THE ROUND-UP
The Latest from the F4W Staff
NEWS
Herbert Meltzer passes away at 90 years old
NJPW reveals full G1 Special night two card
NJPW G1 Special live results: Kazuchika Okada vs. Cody
WWE Odessa, TX, live results: Orton teams with Nakamura
WWE Tokyo, Japan, live results (Friday): Sumo Hall hosts the Raw roster
AUDIO
WOL: New Japan Long Beach weekend, Slammiversary, more! 7/2
DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Marathon: Day two with Sempervive 7/2
WOR: Dave’s father, New Japan in Long Beach, more news 7/2
Classic Audio: Kevin Steen talks his career on the DKP in 2010 7/1
DragonKing Karl Classic Wrestling Marathon: Day one begins with Sempervive 7/1
WWE has a Smackdown brand house show in Hobbs, NM.
NEW JAPAN FROM THE LONG BEACH CONVENTION CENTER AT 8 P.M. ON NEW JAPAN WORLD
Semifinals & finals of the U.S. title tournament
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Billy Gunn for IC title
Young Bucks vs. Rocky Romero & Baretta for IWGP jr. tag titles
TNA SLAMMIVERSARY PPV AT 8 P.M. EASTERN FROM ORLANDO
Bobby Lashley (with King Mo) vs. Alberto El Patron (with Dos Caras) for the Impact & GFW titles
James Storm vs. Ethan Carter III in a strap match
LAX vs. Drago & El Hijo del Fantasma vs. Laredo Kid & Garza Jr. vs. Taiji Ishimori & Naomichi Marufuji for the Impact & GFW tag titles in a four-promotion match
Sonjay Dutt vs. Low Ki 2/3 falls for the X Division title
Jeremy Borash & Joseph Park vs. Josh Matthews & Scott Steiner to determine the lead announcer on Impact
Rosemary vs. Sienna for the Impact & GFW women’s title
Eddie & Alisha Edwards vs. Davey Richards & Angelina Love in a Full Metal Mayhem match
Moose & DeAngelo Williams (NFL star) vs. Chris Adonis & Eli Drake
Raw will be Monday in Phoenix. Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman will be on the show. There will also be a Monday night 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 [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: June 5, 2000 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Pillman Memorial show, potential shift in the pro wrestling landscape, more
The entire pro wrestling landscape is expected to change greatly over the next few weeks. But there would be no such thing as intelligent speculation on how it’s going to end up. There are basic points of change for all three major companies in the United States. WWF is attempting to move its television from USA Network to what would become a revamped TNN, with Sunday Night Heat moving to MTV.
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SUNDAY NEWS UPDATE
Thank you to everyone who has sent their condolences to Dave Meltzer on the passing of his father. Knowing how much Dave appreciates our readers, I’m positive that every message he receives is genuinely appreciated. It’s always been obvious how much his parents mean to him and how supportive they’ve been of him from even reading Dave or listening to him talk.
WWE
Donald Trump brought WWE into the news today by tweeting a video of him taking down and punching Vince McMahon at WrestleMania 23, but with the CNN logo in place of Vince’s head. He has taken to calling CNN the “Fraud News Network” in his never-ending feud with them.
Steve Austin attended last night’s NJPW G1 Special in Long Beach. Both Jim Ross and Kazuchika Okada posted a picture with Austin on Twitter after the event.
Matt Hardy indicated on Twitter that The Hardys’ legal battle with Anthem over the ownership of the “Broken Hardys” characters could be reaching a positive resolution soon: “A MASSIVE ‘Thanks’ to all the Wrestling Fans that backed #HouseHardy in the latest #GreatWar.. We are days away from winning. KEEP FIGHTING!”
WWE has added LED lights to Naomi’s SmackDown Women’s Championship.
After announcing Bianca Belair for the Mae Young Classic, WWE uploaded video of the match where she qualified for the tournament by beating Aliyah. Female referee Jessika (formerly Kennadi Brink on the indies) officiated the match, which may mean that she’ll be involved with the MYC. Vanessa Borne defeated Jayme Hachey in the other qualifier at the last NXT tapings.
Big E previewed Tuesday’s rap battle with The Usos by posting a rap against them on Twitter.
Pro Wrestling
Smith Hart passed away today after battling advanced prostate cancer. He was 68 years old and had entered hospice care last month. That bad news for the Hart family unfortunately came on Bret’s 60th birthday.
Matt Cappotelli provided an update (along with a picture of his scar after surgery) on his health after undergoing surgery after doctors had found that the brain tumor that he previously had has come back. Cappotelli wrote that doctors said that surgery was very successful and they’re waiting on tests to come back to decide the next course of action concerning the part of the tumor that’s inoperable.
NJPW is back in Long Beach tonight for the second of their G1 Special shows. While last night wasn’t at the level of the absolute best NJPW shows, I thought it was an enjoyable event that kind of was saved by how good the matches after intermission were. Kenny Omega vs. Michael Elgin was the best match on the show, Tomohiro Ishii vs. Tetsuya Naito was very good, and Kazuchika Okada vs. Cody Rhodes was better than expected. There were issues with production and commentary on AXS, but Jim Ross and Josh Barnett improved a bit later in the show when the multi-man tags were over and they were more familiar with who was in the ring.
Last night’s show is up on New Japan World for those who didn’t watch it on AXS and want to see it.
The finals of the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship tournament will almost certainly be Omega vs. Ishii or Zack Sabre Jr. Omega is facing Jay Lethal, who comes into the match with a storyline rib injury. Omega and Ishii have had two standout matches this year, but him against Sabre would be something different for this show. Cody potentially teased the continuation of his problems with Omega by posting a picture of a towel on Twitter today. Cody and Omega had a confrontation at a press conference last night.
In a tribute to Dave’s father, Nick Jackson tweeted that The Young Bucks are going to hit the “craziest Meltzer Driver ever” tonight in their match against Roppongi Vice.
Cody teased that the Bullet Club will have a “special surprise” planned for the show tonight.
The Miami Herald has an article about NJPW earning their first top spot on Twitter’s trending topics list last night. Mark Cuban, who is one of the owners of AXS TV, tweeted the story.
UFC/MMA
Dana White told Lance Pugmire of the LA Times that Cowboy Cerrone vs. Robbie Lawler has been moved to UFC 214 in Anaheim on July 29th. White called the card “ridiculous.” In addition to that fight, it will have the rematch between Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones for the light heavyweight title, Tyron Woodley defending his welterweight title against Demian Maia, and Cris Cyborg fighting Tonya Evinger for the vacant women’s featherweight title.
Conor McGregor’s coach reiterated that McGregor plans to return to the Octagon after fighting Floyd Mayweather.
Alistair Overeem said that he’s going to challenge Stipe Miocic after UFC 213.
Gabi Garcia will fight twice within 23 days in Japan.
Today in Pro Wrestling History: Roddy Piper wins Mid-Atlantic gold
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!
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