Category: Daily Updates

UFC 199: Rockhold vs Bisping

The experiment with earlier weigh-ins went well from a fighter perspective today.  Just about everyone weighed in before Noon so the weigh-ins at 7 p.m. Eastern time on television are just for show.  The fighters were, as a rule, far happier, to the point almost everyone wants the early weigh-in rule to stay in place going forward. 

The odds tumbled down for Luke Rockhold when word got out he suffered a torn MCL early in camp and has done no grappling training. 

These are the odds from 5Dimes

Luke Rockhold -660

Michael Bisping +540

Dominick Cruz -430

Urijah Faber +380

Max Holloway -310

Ricardo Lamas +280

Hector Lombard -400

Dan Henderson +355

Dustin Poirier -192

Bobby Green +177

Rockhold was a pretty consistent -1100 favorite two days ago.  Cruz was -500 to -600, so his odds have closed slightly as well.

We’re looking for live reports on these shows tonight to newstips@wrestlingobserver.com

*WWE in Odessa, TX (Roman Reigns, A.J. Styles, Seth Rollins, Alberto De Rio, Charlotte, Rusev, Usos, Kalisto, Dolph Ziggler, Cesaro, Baron Corbin)

*NXT in Nashville

*NXT in Crystal River, FL

*ROH in Collinsville, IL (Jay Briscoe & War Machine vs. Jay Lethal & Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian, Adam Cole vs. Kamaitachi, Roderick Strong vs. Silas Young vs. Stevie Richards vs. Moose) 

NEW JAPAN WORLD FRIDAY NIGHT ON AXS TV AT 8  P.M. FOR A TWO HOUR G-1 SPECIAL

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Tetsuya Naito

A.J. Styles vs. Kota Ibushi

Katsuyori Shibata vs. Togi Makabe

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Tomohiro Ishii

Michael Elgin vs. Tomoaki Honma

Yuji Nagata vs. Karl Anderson

LUCHA LIBRE WORLD CLUB FRIDAY NIGHT FROM PUEBLA ON IPPV AT www.Internetvluchalibreworldcup.tv

CMLL FROM ARENA MEXICO AT 9:30 P.M. EASTERN TIME AT www.clarosportscom/en-vivo02/

Shockercito & Ultimo Dragoncito vs. Pequeno Olimpico & Pequeno Violencia

Fuego & Pegasso & Triton vs. Fujin & Raijin (Sho Tanaka & Yohei Komatsu & Okumura

Estrellita & Marcela & Princesa Sugei vs. Amapola & Dallys & Zeuxis

Rey Cometa & Stuka Jr. & Titan vs. Cavernario & Felino & Mr Niebla

La Mascara vs. Pierroth

Atlantis & Marco Corleone & Valiente vs. Negro Casas & Shocker & Ultimo Guerrero

RESURRECTION FIGHTING ALLIANCE TONIGHT FROM COSTA MESA, CA AT 10 P.M. EASTERN ON AXS

Jason Gonzalez (155.8) vs. Chris Padilla (154)

Mario Israel (135.8) vs. Albert Morales (134.6)

Nick Barnes (169.4) vs. Jose Diaz (169.4)

Karen Darabedyan (155.2) vs. Christos Giagos (154.8)

Vinicius Zani (135.4) vs. Joe Murphy (137.2)

Jamall Emmers (154.8) vs. Thiago Moises (155) for the lightweight title

Saturday night we’re looking for reports from:

*WWE in Lubbock, TX (Roman Reigns, A.J. Styles, Seth Rollins, Alberto Del Rio, Charlotte, Rusev, Usos, Kalisto, Dolph Ziggler, Baron Corbin, Cesaro)

*WWE in Tulsa (Kane, Big Show, Dean Ambrose, Kevin Owens, Paige, Enzo, Cass, Dudleys, Apollo Crews, Sheamus, New Day, Erick Rowan, Braun Strowman)

*NXT in Atlanta at Center Stage

*NXT in Fort Pierce, FL.

*ROH in Indianapolis at the Harvest Pavilion (Adam Cole & Adam Page vs. Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley, Jay Lethal vs. Mark Briscoe non-title, Moose vs. Jay Briscoe, Roderick Strong vs. Kamaitachi vs. Jason Kincaid vs. ACH vs. Lio Rush vs. Will Ferrara)

UFC 199 SATURDAY FROM THE FORUM IN LOS ANGELES

Fight Pass at 6:15 p.m.

Maestro Dong Hyun Kim vs. Polo Reyes

Kevin Casey vs. Elvis Mutapcic

Luiz Henrique da Silva vs. Jonathan Wilson

Tom Breese vs. Sean Strickland

FS 1 at 8 p.m.

Jessica Andrade vs. Jessica Penne

Beneil Dariush vs. James Vick

Clay Guida vs. Brian Ortega

Alex Caceres vs Cole Miller

PPV at 10 p.m.

Dustin Poirier vs. Bobby Green

Dan Henderson vs. Hector Lombard

Max Holloway vs. Ricardo Lamas

Dominick Cruz vs. Urijah Faber for bantamweight title

Luke Rockhold vs. Michael Bisping for middleweight title

NEW JAPAN WORLD SUNDAY AT 3 A.M. EASTERN TIME FROM GUNMA

Ryusuke Taguchi & Jay White vs. Yoshi-Hashi & Rocky Romero

Yuji Nagata & Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Manabu Nakanishi & David Finlay & Kyle O’Reilly vs. Katsuyori Shibata & Kushida & Juice Robinson & Captain New Japan & Matt Sydal

Tiger Mask vs. Trent Baretta

Will Ospreay vs. Jushin Liger

Bobby Fish vs. Chase Owens

Ricochet vs. Volador Jr.

Satoshi Kojima & Michael Elgin & Yoshitatsu vs. Kenny Omega & Bad Luck Fale & Yujiro Takahashi

Kazuchika Okada & Hirooki Goto & Tomohiro Ishii & Gedo vs. Tetsuya Naito & Evil & Seiya Sanada & Bushi

LUCHA LIBRE WORLD CUP SUNDAY FROM PALACIO DE LOS DEPORTES IN MEXICO CITY ON IPPV AT www.internetvluchalibreworld.cup.tv

Sunday we’re looking for reports from:

*WWE in Amarillo (Roman Reigns, A.J. Styles, Seth Rollins, Alberto Del Rio, Charlotte, Rusev, Usos, Kalisto, Dolph Ziggler, Baron Corbin, Cesaro)

*WWE in Lawton, OK (Kane, Big Show, Dean Ambrose, Kevin Owens, Paige, Enzo, Cass, Dudleys, Apollo, Crews, Sheamus, New Day, Erick Rowan, Braun Strowman)

*ROH in Columbus, OH at the Ohio Expo Building (Jay Briscoe vs. Roderick Strong, Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian defend the tag title against War Machine, Adam Cole vs. Lio Rush, Dalton Castle vs. Kamaitachi) 

NEW JAPAN WORLD MONDAY AT 5:30 A.M. EASTERN TIME FROM SENDAI (English language commentary)

Kazuchika Okada & Hirooki Goto & Yoshi-Hashi vs. Tetsuya Naito & Seiya Sanada & Evil

Volador Jr. vs. Will Ospreay

Ricochet vs. Chase Owens

Bobby Fish vs. Tiger Mask

Jushin Liger vs. Trent Baretta

Matt Sydal vs. David Finlay

Kyle O’Reilly vs. Rocky Romero

Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Gedo

Kushida vs. Bushi

Raw will be Monday in Oklahoma City.  John Cena, Seth Rollins and Chris Jericho are all booked on the show along with the usual regulars.

NEW JAPAN WORLD TUESDAY AT 5:30 A.M. EASTERN TIME FROM SENDAI (English language commentary)

Best of the Super Juniors championship match

NXT TAKEOVER THE END ON WEDNESDAY AT 8 P.M. FROM FULL SAIL UNIVERSITY IN WINTER PARK, FL

Andrade Cien Almas vs. Tye Dillinger

Asuka vs. Nia Jax for women’s title

Jason Jordan & Chad Gable vs. Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder for tag titles

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Austin Aries

Samoa Joe vs. Finn Balor cage match for the NXT title

Smackdown and Main Event will be taped on Tuesday in Wichita.  John Cena is not scheduled but Seth Rollins and Chris Jericho are scheduled.

THE ROUND-UP

• Dana White: No Rousey on MSG show, McGregor vs. Diaz rematch might not happen
• TUF 23 recap: Party bus, Boyz II Men reference & a fight

If you’ve ever wanted to WATCH our radio shows here on the site, check out our Youtube page! No full video shows, but lots of video clips, full free audio shows that you can tell your friends about, and much more to come! Make sure you subscribe today!

Figure Four Weekly 5/30/2016: Big Vito’s deposition – If you thought Evan Singleton’s deposition went badly for the plaintiffs in the WWE concussion lawsuit, then that appears to be nothing compared to what happened a week later during Vito LoGrasso’s deposition on May 18th. Given the back and forth over LoGrasso claiming that head injuries caused partial deafness when, in the past, he had spoken of having a hearing impairment since birth, the deposition promised to be interesting. It over-delivered.

Wrestling Observer Newsletter

READ IT HERE: June 6, 2016 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: More details on WWE brand split, Jimmy Snuka found incompetent, more

A huge double issue of the Observer is out this week, including the real catalyst behind the WWE brand split, a breakdown of the roster, justice denied again in the Jimmy Snuka case, Ricochet vs. Will Ospreay and the Super Juniors tournament plus a full rundown, the story behind Bill Goldberg and the WWE video game and the Brock Lesnar tease, famous boxer vs. pro wrestler fights, WWE schedule and injury rates, business rundowns from the past two months for WWE & TNA, updates on cable stations that carry wrestling and MMA, and one of the greatest territorial business runs in history in the life and career of Cowboy Frankie Laine.

Our lead story looks at the WWE brand split, why it happened, what is known that isn’t a secret, ads out post brand split, plans for the split two months ago and what the ad department was told then, what different arenas have been told this week, thoughts behind decisions having too be made, plus a roster rundown on what positions WWE is strong and weak in, and where NXT talent should fit in and who is ready, or who can fill a slot.

There is also an update on the Jimmy Snuka situation, with a realistic view if there will be a trial and what the time frame is and what happens next.

This issue also looks at the Will Ospreay vs. Ricochet match, Vader’s reaction, Super Juniors standings and rundowns of the shows plus looking at where things are going.

Updates on Money in the Bank, stars returning to television soon, how the NBA & NHL playoffs coincide with wrestling the next two weeks, an update on NXT, lots of WWE performers off TV for the next several weeks, notes from lawsuit depositions that are eye opening, Cena getting a gigantic endorsement deal, Rollins return news, injury updates, lots of Dwayne Johnson news, WrestleMania in the future notes, notes on how little talent gets told in advance about things, who watches what on WWE network, plus we’ve got rundowns of every WWE & NXT events over the past week and business notes on the shows, all included in in this issue.

CLICK HERE FOR A FULL PREVIEW.

Current subscribers click here to continue reading.

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If you are a new subscriber ordering 24 or more issues, you can get one free classic issue of your choice sent to you today.  With a 40-issue subscription, you can get two free classic issues. 

Check out the latest online Wrestling Observer BACK ISSUE: April 26, 1999 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Davy Boy Smith recovering in the hospital, UFC to be sanctioned by Nevada State Athletic Commission, more. This past week has seen Davey Boy Smith, going stir crazy in a Calgary Hospital, attempt to start battling back after the worst year in his life.

FRIDAY NEWS UPDATE

The AAA World Cup debuts on iPPV tonight

The first round matches are tonight and the semifinals and finals of the men’s division are Sunday and finals of the women’s divsion are Sunday.

Men’s teams:

• Team NOAH:  Taiji Ishimori & Naomichi Marufuji & Maybach Taniguchi
• Team Ouduo/Zero One:  Akebono & Masato Tanaka & Ikuto Hidaka
• Team AAA:  Pentagon Jr. & El Texano Jr. & Psycho Clown
• Team Lucha Underground Mexico:  Rey Mysterio Jr. & Dragon Azteca Jr. & Dr. Wagner Jr.
• Team Lucha Underground U.S:  Johnny Mundo & Brian Cage & Chavo Guerrero Jr.
• Team TNA:  Ethan Carter III & Tyrus & Eli Drake
• Team International:  Mil Muertes & Apolo & Rockstar Spud

Women’s teams:

• Team Japan Wave & Oz Academy:  Aja Kong & Yuki Miyazaki & Natsu Sumire
• Team Mexico:  Lady Apache & Fabi Apache & Mari Apache
• Team U.S:  Santana Garrett & Cheerleader Melissa & Sienna
• Team Canada:  Taya & Allie & K.C. Spinelli

Josh Matthews is in Puebla right now so he will be the lead announcer on the English broadcast.  Weird when they already have Chris Cruise as the English language voice of AAA, not to mention Mike Tenay available. 

So here’ the crazy thing about the show.  I have received all kinds of promotional material and nowhere does it say the starting time.  We were told it starts at 8:30 p.m. Eastern time tonight.

