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JUNE 10, 2019 OBSERVER NEWSLETTER: THE EVOLUTION OF WILL OSP

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  1. NXT TAKEOVER POLL RESULTS
  2.  
  3. Thumbs up 384 (94.3%)
  4.  
  5. Thumbs down 13 (03.2%)
  6.  
  7. In the middle 10 (02.5%)
  8.  
  9.  
  10.  
  11. BEST MATCH POLL
  12.  
  13. Adam Cole vs. Johnny Gargano 313
  14.  
  15. Matt Riddle vs. Roderick Strong 73
  16.  
  17. Tag title ladder match 19
  18.  
  19.  
  20.  
  21. WORST MATCH POLL
  22.  
  23. Velveteen Dream vs. Tyler Breeze 204
  24.  
  25. Shayna Baszler vs. Io Shirai 67
  26.  
  27. Tag title ladder match 25
  28.  
  29. Matt Riddle vs. Roderick Strong 14
  30.  
  31. Adam Cole vs. Johnny Gargano 9
  32.  
  33. Based on phone calls and e-mails to the Observer as of Tuesday,6/4.
  34.  
  35.  
  36.  
  37. I’ll always remember March 13, 1996 for a conversation I had. A few days earlier, this was this new guy at the WWF TV tapings in Corpus Christi, wrestling Brooklyn Brawler and Chris Candido named Dwayne Johnson.
  38.  
  39. There were several people I spoke with that day about “Duane Johnson,” who told me I knew of him already, Rocky Johnson’s son, who gained some fame as a football player at the University of Miami where he won a national championship. Geez, of course I knew him, I saw him when he was two years old backstage at the San Jose Civic Auditorium with his mom and grandmother.
  40.  
  41. Everyone praised him, but none more than Jim Cornette. Cornette, who already told me some guy named Adam Copeland (later became Edge) would be one of the biggest stars in the company some day, said that Dwayne Johnson within five years would not be one of the biggest stars, he would be the guy. In 2000, the guy set the record, which at this rate will probably never be touched, for headlining the most shows in a year that drew 10,000 fans.
  42.  
  43. Flash back about 11 months ago. Kazuchika Okada, arguably the best wrestler in the world, maybe of all-time, said that when Will Ospreay is 30 (2023 for those keeping score), he would be the best wrestler in the business. Actually nobody doubted that possibility. The only question, and it’s still a question, is will his body even survive to 2023.
  44.  
  45. Johnson may have beaten Cornette’s prediction by a year. Ospreay beat Okada’s five-year prediction by four.
  46.  
  47. This year’s Best of the Super Junior tournament, besides generally considered the greatest ever, was built from the start on the idea of Ospreay and Shingo Takagi meeting in the finals.
  48.  
  49. Takagi was pushed as unbeatable, not having lost a fall in New Japan since signing in October. He went 9-0, beating Taiji Ishimori in the deciding match on 5/31 in Ehime.
  50.  
  51. Ospreay started strong. While Takagi won and was kept strong, Ospreay had incredible matches. It didn’t matter who. But he lost to El Phantasmo, which was touch because that meant Phantasmo had to lose twice because of the tiebreaker. Then he lost to Robbie Eagles, meaning Phantasmo would have to lose three times.
  52.  
  53. Phantasmo’s undefeated streak was ended by, of all people, Rocky Romero, in what was among the best pure story matches of the year, perhaps only matches by Cody vs. Dustin and Kenny Omega vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi. Then he lost to Yoh. Then he lost to Ryusuke Taguchi, knocking him out of a shot at first place.
  54.  
  55. Ospreay beat Taguchi on 6/3 in Ehime to set the stage for the finals, and a title shot at Dragon Lee on 6/9 in Dominion.
  56.  
  57. Even though Takagi is Japanese, the story of the tournament was about Ospreay as the come-from-behind guy trying to be the dragon-slayer. Takagi was positioned as the unbeatable Dragon.
  58.  
  59. To say they had a great match does this a disservice. Ospreay is just a different level. And his promos in their own way are completely compelling.
  60.  
  61. Ospreay’s winning performance was in many ways similar to Omega’s becoming the first foreigner to win G-1 in 2016. Omega had two fantastic matches in wins over Tetsuya Naito and Hirooki Goto within 24 hours to become the surprise winner. But it was his promo after the match that established him as a superstar in Japan, even before the first Okada match. This was the night that set the stage.
  62.  
  63. Similarly, while you can talk all the superlatives about Ospreay’s tournament, and even more about the final match, which I would call the best junior heavyweight match I’ve ever seen and one of the best matches in any division, but it was the promos, the one after beating Taguchi and the other two after beating Takagi that drove this one home. As great as Jay White is, and he is, and will be positioned as a top guy barring injury (two straight wins over Tanahashi drives that home), Ospreay blew past him at Sumo Hall. As much of a breakout performance as Jon Moxley had, Ospreay left him in the dust.
  64.  
  65. All year, it’s been the battle of Ospreay or Kento Miyahara as the best in the world. That battle is clearly over. Everyone’s fighting for second.
  66.  
  67. Still, to the live fans, the 6/5 Sumo Hall show, while Ospreay vs. Takagi was clearly the main event and the match the crowd was most up for, the two guys the crowd was into the most were Hiroshi Tanahashi and Hiromu Takahashi. Tanahashi’s return had the crowd into his every move. They told a story that he was hurt coming off surgery on his left elbow. White worked on the arm and that injury led to White getting a big win. In this world where every win over Tanahashi has to have meaning or there is no reason to do it, that seems to indicate Okada vs. White for the IWGP title, whether that be in Australia, London or Japan.
  68.  
  69. Takahashi wasn’t there. But the momentum for his return, coming soon, is strong. Every time Ospreay mentioned his name, the place went nuts. A new Mochineko plush (makers of Darryl) was released at Sumo Hall sold out less than eight minutes after the doors were open.
  70.  
  71. The show also featured the debut of Death Rider Jon Moxley, who won the U.S. title from Juice Robinson. This was a completely different wrestler from Dean Ambrose in WWE. While still feeling his way around New Japan style, he was an aggressive brawler, trying to be a mix between a Bruiser Brody and Terry Funk. He was drenched in sweat five minutes into the match, and I can’t ever recall him sweating 20 minutes into WWE matches. The match was crazy, including Moxley throwing short punches to the eyebrow and biting Robinson trying to open a hardway cut. Really, if you want blood, blading, as barbaric as it is to the uninitiated, is far safer than trying to do hardways. Plus, Robinson was bleeding, but it was only a small cut. You have two types of guys coming out of WWE. One is the guy who thinks he’s been in WWE and can get by on his name. That guy is usually seen through in Japan and at the high-level U.S. indies immediately. The other is the guy who leaves with something to prove. They fall into two categories. They go to Japan or the high-level indies, work hard, and quickly find how high the standard is and a lot don’t do well. Or, they come in with something to prove, have a battle plan on how to make themselves different and make it work. Moxley clearly fell into the latter category. He’s not trying to do the New Japan matches the way A.J. Styles or Kenny Omega would. He’s creating a different character. There are some similarities to Chris Jericho as far as brawling goes, but they are still very different.
  72.  
  73. On a show where they couldn’t compete with Tanahashi vs. White in storytelling and couldn’t compete with Ospreay vs. Takagi in whatever it is that they did, they instead competed by being very different. Moxley was established as a main player instantly with the win. One would think, the way New Japan books and from his comments, he’ll be announced for G-1.
  74.  
  75. But the other change was Robinson. He cut his hair, the idea of dropping his fun-loving mid-card dancing character and trying to become the babyface side of Moxley as a Terry Funk to Moxley’s Brody. Whether this pays off is notable, but he said that the last vestiges of C.J. Parker (the look) are dead in his post-match promo after losing.
  76.  
  77. The argument over whether this year was better than last year is more about taste. If your idea of Super Juniors is high flying and cool moves, last year was better. If your idea is overall match quality, the storytelling and drama this year beat last year.
  78.  
  79. Business-wise, it was the most successful Super Juniors tour of the modern era. Paid attendance for the tour was 27,908, for 1,861 per event. Total attendance was up 28 percent from 21,791 last year, and per show was up 19.5 percent from 1,553 last year. The 2017 tour drew 1,468 per show and 20,584. The 2016 tour averaged 1,372 per show and did 19,202. But all of that increase over last year was from the finals being at Sumo Hall this year and Korakuen Hall last year. Otherwise the numbers would have been pretty much identical.
  80.  
  81. Sumo Hall on 6/5 drew 7,650 paid, which was not sold out., even with the worldwide attention on the show for the return of Tanahashi and Jon Moxley’s first match since leaving WWE. Because they ran Sumo Hall, it was the biggest audience for a final in more than 20 years.
  82.  
  83. However, we’re told Dominion is now sold out for 6/9 at Osaka Jo Hall, for what would be the company’s third or fourth biggest show of the year. The show starts at 3 a.m. Eastern late Saturday/early Sunday.
  84.  
  85. From opener to main event, the card has Moxley vs. Shota Umino, which is very interesting to have Moxley in the opener but he’ll probably b3e there for an angle and one has to think he’s there to be announced for G-1. Next is Satoshi Kojima vs. Shingo Takagi. I would think Takagi beating a heavyweight star should put him in G-1. Next is Jushin Liger & Yoshi-Hashi vs. Minoru Suzuki & Zack Sabre Jr. This is to build for what seems to build an upcoming Sabre vs. Yoshi-Hashi British heavyweight title match and a Liger vs. Suzuki match. Next is Hiroshi Tanahashi & Juice Robinson & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Jay White & Taiji Ishimori & Chase Owens match. The big matches are Taichi vs. Tomohiro Ishii for the Never Open weight title, Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa vs. Evil & Sanada for the IWGP tag team titles, Lee vs Ospreay for the IWGP jr. title, Kota Ibushi vs. Tetsuya Naito for the IC title and Kazuchika Okada vs. Chris Jericho for the IWGP heavyweight title.
  86.  
  87. Ibushi has beaten Naito in their last two meetings, so one would expect Naito to win this. Naito has already talked of his goal to become the first person to hold both the IC and IWGP titles at the same time.
  88.  
  89. Takagi became the third wrestler to go undefeated in the round-robin, following Jushin Liger in 2001 and Prince Devitt (Fin Balor) in 2013. But both Liger and Devitt won the tournament overall.
  90.  
  91. The final Super Junior standing were:
  92.  
  93. A block: 1. Takagi 9-0; 2. Ishimori and Lee 7-2; 4. Sho and Marty Scurll 5-4; 6. Jonathan Gresham,. Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Titan 4-5; 9. Tiger Mask 2-7; 10. Taka Michinoku 0-10 (several of these were forfeit losses to a leg injury).
  94.  
  95. B block: 1. Ospreay 7-2; 2. Taguchi, Phantasmo, Bushi and Yoh 6-3; 6. Robbie Eagles and Bandido 5-4; 8. Rocky Romero 3-6; 9. Douki 1-7; 10. Ren Narita 0-10.
  96.  
  97. As noted, New Japan World had a surprisingly strong May, particularly in European growth, for Best of the Super Juniors, which was a feather is Ospreay’s cap. June will be notable because you’ve got Dominion, the Moxley debut and Chris Jericho, along with the Ospreay vs. Takagi finals, the post-match Internet talk labeling it as possible match of the year and one of the greatest matches of all-time.
  98.  
  99. The top three matches from Sumo Hall, Tanahashi vs. White, Moxley vs. Robinson and Ospreay vs. Takagi will air as part of a two-hour special on AXS TV on 6/7. The station had been pushing that they would be airing Moxley’s first match since leaving WWE on a two-day delay.
  100.  
  101.  
  102.  
  103. A BLOCK FINALS - MAY 31 EHIME - 1,093
  104.  
  105. 1. Titan beat Tiger Mask in 8:09. Tiger Mask worked on the arm and kicked the hell out of the shoulder. The finish was weird. Titan did an armdrag and turned him over with it and the ref counted three. It didn’t look like a finish at all so the crowd reacted stunned rather than popped. **1/4
  106.  
  107. 2. Sho pinned Jonathan Gresham in 10:27. Sho’s right elbow is jacked up. Gresham’s ribs were hurting. Well, at this stage, everyone was hurting somewhere if not everywhere. Gresham used a figure four catching Sho off a shooting star and also had the figure four on the floor. Gresham got in the ring but Sho was able t beat the 20 count at the last second. The ending was great. Sh did a deadlift German suplex, a power bomb into a codebreaker and won with shock arrow. ***½
  108.  
  109. 3. Dragon Lee beat Marty Scurll in 16:12. Lee went for a tope early but Brody King tripped him. Lee somersaulted over the top rope and used a tijera to take Scurll off the apron to the floor. Scurll came back with a half nelson German and broken finger spot. Scurll used all kinds of elbows. Great series of spots at the end and the crowd built big down the stretch. Lee used a series of knees and the desnucadora for the pin. ****
  110.  
  111. 4. Shingo Takagi beat Taiji Ishimori in 20:51 to win the A block. Takagi only needed a draw to advance. Takagi did a Death Valley bomb the apron. Ishimori did a Canadian Destroyer but Takagi came right back with a pumping bomber. Takagi went for a Death Valley bomb but Ishimori reversed into a crucifix bomb. He tried another Death Valley bomb but Ishimori used a huracanrana. Takagi used a wheelbarrow German suplex. Ishimori did a La Mistica into a LeBell lock. Ishimori did a Woo dropkick and double knees, and a tombstone into double knees. But Takagi won with Last of the Dragon. ****1/4
  112.  
  113.  
  114.  
  115. B BLOCK FINALS - JUNE 3 OKAYAMA ZIP ARENA - 1,773
  116.  
  117. 1. Bushi pinned Ren Narita in 9:08. Narita teased getting his first win with a scorpion deathlock, but Bushi eventually made the ropes. There was a great slap exchange and Bushi dropped him. Bushi won with a running codebreaker and the MX. ***1/4
  118.  
  119. 2. Bandido pinned Rocky Romero in 11:30. For two guys who had awesome tournaments, this mach wasn’t much. Romero at this point was working with a groin pull and the flu. Bandido won with a torture rack into a GTS and the 21 plex. **3/4
  120.  
  121. 3. Yoh pinned Robbie Eagles in 11:45. Eagles controlled most of the way but Yoh won with a dragon suplex. ***1/4
  122.  
  123. 4. Phantasmo beat Douki in 13:13. Douki attacked him before the bell, Douki used a tope an d then a senton off the top rope to the floor. Phantasmo went for a moonsault but was caught by Douki’s head scissors armbar. Phantasmo went for a top rope huracanrana but both guys lost their balance. Douki fell off the ropes to the floor. This was a mess. In the U.S. this would lead to fans catcalling both of them, but here they just felt sorry for them. They got the crowd up by the end. Phantasmo eye raked Douki and pulled his mask down over his eyes, and hit the CR 2 for the pin. After the match, Phantasmo confronted Jushin Liger who was announcing at ringside and they seemed to build up something or the future. **3/4
  124.  
  125. 5. Ospreay pinned Taguchi in 22:18 to win the block. Essentially this was a must have a winner match since both were tied at 6-2. They did a little Taguchi comedy early but then got it out of the way. Hard chops back and forth. Good reversals. Taguchi did a Silver King dive. Taguchi countered a 619 and grabbed the ankle lock. Ospreay did a Phoenix splash off the top rope to the floor, and in doing so, dislocated one of his fingers. He wasn’t happy. He popped it back into place, swore, continued on with the match and two nights later did one of the greatest matches in history. Ospreay’s legs were giving him trouble as well. Lots of great near falls in the end, before Ospreay hit the storm breaker for the pin. ****½
  126.  
  127. After the match, Takagi came out. Takagi said Ospreay had a great match, his technique is amazing, and he’s strong but “I’m stronger than you.” Ospreay said, “I’m not scared of you. I’m only scared of failure and letting people down. This has been the worst year of my personal life. But I fight for all of them. You’re stronger. But I have a big heart, but no brain. I love being a junior heavyweight. You guys (in the crowd) that are going through the same shit, I’m hurting inside but I feel no pain right now because I’ll fight for all of you.” Ospreay than swore to God he would win the tournament.
  128.  
  129.  
  130.  
  131. BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIOR FINAL - JUNE 5 TOKYO SUMO HALL - 7,650
  132.  
  133.  
  134.  
  135. 1. Dragon Lee & Titan & Shota Umino beat Bandido & Johnathan Gresham & Ren Narita in 8:28. Real good opener. Highlight was Lee vs Bandido. Titan did a springboard tijera and top rope Asai moonsault on Bandido. Narita got a great near fall with his belly-to-belly on Lee. Given Lee is in a major match at Dominion, he had to score the win over Narita. Finish came with the Shibata running knees to the corner. ***½
  136.  
  137. 2. Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo & Robbie Eagles beat Ryusuke Taguchi & Sho & Yoh in 9:09. Ishimori’s shoulder is all messed up from the tournament so he didn’t do much here. There was a comedy spot that either made or ruined the match, depending on your point of you. Phantasmo blocked Taguchi’s ass spots by sticking his thumb up Taguchi’s ass. But the idea was that when he tried to pull it out, he couldn’t do it. He tried and finally with help of his teammates, he got it out. Then he put his thumb into Eagles’ nose and Eagles passed out. He then stuck his thumb into Taguchi’s mouth for the gross spot. From there it was actually quite good. Phantasmo was doing the Undertaker old school rope walk. Yoh tried to trip him so Phantasmo jumped in the air to avoid the trip, and then landed perfectly on the ropes and kept walking. Sho vs. Eagles was the highlight. Eagles hit the 450 on Sho but Phantasmo hot tagged himself in and hit the CR 2 on Sho and pinned him. Eagles was mad at Phantasmo for stealing the pin he set up. Phantasmo & Ishimori grabbed Sho & Yoh’s jr. tag title belts and held them up, so we’re getting that title match on a show coming up soon. Eagles then walked out on the other two. **1/4
  138.  
  139. 3. Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano & Yoshi-Hashi & Jushin Liger & Tiger Mask beat Minoru Suzuki & Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr. & Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Douki in 10:34. Liger wanted to start with Douki. That had been built up all tour. So there was a crazy spot here. Douki went for a senton off the top rope and there were eight guys there to catch him. They were all close together but somehow he overshot them and they didn’t catch him and he landed hard on his tailbone. Douki went after Liger’s mask. Ishii vs. Taichi was the highlight. Yoshi-Hashi’s left shoulder is still taped up. They pushed Sabre vs. Yoshi-Hashi a well. The finish saw Yoshi-Hashi pin Douki with karma. Sabre started teasing Yoshi-Hashi, taunting him with the British heavyweight title belt, so that’s coming. Suzuki and Liger went at it. Liger grabbed a chair, but then threw it down with the idea that he’s doesn’t need a chair in a fight with Suzuki and attacked him. **3/4
  140.  
  141. 4. Tetsuya Naito & Evil & Bushi & Sanada beat Kota Ibushi & Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma & Toa Henare in 10:27. Of course the crowd was hot for Ibushi vs. Naito. Naito is really hurting and saving himself for Sunday. Naito hasn’t even been taking his shirt off during his matches this tour. Henare looked great. His offense is strong and he’s got all kinds of fire. He’s just not positioned strong yet but he could headline, he’s that good. He particularly looked great with Evil at the end. Bushi hit a tope on Ibushi and then Evil & Sanada hit the magic killer on Henare and Evil pinned him. After the match, Naito went after Ibushi and whipped him into the barricade chest first twice. ***
  142.  
  143. 5. Kazuchika Okada & Rocky Romero beat Brody King & Marty Scurll in 10:35. They did some big man, little man stuff with Romero vs. King. King looked very impressive and New Japan could use a fresh big agile guy right now. He did well but wasn’t protected in booking, as he’d lost the falls in the tag matches. The idea is Scurll is in the tournament so he’s protected so I get it. King, at his size, did the Owen Hart double springboard into an armdrag spot which got over big. Okada bodyslammed King on top of Scurll. King used a German suplex for a near fall on Okada. King is going to be a major free agent when his ROH deal is up. There are not many big men who can do what he can do, and he knows how to get over. Plus, his improvement over the last year has been remarkable. Okada won clean with a great dropkick, the Randy Savage elbow and the rainmaker. As soon as the match ended, a video of Chris Jericho was on the wall. Jericho tried to label the match rainmaker vs. pain maker. As soon as the video ended, Okada did this subtle but really cool body turn like he was expecting Jericho to jump him. But no Jericho. Okada then said, “What is a pain maker.” ***1/4
  144.  
  145. 6. Jay White pinned Hiroshi Tanahashi in 19:16. This was the first of three great main events, all of which were completely different. This was the pure psychology match. It was Tanahashi’ first match back after left elbow surgery, so it was White mostly working over the left elbow. He slammed it on the barricade and ring frame back and forth. White threw Tanahashi’s shoudler into the post. He was bending the elbow backward against the barricade. He used a back suplex dropping Tanahashi on the elbow. Finally Tanahashi made a comeback with a somersault senton. But White continued his gimmick by countering every Tanahashi trademark move. White used a downward spiral, deadlift German and Death Valley bomb, but on the lat move, sold like his right knee went out. Tanahashi came back reversing a Kiwi crusher into two twist and shouts. Tanahashi used sling blades to set up a strait-jacket German suplex for a near fall. Gedo hit the ring holding Brass nux. Tanahashi slapped Gedo. As the ref was getting Gedo out of the ring White used a low blow. White went for blade runner but Tanahashi hit him with a low blow and cradled him for a great near fall. Tanahashi did an inverted dragon screw, and then went for the Texas cloverleaf, but as Tanahashi was turning, White attacked the elbow again and White cradled him for the pin. After White won, he walked up to Liger on commentary and told Liger, “You can retire now, because it’s my era.” ****
  146.  
  147. 7. Jon Moxley pinned Juice Robinson in 24:14 to win the U.S. title. It was noted that these two trained together and wrestled each other in the past in Florida before either became famous. Moxley was very aggressive in brawling and was biting Robinson in the head. Then Moxley tried to hardway him with short punches to the orbital bone. Then he threw some short elbows trying to open him up. Robinson was cut but it was never the free-flowing blood you usually get in this situation. Robinson back dropped Moxley on the floor and climbed up to the Sumo Hall balcony. He did a flip dive and Moxley and others didn’t catch him well and he landed hard on his tailbone. Robinson missed a cannonball into the guard rail. Moxley started wrapping his left leg around the post and was punching and biting the cut, trying to open it up. Robinson started biting Moxley’s fingers. He hit a pescado on hi. Moxley shoved Robinson off the top rope to the floor. Moxley used a chair and did an elbow drop with a chair onto Robinson on a table, which didn’t break. Moxley suplexed Robinson on the table to break it. Moxley did a turnover suplex and a figure four around the post. He put Robinson’s leg in a chair. Robinson escaped and threw the chair into Moxley’ face. Moxley went for Dirty Deeds but Robinson just tackled him and they flew out of the ring in the Frank Shamrock-Rutten spot. Robinson was tremendous at selling wooziness, like he was shaky and stumbling in a believable as opposed to a pro wrestling sell. The difference is it felt like a fight rather than a performance and was exactly in every way different from what a Moxley match even a no rules style, would have looked and felt like in WWE. Robinson did a crazy cannonball onto Moxley on the floor into the table, which didn’t break. Robinson was mad at the table not breaking and basically said he was breaking the table, setting up an impromptu power bomb through the table spot on Moxley. Robinson used a Tenzan style crab. Moxley came back with a Tanahashi dragon screw and Texas cloverleaf, with the idea two Americans were copying Japanese legends trying to find a way to finish. Robinson bit Moxley to break the cloverleaf. Moxley was bleeding badly from the back from the power bomb through those Japanese twice as hard to break tables. Robinson tried pulp friction, Moxley escaped and tried Dirty Deeds, but Robinson rolled hi up for a near fall. Moxley finally hit Dirty Deeds, but Robinson kicked out. The place went nuts for that. Robinson then hit a high angle Dirty Deeds and got the pin. ****½
  148.  
  149. 9. Will Ospreay beat Shingo Takagi in 33:36 to win the Best of the Super Juniors tournament. Even though Tanahashi was the star of the show to th fans live, the reaction when the bell rang was so much bigger than the previous two bouts. It was noted that when Ospreay was 14 years old, he bought a ticket to see Takagi in specific at a Dragon Gate show in England. Ospreay did a pescado. Takagi did a running flip dive. There were hard chops back-and-forth. Takagi did a pop up Death Valley bomb. Ospreay did a 619 and running low dropkick and a standing shooting star for a near fall. Ospreay did a Space Flying Tiger drop. They traded elbows and Takagi hit a had lariat and a double rotation throw and sick lariat. Ospreay did his dropkick, land on his feet and enzuigiri spot. Takagi tired a suplex but Ospreay turned it into an Oscutter. Both were sitting on the top rope trading blows. Takagi did a pumping bomber (hard lariat) that Ospreay took a spin bump from, landed on his feet and hit a sick Liger bomb for a near fall. After Ospreay missed the Paul Robinson special, Takagi did a sick German suplex into the corner turnbuckles. Ospreay was bleeding from the mouth. Ospreay did an Oscutter on the apron. Takagi barely beat the 20 count to get in and Ospreay immediately hit him with a springboard dropkick four-fifths of the way across the ring. Ospreay did a 630 to Takagi’s back and a shooting tar press for a near fall. He hit the Robinson special and Oscutter but Takagi kicked out. The idea is that Takagi was just simply unbeatable here. Part of the aura of this match is both Takagi’s undefeated streak and the announcers constantly putting the streak over, and then emphasizing it when Takagi would kick out of big moves. Takagi did all kinds of elbows and a right, but Ospreay did a hook kick. Takagi finally hit Last of the Dragon but Ospreay kicked out. There was a big pop at the 30 minute call. These calls every five minutes in every match work so well in Japan, and when I grew up, both in Florida and California, as well as St. Louis, the five minute calls were a fixture and built the intensity in long matches and excitement of the near falls as the time was beginning to wane. It’s like this simple thing taken away that has only led to less drama. It would be like an NBA game where fans couldn’t see the clock, like, you could do it, but it only makes it less dramatic. But there’s a generation in the U.S. that only saw Vince and WCW and the simplest things that work they didn’t see. Takagi hit two pumping bombers for near falls. Ospreay hit a reverse huracanrana and standing Spanish fly, before finally hitting the hidden blade (Judas effect) and storm breaker for the pin. In a cool spot, when it was over, Ospreay picked up an ice pack and put it on Takagi’s neck. *****3/4
  150.  
  151. Ospreay did another great promo. He said in 2002 that Tanahashi wore a T-shirt that read “Attack for the next generation.” He said the next generation is standing in the ring right now. He said that people come and people go, but that every single man who has wrested in this ring has helped create the future for the next generation. He said the junior tour has been the best tour of the year. He then started saying how we all miss Hiromu Takahashi and told him to get well because he wants a fight with Takahashi one day. He said that with people going that the people still on this roster need to o step up. He said he had an announcement. He aid that he can’t deal with the constant travel of England to Japan to England to Japan. He said that New Japan has helped him out a little bit and he’s moving to Japan. The place went nuts for that, as very few foreigners have moved full-time to Japan. That’s essentially what Dick Beyer did to become a cultural legend. Ospreay looked really happy to say that. “I want to put New Japan Pro Wrestling on my back and I’m going to take it worldwide.” He said he wanted to show that not just a wrestler, but a junior heavyweight wrestler is going to do this. “I’m going t give you my body and my soul because you guys make me so happy to be part of this company.”
  152.  
  153. He later said that he misses Hiromu. He said he loves England and loved wrestling there but his time in England is done. “For me to help this grow I want to be here for every single tour. I want to sacrifice my body, heat and soul. I’m okay with that. I’m aware of the risks. I want more. I want harder challengers. I want to show that junior heavyweights can main event bigger venues, and can main event WrestleKingdom.”
  154.  
  155. “I’m not needed there (England), here I’m needed. We’ve lost Kenny, we’ve lost Body, we’ve lost the Young Bucks, we’ve lost Ricochet, we’ve lost Kushida. Somebody needs to step up. I know I can do this. I can take this on my back and take it around the world.”
  156.  
  157. With less than a day to go before WWE’s Super Showdown in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, there is a story which for long-term news and propaganda purposes makes the first and probably last Undertaker vs. Bill Goldberg mach seem like nothing.
  158.  
  159. Last year, WWE embarked on the ten-year deal with Saudi Arabia, which. At the time, was, with the exception of U.S. television deals over the last half dozen years, it was the biggest money deal the company had ever signed for anything. The WWE announced one show a year, which became two both of which generate more money each for the company than the biggest WrestleMania in history.
  160.  
  161. Of course in doing so, there were ugly truths and got uglier. WWE has tried to promote women as equal to men and as legitimate in-ring competitors after generations of them being either a side show, or a T&A product masquerading as wrestling. WWE has tried to get rid of the ugly stereotypes that the industry had until the recent generation, from savage Islanders to German Nazis to bald-headed Russians, salt throwing Japanese and other foreigner who are there to put down Americans. And don’t get us started with Mexican landscapers and the wonderful track record with pretty much any ethnicity that be exploited by ugly stereotypes.
  162.  
  163. The company clung to Martin Luther King. Made the broadcast desk this weird affirmative action platform with a steady stream of bad commentators put there because of gender or race as opposed to ability. But with so much money in their face, they, without even debating, threw it away. Well, actually, they didn’t. The goal was to have their cake and eat it to. They still build one Raw a year around Martin Luther King Jr., spout on about being at the forefront of a women’s cultural evolution that they’re actually more than 50 years behind tennis, basketball, skating and pretty much every sport on.
  164.  
  165. While at the same time, they made this deal. Worse, last year, the same government they made the deal with lured in a reporter for the Washington Post in a planned out murder. Now, the reporter wouldn’t come to their country after they kept trying to entice him. But they got him to their embassy in Turkey, and then not just killed him, but dismembered him first.
  166.  
  167. This was, of course, inconvenient timing for WWE. It wasn’t fair. Why should we suffer on a deal we already made just because it was a deal with murderers who culture goes against pretty much everything we cling to in our home market propaganda.
  168.  
  169. Granted, the second show was no longer the paid for propaganda piece of the first. Things are a little more calm now.
  170.  
  171. No senators are telling them they shouldn’t go. The murder was months ago. While some companies pulled out of doing business with them, most didn’t. Although its laughable the idea that Starbucks opening stores in a country is compared with a deal by the guy who from all evidence plotted and then attempted to cover up the murder. Did Starbucks, in exchange, have Saudi Arabian propaganda all over their U.S. stores and having signs everywhere telling people how progressive the new leadership in Saudi Arabia is?
  172.  
  173. Sometime in the ten-year deal, WWE was going to get another bragging point. At some point in the next ten years, women would be allowed to wrestle on a show. WWE has already promoted hard having this breakthrough in Abu Dhabi as being of some cultural significance, touting a very light chant of “this is hope” as a key line for years in company speeches. Keep in mind that TNA had a women’s match years earlier, so it wasn’t a breakthrough at all. And it’s hardly a culture change.
  174.  
