WOR: Smackdown, 205 Live, New Japan, Cow Palace, tons more!

Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including Smackdown, 205 Live, ratings from Monday, tons of New Japan notes on upcoming shows, Chris Jericho, the Cow Palace and more, plus all the news in MMA and mailbag!

We start off with talk on New Japan’s big shows over the next couple of days. There’s also talk on the upcoming Cow Palace show, with ticket sales so far being soft. There’s also brief talk on All In tickets, which go on sale soon.

SmackDown is discussed, followed by 205 Live. Ratings were next, with both Raw and SmackDown being down due to the NBA. Bellator was also unimpressive, considering what kind of card they had. The futures of Chris Jericho and Keith Lee are also discussed.

Universo 2000 died back on 5/1 at the age of 55. Dave talks about his accomplishments. Leslie Smith is also investigating legal action against the UFC after basically paying her to finish off her contract, which she believes is motivated due to her interest in starting a union for MMA fighters. Nate Diaz is also being talked to about a UFC return in August.

Mailbag questions include if New Japan is wearing itself too thin, WWE and the AWA library, the rights to the California territory tape library, WWE being fined for showing scantily clad women during the Greatest Royal Rumble, why Tommy Rich won the NWA title, the fee to book Andre the Giant in 1970s and Vince McMahon Sr.’s percentage, Raw’s ratings in the UK, the nuances of Naomichi Marufuji and WWE’s upcoming events in Brazil.

A fun show as always so check it out~!

Timestamps:

Start – 4:54: Wrestling Dontaku
4:54 – 13:45: Cow Palace, All In tickets
13:45 – 24:05: SmackDown, 205 Live
24:05 – 27:37: Ratings
27:37 – 29:24: Chris Jericho, Keith Lee
29:24 – 33:15: Universo 2000
33:15 – 35:07: Leslie Smith
35:07 – 37:03: Nate Diaz
37:03- end: Mailbag