POST IT NOTES
**We have this week’s edition of Rewind-A-Raw posted on the site with Wai Ting and I reviewing Raw from San Jose. On the show, we discuss the positives from the show, the lackluster card for Stomping Grounds, Sami Zayn as the referee in the main event, new Raw tag champions, Bayley loses in San Jose, and lots more. Plus, the news from the day with Fyter Fest announcements, New Japan bringing back the Super J Cup, AEW reveals the seating chart for All Out, and we take your feedback.
**Wai Ting and I are back tonight with Rewind-A-SmackDown and going through tonight’s show from Sacramento. If there are any topics or questions for us, you can post in the RASD feedback thread tonight on the POST Wrestling Forum.
**On Wednesday, there will be a new edition of the British Wrestling Experience with Martin Bushby, Benno & Jamesie. Later that night, Wai and I will have The Double Shot for members of the POST Wrestling Café.
**Braden Herrington & Davie Portman will have a special announcement on this Thursday’s edition of upNXT about an upcoming event.
SCHEDULE
*Tonight: Rewind-A-SmackDown
*Wednesday: British Wrestling Experience with Martin Bushby, Benno & Jamesie
*Wednesday: The Double Shot (Patreon)
*Thursday: upNXT with Braden Herrington & Davie Portman
*Thursday: Café Hangout with John Pollock & Wai Ting, guests Damian Abraham & Anthony Kingdom James (3 pm Eastern for Double Double+ Patrons)
*Friday: Rewind-A-Wai #38 – WWE Backlash 2004 (Patreon)
*Saturday: Cruel Summer “1995” with WH Park & Martin Bushby
*Saturday: The Rocky Maivia Picture Show “Southland Tales” with Nate Milton & Brian Mann
*Sunday: Cruel Summer “1996” with WH Park & STRIGGA
*Sunday: POST Puroresu with John Pollock & WH Park
WRESTLING NEWS
**The SmackDown and 205 Live tapings take place tonight from the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California with the latest return of Big E. They have announced a six-man tag for the show with New Day taking on Dolph Ziggler, Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens. For 205 Live, they will name the next challenger for Tony Nese’s Cruiserweight title.
**Ric Flair was a guest on Monday’s edition of Busted Open Radio on SiriusXM. Flair went into detail on his recent health issues, including four surgeries of late and the last one taking place the week before Starrcast II and led to Flair’s removal due to his inability to travel. Prior to the fourth operation, Flair was having problems breathing and couldn’t walk ten steps. The surgery was initially set for the Friday and was postponed until the following Monday due to a blood clot that broke off his leg and went to his lung. In addition, there was fluid on his heart due to the anesthesia from the previous three operations and led to him losing nine pounds over that weekend. He added that he was having anxiety when it came to the effects an alcoholic drink would have and is not going to worry to that degree any longer and mentioned previously that he will drink on occasion noting that he doesn’t feel it was alcohol that caused his health problems in 2017 that he nearly died from that summer.
**Additionally, Flair is facing the threat of a lawsuit from his former manager Melinda Zanoni of Legacy Talent Entertainment. Flair posted a video to YouTube last week and accused his former manager of embezzling money, letting several of his trademarks almost lapse, and that funds were stolen from Flair. The video was removed shortly after being posted but Zanoni’s agency has released the following statement outlining plans for a civil suit against Flair and several unnamed defendants for defamation:
Today we have taken the first step and filed a Civil Lawsuit against Richard M. Fliehr a/k/a as Ric Flair and certain unnamed (for now) defendants for defamation per se and look forward to proving the falsity of every wrongful allegation contained in his video that was posted on YouTube on June 3, 2019. Ric Flair having taken down the video is not enough.
We will vigorously use the court system to protect our good names and reputations, and obtain damages due to Ric Flair’s defamatory comments contained in the video. We intend to amend the lawsuit to include all involved parties and hold all involved accountable.
We completely stand behind our client’s well known reputation for truthfulness, professionalism, honor, and integrity.
