POST IT NOTES
**We have a new edition of POST Puroresu with WH Park and I discussing the passing of Koji Kitao and his career, a review of the New Japan Cup with our top matches and MVP of the tournament, a preview of the Champion Carnival, review of the Kento Miyahara vs. Naoya Nomura Triple Crown match, Momo Watanabe vs. Jungle Kyona at Stardom, WH’s preview of this weekend’s Ice Ribbon card, and lots more.
**This will be our busiest week of the year starting Monday. We will have our schedule posted on Monday for WrestleMania Week. Wai Ting and I will be moving the Café Hangout to Wednesday night at 8 pm Eastern this week and that will include a full preview of WrestleMania and TakeOver, as well as a look at all the major cards happening this week. You can watch this show live if you’re a Double Double, Iced Capp or Espresso member of the POST Wrestling Café and we will be taking calls.
WRESTLING NEWS
**The latest plans as of Saturday for the WrestleMania card include a SmackDown tag title and a Raw tag title match, which will be added this week. The SmackDown tag title match is expected to be a multi-team match. We were told that the Raw tag title match was added to the show after they removed the SmackDown women’s title match involving Asuka. Here is the updated complete card:
*Ronda Rousey vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Becky Lynch – the match is expected to be promoted as “Winner Take All” and the stipulation regarding the titles will be announced on Monday
*Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins for the Universal title
*Daniel Bryan vs. Kofi Kingston for the WWE title
*Triple H vs. Batista in a No Holds Barred match with Triple H’s career on the line
*Shane McMahon vs. The Miz in a Falls Count Anywhere match
*Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre
*AJ Styles vs. Randy Orton
*Kurt Angle vs. Baron Corbin in Angle’s retirement match
*Sasha Banks & Bayley vs. The IIconics vs. Natalya & Beth Phoenix vs. Nia Jax & Tamina for the WWE women’s tag titles
*Bobby Lashley vs. Finn Balor for the Intercontinental title
*Samoa Joe vs. Rey Mysterio for the United States title
*Buddy Murphy vs. Tony Nese for the Cruiserweight title
*Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal
*Women’s Battle Royal
*SmackDown tag title match (to be announced)
*Raw tag title match (to be announced)
**The WWE has announced that Batista will appear on Raw this Monday from his hometown of Washington, D.C. It’s the go-home Raw leading into WrestleMania with Brock Lesnar also scheduled for the show. They have also announced the following matches for Raw:
*Ronda Rousey, Charlotte Flair & Becky Lynch vs. The Riott Squad
*Kurt Angle vs. Rey Mysterio
*Sasha Banks, Bayley, Natalya & Beth Phoenix vs. The IIconics, Nia Jax & Tamina
**It will be Beth Phoenix’s first match since the 2018 Royal Rumble match and first match on Raw since October 2012.
**Ted DiBiase Sr. announced on Twitter Saturday that Vicki Funk, the wife of Terry Funk, passed away Friday night. DiBiase wrote:
My heart is broken and goes out to my good friend and mentor, Terry Funk. Terry’s wife, Vickie, passed away yesterday evening. Terry and Vickie were like second parents to me. There aren’t words to express how much they both have meant to me. RIP
Terry and Vicki met in middle school in 1956 and had two children, Stacy and Brandee. She was featured in Barry Blaustein’s “Beyond the Mat” film that profiled Funk both in and out of the ring as he approached one of his many retirements in 1997.
We send our condolences to Terry and the entire family for their loss.
**They have added 26 names to the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal joining Braun Strowman, Michael Che, and Colin Jost. The interesting ones are The Hardys as that eliminates them from being part of a SmackDown tag title match, which was teased during a promo by The Usos a few weeks ago and not followed up on. Ali is also part of the Battle Royal and should be one of the favorites to win it and play up the irony of the undersized underdog winning the Andre trophy.
**On Friday, Jim Duggan underwent a heart procedure in South Carolina and was held overnight. The operation was said to be a success and Duggan is expected to be going home on Saturday. We wish Duggan a speedy recovery from this issue.
