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IPW:UK/Pro Wrestling: NOAH Announce International Dream Bout for Global Clash

Top UK independent promotion IPW:UK has confirmed an international Dream Match for their upcoming Pro Wrestling: NOAH co-branded GLOBAL CLASH show which will be taking place on Sunday 23rd September from Mote Hall in Maidstone, England.

British wrestling icon Doug Williams will be facing Japanese wrestling legend Naomichi Marufuji in a bout pitting the King of the British Style and one of the pioneers of Japanese Strong Style.

Joining the previously confirmed Naomichi Marufuji and Doug Williams are the following names:

  • Chris Ridgeway
  • IPW:UK World Champion Kip Sabian
  • Kaito Kiyomiya
  • Mark Haskins
  • Daisuke Harada
  • Tadasuke
  • Yo-Hey
  • Hayata

IPW:UK has also confirmed that the co-branded NOAH supercard has also changed venue, the company sent out the following message earlier today:

“PW Owner Billy Wood – ‘We are really proud to announce our new relationship which will take place with immediate affect with Mote Hall in Maidstone. Coming up to our anniversary it never sat well with me that our biggest shows were held in a venue that unfortunately due to the nature of the venue lacked disability access and unfortunately made attending the big IPW shows impossible for many. Back in December a fan travelled nearly 2 hours and took health risks to be able to see the show, the truth is that shouldn’t be happening and that moment has stuck with me ever since. With Mote Hall all fans will have access and with our Anniversary selling at the rate it is it’s vital we have a space which accommodates all. We really enjoyed our time at Casino Rooms but now it’s time for a change and with that change we celebrate the biggest weekend in IPW history. Anniversary XIV & IPW/NOAH Global Clash

https://twitter.com/IPWUK/status/1029049650853175297

https://twitter.com/IPWUK/status/1028963509663674369

WoS Tag Team Challenging for DEFIANT Number 1 Contendership

DEFIANT Wrestling has announced that a Number 1 contenders’ match to the company’s Tag Team Champions Aussie Open (Mark Davis and Kyle Fletcher). The bout will be taking place at the upcoming Stacked ’18 event from the Bowlers Exhibition Centre in Manchester, England.

Jimmy Havoc and Mark Haskins will be taking on the team of ‘Superbad’ Kip Sabian and Iestyn Rees. Kip and Rees’ debut match as a team occurred during episode 1 of the new World of Sport/WoS reboot on ITV, this will be their first opportunity to get a shot at Championship gold on the UK independent scene.

Havoc & Haskins are two of the most well respected and tenured performers on the UK scene, they have also been extremely successful as a tandem. The team were previously tag team champions in DEFIANT and have also held the PROGRESS Tag Team Champions.

The card for Stacked ’18 is now as follows:

  • Walter vs Will Ospreay (Internet Championship)
  • Bea Priestley vs Millie McKenzie (Women’s Championship)
  • Havoc & Haskins vs Alpha Bad (Tag #1 Contenders)
  • Chris Brookes vs Chris Ridgeway (Internet #1 Contenders)
  • Doug Williams vs John ‘Bad Bones’ Klinger
  • Joe Hendry vs Martin Kirby
  • Drake vs El Phantasmo
  • Omari vs Lucky Kid
  • Gabriel Kidd vs ???

Tickets for the event are available to purchase via Eventbrite.

WoS/World of Sport Episode 3 Results (08/11)

WoS/World of Sport Episode 3 aired earlier this evening on ITV 1. The main event featured the WoS Champion Rampage defending his title against a very worthy opponent in Justin Sysum plus we had the continuation of the Tag Team Championship tournament.

Here are the full results:

Grado b. Sha Samuels – Grado took the pinfall win after hitting a mid air Cutter on Samuels. Grado started the bout wrestling in a suit and tie

Martin Kirby b. Joe Hendry – Kirby took the pinfall win whilst using the ropes for leverage, this feud is far from over

WOS Tag Team Championship Tournament Quarter Final Match – BT Gunn & Stevie Boy b. CJ Banks & Brad Slayer – The two ICW veterans Gunn and Stevie Boy took the pinfall win to advance in the tournament, they will face ‘Superbad’ Kip Sabian and Iestyn Rees

Crater b. Gabriel Kidd – Crater took the win after hitting a standing splash, Kidd was then taken out on a stretcher

WOS Championship matchRampage (w/ Sha Samuels & CJ Banks) b. Justin Sysum – Rampage took the win via count-out after CJ Banks held Sysum by the leg during the referee’s ten count

Next Week’s show will feature the following:

  • Will Ospreay vs Martin Kirby
  • Kay Lee Ray defends her WoS Women’s Championship
  • WoS Champion Rampage will appear
  • Crater will be in action

For further info check out the WoS Official Website.

WoS Women’s Champion Appearing at Pro Wrestling: EVE ‘Riot Grrrls’ This Saturday

Pro Wrestling: EVE will be holding their ‘Riot Grrrls’ event this Saturday from the Resistance Gallery in London, England. One of the marquee bouts of the night will see the newly crowned World of Sport/WoS Women’s Champion Kay Lee Ray face Viper.

This match will be a qualifier for the upcoming SHE-1 tournament, last year’s SHE-1 saw Charlie Morgan earn an EVE Title shot at the Wrestle Queendom event earlier this year, she went on to win the Championship after defeating Sammi Jayne in the main event of the evening.

Fans of WoS will notice that this is essentially a rematch from this past Saturday’s show, Kay Lee Ray became the first ever Women’s champion after defeating Viper in a Triple Threat match which included Bea Priestley. KLR and Viper are both world renowned performers having appeared in Japan’s Stardom promotion, ICW and the inaugural Mae Young Classic for WWE.