A funny part of the promotion is how little the competitors were briefed.  Rey Mysterio Jr. didn’t do the media day yesterday and the media was most interested in him.  Tyrus was said to have hid in he back.  Psycho Clown talked about looking forward to facing Takayama, except Takayama (who was in the World Cup last year) isn’t even in the tournament.  The Team Mexico women said that the three Japanese women were real fighters while saying that the U.S. and Canadian teams were pretty girls.

WWE

• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles:  Out of the Shadows, which features Sheamus, as well as Stephen Amell, debuts at the theaters tonight. 
• Scott Garland (Scotty 2 Hotty) was helping train the wrestlers this week at the Performance  Center.
• Karl Anderson talks wanting to face Randy Orton
• Brian Fritz talks to Dolph Ziggler about Swerved Season 2 which premieres Monday after Raw on the WWE Network, who is the worst WWE talent at taking a joke, the upcoming brand split and how the current era compares to others in WWE history. 
• You can also listen to the interview on the Between The Ropes podcast

UFC

• The latest from UFC 199, with what happened at the press conference, Luke Rockhold and Dominick Cruz promoting their fights and more
• Esquire Magazine has a story on Nate Diaz
• The Fight Pass schedule for the next few weeks for live events:
  6/4 EFN headlined by Ilja Skondric vs. Alexey Stoyan from Russia
  6/4 Prelims before UFC 1999
  6/4 Cage Warriors from England with Jack Marshman vs. Ali Arish 
  6/10 Titan Fighting Championships headlined by J.Z. Cavalcante vs. Pat Healy
  6/11 Pancrase from Japan headlined by Hatsu Hioki vs. Yojiro Uchimura
  6/17 Brace MMA with Kieran Joblin vs Greg Atzori
  6/19 Vale Tudo Japan
  6/24 Victory FC with two title fights
  6/24 Glory 31 with Zack Mwekassa vs. Mourad Bouzidi

MISCELLANEOUS

• Jim Ross will be broadcasting boxing on Saturday night on CBS Sports Network from Cancun, Mexico.
• Northeast indie wrestler Cam Zingami talks the American Grit TV show he’s been on and John Cena
• The German Wrestling League debuts on TV at 10 p.m. tonight on Fightbox HD.  The GWL is Alex Wright’s promotion.  The show will replay at 6:10 p.m. on Sunday.
• NWAOnDemand.com has unearthed a match from the 60s with Johnny Valentine vs. Wild Bull Curry.  I have a copy of this match and I’ll just say it is fascinating to watch.  You’ll see very quickly why the top wrestlers of that era like The Funks and Jack Brisco all listed Valentine as one of the five best.
• There is a match from Progress Wrestling with Hero vs. Tommy End that people are raving about.
• Konnan talks rapping, music and WCW
• Harley Race’s WLW television show
• On this edition see action in the WLW Junior Heavyweight Championship Tournament as Jon Webb faces Kyle Roberts in the semi-final round. 
• Harley Race’s WLW-TV is hosted by Leland Race and Brian Thompson.
• A video of Rob Van Dam and Tommy Dreamer talking ECW

EVENTS

• TONIGHT – There is a big show at the Auditorio in Tijuana tonight with L.A. Park vs. Rush vs. Cibernetico and Extreme Tiger & Mistico & Rey Hours (Dragon Azteca Jr.) vs. Mr. Aguila & El Hijo del L.A. Park & Mephisto plus a TLC match with Mortiz vs. Aero Boy.
• TONIGHT – Rockstar Pro Wrestling has an iPPV tonight at 7 p.m. from the Rockstar Pro Arena in Dayton, OH with Sami Callihan vs. Aaron Williams vs. Ethan Page plus Gregory Iron & Zach Gowen as a tag team and Jessicka Havok vs. Samantha Heights.
• TOMORROW – ECWA on Saturday night in Woodbury Heights, NJ at the Community Center with Sean Carr vs. Papadon
• TOMORROW – UFC 199 from the Forum in Los Angeles with Michael Bisping getting his first title opportunity of his career battling Luke Rockhold for the middleweight belt
• TOMORROW – In celebration of Metro Pro’s Sixth Anniversary, Demolition (Ax & Smash) will be in action on Saturday, Turner Recreation Center in Kansas City, Kansas. The event address is: 831 S. 55th St., Kansas City, KS 66106 – Tickets can be bought in advance.
• TOMORROW – Aerostar vs. Flamita vs. Laredo Kid vs. Septimo Dragon headline tonight in Benbrook, TX at the Camp Bowie Bingo Hall.  The same promotion has a tag match tomorrow night in Houston at the Atlantico Hall with Aerostar & Laredo Kid vs. Flamita & Ultimo Ninja.
• TOMORROW – CWE in Morden, Manitoba at the Morden Block Party Street Festival has a free show with a 1 p.m. start time.
• SUNDAY – AAA’s Victoria World Cup men and women’s trio tournament finals at Los Palacio de los Deportes in Mexico City which will be a live iPPV show
• SUNDAY – Silver Star Promotions at the 4 Ever Arena in Fort Worth has Caristico & El Hijo del Fishman vs. Silver Star & Psicosis Jr. 
• June 7 – New Japan Best of the Super Juniors finals from Sendai live on New Japan World
• June 8 – NXT Takeover from Full Sail University in Winter Park, FL featuring Samoa Joe vs. Finn Balor in a cage match plus a loaded lineup that includes American Alpha vs. The Revival and probably Shinsuke Nakamura vs Austin Aries, which could be WWE’s match of the month.
• June 11 – ECCW Port Coquitlam, BC at the Elks Hall #49.
• June 11 – NECW presents the 2016 IRON 8 Championship, Saturday Night, June 11 in Wakefield, MA
• June 12 – TNA Slammiversary headlined by Drew Galloway vs. Bobby Lashley for the TNA title from Orlando
• June 12 – Revolution Pro Wrestling in London, England headlined by Kurt Angle vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
• June 17 – AAW “Killers Among Us” features Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Johnny Gargano, Drago vs. Chris Hero, and more at 115 Bourbon Street (3359 w 115th Street Merrionette Park, IL) All Ages Event – Tickets available.
• June 18 – UFC in Ottawa: Rory McDonald vs. Stephen Thompson
• June 18 – New England Fights (NEF) returns to the Androscoggin Bank Colisée in Lewiston, Maine with “NEF 24: PROMISED LAND.” Tickets for “NEF 24” are on sale now.
• June 19 – New Japan Dominion, one of the company’s biggest events of the year, featuring Tetsuya Naito vs. Kazuchika Okada in an IWGP title match and Kenny Omega vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi in a ladder match for the IC title
• June 19 – WWE Money in the Bank from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas 
• June 24 – ROH Best in the World from Concord, NC with Jay Lethal vs. Jay Briscoe for the ROH title 
• June 24 – Isao Kobayashi vs. Justin Lawrence will appear on Spike.com as the top prelim fight Bellator Dynamite show in St. Louis.  This will be a combination MMA and kickboxing show.
• June 25 – Ultima Lucha tapings in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles at The Temple
• June 26 – Ultima Lucha tapings in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles at The Temple
• July 2 – Stars of Wrestling from Alameda, CA at the Alameda Point Gym  has Bobby Lashley, Carlito and The Boogeyman appearing.
• July 2 – NWA Cajun Heat in Morgan City, LA at the Municipal Auditorium with Jax Dane vs. Mustang Mike for the NWA title, Rob Conway vs. Rodney Mack and an appearance by Kevin Nash.
• July 7-11 The 10th annual Wrestling Observer/F4W convention in Las Vegas, EdinSanAntonio has all the information up on Facebook, or email him at F4Wfan@hotmail.com.
• July 9 – Smash Wrestling in Fort Erie, ONT at the Native Friendship Center.  Chris Hero will headline this fund raising event to raise money for the Godson of Jeremy Elliott, who Hero will wrestle.  Elliott’s Godson is a patient at the CPRI Treatment Center.
• July 24 – Fenix vs. Pentagon Jr. headlines for Lucha Libre New York at Club LaBoom in Queens, NY.
• August 13 – Rey Mysterio Jr. will headline a show at Montgomery High School in San Diego, his alma mater, for Viva La Lucha promotions.  Also appearing are Konnan, Psicosis, Johnny Mundo, Teddy Hart and TJ Perkins.

Today in Professional Wrestling History: 

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There was a pretty wild press conference today for UFC 199. It was all about the two title fights and a continuation over what started the night before on UFC Tonight. It was noted that this show in Los Angeles has four California based fighter in two title matches now with Luke Rockhold (Santa Cruz/San Jose), Michael Bisping (Los Angeles), Cruz (San Diego) and Urijah Faber (Sacramento). It is possible after next week that Northern California would have three different world champions, as well as the NBA & NHL champion. Granted, I expect of the five, two of them are unlikely right now with the Sharks down 2-0 and Faber against Cruz.

The big news at the press conference was Luke Rockhold, after Bisping used lady body parts to describe him and claiming over and over that he turned down fighting Jacare Souza (not exactly accurate but it was a weird storyline for Bisping to take because it made him come across a lesser contender than Souza) where Rockhold admitted that he has a torn MCL. That rumor has been going around and Bisping said he knew Rockhold had a weak knee. Rockhold also admitted that he had done no grappling training in camp but still was taking the fight.

We’re looking for reports tonight from the NXT shows in Evansville, IN and Tampa to Dave@WrestlingObserver.com.

SMACKDOWN TONIGHT ON USA

• Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch non-title
• R-Truth & Goldust vs. Dudleys
• Dean Ambrose & Sami Zayn vs. Alberto Del Rio & Kevin Owens
• Rusev vs. Jack Swagger non-title
• Kofi Kingston vs. A.J. Styles

NEW JAPAN LIVE FROM TOKYO KORAKUEN HALL FRIDAY AT 5:30 A.M. EASTERN TIME ON NEW JAPAN WORLD

• Volador Jr. & Ricochet & Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Tomohiro Ishii & Trent Baretta & Will Ospreay
• Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi & Jushin Liger & Tiger Mask vs. Katsuyori Shibata & Juice Robinson & Jay White & Bobby Fish
• David Finlay vs. Kyle O’Reilly
• Rocky Romero vs. Gedo
• Satoshi Kojima & Michael Elgin & Yoshitatsu & Captain New Japan vs. Kenny Omega & Bad Luck Fale & Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens
• Kazuchika Okada & Hirooki Goto & Yoshi-Hashi vs. Tetsuya Naito & Seiya Sanada & Evil
• Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Bushi
• Kushida vs. Matt Sydal

Friday night has these shows we’re looking for reports from:

*WWE in Odessa, TX (Roman Reigns, A.J. Styles, Seth Rollins, Albeto De Rio, Charlotte, Rusev, Usos, Kalisto, Dolph Ziggler, Cesaro, Baron Corbin)

*NXT in Nashville

*NXT in Crystal River, FL

*ROH in Collinsville, IL (Jay Briscoe & War Machine vs. Jay Lethal & Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian, Adam Cole vs. Kamaitachi, Roderick Strong vs. Silas Young vs. Stevie Richards vs. Moose) 

NEW JAPAN WORLD FRIDAY NIGHT ON AXS TV AT 8  P.M. FOR A TWO HOUR SPECIAL

• Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Tetsuya Naito
• A.J. Styles vs. Kota Ibushi
• Katsuyori Shibata vs. Togi Makabe
• Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Tomohiro Ishii
• Michael Elgin vs. Tomoaki Honma
• Yuji Nagata vs. Karl Anderson

LUCHA LIBRE WORLD CLUB FRIDAY NIGHT FROM PUEBLA ON IPPV AT www.Internetvluchalibreworldcup.tv

CMLL FROM ARENA MEXICO AT 9:30 P.M. EASTERN TIME AT www.clarosportscom/en-vivo02/

• Shockercito & Ultimo Dragoncito vs. Pequeno Olimpico & Pequeno Violencia
• Fuego & Pegasso & Triton vs. Fujin & Raijin (Sho Tanaka & Yohei Komatsu & Okumura
• Estrellita & Marcela & Princesa Sugei vs. Amapola & Dallys & Zeuxis
• Rey Cometa & Stuka Jr. & Titan vs. Cavernario & Felino & Mr Niebla
• La Mascara vs. Pierroth
• Atlantis & Marco Corleone & Valiente vs. Negro Casas & Shocker & Ultimo Guerrero

Saturday night we’re looking for reports from:

*WWE in Lubbock, TX (Roman Reigns, A.J. Styles, Seth Rollins, Alberto Del Rio, Charlotte, Rusev, Usos, Kalisto, Dolph Ziggler, Baron Corbin, Cesaro)

*WWE in Tulsa (Kane, Big Show, Dean Ambrose, Kevin Owens, Paige, Enzo, Cass, Dudleys, Apollo Crews, Sheamus, New Day, Erick Rowan, Braun Strowman)

*NXT in Atlanta at Center Stage

*NXT in Fort Pierce, FL.

