THE ROUND-UP

The Latest from the F4W Staff

NEWS

AUDIO

We're looking for your thoughts on Friday night's ROH War of the Worlds PPV and Saturday night's UFC 211 PPV, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to dave@wrestlingobserver.com.

Smackdown will be taped on Tuesday in Manchester, NH for the go-home show for the Backlash PPV.

NEW JAPAN BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIORS TOURNAMENT AT 5:30 A.M. EASTERN TIME WEDNESDAY ON NEW JAPAN WORLD

ACH vs. Bushi

Kushida vs. Desperado

Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru

Tiger Mask vs. Volador Jr.

Jushin Liger vs. Taka Michinoku

Ricochet vs. Taichi

Dragon Lee vs. Hiromu Takahashi

Will Ospreay vs. Marty Scurll

FIGURE FOUR WEEKLY: 5/8/2017: Thinking outside the long talking segment

While it wasn't entirely revolutionary, the two-part "Who is Roderick Strong?" series that aired on NXT television over the past couple of weeks again proved how effective WWE's video profiles can be in getting characters over. Similar videos have aired in the past (with a series that focused on Finn Balor in NXT standing out as a highlight), but the profiles on Strong may have been the best that WWE has ever done. They made him feel like a fully formed character in a way that he never really has before.

Subscribers click here to continue.





WRESTLING OBSERVER NEWSLETTER: May 15, 2017: WWE financials breakdown, Braun Strowman injured, tons more

It’s another double issue of the Observer out this week, with more of a look at the WWE business in every category, how the Braun Strowman injury affects booking, the death of one of pro wrestling's leading historians J Michael Kenyon, New Japan's direction, the life of Gran Apache, UFC business, indies and the WWE ratings declines.

Look at the current WWE finances, WWE network subscriptions, television revenue, how much WWE takes in for Total Divas, comparing this year's WrestleMania to last year when it comes to network subscription growth, how many people added and canceled subscriptions to the network in the first quarter, revenue and expenses regarding adding new events on the network, what categories is the company losing money in, and the interesting stats regarding social media users and where they are from and where the money for WWE comes from.

Read about the realities of WWE attendance, merchandise sales, ticket sales, the value of the band extension, and a chart showing where the actual profits have come from in WWE over the past five years.

Examine the Strowman situation, the next couple of PPV shows and how the planned Raw main event scene has been changed.

Check out New Japan's big shows over the next month, including a major storyline that starts next week, the full lineups for the Best of the Super Junior shows, what shows will be in English, a rundown of the Dontaku show in Fukuoka, and more thoughts on the Long Beach shows.

There is an update on the Hardys situation, Dwayne Johnson's first movie with a pro wrestling backdrop, Johnson for President, WWE announcing for new shows, plans for the women's tournament and the highlights of the first U.K. shows.

Also, look at the WWE injury updates, how ratings for other sports and their drops are comparing with WWE, a major new WWE sieging, and details on two lawsuits against WWE including one that has potential major implications for current wrestlers.

Subscribers click here to continue.

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.



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 moonsault@mediaplusint.com. 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.

WON BACK ISSUE: April 17, 2000: Mike Awesome jumps ship to WCW, Russo/Bischoff era of Nitro begins, more

At press time, exactly what is going on between WCW and ECW regarding current ECW heavyweight champion Mike Awesome is apparently up in the air. In a strange series of circumstances, it appeared that Eric Bischoff and Vince Russo, in their attempt to re-create the debuting impact of Nitro in 1995 with Lex Luger's surprising walking on the set, combined with the incident where Madusa threw the WWF womens title belt in the garbage can, since they were unable to secure any WWF talent, made a huge pitch to garner ECW's heavyweight champion.

Subscribers click here to continue.