  175. But, for real, there will be a time, and it may even be on 6/7, that WWE does host the first women’s pro wrestling match in Saudi Arabia. Natalya and Alexa Bliss are in Saudi Arabia as of this writing.
  176.  
  177. WWE will take credit for changing culture. Of course, that’s silly. There are women competing in sports at schools (only in private schools, so rich has its privilege but two years ago women in public schools were allowed to at least take P.E. classes). Until last year, women were prohibited from attending any events in most stadiums. Last year that changed, although they are allowed at shows like this, although it is segregated seating. Somehow I don’t think the female Sputnik Monroe is coming from WWE to modernize this and change society, but we shall see.
  178.  
  179. Women’s basketball competition dates back to 2003.
  180.  
  181. By the way, it was outside forces that have led to changes for women in Saudi Arabia.
  182.  
  183. It wasn’t WWE, it was the IOC. You know how they did it? Before the 2012 Olympics, they told Saudi Arabia that if you don’t have a women’s team, your men’s team is banned from competing. Suddenly, there were women, at least in certain social circles, allowed to compete in sports, private school were allowed sports teams and they’ve sent women to the last two Olympics.
  184.  
  185. Going there, taking the money, and waiting as is going on at this writing for the government to decide what it’s going to do hardly qualifies. Still, will WWE at some pont, maybe next week, talk about its influence more than you ever heard watching the last two Olympics? Yes.
  186.  
  187. So here’s the situation. At one point, evidently the government told WWE that they would allow them to have a women’s bout on the 6/7 show in Jeddah, which is a more progressive city than Riyadh, likely the home of the November show.
  188.  
  189. That may explain why there is no All-women’s PPV show on the 2019 schedule after how successful, at least aesthetically, the first show was.
  190.  
  191. But it’s gone back-and-forth. WWE never spoke a word about it, because it would be an embarrassment if they promoted it and then got the thumbs down when they arrived. But now, it’s still going to be tough. The news is out that Natalya and Bliss are in Saudi Arabia with the idea of doing a match. There is no confirmation such a match will or won’t take place. The company has hinted about it in case it doesn’t. But if it doesn’t, the company does look bad because at that point they would have been strung along, and then told no. For that reason, if Saudi Arabia looks at the big picture and doesn’t want to embarrass WWE, they need to allow it. They care enough about not embarrassing WWE that they allowed them to do the second show without spouting the propaganda that the relationship was built on in the first place.
  192.  
  193. Even now, WWE has promoted the show, constantly talking about how it is as big or bigger than WrestleMania, using the city “Jeddah,” but banning the term Saudi Arabia from its own television. Of course that term isn’t banned with all the localized promos the wrestlers have done for that market.
  194.  
  195. Really, there’s no reason women shouldn’t be allowed on the show. The IOC forced them to allow women to compete in sports. The Russian circus came to town and for whatever reason, they were allowed to have their women perform in tight outfits. Of course, that led to a conservative backlash and the people who okayed that ended up it hot water over it. Mariah Carey performed there on 1/31, and was heavily criticized for doing so, more covered up than se would be at a U.S. concert, but still flashingly dressed. Actually most of the criticism of her came from Saudi Arabian women, who felt a star of her stature shouldn’t endorse and do the bidding of a government that treats women the way they do. Unlike Carey, WWE is way below the line that people in the U.S., or Saudi Arabia, would care. And it was believed the government brought in Carey specifically to rebuild its image after the Khashoggi murder.
  196.  
  197. It will be a ten or 11 match show, with Natalya vs. Bliss as the question mark.
  198.  
  199. While the show is listed for a 2 p.m. Eastern start, the first match, the Usos vs. The Revival, will likely go into the ring about 30 minutes earlier, during the pre-show, so it’s likely a four-and-a-half hour show.
  200.  
  201. The nine-match main card remains Undertaker vs. Bill Goldberg, Seth Rollins vs. Baron Corbin for the Universal title, Kofi Kingston vs. Dolph Ziggler for the WWE title, HHH vs. Randy Orton, a 50-man Battle Royal, Braun Strowman vs. Bobby Lashley, Demon Finn Balor vs. Andrade for the IC title, and Lars Sullivan vs. The Lucha House Party in a one vs. three match.
  202.  
  203. Brock Lesnar is in Saudi Arabia with Paul Heyman at this writing. The promise is he will cash in his briefcase on the show. The original idea was Rollins vs. Lesnar. Lesnar “badly injured” Rollins on television, so the idea is Rollins goes in hurt. Does that mean Corbin beats Rollins and then Lesnar cashes in on Corbin. Therefore, Lesnar still has never beaten Rollins leading to an obvious SummerSlam match. Or does Rollins beat Corbin, but by this point with the injuries and beating in the match, he’s a sitting duck for Lesnar to then beat? Does it mean Lesnar cashes it in on Kingston and becomes a regular on the FOX brand? Is it just another swerve?
  204.  
  205. There are very few certainties in the world, let alone in pro wrestling.
  206.  
  207. It’s like death, maybe taxes (although if you’re really rich with the new laws that seems less certain) and that NXT Takeover is a sure thing.
  208.  
  209. The 25th Takeover show, continued the streak of great shows. From bell-to-bell, while a very rare show may have more great matches, or more high-end matches, the five-show format using the best workers after several weeks or months of well developed storylines almost always delivers.
  210.  
  211. The 6/1 version, the first standalone show in a long time, held at the Webster Bank Arena will end up as one of the year’s best events. If the standard is the last Takeover show, it probably didn’t quite reach it. But that’s a ridiculous standard to have to live up to. It’s still top tier among the best WWE live events in history. The show drew 6,000 fans, not a sellout, but still healthy.
  212.  
  213. Adam Cole won the NXT title in the main event over Johnny Gargano in a match that I’d consider one of the greatest matches in WWE history. On the positive, Gargano could end up with more five-star matches than everyone else in WWE combined historically as long as he remains in the main event position here. The downside is that they had promoted the NXT title situation around Gargano’s long quest for the title, which he finally won at the last Takeover in Brooklyn. There’s nothing worse for a babyface to do the long chase, win, and then lose right away. You could say he could always go heel, but they did the heel turn earlier in the year, and really just kind of forgot about it when Vince McMahon screwed up their direction by calling Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa up as a babyface tag team. And that call-up makes zero sense given Ciampa needed neck surgery and was going to be out of action for a long time after Mania.
  214.  
  215. The two followed their two of three fall match with a one fall match that went 31:45, ending with Cole winning clean. The first time I heard about Cole and the NXT title was years ago, when he was in ROH and WWE wanted to bring him in but he still had a long time left on his ROH deal. That led to the Sinclair tampering charges which saw everyone from ROH have to wait until long after their contracts expired before WWE would make a solid contract offer. But that period ended.
  216.  
  217. Gargano is easily on the best run of matches of anyone in WWE history. Gargano has now had 14 Takeover matches, with the last nine being singles matches. He’s averaged 4.83 stars per singles match. He’s been voted the best match on seven of the last eight Takeover shows, and best match on a Takeover show is not like best match on a WWE PPV show, since the standard is so much higher.
  218.  
  219. The home grown Street Profits, Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford, won the vacant NXT tag team championships in a four-team ladder match over Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly, Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch and Wesley Blake & Steve Cutler. The titles were vacated when Vince McMahon pulled the War Raiders up and the decision was made to not have them lose the tag titles on the way out. They did do a television match where The Street Profits did get a visual fall and three count after a match was over, which was the closest thing to a job that was allowed.
  220.  
  221. The Street Profits had felt underutilized in recent months. The pair has the charisma, the cool ring entrance plus Ford is just an amazing athlete to watch in the ring. They are far from the best team of the four, but as far as long-term potential, they have something that the other three lack.
  222.  
  223. Shayna Baszler beat Io Shirai in a women’s title match which was Baszler’s best Takeover bout to date. The negative is that this would seem to delay Baszler moving to the main roster. Or maybe that’s a positive given NXT headliners often become forgotten in WWE. Because Shirai gave Baszler a post-match beating, it looked like the program will continue, perhaps at the Toronto Takeover in a singles match or multiple-person match.
  224.  
  225. Riddle and Cole winning seems to set up Cole vs. Riddle at the Toronto Takeover which we had been told a few weeks ago was the planned main event for that show.
  226.  
  227. An interesting note is that they announced an 8/31 NXT U.K. Takeover show in Cardiff, Wales. What makes that day interesting is it’s the same day as New Japan’s Royal Quest show at the Copper Box in London and the same day, but several hours earlier, from AEW’s second PPV show from the Sears Center in Chicago.
  228.  
  229. Announcing a head-to-head show with New Japan is one thing. Each show will air live on WWE Network and New Japan World respectively. The WWE show will have an 8 p.m. local start time, which is 3 p.m. Eastern. The New Japan show will start at 5:30 p.m. local time, which is 12:30 p.m Eastern. So there will be some overlap. The AEW show is probably starting at 7 p.m. Eastern and 6 p.m. Central time, so if somebody wants to, they could watch most of all three shows by switching streaming services as the day goes on.
  230.  
  231. There is a story going around, and we know people in both the U.K. and Japanese business who believe it is true, although WWE obviously would never confirm it, that WWE checked with a main ticket outlet in London which told them only 2,000 tickets were sold for the New Japan show, so they figured if they went head-to-head (London and Cardiff are a two to three hour train ride apart depending on the time of day) New Japan wouldn’t do well and it would make New Japan look bad for its debut show to be outdrawn by a WWE non-main roster show. Of course the problem is the ticket outlet they checked with wasn’t the only outlet and actually there are about 6,000 tickets sold for the show and it’s expected to sell out, while le . So that leaves WWE with the No. 3 show in the market, since AEW will market the Chicago show hard because of it being on ITV box office and while I don’t know this to be true, based on the first show, one would expect both the first hour and perhaps a preview one hour special as well to air live and a day or two ahead of time on ITV 4.
  232.  
  233. 1. Keith Lee pinned Kona Reeves in a match taped for the 6/5 NXT show. Fans reacted to Lee like a superstar.
  234.  
  235. 2. Mia Yim beat Bianca Belair with a rope assisted eat defeat, which they call protect yo neck.
  236.  
  237. 3. Matt Riddle pinned Roderick Strong in 14:41. Riddle did three gut wrenches and a springboard off the ring steps into a forearm on the floor. Strong used a back suplex on the ring apron. He also used the Olympic slam for a near fall. They traded strikes. Riddle used moves like an exploder, a GTS and a German suplex while Strong used a superplex and knees and elbows. They traded near falls. Riddle went for a moonsault into a swanton but Strong got his knees up. Strong used a double knee gutbuster and a power bomb for near falls and went into the Stronghold. Riddle kicked his way free, used the bromission (twister), lots of elbows while holding the move and won with a tombstone into a front powerslam. ****½
  238.  
  239. 4. Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford) won a four-way ladder match over Wesley Blake & Steve Cutler, Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch and Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly in 21:30. Just straight insanity. Blake did a tope into a ladder held by Fish & O’Reilly. Dawkins did a plancha onto everyone. Blake was bleeding from a tope into a ladder. The Street Profits got ladders and used a flapjack through the ladders on Cutler. Cutler power bombed O’Reilly into a ladder. Cutler did a curb stomp on Fish off the ladder. Jaxson Ryker came out and slammed Burch, threw Ford over the top rope and choke slammed Fish. Ford did a running flip dive jumping over the ladder on Ryker. Lorcan dove on Ryker. Lorcan threw Fish’s shoulder into the post. Lorcan did a half nelson German suplex on O’Reilly. The Street Profits made a ladder sandwich. Fish & O’Reilly and Lorcan & Burch were brawling on top of the ladder when the Forgotten Sons pushed both ladders over. Blake was then climbing and at the last second Ford did a springboard onto the ladder and knocked Blake off and pulled the belt down to win. ****½
  240.  
  241. 5. Velveteen Dream retained the North American title over Tyler Breeze in 16:48. It is amazing how a change of scenario seems to erase years, as Breeze was treated like major superstar even though he was a nobody on Raw. Dream used a quebrada. Breeze wrapped Dream’s leg around the post and used a half crab. Dream went to take a selfie until Breeze broke it up. Dream used a Death Valley bomb for a near fall. Breeze did a crossbody that Dream rolled through on. Dream did a DDT for a near fall. Breeze used the supermodel kick and the unprettier for near falls. They continued to trade near falls. Dream retained with a Death Valley bomb and the purple rainmaker, which is the Randy Savage elbow off the top rope. After the match, the two of them posed taking a photo together. ***3/4
  242.  
  243. 6. Shayna Baszler beat Io Shirai in 12:13 to retain the women’s title. Baszler worked over the left arm. Shirai tried a German suplex but couldn’t hold it, selling the arm. Shirai dropkicked her to the floor and did a moonsault off the top rope to the floor. Shirai did running knees into the corner. Marina Shafir and Jessamyn Duke came out. Candice LeRae then came out with a kendo stick and beat them down and did a cross body off the middle rope on them. Baszler used an inside cradle in the distraction, then turned it into choke. Shirai did a shotei, went for a moonsault, landed on her feet, Baszler did a choke, Shirai used a la magistral into a bridging cradle until Baszler finally got the finish with a choke. After the match, Shirai gt a kendo stick and was destroyed Baszler with kendo stick shots, leaving welts. She then gave Baszler a moonsault and followed with a second moonsault while holding an chair and landing chair first on Baszler. Fans were chanting “You deserve it” at Baszler after she was laid out. Great heat. ****
  244.  
  245. 7. Adam Cole won the NXT title from Johnny Gargano in 31:45. This was nonstop action with great heat. The crowd decided it was going to be a classic, and they got one. Both went for their finishers right away. Gargano did a flip off the apron to the floor. Cole started working on the left knee. Cole came off the ropes into a Gargano power bomb. Gargano used all sorts of kicks and a downward spiral off the top for a near fall. Cole used a backstabber for a near fall. They traded punches. Cole came off the top rope into a superkick. Both superkicked the other on the floor. Gargano used a springboard DDT for a near fall. Cole went for a chop block but Gargano leapfrogged over it and hit a double foot stomp. Cole used an ushigoroshi on the floor. Cole used an ushigoroshi in the ring for a near fall. Gargano had the Gargano escape in the middle. Cole escaped and got the figure four. Gargano reversed and Cole made the ropes. Cole drove his knee on the mat. Gargano went for a tope but got superkicked by Cole, who then used a cool looking Canadian Destroyer off the apron ont the floor but Gargano kicked out. Cole said to Gargano that he got his special moment and now it’s my time. Cole went for the last shot but Gargano ducked and used the Gargano escape. Cole reversed into his own Gargano escape. Gargano got out and hit the last shot on Cole. Cole did two superkicks and eventually hit the last shot but Gargano kicked out. Cole pulled ut a chair. Ref Drake Weurtz went to take it from him. Gargano did a tope and took out Weurtz. Gargano superkicked a chair into Cole’s face but Weurtz was down so nobody counted. Cole then signaled for the rest of Undisputed Era to come out. Cole used a short piledriver for a near fall. Cole went for the last shot but Gargano collapsed. Gargano came back and got the Gargano escape in the middle. Cole was getting near the ropes and Gargano rolled him back to the middle. Cole broke it by throwing elbows to the knee, then did two superkicks to the knee. Cole went for a Canadian Destroyer and Gargano blocked and cradled him. Cole kicked out hit the Canadian Destroyer and the last shot to get the pin. *****1/4
  246.  
  247. Atsushi Aoki, the All Japan world junior heavyweight champion and 2006 pro wrestling Rookie of the Year, passed away on 6/3 from a motorcycle accident.
  248.  
  249. He was 41.
  250.  
  251. Aoki was on his motorcycle commuting from his home in Kawasaki, a suburb about 11 miles outside of Tokyo, to do his live talk show on Niconico, a live Internet streaming service. He was going through a tunnel in the Chiyoda Ward of Tokyo at about 10:30 a.m. The tunnel had a curve and somehow he didn’t turn with the curve and crashed into a side wall in the tunnel. He was wearing a helmet when he crashed, but was severely injured. He was rushed to the hospital where he was confirmed dead.
  252.  
  253. Aoki had beaten Koji Iwamoto on 5/20 at Korakuen Hall to win the junior heavyweight title for the fourth time. He was also the company’s assistant booker, working with Jun Akiyama, as well as the head trainer at the All Japan dojo. His booking job was doing the creative for the junior heavyweight division. He also coached a youth wrestling team, the Yokohama Devils, with All Japan headliner Suwama. He was a lifelong wrestling fan and considered almost universally as a nice guy.
  254.  
  255. “The rise of the current crop of talented wrestlers (in All Japan) is all because of Aoki,” said legendary referee Kyohei Wada. “Whether in AJPW or amateur, he was beloved because he taught them in an easy to understand manner and treated all of his students with respect.”
  256.  
  257. Only Masa Fuchi, who held the title five times between 1987 and 1996, had more title reigns.
  258.  
  259. Aoki first won the title from Ultimo Dragon on May 29, 2014, and held it for ten months before losing it to Kotaro Suzuki. He also had shorter reigns with the title in 2016 and 2017.
  260.  
  261. Aoki was scheduled to defend the title next on 6/18 at Korakuen Hall against Hikaru Sato.
  262.  
  263. He started as a pro wrestler after spending years in the Jieitai, the Japanese Defense Force. He was friends with Takashi Sugiura, one of the current top stars with Pro Wrestling NOAH. Both competed as amateur wrestlers at the time and were both military champions in their weight division. Sugiura actually first tried out for All Japan but ended up with NOAH under Mitsuharu Misawa. When Aoki was discharged from the defense force, he contacted Sugiura, who opened the door for him to train at the NOAH dojo as a protégé of Akiyama.
  264.  
  265. He started training to be a pro wrestler in 2005. His very first match was a tag team match teaming with Yoshinori Ota against Misawa & Akira Taue. He went to wrestle in Europe in 2006.
  266.  
  267. He was the landslide winner of the 2006 Rookie of the Year award, with four times as many first place votes as second place winner Cody Runnels. At the time he was considered destined to be one of the top junior heavyweight wrestlers in the business because at 5-foot-7 and less than 180 pounds, in that era, there were limitations in the sense it would be difficult to be a heavyweight contender.
  268.  
  269. His not reaching the level of stardom of most Rookie of the Year winners had nothing to do with ability, but because Pro Wrestling NOAH fell badly in popularity once losing NTV, so he was in a place with limited visibility. With All Japan today, while it has improved in the last year, holding the junior heavyweight title multiple times still didn’t give him the level of visibility that it looked like he would get as a rookie when NOAH was still one of the stronger groups in the world.
  270.  
  271. In 2009, he was in New Japan’s Best of the super Juniors tournament. In 2010, he teamed with KENTA to beat Roderick Strong & Eddie Edwards to win the Nippon TV Cup junior heavyweight tag team tournament. Aoki & Naomichi Marufuji also beat Koji Kanemoto & Tiger Mask of New Japan on December 24, 2010, to win the GHC jr. tag team championship. Those titles were vacated on April 29, 2011, when Marufuji suffered an injury.
  272.  
  273. Aoki also won the AAA tag team titles on May 23, 2010, teaming with Go Shiozaki to beat Takeshi Morishima & Taiji Ishimori. They lost the titles two weeks later at the 2010 TripleMania in a four-way which included Robert Roode & James Storm, Silver King & Ultimo Gladiador (who ended up winning them) and Joe Lider & Nicho.
  274.  
  275. “This is devastating,” wrote Edwards. “Aoki San was a great person. I got lucky. We lived and trained together in the NOAH dojo. He helped me in and out of the ring, more than I could ever explain. Don’t put off seeing friends, you never know when it’s the last time. I will miss you my friend.”
  276.  
  277. “Aoki was like a big brother to me in the NOAH dojo,” said Zack Sabre Jr., who wrestled for years in NOAH before becoming a major star with New Japan. “He took such great care of me and I learned so much from him. He was a kind, witty and incredibly skilled man. I’m really devastated.”
  278.  
  279. “I had the privilege to share the ring with Aoki many times,” said Kassius Ohno on Twitter. “Phenomenally talented, good hearted. Damn. This is stunning.”
  280.  
  281. Aoki & Kotaro Suzuki beat Kenta & Yoshinobu Kanemaru to win the 2011 NTV G+ junior heavyweight tag team tournament. Aoki & Suzuki beat Kenta & Kanemaru to win the GHC jr tag title on October 16, 2011, losing on July 22, 2012 to Super Crazy & Ricky Marvin.
  282.  
  283. Aoki left NOAH at the end of 2012 with his original trainer, Jun Akiyama, Kotaro Suzuki and Kanemaru to go to All Japan. Aoki & Suzuki quickly won the All-Asia tag team titles on March 17, 2013, beating Hikaru Sato & Hiroshi Yamato. Aoki & Suzuki won the 2013 junior tag team tournament and then beat the legendary junior heavyweight tag team Koji Kanemoto & Minoru Tanaka to win the All Asia tag title. He later held those belts twice with Sato.
  284.  
  285. We have a lot more information regarding the television PPV business in the U.S. as it regards WWE, AEW and Impact.
  286.  
  287. Basically we have a bunch of figures from a number of different markets that represent a solid percentage of national buys through one of the bigger cable systems.
  288.  
  289. These numbers I’m giving are estimates, but there are more than enough solid numbers (we have actual figures from millions of homes) that we can extrapolate numbers from. These numbers would be in the range of accurate and what I’d consider excellent estimates, but they are still estimates.
  290.  
  291. At this point, Double or Nothing is estimated at somewhere between 98,500 and 113,000 buys worldwide. The best estimate has U.S. PPV buys at around 71,000, with almost an exact 50/50 split between television and B/R Live. That’s notable because nobody does a 50/50 split. The biggest split I’ve heard of for a television PPV and streaming was Conor McGregor vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov, which was an 80/20 split in favor of television. Usually it’s closer to 85/15.
  292.  
  293. What’s also notable is that in the U.K., the split was closer to 75/25 in favor of television, but in the U.K. the heavy marketing was on ITV 4 for ITV Box Office and there wasn’t really much of a push for streaming PPV, but still a solid percentage did get it streaming.
  294.  
  295. WWE Money in the Bank did about 15,700 PPV buys. It looks like,. because most WWE fans get PPV on the network rather than television because of the lower price, it’s probably around 11 percent of the number of who would have bought the PPV at regular prices, are still buying these shows on PPV. Because of the price difference, on the surface that’s shocking, but there are factors that explain this and those also point to why the UFC numbers dropped so significantly when they took television out of their PPV equation even though the price stayed the same.
  296.  
  297. When WWE shut down listing its PPV numbers, a show like Money in the Bank would have done 20,000 to 30,000 in the U.S., so there has been a decline during the same period WWE Network numbers really haven’t meaningfully increased in the U.S.
  298.  
  299. Of those 15,700 buyers, these likely fall into two categories. Category one is people who don’t have good streaming Internet based on where they live, and it’s the only way they can get the show and have a less than frustrating experience. Category two are people who are really well off financially and have no qualms paying $65 to get the PPV that they could get for $9.99, or groups of people watching together who would rather chip in for the higher price with the idea television is more reliable than streaming and if you’re having a big party of friends, you may not want to risk streaming.
  300.  
  301. WWE Network streaming has been very good as of late. We haven’t had a problem with the WWE Network on the big shows in a long time and don’t even think twice about it. But that wasn’t always the case and people burned originally who don’t care about cost are still buying traditional PPV.
  302.  
  303. Of those 15,700, roughly 397 (give or take very few in either direction) purchased Double or Nothing. The 397 number may be off by a few because we’re using a small sample (although still a same representing millions of homes with a real number and not an estimate). That’s only 2.5 percent. That percentage itself, based on the read numbers, would be right now because the sample size is more than high enough. That number is shockingly low.
  304.  
  305. Now, granted, if you include people who watched on WWE Network, far more than 397 people in the U.S. (these numbers would be based on U.S. and Canada totals although the actual totals extrapolated on are from U.S. systems including complete numbers in a number of major markets).
  306.  
  307. Throwing in the idea of who would have bought PPV if the network didn’t exist in the U.S. as being nine times this number, and the number watching on the network is 20 times this number (because of the lower price, that’s about where the shows have fallen), if that percentage stays the same, and it should with the nine times and it actually should be lower with the 20 times because of the price, you’d have ten percent of the people who bought DON, you’re at 10 percent of the DON audience probably would have bought MITB at PPV prices and 22 percent would have watched it total between PPV and WWE Network. The 10 percent figure is likely close to spot on, the 22 percent figure is probably actually high because to get at that you’re assume that the same percentage of people willing to spend $9.99 would spent $50-60 for DON as the percentage willing to spend $65, and obviously that is not the case. But without extensive surveys, there is no way of knowing.
  308.  
  309. But the point is, that 78 percent minimum, and probably well above that, of those in the U.S. that purchased DON would not have even watched MITB.
  310.  
  311. As noted, because of income, and the willingness to spend money, if anything, that 2.5 percent should be higher among the people who pay $65 for WWE PPV shows, as a $50 or $60 price tag for them is normal.
  312.  
  313. Those who have seen this data this past week have been amazed, to say the least. The belief is that both groups were drawing from the same pro wrestling fan base. While there may be a bigger crossover for television and overall interest, it’s very clear that when it comes to actual buyers, the WWE audience and AEW audience have shockingly little crossover. Again, it’s way more than 397 homes because of the network, is at most 8,000 and probably significantly less.
  314.  
  315. Another note is that WrestleMania in North America was down to about 64,100 buys on television PPV this year. Even a few years ago it was doing more than 100,000, and again, that’s with very little network growth. In fact, network numbers for Mania this year were below those of Mania in 2018.
  316.  
  317. Of those 64,100 buyers, roughly 910 also purchased Double or Nothing, or only 1.4 percent. 64,100 probably represents somewhere around 11 percent of people who would have bought the show on PPV in North America. North American numbers for Mania have ranged over the modern years from a low of about 495,000 to a high of around 825,000 for the Trump Mania show, with 600,000 a usual expected number.
  318.  
  319. If we go with the idea there were 1.25 million people in the U.S. market that watched Mania between network and regular PPV and that 1.4 percent is the DON crossover (as noted the real number would be lower than 1.4 percent, but we don’t know how much), that represents 17,500 people that have WWE Network and cable who saw Mania and ordered WWE DON, or 49 percent of the DON audience.
  320.  
  321. So we can basically say for a strong but not big four show, of the DON audience, 22 percent at most, and again, probably well under, watched MITB and 49 percent at most watched Mania. So the vast majority, with the exception of Mania as the outlier, of the DON audience is not watching WWE PPV shows even at the $9.99 network price.
  322.  
  323. There was also the idea that Women’s Revolution last November, because it was such a hit with the so-called Internet audience, but had less interest with the general public, might have the most crossover.
  324.  
  325. Evolution did about 14,100 buys, and of those, roughly 303 also bought Double or Nothing, or 2.14 percent.
  326.  
  327. For AEW, with no low cost alternative, their numbers should be compared with what they’ve proven so television PPV represents about 50 percent of what they would draw. But that’s also with an audience built on the Internet and with no television.
  328.  
  329. It will be very interesting to see if, like the U.K., where television was the primary driver, if, when they get television, that television number increases. If it’s the same 75 percent, than even just promotion on television and a pre-game show, and not weekly television, in theory, looks to triple the television PPV side. Weekly television changes the game completely.
  330.  
  331. The only television value example I can give is so dated that it’s probably not valid right now. But Randy Couture vs. Chuck Liddell for UFC did 48,000 buys in 2003 with no television, and then a rematch in 2005, after three months of television, did 280,000 buys.
  332.  
  333. I don’t expect three months of television to lead to a sixfold increase in PPV. I’m not even sure if it triples television and Internet stays the same, and with gains from weekly TV in other markets, would lead to 200,000 plus for the first show once they have television. That said, the first numbers are far more encouraging since most saw 50,000 to 65,000 as the range of expectations with 80,000 as a home run.
  334.  
  335. Impact Homecoming did about 3,300 buys. Of those, about 493 purchased Double or Nothing, or 14.9 percent. So there absolutely is crossover between AEW and Impact PPV audiences. The total numbers would be below WWE total (although the idea that far more of 3,300 Impact PPV buyers bought DON than of the 14,100 WWE buys for Evolution is a very notable point).
  336.  
  337. Impact Rebellion did about 2,200 buys, and of those about 663 bought Double or Nothing. That’s 30.1 percent. If anything, that is shockingly high.
  338.  
  339. While we don’t have national numbers for either Bound for Glory 2018 or Slammiversary 2018, 20 percent of those in the markets we have data on that bought Bound for Glory also bought DON, and 19 percent of those who bought Slammiversary also bought DON.
  340.  
  341. The key point is twofold. The first is that WWE has a unique audience and only a minuscule percentage of that audiences is willing to buy another show sight unseen.
  342.  
  343. AEW’s paying television PPV audience is about 20 percent comprised of people who will watch a WWE PPV on the network or regular PPV, and close to half of who will watch Mania. But the majority of its audience is either lapsed fans who aren’t watching WWE anymore (sans one show per year) or a new audience they’ve created through unique means.
  344.  
  345. However, the audience that is willing to buy a pro wrestling PPV from a new group that is not watching WWE is far higher than anyone anticipated. And that’s with no television. And the actual percentage of the WWE Network and PPV audience that purchased DON, even though DON was a huge success all things considered, is very low.
  346.  
  347. The idea that pro wrestling has an inordinate amount of lapsed fans is something long suspected by empirical observations. But aside from one study that showed pro wrestling fans as the only sports fan that had more people who claim to be fans that no longer watch it than do (this was done in Canada years ago and it’s probably even stronger now). But the idea that’s an audience that can come back was a question. Marketing of products based on how big an audience was 20 years ago but isn’t now is right up there with the “If we can’ only get 20 percent of their audience” marketing that has led to creations of MMA national companies, secondary pro wrestling leagues, and sports streaming providers that have lost ridiculous amounts of money.
  348.  
  349. This indicates that audience is either still there, or, whether it’s AXS TV, Young Bucks and Cody meet and greets, New Japan World international subscribers or a combination, it’s that audience as far as willingness to buy a PPV show and travel to shows is far bigger than anticipated.
  350.  
  351. There were close to 60,000 subscribers to New Japan World for the most recent Tokyo Dome show at about $9, to see every key draw on Double or Nothing, Jericho, Omega, Young Bucks and Cody, all in big matches, plus Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Minoru Suzuki, Will Ospreay, Zack Sabre Jr., and Kota Ibushi.
  352.  
  353. Yet, a far greater number, close to double, was willing to spend up to $50 to $60 in the U.S. (less outside the U.S.) to see fewer of those same people in matches not nearly as strong, even if better promoted through social media.
  354.  
  355. We’ll hopefully get more data for next week.
  356.  
  357. One thing we’ve also noted is that the cities that did the best per capita for television for Double or Nothing did not do the best for streaming.
  358.  
  359. As far as streaming went, DON did its best numbers in markets you would expect, where wrestling in the 80s was strongest, notably New York, Chicago, Baltimore, Atlanta, and DC, and absolutely killed it in upstate New York. I’m not sure what to read out of this but when one of Tony Khan’s ideas is that they would capture the lapsed fan, who left wrestling years ago for whatever reason but still has a fondness for it but what they want isn’t being delivered, I suppose that’s a good sign.
