Week in Wrestling - Sunday June 17, 2018
Money in the Bank Preview
After what feels like the longest time off between PPVs, WWE finally airs the Money in the Bank show tonight, from the Allstate Arena in Chicago. The show will run about 4 hours and is loaded with 10 matches that have all gotten a significant amount of build over the past 6 weeks. I think this show will be alot better than people think and it has to be better than that terrible Backlash show from last month. We will have a full review on Monday.
Money in the Bank men’s match - Bobby Roode, Braun Strowman, Finn Balor, Kevin Owens, Rusev, The Miz, Samoa Joe and member of The New Day
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Money in the Bank women’s match - Charlotte, Becky Lynch, Alexa Bliss, Ember Moon, Natalya, Naomi, Lana, and Sasha Banks
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A.J. Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
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Nia Jax vs Ronda Rousey
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Carmella vs. Asuka
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Seth Rollins vs Elias
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Daniel Bryan vs Big Cass
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Roman Reigns vs. Jinder Mahal
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Sami Zayn vs Bobby Lashley
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The Bludgeon Brothers vs. The Club
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WWE NEWS
Lesnar Update
There were things said in commentary on Raw more than once (so it was clearly meant to be said) building Lesnar vs. Reigns and with Lesnar not working either Money in the Bank or the 7/15 Extreme Rules show, SummerSlam makes sense. Lesnar vs. Reigns once again is the working plan for the SummerSlam main event, and that it would be the last fight Lesnar is now contracted for. But, at least as of the weekend, this was not a done deal. Lesnar at this point is not confirmed by Vince McMahon for SummerSlam, or any dates for that matter, which is weird since he has the title. He’s aware and knows about it, it makes sense to expect it, but unless it happened in the last few days, the green light hasn’t been given.
Rey Mysterio Return?
Lots of rumblings about WWE making moves on opening communication with talent in New Japan as well as those announced for All In. Obviously the Rey Mysterio Jr., name will pop up, but WWE has had open lines with him about returning since January and that was before he agreed to the New Japan and All In dates so this is not suddenly having interest in a guy who is working big dates elsewhere in his case. I think it’s clear by how good a shape he’s in that they want him back and it’s just a matter of making the right kind of money and schedule deal. He’s doing very well working a limited schedule because he commands the highest price per appearance on the independent market right now. But WWE can afford seven figures for limited dates even more now than ever before. It is going to be a very interesting next several months.
AOP Update
The reason the Authors of Pain haven’t been around is that one of the two has a visa issue, as first reported by John Pollock. The issue has since been cleared up and they can return, but haven’t been restarted since right now the focus is on getting The B Team and Ziggler & McIntyre over. They don’t want them becoming one of the Slater & Rhyno and Ascension teams so the idea is to bring them back when they’ve got time to get them over.
Regarding Paul Ellering, he is still listed on the NXT roster. Paul Levesque on the conference call this week said he wasn’t part of the decision-making process to take him away from the Authors of Pain. He said that he felt Ellering was valuable and is open for a role to bring him back in NXT.
Regarding Paul Ellering, he is still listed on the NXT roster. Paul Levesque on the conference call this week said he wasn’t part of the decision-making process to take him away from the Authors of Pain. He said that he felt Ellering was valuable and is open for a role to bring him back in NXT.
Jeff Hardy Pleads Guilty
Jeff Hardy, 40, pleaded guilty on 6/11 for driving while impaired in an incident that took place on 3/10. Hardy was driving on Concord Parkway in Cabarrus County in North Carolina when he ran off the roadway and struck about 105 feet of guard rail before the back end of his car spun out 90 degrees and came to a stop in the middle of a lane. Police estimated Hardy did about $8,000 damage to his Cadillac and $5,000 damage to the guard rail. He was arrested and registered a .25 blood alcohol count, or triple the legal limit. He was given a 120-day suspended sentence and fined $300 for court costs. He also had to turn over his drivers license, and complete a treatment class as well as perform 48 hours of community service over the next 120 days.
Ronda HOF
Ronda Rousey will be the first woman inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame. Her induction will take place on 7/5 at The Pearl at the Palms Hotel in Las Vegas. Rousey will be appearing live at the ceremony as this year's modern era inductee, meaning someone whose career started after 1999. No single fighter will be looked back on as having not just changed UFC and the sport as a whole, but mainstream public perceptions.
There may not be women in the UFC if she hadn't come along. And even if there would have been, there would likely be fewer and used in a more limited basis, because of the perception that they wouldn't draw in money positions. And without her, there is no guarantee any of them would have drawn in those positions. Instead of women being viewed with a low marketing ceiling and just an attraction on undercards in sports like boxing and kickboxing, promoters, notorious for trying to copy what works, instead were looking for women as potential stars.
