NJPW “G1 Special In San Francisco” To Air Live On AXS TV

g1 special in san francisco live axs tv

AXS TV announced NJPW‘s “G1 Special in San Francisco” will air live on July 7.

The press release states:

“The event marks NJPW’s most ambitious foray into the U.S. market to date, with a crowd of over 10,000 expected at the historic Cow Palace in Daly City, California. Wrestling Hall of Famer Jim Rossand former UFC Heavyweight Champion and NJPW veteran Josh Barnett will call the action ringside as the best wrestlers in the world, including “The Rainmaker” Kazuchika Okada, Kenny Omega, Tetsuya Naito, Hiroshi Tanahashi, enter the ring …”

“G1 Special in San Francisco” begins at 8pm ET / 5pm PT.

“As New Japan Pro Wrestling continues their U.S. expansion, we are proud to provide a platform for NJPW and TV Asahi to bring their electrifying events to as many fans as possible through our live, primetime broadcasts,” said AXS TV Fights CEO Andrew Simon. “The Cow Palace has a rich history of major pro wrestling events and we are excited to continue that tradition with our presentation of the G1 Special in San Francisco.”

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

Jim Cornette On SmackDown Moving To FOX & RAW Staying With USA In A $2 Billion Deal

Image result for Jim Cornette on Smackdown Moving to FOX & RAW Staying with USA in a $2 BILLION Deal

Jim Cornette gives his thoughts on the new WWE TV deals for SmackDown & RAW for the fall of 2019. As reported, RAW is staying on USA Network on Monday nights and SmackDown will move to the FOX Network on Friday night.

Cornette wonders how USA got the RAW (A-Show) and FOX got SmackDown (B-Show) because FOX is bigger than USA. He says SmackDown will be the A-Show.

Cornette questions if SmackDown’s move to FOX will help create stars or pay big money for stars and if there is any need anymore for a big match to promote pay-per-views because of the WWE Network.

Cornette talks about WWE not really needing to sale tickets for the house shows and PPV’s because of all the guaranteed money.

Cornette talks about WWE stars not getting heath insurance and having to pay for their own rental cars.

You can listen to what Cornette has to say about WWE’s new TV deal for RAW and SmackDown at this link.

 

John Morrison Interested In Signing With NJPW

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New Japan Pro Wrestling is continuing to gain popularity as a promotion. Although the company has been in operation since 1972, it has only been the past few years that they have made such a strong American presence. For years, NJPW has partnered with American promotions such as the NWA and Ring of Honor, even featuring these promotions and the NWA and ROH World Championships on their annual Wrestle Kingdom pay-per-view.

However, due to the ongoing western popularity, New Japan had their first American independent event last year, G1 Special in USA, which crowned Kenny Omega as the inaugural IWGP United States Champion after winning an eight-man tournament. Since then, the promotion announced two more U.S. events, Strong Style Evolved which occurred on March 25, and G1 Special in San Francisco, scheduled for July 7.

With the influx of gaijin (non-Japanese, or “foreign”) wrestlers now frequently competing in New Japan, such as Kenny Omega, The Young Bucks, Cody, Will Ospreay, Marty Scurll, Juice Robinson, Michael Elgin, Zack Sabre, Jr., Jay White, Bad Luck Fale, Killer Elite Squad, Beretta, and more, other names have become interested in joining the promotion. According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, former Intercontinental Champion John Morrison has inquired to New Japan to compete for the company.

Morrison, 38, left WWE in 2011. Since then, he has competed for a number of promotions, primarily Impact Wrestling, Lucha Underground, and AAA. According to the Observer, Morrison’s relationship with AAA may cause a snag in being able to join New Japan. There had been some interest previously, but this same issue kept him from joining the New Japan roster. New Japan typically does not use anyone from the AAA roster, due to their working relationship with CMLL. However, New Japan executives have seemingly softened their restrictions on the AAA ban, since Rey Mysterio is competing for both promotions.

Source: WrestlingINC

Reason Why WWE Is Pushing Lana Heavily Once Again

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Lana’s participation in the upcoming Women’s Money In The Bank Match is an interesting decision. She defeated Billie Kay with 2 moves on SmackDown Live to earn her spot and some fans are concerned about her being in this kind of match.

It was noted on Backstage In WWE that Vince McMahon wants to push Lana so that’s why it’s taking place when Brad Shepard continued to state a case against Lana wrestling while explaining why she’s getting this push as a part of Rusev Day.

“I mean she sucks in the ring but she’s over and the fans love her so when she comes out and wins she’s over. She’s a great package with Rusev you know that’s where she should be. Not every woman on the roster needs to wrestle,”

Although Lana might not have much of a chance in the Money In The Bank match at least she’s training for possible spots so she’ll be as prepared as possible. But it looks like she could only be in the match so Rusev Day will have a representation in the Women’s Money In The Bank match.

Source: ringsidenews.com

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WWE Starts Contacting Talent For The Mae Young Classic II

Mae Young Classic - Jessika Carr WWE Network

According to Pwinsider.com, WWE has started to reach out to talents for the Mae Young Classic II. WWE is reaching out to a number of talents, some of who worked last year’s tournament, and some who have had tryouts with the company in the past. It was previously reported that the Mae Young Classic II will be taped on August 7th & 8th at Full Sail University.

Source: 411Mania

Jeff Jarrett To Tag With FITE TV For New ‘Global Force’ Content

jeff jarrett fite tv app deal global force wrestling entertainment

If you thought newly-inducted WWE Hall of Famer Jeff Jarrett was going to bask in the golden glow of his new ring and sit on the sidelines in retirement, you were definitely mistaken.

FITE TV announced on Thursday that they’ll be working with Jarrett’s Global Force Entertainmentto develop sports entertainment content for its digital, live streaming network.

Jeff is described in the announcement released by the company as an “innovator in the development of professional wrestling content.”

“FITE TV is the future of how fans will be watching their favorite combat sports programing,” Jarrett noted in the news release. “This is the right place for GFE programing.”

The company’s lineup of wrestling currently includes Ring of Honor, Shine, Defiant Wrestling, and other independent promotions. FITE says new programming produced alongside Jarrett will be announced at some point over the summer.

Global Force Entertainment had previously been tied with Impact Wrestling, but that relationship was terminated in October 2017. Impact still has a streaming service, however, called the Global Wrestling Network — which was recently plugged on WWE Network.

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

Impact Wrestling Preview 5/24/18

Tonight on Impact on Pop TV:

* LAX vs. Cult of Lee

* Desmond Xavier vs. Petey Williams

* Moose vs. Kongo Kong w/Jimmy Jacobs

* oVe vs. Drago & Aerostar

* X-Division Championship: (C) Matt Sydal vs. El Hijo Del Fantasma

WWE Confirms New Start Time For Money In The Bank And All PPV Events On The WWE Network

Money in the Bank

WWE.com is now listing a new start time of 7:00 p.m. Eastern (6:00 CT) for the upcoming Money in the Bank PPV in four weeks on June 17.

This confirms a report this week stating the company planned to change up the start time of all PPV events by one hour earlier, with shows possibly running as long as four hours. WWE already started informing domestic and international PPV providers about the change.

A report by The Wrestling Observer/Figure Four Online indicated that while all events going forward are planned to run four hours, they may not end up going that long. The big four (Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, SummerSlam and Survivor Series) will also begin at 7:00 p.m. ET, but are expected to run longer than normal PPV events like Money in the Bank.

The change comes following the Backlash PPV a few weeks ago, which was the first dual-branded PPV event featuring talent from both RAW and SmackDown Live. Kickoff Shows are also scheduled to continue and either air for an hour or 30 minutes prior to the PPV. WWE has yet to reveal the official timing schedule for June 17 on the network.

Source: WrestleView

Ronda Rousey To Make WWE Japan Debut

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Ronda Rousey is set to make her WWE debut in Japan on Friday, August 31st with a big show at the Edison Arena in Osaka. Others advertised include RAW Women’s Champion Nia Jax, WWE Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins, RAW Tag Team Champion Bray Wyatt, Alexa Bliss, Roman Reigns, Sasha Banks, Finn Balor, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Natalya, Jinder Mahal, Bobby Roode and Braun Strowman.

Source: WrestlingINC

ESPN Outbids FOX To Secure UFC TV Rights With $1.5 Billion Deal

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On the heels of FOX closing in on a five-year deal with WWE’s SmackDown Live brand worth over $1 billion, ESPN has reached a second agreement with UFC, Fortune reports.

Last October, the exclusive negotiating period between UFC and FOX expired, giving the brand an opportunity to shop their television rights package to other companies. WWE started talking with FOX around that time, as executives from both parties initially met at the close of 2017. For WWE, NBC Universal decided to retain their partnership with the Raw brand, while FOX commenced a billion-dollar five-year deal to acquire SmackDown.

Just a few weeks ago, Disney’s new Direct-To-Consumer & International segment along with ESPN reached a $150 million per year agreement to exclusively air 15 full-card events on their ESPN+ platform, effective January 2019. ESPN has now struck a second $150 million five-year deal with UFC to broadcast and stream more than 30 fights a year.

According to USA Today, the broadcast deal will include 10 full UFC cards along with the preliminary card for a dozen UFC pay-per-view shows. Combined with the April agreement, the deal is said to be worth $1.5 billion. Both deals begin on January 1st.

Source: WrestlingINC