Originally published at https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/07/16/pollocks-news-update-finn-balor-scheduled-to-take-sabbatical/
Photo courtesy: WWE
POST IT NOTES
**Wai Ting and I return tonight with Rewind-A-SmackDown, which will be our seventh show together since Saturday and then will be off until Thursday. We will have a full review of tonight’s show from Worcester and take your feedback & questions.
**This week’s edition of Rewind-A-Raw was a packed show with our review of Raw, two title matches set for SummerSlam, the return of Bray Wyatt, the audience turning on the women’s four-way match, and lots more. Plus, we discussed Bayley’s appearance on ‘Fair Game’ with Kristine Leahy, ROH streaming television tapings on Honor Club, the updated participants for BOLA, and lots more.
**Our G1 Climax podcasts will resume later this week with podcasts coming out Thursday, Friday, and Saturday on the POST Wrestling Café for all members. You can follow along with our G1 coverage and past shows on the site.
**We also have a sale going on throughout the G1 with 20% off all items in the POST Wrestling Store, including shirts, snapback hats, and coffee sleeves.
WRESTLING NEWS
**The SmackDown and 205 Live tapings will be at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts tonight. It’s an arena most-remembered as the site of Mankind’s first WWF title win when he defeated The Rock on a taped edition of Raw on December 29, 1998, and aired the following week against a live Monday Nitro from the Georgia Dome where WCW announced Foley was winning the title that night. As far as significant moments during the WWF vs. WCW battle from 1995-2001, the night of January 4, 1999, was a major one with the WWF title change and WCW countering with a bait-and-switch teasing a rematch from Starrcade between Kevin Nash and Bill Goldberg and instead, having Hulk Hogan return and win the title in the infamous ‘Finger Poke of Doom’.
Below are the matches and segments announced for tonight’s tapings:
*Town Hall segment with Shane McMahon and the SmackDown locker room
*The IIconics vs. The Kabuki Warriors for the WWE women’s tag titles
*Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville vs. Ember Moon & TBA
*Daniel Bryan will make an announcement
*Jack Gallagher vs. Chad Gable on 205 Live – this is a rematch from 205 Live on June 11th, which was excellent and Gable’s first appearance on the show since that match
*Samir Singh vs. Akira Tozawa on 205 Live
**TMZ has received additional information regarding Jeff Hardy’s arrest on Saturday for public intoxication. They reported that Hardy was passed out in a stairwell and admitted to drinking vodka prior. Hardy paid a fine of $153, was released later that day and the case is considered closed unless Hardy chose to fight the ticket. Corporal Tom Vest of the Myrtle Beach Police Department in South Carolina informed POST Wrestling that the arrest took place at 11:13 am local time on Saturday and that Hardy was arrested ‘without incident’.
**Ryan Satin at Pro Wrestling Sheet reported Monday night that WWE performer Finn Balor has requested and been granted time off, which will take place sometime in August. We were able to confirm this news that Balor will be receiving time off. On Raw, an angle was shot with Bray Wyatt returning and laying out Balor with Sister Abigail. According to Satin’s reporting, Balor had requested two months off.
**Mickie James underwent surgery on her right ACL on Tuesday in Birmingham, Alabama. Her husband Nick Aldis posted an update that the procedure was a ‘complete success’. James has been out of action since early June.
**WWE has added more names for next week’s Raw Reunion in Tampa, Florida. The updated list of names being promoted include Steve Austin, Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Kurt Angle, Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Ted DiBiase, Shane Helms, Christian, The Boogeyman, Jimmy Hart, Santino Marella, D-Von Dudley, Eric Bischoff, Mick Foley, The Godfather, Road Dogg, Sid, Pat Patterson, Gerald Brisco, Lilian Garcia, Alundra Blayze, Mark Henry, Kelly Kelly, Rikishi, and Ron Simmons. The show takes place from the Amalie Arena next Monday night on the USA Network.
**After the first four nights of the G1 Climax, one of the glaring observations on the New Japan World broadcast has been the reduced role of Chris Charlton. On the two shows from Ota Ward Gymnasium, Charlton was present at the broadcast booth but largely to translate promos rather than call the matches with Kevin Kelly and Rocky Romero. Dave Meltzer reported on Wrestling Observer Radio that this was not a call by New Japan but from outside forces. There has been a lot of support for Charlton because he has become a popular member of New Japan’s broadcast team through encyclopedic knowledge of Japanese professional wrestling, ability to recall backstories on the fly, and also pick up on the significance of a maneuver that may have some historical significance that tells a deeper story. He was not part of Monday’s show in Hokkaido but also wasn’t scheduled to be at all the G1 events this summer.