*ROH in Indianapolis at the Harvest Pavilion (Adam Cole & Adam Page vs. Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley, Jay Lethal vs. Mark Briscoe non-title, Moose vs. Jay Briscoe, Roderick Strong vs. Kamaitachi vs. Jason Kincaid vs. ACH vs. Lio Rush vs. Will Ferrara)

UFC 199 FROM THE FORUM IN LOS ANGELES

Fight Pass at 6:15 p.m.

• Maestro Dong Hyun Kim vs. Polo Reyes
• Kevin Casey vs. Elvis Mutapcic
• Luiz Henrique da Silv vs. Jonathan Wilson
• Tom Breese vs. Sean Strickland

FS 1 at 8 p.m.

• Jessica Andrade vs. Jessica Penne
• Beneil Dariush vs. James Vick
• Clay Guida vs. Brian Ortega
• Alex Caceres vs Cole Miller

PPV at 10 p.m.

• Dustin Poirier vs. Bobby Green
• Dan Henderson vs. Hector Lombard
• Max Holloway vs. Ricardo Lamas
• Dominick Cruz vs. Urijah Faber for bantamweight title
• Luke Rockhold vs. Michael Bisping for middleweight title

NEW JAPAN WORLD SUNDAY AT 3 A.M. EASTERN TIME FROM GUNMA

• Ryusuke Taguchi & Jay White vs. Yoshi-Hashi & Rocky Romero
• Yuji Nagata & Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Manabu Nakanishi & David Finlay & Kyle O’Reilly vs. Katsuyori Shibata & Kushida & Juice Robinson & Captain New Japan & Matt Sydal
• Tiger Mask vs. Trent Baretta
• Will Ospreay vs. Jushin Liger
• Bobby Fish vs. Chase Owens
• Ricochet vs. Volador Jr.
• Satoshi Kojima & Michael Elgin & Yoshitatsu vs. Kenny Omega & Bad Luck Fale & Yujiro Takahashi
• Kazuchika Okada & Hirooki Goto & Tomohiro Ishii & Gedo vs. Tetsuya Naito & Evil & Seiya Sanada & Bushi

LUCHA LIBRE WORLD CUP SUNDAY FROM PALACIO DE LOS DEPORTES IN MEXICO CITY ON IPPV AT www.internetvluchalibreworld.cup.tv

Sunday we’re looking for reports from:

*WWE in Amarillo (Roman Reigns, A.J. Styles, Seth Rollins, Alberto Del Rio, Charlotte, Rusev, Usos, Kalisto, Dolph Ziggler, Baron Corbin, Cesaro)

*WWE in Lawton, OK (Kane, Big Show, Dean Ambrose, Kevin Owens, Paige, Enzo, Cass, Dudleys, Apollo, Crews, Sheamus, New Day, Erick Rowan, Braun Strowman)

*ROH in Columbus, OH at the Ohio Expo Building (Jay Briscoe vs. Roderick Strong, Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian defend the tag title against War Machine, Adam Cole vs. Lio Rush, Dalton Castle vs. Kamaitachi) 

NEW JAPAN WORLD MONDAY AT 5:30 A.M. EASTERN TIME FROM SENDAI (English language commentary)

• Kazuchika Okada & Hirooki Goto & Yoshi-Hashi vs. Tetsuya Naito & Seiya Sanada & Evil
• Volador Jr. vs. Will Ospreay
• Ricochet vs. Chase Owens
• Bobby Fish vs. Tiger Mask
• Jushin Liger vs. Trent Baretta
• Matt Sydal vs. David Finlay
• Kyle O’Reilly vs. Rocky Romero
• Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Gedo
• Kushida vs. Bushi

Raw will be Monday in Oklahoma City. John Cena, Seth Rollins and Chris Jericho are all booked on the show along with the usual regulars.

NEW JAPAN WORLD TUESDAY AT 5:30 A.M. EASTERN TIME FROM SENDAI (English language commentary)

• Best of the Super Juniors championship match

Smackdown and Main Event will be taped on Tuesday in Wichita. John Cena is not scheduled but Seth Rollins and Chris Jericho are scheduled.

THE ROUND-UP

• Dana White: No Rousey on MSG show, McGregor vs. Diaz rematch might not happen
• TUF 23 recap: Party bus, Boyz II Men reference & a fight
• Cody Rhodes heading to Evolve, NXT debut, NBA star’s dad prefers RAW to watching son
• NJPW Best of the Super Juniors results: Taguchi vs. Kyle O’Reilly
• WWE Smackdown spoilers: AJ Styles vs. Kofi Kingston

If you’ve ever wanted to WATCH our radio shows here on the site, check out our Youtube page! No full video shows, but lots of video clips, full free audio shows that you can tell your friends about, and much more to come! Make sure you subscribe today!

Figure Four Weekly 5/30/2016: Big Vito’s deposition – If you thought Evan Singleton’s deposition went badly for the plaintiffs in the WWE concussion lawsuit, then that appears to be nothing compared to what happened a week later during Vito LoGrasso’s deposition on May 18th. Given the back and forth over LoGrasso claiming that head injuries caused partial deafness when, in the past, he had spoken of having a hearing impairment since birth, the deposition promised to be interesting. It over-delivered.

Wrestling Observer Newsletter

READ IT HERE: June 6, 2016 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: More details on WWE brand split, Jimmy Snuka found incompetent, more

A huge double issue of the Observer is out this week, including the real catalyst behind the WWE brand split, a breakdown of the roster, justice denied again in the Jimmy Snuka case, Ricochet vs. Will Ospreay and the Super Juniors tournament plus a full rundown, the story behind Bill Goldberg and the WWE video game and the Brock Lesnar tease, famous boxer vs. pro wrestler fights, WWE schedule and injury rates, business rundowns from the past two months for WWE & TNA, updates on cable stations that carry wrestling and MMA, and one of the greatest territorial business runs in history in the life and career of Cowboy Frankie Laine.

Our lead story looks at the WWE brand split, why it happened, what is known that isn’t a secret, ads out post brand split, plans for the split two months ago and what the ad department was told then, what different arenas have been told this week, thoughts behind decisions having too be made, plus a roster rundown on what positions WWE is strong and weak in, and where NXT talent should fit in and who is ready, or who can fill a slot.

There is also an update on the Jimmy Snuka situation, with a realistic view if there will be a trial and what the time frame is and what happens next.

This issue also looks at the Will Ospreay vs. Ricochet match, Vader’s reaction, Super Juniors standings and rundowns of the shows plus looking at where things are going.

Updates on Money in the Bank, stars returning to television soon, how the NBA & NHL playoffs coincide with wrestling the next two weeks, an update on NXT, lots of WWE performers off TV for the next several weeks, notes from lawsuit depositions that are eye opening, Cena getting a gigantic endorsement deal, Rollins return news, injury updates, lots of Dwayne Johnson news, WrestleMania in the future notes, notes on how little talent gets told in advance about things, who watches what on WWE network, plus we’ve got rundowns of every WWE & NXT events over the past week and business notes on the shows, all included in in this issue.

CLICK HERE FOR A FULL PREVIEW.

Current subscribers click here to continue reading.

You can also order the print Observer right now and get it delivered to your door via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to Dave Meltzer.

You can also order print issues at www.paypal.com directing funds to dave@wrestlingobserver.com.

Rates are:

For the United States, it is $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 moonsault@mediaplusint.com  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 get one free classic issue of your choice sent to you today.  With a 40-issue subscription, you can get two free classic issues. 

Check out the latest online Wrestling Observer BACK ISSUE: April 26, 1999 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Davy Boy Smith recovering in the hospital, UFC to be sanctioned by Nevada State Athletic Commission, more. This past week has seen Davey Boy Smith, going stir crazy in a Calgary Hospital, attempt to start battling back after the worst year in his life.

THURSDAY’S NEWS UPDATE

One thing I want to mention about the Jimmy Snuka case ruling is that the judge changed the date of the ruling without letting anyone know, most notably the two sisters of Nancy Argentino who have pushed for investigation and prosecution of this case for 33 years. This enabled the judge to announce the ruling without them in the court room.

Time Magazine has a piece on Dwayne Johnson possibly running for President.

In the Best of the Super Junior tournament from earlier today in Nagoya

Volador Jr. (3-2) beat Chase Owens (2-3)

Jushin Liger (3-2) beat Tiger Mask (2-3)

Will Ospreay (2-3) beat Bobby Fish (2-3)

Ricochet (4-1) beat Trent Baretta (2-3)

Our annual web site convention takes place 7/7 to 7/10 in Las Vegas. Among the activities is all you can eat steak at Texas de Brazil, $72 per person on Thursday night and a $39 lunch at 2 p.m. on Friday at Buca de Beppo at the Excalibur. Payments can be sent for reserving those two events via paypal by 7/1 to SRJAIALAIOT@yahoo.com. Mention what you are ordering. Details of other weekend activity in conjunction with UFC 200 is on the Facebook page searching for 10th annual F4W convention and on the message board in the Empire Get Together section.

David Schultz, the subject of three movies and documentaries over the past year regarding his murder, as well as coach Bill Farrell, referee Rick Tucci and administrator Joe Scalzo are to be inducted into the World Wrestling Hall of fame in a ceremony on 8/12 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, before the start of the Olympic wrestling competition.

TNA Impact on Tuesday night did 346,000 viewers. It was down from last week, but well up from what the show had been doing when it aired twice instead of once.  

WWE

• The second Smackdown taping after the brand split will be 7/26 from Buffalo. There is a presale going on right now with the code word: SMACKDOWN  
• A very interesting business article on WWE’s decisions to release video and cannibalize ratings can be read here.
• WWE stock closed up seven cents per share today at $17.79.
• Here is a story on Carmella talking about her days as a cheerleader for the New England Patriots.
• A story on Bayley and this week’s NXT show in Nashville is here.

UFC

• For the first time, UFC will be doing early weigh-ins. The actual weigh-ins will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. tomorrow. There will be a public weigh-in where the fighters will appear and their weigh-in weights announced that will be televised at 7 p.m. Eastern time. Fighters will pose and square off and do interviews, but the weights that will be read will be from earlier in the day. It will air on FS 1. The idea is this allows fighters several more hours to rehydrate. Of course it also allows them several more hours to get to a weight far beyond the actual fighting weight. Most fighters are happy about it because once they get to weight, they can weigh in, rather than wait for the weigh-ins without being able to eat or drink.
• Chuck Liddell and Matt Hughes will lead more than 100 motorcycles riding from the Los Angeles Harley Davidson dealership to UFC Fan Village on Saturday before the show.  Fan Village will be at the Forum at West Manchester Blvd. 
• Glenn Robinson, who funded the Blackzillians team’s main business as being a tool manufacturer has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Florida with more than $10 million in debts.

MISCELLANEOUS

• The WWN pro wrestling group is looking for MMA fighters of Chinese, South Korean or other Asian American fighters for work at help@WWNLive.com.
• Cody Rhodes gets another one off his bucket list as he’s facing Mike Bennett on the 8/26 Northeast Wrestling show outdoors at Wahconah Park in Pittsfield, MA.
• NWA Classics has changed its name to NWAOnDemand.com and is offering one week free. The web site is mostly old Houston matches from the Paul Boesch tape library.  Among the matches they have include Harley Race defending the NWA title against Rick Martel, Jumbo Tsuruta, El Halcon and Gino Hernandez, AWA champion Nick Bockwinkel against Bruiser Brody, Dusty Rhodes and Ricky Morton, Midnight Express vs Rock & Roll Express, Andre the Giant, David Von Erich vs. The Spoiler, Dick Slater vs. Mongolian Stomper, Gino Hernandez & Tully Blanchard as a tag, Von Erichs, Magnum T.A., Mr. Wrestling II, Ken Patera, Jose Lothario, Superstar Billy Graham and much more.
• Chris Hero will be raising money for the CPRI Treatment Center in London, ONT for children with a variety of mental health issues on 7/9. The event will be at the Fort Ernie Native Friendship Center at 796 Buffalo Rd. at 7 p.m.
• Here is an ACH interview with The Sporting News talking his sometimes mistaken personality, growing up in the ROH locker room, his recent matches against New Japan stars and his hope of working for the promotion, possibly going to WWE and who he would like to face at theJune 24 Best in the World ’16 PPV.
• Here is an update on Jake Roberts.
• A story on Tom Prichard coming to the U.K. and training wrestlers in Liverpool can be read here,
• Here is a cool history of pro wrestling at the Palisades in McKeesport, PA from the days before Bruno Sammartino to the modern era.
• Chase Owens has pulled out of his 6/24 date in Elizabethton, TN for NWA Smoky Mountain Wrestling due to international commitments. Toby Farley will take his place and team with Buff Bagwell against Jordan Kage & Chris Richards. Kevin Nash and Scott Hall will make appearances on the show.
• Tommy Dreamer’s House of Hardcore promotion has shows on 6/24 in East Burnwood, Victoria, Australia at the Whitehorse Club with Dreamer, Mickie James, Carlito, MVP and Lisa Marie Varon; 8/6 in Pasadena, TX at the Convention Center with an afternoon convention; and 9/17 at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia with an afternoon convention and a show at night. They will also run 9/16 in St. James, NY at the Sports Arena.
• Fusion Wrestling from Saturday night in Warsaw, VA: Dirty Money b Jefferson Early, Aden Chambers & Brandon Day b Brutal Bob Evans & Tim Hughes, Jimmy Valiant & Ricky Morton & Preston Quinn b Christian Tarr & Outlaw Ink, Victor Griff b Memphis Mofo, Lee Valiant b Arik Royal, MVP b Kongo. Ricky Steamboat also appeared on the show. Next show is 8/6 in Warsaw, VA.  
• Elite Canadian Championship Wrestling on 6/25 in Vancouver at the Russian Community Centre as well as 7/16 in Vancouver at the Commodore Ballroom.
• Destiny Wrestling with Jeff Jarrett, Kongo Kong, Jennifer Blake, Moose and Santino Marella (as referee) has a TV taping for Fibe TV1 at Marella’s Don Kolov Arena at his gym in Mississauga, ONT.
• Pure Wrestling Association on 7/9 in Kitchener, ONT at the Alpine Club.
• Northeast Wrestling on 6/4 in Hickory, NC at the LP Frans Stadium with appearances by Ric Flair and Magnum T.A. plus The Hardys will be wrestling on the show.
• Legacy Fighting Championship on 7/22 from Lake Charles, LA at the Golden Nugget headlined by Robert Drysdale (6-0), the BJJ expert against Ryan Spann (9-2) for the light heavyweight title. The show will air live on AXS that night at 10 p.m. Eastern time.
• All Star Wrestling on 6/17 in Garibaldi Highlands, BC at the Totem Hall.
• Al Snow vs. Hannibal for the Canadian title plus a women’s match and a Battle Royal on Saturday night in Smiths Falls, ONT for Great North Wrestling.
• Pro Wrestling Phoenix from last night in Omaha: Paul Daniels b Mad Dog McDowell, Joey Daniels b Ajax Adams, Cuco Santiago b Zac James, Dalton Lee Roth b Purple, Con Artiest b Robert Storm, Branden Juarez b Pat Powers. Next show is 7/29 in Omaha at the Waiting Room Lounge with Sonjay Dutt.  
• An Al Snow interview can be seen here.

