Bellator MMA officially announced the postponement of their June Chicago, IL, event due to the coronavirus pandemic but may be just a few months away from returning to action.
Bellator 244 was scheduled for Saturday, June 6th, at the Wintrust Arena, and was scheduled to be headlined by a rematch between Michael Chandler and Benson Henderson and a featherweight Grand Prix bout between A.J. McKee and Darrion Caldwell.
However, Bellator president Scott Coker told MMA Fighting Tuesday that they are looking at resuming action in either June or July on a ViacomCBS studio lot in Hollywood, CA, but with no fans and less than 50 essential personnel in attendance. ViacomCBS owns Bellator.
The current ban on combat sports events in California lasts through the end of May and Coker said he is anticipating new medical requirements from the state athletic commission due to the pandemic. The promotion has postponed four shows thus far, but had no scheduled shows past June.
The combat sports world is continuing to push the envelope to be the first sport to return back to action as the UFC is moving ahead with plans to hold the newly rechristened UFC 249 on May 9th from an undisclosed location.
NXT tops AEW in total viewers, Dynamite keeps 18-49 demo lead
WWE postpones UK SmackDown tour, cancels NXT UK tapings
AEW Dynamite video highlights: TNT title tournament kicks off
WWE NXT video highlights: Ciampa vs. Gargano
Matt Hardy challenges Jericho to ‘The Elite Deletion’ on AEW Dynamite
Cody advances in AEW’s TNT Championship tournament
Interim NXT Cruiserweight title tournament to begin next week
Io Shirai becomes number one contender to NXT Women’s title
Strowman segment, Women’s tag title rematch set for WWE SmackDown
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Are you interested in attending our annual F4W/WON convention? We will hold it during AEW Double or Nothing weekend. For more information, check this post for activities and prices.
WON NEWSLETTER: April 6, 2020 Observer Newsletter: Florida lockdown, WrestleMania preview
A look at plans for AEW and WWE tapings, the guidelines set forth by Donald Trump, how both companies violated them, and why UFC simply can’t adhere to them is the lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
It’s a news-packed issue giving the full background of WrestleMania including the dollars lost by WWE in doing the show the way they did, why the reasons for doing it now make no sense, who was taken off the show and why, what key thing that relates to both fighting and pro wrestling that makes certain people higher risk that everyone is ignoring, where the WWE medical staff failed at their jobs with Roman Reigns and others, the WWE’s false advertising, Reigns speaks on why he didn’t do the show, Brie Bella talks on why she had mixed feelings on Daniel Bryan doing the show, plus a match-by-match rundown with thoughts on everything.
The new issue also covers:
The changes in WrestleMania business, why what seems to make no sense has a long-term thought process but where it may be flawed, why WWE flooded television with product this week and why it’s dangerous not to keep this up.
The falling apart of the Tony Ferguson vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov fight, what Nurmagomedov and Dana White said this week as well Tony Ferguson’s demands ad who else was in contention for top spots on the show. Joe Rogan also talks why he’s not doing the show no matter what, as well as the reaction of the other leading groups while UFC insists on going forward.
The hidden story that nobody has talked about regarding a pro wrestling event where the coronavirus has already spread.
New WWE television deals, a major WWE deal ends and why. What WWE stars head the most popular YouTube shows, Canadian TV ratings, U.K. TV ratings, Drew McIntyre talks WrestleMania, Seth Rollins talks operating a small business during these times, Edge talks about how he’s improved his promos, WWE market value plus the most-watched shows of the past week on the WWE network.
The Japanese scene, who is still running, who isn’t, what shows were canceled last minute as well as the state of sports in Japan and South Korea.
Six months from now or longer, when people are allowed to go to live entertainment events who things may change greatly and who is hurts the most.
Live attendance, television numbers the future of television and streaming and how it also affects the smaller groups.
DAZN’s decision to withhold payments to sorts leagues and what that says about its future.
Update the arrest of Jon Jones, with details on his plea bargain, what happened when he was stopped, the government’s reaction to Jones, both officers and their report as well as Jones’ reaction to what happened.
