Week in Wrestling - Sunday July 1, 2018
WWE NEWS
Rest in Peace Matt Cappotelli
Early on Friday morning, former professional wrestler Matt Cappotelli passed away after his second battle with brain cancer. Cappotelli was just 38 years old. This is extremely sad news. Cappotelli, who appeared to be universally well-liked by those who knew him, was one of the winners of season three of WWE Tough Enough. He was an up-and-coming star in OVW until his first brain cancer diagnosis in 2005 led to the end of his in-ring career. Our deepest thoughts are with his family and friends whom he leaves to mourn.
Updated Extreme Rules Plans
Extreme Rules, the next PPV, on 7/15 in Pittsburgh still looks to be headlined by A.J. Styles vs. Rusev for the WWE title, but there have been some changes to what we reported was planned last week. The original main event was going to be a six-way match. It’s unclear who would be the participants, although Roman Reigns, Bobby Lashley and Finn Balor were all included in plans, but those plans are now off. Right now the idea is for a Reigns vs. Lashley singles match, but like everything, that is subject to change.
The matches official for the Extreme Rules show are A.J. Styles vs. Rusev for the WWE title, Alexa Bliss vs. Nia Jax for the Raw women’s title, Carmella vs. Asuka for the Smackdown women’s title, Matt Hardy & Bray Wyatt vs. Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel for the Raw tag titles and Luke Harper & Rick Rowan vs. Daniel Bryan & Kane for the Smackdown tag titles. While not announced by WWE, WWE did send a lineup to the arena that added Kevin Owens vs. Braun Strowman in a cage match and Dolph Ziggler vs. Seth Rollins in an IC title match.
That would make seven matches and leaving little time for others. Still, current television is building toward Bayley vs. Sasha Banks and Balor vs. Corbin. The former one would think would be on the show, although it’s possible they may hold off the meeting until SummerSlam so it would take place in the same arena where Bayley and Banks had each of their career-best matches over the NXT title.
The matches official for the Extreme Rules show are A.J. Styles vs. Rusev for the WWE title, Alexa Bliss vs. Nia Jax for the Raw women’s title, Carmella vs. Asuka for the Smackdown women’s title, Matt Hardy & Bray Wyatt vs. Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel for the Raw tag titles and Luke Harper & Rick Rowan vs. Daniel Bryan & Kane for the Smackdown tag titles. While not announced by WWE, WWE did send a lineup to the arena that added Kevin Owens vs. Braun Strowman in a cage match and Dolph Ziggler vs. Seth Rollins in an IC title match.
That would make seven matches and leaving little time for others. Still, current television is building toward Bayley vs. Sasha Banks and Balor vs. Corbin. The former one would think would be on the show, although it’s possible they may hold off the meeting until SummerSlam so it would take place in the same arena where Bayley and Banks had each of their career-best matches over the NXT title.
Lesnar Plans Update
According to Dave Meltzer, right now the plan is still Lesnar vs. Reigns, which sounds like a bad idea given people are so over it as even with the fluke ending at Greatest Royal Rumble, people are burned out about another rematch. But none of that really matters. The current storyline is to portray Lesnar as someone who didn’t care about the fans, or care about wrestling, to the point he would no-show at will. The idea this time is to tell a story that Lesnar is looking at leaving with the belt and going to the UFC. A message from Paul Heyman on social media, read on Raw, didn’t outright say that but did talk about Lesnar focusing on “Ultimate opportunities.”
So the idea now is that the fans should hate Lesnar because not only does he not care about them, or the company, only himself, but in hardcore fan analogy, he’s considering the breach of their ethics by not losing the title on the way out. The goal, at least this week, is to tell a story where Lesnar looks like he’s leaving, while Reigns is being told by everyone, his fellow wrestlers, Heyman, and even the fans themselves, that he needs to step aside because he failed in opportunity after opportunity with Lesnar. The idea is that nobody believes in Reigns but himself, and thus that will either make him sympathetic before the match (this is unlikely to work) or that at least coming out of it, there will be some grudging admiration for him–if he wins, and who even knows if he’ll do that.
Lashley vs. Reigns was not announced although strongly hinted at, where the winner would likely be Lesnar’s next opponent. It makes sense that Lesnar against the winner would take place at SummerSlam, but that also is not confirmed. Ultimately it will take place at the time of Vince McMahon’s choosing and the result will be the result McMahon wants. Bruce Mitchell of PWInsider stated that Lesnar is currently not booked for Summerslam and that title match may happen at a later date, as a way to build even more heat on Lesnar.