EVENTS

• June 4 – UFC 199 from the Forum in Los Angeles with Michael Bisping getting his first title opportunity of his career battling Luke Rockhold for the middleweight belt
• June 4 – In celebration of Metro Pro’s Sixth Anniversary, Demolition (Ax & Smash) will be in action on Saturday, Turner Recreation Center in Kansas City, Kansas. The event address is: 831 S. 55th St., Kansas City, KS 66106 – Tickets can be bought in advance.
• June 5 – AAA’s Victoria World Cup men and women’s trio tournament finals at Los Palacio de los Deportes in Mexico City which will be a live iPPV show
• June 7 – New Japan Best of the Super Juniors finals from Sendai live on New Japan World
• June 8 – NXT Takeover from Full Sail University in Winter Park, FL featuring Samoa Joe vs. Finn Balor in a cage match plus a loaded lineup that includes American Alpha vs. The Revival and probably Shinsuke Nakamura vs Austin Aries, which could be WWE’s match of the month.
• June 11 – NECW presents the 2016 IRON 8 Championship, Saturday Night, June 11 in Wakefield, MA
• June 12 – TNA Slammiversary headlined by Drew Galloway vs. Bobby Lashley for the TNA title from Orlando
• June 12 – Revolution Pro Wrestling in London, England headlined by Kurt Angle vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
• June 17 – AAW “Killers Among Us” features Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Johnny Gargano, Drago vs. Chris Hero, and more at 115 Bourbon Street (3359 w 115th Street Merrionette Park, IL) All Ages Event – Tickets available.
• June 18 – UFC in Ottawa: Rory McDonald vs. Stephen Thompson
• June 18 – New England Fights (NEF) returns to the Androscoggin Bank Colisée in Lewiston, Maine with “NEF 24: PROMISED LAND.” Tickets for “NEF 24” are on sale now.
• June 19 – New Japan Dominion, one of the company’s biggest events of the year, featuring Tetsuya Naito vs. Kazuchika Okada in an IWGP title match and Kenny Omega vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi in a ladder match for the IC title
• June 19 – WWE Money in the Bank from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas 
• June 24 – ROH Best in the World from Concord, NC with Jay Lethal vs. Jay Briscoe for the ROH title 
• June 25 – Ultima Lucha tapings in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles at The Temple
• June 26 – Ultima Lucha tapings in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles at The Temple   
• July 7-11 The 10th annual Wrestling Observer/F4W convention in Las Vegas, EdinSanAntonio has all the information up on Facebook, or email him at F4Wfan@hotmail.com.

Today in Professional Wrestling History: Hulk Hogan wins IWGP Tournament; Honky Tonk Man begins I-C title run

• Please send feedback to FeedBack@WrestlingObserver.com
• Please send show results and news tips to NewsTips@WrestlingObserver.com
• Please send Wrestling Observer Radio questions to MailBag@WrestlingObserver.com

The site of many major wrestling cards in Fort Worth recently received a historic designation. The Will Rogers Memorial Center was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The complex includes the coliseum which housed wrestling cards over the years including many for World Class Championship Wrestling. Built in 1936, the coliseum was the first performance hall in Fort Worth and is still in use today, mainly for equestrian events and the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo. The recent designation allows for more available funding for the venue and a level of protection from it being torn down. A new arena facility is planned for construction near the old complex, though the Will Rogers Memorial Coliseum will continue to remain in use.

THE ROUND-UP

• NJPW Best of the Super Juniors results: Taguchi vs. Kyle O’Reilly
• WWE Smackdown spoilers: AJ Styles vs. Kofi Kingston
• ​NJPW Best of the Super Juniors results: Ricochet vs. Jushin Thunder Liger
• Cody Rhodes return features a match against Kurt Angle
• WWE SummerSlam NXT weekend show is still on

If you’ve ever wanted to WATCH our radio shows here on the site, check out our Youtube page! No full video shows, but lots of video clips, full free audio shows that you can tell your friends about, and much more to come! Make sure you subscribe today!

Figure Four Weekly 5/30/2016: Big Vito’s deposition – If you thought Evan Singleton’s deposition went badly for the plaintiffs in the WWE concussion lawsuit, then that appears to be nothing compared to what happened a week later during Vito LoGrasso’s deposition on May 18th. Given the back and forth over LoGrasso claiming that head injuries caused partial deafness when, in the past, he had spoken of having a hearing impairment since birth, the deposition promised to be interesting. It over-delivered.

Wrestling Observer Newsletter

READ IT HERE: May 30, 2016 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Return of Seth Rollins and the WWE brand split, plus tons of news

With two of the biggest news stories of the year, the WWE brand split and the UFC sale both in play, we’ve got a new issue of the Observer packed with news.

Our lead story looks at the brand split, with what we do know, what has and hasn’t been decided and the background of how it went down. There’s also more info on the UFC sale talks.  Plus there is coverage of the return of Seth Rollins, the build to Money in the Bank and have coverage of Extreme Rules, the negotiations for a Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz fight and look more at the Floyd Mayweather vs. McGregor rumors. Take an in-depth look at the departure of Cody Runnels (Rhodes) from WWE and his future prospects, plus look at his complaints regarding people in the company. All this plus a look at the New Japan Super Juniors tournament, the funding of the Hulk Hogan lawsuit, the World Cup trios tournament coming up and a feature on the last PWG show.

The lead story looks at every aspect of the brand split.  It looks at the original goals and reasons for it and what did and didn’t work, plus how it’ll be different this time, how the touring will work, and an examination of what talent knows and tentative plans in place.  Vince McMahon’ reaction is a big part of this, and this issue explains how the deal went down, the story behind the story and other aspects to be considered. There’s also a look at Smackdown going live, the affect on the fan base, the affect on TNA and why it was important to get Smackdown away from Thursday.

Another big story in this issues is Extreme Rules, the decision to make Seth Rollins a heel and current plans for Money in the Bank, and also match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results.

Details about what’s going on with Conor McGregor, including Colin Cowherd’s claim that Mayweather vs. McGregor is happening, as well as a look at the Nate Diaz negotiations last week and what McGregor has said publicly.

Finally, this issue looks at Cody Runnels leaving WWE, what he said was the reason why, and a look into those reasons, and a look at the realities of WWE business decisions and his background.

CLICK HERE FOR A FULL PREVIEW.

Current subscribers click here to continue reading.

You can also order the print Observer right now and get it delivered to your door via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to Dave Meltzer.

You can also order print issues at www.paypal.com directing funds to dave@wrestlingobserver.com.

Rates are:

For the United States, it is $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 moonsault@mediaplusint.com  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 get one free classic issue of your choice sent to you today.  With a 40-issue subscription, you can get two free classic issues. 

Check out the latest online Wrestling Observer BACK ISSUE: April 26, 1999 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Davy Boy Smith recovering in the hospital, UFC to be sanctioned by Nevada State Athletic Commission, more. This past week has seen Davey Boy Smith, going stir crazy in a Calgary Hospital, attempt to start battling back after the worst year in his life.

WEDNESDAY NEWS UPDATE

In light of the Ricochet vs. Will Ospreay kerfluflle, Fighting Spirit Magazine posted an interview by our own David Bix titled, “Training Ground” an interview with Ricky Steamboat. It’s available for free on their site. It’s basically Steamboat giving amazingly detailed answers about pro wrestling psychology/storytelling in a very progressive, non-judgmental way, and while it’s fascinating reading anyway, it’s especially interesting to read with the Ricochet-Osprey stuff in mind.

Speaking of, here’s a column our Kyle Johnson wrote today on the whole situation.

For those Swerved fans, the show returns after RAW this Monday.Here’s a preview and an episode breakdown. This is the second season of the show, and will premiere all nine half hour long episodes on-demand on the WWE Network on June 6. This is the first time WWE Network will do a binge release for a show on-demand.

UFC Sunday on FS 1 was way down from their prime time average with the main card doing 757,000 viewers and the prelims, also on FS 1, doing 469,000.

University of Minnesota wrestling coach J Robinson has been placed on paid administrative leave,new athletic director Mark Coyle announced today, stemming from a controversy involving his athletes’ alleged abuse and selling of a prescription drug. 

Pro Wrestling

• The saga of Broken Matt Hardy has been documented.
• Our Alan O’Brien posted his weekly RAW hits and misses last night in case you missed it.
• House of Hardcore comes to St. James, NY, (Long Island area) for the first time on 9/16.
• Pro Wrestling Phoenix runs Wednesday at the Waiting Room Lounge in Omaha, NE.
• Did you know NXT’s Carmella is a former New England Patriots cheerleader? Here’s the story on the UMass-Dartmouth product.
• WWE’s social media following as related to ratings is in focus in this latest Brandon Howard piece.
• FoxSports.com is going to launch The Wrestling Compadres, a weekly Internet-only show/podcast, in late-June.
• We’ll have an interview with Santino posted on our YouTube page and our site later today.
• Congrats to Pro Wrestling Tees who announced Wednesday they have crossed the $2 million mark in royalties paid out in just three years. Our subscribers can listen to a podcast about the history of the company from late last year.
• Wrestledelphia Radio launches tonight at 9 p.m. EST on Yahoo! Sports Radio Philly AM 1360 WNJC. The station reaches Philadelphia through Atlantic City. People can listen around the world on WNJC Radio.com. The first guest is DDP.
• Al Snow made a radio appearance this morning to promote his Canadian Title match vs Hannibal this Saturday June 4th for Great North Wrestling in Smiths Falls ON.

​MMA & Combat Sports

• Bellator announced a 7/22 Mulvane, KS, show today headlined by Darrion Caldwell vs. Joe Taimanglo and Dave Rickels vs. Melvin Guillard co-main.
• Hector Lombard talks some trash about Dan Henderson prior to Saturday’s UFC 199.
• Coming off an impressive win over Albert Tumenov, Gunnar Nelson returned to Submission Radio to discuss the Welterweight division, McGregor vs. Mayweather and the new weight cut changes in the UFC.
• Here’s an interesting article talking about the Olympics now allowing professional boxers to compete.Tim Kennedy may not be fighting these days, but he’s still talking.

