DAILY UPDATE
Latest News:
WWE Main Event results: Rawley vs. Alexander, Natalya vs. Logan
Dragon Lee appears at NJPW World Tag League finals, challenges Liger
NJPW World Tag League 2019 winners crowned
Moxley returns to NJPW, challenges Archer for Wrestle Kingdom 14
NJPW World Tag League finals live results: Winners are crowned
Tito Ortiz submits Alberto Del Rio in Combate Americas main event
UFC on ESPN 7 live results: Overeem vs. Rozenstruik
Latest Audio:
WOR: Observer Hall of Fame, UFC on ESPN, Tito vs. Alberto, RAW, more! 12/7
WOR: Ruiz vs. Joshua 2, Wednesday ratings, WON HOF, Smackdown 12/7
WOL Saturday: Daniel Bryan, the ’90s, SmackDown 12/7
IMPACT ON TWITCH SUNDAY FROM BELLEVILLE, MI
Sami Callihan vs. Rhino for Impact title
Taya & Rosemary vs. Jessicka Havok & Madison Rayne
Brian Cage vs. Michael Elgin
Willie Mack & Rich Swann vs. Dave & Jake Crist
Eddie Edwards vs. Mad Man Fulton
Ace Austin vs. Dezmond Xavier
Raw TV will be from Greenville, SC on Monday. The Rusev-Lana divorce and A.J. Styles vs. Rey Mysterio in a U.S. title match have been announced.
F4W NEWSLETTER: Rey Mysterio’s US title win Joseph Currier looks at how WWE has started to use the legendary Mysterio to his full potential.
After periods of not being used as well as he should have been, it seems like Rey Mysterio’s legendary career may get the dream final stretch that it deserves.
Mysterio was at the center of a great moment on last week’s post-Survivor Series edition of Raw. With Humberto Carrillo being attacked by The O.C. before his scheduled title shot, Mysterio won two straight matches to become United States Champion. He defeated Ricochet, Randy Orton, and Drew McIntyre in a number one contender’s fatal four-way match and then beat AJ Styles to win the US title.
Mysterio pinned Ricochet to get the immediate title shot against Styles. Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson had interfered when Orton had the fatal four-way won, and Orton then helped Mysterio even the odds a bit when The O.C. got involved in the title match. Orton took out Gallows and Anderson, gave Styles an RKO after Mysterio hit the 619, and Mysterio followed up with a frog splash to win the title. Mysterio then celebrated in the ring with his son Dominik.
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WON NEWSLETTER: December 16, 2019 Observer Newsletter: TLC card mystery, Kelly Klein/ROH issues, more
A look at plans as they are for the WWE’s TLC PPV is the lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. We look at what was on the boards this week for the card, ways it may change, why zero matches had been announced nine days before the show and Vince McMahon’s philosophy regarding PPV shows these days. The new issue also covers:
Issues with ROH, from its concussion policy, to its relationship with New Japan, with comments from both Joe Koff and Harold Meij. We look at the claims regarding a concussion policy, why ROH cut off negotiations with women’s champion Kelly Klein after first offering her more than double of her prior contract and more.
The economics of WWE, PPV vs Network and which would have been better, Orlando wants big shows, Ciampa says he’d rather retire than move to the main roster, why he said it, changes with WWE Network, TV ratings in Canada and Germany, new WWE fire, WWE in sports survey, NXT the next two weeks, Raw announcing, Carmella tarts new business, stock value, most-watched shows on WWE Network, as well as a rundown of all the weekend arena dates.
New Japan tag team tournament matches of the past week.
AAA’s TripleMania Regia, the big angle shot, the usage of rival CMLL’s old heel stable, plus the return of Kenny Omega, as well as hopes to use more AEW talent on major shows coming up. We also have match-by-match coverage.
History of Starrcade, how it started, the roles of key people like Dusty Rhodes, Ric Flair, Harley Race and Dory Funk Jr. We look at every main event in Starrcade history, and how Vince McMahon tried and failed to sabotage the first show, but succeeded in sabotaging the fifth show. We look at how Starrcade came to be, the match in 1983 that created the first Starrcade, the Flair vs. Race program and how it was built, the Roddy Piper vs. Greg Valentine angle, what killed wrestling on Thanksgiving, plus a rundown of Sunday’s show in Atlanta.
