A triple threat match has been added to the card for Fyter Fest.
Nyla Rose vs. Riho vs. Yuka Sakazaki was announced for the show on this week’s episode of AEW’s Road to Fyter Fest series. Fyter Fest is taking place at the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Florida on Saturday, June 29 and will air for free on Bleacher Report Live.
Rose, Riho, and Sakazaki all wrestled at Double or Nothing last month. Rose took on Britt Baker, Kylie Rae, and Awesome Kong in a four-way match, with Baker getting the win by pinning Rae. Riho, Hikaru Shida & Ryo Mizunami defeated Sakazaki, Aja Kong & Emi Sakura in a six-woman tag match.
Fyter Fest is in partnership with CEO Fighting Game Championships. Here’s the updated card for the show:
Kenny Omega & The Young Bucks vs. Pentagon Jr., Fenix, and a partner
Jon Moxley vs. Joey Janela
Cody Rhodes vs. Darby Allin
Hangman Page vs. MJF vs. Jimmy Havoc vs. Jungle Boy
Nyla Rose vs. Riho vs. Yuka Sakazaki
Christopher Daniels vs. CIMA
CEO organizer Alex Jebailey vs. AEW’s Michael Nakazawa in a hardcore match (pre-show)
PWTorch editor Wade Keller presents a special Thursday Flagship edition of the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast featuring a WrestleMania 36 Preview with ex-WWE Creative Team member and professional stand-up comedian Matt McCarthy.
(Search “wade keller” to subscribe in podcast app or CLICK HERE to subscribe in Apple Podcasts.)
Last night’s episode of Monday Night Raw, despite occurring the day after the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view and despite featuring Goldberg again, dropped to a 1.88 rating. The 1.88 is tied for the lowest rating of the fall season; the only lower rating was up against the U.S. Presidential Debate. Raw faced a better-than-average Monday Night Football game featuring the 5-1 Minnesota Vikings against the Chicago Bears.
But front-loading the Goldberg segment, Raw drew 2.747 million viewers in the first hour, but saw a slide the next two hours to 2.617 million and 2.436 million the next two hours. That’s a big dropoff for a third hour rating.
The October ratings average for Raw ended up at 1.982, just a tad above the September average of 1.928.
The male 18-34 demo rating two weeks ago was 1.57; it was a more typical 0.97 last night. The male 18-49 demo rating was 1.54 two weeks ago; it was a ore typical 1.09 last night.
Keller’s Analysis: This has to be regarded as a disappointment after two weeks in a row above the 2.0 mark, and having the advantage of being the day after the HIAC PPV and featuring Goldberg in his second appearance. The dropoff in third hour viewership is an indictment of Roman Reigns as a lead babyface attraction, but also a broader indication that a three hour WWE show is longer than most viewers are willing to watch in one sitting.
PWTorch editor Wade Keller presents a special Thursday Flagship edition of the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast featuring a WrestleMania 36 Preview with ex-WWE Creative Team member and professional stand-up comedian Matt McCarthy.
(Search “wade keller” to subscribe in podcast app or CLICK HERE to subscribe in Apple Podcasts.)
The following are the latest news items stemming from quotes highlighted at our sister website, www.PWPodcasts.com, which chronicles what wrestlers are saying on the record on a daily basis, including newsworthy quick quotes and longer detailed written recaps of wrestling-personality-hosted podcasts.