Opinion: If you have never seen these two stars perform in an EVE ring and you live near London then this is an opportunity that you cannot miss. Pro Wrestling: EVE is one of the big reasons that Women’s wrestling has seen a resurgence not just in the UK but globally. If you can’t make the show then check out EVE’s On Demand service for all of the action.

https://twitter.com/ProWrestlingEVE/status/1025870804288978944

Injured Mae Young Classic Competitor Posts Statement

WWE recently held tapings for the second annual Mae Young Classic Tournament from Full Sail. During the tapings one of the hottest prospects in NXT unfortunately fell to a knee injury.

Tegan Nox (formerly known as Nixon Newell on the UK scene) injured her left knee following a dive in a match against Rhea Ripley. Nox attempted to fight on however the referee had to throw up the dreaded ‘X’ symbol and the match had to be ended, with Nox herself throwing up an ‘X’ signifying how hurt she was. Nox was visibly in tears leaving the ring and the fans in attendance gave her a standing ovation.

Triple H appeared in the ring later in the evening to confirm that Nox was carried out with a “broken heart, not a broken knee.”

The ‘Girl With the Shiniest Wizard’ has now issued a statement on Twitter following her injury, claiming that “this is more mentally draining than it is physically but you can guarantee that this isn’t going to keep me down!” Nox went on to say that “freak accidents happen, it’s part of the job but to hear that she [Rhea] had a killer match with one of the best wrestlers in the world Io Shirai made my heart swell with happiness.

You can read the full statement below:

https://twitter.com/TeganNoxWWE_/status/1027804630963691520

First Two Bouts Announced for IMPACT UK Show

IMPACT has announced the first two bouts for their upcoming UK show at the Bowlers Exhibition Centre, Manchester on Sunday 9th September. The show will be part of the Wrestling MediaCon 2018 event featuring panels with the likes of Pat Patterson, Colt Cabana, X-Pac, Jushin ‘Thunder’ Liger and more.

The first match sees former CZW Tournament of Death winner and PROGRESS World Champion Jimmy Havoc taking on ‘The Draw’ Sami Callihan. These two Deathmatch style performers will be looking to tear each other to shreds in Manchester so this won’t be a match to miss.

The second confirmed match will see arguably IMPACT’s best tag team LAX taking on two legends of the British Independent Wrestling scene: Jody Fleisch and Jonny Storm. The tandem of Fleisch and Storm will also be performing as part of the upcoming Honor ReUnited tour for Ring of Honor with bouts against The Young Bucks and The Briscoes now confirmed.

G1 Climax Night 16 Results, Winner of A Block Revealed

New Japan Pro Wrestling’s annual G1 Climax is widely regarded as the greatest tournament in pro wrestling today. Two blocks of competitors are competing in a round robin format to determine the number 1 contender to Kenny Omega’s IWGP Heavyweight Championship at January 4th’s Wrestle Kingdom. The tournament is nearing the later stages and here are the results from Night 17:

Togi Makabe b. Michael Elgin – Makabe took the pinfall win after hitting the King Kong Knee Drop 

YOSHI-HASHI b. Hangman Page – YOSHI-HASHI took the pinfall win after hitting the Karma

Minoru Suzuki b. Bad Luck Fale – Suzuki took the DQ win after Tama Tonga interfered and hit the Gun Stun…again

EVIL b. “Switchblade” Jay White – EVIL took the pinfall win after hitting his namesake signature move

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada ended in a Time Limit Draw Due to this result Tanahashi advances to the final on Sunday 12th August

A Block Winner – Hiroshi Tanahashi 

You can find the results for Night 1 here, Night 2 hereNight 3 hereNight 4 hereNight 5 here, Night 6 hereNight 7 hereNight 8 hereNight 9 hereNight 10 hereNight 11 here, Night 12 hereNight 13 here, Night 14 hereNight 15 here and Night 16 here.

PROGRESS NYC Tag Title Matched Touted as Company’s ‘Best Ever’

PROGRESS held their New York City stop on the #CoastToCoast tour last night from the La Boom venue. One of the announced bouts for the show saw CCK take on IMPACT Wrestling’s LAX for the PROGRESS Tag Team Championships.

By all accounts the match appears to have completely blown away all expectations and several fans in attendance and the company themselves are touting this as the greatest tag match in the company’s history. Ironically, this match shouldn’t of even happened…

CCK member Kid Lykos unfortunately suffered from an injury early in the tour and had to be taken out of the remaining dates. Jon Gresham was brought in as a late replacement to reform the Calamari Catch Kings alongside Chris Brookes which led to this bout. Hopefully this will be available on Demand PROGRESS in the near future.

Check out the reaction from the company and performers below:

https://twitter.com/Glen_Joseph/status/1027012308671836161

https://twitter.com/TheJonGresham/status/1027006724815953920

G1 Climax Night 16 Results, Updated Standings and Who Can Win B Block?

New Japan Pro Wrestling’s annual G1 Climax is widely regarded as the greatest tournament in pro wrestling today. Two blocks of competitors are competing in a round robin format to determine the number 1 contender to Kenny Omega’s IWGP Heavyweight Championship at January 4th’s Wrestle Kingdom. The tournament is nearing the later stages and here are the results from Night 16:

Tomohiro Ishii b. Juice Robinson – Ishii took the pinfall win after hitting an Enziguri followed by a Brainbuster

Zack Sabre, Jr. b. Hirooki Goto – ZSJ took the pinfall win with the European Clutch

Tama Tonga b. Kota Ibushi – Tonga took the pinfall win after hitting a modified ‘pop-up’ Gun Stun

Toru Yano b. Kenny Omega – Yano took the pinfall win after Tama Tonga hit a Gun Stun on Omega and put Yano on top of the IWGP Heavyweight Champion

Tetsuya Naito b. SANADA – Naito took the pinfall win after hitting the Destino on his Los Ingobernables De Japon stablemate

