THE ROUND-UP
The Latest from the F4W Staff
NEWS/COLUMNS
A night at Arena Mexico: Where old school meets new
WWE cancels Manchester Arena NXT show in the wake of bombing
Impact Wrestling results: Triple threat main event
NXT TV taping spoilers: Tommaso Ciampa explains his actions
The Week In British Wrestling: EVE crowns a new queen
AUDIO
FREE WOL! Jinder Mahal, WWE PPV in India, no September tour, more! 5/26
Wrestling Weekly: Jinder, Broken Ed from Anthem, George Scott 5/26
B&V&G: Smackdown Live, NXT, Starrcade 85, Granny’s Wrestling Report! 5/25
We’re looking for reports on tonight’s WWE Raw house show in Pikeville, KY and the NXT show in Cocoa, FL to [email protected].
Saturday we’ll be looking for reports on the WWE Raw show in Greensboro, Smackdown in Knoxville and NXT in Fort Pierce, FL to [email protected].
NEW JAPAN WORLD PRO WRESTLING ON AXS TV FROM 7-11 P.M. EASTERN — WRESTLE KINGDOM 11 FROM TOKYO DOME
Cody Rhodes vs. Juice Robinson
Young Bucks vs. Rocky Romero & Baretta for IWGP jr. tag titles
Kushida vs. Hiromu Takahashi for IWGP Jr. title
Four-way gauntlet for Never Six man titles with Satoshi Kojima & Ricochet & David Finlay defending against Yujiro Takahashi & Bad Luck Fale & Chase Owens, Will Ospreay & Yoshi-Hashi & Jado and Seiya Sanada & Evil & Bushi
Katsuyori Shibata vs. Hirooki Goto for Never title
Tama Tonga & Tanga Roa vs. Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii vs. Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma for IWGP tag titles
Tetsuya Naito vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi for IC title
Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega for IWGP title
CMLL FROM ARENA MEXICO TONIGHT STARTING AT 9:30 P.M. EASTERN TIME
Oro Jr. & Flyer vs. Raziel & Cancerbero
Fuego & Star Jr. & Stigma vs. Virus & Sagrado & Misterioso Jr.
Blue Panther Jr. & The Panther & Rey Cometa vs. Sam Adonis & Tiger & Puma
Stuka Jr. vs. Polvora
Mistico & Angel de Oro & Niebla Roja vs. Ultimo Guerrero & Gran Guerrero & Euforia
Marco Corleone & Caristico & Valiente vs. Rush & Pierroth & Mr. Niebla
NEW JAPAN BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIORS ON SATURDAY IN TSUKUBA ON NEW JAPAN WORLD (sometime Saturday afternoon)
ACH vs. Desperado
Volador Jr vs. Bushi
Kushida vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru
Tiger Mask vs. Ryusuke Taguchi
Sunday has Raw in Augusta, GA and Smackdown in Chattanooga.
UFC ON SUNDAY FROM STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN
Fight Pass at 10 a.m. Eastern time
Damir Hadzovic vs. Marcin Held
Jessin Ayari vs. Darren Till
FS 1 at 11 a.m. Eastern time
Nico Musoke vs. Bojan Velickovic
Reza Madadi vs. Joaquim Silva
Chris Camozzi vs. Trevor Smith
Pedro Munhoz vs. Damian Stasiak
Jack Hermansson vs. Alex Nicholson
Oliver Enkamp vs. Nordeen Taleb
Omari Akhmedov vs. Abdul Razak Alhassan
Ben Saunders vs. Peter Sobotta
Volkan Oezdemir vs. Misha Cirkunov
Alexander Gustafsson vs. Glover Teixeira
NEW JAPAN BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIORS ON SUNDAY IN TAKASAKI ON NEW JAPAN WORLD (airing sometime Sunday afternoon)
Marty Scurll vs. Hiromu Takahashi
Will Ospreay vs Taichi
Ricochet vs. Taka Michinoku
Jushin Liger vs. Dragon Lee
NEW JAPAN BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIORS LIVE ON MONDAY AT 5:30 A.M. FROM KORAKUEN HALL
Dragon Lee & Marty Scurll vs. Taka Michinoku & Taichi
Ricochet & Juice Robinson & Hirai Kawato vs. Seiya Sanada & Evil & Hiromu Takahashi
War Machine & David Finlay vs. Tama Tonga & Tanga Roa & Yujiro Takahashi
Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Bushi
Tiger Mask vs. Desperado
Volador Jr. vs. ACH
Kushida vs. Ryusuke Taguchi
Kazuchika Okada & Will Ospreay vs. Kenny Omega & Bad Luck Fale
Monday has Raw from Greenville, SC with Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns and Finn Balor vs. Bray Wyatt vs. Samoa Joe. Smackdown has a house show on Monday night in Macon, GA.
