Ryback Done
Ryan Reeves’ (Ryback) contract with WWE expires on Monday and he wished them well on their future endeavors. Months ago, Reeves and Vince McMahon in negotiations it was made clear for a number of reasons that they weren’t going to be able to come to terms, so McMahon decided to no longer use him and allow his contract to expire. Reeves is looking for bookings at [email protected]. He’s also going to do a nutritional supplement line and a motivational book among other projects. He’s going to be publicly starting on everything this week.
The Dan Severn interview that we talked about in yesterday’s update will be on the site today.
If you have any trouble accessing member content this should be helpful
The Round-Up:
Conor McGregor slams professional wrestlers, praises the McMahons and The Rock
Jack Gallagher opens up on his road to the WWE Cruiserweight Classic
Cris Cyborg to headline UFC show for the first time
Dragon Lee to make ROH debut
NXT & CWC video highlights: Itami returns, Roode debuts, Gargano and Ciampa face off
We’re looking for reports on tonight’s NXT show in Pensacola, FL to [email protected].
We’ll be doing a poll this weekend on the G-1 Climax show in Osaka at the Edion Arena which starts at 4 a.m. tomorrow morning Eastern and 1 a.m. tonight Pacific time with thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected].
NEW JAPAN WORLD PRO WRESTLING RETURNS THREE HOUR SHOW STARTING AT 9 P.M. EASTERN TIME ON AXS TV
Togi Makabe vs. Tomohiro Ishii for Never Open weight title
Kazushi Sakuraba & Shinsuke Nakamura & Toru Yano vs. Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows & Bad Luck Fale
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tetsuya Naito for the Tokyo Dome title shot
Kenny Omega vs. Matt Sydal for IWGP jr. title
A.J. Styles vs. Kazuchika Okada for IWGP heavyweight title
TONIGHT’S G-1 CLIMAX SHOW AT 4 A.M. EASTERN TIME FROM OSAKA EDION ARENA ON NEW JAPAN WORLD
Tiger Mask & Jushin Liger vs. Captain New Japan & Ryusuke Taguchi
Satoshi Kojima & Kushida & Juice Robinson vs. Tetsuya Naito & Evil & Bushi
Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi vs. Kenny Omega & Yujiro Takahashi
Michael Elgin & Katsuyori Shibata & David Finlay & Tomoaki Honma vs. Toru Yano & Yoshi-Hashi & Gedo & Katsuhiko Nakajima
Seiya Sanada vs Tama Tonga
Togi Makabe vs. Bad Luck Fale
Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Hirooki Goto
Kazuchika Okada vs Tomohiro Ishii
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Naomichi Marufuji
The last two matches should be something.
We’re looking for reports on Saturday from the WWE house show in Stockton (Dean Ambrose vs. A.J. Styles for WWE title, Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins, Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt, New Day vs. Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson for tag team title, The Miz vs. Darren Young for IC title, Sami Zayn vs. Alberto Del Rio, Cesaro vs. Sheamus) and the NXT shows in New Orleans and Largo, FL to [email protected].
UFC ON SATURDAY FROM SALT LAKE CITY
Fight Pass at 7 p.m. Eastern time
Chase Sherman (8-1) vs. Justin Ledet (6-0)
Tatsuya Kawajiri (35-9-2) vs. Cub Swanson (22-7)
FS 1 at 8 p.m. Eastern time
Horacio Gutierrez (2-2) vs. Teruto Ishihara (6-1-1)
Jason Ovelli (11-1-1) vs. David Teymur (4-1)
Viktor Pesta (10-2) vs. Marcin Tybura (13-2)
Court McGee (17-5) vs. Dominique Steele (14-7)
Maryna Moroz (7-1) vs. Danielle Taylor (7-1)
Joseph Gigliotti (7-0) vs. Trevor Smith (13-6)
Zak Cummings (19-4) vs Santiago Ponzinibbio (22-3)
Chris Camozzi (24-10) vs. Thales Leites (25-6)
Dennis Bermudez (15-5) vs. Rony Jason (14-5)
Yair Rodriguez (8-1) vs. Alex Caceras (12-8)
G-1 CLIMAX AT 3 A.M. EASTERN TIME (midnight Pacific time) LATE SATURDAY / EARLY SUNDAY FROM ACT CITY HAMAMATSU ON NEW JAPAN WORLD
Kushida & Ryusuke Taguchi & David Finlay vs. Jushin Liger & Tiger Mask & Captain New Japan
Tomohiro Ishii & Hirooki Goto vs. Seiya Sanada & Bushi
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Togi Makabe & Juice Robinson vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima & Manabu Nakanishi
Kazuchika Okada & Gedo & Naomichi Marufuji vs. Bad Luck Fale & Tama Tonga & Yujiro Takahashi
Michael Elgin vs. Toru Yano
Katsuyori Shibata vs. Yoshi-Hashi
Tomoaki Honma vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima
Yuji Nagata vs. Kenny Omega
Tetsuya Naito vs. Evil
Sunday has a WWE house show in Fresno (Dean Ambrose vs. A.J. Style for WWE title, Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins, Randy Orton vs Bray Wyatt, New Day vs. Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson for tag titles, The Miz vs. Darren Young for IC title, Sami Zayn vs. Alberto Del Rio, Cesaro vs. Sheamus).
