POST IT NOTES
**We have begun our G1 reviews, which will be covering the 19 events over the next month and be available to members of the POST Wrestling Café. If you sign up for $6 (U.S.) per month, you will receive all the G1 shows, as well as bonus shows like Rewind-A-Wai and the Rewind-A-Raw “Double Shot”.
Our first G1 show is now available with Wai Ting and I reviewing Night 1 of the tournament with Jay White vs. Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Minoru Suzuki, Michael Elgin vs. EVIL, Bad Luck Fale vs. Hangman Page, and Yoshi-Hashi vs. Togi Makabe. Our second G1 show will be out today and another is coming out Monday afternoon.
**Wai Ting and I will also have a free show up tonight with an extensive review of the WWE Extreme Rules event from Pittsburgh.
**The latest edition of the EGGSHELLS Podcast Companion features Chris Charlton being joined by Paul “The Mauler” Lazenby to chat about the Tokyo Dome cards from 1992. Lazenby shares some great stories about training at the Pancrase Dojo, his workouts with Minoru Suzuki, the tapes they studied in the dojo, and lots more. I highly recommend this show and it’s on the free POST Wrestling podcast feed.
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WRESTLING NEWS
**The WWE made a major announcement Sunday that Hulk Hogan has been reinstated into the WWE’s Hall of Fame and appears to be the first step in Hogan’s full return to the company. The WWE issued this statement on the matter:
After a three-year suspension, Hulk Hogan has been reinstated into the WWE Hall of Fame. This second chance follows Hogan’s numerous public apologies and volunteering to work with young people, where he is helping them learn from his mistake. These efforts led to a recent induction into the Boys & Girls Clubs of America Alumni Hall of Fame.
The reaction to Hogan’s return to the company is going to be a debated one. His language on the sex tape that was made public in 2015 is not going to be forgiven by the entirety of the WWE’s audience. There is a valid argument that Hogan should not be attached to the company, given their placement within the television world, the scale at which advertisers are more accepting of the WWE, and the liability that Hogan presents. It is very hard to imagine Hogan becoming an ambassador and going to markets to promote the company without his past being a big talking point. While it’s unknown how significant a role Hogan will have with the company, most would assume that being “reinstated” into a Hall of Fame that constitutes his name being listed on a website is not the extent of this renewed relationship.
Earlier in the day, PWinsider.com had reported that Hogan was spotted at an airport in Cleveland and is two hours from Pittsburgh where the site of tonight’s pay-per-view is. We will be discussing this further on tonight’s show.
**Daniel Bryan was interviewed by The Business Times out of Taipei and shed some light on his feelings about his upcoming contract negotiations with the WWE. Bryan has stated in the past that his existing deal with the company expires on September 1st and has yet to resign. With SummerSlam coming up next month, Bryan’s future is going to dictate how he is handled over the next month, but in this interview, Bryan suggested he is leaning towards remaining with the company:
The wrestling world is an interesting world right now,” he mused, “but I love working with WWE and my wife is a part of WWE and so there’s a good chance I’ll re-sign.
For the majority of performers in Bryan’s situation, I would take everything they say in public with a grain of salt. However, Bryan is one of those unique individuals who is critically honest, and you can take at their word much more than is typical. Also, for maximum leverage, you would think Bryan would suggest the opposite that he is exploring his options outside of WWE rather than issue a statement like this if leverage was the goal.
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**The G1 Climax tournament is underway with two shows in the books and already some phenomenal matches taking place. Sunday’s card from Ota City Gymnasium in Tokyo was one of the better shows this year with an incredible pair of matches with Kenny Omega vs. Tetsuya Naito and Kota Ibushi vs. Zack Sabre Jr. closing the show. The G1 resumes Monday in Hokkaido with the following card:
*Hiroshi Tanahashi (1-0) vs. Jay White (1-0) – BLOCK A
*Kazuchika Okada (0-1) vs. Bad Luck Fale (0-1) – BLOCK A
*Minoru Suzuki (0-1) vs. Togi Makabe (1-0) – BLOCK A
*EVIL (0-1) vs. Yoshi-Hashi (0-1) – BLOCK A
*Michael Elgin (1-0) vs. Hangman Page (1-0) – BLOCK A
*Kenny Omega & Chase Owens vs. Hirooki Goto & YOH
*Tetsuya Naito & Sanada vs. Tomohiro Ishii & SHO
*Kota Ibushi & Yujiro vs. Juice Robinson & David Finlay
*Zack Sabre Jr. & Taka Michinoku vs. Toru Yano & Jado
*Guerrillas of Destiny vs. Toa Henare & Shota Umino
**Hiromu Takahashi sent out a photo with the caption, “I’m fine thank you!” It was his first statement since last Saturday’s match with Dragon Lee at the Cow Palace where Takahashi was dropped on his head. He was hospitalized after the match and flew home to Japan earlier in the week. New Japan has been vague with his status and the injury he sustained. It was reported earlier this week by Dave Meltzer at the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Takahashi is not expected to need surgery.