Preview of Tito Ortiz vs. Alberto El Patron, how Combate Americas came into this world, Campbell McLaren’s role in the birth of MMA, how Alberto got into pro wrestling, his MMA career before WWE, why he was not allowed to fight on the Los Angeles Coliseum show and the realities of this fight as a PPV from a business standpoint.
Full coverage of all the WWE and AEW television shows from the past week.
In-depth looks at the ratings of all the major shows, the key demos and quarters for AEW and WWE, what happened head-to-head and what can be learned from them.
Results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.
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SUNDAY NEWS UPDATE
We have two weekend shows up right now. We went into detail on ratings of AEW vs. NXT as well as a look at both brands the next few weeks, the politics and business of Joshua vs. Ruiz, and Hall of Fame with Garrett Gonzalez and our regular show with Bryan Alvarez is also up talking UFC and WWE.
We went to send our best wishes to Bobby Fulton, best known for being part of the tag team, The Fantastics, both with Tommy Rogers and later Jackie Fulton, who was diagnosed on Friday with throat cancer.
New Japan will be holding a press conference at 1 a.m. Eastern tonight at 10 p.m. Pacific talking the Tokyo Dome show. The Jushin Liger vs. Hiromu Takahashi vs. Ryu Lee (Dragon Lee) match will be on the 5th. Not sure regarding the Texas death match with Lance Archer vs. Jon Moxley for the U.S. title or the tag title match with Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa vs. Juice Robinson & David Finlay whether they will be on the 4th or 5th, as well as the other title matches.
Ryu Lee signed a one-year contract with New Japan. He met with Naoki Sugabayashi and Tiger Hattori a few weeks ago when they were all in Mexico in a secret meeting. As we noted at the time, New Japan wanted to keep Lee but there was the politics of him being fired by CMLL, their Mexican partner.
WWE has released The Ascension, Sin Cara and Luke Harper today. Sin Cara and Luke Harper had been requesting a release for some time. WWE has confirmed that all four will have 90-day non-compete clauses. Those non-compete clauses will expire on March 8th.
Regarding the weekend stuff, last night’s UFC show had 500,000 searches which is much higher than usual and the level of all but the bigger PPV shows. The Anthony Joshua vs. Andy Ruiz fight had two million searches, which would be the level of a Jon Jones or bigger UFC fight For a comparison, Survivor Series did 200,000 and only one AEW show thus far has done 200,000. Tito Ortiz vs. Alberto did not crack the top 20 and Ortiz vs. Chuck Liddell did very big numbers in searches, so this didn’t have the general public interest.
WWE
Braun Strowman missed last night’s house show in Jacksonville where he was scheduled for the main event against The Fiend for the Universal title. We were told back spasms, but the official word is a sore hip and that he is expected to be back in action in a few days.
The car that Walter and Timothy Thatcher were driving to get to Chicago for yesterday’s Evolve show was broken into. Walter’s ring gear, passport and the WWE U.K. title were all stolen. Thatcher had things stolen a well. Walter worked his match with Josh Briggs barefooted.
Regarding Tribute to the Troops, which was taped Friday morning at Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, NC, the bouts were Kevin Owens & Humberto Carrillo vs. Drew McIntyre & Andrade, Asuka & Kairi Sane vs. Natalya & Sarah Logan for the tag titles and Seth Rollins vs. Erick Rowan.
Regarding any confusion since Roman Reigns vs. King Corbin was announced as a TLC match, as of earlier today, Kabuki Warriors vs. Becky Lynch & Charlotte Flair match on Sunday’s TLC PPV in Minneapolis, which has not been officially announced, but should be very soon, is also a TLC match, so there are two of them on the card.
Steve Austin will interview Bill Goldberg on the WWE Network for a show that airs on 12/15, directly after the conclusion of the TLC PPV.
A WWE Chronicle episode featuring Rey Mysterio drops on Saturday.
Shane Thorne will be a guest trainers at the EPW Super Camp from 1/6 to 1/10 in Perth, Western Australia. Wrestlers who wish to attend can contact [email protected]
Lars Sullivan posted a workout video on his Instagram. We’re told his return is not imminent and that he’s about midway or so through his recuperation from knee surgery.
UFC
There are issues that may lead to the 1/25 UFC show in Raleigh having to be moved. The local news story is here. (thanks to Mike Gunter)
Marlon Vera vs. Jimmy Rivera has been added to the 2/8 show in Houston.
AEW
I’m not sure why there has been confusion given we’ve talked about it all week, but the Chris Jericho vs. Jungle Boy match on 12/18 in Corpus Christi is not a championship match. Chris Jericho sent out a tweet noting it will be a non-title 10 minute time limit match. Jungle Boy was one of the guys for months now that they earmarked for a no rush focus, dating back to his doing well in the first Battle Royal.
AEW has filed for trademarks for the term “Join the Revolution.” PWInsider first reported this.
MISCELLANEOUS
Dwayne Johnson will appear on Jimmy Kimmel Tuesday night to promote Jumanji. He’ll be doing major media to promote the movie all week. The movie’s official release date is Friday, but it will be out in a number of places on Thursday.
Dave Bautista will be on NAT GEO’s Running Wild with Bear Grylls on Tuesday night.
NHPW from Western Australia last night: Cannon Connors b Salem Sixx, Azalea b Kinicki Wheeler-DQ, Gorgeous Gary b King Shahil, Hiroyo Matsumoto b Erika Reid, Jebediah & Rogan Karguis b Aaron O’Malley & Johnny Hardway, Mercedes Martinez b Avary, Meiko Satomura b Lena Kross=COR. People hated the title saving count out finish. Martinez beat Satomura the night before and Kross beat Matsumoto in a good match.
The Misfit beat T-Hawk to win the AWF Australasian title on Friday night in Sydney, Australia (thanks to Kevin Chiat)
At a show in Dayton last night, Scott D’Amore announced that Larry D had been signed to an Impact contract. (thanks to Shannon Walsh at wrestlingwithdemons.net)
Stardom from today in Tokyo: Death Yama-San & Ruaka b Rina & Hina, Saya Iida b Leo Onozaki, Saya Kamitani b Itsuki Hoshino, Natsuko Tora & Natsu Sumire & Jamie Hayter & Session Moth Martina b Hana Kimura & Jungle Kyona & Konami & Zoe Lucas, Arisa Hoshiki & Riho & Saki Kashima & Starlight Kid b Bea Priestley & Momo Watanabe & Utami Hayashishita & AZM, Saya Kamitani b Saya Iida to win the women’s tournament and be named 2019 Stardom Rookie of the Year, Kagetsu b Andras Miyagi, Giulia b Hazuki in her debut match with the promotion Giulia and Hana Kimura got into a brawl after the match.
Stardom had a match yesterday at the Chara Expo USA convention in Anaheim, CA. Mayu Iwatani & Tam Nakano beat Sumie Sakai & Nicole Savoy when Iwatani pinned Savoy. (thanks to Shannon Walsh)
Impact/Rock Star Pro Wrestling from last night in Dayton. This was supposed to be for Impact Plus, but there were technical issues. It did air on FITE TV but there were sound and stream glitches: Trey Miguel won three-way over Tyler Manix and Logan James, Rosemary b Madison Rayne, Rhino b Jeremiah Rhino b Clayton Gainz, Michael Elgin b Larry D, Jake & Dave Crist won three-way over Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz and Desi it Squad, Mad Man Fulton won over Brian Cage, Willie Mack, Ace Romero and Crash Jaxon, Jessicka Havok b Taya Valkyrie-DQ, Eddie Edwards b Ace Austin in a non-title match, Sami Callihan b Rich Swann to keep the Impact title.
James C. Dudgeon was sentenced to one year probation for throwing a concrete block at the statue of The Crusher in South Milwaukee. Dudgeon was also ordered to pay $1,200 in statue damages and $650 to Da Crusher Foundation as well as apologize to Da Crusher Foundation. He was also sentenced to 40 hours of community service work.
Daily Pro Wrestling History: Harlem Heat win WCW Tag Team Titles
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