Kota Ibushi, Kenny Omega and Tetsuya Naito are now all capable of winning B Block. Ibushi and Omega HAVE to win to make it to the final as they both have a tiebreaker win over Naito. If Omega vs Ibushi ends in a draw and Naito wins against Zack Sabre Jr then he wins B Block

Here’s the updated standings:

Tanahashi 14 Kenny Omega 12
Jay White 12 Tetsuya Naito 12
Kazuchika Okada 12 Kota Ibushi 10
Evil 8 Zack Sabre Jr. 10
Minoru Suzuki 8 Sanada 8
Michael Elgin 6 Tomohiro Ishii 8
Hangman Page 6 Hirooki Goto 6
Bad Luck Fale 6 Tama Tonga 6
Togi Makabe 4 Juice Robinson 4
Yoshi-Hashi 4 Toru Yano 4

 

You can find the results for Night 1 here, Night 2 hereNight 3 hereNight 4 hereNight 5 here, Night 6 hereNight 7 hereNight 8 hereNight 9 hereNight 10 hereNight 11 here, Night 12 hereNight 13 here, Night 14 here and Night 15 here.

 

 

PROGRESS #CoastToCoast Tour New York City Full Card (08/07)

PROGRESS are currently touring the United States hitting some top independent arenas from August 4th-12th. Last night saw the company hit the historic ECW Arena in a show headlined by Jimmy Havoc and Rickey Shane Page. The company will be hosting an event at New York City’s La Boom tonight with a bell time of 8pm.

Here’s the full card for tonight:

  • PROGRESS World Tag Team Championship ThunderB*stard Tag Team Series – The Grizzled Young Veterans (Zack Gibson & James Drake) Vs Sexy Starr (Jack Sexsmith & David Starr)
  • British Strong Style Vs Jimmy Havoc, Eddie Kingston & Brody King
  • LAX (Ortiz & Santana) Vs #CCK
  • TK Cooper Vs Eddie Dennis
  • Mark Andrews Vs Matt Riddle
  • Natalia Markova Vs Ashley Vox

The Coast to Coast tour will be taking place from August 4th and will be hitting the following cities:

  • 4th August – 2300 Arena, Philadelphia (aka The ECW Arena). TICKETS ON SALE MONDAY 28TH MAY AT 12PM ET / 5PM UK 
  • 5th August – Melrose Memorial Hall, Melrose, Boston. TICKETS
  • 7th August – La Boom, New York City. TICKETS ON SALE MONDAY 28TH MAY AT 12PM ET / 5PM UK 
  • 9th August – Washington Hall, Seattle. TICKETS ON SALE MONDAY 28TH MAY AT 12PM PT / 8PM UK
  • 11th August – Cicero Stadium, Cicero, Chicago TICKETS
  • 12th August – Monaghan Knights of Columbus Hall, Livonia, Detroit TICKETS

The talent that PROGRESS will be taking ‘across the pond’ for #CoastToCoast are as follows:

  • PROGRESS World Champion – Travis Banks (4th, 5th, 7th August only)
  • PROGRESS Tag Team Champions – Grizzled Young Veterans (Zack Gibson and James Drake)
  • PROGRESS Women’s Champion – Jinny (4th, 11th, 12th August only)
  • WWE United Kingdom Champion – Pete Dunne 
  • NXT Tag Team Champions – Moustache Mountain (Tyler Bate and Trent Seven)
  • TK Cooper
  • WALTER (9th, 11th, 12th August only)
  • ‘Flash’ Morgan Webster
  • Mark Haskins
  • Jimmy Havoc
  • Mark Andrews
  • Eddie Dennis
  • Jack Sexsmith (7th, 9th, 11th, 12th August only
  • CCK (Chris Brookes and Kid Lykos)
  • Toni Storm (4th, 11th, 12th August only)

Shinsuke Nakamura King of Strong Style: 1980-2014 Book Review

Shinsuke Nakamura can be classed amongst the most charismatic, dynamic and unique performers in the history of the professional wrestling industry. With his rise in the amateur wrestling ranks (first in high school before attending university at Aoyama Gakuin University) to the Toyko Dome and Wrestlemania, there isn’t much that the ‘King of Strong Style’ hasn’t experienced.

This leads us to the release of Nakamura’s English language autobiography ‘King of Strong Style: 1980-2014.’ Chronicling his aforementioned rise in the amateur ranks through to his days as the IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental Champion in New Japan Pro Wrestling.

The book is presented as a Q+A throughout and whilst the material is translated from Shinsuke’s native Japanese this is no way hinders the storytelling. You can almost feel the passion that oozes from the page when Nakamura talks his love of Fire Pro Wrestling on the TurboGrafx-16 all the way through to winning his first IWGP Championship against Hiroshi Tenzan.

KingOfStrongStyle IWGP HeavyweightChampionship

There are some incredible stories from the earlier days in Shinsuke’s career, his chance encounters with two of New Japan’s most revered stars Hirooki Goto and Katsuyori Shibata during his Amateur wrestling days, which included a match against Shibata at a national meet in Niigata make fascinating reading and Nakamura’s ability to recall such chance instances flesh out the story perfectly.

There’s more than enough material in the pages that will appease newer fans of the Japanese star as well as the more hardened puroresu veterans. The more ‘mainstream’ newsworthy pages chronicling his bout with Brock Lesnar in 2006 at the legendary Tokyo Dome first spring to mind where he describes the ‘temperature difference’ between himself and the now ‘Beast Incarnate.’ Nakamura claims that “That match was seriously rough. First, Lesnar was saying all this stuff about how he respected New Japan, but it felt to me like that was just for show, that he didn’t really respect the promotion. Like, somewhere, he was looking down on Japanese people. I lost the match, and that was the first time I cried at pro wrestling after a match. It was the main event at Tokyo Dome. This was a pretty hallowed stage, and I knew I hadn’t fought the way I imagined I would. And there was, like, this temperature difference between me and Lesnar. I didn’t get the sense he had any love for pro wrestling. It felt like he was just doing his job.” Here’s hoping that we someday see the rematch in a WWE ring…

KingOfStrongStyle LessonsWithRicksonGracie

Some of the more intriguing elements for the New Japan leaning audience come with Nakamura’s debut match at the Nippon Budokan, his thoughts on Kota Ibushi’s “awakening” and his time in Masahiro Chono’s Black New Japan and his time teaming with the Japanese legend in the G1 Tag League. Again Shinsuke delves deep into his thoughts at the time and gives specific details which bring the stories up a level.