**We want to send our best wishes to Harley Race, who was hospitalized over the weekend and had to miss a convention appearance in Knoxville, Tennessee. Race was on his way to Knoxville and was undergoing some issues and needed to be checked out and had some tests run. As of Monday afternoon, he was still in the hospital, but his people didn’t release any specifics regarding what the health issue is.
**The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported that former AWA, WWF, and WCW wrestler John Nord a.k.a. The Berzerker has been put on probation for five-years. Nord has been arrested seven times for driving under the influence of drugs, primarily from painkillers. The report added that Nord is in a wheelchair and dealing with ALS. There was a push from the prosecution for Nord to face prison time, but it was argued he would need to be in an assisted-living facility for the rest of his life. As part of the probation agreement, Nord is not allowed to drive and will return to court in three months to update the judge on his condition.
**Rey Fenix has been added to the list of participants for PWG’s Battle of Los Angeles tournament this September at The Globe Theatre.
**MLW has announced a television deal with StarTimes in Africa to broadcast their weekly Fusion television program, beginning later this summer.
**This Thursday, AAA is holding a card from Aguascalientes at 8:30 pm Eastern headlined by Dr. Wagner Jr., Pentagon Jr. & Psycho Clown vs. Blue Demon Jr., Rey Escorpion & Texano Jr. Cody will be working the show and teaming with MJF against Daga and Taurus, as well. The promotion is gearing up for TripleMania on August 3rd.
**MLW has announced that Teddy Hart will defend the MLW middleweight title against MJF at Never Say Never on Thursday, July 25, at the Melrose Ballroom in New York City. They have also added a match between Low Ki and Jimmy Yuta. The television tapings are headlined by a rematch for the MLW title with Jacob Fatu defending against Tom Lawlor.
**Impact Wrestling sent out an email to those that purchased Slammiversary on Fite TV. The email includes a code to get three-months of free access to Impact Plus with the creation of an account including your e-mail address.
**The WWE Network has added the following ECW specials to the streaming service:
*The Night the Line Was Crossed (Feb. 5, 1994)
*Hardcore Heaven (Aug. 13, 1994)
*ECW When Worlds Collide (May 14, 1994)
*Hostile City Showdown (June 24, 1994)
*November to Remember (November 5, 1994)
*3 Way Dance (April 8, 1995)
*Gangstas Paradise (Sept. 16, 1995)
*Holiday Hell (Dec. 29, 1995)
*House Party (Jan. 5, 1996)
*Big Apple Blizzard Blast (Feb. 3, 1996)
*Massacre on Queens Blvd (April 13, 1996)
*Hostile City Showdown (April 20, 1996)
**The Athletic has an extensive feature on Lex Luger with comments from Luger, Steve Borden, Lanny Poffo, Jim Ross, Nikita Koloff, and others. They also spoke with Steve Huelette and John Pat, the brother and half-brother of ‘Miss’ Elizabeth Hulette, who died in 2003.
**Konosuke Takeshita won the KO-D Openweight title from Tetsuya Endo in the main event of DDT’s Peter Pan card on Monday. The card also featured Shinya Aoki submitting Danshoku Dino in the fourth round of their match.
**Terry Gordy died on this day in 2001 at the age of 40.
**Game Changer Wrestling has announced that Josh Barnett will wrestle at Bloodsport 2 on Saturday, September 14, in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
**The WWE stock closed at $72.38 on Tuesday.
**C*4 is running a special charity show on Friday, August 16th at St. Anthony’s Hall in Ottawa, Ontario with 100% of the ticket sales being donated to the Canadian Cancer Society. The show will be headlined by Cody & MJF taking on TDT (Tabarnak De Team).
**Colt Cabana has a brief cameo in Stu Stone’s Jack of All Trades documentary that is now available on Netflix. The premise of the documentary looks at the fall of the baseball card trading industry and how it affected Stone’s father, who was deeply involved in the business.
**Here are the results from ECCW’s card from the Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver from this past Saturday, which the promotion listed as a sell out: Travis Williams won a fatal four-way over David Starr, Beef Boy & Judas Icarus, Ravenous Randy & Fergie & Bishop defeated Nicole Matthews & The Voros Twins, Brody King over Eddie Osbourne, The Grindhouse kept the ECCW tag titles in a five-team Falls Count Anywhere match, Brian Pillman Jr. and Kevin Sullivan fought to a no contest, and Artemis Spencer defeated TJP to keep the ECCW title.
