Battleground Debuts
Bayley and Mojo Rawley made their main roster debuts at the WWE PPV Battleground last night. Bayley appeared as the super secret “Dave Meltzer won’t guess it” mystery partner. (To be fair to Dave, Bailey was his first guess; it takes more than a tweet to sneak one past HOFer Dave Meltzer.) None of that mattered because it was in fact Bayley who came out to a MASSIVE crowd reaction and a standing ovation to start off last night’s PPV portion. Sasha and Bailey went on to defeat Charlotte and Dana Brooke in a tag team match in the opener of what many are considering a thumbs up show.
Later, Mojo Rawley made his appearance after the conclusion of the Rusev vs. Zach Ryder match, in which Rusev had submitted Ryder with the Accolade. As Rusev was about to administer more pain to the defeated Ryder, when Rawley’s music hit and he made the save for his fellow Hype-Bro tag partner. What’s odd is that Rawley was recently drafted to Smackdown Live in the 11th round, and Rusev was drafted to Raw with Lana. Since Ryder was also drafted to Smackdown Live, it appears the Hype-Bros are back to together.
[Dan Velten]
THE ROUND-UP
NJPW G1 Climax 26 night five results: Kazuchika Okada vs. Hirooki Goto
Former NXT champion debuts at WWE Battleground
UFC on FOX does biggest overnight rating in 18 months
WWE Battleground live results: Roman Reigns vs. Dean Ambrose vs. Seth Rollins
WWE Battleground 2016: Observer staff preview & predictions
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Figure Four Weekly
READ IT HERE: Figure Four Weekly 7/18/2016: Does WWE policy apply to Brock Lesnar? – The latest big pro wrestling/mixed martial arts hybrid story involving Brock Lesnar saw him flagged by the United States Anti-Doping Association (USADA) for a potential anti-doping violation in an out of competition test collected on June 28. The results came in on the evening of July 14th and the UFC was notified the following day.
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Wrestling Observer Newsletter
READ IT HERE: July 25, 2016 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Results of the WWE draft, Brock Lesnar fails USADA drug tests, – The WWE draft ended up just as planned from the start, with the same dynamics of Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins as the top Raw program and John Cena vs. A.J. Styles as the top Smackdown program.
With one of the biggest news weeks of the year, it’s a double issue of the Observer this week, covering the draft, the Jon Jones & Brock Lesnar drug test failures and drugs failed for, the Roman Reigns drug test failure, a major WWE star who is no longer under contract, lots more on the UFC sale, details on the latest concussion lawsuit against WWE, as well as coverage of the beginning of the G-1 tournament and the beginning of the Super J Cup.
The lead story covers the draft. We look at what, when the draft idea started, were the planned main events for SummerSlam. We look at what did and didn’t change about the draft and why. We look at what failed about the draft. We look at what changed in the final week before the draft. We look at why certain people were called up from NXT and some interesting decisions made. We look at the situation with he cruiserweight, the announcing team changes, and what’s new with Brock Lesnar.
We’ve got a complete rundown of not only who is on what brand but slotting and what the slotting shows, as well as the Cesaro interview.
We also go through the Jon Jones and Brock Lesnar drug test failures. We talk about the drugs, what their medical usage would be for, Jones past test results and Twitter responses. We also look at what Lesnar tested for, Mark Hunt’s reaction, what punishment Lesnar is facing, and how this pertains to pro wrestling. We also look at what John Cena said about the test failure.
We’ve got more on the UFC sale including several other companies that had interest in buying UFC and why each one ended up dropping out as the bidding reached high points. We look at what different stations had wanted to do with UFC, and why a media company would have made sense as a buyer. We look at what revenue stream and logic was used to generate the $4 billion sale figure, as well as notes on Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta after the sale.
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Wrestling Observer Newsletter BACK ISSUE
READ IT HERE: June 21, 1999 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Hart family files lawsuit against WWF, WCW Great American Bash review, more – The expected lawsuit filed by the Hart family against a number of defendants, the main one being the World Wrestling Federation, was announced at a press conference on 6/15 in Kansas City.
