THE ROUND-UP
THE LATEST NEWS
wXw World Tag Team League night one results, updates on WWE relationship
Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair rematch set for WWE SmackDown
WWE title match announced for Crown Jewel
WWE Super Show-Down live results: Triple H vs. The Undertaker
Watch the Conor-Khabib UFC 229 weigh-ins
THE LATEST AUDIO
JNPO: ‘We gotta talk about Conor’ and UFC 229 preview part 2 10/5
F4D: Bryan Alvarez talks to Lance Storm and Filthy Tom Lawlor! 10/5
FREE WOL!: Khabib vs. Conor, WWE Australia, Dr. Lucha on Mexico Hall of Fame candidates! 10/5
Wrestling Weekly: Atlanta wrestling history, Tennessee Legends Reunion 10/5
We’re looking for reports from the NXT show in St. Petersburg, FL to [email protected].
UFC 229 ON SATURDAY FROM THE T MOBILE ARENA IN LAS VEGAS
Fight Pass at 6:30 p.m. Eastern
Ryan LaFlare vs. Tony Martin
Gray Maynard vs. Nik Lentz
Yana Kunitskaya vs. Lina Lansberg
Prelims on FS1 at 8 p.m. Eastern
Alan Patrick vs. Scott Holtzman
Tonya Evinger vs. Aspen Ladd
Jalin Turner vs. Vicente Luque
Sergio Pettis vs. Jussier Formiga
PPV at 10 p.m. Eastern
Michelle Waterson vs. Felice Herrig
Alexander Volkov vs. Derrick Lewis
Ovince Saint Preux vs. Dominic Reyes
Anthony Pettis vs. Tony Ferguson
Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Conor McGregor for lightweight title
NEW JAPAN KING OF PRO WRESTLING AT 4 A.M. EASTERN MONDAY MORNING ON NEW JAPAN WORLD
Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Desperado vs. Tiger Mask & Jushin Liger for IWGP jr. tag titles
Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma vs. Juice Robinson & Toa Henare
Young Bucks & Hangman Page & Chase Owens vs. Bad Luck Fale & Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa & Taiji Ishimori
Tomohiro Ishii & Hirooki Goto & Will Ospreay vs. Minoru Suzuki & Taichi & Takashi Iizuka
Kazuchika Okada & Toru Yano & Sho & Yoh vs. Tetsuya Naito & Seiya Sanada & Bushi & ?
Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Evil
Kushida vs Marty Scurll for IWGP jr. title
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Jay White for Tokyo Dome IWGP title shot
Kenny Omega vs. Kota Ibushi vs. Cody for IWGP heavyweight title
Raw will be Monday in Chicago. There will also be a Smackdown house show Monday night in Louisville.
Smackdown, 205 Live and Mixed Match Challenge are taped Tuesday in Indianapolis. Announced for Mixed Match Challenge are A.J. Styles & Charlotte Flair vs. R-Truth & Carmella and Braun Strowman & Ember Moon vs. Finn Balor & Bayley.
F4W NEWSLETTER: Figure Four Weekly: Liv Morgan, Brie Bella, and the dangers of wrestling
What should have been a fairly innocuous six-woman tag match on last Monday’s Raw ended with Liv Morgan having suffered a concussion and with a social media controversy that has yet to fully die down. The Riott Squad faced The Bellas & Natalya on last week’s Raw as part of the build to Ruby Riott, Morgan & Sarah Logan vs. Ronda Rousey & The Bellas at Super Show-Down in Melbourne, Australia.
WON NEWSLETTER: October 8, 2018 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Massive UFC 229 expectations, plus tons of news
Headed up with a major history piece on the 30-year history of Ted Turner’s involvement with pro wrestling and coverage of a week of so many major events, it’s a double issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter this week.
Preview UFC 229 and why it is expected to be the biggest non-boxing PPV in history. Look at projections, some real numbers, some comparisons, and why Dana White says it wasn’t in Madison Square Garden.
The big story looks at Ted Turner and how he first got connected to pro wrestling in 1972, the role of Ray & Ann Gunkel, the wrestling war in Georgia that led to the two hour Saturday night block, the roles of Jim Barnett and Ole Anderson, and the first-ever Omni sellout.
Also look at the decision made by UFC and USADA to no longer announce drug test failures and why it wasn’t well thought out, as well as the reputation of USADA taking such a hit and the sad ironies of this.
Look at WWE Super Show-Down, ticket sales and ramifications.
Read the update on the 1,000th episode of Smackdown, WWE plans for NXT and ideas that have been talked about, major execs selling WWE stock.
Look at the big questions facing Bellator as they try and build their brand, as well as surprising notes of the Bellator brand vs U.S. pro wrestling companies and Saturday’s show in particular.
This issue has full coverage of ROH’s Death Before Dishonor with match-by-match coverage, business notes, polls and star ratings for the show.
ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to Dave Meltzer, or by using PayPal directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $13 for 4 issues, $32 for 12, $61 for 24, $101 for 40 and $131 for 52. In Canada and Mexico, rates are $14.50 for 4, $35 for 12, $67 for 24, $111 for 40 and $144 or 52. In Europe, you can get the fastest delivery and best rates by sending to [email protected]. For the rest of the world, rates are $16.50 for 4, $44 for 12, $85 for 24, $141 for 40 issues and $183 for 52. If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order (P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228), you can get $1 off in every price range.)
If you are a new subscriber ordering 24 or more issues, you can choose one free classic issue or two free classic issues with a 40-issue subscription.
SATURDAY NEWS UPDATE
WWE
Crown Jewel, WWE’s return to Saudi Arabia on Friday, November 2, is now listed as taking place at King Saud University Stadium in Riyadh. It was originally announced as being held at the city’s larger King Fahd International Stadium. The show will air live on the WWE Network.