EVENTS

• June 1 – PWP runs tonight, at the Waiting Room Lounge in Omaha, NE
• June 4 – UFC 199 from the Forum in Los Angeles with Michael Bisping getting his first title opportunity of his career battling Luke Rockhold for the middleweight belt
• June 4 – In celebration of Metro Pro’s Sixth Anniversary, Demolition (Ax & Smash) will be in action on Saturday, Turner Recreation Center in Kansas City, Kansas. The event address is: 831 S. 55th St., Kansas City, KS 66106 – Tickets can be bought in advance.
• June 5 – AAA’s Victoria World Cup men and women’s trio tournament finals at Los Palacio de los Deportes in Mexico City which will be a live iPPV show
• June 7 – New Japan Best of the Super Juniors finals from Sendai live on New Japan World
• June 8 – NXT Takeover from Full Sail University in Winter Park, FL featuring Samoa Joe vs. Finn Balor in a cage match plus a loaded lineup that includes American Alpha vs. The Revival and probably Shinsuke Nakamura vs Austin Aries, which could be WWE’s match of the month.
• June 11 – NECW presents the 2016 IRON 8 Championship, Saturday Night, June 11 in Wakefield, MA
• June 12 – TNA Slammiversary headlined by Drew Galloway vs. Bobby Lashley for the TNA title from Orlando
• June 12 – Revolution Pro Wrestling in London, England headlined by Kurt Angle vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
• June 17 – AAW “Killers Among Us” features Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Johnny Gargano, Drago vs. Chris Hero, and more at 115 Bourbon Street (3359 w 115th Street Merrionette Park, IL) All Ages Event – Tickets available.
• June 18 – UFC in Ottawa: Rory McDonald vs. Stephen Thompson
• June 18 – New England Fights (NEF) returns to the Androscoggin Bank Colisée in Lewiston, Maine with “NEF 24: PROMISED LAND.” Tickets for “NEF 24” are on sale now.
• June 19 – New Japan Dominion, one of the company’s biggest events of the year, featuring Tetsuya Naito vs. Kazuchika Okada in an IWGP title match and Kenny Omega vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi in a ladder match for the IC title
• June 19 – WWE Money in the Bank from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas 
• June 24 – ROH Best in the World from Concord, NC with Jay Lethal vs. Jay Briscoe for the ROH title 
• June 25 – Ultima Lucha tapings in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles at The Temple
• June 26 – Ultima Lucha tapings in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles at The Temple   
• July 7-11 The 10th annual Wrestling Observer/F4W convention in Las Vegas, EdinSanAntonio has all the information up on Facebook, or email him at F4Wfan@hotmail.com.

Today in Professional Wrestling History: Edge wins vacant World Title; Shield defeats Evolution in no holds barred Elimination match

• Please send feedback to FeedBack@WrestlingObserver.com
• Please send show results and news tips to NewsTips@WrestlingObserver.com
• Please send Wrestling Observer Radio questions to MailBag@WrestlingObserver.com

While nothing is even close to happening with bringing in Bill Goldberg to WWE in a wrestling capacity, 2K officially announced his inclusion as a character in the WWE 2K17 video game, made public last night in an ad that aired on RAW. As discussed on Observer Radio, this opens up intriguing possibilities for a return match based on past history with Ultimate Warrior, Brock Lesnar, and Sting appearing in 2K ads. He did an interview with IGN you can see here. WWE definitely wants you to think that Goldberg returning is a possibility. 

NEW JAPAN BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIORS FROM HIROSHIMA ON TUESDAY (taped for New Japan World available later in the day)

• Bushi vs. David Finlay
• Matt Sydal vs. Rocky Romero
• Kushida vs. Gedo
• Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Kyle O’Reilly

Smackdown and Main Event will be taped on today in Rockford, IL  We’re also looking for reports on this show.

NEW JAPAN BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIORS FROM NAGOYA ON THURSDAY (taped for New Japan World, available later in the day)

• Volador Jr. vs. Chase Owens
• Jushin Liger vs. Tiger Mask
• Bobby Fish vs. Will Ospreay
• Ricochet vs. Trent Baretta

THE ROUND-UP

• Cody Rhodes return features a match against Kurt Angle
• WWE SummerSlam NXT weekend show is still on
• Ranking the top UFC PPV draws of all time from McGregor to Mighty Mouse
• WWE RAW live results: John Cena returns
• Andre Arlovski vs. Josh Barnett signed for UFC Germany return

If you’ve ever wanted to WATCH our radio shows here on the site, check out our Youtube page! No full video shows, but lots of video clips, full free audio shows that you can tell your friends about, and much more to come! Make sure you subscribe today!

Figure Four Weekly 5/30/2016: Big Vito’s deposition – If you thought Evan Singleton’s deposition went badly for the plaintiffs in the WWE concussion lawsuit, then that appears to be nothing compared to what happened a week later during Vito LoGrasso’s deposition on May 18th. Given the back and forth over LoGrasso claiming that head injuries caused partial deafness when, in the past, he had spoken of having a hearing impairment since birth, the deposition promised to be interesting. It over-delivered.

Wrestling Observer Newsletter

READ IT HERE: May 30, 2016 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Return of Seth Rollins and the WWE brand split, plus tons of news

With two of the biggest news stories of the year, the WWE brand split and the UFC sale both in play, we’ve got a new issue of the Observer packed with news.

Our lead story looks at the brand split, with what we do know, what has and hasn’t been decided and the background of how it went down. There’s also more info on the UFC sale talks.  Plus there is coverage of the return of Seth Rollins, the build to Money in the Bank and have coverage of Extreme Rules, the negotiations for a Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz fight and look more at the Floyd Mayweather vs. McGregor rumors. Take an in-depth look at the departure of Cody Runnels (Rhodes) from WWE and his future prospects, plus look at his complaints regarding people in the company. All this plus a look at the New Japan Super Juniors tournament, the funding of the Hulk Hogan lawsuit, the World Cup trios tournament coming up and a feature on the last PWG show.

The lead story looks at every aspect of the brand split.  It looks at the original goals and reasons for it and what did and didn’t work, plus how it’ll be different this time, how the touring will work, and an examination of what talent knows and tentative plans in place.  Vince McMahon’ reaction is a big part of this, and this issue explains how the deal went down, the story behind the story and other aspects to be considered. There’s also a look at Smackdown going live, the affect on the fan base, the affect on TNA and why it was important to get Smackdown away from Thursday.

Another big story in this issues is Extreme Rules, the decision to make Seth Rollins a heel and current plans for Money in the Bank, and also match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results.

Details about what’s going on with Conor McGregor, including Colin Cowherd’s claim that Mayweather vs. McGregor is happening, as well as a look at the Nate Diaz negotiations last week and what McGregor has said publicly.

Finally, this issue looks at Cody Runnels leaving WWE, what he said was the reason why, and a look into those reasons, and a look at the realities of WWE business decisions and his background.

CLICK HERE FOR A FULL PREVIEW.

Current subscribers click here to continue reading.

You can also order the print Observer right now and get it delivered to your door via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to Dave Meltzer.

You can also order print issues at www.paypal.com directing funds to dave@wrestlingobserver.com.

Rates are:

For the United States, it is $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 moonsault@mediaplusint.com  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 get one free classic issue of your choice sent to you today.  With a 40-issue subscription, you can get two free classic issues. 

Check out the latest online Wrestling Observer BACK ISSUE: April 26, 1999 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Davy Boy Smith recovering in the hospital, UFC to be sanctioned by Nevada State Athletic Commission, more. This past week has seen Davey Boy Smith, going stir crazy in a Calgary Hospital, attempt to start battling back after the worst year in his life.

TUESDAY NEWS UPDATE

Earlier today, John Ourand of Sports Business Journal tweeted that Monday’s Game 7 betwen Golden State & Oklahoma City did around an 11.2 rating — a record for any NBA game on cable. The first game of the Stanley Cup Finals between San Jose and Pittburgh did around a 2.8. We’re still awaiting RAW ratings, but expect them to be affected by the big competition.

Enzo and Cass are guests on SportsCenter tonight. Will ESPN let them call Coachman SAWFT?

Goldberg appeared on the latest Ringer Wrestling podcast with David Shoemaker Tuesday as well. He is asked about returning to action and while he didn’t say no, he didn’t say yes either. He had spoken about wanting to wrestle one last time so his child could see him, but he has yet to find the perfect scenario to do so. Can WWE create one he would approve?

If you have not seen the Will Ospreay vs. Ricochet match from the Best of the Super Juniors tournament that everyone has been raving about of late, New Japan has put it up absolutely free on Youtube. You’ll have to rewind about a dozen times to catch all the incredible action. It’s far more entertaining than “just another indy spot fest.” It’s phenomenal storytelling AND incredible athletics. 

Pro Wrestling

• Paige beat Summer Rae and Jack Swagger beat Viktor of the Ascension at the Superstars tapings before Raw went on the air last night. Viktor of the Ascension is currently being rebranded as “The Demonic” Victor, with different face paint. His tag team partner, Konnor, is currently serving a wellness policy suspension. 
• The 2 hour RAW replay Friday night on SyFy did 403,000 viewers and was the top rated show of the night for that network. This would be a replay of the May 23rd show. It was down from last week, which did 467,000 viewers.
• Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch is advertised for Smackdown tonight, as is Styles & Gallows & Anderson vs. Roman Reigns & Usos, although the latter is a dark match and may very well not take place.
• This post-Raw video with Mick Foley and Becky Lynch is notable mostly for how much weight Foley has lost of late.
• The NWA is re-launching their NWA Classics service at NWA On Demand, complete with a new website and the first week free for subscribers.
• SI’s Extra Mustard chatted with Velvet Sky on Bubba Dudley, WWE, and TNA.
• Kamaitachi will be facing Chris Dickinson on 6/17 in NYC at the House of Glory / Beyond Wrestling joint show in Queens, NY.
• The two-day JT Lightning 2016 Invitational Tournament is available to purchase and stream right now.
• The creators of Netflix hit Orange is The New Black got another Netflix show greenlit: a comedy series based on the 80s female wrestling organization GLOW. No, seriously. It’s happening. It will be a half-hour comedy with 10 episodes.
• ECWA returns to action this Saturday in Woodbury Heights, NJ.
• For those with San Francisco Chronicle online access, there’s a story about Nick Reckas from 1975 and his association with the city’s mayor.
• Not everyone is standing with Hulk Hogan and the anti-Gawker group. Here’s an NYT op-ed from someone that is with Gawker.

MMA

• In an interview with Submission Radio, Max Holloway talked about his fight with Ricardo Lamas, why he’s in his head, what he wants next and his prediction on how he wins at UFC 199.
• Also in an interview with Submission Radio, Conor McGregor’s boxing sparring partner and former IBO welterweight champion Chris Van Heerden discussed boxing Conor, what would happen in a boxing match with Mayweather, how McGregor would do as a boxer and if he thinks Conor will outbox Nate Diaz in a MMA rematch.
• For those into the bizarre, here’s a clip of BJJ match that ended via submission due to someone farting in their competitor’s face which caused vomiting. Yes, we just wrote that sentence.
• UFC announced they are launching their first podcast UFC Unfiltered with comedian Jim Norton and fomer UFC welterweight champ Matt Serra that will air twice a week. The show kicks off on June 21st. Essentially, it’s another version of The Fighter & The Kid.
• In case you missed it, our own Paul “Ace” Fontaine has an article here ranking the top UFC PPV draws of all time from McGregor to Mighty Mouse. It’s a really good read for those into the drawing aspect of stardom.

EVENTS

• June 1 – PWP runs tomorrow night, at the Waiting Room Lounge in Omaha, NE
• June 4 – UFC 199 from the Forum in Los Angeles with Michael Bisping getting his first title opportunity of his career battling Luke Rockhold for the middleweight belt
• June 4 – In celebration of Metro Pro’s Sixth Anniversary, Demolition (Ax & Smash) will be in action on Saturday, Turner Recreation Center in Kansas City, Kansas. The event address is: 831 S. 55th St., Kansas City, KS 66106 – Tickets can be bought in advance.
• June 5 – AAA’s Victoria World Cup men and women’s trio tournament finals at Los Palacio de los Deportes in Mexico City which will be a live iPPV show
• June 7 – New Japan Best of the Super Juniors finals from Sendai live on New Japan World
• June 8 – NXT Takeover from Full Sail University in Winter Park, FL featuring Samoa Joe vs. Finn Balor in a cage match plus a loaded lineup that includes American Alpha vs. The Revival and probably Shinsuke Nakamura vs Austin Aries, which could be WWE’s match of the month.
• June 11 – NECW presents the 2016 IRON 8 Championship, Saturday Night, June 11 in Wakefield, MA
• June 12 – TNA Slammiversary headlined by Drew Galloway vs. Bobby Lashley for the TNA title from Orlando
• June 12 – Revolution Pro Wrestling in London, England headlined by Kurt Angle vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
• June 17 – AAW “Killers Among Us” features Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Johnny Gargano, Drago vs. Chris Hero, and more at 115 Bourbon Street (3359 w 115th Street Merrionette Park, IL) All Ages Event – Tickets available.
• June 18 – UFC in Ottawa: Rory McDonald vs. Stephen Thompson
• June 18 – New England Fights (NEF) returns to the Androscoggin Bank Colisée in Lewiston, Maine with “NEF 24: PROMISED LAND.” Tickets for “NEF 24” are on sale now.
• June 19 – New Japan Dominion, one of the company’s biggest events of the year, featuring Tetsuya Naito vs. Kazuchika Okada in an IWGP title match and Kenny Omega vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi in a ladder match for the IC title
• June 19 – WWE Money in the Bank from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas 
• June 24 – ROH Best in the World from Concord, NC with Jay Lethal vs. Jay Briscoe for the ROH title 
• June 25 – Ultima Lucha tapings in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles at The Temple
• June 26 – Ultima Lucha tapings in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles at The Temple   
• July 7-11 The 10th annual Wrestling Observer/F4W convention in Las Vegas, EdinSanAntonio has all the information up on Facebook, or email him at F4Wfan@hotmail.com.

