Daily Update: Satoru Sayama positive health update, JR-Royce Keys, Marina Shafir

Daily Update

Latest News

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• Unsolicited Advice For People Producing Wrestling TV Shows | Opinion
• Second pre-trial conference scheduled in Ludwig Kaiser battery case
• Brock Lesnar’s T-shirt censored on WWE Raw Netflix replay

Latest Audio

• WOL: AEW vs. WWE again, Dynamite recap, more
• WOR: AEW Dynamite review, Paramount lawsuit, Ludwig Kaiser, TNA Dark Side of the Ring review
• AD: Ross Allison talks ghosts, original Exorcist site, more!

Latest YouTube Video

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

• July 13, 2026 Observer Newsletter: Kenny Omega & CM Punk win World titles, Conor McGregor returns to UFC, Tiger Mask retires

Among the topics covered:

• How with CM Punk and Kenny Omega title wins affect upcoming shows
• A look at big shows with WWE & AEW with very little announced and only a few weeks to go
• Updates on ticket sales to SummerSlam, All In, Redemption and more
• The story of Conor McGregor, going through the drug testing issues, an amazing thing that seemed to come up, double and triple standards, the sexual assault cases and UFC covering up so much of his news. We go through a lot of fairness issues in UFC that others may not fully understand or won’t touch
• We look at tomorrow’s UFC show
• Sheamus leaves WWE, a look back at his run and where he goes next
• Tiger Mask IV retires, and it’s all about the original Tiger Mask and the golden age
• Notes on the ceremony
• Dark Side of the Ring and TNA history, a look back and what was and wasn’t overed from the start of the promotion and the twists and turns
• Tomoaki Honma announces retirement
• The most complete look at the TV ratings for all the wrestling, boxing and MMA shows, details about who watched, the World Cup kills wrestling and more.
• Wrestler leves promotion after 33 years
• This week’s CMLL records being broken
• Is CMLL overextending itself with the number of live events
• World Grand Prix lineups
• Vikingo update
• AAA YouTube numbers
• G-1 Climax first day notes
• Notes on New Japan’s big show of the week in Japan
• Ticket sales for all the major pro wrestling events in the U.S. for the next two months
• Most watched YouTube segments for WWE and AEW
• Notes from recent wrestler interviews
• More notes from depositions reveal what the Board of Directors knew about Vince McMahon and Janel Grant long before the lawsuit was filed
• Dwayne Johnson plays character based on his grandfather

This Week’s Back Issue

• July 13, 2026 Observer Newsletter: Kenny Omega & CM Punk win World titles, Conor McGregor returns to UFC, Tiger Mask retires

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Thursday Update

WWE

• AEW’s Jim Ross reacted to WWE booking Royce Keys (the former Powerhouse Hobbs) in a six-man tag match at SummerSlam where it will be Keys, LA Knight & Solo Sikoa vs. Jacob Fatu & The Usos:
  • I’m happy for him. He needed a landing spot. He’s found a good landing spot in this six-man tag. So now he’s got to go out there and turn heads. Be great – not average, great. And so his role may be small, but you take a small role and you make it great. And that’s his challenge right now.
  • Good guy. He deserves happiness and success, without question. So I’m glad, I’m happy for him. He made the right decision of going to WWE, I think. I think Triple H is going to like working with him, if he doesn’t already have that discovered.
• KFAN asked Chad Gable to name his “wrestling soulmate” (the person who he has great chemistry with and could never have a bad match against):
  • Gunther, so far. From the first match, we just – we could have never talked about anything. We were meant for each other, I think.
• Fanatics held a Rhea Ripley lookalike competition at Fanatics Fest today and will be having a Danhausen lookalike competition on Sunday.
• Ripley met up with fans who participated in the contest.
• Trick Williams was a guest on WWE Now at Fanatics Fest.
• Maxxine Dupri appeared on The Nikki & Brie Show.
• WWE Vault uploaded the company’s full “Spectacular Legacy of the AWA” documentary from 2006.
• The WCW YouTube channel put together a video with Sid Vicious & Vader tag team footage from summer 1993.
• WWE ranked Shawn Michaels costing Undertaker the WWF Championship in 1997 as the 14th most shocking moment in SummerSlam history:
  • 25. Logan Paul smashes Jelly Roll through a table (2025)
  • 24. Bray Wyatt debuts The Fiend (2019)
  • 23. Shawn Michaels returns to the ring in unsanctioned match against Triple H (2002)
  • 22. Ultimate Warrior ends Honky Tonk Man’s historic Intercontinental title reign (1988)
  • 21. IYO SKY cashes in to win WWE Women’s Championship from Bianca Belair (2023)
  • 20. Hardys, Dudleys, and Edge & Christian face off in first-ever TLC match (2000)
  • 19. Nikki Bella betrays Brie Bella (2014)
  • 18. Brock Lesnar defeats The Rock for WWE Undisputed Championship (2002)
  • 17. Finn Balor double-crosses Damian Priest (2024)
  • 16. Seth Rollins defeats Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship (2019)
  • 15. Shane McMahon’s scaffold fall against Steve Blackman (2000)
  • 14. Shawn Michaels costs Undertaker WWF Championship against Bret Hart (1997)

Other Wrestling

• Marina Shafir has been announced for Pro Wrestling Eve’s August 28 event in London. The show – named Eve x The World 2 – is happening on the Friday of All In weekend. This will be Shafir’s Eve debut, though an opponent has not been announced yet.
• Bandido will defend the ROH World Championship against 1 Called Manders for wXw in Oberhausen, Germany on August 15.
• Satoru Sayama, the original Tiger Mask, said treatment has greatly helped him with his battle against Parkinson’s disease:
  • I’m feeling great. I feel like I’m gradually getting back to normal. Before, I couldn’t show my emotions, but now I can. I can walk again, and I used the Tiger Step [at Tiger Mask IV’s retirement show], and I thought that he might do it too, but he didn’t, and just looked surprised and blank. But the audience loved it, so next time I’ll aim for a somersault kick [he joked].
  • I feel really good. I couldn’t talk this much before, and I’ve been making great progress with martial arts theory at home, my mind is clearer, and I feel like everything has come back.
• Satoshi Kojima celebrated the 35th anniversary of his wrestling debut:
  • July 16th marked my 35th anniversary in the business. I am happy to still be involved in this line of work. I would love to fight overseas again, too. The passionate cheers I received will always stay with me. Thank you.
• Kenta Kobashi congratulated Kojima on the milestone.
• NJPW’s English-language website posted an interview with Callum Newman.
• Tokyo Joshi Pro is returning to Texas with shows in Houston and Dallas from December 4-6.
• TNA will stream Sunday’s OVW Independence Rage event live for free on TNA+.
• Mike Santana, who is believed to be headed to WWE, has officially been removed from the roster page on TNA’s website.
• Part three of Dark Side of the Ring’s episode on Jeff Jarrett & TNA is available to watch on YouTube.

Joseph Currier

Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.

In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.

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