NEW JAPAN BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIORS ON WEDNESDAY FROM OSAKA (A BLOCK FINALS ON NEW JAPAN WORLD)
Jushin Liger vs. Taichi
Dragon Lee vs. Taka Michinoku
Ricochet vs. Marty Scurll
Hiromu Takahashi vs. Will Ospreay
Smackdown and 205 Live will take place in Atlanta on Monday including a women’s match with Charlotte Flair vs. Becky Lynch vs. Carmella vs. Tamina vs. Natalya with the winner getting a shot at Naomi’s title at the Money in the Bank PPV.
FIGURE FOUR WEEKLY: 5/22/2017: Jinder Mahal is actually WWE Champion
Even after having over a month to prepare for the possibility, it’s hard to believe that Jinder Mahal is actually WWE Champion. Title wins like Mahal beating Randy Orton at Backlash aren’t really supposed to happen in pro wrestling. When you have the ability to control wins and losses, challengers are theoretically built up over time and have enough credibility when they win a championship that the result is either obvious or hardly surprising.
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WRESTLING OBSERVER NEWSLETTER: May 29, 2017 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: WWE weekend show reviews, CMLL drama, plus tons of news
A detailed look at why Jinder Mahal got the WWE title, the strange situation of NXT Takeover blowing away the main roster PPV, and what the audience for all the U.S. shows that aren’t Raw and Smackdown say about what fans want from extra hours of wrestling are all part of the current issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
A look at the business and interest levels of WWE Backlash and NXT Takeover, plus what happened with ticket sales when the Backlash card was announced, the Jinder Mahal push, and how to judge it, and how something like this has never been done and look at other tries to make lower card guys into champions quickly and the result.
Upcoming big shows, plans for a major match coming up soon that hasn’t been hinted at, as well as full coverage of Backlash & NXT Takeover with match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results.
Updates on SummerSlam ticket sales, Dwayne Johnson’s week and how Saturday Night live did with him as host, updates on a lawsuit regarding WWE Network royalties, a storyline change, plans for a special Smackdown, updates on WWE injuries, more on the WWE women’s tournament, update on different wrestlers talking to WWE, rugby star may be signing with WWE, the three most-watched wrestling matches in the history of cable television, plus business notes and show highlights from all the WWE events this past week.
One of the craziest stories ever, with the Alvarado family’s destruction of Ultimo Guerrero’s car, how it happened, why it happened, the story behind CMLL firing two of its champions, who didn’t get fired, how the athletic commission is handling this and politics behind what happens next.
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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 [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $13 for 4 issues, $32 for 12, $61 for 24, $101 for 40 and $131 for 52. In Canada and Mexico, rates are $14.50 for 4, $35 for 12, $67 for 24, $111 for 40 and $144 or 52. In Europe, you can get the fastest delivery and best rates by sending to [email protected]. For the rest of the world, rates are $16.50 for 4, $44 for 12, $85 for 24, $141 for 40 issues and $183 for 52. 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.)
If you are a new subscriber ordering 24 or more issues, you can choose one free classic issue, or two free classic issues with a 40-issue subscription.
