Dave Meltzer is the founder and lead writer on the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the weekly constant when it comes to news and reviews in pro wrestling and mixed martial arts for more than 40 years. Dave also co-hosts Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and had had bylines for The National, Yahoo Sports, MMA Fighting and others.
AEW sources have confirmed that a deal has been reached for Collision to air in the UK market on Wednesday nights on ITV 4.
The first episode, taking place this Saturday in Chicago, will air on ITV 4 on Wednesday, June 21st.
The time slot is not confirmed past that at least some shows will air at 9 PM. AEW didn’t confirm the nature of the time slot past that it would be Wednesday nights.
Dynamite and Rampage both air on the station in revolving time slots on Friday and Tuesday, respectively. Dynamite usually airs at 9 PM, but often airs later in a time slot that revolves. Rampage usually airs after 11 PM in a time slot that changes by the week.
The live, commercial-free airings of Collision will be part of the AEW+ subscription package on FITE, That is available in most countries throughout the world with the exception of markets where there is a local live rights owner such as TNT in the US and in Canada where it will stream on TSN+ and not air on television.
Raw, going against what turned out to be the final game of the NBA playoffs this season, was predictably down with 1.60 million viewers and a 0.46 rating in 18-49.
You can largely throw the numbers out as far as significance goes given the competition. The show declined greatly after hour one, which has not been the pattern in recent months, as it became clear the Denver Nuggets were about to finish the series in game five.
It was Raw’s lowest 18-49 number since the end of the football season, and will likely be the lowest 18-49 number until the upcoming football season starts and Raw goes against a major game.
The NBA Finals game on ABC averaged 13.08 million viewers and drew a 3.98 rating in 18-49 to dominate television. Raw was second on all of television, and first by a wide margin on cable, as ESPN’s NBA pregame show only did 665,000 viewers and a 0.24 for second place.
Raw won in every key demo on cable and was 11th in total viewers behind only news shows.
Raw was down 13 percent in viewers from last week, which had an NHL game head-to-head but no NBA game. It was down 17 percent in 18-49 and down only five percent in 18-34.
From one year ago, which also went against the NBA Finals, but not the last game, Raw was down six percent in viewers, up seven percent in 18-49, and up 41 percent in 18-34. Factoring out homes no longer having access to USA Network, the real percentage drops by actual percentage of those with the station is that viewers were even, 18-49 was up 13 percent, and 18-34 was up 49 percent.
The first-to-third hour drop was the largest in some time, again likely due to the game. Women 18-49 dropped 18 percent from the first to the third hour, men 18-49 dropped 14 percent, women 12-34 dropped 34 percent, men 12-34 dropped 18 percent, and people over 50 dropped 19 percent.
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Sunday Update
– We’ve got two weekend shows up today. Garrett Gonzales and I talked Iron Sheik and the latest news on our weekly show. Bryan and I did a show last night talking UFC with Ryan Frederick followed by Smackdown, G1 and other notes.
– We’re looking for your thoughts on Friday’s All Together Again show, so you can leave a thumbs up, down or middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected].
–A couple of notes off last night’s WOR:
Pro wrestlers are exempt from needing visas to appear in Canada. Even though no Stardom talent has Canadian visas, that’s not apparently an issue with appearing at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door 2 although Stardom was of the belief it was, but have since found out that wasn’t the case. That said, all the Stardom key talent is booked on a PPV in Japan the same day as Forbidden Door. There have been no talks with AEW that had even reached management as of yesterday with regard to talent at Forbidden Door. Nobody is scheduled at this point and they are of the belief nobody will be scheduled this late in the game. At this point, only four or five wrestlers have U.S. visas and with what we have seen with so much of the Mexican and U.K. talent, it’s a time consuming process to get working visas these days.
When I was talking about the AEW wrestler that Stardom wanted to have on the January 4th Tokyo Dome show that never happened, I was referring to Kris Statlander. The call was made long before the show and before Statlander’s injury.
Also, because I had been gone all day due to my daughter performing in two shows out of town, I wasn’t aware that they changed the rules for NJPW G1 yesterday where it will bee the top two finishers in each block making the playoffs, which will involve eight of the 32 wrestlers on the last three shows. I thought it would be like last year where only the block winners make the playoffs. It opens up for more possibilities and allows for most of the really top guys to make the final eight.