  360.  
  361. UFC report from Stockholm
  362.  
  363. By Ryan Frederick
  364.  
  365. The UFC’s return to Sweden for UFC On ESPN+ 11 in Stockholm on 6/1 may have been the swan song of the country’s most famous fighter.
  366.  
  367. Alexander Gustafsson announced his retirement following a loss to Anthony Smith in the main event of Saturday’s show. It seemed like one of those situations where he was disappointed in losing in front of his home country and just decided to hang up the gloves. Had he won, there would have been no retirement. It wasn’t like he was blown out of the fight or got knocked out inside of a minute.
  368.  
  369. Smith won the first two rounds, but Gustafsson started to come on strong in the third, hurting Smith late and ending the round in dominant position. It was even in the fourth until Gustafsson made a mistake in losing position on a takedown attempt, which allowed Smith to find a choke and get him to tap.
  370.  
  371. Gustafsson certainly didn’t look like a fighter who was finished like so many others that overstay their welcome. Smith had just fought for the title in March and has become a legitimate top-five fighter at 205 pounds, so it wasn’t losing to an unranked opponent. He is 32, still young in the sport, but has dealt with lots of injuries and doesn’t want to be labeled as a journeyman fighter. He has made a good amount of money, has two young children, has fought for the title three times and was in what many people consider the greatest UFC fight of all-time, the first fight with Jon Jones at UFC 165.
  372.  
  373. Jones did go on Twitter after the fight to talk Gustafsson, saying, “Honestly I don’t believe you but if you’re serious, thank you for everything. You held the division to a standard and made us better. Go kick ass with that family.”
  374.  
  375. If he does stay retired, Gustafsson will go down as the best light heavyweight to never hold UFC gold. He came close in the first Jones fight, as if he had won the firth round he’d have taken the title by decision. He came just as close when challenging Daniel Cormier, and it was arguably Cormier’s best performance in the clutch as he had to win that fifth round, which he did, to get by Gustafsson.
  376.  
  377. Smith now puts himself back into the title picture, but he’s going to need help. He just lost to Jones in March in a fight that wasn't even close, but he said he didn't fight like himself or like he wanted to. He got offered this fight two days after the loss to Jones, and accepted it even though he didn't feel like he should have. He did break his hand in this fight and it could sideline him for the rest of the year. No one is clamoring for Smith to rematch Jones, so he may be the guy to go through for a top contender to get them ready for a title shot.
  378.  
  379. Light heavyweight now has a line of title challengers waiting in the wings. If anything good has come out of the Jones shenanigans the last couple of years, it is that there is finally some young competition coming up. There's now at least five potential title challengers, more than it has felt there has been at 205 in a long time.
  380.  
  381. Aleksander Rakic joined the list on Saturday after a spectacular head kick knockout of Jimi Manuwa in just 47 seconds. That is now twelve straight wins for Rakic, and he has looked great in UFC competition. He joins a list including Thiago Santos, who fights Jones in July, Dominick Reyes, Johnny Walker, Corey Anderson, and, if he wins his 205 debut next month, Luke Rockhold. None of those fighters outside of Rockhold have a big name, but they are all fresh faces in a division that really needed it. Smith has been angling for a fight with Rockhold, which if Rockhold wins next month, could happen, though Jones does want to fight Rockhold as well.
  382.  
  383. The rest of a show in Stockholm was a combination of impressive finishes and some good fights. Outside of Gustafsson, the most popular fighter on the show was Makwan Amirkhani, who fought for the first time in just over a year. He submitted Chris Fishgold in the second round with an anaconda choke after a close first round, and got a huge reaction.
  384.  
  385. Gustafsson wasn't the only fighter to announce retirement after the show. Joining him in calling it a day were Jimi Manuwa and Nick Hein. Manuwa, who was knocked out in 47 seconds by Rakic, had lost his last four fights, with three of them coming by brutal knockout in less than one minute. With him being 39 and taking the kind of damage he had been, it's the right call. Hein, 35, lost his third straight fight and was likely looking at being cut from the roster, and with it likely being too late in his career to work his way back, announced he was moving on to whatever comes next.
  386.  
  387. The show at the Ericsson Globe drew 14,319 fans for a gate of $2,000,000. It ranks third in both categories out of five UFC events to be held at the arena
  388.  
  389. The main card streamed on ESPN+. The first seven fights aired over three hours on ESPN2 from 10 AM to 1 PM eastern time and drew 257,000 viewers, which is right in line with two other sets of prelims airing at the same time on ESPN2 have done in prior events this year.
  390.  
  391. They gave out four Performance Of The Night bonus awards on the night. Anthony Smith, Aleksander Rakic, Makwan Amirkhani and Leonardo Santos all took home an extra $50,000.
  392. 1. Joel Alvarez (16-2) beat Danilo Belluardo (12-4) in 2:22 in the second round in a lightweight fight. Alvarez was attacking with kicks in the first round until Belluardo took him down. Alvarez was more active on the bottom though, looking for a triangle choke and stole the round. Belluardo took him down again in the second but Alvarez was able to sweep and reverse positions and landed lots of punches until the referee stepped in and stopped it.
  393.  
  394. 2. Devin Clark (10-3) beat Darko Stosic (13-2) via unanimous decision on scores of 29-28, 29-28 and 29-28 in a light heavyweight fight. They were both throwing bombs throughout. Clark was landing early in the first and dropped Stosic with a jab. Stosic got up and rocked Clark with a right but Clark rocked Stosic again late. Second round was both throwing hard punches and looking for a knockout. Stosic picked Clark up high in the air looking for a takedown. Clark grabbed the top of the fence and got warned but Stosic still slammed him to the mat. Stosic finished the round landing on top. Stosic was tired in the third and Clark turned up the volume. Stosic was still throwing hard rights looking for a knockout but he wasn't throwing a lot of them. Clark took over landing combos and taking advantage of Stosic gassing out. I had it 29-28 for Clark.
  395.  
  396. 3. Bea Malecki (3-0) beat Duda Santana (3-1) in 1:59 in the second round in a women's bantamweight fight. Both women are inexperienced and were making their UFC debuts. Santana was landing some left hands and scored a couple of takedowns in the first. Malecki was having trouble finding openings. It looked like it was going to be more of the same in the second but Malecki countered a takedown attempt and was able to get one and got into mount. Santana gave up her back and Malecki looked for the rear-naked choke a few times before finding it and getting Santana to submit. It was a great win for Malecki as she was fighting in her home country.
  397.  
  398. 4. Frank Camacho (22-7) beat Nick Hein (14-5 1 NC) in 4:56 in the second round in a lightweight fight. Camacho took this fight on short notice. Camacho was attacking with body kicks early on. Hein's main attack was a left hand, but he did get a judo takedown in the first. Camacho just kept attacking the body with kicks and they traded late in the first. Camacho took the first. Camacho was turning up the volume in the second round and Hein was just throwing left hands and not doing much of anything else. He finally hurt Hein with the body kicks. Camacho then rocked Hein with a right hand and then kept throwing punches and Hein was out on his feet. Hein ate a lot of punches but kept standing until Leon Roberts stepped in and stopped the fight. Camacho looked real impressive in this one and cut a great post-fight promo.
  399. 5. Leonardo Santos (17-3-1) beat Stevie Ray (22-9) in 2:17 in a lightweight fight. Santos hadn't fought since October 2016 as injuries have kept him out of action. He didn't show any rust here. Santos was landing body kicks and punches. Ray missed on a left hand and Santos threw a big counter right hand that knocked Ray out cold. It was a massive punch and Santos sprinted out of the Octagon and celebrated in the crowd. If he can stay healthy, he is a legitimate threat in a tough lightweight division.
  400. 6. Lina Lansberg (9-4) beat Tonya Evinger (19-8 1 NC) via unanimous decision on scores of 30-26, 30-27 and 30-26 in a women's bantamweight fight. Lansberg got a big reaction fighting in her home country. Evinger went right into the clinch in the first but got cut open pretty badly from an elbow. Lansberg got a late takedown into mount and almost finished the fight in the first. Evinger got a takedown in the second and almost found a choke but Lansberg ended up on top landing punches. Third round was a big round for Lansberg as she reversed a takedown attempt and got side control and was landing lots of punches. A clear win for Lansberg and I had it 30-27 for her. All media scores had her winning all three rounds. She got a huge reaction from the crowd for the win.
  401. 7. Sergey Khandozhko (27-5-1) beat Rostem Akman (6-1) via unanimous decision on scores of 29-28, 29-28 and 29-28 in a welterweight fight. Both men were making their UFC debuts, with Akman coming in on short notice. Akman had a unique look with his body just covered with hair. They were trading in the first and Akman landed a couple of punches that hurt Khandozhko. They were trading again in the second and Khandozhko landed a combo that dropped Akman but couldn't find the finish. It was even heading into the third. Third round was close with both getting takedowns but Khandozhko landed a big punch at the end that rocked Akman badly and that may have won him the fight. I had it 29-28 Khandozhko, as did all media scores. Good fight.
  402. 8. Daniel Teymur (7-3) beat Sung Bin Jo (9-1) via unanimous decision on scores of 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28 in a featherweight fight. First round was exciting with a lot of back-and-forth striking and Teymur landing some big shots. The crowd was really into Teymur landing. Second round was much slower with both men being more patient and the crowd booing because the first round was so fun. They were even but I scored it for Jo landing some well-timed knees. Third round was closer to the first with both landing and Teymur got a big takedown and a hard right hand late. I had it 29-28 for Teymur, and all media scores were for him. Fun fight.
  403. 9. Christos Giagos (17-7) beat Damir Hadzovic (13-5) via unanimous decision on scores of 29-27, 29-27 and 29-28 in a lightweight fight. Giagos was the more busy fighter in the first round, landing more and scoring two takedowns. Hadzovic didn't have much in the way of takedown defense and Giagos did land good elbows and punches. Hadzovic landed early in the second but then Giagos was landing hard punches and got two takedowns, the mount and threatened with a choke. Giagos was up two rounds. Hadzovic had a better third round as he was landing more punches and Giagos got two takedowns, but Hadzovic ended the fight landing on top. I had all three rounds for Giagos, but Hadzovic could have won the third. All media scores were for Giagos.
  404. 10. Makwan Amirkhani (15-3) beat Chris Fishgold (18-3-1) in 4:25 in the second round in a featherweight fight. Amirkhani got a huge reaction from the crowd during introductions. He came out running with a flying knee trying for a knockout similar to his eight-second knockout of Andy Ogle. But it missed. Fishgold was landing leg kicks but Amirkhani got him down and both were looking for submissions. Good round that I had for Amirkhani. They were trading in the second and Amirkhani went for a takedown but Fishgold grabbed the neck. They were both looking for anaconda chokes but Amirkhani got his in very deep and Fishgold was in tons of trouble. It was a unique finish as the choke was in tight and Fishgold was rolling around trying to escape but Amirkhani was mimicking him and rolling in the same direction and the choke was just getting in deeper until Fishgold tapped. It was a great-looking finish. It was Amirkhani's first UFC fight in over a year and he had done six amateur boxing fights since then, but if he continues with MMA as his main focus, he is getting better.
  405. 11. Aleksander Rakic (12-1) beat Jimi Manuwa (17-6) in :42 in a light heavyweight fight. Both were headhunting right away. Rakic landed a huge left head kick that put Manuwa out cold inside of a minute. Manuwa went down hard and his head bounced off the mat. He was down for a while but was able to get up and leave with some assistance. It was one of the most vicious knockouts in UFC history. Rakic is on a tear and deserves a big fight next.
  406. 12. Anthony Smith (32-14) beat Alexander Gustafsson (18-6) in 2:38 in the fourth round in a light heavyweight fight. Gustafsson got the mega superstar reaction from the hometown crowd. It was typical Gustafsson in the first with him moving around a lot and looking for quick punches, but Smith was beating him to the punch often. Smith was landing some hard leg kicks and Gustafsson landed a hard left late. I had round one for Smith. Gustafsson was doing the same movement in the second and was landing lots of leg kicks as Smith was having trouble closing the distance. Smith landed a couple of hard punches. Gustafsson actually landed more strikes in the second but Smith's were more effective. I had the second for Smith but it felt like Gustafsson was starting to find his groove and getting his timing down. Third round was a big one for Gustafsson as he was starting to find his openings. He was landing kicks in close range and his counters were landing as well as his first attacks. Gustafsson started working to the body more and then landed a hard body kick that hurt Smith badly. He might have been able to finish it but instead he took Smith down and into side control and ended the round on top. It was 2-1 Smith after three but the momentum was going towards Gustafsson. Gustafsson landed a kick to start the fourth and while Smith was stalking him down, Gustafsson was looking for that opening. He found it and went for a takedown but missed on it and lost his back to Smith and Smith got the hooks in. It looked like he was going to be too high on the back of Gustafsson but was able to flatten Gustafsson out and was landing punches until finding his arm under the neck and got the rear-naked choke in and Gustafsson tapped. Impressive performance for Smith who has shown that despite his record, he is a legitimate top-five light heavyweight and is in the best stretch of his career. It was the kind of fight that got him to the title shot, but he didn't have much for Jones. He wants a fight with Luke Rockhold next, and if Rockhold wins next month and doesn't get a shot at Jones, it seems like a natural match-up. It silenced the crowd and then came Gustafsson's retirement announcement.
  407.  
  408. CMLL announced recently an interesting change of philosophy. The company does what would be insane anywhere else, running three shows per week at Arena Mexico, which would be equivalent to if WWE would run three times weekly in Madison Square Garden or New Japan would run three time weekly,52 weeks a year, at Budokan Hall.
  409.  
  410. Basically, the idea would be insane. But unlike the other companies, CMLL built its main arena, back in 1956, because the other arena it owned in Mexico City was too small based on ticket demand. Over the years, the every Friday, Sunday and Tuesday formula has been used. In good times, Fridays draw big crowds, Sunday draws okay with family crowds and does well on holidays and Tuesday is just there.
  411.  
  412. The company has also done a few major shows per year. The anniversary show in September, the oldest tradition in pro wrestling since the first anniversary show was in 1934, is the biggest. The second biggest, El Homenaje a Dos Leyendas, held every March, has been a fixture on the calendar since 2001. They also have multiple three week tournaments which vary by the year.
  413.  
  414. But with the announcement of the 5/31 Juicio Final show, they’ve changed that philosophy. They said that they will run one major show each month. The question if this change is a good thing. They’ve been doing 6,000 to 9,000 fans most weeks, sometimes bigger for a special card. And unlike WWE, New Japan and other promotions, pro wrestling, or Lucha Libre, is part of the culture and a large percentage of the fans on Friday nights are tourists. In many ways, if you watch every Friday and at times get a sameness feel, that’s because there is a sameness. But a large percentage of the usually hot crowds are people going out to have a good time, see high flying action, cheer the tecnicos, boo the rudos (you can tell the weeks they fill up with actual hardcore fans, because those are the show when they draw the biggest crowds and where the top tecnicos get booed), and mostly drink, laugh and have a good time. Many who have been all over the world say nothing anywhere is quite like the atmosphere on Friday nights at Arena Mexico. It is the closest thing to pro wrestling in the 70s and 80s as far as fans and atmosphere and heat, while at the same time showcasing the moves that are years ahead of the curve when it comes to mainstream American wrestling.
  415.  
  416. CMLL had a big boom last year using L.A. Park, Rey Fenix and Penta 0M, drawing the best consistent crowds in years. But using Park ran its course because they couldn’t do a big feud with him since that would require either him winning a stipulation match from one of their biggest stars, which, even as much as he can draw, they weren’t okay with, or him losing his mask, which he wasn’t okay with. Fenix and Penta grew up selling masks in front of Arena Mexico, so appearing there was a childhood dream. But at some point, and this is a lesson for the U.S. market as well, achieving a dream is cool but once you’ve appeared there, to stay there when you’re not under contract and can make more money elsewhere, isn’t going to last.
  417.  
  418. So the question becomes does the big show pushed ahead of time become the deal where the regulars learn to skip the other weeks, but only turn out for the big one. It’ll be an interesting thing to follow.
  419.  
  420. They raised tickets prices for Juicio Final, a show with two hair vs. hair matches, a tag title match and a loser must retire match.
  421.  
  422. The first thing you notice when watching the show is that, unlike AAA and WWE, which don’t adhere to stips, so fans don’t allow themselves to believe them, the emotion in the stip matches are great. Virus is a regular undercard guy who has been a good worker, but not pushed, seemingly forever. Metalico is even less than that. But the people hung on every move in their match because when they announced the loser must retire, the fans believed it, because for whatever the promotion does right or wrong, if they promise a hair match, somebody is being shaved, and if they promise a mask, you’ll get a mask. One year at the anniversary show they promoted one thing, but gave you a mask people didn’t want (when La Sombra, now Andrade, beat Volador Jr. for his mask in a great match, but everyone came expecting to see Atlantis vs. Ultimo Guerrero in a mask match, although they did do that match the next year). But even so, they advertised that one of those two pairs would have a mask match, not advertised a match and then gave people a better in-ring but less important at the time and anticipated match.
  423.  
  424. The show drew 13,000 fans, not a sellout, but easily the biggest crowd for a pro wrestling show anywhere over the last several weeks.
  425.  
  426. 1. Black Panther & Blue Panther Jr. & Rey Cometa beat Disturbio & Kawato San & Misterioso Jr. via DQ in 11:16. Cometa pinned Misterioso Jr. in the first fall. Lots of cool dives in the second fall. Kawada pulled off Black Panther’s mask for the DQ in the second fall. A lot of this match was sloppy. *1/2
  427.  
  428. 2. Angel de Oro & Niebla Roja & Soberano Jr. beat Mephisto & Ephesto & Luciferno in 14:58. Match was good, made by the idea it was dive city by the tecnicos. Soberano & Roja did double dives in the first fall but Mephisto pinned Oro with the Angel’s wings. Second fall was mostly heel beatdown. The second fall had Oro, Soberano and Roja all on the same corner. Soberano was on the top and the Chavez Brothers were on the middle. Soberano did a corkscrew plancha to the floor while both Chavez brothers did middle rope moonsaults to the floor. Soberano pinned Mephisto after a corkscrew plancha in the ring. Third fall saw Oro do a flip dive, Soberano followed with a Fosbury flop dive and then Oro pinned Mephisto after a middle rope moonsault. ***1/4
  429.  
  430. 3. Virus beat Metalico in a one fall retirement match in 20:23. Metalico was old, slow and not at all believable. The one fall was a positive and rare here as except for ten minute lightning matches everything is two out of three. Really, in this day and age, when they do the singles bouts and rush through two falls and then do the 15 minute third fall it’s so stupid because I keep asking why bother with the first two. There’s a reason every other promotion made the change over in the 60s and 70s for the most part (St. Louis held over until the mid-80s but they were the last vestige). If this was in the U.S. people would say it sucked but they did work hard and the live fans believed in the stip. Actually the last few minutes the crowd was going crazy because of the stip. Metalico did a tope followed by an Asai moonsault. He did a dropkick off the apron. When Virus used the STF, the announcers went crazy talking about how Lou Thesz popularized the move. Can you imagine this happening in the U.S? Metalico nearly killed himself on another tope. Lots of near falls with great reactions before Virus won with a cruceta. Fans were throwing money into the ring. Metalico was hugging people at ringside. ***
  431.  
  432. 4. Amapola beat Kaho Kobayashi in a hair vs. hair match in 12:55. This was so much better than most women’s bouts here. We had the quick falls. Amapola took the first fall with a cradle in 1:28. Kobayashi won the second fall in 1:49 with a cradle. It got real good from here. It was like you almost never see women at Arena Mexico at this level. Good near falls and submissions. Amapola did a flip dive. She missed a tackle and flew out of the ring. Kobayashi did a great plancha to the floor. Amapola used a superplex. Kobayashi did a Frankensteiner off the top rope and a missile dropkick. Amapola finally won via pin after the Angel’s wings. They shaved most of Kobayashi’s hair and the two hugged when it was over. This was the best match on the show. ***½
  433.  
  434. 5. Euforia & Gran Guerrero beat Diamante Azul & Valiente to win the CMLL tag titles in 15:30. Azul & Diamante used a double submission to win the first fall in 4:29. Guerrero & Euforia won the second fall in 1:55 via double submission. Then we had the long third fall. Valiente did a cool armdrag on Guerrero off the apron. Azul ran down the ramp and dove into the ring and clotheslined Euforia, the old Air Italia, and then hit a tope on Euforia. Guerrero did a Falcon Arrow off the middle rope on Valiente. Guerrero & Euforia press slammed Azul while both were standing on the middle rope. That ended up shaky. They did the same to Valiente which came across better. Actually they threw Valiente right on top of Azul and Valiente nearly landed on his head, so I guess that wasn’t that smooth either, but they weren’t shaky on the lift. Guerrero & Euforia did a double submission for the win. So they are both CMLL tag team and CMLL trio champions (with Ultimo Guerrero) at the same time. ***
  435.  
  436. 6. Mistico & Volador Jr. & Caristico beat Negro Casas & Cavernario & Mr. Niebla in 9:51. This was fun, but too short. They were out there as the stars to give people a good classic high flying match but the show was running long. The tecnicos opened with a triple dive. Niebla pinned Mistico with a splash off the top rope in 1:25. After a Volador flip dive on Cavernario and a Caristico tope on Casas, Mistico made Niebla submit to La Mistica in 1:36 of the second fall. Third fall was quick as well. Mistico did a moonsault to the floor on Niebla. Volador did a Canadian Destroyer on Cavernario. Caristico pinned Casas with a cradle to win it. ***1/4
  437.  
  438. 7. Ultimo Guerrero beat Mascara Ano 2000 in a hair vs. hair match in 12:51. This wasn’t that bad, largely due to Guerrero having so much charisma and some smoke and mirrors. In the end, even though Mascara is 61, he’s pretty big for his age and all things considered, in good enough shape that he did enough to get by here. So the first thing Mascara did was fake a low blow after Disturbio distracted the ref. The ref turned around, saw Mascara selling and awarded him the first fall in 48 seconds. Guerrero won the second fall quickly with a headstand on the turnbuckles into a sitting bodyblock. Guerrero did some of his regular stuff in the third fall. The ref was distracted as Guerrero had Mascara in a submission and Disturbio broke it up and put the boots to Guerrero. The ref didn’t see the interference but Gran Guerrero went after Disturbio. The ref was distracted and Mascara used a low blow behind the refs back. This entire program has been about Mascara hitting Guerrero with low blows and then pinning him in trios matches. The commissioner came out and kicked Gran Guerrero and Disturbio out. The ref was involved as well. This gave Ultimo Guerrero a chance to recover and not lose to the low blow. At this point half of Parts Unknown came out. Actually it was a bunch of masked relatives of Mascara including Sanson, Forastero, Cuatrero and Mascara Ano 2000 Jr. Mascara went for another low blow, Ultimo blocked, hit a low blow and then the ref turned around and Ultimo cradled him. Really the finish was poetic justice to end the program. After the match Mascara hit the ref and threatened the barber. Ultimo wanted a handshake, but Mascara wouldn’t do it. Finally Mascara let the barber cut his hair. He looked like a guy in his mid to late 50s who still lifts weights with Grecian formula hair, but he looked really old without the hair. The electric razor wasn’t working so the barber had to use scissors to cut the hair. **3/4
  439.  
  440. Even with the heavily promoted return of Bill Goldberg, pushed hard as Goldberg’s first-ever appearance on Smackdown, and with no sports competition, Smackdown did 2,016,000 viewers on 6/4, a drop of 2.7 percent from last week.
  441.  
  442. Smackdown was eighth for the night on cable, only trailing five shows on Fox News and two shows on MSNBC.
  443.  
  444. The audience dropped in every demo aside from over 50, with an 18.5 percent drop in males 18-49, which in theory would be an age group that one would think would be strong for Goldberg. Teenage boys were up 2.1 percent. Teenage girls were down 18.4 percent. It may be the follow-up of the three straight weeks of bait-and-switch on the cash-in, because it was pushed too hard for the day before after pulling that two straight weeks not to deliver. And they didn’t deliver even then.
  445.  
  446. As far as overall age demos, the show did a 0.37 in 12-17 (down 9.8 percent from last week), 0.38 in 18-34 (down 19.1 percent from last week), 0.82 in 35-49 (down 9.9 percent) and 0.91 in 50+ (up 5.8 percent from last week).
  447.  
  448. Raw on 6/3 was unique in a lot of ways.
  449.  
  450. The 1.72 rating and 2,405,000 viewers (1.57 viewers per home) number has to be a disappointment since they all but guaranteed a WWE or Universal title change by promising the Brock Lesnar cash-in (and not delivering on it) and pushed Undertaker’s return to Raw. But it was still up 9.8 percent in viewers and 6.8 percent in ratings from last week. It was going to be up with what was promised. The question is whether not delivering on the cash-in will hurt future advertising of big things, or will the deliverance at the PPV four days later be seen as just part of storytelling. To me, anything below 2.5 million viewer would have been a bad sign on Raw going forward since it wasn’t against the NBA and had two big drawing aspects advertised in advance.
  451.  
  452. The show did go against the Boston Bruins vs. St. Louis Blues Stanley Cup final that did 5,128,000 viewers on NBC.
  453.  
  454. The number was down 4.9 percent over the same week last year, which also had no NBA competition, was a show without anything special advertised.
  455.  
  456. Next week’s Raw will go against game five of the NBA playoffs, and there is a solid shot unless they’ve got a new rabbit to pull up their sleeve that it will threaten the all-time record low.
  457.  
  458. What was different is they had a weak first hour, but great growth in the second hour, and while they dropped in the third hour, it was still bigger than the first hour.
  459.  
  460. Generally, the second hour beats the first hour during Daylight Savings Time, but this year has bucked that pattern, probably because of the audience burnout of the show. But the second hour growth was the largest for a Raw episode since March 2, 2015, although from 2014 and earlier this level of second hour growth was routine and usual. The third hour beating the first hour was the fourth time in the last two years that has happened.
  461.  
  462. The first hour did 2,308,000 viewers. The second hour did 2,558,000 viewers. The third hour did 2,349,000 viewers.
  463.  
  464. Raw was sixth for the night on cable, losing only to news shows.
  465.  
  466. The key things in hour two were women’s matches with Charlotte Flair vs. Lacey Evans and Peyton Royce vs. Nikki Cross, Bobby Lashley vs. Braun Strowman arm wrestling, Rey Mysterio vacating the U.S. title and the start of the in-ring segment with Seth Rollins and the teased cash-in, which started in hour two and finished in early hour three.
  467.  
  468. What’s most notable was first-to-second hour growth in different demos, and then second-to-third hour decline. In 18-49 women, they grew 21.7 percent in the second hour, which is gigantic, and then fell 3.6 percent in the third, which is well below usual. In 18-49 men, they were up 9.0 percent in the second hour and down 4.6 percent in the third. In teenage girls, they were up 35.5 percent in the second hour and gained another 9.2 percent in the third hour. In teenage boys, they were up 29.6 percent in the second hour and up another 6.1 percent in the third hour. In 50+, they were up 8.0 percent in the second hour and down 12.0 percent in the third hour.
  469.  
  470. The show did a 0.44 in 12-17 (up 7.3 percent from last week), 0.54 in 18-34 (up 10.2 percent from last week), 1.02 in 35-49 (down 2.9 percent) and 1.01 in 50+ (up 5.2 percent).
  471.  
  472. The audience was 66.7 percent male in 18-49 and 64.7 percent male in 12-17.
  473.  
  474. The second PFL show on ESPN 2 on 5/23 did 120,000 viewers, down from 137,000 viewers for the 5/9 show.
  475.  
  476. This is the third and final issue of the current set. If you’ve got a (1) on your address label, it means your subscription expires with this double issue.
  477.  
  478. Renewal rates for the printed Observer in the United States are $13.50 for four issues (which includes $4 for postage and handling), $25 for eight, $35.50 for 12, $46 for 16, $69 for 24, $92 for 32, $115 for 40, $149.50 for 52 up through $184 for 64 issues.
  479.  
  480. For Canada and Mexico, the rates are $15 for four issues (which includes $6 for postage and handling), $27 for eight, $38.50 for 12, $50 for 16, $75 or 24, $100 for 32, $125 for 40 issues, $162.50 for 52 and $200 for 64.
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  483.  
  484. You can also get the Observer on the web at www.wrestlingobserver.com for $11.99 per month or $119.99 per year for a premium membership that includes daily audio updates, Figure Four Weekly, special articles and a message board. If you are a premium member and still want hard copies of the Observer, you can get them for $9.50 per set in the U.S., $10.50 per set in Canada and $13 per set for the rest of the world.
  485.  
  486. All subscription renewals should be sent to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228. You can also renew via Visa or MasterCard by sending your name, address, phone number, Visa or MasterCard number (and include the three or four digit security code on the card) and expiration date to Dave@wrestlingobserver.com or by fax to (408)244-3402. You can also renew at www.paypal.com using dave@wrestlingobserver.com as the pay to address. For all credit card or paypal orders, please add a $1 processing fee. If there are any subscription problems, you can contact us and we will attempt to rectify them immediately, but please include with your name a full address as well a phone number you can be contacted at.
  487.  
  488. All letters to the editor, reports from live shows and any other correspondence pertaining to this publication should also be sent to the above address.
  489.  
  490. This publication is copyright material and no portion of the Observer may be reprinted without the expressed consent of publisher/writer Dave Meltzer. The Observer is also produced by Derek Sabato.
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  492. Fax messages can be sent to the Observer 24 hours a day at (408) 244-3402. Phone messages can be left 24 hours a day at (408) 244-2455. E-mails can be sent to Dave@wrestlingobserver.com
  493.  
  494. For back issues of the Observer, the "Wrestling Observer Index" lists almost every issue in our history going back almost 34 years with the major headlines by the week. Besides as a guide for ordering back issues, the Index is also a great way to keep a catalog of past issues and use for historical purposes. It is available for $25 from Grant Zwarych, 151 Hart Ave., Peterborough, ON K9J 5C5 Canada.
  495.  
  496. Virtually every back issue from 1982-91 is available from him at prices listed, plus $5 for postage for overseas orders. Issues from 1991 to present are available from us at $4 per issue. If you are ordering back issues from us, please denote back issues on the envelope to insure the quickest response.
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  501. He also has re-issues of some of the most popular Wrestling Observer publications of the past. He has the 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989 and 1990 Observer yearbooks and the 1986 Wrestling Observer's Who's Who in Wrestling book. For more info you can e-mail grantsindex@nexicom.net
  502.  
  503. RESULTS
  504.  
  505.  
  506.  
  507. 5/12 Liverpool, UK (WWE Raw - 5,200): Aleister Black & Ricochet b Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder, Titus O’Neil b EC 3, Natalya & Beth Phoenix b Ruby Riott & Liv Morgan, U.K. title: Walter b Pete Dunne, Three-way for women’s title: Becky Lynch won over Lacey Evans and Tamina, Apollo Crews b Mojo Rawley, IC title: Finn Balor b Elias, Roman Reigns & Seth Rollins & Braun Strowman b Bobby Lashley & Drew McIntyre & Baron Corbin
  508.  