MMA NEWS
**Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series is back tonight at 8 pm Eastern on Fight Pass with the following fights scheduled and weigh-in results:
*Stephen Regman (9-3, 184.5) vs. Antonio Arroyo (8-2, 185.5)
*Armando Villarreal (5-1, 135) vs. Ode Osbourne (7-2, 135.5)
*Don’Tale Mayes (6-2, 254) vs. Ricardo Prasel (10-1, 239)
*Lance Lawrence (5-0, 145) vs. Kevin Syler (8-0, 152.5*) – Syler missed weight by 6.5 pounds
*Brendan Allen (11-3, 185) vs. Aaron Jeffrey (6-1, 185.5)
G1 REVIEWS
Night 1: https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/07/07/g1-climax-29-post-show-opening-night-okada-vs-tanahashi-free-preview/ (Tanahashi vs. Okada) – FREE SHOW
Night 2: https://www.patreon.com/posts/28351982 (White vs. Goto)
Night 3: https://www.patreon.com/posts/28374580 (Tanahashi vs. KENTA)
Night 4: https://www.patreon.com/posts/28403937 (Naito vs. Taichi)
*****
RAR 7/15/19: The Cross-Branded All-Star Top 10 Battle Royal
John Pollock and Wai Ting review WWE Raw featuring an All-Star Top 10 Battle Royal to determine Brock Lesnar’s opponent for the Universal title at SummerSlam.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/07/16/rar-7-15-19-the-cross-branded-all-star-top-10-battle-royal/
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WWE EXTREME RULES POST SHOW
John Pollock & Wai Ting review WWE Extreme Rules headlined by Seth Rollins & Becky Lynch defending their championships against Baron Corbin & Lacey Evans.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/07/15/wwe-extreme-rules-2019-post-show/
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CRUEL SUMMER: Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi (2004)
WH Park and Joey Bay discuss the finals of NJPW’s 14th annual G1 Climax tournament: Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi from August 15, 2004.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/07/14/cruel-summer-14-hiroyoshi-tenzan-vs-hiroshi-tanahashi-2004-w-joey-bay/
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AEW FIGHT FOR THE FALLEN POST SHOW
John Pollock & Wai Ting review AEW Fight for the Fallen from Jacksonville, FL headlined by The Young Bucks vs. Cody & Dustin Rhodes.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/07/14/aew-fight-for-the-fallen-post-show/
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EVOLVE 131: 10TH ANNIVERSARY POST SHOW
Braden Herrington and Davie Portman are back with a very special episode of upNXT! The BDE chat all about EVOLVE 131: 10th Anniversary from Philadelphia.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/07/14/evolve-131-10th-anniversary-post-show/
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CRUEL SUMMER: HIROYOSHI TENZAN VS. JUN AKIYAMA (2003)
WH Park reunites with his former Japanese Audio Wrestling co-host, JoJo Remy to discuss one of their favorite G1 Climax finals, Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Pro Wrestling NOAH’s Jun Akiyama from August 17, 2003.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/07/13/cruel-summer-13-hiroyoshi-tenzan-vs-jun-akiyama-2003-w-jojo-remy/
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CAFÉ HANGOUT
On this week’s Café Hangout, John Pollock and Wai Ting talk to Wrestling Arcade’s Brendan Docherty and Rob Naylor about their new book. Court Bauer then joins us to discuss MLW’s first PPV, Saturday Night SuperFight.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/07/12/mlws-court-bauer-wrestling-arcade-cafe-hangout/
*****
REWIND-A-WAI #40: NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 11 (Patreon)
John Pollock and Wai Ting review NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 11 featuring Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega in their legendary 6-star match from the Tokyo Dome on January 4th, 2017.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/07/11/rewind-a-wai-40-njpw-wrestle-kingdom-11/
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upNXT 7/11/19: “Shirai Gets Me High”
The BDE chat all about WWE NXT including Io Shirai’s new “heel” look, Boa vs. Jordan Myles from the NXT Breakout Tournament, The Brit-Am Brawlers vs. The Street Profits for the NXT Tag Team Championship and Damien Priest in action.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/07/11/upnxt-7-11-19-shirai-gets-me-high/
*****
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