POST IT NOTES
**We have released both an audio and video version of the POST Wrestling LIVE in New York Q&A special from last Sunday. The show is available for all members of the POST Wrestling Café with all members having access to both the podcast and video versions. Again, I wanted to thank all the people that came to the show and helped us fill the Broadway Comedy Club. In short, it was a big success for us and one of our largest undertakings since launching the site.
**On the Café Hangout this week, Wai Ting and I were joined by Richard Benson a.k.a. Benno from the British Wrestling Experience and the GRAPPL Spotlight podcast. The three of discussed the fallout of WrestleMania Week, the standout shows and performers, the impact Game Changer Wrestling has had, the experiment of the Orange Cassidy card, the New Japan and ROH card at The Garden, the NXT UK brand, and the presentation of WrestleMania itself. Plus, Wai and I go through all the latest news happening. The video version is available below and you can subscribe to the POST Wrestling YouTube channel.
**We have a small amount of POST Wrestling LIVE in New York shirts remaining at the POST Wrestling Store.
**On Sunday morning, we will have a UFC 236 POST Show coming out with Phil Chertok joining me to review Saturday’s card from Atlanta. We will go through all the fights, discuss some news items from the week and more. This will be available for free on the main POST Wrestling feed and here on the site.
WRESTLING NEWS
**Nia Jax has announced in a vague statement that she will be gone for a while. Ryan Satin at Pro Wrestling Sheet reported that the performer has torn the ACL in both knees and is set for surgery, which will mean an extended time away. Jax was not on Raw or SmackDown this week after participating in the four-way match for the WWE women’s tag titles on Sunday at WrestleMania.
Jax has since confirmed the injuries and issued the following statement:
Some of you may or may not know, but I will be out of action for a little while. Unfortunately, I have been pushing through some pain over the last year due to injuries in my knees and I will be undergoing surgery to repair both of my ACLs. I’m grateful to everyone who has supported me.
**AJ Styles provided an update on his injury coming off the match with Randy Orton last Sunday at WrestleMania. Styles was streaming on Mixer and alerted his fans that sprained his SI joint. He added that the x-rays came back positive, he didn’t break anything, and he expects to be back soon.
**Big E. has suffered a torn meniscus with the WWE stating he is not cleared to compete. Ryan Satin reports that he will be undergoing a knee scope and could be sidelined for approximately six weeks. Big E. tweeted out “Making mincemeat of my meniscus. Crossbody cooked the cartilage. Bye for a bit.”
**WWE has the weekend off and resumes Monday with the first night of the Superstar Shake-Up. Raw and SmackDown will both take place from the Bell Centre in Montreal.
**AXS TV is running a two-hour special tonight at 8 pm Eastern featuring the following matches from the G1 Supercard last weekend:
*Jay White vs. Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP heavyweight title
*Tetsuya Naito vs. Kota Ibushi for the Intercontinental title
*Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi for the British heavyweight title
**Here are the matches set for tonight’s edition of Impact Wrestling at 10 pm Eastern on Twitch, Pursuit and the Fight Network in Canada:
*Johnny Impact and Taya Valkyrie vs. Brian Cage and Jordynne Grace
*Ethan Page and Josh Alexander vs. TBA
*Rosemary vs. Su Yung
*Moose vs. Zachary Wentz
**EVOLVE is running a show in Ybor City, Florida on Saturday night at 7 pm Eastern featuring several performers from NXT. The event will stream on Club WWN with the following card:
*Austin Theory vs. Raul Mendoza for the EVOLVE title
*JD Drake vs. Shane Strickland for the WWN title
*Angelo Dawkins vs. Eddie Kingston in a Falls Count Anywhere match
*Curt Stallion vs. Shane Thorne
*Lacey Lane vs. Brandi Lauren
*AR Fox vs. Adrian Alanis vs. Leon Ruff
**EVOLVE has also announced that Adam Cole and Kassius Ohno will be wrestling on their shows May 10th in Livonia, Michigan and May 11th in Indianapolis, Indiana.
**Ring of Honor is running two shows this weekend with television tapings Saturday night in Pittsburgh at Stage AE. They have announced Marty Scurll, PCO & Brody King vs. Jay Lethal, Jeff Cobb & Jonathan Gresham and Bandido vs. Shane Taylor among the matches scheduled. On Sunday, they have a live event in Columbus, Ohio headlined by Villain Enterprises defending the six-man tag titles against The Kingdom. Sunday’s show will be streaming live on Honor Club.
