POST IT NOTES
**If you missed it, we released this month’s POST ROUNDTABLE show with Wai Ting and I sitting down with Arda Ocal. I would highly recommend listening to Arda’s career path, which was focused on making it to the WWE, being hired in 2014 and then departing the company in 2016. We chatted about Arda’s entry into professional wrestling on the local scene in Ontario, working for The Score and developing the “Aftermath” television program, leaving The Score and dropping pro wrestling with the intention of WWE taking notice, the hiring process by WWE, his duties at the company, plans he had, and his career post-WWE. It’s a very engaging discussion and you can download it at https://www.postwrestling.com/2018/05/13/post-roundtable-5-w-arda-ocal/ or subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, and Google Play to POST Wrestling.
**I also have a UFC 224 Post-Show up on the site reviewing Saturday’s card from Rio de Janeiro, discussing the main event between Amanda Nunes and Raquel Pennington, and answering questions at the end of the show.
**We have just discovered that POST Wrestling is now available to stream on Spotify. If you have the app, you can follow us with our free shows available to you.
**Wai Ting and I will be back late tonight with Rewind-A-Raw to chat about the show from London, the Ronda Rousey vs. Nia Jax announcement, the “All In” sellout, and taking your questions & feedback.
THIS WEEK AT POST WRESTLING:
*Tonight: Rewind-A-Raw
*Tuesday: Rewind-A-SmackDown
*Wednesday: British Wrestling Experience with Martin Bushby & Benno
*Thursday: upNXT with Braden Herrington & Davie Portman
*Friday: Review of “Captain America: Winter Soldier” with Pollock & Wai (Patreon Bonus Show)
WRESTLING NEWS
**The WWE set up Ronda Rousey’s next big match during Monday’s NBC Upfront presentation in New York City. They did an angle where Nia Jax challenged Rousey for a match at Money in the Bank on June 17th and Rousey accepted. They are portraying both as respectful of the other. The plan to go with Jax and Rousey at Money in the Bank was made around the time of Backlash, originally both were scheduled for other programs. Rousey challenging for the title should be a big deal and you can argue they could have held off a lot longer than June. It’s a tough situation on a booking front to either put the title or her, give Rousey her first loss, or have an unsatisfying finish, which is probably the best option of the three with Natalya turning on her. There is a natural story of Natalya being jealous at how fast Rousey received a title match as her motivation to turn on Rousey at Money in the Bank and sets up a program for the summer.
**Charlotte was also in attendance on behalf of the WWE at the NBC Upfront presentation. They set up a gigantic ring with the women inside to address the advertisers and media. Charlotte will also be attending the Needham & Company’s 2018 Emerging Technology Conference in New York on Tuesday night, and won’t be at the SmackDown taping.
**Tonight, Raw is a rare taped show from the O2 Arena in London, England. They have announced an Intercontinental title match between Seth Rollins and Kevin Owens and more Money in the Bank Qualifying matches. Nia Jax and Ronda Rousey will not be on the show tonight because of their appearance in New York today. Below are the matches that have been announced for Raw:
*Seth Rollins vs. Kevin Owens for the Intercontinental title
*Bobby Roode vs. Baron Corbin vs. No Way Jose in a Money in the Bank Qualifying Match
*Alexa Bliss vs. Bayley vs. Mickie James in a Money in the Bank Qualifying Match
**SmackDown and 205 Live will be at the O2 on Tuesday for their tapings.
**The WWE has confirmed that a rematch between AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura for the WWE title will take place at Money in the Bank on Sunday, June 17th at the Allstate Arena. I would assume a stipulation will be added to the match.
**There will be a screening of the Mauro Ranallo “Bipolar Rock ‘N Roller” documentary in Toronto on Sunday, May 27th at 7 pm. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with Ranallo, Frank Shamrock, and director Haris Usanovic. The screening will take place at the Regent Theatre at 551 Mount Pleasant Road with the details available at https://www.facebook.com/events/221666535089156/.
**The WWE has announced that opening round of the United Kingdom Championship Tournament will take place during the NXT events at the Download Festival from June 8th-10th in Derby. The tournament will continue during the WWE’s event at Royal Albert Hall on Monday, June 18th and the winner will challenge Pete Dunne for the U.K. title the following night at Royal Albert Hall.
**Jay Lethal was not cleared to wrestle on Saturday in Royal Oak, Michigan and Sunday in Villa Park, Illinois. Lethal took a sunset flip powerbomb from Hiromu Takahashi off the apron to the floor during Friday’s main event six-man tag in Toronto and hit his head on the landing. Lethal has announced he will be back for ROH’s upcoming U.K. events that begin May 24th in Edinburgh, Scotland. The Edinburgh card will feature The Briscoe Brothers defending the ROH tag titles against Cody and Hangman Page.