So the idea now is that the fans should hate Lesnar because not only does he not care about them, or the company, only himself, but in hardcore fan analogy, he’s considering the breach of their ethics by not losing the title on the way out. The goal, at least this week, is to tell a story where Lesnar looks like he’s leaving, while Reigns is being told by everyone, his fellow wrestlers, Heyman, and even the fans themselves, that he needs to step aside because he failed in opportunity after opportunity with Lesnar. The idea is that nobody believes in Reigns but himself, and thus that will either make him sympathetic before the match (this is unlikely to work) or that at least coming out of it, there will be some grudging admiration for him–if he wins, and who even knows if he’ll do that.
Lashley vs. Reigns was not announced although strongly hinted at, where the winner would likely be Lesnar’s next opponent. It makes sense that Lesnar against the winner would take place at SummerSlam, but that also is not confirmed. Ultimately it will take place at the time of Vince McMahon’s choosing and the result will be the result McMahon wants. Bruce Mitchell of PWInsider stated that Lesnar is currently not booked for Summerslam and that title match may happen at a later date, as a way to build even more heat on Lesnar.
Nakamura Injured by Dog
Shinsuke Nakamura was injured when he was bit on the left leg by a police dog at the Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield, California on Monday morning prior to SmackDown's house show at the venue. United States Champion Jeff Hardy vs. Nakamura was then pulled from this past Tuesday's SmackDown.
Officers of the local police department’s Explosive Ordinance Disposal team were doing a sweep of the arena that morning to prepare for the show. The group of bomb technicians and an a dog trained to sniff out explosives entered the gym part of the arena. The dog came into the gym, and bit Nakamura. Nakamura was given immediate aid and then taken to the hospital for treatment.
Due to the injury, Nakamura was unable to compete at the Sumo Hall show on Friday, which sold out instantly, something WWE has not done in Japan in a long time, built around AJ Styles vs. Nakamura for the WWE Championship. Nakamura made an appearance but wasn't able to wrestle. Instead he entered with a crutch and told the crowd that he wasn't able to compete.
Officers of the local police department’s Explosive Ordinance Disposal team were doing a sweep of the arena that morning to prepare for the show. The group of bomb technicians and an a dog trained to sniff out explosives entered the gym part of the arena. The dog came into the gym, and bit Nakamura. Nakamura was given immediate aid and then taken to the hospital for treatment.
Due to the injury, Nakamura was unable to compete at the Sumo Hall show on Friday, which sold out instantly, something WWE has not done in Japan in a long time, built around AJ Styles vs. Nakamura for the WWE Championship. Nakamura made an appearance but wasn't able to wrestle. Instead he entered with a crutch and told the crowd that he wasn't able to compete.
NXT NEWS
Lorcan Out Injured
Oney Lorcan suffered a broken right orbital bone in the tag match on the Takeover show where he and Danny Burch wrestled Roderick Strong & Kyle O’Reilly. He will be undergoing surgery so he’ll be out of action for a while. There is no exact time frame but it looks like a few months, which is too bad because the team has looked great as of late.
NXT Takeover Brooklyn
For the 8/18 Takeover Brooklyn show, Shayna Baszler vs. Kairi Sane for the women’s title is official. It also looks like Aleister Black vs. Tommaso Ciampa for the NXT title and perhaps a third meeting with Roderick Strong & Kyle O’Reilly vs. Trent Seven & Tyler Bate after their two matches that were reported as fantastic over the past two weeks.
I'm not sure if this is the case for Brooklyn, it likely is, but it is definitely the case for November in Los Angeles, that NXT Takeover shows are permanently being moved up one hour to 7 p.m. starts on Saturday night. The NXT Takeover live events will start closer to 6 p.m. I was told the idea isn't longer shows, but that's probably what will wind up happening. Right now the directive is that the shows will be less than three hours in length, when before they were just over two hours, and then lengthened to close to two hours and 30 minutes.
I'm not sure if this is the case for Brooklyn, it likely is, but it is definitely the case for November in Los Angeles, that NXT Takeover shows are permanently being moved up one hour to 7 p.m. starts on Saturday night. The NXT Takeover live events will start closer to 6 p.m. I was told the idea isn't longer shows, but that's probably what will wind up happening. Right now the directive is that the shows will be less than three hours in length, when before they were just over two hours, and then lengthened to close to two hours and 30 minutes.
New Japan Pro Wrestling News
Omega Apologizes
Kenny Omega issued a statement today following criticism that he’s received for Chasyn Rance vs. Aaron Epic taking place on the pre-show of last night’s CEO x NJPW event. Omega wrote that allowing the match was a “terrible oversight,” apologized to anyone who was truly hurt by the decision, and said he won’t be taking chances with talent that he isn't familiar with in the future. He also said he'd refund anyone who was in attendance that couldn’t enjoy the show because of it.
He noted that he offered the dark match to the ring crew/wrestling school that they were working with and didn't decide on the matchup. Rance pleaded no contest in 2011 after being charged with lewd or lascivious battery for allegedly having sex with a 15-year-old girl when he was 25 in 2008. He was forced to register as a sex offender for seven years.