**On Friday’s Road to Double or Nothing, it was revealed that Darby Allin has joined the promotion after wrapping up with WWN last weekend. Allin will face Cody at Fyter Fest on Saturday, June 29th in Daytona Beach, Florida. They have also announced that Glacier and Brian Pillman Jr. will be in the Over the Budget Battle Royale at Double or Nothing.
**The full list of participants for this year’s Best of the Super Juniors will be made on Tuesday, April 23rd during New Japan’s card at Korakuen Hall that night. The annual tournament begins on May 13th and runs through June 5th with the finals at Sumo Hall this year.
**New Japan Pro Wrestling is returning to Australia with a card announced for Saturday, June 29th in at the Melbourne Festival Hall. Tickets go on sale Friday, April 26th with a pre-sale on April 24th that you can sign up to have access to.
**All Japan’s annual Champion Carnival event has completed six shows and will resume Saturday and Sunday with shows in Osaka. Below are the tournament matches for Saturday’s card:
*Ryoji Sai vs. Gianni Valletta – BLOCK A
*Dylan James vs. Zeus – BLOCK A
*Shuji Ishikawa vs. Yuma Aoyagi – BLOCK A
*Naoya Nomura vs. Joel Redman – BLOCK B
*Suwama vs. Takashi Yoshida – BLOCK B
**Below are the current standings for the Champion Carnival after six events:
BLOCK A: Yuji Okabayashi (4 points), Shuji Ishikawa (3), Kento Miyahara, Zeus and Dylan James (2), Ryoji Sai (1), Yuma Aoyagi, Atsushi Aoki and Gianni Valletta (0)
BLOCK B: Daichi Hashimoto and Naoya Nomura (4 points), Suwama and Takashi Yoshida (2), Sam Adonis, Jake Lee, Joel Redman and Joe Doering (0)
**The Undertaker will be appearing at the Niagara Falls Comic Con on Sunday, June 9th from Noon-2pm. The convention takes place all weekend from the Scotiabank Convention Centre in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Other wrestling personalities appearing at the convention will include Paul Orndorff, Sgt. Slaughter, Road Warrior Animal, and the Killer Bees.
**Smash Wrestling has announced they will be hosting “The Summit”, a special show over SummerSlam weekend in conjunction with women’s promotions RISE, SHIMMER, and Femme Fatales. The event will take place on Saturday, August 10th at The MET (2492 Yonge Street) in Toronto at Noon with a meet-and-greet at 10 am. Smash has also announced shows that week involving Progress Wrestling and wXw. There will be a Smash vs. Progress card on August 7th at 8 pm, a Progress event on August 8th at 8 pm, a wXw show August 9th at 4 pm followed with a Smash event that night at 8 pm and The Summit show on August 10th.
**Stardom has announced that Mayu Iwatani will be taking time off following this Sunday’s card in Shinkiba. Iwatani is dealing with a knee injury and the promotion stated she would be gone for an “undetermined amount of time to recover”. Iwatani just dropped the Women of Honor championship to Kelly Klein last weekend at the G1 Supercard event at Madison Square Garden. Iwatani is part of a five-way match on Sunday with Kagetsu, Hana Kimura, Jungle Kyona, and Wonder of Stardom champion Momo Watanabe.
**ROH’s next pay-per-view is scheduled for Friday, June 28th with Best in the World taking place from Baltimore at the UMBC Event Center. The following night, they will be holding television tapings in Philadelphia at the 2300 Arena.
**On Colt Cabana’s Art of Wrestling podcast, Joey Ryan stated that the Penis Party show last Friday drew 1,200 people at the Hilton Midtown Hotel. That show went against NXT TakeOver, Joey Janela’s Spring Break III, and MLW’s Battle Riot, all of which sold out so it was a strong night for all four events.
**MVP recently participated in a TED Talk discussing the stigma of being labeled a convicted felon. It’s a great speech outlining the limitations that felons, such as himself, deal with regardless of their rehabilitation or intentions to seek out a better life. In the chat, he mentions the trouble he had to go to in traveling to certain countries when wrestling for WWE.
**NXT has put tickets on sale for upcoming shows in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania (May 16th), Philadelphia (May 17th), Bel Air, Maryland (May 18th), and Asbury Park, New Jersey (May 19th).
**Titus O’Neil is releasing a book this summer through ECW Press. The title of the book is “There’s No Such Thing as a Bad Kid: How I went from Stereotype to Prototype” and will be released on August 6th.
**The WWE stock had a great week and closed at $96.10 on Friday.
MMA NEWS
**T.J. Dillashaw issued his first public statement since USADA handed him a two-year suspension after testing positive for EPO ahead of his fight with Henry Cejudo this past January. Dillashaw acknowledged he made a mistake and screwed up and didn’t offer excuses. He stated that he let his coaches and teammates down and they were not involved with this. He underwent surgery on his right shoulder this week and is set to have his right shoulder fixed later. He will be ineligible to fight until January 2021 right before he turns 35 years old.