Triple H & Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker & Kane hasn’t been officially announced for Crown Jewel yet, but that was clearly the direction coming out of Super Show-Down. A no disqualification stipulation was added to this morning’s Triple H vs. Undertaker match, with Michaels and Kane getting involved throughout. After Triple H won with the help of Michaels, there was a post-match angle where Undertaker and Kane attacked Triple H and Michaels. Triple H, Michaels, Undertaker, and Kane were raising each other’s arms, then Undertaker laid out Triple H with a Tombstone and Michaels was chokeslammed through the announce table.
There was one title change at Super Show-Down, with Buddy Murphy defeating Cedric Alexander to win the Cruiserweight Championship in his hometown of Melbourne, Australia.
Becky Lynch cut a post-show promo on Charlotte Flair ahead of their Women’s Championship rematch on Tuesday’s SmackDown. Charlotte defeated Lynch by DQ this morning. Lynch hit Charlotte with the title belt when Charlotte had her in the Figure Eight.
In their promo after the event, Peyton Royce and Billie Kay got emotional when reflecting on their families getting to watch them wrestle.
Before Super Show-Down, Triple H did an interview with Manny Tsigas of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. He was asked about intergender wrestling and said that women don’t need a man to be in the ring with them to be successful or have a great match. Triple H spoke about men facing women: “It’s just shock value. You don’t need it. I think when it’s done right, I do believe that there’s an exciting moment when it can happen, but I don’t think that needs to be the standard.”
Jim Ross appeared on Fox’s college football pre-game show this morning.
Jerry Lawler told TMZ that he received hate mail on social media for attending Donald Trump’s rally in Tennessee where Trump mocked Christine Blasey Ford. Lawler claimed that he wasn’t going there to see the president, he was going to see a fellow WWE Hall of Famer.
Pro Wrestling
CMLL’s Rush will make his MLW debut at the promotion’s TV tapings in Chicago on November 8.
Pentagon Jr. and LA Park’s Mexican Death Match aired as the main event of this week’s MLW Fusion episode.
WALTER vs. Tyler Bate for the PROGRESS World Championship, which main evented PROGRESS’ show at Wembley Arena, is available to watch for free. The rest of the card is also now available for subscribers of PROGRESS’ on-demand service. The main event was uploaded for free due to the show running long and some people having to leave the venue before the match.
Puma King has been announced for the “Joey Ryan Penis Party” show on Friday, April 5 during WrestleMania week in New York City. Trent Barreta and Chuck Taylor have also been confirmed for the event.
UFC/MMA
The final episode of Embedded for tonight’s UFC 229 pay-per-view focuses on yesterday’s weigh-ins.
Drake appeared on stage with Conor McGregor at the ceremonial weigh-ins.
The UFC released the opening video for tonight’s PPV. It’s voiced by John Malkovich.
Georges St-Pierre thinks the first half of the first round will give an idea of how Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. McGregor will end.
In an interview with TMZ, Nate Diaz said he thinks Nurmagomedov “fights like a bitch.” Diaz said he isn’t rooting for either Nurmagomedov or McGregor and hopes it ends in a double knockout.
Tony Ferguson opened up about giving up alcohol, noting that it wasn’t a problem but was something that was “limiting” him.
Aspen Ladd detailed the tough weight cut she went through for her fight against Tonya Evinger tonight: “Honestly, it got to the point where I was like, ‘Screw it. If I pass out, put me back in. I was not wanting — I wasn’t going to do it. I wasn’t going to miss. I was at the point, yeah, where I was like, ‘Yeah, just drag my body back in.’”
Brian Ortega said Max Holloway will be stripped of the featherweight title if he isn’t able to fight at UFC 231: ““This is the first time I’m letting it out right now. Yeah, it’s in the contract. Everything is done. I will fight for the featherweight belt with or without him. There’s no more of me letting the fans down. If he pulls out on one days’ notice, three hours’ notice, it doesn’t matter. I’m going to show up and it’s going to be for the featherweight belt and it’s going to be main event. Dec. 8, that’s the goal. UFC 231. Toronto.”
Daily Professional Wrestling History: WWE Battleground 2013
For all Observer readers that are planning to attend UFC 231 on December 8 in Toronto and stay overnight, Grant Zwarych, who sells Observer back issues for us, has arranged a great deal at the Holiday Inn Express at 111 Lombard Street in Toronto. The hotel is a short walk to Scotia Bank Arena, the Distillery District and St Lawrence Market. The rate includes breakfast for 2. The hotel also has one of the lesser expensive parking charges. Rate is available for both Friday & Saturday night.
Readers need to call the hotel directly at 416-367-5555 or can send an email to [email protected] and ask to book under the UFC 231 group block December 7-9, 2018. Please be advised due to high volume of calls to the hotel some unanswered calls will automatically transfer to central reservation and the agent will not have access to the group block.
A room with a King bed is $170.00 (sgl/dbl occupancy, maximum 2 people per room), a room with 2 Queen beds is $175.00 (sgl/dbl occupancy, $10 for each additional person up to maximum 4 people in the room) plus applicable taxes. There is a stricter cancellation policy due to the great rate being offered. Readers must book by November 7 and cannot cancel after November 8 without a one night room & tax cancellation policy. If you have your tickets and know you are definitely going, this is a fantastic deal.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Poll opinions: [email protected]
Feedback: [email protected]
Show results and news tips: [email protected]
Wrestling Observer Radio questions: [email protected]
Support the Empire~! with F4W shirts. Grab yours today!d