Daily Update: Ben Askren returning to the mat, WWE King & Queen of the Ring confusion

Ben Askren (Image credit: UFC)

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This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

  • The most detailed look at the sale of New Japan, what happened, the glory days that Bushiroad built and why it came down and what led to the sale.
  • Business realities of Japanese wrestling today.
  • The reason for the surprising low sale price.
  • The shareholders lawsuit against Vince McMahon and the WWE Board of Directors is getting near. Judge Travis Laster orders sanctions against Nick Khan and Vince McMahon for destruction of evidence. Laster makes a ruling, and we look at it in detail, on how this changes the trial and the exact details of the destruction of evidence including when McMahon and company knew not to do it and ignored their own lawyers. Also we look at problems with the case.
  • AEW Double of Nothing coverage. Business notes, historical biggest gates in U.S. pro wrestling, three-time world champions by 30, how the PPV did, poll results, Mick Foley and more.
  • Did Ronda Rousey set a viewing audience record for MMA, plus coverage of Rousey vs. Carano, how everything goes forward, can things be sustained, can she fight, will she fight, her thoughts on AEW.
  • Scott Coker returns to MMA with a new promotion.
  • Marcel Barthel (Ludwig Kaiser) arrested.
  • A look at the career of Jerry Grey.
  • The most detailed look at the ratings for all the TV shows over the past two weeks.
  • Mistico injury update.
  • How CMLL is doing this year compared to last year.
  • Natalia Jiminez and J Balvin appear and are part of CMLL shows.
  • Wrestlers vs. media soccer game.
  • Grande vs. Grande match looked at.
  • Major return to Stardom.
  • Champion Carnival finals.
  • NOAH tag team tournament.
  • New Japan Best of the Super Juniors tournament.
  • Hana Kimura tribute show.
  • Phil Hickerson passes away.
  • WCW announcer is the final anchor as CBS News Radio closes its doors after 99 years.
  • Death of the Laguna version of Piloto Suicida.
  • Junior Hodge Trophy winner.
  • Advance ticket sales for all major events in AEW, WWE, TNA and other indies.
  • Pro wrestler/fighter on the Rousey-Carano undercard.
  • WWE stars purchase promotion.
  • Tony Khan media appearances.
  • More thoughts on how Paramount/Skydance can affect AEW.
  • What can affect the time slot of Collision in 2027.
  • What’s next for AEW.
  • AEW star to return in the fall.
  • Latest Zuffa myths regarding Trump and UFC.
  • UFC fighter pay comes up again

This Week’s Back Issue

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Monday Update

Bracket for WWE Queen of the Ring 2026 tournament.
Bracket for WWE Queen of the Ring 2026 tournament. (Image credit: WWE)

— Bryan and I will be back tonight talking about Raw, Ben Askren, Grande vs. Grande, Best of the Super Juniors and hopefully Ray Stevens.

— In the something I never thought would happen category, Ben Askren will return to the mat on 7/18 for an RAF match with former UFC champion Belal Muhammad on 7/18 in Milwaukee. Less than one year ago, Askren had a double lung transplant and was in a coma for more than one month. At the time it was said that he would never be able to compete in sports again. Askren said this was a one-time thing. RAF is freestyle wrestling rules and is legit competition. Askren announced this one-time return on today’s Ariel Helwani show.

— King and Queen of the Ring started today. There was a lot of confusion. They are doing a series of four-way matches to advance which started on today’s show. Joe Tessitore last night started the confusion announcing a Penta vs. Oba Femi match for today on yesterday’s post show. It was actually to be Femi vs. Penta vs. Solo Sikoa vs. Carmelo Hayes. WWE today announced Jey Uso vs. LA Knight vs. Finn Balor vs. Drew McIntyre, and then apparently there was a mistake in the sense either McIntyre is not in the tournament or will be announced later, as his name was later removed.

— Matches for Raw tonight which is already over and results are up on the site:

  • Penta vs. Oba Femi vs. Carmelo Hayes vs. Solo Sikoa – King of the Ring qualifier
  • Rey Mysterio & Dragon Lee vs. Ethan Page & Rusev
  • Iyo Sky vs. Lash Legend vs. Roxanne Perez vs. Giulia – Queen of the Ring qualifier
  • Seth Rollins vs. Bron Breakker

— Next week Raw will also be early, from Paris:

  • Rollins vs. Je’Von Evans vs. Talla Tonga vs. Ricky Saints – King of the Ring qualifier
  • Liv Morgan vs. Becky Lynch vs. Alexa Bliss vs. Chelsea Green – Queen of the Ring qualifier

— A full story with details on all the TV ratings from the past week is up on the site right now.

— Even with the highest ticket prices in UFC history, the 7/11 show with Conor McGregor returning against Max Holloway has very few tickets left. Those that remain range from $1,622 to $92,258.

— The NBA Finals start Wednesday with the Knicks vs. San Antonio. The Finals are expected to draw the biggest ratings for NBA Finals games in more than a decade.

  • Game one goes against Dynamite on Wednesday.
  • Game two goes against SmackDown on Friday.
  • Game three is the same day as Raw, but Raw will be over live before the game starts. However, when people in the U.S. traditionally watch Raw is when the game is going on.
  • Game four goes against Dynamite.
  • Game five, if needed, goes against Collision.
  • Game six goes against NXT, if needed.
  • Game seven goes against SmackDown, if needed.

— Based on deductive reasoning which has been confirmed as being accurate, Grand Slam Mexico will either be 8/5 or 8/12. I don’t know which date yet but it should be announced somewhat soon.

