Daily Update: Will Ospreay, Marty Scurll, ROH
DAILY UPDATE
Latest News:
Tyler Breeze making WWE 205 Live debut, Lio Rush vs. Isaiah Scott set
USA Network renews ‘Straight Up Steve Austin’ for season two
AEW adds number one contender’s tag match to Bash at the Beach
Ospreay set for Janela’s Spring Break, WrestleCon SuperShow
NJPW/CMLL Fantasticamania night one results: The tour begins
Latest Audio:
WOL: Jim returns from Japan, AEW vs. NXT numbers, more! 1/10
Wrestling Weekly: Pampero Firpo, New Japan & AEW 1/10
JNPO: 2019 MMA year in review, pt. 3 1/10
B&V: Bryan and Vinny review AEW and NXT head-to-head! 1/9
We’re looking for reports on the dark matches from Smackdown tonight in Evansville, IN, as well as reports from NXT shows in Pittsburgh and Venice, FL tonight to [email protected]
Smackdown is from Evansville tonight with Miz interviewing John Morrison and the Usos first match back against King Corbin & Dolph Ziggler.
CMLL FROM ARENA MEXICO AT 9:30 P.M. TONIGHT
Fantasy & Shockercito vs. Pequeno Violencia & Mercurio
Marcela & Princesa Sugehit & Lluvia vs Amapola & Tiffany & Commandante
Esfinge vs. Universo 2000 Jr.
Blue Panther & Blue Panther Jr. & Black Panther vs. Felino & Ephesto & Vangellys
Atlantis Jr. & Star Jr.& Valiente vs. Rey Hechicero & Rey Bucanero & Templario
Diamante Azul & Mistico & Volador Jr. vs. Gran Guerrero & Shocker & El Terrible
Saturday we’re looking for reports on the Raw/Smackdown joint show in Dayton, OH and NXT shows in Warren, MI and Fort Pierce,FL as well as ROH from Atlanta and MOW from Dallas to [email protected]
ROH FROM CENTER STAGE IN ATLANTA AT 6 P.M. EASTERN ON HONOR CLUB
PCO vs. Rush for ROH title
Marty Scurll & Brody King & Flip Gordon vs. Bandido & Flamita & Rey Hours
Dragon Lee vs. Andrew Everett for TV title
Jonathan Gresham vs. Josh Woods
Nicole Savoy & Sumie Sakai vs. Angelina Love & Mandy Leon
Sunday we’re looking for reports on the Raw/Smackdown joint show in Corbin, KY and the NXT house how in Buffalo as well as ROH from Concord, NC.
NXT UK TAKEOVER BLACKPOOL SUNDAY ON WWE NETWORK
Tyler Bate vs. Jordan Devlin
Trent Seven vs. Eddie Dennis
Kay Lee Ray vs. Toni Storm vs. Piper Niven for women’s title
Mark Coffey & Wolfgang vs. Fabian Aichner & Marcel Barthel vs. Zack Gibson & James Drake vs. Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster ladder match for tag titles
Walter vs. Joe Coffey for UK title
ROH FROM CONCORD, NC AT 7 P.M. EASTERN ON HONOR CLUB
Marty Scurll & PCO & Brody King vs. Rush & Dragon Lee & Kenny King for six-man titles
Mark & Jay Briscoe vs. Dalton Castle & Joe Hendry
Flip Gordon vs. Flamita
Alex Zayne vs. Bandido
Mark Haskins & Tracy Williams vs. Bateman & Vincent
Rey Hours vs. Andrew Everett
IMPACT HARD TO KILL PPV SUNDAY AT 8 P.M. EASTERN
Sami Callihan vs. Tessa Blanchard for Impact title
Ace Austin vs. Trey Miguel for X title
Taya Valkyrie vs. Jordynne Grace vs. ODB for Knockouts title
Ethan Page & Josh Alexander vs. Rich Swann & Willie Mack for Impact tag titles
Eddie Edwards vs. Michael Elgin
Rob Van Dam vs. Brian Cage
Moose vs. Rhino
Ken Shamrock vs. Mad Man Fulton
Raw is a loaded show on Monday from Lexington, KY with Big Show & Kevin Owens & Samoa Joe vs. Seth Rollins & AOP in a fist fight, Bobby Lashley vs. Rusev and Aleister Black vs. Buddy Murphy and Brock Lesnar is on the show.
F4W NEWSLETTER: Figure Four Weekly: WWE’s top 10 matches of 2019 Joseph Currier ranks his 10 favorite WWE matches of the year.
Looking back at the year WWE has had, you get a better sense of how much talent is in the company.
Main roster television and storylines have their problems, but narrowing the list of my favorite WWE matches of the year down to 10 was still incredibly difficult. The company produces so much product and has so many great wrestlers spread across Raw, SmackDown, NXT, and NXT UK. NXT was the standout in what was a transformative year as it moved to airing live on the USA Network, but all four brands were still represented on my list.
