Donald Trump dug in his heels over a controversial "zero-tolerance" immigration policy that has seen thousands of children forcibly separated from their parents at the Mexican border.

Mr Trump pointed to Europe, which he said had become a "migrant camp," and said that would not happen to the United States under his leadership.

Speaking at the White House the US president said: "The United States will not be a migrant camp, and it will not be a refugee holding facility. You look at what’s happening in Europe, and in other places, we cannot allow that to happen. Not on my watch."

Mr Trump spoke amid an uproar among Democrats and Republicans as images of children being held in wire mesh cages, and toddlers crying as they were separated from their mothers, emerged from the border.

The president said criminals were using children like a "Trojan horse" to get into America, that "a county without borders is not a country at all," and that people coming in were bringing "death and destruction".

He added: "They are thieves and murderers and so much else."

Criticising the more open immigration policies of his European Nato allies Mr Trump wrote on Twitter: "Big mistake made all over Europe in allowing millions of people in who have so strongly and violently changed their culture!"

He specifically mentioned Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, falsely suggesting "crime in Germany is way up" and immigration was why "the people of Germany are turning against their leadership".

Asked if British Prime Minister Theresa May thought it was acceptable to cage children, her spokesman said Tuesday: “I would point you to the UK’s own immigration policy.”

He went on: “It does not apply these measures and does not intend to do so. The welfare and safeguarding of children is at the heart of our immigration policy. We do not separate child refugee or asylum seekers from their families.”

The spokesman was asked if Mrs May would raise the issue with Mr Trump. The answer came back only that the UK’s own policy was “humane” and “we believe that we have a humane system”. 

It means all adults caught crossing the border illegally are detained and prosecuted, rather than being released while they await proceedings. Their children are removed and held in separate facilities.

Over a six-week period at least 2,000 children have been separated from their parents.

Donald Trump's shameful border policy is alienating his supporters

Kirstjen Nielsen, Mr Trump’s homeland security secretary, defended the measures.

Commenting at the National Sheriffs’ Association, she said releasing parents with their children would amount to a "get out of jail free card" for illegal immigrants.

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She later described suggestions that the children were being held as pawns, and used as a deterrent, as “offensive”.

“The children are not being used as pawns,” she said. “We are trying to protect the children, which is why we want Congress to act.”

Asked why Mr Trump did not pick up the phone to order the policy of “zero tolerance” be immediately halted, she replied: “I think what the president is trying to do is find a long term fix.”

“These parents and children who enter the country illegally are by definition criminals,” she said.

Asked whether the policy was tantamount to child abuse, she replied: “Unfortunately I am not in any situation to deal with hearsay stories. Of course we do not want any situation where a child is not adequately taken care of.”

She insisted that people wishing to seek asylum should do so at an official border crossing, rather than attempting to enter illegally, and said that people who were turned away from the border because of overcrowding were told to come back another day.

Behind the Shutter: US-Mexico border

Hundreds of children are being held at a converted former Walmart store in Texas. Another detention centre in Texas has been nicknamed La Perrera – "the dog kennel" in Spanish. Democrat politicians who were allowed to tour "La Perrera" saw one cage with 20 children inside. Children were sleeping on the floor on thin mattresses with foil sheets as blankets.

Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat senator, said: "I witnessed loads of kids massed together in large pens of chain-linked fence separated from their moms and dads. Shameful."

Michelle Brane, director of the Women’s Refugee Commission, said she found an unaccompanied four-year-old in a detention centre.

She said: "The girl was so traumatised that she wasn’t talking. She was just curled up in a little ball."

It is the Democrats fault for being weak and ineffective with Boarder Security and Crime. Tell them to start thinking about the people devastated by Crime coming from illegal immigration. Change the laws!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 18, 2018

Another young boy was silent in his cage, clutching a photocopy of his mother’s identity card.

Amnesty International said the treatment of children "meets the definitions of torture under both US and international law".

It said: "This is a spectacularly cruel policy where frightened children are being ripped from their parent’s arms and taken to overflowing detention centers which are effectively cages."

Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, said they were “not the ones who created the problem”, and insisted they were determined to fix it.

“The president himself has said that he hates these images, and he wants it to be fixed. It’s Congress’s job to make the law. The president would sign legislation that closes these loopholes.

“People should be begging at the door of Congress asking them to fix this.”

Mr Sessions, speaking at the same meeting in New Orleans, said if a border wall was built then "we won’t face these terrible choices".

Congress is expected to consider two bills this week aimed at resolving immigration issues. Democrats have accused Mr Trump of using the separation of families as a "negotiating tool" to secure more funding for the border wall in any bill that passes.

‘This is a moral and humanitarian crisis.’ — @HillaryClinton is calling out the Trump administration for detaining immigrant children pic.twitter.com/7MumjlplZQ

— NowThis (@nowthisnews) June 18, 2018

Laura Bush, the former first lady, joined a chorus of criticism, saying the separation of families was "cruel, immoral and breaks my heart".

She compared it to the "shameful" internment of Japanese-Americans during the Second World War.

Former first lady Rosalyn Carter called the “zero tolerance” policy “disgraceful” and “a shame to our country.”

“When I was first lady, I worked to call attention to the plight of refugees fleeing Cambodia for Thailand, I visited Thailand and witnessed firsthand the trauma of parents and children separated by circumstance beyond their control,” Carter said in a statement obtained by ABC News.

“The practice and policy today of removing children from their parents’ care at our border with Mexico is disgraceful and a shame to our country," the statement continued.

A senior official at the Department of Health and Human Services said up to 30,000 illegal immigrant children could be held by the end of August, and it was "running out of space". Several military bases in Texas are being considered as sites for temporary tented shelters.

Protesters angered by Iran’s cratering economy confronted police officers in front of parliament on Monday, with security forces firing tear gas at them, according to online videos, the first such confrontation after similar demonstrations rocked the country at the start of the year.