Another of the book’s brightest highlights comes in the chapter entitled ‘First G1 Conquest.’ As you can imagine this looks at Shinsuke’s G1 Climax tournament win where he defeated Los Ingobernables leader Tetsuya Naito in the finals and Shinsuke described Naito at the time as being a “human guinea pig.” Shinsuke humorously describes how he tested “how much of my internal malevolence can I spit out in public?” This comes after Shinsuke loses in a tag match against Naito and screams “I’ll f*cking kill you” before launching a chair at him. Obviously this was a very different Naito to the one we see in New Japan currently…it’s fair to say he’s had it a little rough over the years.

The final chapters covering Shinsuke’s IWGP Intercontinental Championship win and feuds with Kazuchika Okada, Karl Anderson, Kazushi Sakuraba and his first Katsuyori Shibata match ‘in a decade’ are covered at length with special prominence given to the aforementioned Okada.S  Nakamura also describes how he felt taking the IWGP IC Title, stating that “when I took the Intercontinental it was like,’I can use this and do something new.’ I wanted to really use it to my advantage, as a tool I had no experience with.

“What is Strong Style?” is a question tackled in the book. The Japanese based style has become somewhat ‘commercialised’ according to New Japan stars such as Will Ospreay and here Nakamura determines it as “something emotional or instinctual you transformed and applied through the act of pro wrestling.” Shinsuke offers further discussing through the book alluding to ‘strong style’ not just being “merely an expression of strength” and it being an “application of emotion” within the art of professional wrestling.

KingOfStrongStyle 02

Whether you are a longtime fan of the ‘King of Strong Style’ or you’re only aware of his WWE and NXT work then this book certainly has something for you to seek your teeth into. The Q+A format breathes new life into the story of an amateur wrestler turned pro BUT as Shinsuke himself says “there isn’t another wrestler who’s come up like this.” This unique tale of possibly the most charismatic performer in New Japan’s history is gripping and unlike any other. If you are a fan of pro wrestling then this is absolutely essential reading.

King of Strong Style 1980-2014 as a Hardback cover is available to pre-order now via Amazon and is set for US release on August 7th. You can find more information via the publisher Viz Media.

King Of Strong Cover

Report: Television Ratings for Episode 2 of WoS/World of Sport on ITV

WoS/World of Sport held their second episode this weekend on ITV and the ratings for the show appear to have been released.

Last week’s numbers released by an ‘insider’ at the DigitalSpy website were instantly refuted by a production staff member at ITV. These latest numbers for the August 4th episode have again been revealed by a user at the DigitalSpy forum however these do not appear to have yet been disputed.

The numbers are being reported as follows:

  • 17:00 – WOS Wrestling: 609k (6.8%) * tapechecked: 584k (6.6%)
  • ABC1 Adults: 204k (5.6%) 33.5% skew
  • Adults 16-34: 63k (6.0%) 10.3% skew
  • Adults 16-54: 210k (6.6%) 34.5% skew
  • Housewives with Children: 29k (4.1%) 4.8% skew
  • All Housewives: 373k (6.9%) 61.2% skew
  • Men: 262k (6.9%) 43.0% skew
  • Children: 50k (7.4%) 8.2% skew

Whilst the number may appear to be alarming (it could be) there are a number of factors to consider. Television ratings from the ‘overnight’ scale put WoS at around the 600k mark and compared to more established programmes in and around the 5pm time slot it does not skew wildly out. Here’s the ratings from ITV that evening:

  • 16:00 – The Chase: 759k (10.0%)
    * tapechecked: 767k (10.2%)
  • 17:00 – WOS Wrestling: 609k (6.8%)
    * tapechecked: 584k (6.6%)
  • 18:00 – ITV Evening News: 1.64m (16.3%)
  • 18:15 – ITV Regional News: 1.83m (18.0%)
  • 18:30 – Japandemonium: 1.11m (10.1%)

*Courtesy of DigitalSpy

Another factor to consider is the 8pm ratings for the big two television stations in the UK. BBC1 had 1.80m (13.3%) whilst ITV had 1.05m (7.8%). This is potentially a record low in the history of recorded television viewing in the United Kingdom, this is possibly due to the ongoing heatwave in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Again the numbers that are being published as a standalone do look worrying, however factoring in that this is the second episode of a brand new venture for ITV and looking at how the overall landscape of television in the UK had an arguably abysmal night this certainly does not sound the death knell for WoS…but there are improvements to be made.