**The WWE Network will be debuting a new episode of “Chronicle” featuring Charlotte Flair on Friday night immediately following NXT TakeOver: New York. They will also have a new episode of “Untold” airing Saturday night following the Hall of Fame ceremony discussing Sting’s debut in the WWE.
**Here are the matches for tonight’s episode of MLW Fusion at 9 pm Eastern on beIN Sports from the Cicero Stadium tapings:
*Teddy Hart’s Open Challenge
*Air Wolf vs. Ricky Martinez
*Ariel Dominquez vs. Daga
**Ring of Honor’s Road to the G1 Supercard event takes place Sunday night at 6 pm Eastern from Baltimore at the UMBC Event Center and streaming on Honor Club. It’s their final show before next Saturday’s show at Madison Square Garden and below is the lineup for Sunday night:
*PCO and Brody King vs. The Briscoes for the ROH tag titles
*Jay Lethal and Jeff Cobb vs. Juice Robinson and Bandido vs. Vinny Marseglia and TK O’Ryan
*Marty Scurll vs. Shane Taylor
*Rush vs. Tracy Williams
*Silas Young vs. Mark Haskins
*Kenny King vs. PJ Black
*Sumie Sakai and Jenny Rose vs. Tasha Steelz and Kris Stradtlander vs. Gabby Ortiz and Karissa Rivera
*Coast 2 Coast and Colin Delaney vs. Shinobi Shadow Squad
**Ring of Honor has announced that Kenny King, PJ Black, Cheeseburger, Beer City Bruiser, and Brian Milonas have been added to the Honor Rumble on the pre-show of the G1 Supercard next Saturday at Madison Square Garden and join Jushin Thunder Liger.
**On Friday’s episode of Impact Wrestling, they wrote of Allie’s character in the final segment as Rosemary returned to the “Undead Realm”. I haven’t been a big fan of these segments, but I thought the final 15 minutes of the show were great. From a production standpoint, it was very well done with music incorporated, a voiceover to catch people up to speed when Kiera Hogan followed Rosemary after her warnings not do, and then ending with a dramatic scene where Allie is killed. It sounds preposterous on paper if you’re reading this, but it was pulled off well. The news that Allie was leaving Impact and has signed with AEW helped this a lot. Obviously, a death on a wrestling show is an enormous stretch, but people were aware Allie was leaving the show and this was the end of her character and not some silly storyline where she’s resurrected in two weeks. Again, I haven’t been the biggest fan of these styles of segments, but I thought this was produced in such a way that it worked.
**On Impact, they also shot the angle where Gail Kim announced she is coming out of retirement and will face Tessa Blanchard at the Rebellion pay-per-view on April 28th in Toronto. The same show will also feature a Full Metal Mayhem match with LAX vs. Pentagon Jr. and Fenix.
MMA NEWS
**Here are the results from the Bellator 219 card on Friday night from Temecula, California:
*Joe Schilling def. Keith Berry by unanimous decision (30-26 all)
*Andrey Koreshkov def. Michael Jasper by unanimous decision (30-27 all)
*Daniel Straus def. Shane Kruchten by rear-naked choke at 3:53 of Round 1
*Brandon Girtz def. Saad Awad by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
**The UFC has a card on ESPN tonight from the Wells Fargo Arena in Philadelphia. The main event has enormous expectations as it could be the best fight of 2019 with Justin Gaethje never having a dull performance. Below is the full card:
MAIN CARD (7 pm Eastern on ESPN, TSN 2 in Canada)
*Edson Barboza (155.5) vs. Justin Gaethje (155.5)
*David Branch (185.5) vs. Jack Hermansson (185)
*Michael Johnson (146) vs. Josh Emmett (145.75)
*Michelle Waterson (115.5) vs. Karolina Kowalkiewicz (114.75)
*Paul Craig (205) vs. Kennedy Nzechukwu (205.5)
*Sodiq Yusuff (145.5) vs. Sheymon Moraes (145)
PRELIMINARY CARD (5 pm on ESPN, TSN 2 in Canada)
*Jessica Aguilar (115.25) vs. Marina Rodriguez (114.75)
*Ross Pearson (155.25) vs. Desmond Green (155)