G-1 CLIMAX AT 5:30 A.M. EASTERN TIME MONDAY FROM THE YOKOHAMA CULTURAL GYM
David Finlay vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima
Satoshi Kojima & Captain New Japan vs. Kenny Omega & Yujiro Takahashi
Toru Yano & Yoshi-Hashi & Gedo vs. Tetsuya Naito & Evil & Bushi
Katsuyori Shibata & Michael Elgin & Kushida & Ryusuke Taguchi & Juice Robinson vs. Yuji Nagata & Tomoaki Honma & Manabu Nakanishi & Jushin Liger & Tiger Mask
Naomichi Marufuji vs. Tama Tonga
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Seiya Sanada
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan
Kazuchika Okada vs. Bad Luck Fale
Togi Makabe vs. Hirooki Goto
Monday has WWE Raw from the Honda Center in Anaheim. No Brock Lesnar or Paul Heyman scheduled on the show. Daniel Bryan will be appearing on the show.
Tuesday has Smackdown in Bakersfield. Neither John Cena nor A.J. Styles are scheduled for this show because they leaving Monday night after Raw for a house show in Auckland, New Zealand, starting a four-show Australia & New Zealand tour. Rhyno vs. Heath Slater is scheduled for this show.
G-1 CLIMAX AT 5:30 A.M. EASTERN TIME ON WEDNESDAY FROM THE YAMAGATA SPORTS CENTER
Ryusuke Taguchi vs. David Finlay
Satoshi Kojima & Manabu Nakanishi & Juice Robinson vs. Bad Luck Fale & Tama Tonga & Yujiro Takahashi
Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Captain New Japan vs. Bushi & Seiya Sanada
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Togi Makabe & Kushida & Jushin Liger & Tiger Mask vs. Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii & Hirooki Goto & Gedo & Naomichi Marufuji
Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. Kenny Omega
Toru Yano vs. Evil
Yoshi-Hashi vs. Tetsuya Naito
Katsuyori Shibata vs. Yuji Nagata
Tomoaki Honma vs. Michael Elgin
Figure Four Weekly: Figure Four Weekly 8/3/2016: Latest developments in wrestling related lawsuits – If it wasn’t clear before that the Hulk Hogan vs. Gawker lawsuit is a whole lot bigger than Hulk Hogan or even Gawker, the events of the last few weeks have made it more obvious than ever before. Of course, the revelation two months ago that billionaire Peter Thiel had been funding Hogan’s lawsuit (and others against Gawker) was a game changer, but the effects of Thiel’s influence weren’t as obvious… Subscribers click here to continue reading.
F4W YouTube Page: Tons of clips and full free audio shows that you can tell your friends about, and much more to come! Make sure you subscribe today!
Wrestling Observer Newsletter: August 8, 2016 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: WWE financial report, MMA rules change, UFC 201 – There really wasn’t a lot of big news coming out of the second quarter WWE conference call.
Even though the idea of barely making a profit in the quarter of WrestleMania would have been disastrous most years, this year it was stated well in advance that due to the time frame of programming costs, this quarter would probably break even.
WWE pushed that it was the most revenue ever generated in a quarter, but with the fallout of WrestleMania and the new free subscribers from the prior quarter, that was inevitable. Some of them stayed with the service, some may have forgotten to cancel the service, and there are also the contractual increases in television revenue. Plus there was the Mania event revenue… Subscribers click here to continue reading.
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].
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Wrestling Observer Newsletter BACK ISSUE: June 28, 1999 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Reaction to WWF contracted Sable appearing on WCW TV, more on Hart/WWF lawsuit – After a week, it is even less clear what WCW hoped to accomplish when putting Rena Mero on Nitro on 6/14… Subscribers click here to continue reading.
FRIDAY NEWS UPDATE
Sasha Banks and her longtime boyfriend Sarath Ton, who wrestles as Kid Mikaze were married last night. Congrats to the couple.
There are a killer series of matches on the three-hour edition of World Pro Wrestling returns on AXS TV since there is no MMA show. This will also help them get closer to “real time” with the shows.
The Friday night Arena Mexico show will not be airing tonight on Claro Sports due to the Olympics. It won’t return until 8/26.
Melvin Guillard tested positive for a non-PED in his recent fight in Mulvane, KS for Bellator. The Kansas commission has suspended him for one year and fined him $10,000.
WWE
Raw on Monday night is not sold out, but it is expected to either be sold out or come close. Daniel Bryan will be appearing on the show as a special guest of Mick Foley.