With UFC, she brought a unique fan base into the sport, as a large percentage of the audience that purchased Rousey pay-per-view shows were people who had never purchased a UFC event previously. The sport's acceptance among women, and men's acceptance of women as legitimate athletic fighters changed completely. Even in pro wrestling, the new world Rousey resides in, she was, by far, the most influential female performer long before she ever signed a WWE contract.
There may not be women in the UFC if she hadn't come along. And even if there would have been, there would likely be fewer and used in a more limited basis, because of the perception that they wouldn't draw in money positions. And without her, there is no guarantee any of them would have drawn in those positions. Instead of women being viewed with a low marketing ceiling and just an attraction on undercards in sports like boxing and kickboxing, promoters, notorious for trying to copy what works, instead were looking for women as potential stars.
With UFC, she brought a unique fan base into the sport, as a large percentage of the audience that purchased Rousey pay-per-view shows were people who had never purchased a UFC event previously. The sport's acceptance among women, and men's acceptance of women as legitimate athletic fighters changed completely. Even in pro wrestling, the new world Rousey resides in, she was, by far, the most influential female performer long before she ever signed a WWE contract.
Corey Graves Rips CM Punk
Corey Graves drew a lot of reaction from fans of C.M. Punk when, after Punk lost to Mike Jackson, he quickly went on Twitter and wrote, “Maybe abandoning everybody who stood by your side, even when we weren’t supposed to, only to have you turn your back on us wasn’t the right move after all? No anger. Only sadness.” That led to a big reaction and he followed by saying how Punk held his first son before he did because he was on tour and that’s how much he trusted him and how he had dinner with him a week after he quit. “The first rule of punk rock is loyalty, and this guy betrayed it all. I still love you, friend, and I’m sorry you got lost.”
Shortly after Punk quit WWE in 2014, he cut ties with all but a few people in the organization. After he got sued, he cut ties with those few people he hadn’t. A number of people who had worked with him or liked him had remarked to me around that time about how they would try and contact him and got ignored and they weren’t happy about it. Once he got sued, he didn’t want to have anything to do with anyone in WWE, and his wife quit the company shortly after he was sued.
Graves said it shocked him when he texted Punk about getting dinner when Graves was doing a show in Chicago and Punk told him that he had no interest in being friends with him or with anyone related to WWE. Graves said he hasn’t had any contact with Punk since. Graves then said he’s texted Punk no less than a dozen times, and also said that he’d fight Punk, noting he trained in fighting before WWE, something Punk never did.
“What really set me off was this week when he essentially disowned the business that made him. My only issue with im was that he turned off people that actually loved and supported him. Beyond the business and he never wanted anything to do with us, yet continued to present himself as this Punk hero.” “This has zero to do with court or testimony or any of the above. Nothing that I tweeted was corporate. I’m simply hurt, pissed off that a guy that I looked like as a big brother-type has turned his back on me, and everyone that loved and supported him only because of the name on my paycheck. I’m definitely not the only one. I won’t name names, but there is a large group of us to this day that inexplicably lost a solid friend because of where we work."
Shortly after Punk quit WWE in 2014, he cut ties with all but a few people in the organization. After he got sued, he cut ties with those few people he hadn’t. A number of people who had worked with him or liked him had remarked to me around that time about how they would try and contact him and got ignored and they weren’t happy about it. Once he got sued, he didn’t want to have anything to do with anyone in WWE, and his wife quit the company shortly after he was sued.
Graves said it shocked him when he texted Punk about getting dinner when Graves was doing a show in Chicago and Punk told him that he had no interest in being friends with him or with anyone related to WWE. Graves said he hasn’t had any contact with Punk since. Graves then said he’s texted Punk no less than a dozen times, and also said that he’d fight Punk, noting he trained in fighting before WWE, something Punk never did.
“What really set me off was this week when he essentially disowned the business that made him. My only issue with im was that he turned off people that actually loved and supported him. Beyond the business and he never wanted anything to do with us, yet continued to present himself as this Punk hero.” “This has zero to do with court or testimony or any of the above. Nothing that I tweeted was corporate. I’m simply hurt, pissed off that a guy that I looked like as a big brother-type has turned his back on me, and everyone that loved and supported him only because of the name on my paycheck. I’m definitely not the only one. I won’t name names, but there is a large group of us to this day that inexplicably lost a solid friend because of where we work."