**During a live chat on Twitch, Kenny Omega announced that Fyter Fest would be available for free on B/R Live later this month. AEW confirmed to POST Wrestling that you will need to sign up for B/R Live but that doesn’t require a fee. For countries without B/R Live, there is an announcement expected later this week regarding where the show will be available for purchase. The card takes place from Daytona Beach, Florida on June 29th in conjunction with CEO. The line up includes The Young Bucks & Kenny Omega vs. Pentagon Jr., Fenix & a mystery partner, Jon Moxley vs. Joey Janela, Cody vs. Darby Allin, MJF vs. Hangman Page vs. Jimmy Havoc vs. Jungle Boy, and a hardcore match between Michael Nakazawa and Alex Jebailey on the “Buy-In” pre-show.
**Cesaro was okay following the six-man tag on Raw. Ricochet landed on Cesaro’s thigh and knee with the 630-splash to end the match and Cesaro immediately grabbed the leg and was assisted to the back. We were told by multiple people that he appeared fine backstage and one of them added that he improvised after taking the splash and was just selling.
**There will be a memorial show held in honor of the late Atsushi Aoki on Sunday, August 11th at Korakuen Hall, which is the same day as the B Block finals of the G1 Climax at Budokan Hall. In a statement from All Japan’s president Jun Akiyama, he said that Aoki will be recognized as their junior heavyweight champion until November 20th stating it felt right for him to remain champion for six months before deciding what to do with the vacant title. Akiyama added that a private funeral was held for Aoki that was restricted to relatives except for Akiyama, Suwama, and Hikaru Sato. Aoki died last Monday after crashing his motorcycle, he was 41 years old.
**Aoki’s former partner, Hikaru Sato will be facing Aoki’s protégé Yusuke Okada at the next Korakuen Hall card next Tuesday. The show was originally set to feature Aoki defending the title against Sato.
**Geena Davis will be part of the cast for the third season of “GLOW” on Netflix, which premieres on August 9th on the streaming service. Davis will be playing a character named Sandy Deveraux St. Clair. Davis’ character is a former showgirl in Las Vegas that is now the director of the Fan-Tan Hotel & Casino, where the GLOW show will be based out of in the third season. The Hollywood Reporter stated that Davis will be featured in five of the ten episodes in the upcoming season.
**The Sears Center sent out a notice to those attempting to rent suites on the night of All Out, stating that the demand for suites already outnumbers the suites that are available. (Thanks to Jeremy Fritsch)
**New Japan commentator Chris Charlton will be part of the English broadcast for the Kizuna Road shows this Sunday and Monday from Korakuen Hall as well as the Southern Showdown event on June 29th in Melbourne, Australia.
**The Revival won the Raw tag titles for the second time on Monday’s episode in San Jose, California. Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder defeated Zack Ryder & Curt Hawkins and The Usos after Dawson blind tagged Jey Uso, who hit a splash onto Ryder and Dawson stole the pin. Ryder & Hawkins had been the tag champions since WrestleMania in April. It appeared to be setting up a title match between The Revival and The Usos given the nature of how the match ended with Jey having the match won coupled with The Usos defeating The Revival at Super Showdown.
**With less than two weeks until Stomping Grounds, below is the updated lineup for the show that isn’t lighting the world on fire:
*Seth Rollins vs. Baron Corbin for the Universal title with a guest referee to be named
*Kofi Kingston vs. Dolph Ziggler in a steel cage match for the WWE title
*Becky Lynch vs. Lacey Evans for the Raw women’s title
*Bayley vs. Alexa Bliss for the SmackDown women’s title
*Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre
**Ring of Honor has announced that Jonathan Gresham will face Silas Young at the Best in the World pay-per-view in a Pure Rules match. The promotion has a Pure championship from 2004-2006 with a different set of rules that included a maximum three rope breaks, a 20 count outside the ring, and no closed fists, although the promotion did not list specific rules for this match between Gresham and Young. The card will air on Friday, June 28th from Baltimore, Maryland on pay-per-view and is headlined by Matt Taven defending the ROH title against Jeff Cobb.