Here are my picks for WWE’s 10 best matches of 2019:
Current subscribers click here to continue reading.
WON NEWSLETTER: January 13, 2020 Observer Newsletter: Death of Pampero Firpo, Wrestle Kingdom 14 review
With coverage of WrestleKingdom, pro wrestling in Japan and the death of Pampero Firpo, we’ve got another double issue of the Observer this week.
Our lead story looks at the legacy of Pampero Firpo, one of the top stars of the 60s and 70s. We look at his character, the Randy Savage connection, the start of his career in Argentina, how he got started in the U.S. and was a star in week one, his forgotten world title win, the story behind his getting the Pampero Firpo name and the legendary boxing match it came from, his first run with Vince McMahon Sr. in 1960, his second run in 1972, the angle that turned him babyface in Detroit, and his life after wrestling working at the post office.
The issue also covers:
The wrestling scene in Japan, wrestling around the city, the wrestling stores, the advertising, the business from the Tokyo Dome, doing two WrestleMania in two days, why it worked for New Japan and why such a great first show ended up as a handicap. We look at what got over the biggest, probably why main roster PPVs struggle the day after blow away NXT shows, as well as tickets sold outside of Japan for he two shows and growth of the overseas audience.
New Japan’s expansion into the U.S., original booking plans for 2019, how Jericho and Tanahashi were able to do an angle involving the AEW belt, the political issues between AEW and NJPW, New Japan’s 2020 schedule, and the future of the junior heavyweights.
A pension fund suing WWE and why, with the story behind it as well as the launch of the XFL and its new rules, we’ve got DVR numbers for AEW & NXT, a wrestler who may be leaving WWE and contract status, crazy stuff some in WWE have been brainwashed on, lots of new lineups in WWE, Punk vs. Miz, Lesnar gets honored by University of Minnesota, new WWE signing, WWE awards, Ryback’s latest issues with WWE, Canadian ratings for all the top U.S. shows, WWE and Russian television plus a rundown of the holiday season house shows.
Complete rundowns of both Dome shows, with match-by-match coverage, poll results and star ratings.
Upcoming major New Japan events.
WWE’s traditional biggest house show of the year, the holiday event in Madison Square Garden.
Compiled lists of the wrestlers with the most great matches from the past year, the past decade and over the course of a career.
Regarding the Wednesday numbers, we’ve got full details, demos that each side won, how every segment did and what match ended up as the difference maker.
Full coverage of all the WWE and AEW television shows from the past week.
In-depth looks at the ratings of all the major shows, the key demos and quarters for AEW and WWE, what happened head-to-head and what can be learned from them.
Results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.
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FRIDAY NEWS UPDATE
Will Ospreay has a fractured heel but is in Australia and expected to be wrestling his dates there this weekend.
Marty Scurll has not signed a new contract but it very close. The deal will include him wrestling in ROH, New Japan and NWA. There looks to be more than that as well as the door contractually would not be closed to AEW.
The Patricio Pitbull Freire vs. Pedro Carvalho Bellator featherweight title match and tournament first round match has been made official for 3/13 from the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, CT. Also announced is Daniel Weichel vs. Emmanuel Sanchez as part of the tournament. The show will be a DAZN exclusive. Tickets go on sale 1/17.
PCO is scheduled for ROH title defenses on 2/28 in Nashville and 2/29 in St. Louis. Nashville will also have Jay Lethal & Jonathan Gresham defending the tag titles against Silas Young & Josh Woods. St. Louis has Dragon Lee vs. Dak Draper for the TV title.
Bryan and I will be doing a Q&A over WrestleMania weekend in Tampa. More info here.
Bill Apter’s tribute to Pampero Firpo.
WWE
Some Royal Rumble odds from www.BetOnline.ag
Becky Lynch -300 vs. Asuka +200
Bray Wyatt -600 vs. Daniel Bryan +350
Rumble top odds
Roman Reigns -175
Brock Lesnar +450
Kevin Owens +700
Cain Velasquez +800
Drew McIntyre +1000
Women’s Rumble top odds
Shayna Baszler -125
Ronda Rousey +500
Rhea Ripley +600
Charlotte Flair +1000
Sasha Banks +1200
Kairi Sane +1600
Lacey Evans +1600
Crunchyroll announced that Austin Creed aka Xavier Woods would be hosting its 2020 anime awards show.
A story on Mansoor. (thanks to Mike Kumzuk)
UFC
Rose Namajunas vs. Jessica Andrade has been verbally agreed to for 4/18 in Brooklyn at the UFC 249 show according to MMA Fighting.
MMA Fighting also reported that Bruno Silva’s rep said that he had been suspended for two years by USADA due to a positive test for the steroid Boldenone.
Luis Pena vs. Alex Munoz has been announced for the 2/29 show in Norfolk.
