Major League Wrestling has signed a deal with DAZN in the United States.
DAZN, which primarily focuses on boxing and Bellator MMA, will be home to MLW’s future live shows and feature MLW in its regular weekly schedule. Episodes of MLW Fusion and the Opera Cup event from December went live on DAZN this morning.
MLW has been forced to postpone their schedule in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Their next show is slated to be a taping of MLW Fusion on October 3rd outside Dallas/Ft. Worth, with Battle Riot III scheduled for December 5th in Philadelphia.
The particulars of the deal have not been announced.
DAZN is available for $19.99/month or $99.99/year.
NJPW has announced they’re resuming operations with multiple shows this month, as well as running their first event with fans again in July.
Company chairman Naoki Sugabayashi announced NJPW has created guidelines for safely resuming events with the Japanese Sports Authority after the nation-wide state of emergency was lifted.
Sugabayashi says the company began conducting antibody testing last week on all talent, crew, trainers and other live event staff to ensure the safety of everybody at the upcoming shows.
“After careful consideration and vigilance, we have begun prepping venues for events,” he added. “Thank you for your patience throughout this process. We’d like to now announce that our first show back will take place on June 15.”
The NJPW schedule on NJPW World will be as follows:
June 15th through the 17th; Together Project Special with matches revealed at the top of the show by the ring announcer
June 22nd through the 24th and July 1st through the 3rd will be the start of NJPW’s New Japan Cup 2020
There will be no live audience at these events.
July 11th; New Japan Cup finals in Osaka-Jo Hall
July 12th; New Japan Cup winner gets a title opportunity in Osaka-Jo Hall for the IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental titles against Tetsuya Naito
These shows WILL host a live audience, but at a third of the normal capacity.
“We guarantee that we will undertake all possible precautions in future shows with audiences,” he said. “The NJPW guidelines towards resuming operations will be available on the NJPW official website. Also, further measures for audience safety at live events will be revealed soon.”
Watch the video below for New Japan Cup’s first round matches, which will include both heavyweight and junior heavyweight wrestlers this year.
Elias is currently out of action with a torn pectoral muscle.
WWE issued a storyline update on Elias this past week, noting that he suffered the tear and broken ribs during the hit & run angle with Jeff Hardy two weeks ago on SmackDown. Dave Meltzer of F4Wonline.com now reports that the torn pectoral muscle injury is real, and Elias is on the shelf. It was noted that Elias was written off TV with the angle.
Elias defeated King Baron Corbin in a tournament match for the Intercontinental Title on the May 15 SmackDown. He was to face AJ Styles in the semi-finals, but WWE did the hit & run angle and Styles ended up getting a bye. Styles will face Daniel Bryan in the finals for the vacant Intercontinental Title on this week’s SmackDown.
There’s no word yet on when Elias will be back, but it was noted that he will likely be out of action for months.
DATE: June 7, 2020 at 7:00 PM ET (Preshow at 6:30 PM ET) LOCATION: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida AVAILABLE ON:WWE Network (first month free for new subscribers)
Backlot Brawl – NXT Championship: Adam Cole (c) vs. The Velveteen Dream (If he loses, Dream can no longer challenge for the title if Cole is champion)
Tommaso Ciampa vs. Karrion Kross with Scarlett
NXT Women’s Championship: Charlotte Flair (c) vs. Rhea Ripley vs. Io Shirai
NXT North American Championship: Keith Lee (c) vs. Johnny Gargano
Finn Bálor vs. Damian Priest
Tegan Nox, Shotzi Blackheart and Mia Yim vs. Candice LeRae, Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez
WWE RAW Superstar Jinder Mahal is back on the shelf again.
Mahal revealed on Instagram this morning that he had to undergo another knee operation. The surgery was a success and he says he will be back stronger than ever.
“Unfortunately I had to go under the knife again to fix some knee issues. The journey has hit a speed bump, but I will be back stronger than ever,” Mahal wrote in the IG post seen below, which was tagged in Birmingham, Alabama.
Mahal just returned to the ring in late April after being out of action for almost a year with a knee injury. He looked dominant in his return match on RAW against Akira Tozawa and appeared to be getting a big push.