The unplanned demonstration came a day after protests forced two major shopping centers for mobile phones and electronics to close in Tehran and after demonstrators earlier closed its Grand Bazaar.

It also signaled widespread unease beneath the surface in Iran in the wake of President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw America from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers.

It wasn’t immediately clear who led the protests. Iran’s semi-official news agencies Fars, ISNA and Tasnim described the protests at the Grand Bazaar as erupting after the Iranian rial dropped to 90,000 to the dollar on the country’s black market, despite government attempts to control the currency rate.

Videos posted to social media showed protesters at the bazaar heckling shopkeepers who refused to close, shouting in Farsi: "Coward!"

A short time later, about 2 kilometers (1.25 miles) from the Grand Bazaar, videos shared by Iranians on social media appeared to show a crowd confronting police at parliament. The videos show tear gas in the air and protesters screaming, "They attacked us with tear gas!" Another man is heard shouting: "Come back!"

Other videos appeared to show police charging into the crowd.

State media in Iran did not immediately report the Grand Bazaar demonstration. Only Fars reported on the parliament protest, which it described only as shopkeepers asking "lawmakers to stop rising prices."

The head of Iran’s Chamber of Guilds, Ali Fazeli, later was quoted by Tasnim as saying the situation at the bazaar is calm.

"Their demands are delivered through the chamber to the government, and these are being pursued by us," he said.

Tehran’s sprawling Grand Bazaar has long been a center of conservatism in Iranian politics and remains an economic force within the country – despite the construction of massive malls around the city. Bazaar families opposed the Iranian Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and supported the 1979 Islamic Revolution that saw him replaced by the Shiite theocracy and elected officials.

At the end of last year, similar economic protests roiled Iran and spread to some 75 cities and towns, becoming the largest demonstrations in the country since its 2009 disputed presidential election. The protests in late December and early January saw at least 25 people killed and nearly 5,000 people arrested by authorities.

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However, those protests largely struck Iran’s provinces as opposed to Tehran itself. Analysts believe hard-liners likely encouraged the first protest that took place in Mashhad to weaken the administration of President Hassan Rouhani, a relative moderate cleric within Iran’s politics. The protests then spiraled out of control, with people openly criticizing both Rouhani and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Rouhani’s government has struggled with the economic problems, which have seen high unemployment. A government-set exchange rate of 42,000 rials to $1 has quickly been surpassed in the black market. On Monday, state television quoted Iranian Central Bank chief Valiollah Seif as saying the government plans to create a parallel market next week to combat the black market.

Meanwhile, some hard-liners have called for new elections or for Rouhani’s civilian government to be replaced by a military-led one. The Fars news agency, believed to be close to Iran’s hard-line paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, made a point Monday to publish an article from the Sobh-e No daily newspaper describing the government as being ready to "bow down to foreign threats and sit at the negotiation table." 

First came the dancers, all hotpants and lace. Then came the fireworks, dripping silver sparks from the concert hall ceiling.

And then came the splinters, as business leaders and celebrities – including the Black Panther star Michael B Jordan – smashed dozens of guitars.

This was how the Hard Rock empire opened its Atlantic City hotel and casino this week, part of an effort to revive “America’s playground” and shed years of gloom, closures and the long shadow of Donald Trump.

“We believe in Atlantic City, we believe in New Jersey,” shouted Jim Allen, the company’s besuited chief executive, to the sort of reception usually reserved for Bruce Springsteen in these parts.

A few minutes after he opened…

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Max Verstappen made a mess of his out lap to the Hungarian Grand Prix grid, the Red Bull driver losing it under the wet conditions at Turn 12 and hitting the wall, leaving his team to scramble to repair the damage on the grid.

Verstappen’s mishap tore off the front wing of the RB16 but also damaged a suspension element. The Dutchman joined the grid at which point his Red Bull crews sprung into action to replace in record time the damaged parts, likely a track rod or push rod.

Verstappen rejects Racing Point as potential title contender

The job was nevertheless completed with a minute to spare, allowing Verstappen to start the race from his P7 slot on the grid.

When all was said and done, Verstappen had a few congratulatory words for his trusty and skilled mechanics.

“Incredible work guys, unbelievable, thank you very much!”, quipped the lucky Dutchman.

When your race might be over before it's even started 💥

But you eventually finish P2 😮#HungarianGP 🇭🇺 #F1 @Max33Verstappen pic.twitter.com/o9JDpGYUsy

— Formula 1 (@F1) July 19, 2020

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Results from Saturday’s tapings in Orlando, FL. Here’s what you missed from Friday’s tapings.

– Al Snow came out for essentially a do-over of an angle he did Friday which included a re-do of his match with Mahabali Shera. Once again, Snow won by hitting Shera with a chain.

– Michael Bennett and EC 3 had a confrontation during a segment calld “Fairy Tale Time with Mike Bennett”. After going back and forth, they announced that “next week” was the Sacrifice show and they would have a no DQ match.

– Maria Kanellis won a match where all the women (Gail Kim, Velvet Sky, Madison Rayne, Jade, Marti Bell and Rebel) were in a ladder match to determine who would be in charge of the Knockouts division.

– Bram beat Eric Young in a falls count anywhere match to win the King of the Mountain championship.

– Andrew Everett beat DJ Zema Ion after a low blow

– Decay kidnapped Gail Kim, and agreed to release her only if Beer Money gives them a tag team title shot. Being gentlemen, they agreed to do so.

– TNA Champion Drew Galloway beat Tyrus to retain.

– Maria came out and ran down the entire Knockouts division. Gail Kim came out and blamed her for her kidnapping. Maria said she would be changing the division and she announces Gail Kim vs. Rosemary.

– Rosemary beat Gail Kim with tons of interference from Crazzy Steve and Maria. Rosemary blew green mist in her face.

– Matt Hardy went to a no contest with Jeff Hardy in an I Quit match for the Hardy name. Jeff dove off a very high lighting grid with a swanton and put Matt through a table. Matt went out on a stretcher and was rushed out by the paramedics.  They sold it as a big injury.