Josh Emmett is out of his scheduled 1/25 fight in Raleigh, NC against Arnold Allen due to a training injury.
Francisco Trinaldo vs. John Makdessi has been added to the 3/14 show in Brasilia, Brazil.
The Albuquerque Journal reported Tim Means vs. Ramazen Emeev for the 2/15 show in Rio Rancho, NM.
UFC announced Rodolfo Vieira vs. Saparbek Safarov for the 3/7 show in Las Vegas.
AEW
Chris Jericho’s shirt from Wrestle Kingdom is being auctioned to raise money for fire fighters in Australia as well. (thanks to Kevin Chiat)
MISCELLANEOUS
PCO talks ROH’s injury protocol to Chuck Carroll here.
MLW tomorrow at the NYTEX Sports Center in the Dallas, TX area has a TV taping with Jimmy Havoc vs. Mance Warner in a no rope barbed wire match, Jacob Fatu vs. Brian Pillman Jr. for the MLW title, Ross Von Erich vs. Tom Lawlor, Alexa Hammerstone vs. Aerostar for the National title, Davey Boy Smith Jr. vs. Simon Gotch, MJF vs. Marshall Von Erich, Savio Vega vs. Richard Holliday, Drago & Puma King vs. Injustice vs. El Hijo de L.A. Park & Taurus, Low Ki vs. Chandler Hopkins, Gino Medina vs. Septimo Dragon, King Mo Lawal vs. ? and Erick Stevens vs. Douglas James.
Tama Tonga announced the Bullet Club Beach Party for April 4th in Tampa via Sports Illustrated.
MCW runs 1/17 in Joppa, MD and 1/18 in Hollywood, MD. Sandman, Shane Douglas and Rhett Titus wrestle on the first show and Sandman and Douglas wrestle on the second show, which is at the Hollywood Volunteer Fire Department.
Combate Americas announced a lightweight title fight on 2/21 in Mexicali, Mexico with Rafa Garcia (11-0) vs. Humberto Bandenay (187, 1 no contest). The show will air on Univision, Univision Deportes, AXS and Televisa 5 in Mexico. That is quite an impressive list of distribution outlets.
Eastern States Wrestling on 1/25 in Grand Island, NY at the Radisson Hotel with Daniel Garcia vs. Sean Carr.
Ted Arcidi has a small part on Sunday’s episode of Ray Donovan on Showtime.
USA Wrestling has a Hall of Fame ceremony tomorrow night in Jackson, TN at the Oman Arena. There will be six matches headlined by Jerry Lawler vs. Dragon Master. Inducted into the USA Wrestling Hall of Fame will be Lawler, Bill Dundee, The Gilbert Family, Carl Fergie, Jerry Calhoun, Mike Rapada, Phil Hickerson, George Gulas, Herb Simmons, David Millican, Mark James, Debbie Combs, Tony Falk, Bob Orton Jr., Lavon Stone, Buddy Wayne, Don Bass and Brian Christopher.
Best of the West on 1/18 in Fresno at their studio at 5766 E. Fountain Wa #101 with a tournament to honor the late Virgil Flynn with proceeds going to Flynn’s family. Show is at 6 p.m. They also run 1/25 in Merced, CA at the American Legion Post Veteran Hall with a benefit show for the Golden Valley High School baseball team headlined by Chris Masters.
Bill Behrens at [email protected] is now taking bookings for Alex Riley, for matches and signings, based in Los Angeles; Jeff Cobb based in Las Vegas, Cheeseburger based in Philadelphia, Markus Cool & Griff Garrison based in Greensboro, NC and Logan Creed based in Atlanta/Jacksonville.
Pro Wrestling Revolver on 2/14 in Dayton, OH at The Brightside with Cima & Lindaman & T-Hawk vs. Ace Austin & Blake Christian & Alex Zayne, Ace Romero vs. Nick Gage and War Horse & Danhausen vs. Jake Manning & Jon Murray. They also run 3/28 in Clive, IA at the Horizon Event Center and 4/4 as part of WrestleMania weekend at the Ritz Ybor in Tampa featuring The Ascension, Sami Callihan, Mance Warner and Jessicka Havok.
Pro Wrestling Eve has a sold out show tomorrow in London, UK at The Venue. Main event is an elimination match for the Eve tag titles with Sammii Jayne & Gisele Shaw vs. Woke Queens vs. Medusa Comlez plus Rhia O’Reilly vs. Laura DiMatteo for the Eve title, Yuka Sakazaki vs. Lana Austin, Nor Diana vs Zoe Lucas, Maki Itoh vs. Session Moth Martina and a Battle Royal.
Superkick’s on 1/24 in Toronto at the Great Hall.
From 1976: Dave Brown’s weather forecast followed by the buildup for Jerry Lawler vs Rocky Johnson in a wrestler vs boxer rules match.
Daily Pro Wrestling History: Kurt Angle wins battle royal for vacant WWE World title
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