THE ROUND-UP
THE LATEST NEWS
UFC Fight Night 137 live results: Thiago Santos vs. Eryk Anders
WWE announces three matches for Monday’s Raw
WWE Butte, MT, live results: Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman
NXT Sanford, FL, live results: Matt Riddle debuts
Impact Wrestling viewership down 11 percent this week
Matt Riddle makes NXT in-ring debut at house show
THE LATEST AUDIO
WOL: NXT, Mae Young, 2k19, Dr. Lucha interview, more! 9/21
Wrestling Weekly: Babyfaces and heels, Omega vs. Tanahashi, HBK 9/21
B&V&G: Granny, NXT, Mae Young Classic, more! 9/21
WWE Raw has a house show in Billings, MT, Smackdown is in Tucson, AZ and NXT is in Largo, FL. We’re looking for reports on all of those shows to newstips@wrestlingobserver.com.
UFC FROM SAO PAULO, BRAZIL ON SATURDAY
Fight Pass at 6:30 p.m. Eastern
Alex Chambers (115.8) vs. Livia Renata Souza (116)
Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos (170.6) vs. Luigi Vendramini (170.4)
Thales Leites (185.9) vs. Hector Lombard (185.7)
Mario Bueno Silva (125.4) vs. Gillian Robertson (125.6)
Sergio Moraes (170.8) vs. Ben Sanders (170.3)
FS2 at 8:30 p.m.
Augusto Sakai (265.6) vs. Chase Sherman (257.1)
Luis Henrique (204.8) vs. Ryan Spann (203.8)
Evan Dunham (156) vs. Francisco Trinaldo (155)
Christos Giagos (155.6) vs. Charles Oliveira (153.9)
FS1 at 10:30 p.m.
Randa Markos (115.7) vs. Marina Rodriguez (115.4)
Renan Barao (141.75) vs. Andre Ewell (135)
Sam Alvey (205.6) vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (205.3)
Alex Oliveira (171) vs. Carlo Pedersoli (170.3)
Thiago Santos (203.7) vs. Eryk Anders (205.6)
NEW JAPAN DESTRUCTION IN KOBE AT 3 A.M. EASTERN SUNDAY MORNING, MIDNIGHT SATURDAY PACIFIC ON NEW JAPAN WORLD
Yota Tsuji vs. Yuya Uemura
Shota Umino & Ren Narita vs. Sho & Yoh
Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Desperado vs. Jushin Liger & Tiger Mask non-title
Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma & Ryusuke Taguchi & Ayato Yoshida vs. Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi & Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima
Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr. vs. Chuckie T & Baretta
Juice Robinson & David Finlay & Toa Henare vs. Jay White & Yoshi-Hashi & Will Ospreay
Tetsuya Naito & Evil & Sanada vs. Minoru Suzuki & Zack Sabre Jr. & Taka Michinoku
Kushida vs. Bushi in first round of IWGP Jr. title tournament
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada – Winner challenges for the IWGP title at the Tokyo Dome
Sunday has Raw in Loveland, CO and Smackdown in Las Cruces, NM.
Raw will be live on Monday from the Pepsi Arena in Denver, CO. Smackdown has a show on Monday night in Colorado Springs, CO.
Smackdown, 205 Live and Mixed Match Challenge will be taped on Tuesday in Denver. Announced so far is Hideo Itami vs. Mustafa Ali, Bobby Lashley & Mickie James vs. Jinder Mahal & Alicia Fox and Miz & Asuka vs. R-Truth & Carmella.
F4W NEWSLETTER: Figure Four Weekly: Brock Lesnar returns at Hell in a Cell
After losing the Universal Championship at SummerSlam, it took less than a month for Brock Lesnar to resurface in WWE. Lesnar didn’t just get involved in the main event of Sunday night’s pay-per-view — the finish of the show was entirely built around his appearance. Roman Reigns speared Braun Strowman through a table, Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre and Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose came out to fight on the outside, and Lesnar caused the Hell in a Cell match to end in a no contest.
WON NEWSLETTER: September 24, 2018 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Jon Jones set to return, more
The lead story runs down the Jon Jones situation in detail, his test failure, the campaign of attempted misinformation designed to fool the public, the tragedy of all this, and how this affects Brock Lesnar and Daniel Cormier.
Read a feature on the life and career of Noricum “Kid” Yamamoto, who passed away last week.
Find out about Shawn Michaels’ planned return to ring action, what his proposed match is, the angle to set it up, the building of the angle, moves being made by WWE, and details behind the return of Brock Lesnar.
Go in-depth on the WWE concussion lawsuits being thrown out. Read about why, the big problems with the suits, as well as the big problem on the flip side of how the statute of limitations was being applied.
Get the update on the Rey Mysterio’s situation, the changes to 205 no longer being live, update on Alexa Bliss and Jeff Hardy when it comes to appearing on live shows, book coming out on the career of former WWE star, WWE hires new head of legal, notes on Starrcade 18, and Rousey vs. Cyborg rumor notes.
We’ve also got full coverage of the CMLL Anniversary show, with match-by-match coverage, star ratings as well as a chart on what wrestlers have headlined the most anniversary shows in history.
Get full coverage of this year’s Battle of Los Angeles tournament, with a look at every match from all three days of what was some of the best wrestling shows that will be held anywhere in the world this year.
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 Dave@WrestlingObserver.com.
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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
WWE posted a brief interview with Matt Riddle about his NXT in-ring debut from last night’s house show in Sanford, Florida. In his first match for WWE, Riddle defeated Fabian Aichner. Lisa Riddle (Matt’s wife) wrote that he wore her shorts as his gear for the match.