-Linda McMahon told GV Wire that the first time she met with Donald Trump happened at be at a Rolling Stones concert. She also revealed that her husband is her favorite wrestler ever, listed off her favorite match of all time, and seemed to express some doubt that the Pandemonium film will ever be made. Get full details here: MORE: Linda McMahon on her favorite wrestler ever, favorite match, the first time she met Donald Trump
-Christopher Daniels says C.M. Punk makes his Mount Rushmore of ROH. There are others, of course, which he elaborated on during his Ring Rust Radio interview. He also discussed his recent Heavyweight Title win, and at 47-years-old said that his career is “pretty much close to being over.” Get all the details here: MORE: Christopher Daniels on the Mount Rushmore of ROH, future stars in the business, his career pretty close to being over
-Hangman Page says when he first joined the Bullet Club he was still employed as a high school teacher in a small town. “With one phone call, I was told I would be in Bullet Club and I was going to Japan for three weeks, then continually after that. It was pretty cool and life-changing. At the time I was a high school teacher. I taught graphic design, multimedia and journalism. I would take sick days and wrestle on the weekends. At that point I knew if I was doing three-week tours of Japan I couldn’t keep teaching because I couldn’t be ‘sick’ that long.” He also talked about the origins of the Hangman character, and what his future goals are in the business. Full details here: MORE: Hangman Page on joining The Bullet Club while employed as a teacher, future goals, where The Hangman character came from
-John Cena says he is unable to wrestle and act at the same time. “I would do both at the same time, but the movie guys are a little weird with their insurance,” he told Metro. “They don’t want me to go smashing my face up. [Laughs] I’m excited for all the opportunities outside the WWE ring, only because it raises awareness of the WWE. I take great pride in my profession, but I’m very aware of the perception of it.” He also talked about when it’s time to walk away from the business, and more people respecting wrestling than they used to. Additional details here: MORE: John Cena on why he can’t wrestle and act at the same time, people respecting wrestling more than ever
-Steve Keirn says that his Skinner character from the WWF actually was inspired by the Rated R Deliverance film. “A couple months later I came back up and he introduced me to Skinner and he asked me if I had seen the movie Deliverance?,” he told the Two Man Power Trip podcast. “So I said yes and I loved that movie and he said he wanted me to be one of ‘those guys’ and I’m sitting here thinking Burt Reynolds and when I asked if he wanted me to get a vest, Vince said no and that I had the wrong guy. He wanted me to be like the two guys in the woods with Ned Beatty.” He also talked about why he left WWE and his time as a trainer in FCW: MORE: Steve Keirn on what movie inspired the Skinner character, the early days of FCW, why he left WWE
There is much more available at www.PWPodcasts.com, which just might be YOUR NEXT NEW FAVORITE WEBSITE to visit every day. New detailed written podcast recaps include:
-Colt Cabana’s The Art of Wrestling with Johnny Mundo
-Something to Wrestle With – Judgment Day 2002
-MLW Radio #278
-The Ross Report with Patrick LaPrade featuring fascinating insight on the Billy Wolfe/Mildred Burke relationship
Check them all out on our mobile-friendly and laptop-friendly website, www.PWPodcasts.com.
christopher danielscm punkdonald trumphangman pagejohn cenalinda mcmahonSKINNERsteve keirn
It will be Kota Ibushi vs. Jay White in the G1 finals at Budokan Hall in Tokyo, Japan overnight tonight. The show will air live on New Japan World and will begin at 2 a.m. Eastern time (11 p.m. Pacific).
Ibushi defeated Kazuchika Okada on Saturday to win the A Block, while White became the B Block winner by defeating Tetsuya Naito in this morning’s main event.
After White vs. Naito, there was a post-match angle where White called Ibushi out to the ring. White claimed that Gedo wouldn’t be in his corner for the G1 finals. White offered a handshake to Ibushi. White went to attack him, but Ibushi avoided a kick. White then ducked a kick from Ibushi.
Gedo grabbed Ibushi’s leg as he went to leave the ring. White targeted Ibushi’s left ankle, putting it inside of a chair and using another one to give Ibushi multiple chair shots.
In today’s other tournament matches, Shingo Takagi defeated Hirooki Goto, Juice Robinson defeated Jon Moxley, Taichi defeated Tomohiro Ishii, and Jeff Cobb defeated Toru Yano.
Ibushi went 7-2 in A Block action and finished with 14 points. White went 6-3 in his tournament matches and ended up as the B Block winner with 12 points.
Before going on to win their blocks, Ibushi lost his first two tournament matches and White lost his first three. Ibushi was defeated by KENTA and EVIL. White lost to Goto, Ishii, and Yano.
The winner of Ibushi vs. White will be set up as the IWGP Heavyweight Championship challenger for Wrestle Kingdom 14, though they’ll likely defend their title shot between now and January.
Drought and overheating of river water may force some of the nuclear power plants that supply two-thirds of France’s electricity to shut down temporarily in the wake of the European heatwave.
The extreme temperatures are beginning to abate, but shortages and excessive temperatures of river water needed to cool reactors are worrying EDF, the largely state-owned electricity company.
If the hot weather continues, households, offices and factories will require large quantities of electricity for air conditioning and ventilation.