MONDAY NEWS UPDATE
After debuting at Battleground last night, WWE.com did an interview with Bayley where she said that the appearance was a one time thing and that she is still focused on regaining the NXT women’s championship. Bayley superfan Izzy’s live reaction to the debut was captured by her parents.
It looks like tonight’s Raw will also officially see the debut of another popular NXT superstar, as the WWE Twitter account wished Finn Balor a happy birthday and said they’d be seeing him at Raw tonight.
Dan Henderson is claiming that he will retire after his upcoming fight with Michael Bisping whether he wins or loses. The fight is not official yet but is rumored to be taking place in October in England.
UFC on Saturday night announced that they will have a show in Portland on October 1st that will air on FS 1. No fights are announced yet but Will Brooks, coming off his win over Ross Pearson has challenged Edson Barboza to fight him on that card.
WWE / Pro Wrestling
Ring of Honor officially announced that Jay Lethal will defend his ROH title against Adam Cole in the main event of Death Before Dishonor XIV on August 19th. The two have been feuding since Cole joined the Bullet Club and interrupted Lethal’s match against Colt Cabana at Global Wars earlier this year.
On the Elvis Duran show this morning, Stephanie McMahon announced a SummerSlam concert featuring Flo Rida and Jason Derulo on August 18th at the Barclays Center to benefit Connor’s Cure.
Answering an unresolved question from last week’s draft, Renee Young tweeted that she will be a part of the SmackDown roster.
PROGRESS wrestling announced Cruiserweight Classic competitor Jack Gallagher vs. Zack Gibson for their July 31st show at the Electric Ballroom in London.
This article from LA Weekly is about Jeff “Brother Nero” Hardy and his experiences at the Gathering of the Juggalos. Hardy also says that he wants to finish his career by losing to the Undertaker at WrestleMania in a Hell in a Cell match:
“When I ask Hardy about the WWE, or a possible last run with wrestling’s biggest brand, he stands up and begins to use his hands to paint a picture for me of what he describes as his “home run match.”
“Man, I want to Swanton [a forward flip that’s Hardy’s finishing move] off the top of the cell, onto the commentary table,” says Hardy, who says he wants to end his career in a match with the Undertaker, at WrestleMania, in a “Hell in the Cell” match. “Then, I want to climb the cell, cut the fucking cage, when Taker’s back in the ring, and Swanton though the cage, miss, and then Tombstone 1-2-3.” Hardy wants to lose to the Undertaker, which is the pro wrestling equivalent to an actor being offered a death scene in a Tarantino movie.”
UFC / MMA
International soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo recently met Conor McGregor inside of the Octagon and posted pictures on his Instagram account.
UFC announced that their return to Manila, Philippines will take place October 15. Tickets for the event go on sale August 17.
Reza Madadi is out of his fight with Rustam Khabilov on September 3rd in Hamburg. Replacing him will be Leandro Silva.
Three fighters earned “big wins” this past Saturday: Barboza, Ngannou, and Herrig. This article examines where these three go from here.
On today’s episode of the MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Chael Sonnen confirmed that he has entered the USADA testing pool and is waiting on the results of his first test. He didn’t commit to returning to MMA, but said that he wants to keep the option open.
From Saturday’s UFC Fight Night show, here are the $50,000 bonuses: Fight of the Night: Jason Knight vs Jim Alers; Performance Bonus: Eddie Wineland and Felice Herrig
Results of the Observer Panel Picks from Saturday:
4-1: Paul Fontaine
3-2: Steve Juon
2-3: Ryan Frederick, Mike Sawyer, John Pollock, David Bixenspan, Mike Sempervive, Dave Meltzer, Front Row Brian
1-4: Josh Nason*
*Looks like Nason is off the juice…
VARIETY
Results: Stardom 7.24 – Osaka Edion Arena, SWA Undisputed World Title Match Tony Storm pinned Io Shirai clean to win the title, Kairi Hojo retained over Viper by count out, Mayu Iwatani retained over Shanna, Yoko Bito defeated Saori Anou, Jungle Kyona, Hiroyo Matsumoto & Chelsea defeated Kagetsu, Leah Vaughan & Kris Wolf, Hiromi Mimura, Natsumi Maki & Arisu Nanase defeated Momo Watanabe, Alex Lee & Azumi
Stardom’s Io Shirai will be undergoing minor surgery to repair tailbone damage, but hopes to be back by August.