A look back at the 2019 Wrestling Observer awards with comments on a number of categories, who was and wasn’t deserving, the closest categories, and more on winners and close placings.
A feature on the life and career of Dean Silverstone, a former promoter and historian who was one of the key people in keeping wrestlers from the past in touch with each other through the Cauliflower Alley Club. We look at his role in wrestling, how he first got into wrestling, his promotion, his book, life after wrestling and how he got back into wrestling through his wife and ripper Collins.
Full coverage of all the WWE and AEW television shows from the past week.
In-depth looks at the ratings of all the major shows, the key demos and quarters for AEW and WWE, what happened head-to-head and what can be learned from them.
Results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.
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THURSDAY NEWS UPDATE
WWE
On the latest episode of his podcast, Jerry Lawler said he’s headed back to the Performance Center on Monday and returning to the commentary team for WWE’s Raw tapings.
During his appearance on Corey Graves’ After the Bell podcast. Edge spoke about his last man standing match against Randy Orton from WrestleMania and the reaction it received: “I’m very very proud of it. I’ve heard there’s feedback that it was too long…all of the feedback I’ve gotten personally to myself or to my social media feeds has been all positive. When I have Bret Hart call me and tell me that he loved it because it looked like a fight, well I don’t care what anybody else says from that point on, because his opinion to me has more weight than absolutely everyone anywhere. Nobody’s gonna top his opinion to me, and if he liked it, and he thought it was a fight, good, mission accomplished. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, it’s wrestling, right? It’s art. It’s subjective, whatever blows your hair back. Randy and I have broad shoulders and we can weather the weight of a minuscule militia of malcontents who will just want to complain about everything. Complain about the length of a wrestling match during a pandemic? Really? Come on. But they are also the same people that are gonna complain that Bill and Brock go for four minutes. I just think there is a segment of people that enjoy not enjoying things and dwell on negatives, but I focus on positives.”
WWE is adjourning its annual stockholders’ meeting due to the coronavirus pandemic: “World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: WWE) today announced that it intends to convene and then immediately adjourn, its Annual Meeting of Stockholders due to the rapidly evolving public health concerns relating to the COVID-19 pandemic and governmental actions related thereto, including the State of Connecticut’s Executive Order No. 7H dated March 20, 2020. The Annual Meeting is scheduled to occur at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time on Thursday April 16, 2020. The Annual Meeting will be convened and then immediately adjourned to a time and place that will be announced at the meeting and by press release. The record date will remain February 20, 2020. Stockholders should comply with applicable restrictions and not attend the Annual Meeting on April 16.”
Becky Lynch told the Irish Mirror that she wants to be involved in NXT UK TakeOver: Dublin: “I would love to (be involved at NXT UK TakeOver: Dublin). The request was already put in… on my end anyway.”
Elias did a live concert on his Instagram account tonight at 6 p.m. Eastern time.
Three episodes of WWE’s Ruthless Aggression docuseries will air on FS1 next Tuesday leading into WWE Backstage. The John Cena, Evolution, and Brock Lesnar episodes are the ones listed as airing.
WrestleMania 36 is airing on BT Sport in the UK and Ireland at 9 p.m. local time this Saturday and Sunday.
Ahead of the series premiering on Monday, the trailer has been released for WWE’s “Fight Like a Girl” on Quibi.
WWE uploaded a bonus clip from Edge’s WWE 24 documentary. The clip is about Edge’s favorite cheat meal.
The WWE Performance Center’s YouTube channel has a Road to WrestleMania video on Rhea Ripley.
Other Wrestling
While appearing on Busted Open Radio, Cody said Brodie Lee’s character isn’t an outright spoof of Vince McMahon: “Very unlikely on AEW will you ever hear the name ‘Vince McMahon’ said. If you do hear me say it in interviews, in general, I always speak very highly of Vince because A. he’s Vince McMahon. B. I was a WWE guy to start. I didn’t come from anywhere else. I came up through their feeder system and they are the house that built me. When it comes to some of the parallels, I don’t want to be vague or coy, between Brodie’s style of leadership, there are a lot of unique parallels. But I don’t think it’s particularly a spoof of Vince McMahon. Maybe we’ll see how it develops in the next few weeks. I think Brodie has a very power boss, animal kingdom type approach to the Dark Order and I think that falls in line with some of Vince’s quirks. But it is not an outright spoof on the legendary Vince McMahon.”