  509. 5/12 Oslo, Norway (WWE Smackdown - 5,500): R-Truth & Carmella b Andrade & Zelina Vega, Xavier Woods b Sami Zayn, Charlotte Flair b Naomi, Three-way for tag titles: Daniel Bryan & Rowan won three-way over Usos and Rusev & Shinsuke Nakamura, Women’s tag title: Billie Kay & Peyton Royce b Asuka & Kairi Sane, U.S. title: Samoa Joe b Matt Hardy, WWE title: Kofi Kingston b Kevin Owens-DQ, No DQ: Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods b Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn
  510.  
  511. 5/12 Chicago, IL (ROH TV tapings - 900): Rhett Titus b Rayo, Flip Gordon b Karl Fredericks, Kenny King b Jay Lethal, Beer City Bruiser & Brawler Milonas won four-way elimination match over Clark Connors & Alex Coughlin, Shaheem Ali & LSG and TK O’Ryan and Vinny Marseglia, Josh Woods b ?, Evil & Sanada b Yuji Nagata & Satoshi Kojima, NWA women’s title: Allysin Kay b Marti Belle, NWA National title: Colt Cabana d James Storm 15:00, Silas Young b The Squid, Hirooki Goto b Hikuleo, Mark Haskins & Tracy Williams & PJ Black b Cheeseburger & Eli Isom & Ryan Nova, Jeff Cobb won four-way over Jay Lethal, Rush and PCO
  512.  
  513. 5/12 Kobe (Dragon Gate - 639 sellout): Ryo Saito & Kagetora & Yasshi &N Keisuke Okuda b Masato Yoshino & Dragon Kid & Jason Lee & Mondai Ryu, Naruki Doi & Kaito Ishida b Kai & U-T, Susumu Yokosuka b Yuki Yoshioka, Pac & Eita & Takashi Yoshida b Masaaki Mochizuki & Kota Minoura & Ben K, Genki Horiguchi b Yamato, Shun Skywalker b Big R Shimizu, Kazma Sakamoto b Kzy
  514.  
  515. 5/12 Naha (All Japan – 506 sellout): Naoya Nomura b Hejor Kidman, Osamu Nishimura & Futa Shimadou & Carbell Ito b Yusuke Okada & Hikaru Sato & Ryukyu Dog Dingo, Jun Akiyama & Ultimo Dragon b Takao Omori & Black Menso-re, Zeus & Atsushi Maruyama b Taiwan Battle Fish & War Bear, Jake Lee & Koji Iwamoto b Dylan James & Gianni Valletta, Suwama & Shuji Ishikawa & Atsushi Aoki b Kento Miyahara & Yuma Aoyagi & Yoshitatsu
  516.  
  517. 5/12 Isanuma (Pro Wrestling NOAH - 227): Mohammed Yone & Quiet Storm & Kouki Iwasaki b Akitoshi Saito & Masao Inoue & Seiya Morohashi, Mitsuya Nagai b Atsushi Kotoge, Go Shiozaki b Hi69, Katsuhiko Nakajima & Hitoshi Kumano b Takashi Sugiura & Hajime Ohara, Daisuke Harada & Tadasuke & Hayata b Yoshinari Ogawa & Kotaro Suzuki & Keisuke Ishii, Kenou & Masa Kitamiya & Yoshiki Inamura b Kaito Kiyomiya & Maybach Taniguchi & Junta Miyawaki
  518.  
  519. 5/12 Mexico City Arena Mexico (CMLL): Inquisidor & Principe Odin Jr. b Principe Diamante & Sonico, Akuma & Espiritu Negro & Sangre Azteca b Arkalis & Electrico & Halcon Suriano Jr., Blue Panther Jr. b Tiger, Dark Magic & Stigma & Virus b Flyer & Metalico & Pegasso, Soberano Jr.& Stuka Jr.& Valiente b Felino & Rey Bucanero & Vangellys, Cuatrero & Forastero &Sanson b Angel de Oro & Mistico & Niebla Roja
  520.  
  521. 5/13 London, UK (WWE Raw/Main Event TV tapings - 10,500): Titus O’Neil b EC 3, Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder b Kalisto & Lince Dorado, The Miz & Roman Reigns b Bobby Lashley & Elias-DQ, Mojo Rawley b Apollo Crews, Baron Corbin b Ricochet, Nikki Cross won four-way over Natalya, Dana Brooke and Naomi, Rey Mysterio b Cesaro, Falls count anywhere: Sami Zayn b Braun Strowman, A.J. Styles b Drew McIntyre-DQ, Universal title: Seth Rollins b Baron Corbin
  522.  
  523. 5/13 Bornemouth, UK (WWE Smackdown): IC title: Finn Balor b Andrade, Women’s tag titles: Billie Kay & Peyton Royce b Asuka & Kairi Sane, U.K. title: Walter b R-Truth, Aleister Black b Randy Orton, U.S. title: Samoa Joe b Matt Hardy, Three-way for tag titles: Daniel Bryan & Rowan won over Shinsuke Nakamura & Rusev and Usos, WWE title: Kofi Kingston b Kevin Owens
  524.  
  525. 5/13 Sendai (New Japan Best of the Super Juniors - 1,630): Taichi & Douki b Ren Narita & Yota Tsuji, Phantasmo & Robbie Eagles & Jado b Bandido & Rocky Romero & Yuya Uemura, Juice Robinson & Ryusuke Taguchi b Yoh & Shota Umino, Tetsuya Naito & Bushi b Will Ospreay & Toa Henare, Tiger Mask b Taka Michinoku, titan b Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Marty Scurll b Jonathan Gresham, Shingo Takagi b Sho, Taiji Ishimori b Dragon Lee
  526.  
  527. 5/13 Koza (All Japan - 354): Yusuke Okada b Tengen Ushimaru, Osamu Nishimura b Atsushi Maruyama, Atsushi Aoki & Hikaru Sato b Tougyo & War Bear, Jun Akiyama & Ultimo Dragon & Gurukun Mask b Zeus & Takao Omori & Black Menso-re, Suwama & Shuji Ishikawa b Dylan James & Gianni Valletta, Jake Lee & Naoya Nomura & Koji Iwamoto b Kento Miyahara & Yuma Aoyagi & Yoshitatsu
  528.  
  529. 5/14 London, UK (WWE Smackdown/205 Live TV tapings - 8,000): Andrade won four-way over Ali, Finn Balor and Randy Orton, 4 on 3 handicap match: Shane McMahon & Elias & Daniel Bryan & Erick Rowan b Usos & Roman Reigns, Asuka & Kairi Sane b Sonya Deville & Mandy Rose, Humberto Carrillo won four-way over Jack Gallagher, Mark Andrews and James Drake,. Non-title: Tony Nese b El Ligero, Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods b Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn
  530.  
  531. 5/14 Paris, France (WWE Raw): Three-way for women’s title: Becky Lynch won over Lacey Evans and Tamina, Lucha House Party b Sunil & Samir Singh, Robert Roode b Chad Gable, A.J. Styles & Braun Strowman & Rey Mysterio b Bobby Lashley & Drew McIntyre & Jinder Mahal, Bayley & Ember Moon b Ruby Riott & Liv Morgan, Tag titles: Zack Ryder & Curt Hawkins b Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder, Universal title: Seth Rollins b Baron Corbin
  532.  
  533. 5/14 Sendai (New Japan Best of the Super Juniors - 1,300): Taichi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Taka Michinoku b Tiger Mask & Jonathan Gresham & Yota Tsuji, Juice Robinson & Dragon Lee b Sho & Shota Umino, Brody King & Marty Scurll b Taiji Ishimori & Gedo, Tetsuya Naito & Shingo Takagi b Titan & Toa Henare, Douki b Ren Narita, Robbie Eagles b Rocky Romero, Phantasmo b Bandido, Will Ospreay b Bushi, Ryusuke Taguchi b Yoh
  534.  
  535. 5/14 Mexico City Arena Mexico (CMLL): Coyote & Grako b Arkalis & Halcon Suriano Jr., Metalico & Nitro & Sangre Azteca b Electrico & Retro & Super Astro Jr., Disturbio & Kawato San & Sagrado b Fuego & Pegasso & Stigma, Guerrero Maya Jr. b Templario, Audaz & Flyer & Kraneo b Mr. Niebla & Rey Bucanero & Shocker, Bestia del Ring & Rush & El Terrible b Angel de Oro & Atlantis & Niebla Roja
  536.  
  537. 5/15 Birmingham, UK (WWE Raw - 6,300): Three-way for women’s title: Becky Lynch won over Tamina and Lacey Evans, Kalisto & Lince Dorado & Gran Metalik b Samir & Sunil Singh & Jinder Mahal, Robert Roode b Chad Gable, Ember Moon & Bayley b Ruby Riott & Liv Morgan, IC title: Finn Balor b Elias, U.K. title: Walter b Pete Dunne, Tag titles: Zack Ryder & Curt Hawkins b Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder, Braun Strowman & Roman Reigns & Seth Rollins b Bobby Lashley & Drew McIntyre & Baron Corbin
  538.  
  539. 5/15 Magdelburg, Germany (WWE Smackdown): Matt Hardy & Apollo Crews b Rusev & Shinsuke Nakamura, Xavier Woods b Cesaro, Three-way for women’s tag titles: Billie Kay & Peyton Royce won over Kairi Sane & Asuka and Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville, A.J. Styles b Randy Orton, Rowan b Ali, Three-way for U.S. title: Samoa Joe won over Andrade and The Miz, WWE title: Kofi Kingston b Kevin Owens-DQ, No DQ: Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods b Cesaro & Kevin Owens
  540.  
  541. 5/15 Aomori (New Japan Best of the Super Juniors - 1,293): Jado & Robbie Eagles b Ren Narita & Yuya Uemura, Taichi & Douki b Ryusuke Taguchi & Shota Umino, Juice Robinson & Will Ospreay & Bandido b Rocky Romero & Yoh & Toa Henare, Tetsuya Naito & Bushi b Phantasmo & Gedo, Jonathan Gresham b Taka Michinoku, Tiger Mask b Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Shingo Takagi b Titan, Taiji Ishimori b Marty Scurll, Dragon Lee b Sho
  542.  
  543. 5/15 Hong Kong (Dragon Gate - 279): Masaaki Mochizuki & Kota Minoura b Ho Ho Lun & The Chen, Michael Zu & Ronald Li & Big Ten Z b Kevin & Jeff & Mike Mann, Eita & Takashi Yoshida b Kzy & Bitman, Susumu Yokosuka b Masato Yoshino, Naruki Doi & Jason Lee b Yamato & U-T
  544.  
  545. 5/16 Sheffield, U.K. (WWE Raw): Three-way for women’s title: Becky Lynch won over Tamina and Lacey Evans, Robert Roode b Chad Gable, Kalisto & Lince Dorado & Gran Metalik b Jinder Mahal & Sunil & Samir Singh, Bayley & Ember Moon b Ruby Riott & Liv Morgan, IC title: Finn Balor b Elias, U.K. title: Walter b Pete Dunne, Tag titles: Curt Hawkins & Zack Ryder b Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder, Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns & Braun Strowman b Bobby Lashley & Drew McIntyre & Baron Corbin
  546.  
  547. 5/16 Hamburg, Germany (WWE Smackdown): Matt Hardy & Apollo Crews b Rusev & Shinsuke Nakamura, Xavier Woods b Cesaro, Three-way for women’s tag title: Peyton Royce & Billie Kay won over Asuka & Kairi Sane and Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville, A.J. Styles b Randy Orton, Rowan b Ali, Three-way for U.S. title: Samoa Joe won over The Miz and Andrade, WWE title: Kofi Kingston b Kevin Owens
  548.  
  549. 5/16 Bethlehem, PA (WWE NXT - 550): Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford b Dan Matha & Riddick Moss, Submission match: Kushida b Drew Gulak, Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly b Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch, Io Shirai & Candice LeRae b Jessamyn Duke & Marina Shafir, Matt Riddle b Roderick Strong, Punishment Martinez b Keith Lee, Women’s title: Shayna Baszler b Kacy Catanzaro, North American title: Velveteen Dream b Adam Cole
  550.  
  551. 5/16 Tampa, FL (WWE NXT - 250): Eric Bugenhagen b Nick Comoroto, Jessie Elaban b MJ Jenkins, Brennan Williams & Brandon Vink b Matt Lee & Jeff Parker, Mansoor b Cezar Bononi, Killian Dain b Jermaine Haley, Roberto Garza Jr. b Boa, Mia Yim b Reina Gonzalez, Marcel Barthel & Fabian Aichner b Albert Hardie Jr. & Humberto Carrillo
  552.  
  553. 5/16 Aomori (New Japan - 1,403): Taiji Ishimori & Gedo b Titan & Yuya Uemura, Marty Scurll & Brody King b Tiger Mask & Yota Tsuji, Sho & Jonathan Gresham & Toa Henare b Juice Robinson & Dragon Lee & Shota Umino, Tetsuya Naito & Shingo Takagi b Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Taka Michinoku, Robbie Eagles b Ren Narita, Yoh b Bandido, Phantasmo b Bushi, Will Ospreay b Rocky Romero, Ryusuke Taguchi b Douki
  554.  
  555. 5/16 Hong Kong (Dragon Gate - 306): Ho Ho Lun & The Chen b Ronald Li & Big Ten Z, Yamato & U-T & Michael Zu b Kevin & Jeff & Mike Mann, Kzy & Susumu Yokosuka b Kota Minoura & Bitman, Masato Yoshino & Naruki Doi b Takashi Yoshida & Eita, Jason Lee b Masaaki Mochizuki
  556.  
  557. 5/17 Cardiff, Wales (WWE Raw - 3,500 sellout): Four-way for women’s title: Becky Lynch won over Ruby Riott, Lacey Evans and Tamina, Kalisto & Lince Dorado & Gran Metalik b Jinder Mahal & Samir & Sunil Singh, Robert Roode b Chad Gable, Tag titles: Curt Hawkins & Zack Ryder b Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder, U.K. title: Walter b Pete Dunne, IC title: Finn Balor b Elias, Roman Reigns & Seth Rollins & Braun Strowman b Bobby Lashley & Baron Corbin & Drew McIntyre
  558.  
  559. 5/17 Berlin, Germany (WWE Smackdown - 11,000): Matt Hardy b Rusev, Apollo Crews b Cesaro, Women’s tag title: Peyton Royce & Billie Kay b Asuka & Kairi Sane, A.J. Styles b Shinsuke Nakamura, Rowan b Ali, The Miz b Andrade, WWE title: Kofi Kingston b Randy Orton
  560.  
  561. 5/17 Philadelphia (WWE NXT - 1,500): Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford b Dan Matha & Riddick Moss, Candice LeRae & Io Shirai b Jessamyn Duke & Marina Shafir, Punishment Martinez b Keith Lee, Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly b Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch, Submission match: Kushida b Drew Gulak, Women’s title: Shayna Baszler b Kacy Catanzaro, Three-way for North American title: Velveteen Dream won over Matt Riddle and Adam Cole
  562.  
  563. 5/17 St. Petersburg, FL (WWE NXT - 200): Albert Hardie Jr. b Cezar Bononi, Adrian Jaoude b Cal Bloom, Rinku Singh b Mansoor, Vanessa Borne & Aliyah b Xia Li & Karen Q, Humberto Carrillo b Trevor Lee, Brennan Williams & Brendan Vink b Eric Bugenhagen & Denzel Dejournette, Mia Yim b Bianca Belair, Killian Dain b Kassius Ohno
  564.  
  565. 5/17 Mexico City Arena Mexico (CMLL): Akuma & Espanto Jr. b Magia Blanca & Star Jr.-COR, Kaho Kobayashi & Marcela & Sanely b Amapola & Metalica & Tiffany, Felino & Hechicero & Tiger b Esfinge & Rey Cometa & Triton, Negro Casas b Soberano Jr., Ultimo Guerrero & Gran Guerrero & Euforia b Mascara Ano 2000 & Mephisto & Ephesto-DQ, Cavernario & Cuatrero & Sanson b Mistico & Caristico & Valiente
  566.  
  567. 5/18 Belair, MD (WWE NXT - 750): Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford b Dan Matha & Riddick Moss, Punishment Martinez b Keith Lee, Women’s title: Shayna Baszler b Kacy Catanzaro, Submission match: Kushida b Drew Gulak, Danny Burch & Oney Lorcan b Roderick Strong & Kyle O’Reilly, Io Shirai & Candice LeRae NC Marina Shafir & Jessamyn Duke, Three-way for North American title: Velveteen Dream won over Adam Cole and Matt Riddle
  568.  
  569. 5/18 Sanford, FL (WWE NXT - 350): Eric Bugenhagen b Nick Comoroto, Reina Gonzalez & M.J. Jenkins b Xia Li & Karen Q, Humberto Carrillo b Samuel Shaw, Adrian Jaoude b Daniel Vidot, Albert Hardie Jr. b Cezar Bononi, Shane Thorne b Jermaine Haley, Bianca Belair b Jessie Elaban, Babatunde Aiyegbusi & Matt Lee & Jeff Parker b Marcel Barthel & Fabian Aichner & Trevor Lee
  570.  
  571. 5/18 Yamagata (New Japan - 1,213): Taichi & Douki b Bandido & Yota Tsuji, Phantasmo & Gedo b Jado & Robbie Eagles, Juice Robinson & Will Ospreay & Ren Narita b Rocky Romero & Yoh & Shota Umino, Tetsuya Naito & Bushi b Ryusuke Taguchi & Toa Henare, Sho b Taka Michinoku, Marty Scurll b Tiger Mask, Taiji Ishimori b Titan, Dragon Lee b Jonathan Gresham, Shingo Takagi b Yoshinobu Kanemaru
  572.  
  573. 5/18 Tuxtla Gutierrez, Mexico (AAA TV tapings): Golden Magic b Dragon
  574.  
  575. Bane, Halcon 78 Jr. & Lady Maravilla b Astrolux & Big Mami, Nino Hamburguesa & Myzteziz Jr. b Australian Suicide & Chik Tormenta, Tessa Blanchard & Hiedra b Lady Shani & Faby Apache, Chessman & Villano III Jr. & Daga b Flamita & El Hijo del Vikingo & Laredo Kid, Killer Kross & El Texano Jr. & Rey Escorpion b Puma King & Pagano & Psycho Clown
  576.  
  577. 5/18 Kariya (Dragon Gate - 468): Don Fujii & Ben K & Keisuke Okuda b Hyo Watanabe & Kota Minoura & Hollywood Stalker Ichikawa, U-T b Punch Tominaga, Takashi Yoshida b Kagetora, Eita & Kazma Sakamoto b Yamato & Yosuke Santa Maria, Masato Yoshino b Yuki Yoshioka, Big R Shimizu b Dragon Kid, Naruki Doi & Jason Lee & Kaito Ishida b Kzy & Ryo Saito & Shun Skywalker
  578.  
  579. 5/19 Asbury Park, NJ (WWE NXT - 1,100): Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford b Dan Matha & Riddick Moss, Io Shirai & Candice LeRae b Marina Shafir & Jessamyn Duke, Punishment Martinez b Keith Lee, Kyle O’Reilly & Roderick Strong b Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch, Submission match: Kushida b Drew Gulak, Women’s title: Shayna Baszler b Kacy Catanzaro, Three-way for North American title: Velveteen Dream won over Matt Riddle and Adam Cole
  580.  
  581. 5/19 Yamagata (New Japan - 1,101): Jonathan Gresham & Shota Umino & Yuya Uemura b Sho & Titan & Yota Tsuji, Juice Robinson & Tiger Mask b Dragon Lee & Toa Henare, Taichi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Taka Michinoku b Taiji Ishimori & Gedo & Jado, Tetsuya Naito & Shingo Takagi b Marty Scurll & Brody King, Rocky Romero b Ren Narita, Bandido b Douki, Phantasmo b Robbie Eagles, Will Ospreay b Yoh, Ryusuke Taguchi b Bushi
  582.  
  583. 5/19 Villahermosa, Tabasco (AAA TV tapings): Big Mami & Dragon Bane b Halcon 78 Jr. & Lady Maravilla, Chik Tormenta & El Hijo del Tirantes & Tessa Blanchard b Astrolux & Faby Apache & Nino Hamburguesa, Australian Suicide won fiver-way over Villano III Jr., Golden Magic and Flamita and Myzteziz Jr., TLC match: Pagano b Chessman, Rey Escorpion & El Texano Jr. & La Hiedra b El Hijo del Vikingo & Laredo Kid & Lady Shani, Blue Demon Jr. & Daga & Killer Kross b La Parka & Psycho Clown & Puma King
  584.  
  585. 5/19 Mexico City Arena Mexico (CMLL): Bengala & Leono b Apocalipsis & Principe Odin Jr., Mercurio & Pequeno Violencia & Pierrothito b Kaligua & Shockercito & Ultimo Dragoncito, El Hijo del Signo b Robin, Flyer & Metalico & Pegasso b Dark Magic & Stigma & Virus, Atlantis & Atlantis Jr. & Stuka Jr. b El Hijo del Villano III & Negro Casas & Villano IV, Angel de Oro & Niebla Roja & Soberano Jr. b Cavernario & Rey Bucanero & El Terrible
  586.  
  587. 5/19 Yokkaichi (Dragon Gate - 504 sellout): Naruki Doi & Kaito Ishida & Kota Minoura b Hollywood Stalker Ichikawa & Shun Skywalker & Keisuke Okuda, Naruki Doi & Kaito Ishida & Kota Minoura b Hollywood Stalker Ichikawa & Shun Skywalker & Keisuke Okuda, Yuki Yoshioka b Yosuke Santa Maria, Kagetora b Genki Horiguchi, Eita & Big R Shimizu & Takashi Yoshida b Don Fujii & Ben K & Hyo Watanabe, Kazma Sakamoto b Ryo Saito, Kai b Jason Lee, Yamato & U-T b Kzy & Punch Tominaga
  588.  
  589. 5/19 Yamada (Pro Wrestling NOAH - 355): Hitoshi Kumano d Seiya Morohashi 15:00, Mitsuya Nagai b Masao Inoue, Mohammed Yone & Quiet Storm b Hi69 & Kouki Iwasaki, Daisuke Harada & Tadasuke & Hayata b Yoshinari Ogawa & Kotaro Suzuki & Junta Miyawaki, Katsuhiko Nakajima & Go Shiozaki b Takashi Sugiura & Hajime Ohara, Kenou & Masa Kitamiya & Atsushi Kotoge & Yoshiki Inamura b Kaito Kiyomiya & Shuhei Taniguchi & Akitoshi Saito & Minoru Tanaka
  590.  
  591. 5/20 Albany, NY (WWE Raw/Main Event TV tapings - 7,000): Natalya b Tamina, Cedric Alexander b EC 3, Braun Strowman b Sami Zayn, Cesaro b Ricochet, Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder b Usos, 2 on 3: Becky Lynch & Nikki Cross b Peyton Royce & Billie Kay & Lacey Evans, Titus O’Neil won scramble over Cedric Alexander, EC 3, Mojo Rawley, Eric Young, No Way Jose, Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson and Drake Maverick to win 24/7 title, Robert Roode b Titus O’Neil to win 24/7 title, Drew McIntyre b The Miz, R-Truth b Robert Roode to win 24/7 title, No DQ: Kofi Kingston & Seth Rollins b Baron Corbin & Bobby Lashley
  592.  
  593. 5/20 Tokyo Korakuen Hall (All Japan - 1,566 sellout): Hokuto Omori b Dan Tamura, Jun Akiyama & Osamu Nishimura & Kotaro Suzuki b Takao Omori & Masa Fuchi & Black Menso-re, Jake Lee & Naoya Nomura & Tajiri b Yuma Aoyagi & Yoshitatsu & Yutaka Yoshie, Dylan James & Gianni Valletta & Nobe Bryant b Suwama & Yusuke Okada & Hikaru Sato, All-Asia tag titles: Ryuichi Kawakami & Kazumi Kikuta b Zeus & Atsushi Maruyama, Jr. Title: Atsushi Aoki b Koji Iwamoto to win title, Triple Crown: Kento Miyahara b Shuji Ishikawa
  594.  
  595. 5/21 Providence, RI (WWE Smackdown/205 Live TV tapings - 5,500): Heavy Machinery b Jinder Mahal & Shelton Benjamin, Ali b Andrade, Mandy Rose NC Carmella, Non-title: Kofi Kingston b Sami Zayn, Bayley & Becky Lynch b Charlotte Flair & Lacey Evans, Roman Reigns b Elias, Jack Gallagher & Humberto Carrillo b Sunil & Samir Singh, Akira Tozawa won five-way over Brian Kendrick, Ariya Daivari, Mike Kanellis and Oney Lorcan, Women’s tag titles: Kairi Sane & Asuka b Billie Kay & Peyton Royce-DQ
  596.  
  597. 5/21 Tokyo Shin-kiba (All Japan - 282 sellout): Takuho Kato & Yuki Ishikawa & Akira Hyodo b Hokuto Omori & Dan Tamura & Atsuki Aoyagi, Atsushi Aoki & Hikaru Sato b Koji Iwamoto & Keiichi Sato, Dylan James & Nobe Bryant & Kotaro Suzuki b Suwama & Shuji Ishikawa & Yusuke Okada, Jake Lee & Hideyoshi Kamitani d Naoya Nomura & Taishi Takizawa 30:00, Kento Miyahara & Yuma Aoyagi & Yoshitatsu b Zeus & Tajiri & Gianni Valletta
  598.  
  599. 5/21 Mexico City Arena Mexico (CMLL): Leono & Sonic b Coyote & Grako, Halcon Suriano Jr. & Magia Blanca & Oro Jr. b Disturbio & El Hijo del Signo & Sangre Azteca, Star Jr. d Sagrado, Blue Panther & Audaz & Guerrero Maya Jr. b Polvora & Tiger & Universo 2000 Jr., Flyer & Kraneo & Rey Cometa b Hechicero & Mephisto & Rey Bucanero, Bestia del Ring & Rush & El Terrible b Angel de Oro & Atlantis & Niebla Roja-DQ
  600.  
  601. 5/30 Osaka (New Japan - 1,455 sellout): Titan & Jonathan Gresham & Toa Henare b Tiger Mask & Sho & Yota Tsuji, Taichi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru b Tomohiro Ishii & Shota Umino, Juice Robinson & Dragon Lee b Marty Scurll & Brody King, Tetsuya Naito & Shingo Takagi b Taiji Ishimori & Gedo, Yoh b Ren Narita, Bandido b Robbie Eagles, Bushi b Rocky Romero, Will Ospreay b Douki, Ryusuke Taguchi b El Phantasmo
  602.  
  603. 5/30 Fukiyama (All Japan - 375): Takeshi Okada b Hokuto Omori, Atsushi Aoki & Yusuke Okada b Yuma Aoyagi & Atsuki Aoyagi, Takao Omori & Black Menso-re b Jun Akiyama & Rey Paloma, Jake Lee & Naoya Nomura & Koji Iwamoto b Tajiri & Kai & Nobe Bryant, Kento Miyahara & Yoshitatsu b Zeus & Atsushi Maruyama, Suwama & Shuji Ishikawa & Hikaru Sato b Joe Doering & Dylan James & Gianni Valletta
  604.  
  605. 5/30 Hiroshima (Pro Wrestling NOAH - 388): Hajime Ohara & Nosawa b Hayata & Yo-Hey, Takashi Sugiura b Yoshiki Inamura, Daisuke Harada & Tadasuke b Junta Miyawaki & Seiya Morohashi, Yoshinari Ogawa & Kotaro Suzuki b Hitoshi Kumano & Chris Ridgeway, Katsuhiko Nakajima & Go Shiozaki & Mohammed Yone & Quiet Storm b Naomichi Marufuji & Shuhei Taniguchi & Akitoshi Saito & Masao Inoue, Kenou & Masa Kitamiya & Atsushi Kotoge b Kaito Kiyomiya & Minoru Tanaka & Hi69
  606.  
  607. 5/31 Rio Rancho, NM (WWE Raw - 3,500): Usos b Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder, Naomi b Tamina-DQ, Samoa Joe won four-way over Ricochet, Robert Roode and Cedric Alexander, Naomi b Tamina-DQ, Naomi & Dana Brooke b Tamina & Sarah Logan, Braun Strowman b Bobby Lashley, Kalisto b Eric Young, Viking Raiders b Gran Metalik & Lince Dorado, Lacy Evans b Natalya, Universal title: Seth Rollins b Baron Corbin
  608.  
  609. 5/31 Ehime (New Japan - 1,093): Ryusuke Taguchi & Bandido & Shota Umino & Yota Tsuji b Tomohiro Ishii & Will Ospreay & Rocky Romero & Yuya Uemura, Juice Robinson & Yoh b Robbie Eagles & Jado, Taichi & Douki b El Phantasmo & Gedo, Tetsuya Naito & Bushi b Toa Henare & Ren Narita, Titan b Tiger Mask, Sho b Jonathan Gresham, Dragon Lee b Marty Scurll, Shingo Takagi b Taiji Ishimori
  610.  
  611. 5/31 Yonaga (Pro Wrestling NOAH - 440): Hitoshi Kumano & Chris Ridgeway b Junta Miyawaki & Seiya Morohashi, Takashi Sugiura b Yoshiki Inamura, Yoshinari Ogawa & Kotaro Suzuki b Hajime Ohara & Nosawa, Hayata & Yo-Hey b Naomichi Marufuji & Masao Inoue, Katsuhiko Nakajima & Go Shiozaki b Mohammed Yone & Quiet Storm, Minoru Tanaka & Hi69 b Daisuke Harada & Tadasuke, Kaito Kiyomiya & Shuhei Taniguchi & Akitoshi Saito b Kenou & Masa Kitamiya & Atsushi Kotoge
  612.  
  613. 5/31 Chiba (Dragon Gate - 468): Masato Yoshino b Yosuke Santa Maria, Big R Shimizu b Kota Minoura, Yamato & Kagetora b Masaaki Mochizuki & Yuki Yoshioka, Shun Skywalker b Jason Lee, Naruki Doi & Dragon Kid & Kaito Ishida b Ryo Saito & Hiroshi Yamato & Keisuke Okuda, Ben K b Genki Horiguchi, Eita & Yasushi Kanda & Kazma Sakamoto b Kzy & Susumu Yokosuka & Punch Tominaga
  614.  
  615. 5/31 Austin, TX (AAW - 300): Andy Dalton won five-way over Clayton Gainz, Paco, Kody Lane and Barrett Brown, Thunder Rosa b Christi Jaynes, Josh Alexander b Ace Austin, Heritage title: Jake Something b Jimmy Jacobs, Mance Warner b Eddie Kingston, Davey Vega & Mat Fitchett b Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz, Ace Romero b Ryan Davidson, Women’s title: Jessicka Havok b Priscilla Kelly, Juventud Guerrera & A.R. Fox b Ricky Starks & Aaron Solow, AAW title: Sami Callihan b Darby Allin
  616.  
  617. 6/1 Waco, TX (WWE Smackdown): Women’s tag titles: Billie Kay & Peyton, Aleister Black b Jinder Mahal, Heavy Machinery NC Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel, Carmella b Mickie James, Ali b Andrade, Charlotte Flair b Ember Moon, Roman Reign b Drew McIntyre
  618.  