River levels have fallen in eastern, central and southern France, the Journal du Dimanche newspaper reported on Sunday.
The Civaux nuclear plant is cooled by water from the River Vienne, now close to a historic low following the heatwave.
EDF uses two dams to augment the river water, but the local authority has complained that the company uses the river almost exclusively for its power station, jeopardising farming, drinking water supplies, leisure activities and tourism.
Residents of areas near the River Loire have made similar criticisms.
UK weather and European heatwave brought on by the Sahara bubble, in pictures
The Loire has four nuclear plants on its banks, but the local authority has reported water levels close to the historic lows registered during France’s terrible 2003 heatwave, blamed for 15,000 deaths, mostly elderly people affected by dehydration.
Last year, hot weather forced EDF to temporarily shut down three reactors in eastern France, at the Bugey power plant near the Swiss border, at its Saint-Alban plant on the Rhône, and at the Fessenheim plant near the German border.
The heatwave has revealed that France is ill-prepared to face extreme temperatures, according to green party leaders. The government is to unveil new measures to manage water resources this week.
A record high of 45.9 degrees Celsius was reached in the southern village of Gallargues-le-Montueux, near Montpellier, on Friday.
Three swimmers died of “thermic shock” from plunging into cool water, and a cyclist died after collapsing in the heat in the southern Vaucluse département.
In Spain, a British mountaineer was airlifted to hospital after suffering heatstroke.
The unnamed 48-year-old collapsed in the Western Pyrenees’ Baztan Valley and was taken to hospital in a serious condition.
JoãoGilberto, a Brazilian singer, guitarist and songwriter considered one of the fathers of the bossa nova genre that gained global popularity in the 1960s and became an iconic sound of the South American nation, died on Saturday, his son said. He was 88.
João Marcelo said his father had been battling health issues though no official cause of his death in Rio de Janeiro was given. "His struggle was noble. He tried to maintain his dignity in the light of losing his independence," Marcelo posted on Facebook.
A fusion of samba and jazz, bossa nova emerged in the late 1950s and gained a worldwide following in the 1960s, pioneered by Gilberto and Antonio Carlos Jobim, who composed the iconic "Girl From Ipanema" that was performed by Gilberto and others. His wife Astrud Gilberto made her vocal debut in the song.
João Gilberto marrying his second wife, Heloisa Maria Buarque de Hollanda aka Miucha, in a 1965 ceremony.Credit:
Michael Ochs Archives
Self-taught, Gilberto said he discovered music at age 14 when he held a guitar in his hands for the first time. With his unique playing style and modern jazz influences, he created the beat that defined bossa nova, helping launch the genre with his song "Bim-Bom."
By 1961, Gilberto had finished the albums that would make bossa nova known around the world: "Chega de Saudade," "Love, A Smile and A Flower," and "João Gilberto." His 1964 album Getz/Gilberto with U.S. saxophonist Stan Getz sold millions of copies.
"It was João Gilberto, the greatest genius of Brazilian music, who was the definitive influence on my music," singer Gal Costa wrote on social media. "He will be missed but his legacy is very important to Brazil and to the world."
Born in Bahia in northeastern Brazil, Gilberto moved to Rio de Janeiro at a young age. He was influenced by U.S. jazz greats and recorded songs in the United States where he lived for much of the 1960s and 1970.
Over his career he won two Grammy awards and was nominated for six, and the US jazz magazine DownBeat in 2009 named him one of the 75 great guitarists in history and one of the five top jazz singers.
Gilberto was one of the key Brazilian artists who brought bossa nova to the world.Credit:
AFP
An entire subsequent generation of Brazilian musicians, including Gilberto Gil, Chico Buarque and Caetano Veloso, are considered his disciples.
Journalist and bossa nova expert Ruy Castro called the death of Gilberto a "monumental" loss.
Castro wrote in his book "The Wave that Built in the Sea" that Gilberto loved soccer and was a fan of the Fluminense club, whose games he liked to watch with a guitar in his hands.
"He managed to create a mystique about him abroad, being who he was and not even speaking English," he told the Globo television station.
The Brazilian was a self-taught musician who discovered the craft at just 14.Credit:
Hulton Archive
The musician had spent his final years wrapped in legal troubles, debts and disputes with his children. His last live performance was in 2008 and he canceled a commemorative show to mark his 80th year because of health problems.