– Eli Drake is doing a new Talk Show called “Facts of Life”, replacing the idea they had for Ken Anderson. This week featured The Bromans.

– Decay (Abyss & Crazzy Steve) beat Beer Money in a “Valley of Shadows” match to win the tag team titles. This is why.

– Jeff Hardy did an interview and hoped that he beat some sense into Matt Hardy. Rockstar Spud and Reby Sky were out to hassle Jeff, leading to some physicality between Jeff and Spud.

– Mike Bennett beat EC 3 with a cradle — EC 3’s first pinfall loss in TNA.

They announced there would be another set of tapings in a month but didn’t announce the dates.

WWE’s annual hall of fame ceremony is upon us, with a mix of all-time greats, memorable acts, celebrities, and the debut of the Legacy Award. This year sees Sting and the Fabulous Freebird act as headliners, while Stan Hansen adds credibility, The Big Bossman finally joins the hall of fame, while The Godfather adds levity, Jacqueline provides the female entrant, and Snoop Dogg enters the celebrity wing. Something called the Legacy Award will also make its debut here, while Joan Lunden will be honored with the Warrior Award for her fight with breast cancer. The pre-show features a slew of interviews, and concluded with a touching tribute to Dusty Rhodes before the end of it. Byron also wore a ridiculous suit. Booker T is a smart man and says that his wife makes him wish that every night was a hall of fame night.

The hall of fame broadcast begins with a video package recapping how all-time greats are in the hall of fame…and also Jacqueline and Godfather. Jerry Lawler is the emcee, and says that this is favorite night of the year – and he truly means it. Like he does when that’s used for WrestleMania, or Tribute to the Troops. Godfather is the opening act, and he was now “a conductor of a train”. We see Godfather’s IC Title win and Ice T intro to show the heights that the character reached. The APA induct The Godfather and put him over as one of the toughest guys in history. JBL says that Godfather had to dumb his character down for TV and they say they still have the munchies from riding with him. They do an amusing  bit where they can’t tell their whole stories on a family show, and then tell their wives that they actually don’t know him and are making this up on the fly. Godfather comes out looking trim and brings out one more ho train. Godfather gives a shout-out to his kids and has his grandson get a round of applause. Godfather says he’s not really a pimp…but he ran Cheetah’s, so he’ll leave that alone. Godfather tells the young guys to have fun, enjoy the time you have now, and go visit him and “chop it up”. I’m sure he’s just a really big salad fan.

Stan Hansen follows up Godfather, and we finally get to see his full hall of fame video recapping his career. Seeing Stan with bleach blonde hair in the ’70s is bizarre. Paul Heyman tells us that as a kid, he didn’t fear Godzilla or the boogeyman – he feared Stan Hansen for breaking Bruno’s neck. Stan’s highlight reel is amazing – even focusing just on his mannerisms and promos. Vader comes out and says he met Stan in a “small regional company called the AWA” – well, it was certainly down from its peak, but it wasn’t small in ’86. Vader admires Stan Hansen almost as much as Mr. T loves his mama. Vader talks about Stan breaking his nose before the match with Stan where his eye came out. After what might have been several decades, Stan comes out after Vader puts on googly eye glasses.

Stan looks pretty much the same as he ever did, but with grey hair instead of brunette. Stan thanks God for giving him a strong set of legs, and forgives him for getting shortchanged when it came to looks. He thanks JBL for keeping his name alive in the modern era and talks about Brody telling him if you have two ugly guys like them, if you find pretty ladies that love you, you’ve got it made. He’s proud of his kids for paving their own way in life, and thanks Terry Funk for breaking him into wrestling. Hansen puts over Bob Backlund as the best athlete in wreslting history, and talks about how they each had to sleep in their cars at times. Stan puts over Red Bastien and Frtz Von Erich for helping him out a lot in Texas. He enjoyed working against Rick Martel a lot as well and shares a memory of Rick Martel beating him in 9 seconds – and then gets in a little jab at himself for that being proof he’s done a few jobs. Stan talks about how much he admires Bruno for that rivalry and gets a big grin on his face.

Stan says he got caught in the middle of a wrestling war and left New Japan for All Japan – but worked for 26 years for Baba in All Japan on a handshake deal. He loved hooking up with Brody, and says that no one could keep up with them. He assures us he isn’t bragging, but hey, maybe he is with a bit of a wink. He loved working Jumbo and Tenryu, as well as the younger guys like Kobashi and Misawa. Stan thanks “the carpenters” in pro wrestling who built a foundation for him to stand on a main eventer. He thanks Texas and lets out one big “YOU!” with the horns. Stan’s speech was outstanding, even if Vader’s did drag on. Taker-Shane video package serves as an ad break.

Jacqueline is up next, and we get a career retrospective of her winning in the USWA, and then being a “trailblazer” in WCW by having a match with Disco. She joined WWE in ’98 and became the first African-American women’s champion. She is put over more in the video as being a pioneer and someone who opened doors for future generations. Bubba and Devon come out to induct her and Bubba says that they were excited to induct her because it was her choice and she chose them immediately. Bubba and Devon have one of the best parts of the show so far, with Devon starting to talk and Bubba saying “nah, just say testify” and Devon telling him to get his own damn tables. Devon talks about how Jackie would feign falling asleep to avoid a toll, and then “forgetting her wallet” when it came to pay her share of the rental car. Devon told a great story about Jackie “dabbing”, failing, but accepting a bet to do that tonight. She does it while coming out just to get it over with. The thanks Skandar Akbar for training her, talks briefly about going in the USWA, skips over WCW, and runs down her WWE career in Wikipedia-like fashion. She thanks Lita, Trish, Sable, and Terri – we see Nidia for a second here when Lita was shown.