— A judge ruled that BJ Penn is mentally fit to proceed to trial for criminal cases against him. Penn will be back in court on 8/28. Penn is accused of several counts of abuse of a family or household member and violating multiple restraining orders by Lorraine Shin, his mother, who Penn had claimed was killed and replaced by an imposter.

— CMLL tonight in Puebla has Mascara Dorada & Flip Gordon & Star Jr. vs. Difunto & Soberano Jr. & Zandokan Jr., plus Stigma & Xelhua vs. Los Calaveras Jr. I & II and Jarochita vs. Lady Frost.

— Brandon Thurston reported that the plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit against WWE for moving their PPVs to ESPN Unlimited, telling people they were free and then actually costing most $30 (I think this lawsuit is a real stretch by the way), are moving to get discovery going. WWE has attempted to stall that out and they have filed an argument that WWE can’t be trusted to preserve evidence, citing last week’s ruling in the shareholders lawsuit. WWE is attempting to get the case moved to arbitration based on a clause in the ESPN Unlimited subscribers agreement that says issues have to be resolved through arbitration.

— If you have any questions about Ray Stevens or Ray Stevens stories please send them to [email protected].

— We’re looking for your thoughts on Clash in Italy and the Saturday AAA show, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected].

— Netflix has put up the Grande Kaiser vs. Grande Gable match from Saturday.

— Mistico appeared in the celebrity video announcing the members of Mexico’s World Cup men’s team that came out today.

— Best of the Super Juniors continues tomorrow morning at 5:30 a.m. Eastern time:

  • A Block: Robbie X (8) vs. Daiki Nagai (0)
  • B Block: Kushida (4) vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru (6)
  • A Block: Ryusuke Taguchi (6) vs. Francesco Akira (8)
  • B Block: Daisuke Sasaki (6) vs. Sho (8)
  • A Block: Valiente Jr. (4) vs. Nick Wayne (8)
  • B Block: Robbie Eagles (8) vs. Jakob Austin Young (6)
  • A Block: Master Wato (10) vs. Jun Kasai (8)
  • B Block: Taiji Ishimori (8) vs. Hyo (6)
  • A Block: Titan (10) vs. Kosei Fujita (8)
  • B Block: Yoh (8) vs. El Desperado (10)

— I still haven’t seen the Stephanie Han vs. Holly Holm boxing match from Saturday. But had Holm won, she would be the first boxer in history to win a world title after being inducted into the Hall of Fame and the second-oldest (44) women’s world champion of all time. Almost everyone who saw it felt Holm was robbed of the decision. The fight was live on ESPN and ratings for this should come out tomorrow along with SmackDown and Raw ratings.

— Ram has expanded its sponsorship with WWE to include AAA. The Ram logo will appear on the mat and the big screens, and AAA wrestlers will be doing Ram marketing.

— The first Wednesday Arena Mexico Mitos del Ring show has top matches of Neon & Star Jr. vs. Averno & Euforia, Dragon de Fuego & Dragon Legendario & Dragon Rojo Jr. vs. Cobarde & Felino Jr. & El Hijo de Stuka Jr., and El Hijo de Blue Panther vs. Virus.

— UFC announced for 7/25 in Abu Dhabi:

  • Magomed Ankalaev vs. Khalil Rountree Jr. – main event
  • Umar Nurmagomedov vs. David Martinez – co-main event

— Maple Leaf Wrestling TV tapings on 6/12 and 6/13 at St. Clair College in Windsor, Ontario feature Stu Grayson vs. Jonathan Gresham for the MLP title, plus Gisele Shaw, Billy Gunn, Rhino, Johnny TV, Dani Luna, Jay Lethal, Mascara Dorada, Bishop Dyer, Capitán Suicida, Evil Uno and more.

— Shoko Nakajima vs. Shotzi will be on Saturday’s MLW Fusion show for the women’s title.

— David Schultz turned 71 today. Brian Adias turned 66. Jackie Fulton turned 63. Ian Rotten turned 56. Scott Andrews turned 59. James Storm turned 49. Ross Von Erich turned 38. Big Bully Busick was born on this day in 1954. Diamond Lil was born on this day in 1944. Angie Minelli was born on this day in 1962 (who is the niece of Donna Christanello). Sylvester Ritter, aka Junkyard Dog, died 28 years ago today at 45. James Dudley died 22 years ago today at 94. Cal “Prince Pullins” died 20 years ago today at 72. Tommy Rogers of The Fantastics died 11 years ago today at 54. Rockin’ Rebel Chuck Williams died eight years ago today at 52. Melanie Pillman died four years ago today at 56. (thanks to Tony Richards and Ken Raftery)

— Arman Tsarukyan was reported in places as saying he’s fighting Charles Oliveira in September. He later said that was a misinterpretation and said that he may be doing that, but it was not final.

— MJF wrestled for WrestlePro yesterday in Rahway, NJ at the Rec Center, beating Pat Buck in the main event. He won via submission. Among those also on the show were Richard Holliday, Dan Maff, Mark Sterling, Jordan Oliver, Alec Price, Bear Bronson, Jay Lethal, Janai Kai and Max Caster. (thanks to Joseph Ruggiero)

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Dave Meltzer
Dave Meltzer

Dave Meltzer is the founder and lead writer on the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the weekly constant when it comes to news and reviews in pro wrestling and mixed martial arts for more than 40 years. Dave also co-hosts Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and had had bylines for The National, Yahoo Sports, MMA Fighting and others.