The Summer Slam Events Calendar
July 29, 30, 31 – ECCW returns to the Agrifair 2016 Abbortsford, BC with three shows per day. Friday and Saturday shows start at 12:00PM – 3:00PM – 8:00PM. Saturday July 30 will feature “The Mouth of the South” Jimmy Hart. Sunday’s shows start at 11:00AM – 2PM and 5PM
July 30 – UFC 201 – LAWLER VS. WOODLEY from Atlanta, GA
July 30 – WSOF 32: Moraes vs. Hill 2 – Live on NBCSN from Everett, Washington. Also featuring Ben “Phoenix Jones” Fodor vs Caros Fodor in a brother vs brother fight
July 30 – Smash Wrestling – Oshawa Music Hall, 39 King St E, Oshawa, Ontario L1H 1B2
July 31 – BATTLEWAR 36; Les Foufounes Électriques, 87 Sainte-Catherine Street East, Montreal, QC
Aug 4-6 – !BANG! TV – Professional Wrestling Spectacular, 3 charity shows in 3 days. – More information.
Aug 5 – NEF Presents Dana White: Looking for a Fight. More info here.
Aug 6 – UFC FIGHT NIGHT – RODRIGUEZ VS CACERES, from Salt Lake City, UT
August 6 – Absolute Intense Wrestling Girls Night Out in Cleveland at Our Lady of Mt Carmel with Crazy Mary Dobson, Allysin “Sienna” Kay, Veda Scott, Shayna Baszler, Annie Social, Kelly Klein, Heidi Lovelace, Lufisto, Nicole Savoy and more.
Aug 12 – Live Professional Wrestling, downtown Toronto at the Tranzac! 292 Brunswick Ave, Toronto, ON M5S 2M7, Canada – All proceeds go to the Autism Ontario group.
Aug 12 – BIG WEST WRESTLING presents BOWLING, BODYSLAMS & BBQ, Lake City Bowling & Billiards: Kelowna, BC
Aug 12 – Zack Sabre Jr. vs.. Jeff Cobb has been added to the Revolution Pro show in London at York Hall in Bethnal Green.
Aug 13 – World Women’s Wrestling’s 2016 IRON MAIDEN Championship at the America Civic Center in Wakefield, MA
Aug 13 – wXw NOW – The End (Tommy End’s final show in Germany, booked by The Sumerian Death Squad)
Aug 13 – NWA Mid South Wrestling in Dyresburg, TN at the Herb Welch Wrestle Plex headlined by Matt Riviera vs. Jeremy Moore.
Aug 19 – Superkick’d Pro Wrestling Rock Show – Blazed The Great Hall, 1087 Queen Street West, Toronto, Ontario M6J 1H3
Aug 19 – The Hardys, Drew Galloway, Ethan Carter III and Mickie James appear for House of Glory Wrestling in Jamaica, NY. That’s the Friday before SummerSlam.
Aug 20 – UFC 202 – DIAZ VS MCGREGOR 2, from Las Vegas, NV
Aug 21 – WWE Presents THE SummerSlam PPV event at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. It will be the twenty-ninth event under the SummerSlam chronology and the second consecutive SummerSlam to be hosted in the Barclays Center.
Aug 21 – Chavo Guerrero Jr. will appear for Smash Wrestling on in Pickering, Ontario at Super Showdown lV.
Aug 21 – Octagon & Tinieblas Jr. vs. Fuerza Guerrera & Pirata Morgan headlines in Houston at the Arena Theater.
Aug 26 – Absolute Intense Wrestling – Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, 1355 W. 70th St. Cleveland, OH
Aug 26 – CONFLICT Wrestling: “Black or White”
Aug 26 – Bellator 160 from the Pond in Anaheim and live on Spike TV. Benson Henderson vs Patricio Pitbull Freire
Aug 27 – UFC FIGHT NIGHT – MAIA VS. CONDIT from Vancouver, BC.
Aug 28 – Destiny wrestling proudly presents “SUMMER HEAT”.
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