With the lack of live sports, MLW announced that they’re presenting additional re-airs of Fusion on beIN Sports: “As the demand for sports programming increases, Major League Wrestling will present additional re-airs of its 60 minute FUSION series on beIN SPORTS. MLW’s flagship series MLW FUSION will air every night at 10 p.m. Eastern / 7 p.m. Pacific nationwide on beIN SPORTS starting tonight. New episodes of MLW FUSION will continue to air on Saturday nights on beIN SPORTS. Tune in this Saturday at 10 p.m. for a special air time for the latest episode.”
Allysin Kay did a watch along looking back at her first match on NWA Power.
MMA
Prior to UFC 249 being canceled, Rose Namajunas’ manager issued a statement saying that Namajunas withdrew from the show due to two deaths in her family that were related to the coronavirus: “@rosenamajunas withdrew from UFC 249 due to 2 deaths in the family related to the Coronavirus. Her hopes are to return to the Octagon as soon as possible but for now we ask for people to respect their privacy during this time.”
Daily Pro Wrestling History: Jim Crockett Promotions purchases UWF
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UFC Bantamweight Champion TJ Dillashaw was injured while preparing for his title defense against former champion Renan Barao and the fight is no longer moving forward. Dillashaw suffered an injury to his rib and there is no word on if Barao will fight a substitute nor what the status is of Dillashaw’s recovery time.
Dillashaw vs. Barao was scheduled as the main-event of the April 25th show in Montreal. This marks the first significant fight of 2015 to be canceled due to injury.
Demetrious Johnson vs. Kyoji Horiguchi for the UFC Flyweight Title will most likely slide into the main-event slot now. Previously slated as the co main-event, Johnson will look to make his 6th title defense.
While a blow, the card itself is still relatively deep, as it currently features the return of Quinton “Rampage” Jackson to the UFC as he takes on Brazilian Fabio Maldonado, though the status of that fight may change as Bellator has been attempting to get an injuction ordered that would prevent the fight from moving forward. Michael Bisping squaring off with C.B. Dollaway marks the other main attraction of the night.
The full card is as follows:
Demetrious Johnson vs. Kyoji Horiguchi for the UFC Flyweight Championship
Premier Boxing made its debut on CBS on April 4th, headlined by WBC Light-Heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson beating Sakio Bika via unanimous decision after twelve rounds at the Pepsi Coliseum in Quebec City. It was the third show held by Premier Boxing after the promotion debuted on NBC on March 7th and then returned for an event on Spike on March 13th.
The show aired on CBS from 3pm ET to 5pm. The first hour of the show, which included a fourth-round knockout victory for Artur Beterbiyev (8-0) against Gabriel Campillo (25-7-1, 1NC) at light-heavyweight as well as a ton of hype for Mayweather-Pacquiao, went up against the final hour of the UFC Fight Night from Fairfax on Fox Sports 1. The co-main event of Al Iaquinta vs Jorge Masvidal on the UFC card began a few minutes after Premier Boxing’s broadcast opened.
Premier’s main event of Stevenson beating Bika in a one-sided decision went on at 4pm, just as the UFC event was ending. Stevenson (26-1) was able to knock Bika down in the sixth and the ninth rounds, but was unable to finish Bika (32-6-3) and had to settle for a unanimous decision victory on scores of 115-111, 116-110, and 115-110.
Bika, 35, was making his debut at 175 pounds and was clearly a fighter brought in to showcase Adonis, as Bika was coming off a unanimous decision loss to Anthony Dirrell (26-0-1) last August.
The first few rounds were competitive, although Adonis was clearly winning each round. Adonis appeared to knock Bika down in the fifth, but it was ruled a trip after Bika pulled Adonis down to the mat with him. Adonis then started landing hard straight lefts from his southpaw position and was showboating for the crowd once he had a few winning rounds under his belt.