With little interest in giving interviews, he’d become known as the "reclusive genius" in the streets of Leblon, the neighborhood in a southern part of Rio where he lived but was seldom seen.
His funeral is to be held on Monday. He is survived by three children.
Singer Daniela Mercury called Gilberto a "genius who revolutionised popular Brazilian music. He taught us how to sing in the most beautiful way in the world."
A Briton is among 26 people in a suicide bomb and gun attack claimed by al-Shabaab militants on a popular hotel in southern Somalia.
A suicide car bomb exploded outside the Asasey Hotel in Kismayo before gunmen stormed into the building on Friday evening.
The dead included a number of Kenyans, Americans, a Briton and Tanzanians, Ahmed Mohamed, Jubbaland region’s president, said on Saturday.
"The security forces are in control now and the last terrorist was shot and killed", Mohamed Abdiweli, a security official, said.
"There are dead bodies and wounded people strewn inside the hotel and we cannot give exact detail of the casualties but we have confirmed so far 12 people killed and more than thirty others wounded," Abdiweli said.
"We believe… there were four gunmen involved in the attack and the death toll could be higher because we see (the) devastating consequences of the (bomb) blast and gunfire," he added.
Authorities said Friday a suicide bomber rammed a vehicle loaded with explosives into the Medina hotel in the port town of Kismayo before several heavily armed gunmen forced their way inside, shooting as they went.
"The blast was very big," said witness Hussein Muktar.
"There is chaos inside, I saw several dead bodies carried from the scene and people are fleeing from the nearby buildings," Muktar said during the assault.
The attack is the latest in a long line of bombing and assaults claimed by the Al-Qaeda-linked group.
Witnesses said among those killed were a well-known social media activist, her husband and a local journalist.
"The relatives of local journalist Mohamed Sahal confirmed his death and I’m getting that social media activist Hodan Naleyeh and her husband also died in the blast," witness Ahmed Farhan said.
The Somali journalists’ union SJS confirmed the reporters’ deaths. "It is a very sad day for Somalian journalists," the union’s secretary-general Ahmed Mumin said in a statement.
Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement.
"Mujahidin fighters carried out a martyrdom attack on one of the hotels accommodating the apostate officials of the Jubaland administration," the group said, referring to an autonomous southern zone in the troubled country whose main city is Kismayo.
According to several sources, most of those staying in the hotel were politicians and traders ahead of upcoming regional elections.
Shabaab fighters have fought for more than a decade to topple the Somali government.
The militant group emerged from Islamic Courts that once controlled central and southern Somalia and are variously estimated to number between 5,000 and 9,000 men.
Iran’s seizure of a British oil tanker couldn’t have come at a worse time for the UK – and Tehran knows it.
While Theresa May has days left as Prime Minister, her foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, has been in the midst of a leadership election campaign to replace her.
His rival, Boris Johnson, is the favourite to win the Tory battle, but the former foreign secretary will be carrying diplomatic baggage if he enters Number 10.
During his tenure in the Foreign Office, Mr Johnson was accused of making matters worse for Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian mother jailed in Tehran on spying charges.
Britain’s then top diplomat incorrectly stated that she was "teaching people journalism"…
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The US secretary of state said on Friday he was willing to travel to Iran for talks, as reports emerged that the regime had test-fired a medium-range missile.
Mike Pompeo, who has taken a hard line against Tehran as part of a US maximum-pressure policy, also challenged Boris Johnson to overturn his predecessor’s decision not to join a US operation to protect ships from Iranian attacks.
"Sure. If that’s the call, I’d happily go there,” he told Bloomberg. “I would welcome the chance to speak directly to the people."
Tensions between Iran and the US have ratcheted up since last year, when President Donald Trump withdrew America from the nuclear deal, saying it was not strong enough.
Mr Trump and Iranian leaders have both publicly said talks were possible, but the prospect for dialogue appeared to recede on Wednesday when the top military adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Tehran would not negotiate with Washington under any circumstances.
British Royal Navy's HMS Montrose, a Type 23 Frigate, performing turns during exercise "Marstrike 05", off the coast of OmanCredit:
AFP
As Mr Pompeo made his offer, it emerged that the regime had Wednesday night tested what appeared to be a medium-range ballistic missile, according to a US defence official quoted in US media.