– We have heard raves from a number of people regarding today’s Stardom match from Osaka with Queen’s Quest vs. Oedo Tai which was the main event from the show in an elimination match with Natsuko Tora & Momo Watanabe & Starlight Kid & Saki Kashima & Ruaka vs. Utami Hayashishita & Saya Kamitani & AZM & Lady C & Miyu Amasaki.
– NJPW has teased the idea of Hirooki Goto & Yoshi-Hashi vs. Gabriel Kidd & Alex Coughlin for two matches on 7/4 and 7/5. One will be for the IWGP tag titles and one will be for the New Japan Strong tag titles.
– I also want to thank people for their comments on the Iron Sheik bio in the current Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Also, we had a correction that should be soon updated in the story on the longest world title reigns in pro wrestling history.
.–Best wishes to former TNA star Matt Morgan who is undergoing back surgery tomorrow morning. He said he’s in the worst pain of his life right now and can’t take painkillers because he had addiction issues in his WWE career. He said an epidural and a nerve block injection didn’t help and his left foot has gotten more numb. He was told without surgery he would lose feeling in his left foot. He was first talked to about this surgery in 2010 but wanted to avoid it and was pain-free for years after his career ended in 2014.
– As far as Google trends for the week, Amanda Nunes’ retirement after retaining the UFC bantamweight title had 500,000 searches for No. 2 behind the death of the Unabomber on the U.S. Internet for yesterday. Conor McGregor was No. 5, Beneil Dariush was No. 10 and the Teofimo Lopez vs Josh Taylor boxing match was No. 12. 500,000 is very low for a UFC PPV but they’ve changed some of their methodology. Still, it’s not a good sign for PPV numbers but not as bad as it would have been a few months ago. The only other thing this past week to crack the top 20 in wrestling, boxing or MMA was the death of the Iron Sheik which was No. 4 on Wednesday at 200,000.
WWE
– Roman Reigns will work this Saturday’s Cincinatti WWE house show in a title defense against Rey Mysterio.
– This coming Sunday in Charleston, WV, they announced a special Father’s Day street fight with Rey Mysterio vs. Dominik Mysterio to go along with Seth Rollins vs. Miz for the World title, Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn vs. Viking Raiders for the tag titles, and Gunther vs. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Matt Riddle for the IC title.
– On A&E tonight at 9 p.m., Most Wanted Treasures features Roddy Piper, Drew McIntyre, Mick Foley and Lita looking for Roddy Piper memorabilia and at 10 p.m. is Stone Cold Takes on America,.
– WWE applied for a trademark for the term Meta-Four, so that’s likely the name of a new group.
AEW
– The Adam Cole/MJF promo segment Wednesday was greatly taken from this Adam Cole/Karrion Kross segment on NXT television. It’s notable that Cole was in the role saying the same phrases about Kross that MJF said about Cole in the recent promo.(thanks to Mike Marquardt)
– The first day ticket sales for AEW Collision in Greenville SC, on 8/5 was 1,399. Aside from Chicago this Saturday that is strong, and Newark, NJ, which is okay, the advances for the show, even with it being on Saturdays, aren’t good.
– RJ City interviewed Skye Blue who said that when she was a kid, she got kicked out of church for setting somebody on fire.
UFC
– Jon Jones said on Saturday that he would be open to do a boxing match with Tyson Fury. I still don’t see this happening because even though it could make Jones a lot of money, I don’t know if UFC would allow its top champion to go into a fight he’s almost certain to lose.
– On Friday when Conor McGregor punched the Miami Heat mascot Burnie twice, apparently the blow after the fake knockout, on the ground, was too stuff and the man in the costume ended up in the emergency room that night. He’s okay now. Dana White was asked about it last night and reacted like why would a mascot ask McGregor or Deontay Wilder to hit them and blamed it on the mascot. The reality is in doing a skit, McGregor, even though not trained in working punches, should be able to throw a punch and not hurt a guy.
Other Wrestling
– A horse named Big Boss Man won at Evangelina Downs in Louisiana as a 12-1 underdog on Saturday.