Adonis knocked Bika down with a straight left in the sixth, although Bika argued with the ref that it was a trip, as he got right back up. In the ninth round, however, there was no dispute as Adonis knocked Bika down again in the closing seconds of the round and might have been able to finish Bika if not for the bell. Adonis really started to showboat for the crowd at this point, although Bika came back and landed some hard shots in the twelfth round.
Adonis said little of note in his post-fight interview, saying only that Bika was tough and that people should no longer question his own chin. Adonis wasn’t asked about Sergey Kovalev, who is the mandatory challenger to Adonis’ WBC Light-Heavyweight title and who holds all the other major belts at light-heavyweight. Adonis, 37, has been accused of ducking Kovalev as well as Bernard Hopkins, taking easier fights to protect his title and drawing power.
A purse bid has been ordered for Kovalev vs Adonis on April 17th. Kovalev (27-0-1) last fought on HBO a few weeks ago and is scheduled to face Nadjib Mohammedi (37-3) in either June or July. If the fight between Adonis and Kovalev were to happen this year, it would likely happen after that, with Kovalev, 32, as the heavy favourite going in.
“I’d love to unify the belts eventually, but I’ll let my manager, Al Haymon, take care of that. My dream is to unify all the titles and become the first fighter from Quebec to do so,” said Stevenson in the week before the fight against Bika. Stevenson’s fights normally air on pay per view in Quebec, even when they are on Showtime elsewhere, but this match aired on CBS in the province, same as everywhere else, making it one of the few times in recent memory that a major fight in Quebec was also broadcast in the province free.
In the co-main on CBS, Beterbiyev destroyed an overmatched Campillo, with the former looking like a new star in the process. Beterbiyev scored a knockdown less than a minute into the fight with a jab and right hook combination. Beterbiyev controlled the second and third rounds before scoring another knockdown in the fourth that resulted in the knockout win. Beterbiyev, who is from Russia but fights out of Montreal, was interviewed through a translator after the fight and was asked about a title match, but didn’t commit to anything and said nothing of note.
Although Beterbiyev has only eight pro fights, debuting in June 2013 and fighting exclusively in Quebec, he has finished all eight of his opponents and looks more seasoned than his record indicates. He was clearly a fighter that Premier Boxing was looking to build into a name with this fight and should face someone with more marquee value next time out.
With the Beterbiyev fight going so short, CBS also aired the final two rounds of Julian Williams (19-0-1) beating Joey Hernandez (24-3-1) by unanimous decision after ten rounds at welterweight. Williams, 24, is a rising contender, but other than trying to get Williams some air time, there wasn’t much point to airing the ending of this fight as it certainly wasn’t exciting.
The show also featured a ton of hype for Mayweather-Pacquiao, including an excellent video package on Mayweather that included footage of Floyd being interviewed by Mauro Ranallo to hype the pay per view on May 2nd that is expected to bring in $400 million in revenue.
Premier also used much of its advertising time to show personality features of its major stars, including Danny Garcia, Lamont Peterson, Omar Figueora, Anthony Dirrell, Peter Quillen, Deontay Wilder, Leo Santa Cruz, Errol Spence, and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. At first this was neat, but these pieces, which were about 30 to 60 seconds long each, aired repetitively, as Premier didn’t seem to have many advertisers for this show. In fact, most of the other commercial space was dedicated to TV shows on CBS, making it seem unlikely that Premier came anywhere near break even on this show considering how much they must have spent for the time on CBS.
All of the expensive set pieces and production values were back, for the most part. Beterbiyev didn’t get a fancy entrance, but there was an elaborate stage setup and both Adonis and Bika got the star entrances. The 360 cam was back, but the ref cam wasn’t. The broadcast team was much different compared to NBC, with much less name value compared to Premier on NBC or even Spike. The broadcast team consisted of Brent Stover of CBS Sports and Paulie Malignaggi, as well as Virgil Hunter and Kevin Harlan, the latter having done NFL play-by-play.
They also announced shoulder programming called Inside Mayweather-Pacquiao would air on April 18th on Showtime after the Chavez Jr vs Andrzej Fonfara fight on the same station. It is the first of four episodes, with subsequent episodes airing April 25th, April 29th, and the final episode taking place after the fight on May 9th. It will focus primarily on Mayweather.