MONDAY NEWS UPDATE

Bryan and I will be back tonight on Wrestling Observer radio. We'll be talking Raw, more UFC fallout, Braun Strowman, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Rip Rogers, Randy Orton, Bully Ray, Young Bucks, Joey Ryan and if there's anyone else we should talk about, let me know. You can also send questions to We'll be talking Raw, more UFC fallout, Braun Strowman, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Rip Rogers, Randy Orton, Bully Ray, Young Bucks, Joey Ryan and if there's anyone else we should talk about, let me know. You can also send questions to mailbag@wrestlingobserver.com

Hiroshi Tanahashi was injured last night in Philadelphia. We don't know anything more than the doctor at the building was examining his biceps. The hope and feeling was that it wasn't a full tear, which would be a major injury. A partial tear people work through although it hurts and doesn't get better quickly unless you take a long rest.

The WWE reported today that Braun Strowman underwent surgery on Thursday in Birmingham with Dr. Jeffrey Dugas. The WWE claimed his elbow was shattered and he will be out up to six months, but that timetable is a work.

So there was a bunch of Twitter stuff going on the past two days. It started when Rip Rogers shared something about too many dives in pro wrestling. Then Bully Ray, who is in ROH, sent a photo of him coming off the top rope. The Young Bucks wrote something about the match described in the Rogers post with a ton of superkicks, dives and this is awesome spots and joked it sounded like a great match. Then Randy Orton, who doesn't like Bully Ray and was in Copenhagen, Denmark on the last night of his tour, wrote a tweet about indy mark, indy guys and old-timers, and bragging about the Smackdown tour doing $5 million in gates over the past 11 shows (I'd think that's a very low estimate and would be closer to $7-8 million) and kind of ran down indy guys. Then Orton apologized.

The reality is that guys looking to make names are always going to do too much for a veteran who has already made their name. And that the style has changed. And that guys in the past who have all kinds of injuries working safer want to warn the young guys for fear of them messing up their bodies. It's really a constant subject behind-the-scenes as far as risks in the ring that is very real. But it's easier to simplify this as bitter veterans or disrespectful young guys rather than address there are two sides to the story. Some guys would like to keep the profession safer, which is a noble goal, and some who aren't gifted with size and look or a promoter who likes them for that reason, want to make themselves stars and have realized through different experiences what works for them and what fans want to see from them.

WWE

Raw goes against game seven of the Boston Celtics vs. Washington Wizards series tonight. The rating this week is more interesting than most because they are coming off two record seasonal lows, with last week's number being terrible. So will they do a shakeup, plus what happens with Roman Reigns now that Braun Strowman looks to be out of the picture? Dean Ambrose vs The Miz for the IC title and Sheamus vs. Jeff Hardy are advertised, as well as Jack Gallagher & Austin Aries vs. TJP & Neville. In the New York market they've advertised Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt and Seth Rollins vs. Samoa Joe, but what they advertise and what they deliver aren't always the same. Cedric Alexander is backstage so he may be on the show, and his return is imminent.

After Raw on the WWE Network will be the debut of a WWE 24 documentary on Finn Balor fighting his way back after all of his injuries last year.

John Cena has announced a speaking tour in Australia, called "The Untold Story, In His Words" with shows on 7/7 at The Star Theater at the Gold Coast of Australia, 7/8 in Melbourne at the Convention Centre and 7/9 in Sydney at the Star Event Centre. Tickets go on sale on Wednesday morning for all three dates. It looks like Fast Track Events are promoting this. They must be paying him a ton because getting dates on Cena for anything is expensive, let alone in Australia.

John Cena and Nikki Bella are representing WWE as well as Total Divas and Total Bellas at the NBC Upfronts (advertisers convention where they start selling spots for the fall season) today in New York. WWE has also sent Sin Cara to the Telemundo Upfronts.

The Wall, starring John Cena, which opened this weekend, won't open until 8/3 in Australia. (thanks to James Stanios)

Randy Orton vs. A.J. Styles for the WWE title and Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn are being advertised in the Manchester, NH market for Smackdown tomorrow night. That doesn't mean they'll happen that way.

An interview with Samoa Joe is here.