NXT NEWS
NXT Takeover: Chicago Review
I have never seen a bad NXT Takeover. That trend continued Saturday night in Chicago.
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Tomasso Ciampa defeated Johnny Gargano
in a Chicago Street Fight These two absolutely beat the hell out of each other and capped off an excellent show. Sure, it was a bit overbooked, but the intensity was there throughout. Great match. Judge it for yourself.
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Aleister Black defeated Lars Sullivan
NXT Championship It was big man match that had some nice spots sprinkled in. In no way could this even come close to what we saw in the main event, so it's good that this feud is over with.
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Shayna Baszler defeated Nikki Cross
NXT Women's Championship This was a solid match that told a good story, but truthfully, going in, nobody expected this to be able to compete with the other matches. Shayna was strong though.
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Undisputed Era defeated Lorcan & Burch
NXT Tag Team Championship This was one of the greatest tag team matches I may have ever seen. All action, crowd was super hot, and everybody looked great. Lorcan and Burch were excellent.
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Strong and O'Reilly are just fantastic professional wrestlers, so we knew what to expect from them. But give so much credit to Oney Lorcan. When he made his comeback, the crowd initially tried to shit on him, but he won them over quickly and the match caught fire.
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Ricochet defeated Velveteen Dream
These two went out there and put on a fucking show. There is really no other way to say it. That suplex from the arpon to the floor was insane and the big bumps made the crowd pop. The King is just sensational.
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I did feel Dream was a bit slow early on trying to keep up with Ricochet's speed, which made Ricochet have to slow down more than normal. But honestly, it played into the story as far as the differences in styles. In the end, it was fantastic, and both guys were great.
New Japan Pro Wrestling News
NJPW Dominion Review
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Kenny Omega defeated Kazuchika Okada
IWGP heavyweight title Many have said this was the greatest match they ever saw, and quite honestly, I wouldn't argue with anyone who truly believes that. It was fantastic, and while I can't say it's the greatest, their series is the greatest ever.
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2/3 falls is tough, but they were able to present so much emotion and do so many great playbacks to their previous matches, that the drama and intrigue was there the whole time. It was a great display of athleticism, storyline development, and true strong style realism.
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Chris Jericho defeated Tetsuya Naito
Intercontinental Title Jericho has done an excellent job inventing a different character for himself in Japan, from what he is in the States. He beat the shit out of Naito and was stiff as all hell. I was truly surprised that he got the win.
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These two were very physical and clearly they will see eachother again after that shocking result. Naito is big star in Japa, so him losing and putting the title on Jericho, who won't be around a lot, was a big booking decision. Time will tell how this plays out.
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Hiromu Takahashi defeated Will Ospreay
IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title This started at a breakneck pace, including an impressive looking somersault senton off the apron from Ospreay. This had a lot of great action and innovation, these two know each other so well and just make magic.
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The Young Bucks defeated EVIL & SANADA
IWGP Tag Team Titles Can we stop pretending the Young Bucks don’t know how to sell? This is a very slow paced Young Bucks match and it addresses many of the criticisms thrown at them while delivering an entertaining, dramatic match.
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Ring of Honor News
ROH running MSG?
Sinclair Broadcasting Group CEO Chris Ripley did an interview with the Baltimore Business Journal and said that ROH would be running a show in Madison Square Garden in 2019. The planned date is 4/6, which is the Saturday night before WrestleMania, which, if this transpires, would mean going head-to-head with NXT at the Barclays Center. The key as far as the story goes is that Sinclair was talking about growing ROH after its best year to date and it was Ripley talking about it, which means it’s coming right from the top. It could also be combined with All In 2, which explains the MSG tease last week at the Hammerstein Ballroom show, although the idea of All In this year was to not piggy back off WrestleMania.
The costs involved are so huge that the ticket prices would have to be high. But for tourists coming from all over the world, the price of tickets is less significant than other times since Mania tickets are also very expensive. No non-WWE show has ever topped the 6,000 that ROH did last year, and that was Omega vs. Cody after a long build and MSG is a huge jump from there. Plus, while costs of streaming such a show aren’t too bad, the television costs are so big that WWE won’t even do TV or PPV from the arena.
The costs involved are so huge that the ticket prices would have to be high. But for tourists coming from all over the world, the price of tickets is less significant than other times since Mania tickets are also very expensive. No non-WWE show has ever topped the 6,000 that ROH did last year, and that was Omega vs. Cody after a long build and MSG is a huge jump from there. Plus, while costs of streaming such a show aren’t too bad, the television costs are so big that WWE won’t even do TV or PPV from the arena.