**This Wednesday, NXT will be holding their television tapings at Full Sail University and will feature the Aleister Black vs. Tommaso Ciampa title match, which is scheduled to air July 25th. This is the final set of tapings before the TakeOver card in Brooklyn on Saturday, August 18th.
**This past Thursday’s episode of Impact Wrestling averaged 284,000 viewers on POP TV, which was down 6.5% from last week’s number of 304,000. This week’s show featured DeAngelo Williams appearing for a segment with Austin Aries to build up the Slammiversary event with Williams training Moose for his title match. It also featured the best Impact television match of the year with Sami Callihan & oVe vs. Pentagon Jr., Fenix & Rich Swann, which is a match I highly recommend you seek out. Impact Wrestling has a had a very good run going into Slammiversary and it’s a matter of creating awareness for the product and that’s a long road, but the television is progressing in that direction.
**Madison Rayne will be challenging for both the Women of Honor and Impact Knockout’s championships next weekend. Rayne will challenge Sumie Sakai next Saturday at the Ring of Honor card at Center Stage in Atlanta and then face Su Yung on Sunday at Slammiversary in Toronto.
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MMA NEWS
**On Saturday night, the UFC held their first card in Boise, Idaho in a front of a great crowd that seemed to be into the fights throughout. The main event was not very entertaining and was a strategic game plan by Junior Dos Santos to use his boxing and specifically his jab to attack Blagoy Ivanov and not leave himself open for any counter strikes. This was a fight that was better suited for a three-round setting than five, but that’s a roll of the dice when booking these main events and not knowing why kind of fight you will get. On the main card, Sage Northcutt, Chad Mendes, and Cat Zingano had big victories and with Zingano, it was a necessary win as she dominated Marion Reneau with her wrestling to snap a three-fight losing streak going back to 2015.
The attendance was announced at 5,648 and a gate of $591,575 at the CenturyLink Arena with the following results:
*Jessica Aguilar def. Jodie Esquibel by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) – I gave the first and third rounds to Aguilar. She landed several knees from the clinch and was landing with her right hand. Esquibel narrowly won the second round.
*Mark De La Rosa def. Elias Garcia by rear-naked choke at 2:00 of Round 2 – De La Rosa’s wife, Montana De La Rosa, just won last weekend on the TUF Finale card submitting Rachael Ostovich. Garcia is a cousin of the Pettis brothers and trains in Milwaukee. This was a fun fight as both took chances with submissions. De La Rosa secured the back with both hooks in the second round and forced the tap.
*Liz Carmouche def. Jennifer Maia by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) – Carmouche not only took her down throughout the fight but showcased some excellent guard passes to side control and mounted Maia several times. Maia’s best round was the first where he landed several right hands but not enough to do much damage.
*Raoni Barcelos def. Kurt Holobaugh by TKO at 1:29 of Round 3 – They started at a furious pace with big strikes being thrown. Barcelos landed several right uppercuts and I had him up two rounds going into the third. Barcelos rocked with a left and followed with right hands and dropped with a right uppercut for the stoppage in his UFC debut.
*Said Nurmagomedov def. Justin Scoggins by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28) – This was a bit of a surprise as I felt Scoggins won the first two rounds and I scored the third for Nurmagomedov. Scoggins worked well from his karate stance and timing his counter left. At MMA Decision, each media member scored the fight for Scoggins.