“’Inside Mayweather vs. Pacquiao’ will not only welcome viewers into Mayweather’s camp before the fight but also give viewers a window into those dramatic and often poignant moments immediately before and after this historic fight,” said Stephen Espinoza, Showtime Sports executive vice president and general manager, last week.
HBO is producing their own shoulder programming to hype the fight called “Mayweather/Pacquiao: At Last”, which will focus primarily on Pacquiao. What is interesting is that HBO’s show also debuts on April 18th. HBO has a “Boxing After Dark” card headlined by Lucas Matthysse vs Ruslan Provodnikov on that night, with their hype show on Pacquiao airing afterwards at approximately 11:45pm ET. The Showtime hype show airs 45 minutes later at 12:30am ET.
These fights and hype shows on HBO and Showtime air one day after Jay Z’s Roc Nation promotion holds their second show on April 17th, which is taking place at the Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut and airing on Fox Sports 1.
This is notable in relation to Premier Boxing for a couple of reasons. Roc Nation debuted in New York on FS1 on January 17th with the idea of updating boxing for modern audiences, similar to what Premier Boxing is attempting, the latter on a much larger scale. Jay Z has signed Andre Ward and Miguel Cotto, two of the top boxers in pound-for-pound rankings, the latter who signed for a $5 million signing bonus.
Jay Z and Al Haymon also apparently despise one another, as Haymon, who used to be the most powerful promoter of R&B music in the United States, is the former promoter of Jay Z and Beyonce, Jay Z’s wife. Haymon’s promotion of Beyonce disintegrated badly and led to a lawsuit involving Beyonce, Haymon, Live Nation (Beyonce’s promoter and the company Haymon sold his original music promotion to), and Matthew Knowles, Beyonce’s father.
The April 17th Roc Nation card is headlined by Murat Gassiev (20-0) vs Felix Cora Jr. (25-6-2) at cruiserweight. Roc Nation is also rumoured to be close to announcing a monthly series on Fox Sports 1, as well as a show on BET. Roc Nation has a three-show time buy with Fox Sports 1 and after April 17th will have one more show left on that deal. The plan right now seems to be to do another time buy with BET, beginning with a June 20th show in Oakland headlined by Andre Ward. It will be Ward’s first fight off HBO since 2009.
A video package featuring Julio Cesar Chavez Jr talking about his upcoming fight against Fonfara also aired later in Premier’s CBS broadcast. Chavez is a major ratings draw based on his father’s name. Fonfara is an underrated fighter who gave Adonis a good fight in Montreal last year. It should be a good match. Both fighters are under contract to Al Haymon, promoter of Premier Boxing. The fight takes place on Showtime.
Haymon and Jay Z aren’t the only promoters bringing boxing to free television. Top Rank, owned by Bob Arum, recently announced they had signed a deal in conjunction with HBO to air fights on truTV, which is a Turner station that is available in 89.7 million homes. The debut of Top Rank on truTV takes place on May 1st, with subsequent episodes on May 1st, May 8th, and May 15th, with the idea clearly to use these shows to build hype for bigger fights on HBO.
Premier’s debut on NBC in March drew 3.4 million viewers. Premier’s second show on Spike drew 869,000 viewers. But neither of those figures is indicative of what the third event on CBS might have drawn. Spike is cable and CBS is network, and while the NBC show was also network, it aired on a Saturday night instead of a Saturday afternoon. The CBS show also went against the UFC broadcast on Fox Sports 1.
Premier also recently announced that they would be replacing Friday Night Fights on ESPN beginning on July 11th. Instead of a weekly broadcast of fights on ESPN2, Premier would air a monthly show on the primary ESPN. It is a two year deal that goes to July 2017 and includes two Saturday afternoon shows on ABC, similar to the show that aired on CBS. The deal includes 24 events on ESPN with an option by Premier to hold six additional events. Premier already has a deal to air 40 shows on NBC and NBC Sports through 2016; at least eight shows with CBS in a multi-year deal; 33 monthly shows with Spike through 2017; and monthly prospect shows on Bounce TV, which is a network Haymon helped create in 2011.