The legacy award members of the hall of fame are introduced. Pat O’Connor, Frank Gotch, George Hackenschmidt, Mildred Burke, “Sailor” Art Thomas, Ed “The Strangler” Lewis, and Lou Thesz each get a video package showcasing some beautiful photos of each person’s career. It’s a shame that at least Gotch, Thesz, and O’Connor couldn’t go into the hall of fame formally – but at least they’re in somewhat, and it adds a small amount of on-paper credibility to things. The Fabulous Freebirds Hall of Fame video airs, and shows a slew of Von Erich stuff alongside “Freebird” playing. WWE did right by actually paying for the song, and the clips they showed allowed you to see how big a deal they were. New Day comes out in some amazing suits.

They get in some amazing lines about the Freebirds being a well-oiled machine working as a unit, while Big E talks about his unit being oiled while Woods loves blowing on his girl Franchesca II. Big E talks about the Freebirds paint showing that they were big…fans of the USA!  In a perfect move once again, we get “Freebird” once again playing the Birds out to a sold-out arena in Texas. Hayes and Garvin come out looking ridiculous in a glorious way. Garvin is out looking like a high school chemistry teacher dancing to “Freebird” while Michael is out in a glittery pimp suit , a white and red “Badstreet USA” shirt, and a fanny pack while also sporting his Freebirds-era beard. Hayes is slightly blown up, while Garvin joked about needing oxygen and may in fact need it because he cannot say three words without breathing hard.

Garvin thanks Chief Jay Strongbow for training him, and then talks about drinking moonshine with Hayes and Tommy Rich at a barbecue. Garvin says that the attendance records will be smashed tomorrow, and Hayes says that “speaking of smashed, Buddy, Terry, Jimmy and I got an apartment…”. They can’t find the key, so Terry just kicks it down and they all just prop the door up and party. Terry tosses a table up through the ceiling, and then they got pissed at Buddy because they always did – so he took a big bump through it and said “well, we never drank coffee anyway”. Michael brings out Ray Gordy and Buddy Roberts Jr. Ray says he always joked that as a kid, his favorite wrestler was always Kevin Von Erich. He thanks WWE for this honor. Buddy Jr. thanks WWE for this and Ray says he’d sure love to hear more Freebirds stories. Garvin says it’s a family show, so they’re a bit restricted – but they’ll push the limit because the worst that can happen is Hayes getting fired. Jimmy Garvin says he was taking a shower and was given a golden shower by Buddy Jack. Hayes talks about getting some good advice on a strip club, but he knows that him going to a strip club wouldn’t be a good idea to avoid getting in trouble. David, Kerry, and Terry force him to go into the club. It’s not your average strip club – it’s a place where you’ll hear “Here’s Aunt Rosie after her third kid!”.

Michael Hayes was just minding his business playing Pac-Man before a biker talks smack to Michael, so Terry smacks him and they beat him up. Terry tells him “Michael…he’s got a wodden leg”, and Michael says he doesn’t care about that, he’s more concerned with leaving without getting stabbed. They try to make a deal with the bikers, but as one gets up, they see him reaching into his vest and they haul ass – but get to a back door that is locked. They go to the front door and the guy shoots, but luckily they got a head start since the guy’s got a wodden leg. He missed them and Terry laughs. Michael asks what the hell he was laughing at and he says “CUZ HE MISSED!” This got a huge roar of approval from the crowd and was eaily the best part of the show so far.

Garvin talks about renting an apartment to the rest of them and Percy, and Percy almost burning it down by throwing a fire-lit chair into the pool. Garvin talks about loving being valet for the day for Kevin, then facing Chris Adams and loving Patty – his wife of 47 years. Garvin thanks her, their kids, and grandkids. He says he was honored to be a Freebird before officially being in it, and without them, he wouldn’t have had the ability to be what he was in wrestling. Or be able to party with Michael, Buddy, and Terry – and he’ll cherish those memories forever. Hayes makes sure that the WCCW roster gets some love, with Garvin being shown in his WCW getup during this portion. Hayes thanks his mom, even though when he was a kid, he was trying to mack on a girl and she killed it by asking for dungarees in the husky department. “Hollywood” John Tatum gets a pop, and a caemo while Hayes thanks the writers of WWE – who get huge boos. Hayes says he was disgusted when he first heard “smiles on faces”, but he went to a house show, and realized just how true it was. Hayes says to prove how crazy he is, he thanks his ex-wives. Claire believed in him, while Lory gave him some of the craziest times he could’ve ever had. Michael thanks the McMahons for helping him out in dark times, and says that Linda is the only one who isn’t crazy – but she did only let him sing one song at Hunter and Steph’s wedding, and almost accidentally peed on her on a plane. Hayes says that if you don’t believe in yourself, you should because he never thought he’d be standing on-stage as a WWE hall of famer. Michael gives a tribute to his dog Jojo, who he lost two years ago. Hayes talks about being told years ago that you should cherish the time you have, and not worry about the time you’ve wasted.

He brings Kevin Von Erich out and says that the Freebirds were brothers because they loved each other, but calls New Day the “New Gay Guys” in an amusing little bit. He talks about loving and missing his brothers. He now has his sons Marshall and Ross, and after they got a chance to steal the show at Slammiversary, they get a nice cameo at the Hall of Fame too. He said they had a lot of fun beating each other up, it made for great TV, and God bless Texas. Hayes gives a shoutout to Badstreet USA and we hear that classic theme one more time on WWE TV before Hayes dances and then sings the song. Oh my God, this is glorious. Hayes is out to steal the show and keep his job at the same time. WWE gave Hayes 15 more minutes of fame tonight, and he took 90 – God bless him.

