DAILY UPDATE
Latest News
ROH announces G1 Supercard Festival of Honor
Bob Stoops named head coach/GM of Dallas XFL team
WWE hits record high for revenue, announces full 2018 financials
Pat McAfee signs multi-year deal with WWE
WWE NXT results: Six-woman tag team main event
Latest Audio
WOL: WWE 2018 financials and the role Crown Jewel played 2/7
Portland Wrestlecast: Toni Rae Borne, daughter of a legend 2/7
WOR: AEW press event, Smackdown ratings, FOX talks October move, UFC, more! 2/7
F4W NEWSLETTER: Figure Four Weekly: WWE’s WrestleMania main event decision
While the first women’s WrestleMania main event is all but official at this point, WWE still has a huge decision to make about who will be in it.
In a sense, WWE is playing with house money. Both options that they have are good ones. Whether the main event is Ronda Rousey vs. Becky Lynch for the Raw Women’s Championship or a triple threat between Rousey, Lynch, and Charlotte Flair for the title, it will be the most heated match on the card and fully deserving of its place in the spotlight on WWE’s most important day of the year.
WON NEWSLETTER: February 11, 2019: NJPW New Beginning in Sapporo review, more
I have no idea how this issue got done. I had surgery on my left little finger which was broken in three places on 1/30, and it seemingly went well.
NJPW – New Beginnings: The two nights together did 10,957 paid with one sellout up from 10,002 last year. Tanahashi & Okada as The Dream Team vs. Jay White & Bad Luck Fale did the same as Tanahashi vs. Suzuki did last year for the IC title but paid was much higher this year for Naito vs. Taichi in Taichi’s hometown than for Kenny Omega vs. Jay White for the U.S, title last year, although both were sellouts.
At Smackdown on Tuesday, several talents with contracts coming due were asked to sign new long-term deals after Dean Ambrose told the promotion he wasn’t going to sign a new contract.
Ian Riccaboni signed a new contract with ROH to continue as their play-by-play announcer.
UFC held a press conference today. The big heat seemed to be between Tyron Woodley and Kamaru Usman, building up their Welterweight Title fight at UFC 235 on March 2nd. Jon Jones is facing Anthony Smith on that show.
Conor McGregor will not be fighting Donald Cerrone in April. Khabib still claims he is not fighting for a year.
Jose Aldo defeated Renato Moicano, 44 seconds into the 2nd round. First round was very close. But it was the “old Aldo”, just destroyed him. Aldo is still talking about retiring at the end of this year.
Filthy Tom Lawlor is the new MLW champion defeating Low Ki at their super fight one hour Bein Sports TV special from the 2300 (ECW) Arena in Philadelphia.
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@wrestlingobserver.com or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to dave@wrestlingobserver.com.
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell,CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
THURSDAY NEWS UPDATE
by Bryan Rose and Joseph Currier
WWE
After WWE released their fourth quarter/full year 2018 financial report today, WWE stock closed the day at $83.51 per share. That’s up 4.70 percent on the day and gives the company a $6.52 billion market capitalization.
WWE announced a stock repurchase program of up to $500 million of their common stock. WWE’s George Barrios said about the announcement: “The authorization of a stock repurchase program underscores our commitment to the Company’s shareholders. The decision is supported by WWE’s strong financial performance and demonstrates our confidence in the Company’s future. We believe we can continue to invest for future growth, maintain financial flexibility and return excess capital to shareholders, all of which should keep us on the path toward building long-term value.”
Dean Ambrose will be a guest on Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder’s podcast tomorrow.
The Richmond Coliseum, which opened in 1971, is reportedly being shuttered and there are plans to demolish the venue. It was home to several WWE events, most recently Backlash 2016 where AJ Styles pinned Dean Ambrose to win the WWE title.
Ronda Rousey made an appearance to help with the opening of the new Didi Hirsch Suicide Prevention Center in Los Angeles.
The Rock said he was the Academy’s first choice to host the Oscars, but had to turn it down due to filming the next Jumanji movie.
Seth Rollins reflects on his early run in NXT and FCW.
Alexa Bliss has been training with Mike Quackenbush at the Performance Center.
WWE uploaded video of Eric Bugenhagen’s “encore performance” after his NXT TV debut.
There is also a history of Elimination Chamber match winners on WWE’s YouTube page.