Gymnast Stacey Ervin Jr. also made his debut at last night’s NXT show, losing to Kassius Ohno. Ervin reported to the Performance Center in July.
WWE stock closed this week above $90 per share, coming in at $90.10 and with a $7.03 billion market capitalization.
A new episode of WWE Photo Shoot will air on the WWE Network after Raw on Monday. It will feature Scott Hall looking back at moments from his career.
While speaking with GiveMeSport, Paige defended Sasha Banks and said she wasn’t at fault for Paige’s career-ending injury: “Nothing was ever Sasha’s fault. She got so much backlash and even in the ring, when we were in there, people are chanting ‘Sasha sucks’ and it really upset me to hear that because it wasn’t her fault.” Paige also mentioned how supportive Banks has been: “But, I remember just telling Sasha ‘I can’t wrestle anymore’ and she was devastated, she started crying, crying her eyes out. I was like ‘I’m so sorry’, I think it’s just a British thing to apologise! But I was like ‘I’m sorry, it’s not your fault’ and she’s just been so, so supportive. She always texts me like ‘hey, how are you doing, how things going?’ you know, and she’s just always been really great.”
Becky Lynch spoke to Las Cruces Sun-News about her character change: “Just in general, people around the world … you try and be the nice person, always. Everybody. And I think this is so relatable. For the most part, people are generally good and want to do the right thing. And sometimes, it just backfires on you. My dad used to always tell me no good deed goes unpunished. And I think that’s what you’re seeing with Becky right now, that she’s always done the right thing and it hasn’t gotten her where she wants it. And now she’s had enough and she’s saying ‘I don’t care who’s in my way.’”
CBS Local Sports also has an interview with Lynch.
With Shawn Michaels scheduled to return to the ring at Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia, WWE uploaded his retirement match against The Undertaker from WrestleMania XXVI to their YouTube account.
IGN posted video of the first 16 minutes of Daniel Bryan’s showcase mode in WWE 2K19. 2K Sports also released the trailer for WWE 2K19’s MyCAREER mode earlier this week.
The Express Tribune interviewed Mustafa Ali about his road to WWE and career on 205 Live.
Pro Wrestling
It appears that Joey Janela may have suffered a significant knee injury while diving onto Psicosis on the outside during their match for Game Changer Wrestling in Asbury Park, New Jersey last night. Janela wrote about the injury: “Not looking good sorry to all the fans tonight in Asbury Park. Just got to the emergency room, let’s hope for the best… if not then I’ll come back better than ever!”
Jordynne Grace also posted a picture of herself on crutches after suffering a lower leg/foot injury while jumping from the second rope during an implant DDT from Tracy Williams for NOVA Pro Wrestling last night: “I have a huge month in October. Resting for a solid six days and hoping for the best. This wasn’t nearly as bad as it could have been. I just won’t be jumping from high places for a while. Also, I’m very bad at using crutches.”
Destruction in Kobe will begin on New Japan World at 3 a.m. Eastern time overnight tonight. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada for Tanahashi’s Wrestle Kingdom title shot briefcase will headline the show. The tournament to crown the next IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion will also begin as KUSHIDA faces BUSHI in a semifinal match. Will Ospreay vs. Marty Scurll will be the other semifinal. Ospreay vs. Scurll will take place at Fighting Spirit Unleashed in Long Beach on September 30, leading into the finals being held at King of Pro Wrestling at Sumo Hall on October 8.
A 10-man elimination tag match between the Bullet Club and wrestlers from Impact Wrestling has been announced for next month’s Chris Jericho Rock ‘N’ Wrestling Rager at Sea Cruise. It will be Cody Rhodes, The Young Bucks, Marty Scurll & Hangman Page vs. Johnny Impact, LAX, Brian Cage & Sami Callihan.
Jay Lethal spoke to Newsweek about his ROH World Championship defense against Will Ospreay at next Friday’s Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view.
The Miami Herald also interviewed Tenille Dashwood ahead of her challenging for Sumie Sakai’s Women of Honor Championship at Death Before Dishonor.
ROH will be taping TV at Center Stage in Atlanta, Georgia on January 12. They’ve also announced a show in Concord, North Carolina for January 13.
ICW announced The Briscoes for their Fear & Loathing XI show in Glasgow on December 2.
Will Ospreay, Kay Lee Ray, Joe Hendry, Robbie X, Nathan Cruz, and Sha Samuels have been officially added to World of Sport’s nine-show tour that is taking place in January and February.
PCO (Pierre Carl Ouellet) appeared on the most recent episode of the Steve Austin Show.
PCO vs. Brody King, Joey Ryan & Taya Valkyrie vs. MJF & Aria Blake, and The Hart Foundation vs. The Stud Stable aired on this week’s MLW Fusion episode.
UFC/MMA
Tyron Woodley will be undergoing surgery on his right hand next month after being injured during his fight against Darren Till. “I dislocated my thumb in the fight and by doing that I tore three ligaments,” Woodley told ESPN. “They are doing a shoestring surgery to provide more stability for my hand and minimize the potential arthritis.” The injury takes Woodley out of the running to fight at the UFC’s show at Madison Square Garden on November 3.
After Dana White said that he should be arrested if he were to allow Logan Paul to fight in the UFC, Paul responded on Twitter: “damn. you’re thinking real simple D. “he would get hurt badly” you let CM fight. stop acting like you do it for the sport. paycheck = fight. you have no idea what I’m capable of.”
Daily Professional Wrestling History: Shawn Michaels vs. Mankind at Mind Games
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