**MLW’s next show is Saturday, July 6th at Cicero Stadium in Chicago, which has been their best market to run. They have announced that Tom Lawlor will defend the MLW title against Jacob Fatu along with Los Parks (LA Park & El Hijo de LA Park) vs. Dr. Wagner Jr. & El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr.
**Matt Riddle is set to face Curt Stallion at the EVOLVE 132 event on Sunday, July 14th in Melrose, Massachusetts.
**ACH (Albert Hardie Jr.) is now being promoted as Jordan Myles in NXT. He signed with WWE earlier this year and began wrestling at NXT live events in March under his real name. Additional name changes include the former Jonah Rock becoming Bronson Reed, Garza Jr. is now Angel Garza and the best one is Samuel Shaw becoming Dexter Lumis.
**The WWE stock closed at $72.94 on Tuesday.
**Here is something cool, which was uploaded by Jon Boucher. It’s highlights of a card from Maple Leaf Gardens on January 15, 1957, featuring Edouard Carpentier vs. Steve Stanlee, Bill & Ed Miller vs. Ken Kenneth & Pat Flanagan, and Billy Red Lyons vs. Baron Gattoni with narration from Dave Price.
MMA NEWS
**The UFC 238 prelims were up 18.5% from last month’s prelims leading into the pay-per-view. Saturday’s two-hour broadcast on ESPN averaged 964,000 viewers featuring Tatiana Suarez defeating Nina Ansaroff by unanimous decision in the featured fight. Last month’s prelims going into UFC 237 from Brazil averaged 813,000 with Ryan Spann vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. After the 238 prelims, ESPN broadcasted a Top Rank card headlined by Oscar Valdez vs. Jason Sanchez that averaged 799,000 viewers.
**Donald Cerrone provided an update on his gruesome eye from Saturday’s fight with Tony Ferguson that led to the stoppage between Rounds 2 and 3. Cerrone said there were no broken bones and that his orbital bone was not broken or cracked, which is shocking given the state of the eye. The fight ended in somewhat disputed fashion as Ferguson landed a punch on the nose clearly after the horn sounded to end the second round. In his corner, Cerrone blew his nose and led to his right eye swelling up instantly and the ringside physicians would not allow the fight to continue. Ferguson was ruled the winner by TKO, although Dana White was openly discussing the potential of a rematch between the two lightweights. The fact Cerrone didn’t break anything could expeditate a push for the rematch by the promotion. However, it’s a terrible deal for Ferguson, who has the win over Cerrone and won twelve fights in a row since May 2012 and it’s hard to deny him the winner of Khabib Nurmagomedov and Dustin Poirier, who will fight on September 7th in Abu Dhabi.
**According to the bout order that Bellator has sent out, the opening fight of the main card for this Friday’s show on DAZN will be the bantamweight title fight between Darrion Caldwell and Kyoji Horiguchi. Horiguchi submitted Caldwell last New Year’s Eve at Rizin to become their inaugural bantamweight champion and this Friday’s rematch is for Caldwell’s Bellator bantamweight title. Horiguchi has won twelve straight fights since losing to Demetrious Johnson at UFC 186 in April 2015. The six-fight main card is headlined by Rory MacDonald defending the welterweight title against Neiman Gracie in the semi-finals of the Grand Prix with Chael Sonnen vs. Lyoto Machida listed second from the top.
**Following his knockout loss to Calvin Kattar at UFC 238 this past weekend, Ricardo Lamas provided an update that he suffered three fractures in his jaw that required surgery. Lamas posted a statement Tuesday morning noting he’s been in the hospital since the fight and underwent a procedure on Monday to fix his jaw. Lamas was knocked out in the first round and fell to 19-8 with losses in three of his past four fights since December 2017.
