mobanmarketTHE ROUND-UP
The Latest from the F4W Staff
NEWS
WWE Raw live results: Go-home show for Great Balls of Fire
‘Fight Owens Fight: The Kevin Owens Story’ DVD review
NJPW G1 Special live results: The first IWGP US Champion is crowned
Slammiversary 2017 live results: Bobby Lashley vs. Alberto El Patron
Wale to host The Usos vs. New Day rap battle on SmackDown
AUDIO
WOL: New Japan Long Beach, Slammiversary, tons more! 7/3
DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Marathon: Day three with Sempervive 7/3
WOR: New Japan in Long Beach Night Two, TNA Slammiversary 7/3
B&V: Bryan and Vinny review New Japan in Long Beach Night Two! 7/2
Raw is in Phoenix. Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman will be on the show. There is also a house show in Amarillo, TX.
Smackdown and 205 Live will be in Phoenix on Tuesday. John Cena returns on the July 4th show, plus there will be a Battle Royal for the U.S. title shot and a return women’s title match with Naomi vs. Lana.
FIGURE FOUR WEEKLY: Figure Four Weekly 6/26/2017: Cody Rhodes’ bet on himself continues to pay off
Cody Rhodes may have already completed most of the goals that he famously listed in a tweet after leaving WWE, but his biggest accomplishment since wasn’t something that was mentioned then. Rhodes defeated Christopher Daniels to win the Ring of Honor World Championship in the main event of Best in the World last Friday night.
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WRESTLING OBSERVER NEWSLETTER: July 3, 2017 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Summerslam plans change, Cody Rhodes wins ROH World title, more
A look at changes in WWE booking leading to SummerSlam, including a main event change and how this likely effects the WrestleMania plans for New Orleans is the lead item in the new double issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Look at SummerSlam, Great Balls of Fire, Battleground and the Brock Lesnar vs. Samoa Joe program and how it’s viewed.
There is a feature on Cody Rhodes winning the ROH title, interpromotional champion vs. champion matches in the last 30 years and how rare they are, the last time one person won a major world title from two organizations at the same time, the last match of this type in the U.S. and how it came without any hype and its purpose was very different, plus different reactions to Cody Rhodes, the trickiness of the finish, the ticket demand for Long Beach, what show last year exceeded it, and father and son combos who both held world heavyweight titles.
This issue features the 2017 G-1 Climax tournament, including all tournament matches, the broadcast plans and times, key matches to look out for and more.
Check out the NXT Takeover card for 8/19 in Brooklyn, an idea floated for Asuka’s booking, the arrival of Bobby Fish, more teases regarding Daniel Bryan wrestling again, more on how WWE has changed from a medical standpoint over the years, WWE TV in India, a new TV commercial regarding John Cena, WWE looking to find out why people have canceled network or don’t watch the programming anymore, Mike Bennett talks his WWE signing, Raw guys on Smackdown shows and Smackdown guys on Raw shows this summer, an update on Io Shirai coming to WWE and her injury situation, an update on the Mae Young Classic and broadcast plans, the promotion of the Mae Young name and lots of new wrestlers in the tournament.
Look at T.J. Wilson’s new role, the most-watched shows on the WWE Network, the company’s worth, NXT television for the month of July, as well as notes on all the WWE & NXT house shows from the past week, highlights of the shows and business notes on the shows.
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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 Dave@WrestlingObserver.com.
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WON BACK ISSUE: June 12, 2000 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Paul Heyman meets with ECW talent, PRIDE 9 results, more
Paul Heyman, who hadn’t appeared at an ECW event since the Hardcore Heaven PPV, surprisingly, after missing the TV taping on 6/2 in New Orleans, flew to Pensacola, FL for the house show for a lengthy ECW team meeting.
The one hour long meeting was largely a pep talk, since most of the wrestlers hadn’t even spoken to Heyman in a month, and with smaller crowds, slightly declining ratings and late checks, morale had hit a new low.
Heyman went through a story about where he saw the wrestling business in the U.S. headed. The theory he had was that WWF and USA Network would settle their lawsuit before going to trial because both have so much dirt on the other that would come out in court that both sides stock prices would drop and suffer public embarrassment. At that point he figured USA Network would get a strong settlement and WWF would go to CBS Viacom, moving Raw to TNN on Monday nights. He talked about the chance that ECW would get on USA Network or possibly FOX.
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MONDAY NEWS UPDATE
WWE
Maria Menounos revealed that she had surgery last month to remove a benign brain tumor. Menounos said that the surgery removed 99.9 percent of the tumor and that there’s only a six to seven percent chance that it will come back. She also announced that she’s stepping down from her role on E! News to focus on her health. She has been involved with WWE in the past, including hosting the Hall of Fame red carpet show and appearing in a few matches. WWE wished her well in a post on their website.
WWE extended its condolences to the Hart family after the passing of Smith Hart yesterday.
