As noted, WWE will tape The Mae Young Classic on July 13th and July 14th at Full Sail University. The following names have been confirmed for the 32-competitor tournament:
* Bianca Blair – standout at the WWE Performance Center and signed in April 2016
* Danielle Kamela – WWE developmental talent, trained at WWE Hall of Famer Rikishi’s school
* Julia Ho – WWE developmental talent with MMA background, trained with Brian Kendrick
* Kimberly Frankele – WWE NXT talent, formerly known as Kimber Lee on the indies
* Lacey Evans – NXT talent and a Marine, formerly known as Macey Estrella
* Mary Kate – NXT talent and formerly known as Rosie Lottalove in TNA
* Sarah Logan – NXT talent, formerly known as Sarah Bridges in NXT and Crazy Mary Dobson on the indies
* Taynara Melo – WWE developmental talent signed last year, black belt from Brazil
* Victoria Gonzales – WWE developmental talent signed in 2016, college athlete and daughter of Rudy Boy Gonzales
* Zhao Xia – WWE’s first female Chinese talent
The tournament will tape on July 13th and July 14th but there are plans to hold live finals on Tuesday, September 12th, possibly at the WWE SmackDown Live tapings in Las Vegas that night. The plan is to release the first round of the tournament in late August with the second round being released in early September via the on-demand section of the WWE Network.
NJPW‘s sold-out G-1 Climax Special is just a few weeks away … and to get fans hyped for the show, Bullet Club released an awesome promo video reminiscent of the NWO.
The nearly 10-minute “paid advertisement” promotes the Biz Cliz’s involvement in the July 1-2 live events from Long Beach and it’s definitely worth watching.
Cody starts things off by announcing he’ll be in action … and following his encounter with Kazuchika Okada after the Dominion pay-per-view last Saturday, he’ll be facing “The Rainmaker” for the IWGP Heavyweight Championshipon Night 1.
The ad then cuts to Omega and The Young Bucks selling Elite Cold Spray (which actually exists) before they join Cody. The Guerrillas of Destinyand Hangman Page were also promoted.
Stick around for the end of the advertisement to see a surprise celebrity cameo.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Conor McGregor has been signed for Aug. 26 in Las Vegas, Mayweather and McGregor both confirmed on social media. The fight will air live on pay-per-view.
UFC president Dana White said Wednesday on SportsCenter that the fight will take place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and be contested at 154 pounds. Both fighters will wear 10-pounce gloves, White said.
The hotly debated boxing match will mark the first time that a current UFC champion challenges a boxer in a boxing match.
The fight, which will be sanctioned by the Nevada Athletic Commission, will be a professional boxing match, meaning if Mayweather wins, he’ll be the first boxer to have a perfect 50-0 record. It is expected to be the most anticipated “mixed” fight since Muhammad Ali vs. Antonio Inoki in June 1976.
Mayweather Jr. (49-0), considered one of the greatest boxers of all time, announced his retirement from the sport following a September 2015 win over Andre Berto. However, he said recently that he was only interested in returning to action for a fight against McGregor.
McGregor (0-0 in boxing, 21-3 in MMA), the current UFC lightweight champion, has never competed in a professional boxing match, but he is considered one of the best mixed martial artists in the world. He made history in November when he defeated then-lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez to became the first fighter in UFC history to be a champion in two different weight classes at the same time. Since then, though, the UFC stripped the Irish-born fighter of his featherweight title due to inactivity.
Mayweather, 40, and McGregor, 28, have been flirting with the idea of fighting each other for almost a year, but things seemed to heat up after McGregor defeated Alvarez at Madison Square Garden late last year.
For a while, though, the super fight appeared to be nothing more than a pipe-dream, but McGregor remained steadfast in his desire to challenge the undefeated boxer.
“It’s the fight to make,” McGregor said in January. “It’s the fight the people want. It’s the fight I want. I know I’m confident going in there.
“I’ve got the reach. I’ve got youth. I’ve got the confidence. I’ve got the unpredictable style. You can’t prepare for a style like me. A guy said to me, why conquer one world when you can conquer two? So I’m going to go conquer two worlds.”
In March, while in attendance to support fellow Irishman Michael Conlan in his pro boxing debut, McGregor erupted on the boxing media sitting ringside.
“No one in this boxing game knows what’s coming,” he said. “Trust me on that. When I step in there, I’m going to shock the whole goddamn world. Trust me on that. Look me in the eyes. Twenty-eight years of age, confident as a motherf*cker, long, rangy, dangerous with every hand.
“Trust me, I’m going to stop Floyd and you’re all going to eat your words. The whole world is going to eat their words.”
While his purse has yet to be announced, McGregor is expected to make more for this one fight than he’s ever made in his career. Details of the deal have yet to be announced.
It’s unclear at this time how much the pay-per-view will cost or who will fight on the undercard.