The Big Bossman hall of fame video features some great clips of him in the WWF while Miz talks about how fans in the Attitude era paid to see his hardcore matches. And I guess that Austin fella helped a bit too. Slick rattled off a slew of cliches about Bossman and said that his pockets are full of green thanks to him. He says that while his family lost a father and husband, heaven gained a Guardian Angel. Bossman’s theme hits and his family comes out to accept the award in his honor. One of his daughters says that it was a bit tough watching him wrestle when he was getting beaten up by Rikishi and having his face shoved into his backside. Al Snow gets a brief shoutout as “some dude” – which seems like the punchline to a Mick Foley standup joke. Angela, Ray’s wife shows the night stick and says that Ray loved his family before tearing up. She gets in a great line with “When you have Rick Steiner as your roommate for a few years, you learn a lot!”

Snoop Dogg highlight video sets up him going into the hall of fame. John Cena comes out to induct Snoop and gets a chorus of boos. He says that saying hi to Snoop doesn’t always mean hello. Cena says that Snoop’s WWE career began two years than his did, and he made more WM appearances than 10 of the wrestlers tomorrow. Cena says that WWE is Snoop’s home, which means that there could be some interesting results for tomorrow’s drug tests. He talks about calling himself the Doctor of Thuganomics years ago, and Snoop invited him into his studio and he got to make music with him. Snoop come sout looking amazing and saying he’s got to keep it hood and get a selfie with the crowd. Snoop says that “WWE is the number one sport in the world – not just America, but the world!” and puts over Cena for letting him live the WWE life when he visits. Snoop gives his cousin Sasha Banks a nice shoutout. He took her to WrestleMania in 2008 and she lit up. I bet he did too. Snoop was overjoyed to see her face on the side of AT&T Stadium. Her journey is something else, and he grew up seeing Gorilla and Andre live, and tells the crowd to give themselves a round of applause for being fans. Tony Atlas was an inspiration for Snoop, as were Rocky Johnson, JYD, Dusty Rhodes, and Ric Flair. Snoops raps about the hall of fame while reading lyrics off of his iPhone.

D

We get a rundown of Joan Lunden’s broadcasting career and battle with cancer, alongside her current role as a breast cancer advocate. Dana Warrior talks about how much she’s learned about life since losing Warrior two years ago. She cuts a great promo in this speech on how Real Housewives just copied WWE with table-flipping. Joan is put over as a mother, grandmother, and ultimate badass fighter for beating cancer and going into “Warrior Mode” to beat cancer. Joan says that due to cancer, she learned about how to become a warrior and overcome odds. She says that “there are no fans like the WWE fans”, which I’m sure was meant as a compliment, but could be misconstrued. Ditto “there is no other company like WWE!” She says that WWE has its Rock, but she has hers – it isn’t Don Muraco, but her husband.

Sting’s TV hall of fame video is shown again for the show – kind of a shame it wasn’t expanded upon for the full show since he is the main eventer on it. Ric pays tribute to Roddy Piper and Dusty Rhodes before tearing up, then composing himself to get Dusty’s wife to stand up. Ric puts over Charlotte as carrying the family tradition, and chats about Sting for a bit too before cutting a promo on Stan Hansen for losing to Rick Martel in 9 seconds, but he wouldn’t even sell for him – and Brody wouldn’t either! Flair told Sting to go to WWE years ago and rattles off his Sting-Flair formula. When he was asked to change it up, he said why – it works, and it sure did. It was a great formula for Flair and Bobby Roode replicated it perfectly in TNA. He puts over HHH as being one of the best ever, and loves HBK for carrying him at WrestleMania XXIV – and gets in a little dig at HBK for saying “just shut up and listen to me” for his WWE retirement match. Ric talks about Steamboat and says they’re each 0-4 for marriages, while DDP is only 0-2. He’s glad Sting finally got a chance to come to WWE because it’s the place to be. Ric says that he was sure Sting would get blown up at WrestleMania last year, but he didn’t – but HHH beat him then too.

Sting says he made his WWE debut on Raw in this very building, and how he didn’t know anything about wrestling until he saw Big John Studd, Andre the Giant, the British Bulldogs, and it was pandemonium when he saw them. Sting talks about not knowing what Waffle House was when he was just getting in, and Warrior having a crazy breakfast with tons of stuff just on top of other things. They pretty much lived in his ’83 T-bird and he promised God that he’d give back if he was able to make it in pro wrestling. Sting says that at one time, over 400 companies were making products with his likeness on there. He wonders if anyone still has a Sting air freshener. I bet a Snoop air freshener would sell quickly. He talks about the Seth match and Seth apologizing to him, but Sting telling them to let him talk – and he told him that he dressed as Sting for Halloween and “he had a shootin’ look on his face too!”. He rattles off some great lines. “One of the highlights of my career was teaming with Robocop and Leon, remember the White Castle of Fear – boy this WWE Network has a lot of good stuff on me…” He shares a tale of an NWO beating resulting in Kevin Nash spooning with him. He talks about Surfer Sting, Crow Sting, and asks if he should mention Joker Sting and does. Sting says that he was a chameleon, and it hurt him because he didn’t stand for anything and would fall for anything.

He made bad choices, and while people saw the Sting persona at its peak, in his real life, everything slipped through his fingers. In August of 1998, he was pinned by God. Since that point, his life has been back in order and he’s now with the fans, his wife, kids, mother, and daughter. He says he got bragging rights by appearing at WrestleMania and facing a great like HHH. He is proud to be a WWE Hall of Famer and thanks Jim Hellwig. A “one more match” chant breaks out and then an even louder “Undertaker” one happens. He thanks 2K for some advice, and thanks his trainers for getting him in shape for both WrestleMania and Night of Champions. He thanks Jim Ross for his advice over the year, and Michael Hayes.