Today in Professional Wrestling History: Kowalski vs. Bruno Death Match; Andersons win Georgia Tag Titles; Ryback wins IC Title

• Please send feedback to FeedBack@WrestlingObserver.com
• Please send show results and news tips to NewsTips@WrestlingObserver.com
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UFC Fight Night 88 is set up to be a fun show with Thomas Almeida taking on Cody Garbrandt in the main event. It’s a big stage for both of these men who will headling the Fox Sports 1 show which starts at 6 pm eastern tomorrow evening on UFC Fight Pass. The semi-main event features the return of longtime former bantamweight (135lb) champion Renan Barao moving up to featherweight (145lb) to face Jeremy “Lil Heathen” Stephens. Barao looks to get back on track after being twice derailed by now ex-bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw.

In the only women’s fight on the card, it’s do or die for Sara McMann who needs a win desperately to stay in the hunt, but she’s facing a really tough opponent, Jessica “Evil” Eye. Both women need a win here if they ever want to get a shot at the 135lb women’s bantamweight champion Miesha “Cupcake” Tate. It should be a really fun show. Check out the Observer’s live coverage starting tomorrow at 6 Eastern, 3 Pacific.

Saturday we’re looking for reports on the WWE shows in Peoria, IL (Roman Reigns, Sheamus, Kevin Owens, Dudleys, Enzo, Cass, Sami Zayn, Charlotte, Natalya) and Winnipeg (Big Show, Chris Jericho, Kane, Erick Rowan, Braun Strowman, Dean Ambrose, New Day, Rusev, Kalisto, Alberto De Rio, Paige, Becky Lynch, Sasha Banks).

NEW JAPAN BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIORS TOURNAMENT FROM OSAKA AT 3 A.M. EASTERN SUNDAY MORNING/SATURDAY NIGHT ON NEW JAPAN WORLD

• Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Michael Elgin & Volador Jr. vs. Tomohiro Ishii & Trent Baretta & Will Ospreay
• Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi & Jushin Liger & Tiger Mask vs. Bobby Fish & Jay White & Juice Robinson & Katsuyori Shibata
• David Finlay vs. Gedo
• Rocky Romero vs. Bushi
• Satoshi Kojima & Yoshitatsu & Captain New Japan & Ricochet vs. Kenny Omega & Bad Luck Fale & Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens
• Kazuchika Okada & Hirooki Goto & Yoshi-Hashi vs. Tetsuya Naito & Evil & Seiya Sanada
• Matt Sydal vs. Kyle O’Reilly
• Kushida vs. Ryusuke Taguchi

Sunday we’re looking for reports on WWE shows in Madison, WI (Roman Reigns, Sheamus, Kevin Owens, Dudleys, Enzo, Cass, Sami Zayn, Charlotte, Natalya) and LaCrosse, WI (Big Show, Kane, Erick Rowan, Braun Strowman, Dean Ambrose, New Day, Rusev, Kalisto, Alberto Del Rio, Paige, Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks).

UFC FROM THE MANDALAY BAY EVENTS CENTER IN LAS VEGAS ON SUNDAY

Fight Pass bouts at 6 p.m. Eastern

• Adam Milstead vs. Chris De La Rosa
• Bryan Caraway vs. Aljamain Sterling

FS 1 at 7 p.m. Eastern

• Shane Campbell vs. Erik Koch
• Jake Collier vs. Alberto Pereira Uda
• Abel Trujillo vs. Jordan Rinaldi
• Sara McMann vs. Jessica Eye
• Josh Burkman vs. Paul Felder
• Jorge Masvidal vs. Lorenz Larkin
• Chris Camozzi vs Vitor Miranda
• Tarec Saffiedine vs. Rick Story
• Jeremy Stephens vs. Renan Barao
• Cody Garbrandt vs. Thomas Almeida

NEW JAPAN BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIORS FROM TOTTORI ON MONDAY (taped for New Japan World available later in the day)

• Trent Baretta vs. Chase Owens
• Tiger Mask vs. Will Ospreay
• Bobby Fish vs. Volador Jr.
• Jushin Liger vs. Ricochet

Raw is Monday from Green Bay featuring the return of John Cena plus a Dolph Ziggler vs. Baron Corbin match.

NEW JAPAN BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIORS FROM HIROSHIMA ON TUESDAY (taped for New Japan World available later in the day)

• Bushi vs. David Finlay
• Matt Sydal vs. Rocky Romero
• Kushida vs. Gedo
• Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Kyle O’Reilly

Smackdown and Main Event will be taped on Tuesday in Rockford, IL.

THE ROUND-UP

• WWE Springfield, IL, live results: AJ Styles vs. Roman Reigns plus Simpsons & Abe Lincoln references
• NXT Cocoa, FL, live results: Finn Balor & Nakamura vs. The Revival; Nia Jax & Lana team up
• UFC Fight Night 88 DFS Playbook: value picks, who to avoid
• TUF 23 recap: Divorce ultimatums…and some fighting too
• WWE Smackdown results: Rusev & Miz defend their titles; MITB qualifer

If you’ve ever wanted to WATCH our radio shows here on the site, check out our Youtube page! No full video shows, but lots of video clips, full free audio shows that you can tell your friends about, and much more to come! Make sure you subscribe today!

Figure Four Weekly 5/23/2016: More strange developments in WWE’s concussion lawsuit deposition – Last week we talked a bit about both Evan Singleton’s deposition in the WWE concussion lawsuit as well as a video of a concussion presentation held in developmental during Singleton’s time under contact. Among other topics, there’s been a bit more movement on that front.

Wrestling Observer Newsletter

READ IT HERE: May 30, 2016 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Return of Seth Rollins and the WWE brand split, plus tons of news

With two of the biggest news stories of the year, the WWE brand split and the UFC sale both in play, we’ve got a new issue of the Observer packed with news.

Our lead story looks at the brand split, with what we do know, what has and hasn’t been decided and the background of how it went down. There’s also more info on the UFC sale talks.  Plus there is coverage of the return of Seth Rollins, the build to Money in the Bank and have coverage of Extreme Rules, the negotiations for a Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz fight and look more at the Floyd Mayweather vs. McGregor rumors. Take an in-depth look at the departure of Cody Runnels (Rhodes) from WWE and his future prospects, plus look at his complaints regarding people in the company. All this plus a look at the New Japan Super Juniors tournament, the funding of the Hulk Hogan lawsuit, the World Cup trios tournament coming up and a feature on the last PWG show.

The lead story looks at every aspect of the brand split.  It looks at the original goals and reasons for it and what did and didn’t work, plus how it’ll be different this time, how the touring will work, and an examination of what talent knows and tentative plans in place.  Vince McMahon’ reaction is a big part of this, and this issue explains how the deal went down, the story behind the story and other aspects to be considered. There’s also a look at Smackdown going live, the affect on the fan base, the affect on TNA and why it was important to get Smackdown away from Thursday.

Another big story in this issues is Extreme Rules, the decision to make Seth Rollins a heel and current plans for Money in the Bank, and also match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results.

Details about what’s going on with Conor McGregor, including Colin Cowherd’s claim that Mayweather vs. McGregor is happening, as well as a look at the Nate Diaz negotiations last week and what McGregor has said publicly.

Finally, this issue looks at Cody Runnels leaving WWE, what he said was the reason why, and a look into those reasons, and a look at the realities of WWE business decisions and his background.

CLICK HERE FOR A FULL PREVIEW.

Current subscribers click here to continue reading.

You can also order the print Observer right now and get it delivered to your door via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to Dave Meltzer.

You can also order print issues at www.paypal.com directing funds to dave@wrestlingobserver.com.

Rates are:

For the United States, it is $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 moonsault@mediaplusint.com  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 get one free classic issue of your choice sent to you today.  With a 40-issue subscription, you can get two free classic issues. 

Check out the latest online Wrestling Observer BACK ISSUE: April 19, 1999 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Davey Boy Smith hospitalized with spinal infection, WCW Spring Stampede. The health situations involving both Davey Boy Smith and Japanese woman wrestler Emiko Kado took turns for the worst this past week.

SATURDAY NEWS

Pro Wrestling Sheet is reporting WWE canceled plans for John Cena merchandise that looked to be inspired by the classic Pabst Blue Ribbon beer logo. Yesterday, the official twitter account for PBR tweeted a picture of a new Cena shirt that went on sale Friday alongside a photo of him wearing a shirt with the PBR logo. The tweet also reads: “A message to @JohnCena & the @WWE: We have a chokehold called the Cease & Desist. Pretty sure we see you.” Notably, the color scheme of red, white and blue could also be interpreted as a patriotic theme especially considering Cena returns to Raw on a national holiday this Memorial Day. Nevertheless, the shirt in question is no longer for sale on WWE Shop. Other new Cena merchandise is similarly patriotic with one shirt dubbed as “American Pride”. 

Univision and Penske Media are two groups possibly interested in buying Gawker. Penske media already owns Variety and Deadline.com among other publications. With Nick Denton looking at possibly owing the Hulkster 140 million dollars once everything settles, it may be a wise time to start liquidating assets. For more on the story, check out this article. 

Cody “Stardust” Rhodes / Runnels sent out an interesting tweet today. Runnels has sent a tease that he will be available to work in just under three months. It is unclear what name he will choose as Rhodes is a family name, but not a legal name. At this point, nobody can say for sure who or where he will be working but he added a list of opponents he’d like to work with: Adam Cole, Dalton Castle, Kurt Angle, Chris Hero, The Miracle (Mike Bennett), Moose, Pat Buck, Young Bucks, Trevor Lee, Katsuyori Shibata and Roderick Strong. His tweet was a photo of the list of names and the only words “After 8/19.”

WWE & Professional Wrestling

• This week on 6:05 Superpodcast, Brian Last and David Bixenspan talk to Kenny “Starmaker” Bolin (as close to “out of character” as he’ll ever get) about his childhood friendship with Jim Cornette, working for Nick Gulas, and much more. Plus: More discussion of the best wrestling families and tons of other old-school topics.
• John Cena has much more to say on his return to Raw this coming Monday, as well as his thoughts on Camp WWE.  
• Bayley is doing some press for the upcoming NXT tour.
• No, it’s not a Silicon Valley plotline: the founder of eBay is powering Gawker’s appeal of the Hulk Hogan lawsuit victory where he’s being powered by another Silicon Valley billionaire.

• Friend of the site Pat LaPrade did a Slam Wrestling column on the first-ever all Canadian main event on a New Japan show: Michael Elgin vs. Kenny Omega.
• While the headline ‘Tony Schiavone working at Starbucks?’ is designed for that sympathy click, he actually wants to do it in order to stay busy with his other sports gigs. Here’s the local news story.
• Johnny Kidd’s final wrestling match is today against Chikara’s Mike Quackenbush. Here’s a feature on it.

• An Australian news website looks at the incredible Will Ospreay vs. Ricochet match from the Best of the Super Juniors tournament.
• Canada’s CBC News did a feature on a Regina indy promotion.
• Ian Hamilton predicted a WWE brand split a few months ago. Here’s his article on the subject.
• Spend an hour with Ax and Smash of Demolition with this shoot interview, won’t you?

UFC & MMA

• Fight Network announced Friday that UK’s Insane Championship Wrestling (a group our Alan Boon talks about frequently in his weekly British wrestling column) is coming to their airwaves with a weekly TV show airing Fridays at 1 AM, part of a wrestling block that starts Thursday nights with AAA and CMLL.
• The NWA announced Friday that they are expanding into NYC with NWA Big Apple Wrestling, increasing their total number of licensed promotions to 30.
• FITE.tv has a mix of free and paid combat sports content up this weekend.

EVENTS

• May 28 – Mayhem in the Magnolia State, Louisville Coliseum. This show is a benefit for Kamala.
• 28 – Absolute Intense Wrestling “2016 JT Lightning Invitational Tournament,” Our Lady Of Mount Carmel, 1355 West 70th Street, Cleveland, Ohio
• May 30 – Jake Roberts will be appearing in Burbank next monday at 8pm at Flappers Comedy.
• June 4 – UFC 199 from the Forum in Los Angeles with Michael Bisping getting his first title opportunity of his career battling Luke Rockhold for the middleweight belt
• June 4 – In celebration of Metro Pro’s Sixth Anniversary, Demolition (Ax & Smash) will be in action on Saturday, Turner Recreation Center in Kansas City, Kansas. The event address is: 831 S. 55th St., Kansas City, KS 66106 – Tickets can be bought in advance.
• June 5 – AAA’s Victoria World Cup men and women’s trio tournament finals at Los Palacio de los Deportes in Mexico City which will be a live iPPV show
• June 7 – New Japan Best of the Super Juniors finals from Sendai live on New Japan World
• June 8 – NXT Takeover from Full Sail University in Winter Park, FL featuring Samoa Joe vs. Finn Balor in a cage match plus a loaded lineup that includes American Alpha vs. The Revival and probably Shinsuke Nakamura vs Austin Aries, which could be WWE’s match of the month.
• June 11 – NECW presents the 2016 IRON 8 Championship, Saturday Night, June 11 in Wakefield, MA
• June 12 – TNA Slammiversary headlined by Drew Galloway vs. Bobby Lashley for the TNA title from Orlando
• June 12 – Revolution Pro Wrestling in London, England headlined by Kurt Angle vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
• June 17 – AAW “Killers Among Us” features Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Johnny Gargano, Drago vs. Chris Hero, and more at 115 Bourbon Street (3359 w 115th Street Merrionette Park, IL) All Ages Event – Tickets available.
• June 18 – UFC in Ottawa: Rory McDonald vs. Stephen Thompson
• June 18 – New England Fights (NEF) returns to the Androscoggin Bank Colisée in Lewiston, Maine with “NEF 24: PROMISED LAND.” Tickets for “NEF 24” are on sale now.
• June 19 – New Japan Dominion, one of the company’s biggest events of the year, featuring Tetsuya Naito vs. Kazuchika Okada in an IWGP title match and Kenny Omega vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi in a ladder match for the IC title
• June 19 – WWE Money in the Bank from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas 
• June 24 – ROH Best in the World from Concord, NC with Jay Lethal vs. Jay Briscoe for the ROH title 
• June 25 – Ultima Lucha tapings in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles at The Temple
• June 26 – Ultima Lucha tapings in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles at The Temple   
• July 7-11 The 10th annual Wrestling Observer/F4W convention in Las Vegas, EdinSanAntonio has all the information up on Facebook, or email him at F4Wfan@hotmail.com.