Bruce Feldman reported that Pep Hamilton is expected to be named the head coach and general manager of the XFL’s Washington D.C. team. Hamilton was the University of Michigan’s assistant head coach/passing game coordinator until leaving this week. He was previously the offensive coordinator for the Indianapolis Colts and Stanford University.
Pro Wrestling
From Dave Meltzer on Trent Barreta/AEW/NJPW: “New Japan is not upset at AEW over Trent Barreta. The issue is that they felt Baretta had made a commitment to them for 2019 to key people and then decided to leave but they have no beef with AEW over them signing him.”
AAA will start airing on TV Azteca on 2/15, with Lucha Central reporting it will air at 4:30 Central time every Friday. This comes after AAA announced recently that they and Televisia had split.
Impact has announced a press conference with former NFL players Floyd Little, Morton Greenwood, Tom Barnt and Lawrence Pinson to formally launch their alliance with the NFLALV’s charity programs ‘Caring for Kids’ and ‘Care for our Own’. It will take place on 2/15 starting at 5:30 p.m. PT at Sam’s Town Live in Las Vegas.
Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler and Shane Helms have been added to Starrcast II.
NJPW’s website has removed Cody Rhodes, Young Bucks, Hangman Page, Trent Barreta, Chucky T and KUSHIDA’s profiles from their website. However, Kenny Omega and Jericho’s profiles are still up.
A video by Shaun Ryan is out hyping the feud between David Starr and Jordan Devlin ahead of their OTT match on 2/17.
Cody Rhodes and Madison Rayne appeared on this week’s episode of The Ross Report.
Ilja Dragunov has been announced for this year’s PROGRESS Super Strong Style 16 tournament, which is taking place from May 4-6. He’s the second wrestler to be confirmed for the tournament, joining Travis Banks.
Ian Riccaboni has this weekend’s ROH shows off because he and his wife are expecting the arrival of their second child: “Now feels as good of time as ever to mention this: My wife is pregnant. All signs point to a happy and health birth… this weekend. One of the reasons I re-signed with ROH was because they walk the walk with ‘Family First’. I have off this weekend.”
UFC/MMA
Joanna Jedrzejczyk says she is definitely headed back to 115, and also expressed interested in going to Brazil to watch Rose Namajunas defend the strawweight title against Jessica Andrade on 5/11.
Wanderlei Silva says he is suffering from concussion-like symptoms.
UFC 234 will not air on DirecTV as they have failed to reach an agreement with the UFC regarding carriage of the event.
It appears that Bellator’s 2/17 show will air live at 3 a.m. on Sky Sports in the UK.
Israel Adesanya demonstrated a number of pro wrestling moves, including the Stone Cold Stunner, during his open workout prior to UFC 234.
Sarah Frota will move up to flyweight after missing weight last weekend.
A fight between Kevin Aguilar and Enrique Barzola is in the works for UFC Fight Night in Philadelphia.
A fight between Carlos Ferreira and Tom Breese is now out for UFC London on 3/16. Ian Heinisch will take Ferreira’s place.
Ismail Naurdiev will replace Ramazan Emeev in a fight against Michel Prazeres at UFC Prague.
UFC is reportedly looking to rebook a Cory Sandhagen/John Lineker fight that was scheduled last month to take place on 4/27, but it isn’t a done deal.
Russian prospect Zelim Imadaev (8-0) has signed with the UFC.
Daily Pro Wrestling History: Money Inc. win WWF Tag Team titles
Ed in San Antonio presents the WRESTLEMANIA Weekend Events (more to be added):
Sunday, April 6th, at 12:00 pm: Lunch (all you can eat) at Churrascaria Plataforma ($90 per person), located at 316 W. 49th street in Manhattan. Purchase tickets here~!
Luxury Bus to MetLife Stadium for Wrestlemania: We will depart from the Hilton Midtown (site of Wrestlecon) located at 1335 Avenue of the Americas. Departure time is 4:00 pm and will return from MetLife approximately 30 mins after the event. Times are subject to change, and cost $67.00 per person for the round trip. Purchase tickets here~!
CONTACT INFORMATION
Poll opinions: dave@wrestlingobserver.com
Feedback: feedback@wrestlingobserver.com
Show results and news tips: newstips@wrestlingobserver.com
Wrestling Observer Radio questions: mailbag@wrestlingobserver.com
Support the Empire~! with F4W shirts. Grab yours today!