Sting shows us his family, including his parents, who look fantastic for their age. He thanks his children and stepson for becoming the young men and women they’ve become. Sting says that without the fans, there wouldn’t be a Sting, Stone Cold, or Bruno. He enjoyed entertaining the fans for all the years he has. He announces his official retirement from wrestling tonight – and while it was something that was expected since September, it was still sad. He at least went out in the ring giving everything he had, and main eventing a WWE pay-per-view that wound up doing very well. He puts on some shades, grabs his bat and says “it’s not goodbye – just see you later”. Sting’s speech was excellent, and one of the better ones on the show. It’s a shame he didn’t mention Lex Luger in his speech – and a little surprising. Whle Michael Hayes stole the show, Sting’s speech felt genuine and was something to be remembered. Ditto for Stan Hansen’s. Snoop’s speech could be edited for a Sasha Banks video and make her a star in one night on Raw – it was that good.

To see all the screens for the show, just click here.

Kalisto def. Heath Slater w/ Social Outcasts by pinfall

The obligatory terrible pre-match promo centres around Bo calling Kalisto “sugar face”. Yeah, I have no earthly idea why that’s supposed to be funny either.

Rich Brennan mentions that Kalisto was “banged up” on RAW, but apparently it’s feasible to recover from “minor whiplash” in 24 hours. The match was about what you’d expect from these two; exciting when Kalisto was on offence and stultifyingly dull during the heat.

Kalisto hit his usual comeback sequence, before finishing a needlessly long 11 minute match with a Salida Del Sol. The US Champion used an interfering Curtis Axel for leverage in a repeat of the finish from his match against Bo Dallas on last week’s Superstars. Way to go, creative.

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– We return from the second commercial break with the defeated Outcasts still in the ring, squabbling amongst themselves. Bo breaks it up by recommending that they take their frustration out on the next man that walks to the ring. That man is Apollo Crews.

Apollo Crews def. Bo Dallas by pinfall

Crews enters to one of CFO$’ better recent entrance theme efforts, a tune that seems to fit his buoyant personality perfectly. I was tempted to say it fits his character perfectly, but he doesn’t really have one; hence the nickname ‘Smiley Black Man’ that he enjoys in this household, which helpfully marks out his only three defining characteristics.

Crews, like Kalisto, is another athletic babyface that is doomed to cycle through the Social Outcasts at the minute. He adds to his recent victories over Axel and Adam Rose by putting away Bo Dallas in a three minute squash here, finishing him with the spinning sitout powerbomb deal.

Kevin Owens def. Dolph Ziggler by pinfall

Well now, this was something to behold; unquestionably the best match that this show has produced since I started covering it last year. Owens put on a heel clinic here, with the majority of the bout focused on burnishing his new self-gifted “headlock master” moniker.

A string of Owens side headlocks kicked us off, with the former IC champion desperate to convince the referee that Dolph was conceding defeat: “He said yes, I heard him!”. Owens’ attention then turned to the old reliable reverse chinlock, with one application of the hold engaged after running the ropes to fool the fans into expecting action (Owens: “This is my new thing!”).

Ziggler eventually fought up from one of these with a back suplex (Owens: “He broke my headlock!”), before commencing a hot comeback that the crowd very much went with. Owens cut him off with a boot to the chin, before hitting a massive frog splash from the top rope for two. The former Mr. Steen roared at Jerry Lawler to tell the ref that was three, to which The King shouted back: “I agree!”.

Owens signaled for his finish, but Ziggler leaped over his shoulders instead and planted him with a superkick for an excellent nearfall that everybody (including me) bit on. This prompted the lesser-heard “This is awesome!” chant from the watching San Diego crowd.

That led us into the finish, with Owens kicking out of a schoolboy before catching a frantic Ziggler on the rebound with the Pop-Up Powerbomb for the win.

After the bell, the always insecure bully heel ran to the announce desk to shout the odds at Rich Brennan, before stealing his phone to teach him a lesson! Hilarious.

Final Thoughts

What an absolutely amazing heel performer this company possesses in Kevin Owens. The fact that they prefer to use their anointed top babyface as a tweener rather than feature the best natural bad guy at their disposal makes no sense to me. Every heel in the business should sit down and watch what this guy did with restholds for 16 minutes here. And the little nuances he adds to his character – like the need for praise from babyface announcers – are something that very few others can bring to the table either. Watch this match and skip the Social Outcasts tripe.

With heavy changes coming to the WWE Network, specifically the WWE removing the ability for multiple people or devices to sign in to one account, it will be interesting to see if that effects the viewership numbers for tomorrow’s WWE Payback pay per view / network special event. The initiative was supposedly set to start March 1st, but it has taken some time to go into effect. Some fans are now receiving a message that reads “stream limit exceeded” when attempting to login, signifying that someone else or another device is currently logged in. The WWE has changed their Terms of Service to read: 

Access to WWE Network is subject to approval of your Payment Method information and verification of other information you submit to us or that is otherwise provided to us. Accordingly, if your payment (flat fee or monthly) cannot be processed for any reason, including because your Payment Method is no longer valid, we may terminate your access to the WWE Network immediately. Although your WWE Network subscription is accessible on a number of devices, your use is limited to one (1) WWE Network stream on one (1) device at any given time. IF YOU CIRCUMVENT OR ATTEMPT TO CIRCUMVENT ANY OF THE USE RESTRICTIONS IN THESE TERMS, YOUR SUBSCRIPTION WILL BE SUBJECT TO IMMEDIATE TERMINATION AND YOU MAY BE SUBJECT TO LEGAL ACTION. SHARING OF LOGIN INFORMATION, INCLUDING PASSWORDS, IS STRICTLY FORBIDDEN.

If you are a “piggy backer” on the WWE network, today would be a good time to subscribe yourself as there may be a mass attempt to sign up tomorrow, just before the beginning of the PPV once people realize that they no longer can “borrow” a friend’s account.

Camp WWE debuts on the WWE network immediately after the PPV tomorrow. 

WWE PAYBACK ON SUNDAY ON THE WWE NETWORK STARTING AT 7:30 P.M. EASTERN TIME FROM THE ALLSTATE ARENA IN CHICAGO

Roman Reigns vs. A.J. Styles for WWE title
Dean Ambrose vs. Chris Jericho
Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens
The Miz vs. Cesaro for IC title
Charlotte vs. Natalya for women’s title (Ric Flair and Bret Hart in the corners)
Enzo & Cass vs. Vaudevillains for a tag team title shot
Kalisto vs Ryback for the U.S. title (preshow match at 7:30 p.m.)

