Daily Update: Raw fallout, Matt Hughes, Punk/Cabana lawsuit
DAILY UPDATE
Latest News
Reigns’ return, Flair party draw best WWE Raw ratings in six months
Fallah Bahh signs multi-year deal with Impact Wrestling
Honky Tonk Man confirmed for this year’s WWE Hall of Fame class
WWE Savannah live results: Asuka vs. Charlotte Flair
VIDEO: Roman Reigns appears on Good Morning America
WWE Raw video highlights: Roman Reigns and Batista return
Women’s Tag Team title match confirmed for WWE Fastlane
Batista returns on WWE Raw, furthers angle with Triple H
Roman Reigns announces his leukemia is in remission
Latest Audio
WOL: RAW, Roman Reigns return, Ric Flair birthday, Batista, more! 2/26
DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: 1975 in pro wrestling 2/26
WOR: Roman Reigns return, Big Dave Batista, RAW, New Japan, more! 2/26
Big Audio Nightmare: NJ Cup, AJPW Carnival, Baba tribute, tons more 2/25
F4W NEWSLETTER: Figure Four Weekly: WWE takes first steps toward WrestleMania 35 triple threat
It appears that WWE has officially taken the first steps towards Ronda Rousey, Becky Lynch, and Charlotte Flair all being involved in the main event of WrestleMania 35.
An angle where Vince McMahon suspended Lynch for 60 days and announced that Charlotte would be taking her place at WrestleMania closed last Monday’s episode of Raw. Charlotte aligned with Vince and fully turned heel, with Vince calling her someone with charisma, someone with charm, and someone who knows their lane and stays in it.
WON NEWSLETTER: February 25, 2019 Observer Newsletter: Elimination Chamber review
The show didn’t sell out, even in one of WWE’s best markets. The show had more good than bad, with the highlight being the main event, the men’s Chamber match where Daniel Bryan retained and the crowd got so strong behind Kofi Kingston in the Mustafa Ali slot that Vince McMahon changed plans for Fast Lane to put Bryan vs. Kingston on top.
The show was the brainchild of Motoko Baba, to run a big Baba celebration show in 2019, 20 years after his early 1999 death. With her passing away last year, it was her nieces and nephews who put the show together.
All but one count of Mark Hunt’s lawsuit against the UFC, Dana White and Brock Lesnar on the grounds they conspired against him to allow a juiced up Lesnar to fight him at UFC 200 was thrown out of court.
The 2020 Royal Rumble will take place on 1/26 at Minute Maid Park in Houston. Most likely that would also mean Takeover on 1/25 at the Toyota Center, Raw on 1/27 and Smackdown on 1/28.
FOX this weekend started advertising 10/4 as the debut of the new Friday Night Smackdown show.
“Fighting with My Family,” the Dwayne Johnson Seven Bucks Entertainment movie about Growing Up as Paige, which has its big national release on 2/22, has gotten great word-of-mouth so far.
Chris Jericho noted that while he and Gedo are on the same page, that New Japan management hasn’t talked with him about a new deal.
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TUESDAY NEWS UPDATE
by Joseph Currier and Bryan Rose
WWE
SmackDown tonight will be at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The main focus of tonight’s show will be a contract signing between Daniel Bryan and Kofi Kingston for their WWE title match at Fastlane. Johnny Gargano will face Cesaro, while Aleister Black and Ricochet will take on Shinsuke Nakamura and Rusev.
The tournament to determine Buddy Murphy’s challenger for WrestleMania will begin on tonight’s 205 Live with Kalisto vs. Tony Nese and Brian Kendrick vs. Drew Gulak in first round matches. There will be two more first round matches left in the eight-man tournament after tonight.
WWE sent out a statement saying “We have nothing to announce at this time” when asked about reports of WrestleMania 36 taking place in Tampa, Florida next year. The Tampa Bay Times notes that the Tampa Bay Sports Commission declined to comment and directed inquiries to WWE.
