Daily Update: Jacob Fatu, WWE Chile, The Sandman
Daily Update
Latest News
- Chelsea Green gives update after heart procedure
- John Cena says Backlash announcement will ‘shock the very foundation of WWE’
- Nattie pays tribute to Owen Hart: ‘There was no one like him’
- Seth Rollins explains motivation for The Vision’s formation ahead of WWE Backlash
- TNA Slammiversary avoids direct competition with AEW Forbidden Door
- Kit Wilson reveals uncertainty around Elton Prince’s in-ring return
- Sami Zayn explains recent babyface/heel dynamic: ‘This one is kind of different’
- WWE pre-taping July 4 weekend SmackDown episode
Latest Audio
- WOL: Early WCW memories, AEW Dynamite
- DragonKingKarl: Hulk Hogan wins his first WWE World title
- WOR: Ted Turner life and times, Q&A, Dynamite, more!
Latest YouTube Video
This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Among the topics covered:
- A look at the WWE releases, reasons, prospects for the future, who should AEW or TNA be interested in
- Nick Khan speaks to WWE employees about Paul Levesque, WrestleMania, social media, Saudi Arabia and AI
- WWE Backlash and AEW Double or Nothing updates, including interest levels for both shows
- Stardom All-Star Grand Queendom show looked at
- How the latest Nielsen ratings change affects pro wrestling and where it affects it the most
- Dragon Gate has its annual big Nagoya show this week
- A look at the career of Gran Markus Jr.
- The most detailed look at the television ratings for pro wrestling and MMA programming this past week
- The 70th anniversary of pro wrestling at Arena Mexico
- Who is coming for Fantastica Mania Mexico
- Big match planned for AAA television
- Champion Carnival update
- NOAH major show update
- New Japan has Dontaku with Andrade and Will Ospreay this week
- Wrestling Red Zone coverage
- A look back at the original Tiger Mask and his influence on pro wrestling and MMA
- Who are the most famous wrestler in the ten largest cities in the world, and top 50 cities in the world
- Biggest moments in NCAA wrestling tournament history over the past 60 years
- Former pro wrestling booker heading up a unique promotion
- Updates on Real American Freestyle
- More UFC stars coming to RAF
- Advance ticket sales for all the major pro wrestling events over the next two months and the story that it tells
- Two relatives of major pro wrestling stars signing with NFL teams
- Remembeing David Allan Coe, the country singer of Great American Bash fame
- Jimmy Valiant retires
- Former WWE star says she’s making a comeback
- Carlos Silva on why TNA won’t let its talent work with AEW talent and examining what he said
- AEW May television schedule changes
- WWE television schedule changes
- Ronda Rousey wants to be a promoter
- Puck breaks a notable story on Ari Emanuel and Vince McMahon
- More on when the next lawsuit against WWE goes to court
- More notes on TNA expanding domestic exposure
- More on new WWE signings
- NXT house show notes
This Week’s Back Issue
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Thursday Update
WWE
- During an appearance on No-Contest Wrestling, Jacob Fatu cut a promo on fans who think he won’t defeat Roman Reigns at Backlash:
- Let’s keep it 100. He just won it. This is the next PLE. So I can understand why people think, ‘Oh, well, he’s not going to lose. It’s just a match. He’s going to fall in line.’ Nah, that’s ass. All right. That’s ass
- What y’all think? Y’all know the booking? What y’all think? ‘Oh, Roman Reigns, first title defense against Jacob. There’s no way Roman’s losing it.’ Man, that’s ass.
- Because check this out, of course y’all going to be watching. Y’all going to be tapped in. So everybody else complaining online about this and that. Hey, hey, hey, I bet you will definitely buy that ESPN app. And I bet you going to be sitting there watching and enjoying the show and not saying a word during the match. So for everybody tapping in like that, come on. Man, come on with it.
- Fatu added:
- I can understand why people think I’m not going to win. First PLE, first title defense out of WrestleMania, there’s no way, right? Well, check this out – there was no way Jacob was supposed to be here. There was no way Jacob was supposed to be main event, PLE, Roman Reigns, right out of WrestleMania. But we’re here. And keep it 100. Like I said before, they ain’t never ran into nobody like me.
- No-Contest Wrestling asked Fatu to name five wrestlers from WWE history that he would like to have main evented WrestleMania against:
- Bron Breakker
- Randy Savage
- Jeff Hardy
- Mr. Perfect
- Brock Lesnar
- Sami Zayn and Stephanie Vaquer called for WWE to change September’s house show in Chile into a PLE after tickets sold out quickly after going on sale.
- Johnny Gargano announced that he and Candice LeRae’s dog Pawdme passed away after months of battling seizures:
- I always made the joke that Pawdme’ was my first child. She prepared me for Quill. The real joke is that she’s actually way more high maintenance than her brother. She was SO good to him too. A true big sister. I’lll miss her sleeping between my legs. I’ll miss her zooming around the house with her rope. I’ll miss her sun bathing by the window of my gym.. I’m just really going to miss her. I just hope she knows we tried to give her the best life possible in the short time we had, and she will always hold an irreplaceable spot in our hearts. We love you forever, Tato. Thank you for choosing us to spend your life with.
- The Miz promoted Backlash with appearances on ESPN’s Get Up, First Take, and The Rich Eisen Show.
- Danhausen stormed into SportsCenter to help count down the top plays from the day.
- Kevin Owens turns 42 years old today.
- WWE Vault put together a video featuring rarely seen Championship Wrestling from Florida footage.
Other Wrestling
- Actor Nick Offerman was the guest on a new episode of Talk is Jericho.
- To prepare for his role on Apple TV’s “Margo’s Got Money Troubles,” Offerman – who didn’t know much about wrestling going in – read Bret Hart and Mick Foley’s autobiographies:
- I was relatively ignorant. I knew the pop culture, the big stars of my youth, Hulk Hogan and Macho Man. My friend wrote a song about the Von Erichs. I knew bits and pieces, but I had no idea of the rich lore and just the culture, until I started researching for this job.
- I read Bret Hart’s memoir and Mick Foley’s memoir, basically getting really into looking at all the different looks and gimmicks and characters that wrestlers have had over the years. It was a wonderful permission that Jinx’s [Offerman’s character] heyday was like 30 years ago, because that allowed us to be a lot more campy.
- I have to say, it’s like getting cast as a linebacker or something. If you’re going to be out there actually representing and playing the sport, you got to respect it and treat it with absolute reverence, because I own a mirror, so I’ve never had a big enough ego to think that I can just ride it out on my personality alone.
- On Insight with Chris Van Vliet, The Sandman was asked to encapsulate the career he’s had in the ring:
- Too many drugs, honestly, too many drugs. A lot of smiles. I get a lot of fan mail and stuff at home. Just some of the things that people write to me and they tell me how I got them through a hard time in their life, or when their dad passed away, or something like that. Those are the times when it’s really, really worth it. I mean, it’s great when you’re living your life dream. When I was five years old, all I ever wanted to be was a pro wrestler. That’s it. Not a cop, fireman, doctor. All I ever wanted to be was a pro wrestler, so I got to live my life and make decent money out of it and make people really happy. You know, when you get some people come up to you and they’re like, ‘Oh my God, you’re the greatest thing ever.’ That just gives you goose bumps. That’s cool sh*t.
- Inside the NBA did a segment last night remembering Ted Turner.
- AEW wished Will Ospreay (33) and Angelico (39) happy birthday.
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.