**The WWE Network will have a new episode of Table for 3 airing tonight after Raw with Jeff Jarrett, Road Dogg, and Elias.
**New Japan Pro Wrestling has a Lion’s Gate Project card on Tuesday at 6 am Eastern streaming on New Japan World. Below is the card:
*Yuji Nagata vs. Ayato Yoshida
*Shota Umino vs. Daisuke Sekimoto
*Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Hiro Saito vs. Ryusuke Taguchi & Ren Narita
*Manabu Nakanishi vs. Tomoyuki Oka
*Yuya Uemura vs. Yota Tsuji – these are the two newest young lions that have recently debuted
**Cody Rhodes spoke to members of the media in Chicago prior to tickets going on sale for “All In”. He stated that they are looking for quality over quantity when it comes to the show length. He added that Gary Juster is the Marketing Director for the show, the same position he holds for Ring of Honor. On the support from ROH, Cody stated that Joe Koff supported the idea from the start.
**EVOLVE and PROGRESS have announced the dates and venues for their doubleheader events this August. EVOLVE will be running shows at 4 pm and PROGRESS at 8 pm on the following dates:
*Saturday, August 4th at the PacPlex in Brooklyn, New York
*Sunday, August 5th at the Melrose Memorial Hall in Melrose, Massachusetts
*Saturday, August 11th at the Clyde Park District in Cicero, Illinois
*Sunday, August 12th at the Monaghan Knights of Columbus Hall in Livonia, Michigan
**EVOLVE 104 and 105 take place this Saturday and Sunday. Saturday’s card from Summit, Illinois features Austin Theory vs. DJZ for the WWN championship and Matt Riddle vs. Shane Strickland in a non-title match at 9 pm Eastern. Sunday’s card takes place from Livonia, Michigan at 8 pm Eastern and is built around “The Final War” between EVOLVE champion Matt Riddle and Keith Lee.
**Don Callis will be holding a conference call this Wednesday at 2 pm Eastern to discuss the state of Impact Wrestling to members of the media.
**MLW will run their next card on June 7th at the Gilt Nightclub in Orlando, Florida. The promotion has announced they have booked Rich Swann to take on ACH and announced a tag match with Pentagon Jr. & Fenix vs. Jason Cade & Jimmy Yuta vs. The Dirty Blondes in a triple-threat match.
**Cody is scheduled to face El Phantasmo on May 29th for Revolution Pro at Portsmouth Guildhall.
**Smash Wrestling will be doing three shows in conjunction with CZW in July and have announced Matt Cross, Maxwell Jacob Freidman and The Rep for all three cards. They will be running Sarnia, Ontario on July 13th, London on July 14th, and Toronto on July 15th. Smash has also announced that Walter will be working on the July 15th Toronto show.
**Kathy Lee and Hoda probe John Cena on his relationship with Nikki Bella and Nikki being interviewed as well:
*****
POST ROUNDTABLE #5 FEAT. ARDA OCAL https://postwrestling.podbean.com/mf/download/b9tvqh/180513_ROUNDTABLE_ArdaOcal.mp3
*****
UFC 224 POST SHOW WITH JOHN POLLOCK
https://postwrestling.podbean.com/mf/download/3ixksb/UFC-224-POST-SHOW.mp3
*****
REWIND-A-WAI #10: WWF Survivor Series 1996 (Patreon)
https://www.patreon.com/posts/18736543
*****
upNXT 5/10/18: Heavy War Machinery with Braden Herrington & Davie Portman
https://upnxt.podbean.com/mf/download/nuy7bg/180510_upNXT.mp3
*****
KEEP IT 2000: Ep. 30 – “It’s The Tape” with Zach Linder (July 24, 2000)
https://keepit2000.podbean.com/mf/download/e23wve/180509_KI2000.mp3
*****
REWIND-A-SMACKDOWN 5/8/18: MITB Qualifiers, Daniel Bryan vs. Rusev
https://postwrestling.podbean.com/mf/download/y3zhpa/180508_RASD.mp3
*****
REWIND-A-RAW 5/7/18: Money in the Bank Qualifiers
https://postwrestling.podbean.com/mf/download/2jyada/180507_RAR.mp3
*****
Subscribe to POST Wrestling
https://postwrestling.com/subscribe
POST Wrestling Forum
https://forum.postwrestling.com
Support our Patreon – The POST Wrestling Café
http://www.patreon.com/POSTwrestling