**The UFC is off this weekend and return with a Fight Night card from Greenville, South Carolina on June 22nd. The main card is headlined by a featherweight fight between Chan Sung Jung and Renato Moicano. Jung was on the losing end of one of the greatest finishes in UFC history when he fought Yair Rodriguez last November and was stopped with one second left in their five-round fight. Moicano is coming off a loss to Jose Aldo. The rest of the card has some decent fights with John Dodson taking on Rob Font and Bryan Barberena vs. Randy Brown as the top three fights. On the undercard, Matt Wiman is returning to fight Luis Pena in his first fight since November 2014. The following weekend is the Fight Night card from Minneapolis, Minnesota with Junior dos Santos vs. Francis Ngannou and then it’s into International Fight Week and the UFC 239 card on July 6th.
**In a correction from Monday’s update, the Robert Whittaker vs. Yoel Romero five-round fight from UFC 225 last year was a non-title fight. Romero did not make the weight limit, was given additional time and later forced to stop cutting by the commission in Illinois. Whittaker won the fight by split decision and was one of the best fights of 2018.
*****
RAR 6/10/19: While You Were Watching the NBA Finals
As the only two Canadians that watched Raw Monday, John & Wai discuss the quick turnaround until Stomping Grounds – It’s Time to Kick Ass and Take Names.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/06/11/rar-6-10-19-while-you-were-watching-the-nba-finals/
*****
POST Profile Bonus: Treigh Lindstrom
John Pollock speaks with Treigh Lindstrom, a fan that spent the day with Owen Hart prior to his passing on May 23, 1999, in Kansas City, MO.
https://www.patreon.com/posts/27472707
*****
NJPW Dominion 2019 POST Show
John Pollock & Wai Ting review NJPW Dominion 2019 featuring Kazuchika Okada vs. Chris Jericho, the debut of KENTA, and one of the most sickening neck bumps we’ve ever seen.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/06/10/njpw-dominion-2019-post-show/
*****
Cruel Summer #4: 1994
WH Park welcomes New Japan English commentator, Mavs Gillis to discuss the finals of NJPW’s 4th G1 Climax tournament: Masahiro Chono vs. Power Warrior from August 7, 1994.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/06/09/cruel-summer-4-masahiro-chono-vs-power-warrior-kensuke-sasaki-1994-w-mavs-gillis/
*****
UFC 238 POST Show: Henry Cejudo vs. Marlon Moraes
John Pollock and Phil Chertok are back to review Saturday’s UFC 238 pay-per-view from Chicago with Henry Cejudo vs. Marlon Moraes and Valentina Shevchenko vs. Jessica Eye.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/06/09/ufc-238-post-show-henry-cejudo-vs-marlon-moraes/
*****
Cruel Summer #3: 1993
WH Park welcomes Damon MacDonald of the Super J-Cast show to discuss the finals of NJPW’s 3rd entry of the G1 Climax tournament: Hiroshi Hase vs. Tatsumi Fujinami from August 7, 1993.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/06/08/cruel-summer-3-hiroshi-hase-vs-tatsumi-fujinami-1993-w-damon-macdonald/
*****
WWE Super Showdown POST Show
John Pollock & Wai Ting review WWE Super Showdown and welcome guests for a discussion about WWE’s ongoing relationship with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/06/07/wwe-super-showdown-post-show-live/
*****
Café Hangout w/ Damian Abraham in-studio
John Pollock & Wai Ting are joined in-studio by Damian Abraham on this week’s Café Hangout discussing rumors of Alexa Bliss & Natalya possibly wrestling in Saudi Arabia on Friday. Plus, The Wrestlers profiles Stardom.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/06/07/alexa-bliss-vs-natalya-at-ssd-damian-abraham-on-stardom-cafe-hangout/
*****
ASK-A-WAI
John Pollock and Wai Ting answer their patrons’ questions from the POST Wrestling Forum in the June 2019 edition of Ask-A-Wai.
https://www.patreon.com/posts/27444766
*****
upNXT 6/6/19: HangOver VI
Braden Herrington and Davie Portman chat all about the fallout from NXT TakeOver: XXV, plus Bianca Belair vs. Mia Yim and Keith Lee vs. Kona Reeves.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/06/06/upnxt-6-6-19-hangover-vi-one-night-in-bridgeport/
*****
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