THE ROUND-UP
THE LATEST NEWS
NJPW reveals non-tournament schedule for 2018 G1 Climax
Broadcasting team announced for All In
Andrade ‘Cien’ Almas vs. Sin Cara set for WWE Extreme Rules kickoff
MLW TV taping spoilers: Two title matches, one title change
Io Shirai, three more confirmed for WWE Mae Young Classic
Impact Wrestling results: Austin Aries attacks DeAngelo Williams
Rey Mysterio returning to NJPW for final show of 2018 G1 Climax
THE LATEST AUDIO
FREE WOL! Brock’s next match, ROH at MSG, All Ego Ethan Page, more! 7/13
Wrestling Weekly: ROH-NJPW at MSG, ROH Dojo, JR and Takahashi 7/13
B&V&G: Granny, NXT, THURSDAY NIGHT POTPOURRI! 7/13
F4W NEWSLETTER: Figure Four Weekly: Brock Lesnar appears at UFC 226
Brock Lesnar made an in-person appearance and took part in his first pro wrestling angle since April this past Saturday night — it just wasn’t at a WWE show. While the Raw roster, with The Undertaker and Ronda Rousey as the special attractions, were at Madison Square Garden for a house show, Lesnar was at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas setting up his return to mixed martial arts.
WON NEWSLETTER: (July 16, 2018) Daniel Cormier/Brock Lesnar fallout from UFC 226
After 23 years of competing at the highest level in the world at two different sports, Daniel Cormier, just eight months before his 40th birthday and planned retirement, finally achieved his ultimate dream.
Cormier, saying he was fighting for legacy, became only the second simultaneous two division champion in UFC history, joining Conor McGregor. But his UFC heavyweight title win over Stipe Miocic on 7/7 in Las Vegas was far more than that.
Cormier went from a guy who said he finally achieved his “best-in-the-world” goal when he first won the light heavyweight title, only for his entire three year reign be marred by the fact he failed twice against Jon Jones, who the public saw as the real champion.
But not this time. Stipe Miocic was the real champion, with no debate attached. He overwhelmed Francis Ngannou and stopped Mark Hunt, Andrei Arlovski, Fabricio Werdum, Alistair Overeem and Junior Dos Santos, basically everyone in the division of any note except the frequently injured Cain Velasquez.
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FRIDAY NEWS UPDATE
WWE
Morgan Stanley upgraded its price target for WWE stock to $100 per share. Benjamin Swinburne of Morgan Stanley wrote to clients: “WWE may be the strongest example of the rapid appreciation in content ‘value’ in the public markets. By securing a 3.6x multiple in its new five-year agreements with NBC/FOX relative to its prior five-year broadcast agreement with NBC, WWE gains a massive increase in earnings power, with visibility into the revenue associated with these new rights extremely high.” CNBC noted that this is the highest target among the 12 analysts who cover WWE.
WWE stock closed at $76.90 today, up a bit over three percent from yesterday.
A new episode of Table for Three with Bruce Prichard, Eric Bischoff, and JBL will air on the WWE Network after Monday’s Raw.
The Bakersfield Police Department told Pro Wrestling Sheet that the police dog that bit Shinsuke Nakamura continued to work through their internal investigation and won’t be removed from the force.
WWE.com has a feature on Performance Center coaches Matt Bloom, Sara Amato, Shawn Michaels, Norman Smiley, Terry Taylor, Robbie Brookside, Steve Corino, Serena Deeb, Scott Garland (Scotty 2 Hotty), and Johnny Moss.
Former NFL tight end Dorin Dickerson spoke to Yahoo Sports about attending the most recent round of WWE tryouts and the passion that his late mother had for pro wrestling.
On Busted Open Radio, Elias challenged The Rock to take part in a segment with him.
Today is the two-year anniversary of the first episode of the Cruiserweight Classic airing on the WWE Network. Sasha Banks, Charlotte Flair, and Becky Lynch also debuted on the main roster on this day in 2015.
Natalya wrote a column for the Calgary Sun about Renee Young being a role model for women outside of the ring.
Pro Wrestling
The G1 Climax begins at Ota Ward Gymnasium in Tokyo overnight/tomorrow morning as the first A Block show starts at 5:30 a.m. Eastern time. Kazuchika Okada faces Chaos stablemate Jay White in the main event, with Hiroshi Tanahashi taking on Minoru Suzuki in the semi-main. Okada losing to begin the tournament and continuing the storyline that he’s been in a funk since losing the IWGP Heavyweight Championship would seem like a possibility. Michael Elgin vs. EVIL, Bad Luck Fale vs. Hangman Page, and Togi Makabe vs. YOSHI-HASHI are the other tournament matches. Here’s the full card:
Kazuchika Okada vs. Jay White
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Minoru Suzuki
Michael Elgin vs. EVIL
Bad Luck Fale vs. Hangman Page
Togi Makabe vs. YOSHI-HASHI
Kenny Omega & Chase Owens vs. Tetsuya Naito & SANADA
Kota Ibushi & Yujiro Takahashi vs. Zack Sabre Jr. & Taka Michinoku
Juice Robinson & David Finlay vs. Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa
Tomohiro Ishii & Sho vs. Toru Yano & Yoh
Hirooki Goto & Jado vs. Toa Henare & Ren Narita
The annual pre-G1 Climax press conference took place last night, with Okada sporting a slightly different look after dying his hair red.