Did you watch Episode two of WoS? Let us know your thoughts in the comments

https://twitter.com/DannRead/status/1026125037529640960

G1 Climax Night 15 Results and Updated Standings

New Japan Pro Wrestling’s annual G1 Climax is widely regarded as the greatest tournament in pro wrestling today. Two blocks of competitors are competing in a round robin format to determine the number 1 contender to Kenny Omega’s IWGP Heavyweight Championship at January 4th’s Wrestle Kingdom. The tournament is nearing the later stages and here are the results from Night 15:

  • YOSHI-HASHI b. Bad Luck Fale – YOSHI-HASHI took the win via disqualification after Tama Tonga ran in and used a chair
  • Hangman Page b. Minoru Suzuki – Page took the pinfall win after reversing a Gotch Piledriver into a Rite of Passage
  • “Switchblade” Jay White b. Togi Makabe – White took the pinfall win after hitting Makabe with a chair and a Blade Runner
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi b. Michael Elgin – Tanahashi took the pinfall win with an inside cradle
  • Kazuchika Okada b. EVIL – Okada took the pinfall win after blocking an EVIL attempt and hitting two Rainmakers

Here are the updated standings:

 
Block A Block B
Hiroshi Tanahashi 14 Kenny Omega 12
Jay White 12 Kota Ibushi 10
Kazuchika Okada 12 Tetsuya Naito 10
Minoru Suzuki 8 Zack Sabre Jr. 8
Evil 8 Sanada 8
Michael Elgin 6 Hirooki Goto 6
Bad Luck Fale 6 Tomohiro Ishii 6
Hangman Page 6 Juice Robinson 4
Togi Makabe 4 Tama Tonga 4
Yoshi-Hashi 4 Toru Yano 2

 

You can find the results for Night 1 here, Night 2 hereNight 3 hereNight 4 hereNight 5 here, Night 6 hereNight 7 hereNight 8 hereNight 9 hereNight 10 hereNight 11 here, Night 12 hereNight 13 here and Night 14 here.

PROGRESS #CoastToCoast Tour Boston Full Card (08/05)

PROGRESS are currently touring the United States hitting some top independent arenas from August 4th-12th. Last night saw the company hit the historic ECW Arena in a show headlined by Jimmy Havoc and Rickey Shane Page. The company will be hosting an event at Boston’s Melrose Memorial Hall tonight with a bell time of 8pm.

Here’s the full card for tonight:

  • Tyler Bate vs Matt Riddle
  • Solo Darling vs Jordynne Grace
  • TK Cooper vs Kid Lykos
  • Rickey Shane Page vs Eddie Dennis
  • Pete Dunne & Trent Seven vs Chris Brookes and a Mystery Partner
  • Grizzled Young Veterans vs LAX
  • Mark Andrews vs Mark Haskins
  • Jimmy Havoc vs ‘Flash’ Morgan Webster

The Coast to Coast tour will be taking place from August 4th and will be hitting the following cities:

  • 4th August – 2300 Arena, Philadelphia (aka The ECW Arena). TICKETS ON SALE MONDAY 28TH MAY AT 12PM ET / 5PM UK 
  • 5th August – Melrose Memorial Hall, Melrose, Boston. TICKETS
  • 7th August – La Boom, New York City. TICKETS ON SALE MONDAY 28TH MAY AT 12PM ET / 5PM UK 
  • 9th August – Washington Hall, Seattle. TICKETS ON SALE MONDAY 28TH MAY AT 12PM PT / 8PM UK
  • 11th August – Cicero Stadium, Cicero, Chicago TICKETS
  • 12th August – Monaghan Knights of Columbus Hall, Livonia, Detroit TICKETS

The talent that PROGRESS will be taking ‘across the pond’ for #CoastToCoast are as follows:

  • PROGRESS World Champion – Travis Banks (4th, 5th, 7th August only)
  • PROGRESS Tag Team Champions – Grizzled Young Veterans (Zack Gibson and James Drake)
  • PROGRESS Women’s Champion – Jinny (4th, 11th, 12th August only)
  • WWE United Kingdom Champion – Pete Dunne 
  • NXT Tag Team Champions – Moustache Mountain (Tyler Bate and Trent Seven)
  • TK Cooper
  • WALTER (9th, 11th, 12th August only)
  • ‘Flash’ Morgan Webster
  • Mark Haskins
  • Jimmy Havoc
  • Mark Andrews
  • Eddie Dennis
  • Jack Sexsmith (7th, 9th, 11th, 12th August only
  • CCK (Chris Brookes and Kid Lykos)
  • Toni Storm (4th, 11th, 12th August only)

UK Independent Company Frustrated by NXT UK Talent Policy

One of the longest running and respected promotions in the United Kingdom have released a statement on their frustrations with the NXT UK talent policy.

Southside Wrestling were set to welcome back their Tag Team Champions Joseph Conners and El Ligero (The Joseph Conners Experience with Ligs) to face The Rascalz at their Retribution event on August 19th in St Neots.

Both Conners and Ligero are no longer scheduled to appear at the event due to their contractual obligations to NXT UK, according to Southside “WWEUK competitors are no longer allowed to work Indy shows one week prior to their own live events.” NXT UK are scheduled to appear as part of the Insomnia Gaming Festival on August 25th/26th. NXT UK contracted talent Dan Maloney will also no longer be able to participate in the Retribution event, however this is due to injury.

Conners and Ligero are mainstays in the Southside promotion and have held the Tag Team Championships for nearly an entire year. The team defeated GBH at Menace II Society VII in a Tables match on August 5th 2017 to claim the belts.

Southside has announced that there will be a Triple Threat tag team bout to determine Number 1 contenders to their Tag Team Championships with The Hooligans, The Rascalz and GBH competing.

You can check out the full statement from Southside Wrestling below:

G1 Climax Night 14 Results and Updated Standings

New Japan Pro Wrestling’s annual G1 Climax is widely regarded as the greatest tournament in pro wrestling today. Two blocks of competitors are competing in a round robin format to determine the number 1 contender to Kenny Omega’s IWGP Heavyweight Championship at January 4th’s Wrestle Kingdom. The tournament is nearing the later stages and here are the results from Night 14:

  • SANADA b. Toru Yano by – SANADA took the win via countout after taping Yano on the outside
  • Hirooki Goto b. Tama Tonga by – Goto took the win via disqualification as Bad Luck Fale interfered…again
  • Zack Sabre, Jr. b. Juice Robinson – ZSJ took the win via submission with a unique figure four/ode to Jim Breaks combo
  • Tomohiro Ishii b. Kenny Omega – Ishii took the shock pinfall win after hitting the Vertical Drop Brainbuster
  • Kota Ibushi b. Tetsuya Naito – Ibushi took the pinfall win after hitting the Kamigoye

