator 143: Warren vs. Davis,” which airs live on Spike at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT, while the opening portion of the event will stream on Spike.com at 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT.

— The Pancakes and Powerslams podcast interviewed Dave Penzer this week. On the death of WCW: The way I learned about the end of the company is that somebody called me at home and said turn on the (WWE) website. I turned it on, and it was the [WWE] logo, right in the middle was “Purchases”, and on the bottom right-hand corner, it had the WCW logo. My heart sank, and I had tears in my eyes, I ain’t gonna lie to you. When you get to live your dream and possibly get it taken away, it’s not a fun thing. I went to Nitro in Panama City, and I decided to do the best that I could do. We didn’t know at the time that Shane McMahon was going to be there, we found out at the production meeting. I decided that I was gonna lay it all out on the table and let the WWE guys that were there see what I could do, and hope for the best. If it was the swansong, I was gonna enjoy it, and I did that.

— From Emerson Witner: The Wrestling Outsiders Podcast is now on TalkShoe.com! Tune in at http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/139049 on Wednesday night at 10pm EST for our review of the infamous Bash at the Beach 2000 show and then again on Thursday night at 10pm EST when we are joined by Tough Enough contestant (and Lance Storm trainee) Chelsea Green!