*Kevin Aguilar (145) vs. Enrique Barzola (145)
*Kevin Holland (185) vs. Gerald Meerschaert (185.5)
PRELIMINARY CARD (3:30 pm on ESPN+)
*Ray Borg (137.75*) vs. Casey Kenney (135.5)
*Maryna Moroz (125.25) vs. Sabina Mazo (125.5)
*Alex Perez (135.25) vs. Mark De La Rosa (135.5)
*****
POST PURORESU: Koji Kitao, G1 Supercard & Champion Carnival Preview, New Japan Cup
John Pollock and WH Park recap the New Japan Cup with their top matches, preview the G1 Supercard and All Japan’s Champion Carnival, reviews of Miyahara vs. Nomura and Watanabe. Kyona & lots more.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/03/30/post-puroresu-g1-supercard-champion-carnival-preview-new-japan-cup/
*****
Café Hangout: Kofi Kingston & Race in WWE w/ Nate Milton
John Pollock and Wai Ting are joined by Nate Milton to discuss the racial themes explored in the Kofi Kingston’s WrestleMania storyline for the WWE championship. Plus, a special unboxing of new POST merchandise, including our “secret audio cassette.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/03/29/kofi-kingston-race-in-wwe-w-nate-milton-cafe-hangout-3-29-19/
*****
REWIND-A-WAI #33: “The Simpson” Wrestling Episodes (S8E21/S24E14)
John Pollock and Wai Ting review two wrestling-themed episodes of the world’s most famous animated sitcom, The Simpsons. We discuss our viewing history of The Simpsons, compare the quality of the series 16 years apart, and discuss how each episode represented professional wrestling’s mainstream status at the time.
https://www.patreon.com/posts/25709484
*****
POST Interview: Mike Bohn of MMA Junkie & USA Today
John Pollock is joined by Mike Bohn of MMA Junkie to chat this Saturday’s Barboza-Gaethje fight, the Conor McGregor story, the ESPN+ deal, welterweight division & more.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/03/28/post-interview-mike-bohn-of-mma-junkie-usa-today/
*****
upNXT 3/28/19: Dusty Classic Finals & Gas Station Sunglasses
Braden Herrington and Davie Portman review this week’s WWE NXT featuring the finals of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic with Ricochet & Aleister Black vs. The Forgotten Sons.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/03/28/upnxt-3-28-19-dusty-classic-finals-gas-station-sunglasses/
*****
DOUBLE SHOT: Omega Man documentary, BTE & C2E2 panel, Total Bellas
John Pollock and Wai Ting present an extended edition with a review of the “Omega Man” documentary, season-finale of Total Bellas, Being the Elite & their C2E2 panel chat.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/03/27/double-shot-omega-man-doc-bte-c2e2-panel-total-bellas/
*****
RASD 3/26/19: Charlotte wins SD women’s title, Kofi Kingston receives ‘Mania match
Tuesday’s episode features a Tag Team Gauntlet match involving Big E. and Xavier Woods running the table for Kofi Kingston’s last chance to face Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania, Asuka defended the SmackDown women’s title against Charlotte Flair causing changes to the WrestleMania card.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/03/27/rasd-3-26-19-charlotte-wins-sd-womens-title-kofi-kingston-receives-mania-match/
*****
THE POST INTERVIEW: Kenny Omega
John Pollock sits down with Kenny Omega to discuss “Omega Man: A Wrestling Love Story”, which premieres on TSN Wednesday night.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/03/26/post-interview-kenny-omega/
*****
RAR 3/25/19: Joe-Angle, Conference Call Paul, Last Man Stan-Dean
Monday’s episode featured a Last Man Standing match between Drew McIntyre and Dean Ambrose, Triple H quotes the Spice Girls as his career is threatened, SNL hosts added to the WrestleMania battle royal & more.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/03/26/rar-3-25-19-joe-angle-conference-call-paul-last-man-stan-dean/
*****
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