Premier is back on April 11th at 8:30pm ET on NBC. It is Premier’s second event on NBC and third overall on a major network. The show is headlined by Danny Garcia vs Lamont Peterson with a co-main of Peter Quillen vs Andy Lee, taking place at the Barclays Cewnter in Brooklyn.
Premier is also scheduled for Spike on April 24th at 9pm ET with Dirrell vs Jack and Jacobs vs Truax frm the UIC Pavilion in Chicago; and, May 9th on CBS at 4:30pm ET with Figueroa vs Burns at the State Farm Arena in Hidalgo.
The next attempt to get a T.J. Dillashaw vs. Renan Barao bantamweight title rematch inside the cage will be 7/25 in Chicago — the annual summer show on FOX. A match twice scheduled and moved most recently due to a Dillashaw rib injury will be the headliner on that Saturday night.
Also announced for that show: former lightweight champion Anthony Pettis vs. Myles Jury and Miesha Tate vs. Jessica Eye in a No. 1 contender fight to determine the next challenger to either Ronda Rousey or Bethe Correira who are set to fight in August. For Pettis, it’s his first bout since losing his title to Rafael dos Anjos in March while Jury suffered his first career loss to Donald Cerrone in January.
China appears to have banned the bible from being sold online or in large book stores, as Beijing and the Vatican negotiate a historic agreement.
Searches for bibles on major e-commerce platforms JD.com and Taobao brought up no results, while staff at one of Beijing’s biggest book stores said they no longer sell the book.
The removal of the book comes amid tensions between China and Rome over a landmark deal that some observers believe is close to being signed.
The agreement, which would give the Vatican more control over the appointment of bishops in China, has sparked concern among some Chinese Catholics.
They believe recognising Beijing’s role in the Catholic church would represent a betrayal of their faith.
China’s ruling Communist Party is officially atheist, but the Chinese government recognises Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Protestantism and Catholicism.
Chinese leaders have called for increased efforts to "Sinocise" religion, in comments which are seen as being part of a wider clampdown on Western ideas.
A woman prays during a mass on Holy Saturday, part of Easter celebrations Credit:
AFP
Christians in China have complained on social media that people are being prohibited from buying the bible online.
The websites of the huge Xinhua Book Stores in Beijing’s Wangfujing and Xidan shopping districts also showed that there were no bibles for sale.
A staff member at the Wangfujing store told The Telegraph that the bible had been removed from sale for some time. She did not know why.
Authorities have only confirmed that warnings have been issued to some online retailers.
The Global Times said regulators "held talks" with JD.com "about selling illegal products, publications and other printed materials online."
The company "had failed to regulate products and so caused a negative social impact", the regulators said.
China on Monday released its first white paper on religious freedom in more than two decades.
It pledged to protect religious freedom, but also called on religions to adapt to a socialist society.
1963 – In Minneapolis, Minnesota; AWA Champion Verne Gagne defeated Hercules Cortes in a 2 out of 3 falls match.
1972 – At Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kansas; Black Angus defeated Danny Little Bear in three falls to win the Central States Heavyweight Title
1975 – In Green Bay, Wisconsin; AWA Tag Team Champions Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens defeated Superstar Billy Graham & Dusty Rhodes in a 2 out of 3 falls match.
1981 – Tommy Rich defeated Harley Race for the NWA World Heavyweight Title in Augusta, Georgia.
1987 – Austin Idol defeated Jerry Lawler to win the Southern Heavyweight Title in Memphis, Tennessee in a hair vs. title steel cage match.
1992 – Barry Windham defeated Steve Austin for the WCW Television Title in Atlanta, Georgia; Brian Christopher defeated Tom Pritchard in a rematch for the USWA Southern Heavyweight Title. The title was held up on April 20th after a match against Tom Pritchard in Memphis, Tennessee.
1997 – Jerry Lawler defeated King Reginald (Reggie B. Fine) for the USWA Unified Heavyweight Title in Memphis, Tennessee
2000 – The Prototype (John Cena) defeated Smelly in San Diego, California to win the Ultimate Pro Wrestling Heavyweight Title.