– The Daily Mail ran a story about old-time UK wrestling and Big Daddy and Giant Haystacks. They ran with the Jackie Pallo vs. Mick McManus match in 1963 drawing 16 million viewers, but did say it was reputed. Stories from 1963 actually listed the number as 11 million, which is still exceptional. (thanks to James Stanios)
– Gable Steveson defeated Mason Parris 6-2 and 5-0 in straight bouts in the 275 pound weight class in freestyle last night at Final X at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ, to represent the U.S. in the world championships in September. Steveson teased the crowd after his second win, before doing a running backflip which is something for a guy of his size. Parris is also under a WWE deal as an NIL wrestler while Steveson is under a multi-year full-time contract. Steveson dominated both bouts but not as much as when he ran through Parris a few weeks ago in the national tournament. Another NIL signee, Cohlton Schultz, will represent the U.S. at 286 in Greco-roma wrestling, after beating Adam Coon 3-2 and 5-1.
–The heavily anticipated Kyle Snyder vs. J’den Cox best of three series at Final X for the 213 pound spot never happened. Cox made weight, but later was on crutches before the start of the event and he didn’t show up and forfeited his bouts to Snyder. Snyder will represent the U.S. at 213 in this year’s wold championships.
For almost the past year, it’s been hard to write something on the state of the U.S. business because it was in a constant state of major television flux.
There was WWE Raw moving to USA, Smackdown moving to Friday, TNA getting on Spike, UFC having to live without the strong WWE lead-in, the two UFC/WWE Monday Night Wars, the return of Saturday Night’s Main Event, and now, the move to Thursday night for UFC and TNA.
In addition, perhaps the biggest story, under the radar even though it was there, was hammered home by what will either be perhaps the most newsworthy show of the year, or else just a freak occurrence–the 3/10 Strike Force show in San Jose. While indie MMA without name fighters has drawn some good crowds in different parts of the country, the very suggestion of essentially an indy show with no television hype, using really only one major national name (Frank Shamrock) and a local draw on the kickboxing scene (Cung Le) being able to draw the largest U.S. crowd of the year and deliver a near $1 million house would have seemed like a suggestion by only someone with no perception of business and what sells tickets. But it happened.
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Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
Friday Update
Garrett Gonzales and I did a show this afternoon talking the Iron Sheik, Forbidden Door, Young Rock and other topics. Bryan and I will be back for our weekend show tomorrow night.
The new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter is up on the site today We’ve gotten a lot of talk about the story on the life of the Iron Sheik as well as on the longest world title reigns in pro wrestling history.
Smackdown tonight is in Des Moines, IA. They announced that HHH will present a new women’s title belt to Asuka, since that worked so well in the ratings last week. The show will be based around Jey Uso deciding which side he’s on, the Jimmy Uso side or the Roman Reigns side. Plus Michin vs. Bayley, Iyo Sky vs. Shotzi, Mustafa Ali vs. Santos Escobar and Butch vs. Baron Corbin in MITB qualifying matches. They had 6,300 tickets out for the show as of this morning. That’s lower than most WWE TV shoots of late. PW Insider reported that Charlotte Flair was at the show.
We’re looking for your thoughts on today’s All Together Again joint show of New Japan, All Japan and Pro Wrestling NOAH at Sumo Hall, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]
We’re looking for reports from Smackdown in Des Moines, IA with anything like dark match results and live notes on things not on the live show to [email protected]
Impact Against All Odds tonight on Impact + from Columbus, OH:
Steve Maclin vs. Alex Shelley for Impact title
Trey Miguel vs. Chris Sabin for X title
Chris Bey & Ace Austin vs. Jason Hotch & John Skyler for tag titles
Deonna Purrazzo & Trinity vs. Gisele Shaw & Savannah Evans
Killer Kelly vs. Masha Slamovich in a dog collar match
8-4-1 match for an Impact title shot with Nick Aldis, Bully Ray, Mike Bailey, Jonathan Gresham, Heath, Moose, Rich Swann and PCO
Joe Hendry vs. Dirty Dango for Digital Media title
Eddie Edwards vs. Frankie Kazarian
Sami Callihan & Jake Crist & Madman Fulton vs. Angels & Kon & Deaner
NEW had a show on 6/17 at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson NJ. If you note that’s the day of the AEW Collision debut in Chicago. The Acclaimed, Billy Gunn, Penta and Willow Nightingale were all told that they are either being pulled from the show to work Chicago or that they are likely or possibly to work Chicago. The show itself was moved to 8/13 for that reason with Acclaimed, Billy Gunn, Nightingale, Mick Foley and Nzo.