  619. 6/1 Kent, WA (ROH TV tapings - 1,000): Flip Gordon won four-way over P.J.
  620.  
  621. Black, Rush and Dalton Castle, NWA national title: Colt Cabana b Mark Briscoe, Silas Young b El Hijo de Squid, PCO b Jay Briscoe-DQ, Shane Taylor & Bully Ray b Shaheem Ali & LSG, Jay Lethal b Kenny King-DQ, Vinny Marseglia & T.K. O’Ryan b Brawler Milonas & Beer City Bruiser, Josh Woods b Brian Johnson, Jeff Cobb b Mark Haskins, ROH title: Matt Taven b Tracy Williams
  622.  
  623. 6/1 Saijo (All Japan - 586): Takao Omori & Hokuto Omori & Kentaro Gyoshida b Atsushi Maruyama & Dan Tamura & Madori Taro, Jun Akiyama & Carbell It & Rising Hayato b Black Menso-re & Atsuki Aoyagi &U Bonjin Pulp, Atsushi
  624.  
  625. Aoki & Hikaru Sato DCOR Jake Lee & Koji Iwamoto, Joe Doering & Dylan James & Gianni Valletta b Zeus & Naoya Nomura & Nobe Bryant, Jun Akiyama & Carbell Ito & Rising Hayato b Takao Omori & Hokuto Omori & Kentaro Yoshida, Suwama & Shuji Ishikawa & Yusuke Okada b Kento Miyahara & Yuma Aoyagi & Yoshitatsu
  626.  
  627. 6/1 Ina (Dragon Gate - 504): Shun Skywalker & Keisuke Okuda b Kzy & Punch Tominaga, Ryo Saito b Kota Minoura, Kaito Ishida b Kagetora, Big R Shimizu & Yasushi Kanda b Ben K & Gamma, Eita b Yuki Yoshioka, Naruki Doi & Dragon Kid & Jason Lee b Yamato & Yosuke Santa Maria & Don Fujii
  628.  
  629. 6/1 Osaka (Pro Wrestling NOAH - 241): Yoshinari Ogawa & Kotaro Suzuki b Junta Miyawaki & Seiya Morohashi, Naomichi Marufuji b Masao Inoue, Hitoshi Kumano & Chris Ridgeway b Minoru Tanaka & Hi69, Kaito Kiyomiya & Shuhei Taniguchi & Akitoshi Saito b Takashi Sugiura & Hajime Ohara & Nosawa, Katsuhiko Nakajima & Go Shiozaki & Mohammed Yone & Quiet Storm b Kenou & Masa Kitamiya & Atsushi Kotoge & Yoshiki Inamura, Daisuke Harada & Tadasuke b Hayata & Yo-Hey
  630.  
  631. 6/1 Waukesha, WI (MLW TV tapings - 732): Jordan Oliver b Isaias Velazquez, Low Ki b ?, Air Wolf b Ace Austin, Tom Lawlor & Ross & Marshall Von Erich b Jacob Fatu & Josef Samael & Simon Gotch, Davey Boy Smith Jr. b MJF,. Gringo Loco b Myron Reed, National open weight title tournament finals: Alexander Hammerstone b Brian Pillman Jr., Middleweight title: Teddy Hart b Jimmy Havoc, Flamita b Rey Horus, Handicap match: Jacob Fatu won over Ariel Dominguez and Tom Black, Richard Holliday b Kotto Brazil, Tom Lawlor NC Josef Samael, Low Ki b Ricky Martinez, Austin Aries b Adam Brooks, Falls count anywhere: Mance Warner b Sami Callihan
  632.  
  633. 6/1 Oberhausen, Germany (wXw - 800): Walter b Wheeler Yuta, Brian Cage b Lucky Kid, Avalanche & Julian Pace & Leon van Gastern b Emil Sitoci & Alexander James & Jurn Simmons, Ken Shamrock b Veit Muller, Marius Al-Ani b Ilja Dragunov, Mark Davis & Kyle Fletcher & Bob Holly b Absolute Andy & Francis Kaspin & Jay Skillet, Four-way for women’s title: Amale Winchester won title over former champion Toni Storm, Killer Kelly and Valkyrie, wXw title: Joey Janela b Bobby Gunns-DQ, Street fight for wXw title: Bobby Gunns b Joey Janela
  634.  
  635. 6/2 College Station, TX (WWE Smackdown): Three-way for women’s tag titles: Billie Kay & Peyton Royce won over Asuka & Kairi Sane and Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville, Aleister Black b Buddy Murphy, Heavy Machinery NC Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel, Carmella b Zelina Vega, Ali b Andrade, Charlotte Flair b Ember Moon, Roman Reigns b Drew McIntyre
  636.  
  637. 6/2 Portland, OR (ROH - 650): Mandy Leon & Angelina Love b Notorious Nattie & Mazzerati, No DQ: Tracy Williams b Bully Ray, Mazzerati b Danika Della Rouge, Mark Briscoe b Josh Woods, Jeff Cobb b P.J. Black, Gauntlet series: Shane Taylor & Silas Young b Voroz Twins, Rush & Dalton Castle b Shane Taylor & Silas Young, Shaheem Ali & LSG b Rush & Dalton Castle-COR, Brawler Milonas & Beer City Bruiser b Shaheem Ali & LSG, Brawler Milonas & Beer City Bruiser b Vinny Marseglia & T.K. O’Ryan to win gauntlet, Jay Lethal b Jay Briscoe, Matt Taven won four-way elimination match over PCO, Flip Gordon and Mask Haskins
  638.  
  639. 6/2 Kobe (All Japan - 1,028 sellout): Atsuki Aoyagi b Dan Tamura, Atsushi Maruyama & Tajiri & Otokosakari b Takao Omori & Black Menso-re & Buffalo, Jake Lee & Koji Iwamoto & Nobe Bryant b Atsushi Aoki & Hikaru Sato & Yusuke Okada, Kento Miyahara & Yuma Aoyagi & Yoshitatsu b Zeus & Naoya Nomura & Gianni Valletta, Jun Akiyama & Daisuke Sekimoto b Masakatsu Funaki & Jiro Kuroshio, Tag titles: Suwama & Shuji Ishikawa b Joe Doering & Dylan James
  640.  
  641. 6/2 Yokosuka (Dragon Gate): Jason Lee & Kaito Ishida b Problem Dragon & Shun Skywalker, Kzy b Punch Tominaga, Yamato b Kagetora, Don Fujii & Ben K & Keisuke Okuda b Masaaki Mochizuki & Kota Minoura, Eita b Yosuke Santa Maria, Kai b Dragon Kid, Susumu Yokosuka & Naruki Doi & Ryo Saito b Big R Shimizu & Yasushi Kanda & Takashi Yoshida
  642.  
  643. 6/2 Hamamatsu (Pro Wrestling NOAH - 355): Hayata & Yo-Hey b Junta Miyawaki & Seiya Morohashi, Minoru Tanaka & Hi69 b Hajime Ohara & Nosawa, Katsuhiko Nakajima & Go Shiozaki & Shiro Koshinaka b Akitoshi Saito & Shuhei Taniguchi & Masao Inoue, Takashi Sugiura & Kazma Sakamoto b Kaito Kiyomiya & Mohammed Yone, Daisuke Harada & Tadasuke b Hitoshi Kumano & Chris Ridgeway, Kenou & Masa Kitamiya & Atsushi Kotoge & Yoshiki Inamura b Naomichi Marufuji & Yoshinari Ogawa & Kotaro Suzuki & Quiet Storm
  644.  
  645. 6/2 Mexico City Arena Mexico (CMLL): Shockercito & Ultimo Dragoncito0 b Mercurio & Pierrothito-DQ, Lluvia & Marcela & Skadi b Comandante & Seductora & Reyna Isis, Polvora & Rey Bucanero & Templario b Atlantis Jr. & Blue Panther & Flyer, Cuatrero & Forastero & Sanson b Kraneo & Stuka Jr. & Valiente, Mexican national welterweight title: Soberano Jr. b Negro Casas, Gilbert El Boricua & Gran Guerrero & Ultimo Guerrero b Diamante Azul & Mistico & Volador Jr.
  646.  
  647. 6/3 Austin, TX (WWE Raw/Main Event TV tapings - 7,000): Natalya & Dana Brooke b Tamina & Sarah Logan, EC 3 b No Way Jose, Drew McIntyre & Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder b Roman Reigns & Usos, Charlotte Flair b Lacey Evans-DQ, Arm-wrestling: Braun Strowman b Bobby Lashley, Nikki Cross b Peyton Royce, Ricochet b Cesaro, Braun Strowman b Bobby Lashley
  648.  
  649. 6/3 Okayama (New Japan - 1,773): Sho & Jonathan Gresham b Tiger Mask & Yuya Uemura, Juice Robinson & Toa Henare b Marty Scurll & Brody King, Taichi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru b Tomohiro Ishii & Shota Umino, Tetsuya Naito & Shingo Takagi b Dragon Lee & Titan, Bushi b Ren Narita, Bandido b Rocky Romero, Yoh b Rabbie Eagles, El Phantasmo b Douki, Will Ospreay b Ryusuke Taguchi
  650.  
  651. 6/4 Laredo, TX (WWE Smackdown/205 Live TV tapings - 4,000): Heavy Machinery b Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel, Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods b Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn, 24/7 title: Elias b R-Truth, 24/7 title: R-Truth b Elias, Alexa Bliss won three-way over Carmella and Charlotte Flair, Drew Gulak b Akira Tozawa, Oney Lorcan b Ariya Daivari
  652.  
  653. 6/4 Mexico City Arena Mexico (CMLL): Leono & Metatron b Cholo & Principe Odin Jr., Dalys & Metalica & Reyna Isis b Jarochita & Maligna & Sanely, Drone & Fuego & Rey Cometa b Sagrado & Universo 2000 Jr. & Vangellys, Guerrero Maya Jr. b Luciferno, Hechicero & Mascara Ano 2000 & Mr. Niebla b Flyer & Kraneo & Stuka Jr., Atlantis & Diamante Azul & Valiente b Cuatrero & Forastero & Sanson-DQ
  654.  
  655.  
  656.  
  657. Special thanks to: Hamza Abdelrahman, Clint Adcock, Bryan Alvarez, David Anderson, Steve Ashe, Derek Ashmann, Jonathan Atwood, Brayden Austin, Ben Axelrod, Michael Barrett, Patrick Baseline, Jon Bell, Jim Bennett, Martin Bentley, Ezequiel Bergonzi, Jonathan Bigelow, Ross Blair, Carl Bourque, David Branfield, Colby Burch, Andrew Campbell, Troy Cavanaugh, Dan Cerquitella, Kevin Chiat, Jorge Cisneros, Jordan Clark, Andy Cliff, Ash Clifford, Jeff Cohen, Jesse Collings, David Collins Jr., Jamie Combs, Justin Condon, Andrew Copeman, Michael Cordello Jr., Tony Cottam, Andrew Curiel, Carson Firth, Bradley Craig, The Cubs Fan, Derek Daniels, Patrick Davenport, Iwan Davies, Tyler Davis, Zach Daw, Sebastian Diaz, Christopher Drouin, Ruby Flores, Doug Forbis, Frank Gallaxx, Carson Gillis, Antonio Gomez Jr., Peezy Gonsalez, Gilbert Gonzales, David Gould, Gary Graham, Jeff Gratzi, Jace Greene, Russell Griffith, Steve Grobschmidt, Markus Gronemann, Andrew Guest, Chris Harrington, Nolan Harris, Ross Hart, Adam Harvey, Corey Harvey, Josh Hayes, Neil Heatley, Christopher Hendricks, Justin Henry, Maxwell Hogg, Colin Holmes, Ryan Howard, Chris Hughes, Mark Jackson, Scott Janicek, Jim Johnson, Herb Jordan, Alex Keeling, Matt Keller, Richard Kelly, Drake Kizer, Parker Klyn, Joel Kolsurd, Eric Krone, Gunner Kuhle, Mike Kuzmuk, John LaRocca, Michael Laro, Jeff LaFave, Ryan Leyhue, Keith Leydig, Lucas Lieswald, Brandon Little, Christopher Lloyd, Roy Lucier, Ronald Lynch, Stephen Lyon, Adam Manfredo, Zachary Mann, David Marchant, Kristian Marinello, Gilbert Martinez, Nathan McVay, Travis Mickey, Matt Miller, Randall Moore, Michael Murray, Aaron Nakamura, Kavan Hasheman, Zachary Mann, Robert Newberry, Kyle Niblett, Steve Ogilvie, Mike Omansky, Brandon Owens, Timothy Pallotta, Cody Papke, James Peklicz, Matthew Perry, Dan Petucci, Robert Pivoroff, Andrei Pomerantzeff, Matthew Prentice, Joe Puccio, Craig Reeves, Roger Renman, Liam Renner,Josh Rewasiewicz, Brian Reznick, Corbin Rogers, Jeff Rosenfeld, James Ryder, Jorge Santana, David Santos, Jeff Schultz, Ben Simon, Gunnard Sippert, Paul Sosnowski, Micah Sprague, Jody Starks, Michael Stevens, Michael Stevenson, Jonathan Strauss, Craig Sweeney, Tyler Switzky, Brandon Taylor, Tim Taylor, Ryan Teagle-Stacey, Erik Patrick Thibault, Lee Thomas, Patrick Tobin, Chris Viola, Brett Vogel, Adam Wagner, Lee Wall, Noah Walraven, Shannon Walsh, Tim Walsh, Axel Watteeuw, John White, Rob Wilkins, Chris Williams, J.J. Williams, Scott Willoughby, Nolan Woodford, Carmen Yacono, Mark Young
  658.  
  659. CMLL: Princesa Sugehit suffered a concussion on the 6/1 show at Arena Coliseo and was taken out on a stretcher. She was held in the hospital for observation for three days so it was very serious
  660.  
  661. In Negro Casas’ first challenge that anyone can recall for the Mexican national welterweight title after 40 years in the business, he lost on 6/2 at Arena Mexico to Soberano Jr
  662.  
  663. The next three weeks at Arena Mexico will be the Copa Dinastia, which is a tag team tournament but all teams have to be members of famous wrestling families. The first week is 6/7 with the four teams in the tournament in the A block being Volador Jr. & Flyer, Rush & Bestia Del Ring, Negro Casas & Felino and Euforia & Soberano Jr. Other top matches on the show are Angel de Oro & Caristico & Niebla Roja vs. Gilbert el Boricua (Mil Muertes/Mesias) & Ultimo Guerrero & Gran Guerrero plus Cavernario vs. Templario in a singles match.
  664.  
  665. AAA: The 5/24 TV show did a 2.4 rating and 4.9 share with a total reach of 4.4 million viewers (about 1,201,000 viewers based on how U.S. would report it). The show constantly drew with the opening match doing a 1.6, the second match peaking at 1.9, and the Mercenarios vs. La Parka & Laredo Kid main event peaking at 3.3. The audience was 53 percent male with 35 percent under the age of 18, 11 percent 19-29, 26 percent 30-44, 10 percent 45-54 and 18 percent over 55. So the median viewer was 30.5 years old, so their viewers are much younger than that of American wrestling. The show did a 1.4 rating in the Distrito Federal, 0.7 in Guadalajara and 0.7 in Monterrey. CMLL on 5/25 did a 0.8 rating for its 90 minute show with a total reach of 1.6 million viewers (320,000 based on how U.S. would report it). AAA on A+ on 5/26 did a 0.5 rating and 1.0 million total reach (178,000 viewers how the U.S. would report it).
  666.  
  667. DRAGON GATE: In a move that is huge, Ultimo Dragon, who helped train many of the wrestlers here and really this promotion historically started under Dragon as Toryumon, will return on the 7/21 show, the company’s biggest show of the year at Kobe World Memorial Hall. Dragon hasn’t been with this group since the big falling out in 2004
  668.  
  669. The final King of Gate standings were: A block- 1. Kzy 8 (won block based on winning playoff over Kazma Sakamoto); 2. Sakamoto 8; 3. Naruki Doi 7; 4. Ryo Saito 5; 5. U-T 2, 6. Punch Tominaga 0; B block-1.Eita 10; 2. Susumu Yokosuka 8; 3. Masato Yoshino 6; 4. Yuki Yoshioka, Yosuke Santa Maria and Yasushi Kanda 2; C block-1. 1. Ben K 14; 2. Yamato 6; 3. Takashi Yoshida, Genki Horiguchi and Kaito Ishida 4; 6. Kagetora 2; D block-1. Kai 7; 2. Shun Skywalker 6; 3. Big R Shimizu 5; 4. Masaaki Mochizuki, Jason Lee and Dragon Kid 4
  670.  
  671. The semifinals were 6/6 at Korakuen Hall before a sellout of 1,638 fans. First, Kzy beat Sakamoto to win the A block in 3:28 with a crucifix. Eita beat Kai in 12:25 with Libria and Ben K beat Kzy in 17:43 with the Ben K bomb. Ben K vs Eita in the finals takes place on 6/8 in Fukuoka
  672.  
  673. Pac, Flamita, Draztick Boy and Jimmy of DTU all started back with Dragon Gate on 6/6. Flamita is coming for six weeks. Jimmy has never been before. Evidently he took second place in a contest where the winner gets to tour with Dragon Gate. The winner has never gone, but Cima was in charge of the contest and before anyone could go, he left Dragon Gate for OWE
  674.  
  675. Anthony W. Mori will be coming out of retirement for a 7/4 show
  676.  
  677. There are two title matches on the 6/9 show in Fukuoka with Yamato & Kai defending the tag titles against Doi & Ishida and Yokosuka defending the Open the Brave Gate title against Jason Lee
  678.  
  679. In tournament matches this past week, on 5/31 in Chiba before 468 fans, (B) Yoshino beat Santa Maria in 4:51 with Sol Nasciente; (D) Skywalker beat Lee in 10:18; and © Ben K beat Horiguchi in 10:46 with the Ben K bomb
  680.  
  681. 6/1 in Ina before 504 fans saw © Ishida beat Kagetora in 10:03 and (B) Eita beat Yoshioka in 9:16 with Imperial Uno
  682.  
  683. 6/2 in Yokosuka saw (A) Kzy pinned Tominaga in 10:01 with a running elbow; © Yamato beat Kagetora in 9:43 with Galleria; (B) Eita beat Santa Maria in 7:46 with Imperial Uno and (D) Kai beat Dragon Kid in 10:27 with the Gannosuke clutch.
  684.  
  685. ALL JAPAN: The big show of the week was 6/2 in Kobe before a sellout of 1,028 fans featuring Suwama & Shuji Ishikawa retaining the world tag titles over Joe Doering & Dylan James in 22:24 when Suwama pinned James after a bridging Saito suplex in what I was told was a ***3/4 match. Hard hitting big guys match, not fast paced. They also had a special dream match, with Jun Akiyama teaming with Big Japan’s Daisuke Sekimoto over MMA pioneer Masakatsu Funaki & Jiro Kuroshio (who is a super worker that most people don’t know about) with Kuroshio being the guy to drop the fall in 18:26 when Sekimoto hit him with a lariat. I was told the match was ***½ and a lot of fun. Funaki, who just turned 50, still had the great physique and moves well and threw great kicks. Kuroshio was the star of the match. Sekimoto’s German suplex where Kuroshio flipped out of it is a normal spot but due to timing it was so much more impressive.
  686.  
  687. PRO WRESTLING NOAH: Standings on 6/6 for the Junior Tag Team tournament is: 1. Yoshinari Ogawa & Kotaro Suzuki 7; 2. Hitoshi Kumano & Chris Ridgeway and Daisuke Harada & Tadasuke 6; 4. Minoru Tanaka & Hi69 4; 5. Hayata & Yo-Hey 3; 6. Hajime Ohara & Nosawa and Junta Miyawaki & Seiya Morohashi
  688.  
  689. . On the 5/30 show in Hiroshima before 388 fans, Ohara & Nosawa beat Hayata & Yo-Hey in 10:52 when Ohara pinned Yo-Hey with a small package; Harada & Tadasuke beat Miyawaki & Morohashi in 14:10 when Tadasuke pinned Miyawaki; and Ogawa & Suzuki beat Kumano & Ridgeway in 16:47 when Suzuki pinned Kumano with a Tiger driver
  690.  
  691. 5/31 in Yonago before 440 fans, Kumano & Ridgeway beat Miyawaki & Morohashi in 12:14 when Ridgeway beat Morohashi with an ankle lock; Ogawa & Suzuki beat Ohara & Nosawa in 11:20 when Ogawa beat Nosawa with the figure four leglock and Tanaka & Hi69 beat Harada & Tadasuke in 17:18 when Hi69 pinned Tadasuke in 17:18 with a splash
  692.  
  693. 6/1 in Osaka before 241 fans saw Ogawa & Suzuki over Miyawaki & Morohashi in 15:33 when Suzuki beat Miyawaki with Blue Destiny; Kumano & Ridgeway beat Tanaka & Hi69 when Ridgeway beat Hi69 with an ankle lock in 10:21 and Harada & Tadasuke beat Hayata & Yo-Hey in 18:19 when Tadasuke beat Hayata
  694.  
  695. 6/2 in Hamamatsu before 355 fans saw Hayata & Yo-Hey over Miyawaki & Morohashi in 8:43 when Hayata pinned Morohashi after a moonsault; Tanaka & Hi69 beat Ohara & Nosawa in 9:51 when Tana pinned Nosawa with a lateral banana split; and Harada & Tadasuke beat Kumano & Ridgeway in 12:59 when Harada cradled Kumano.
  696.  
  697. NEW JAPAN: A correction from last week. The numbers listed for New Japan Pro Wrestling as far as age and stuff was of live arena spectators and not television viewers. That’s notable because a huge percentage of people who attend live shows just started in the last two years, but it also shows they haven’t had a period of people attending regularly for years on end
  698.  
  699. The 6/29 show in Melbourne, Australia will be broadcast live as a worldwide iPPV on Fite TV rather than on New Japan World. “Expanding into a new market brings with it new challenges; while we did not have the infrastructure in place in Australia for the quality of stream World viewers deserve, FITE have stepped up and offered their world class production and distribution expertise for the event,”NJPW’s General Manager of the International Department Michael Craven told Foxsports.com.au. “We realize how important it is that NJPW World has complete coverage of every single major event we put out, but also want to accommodate those fans that want to watch live, and that's what drove us to go with FITE for the timed exclusivity deal.”
  700.  
  701. For the 7/6 show in Dallas, names announced, and presumably with the exception of Jushin Liger these are all names in the G-1, are Hiroshi Tanahashi, Lance Archer, Juice Robinson, Kazuchika Okada, Kota Ibushi, Tetsuya Naito, Evil, Sanada, Jay White, Jeff Cobb, Tomohiro Ishii, and Liger. The full card and all of G-1 should be announced next week right after Dominion. The big question regarding G-1 at this point regards whether or not Jon Moxley will be there, and if he is, will he be a money draw on his own and boost the weak ticket sales for the show
  702.  
  703. While it’s a year away, this has been talked about for a long time, but the decision regarding the 2020 G-1 is a big one. Almost all the major arenas in Japan will be booked for the 2020 Olympics. So either they will have to move G-1 up earlier, or later, or do a G-1 outside of Japan. If their U.S. business was stronger I could see a U.S., U.K. and Australia G-1, maybe finishing in Japan after the Olympics, but this Dallas show has not been a success thus far even with the G-1 label. The loss of Kenny Omega has really hurt outside of Japan.
  704.  
  705. OTHER JAPAN NOTES: DDT ran on 6/2 in Ehime with Tetsuya Endo retaining the KO-D title beating Yukio Sakaguchi (Seiji Sakaguchi’s son) in 14:31 with a shooting star press. Daisuke Sasaki & Soma Takao retained the KO-D tag titles beating Kazuki Hirata & Maku Donaruto in 18:33 when Takao pinned Hirata with a reverse Gori especial bomb. The show drew a sellout of 711 fans and the big special attraction match was a battle of eras with Tatsumi Fujinami teaming with modern top star Konosuke Takeshita & Akito & Shunma Katsumata to beat 80s star Yoshiaki Yatsu (making a comeback at 62 years old) & Sanshiro Takagi & Yukio Naya & Rising Hayato when Fujinami used the dragon sleeper to beat Naya
  706.  
  707. Wrestle-One ran Korakuen Hall on 6/2 before 890 fans. They had the first round in their eight-man single elimination Grand Prix tournament. Kuma Arashi beat Pagano Iluminar; Daiki Inaba beat Masayuki Kono, Shotaro Ashino (another super underrated guy) beat Seiji Tachibana and Koji Doi beat Manabu Soya, setting up Inaba vs. Arashi and Doi vs. Ashino as the semifinals on 7/2 at Korakuen Hall. The Strong Hearts from AEW, Cima & Lindaman & T-Hawk teamed with fellow Strong Heart members Seiki Yoshioka & Issei Onizuka but lost to the Wrestle-One fivesome of Kaz Hayashi & Shuji Kondo & Andy Wu & Alejandro & Jun Tonsho.
  708.  
  709. HERE AND THERE: The New York Post ran a major story on Ashley Massaro (they actually have run a number of stories on her since her death) noting that on 5/15 she was texting Rochelle Loewen, who worked with her in WWE before later playing several seasons in the Lingerie Football League. She noted that she had an autograph gig in Alberta, and Loewen lives in Edmonton so brought up getting together. Loewen brought up that she had a trip to Las Vegas at the Hard Rock the next day and asked Massaro if she’d come along. The Hard Rock is notable because Paul Heyman handles a lot of publicity for the hotel and Massaro has been one of the models he’s used in his ad campaigns, like former WWE star Danielle Moinet (Summer Rae) who he’s also used. Massaro noted that she was going to Las Vegas a week later (Massaro was booked for Starrcast) and Loewen told her to come to Vegas a week earlier and to stay with her and some of her girlfriends at the Hard Rock. Massaro texted her, “That sounds great” at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, and Massaro hung herself that night. Loewen had texted her when she arrived in Las Vegas the next morning asking if she was coming and never heard back. Then she started getting texts about Massaro’s death. The Post reported that many had speculated on, that Massaro was found hanging by her 18-year-old daughter Alexis. Loewen said Massaro had talked with her about depression but she never thought Massaro would kill herself. The story also quoted Cara Pipia, said to be Massaro’s best friend since childhood, who said that when they were 15 or 16 they had lost one of their best friends to suicide and then over the past year they had lost another friend to it and Massaro supported suicide awareness hotlines. Massaro went so far as to talk about suicide prevention and suicide awareness on her weekly radio show. The Go Fund Me campaign for Alexis’ for her education has topped $45,000 over the weekend. The Post story also brought up Massaro’s claim of being drugged and raped in Kuwait in 2007 while on a tour with Jimmy Hart, Maria Kanellis and Ron Simmons on a U.S. military base and claimed the company told her not say anything on the subject. WWE denied the story saying that meeting she talked about was made up and her claim that Hart and Simmons knew about this when they were there was not the case and both Hart and Simmons had no clue. Kanellis, who was one of her best friends, only used the term that she couldn’t remember the story. She was obviously in a very tough position because she either had to call one of her best friends a liar right after her death. That would be tough given the sympathy she and so many in the business had for Massaro’s daughter and what she was going through. But on the flip side, it’s a very damaging story to the industry that would make her life hell if she claimed she knew and get her into a fight that doesn’t benefit her and will hurt the company. Massaro in her affidavit said she had told Kanellis and that the others on the tour also knew and also listed some WWE officials including McMahon who she claimed knew. All denied it but Kanellis, and Kanellis avoided the subject except to some close friends and they were skeptical of Massaro’s story. Pipia claimed that she 100 percent believed the story. Pipia noted that Massaro constantly struggled with performance anxiety. She said she was surprised Massaro never passed out on stage due to nerves. Loewen said that Massaro suffered short-term memory loss from concussions. “She had swollen knuckles from being broken. Sometimes, I would ask her questions, and she would use wrestling terms and say, `Girl, I’ve taken too many bumps. I can’t even remember what I had for breakfast. She was suffering from short-term memory loss from concussions.” One promoter at a convention said that Reggie Jackson wanted to meet her. The same promoter said that Massaro asked him to give her phone number to Johnny Damon of the Yankees which he did, saying that she thought if Torrie Wilson could date A-Rod, she could date a Yankee star as well. The story said that last year she was dating Max Iantomo, a guitarist in a Brooklyn band, but the relationship has ended. Pipia said that her radio DJ job at 94.3 the Shark in Long Island was a dream job for her. On the air, she mostly talked about motherhood and her daughter. Pipia said she couldn’t understand why Massaro was training to go back to wrestling after all her injuries. “I don’t know. That’s one thing I can’t answer.
  710.  
  711. . Since this involves one of the most famous angles in pro wrestling history, David Letterman gave some interesting history regarding the 1982 episode of his show with Jerry Lawler and Andy Kaufman as guests. The two were doing an angle in Memphis that got national attention since Kaufman was a major television star who was mocking Lawler and Memphis and Lawler gave him a jumping piledriver. Kaufman pretended he was badly injured, was hospitalized and went everywhere in a neck brace to put the angle over. Then they ended up on Letterman to supposedly make amends, but it ended with Lawler slapping Kaufman, Kaufman throwing water or coffee on Lawler and Kaufman doing an expletive laden promo on live television (it was bleeped out). Many lists of the biggest moments in U.S. television history have listed that episode of the Letterman show. Letterman was on “My Next Guest” and asked about the episode and said that Kaufman did let him know before they started filming what was going to happen. Letterman did open his show the next night and basically said it was something Lawler and Kaufman had planned, but even after saying that a lot of people believed it was real
  712.  
  713. Pro Wrestling Revolution owner Gabriel Ramirez announced that starting with its 6/22 show, they will hire two EMTs for every event. Ramirez, who said he was close with Silver King and went to Mexico recently, said even with the added cost that he realized that if something happened to a wrestler, or a fan, at his show, he could never say he did at least what he should have been able to do to avoid a tragedy. He noted that in commission states, this is mandated, but so many states are no longer regulated and Silver King’s death came in a place where the show wasn’t regulated and it took so long before he got medical attention. He’s hoping that in California in particular, because it’s not regulated, that promoters all do the same, comparing it to auto insurance, with the idea that nobody likes having to pay for insurance, but if you want to drive a car, you really have to have it
  714.  
  715. Ramirez also noted that he will have an October show in San Jose with a unique El Hijo del Santo vs. Ultimo Dragon match. I don’t think Santo has worked in the U.S. since a 2017 show at Cicero Stadium
  716.  
  717. Joey Ryan announced at his Bar Wrestling show on 5/30 that he was staying independent. It’s kind of a funny story. We noted that he was approached by WWE but said that if he was 29 he’d probably take the offer, but at 39 it didn’t make sense. People just assumed that if WWE was interested he would go even though he outright said he wouldn’t, which led to the idea he has to be going, even though he never was. He played with it and played off it with a T-shirt teasing he was leaving. The story we heard was that the T-shirt was meant as a spoof on people who thought he was going to WWE, but because of the T-shirt, people expected he was going so he played it up. Everyone assumed he was headed to AEW, given he’s all over BTE and was a major part of the build for All In, and he never did that singles match with Adam Page. On BTE they’ve been playing up the idea that he’s looking for that blonde girl (Candice LeRae) and he made a comment that by staying on the indie scene , maybe that’s the blonde girl he’s been looking for. In the end, he gave his speech and said he might always be a big fish in a small pond, but it’s his pond
  718.  