Today in Professional Wrestling History: Crusher & The Bruiser win AWA World Tag Team Titles; Bruno vs. Superstar Graham

• Please send feedback to FeedBack@WrestlingObserver.com
• Please send show results and news tips to NewsTips@WrestlingObserver.com
• Please send Wrestling Observer Radio questions to MailBag@WrestlingObserver.com

With a huge weekend of ringed combat ahead of us this Memorial Day, let’s look at some of the potential awesomeness… AJ Styles vs. Shibata from NJPW on Friday night sounds great. I know this match happened a while ago, but if watching Styles last Sunday didn’t make you want to see more of him, then you’re not a real wrestling fan. Go sit in the corner… From CMLL, if you’ve never seen Blue Panther, Blue Panter Jr. and THE Panther together, you’re missing out. Only in Mexico would a team like this exist… From the best of the Super Juniors, you’ve definintely got to check out Matt Sydal vs. Kyle O’Reilly. These two are possibly the best two workers from ROH getting to have a super juniors match in Japan. I know these two will be motivated to have an awesome performance… And don’t sleep on Trent Baretta in this tournament. He’s set up to face Chase Owens. Baretta and Romero have become a really fun act in ROH and Japan and Baretta on his own is vastly underrated… From the MMA world, a match I’m really looking forward to on UFC Fight Night 88 is Jeremy Stephens vs. Renan Barao. Stephens takes a beatin’ like no other, and Barao, can toss a beatin’ on anyone, even the best. I expect to see Barao back in old form landing big kicks as the “Lil Heathen” demands him to keep bringining it… So sit back and relax. The Wrestling Observer has you covered. 

[Dan Velten]

NEW JAPAN WORLD PRO WRESTLING ON FRIDAY NIGHT ON AXS TV AT 8 P.M.

The show returns with the first of several two hour specials from the 2015 G-1 Climax tournament

• Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kota Ibushi
• A.J Styles vs. Katsuyori Shibata
• Tetsuya Naito vs. Bad Luck Fale

CMLL FROM ARENA MEXICO IN MEXICO CITY ON FRIDAY NIGHT

• Oro Jr. & Soberano vs. Cancerbero & Raziel
• Marcela & Princesa Sugei & Silueta vs. Amapola & Dallys & Zeuxis
• Blue Panther & Blue Panther Jr. & The Panther vs. Ephesto & Luciferno & Mephisto
• Guerrero Maya Jr. vs. Felino
• Diamante Azul & Marco Corleone & Titan vs. Kraneo & Rey Bucanero & Ripper
• Maximo Sexy & Mistico & Stuka Jr. vs. El Terrible & Shocker & La Mascara

NEW JAPAN BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIORS TOURNAMENT FROM OSAKA AT 3 A.M. EASTERN SUNDAY MORNING/SATURDAYNIGHT ON NEW JAPAN WORLD

• Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Michael Elgin & Volador Jr. vs. Tomohiro Ishii & Trent Baretta & Will Ospreay
• Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi & Jushin Liger & Tiger Mask vs. Bobby Fish & Jay White & Juice Robinson & Katsuyori Shibata
• David Finlay vs. Gedo
• Rocky Romero vs. Bushi
• Satoshi Kojima & Yoshitatsu & Captain New Japan & Ricochet vs. Kenny Omega & Bad Luck Fale & Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens
• Kazuchika Okada & Hirooki Goto & Yoshi-Hashi vs. Tetsuya Naito & Evil & Seiya Sanada
• Matt Sydal vs. Kyle O’Reilly
• Kushida vs. Ryusuke Taguchi

UFC FROM THE MANDALAY BAY EVENTS CENTER IN LAS VEGAS ON SUNDAY

Fight Pass bouts at 6 p.m. Eastern

• Adam Milstead vs. Chris De La Rosa
• Bryan Caraway vs. Aljamain Sterling

FS 1 at 7 p.m. Eastern

• Shane Campbell vs. Erik Koch
• Jake Collier vs. Alberto Pereira Uda
• Abel Trujillo vs. Jordan Rinaldi
• Sara McMann vs. Jessica Eye
• Josh Burkman vs. Paul Felder
• Jorge Masvidal vs. Lorenz Larkin
• Chris Camozzi vs Vitor Miranda
• Tarec Saffiedine vs. Rick Story
• Jeremy Stephens vs. Renan Barao
• Cody Garbrandt vs. Thomas Almeida

NEW JAPAN BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIORS FROM TOTTORI ON MONDAY (taped for New Japan World available later in the day)

• Trent Baretta vs. Chase Owens
• Tiger Mask vs. Will Ospreay
• Bobby Fish vs. Volador Jr.
• Jushin Liger vs. Ricochet

Raw is Monday from Green Bay featuring the return of John Cena plus a Dolph Ziggler vs. Baron Corbin match.

NEW JAPAN BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIORS FROM HIROSHIMA ON TUESDAY (taped for New Japan World available later in the day)

• Bushi vs. David Finlay
• Matt Sydal vs. Rocky Romero
• Kushida vs. Gedo
• Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Kyle O’Reilly

Smackdown and Main Event will be taped on Tuesday in Rockford, IL.

THE ROUND-UP

• UFC Fight Night 88 DFS Playbook: value picks, who to avoid
• WWE Smackdown results: Rusev & Miz defend their titles; MITB qualifer
• NJPW Best of the Super Juniors results: Will Ospreay vs. Ricochet; updated standings
• How failure led to the WWE’s latest attempt at a brand split
• NJPW Best of the Super Junior report Day 5: Taguchi vs. Romero; Gedo vs. Matt Sydal

If you’ve ever wanted to WATCH our radio shows here on the site, check out our Youtube page! No full video shows, but lots of video clips, full free audio shows that you can tell your friends about, and much more to come! Make sure you subscribe today!

Figure Four Weekly 5/23/2016: More strange developments in WWE’s concussion lawsuit deposition – Last week we talked a bit about both Evan Singleton’s deposition in the WWE concussion lawsuit as well as a video of a concussion presentation held in developmental during Singleton’s time under contact. Among other topics, there’s been a bit more movement on that front.

Wrestling Observer Newsletter

READ IT HERE: May 30, 2016 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Return of Seth Rollins and the WWE brand split, plus tons of news

With two of the biggest news stories of the year, the WWE brand split and the UFC sale both in play, we’ve got a new issue of the Observer packed with news.

Our lead story looks at the brand split, with what we do know, what has and hasn’t been decided and the background of how it went down. There’s also more info on the UFC sale talks.  Plus there is coverage of the return of Seth Rollins, the build to Money in the Bank and have coverage of Extreme Rules, the negotiations for a Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz fight and look more at the Floyd Mayweather vs. McGregor rumors. Take an in-depth look at the departure of Cody Runnels (Rhodes) from WWE and his future prospects, plus look at his complaints regarding people in the company. All this plus a look at the New Japan Super Juniors tournament, the funding of the Hulk Hogan lawsuit, the World Cup trios tournament coming up and a feature on the last PWG show.

The lead story looks at every aspect of the brand split.  It looks at the original goals and reasons for it and what did and didn’t work, plus how it’ll be different this time, how the touring will work, and an examination of what talent knows and tentative plans in place.  Vince McMahon’ reaction is a big part of this, and this issue explains how the deal went down, the story behind the story and other aspects to be considered. There’s also a look at Smackdown going live, the affect on the fan base, the affect on TNA and why it was important to get Smackdown away from Thursday.

Another big story in this issues is Extreme Rules, the decision to make Seth Rollins a heel and current plans for Money in the Bank, and also match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results.

Details about what’s going on with Conor McGregor, including Colin Cowherd’s claim that Mayweather vs. McGregor is happening, as well as a look at the Nate Diaz negotiations last week and what McGregor has said publicly.

Finally, this issue looks at Cody Runnels leaving WWE, what he said was the reason why, and a look into those reasons, and a look at the realities of WWE business decisions and his background.

CLICK HERE FOR A FULL PREVIEW.

Current subscribers click here to continue reading.

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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 get one free classic issue of your choice sent to you today.  With a 40-issue subscription, you can get two free classic issues. 

Check out the latest online Wrestling Observer BACK ISSUE: April 19, 1999 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Davey Boy Smith hospitalized with spinal infection, WCW Spring Stampede. The health situations involving both Davey Boy Smith and Japanese woman wrestler Emiko Kado took turns for the worst this past week.

FRIDAY NEWS

There will be a new WWE 24 show debuting after Monday Night RAW on Monday on the WWE Network. “Seth Rollins: Redesign. Rebuild. Reclaim” will look at the former WWE Champion’s recovery from a career-threatening injury over the last 6 months. It should be interesting to see if he recovers at the normal human rate, or the super-human pro wrestler rate.

The chair of Kentucky’s boxing and wrestling commission wants to end a state rule that ends a wrestling match when one of the wrestlers starts bleeding. WWE won’t bring TV back there until the law is changed, and supplied a statement in the story. MMA and boxing aren’t bound to the same rule for some reason.

We have the full audio from Thursday’s UFC 199 conference call featuring middleweight champion Luke Rockhold, Michael Bisping, bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz, and Urijah Faber. This is sure to be an exciting PPV card and I can’t imagine the conference call being any less entertaining.

WRESTLING

• If you missed it, our own Paul “Ace” Fontaine recapped SmackDown last night.
• Sports Illustrated talked with Jim Ross and Josh Barnett about them doing commentary for the G1 Climax.
• The New York Times finally figured out something we’d all already known. Yes, everything is pro wrestling.
• At last night’s NXT house show in Lakeland, FL, they announced a July 21st return date.
• Speaking of Lakeland, ROH is running a 10/22 show there and tickets are on sale now.

• SB Nation looks at Will Ospreay vs. Ricochet and their NJPW match from this morning/last night as part of the Best of the Super Juniors tournament. The headline proclaims the match looked like a “dang action movie.”
• Our Will Cooling wrote a column on the impending WWE brand split and one of the key aspects they need to overcome in order to make it work.
• Philly.com did a feature on the Gulak brothers, focusing on Drew’s upcoming spin in the WWE Cruiserweight Classic tournament.
• Apollo Crews answers six questions. Spoiler: none of them are about his current booking situation.
• Here’s a 40-minute Jake Roberts shoot interview, courtesy of Title Match Wrestling.
• Check out this 1977 clip of Beverly Dundee, wife of Bill, attacking Jerry Lawler during a 1977 studio segment.
• Here’s a podcast interview with Caylen Croft of Dudebusters fame.
• AIW kicks off its two-night JT Lightning Invitational Tournament in Cleveland, OH, with tons of talent like Homicide, Dan Severn, DJ Z, Colin Delaney, Louis Lyndon, Colt Cabana, Billy Gunn, Veda Scott, Little Guido, Cedric Alexander, and Johnny Gargano among many others. Limited tickets are available at the door.
• John Cena will be debuting new gear for his return, inspired by, of all things, Pabst Blue Ribbon beer.
• An irritated Chris Jericho (and not in a kayfabe storyline way): “Funny to hear ex @wwe ‘writers’ (who worked for the company for a matter of months) give their ‘expert’ opinion on hack podcasts. #pathetic”
• Randy Savage rescued this kitten six months before he died and it’s still around today.

MMA

• ONE Championships ran earlier today in Bangkok. Yoshitaka Naito won the strawweight title in the main event. Murat Gafurov retained the middleweight title in the co-main and Christian Lee, who doesn’t turn 18 until next month, scored his 5th straight first round finish on the undercard. Full report is up here.
• Former bantamweight title contender Joe Soto steps in to replace Kid Yamamoto at UFC Ottawa next month against Chris Beal.
• Miesha Tate was poking the bear during an interview on SiriusXM yesterday.