The Nevada commission approved the Aug. 26 date for a Mayweather Promotions card Wednesday during its monthly meeting. At the time of the meeting, it was not fully known that it would be for Mayweather vs. McGregor.
According to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio (via wrestlinginc.com), WWE officials are planning a Kurt Angle vs. Triple H match. There is no timeline on when it will happen, but the feeling is that it will be linked with the storyline WWE has been doing with Angle and Corey Graves. Raw Commissioner Stephanie McMahon is expected back soon, which could also be part of the build to the match.
Here is the preview for tonight’s episode of Lucha Underground…
In this week’s all new episode of “Lucha Underground” Johnny Mundo and Rey Mysterio begin their training to take on the Cueto Cup. Who will make it through and take the championship? Plus, Cage pays a visit to City Councilman Lawrence Delgado. The first round of the Cueto Cup begins this Wednesday, June 14th at 8:00PM ET.
Former WWE SmackDown Live announcer/commentator Mauro Ranallo, who remains under contract with the company until August 12th, has signed with Bellator MMA. They issued the following announcement today:
Bellator Signs Veteran Commentators Mike Goldberg and Mauro RanalloJune 13, 2017
LOS ANGELES — Bellator has signed longstanding MMA commentators Mike Goldberg and Mauro Ranallo to multi-event broadcast agreements beginning with Bellator NYC: Sonnen vs. Silva and Bellator 180: Davis vs. Bader on Saturday, June 24. The move sees Goldberg return to SPIKE for the first time since 2011, while Ranallo reunites with Bellator President Scott Coker, having worked together through 2013. The pair will join a broadcast team that currently includes Jimmy Smith, Jenn Brown and Chael Sonnen.
“Mike Goldberg and Mauro Ranallo are two of the best in our business and I couldn’t be happier about them joining the Bellator family,” said Scott Coker. “In addition to June 24, we look forward to working together to make future Spike broadcasts even more exciting for our fans as we add further depth to an already-exceptional broadcast team.”
“The addition of highly-regarded announcers Mauro and Mike to our fantastic lineup of broadcasters, and our first-rate production led by Scott Fishman, further demonstrates our commitment MMA fans and expanding the global Bellator brand,” added Spike SVP, Sports and Specials Jon Slusser.
Mike Goldberg is best known for his 20 plus years of play-by-play work in professional MMA and trademark calls that made him popular with fans around the globe. In addition to his two decades in mixed martial arts, he has broadcast every major sport at the network level, most notably his 900 games in the NHL, both nationally and with the Minnesota Wild, Vancouver Canucks and Detroit Red Wings. He has also hosted entertainment shows, including Shaq Vs. A graduate of Miami (Ohio) University, Goldberg now resides in Phoenix, Ariz.
Mauro Ranallo gained notoriety with MMA fans during his tenure with PRIDE, and later STRIKEFORCE, where his voice became synonymous with the now-legendary events. Throughout his career, Ranallo has spent time working with various sports outside of MMA, including boxing, professional wrestling, kickboxing and ice hockey, and will continue his work with Showtime Boxing. Ranallo, a native of British Columbia, Canada, now resides in Los Angeles, Calif.
Please visit Bellator.com and BellatorNYC.com for upcoming event information.
About Bellator:
Bellator is a leading mixed martial arts and kickboxing organization featuring many of the best fighters in the world. Under the direction of veteran fight promoter Scott Coker, Bellator is available to nearly 500 million homes worldwide in over 140 countries. In the United States, Bellator can be seen on SPIKE, the combat sports television leader. Bellator is comprised of an executive team that includes top industry professionals in television production, live event orchestration, fighter development/relations, venue procurement, sponsorship creation/development, international licensing, marketing, advertising, publicity and commission relations. Bellator is based in Hollywood, Calif. and owned by entertainment giant Viacom, home to the world’s premier entertainment brands that connect with audiences through compelling content across television, motion picture, online and mobile platforms.
About Spike:
Spike is available in 98.7 million homes and is a division of Viacom Media Networks. A unit of Viacom (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB), Viacom Media Networks is one of the world’s leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. Spike’s Internet address is spike.com and for up-to-the-minute and archival press information and photographs, visit Spike’s press site at spike.com/press. Follow us on Twitter @spiketvpr for the latest in breaking news updates, behind-the-scenes information and photos.
Lucha Underground stars Johnny Mundo (Morrison) and Taya Valkyrie announced that they’re engaged.
The couple took to social media late last night to drop the news with dual photos of the ring … Mundo saying “She said yes” and Valkyrie saying “I said yes!”
The former United States Champion was last heard from when he informed Shane McMahon via Twitter that he’d only wrestle on SmackDown Live if he received a title match at Money in the Bank.
Rusev didn’t get an answer, so he teased an appearance on SD Live to get one — but it never happened.
Will we finally see a resolution to this? Only time will tell.