  719. Personalty Media did its annual survey in Mexico with 20,000 demographically selected people and 1,300 athletes to determine a combination of the most well known and most highly regarded pro athletes in the country. This sounds like something valuable to advertisers in selecting a pitchman. El Hijo del Santo was known by 98 percent of the males in the country (as crazy as this sounds, even somebody like The Rock and Hulk Hogan in the U.S. usually score around 90 in these type of surveys and Ronda Rousey and Serena Williams were 60 to 70, Oscar De La Hoya under 40 at the time of the Mayweather fight. He was rated overall 8th in terms of popularity and being highly regarded in the country by men, but he was not in the top ten among women
  720.  
  721. What was billed locally as the last event ever at the Nashville Fairgrounds Sports Arena (although ROH does have an 8/25 date in that building which is actually the last show, and it’s weird because of all the pub in the market and local media stores about it being the farewell event when there’s one to go before they tear the building down) took place on 6/1 for a Tommy Dreamer promoted House of Hardcore show. The show drew 450 fans with the final match of the show being the Rock & Roll Express over SCU of Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian in just 8:38. The crowd took to both teams as babyfaces. SCU put over Nashville, the Fairgrounds and Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson before and after the match. Morton spoke last about the Fairgrounds and growing up in Nashville in a nice closing moment. It was told this was not a great show and the high ticket prices hurt the crowd, but there were some nice nostalgic moments and Eddie Edwards vs. Moose was good. The main event saw both teams go through their usual moves aside from no double dropkick or form of a moonsault by Daniels. Tommy Dreamer lost to Bram in a street fight when Moose interfered and James Storm made the save. Michael St. John, who at one time announced Memphis wrestling, came out for the last match. John Morrison, Taya Valkyrie and Willie Mack all worked in Dallas the night before but there were travel issues and they couldn’t make the show. Dreamer came out before the first match and announced that they wouldn’t be there and offered refunds. They pushed around the idea that in the last match ever at the Fairgrounds, the Rock & Roll Express, a tag team created in the local promotion with Ricky Morton having grown up in Nashville going to matches at the Fairgrounds closing it up. Although in reality, that isn’t the case and it’s whatever ROH puts on top that closes it up
  722.  
  723. The Poliforum de la Feria in Torreon, where Silver King wrestled for decades, has put up a memorial plaque for him
  724.  
  725. Lyle Williams, a photographer who has been part of the wrestling scene in the Northeast for decades, passed away this past week. He was a regular at shows shooting at ringside until his knees made it impossible for him to continue doing so. Kassius Ohno/Chris Hero wrote, “Lyle Williams was such an awesome guy! Hard working, loved wrestling and he was an excellent photographer. I always enjoyed seeing him and catching up. Lyle–you were loved by many and you’ll be missed sorely. Rest in Peace, my friend.” Sonjay Dutt wrote, “Sad to hear the passing of Lyle Williams. He was such a huge part of CZW’s success. He was a very kind man.” Kevin Owens wrote, “Wrestling lost a huge fan today. I hadn’t seen Lyle Williams in many years but I still remember his kindness and enthusiasm for this industry. He took a lot of pride in capturing moments from every show he could make it to and sharing them with everyone.
  726.  
  727. PWG officially announced its next show for 7/26 at the Globe Theater. After that will be Battle of Los Angeles, which will take place on 9/19, 9/20 and 9/22. That’s a Thursday, Friday and Sunday of a non-holiday weekend. That Thursday may be tough since PWG is a heavily traveling show. The reason there is no Saturday night show is that the Globe Theater had a booking and that was the only weekend they could get the level of talent needed. I would suspect a lot of area indies will try and put on big shows on 9/21 using the talent that is already in town
  728.  
  729. Vampiro, who was at Starrcast (he lives in Las Vegas), has said that he’s looking to get back into shape and taking indie bookings later this summer. Didn’t he just say he had Alzheimer’s a few weeks ago
  730.  
  731. Zachary Madsen, the MMA fighter who attacked Bret Hart at the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony has his next hearing moved to 7/9
  732.  
  733. MCW drew more than 800 fans on 6/1 in Joppa, MD for a show to benefit longtime promotional star The Bruiser (Reggie Carrington), who is battling leukemia. Bruiser has a very serious form of leukemia, and will be hospitalized soon for both chemotherapy and in July will be undergoing a bone marrow transplant. Doctors estimate it will be eight to ten months before he recovers. Among those who appeared at the show were Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa as well as Shawn Spears, while Lio Rush, who started his career with MCW did a meet and greet
  734.  
  735. Jessie Godderz has gotten a role as Summertime Santa on the CBS show The Talk. He started on 5/31 and will appear on the next four Fridays. The show airs at 2 pm. daily. He played Summertime Santa on the show for at least one episode last year
  736.  
  737. AAW ran 5/31 in Austin, TX before 300 fans. Heritage champion Jake Something (Cousin Jake in Impact) retained over Jimmy Jacobs after distraction by Mance Warner. Warner then pinned Eddie Kingston. Jacobs came after Warner but in going for Warner, ended up spearing Kingston. Davey Vega & Mat Fitchett won over Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz. Juventud Guerrera & A.R. Fox beat Ricky Stars & Aaron Solow. Guerrera worked almost the entire match under a mask. Sami Callihan kept the AAW title beating Darby Allin in the main event. They had a crazy post-match spot where Allin put Callihan on several chairs. Allin then put a garbage can on him and did a dive, a coffin drop covered in the garbage can. Callihan moved and Allin landed covered in the garbage can on a ten of chairs. Callihan put on the stretch muffler and the referee checked on Allin inside the trash can and called for the bell
  738.  
  739. John Morrison will be working for BCW in Melbourne, Australia on 6/28 and Konosuke Takeshita will be in Adelaide, Australia for Sub Zero Wrestling on 7/19. Sub Zero is the new name of a promotion called Iron First Pro, which drew 30 fans for a second show and his biggest advertised star, Shun Skywalker, didn’t appear and it was never announced to the crowd before, during or after the show. So he’s trying again and once again bringing a Japanese independent star to Australia for the first time
  740.  
  741. Katie Arquette, the nice of David Arquette, has started wrestling and I’ve heard she got great reviews for a match against Zoey Skye (who works as Dust in Shimmer and Stardom) on 6/1 in Monroe, MI
  742.  
  743. Ricky Lee Jones, who wrestled as Black Bart in the 80s and 90s, was on the Pancakes and Powerslams podcast and talked about the death of Kerry Von Erich, saying: "I wrestled Kerry, and I was around him a lot. But, when he left to go to [WWE] as Texas Tornado, or whatever they did up there to try to bury him, that's what they were trying to do is bury [him], but he made something out of it, and I give him all the credit for that. But when he left, he had a cocaine problem. And he got zapped. When he [came] back home, he bought more cocaine, and get zapped again. By I mean zapped, I mean the cops got him. And he was facing time.” "I wrestled Kerry that Friday night at the Sportatorium in a cage match, loser leaves. I beat him to the door, one of the first times ever, and double juiced, the whole nine yards. And he went out with his wife, his ex-wife, had two little beautiful daughters, and asked if him and her could get back together. She said, there's no way, no shape, form, or [fashion]. He wrote on a napkin--on the table--that tomorrow, I walk with my brothers. He went that next morning out to Fritz's ranch, and went out and took a jeep and put a .44 right through his chest. [Blew] his heart out the backside. It went in the size of a .44, and came out the size of a basketball. Fritz knew he was out there, and he waited 8, 9 hours before he even went out there.
  744.  
  745. The IWRG on 6/16 will be honoring Vampiro for 35 years in wrestling. What’s notable is that’s the same date as Verano de Escandalo, which is AAA’s next big show, which in theory would mean he’s not there nor announcing on it.
  746.  
  747. EUROPE: WAW, the Knight Family promotion, reportedly drew 4,000 fans, which would be one of the largest crowds drawn by a U.K. promotion since 1981. The show, called Fightmare 3, was held at the Norwich City soccer stadium, and was built around the pro wrestling debut of Grant Holt. Holt, who is something of a local sports hero, was a former Norwich City soccer star, who the Knight family has been training. Holt, who helped promote the show, teamed with Rene Dupree & Billy Gunn to beat the team called Koss Industries on a show that included Nick Aldis and also featured an appearance of Mick Foley and Bob Holly wrestled on the show. Paige only did a video appearance on the screen. The Knight family were pushed as the stars of the show and we were told the actual wrestling style was very different from the usual matches you’d see on major U.K. shows, saying it was like being in a time capsule and watching wrestling from a different era. Holt, 38, played professionally in soccer from 1999 to 2018, and scored 68 (of his career 207) goals in 154 games for Norwich City between 2013 and 2016, making the sixth highest scorer in team history and team MVP three times. Holt said he would be back wrestling next year in Norwich for Fightmare 4
  748.  
  749. wXw ran on 6/1 in Oberhausen, Germany, before 800 fans. Walter pinned Wheeler Yuta in the opener with a lariat. They shook hands after, but then Walter turned on Yuta and beat him up again. Brian Cage pinned Lucky Kid after the drill claw. Absolute Andy helped Cage win. Avalanche & Leon van Gastern & Julian Pace beat Jurn Simmons & Alexander James & Emil Sitoci. Ken Shamrock beat Veit Muller with an ankle lock. Marius Al-Ani pinned Ilja Dragunov. They announced Cima, T-Hawk and Lindaman from OWE for the 8/3 show in Oberhausen. Bob Holly, at 56 years old, teamed with Aussie Open to beat Absolute Andy & Jay Skillet & Francis Kaspin when Holly pinned Skillet after the Alabama slam. Walter and Dragunov together beat down Aussie Open and Walter talked about how he and Dragunov are real superstars and not wXw guys anymore. Basically both turned heel in their home promotion with the idea they’ve turned on the audience and signed with WWE and think they’re better than the guys in wXw. Amale Winchester won the women’s title in a four-way over Toni Storm, Killer Kelly and Valkyrie. I guess this was the way to get the title off Storm without being able to beat her since Winchester pinned Kelly to take the title. Joey Janela first beat champion Bobby Gunns via DQ when Gunns hit him with a belt shot. This led to challenges and they did a second match, this time under street fight rules, where Gunns won after throwing Janela off the top rope into a table, and then submitting Janela
  750.  
  751. Rise (Ivan Kiev & Pete Bouncer) beat Aussie Open, the tag champs, in a non-title match on 5/31 in Munster, Germany
  752.  
  753. Cima. Lindaman & T-Hawk are coming for an 8/3 show
  754.  
  755. Yuta finishes in Germany on 6/16
  756.  
  757. wXw is coming to Toronto over SummerSlam weekend, with a joint show with Smash and Progress on 8/8 and a wXw Toronto show on 8/9
  758.  
  759. SPLX gear, which sponsors Zack Sabre Jr., Meiko Satomura, Angelico, Millie McKenzie, Dave Mastiff and Jeff Cobb, has inked one year sponsorship deals for a Young Athletes Program with Francis Kaspin from Germany, Mika Iwata from Japan, Gabriel Kidd from the U.K. and Kobe Durst from Canada
  760.  
  761. Pac beat Michael Oka in the main event of the Revolution Pro show on6/2 at the cockpit in London. Aussie Open kept the British tag titles losing via DQ to Josh Bodom & Sha Samuels.
  762.  
  763. MLW: Court Bauer said that Davey Boy Smith Jr., is with MLW for the next two plus years. His deal is such that Bauer has to personally sign off of him doing any television for anyone, with New Japan as the lone contractual exception. Bauer said that if Smith wanted to do MMA, the situation would be similar to that of Tom Lawlor, and they would 100 percent support him on it
  764.  
  765. They ended up in Dallas faster than expected after making the deal with Ross & Marshall Von Erich. Bauer had said he was targeting early 2020 to go into Dallas, but announced a 9/7 show at the NYTEX Sports Centre featuring a War Chamber match. MLW sold the name War Games, which they had trademarked for use, to WWE. War Chamber is said to be a modernized version of War Games with a new twist. Tickets go on sale on 6/10. It’s notable they put the tickets on sale before the week (7/2 to 7/7) where WWE runs Raw, New Japan runs day one of G-1 and Impact runs a PPV in the market all over six days. The show will be a TV taping and they are pushing a $10 G.A. price. The show is actually in North Richland Hills, TX, about 27 miles from the American Airlines Center in Dallas
  766.  
  767. The next show will be 7/6 in Chicago at Cicero Stadium, and they announced the debut of Dr. Wagner Jr. and his son, El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr., who will face L.A. Park and El Hijo de L.A. Park
  768.  
  769. They ran a TV taping on 6/1 in Waukesha, WI, before 742 fans, and had a strong walk-up with lots of local media done by Smith, Jim Cornette and Austin Aries. Josef Samael, Matt Farmer, Low Ki, George Carroll Jr. and Cornette all worked as agents. They ran a live one hour show on Bein Sports with three matches. .Gringo Loco pinned Myron Reed with a tombstone piledriver. Reed beat down Loco after the match. They announced that Salina de la Renta would once again be Executive Producer of their 6/15 television show. They are really trying to push her as a major public face of the company. She very clearly has a star quality and considering the exposure level of MLW, her placing in the non-wrestler category of the awards speaks volumes. Alexander Hammerstone beat Brian Pillman Jr., in the finals of the tournament to become the first National open weight champion. Hammerstone used The Nightmare, his finisher, after Pillman missed a top rope splash. Next was an angle where The Contra Unit kidnapped Tom Lawlor and took over the production truck. Teddy Hart beat Jimmy Havoc to keep the middleweight title. During this match Lawlor escaped from his captors and was trying to get in the building. Havoc got a lot of heat for putting Hart in a sharpshooter. Hart juiced after a chair shot to the head that actually made great sound by hitting the post. After all kinds of big moves, Hart used a hammerlock DDT on a chair to win. The Dynasty attacked Hart but Pillman and Davey Boy Smith Jr. made the save. That ended the live special. They pushed Smith vs. MJF for next week’s TV. In other matches taped, Jordan Oliver pinned Isaias Velazquez. Oliver is 19 and they want to push him. Low Ki beat a local wrestler with a high kick knockout. Teddy Hart was to face Richard Holliday. MJF was on commentary . Hart and MJF went at it. Holliday attacked Hart from behind and stole Hart’s tag title belt. Air Wolf pinned Ace Austin with a splash. Austin is working as a heel and they are talking of sending Wolf to Mexico to get experience with that style and the ability to work a lot of dates. He’s 19 and they see stuff in him. Tom Lawlor & Ross & Marshall Von Erich beat The Contra Unit of Simon Gotch & Samael & Jacob Fatu. The Von Erichs got the biggest pop of anyone on the show, which I guess shows how powerful that Von Erichs doc was to the audience that attended this show. They did a big brawl. Lawlor broke a 2x4 over Fatu’s head. One of the Von Erichs beat Gotch with a back drop driver and iron claw. They kept going after the match with agents and referees being knocked everywhere. They brawled for several minutes. Smith beat MJF. Hammerstone and Holiday ran in and Pillman and Hart made the save and Smith won via pin. This looks to be a long-term program. Flamita beat Rey Horus with a 450 in a great match. Crowd was into this one. Fatu beat Ariel Dominguez and Tom Black. Holliday beat Kotto Brazil. Lawlor vs. Samael went to a no contest. Brawling with weapons and they ended up brawling to the back. Low Ki beat Ricky Martinez via ref stoppage. Low Ki is now a babyface to do a program against the people managed by de la Renta, his former manager. Austin Aries beat Adam Brooks via brainbuster. Aries got a big reaction since he’s from the area and worked as a babyface. Mance Warner, who they are going to heavily push, beat Sami Callihan in a falls count anywhere match. Callihan spit water all over Jim Cornette. They are playing off a legit beef when Cornette was heavily critical of Callihan over the Eddie Edwards injury in TNA. So they are now working an angle off of it. Cornette is also Warner’s mentor behind the scenes. They went through tables, brawled in the stands, used staple guns and Warner bled.
  770.  
  771. ROH: There was a lot of social media talk over something that happened at the 6/2 house show in Portland, OR. A fan, Josh Ketch, who travels all over the country for shows and is a PWG regular on Twitter wrote this: “I avoided saying anything until the show was over to avoid any further issue, but this honestly soured me to ROH in a big way. Honest to God story that can be backed up by about a half dozen people. Show starts. Dark match is some local girls fighting Allure. Interference at the end. Velvet and I exchange words along with the rest of the Allure. Nothing crazy. Mandy Leon spits on me from the side. Not preferable but I honestly don’t care. Segment ends.” “Second match occurs and it’s a local vs. a local. Allure interferes at the end. I’m mouthing off to all the girls for no reason other than they’re the bad guys. `Boo, you’re trash, get lost, no one wants you here, etc.’ At some point Velvet Sky seemingly loses her cool and is challenging me to come in the ring. Tell me to suck it, calls me a pussy, etc. No problem. Get your heat. She calls me a virgin. I remind her she has sex with that fat turd Bully Ray. Call them the tramps stamp trio. End segment. She goes to the back. Fast forward about five minutes and I get a tap on the shoulder. `Hey, we’re with security and need to talk to you about an incident that occurred.’ Immediately I think of the Allure stuff but think that maybe Mandy got in trouble for spitting/face palming me. Then I kinda think this is a joke and look around. No signs of a joke from my buddies or crew. I’m super perplexed and think there’s maybe miscommunication because nothing so far was a big deal at all. I oblige and follow security. Security takes me legit backstage. I’m still perplexed by the entire thing and was honestly very hesitant to follow them because they kept saying, `We need to talk to you about an incident.’ No details behind just leading me into the back. What’s happening? What’s waiting for me? Get to the back and security is just asking me to be patient
  772.  
  773. . Suddenly Bully Ray comes from a back room. Full on gear since he was in the opening segment of the show and he looks pissed. Much bigger than me so Im kinda taking a step back on this here. Security backs off and it’s just us two. He said, `Hey, I heard there was an incident tonight with you and some of the girls. `Uh, yeah? I guess.’ I’m so lost. `So here’s the deal. You’re done talking down to them. You need to treat them with respect. Don’t be saying anything you wouldn’t say to your mom. You got it?’ I’m not trying to act tough. I was legit being intimidated with purpose and I wasn’t about to get kicked out during match three so I just bit the bullet and said, `Sure. Yes Sir. Yeah, I understand, yup.’ He said, `End of convo, go be a fan.’ Security led me back to my seat.” ROH sent us a response from General Manager Greg Gilleland which said, “Ring of Honor prides itself for providing a safe environment for our fans to enjoy our live events, and experience world-class athletes perform at the highest level. We take these allegations seriously and will conduct a thorough investigation to make sure appropriate actions are taken to ensure all our live events can be safely enjoyed by everyone.
  774.  
  775. Bully Ray responded by writing, “And now the truth. I could not have been any nicer to said `fan.’ Yes, nice, hard to believe. I never threatened, intimidated or berated said `fan.’ I handled the situation the exact opposite way most would assume, with decorum. Convo lasted less than 30 seconds. I even gave the fan a friendly pat on the back and told him to enjoy the show and `go be a fan.’ His response. `Thanks Bully.’ Fan version of story is embellished to make fan look like a victim. Many other fans who attended the shows in Kent and Portland have already confirmed on social media how said fan `crossed the line’ w/multiple talents..both men and women. In retrospect, the `fan’ should have been ejected. Unfortunately it wasn’t until after `fan’ was asked to not be `so rude’ did we find out the severity of the vile comments and lewd sexual gestures made toward the women (editor’s note: There was another fan at ringside who did describe a lewd sexual gesture the fan made toward the women although it’s nothing people wouldn’t have seen at a show from the past, but that doesn’t justify it and fans are prone to do things like that when heels go after fans individually in an attempt to get heat). I think we can all agree that in 2019, this type of behavior towards women is unacceptable and goes far beyond the scope of..I paid for my seat, I should be able to do or say whatever I want.’ I live by the motto...`Respectful fan always get what they want...Rude fans always get what they deserve.’ At the end of the day I’m guilty of defending three women that needed a bit of defending. Not by being a bully...by being a man.” Ketch later claimed that the person who took him backstage as security was Hunter Johnston (Delirious), the booker. Velvet Sky then said no such thing happened. Ketch said he was told it was Johnston by other fans and that he didn’t know what Johnston looks like without his mask. We were told Johnston was in the production room all night and he didn’t even know about the incident until after it became a social media thing, nor did others in management. Justin Knipper, our correspondent who was at the show said that Leon and Sky got into it with a fan (Ketch) in the front row. It looked like Leon threw a pulled punch or a slap. The crowd reacted to that and Leon didn’t look happy. Sky started arguing with the fan and pointing beyond the bleachers and challenged him to get in the ring. Knipper said he never saw Leon spit at Ketch but said that other fans who attended corroborated that she did. Another person, who has a long history in the business in the Pacific Northwest and was at the show, told us, “I noticed this fan right off
  776.  
  777. He sat front row, just a few chairs from the aisle the wrestlers walked down on the way to the ring from the stage. He was young, probably mid to late 20s, was with other young men of similar demographics. He was standing up often, especially vocal when the performers would walk by, and yes, especially the women performers. He appeared to be having fun, laughing, and as fans of this genre do, trying to be part of the event, not just watching the event
  778.  
  779. I don’t know the words said, but he clearly got under the skin of Velvet Sky, while she was still in the ring after the beat down of two women wrestlers. Sky remained alone in the ring and signaled repeatedly for this guy to come in the ring and take her on. He was standing and laughing and yelling back. He clearly was enjoying himself. Then Sky left the ring and the two had more words. She was obviously upset, leaning into the fan area and yelling. Not the `I’m taking on a fan to get heat type yelling, but the `you pissed me off jerk type yelling.” I did notice one of the females come from the back and get on the stage area and move toward the incident, in case there was physical contact. Sky finally walked up the stairs to the stage, but turned and had further words with the fan before walking off. I think it was Mandy Leon who came back to help Sky. The fan was laughing and talking to his buddies
  780.  
  781. It’s funny that Bully was mad at the fan for insulting women, when he had done the same thing opening the show, and Taven did the same thing to close to show. I thought they were just getting cheap heat.
  782.  
  783. Leon and Love both claimed Ketch was verbally and sexually harassing talent at a level unacceptable
  784.  
  785. On 6/6, the company sent out another statement from General Manager Greg Gilleland saying: “Ring of Honor prides itself on providing a fun and entertaining environment for both our fans and wrestlers to experience professional wrestling at the highest level. Fans are encouraged to cheer, boo, and chant during the show while wrestlers interact both positively and in rivalry, as that is the engagement that makes the ROH experience what it is. Wrestlers interacting with fans is core to the experience, however, under no circumstance should any of our athletes or staff confront or engage fans outside the bounds of this entertainment experience or outside the bounds of the area that hosts this experience. We hold all of our athletes and staff members to the highest standards and, because of the actions over the weekend, we fell short of meeting those standards. We are still in the process of investigating this matter as well as reviewing and assessing internal security protocols to ensure a safe environment for all fans and athletes. All of our athletes and staff will also be trained and reminded of our policies and protocols for fan interaction and appropriate behavior in all situations. To our amazing and wonderful fans, we apologize for the matter that transpired this past weekend as it does not reflect who we are as an organization or how we hope to engage with our fans. ROH fans are known worldwide for their passion, admiration, and appreciation for our athletes, and we share this same admiration and appreciation for our fans. We encourage all of our fans to continue attending our events and supporting our amazing athletes in a respectful manner as they have done in the past, and we promise to continue delivering what the fans deserve - the best wrestling and the best fan experience on the planet.
  786.  
  787. Another response we got was from Paul Sosnowski who said that what happened here reminded him of something 23 years ago at an ECW show in Staten Island. It was a very different era, but he described his experience as “Bubba comes out with the Dudleys, as a babyface. I did not like him and shouted something during their entrance. He turned around and spit on my face. I spit back. About ten minutes later, Atlas Security brings me backstage where I am threatened and intimidated by Bubba, Big Dick Dudley and Sign Guy Dudley. Bubba yells at me and said he would never have spit on me because he was a babyface
  788.  
  789. . After several minutes of berating and arguing, they let me go back to the show.
  790.  
  791. Mark & Jay Briscoe vs. Nick Aldis & Colt Cabana, Dalton Castle vs. Dragon Lee has been added to the 6/28 PPV in Baltimore. Other stuff not announced that will also be n the show is Lethal vs. Kenny King in the third match of their best-of-three series, Flip Gordon vs. Rush and Silas Young vs. Jonathan Gresham. This goes along with the Matt Taven vs. Jeff Cobb main event for the ROH title and Shane Taylor vs. Bandido match for the TV title
  792.  
  793. Rush & Dragon Lee vs. Briscoes will be at the 6/29 TV tapings in Philadelphia
  794.  
  795. Nick Aldis will be defending the NWA title on the 8/9 show in Toronto and there will also be an authentic trios match from CMLL
  796.  
  797. The Top Prospect tournament starts on 7/21 in Lowell, MA
  798.  
  799. P.J. Black is working with a partially torn biceps
  800.  
  801. Velvet Sky in an interview Interactive Wrestling Media said that she will not be wrestling on this run, just appearing as a performer on television. “No. Definitely not,” she said about wrestling. “My decision to stay retired still stands. Like I’ve said, I’ve put my body through a lot in my 17 years of wrestling. There comes a point in every professional wrestlers’ career and their life where you look at the future more and you’re like, `Okay, enough is enough!.’ I don’t want to be decrepit and crippled for the rest of my life. I want to be healthy and keep my body healthy. Still, to this day, I’m still rehabilitating my body, my spine. I still feel residual effects from my time in the ring. My focus is to be the mouthpiece, the manager, of The Allure and directing traffic as Mandy and Angelina are the asskickers of the group.
  802.  
  803. They ran two shows this weekend in the Pacific Northwest. The first night was a TV taping in Kent, WA, which drew 1,000 fans. Flip Gordon won a four-way over Dalton Castle, P.J. Black and Rush. Castle attacked Gordon after the match. Castle also called Rush a beefy moron and they had a staredown. This led to the announcement of Castle vs. Dragon Lee for the PPV. Rush and Gordon ended up also having a staredown and going at it, teasing they would be wrestling on the PPV but that is not confirmed. The idea was that the first match would air on Honor Club so they’d get those angles public. The rest of the show was taped for ROH television. But evidently they forgot to turn off the Honor Club feed, and the rest of the show aired until the Cobb vs. Haskins match. So people saw the show, heard the commentary and also heard commentary and talking between matches that the announcers didn’t know they were live to the public on. It must not have been any gigantic thing because we heard about it but didn’t hear any specifics or any stories of anything bad or embarrassing. Colt Cabana retained the NWA National title over Mark Briscoe. Both Briscoes beat down Cabana after the match. Silas Young beat El Hijo de Squid by submission. They were teasing the idea of Young vs. Jonathan Gresham, so that also could be a PPV match. Jay Briscoe beat PCO via DQ. Briscoe was DQ’d for a chair shot. After the match, the Briscoes put PCO through a table. PCO got right up after that and they were going at it until there was a pull-apart. Bully Ray & Shane Taylor beat Coast 2 Coast, the tag team of LSG & Shaheem Ali. Bully ran down Kent to get heat before the match. In the second match of their best-of-three (third match presumably on the PPV), Jay Lethal beat Kenny King via DQ when King hit Lethal with the mic. Vinny Marseglia & T.K. O’Ryan beat Beer City Bruiser & Brawler Milonas. Josh Woods beat Brian Johnson. Jeff Cobb pinned Mark Haskins in what we were told was a great match. In the main event, Matt Taven retained his ROH title over Tracy Williams
  804.  
  805. The 6/2 Honor Club live show in Portland drew 650 fans. Leon & Love beat Notorious Nattie & Mazzerati. Sky was managing Leon & Love. Tracy Williams beat Bully in a no DQ match. Williams came out with a garbage can full of weapons in issuing the challenge. Williams won with a crucifix pin and then Bully attacked both Williams and Todd Sinclair after the match. Haskins ran in for the save and Bully put him through the table. Mazzerati beat local woman wrestler Danika Dalla Rouge. The Allure came out and attacked both women and used the lipstick on Della Rouge’s forehead. Mark Briscoe beat Josh Woods. Woods gave Briscoe a German suplex off the apron. Briscoe used a low blow when the ref was distracted and the froggy bow elbow off the top rope for the pin. Cobb beat Black. Cobb got a good reaction because the local indie fans know him from working for years in the area. Cobb used a German superplex, a regular German suplex and the tour of the islands in a great match, said to be easily the best on the show and New Japan caliber. Next was a gauntlet series of tag team matches. Taylor & Young beat the Voros Twins when Young put both in an abdominal stretch at the same time for the submission. Taylor brought in a cigarette and Young was smoking it while holding the stretch on both of them. Rush & Castle were next in and beat Taylor & Young when Rush pinned Young after a running low dropkick. Coast 2 Coast vs,. Rush & Castle saw Castle trip Rush and they started fighting each other. Rush was choking Castle with lighting equipment and both were counted out of the ring. The crowd hated that ending. Milonas & Bruiser beat Coast 2 Coast. Milonas & Bruiser have surprising agility for how heavy both are. Milonas & Bruiser beat Marseglia & O’Ryan with Milonas used a superplex and Bruiser did a splash off the top, so Milonas & Bruiser will get a tag title shot. Lethal beat Jay Briscoe. Kenny King came out and gave Briscoe a chair. Briscoe considered using it, but then didn’t, but the hesitation allowed Lethal to hit the Lethal injection for the pin. Lethal and Briscoe shook hands after while King cut a promo on Lethal. Main event was a four-way elimination match with Taven, Gordon, Haskins and PCO. Whoever pinned Taven would get a title match at some point in the future, but Taven ended up not getting pinned. PCO was dq’d for a chair shot on Taven. Taven pinned Haskins. Taven vs. Gordon had a good back-and-forth ending including Taven power bombing Gordon through the announcers table. Taven pinned Gordon with climax clean. Taven then yelled at all the fans saying they were virgins.
  806.  
  807. IMPACT: There was a twitter exchange between Kevin Matthews and Impact Executive Vice President Scott D’Amore this past weekend which was telling. Matthews, known as KM, started it by saying “Piggybacking independent companies and drawing 500 people or less for a national TV company is worthy of bragging? Signing people to $300 exclusive contracts making $5,000 a year is okay? Keep telling yourself that Scott.” D’Amore responded, “We paid double your normal wrestling rate, kid. We can’t help it that it took you this long to figure people would pay more to not see you wrestle.” KM then wrote back, “Judging by attendance and viewership, it doesn’t seem like people pay to see anything Impact puts on. I enjoy this game, let’s keep playing.” D’Amore wrote back, “Funny, our viewership in many parts of the world has been consistently high. Our Twitch stuff has consistently on the top ten, our attendance continues to grow and you continue t love to talk about us.” KM then wrote, “I would continue to tweet but I wouldn’t want to be interrupted by 30 minute commercial for fish hooks. There’s a difference between spelling the truth and being salty. All the best to you.” KM did end up deleting his posts
  808.  