WON BACK ISSUE: May 1, 2000: Justin Credible wins ECW Heavyweight Championship, safety concerns in Japan, tons more
When the smoke cleared after nine months of title changes largely forced upon him and designed to surprise, Paul Heyman finally went back to the original Plan A–as the latest surprise. Justin Credible (Peter Polaco), who Heyman had planned to be ECW heavyweight champion dating back more than 18 months, with the idea of not putting the title on him until he had a national television outlet, and being the wrestler that Rob Van Dam would chase in the company’s top program, wound up with the title after two more switches at ECW’s “Cyberslam” show on 4/22 in Philadelphia at the ECW Arena.
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FRIDAY NEWS UPDATE
WWE
A couple was arrested in the death of their toddler. The father claims he was performing wresting moves on the boy before he died. (thanks to Jim LeMond)
In a video, Brie Bella has said she wants to come out of retirement and wrestle for WWE at some point.
A story on how Brock Lesnar has helped a Canadian singer’s career.
Raw will be returning to Toronto on 8/7.
Asuka is replacing Mickie James on the WWE Japan shows on 6/30 and 7/1 at Sumo Hall in Tokyo,. Akira Tozawa and Hideo Itami will also be on the shows but Shinsuke Nakamura won’t be, since they are Raw branded events. Even though Itami turned, he was listed on the babyface side for this tour.
After every round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, when the Pittsburgh Penguins have won their series, Matt Hardy, in his character comes on Mark Madden’s radio show in Pittsburgh and deletes the losing team. Jeff Hardy was on the show today and sang the Obsolete song.
Tickets for the Mae Young Classic women’s tournament on 7/13 and 7/14 at Full Sail University are on sale right now.
UFC / MMA
Oscar De La Hoya has gotten some talk on Twitter today as he wrote: “To my fellow boxing fans. I write in the hopes that together we can protect the sport of boxing. With each passing day, it looks more and more likely that the circus known as Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor will be coming in the near future. At this point we can only shut the circus down by making it clear that we won’t pay to see a joke of a fight and telling our casual-fan friends that they shouldn’t either.” He claimed the sport may never recover. De La Hoya said he’s not writing this because it’s possible that the fight will run in the same month as his Gennady Golovkin vs. Canelo Alvarez fight.
Roy Nelson has signed a multi-fight contract with Bellator as reported today by Ariel Helwani.
The 6/24 Bellator show in Madison Square Garden will be airing in more than 350 movie theaters around the U.S. as part of Fathom Events. I do know that in the San Jose area it will air both at the Great Mall and at Oakridge. This is the show headlined by Chael Sonnen vs. Wanderlei Silva and Fedor Emelianenko vs. Matt Mitrione.
Women’s featherweight champion Germaine de Randamie is refusing to face top contender Cris Cyborg, stating that Cyborg is and proven cheater.
Bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt has a talk show on 8/7 in Sydney at the Star Event Centre. (thanks to James Stanios)
For Canada, The Fight Network will be airing Sunday’s show live at 11 a.m. Eastern to 1 p.m. Eastern, and then TSN will air from 1-4 p.m.
Jordan Mein vs. Belal Muhammad has been added to the 7/8 UFC 213 show in Las Vegas.
Gavin Tucker vs. Rick Glenn has been announced for a 9/9 UFC show in Edmonton at Rogers Place.
Johnny Case vs. Tony Martin has been added to the 6/25 show in Oklahoma City.
Brian Ortega vs. Renato Moicano has been added to the 7/29 show in Anaheim.
Today’s Best of the Super Juniors A block results from Nagano:
Taichi (3-2) b Marty Scurll (3-2)
Ricochet (3-2) b Jushin Liger (0-5)
Hiromu Takahashi (3-2) b Taka Michinoku (1-4)
Will Ospreay (4-1) b Dragon Lee (3-2)
Impact is only taking a skeleton crew to its television tapings in Mumbai, India. Much of the regular roster won’t be on television for the next four weeks. The key players in the PPV will be brought to India for four weeks of tapings which was start airing on Thursday.