WRESTLING DONTAKU ON TUESDAY MORNING AT 5 A.M. EASTERN TIME FROM THE FUKUOKA INTERNATIONAL CENTER ARENA ON NEW JAPAN WORLD

Captain New Japan & Juice Robinson vs. Bad Luck Fale & Yujiro Takahashi
Tiger Mask & Ryusuke Taguchi & Jay White & David Finlay vs. Kazushi Sakuraba & Yoshi-Hashi & Will Ospreay & Gedo
Rocky Romero & Trent Baretta vs. Matt Sydal & Ricochet for IWGP jr. tag titles
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Michael Elgin & Yoshitatsu vs. Kenny Omega & Young Bucks for Never six man tag titles
Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma vs. Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa for IWGP tag team titles
Katsuyori Shibata vs. Yuji Nagata for Never title
Kushida vs. Jushin Liger for IWGP jr. title
Hirooki Goto vs. Evil
Kazuchika Okada vs. Seiya Sanada
Tetsuya Naito vs. Tomohiro Ishii for IWGP heavyweight title

Raw will be Monday night in St. Louis at the Scottrade Center.

Smackdown and Main Event will be taped on Tuesday night at the Sprint Center in Kansas City.

THE ROUNDUP

NXT Full Sail tapings results: Bayley “injury”; Finn Balor returns; big debuts  
Bayley (maybe) injured at NXT tapings  
Former TNA World Champion debuts at NXT tapings
The Week In British Wrestling: PROGRESS marches on; RevPro sells out
WWE NXT results: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. The Drifter; Samoa Joe title win footage. 

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Figure Four Weekly 4/25/2016: Concussion lawsuit update – All the inside information you would ever want to know about concussion lawsuits.

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Wrestling Observer Newsletter

READ IT HERE: The death of Joanie “Chyna” Laurer and the saga of Conor McGregor and UFC

The life and career of Joanie “Chyna” Laurer and the saga of Conor McGregor out of UFC 200 and Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier as the new main event are the lead stories in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. There is also an update the TNA situation, with tons of notes on the future of TNA and Lucha Underground and one of the best wrestlers in the world joins ROH.

The lead story looks at the life of Joanie Laurer. The story examines the circumstances of her death, the publicity it received, the media coverage that never looked past the surface and was almost totally lacking context regarding her role in wrestling, and her post wrestling life. The story also looks at her start in pro wrestling, how she got into WWE, her role in the ascension of HHH to the top of the card, how she was booked, how the relationship with HHH benefited her, and just how hot pro wrestling was during that time period.

A look back at her IC title win and the back story, and why her title reign was so short along with a look at her run with Eddy Guerrero, doing Playboy, her departure from WWE, why she never lost the women’s title, her most-watched match of her career and it wasn’t in WWE, the attempt to make her a star in Japan, the WWE Hall of Fame and her life after wrestling, all in this issue.

This issue examines how Conor McGregor managed to get himself off the biggest UFC event of the year, how his strategy backfired, the UFC press conferences, the new Cormier vs. Jones fight, business notes for UFC 200 as well as a rundown of UFC 197, with all the business news, match-by-match coverage, pay records and poll results.

In this issue, there is a look at the upcoming Payback show, notes about the angle for power, the NXT title change, the return of John Cena, Bret Hart talks return to WWE, update on WWE Board of Directors, update on the concussion lawsuits and counter suits, WWE trying to make moves to Japan, WWE with new movie partnership, WWE wins awards and the update on the Global cruiserweight series. Finally, there is also a look at the Adam Rose suspension, a new WWE book, plus details on all the NXT shows over the past week as well as the complete WWE European tour.

CLICK HERE FOR A FULL PREVIEW

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Click here for the most requested Wrestling Observer back issues.

If you wanted to know just how big Giant Baba was to people who grew up in the 60s and 70s, the latest back issue will explain.
Check out the latest Online Wrestling Observer BACK ISSUE: February 15, 1999 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Reaction to the death of Giant Baba, 2 wrestlers have heart scares, plus tons more  A look at the surprising public reaction to the death of Giant Baba, 2 wrestlers have heart attack scares, plus tons of news and notes.

SATURDAY NEWS UPDATE

Regarding the WWE Network clamping down on password sharing, we have gotten mixed reports in the last few days. Some have noted that they can only watch on one device in their household (meaning, if they’re watching on Apple TV, if they try to go outside and watch on their phone they encounter issues), and others have said they’ve had no problems watching on two devices at the same time. It may be that two devices are allowed if connected to the same IP address, meaning if you try to watch on your phone over 4G LTE it might flag you.

If you are encountering issues with the WWE network, we’d love your feedback sent to [email protected], since he’ll be discussing this on Sunday’s Wrestling Observer Live and it will be pertinent with WWE Payback airing later in the day.

Both the National Enquirer and the Globe have articles on Chyna this week. Her death garnered a significant amount of mainstream media attention which continues this weekend.  It likely would have gotten even more had Prince not passed away and dominated media coverage.  As noted over the last few days, WWE has added a Chyna collection to the WWE Network.

Smackdown did 2.1 million viewers this week, down over 300,000 from last week. Rough week for WWE ratings.