**Aaron Bronsteter of TSN spoke to Jeff Novitzky, who stated that they went back to analyze T.J. Dillashaw’s drug tests for both fights with Cody Garbrandt. The tests came back negative for EPO with the first Garbrandt fight taking place in November 2017 and the rematch last August.
**The UFC held their seasonal press conference Friday afternoon in Atlanta to promote their big fights coming up. Jon Jones was scheduled to attend but was said to be under the weather and did not attend. Those in attendance included Dana White, Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, Jack Hermansson, strawweight champion Rose Namajunas, Jessica Andrade, Rafael dos Anjos, Kevin Lee, Alexander Gustafsson, Anthony Smith, flyweight champion Henry Cejudo, Marlon Moraes, Tyron Woodley, Robbie Lawler, Thiago Santos, bantamweight and featherweight champion Amanda Nunes, Holly Holm, Junior dos Santos, Francis Ngannou, and Ben Askren.
White said Jones was in Atlanta but was sick, he said he didn’t give him the benefit of the doubt, but his teammate Holly Holm insisted he was sick and was “food poisoning or something.”
Jorge Masvidal had a prior commitment and did not attend the press conference but Askren insisted on appearing even when he was told he wasn’t needed.
Dana White was asked about a theoretical fight between Daniel Cormier and Brock Lesnar and said that fight is not in the works presently. White said he has not spoken with Lesnar and added that when Lesnar is ready he will call him. White is awaiting an update from Cormier once he is healthy and suggested that Cormier could fight Stipe Miocic next.
Of the ten fights they attempted to promote, the one with the most heat is the one that isn’t booked between Anthony Smith and Luke Rockhold. Rockhold has been very critical of Smith receiving the title fight against Jon Jones in March and Smith’s performance in the fight. Smith was asked about the comments and cut the best promo of his career, vowing to put a hole into Rockhold’s head and will fight him. Smith is fighting Alexander Gustafsson on June 1st and Rockhold is coming up to light heavyweight to fight Jan Blachowicz on July 6th.
**The UFC 236 weigh-ins took place Friday morning from Atlanta with everyone making weight for Saturday night’s card at the State Farm Arena. Below is the card and results from the weigh-ins:
MAIN CARD (10 pm Eastern on pay-per-view)
*Max Holloway (155) vs. Dustin Poirier (154.5) for the interim UFC lightweight title
*Israel Adesanya (183) vs. Kelvin Gastelum (184) for the interim UFC middleweight title
*Eryk Anders (205) vs. Khalil Rountree Jr. (206)
*Alan Jouban (171) vs. Dwight Grant (171)
*Nikita Krylov (205) vs. Ovince Saint Preux (206)
PRELIMINARY CARD (8 pm Eastern on ESPN)
*Jalin Turner (156) vs. Matt Frevola (156)
*Wilson Reis (126) vs. Alexandre Pantoja (125.5)
*Max Griffin (170.5) vs. Zelim Imadaev (171)
*Boston Salmon (135.5) vs. Khalid Taha (136)
FIGHT PASS CARD (6:30 pm Eastern)
*Curtis Millender (170.5) vs. Belal Muhammad (171)
*Andre Soukhamthath (136) vs. Montel Jackson (136)
*Lauren Mueller (126) vs. Poliana Botelho (125)
*Brandon Davis (136) vs. Randy Costa (135)
**BJ Penn released a statement to his own outlet regarding the accusations that were made public earlier this week by the mother of his two children:
BJ is in a highly-contested child custody case involving his two young daughters. The order of protection has made serious allegations against BJ. The allegations are so, misleading, hurtful and false that any further comment by BJ or about BJ would cause more damage to the well-being of his children and potentially further inflame the pending custody proceedings. BJ and his family ask that you respect their privacy at this very difficult time.
**Lodune Sincaid, who was a member of the first season of the Ultimate Fighter, died this past Sunday at age 45. The following message was posted on his website: “Lodune Sincaid was found dead April 7, 2019. Lodune was a true friend and will be missed by those close to him as well as those who crossed his path during his time on this earth. He held no grudges and left this life in peace”.
There are no further details on his death. Sincaid’s bio on his website stated he suffered from PTSB from his military service and genetic bipolar disorder.