2008 – Triple H won the WWE Title defeating John Cena, JBL and Randy Orton at the Backlash PPV.
Theresa May is facing mounting pressure from senior Conservative MPs to support US-led airstrikes against the Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime.
Tom Tugendhat, chairman of the foreign affairs committee, and Nick Boles, a former minister, have both urged Mrs May to back the strikes without seeking parliamentary approval.
President Donald Trump promised on Monday that a "major decision" would be taken on Syria within the next two days, as a US navy destroyer appeared to be getting in position to attack.
French President Emmanuel Macron, who spoke with Mr Trump on Sunday, has indicated France’s support for the US. Mrs May is due to speak with Mr Trump on Tuesday.
Former minister Nick Boles said the Prime Minister had his "strong support" is she decides to join the US and France in taking action against President Assad.
Theresa May is due to chair a national security council meeting on Tuesday afternoon or on Wednesday.
It comes as President Trump – who last year ordered missile strikes on a Syrian airfield after seeing distressing images of civilians poisoned with sarin – looked poised to act again.
"Nothing is off the table," said Mr Trump, when asked whether he was considering military action.
"We are making a decision with respect to what to do with the horrible attack on Syria," he said.
"It will be met, and it will be met forcefully. I won’t say when, as I don’t like talking about timing.
"We’re going to make a decision tonight, or very shortly after, and you’ll be hearing the decision.
"We can’t let atrocities happen. In our world, we can’t let that happen, because of the power of the United States, the power of our country, when we can stop it."
After President Emmanuel Macron and Mr Trump spoke again last night, spokesperson Benjamin Griveaux told Europe 1 radio: "If the red line has been crossed, there will be a response," adding that intelligence "in theory confirms the use of chemical weapons."
Children from Eastern Ghouta are treated for symptoms from Saturday's suspected gas attack.
Mr Trump said on Monday night he was consulting with his military and national security advisers, but that he personally had little doubt that the attack was carried out by President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, with the possible support of his allies.
"To me there’s not much a doubt, but the generals will figure it out," he said.
"So we’ll be looking at that barbaric act and studying what’s going on. We’re trying to get people in there. As you know, it’s been surrounded.
"So it’s very hard to get people in because not only has it been hit, it’s been surrounded. And if they’re innocent, why aren’t they allowing people to go in and prove? Because as you know, they’re claiming they didn’t make the attack.
"So if it’s Russia, if it’s Syria, if it’s Iran, if it’s all of them together, we’ll figure it out and we’ll know the answers quite soon. So we’re looking at that very, very strongly and very seriously."
President’s options | What could military action in Syria look like?
Amid the tough talk in the White House, the US military appeared to be in position to carry out any attack order. A navy destroyer, the USS Donald Cook, was underway in the eastern Mediterranean on Monday after completing a port call at Larnaca, Cyprus.
A defiant Moscow said on Monday that it had examined patients affected and it did not find traces of chemicals. The UN-backed Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons is carrying out its own investigation, but is likely to take some time to report the findings.
Douma chemical attack
Russia’s ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, lashed out at Britain, the US and France, accusing them of “slander, insults, hawkish rhetoric, and blackmail”.
“The tone of what is being done has gone beyond the threshold of what even happened in the Cold War,” he said, repeating Kremlin accusations that the Eastern Ghouta attack was "fake news" being used in a bid to discredit Russia and to distract from the Skripal poisoning case.
He said the OPCW was welcome to visit, under Syrian and Russian protection.
The chemical attack, which doctors on the ground told the Telegraph they suspected to have been chlorine mixed with a nerve agent, left more than 40 dead. The images of children and babies left fronthing at the mouth has led to international outrage, but so far no direct response.
Syria war timeline
Mr Trump described the gas attack as "a barbarity" and said it was a crisis for humanity.
And Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, said that Mr Trump "is confident" that the Assad regime and its allies were to blame.
"He’s been briefed by his national security team and being kept up to date constantly and regularly on the intelligence around that," she said.
She insisted that his wish for American troops to pull out of Syria did not affect his resolve to respond to the Eastern Ghouta attack.