  809. Eli Drake, who hasn’t been used since he refused to work a PPV match with Tessa Blanchard and noting that he greatly respected Blanchard but didn’t want to do a singles match with a woman, is now a free agent. He wrote, “After four years with Impact Wrestling, some ups, some downs, I would like t thank them for the overall great experience. Through those years, I had the fortune of carrying three different title belts, having my own talk show (Fact of Life) and was always given the trust to craft my own promos, virtually from day one. I appreciate the chance that was taken on me and the trust I was given, as well as the friends and experiences I gained along the way. I wish Impact Wrestling nothing but continued success and growth going forward.
  810.  
  811. Impact is taping 6/6 and 6/7 at the Melrose Ballroom in Queens, NY. At this point the only main event for the first night is RVD & Sabu vs. Ethan Page & Josh Alexander. They also have two other shows on their Twitch Channel, a 6/8 show with Tommy Dreamer’s House of Hardcore at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia called “A Night You Can’t Mist” built around the Great Muta. They’ve announced Willie Mack vs. Rich Swann vs. Teddy Hart for the House of Hardcore TV title, Sami Callihan vs. Eddie Edwards in a street fight, Billy Gunn vs. Joey Ryan plus Brian Cage, Moose, Luchasaurus and Little Guido. They also run 6/9 in St. James, NY at the Sports Arena with Muta, plus Dreamer & Gunn & Jordynne Grace vs. Johnny Impact & Moose & Taya Valkyrie, Swann vs. Teddy Hart, Mack vs. Callihan vs. Edwards, Michael Elgin vs. Luchasaurus plus Ryan, Cage and Guido
  812.  
  813. Kongo Kong is done with the promotion.
  814.  
  815. AEW: Neither the 6/29 Fyter Fest in Daytona Beach nor the 7/16 Fight for the Fallen in Jacksonville will be PPV shows. Both will air on B/R Live in some form, whether as a low price iPPV or as part of a streaming deal. The next traditional PPV will be All Out on 8/31 in Chicago. Outside the U.S., no deal has been made official for the two shows but they are talking to the usual people and I would expect it will be on a service that would cover the rest of the world in some form
  816.  
  817. Regarding Chris Jericho not showing up for Starrcast, Conrad Thompson, who produced last weekend's Starrcast convention, indicated that he didn't know Chris Jericho wouldn't be appearing at the event until May 24th, two days before his "Talk Is Jericho" appearance was scheduled to take place. Thompson noted he got a text message from Jericho on Friday afternoon before his announced Sunday afternoon appearance that stated that he couldn't come due to family plans. Jericho had previously said that he had given the word one month ago that he wasn't doing the show due to finding out his segment would be airing on iPPV through FITE TV. Jericho said they agreed he would show up before the crowd with an in-character rant on the fans where he would say he wasn't doing a Talk is Jericho show because he didn't get a thank you at Double or Nothing. But, he said he found out he had family plans for Sunday that he couldn't change and sent in a video instead, saying basically the same thing as he would have said had he appeared live. "It's not Conrad's fault I didn't make an appearance," Jericho said. "That's all on me. But, the live Talk is Jericho was never happening." Thompson said Jericho wanted to do an angle at the appearance and they would figure it out that weekend what that would entail, but then on Friday, he sent the text and a video instead. "We want back and forth, but in the end, he had no choice," said Thompson. Thompson said Jericho he sent in a video to explain not being there, but the video couldn't air until after Double or Nothing was over since it talked about the result of the match with Kenny Omega in past tense as well as the post-match interview. "I couldn't exactly post that ahead of DON even though I had it hours before," said Thompson. When the Talk is Jericho show was scheduled to start, fans were in attendance and they were told that Jericho wasn't there and a cardboard cutout of Jericho was brought out instead
  818.  
  819. PW Insider reported that Brian Cage, the Impact champion, was at one point hoped to be part of the Casino Battle Royale, but that given he was under contract to Impact, that Impact nixed his appearance. Four Chinese wrestlers from OWE may have been scheduled for that match as well. In China it was reported that four of the Chinese wrestlers in the promotion were originally booked on the show but couldn’t get visas because of issues with the Chinese embassy
  820.  
  821. Luchasaurus noted that he can still take indie bookings until AEW starts regular television in October, so that is likely the case with most of the newer signees
  822.  
  823. Regarding whether AEW will acknowledge Jon Moxley as U.S. champion on its 6/29 show in Daytona Beach hasn’t been decided. The key debate points are this. New Japan has no relations with AEW and does have relations with ROH, a competitor. However, a huge percentage of AEW fans likely subscribe to New Japan World, or if not, an Internet-driven company, they would be aware of Moxley as champion. To deny it and ignore it would be taking a page from WWE and create a needless elephant in the room. AEW is also focused on very few belts, with the idea of keeping the belts important. That’s an argument not to talk about other belts, although they did have an AAA tag title match on their first PPV show, but AAA is also a partner. If it’s my call, I’d say acknowledge it. You don’t want your fans to think you’re just WWE dressed up in different clothes from day one
  824.  
  825. Hikaru Shida said that after she finishes her current commitments in Japan she is moving to the U.S. But she’s booked in Japan during the next show and possibly the show after that
  826.  
  827. Michael Wardlow, a tall muscular guy who has worked on top for Warrior Wrestling in Chicago is clearly on the radar. On The Road to Fyter Fest, Cody was talking and “Wardlow vignette” was behind him in his office on the chalkboard. These things are always there for a reason. Cody has talked about having interest in him in the past
  828.  
  829. Not much on BTE. They opened with The Young Bucks wanting to do The Shield fist bump with Jon Moxley and he gave them a weird look and walked off. Dana Massie brought up how Moxley gave Kenny Omega a DDT on the poker chips and threw him off the stage which they pretended not to know and then wanted to start the show over because Omega would hate seeing them try and do the first bump with Moxley but supposedly the show was live and they couldn’t edit it off. They did a mock Alex Jebailey training video showing him doing pull-ups but his feet actually never leave the ground, doing girl push-ups and lifting ridiculously light weights. Luchasaurus, who has a Master’s Degree, is trying to teach Jungle Boy about the Bill of Rights and things like that. He and Rick Knox had an argument because Rick Knox thought that the U.S. declared its independence on July 4, 1776, but Luchasaurus said it was really on July 4, 1993, when Lex Luger slammed Yokozuna. Scorpio Sky said that it was Nick Jackson who came up with the name SoCal Uncensored for the team. He said that Christopher Daniels didn’t like it but eventually Nick pushed it on them when Daniels couldn’t come up with a better name. Joey Ryan and MJF had a confrontation when MJF was making fun of how light the weights were that Ryan was lifting. They showed Ryan’s speech about staying on the independent scene. Daniels & Kazarian were hanging out when Cima called. Daniels talked to Cima in Japanese fluently and when the call was over Daniels told Kazarian that Cima wanted a singles match with him (Daniels), which I’d guess would be on the Daytona Beach show since Cima vs. Kenny Omega is in Jacksonville. When Kazarian asked what else did he say, Daniels said, “I don’t know, I can’t speak Japanese.”
  830.  
  831. UFC: Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Dustin Poirier for the lightweight title is now official as the main event for the 9/7 PPV show from Abu Dhabi. That had been the match they were targeting for that show. Nurmagomedov had one fight left on his contract, so as part of the negotiations he was signed to a new multi-fight deal
  832.  
  833. Besides Alexander Gustafsson, also retiring this week was Nick Hein after a second round loss to Frank Camacho. At 35, the former police officer and actor, who has done pro wrestling angles with wXw (and once came out to the song “Badstreet USA” by Michael Hayes for a UFC fight), he wrote, “20 years of judo. Ten years on the national team. One decade of MMA. Five years in the UFC. I am ready for the next chapter. Thanks to everyone.
  834.  
  835. Jessica Andrade was robbed and had her car stolen as noted in last week’s issue. She and her wife were threatened at gunpoint. Andrade’s manager, Tiago Okamura, told MMA Junkie that they took her car and their cell hones so they had to cancel all their credit cards, but said both were shaken up but not injured
  836.  
  837. The company announced its debut in Denmark with a 9/28 show in Copenhagen
  838.  
  839. This week’s show is the UFC 238 PPV show from the United Center in Chicago. The show has a lot of depth but doesn’t have the main event that will draw anything but hardcores. It starts at 6:15 p.m. on ESPN+ with Joanne Calderwood (13-3) vs. Katlyn Chookagian (11-2), Eddie Wineland (23-1-1) vs. Grigory Popov (13-1), Darren Stewart (9-4) vs. Bevon Lewis (6-1) and Yan Xiaonan (10-1) vs. Angela Hill (9-6). Next are the prelims on ESPN from 8-10 p.m. with Ricardo Lamas (19-7) vs. Calvin Kattar (19-3), Karolina Kowalkiewicz (12-4) vs. Alexa Grasso (10-2), Aljamain Sterling (17-3) vs. Pedro Munhoz (18-3) and Tatiana Suarez (7-0) vs. Nina Ansaroff (10-5). The PPV show at 10 p.m. has Tai Tuivasa (8-1) vs. Blagoy Ivanov (17-2), Petr Yan (12-1) vs. Jimmie Rivera (22-3), Tony Ferguson (24-3) vs. Donald Cerrone (36-11), Valentina Shevchenko (16-3) vs. Jessica Eye (14-6) for the women’s flyweight title and Henry Cejudo (14-2) vs. Marlon Moraes (22-5-1) for the vacant bantamweight title
  840.  
  841. Olivier Aubin-Mercier vs. Arman Tsarukyan, Cris Cyborg vs. Felicia Spencer (which last week was in talks but is now official) and Marc-Ander Bariault vs. Krzysztof Jotko have been added to the 7/27 PPV show in Edmonton
  842.  
  843. Paige VanZant will be undergoing her third surgery on her right arm on 6/13. She had fractured her arm again in January but was told it wouldn’t need surgery and she was looking at fighting on 7/20. Her chiropractor told her to get the arm checked, and when she saw the surgeon of the Portland Trail Blazers, she was told the arm didn’t heal all the way and needs surgery. She broke the arm first in January 2018 and had two surgeries last year, and then the bone break again in January. She had said after the second surgery that if the arm broke again she would retire. And it did, but she’s decided not to retire. VanZant, when telling ESPN about needing surgery, also noted she had just one fight left on her contract. Because of her name value and marketability, she probably can get a good deal as a free agent between One, UFC or Bellator as likely all would want her
  844.  
  845. The Dana White Tuesday Night Contenders series on Fight Pass debuts on 6/18 and will run weekly through 8/27, except for not having a show on 7/2 since it’s International Fight Week
  846.  
  847. Alex Gorgees, who is no longer in UFC after being released, was suspended for 16 months by USADA for testing positive for Drostanolone and Turinabol, two steroids, in a test on 12/2 and also failed subsequent tests. USADA said that Gorgees came forward with detailed evidence that he had used the substances before entering the USADA program and was given a reduction of his suspension from 24 to 16 months. Yes guys, if you fail a test, all you need is proof that you used steroids before entering UFC and you can at least get your time downgraded
  848.  
  849. The 7/20 show on ESPN is being pushed as a night of three big heavyweight fights. What’s notable is that you can tell now that Greg Hardy is a big deal to ESPN since he’s been featured on their shows, and it also tells you why UFC was so insistent on putting Hardy on that first show that also had Rachael Ostovich, because they were looking for the “hot girl” fight for ratings and the legit ex-NFL star who the idea is can bring sports fan curiosity ratings. Matches announced for 7/20 in San Antonio for the ESPN bouts are Aleksei Oleinik vs. Walt Harris, Greg Hardy vs. Juan Adams and Andrei Arlovski vs. Ben Rothwell as the three big heavyweight bouts. Other matches on that card are Liz Carmouche vs. Roxanne Modafferi at flyweight (No. 3 vs. No. 5 in the division), Raquel Pennington vs Irene Aldana (both ranked bantamweights), James Vick vs. Dan Hooker, Ray Borg vs. Gabriel Silva, Alex Caceres vs. Steven Peterson, Sam Alvey vs. Klidson Abreu, Domingo Pilarte vs. Felipe Colares and Mario Bautista vs. Jin Soo Son
  850.  
  851. Nordine Taleb vs Maslim Salikhov was added to the 9/7 show in Abu Dhabi.. . Chyril Gane vs. Raphael Pessos has been added to the 8/10 show in Uruguay.
  852.  
  853. BELLATOR: King Mo Lawal, 38, announced his retirement on 6/3. Lawal, who did some pro wrestling with Impact, and grew up as a huge pro wrestling and boxing fan and his goal was actually to be a pro wrestler, cited injuries as his reason for retiring. He said he will work as a coach at the ATT Gym in Coconut Creek, FL. ATT had announced Lawal being hired as a coach. Lawal also said that he would like to go back to pro wrestling. He said that he’s had knee and hip injuries that are chronic and that he has hyperthyroidism, which makes it hard for him to keep his weight and strength up. He said he’s now less than 200 pounds even though he fought most of his career at 205. Lawal went into MMA in 2008 after failing to make the Olympic team as a wrestler. Lawal grew up in Plano, TX, where he was a high school star athlete in wrestling, football and track. He was all-district at both linebacker and wide receiver, placed second in the state in Texas in wrestling at 171 as a junior and was an unbeaten state champion as a senior. He went to the University of Central Oklahoma and placed second at the Division II Nationals in 2001 and won the Division II nationals in 2002. In 2003, he moved to Oklahoma State where he took third in the NCAA tournament at 197 pounds and then took freestyle nationals at 185. His first move to pro wrestling was with Real Pro Wrestling, a short-lived shoot league in 2004 where he was their champion at 184 pounds. He won freestyle national titles in 2005, 2006 and 2008 at 185 and in 2007, took second at 211. He was generally considered one of the best wrestlers in the world on an international basis, winning major international tournaments in 2006 and 2007. He was offered a WWE contract and went to OVW, but met with Shad Gaspard at OVW who told him that he regretted not going into MMA before pro wrestling, because he felt he was too old to go back and it convinced Lawal to first do MMA and then pro wrestling, so he turned down the WWE contract. He started in MMA in Japan in 2008 and in his seventh pro fight on April 17, 2010, he beat Gegard Mousasi to win the Strikeforce light heavyweight title. But he lost the title in his next fight to Rafael Feijao Cavalcante. He signed with Bellator in 2012 on a joint fighting/pro wrestling deal where he was supposed to be a champion with Bellator and a superstar in pro wrestling with Impact. But it was difficult to do both at the same time and he really never got far in pro wrestling, and twice in 2013 lost key fights to Emmanuel Newton. He was really never the same after undergoing one knee surgery after another after a staph infection. He still beat people like Cheick Kongo, Jiri Prochazka, and Rampage Jackson among many others after his knee was shot. He noted that he’s been in pain from his hip and knee. They’ve put titanium metal in his hip and he realized he’s going to need a knee replacement, an elbow replacement and a hip replacement. He said he can’t run, or even jog, it’s that bad. He said if he can’t sprint and be explosive, it’s time to get out. He said he had a hip surfacing because he was having trouble walking and tying his shoes. He said his hip was bad for most of his career. He said he knew in 2017 he needed to retire but was having so much fun he didn’t want to walk away. He said in his fight with Satoshi Ishii, every step hurt. He said he was walking with a limp. He said he went to WrestleMania in 2017 and hip was so bad he couldn’t even walk around and he had to have people pick him up because he was having so much trouble walking. In 2016, he lost in the quarterfinals of the Rizin heavyweight tournament to Mirko Cro Cop, and lost via TKO in his last three fights to Ryan Bader, Liam McGeary and Prochazka
  854.  
  855. Bec Rawlings (7-8 MMA), who was cut by UFC and became one of the faces of Bare Knuckle boxing, is returning to MMA and is in talks with Bellator according to Ariel Helwani. Her Bare Knuckle boxing promotion has confirmed she is leaving to return to MMA.
  856.  
  857. OTHER MMA: There was a big shake-up in the MMA reporting world. The Athletic, a subscription service built around hiring some of the best sports reporters in the country, decided to get into MMA and beef up on boxing as well. Among their new hirees were Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times, Dann Stupp, who will be managing editor, from MMA Junkie, Chuck Mindenhall and Shaun Al-Shatti from MMA Fighting, Josh Gross, who formerly worked for ESPN and was out of the game for a while partially because UFC would never credential him due to past issues with Dana White, Fernanda Prates of MMA Junkie who is the Brazilian correspondent, Ben Fowlkes of MMA Junkie and US Today and Chad Dundas of Bleacher Report. MMA Fighting, who I work for and had a real all-star team of reporters has been stripped in recent months with Ariel Helwani and Marc Raimondi to ESPN, Mindenhall and Al-Shatti to The Athletic and Dave Doyle to MMA Junkie
  858.  
  859. ONE has announced it is opening offices and hiring for those offices in both New York and Los Angeles, to go with offices in Singapore, Tokyo, Shanghai, Beijing, Manila, Jakarta (Indonesia), Bangkok and Bangalore
  860.  
  861. Paddy Holohan, 31, a former UFC fighter, was elected councilor in South Dublin and went into office a few months back. Holohan, who fought at flyweight, was a teammate of Conor McGregor and fought in UFC in 2014 and 2015, winning three out of five fights with his last fight a choke loss to Louis Smolka. After that loss he retired from fighting with a 12-2-1 record. He also lost a fight to Josh Hill to get into the TUF house in 2013 when he tried out for the fall season of that show
  862.  
  863. PFL has another show on 6/6 from NYCB Live from 7-9 p.m. Eastern on ESPN 2 and from 9 p.m. on ESPN+. Ronny Markes, Jared Rosholt, Satoshi Ishii and Vinny Magalhaes are all on the ESPN+ portion of the show.
  864.  
  865. WWE: Jon Moxley did another interview, even more in-depth, with Wade Keller at Pro Wrestling Torch. When asked if he thought Paul Levesque should take over WWE creative from Vince McMahon, he said, “I mean, who else is there? He’s clearly been preparing for this. When Vince isn’t there, he’s the guy you defer to, so, he’s got good ideas. His ideas are his ideas, but he’s a lot more, he’s very cerebral, he’s not like a super open collaborative, like `Oh, cool, do this, do that.’ He thinks about stuff a lot. But I just think it’s a much better option between the two of them.” “I think he would be more open to giving people more freedom, but I think also, he’s smart and sees things his way. So if he sees you doing something and he envisions a better way, he’ll come over and be like, `Hey, let me just ask you a question. Maybe we can do it this way?’ And a lot of the time you’re like, `Oh, that’s even cooler.’ Because he like sees television and he’s I guess the closest thing to Vince that we have. You’d have to ask somebody in NXT that, you know, whose around that system, to give you a real like what it would look like.” “Over time and especially looking back in the last few months, I didn’t see a lot of genius that is Vince McMahon. I think like in the 80s he was a genius when he created Hulkamania and took over all the territories and cable television and all of that. In 2019, I don’t think he knows what the f*** is going on. So, he needs to figure it out or step aside and let somebody who knows what is going on do it.” By the way, Vince didn’t create Hulkamania. Hulk Hogan copied Austin Idol who copied Superstar Billy Graham and Hulkamania came from Idolmania. Hulkamania was first used in the AWA and New Japan Pro Wrestling before it was ever used in WWF. .. It should be noted that Moxley said that after his interviews the past week he’s gotten WWE out of his system and going forward doesn’t want to talk about his time there and wants to take about his future. He said doing the Jericho interview was incredibly cathartic and he said he did the interview in his head for months and always knew he would do it on Jericho’s show. He said he felt he needed to shine a spotlight on what goes on backstage at WWE. He noted that his post-Double or Nothing promo was one take, no writers, no approval needed, he just told Cody to have a camera ready when he got backstage. He said he cut three promos after Double or Nothing in less than ten minutes and felt those three promos accomplished more than his entire run in WWE. He said that the wrestlers in WWE aren’t afraid right now of losing their jobs, they know they have job security, but the writers and producers fear for their jobs and it creates a weird dynamic between the wrestlers and the writers. He believes the job of writer shouldn’t even exist in wrestling because nobody knows how to write for a wrestling character better than the wrestlers themselves. He said his greatest strength in wrestling is that he can talk, but that was taken away from him in WWE. He said that if they came along today, Dusty Rhodes and Roddy Piper probably wouldn’t have gotten the chance to do better interviews than Baron Corbin because everyone would be scripted. By the way, I disagree with that, because they’d have the better delivery. Both Rhodes and Piper were on Raw at times after the scripting of promos era and Piper, who was often lost and not good at all in Impact, was still great in WWE. By that point in time, his creative was shot, but because of his work as an actor, he could still memorize lines and had the natural great delivery. Dusty had the delivery as well, but when Dusty went off script in a promo with Stephanie, he never got a live mic again. He said that not every wrestler in WWE feels like he does, and that WWE does know how to book people strong when they want to book people strong. He said there are probably a lot of guys who are very happy and others who feel like him. He said Vince is the problem. “I mean, everyone seems to like NXT. And what’s the key ingredient that’s missing? Vinny.” He even brought up that they should let Levesque run WWE for a month and see what happens. He said he always tried to give Vince the benefit of the doubt, saying “he created wrestling.” Even though he didn’t in any way. He said when he came to the main roster and was given his first scripted promo as part of The Shield, he said all three got backstage and realized none of them understood what they had just said in the ring. He did say that his summer 2017 feud with Rollins was good stuff even though it was all scripted. He said his first angle was supposed to be as a single with Foley, but then it was dropped when Foley couldn’t get cleared to wrestle. He said that if that would have happened, and at that time he was told to recite everything from a script, he’d have reacted poorly, that he probably would have gotten a bad rep and thus he’s glad it didn’t happen. He said Vince kept saying about telling a story in the ring and doesn’t care about wrestling or moves, just a story. He said you wouldn’t believe some of the stuff he just buries and the people he rides so hard. He said the infamous night where Reigns was scripted to say “Sufferin Succotash,” he said Reigns didn’t want to say it and he went to Vince to get it changed. But after getting out of the office with Vince, he went to Ambrose and asked him if there was a cool way to say it. He said he was best friends with Reigns but if he wasn’t he’d resent the hell out of him because he felt plenty of times he had a stronger connection with the fans, but Reigns had the top spot but said it was fine because Reigns was his best friend. He believed the Jax angle happened because they knew he was leaving and he was worried about a scenario where he would be throwing punches at a woman while his feminist hero wife would have to commentate on it. He joked about how often on the way out they finished him up, only to keep bringing him back for another farewell. He praised Michael Hayes and Jamie Noble as producers who know what they are doing. He loves his creative freedom in AEW. He said SummerSlam was supposed to end with Strowman trying to cash in on Reigns and he and Rollins saving Reigns, but he said that Lesnar went to Vince and wanted the angle changed and when Lesnar said it, nobody would say anything. He said the writer had worked hard for an epic finish to SummerSlam, but instead, Reigns beat Lesnar and Strowman ended up looking like an idiot. Regarding his angle with Lesnar, he said there was no effort in that angle. He said the buildup was so goofy because he wasn’t allowed to do anything. He said he pitched all kinds of ideas and it was all ignored. He hated the red wagon and said he wanted to work things out with Lesnar, but Lesnar told him not to worry about it and they never even went over the match because Lesnar didn’t get into town until the night before. He said he suggested an angle where he’d lose by being thrown in thumbtacks and get choked out, but right before he’d pass out, he’d flip Lesnar off. He texted Vince who replied “Maybe.” He also wanted to develop an ankle lock finisher going into the match with the storyline that he was studying MMA. He said Lesnar showed up at Mania three hours before the show and they didn’t start talking about their match until after the second match n the show. He said Lesnar didn’t care about stealing the show and Ambrose felt they could have. He said he came up with an idea to spray Lesnar with pepper spray to get an advantage but then he’d beat on Lesnar with weapons before Lesnar would come back and win. He said Lesnar was fine with that but then the producers nixed it. He said he also came up with the idea before the match of him being elbowed to death for real, it was turned down, and then a few months later they used that finish for Orton and Lesnar. Regarding the Steve Austin podcast, he went in with the mood of not wanting to talk about his childhood so when Austin brought it up, he shut down but he loves Austin and would love to be on his podcast. He said a producer asked him what he wanted to talk about, and he said he didn’t want to talk about his childhood, and then they did so. He said he doesn’t blame Austin, but the producer. He said WWE needs to change their business and pay system, noting house shows don’t make the company major money and they make money from the TV deals, but the talent gets paid based on house show revenue, not TV revenue. He said he didn’t leave over the schedule, but it was a tough schedule and at times he was physically and mentally shot
  866.  
  867. In contacting a number of wrestlers, and of course what Moxley said is true and it’s hardly a secret, other than some of the new details of what he went through, even those who personally didn’t like him had nothing negative to say about what he said. It’s pretty much acknowledged that it’s all true and we haven’t seen or heard from one person disputing that. One person who was not close to him at all and felt he was a guy who couldn’t be happy said they listened to him on the Jericho podcast and felt he was very honest from this perspective, that the system in place is obviously broken and that’s not a secret nor is there any doubt about it, and that even Vince McMahon realizes that
  868.  
  869. In another change, talent being signed to new NXT contracts are getting five-year deals instead of the previous three-year deals for beginners, trying to lock people in to where it’s a long time before they can test the free agent market. It’s one thing for someone like Mysterio to be able to get an 18 month deal because WWE wanted him away from the outside and he realized he had leverage to get what he wanted, and it’s another thing for guys with no experience to try and say they don’t want to commit to five years and only want three. But really that’s the case across the board at least WWE contracts guarantee significant money unlike some other company contracts that are out there where guys are making nothing and locked up in a marketplace where WWE wants to lock up anyone they see as marketable talent
  870.  
  871. .Ric Flair cut a three-part promo, his first public video since getting out of the hospital. The situation was significant enough that he said that he was facing death and his hospital bill was $1.8 million, which he noted, luckily insurance took care of most of it. He had a new pacemaker put in and this was his fourth procedure regarding his heart in the last two months, but the other issues were minor. This was more serious because he was rushed to the hospital with blood clots in his leg and chest which caused them to delay the surgery. There must be bad blood with him and Shawn Michaels, because he made it clear he at first didn’t like what Jim Ross said about him on the ESPN 30 for 30 but has changed his tune and recognizes that it was the truth. I just sensed Flair felt he and Michaels were close because he talked about all the people who reached out when he was hospitalized and said he also knows who didn’t, and that may have triggered him because he kept referencing Richard Fliehr, with the line that Michaels said on the documentary about how Flair should let go of Ric Flair and become Richard Fliehr. Flair said that Richard Fliehr was a kid who had wonderful parents and screwed up at every turn and Ric Flair became a superstar and noted that Michaels grew up idolizing him and being inspired by him. This appears to be a reaction by Flair of being surprised that Michaels never contacted him while he was sick when everyone else he considered a close friend did. It was also because Flair was mad about what Michaels said on the 30 for 30, noting that Michaels in his mind wasn’t someone who should judge him given Michaels own past. Whether Michaels is or isn’t a different person now, he certainly seems like it. Nobody is perfect but the really bad Michaels stories both in and out of the ring were from a long time ago. In part three, he went after his former agent, Melinda Morris Zanoni, accusing her of embezzlement. Based on the interview it sounded like he tried to sue her once, but now he’s get a better lawyer and is threatening again. He also made reference to the 2011 Grantland article on him talking about all of his financial issues and said he should have sued them like Hulk Hogan did and that the article was so bad because he followed Zanoni’s advice and didn’t talk with them. Flair and Zanoni’s ten year relationship as his agent ended in 2017 right after Flair survived his bad health scare. It’s a very complicated issue but Flair was not happy that during that scare that she never visited him in the hospital among many other issues. After all that, the video was taken down then next day
  872.  
  873. Flair’s first public gig since the surgery was on 5/31 in East Moline, IL, at the Rust Belt. Flair spent legit time with everyone as far as the autographs went that the pro wrestling show that was scheduled to start at 7 p.m. was moved back an hour to accommodate everyone. According to one of our readers, when you consider the health issues he had just two weeks earlier. He looked really good, he took time with everyone who sat with him and told people he was thankful for being able to do it. The story was that he was incredibly nice to everyone, as was Wendy Barlow, his wife, who accompanied him. He talked with people and said that Seth Rollins (who is from Moline and is the area’s favorite wrestler) would have been a major star in any generation, just like Michaels, Steamboat and Orton could have been. He said Rollins is one of the guys who wants to show everyone, whether the crowd is big or small, that he’s the best in the business. He said his daughter has the same mentality. He said that Rollins and his daughter put the time into what they’re doing and what they are going to say and that’s what separates them from the pack. He also complimented the Black & Brave Wrestling Academy (Rollins’ wrestling school in Moline that he runs with Marek Brave, a longtime indie wrestler who started out with Rollins) and said that he usually doesn’t recommend wrestling schools because they often take advantage of people but said Rollins school was legit and that if someone was good that Rollins trains, he’s got the connections to get them into WWE with a personal recommendation. He noted that he wrestled in Moline for the first time in 1972. He joked that he used to try and get Rollins to go out drinking with him but he wouldn’t do it, and said that Rollins cares about his family. He said that Lynch wants Rollins to move to California with her and said, “Good luck with that Becky, you may be The Man, but that’s questionable too,” The crowd popped for that line. Flair said if he looked like Rollins, his number with women probably would have been even higher
  874.  
  875. The Daily Mail in the U.K. reported that the IRS and Georgia Department of Revenue have taken out liens on Ric Flair’s five-bedroom mansion in suburban Atlanta, which he owns with Wendy Barlow, which is listed at being worth $370,000. He was ordered to pay $239,871 in federal taxes and $38,703 in state taxes for earnings for the years 2016 to 2018. Flair has had tax issues dating back to the 70s and 80s and over the years Crockett Promotions helped him out when he was their big meal ticket. In 1990, he was hit with an $82,000 tax bill which he immediately paid. In 2000, he was hit with an $874,000 tax bill. In 2005, the IRS began seizing his WWE earnings. At one time he owed considerable money to Vince McMahon over tax issues
  876.  
  877. WWE has changed the terms on its credit line with JP Morgan Chase Bank. They have replaced a previous $100 million line of credit with a $200 million line of credit and extended the line of credit’s maturity date from July 29, 2021 to May 24, 2024. It can now borrow up to $200 million using the prime interest rate plus 0.5 percent and Euro dollar interest rate plus one percent
  878.  
  879. WWE was among the leading investors in the recent $47 million investment money raised for FloSports, which streams 25 different sports and once did a pro wrestling channel that was not successful. WWE, Fertitta Capital (an investment company run by former UFC owners Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta), Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments, Causeway Media Partners and DCM Ventures were the main new investors. WWE has invested in FloSports previously. There are silent investments meaning the investors buy a piece of the business but have no say so in it. WWE ended up investing and then finding out that they were going to do a pro wrestling channel, which actually led to the first talks of Progress and other U.K. promotions to be on the WWE Network as WWE did not want them doing a channel. FloSports never got deals with the key companies at the time (ROH, New Japan, PWG, AAA, All Japan and CMLL) that could possibly have made the deal fly, and were left with Evolve as their main partner along with a lot of smaller indies and foreign groups that didn’t bring them anywhere near enough subscribers to make it worthwhile
  880.  