Sincaid began fighting professionally in January 2001 and was a 6-0 fighter when he was cast on the UFC’s reality series, which was filmed in 2004 and premiered on January 17, 2005. Sincaid was part of the light heavyweight tournament on the show as a member of Randy Couture’s team and has the distinction of being part of the first fight in Ultimate Fighter history. On Week 3, Bobby Southworth defeated Sincaid by knockout in the second round. Sincaid fought on the TUF Finale in April 2005, losing to Nate Quarry and never fought in the UFC again.
His career continued and he fought for WEC, where he became the promotion’s light heavyweight champion in May 2006 defeating Dan Molina for the vacant title and lost it to Doug Marshall three months later. He remained active for the next four years and his last fight was in March 2010 and ended his career with a 15-9 record.
**Top Rank CEO Bob Arum spoke to Lance Pugmire of the L.A. Times regarding the leverage the promoter has over the cable outlets for pay-per-view. Arum stated that the future of the pay-per-view business for DirecTV, Dish Network, and others is at stake. Arum’s company has its own deal with ESPN+ and stated they are not afraid to put their pay-per-view onto ESPN+ exclusively just like the UFC has done for its U.S. consumers.
**Disney officially announced its plans for Disney Plus, their streaming service that will launch on November 12th. The service will be a direct competitor to Netflix and are hopeful of attracting new subscribers through a significantly reduced price point of $6.99 per month or $69.99 for one year. This will be Disney’s third streaming service along with ESPN+ and their controlling interest in Hulu with speculation that the three would be bundled at a cheaper rate.
*****
Café Hangout – Best of ‘Mania Week with guest Richard “Benno” Benson
John Pollock and Wai Ting welcome Benno (British Wrestling Experience, GRAPPL Spotlight) to recap a very eventful WrestleMania 35 Weekend in New York/New Jersey, discussing its best matches, best shows, and standout performers.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/04/12/best-of-wrestlemania-week-cafe-hangout-4-11-19/
*****
POST Wrestling LIVE in New York Q&A
John Pollock and Wai Ting host a very special live Q&A from New York City just hours before WrestleMania 35. The duo discusses everything including our thoughts on various wrestling topics, the formation of POST, our favorite fonts and more.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/04/11/post-wrestling-live-in-new-york-qa/
*****
upNXT 4/11/19: HangOver V – Escape from New York
Braden Herrington and Davie Portman are back with an upNXT HangOver… from New York City! They chat all about their crazy NYC adventures while attending WrestleMania weekend live. Plus, a review of this week’s WWE NXT HangOver.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/04/11/upnxt-4-11-19-hangover-v-escape-from-new-york/
*****
THE DOUBLE SHOT (Patreon)
John Pollock & Wai Ting review the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony, Viceland’s Dark Side of the Ring on Randy Savage and Elizabeth, WWE Untold: Sting, and Being the Elite.
https://www.patreon.com/posts/26027432
*****
RASD 4/9/19: SD After Mania, The Best in the World Greg Hamilton
John Pollock and Wai Ting review Tuesday’s episode of SmackDown as The New Day celebrate Kofi’s WrestleMania title win, The Hardys challenge The Usos for the SmackDown tag titles, and announcer Greg Hamilton digs deep to please Shane McMahon.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/04/10/rasd-4-9-19-sd-after-mania-the-best-in-the-world-greg-hamilton/
*****
RAR 4/8/19: Raw After WrestleMania 35, Dead Man Walking with Elias
John Pollock and Wai Ting review WWE Raw After WrestleMania 35 from the Barclays Center featuring an appearance by The Undertaker to interrupt Elias, a Title vs. Title bait-and-switch match involving Seth Rollins and Kofi Kingston.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/04/09/rar-4-8-19-the-raw-after-wrestlemania-35-dead-man-walking-with-elias/
*****
WWE WrestleMania 35 POST Show
John Pollock & Wai Ting review WWE WrestleMania 35 from the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. We discuss our live experience attending the longest show in WWE history featuring Becky Lynch defeating Ronda Rousey and Charlotte Flair in the first women’s WrestleMania main event.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/04/08/wwe-wrestlemania-35-post-show/
*****
ROH & NJPW G1 Supercard POST Show (WM Road Diary Day 3)
John Pollock and Wai Ting review Ring of Honor and New Japan’s G1 Supercard from Madison Square Garden with Kazuchika Okada regaining the IWGP heavyweight title. Plus, an update on the Bret Hart incident at the WWE Hall of Fame.
https://www.patreon.com/posts/25932574
*****
NXT TakeOver: New York POST Show
Braden Herrington and Davie Portman are LIVE in Brooklyn to review NXT TakeOver: New York. They are joined by friends of the show Scrump & Jesse from The 6 to give their live perspectives.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/04/06/nxt-takeover-new-york-post-show/
*****
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