EVENTS

• May 28 – Mayhem in the Magnolia State, Louisville Coliseum. This show is a benefit for Kamala.
• May 27 & 28 – Absolute Intense Wrestling “2016 JT Lightning Invitational Tournament,” Our Lady Of Mount Carmel, 1355 West 70th Street, Cleveland, Ohio
• May 30 – Jake Roberts will be appearing in Burbank next monday at 8pm at Flappers Comedy.
• June 4 – UFC 199 from the Forum in Los Angeles with Michael Bisping getting his first title opportunity of his career battling Luke Rockhold for the middleweight belt
• June 4 – In celebration of Metro Pro’s Sixth Anniversary, Demolition (Ax & Smash) will be in action on Saturday, Turner Recreation Center in Kansas City, Kansas. The event address is: 831 S. 55th St., Kansas City, KS 66106 – Tickets can be bought in advance.
• June 5 – AAA’s Victoria World Cup men and women’s trio tournament finals at Los Palacio de los Deportes in Mexico City which will be a live iPPV show
• June 7 – New Japan Best of the Super Juniors finals from Sendai live on New Japan World
• June 8 – NXT Takeover from Full Sail University in Winter Park, FL featuring Samoa Joe vs. Finn Balor in a cage match plus a loaded lineup that includes American Alpha vs. The Revival and probably Shinsuke Nakamura vs Austin Aries, which could be WWE’s match of the month.
• June 11 – NECW presents the 2016 IRON 8 Championship, Saturday Night, June 11 in Wakefield, MA
• June 12 – TNA Slammiversary headlined by Drew Galloway vs. Bobby Lashley for the TNA title from Orlando
• June 12 – Revolution Pro Wrestling in London, England headlined by Kurt Angle vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
• June 17 – AAW “Killers Among Us” features Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Johnny Gargano, Drago vs. Chris Hero, and more at 115 Bourbon Street (3359 w 115th Street Merrionette Park, IL) All Ages Event – Tickets available.
• June 18 – UFC in Ottawa: Rory McDonald vs. Stephen Thompson
• June 18 – New England Fights (NEF) returns to the Androscoggin Bank Colisée in Lewiston, Maine with “NEF 24: PROMISED LAND.” Tickets for “NEF 24” are on sale now.
• June 19 – New Japan Dominion, one of the company’s biggest events of the year, featuring Tetsuya Naito vs. Kazuchika Okada in an IWGP title match and Kenny Omega vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi in a ladder match for the IC title
• June 19 – WWE Money in the Bank from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas 
• June 24 – ROH Best in the World from Concord, NC with Jay Lethal vs. Jay Briscoe for the ROH title 
• June 25 – Ultima Lucha tapings in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles at The Temple
• June 26 – Ultima Lucha tapings in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles at The Temple   
• July 7-11 The 10th annual Wrestling Observer/F4W convention in Las Vegas, EdinSanAntonio has all the information up on Facebook, or email him at F4Wfan@hotmail.com.

Today in Professional Wrestling History: Thor Hogan wins Central States Title; Owen Hart wins IWGP Jr Heavyweight Title

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The big news of today, and really for the week, month and maybe the year, is that WWE and USA Network is moving Smackdown to Tuesdays and running it as a live show. Additionally, they are going to attempt to relaunch the brand split and according to our Dave Meltzer, they are going to be aggressive in signing talent outside the company to help restock the cupboards.

As history has told us, WWE’s first brand split eventually failed due to the crossover of the big stars on their two shows — especially guys like John Cena. If they want to truly create two brands, they need to be two distinct brands with different aesthetics that may have WWE DNS but not the same look, feel, and even sound. Unfortunately, that also might mean a return to the dual champion era with one distinctively being pushed far heavier than the other. (Basically, the WWE title defended on RAW and especially when Cena wore the strap.)

There are still questions to be answered (dual tours? Dual monthly Network events? What about NXT?), but this is the company’s latest attempt to do something different with the 5+ live hours they have on USA every week. NXT showed that when done organically, uniquely, and firmly using wrestling’s roots as the foundation, having two promotions under one banner can work if you put them in two different parts of the wrestling universe and believe in both succeeding equally.

But if WWE doesn’t learn from history, they are doomed to repeat it….with just as much McMahon on our TV screens as ever.

[Josh Nason]

THE ROUND-UP

• WWE Smackdown going live on Tuesdays; brand split imminent?
• Smackdown spoilers 5/24: Miz vs. Cesaro I-C title match; more MITB qualifiers
• UFC’s Paige VanZant finishes second on ‘Dancing With The Stars’
• WWE RAW ratings grow slightly
• New Japan Best of the Super Juniors Night 3 results: Kushida vs. Rocky Romero

If you’ve ever wanted to WATCH our radio shows here on the site, check out our Youtube page! No full video shows, but lots of video clips, full free audio shows that you can tell your friends about, and much more to come! Make sure you subscribe today!

Figure Four Weekly 5/23/2016: More strange developments in WWE’s concussion lawsuit deposition – Last week we talked a bit about both Evan Singleton’s deposition in the WWE concussion lawsuit as well as a video of a concussion presentation held in developmental during Singleton’s time under contact. Among other topics, there’s been a bit more movement on that front.

Wrestling Observer Newsletter

READ IT HERE: May 23, 2016 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: WWE Extreme Rules preview, Vince McMahon sells portion of WWE stock, tons more

A look at what’s next for WWE after Extreme Rules, the UFC sale with lots of exclusive info, Vince & Linda McMahon selling their stock, Chris Weidman’s injury and how that changes plans, the staggering drop in kids viewing for WWE and exactly who watches the TV today, plus UFC 198 coverage and Best of The Super Juniors tournament news are among the stories covered in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

More on the injury returns and summer ideas and why WWE could have its deepest talent roster in a long time in very short order. Plus, talk about the NXT/WWE balance and why talent is actually more important for arena business if in NXT.

There is also an extensive look at the Extreme Rules show.

In addition, updates on the UFC sale, including news about who is in, who is not in, what it all means, what is being sold, where Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta fit in and UFC fixture who indicates he’s likely gone if the sale goes through, all in covered in this issue.

A glimpse into Vince McMahon’s stock sale, what it means, how much money did he get, and how his stock sale only increased the difference in the value of UFC vs. WWE, and for how much Vince McMahon bought the company.

More on the injury to Chris Weidman, how it happened, his future, Michael Bisping’s title shot and more on UFC 1999.

Also in this issue, find out who watches WWE on television and how many in each different age group.

Find out how WWE has changed the schedule of the Cruiserweight tournament and why, more on the arrest of Adam Rose, more on Stephanie McMahon’s book, how Stephanie will be pushed on television going forward, how Stephanie will be marketed as the face of the company, and another WWE firing.

Finally, there’s full coverage of UFC 198, including business notes including early estimates on success, ramifications of the show, match-by-match coverage, looking at the judging of close fights and poll results.

CLICK HERE FOR A FULL PREVIEW

Current subscribers click here to continue reading.

You can also order the print Observer right now and get it delivered to your door via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to Dave Meltzer.

You can also order print issues at www.paypal.com directing funds to dave@wrestlingobserver.com.

Rates are:

For the United States, it is $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 moonsault@mediaplusint.com  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 get one free classic issue of your choice sent to you today.  With a 40-issue subscription, you can get two free classic issues. 

Check out the latest online Wrestling Observer BACK ISSUE: April 19, 1999 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Davey Boy Smith hospitalized with spinal infection, WCW Spring Stampede. The health situations involving both Davey Boy Smith and Japanese woman wrestler Emiko Kado took turns for the worst this past week.

WEDNESDAY NEWS

Diego Brandao was given a nine month suspension from the NSAC for his marijuana test failure following his fight with Brian Ortega. Brandao was subsequently released from UFC but will be eligible to fight again on October.

The probability of Hulk Hogan getting $140 million increased as Gawker’s attempt to get a retrial was tossed out of court today. Gawker wanted a new trial because, well, the first one didn’t go their way, but they still have the right to appeal. This case is still far from over.

There’s much more on the story of the secret backer of Hogan lawsuit via Huffington post and Forbes Tech. Here’s a piece from the Washington Examiner, another piece from Forbes, and finally a third piece from the NY Times. This trial gets more Hollywood everyday. 

WRESTLING

• Here’s a local media piece on an indy show being held in Louisville.
• Willie Mack was the Ring Rust Radio podcast this week, talking about Lucha Underground.
• California indie booker John LaRocca tried his hand at booking a launch for Apollo Crews.
• The 5th season of Total Divas is now on WWE Network.
• Baron Von Raschke and Jim Brunzell discuss throwing out A first pitch at a Minnesota Twins game.
• Here’s a story on Rick Martel.
• The University of Minnesota wrestling team has come under fire recently for drug use. Some members of the team have been accused of dealing Xanax.
• This week’s Fire Pro Podcast looks at Extreme Rules and the release of Cody Rhodes here.

​MMA

• TUF 22 winner Ryan Hall will face Alex White at the UFC Fight Night show in South Dakota on July 13th. This will be his first fight since dominating Artem Lobov in the tournament final last December
• ONE Championships has an event Friday morning at 6 am eastern from Bangkok, Thailand with a strawweight title fight between Dejdamrong Sor Anyuaysirchoke defending against Yoshitaka Naito. Featherweight champion Murat Gafurov takes on challenger Kazunori Yokota in the co-main. Teen sensation Christian Lee is on the undercard with his 5th fight in less than a year and he’s won the previous four via early stoppage.
• Dan Severn talks about MMA, Ken Shamrock, and some pro wrestling on this podcast.
• Scottish fan favorite Robert Whiteford has been cut from UFC after two straight losses. The 33-year-old featherweight had a 2-3 record in UFC, fighting mostly on European shows.
• Shane Carwin is teasing a comeback at the age of 41. He wants to capture the UFC heavyweight title or just “beat up Brock Lesnar again”.
• Here’s a funny video showing a Roberto Duran inside fighting clinic with a random Shane Mosley appearance in the background. (Thanks to John Ringo)

EVENTS

• TONIGHT – Canadian Wrestling’s Elite, Souris & Glenwood Memorial Complex (32 – 3rd Ave West)
• May 28 – Mayhem in the Magnolia State, Louisville Coliseum. This show is a benefit for Kamala.
• May 27 & 28 – Absolute Intense Wrestling “2016 JT Lightning Invitational Tournament,” Our Lady Of Mount Carmel, 1355 West 70th Street, Cleveland, Ohio
• May 30 – Jake Roberts will be appearing in Burbank next monday at 8pm at Flappers Comedy.
• June 4 – UFC 199 from the Forum in Los Angeles with Michael Bisping getting his first title opportunity of his career battling Luke Rockhold for the middleweight belt
• June 4 – In celebration of Metro Pro’s Sixth Anniversary, Demolition (Ax & Smash) will be in action on Saturday, Turner Recreation Center in Kansas City, Kansas. The event address is: 831 S. 55th St., Kansas City, KS 66106 – Tickets can be bought in advance.
• June 5 – AAA’s Victoria World Cup men and women’s trio tournament finals at Los Palacio de los Deportes in Mexico City which will be a live iPPV show
• June 7 – New Japan Best of the Super Juniors finals from Sendai live on New Japan World
• June 8 – NXT Takeover from Full Sail University in Winter Park, FL featuring Samoa Joe vs. Finn Balor in a cage match plus a loaded lineup that includes American Alpha vs. The Revival and probably Shinsuke Nakamura vs Austin Aries, which could be WWE’s match of the month.
• June 12 – TNA Slammiversary headlined by Drew Galloway vs. Bobby Lashley for the TNA title from Orlando
• June 12 – Revolution Pro Wrestling in London, England headlined by Kurt Angle vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
• June 17 – AAW “Killers Among Us” features Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Johnny Gargano, Drago vs. Chris Hero, and more at 115 Bourbon Street (3359 w 115th Street Merrionette Park, IL) All Ages Event – Tickets available.
• June 18 – UFC in Ottawa: Rory McDonald vs. Stephen Thompson
• June 18 – New England Fights (NEF) returns to the Androscoggin Bank Colisée in Lewiston, Maine with “NEF 24: PROMISED LAND.” Tickets for “NEF 24” are on sale now.
• June 19 – New Japan Dominion, one of the company’s biggest events of the year, featuring Tetsuya Naito vs. Kazuchika Okada in an IWGP title match and Kenny Omega vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi in a ladder match for the IC title
• June 19 – WWE Money in the Bank from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas 
• June 24 – ROH Best in the World from Concord, NC with Jay Lethal vs. Jay Briscoe for the ROH title 
• June 25 – Ultima Lucha tapings in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles at The Temple
• June 26 – Ultima Lucha tapings in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles at The Temple   
• July 7-11 The 10th annual Wrestling Observer/F4W convention in Las Vegas, EdinSanAntonio has all the information up on Facebook, or email him at F4Wfan@hotmail.com.

Today in Professional Wrestling History: 5/25 Shawn Michaels & Steve Austin win WWF World Tag TeamTitles

• Please send feedback to FeedBack@WrestlingObserver.com
• Please send show results and news tips to NewsTips@WrestlingObserver.com
• Please send Wrestling Observer Radio questions to MailBag@WrestlingObserver.com