Here are the updated standings:

Block A Block B
Hiroshi Tanahashi 12 Kenny Omega 12
Jay White 10 Kota Ibushi 10
Kazuchika Okada 10 Tetsuya Naito 10
Minoru Suzuki 8 Zack Sabre Jr. 8
Evil 8 Sanada 8
Michael Elgin 6 Hirooki Goto 6
Bad Luck Fale 6 Tomohiro Ishii 6
Hangman Page 4 Juice Robinson 4
Togi Makabe 4 Tama Tonga 4
Yoshi-Hashi 2 Toru Yano 2

 

You can find the results for Night 1 here, Night 2 hereNight 3 hereNight 4 hereNight 5 here, Night 6 hereNight 7 hereNight 8 hereNight 9 hereNight 10 hereNight 11 here, Night 12 here and Night 13 here.

Will Ospreay Hypes WoS and Former X Division Champion and UK Legend Announced for Tonight’s Show

WoS/World of Sport will be returning to ITV for their second episode tonight at 5pm UK time.

Arguably the biggest news emanating from last week’s (re)debut episode was the appearance of New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Will Ospreay. The CHAOS stable member took part in a bout against Davey Boy Smith Jr which gained plaudits not just from the ‘hardcore’ fans of the UK scene but also from the more ‘causal’ viewers who voiced their opinions on social media. Ospreay’s aerial prowess has seemingly helped to change perceptions of professional wrestling amongst viewers in the UK.

Ospreay took to Twitter himself earlier today and hyped his role as part of the WoS roster, claiming that “With me on the show, ill happily put on my back and run with it. There is no one on that roster that is capable of doing the things I can do and every match I get better & better. Trust me, the team we have are gonna change the scene for the better.”

https://twitter.com/WillOspreay/status/1025636944729059328

Also confirmed for tonight’s episode is one of the most well respected legends in British wrestling history: Doug Williams.

The former TNA X-Division Champion will be making his way to ITV having missed the original World of Sport way back in the 80’s. Williams took to Twitter to speak on the historical significance of this; “started training in 1993 which means I missed appearing on Wrestling on ITV by 4 years. However, tomorrow, after a 25 year career I finally make my debut on ITV 1 when Wrestling is back on on a Saturday afternoon!”

More Competitors Announced for Rev Pro Super J Cup incl. Former WWE Cruiserweight Champion

Revolution Pro Wrestling (Rev Pro) has announced more competitors for their upcoming British J Cup.

This will be the second iteration of the tournament, the debut field in 2017 included Jushin ‘Thunder’ Liger, Kushida, Will Ospreay, Marty Scurll, Kyle O’Reilly, Josh Bodom, Ryusuke Taguchi and Tiger Mask IV. This year’s tournament will be taking place from the Bowlers Exhibition Centre in Manchester, England on September 8th and 9th.

The newly confirmed competitors include:

  • Former WWE Cruiserweight Champion Rich Swann
  • SHO
  • YOH
  • Taguchi
  • Chris Ridgeway
  • Rocky Romero
  • El Phantasmo
  • Kyle Fletcher

Already announced for the competition is the inaugural winner of the tournament: Jushin Thunder Liger.

With the wealth of talent at Rev Pro’s disposal through their NJPW affiliation we could see a number of Junior division stars make their way into this increasingly prestigious field of competitors. Hopefully the likes of Hiromu Takahashi, Will Ospreay, Marty Scurll, KUSHIDA et al can be booked for the two nights, we’ll be updating the field as and when it is announced.

WoS Women’s Title Bout Taking Place This Weekend, Top UK Stars Announced for Match

WoS has announced that they will be crowning the first ever Women’s Champion in World of Sport history this Saturday.

Three of the UK’s top independent Women’s performers will be colliding on mainstream British television for the brand new Championship. ICW and Mae Young Classic competitors Viper, Kay Lee Ray and Stardom performer Bea Priestley will face off on August 4th.

WoS will be available to view on ITV every Saturday night at 5pm throughout the Summer and all the way through to October. This Saturday will also feature a Ladder Match and the continuation of the Tag Team Championship tournament which will feature UK legend Doug Williams as well as Nathan Cruz and Adam ‘Flex’ Maxted.

SEScoops recently spoke to Viper and you can check out the full interview here.

https://twitter.com/missviper91/status/1024347515842424832

 

PROGRESS #CoastToCoast Tour ECW Arena Full Card (08/04)

PROGRESS will be heading to the United States for their #CoastToCoast tour this weekend and their first stop is at the legendary ECW Arena in Philadelphia this Saturday (08/04).

Here’s the full card for Saturday night:

  • ECW Rules Match – Rickey Shane Page vs Jimmy Havoc
  • Grizzled Young Veterans (James Drake and Zack Gibson) vs CCK
  • WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne vs Eddie Dennis
  • Jinny, Natalia Markova and Solo Darling vs Toni Storm, Ashley Vox and Jordynne Grace
  • TK Cooper and Shane Strickland vs Moustache Mountain
  • Mark Andrews vs Austin Theory
  • Mark Haskins vs ‘Flash’ Morgan Webster

The Coast to Coast tour will be taking place from August 4th and will be hitting the following cities:

  • 4th August – 2300 Arena, Philadelphia (aka The ECW Arena). TICKETS ON SALE MONDAY 28TH MAY AT 12PM ET / 5PM UK 
  • 5th August – Melrose Memorial Hall, Melrose, Boston. TICKETS
  • 7th August – La Boom, New York City. TICKETS ON SALE MONDAY 28TH MAY AT 12PM ET / 5PM UK 
  • 9th August – Washington Hall, Seattle. TICKETS ON SALE MONDAY 28TH MAY AT 12PM PT / 8PM UK
  • 11th August – Cicero Stadium, Cicero, Chicago TICKETS
  • 12th August – Monaghan Knights of Columbus Hall, Livonia, Detroit TICKETS