Pro Wrestling Sheet reported that Tommaso Ciampa is expected to be out of action until early 2018.
Kurt Angle told Esquire Middle East that he hasn’t had a physical yet and doesn’t expect to have one until WWE has plans for him to get into the ring, but he called an in-ring return in the company “more than likely.”
The Wall Street Journal ran a story about WWE trying to attract advertisers and build their corporate brand.
Asuka wrote on Twitter this morning: “Still unstoppable, still untouchable, still undefeated. I’ll be back to @WWENXT once you find a worthy opponent! #AndStill” WWE posted an accompanying article about the tweet as well, indicating that it may be part of the storyline for her next title defense.
WWE and pro wrestling have continued to be talked about in the media after Donald Trump’s tweet yesterday, including on “Morning Joe” on MSNBC with Willie Geist guest hosting and talking about his pro wrestling fandom. (thanks to Jake Koch)
Kevin Owens (seemingly) commented on Kenny Omega’s IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship win: “Canadians rule!”
Pro Wrestling
While no other details about it were revealed, NJPW Chairman Naoki Sugabayashi announced during last night’s G1 Special that NJPW will be returning to the United States in 2018.
It was also revealed last night that Trent Barreta is moving up to heavyweight in NJPW and that Roppongi Vice won’t be teaming anymore.
Ricochet made an appearance on the second night of the G1 Special in Long Beach, saying that he would’ve been there sooner if “a certain Underground fighting company weren’t being pricks right now.” He challenged The Young Bucks to defender their IWGP Junior Heavyweight tag titles against him and Ryusuke Taguchi at the G1 finals in August.
The Young Bucks paid tribute to Dave Meltzer’s father with the first-ever Herbert Meltzer Driver last night. Vice Sports posted an article about it.
Paige was apparently sitting ringside in a Dos Caras mask during Alberto El Patron’s main event match at Slammiversary last night. Someone on Twitter posted a photo with her allegedly holding a visitor’s pass that identified her by her real name.
GFW/Impact revealed that the TV tapings that GFW did in 2015 will finally be seeing the light of day as a four-part series for their “One Night Only” pay-per-views.
GFW/Impact will be unveiling new title belts on the August 17th episode of Impact.
EVOLVE’s latest mini-documentary focuses on Zack Sabre Jr. and Timothy Thatcher’s rivalry and their upcoming no holds barred title match.
Chavo Guerrero Jr. and Kia Stevens (formerly known as Awesome Kong and Kharma) appeared separately on today’s episode of the WTF podcast with Marc Maron. Stevens has a role alongside Maron on Netflix’s GLOW series and Chavo worked on it as a fight coordinator.
Marty Scurll will be the guest on an episode of Steve Austin’s podcast next week.
Sinclair Broadcasting (the parent company of ROH) was the target on an episode of “Last Week Tonight” with John Oliver last night. The segment was about their right-wing focused news and them acquiring Tribune local news stations.
KUSHIDA visited locations from “Back to the Future” while in California.
UFC/MMA
Chris Weidman noted on the MMA Hour that he was offered a last-minute fight against Anderson Silva before the UFC’s show in Brazil earlier this year.
Daniel Cormier said that the UFC originally offered him Jimi Manuwa for his next fight, but he turned it down and said that Jon Jones had to be next.
Damon Martin reported that Jeremy Stephens vs. Gilbert Melendez is in the works for UFC 215 in Edmonton on September 9th.
Tony Ferguson is eyeing a fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Today in Pro Wrestling History: AJ Styles & Jerry Lynn win vacant NWA tag titles
F4W Online / Wrestling Observer Vegas Convention Event Info
August 17-21; All times are TBA; Full information on the group Facebook page; Activities subject to change
Thursday: Meet at the High Roller for Bowling at the Link; Party at Carnival Court at Hurrah’s
Friday: Kiss Mini Golf tournament at the Rio; Dinner at Texas de Brazil; Suite party (location TBA)
Saturday: Burgers with Granny for lunch; Future Stars of Wrestling show featuring Stephan Bonnar & Phil Baron, and co-main events: 3-way match with Leva Bates vs. Mia Yim vs. Hudson Envy, and “Filthy” Tom Lawlor vs. Thomas Santell (f.k.a. Antonio “The Promise” Thomas); NXT viewing party at the Sci-Fi Center
Sunday: SUPER CHINA BUFFET DAY at the Wicked Spoon Buffet at 1pm; SummerSlam viewing party at the Sci-Fi Center
Monday: Goodbye lunch at Chen Chen at NY NY
All website members will also receive a 15% discount on any purchases from the Las Vegas Fight Shop for the entirety of the convention
Texas de Brazil, Wicked Spoon, NXT and Summer Slam will all be sign up and pre-paid events, prices and collection begin in mid July~!
Pro Wrestling Tees is now carrying our latest line of F4W shirts. Support the Empire~! Grab yours today!
CONTACT INFORMATION
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