Final X takes place tomorrow night at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ. This will be the final playoff for the U.S. team at the world championships in Belgrade Serbia. WWE’s Gable Steveson faces Mason Parris, another WWE signee, for the 275 pound freestyle spot. The most talked about match has former Olympic medalists Kyle Snyder vs. J’Den Cox going for the 213 pound freestyle spot.
UFC 289 is tomorrow night from Vancouver, BC. Prelims on ESPN from 7-10 p.m. Eastern:
Diana Belbita (114.5) vs. Maria Oliveira (115.5)
David Dvorak (125.5) vs. Stephen Erceg (125.5)
Kyle Nelson (145) vs. Blake Bilder (145.5)
Aiemann Zahabi (135.75) vs. Aoriqileng (135)
Miranda Maverick (125.5) vs Jasmine Jasudavicius (125.25)
Nassourdine Imavov (185.5) vs. Chris Curtis (185.25)
PPV at 10 p.m. Eastern:
Eryk Anders (184.75) vs. marc-Andre Barriault (185)
Dan Ige (145.5) vs Nae Landwehr (145.25)
Mike Malott (169.5) vs. Adam Fugitt (170.75)
Charles Oliveira (154) vs. Beneil Dariush (156)
Amanda Nunes (135) vs. Irene Aldana (135) for the bantamweight title
BetOnline has released odds for the G-1 Climax tournament. The favorites are:
Zack Sabre Jr. +200
David Finlay +250
Kazuchika Okada +300
Sanada +300
Will Ospreay +300
Tetsuya Naito +400
Hiroshi Tanahashi +500
Jeff Cobb +500
Kaito Kiyomiya +500
The longest shot at +5000 is Toru Yano
Yuka Sakazaki is out of action with a neck injury so the TJPW Princess tag team titles are vacant and the Sakazaki vs. Nyla Rose match upcoming is off Rose is still coming but will have a new match.
Viviane Araujo vs. Casey O’Neill has been added to UFC 293 on 9/9 in Sydney, Australia.
Karine Silva, coming off her big submission win on Saturday, is scheduled according to MMA Fighting to be very close to confirming a match with Maryna Moroz on 8/19 in Boston.
Other Notes
Defy has inked a deal with WREMIX to stream its last show, headlined by KENTA vs. Nick Wayne, which debuts on the platform on 6/22 at wremix.tv The show will air free.
The NWA 75th anniversary weekend will be 8/26 to 8/29 in St. Louis. They will run PPV shows on 8/26 and 8/27 and do TV tapings on 8/28 and 8/29.
Scotty 2 Hotty faces ESW champion Will Calrissan for the title on 6/23 in Niagara Falls, NY at the Frontier Fire Hall.
Jon Moxley will be doing a seminar for Sami Callihan’s Wrestling Revolver promotion on 6/16 in Dayton.
EPW on 6/16 in Perth, Western Australia at Willeston Stadium with Michael Morleone vs. Taylor King for the EPW title and Mikey Nicholls vs. Pete Curulli, a breakfast radio host in Perth. Nicholls and Curulli have been doing angles on his radio show to build the match.
Vampiro is taking autograph, appearance and limited wrestling bookings through Bill Behrens at [email protected]. Behrens can also book Thom Latimer, Kamille, Flip Gordon, Thrillbilly Silas, Earl Hebner, Jay Lethal, Matt Sydal, Griff Garrison, Joe Hendry, Markus Cross, Slim J, Ken Anderson, Moose, Hernandez, Missy Hyatt, TJP, Sean Waltman, Eric Bischoff, Jim Ross, DDP, EC 3, Devon Dudley and Tommy Dreamer.
After Thursday night’s show, the PFL final four for the year at featherweight are Bubba Jenkins, Gabriel Braga, Movid Khaybulaev and Jesus Pinedo (who scored a huge knockout upset of Brendan Loughnane). At light heavyweight the final four are Joshua Silveira (the son of Marcus Conan Silveira), Marthin Hamlet, Impa Kasaganay and Ty Flores.