Baywatch starring Dwayne Johnson has not gotten strong reviews, with about 20 percent positive and some very negative. It actually opened in some places on Wednesday and Thursday and did $1.25 million on Wednesday and $3.25 million last night. The numbers were well below industry expectations and the weekend open tonight through Sunday is expected now to be about $20 million. Johnson commented on the reviews saying, “Oh boy, critics had their venom and knives ready. Fans LOVE the movie. Huge positive scores. Big disconnect w/critics and people.”
A story on the late Chief Jay Strongbow/Joe Scarpa.
A story on pro hockey’s debut in Nashville before the Predators, noting it was marketed like pro wrestling given the owners were Ron Fuller and Bob Polk, who had been the Knoxville wrestling promoters.
Great North Wrestling on 6/30 in Pemboroke, ONT at the Memorial Centre with Rene Dupree vs. Wes Brisco vs. Hannibal for the Canadian title plus Shelton Benjamin.
One ran earlier today at the Singapore Indoor Stadium where local favorite Angela Lee got the main event position and retained her Atomweight title over Istela Nunes of Brazil, while welterweight champion Ben Askren used an arm triangle to beat Agilan Thani of Malaysia about two minutes into the fight. Askren vowed he would retire if he was either lost or was taken down. There was also a submission match where Garry Tonon beat Japan’s Shinya Aoki, a star of Japanese MMA years back who is now regularly doing pro wrestling.
AAW from last night in Berwyn, IL before 400 fans: Paco b Conor Braxton, Jake Crist won four-way over Myron Reed, Joey Janela and Laredo Kid, Trevor Lee b Colt Cabana, Davey Vega & Alex Daniels won three-way over Trey Miguel & Stephen Wolf and Team Tremendous, Keith Lee b Donovan Dijak, Michael Elgin b Jack Swagger, Rey Fenix & AR Fox retained tag titles over Shane Strickland & Lio Rush, Sami Callihan b Juventud Guerrera. Next show is 6/17 in Merrionette Park, IL with Callihan defending against Elgin, Abyss vs. Low Ki, John Morrison vs. Brian Cage and war Machine vs. Jeff Cobb & Matt Riddle.
ROH champion Christopher Daniels throws out the first pitch at the Sunday Chicago White Sox game to help promote the company’s 6/3 show in Chicago Ridge.
A story on the mother in Russia who started slapping his beaten up son after he lost an MMA fight. (thanks to Chris Cruise)
A story on Lucha Underground.
There will be an Intergender tag team tournament Saturday in Sainte-Therese, Quebec at the Central Culturel et Communautaire.
Absolute Intense Wrestling on 6/10 in Mentor-on-the-Lake, OH at Tequila Jaxx with Shayna Baszler vs. Candice LeRae for the women’s title.
IPW from Saturday in Auckland, New Zealand before a sellout 300 fans for what may have been the first cage match ever in New Zealand: Oliver Griffin b No Face, Liger b Taylor Adams, Privileged b FIST, Candy Lee b Ashlee Spencer, Rueben de Jong won a handicap mach, Brook Duncan & Dave O’Connor b James Shaw & Elias, Liam Fury b Mr. Burns in a cage match. (thanks to Steve Ogilvie)
Capital City Championship Combat on Saturday in Ottawa, ONT at the Vanier Columbus Club.
CWF on 6/10 in St. Catharines, ONT at 20 Hartzel St. for a 7 p.m. show.
The annual J.T. Lightning Invitational tournament, a 24 man tournament starts tonight at 7:30 p.m. in Cleveland at Our Lady Of Mt. Carmel. It continues Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Adam Cole is on the show. First round matches have Mordekai vs. Swoggle, Matt Cross vs. Super Crazy, Tom Lawlor vs. Jimmy Rave, Colt Cabana vs. Space Monkey, Tracy Williams vs. Eddie Kingston, Dominic Garrini vs. Little Guido,Laredo Kid vs. Joey Janela, Mike Tolar vs. Britt Baker, Colin Delaney vs. Gringo Loko, Matt Justice vs. Facade, Ethan Page vs. Shawn Shultz and Steve Pain vs. Alex Daniels.