*Alexander Volkanovski def. Darren Elkins by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) – This was another fight that was scored poorly but the right person won. Volkanovski destroyed Elkins with strikes for 15-minutes. The first round was an easy 10-8 round (and Idaho is under the new rules so there is no excuse for a conservative 10-9 score). I had it 30-26 for Volkanovski and I don’t know how in the world Elkins was given one round by one judge.
*Alejandro Perez def. Eddie Wineland by unanimous decision (29-28 all) – This was another debated decision as Wineland was the one pressing forward. However, this was similar to the Darren Till fight with Stephen Thompson where Till was advancing but Thompson was scoring outside the perimeter and circling. I didn’t disagree with this decision, although the majority of media members scored this for Wineland. I thought Perez clearly won the third round and the second was the round to debate and I can accept 29-28 in either direction.
*Cat Zingano def. Marion Reneau by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26) – Zingano’s wrestling was the difference as she took down Reneau every round and was active in Reneau’s guard with strikes. Several times, Reneau pulled guard and it wasn’t to her benefit being on the bottom. Zingano ended a three-fight losing streak and was a very important win for her. She mentioned having unfinished business with Amanda Nunes, who is the current champion and lost to Zingano in 2014. If Zingano can win another fight against a contender, she will probably be in line for a rematch with Nunes.
*Chad Mendes def. Myles Jury by TKO at 2:52 of Round 1 – The beginning of the fight featured both posturing with minimal engagement. Mendes landed and dropped Jury with a left hand and swarmed with ground and pound to win. Mendes hasn’t fought since December 2015 after a USADA suspension for two-years. Mendes proclaimed he was back and seemed like the happiest man on Earth.
*Nico Price def. Randy Brown by KO at 1:09 of Round 2 – This was one of the coolest finishes of the year. Price was underneath Brown and attempted an armbar, then started landing hammer fists from the bottom and knocked Brown out.
*Rick Glenn def. Dennis Bermudez by split decision (29-28, 27-30, 29-28) – This was another fight where the decision was debated. I felt Glenn won the first and Bermudez won the third round. In the second round Bermudez was taking down Glenn consistently, however, Glenn outstruck him in Rounds 1 and 2.
*Sage Northcutt def. Zak Ottow by KO at 3:13 of Round 2 – Northcutt was immediately hit with a shot and taken down. Northcutt was briefly mounted but made his way to his feet and ended the round with big strikes and applied a mounted guillotine to steal the round. In the second, Ottow appeared to be tired and was taken down. Northcutt kicked Ottow’s grip and finished Ottow with hammer fists. This was one of Northcutt’s best performances at a higher weight than usual and was composed after the early adversity.
*Junior Dos Santos def. Blagoy Ivanov by unanimous decision (50-45 all) – This was a pretty, dull fight, although the threat of either landing a power shot was always there. Dos Santos was conservative with his striking, working behind his jab and respecting the power of Ivanov. Ivanov landed a series of left hands in the third round, which was his best round. Dos Santos was piecing together combinations as Ivanov tired down the stretch. I scored it 50-45 for Dos Santos, who suggested a third fight with Stipe Miocic next.
**The Fight of the Night bonus was awarded to Raoni Barcelos and Kurt Holobaugh and the Performance bonuses went to Chad Mendes and Niko Price for $50,000 each.
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**Next weekend’s UFC card is a Sunday morning show from Hamburg, Germany with a new main event of Mauricio “Shogun” Rua fighting Anthony Smith. Smith is replacing Volkan Oezdemir, who was taken off this card and moved to the UFC 227 card on August 4th for a light heavyweight fight with Alexander Gustafssson. The main event has picked up some interest because of Daniel Cormier’s comments this past week about fighting Rua for the light heavyweight title next.
**Bellator held two cards this past weekend with Bellator 202 on Friday night in Thackerville, Oklahoma and Bellator 203 on Saturday in Rome, Italy. Both cards aired on the Paramount Network and here are the results from Friday:
*Valentin Moldavsky def. Ernest James by TKO at 4:03 of Round 2
*Chris Honeycutt def. Leo Leite by unanimous decision (30-25 all) – As the scores show, it was a dominating performance by Honeycutt
*Michael McDonald def. Eduardo Dantas by KO at 0:58 of Round 1 – McDonald dropped him with a beautiful shot and finished with strikes. On the replay, you could see Dantas’ ankle twist and required medical attention in the cage with the fear he broke his ankle. Then, McDonald was interviewed and was asked about his hand and he said he broke his left hand in the fight, following an awful injury where he broke his right hand and sounded so dejected about continuing to fight with the prospect of another broken hand to rehab.