WWE posted an interview with Roman Reigns from after his appearance on Raw, and Reigns tweeted a video thanking his family for their support during his leukemia battle.
Reigns also thanked Robin Roberts and everyone at Good Morning America after his appearance: “Thank you to @RobinRoberts and everyone from @GMA. Thank you for the support and the platform to raise awareness for leukemia research. Now, it’s time to get ready to go back to work!! @WWE”
David Arquette was at Raw in Atlanta last night. Ric Flair tweeted a picture with him backstage before the show.
Flair also sent out a tweet about the angle where he was attacked by Batista at the end of Raw: “I Want To Thank @WWE For Throwing Such A Wonderful Birthday Celebration With Some Of My Closest Friends. As For @DaveBautista… Be Careful Whose Party You Crash, Big Man! #WOOOOO”
After Raw went off the air last night, Shawn Michaels hit Sweet Chin Music on Jinder Mahal and Kurt Angle gave Mahal an Angle Slam onto Flair’s birthday cake.
WWE has uploaded the entire NXT TakeOver: Phoenix event from last month on their YouTube page as a part of the WWE Network’s fifth anniversary celebration.
WWE’s YouTube page has reached 40 million subscribers.
The Tampa Bay Times has a feature story on Dave Bautista.
This week’s Total Bellas drew 424,000 viewers, which is down from last week’s 426,000 viewers.
Check here if you would be interested in volunteering for WrestleMania Axxess.
Pro Wrestling
PWInsider is reporting that CM Punk is looking to have the lawsuit brought on by Colt Cabana tossed out, claiming that Cabana has failed to explain why the suit should move forward after the initial filing was tossed out.
NJPW announced that Yujiro Takahashi will miss their next series of shows due to an eye injury. The announcement noted that Takahashi’s return date is undecided at this point.
Killer Kross has been added to Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport, which is taking place in Jersey City, New Jersey on Thursday, April 4.
ROH’s Ian Riccaboni and his wife Sarah welcomed the birth of their second child: “Nora is here! Mom is a warrior. Happy and healthy.”
UFC/MMA
Matt Hughes has been hit with a restraining order from both his wife and brother after allegations of domestic and physical abuse. Audra Hughes described in court documents that a pattern of abusive behavior that started in 2017 after Hughes’ truck was struck by a train. Mark Hughes also filed a restraining order, alleging that Matt roughed up his son and attacked a tractor in a dispute over who owned the tractor. Both restraining orders were granted.
According to ESPN, ONE Fighting Championships and Vitor Belfort are in serious negotiations. If everything goes to plan, the announcement will likely be made later this week.
The second episode of UFC 235 Embedded is now up.
Josh Emmett will fight Michael Johnson, while Ray Borg will fight Pingyuan Liu at UFC on ESPN 2 in Philadelphia on 3/30.
Jesus Pinedo will fight Chris Gruetzemacher at the Tennessee Ultimate Fight Night event on March 23.
Krzysztof Jotko vs. Roman Kopylov has been added to the Ultimate Fight Night event in St. Petersburg Russia.
Diego Sanchez talks about his fighting spirit ahead of his match against Mickey Gall this weekend.
Daily Pro Wrestling History: Davey Boy Smith becomes first WWF European Champion
Ed in San Antonio presents the WRESTLEMANIA Weekend Events (more to be added):
Sunday, April 6th, at 12:00 pm: Lunch (all you can eat) at Churrascaria Plataforma ($90 per person), located at 316 W. 49th street in Manhattan. Purchase tickets here~!
Luxury Bus to MetLife Stadium for Wrestlemania: We will depart from the Hilton Midtown (site of Wrestlecon) located at 1335 Avenue of the Americas. Departure time is 4:00 pm and will return from MetLife approximately 30 mins after the event. Times are subject to change, and cost $67.00 per person for the round trip. Purchase tickets here~!
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