He noted that he offered the dark match to the ring crew/wrestling school that they were working with and didn't decide on the matchup. Rance pleaded no contest in 2011 after being charged with lewd or lascivious battery for allegedly having sex with a 15-year-old girl when he was 25 in 2008. He was forced to register as a sex offender for seven years.
Honma's Return
Tomoaki Honma had first match since March 3, 2017, this past week. Honma took a draping DDT from Jado, a normal move, and ended up paralyzed. He slowly regained movement and was able to start training and came back on the 6/23 show in Yamagata, which drew a sellout of 1,807 fans. He was put into the main event, teaming with Hiroshi Tanahashi & Togi Makabe & Toa Henare & Ryusuke Taguchi against LIJ. Normally with Henare in that match, he’d be the one to drop the fall, but instead they had Honma’s team go over when Honma delivered his favorite kokeshi, the falling head-butt, to Bushi and Makabe followed with the King Kong knee drop for the pin.
The only stuff we heard was that he was fine, but in watching him just walk to the ring a few weeks ago, he didn’t appear that steady on his feet and it left me concerned. Honma himself said that he stunk out there, that he froze and that his return was nothing like he expected and he was much better in training. He was protected, taking no bumps nor any shots to the neck or head, but said that this was a gimme and from here he has to produce. Really it would be good if New Japan did the one comedy match that Baba used to do with the old guys where it was safe and nobody took any punishment and fans just got to see stars from the past with no pressure to have a good match.
The only stuff we heard was that he was fine, but in watching him just walk to the ring a few weeks ago, he didn’t appear that steady on his feet and it left me concerned. Honma himself said that he stunk out there, that he froze and that his return was nothing like he expected and he was much better in training. He was protected, taking no bumps nor any shots to the neck or head, but said that this was a gimme and from here he has to produce. Really it would be good if New Japan did the one comedy match that Baba used to do with the old guys where it was safe and nobody took any punishment and fans just got to see stars from the past with no pressure to have a good match.
Ring of Honor News
Jay Lethal wins World Title
Jay Lethal has captured the Ring of Honor world title for a second time. Lethal defeated Cody, Matt Taven and defending champion Dalton Castle in a fatal four way match at tonight’s television tapings in Fairfax, Virginia. It boiled down to Lethal and Castle following a tower of doom spot that took out Taven and Cody. The two traded near falls, but Lethal caught Castle with the Lethal Injection and pinned him to become the new champion.
Castle held the title for 198 days, defeating Cody back at Final Battle 2017. He has been battling a number of injuries in the last few months since winning the title, battling both a bad back and wrist. He had previously retained the title Friday night at ROH Best in the World, where he defeated Cody and Marty Scurll in a triple threat match.
Castle held the title for 198 days, defeating Cody back at Final Battle 2017. He has been battling a number of injuries in the last few months since winning the title, battling both a bad back and wrist. He had previously retained the title Friday night at ROH Best in the World, where he defeated Cody and Marty Scurll in a triple threat match.
Live Best in the World PPV Review
This past Friday night, I attended the ROH Best in the World PPV here in Baltimore, and overall it was a pretty damn good show. The show will be headlined by a triple threat match for the ROH World Championship, with Dalton Castle defending against Bullet Club members Cody Rhodes and Marty Scurll.
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The main event was not as good as it could have been, had Dalton Castle not been so banged up with injuries. But Marty Scurll busted his ass and really would have gotten a great pop had he won. The real surprise was that he actually won. Flat finish to a great show.
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This was the best tag team match I have ever seen live, and I have seen some pretty great ones. This was better than the ladder match between the Bucks and Hardy's I saw last year at Mania weekend. All action, and the crowd was hot as hell!!!! The Briscoes clearly brought a large group of friends and family with them from Delaware, because one section in particular was going absolutely crazy for them all night, and it made the match that much better. Nick Jackson is just one of the best period and he did some excellent dives that had the crowd popping like popcorn. Great match with excellent false finishes.
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These two beat the shit out of each other and it was wild brawl all over the place. They clearly wanted to make sure they could follow the Lethal Kushida match, and they did everything they could to deliver a hard hitting crazy spotfest that the crowd ate up. Great job, but I felt Paige should've won, as he was super over.
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As expected, these two were great and it was such a treat to see Kushida working in person. I love Jay Lethal, and he's just a hell of a worker. The crowd really helped this be a great match and even when there weren't perfect spots, it still worked.
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I absolutely love Austin Aries and he's one of my all time favorites, so this was the ultimate treat to see him live. I thought they worked a hell of match and Kenny King has found himself a nice groove. Sweep the leg was super over with the crowd as well.
