Daily Update: Ivar, Jon Jones, UFC weigh-ins

F4W/WON Convention

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter:

• May 20, 2024 Observer Newsletter: More Grant vs. McMahon developments, AEW Collision residency

This week’s back issue:

• January 8, 2007 Observer Newsletter: Vince McMahon & Donald Trump, UFC 66

Friday Update

– Our weekend schedule is that we will be doing a show today with Garrett Gonzales talking about the news of the week and Bryan and I will return Sunday night covering the weekend news.

– The new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter is up on the site today. It’s a gigantic issue:

• The legal games involving the Janel Grant lawsuit against Vince McMahon. The arguments for  arbitration, McMahon’s side goes after Janel Grant’s character, why Vince can’t produce the text messages, and WWE and McMahon file new arguments.
• AEW going to tape Collisions & ROH leading up to All In, all in Arlington, TX.  We look at the good and the bad as well as the significance to this move
• The crazy competition the first AEW show in the building wll face
• Update on King and Queen of the Ring as well as AEW Double or Nothing. What to look for on both shows.
• Full detailed rundown of New Japan Resurgence
• The death of inDemand, a company that was a huge part of the wrestling and boxing business for decades
• Huge historical feature on the life of Bob Bruggers, as well as the 1972 Verne Gagne training camp that produced five Hall of Fame candidates of its six trainees and background of Ken Patera, Ric Flair, Greg Gagne, Jim Brunzell and Iron Sheik
• The most detailed look at the ratings of all the pro wrestling and MMA TV shows this past week
• The biggest trouble spot AEW faces
• The weekly rankings for wrestling, quarter hours, competition for the shows and more
• Arena Mexico big show update
• AAA doing a feuding authority figure angle
• NWA deal with All Japan
• Behind the new executive who will be in charge of three different pro wrestling companies at the same time
• New Japan Super Juniors coverage
• One of the biggest drawing cards of the last 40 years to announce his retirement details this week
• Another of the biggest stars of the last 40 years enters sports Hall of Fame
• Billy Corgan talks TV deal for NWA
• Homicide talks injuries
• Death of wrestler and horror stories about warring with Eddie Graham
• MLW breaks records and gets its most mainstream media ever
• New AEW licensing deals
• Konosuke Takeshita talks frustrations in AEW
• Advance ticket sales for AEW & WWE shows
• More on Dwayne Johnson’s next movie
• Details of the most expensive sports ticket I’ve ever heard of
• Dana White talks WWE PPVs on Sundays and update
• What Las Vegas is expecting as far as tourism for WrestleMania
• More behind the departures of two more WWE executives
• Lots of injury updates
• Streaming numbers and international TV numbers
• Sami Zayn’s first comedy show looked at
• *WWE arena notes and weekend business

– Ivar’s injury is more serious than we were first led to believe. They did an NXT angle where Gallus took him out as a storyline reason as he was not going to be around for a while. Ivar posted that he’s trying to figure out all of his options and what it means for his future.

– A correction from what was earlier reported in the Observer today. WWE isn’t taping two episodes of SmackDown in Jacksonville tonight. Next week’s show will be taped for the first time in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

– Yesterday was the 61st anniversary of Bruno Sammartino’s original WWWF title win over Buddy Rogers.

– Today is the fourth anniversary of the death of Shad Gaspard, the first winner and namesake for our Shad Gaspard/Jon Huber annual award. Last year on this day was the death of Superstar Billy Graham, a performer whose influence on the industry can’t be overstated and whose Madison Square Garden drawing power sellout percentage (as noted in our bio in the May 22, 2023 issue) will likely never be topped.

– Also want to make a  note of the story in the current Observer on Bob Bruggers, the 1975 plane crash  and the Verne Gagne 1972 training camp.  For those into pro wrestling history, and just really a look at a unique life, you’ll probably really like this one. There are so many twist and turns in it from different territories, stars like Ric Flair and Ken Patera breaking in, and the 1975 plane crash and all the different what-ifs that could have happened, from the potential end of Flair’s career to what if Wahoo McDaniel was on the flight.

– The New Japan Best of the Super Juniors continues at 5 a.m. tomorrow morning from Hachioji:

• Kosei Fujita vs Clark Connors
• Dragon Dia vs. Drilla Moloney
• Hayata vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru
• Ninja Mack vs. Douki
• TJP vs. Bushi
• Kushida vs. Robbie Eagles
• Titan vs. Blake Christian
• Taiji Ishimori vs. Francesco Akira
• El Desperado vs. Kevin Knight
• Sho vs. Hiromu Takahashi

– The U.K FantasticaMania shows are tomorrow at York Hall in London.