The talent that PROGRESS will be taking ‘across the pond’ for #CoastToCoast are as follows:

  • PROGRESS World Champion – Travis Banks (4th, 5th, 7th August only)
  • PROGRESS Tag Team Champions – Grizzled Young Veterans (Zack Gibson and James Drake)
  • PROGRESS Women’s Champion – Jinny (4th, 11th, 12th August only)
  • WWE United Kingdom Champion – Pete Dunne 
  • NXT Tag Team Champions – Moustache Mountain (Tyler Bate and Trent Seven)
  • TK Cooper
  • WALTER (9th, 11th, 12th August only)
  • ‘Flash’ Morgan Webster
  • Mark Haskins
  • Jimmy Havoc
  • Mark Andrews
  • Eddie Dennis
  • Jack Sexsmith (7th, 9th, 11th, 12th August only
  • CCK (Chris Brookes and Kid Lykos)
  • Toni Storm (4th, 11th, 12th August only)

G1 Climax Night 13 Results and Updated Standings

New Japan Pro Wrestling’s annual G1 Climax is widely regarded as the greatest tournament in pro wrestling today. Two blocks of competitors are competing in a round robin format to determine the number 1 contender to Kenny Omega’s IWGP Heavyweight Championship at January 4th’s Wrestle Kingdom. The tournament has now begun and here are the results from Night 13:

Michael Elgin b. Bad Luck Fale – Elgin took the disqualification win after Tama Tonga interferes and beats Elgin with a chair

Hangman Page b. Togi Makabe – Page took the pinfall win with Rite of Passage

“Switchblade” Jay White b. YOSHI-HASHI – White took the pinfall win with Blade Runner

Hiroshi Tanahashi b. EVIL – Tanahashi took the pinfall win with High Fly Flow

Kazuchika Okada b. Minoru Suzuki – Okada took the pinfall win with the Rainmaker

Here are the updated standings:

Block A Block B
Hiroshi Tanahashi 12 Kenny Omega 12
Kazuchika Okada 10 Tetsuya Naito 10
Jay White 10 Kota Ibushi 8
Evil 8 Sanada 6
Minoru Suzuki 8 Zack Sabre Jr. 6
Michael Elgin 6 Hirooki Goto 4
Bad Luck Fale 6 Tomohiro Ishii 4
Togi Makabe 4 Juice Robinson 4
Hangman Page 4 Tama Tonga 4
Yoshi-Hashi 2 Toru Yano 2

 

You can find the results for Night 1 here, Night 2 hereNight 3 hereNight 4 hereNight 5 here, Night 6 hereNight 7 hereNight 8 hereNight 9 hereNight 10 here, Night 11 here and Night 12 here.

G1 Climax Nights 11 and 12 Results and Updated Standings

New Japan Pro Wrestling’s annual G1 Climax is widely regarded as the greatest tournament in pro wrestling today. Two blocks of competitors are competing in a round robin format to determine the number 1 contender to Kenny Omega’s IWGP Heavyweight Championship at January 4th’s Wrestle Kingdom. The tournament has now begun and here are the results from Nights 11 and 12:

Night 11

  • Bad Luck Fale b. Togi Makabe – Fale took the pinfall win following a ref bump and a chain-wrapped lariat
  • “Switchblade” Jay White b. Hangman Page – White took the pinfall win after hitting a Low Blow and a Blade Runner
  • Minoru Suzuki b. EVIL – Suzuki took the pinfall win with the Gotch Piledriver
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi b. YOSHI-HASHI – Tanahashi took the pinfall win with a legscissor folding press
  • Kazuchika Okada b. Michael Elgin – Okada took the pinfall win with the Rainmaker

Night 12

  • Tama Tonga b. Tomohiro Ishii – Tonga took the pinfall win after hitting the Gun Stun. There was again interference in the match
  • Juice Robinson b.SANADA – Juice took the pinfall win after hitting the Pulp Friction
  • Tetsuya Naito b.Toru Yano – Naito took the pinfall win after hitting the Destino
  • Kenny Omega b. Zack Sabre Jr – Omega took the pinfall win with a Crucifix pin following a V-Trigger
  • Kota Ibushi b. Hirooki Goto – Ibushi took the pinfall win after hitting a Last Ride Powerbomb and a second Kamigoye, an epic match that you should definitely go out of your way to see

Here are the updated Standings:

Block A Block B
Hiroshi Tanahashi 10 Kenny Omega 12
Evil 8 Tetsuya Naito 10
Kazuchika Okada 8 Kota Ibushi 8
Minoru Suzuki 8 Sanada 6
Jay White 8 Zack Sabre Jr. 6
Bad Luck Fale 6 Hirooki Goto 4
Michael Elgin 4 Tomohiro Ishii 4
Togi Makabe 4 Juice Robinson 4
Hangman Page 2 Tama Tonga 4
Yoshi-Hashi 2 Toru Yano 2

 

You can find the results for Night 1 here, Night 2 hereNight 3 hereNight 4 hereNight 5 here, Night 6 hereNight 7 hereNight 8 hereNight 9 here and Night 10 here.

 

 

Should Shinsuke Nakamura Return to New Japan Pro Wrestling?

As reported earlier this week New Japan Pro Wrestling appear to be seriously considering offering Shinsuke Nakamura an opportunity to return to the company once his reported three year deal with WWE ends in the next few months.

As a former three-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion and five-time IWGP Intercontinental Champion Nakamura can be considered amongst the greatest performers to ever step foot in an NJPW ring, but should the ‘King of Strong Style’ return to the company which put him on the global wrestling map?