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This was full of heat and action the entire way, which is exactly what this crowd wanted. What a great damn crowd this was too. Flip was explosive and really impressive on offense, and Bully sold like a true vet. The DQ sucked, but the run ins, especially Cheeseburger and Colt Cabana, who was standing right behind me doing commentary, were excellent.
The women's 8 man tag was pretty fun, though technically not the best. Crowd loved the last few minutes.
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Always great to see LIJ in person, but the action wasn't as hot as it could have been. It was solid though.
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IMPACT News
Eli Drake finally signs
Eli Drake, who has been signing a series of short-term extensions with the company, the latest being through the end of July, has agreed to a multi-year new contract. It was an interesting decision because of his age and the fact he’s had interest from WWE, where he was in developmental and let go, and like EC 3, then came here and became a star. The company had kind of tempered his push in recent months since they didn’t know if they could build around him. He’s one of the best promo guys in the business.
Four-wa added to Slammiversary XVI
Confirming plans for some of the names who had been announced for the show, Impact Wrestling added a four-way match to the Slammiversary XVI card, with Johnny Impact vs. Taiji Ishimori vs. Rich Swann vs. Fenix at the July 22 pay-per-view.
Impact World Champion Austin Aries defending against Moose is set to headline the PPV. Pentagon is facing Callihan in a mask vs. hair match at Slammiversary, which is taking place at the Rebel Entertainment Complex in Toronto.
Impact World Champion Austin Aries defending against Moose is set to headline the PPV. Pentagon is facing Callihan in a mask vs. hair match at Slammiversary, which is taking place at the Rebel Entertainment Complex in Toronto.
INDEPENDENT NEWS
MLW Battle Riot
MLW's Battle Riot show in Queens, New York will be a two-hour special airing on beIN Sports on July 27. It will be headlined by a 40-man, no disqualification Battle Riot match, where the rules are that a new participant enters every minute, and eliminations can occur via pinfall, submission, or being thrown over the top rope. The winner will receive a World Heavyweight title shot whenever they want it.
The unique group of names announced for that match also includes Rich Swann, Joey Ryan, PCO, Jason Cade, Konnan, Kevin Sullivan, ACH, Swoggle, John Hennigan (no longer using the name Morrison for obvious reasons), Lance Anoa’i, Tom Lawlor, Pentagon Jr., Rey Fenix, Jimmy Yuta, Jake Hager and Sami Callihan, plus Hennigan vs. Low Ki and Teddy Hart & Smith Jr. as The Hart Foundation, managed by Brian Pillman II, against Swann & ACH, and Pentagon Jr. vs. Jimmy Havoc.
The unique group of names announced for that match also includes Rich Swann, Joey Ryan, PCO, Jason Cade, Konnan, Kevin Sullivan, ACH, Swoggle, John Hennigan (no longer using the name Morrison for obvious reasons), Lance Anoa’i, Tom Lawlor, Pentagon Jr., Rey Fenix, Jimmy Yuta, Jake Hager and Sami Callihan, plus Hennigan vs. Low Ki and Teddy Hart & Smith Jr. as The Hart Foundation, managed by Brian Pillman II, against Swann & ACH, and Pentagon Jr. vs. Jimmy Havoc.
WOW Coming to AXS TV
AXS TV is adding a second wrestling property with its announcement that Women of Wrestling, a show that will be produced by Jeanie Buss, David McLane and Mark Burnett’s MGM Television, will start on the station in early 2019. McLan is best known for GLOW, which was a syndicated television show in the 80s that was a cross between women’s pro wrestling and the old “Hee Haw,” show with comedy skits. The series is now fondly remembered due to the excellent Netflix television show based on that show.
AXS TV will produce and distribute WOW events and have said the goal is to present women’s wrestling with the theatrical flair of a major concert. The plan is to start taping events in Los Angeles at the end of this year, and to start airing on AXS in early 2019.
AXS TV will produce and distribute WOW events and have said the goal is to present women’s wrestling with the theatrical flair of a major concert. The plan is to start taping events in Los Angeles at the end of this year, and to start airing on AXS in early 2019.
AAA MSG Show Off
Regarding AAA and Madison Square Garden, it is notable that WWE did not attempt to block their date. AAA still has a hold on 9/16, but it’s not going to happen as Konnan said that they won’t be ready. They were looking for a TV deal and a sponsorship deal where the chances of success would be better. If they ran with no television and no sponsorship, it would not be successful so there would be no point. But they are hoping to run MSG in 2019. It’s pretty clear WWE isn’t against anyone else running MSG as much as blocking people who they feel would be successful running MSG.
By: Larry Causion Jr. CausionCreations.com
Posted: Sunday, July 1, 2018
Credit: Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Posted: Sunday, July 1, 2018
Credit: Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter