THE ROUND-UP
THE LATEST NEWS
Toni Storm off weekend shows due to injury
ROH TV results: Young Bucks & Cody win Six-Man Tag Team titles
ROH confirms TV title match for next PPV, Tanahashi set for tapings
Street fight stipulation set for Page vs. Janela at All In
WWE SmackDown video highlights: Becky Lynch attacks Charlotte
WWE 205 Live results: Buddy Murphy faces Kalisto
AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe added to WWE Super Show-Down
Jeff Hardy to face Randy Orton inside Hell in a Cell
The Bar advance in SmackDown tag tournament, next triple threat set
THE LATEST AUDIO
F4D: Smackdown, Choppin Block, Miz and Mrs., Domino’s Pizza review 8/29
WOL: Smackdown, Becky Lynch, All In, Hell in a Cell, Dr. Lucha, more! 8/29
B&V&C: Retro Raw and Nitro from 19 years ago this week! 8/28
F4W NEWSLETTER: Figure Four Weekly: Reigns and Rousey win big at WWE Summerslam
WWE closed SummerSlam 2018 with the two faces of the company holding their respective titles. In matches that went over relatively well — or in the case of the main event, at least averted what appeared to be certain disaster — Roman Reigns won the Universal Championship and Ronda Rousey captured the Raw Women’s title on Sunday. Over three years after the Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar saga started, it ended pretty anticlimactically.
WON NEWSLETTER: (August 27, 2018) Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Summerslam and NXT Takeover Brooklyn reviews, more
It’s a big news and history issue of the Observer out this week. Look at the decision to make Roman Reigns Universal champion, how WWE went about doing it, the Becky Lynch situation, the future of Brock Lesnar, the business of SummerSlam, and a rundown of All In ticket sales and Madison Square Garden ticket sales for ROH that has a very interesting lesson.
There is a long story on the career of Villano III, the famous match of the year with Atlantis and go back to 2000 for the atmosphere of that unique show.
Run down NXT Takeover Brooklyn, with business of the how, match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results.
Also run down plans for the NXT Evolution top of the card, exactly where the WrestleMania main events stand, how the Mae Young Classic finals had to be changed, the U.K. women’s tournament, and more on Matt Riddle signing with WWE.
Also look at L.A. Park vs. Rush, what happened to the match, the politics behind it, the CMLL anniversary show and Impact going head-to-head in Mexico City with the anniversary show.
Examine AAA’s TripleMania show and the controversy regarding Alberto El Patron and the show.
Read about New Japan’s biggest matches for the next seven weeks, including Long Beach and King of Pro Wrestling.
Also look back at the G-1 Climax tournament with a look at the consistency of work, the biggest matches and much more.
Read a huge history piece on Walt Harris and 1960s Northern California pro wrestling and the heyday of Roller Derby.
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].
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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.
WEDNESDAY NEWS UPDATE
WWE
While not officially announced yet, Charlotte Flair defending her SmackDown Women’s Championship against Becky Lynch at next month’s Hell in a Cell pay-per-view was set up by WWE on this week’s SmackDown. Lynch attacked Charlotte after Charlotte retained her title against Carmella in the main event. Lynch then cut a brief promo saying she was going to take the title back at Hell in a Cell and called Charlotte a “bitch.”
Booker T made a surprise appearance as King Booker on SmackDown during The New Day’s Tag Team title celebration.
AJ Styles & Jeff Hardy defeated Samoa Joe & Randy Orton in last night’s post-SmackDown and 205 Live dark match. R-Truth & Tye Dillinger defeated SAnitY before SmackDown went on the air.
Neville’s profile has been moved to the alumni section on WWE.com.
WWE stock was up 2.62 percent today, closing at $85.93 per share.
WWE Network News reported that Antonio Cesaro, Dean Ambrose & Damien Sandow vs. Seth Rollins, Derrick Bateman (EC3) & Johnny Curtis (Fandango) is being added to the WWE Network’s hidden gems section this week. The match took place for FCW in 2011.
Roman Reigns appeared on Good Morning Britain to promote today’s WWE house show in London.
Arsenal FC star Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang attended today’s house show and met wrestlers backstage.
Bobby Roode was the guest on this week’s episode of Lilian Garcia’s Chasing Glory podcast.
Pro Wrestling
NJPW announced that All In will be available on-demand for New Japan World subscribers “shortly after the live broadcast.” Further details on when the show will be uploaded haven’t been revealed.
Episode six of “All Us” is largely focused on building to Christopher Daniels vs. Stephen Amell at All In.
Terry Funk told Sports Illustrated that a problem with his abdominal hernia is preventing him from traveling to Starrcast and All In. Funk said about the success of All In: “I think it’s wonderful that Cody is having success, and I was really looking forward to seeing him. Cody and Dusty are similar in so many ways, but they’re different also. I’ve never met anyone like Dusty. He was loved by everyone and everybody. He was a phenomenal in-ring performer who understood the business, and that was passed on to Cody.”
FreeSports in the United Kingdom revealed that Revolution Pro Wrestling is going to start airing on the channel in September. RevPro has TV tapings taking place at York Hall in London on September 5 and 6, and they’ll air on FreeSports later in the month. 5 Star Wrestling was formerly on FreeSports before the promotion shut down.
Pro Wrestling Illustrated released their annual PWI 500 online today, with Kenny Omega ranked at number one. The list factors in kayfabe accomplishments like title wins. The top 10 was revealed on this week’s episode of The Ross Report:
Kenny Omega
AJ Styles
Kazuchika Okada
Brock Lesnar
Seth Rollins
Braun Strowman
Roman Reigns
Cody Rhodes
Tetsuya Naito
The Miz
The Dan Gable Museum tweeted out a picture of Martha Hart holding Owen Hart’s Thesz/Tragos Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame plaque.
Fite TV announced that select events from next month’s Wrestling MediaCon will be streamed live on the service.
UFC/MMA
Conor McGregor responded to Floyd Mayweather inviting him to train at the Mayweather Boxing Club in Las Vegas for his fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov: “ F*ck the Mayweathers, except Senior and Roger. There is no peace here kid. Step up or step down.”
Donald Cerrone appeared on Joe Rogan’s MMA show today.
Daily Professional Wrestling History: SummerSlam 1992 at Wembley Stadium
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