In terms of presentation, presence and performance there is no denying that Shinsuke is as unique and electrifying a character as anyone in pro wrestling today. Since joining WWE he has grown his brand and worldwide notoriety in a way that simply would not have been possible if he had stayed as part of the New Japan roster. It is arguable however that Nakamura’s greatest works came as part of his time in New Japan and he has not reached the heights of the G1, Wrestle Kingdom et al since he made the leap over to WWE, aside from an incredible showing in his debut against Sami Zayn.

With the international expansion plans and strategy to target a more western audience New Japan would be hard pressed to find a performer on the planet with the upside of Nakamura. He already has a strong following in his native Japan and has built a strong fanbase amongst WWE’s ‘universe’ so this really would be a win-win for them. Realistically though how likely would it be for Shinsuke to change course and return to the company that ‘made’ him?

Shinsuke has absolutely toned down his style since arriving in WWE, the striking prowess is still evident but the velocity of his arsenal is nowhere near what it once was in New Japan. Would Nakamura want to risk leaving what is widely regarded a ‘safer’ style in the WWE and return to the ‘dangerous’ New Japan formula (although this is left up to interpretation)? Nakamura now sits as one of the premiere focal points of the Smackdown brand, you can argue that being United States Champion isn’t a premiere position but there are only a finite amount of belts in the company and Shinsuke possesses one of them…that to me is a very strong position to be in.

Sure, seeing the ‘Rockstar’ of old in New Japan tearing it up with the likes of Kenny Omega, Kazuchika Okada, Jay White, Will Ospreay and Kota Ibushi is an extremely exciting prospect but can you compare these marquee bouts to being on a WrestleMania card? That is a decision that Nakamura may well have to make in the near future but with WWE seemingly looking to solidify their stranglehold on the pro wrestling market across multiple regions (I’m looking at you UK division) and one of their star attractions being looked at by a competitor you can bet that a deal with a very attractive number will be heading towards the Nakamura camp in the near future.

Do you think that Shinsuke should return to New Japan? Let us know in the comments

Report: Ratings for First Episode of WoS on ITV in Dispute

WoS/World of Sport re-debuted on ITV last night in the 5pm time slot. This was the first time that the programme had aired on the channel since the New Year’s Eve 2016 special which reportedly earned around 1.25 million viewers.

The rating now appears to be in for the first show as the Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board (BARB) allegedly posted a number of 0.9 million (around 920,000) average with an 8.7% share. The show apparently peaked at 1.1 million. This has however now been refuted by John Williams, a scheduler at ITV who claimed that this figure was incorrect, or at least wasn’t the full picture:

Apparently the overnight numbers published by BARB do not include +1 or HD viewing, so the 920k figure would purely be based on Standard Definition/SD viewers. What this means for the actual number is now really up in the air…The 5pm time slot on ITV last week drew around 1.5 million at a 16% share and peaked at 2.3 million according to The WATW who initially posted the overnight numbers, this was for well established game show ‘The Chase’ which itself is not an ‘on demand’ heavy programme as it’s regularly shown and not episodic:

So if ITV were able to draw an extra 500-600k viewers from the HD and +1 versions of the show then this would be a far more respectable number than the initially believed 920k. Either way the fact that nearly 1 million people saw British professional wrestling is quite the achievement for a show that was not heavily publicised…however it is also true that numbers will likely need to improve for the coming 9 weeks to truly be classed as a success both on the WoS and ITV fronts. It is also very important to remember that potential viewers via Sky Plus (DVR) or the ITV Hub (on demand) could be taking a portion off of the live viewership.

A re-run of the debut episode ran this morning on ITV in the 10:50am-11:50 time slot and it will be extremely interesting to see the number that this generates, the show is definitely aimed at a family demographic and the ‘breakfast viewing’ audience could be lucrative.

 

Ian Carey and Jake Jeremy Predict The G1 Climax: Night 11

New Japan Pro Wrestling’s annual G1 Climax is widely regarded as the greatest tournament in pro wrestling today. Two blocks of competitors are competing in a round robin format to determine the number 1 contender to Kenny Omega’s IWGP Heavyweight Championship at January 4th’s Wrestle Kingdom.

SEScoops staff writers Ian Carey and Jake Jeremy have made their predictions for Night 11 of the tournament, here they are:

(You can check out the Predictions for Night 10 here)

Jake Jeremy – Ok, so Night 11 of the G1 Climax…here’s the scheduled matches:
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi vs YOSHI-HASHI
  • Togi Makabe vs Bad Luck Fale
  • Michael Elgin vs Kazuchika Okada
  • Jay White vs Hangman Page
  • EVIL vs Minoru Suzuki
Ian Carey – Tanahashi beats YOSHI-HASHI – no surprises there at all
Jake Jeremy – I would go for an upset but Tanahashi is going to be in the running to the end now
Ian Carey – I think Makabe beats Fale, likely via DQ again. Fale will have two words for him but it won’t be Suck It
Jake Jeremy – Suck em? haha. I agree Fale will lose via DQ due to Firing Squad interference
Ian Carey – Okada beats Elgin but I’m expecting Elgin to have a good showing here. I feel like him and Okada will have a strong match. Elgin looks like he’s dropped weight. He’s moving faster but doesn’t appear to have lost any strength.
Jake Jeremy – Okada wins, I don’t mention Elgin that often
Ian Carey – I’m going to call a bit of an upset and say Hangman Page beats White. I know White’s antics and rivalry with his own stable are a big story this tournament but I feel like they have to give Page a few more points and a win over White seems plausible.
Jake Jeremy – I’m going for White here so that he is still in the running for the last night of block matches
Ian Carey – I always underestimate where NJPW ranks EVIL – he went 6-3 last tournament. Despite this, I’m still feeling like Suzuki gets the win here.
Jake Jeremy – I’m going EVIL because you’re right they randomly decide to push him hard sometimes
What are your predictions for Night 11? Let us know in the comments