Greektown Wrestling from London, ONT last night: Mick McGuire b Ethan Dux, Nacci Mafia b Mick McGuire & Ethan Dux, Bryce Hansen b Trent Gibson Seleyzia Sparks b Nova, Space Monkey b Wes Barkley, Tyler Tirva b Cody Ireland, Cody Deaner b Derek Dillinger, Zack Nystrom b Mo Jabari Sonny Kiss b Bill Collier, Channing Decker & Masato Tanaka b Bollywood Boyz. They are running tonight in Hamilton ONT, Saturday in Toronto and Sunday in Waterloo, ONT, all at 5:30 p.m. Decker vs Tanaka in a ladder match is tonight. The shows are on FITE +. (thanks to Shannon Walsh)
Ehren Schaffter has a new book called “Ascending The Queendom”. The book will chronicle the lives of talent such as Madi Wrenkowski, Rebecca Scott, Savanna Stone, Amaris Blair, Airica Demia, Mystii Marks, Mylo , Amy Crimson, and Judi Rae. Ascending The Queendom will also explore the struggles for female talent navigating within the sport of wrestling such as harassment and sexism. You can preorder the book.
AAW Crush & Destroy tonight on High Spots features Robert Anthony vs. Mance Warner in a Pure rules match, Alec Price vs. Gnaris Garvin, Sierra & Heather Reckless vs Shazza McKenzie & B3CCA Braden Lee vs. Joe Alonzo Silas Young vs. Silas Mason, Russ Jones & Schaff defend the tag titles against Xavier Walker & Ren Jones plus Jake Something and Fred Yehi.
The Iron Sheik, the Iranian heel who was part of pop culture at two different points in his life and was best known for feuds with Hulk Hogan and Sgt. Slaughter, passed away on 6/7 at his home in Fayetteville, GA.
He was listed as being 81 years old, but given he didn’t know his own birthday and there are different years listed in different places at different times for his birth, it’s more safe to say he was probably 80 and may have been as old as 84.
He was listed as being born on March 15, 1942. In 1983 when I saw the Texas database with listed birthdays for pro wrestlers who were licensed in the state, his birthday at the time was listed in their records as March 15, 1939. His biographer, Keith Elliot Greenberg, who wrote what he once said was the best wrestling biography never published, said he was actually born September 9, 1942, which would have made him 80.
With no NBA playoff competition and paced by the first World title match on Raw in nearly two years, the show was up to 1.83 million viewers with a 0.56 rating in 18-49 last night.
Raw impressively beat the Las Vegas Golden Knights vs. Florida Panthers Stanley Cup playoff game on TNT for first place, although the game actually was well ahead of Raw for total viewership and 18-49 viewership. WBD made the decision to air the game on TNT, TBS, and TruTV. It did 1.68 million viewers and a 0.54 on TNT, which was second to Raw for the night. TBS did 535,000/0.18 and TruTV did 235,000 and 0.09, so the total viewers were 2.45 million and the total 18-49 rating was 0.81.
Raw also beat everything on both English and Spanish network TV in 18-49, so USA was first for the night in all of television.
The combined game numbers beat Raw in all the key demos, but as far as the first place show, Raw was ahead of the TNT airing in 18-49 and women 18-49. The game on TNT was first in men 18-49, first in 18-34, first in women 12-34, and first in men 12-34.
Raw was third for the night on cable in total viewers behind only The Five and Rachel Maddow. That’s much higher than Raw usually does due to the collapse of Fox News in prime time.
The show was up 13 percent from last week due to the lack of NBA playoff competition in viewers, up six percent in 18-49, and up five percent in 18-34.
From one year ago, Raw was down two percent in viewers, but up seven percent in 18-49 and up 18 percent in 18-34. Factoring in the drop in cable homes over the past year, the real percentage gains were up four percent in viewers, up 14 percent in 18-49, and up 25 percent in 18-34.
The Seth Rollins vs. Damian Priest title match kept the key audience strong in hour three, as instead of first-to-third hour losses, the third hour was up nine percent with women 18-49, up three percent in men 18-49, up five percent with women 12-34, up five percent in men 12-34, and down eight percent with people over 50.
The other leading competition was Florida State vs. Tennessee in the College Softball World Series which did 1.32 million viewers and 0.28.