The weekend house shows will again have both Raw & Smackdown talent, as will the house shows during the week in Australia and New Zealand.
Tommy Dreamer confirmed he was offered a WWE contract and was at one point scheduled to be involved as a secret person drafted, but said he’s got commitments to his own company (they didn’t want him continuing the promotion) so couldn’t sign the deal. He did say he was open to do dates with the company, but not sign a regular deal. He was on the Busted Open show this week and said he’s not sure if it’s the right decision, but he doesn’t want to give up on his dream to run a company.
The animated Disney movie “Moana” which stars The Rock as the voice of one of the leads will be sneak previewed Sunday night during the coverage of the Olympics on NBC.
Loot Crate, a fan-based commerce and community platform and WWE announced WWE Slam Crate, a bimonthly mystery subscription to deliver products. Each crate will contain WWE apparel and other WWE collectibles that can’t be found anywhere else. The first month’s theme will be “The First” to celebrate various firsts in WWE history.
Here is a story on Chad Gable from the last Olympics to WWE.
Here is a story on Kevin Owens as the next big WWE star.
UFC/MMA
Not quite official as of right now, Bisping has publicly stated the date and place for his middleweight title fight against vs. Dan Henderson as the main event of UFC 204 on 10/8 in Manchester, England.
Four more fights were announced today for the Sept 24th show from Brazil, headlined by Cris Cyborg. Shinsho Anzai (9-2) goes up against Luan Chagas (14-1-1) in a welterweight bout. In another 170 lb fight Vicente Luque (9-5-1) takes on Hector Urbina (17-9-1). Michel Prazeres (20-2), who just won a fight a couple weeks back, will fight fellow lightweight Gilbert Burns (11-1) in a key lightweight bout and in another 155 lb clash, unbeaten Gregor Gillespie (7-0) will make his UFC debut against another unbeaten fighter in Joaquim Silva (9-0).
Ian McCall (13-5-1), who had his UFC 201 fight scrapped at the last minute, will now face Ray Borg (9-2) in a flyweight fight at UFC 203.
Combate Americas on 8/11 will air live on UFC Fight Pass with a ten fight show at The Exchange in Los Angeles. John Castaneda (10-2) vs. Angel Cruz (5-2) in a featherweight bout is the main event while former UFC fighter Danny Martinez will face Benjamin Vinson in a flyweight bout. A fight scheduled with former UFC fighter Lisa Ellis vs. Kyra Batara is out due to a hamstring injury suffered by Batara.
There will also be a Titan Fighting championships show on Fight Pass tonight at 7 p.m. Eastern time headlined by Gesias Cavalcante vs. Freddy Assuncao for the lightweight title from the BankUnited Center in Coral Gables, FL.
One champions Shinya Aoki and Angela Lee along with BJJ standout Michelle Nicolini will all be competing in a grappling tournament promoted by the ONE promotion on 8/13 in Macao, China between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. that will take place before the Heroes of the World iPPV show at the The Venetian Macao’s Cotai Arena. Nicolini is a member of the IBJJF Hall of Fame. There will be $50,000 in cash prizes in the grappling tournament which will have a beginners, advanced and elite division with men above and below 165 pounds and women above and below 143 pounds. the elite division winners will get $5,000 with $1,500 for second place and $800 for third place. There are also prizes in the other divisions.
MISCELLANEOUS
House of Hardcore debuts tomorow night in Pasadena, TX at the Convention Center with a convention in the afternoon and a show that night. The card features Tommy Dreamer & Mickie James vs. Pepper Parks & Cherry Bomb in a Texas death match, Lance Hoyt vs. Billy Gunn, plus Tony Nese Moose, Carlito, Thea Trinidad and non-wrestling appearances by Vickie Guerrero, Sandman, MVP, Booker T, Brother Love, One Man Gang, Luke Hawx and more. For convention into and ticket details go here.
NWX on 8/21 in St. Catharines, ONT at 20 Hartzel Rd.
Smash Wrestling on 9/16 in Oshawa, ONT and 9/17 and 9/18 in Toronto with Mark Andrews, El Ligero, The London Riots, Zack Sabre Jr. and Tyson Dux. Cody Rhodes will appear for the group on 10/23 against Dux.
Tracy Williams & Fred Yehi vs. Jigsaw & Peter Kaasa has been added to the 8/19 Evolve show at the MCW Arena in Joppa, MD. The show is headlined by Timothy Thatcher vs. Matt Riddle plus Cody Rhodes vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
NWA Mid South Wrestling on 9/3 in Dyresburg, TN at the Herb Welch Wrestle Plex with Matt Riviera vs. Bobby Fulton plus National champion Greg Anthony vs IWGP IC champion Michael Elgin in a double title match.
TODAY IN PRO WRESTLING HISTORY (8/5): Rock & Roll Express win SMW Tag Titles
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