WWE & Pro Wrestling

We will have several ROH guests on Wrestling Observer Live next week in advance of Sunday’s PPV, including ROH champion Jay Lethal, Kyle O’Reilly, and CHEESEBURGER!
Congratulations to Kofi Kingston and his wife on the birth of their fourth child, Orion Kingsley Sarkodie-Mensah.There are a couple cool events coming up in Kansas City. In just two weeks, you can meet Kurt Angle at the KC Pro Wrestling Training Center in Lenexa, KS. Then, on June 4, we return to Turner Rec Center for Metro Pro Wrestling’s Sixth Anniversary Show, featuring legendary tag team Demolition and the beginning of a 16-man tournament for the Metro Pro Championship. You can buy tickets for our June show now.
This week’s 6:05 Superpodcast with David Bixenspan and Brian Last features the first part of their interview with wrestling radio and fan convention pioneer John Arezzi (covering his days as Freddie Blassie’s fan club president, talking his way into doing WWWF TV jobs, his early conventions, and more), a Michael Hayes interview from Dallas radio in 1988 (promoting his concert at the Sportatorium), some amazing stories and uncanny impressions from Tom Robinson in the Dennis of Week, a discussion of the promotions in the running for the ESPN wrestling slot in 1985., and much more.
In the new documentary about Foxcatcher, which was at one point the DuPont owned Olympic wrestling training facility, the Schult’s wife describes Dave Schultz’s last moments, “I gave him a kiss on the forehead and he died.”
Seth Green talks about Camp WWE and what it was like to work with Vince McMahon.
Lince Dorado talks the WWE Global Cruiserweight Tournament.
Johnny Gargano was the latest guest on the Pancakes and Powerslams Show. It was a great discussion, covering who he idolized as a kid, who he idolizes now, meeting Randy Savage, pro wrestlers still being fans, booking a dream feud for WrestleMania 33, and more. Here is the Sports Illustrated write up. (thanks to Chris Featherstone)

UFC & Mixed Martial Arts

There is a Titan FC show tonight on UFC Fight Pass 
Here is an article on the subject of Jon Jones and his career ascent.

EVENTS

4/30 Pro Wrestling in Santa Cruz, CA at the VFW Hall on 7th ave. This show is 21+ and will have 7 matches. For tickets go to ComedySuplex.com. 
4/30 Tonight’s Gold Rush Pro Wrestling’s Reach For The Gold V Event will stream live at 7pm pst. Main Event: Heavyweight Title Ladder Match JR Kratos (c) vs. Boyce LeGrande, plus a 4 Way Tag Title match and more!
4/30 – Absolute Intense Wrestling “Girls Night Out 17” – Doors: 6:00PM, bell:7:30PM, live From Our Lady Of Mount Carmel, 1355 West 70th Street, Cleveland,Ohio 
4/30 AIW Girls Night Out in Cleveland at Our Lady of Mount Carmel with Heidi Lovelace vs Crazy Mary Dobson, Gail Kim vs. Lufisto, Kelly Klein vs. Marti Belle, Maria Manic vs. Cristina Diamond plus Shayna Baszler, Mia Yim (Jade) and more.
4/30 Legacy Wrestling in Manheim, PA, with Johnny Gargano, Koko B. Ware, Dave Crist, Candice LeRae, and more.
5/1 IWA Mid South on Sunday in New Albany, IN  at the Pride Bar & Lounge with Kongo Kong vs. Reed Bentley as the main event.
5/6 Evolve in Baltimore
5/6 AAW in Merrionette Park, IL, featuring Sami Callihan vs. Ciampa, Pentagon Jr. vs. Fenix, Michael Elgin vs. Matt Cage, Moose, Silas Young, AR Fox, Donovan Dijak, Kimber Lee, and tons more.
5/6 Dem Great North Wrestling in Ottawa, Canada
Tatanka headlined by River City Wrestling on 5/6 in Cibolo TX at the Old Main Ice House.  Hernandez is also on that show.
Northeast Wrestling runs 5/6 in Schenectady, NY at the Armory with Jeff Hardy, Matt Hardy, Booker T, Mike Bennett, Maria Kanellis, Hanson and Eddie Edwards.  They also run 5/7 in Waterbury,CT a the Waterbury PAL Building with Matt Hardy, Hanson, Kamaitachi, Mike Bennett, Maria Kanellis and Dijak.  Among the matches in Waterbury are Hanson vs. Ron Zombie, Matt Hardy vs. Brian Anthony and Kamaitachi vs. JT Dunn. 
5/7 Dynamo Pro Wrestling in St. Louis at the Cinco de Mayo Festival on the corner of Ohio and Cherookee St..  Matches will take place at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. with free admission.  They will also air an evening show at 7 p.m. at  Stratford Bar & Grill at 800 S. Highway Dr. in Fenton, MO.
5/7 Evolve in Queens at La Boom
5/7 UWC in Wrightstown, NJ at Kelly’s Bar and Banquet Hall.
5/7 CHIKARA in Philadelphia at the Wrestle Factory.
5/7 New England Championship Wrestling on 5/7 in Wakefield, MA with all the titles on the line.
5/7 Hoosier Pro Wrestling in Columbus, IN at the 4-H Fairgrounds.
NWA Collision Course on 5/7 in Kingsport, TN at the Civic Auditorium with Chase Owens & X-Pac vs. Jordan Kage & Chris Richards, Jason Kincaid vs. Michael Elgin and more.
Maryland Championship Wrestling on 5/13 in Joppa, MD with MCW vs. Global Force Wrestling at the MCW Arena headlined by Nick Aldis vs. Brian Myers for the GFW title and Jeff Jarrett & Punk Rock All-Stars vs. Ken Dixon & The Ecktourage.  There is also a GFW Next Gen title match with Sonjay Dutt vs. DJ Zema Ion vs. Lio Rush.
5/27 Promociones El Cholo runs Tijuana at the Auditorio with Atlantis & Caristico & Valiente vs. Cibernetico & Sharly Rockstar & Ultimo Guerrero as the main event.
5/28 CWE on 5/28 in Thunder Bay, ONT has Frankie Kazarian, Silas Young, Jason Kincaid, Chase Owens and Lio Rush.
Smash Wrestling on 6/11 in Oshawa, ONT.

Today in professional wrestling history: Superstar Billy Graham wins WWWF World Title; The Rock wins WWF Title

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