  881. Mickie James suffered a torn ACL on the 6/1 house show in Waco, TX against Carmella. They had to stop the match immediately. However, she was doing a lot better after the match and as of the morning of 6/2, she was still scheduled on the show in College Station the next day. But they must have realized the severity of the injury since they have trainers on the road. Usually that injury requires surgery (she has confirmed getting surgery soon) and six months or more off. They ended up making a change and putting Vega in the spot the next day
  882.  
  883. At least the company is now working a few weeks ahead of the game as the 6/17 Monday Smackdown show in Palm Springs was canceled 18 days ahead of time.. . Cena was on the set of the movie “Deadpool 3" this past week in Vancouver
  884.  
  885. Nakamura said in an interview in Singapore that he wants to wrestle at least five more years. He said he needs to wrestle until he’s at least 45, and also said he’d like to work a program with Reigns. “Some people say his wrestling is simple, but I like simple, too.
  886.  
  887. A number of NXT wrestlers have gotten new names. Punishment Martinez is now Damien Priest. WWE had released that name to Sports Business Journal a couple of months ago but since then, he was still using his ROH name. Adrian Jaoude from Brazil is now Arturo Ruas, no doubt Ruas coming from former MMA star Marco Ruas. Trevor Lee Caddell is now Cameron Grimes, with Cameron obviously because he’s from Cameron, NC. Jessie Elaban is now Jessi Kamea. Luke Menzies, who was a legit Rugby League player in the U.K., is now Ridge Holland. Eric Bugenhagen, who has gotten real popular on the Florida house show run, is now Rik Bugez
  888.  
  889. Johnny Gargano, Tommaso Ciampa, Matt Riddle, Drew Gulak, Roderick Strong, Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish will all be appearing in some form on Evolve shows in June or July
  890.  
  891. WWE is holding an all-women’s tryout which started on 6/5 at its U.K. Performance Center in Enfield. They’ve been trying to add more women to the U.K. brand, which has ten women under contract, the biggest star being Toni Storm, the champion. It was noted by Talksport, which broke the story, that the original tryout was 6/3 to 6/6 but was moved back a few days. Millie McKenzie was offered a deal earlier this year but turned it down as she wanted to continue working in Japan for Meiko Satomura’s Sendai Girls group. The women invited were Rhio (not to be confused with the Japanese woman Riho that worked the AEW show last week). Rhio, 22, works for several Northern U.K. groups. Shax is a six-year -pro who does a burlesque gimmick and is the girlfriend of No Fun Dunne. Kanji comes from the Stixx Wrestling school in Nottingham and was the Defiant champion at the end of last year. Debbie Keitel of OTT in Ireland. Valkyrie, not to be confused with Taya, who is Keitel’s tag partner, was also invited. Candy Floss was invited as were Jamie Hayter, Gisele Shaw and Martina. Heather Schofield was a bikini competitor who was on the 2014 season of TNA’s British Boot Camp 2 as a competitor that Mark Andrews ended up winning. Jayde, Jessica Light and Heather were also listed for the camp
  892.  
  893. Peter Rosenberg, who did pre-PPV shows on the panel and did the “Let’s Bring It to the Table” show with JBL and Corey Graves that was best known for being the final straw with Mauro Ranallo and the company, until they made up, is no longer with WWE. Rosenberg said that he had been busy with other projects and missed some WWE PPV shows. He was ready to return at WrestleMania and was told by Michael Cole that he was no longer with the company
  894.  
  895. You can all speculate as to why, which is likely FITE TV broadcasting the opposition group outside the U.S., but EVE (U.K. based women’s group) has been told that they can’t put their shows on iPPV and Evolve is off FITE TV because if not they wouldn’t be allowed to get dates on talent under WWE contracts. EVE still uses Kay Lee Ray and Viper. The groups are still allowed to do iPPVs on their own and put their shows on their own streaming services, just not work with FITE, so it’s not the issue of WWE talent being used on iPPVs or streaming for a non-WWE company, the issue is FITE and it just changed, so you have to figure what has just changed
  896.  
  897. . In the continuing saga of the 24/7 title, Jinder Mahal attacked and, in his gear of course, pinned R-Truth on a golf course in a tape released on 6/2, only to have R-Truth beat him later that day on the same course. On the 6/4 Smackdown show, Elias beat R-Truth in a lumberjack match, and then lost it back to him, which unfortunately has positioned Elias at prelim level talent. Elias was originally in the spot with McIntyre feuding with Reigns, so he’s gone from a main event feud with Reigns on house shows to being part of the geek squad
  898.  
  899. The TV show “Happy!” on Syfy where Big Show had a recurring role was announced as being canceled by the station
  900.  
  901. WWE stock closed on 6/5 at $73.68 per share giving the company a $5.750 billion market value
  902.  
  903. The most-watched shows of the past week on WWE Network were: 1. Takeover Bridgeport; 2. HHH Road to WrestleMania; 3. Takeover preshow; 4. WWE 24: Ronda Rousey; 5. Money in the Bank; 6. Target Takeover (a documentary building Adam Cole vs. Johnny Gargano and Shayna Baszler vs. Io Shirai as a takeoff on what boxing and UFC did with Countdown shows); 7. WWE U.K. from 5/29; 8. The Failed Relaunch of WCW; 9. Ride Along with Rusev, Lana, Rose and Deville; 10. NXT from 5/29. Other interesting notes is the WWE Combine special was No. 11. The Bret Hart-Tom Magee special was No. 12; The 5/28 episode of 205 Live was No.13. And the just released match from the 60s with Mad Dog Vachon vs. Amazing Zuma was No. 19
  904.  
  905. Notes from the 6/3 Raw show in Austin, TX. The show was built around Lesnar cashing in and for the third week in a row, it was pushed and it never happened. This was pushed strongly that Stephanie McMahon had ordered Lesnar to do it and Heyman promised it would happen during the three hours. Lesnar then destroyed Rolling with a ton of chair shots and an F-5 on the floor. Heyman told him to cash in and Lesnar refused. That segment ended with Lesnar promising to cash in on Friday in Saudi Arabia. This was pushed awfully hard, both in promoting the show and during the first nearly two hours to then not do it again the third straight week. The story is that Rollins is going into his match with Corbin hurt, so it could be that Corbin wins and Lesnar cashes in on Corbin, or Corbin destroys Rollins, Rollins still sneaks over and wins and then Lesnar beats the destroyed Rollins. Aside from that the show flowed better, but the two women’s matches (Flair vs. Evans and Royce vs. Cross) were both really bad. Flair vs. Evans was a match where they tried to work it in a legit fashion doing lots of real wrestling and block but it was so sloppy. The show drew 7,000 fans, which is in the usual range of late for a Raw show. But for whatever reason, the part of the building on the opposite side of the hard camera shot lots of empty seats. It was noticeable and weird because WWE has a rule of never having seats open (they hire seat fillers to make sure all seats the camera shoots into are full) on the camera shots so it was unusual to see a number of empty seats even at ringside in the wide shots and some even when they’d focus on fan reactions and you’d see empty seats behind those fans. Usually WWE can get 3,000 in a 15,000 seat building but they make sure every seat on the other side of the hard camera is full so the audience never sees empty seats and the only time you notice it’s not full is on some wide shots where you see tarp covering seats, but not actual empty seats. For Main event, it opened with EC 3 over No Way Jose. Nothing much. No heat. EC 3 crotched him, hit the TKO and EC 3 driver for the pin. Natalya & Brooke beat Sarah Logan & Tamina. So Tamina turning face with Naomi last week when they hugged at the party didn’t count since she was a heel here. Brooke got a nice reaction and for her hot tag. Reigns came out to open Raw. Before he could say a thing, Shane came out and wanted Mike Rome to give him a proper “Best in the World” introduction. Shane said that at the Saudi Arabia show he was going to hit the coast-to-coast dropkick and then he’ll either pin Reigns, or he’ll put Reigns in a triangle and make Reigns tap out for the first time in his career. So Reigns had world class defensive Jiu Jitsu skill that we’ve never heard about. Shane said when the ref tells him to break, he’s not going to break since he’s got power and he can keep it on until Reigns’ eyes come bulging out of his head. Reigns told Shane he’d love for him to try and tap him out. He said if Shane put on the triangle, he’d pick his little spoiled ass up and power bomb him through the mat. He said Shane had two left feet and relied on help from McIntyre. He said after he’s done with Shane, he’s going after McIntyre. Didn’t we just see that? McIntyre came out and said that they don’t need their partners and they can just fight right now. Of course this distracted Reigns and The Revival attacked him from behind. The Usos made the save and we were on for the opener. McIntyre & Revival beat Reigns & Usos in 14:33. Eight of the 14 minutes of this match took place during two commercial breaks. I mean, I get you need commercials but that’s ridiculous. Reigns hit the Superman punch on McIntyre. Shane interfered and swept Jey’s leg and Jey crotched himself on the top rope. Reigns went after Shane. McIntyre hit Reigns with a Claymore kick. In the ring, The Revival gave Jimmy a shatter machine and McIntyre hit Jey with a Claymore kick and pinned Jay. After the match, The Revival gave Reigns the shatter machine and McIntyre gave him a Claymore kick. Reigns was held and Shane speared Reigns. Shane then mocked Reigns. It’s funny that when The Revival asked for their release, they instead got the tag titles out of nowhere to try and make them happy. Then when they turned down a big contract, they started making them look like fools, but when that didn’t accomplish anything, now they’re back to making them look good given they are here for some time to come. Miz TV with Rollins was next. Miz never brought up on the air that they were in Austin, TX, which is where he lives. It may be because in storyline he’s from Hollywood. Miz asked Rollins about Lesnar cashing in. He said that the last time Heyman told the truth was never. He said he’s prepared for Lesnar but “I’ll believe it when you see it.” He said that nobody likes Corbin, not a soul on Earth, not anyone in Austin. I’d like if nobody on Earth liked him it’s kind of a given to say nobody in Austin does. But he said Corbin did win the four-way and is the No. 1 contender. He said that if he wants to be a fighting champion, he has to defend against Corbin. Lesnar and Heyman came out. Lesnar teased cashing it in, but then walked to the back. The Lucha House Party was next out. Sullivan came out and went after all three. The three knocked Sullivan out of the ring. Then they just cutaway with no explanation as to why this monster is still there. The Iiconics made fun of Cross, calling her a dog. Bliss showed up. Bliss was acting all sad to Cross, looking for sympathy, saying Lynch can’t stand her, everyone can’t stand her, she’s got no friends. Cross then said how Bliss has been nothing but kind to her and that they are friends. Bliss said she’s be in Cross’ corner when Cross faces Royce later. Lynch came out. She said that she’s never been more content with her life (this was meant to mean her relationship with Rollins without outright saying it, to set up the angle later) but being content isn’t good for a fighter. She had a great delivery and started cutting a promo on Evans. Evans came out. Lynch challenged her. Flair came out. She noted that she was a nine-time champion. Evans called her a Daddy’s girl who needs attention. Evans said that Flair had nine championships and how she’s got zero so she’s yesterday’s news. Evans said that she was the face of WWE and told her to run along back to Smackdown. Evans ran into her. The announcers said that Evans punched her, except the punch is her finishing move and she never punched her. Flair sold it like she was run into, but didn’t sell it like she was hit with a finisher so not sure how this was explained at the production meeting and where the screw up was. Well, the announcers under any circumstances shouldn’t have called the Evans punch unless she hit it. This led to Flair vs. Evans. This was one of the weirdest matches of the year. For whatever reason, both women, who were trained as WWE style pro wrestlers, which is very far from a shoot style, were told for whatever reason to work the match like an amateur shoot. Of course this isn’t in either of their training and it was clumsy. Somehow after that, when they got to doing pro wrestling spots later in the match one spot after another was off. It was one of those things where I don’t think fans really realized it, but everyone in the business just saw a match that fell apart to a degree you rarely see on WWE television, and really don’t even see on NXT with people with far less experience. Lynch attacked Flair for the DQ in 10:20. Then Lynch gave Evans the uranage, which they are calling the man handle slam. Then Corey Graves said that Flair should be mad at Lynch because Lynch got her DQ’d and cost her the match. But the bell rang when Lynch attacked Flair, and that was well before Lynch touched Evans. What a mess. Mysterio came out to vacate the title. Joe came out. You can see the injury is pretty bad as even heavily clothed you can see how much upper body size Mysterio has lost not being able to lift weights. He relinquished the title and gave it to Joe. Wait, he’s injured and has to vacate. That makes sense. Handing the title to Joe? And with no explanation at all? How does that make sense. Joe then choked out Mysterio anyway. Dominick wasn’t there. People are waiting for Dominick to attack Joe and even if this wasn’t the week, they should have at least had him there to tease it for when it happens. Ricochet and Cesaro went back-and-forth on promos. Cesaro said Ricochet is naive if the thinks he can win again. Ricochet said that tonight is a preview of a rivalry that can last a decade. Lashley vs. Strowman in arm wrestling was next. This was well done for what it was. The basic arm wrestling formula in pro wrestling is usually the same, but it’s been so long since it’s been done that it’s new. They locked up. Lashley slapped him. Strowman wanted to kill him but they calmed him down. They locked up and Lashley after a few seconds pulled away, claiming he slipped. So then both guys got their hands all chalked up. They went back-and-forth. The crowd was into it. Strowman put Lashley down, and the face has to either win the arm wrestling match, or cheat and turn over the table when he’s on the edge of losing. Lashley then threw chalk in Strowman’ eyes and pounded on him, laying Strowman out by picking him up and doing a one-armed powerslam. Not sure he should have done the one-arm on a guy the size of Strowman when it’s Strowman’s move and Strowman doesn’t do the one-arm with guys who are much smaller than the guy Lashley was lifting. Carmella was looking for R-Truth. Maverick and EC 3 were backstage. Maverick told EC 3 that if you follow Carmella, you’ll find R-Truth. EC 3 could not have looked more bored. After Maverick gave that line, Renee Young, low key, said’ “That’s a good way to get a restraining order.” It was her funniest line since she started in the role and it went over everyone’s head. Cross beat Royce with an assisted neckbreaker in 5:55. This match was pretty bad. It was also well below what you expect from beginners in NXT. During the match, Bliss was at ringside in white pants. Bliss had coffee delivered to her at ringside. Bliss threw some coffee in Royce’s face. Kay then knocked the coffee all over Bliss and her white pants. They were laughing at Bliss, but Cross got the pin. Bliss was furious at her pants being all smudged up and gave Kay a DDT. Nikki was celebrating her win with Bliss but Bliss didn’t look the slightest bit happy for her. Rollins was out. Lesnar’s music played, but no Lesnar. Rollins said that Lesnar used to be one of the most feared men on Earth, but now he’s just a shell of that. Rollins dared Lesnar to come out and keep his promise. Instead , Corbin came out. Rollins hit Corbin with a tope. Rollins got the better of it until Lesnar’s music played again. Rollins was distracted and Corbin laid him out with the end of days. Lesnar came in with a chair. He gave Rollins a low blow, since Rollins had used a low blow to set up the title win at Mania. Lesnar followed with three chair shots to the back and a German suplex. Then he hit Rollins with another hard chair shot to the back. Heyman kept telling him to cash it in and Lesnar would scream back, “Not now.” Lesnar threw Rollins on the floor and gave him an F-5 on the floor. Lesnar still refused to cash it in. Lesnar used another chair shot to the back and used another German suplex and then said he was cashing it in on Friday. Then he left. Then he came back. By the way, the boom box briefcase only lasted one week and Lesnar nailed him with a briefcase shot and started laughing at Rollins. He gave him three more chair shots and Rollins’ back and shoulders were all sliced open. Then he walked off. Rollins went out on a stretcher in a neck brace and was taken out in an ambulance. To give it realism, Lynch was there and Lynch left in the ambulance with Rollins. The idea is that since the announcers don’t talk about Rollins and Lynch being a couple, but it’s insinuated and Heyman did bring it up, the idea is having Lynch leave with him makes it more realistic because the character Becky Lynch has no connection with Rollins in storyline but the real life Lynch and Rollins are a couple. Next was The Firefly Fun House. This was the best thing on the show and the best episode so far. You really have to see it. Wyatt was talking about exercise. One of the puppets he called Huskus, after his original name of Husky Harris. Huskus was a big boy who eats junk food and doesn’t take care of himself. He told Huskus that one day if he works hard that people will tell him that he’s a genius and that he’s got the whole world in his hands. Then there was a devil Vince McMahon puppet. In the end Wyatt was in his tank top and flexing and acting like he was a body guy singing about training. Nothing I can say can do this justice. Orton and HHH did dueling promos. This was weird. It was like they were spoofing the idea of a promo to build a match. They insulted each other while laughing at each other’s lines rather than getting mad. HHH did a line about this is where we start saying stuff about each other. He said Orton was one of the best ever to step foot in the ring but that a lot of people have tried to put him down and they’re all gone and he’s still here. He told Orton, “Trust me when I tell you, you are not The One.” Yeah, the One is one of many bad gimmicks they tried to push Billy Gunn with. Orton asked him to promise on Friday before he gets on the plane to retrieve his balls from Stephanie’s purse. Instead of getting mad they started acting like buddies who were playing pro wrestler and laughing at promos. HHH said that Orton wouldn’t know because he’s never had any. Orton laughed at this. And it kept going. This did nothing to make me interested in seeing that match. Corbin did an interview. He said what happened to Rollins has him shaken up, and then he started laughing. He said he’s going to celebrate because in this shape, Rollins doesn’t have a chance on Friday. Ricochet pinned Cesaro in 9:09. This had some cool spots and it was a good match. It was real late and people at this point were waiting for Undertaker. Ricochet did the same middle rope moonsault that he does in every match and it didn’t get a pop. Cesaro did a power superplex. Ricochet won with a cradle so he’s up 2-1. This will continue since Cesaro attacked him after the match and then pulled out a ladder. Then he put the ladder away. Then he pulled out a table. R-Truth was laying on the table so the idea was he’d been hiding under the ring the entire show. This led to Maverick, No Way Jose, Eric Young, EC 3, Alexander, Rawley and O’Neil all coming out after R-Truth. The worst part is that Alexander is so good and by being put with the rest of these guys it’s telling fans he’s a joke. Alexander did a flip dive onto everyone. Carmella superkicked Maverick who threw his papers in the air, which is the exact spot done on the AEW show nine days earlier. Yeah, it’s been done many times before, doing an identical spot from last week. The show ended with Undertaker out. He did his entrance, said that he doesn’t what the family man Goldberg with his wife and son, but wants the unstoppable Goldberg from the past and if he doesn’t get him he’ll eat him alive. He said if the old Goldberg isn’t coming, then their first meeting will be Goldberg’s last match and told Goldberg, “You’re next.” They had a post-show dark match where Strowman pinned Lashley. They went a few minutes and it was better than most of what was on television. Lashley got a near fall with a spear but Strowman got the pin with a powerslam
  906.  
  907. Notes from the 6/4 Smackdown tapings in Laredo, TX. This was the go-home show for Super Showdown. The big thing was an Undertaker-Goldberg staredown. It was well done. They actually did a far better job of making that match feel special than everything else on the show combined, even if they’re worked harder on Shane vs. Reigns. The show drew 4,000 fans, which is bad for WWE in that market. Laredo used to be an automatic sellout even for house shows. In the dark match, Heavy Machinery beat The B team. Smackdown opened with Kingston & Woods out. Kingston talked a lot about coming back from Ghana and they showed a lot of clips from his trip. He seemed genuinely touched by the trip. He said the most important thing is that he’s able to inspire people to believe that anything is possible. He said it was his first time in Ghana in 26 years. He was born in Ghana but his family migrated to the Boston area when he was a child. He was almost in tears talking about all this. He gave a pep talk to the kids there and said it was an amazing feeling to tell people they can be whatever they want to be. He said he saw his grandmother for the first time in 30 years. Then it got weird because they had to move to pro wrestling mode. Ziggler came out and said that Kingston was an inspiration. He said he respected Kingston so much. He said he respected Kingston’s sacrifices, but this story isn’t about you. He said that he gave his soul to WWE but it’s Kingston who had the WrestleMania moment and “it should have been me.” Poor guy is looking so bad with this dialogue written for him. It doesn’t work on any level. Ziggler said “I’m the hero of this story,” which, if you remember, is the exact wording that just a few months ago Johnny Gargano was using in his heel turn that went nowhere in NXT and was then dropped. Either a writer copied this from NXT or the same writer was brought up from NXT and used the same line. Kingston said that everyone knows you’ve (Ziggler) had a great career. Kingston said that Ziggler beat him for both the U.S. and IC titles. Kingston said that it would have been you and it could have been you but you quit and I never quit. Instead of making me want to see the top two guys build for a championship match, this promo was all about the idea that we give nice guys title belts if they are loyal and Kofi waited for his turn and Dolph lost patience and got frustrated and wasn’t a good soldier. It’s bad enough when you’re a long-time fan and see Kingston vs. Ziggler as the title match which in and of itself tells you it’s a mid-card pass-around belt but it’s another when the actual storyline of the match is that exact same thing. This led to a tag match where Kingston & Woods beat Owens & Zayn in 10:23. They’ve at least booked Kingston like a champion during this run, which is a lot more than we can see for a number of their current champion. Kingston pinned Zayn after Trouble in Paradise. After the match, Ziggler superkicked Kingston and then superkicked Woods. Shane did an interview. He told Reigns that “anything you can do I can do better,” like he’s reciting a line from a 1946 musical. He said he’s the best in the world and he’s calling Reigns out. He asked if it will be the big dog strutting his stuff or a little pup with his tail between his legs. Bliss came out. She was a babyface last night against the Iiconics. Tonight she’s a heel since she’s doing a program with Bayley. She immediately tried to establish herself as a heel saying she came from the more prestigious Raw brand. How do you expect anyone to buy a difference in brands when everyone is on the same show? And nobody did. The line was meant for heat, she paused, and nobody booed. Bayley came out. Bliss acted like she could care less about Bayley and didn’t want to talk with her until she got her coffee. Her first cup didn’t taste good so she wanted another cup. Bliss noted that she was a former Smackdown women’s champion and when she was champion the title meant something. She implied the title meant nothing when somebody like Bayley has it. Well, I wouldn’t say that, but there are a lot of titles that mean nothing when people see them as pass-around belts and the champions aren’t booked like champions. Bayley knocked the coffee out of Bliss’ hands. They are trying to establish Bayley as a new character. They had to because they had killed off the old one, plus, at a certain point, that character wasn’t going to work even if it was done right as it had a shelf life. Carmella and Flair came out. Flair said that Shane had said that there will be a three-way match to determine who faces Bayley at Stomping Grounds. Elias was in the ring for a 24/7 title match with R-Truth ordered by Shane. You had all the guys not getting pushed as lumberjacks such as Roode, Matt Hardy, Jack Gallagher, Benjamin, Mahal, Dallas, Axel, EC 3, Maverick, No Way Jose and Eric Young. Remember the limit of four people from the other brand allowed on the show. Of course that doesn’t mean a thing now. The one notable thing is no Heavy Machinery so Vince does want to protect them from geek status. No such luck with Elias. Elias pinned R-Truth to win the title with a cradle in :25. Then everyone went to attack Elias. Elias managed to escape while everyone was busy brawling with each other for some unknown reason. He went under the ring to hide. R-Truth went under the ring and pinned him since the ref went under to make the count, and then R-Truth ran off as champion. Black, who has also been protected from being part of the Geek Squad, did a promo. He seems to badly want a program. He said he’s sitting and waiting patiently for somebody to pick a fight with him. Shane came out with The Revival. There was a loud “C.M. Punk” chant at Shane because of him continuing to call himself The Best in the World. They showed clips from the night before. Shane then once again made a dog analogy, about a litter of puppies and there’s one dog more spirited than the rest who won’t behave and he said that you have to neuter that dog. So he’s going to neuter Reigns in Saudi Arabia. Hopefully their government isn’t watching and thinking they can do the McMahon family a favor since they seem to specialize in ordering parts of bodies cut off. Reigns came out. He beat down both Revival members. He was then coming after Shane when McIntyre appeared out of nowhere and nailed Reigns with a Claymore kick. McIntyre held Reigns for Shane to spear him again and mock him doing the Reigns mannerisms. The angle got great heat. Kayla Braxton was out to interview Lars Sullivan. Whoever scripted this interview badly needs their computer, pens and crayons confiscated. I’ve never seen, and I’ve seen some bad stuff with Reigns, an interview written more poorly based on the character. I guess the idea is they have this vision of Sullivan as a tortured freak and already want to set the stage for a face turn, with the idea he’s intelligent but nuts because of his background as a child. So they want him to use big words and make these analogies. He’d be so much better off standing there twisting a bullworker exercise device over-and-over while a manager talks for him. There were some boring chants, and a few Goldberg chants. I was actually surprised at how few Goldberg chants there were as I figured that would be a natural reaction given everyone knew Goldberg was there. The whole thing build to Sullivan saying there’s a word he’s been called his whole life and he’s had to live with it and told Braxton to say it, and she said freak. Anyway, this segment was a disaster. Sullivan said something about bodily fluid, which tells me that whoever wrote it was only looking at pleasing Vince. And the announcers had to laugh when Sullivan used the term bodily fluids which made a terrible segment even worse. Andrade was supposed to wrestle Crews. Andrade attacked Crews before the match and laid him out wit a hammerlock DDT. Balor came out and attacked Andrade. Balor was getting the better of it until Vega grabbed his foot. Andrade took over with knees and then laid out Balor with the hammerlock DDT. The final segment was with Goldberg and Undertaker. So Goldberg is now “The Legendary Goldberg.” He does look a little older than when he did the program with Lesnar, but for a guy who is 52, he’s still really big. He came across like a superstar, far more than Kingston or Reigns or even Rollins do, but it is a special guest and I was shocked that he made no difference in the ratings. He said that he’s been waiting 20 years to experience what it would be like in the ring with Undertaker. Well, except they were in together and Undertaker even eliminated him in the 2017 Royal Rumble, but we’ll forget that ever happened. He said he’s getting the match he’s always wanted. He thanked Undertaker for telling him to leave the family man Goldberg at home. He said he heard that, and the switch turned on and he left that guy at home because that guy may come up short. He said Undertaker is getting the asskicking Goldberg who went 173-0 and told Undertaker, “You’re next to rest in peace.” I’m relatively certain this person didn’t script the Sullivan promo, because this was so much better. The lights went out. The crowd went nuts because Undertaker’s music played. The lights came on and
  908.  
  909. Undertaker was in the ring. The most notable thing here is that usually, even with Lesnar or Cena, they act spooked by Undertaker once face-to-face. Goldberg laughed at him and didn’t show any fear at all face-to-face and never backed off. The lights went out again and when they came on, Undertaker was gone and Goldberg again laughed about it. 205 Live was supposed to open with Noam Dar vs. Akira Tozawa. As Dar made his entrance, Drew Gulak attacked him and dropkicked Dar’s left knee into the steps. Tozawa then challenged Gulak and Drake Maverick okayed it. Gulak beat Tozawa clean with a neckbreaker off the torture rack. Mike Kanellis did an interview. He said he’s tired of being overlooked. He said he beat Brian Kendrick last week. He said Maverick is spending too much time chasing the 24/7 title. Kanellis is now doing a catch phrase that he’s “Better than the best.” Tony Nese was asked if he’s worried about Gulak. Nese said he knows Gulak but didn’t understand Maverick putting Gulak against Tozawa, but then said he knows Maverick has lost his focus of late. Great, we’re doing an incompetent G.M. storyline. Nese said he’ll wrestle whoever they decide to put him against. I remember when we used to tell people to learn from UFC when WWE was losing so much ground. I never meant copy the promos where the winners say they’ll face whoever Dana White decides to put them against. The Lucha House Party cut a promo for their match on Friday with Sullivan. Lorcan beat Daivari with a crucifix pin. There was a funny line where Daivari used a cobra clutch and Nigel McGuinness called it the Million Dollar Dream, which was what it was called when Ted DiBiase used it as his finisher. McGuinness said that with inflation it’s now the Billion Dollar Dream
  910.  
  911. We didn’t get much on the weekend shows. There were no NXT shows this weekend, only the Takeover special. Raw ran 5/31 in Rio Rancho, NM, 6/1 in Lubbock, TX and 6/2 in San Angelo, TX. Rio Rancho drew 3,500. Smackdown ran 6/1 in Waco, TX and 6/2 in College Station, TX. We didn’t get any crowds past that the crowds were very soft and the Smackdown crew was depleted since Bryan and Orton had the weekend off, Kingston was in Ghana in a scheduled promotional visit as champion. To augment the losses, they brought McIntyre from the Raw side to headline the Smackdown house shows against Reigns
  912.  
  913. Rio Rancho opened with Usos over Revival. Joe won a four-way match over Ricochet, Roode and Alexander. Naomi beat Tamina via DQ when Logan interfered and pushed Naomi off the top rope. Logan and Tamina beat down Naomi until Brooke made the save. So, yes, on TV last week Tamina turned babyface and hugged Naomi because they made it clear they are all family since Tamina is related to the Usos, at least as far as the Island family members treat themselves all as cousins. This turned into a tag where Naomi & Brooke beat Tamina & Logan. Zayn came out and cut a promo on all the fans. Strowman chased him away. Lashley then attacked Strowman. This turned into Strowman vs. Lashley in a singles match with Zayn in Lashley’s corner. Strowman won, and then after the match Strowman also laid out Zayn with a powerslam. Kalisto pinned Eric Young. After the match, the Viking Raiders attacked Kalisto. Dorado & Metalik came out. This led to Viking Raiders over Dorado & Metalik. Evans beat Natalya when Logan distracted Natalya. Brooke and Natalya then chased Evans & Logan away. Main event saw Rollins retain the Universal title over Corbin with a curb stomp
  914.  
  915. For Smackdown in Waco, it opened with the Iiconics keeping the women’s tag title in a three-way over Rose & Deville and Sane & Asuka. Black pinned Mahal. Heavy Machinery went to a no contest with The B Team. They had a match and in the middle of the match R-Truth came out running away from Matt Hardy, Crews and Murphy. They kept trying to beat him. Then Sullivan came out and destroyed everyone. Carmella beat James. This match was stopped by the officials when James suffered a knee injury. There was a Kevin Owens interview segment with Woods as his guest. The segment ended with the two of them fighting and Woods putting Owens through a table. Ali beat Andrade in what was said to be a great match. Flair beat Moon. Main event saw Reigns pin McIntyre with a spear. McIntyre was advertised that night on both the Raw and the Smackdown shows. Elias was in McIntyre’s corner
  916.  
  917. College Station was mostly the same show. Mahal was not on the show and it wasn’t because of the golf course title changes that day since they did the same R-Truth spot in the Heavy Machinery vs. B Team match. But in this case, Black pinned Murphy. With James out, Carmella beat Vega.
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