"The president wants to bring our troops home after we complete the mission to eradicate ISIS in Syria. At the same time he wants to make sure Assad is deterred from chemical weapons attacks on innocent civilians," she said.
"Signalling we want to remove our troops in no way degrades our ability to hold parties responsible."
"Certainly both Mr Bolton and Mr Pompeo are much more concerned with rolling back Iranian influence and the most visible example of Iranian influence today is their involvement in Syria.
"It’s another action entirely to make a military strike against the Syrians when the Russians and Iranians are so closely involved – anything that Mr Trump does has the potential for fairly significant escalation depending on the targets hit.
"The thing that is least complicated is repeating something they did before – submarine strikes that don’t come into Russian airspace or hit Russian troops."
The attack, which came days after an announcement that US troops would soon be withdrawing, will muddle Mr Trump’s exit plan and threaten to draw America into a direct confrontation with Russia.
Syria what next
Relations between Moscow and Washington are the worst they have been under Mr Trump, who has in the last few months expanded sanctions and expelled scores of Russian diplomats over the poisoning of a former spy in Salisbury.
On Monday the United Nations Security Council held an emergency meeting on Syria.
Nikki Haley, US ambassador to the UN, said the US was prepared to respond unilaterally.
“We are beyond appeals to conscience,” she said.
“We have reached the moment when the world must see justice done. History will record this as the moment when the Security Council either discharged its duty or demonstrated its utter and complete failure to protect the people of Syria.
“Either way, the United States will respond.”
Syria chemical attack | Read more
She said that the Russian “regime” had its “hands covered in the blood of Syrian children” and accused Moscow of “enabling the Assad regime’s murderous destruction.”
“Only a monster targets civilians and then ensures that there are no ambulances to transfer the wounded,” she said. “No hospitals to save their lives. No doctors or medicine to ease their pain.”
Karen Pierce, Britain’s ambassador to the UN, said that her Russian counterpart’s suggestion of sending in an OPCW team was worth pursuing, providing the team were guaranteed complete freedom to investigate.
She described the attack as “an escalatory and a diabolical act,” and accused Russia of attempting to muddy the waters.
Moscow, she said, seeks to “turn the debate away from a discussion on chemical weapons into a dispute between east and west, turning itself into the victim.
“Russia’s crocodile tears for the people of Eastern Ghouta has an easy answer. It is to join us,” she said.
Welcome to WrestlingObserver.com’s live coverage of the UFC Fight Night 72: Bisping vs. Leites weigh-ins from The SSE Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland kicking off at 9 AM eastern time. The event airs on Saturday morning on FOX Sports 1 at 1 PM eastern time. Preliminary card action kicks off on UFC Fight Pass at 10 AM eastern time before moving over to FOX Sports 1 at 11 AM eastern time. This marks the UFC’s fourth event in a week and their first trip to Scotland.
The event will be headlined by a five-round middleweight bout as Michael Bisping looks to remain undefeated in the United Kingdom when he takes on Thales Leites, a former title challenger and current holder of an eight-fight win streak. In the co-main event of the evening, it will be a lightweight battle between Ross Pearson and Evan Dunham as both look to score their second straight win.
Michael Bisping (185) vs. Thales Leites (185) Ross Pearson (155) vs. Evan Dunham (156) Joseph Duffy (155) vs. Ivan Jorge (154) Joanne Calderwood (115) vs. Cortney Casey (114) Leon Edwards (169) vs. Pawel Pawlak (170) Stevie Ray (155) vs. Leonardo Mafra (155)
PRELIMINARY CARD (FOX SPORTS 1- 11 AM ET/8 AM PT):
Patrick Holohan (126) vs. Vaughan Lee (126) Ilir Latifi (206) vs. Hans Stringer (205) Mickael Lebout (155) vs. Teemu Packalen (155) Robert Whiteford (146) vs. Paul Redmond (145)
PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC FIGHT PASS- 10 AM ET/7 AM PT):
Marcus Brimage (136) vs. Jimmie Rivera (135) Daniel Omielanczuk (242) vs. Chris de la Rocha (245)