NWL St. Louis from Sunday: Thor Theriot b Spike, Emmett DuBois b Neon Iverson, Xavier Church b Boulder, Jack Foster b Ken Dharma, Skylber Beckett & Javvy Torres b Underground, Dakota Draper b Jay Lutz, Cornell Douglass & Castle & Todd Letterman b Maverick & Blood Brothers. (thanks to Brian Hoops)
NWL Kansas City tomorrow night at the Scottish Rite Temple at 4 p.m. featuring Royal Blood vs. Howlettes in a ladder match and if the Howletts lose, they are fired as the main event.
Michael Majalahti, better known as Starbuck, a Canadian wrestler who made his name in Europe, has a new autobiography out.
The Fight Network tonight has Glory kickboxing starting at 8 p.m. tonight with Robin van Roosmalen vs. Petpanomrung Kiatmookao for the vacant featherweight title plus Rico Verhoeven vs. Ismael Lazaar in a heavyweight fight.
Combate Ameriacs announced a 6/30 show at the Salas de Armas, an arena pro wrestling runs all the time in Mexico City, headlined by Rodrigo Vargas vs Danny Ramirez. The show will air live in the U.S. on Aztec America.
NOAH’s Kaito Kiyomiya will be appearing for Canadian Wrestling Elite in Canada from 8/1 to 8/20 for their Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario tour.
A story on former Crockett wrestler Vinnie Valentino/Vinnie Romeo.
Lio Rush defends the CZW title against Davey Richards tonight for Defy Wrestling in Seattle at Washington Hall. Other matches are John Morrison vs. Shane Strickland, Taya vs. Christina Von Eerie and Moose vs. Mike Santiago.
Battleground Championship Wrestling Saturday night in Fairless Hill, PA at the Frat Order of Eagles 2489 has CZW owner D.J. Hyde facing WrestlePro champion Pat Buck, plus Chris Dickinson vs. Al Snow, Fallah Bah vs. Bull James and more.
New England Championship Wrestling on 6/3 in Wakefield, MA at the Americal Civic Center with Chris Escobar vs. Damian Wayne.
House of Glory Saturday in Jamaica, NY at Club Amazura featuring Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly vs. EYFBO, as well as Lio Rush and an appearance by Booker T.
FPW on Sunday in South Gate, CA at the American Legion Post 335 has Nicho & Damian 666 & Bestia 666 vs. Piloto Suicida & Acero Dorado & shamu Jr.
FIP tonight at 9 p.m. from Ybor City, FL with Fred Yehi vs. Martin Stone for the FIP title an Jon Davis vs. Caleb Konley for the Heritage title, plus AR Fox vs. Jason Kincaid and more.
Style Battle runs tomorrow night no FloSlam.tv for Ybor City, FL with a one-night tournament with first round matches of Jason Cade vs. Socorro, Odinson vs. Austin Theory, James Drake vs. Ethan Case and Sean Maluta vs. Jason Kincaid.
Pro Wrestling Phoenix from Wednesday night’s 12th anniversary show in Omaha: Clay Cooper & Nathen Edwards b Paul Daniels & Joey Daniels, Clay Cooper & Nathen Edwards b Dalton Lee Roth, Lars Metzger & Johnny Ruckus b Clay Cooper & Nathen Edwards, Lars Metzger & Johnny Ruckus b Purple & Carson Rockwell, Moonshine Russell & Duke Cornell b Lars Metzger & Johnny Ruckus to win the gauntlet, Robert Storm b Zac James, Devin Carter b Shane Douglas, Con Artiest b Cuco Santiago-DQ, Branden Juarez b Mark Sterling, Hype Gotti b Pat Powers. The next show is 6/29 in Omaha at the Waiting Room Lounge.
Today in Professional Wrestling History (5/26): Power outage at In Your House
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