The Shahab-3 missile was launched from the southern coast of Iran and landed east of Tehran. It flew about 680 miles and stayed inside Iran for the entire flight.
Missile launches are not a violation of the nuclear deal that Iran signed in 2015 with the US and other world powers, including the UK.
President Trump, however, wants to see Tehran’s missile programme curbed as part of a new deal he wants to hammer out with the Iranian regime.
Mr Pompeo also called on Britain and other nations to join a maritime force to guard oil tankers sailing through the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf.
Theresa May and her foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt rejected an offer from the US to join Operation Sentinel before leaving office, choosing instead to join a separate European protection force.
The decision has faced criticism after the British tanker Stena Impero was seized by Iran, triggering questions about whether enough had been done to ensure protection.
"Every country that has an interest in ensuring that those waterways are open and crude oil and other products can flow through the Strait of Hormuz needs to participate," Mr Pompeo said, adding that Washington had already asked Japan, France, Germany, South Korea, Australia and other nations.
Mr Pompeo discussed Iran during a call on Thursday with his new UK counterpart, Dominic Raab, who has been appointed Foreign Secretary by Mr Johnson. It remains unclear whether a Johnson government will substantially change the approach to Iran adopted during Mrs May’s premiership.
A senior diplomat in Japan, Washington’s key Asian ally, said that Tokyo was not in a position to decide if or how it could join any maritime force until the US provided a blueprint of how such an operation would work.
Meanwhile, Iran and the UK are still locked in a stand-off over the fate of two impounded ships. However, Tehran on Friday released nine Indian crew members from a Panama-flagged tanker they seized on July 14 for allegedly smuggling Iranian fuel.
The killing of Hamza bin Laden has dealt a symbolic blow to al-Qaeda, but may have little practical impact on the resilient jihadist network, terrorism experts said.
The death of Osama bin Laden’s favourite son ends jihadist hopes of a dynasty leading what was once the world’s most notorious terrorist group.
The younger bin Laden, thought to be around 30, was being prepared to one day oversee al-Qaeda and usher in a new, younger leadership in the network his father founded.
American officials gave little detail of his death, only saying it had happened in the first two years of Donald Trump’s administration. A Whitehall source said the US evidence of the death was “highly credible”.
But terrorism experts and government sources also said it was unclear Hamza had inherited any of his father’s vision or ability and he had not been able to achieve any jihadist successes. Suggestions he might one day have been open to an eventual merger with Islamic State group had never been confirmed, said the Whitehall source.
Osama bin Laden's son, Hamza bin Laden, is shown as a boy in an undated al-Qaeda training video.Credit:
Getty
"I think it’s a big loss for al-Qaeda," said Pakistani security expert Rahimullah Yusufzai, one the few journalists to have interviewed Osama bin Laden face to face.
"They needed someone younger and more active. And Hamza bin Laden had those qualities," he told AFP.
"He would have been acceptable to the rank and file and a natural successor to his father."
Despite his pedigree, the younger bin Laden had so far not distinguished himself in the organisation however.
“There was no evidence that he was a strategic mastermind to anything like the same degree as his father,” said the Whitehall source.
“I don’t think it makes a difference in practical terms,” added Raffaello Pantucci, director of international security studies at the Royal United Services Institute.
“The removal of a guy who has not particularly done anything is not going to really move the dial.”
Hamza is believed to be the 15th of bin Laden’s 20-odd children and spent his early childhood with his parents, first in Saudi Arabia and then in Sudan and Afghanistan in the 1990s.
After the 9/11 attacks, when bin Laden became the world’s most wanted man, he sent several wives and children to live in Iran, for safety, including Hamza.
Letters discovered in the Abbottabad compound after the May 2011 raid that killed the older bin Laden show Hamza had a close bond with his father and wanted to follow in his footsteps. His father in turn appeared to be grooming him for a leadership role.
He had sworn to avenge his father’s death and was later introduced by Zawahiri as a “lion”
Al Qaeda has been trying to capitalise on the destruction of Islamic State group’s caliphate to again become the world’s pre-eminent jihadist group. It has moved away from trying to hit targets in the West, and instead grow powerful regional presences in Syria, Yemen, Somalia and North Africa.