In an interview with the New York Post about ROH and NJPW’s G1 Supercard at Madison Square Garden next April, ROH COO Joe Koff spoke about their date at the venue originally falling through: “I think that’s a question better asked of Madison Square Garden because we were very aggressive in wanting that date and we thought we had that date, but we did what we had to do as a business. [MSG] did what they had to do as a business and I guess all of a sudden there was a phone call and we were able to work it out. …That’s probably their story to tell because they made the call [to us] and said let’s get on the phone and see if we can work this out. They wanted us. They knew that we would be good promotion. I think they were just looking for a satisfactory outcome for all parties.”
WWE was also quoted in the New York Post’s story as saying that “MSG is, of course, free to work with ROH however they want.”
ROH announced Flip Gordon as the final entrant in their United Kingdom vs. United States International Cup tournament that will take place next month. Gordon joins Jimmy Havoc, Joe Hendry, Mark Haskins, Kip Sabian, Jonathan Gresham, Christopher Daniels, and Hangman Page in the tournament. Gordon will face Sabian in the first round, which is taking place in Edinburgh on August 16. The semifinals and finals will be in Doncaster on August 18, with the winner challenging for the ROH World Championship in London on August 19.
Chardonnay will be returning to Women of Honor at the shows in Edinburgh and Doncaster.
Madison Rayne will challenge for Women of Honor Champion Sumie Sakai’s title at ROH’s show at Center Stage in Atlanta, Georgia on July 21.
After being announced for Saturday, October 13, ROH Glory by Honor 2018 will instead take place on October 12. The show will be held at the UMBC Event Center in Baltimore, Maryland.
With last night’s episode averaging 284,000 viewers, Impact was back below 300,000 this week despite hyping up a return appearance by former NFL running back DeAngelo Williams. The show posted a 0.08 rating in the 18-49 demo, which was up from last week’s 0.07. Last week’s episode drew 304,000 viewers.
Impact has officially announced Santana & Ortiz vs. Homicide & Hernandez in a 5150 street fight and Tessa Blanchard vs. Allie for Slammiversary XVI, which will be held in Toronto on July 22.
Ahead of him wrestling in his first G1 Climax, ESPN.com has an article on the success Hangman Page has found in pro wrestling. Cody praised him in an interview: “Adam Page is making a run, unbeknownst to us all, he’s making a run for best wrestler in the world long before he should be. He’s got Kenny Omega right there by him to help him along. He’s got Matt and Nick to help him along. He has me. He has Marty. He’s a sponge to all of that, and then he’s a sponge to the wrestling he grew up on.”
Uproxx has an interview with Juice Robinson from before he won the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship at last week’s G1 Special.
While speaking with the Sporting News, Kevin Kelly discussed what it was like to call Okada vs. Omega at Dominion.
Jimmy Havoc tweeted a photo from the hospital last night, where he received stitches after having his arm cut open in an anything goes match against Tom Lawlor at MLW’s TV tapings in Orlando.
Following his MLW World Heavyweight Championship win, Low Ki will defend it against John Hennigan at MLW’s Battle Riot event in Queens, New York on July 19.
Kotto Brazil vs. Myron Reed has also been added to the lineup for the Battle Riot show.
The Orlando Sentinel has a story on Colonel Rob Parker returning to managing for MLW after 20 years away from pro wrestling.
UFC/MMA
Cris Cyborg has opened as a three-to-one favorite over Amanda Nunes in their potential matchup.
Nick Diaz called out Daniel Cormier on Instagram, writing that he started doing MMA because it wasn’t WWF and that he’s constantly embarrassed for Cormier and the sport. He wrote that Dana White should give him a fight against Cormier instead of Brock Lesnar’s “cheating ass” getting it.
After Cormier mentioned him as a potential challenger, Shogun Rua said he thinks he deserves a shot at the light heavyweight title if he defeats Anthony Smith at UFC’s Fight Night show in Hamburg, Germany later this month.
Mickey Gall will face George Sullivan at UFC Fight Night in Lincoln, Nebraska on August 25.
Ariel Helwani tweeted that Demian Maia’s team is interested in Maia facing Michael Chiesa when Chiesa moves up to welterweight.
Daily Professional Wrestling History: WCW Bash at the Beach 1997
12th Annual F4W Empire Vegas Convention
Greetings friends and fans of the F4W / Wrestling Observer website. It’s time to announce the details of the 12th annual F4W / Wrestling Observer Empire Las Vegas Convention~!
This year’s event will be taking place in Las Vegas from August 16th to the 20th and will again be in conjunction with WWE’s SummerSlam weekend a.k.a. Super China Buffet Day~! There will still be the usual events, but our big draw will be WWE’s summer blockbuster PPV, SummerSlam. As per tradition, we will all gorge ourselves at a Las Vegas buffet, and then watch SummerSlam in a rented out movie theater. All information and ticketing prices are available now. Sign up ASAP as spots are limited for some events.
This year will also feature a Future Stars Wrestling show which will include the first ever Gladys Gibson Doubles Match Classic! Already booked for the show are the teams Mia Yim & Leva Bates, Shotzi Blackheart & ???, Samantha Heights & Brittany Blake, and Miranda Alize & Kylie Rae. Also appearing will be Kris Wolf along with many more future stars. There may even be a classic star or two making an appearance. You won’t want to miss this show! Check out the convention’s Facebook page for all additional information.
CONTACT INFORMATION
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