Afternoon show:

• Zozaya & Michael Oku vs. Ultimo Guerrero & Angel de Oro
• Mistico & Ricky Knight Jr. & JJ Gale vs. Templario & Gabe Kidd & Magnus
• Hechicero vs. Connor Mills
• Barbaro Cavernario vs. Robbie X
• Stephanie Vaquer v. Kanji
• Luke Jacobs & Grizzled Young Veterans vs. Mascara Dorada & Neon & Futuro
• Atlantis & Atlantis Jr. & Dulce Gardenia vs. Okumura & Kid Lykos & Kid Lykos II

Evening show:

• Oku vs. Ultimo Guerrero
• Mistico vs. Templario
• Grizzled Young Veterans vs. Atlantis & Atlantis Jr for British tag titles
• Jordon Breaks vs. Neon for British cruiserweight title
• Stephanie Vaquer vs. Rhio
• Mascara Dorada vs. Gabe Kidd vs. Magnus
• Zozaya vs. Angel de Oro
• Robbie X & Dulce Gardena & Futuro vs. Hechicero & Barbaro Cavernario & Okumura

– Funeral services for longtime Bay Area wrestling star Tony Jones will be tomorrow at 11 a.m. at Duggans  Funeral Home in Daly City, CA. Jones was featured in Beyond the Mat and was a standout college wrestler. He was a super nice guy who I talked with at almost every major wrestling show I attended in the last 20 or so years, was a regular listener to our shows and had tryouts with WWF & WCW.  

– We’re looking for reports on these weekend shows:

• Smackdown tonight in Jacksonville (dark matches only)
• TNA TV tapings Saturday in Newport, KY
• NXT Saturday in Fort Pierce, FL
• TNA TV tapings Sunday in Newport, KY

– The Apple TV documentary “Monster Factory,” about Danny Cage’s wrestling school in Paulsboro, NJ, was nominated for a Sports Emmy for Outstanding Documentary series. The ceremony will be on Tuesday.

– UFC is at the Apex tomorrow with a show purely on ESPN+ from the Apex Arena in Las Vegas:

• Vanessa Dempoulo (116) vs. Emily Ducote (115.5)
• Alatengheil (136) vs. Kleydson Rodrigues (135.5)
• Piera Rodriguez (116) vs. Ariane Carnelossi (115.5)
• Abus Magomedov (185.5) vs. Warlley Alves (186)
• Tamires Vidal (134.5) vs. Melissa Gatto (134.5)
• Oumar Sy (206) vs. Tuco Tokko (205.5)
• Victor Martinez (156) vs. Tom Nolan (155.5)
• Luana Pinheiro (116) vs. Angela Hill (115.5)
• Adrian Yanez (136) vs. Vinicius Salvador (136)
• Themba Gorimbo (170.5) vs. Ramiz Brahimaj (170.5)
• Khaos Williams (170) vs. Carlston Harris (169.5)
• Edson Barboza (145.5) vs. Lerone Murphy (146)

– Jon Jones in a tweet teased that he would return to fighting in November. Jones is expected to defend the heavyweight title against Stipe Miocic next. November would be UFC’s annual show in Madison Square Garden. That would make sense. Jones previously said he had agreed to a return date but would wait for UFC to announce it.

– The Bellator show from Paris, France, is currently airing Friday afternoon on MAX.

– MLW Battle Riot on 6/1 at Center Stage in Atlanta is almost sold out.  That’s  a 700 seat venue.

– MLW Fury Road airs at 10 p.m. tomorrow night on Bein Sports and the MLW YouTube channel as a two-hour special. Satoshi Kojima vs. 1 Called Manders for the MLW title and Matt Riddle vs. Sami Callihan headline. Details on the show that was taped this past weekend are in the current Observer.

– Former UFC fighter Jack Marshman has signed a multi-fight deal with the BYB Extreme Bare Knuckle promotion.

– Combate Global airs on Univision Saturday night from Miami on Univision and FUSE with Patrick Lahane (7-2) vs. James Gonzalez (10-7) in the main event.  It airs at 9:30 p.m. Eastern.  Gonzalez is a late replacement for Ivan Castllo of Mexico who pulled out earlier in the week due to a bad eye poke in training

– Buff Bagwell returns to wrestling this weekend on the Memphis Wrestling YouTube show that airs on Saturdays at Noon. Bagwell & John Dalton in the main event face Lord Gaston & Sir Matthew.

– Eve on 6/7 at the Big Penny Social Club in Walthamstow, London. Miyuki Takase and Haruka Umesaki will debut with Eve on that show. They face Safire Reed and Chantal Jordan.

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