IMPACT News
Edwards vs. Callihan In the Woods
The 6/7 TV show was built around a match street fight in the woods between Eddie Edwards and Sami Callihan. Edwards finally had Callihan at his mercy and was wanting to kill him with a baseball bat (since the angle started when Callihan accidentally hit Edwards in the eye with a baseball bat that could have cost him his eye and cracked his skull and it was very scary that night), when his wife Alisha and Tommy Dreamer showed up to stop him. Edwards went nuts and ended up hitting Dreamer in the stomach with the bat, which allowed Callihan to escape.
That was meant for the blow-off, at least for now, of Edwards vs. Callihan, but it also felt like the way it was done it was something they can go back to again. For Slammiversary, the idea is Edwards vs. Dreamer and Callihan vs. Pentagon Jr. in a hair vs. mask match.
That was meant for the blow-off, at least for now, of Edwards vs. Callihan, but it also felt like the way it was done it was something they can go back to again. For Slammiversary, the idea is Edwards vs. Dreamer and Callihan vs. Pentagon Jr. in a hair vs. mask match.
Moral is Up
We were told that with the emphasis being on using good wrestlers that the last taping was the best in a long time. It also helped that Windsor, ONT, was a fresh market. The plan now is to tape television more often and rotate maybe six or so markets so you don’t have the sameness of location and you get hotter reactions.
Impact closed a television deal in Mexico on 52MX. The show will air starting on 7/7, in a Saturday night at 9:30 p.m. time slot. A key aspect of the ramification of this deal will be a greater working relationship with AAA. With Konnan and Dorian Roldan back on the same page, a lot of the previous political issues are gone. This will lead to Impact talent appearing on AAA major shows, with the idea fans will know them from television, and even open up AAA vs. Impact feuds in Mexico.
Impact closed a television deal in Mexico on 52MX. The show will air starting on 7/7, in a Saturday night at 9:30 p.m. time slot. A key aspect of the ramification of this deal will be a greater working relationship with AAA. With Konnan and Dorian Roldan back on the same page, a lot of the previous political issues are gone. This will lead to Impact talent appearing on AAA major shows, with the idea fans will know them from television, and even open up AAA vs. Impact feuds in Mexico.
INDEPENDENT NEWS
Pivotshare's New Powerslam Channel
This week, Pivotshare, which has deals with more than 100 companies in 15 countries, is trying to do what Flo Slam failed, which is to be the destination for independent wrestling, with the creation of the Powerslam Channel.
The key differences are that Pivotshare already has deals in place with a number of promotions, and that they are starting out with a $5.99 per month price as opposed to the $20 per month price that Flo Slam charged. They also, being around wrestling for four years, also have a better idea of the independent marketplace.
The service will be launching immediately on iOS and Android devices, as well as Apple TV, Roku Channels, Amazon Channels and at the portal powerslam.tv. They expect to release 40 to 50 events per month. At launch, there will be deals with 75 different promotions and 2,000 hours of archived content.
Pivotshare comes into the game with experience in wrestling, as the host site for ICW, Demand Progress, Rev Pro, Pro Wrestling Eve, Over the Top, Smash Wrestling, AAW, Bar Wrestling, wXw, CZW, Defy, Preston City Wrestling, and Highspots wrestling, which releases the PWG tapes as well as some great documentaries (including the Bruiser Brody documentary that was among the best released in recent years), talk shows and their own annual WrestleMania week show which is one of the best collections of talent on shows that you’ll get all year.
The key differences are that Pivotshare already has deals in place with a number of promotions, and that they are starting out with a $5.99 per month price as opposed to the $20 per month price that Flo Slam charged. They also, being around wrestling for four years, also have a better idea of the independent marketplace.
The service will be launching immediately on iOS and Android devices, as well as Apple TV, Roku Channels, Amazon Channels and at the portal powerslam.tv. They expect to release 40 to 50 events per month. At launch, there will be deals with 75 different promotions and 2,000 hours of archived content.
Pivotshare comes into the game with experience in wrestling, as the host site for ICW, Demand Progress, Rev Pro, Pro Wrestling Eve, Over the Top, Smash Wrestling, AAW, Bar Wrestling, wXw, CZW, Defy, Preston City Wrestling, and Highspots wrestling, which releases the PWG tapes as well as some great documentaries (including the Bruiser Brody documentary that was among the best released in recent years), talk shows and their own annual WrestleMania week show which is one of the best collections of talent on shows that you’ll get all year.
By: Larry Causion Jr. CausionCreations.com
Posted: Sunday, June 17, 2018
Credit: Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Posted: Sunday, June 17, 2018
Credit: Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter