Daily Update: Impact, NJPW Destruction show, WWE in Osaka
THE ROUND-UP
The Latest from the F4W Staff
NEWS
UFC Fight Night 116 live results: Luke Rockhold vs. David Branch
CMLL 84th Aniversario live results: Mask match doubleheader
NJPW Destruction in Hiroshima results: Tanahashi vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
WWE Osaka, Japan, live results: Jinder Mahal vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
AUDIO
DR. KEITH PRESENTS: Open the Praise Gate!!! 9/16
JNPO Classic: How I helped Jorge Rivera charge his iPhone 9/16
WOL: NXT Women’s Title, Jon Jones, NXT taping notes, tons more! 9/15
Wrestling Weekly: Owens, Strowman, Tessa Blanchard, mailbag 9/15
UFC SATURDAY NIGHT ON FS1 AT 8 P.M. EASTERN TIME FROM THE PPG ARENA IN PITTSBURGH
Gilbert Burns (156) vs. Jason Saggo (156)
Uriah Hall (186) vs. Krzysztof Jotko (185)
Anthony Hamilton (255.75) vs. Daniel Spitz (244)
Tony Martin (156) vs. Olivier Aubin-Mercier (155)
Zu Anyanwu (263.5) vs. Justin Ledet (244.5)
Sergio Morales (171) vs. Kamaru Usman (169.75)
Gregor Gillespie (155.5) vs. Jason Gonzalez (156)
Hector Lombard (186) vs. Anthony Smith (186)
Mike Perry (170.5) vs. Alex Reyes (167.5)
Luke Rockhold (185.5) vs. David Branch (186)
The WWE weekend tour with the SmackDown brand ends Sunday in Shenzhen, China.
Raw will be Monday night in San Jose at the SAP Center. As of right now, neither Brock Lesnar nor John Cena are scheduled for the show, which features Alexa Bliss vs. Nia Jax in a non-title match. Very much unlike usual protocol to have two of the PPV main eventers not scheduled for the go-home Raw for No Mercy.
SmackDown and 205 Live are taped Tuesday night in Oakland. A.J. Styles vs. Baron Corbin for the U.S. title is scheduled for the show.
FIGURE FOUR WEEKLY: Figure Four Weekly 9/11/2017: Is the WWE main roster ready for Asuka?
With her vacating the NXT Women’s Championship and the storyline of both brands negotiating for her to join them, it appears that it won’t be very long until Asuka arrives on the main roster. That segment with her relinquishing the title aired on NXT TV last week, with there having been no announcement of how the next champion will be decided. But whoever it is, whether it’s someone currently in NXT or one of the Mae Young Classic finalists, they’ll have a difficult time living up to the standard that Asuka set.
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WRESTLING OBSERVER NEWSLETTER: September 18, 2017 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Vince McMahon returns to TV, Mae Young Classic finals, more
The return of Vince McMahon for an angle with Kevin Owens and the copying of the Okada-Shibata spot is the lead in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer. This issue has a run through of the next few WWE PPV shows.
Look at the mechanics behind it, the double standard involved and the WWE’s attempt to heat up the product as football season starts.
Read a full rundown of the Mae Young Classic finals including thoughts on all 32 competitors, who has signed, who is likely to be signed, and who isn’t likely to be signed. Plus, look at business notes on the tournament, both on where the shows stood in WWE Network ratings and public interest as compared with the early weeks of the cruiserweight classic, as well as some very interesting notes about what caused the peaks of interest.
This issues has an update on the condition of Big Show, why Asuka is going to Raw, WWE headed to India, Mick Foley’s knee replacement, Foley’s next book, Ric Fair’s next book, return of injured wrestler, market value of WWE, plus notes on the weekend NXT shows and the first show of the Raw overseas tour.
Coverage of UFC 215, what happened to Ray Borg, the judging of Amanda Nunes vs. Valentina Shevchenko, what Shevchenko did wrong, how close a fight it really was, plus business notes on the show and match-by-match coverage with poll results.
Check out New Japan’s first big show since G-1 ended, the Destruction in Fukushima, and what went wrong, why it went wrong and the main event booking, plus match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results.
Details on the ratings for all the national shows over the past week, including a breakdown of who was watching all of the WWE shows, plus results of the major league arena events held all over the world this past week, as well as notes on the various TV shows.
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ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to Dave Meltzer, or by using PayPal directing funds to [email protected].
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If you are a new subscriber ordering 24 or more issues, you can choose one free classic issue, or two free classic issues with a 40-issue subscription.
WON BACK ISSUE: August 21, 2000 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Steve Austin to return, WCW Thunder canceled, more
Steve Austin this past week received medical clearance from Dr. Lloyd Youngblood to return to active wrestling in eight weeks, most likely at the October PPV. Austin, who had been on the sidelines since November and had neck surgery in January that put his career in jeopardy, got what was regarded as a cautious okay after exams on his neck on 8/10 and on his knees on 8/12. After the neck exam, Youngblood suggested he stay out another two months to be on the safe side.
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SATURDAY NEWS UPDATE
WWE
With the SmackDown crew stopping in Japan on their international tour, some of the wrestlers dined with members of the NJPW roster.
AJ Styles donned a mask while making his entrance in Osaka.
An hour-long documentary on Madusa called “Trailblayzer” will be premiering on the WWE Network after NXT on Wednesday. It will focus on her career and Hall of Fame induction.
Bleacher Report interviewed Kairi Sane about her Mae Young Classic win.
Chris Jericho announced that he’ll be hosting a cruise called “Chris Jericho’s Rock ‘N’ Wrestling Rager at Sea.”
Jericho spoke to Business Insider about how he stays in shape at 46 years old.
After the Vince McMahon-Kevin Owens angle from SmackDown, this week’s WWE top 10 list on YouTube focuses on McMahon family assaults.
MensHealth posted a story on Dave Bautista appearing in the “Blade Runner 2049” prequel.
Billboard has an article on the Arcade Songs publishing company and their work on WWE theme music.
Pro Wrestling
Though they haven’t revealed the city yet, GFW officially announced that this year’s Bound for Glory will be taking place in Canada on November 5th. The city, which is expected to be Toronto, will be announced on Monday.
Ratings for Impact were up a bit this week, with the show averaging 239,000 viewers after doing 227,000 the week prior. It also faced far weaker competition as last week went against the first game of the NFL season on NBC and Hurricane Irma coverage. Thursday’s Houston Texans vs. Cincinnati Bengals game averaged 8.08 million viewers on the NFL Network.
NJPW bounced back this morning with the second of their Destruction shows of the month taking place in Hiroshima. After Hiroshi Tanahashi retained the IWGP Intercontinental Championship over Zack Sabre Jr. in the main event, Tanahashi issued a challenge to Kota Ibushi. That match would seem set for King of Pro Wrestling in October. In another development for KOPW, Will Ospreay challenged KUSHIDA to a Junior Heavyweight title match before being interrupted by Hiromu Takahashi.
Rocky Romero also teased on the NJPW show that he’d be bringing in a junior heavyweight tag team called Roppongi 3K.
Revolution Pro Wrestling announced that this year’s Global Wars UK shows will be taking place in Bethnal Green on November 9th and Walthamstow on the 10th. Minoru Suzuki is the first wrestler confirmed for the shows.
Channel Guide Magazine interviewed Marty Scurll about working for ROH.
Eastern Daily Press ran a story on Jack Swagger ahead of his debut for WAW in Norwich.
UFC/MMA
Daniel Cormier released a statement on Instagram thanking fans for their support and asking them to lay off Jon Jones
Cormier also spoke to ESPN about Jones’ test failure and whether he feels like a champion after getting the belt back.
Kevin Lee called Conor McGregor a quitter and a bitch while saying Tony Ferguson is a tougher opponent.
Jesse Taylor denied using steroids or failing a test for them after being flagged by USADA for a potential violation.
Bellator confirmed that Heather Hardy will face Kristina Williams on October 20th at Mohegan Sun.
Today in Professional Wrestling History: Lesnar vs. Angle in an Iron Man match
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