*Julia Budd def. Talita Nogueira by TKO at 4:07 of Round 3 – On commentary, they compared Budd to their version of Cris “Cyborg” as both are featherweight champions in their respective organizations. Budd was never in trouble and if the second round was longer, she would have stopped her one round earlier than she did.
**Below are the results from Saturday’s Bellator 203 card:
*Michele Martignoni def. Simone D’Anna by KO at 0:06 of Round 1 – This tied the all-time Bellator record for fastest knockout
*Maxim Radu def. Simone La Preziosa by TKO at 4:15 of Round 1
*Alen Amedovski def. Will Fleury by KO at 1:39 of Round 1
*Andrey Koreshkov def. Vaso Bakocevic by KO at 1:06 of Round 1
*Alessio Sakara def. Jamie Sloane by TKO at 1:19 of Round 1 – Sakara is the major star in Italy and biggest on this card
*Patricio “Pitbull” Freire def. Daniel Weichel by split decision (49-46, 47-48, 48-47) to retain the Bellator featherweight title
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*****
G1 CLIMAX 28 REVIEW – DAY 1 (Patreon)
John Pollock & Wai Ting review the first G1 card featuring Kazuchika Okada vs. Jay White and Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Minoru Suzuki.
https://www.patreon.com/posts/20075340
*****
EGGSHELLS Podcast Companion: 1992 w/ Paul Lazenby
Chris Charlton welcomes Paul “The Mauler” Lazenby to share stories his time in the Pancrase Dojo, working out with Minoru Suzuki and chatting the major Tokyo Dome events from 1992
https://postwrestling.podbean.com/mf/download/6e88aw/EGGSHELLS_Podcast_Companion__1992_w__Paul_Lazenby.mp3
*****
GLOW Season 2 Review
John Pollock & Wai Ting review the second season of GLOW on Netflix, discuss the major themes & characters, storylines, the handling of Ruth vs. Debbie, the character of Sam Sylvia, “The Good Twin” episode & more
https://www.patreon.com/posts/20038512
*****
upNXT 7/12/18: It’s Not Coming Home
Braden Herrington & Davie Portman react to England’s loss to Croatia and review this week’s NXT, featuring one of the best television matches of the year, Kairi Sane declaring her intention to secure her treasure and they take your feedback
https://upnxt.podbean.com/mf/download/ereth2/upNXT-July12.mp3
*****
BWE 7/11/18: NJPW/RevPro Strong Style Evolved UK, Frontline Wrestling
Martin Bushby, Oli Court & Benno review the recent New Japan / RevPro cards feat. Ishii vs. Suzuki, Okada vs. ZSJ, WALTER vs. Nagata and also chat Will Ospreay’s new promotion and World of Sport’s ITV timeslot
https://britishwrestlingexperience.podbean.com/mf/download/3vewqd/180711_BWE.mp3
*****
G1 PRIMER WITH WAI TING & WH PARK
A preview of New Japan’s G1 Climax tournament with profiles of each participant, history of the G1 and storylines going into this year’s event
https://postwrestling.podbean.com/mf/download/kekzp6/180711_PURO_G1_PRIMER.mp3
*****
REWIND-A-SMACKDOWN 7/10/18: Team Hell No & New Day vs. Bludgeon Brothers & Sanity
John Pollock & Wai Ting review SmackDown, chat Styles vs. Nakamura, 10-man tag, a preview of Extreme Rules, and your feedback
https://postwrestling.podbean.com/mf/download/vmf8w3/180710_RASD.mp3
*****
DOUBLE SHOT 7/10/18: Being the Elite Ep. 110, WWE/UFC TV Deals, Total Bellas
John Pollock & Wai Ting go through the SBJ article on the recent television negotiations and Wai reviews Total Bellas and the latest episode of Being the Elite
https://www.patreon.com/posts/19976542
*****
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