Where All In 2023 stands on the biggest crowds and gates in wrestling history
Tony Khan talks Bill Goldberg
Bryan Danielson talks AEW creative
Matt Jackson on coming back so quickly from a muscle tear, the stunts in the match, how preparation was less than last year and why
The latest Bloodline saga
Business notes on Night of Champions and how AEW/WWE crossover viewership changed this past weekend from the past
How comparisons of big event interest changed greatly
Best of the Super Juniors finals, Dominion and All Together Now, a look at the big events in Japan
NXT Battleground coverage
One of the longest lasting wrestling promoters who ever lived, Brian Dixon, passes away at 74
Stardom has World & Wonder of Stardom champions face off on PPV show and where this leads
Two future stars leave two different promotions this past week
Will Ospreay talks future
New Japan President Takami Ohbari talks the state of the business, how close the company was to being in real trouble, and how they’ve had to change the business
Billy Graham funeral notes
Bobo Brazil day and a look at the iconic figure
Advance ticket sales for all upcoming WWE and AEW shows
Streaming and international TV numbers
Records at stake in UFC fights this week
International promotion looking at crowd of 50,000 for a show tomorrow
WWE’s arguments to get MLW lawsuit dismissed
Injury updates
WWE market value
Two people under WWE deals are one week away from competing for a sports world championship shot
We are currently looking for two people to moderate our message board. Those interested please contact [email protected].
Ordering Info:
Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
Monday Update
Bryan and I will be back tonight with Wrestling Observer Radio covering Raw and the latest news. We also put a show up over the weekend talking to Evan Husney about the new season of Dark Side of the Ring.
Dark Side of the Ring episode two of the season will be on Magnum T.A., who suffered a career ending auto accident in 1986, when he was only 27 and was about to be made NWA world champion. I have so much respect for what he did with his life after the accident and am really looking forward to it.
Raw tonight is from Hartford, CT., with Seth Rollins vs. Damian Priest for the world title, Cody Rhodes will be on Miz TV talking Brock Lesnar, plus MITB qualifying matches with Becky Lynch vs. Sonya Deville and Zoey Stark vs. Natalya. There were 8,300 tickets out as of this morning. It won’t be close to sold out (12,000 for a wrestling TV set up) but was up 27 percent from the Smackdown in November in the same arena. The game will go against the Florida Panthers vs. Las Vegas Golden Knights Stanley Cup final game, which is very legit competition although no NBA finals competition.
AEW isn’t so lucky, as they'[l be going against both the Heat-Nuggets game three and the final episode of Vanderpump Rules. AEW will take it on the chin this week most likely, especially since the main event is Orange Cassidy vs. Swerve Strickland and no Moxley, Omega, Jericho, FTR, Young Bucks, Danielson, Page or MJF announced for matches. Dynamite has a good chance at first place finishes on Wednesday regularly starting on the 6/14 show. Game four of the NBA playoffs is Friday against Smackdown and Rampage and game five is official for next Monday against Raw. After that, no more NBA to worry about for pro wrestling until the fall.
Chris Weidman returns from his horrible broken leg on 8/19 in Boston when he’ll face Brad Tavares at the UFC 292 PPV show.
Joe Rogan won’t be announcing Saturday’s UFC show in Vancouver. Paul Felder will be taking his pace, working with Jon Anik and Daniel Cormier for the PPV show headlined by Amanda Nunes vs. Irene Aldana for the women’s bantamweight title.
A 2023 Panini Black Prizm WWE The Rock trading card is up for auction, and it is being called the most desirable cad in wrestling. A Rock card sold in December for $126,000 and this could come close or even beat that number.
Enrique Lutteroth Camou, the son of the original Salvador Lutteroth, passed away at the age of 95 on 5/30. He promoted shows in Monterrey for “four decades” according to the CMLL release on his death.
ony Ferguson pleaded not guilty is misdemeanor DUI charges from his crashing his truck in Hollywood, CA in May in a heavily reported incident. He was arrested on 5/7 after he allegedly smashed his truck into two parked cars and then flipped his truck at about 2 a.m.
UFC star Paddy Pimblett and girlfriend Laura Gregory were married on 5/28.
Other Notes
Madman Fulton returns to Impact on Friday’s Against All Odds show from Columbus, OH. He’ll team with Jake Crist & Sami Callihan vs. The Design on Deaner & Angels & Kon.
Defy announced Laredo Kid vs. Aramis vs. Gringo Loco at the Wonder Ballroom in Portland, OR, on 6/24.
Sabu has been booked for Outlaw Championship Wrestling on Thursday night at the Queens Brewery in Ridgewood, NY. He will be in Crowbar’s corner for a match with Channing Thomas. JTG vs. Afa Anoa’i Jr. headlines the show.
Michigan independent wrestler and booker Brian Gorie will be inducted into the XICW Detroit Hall of Fame on the 6/17 show in Lincoln Park, MI at the Community Center.
T-Mart Promotions The Gathering event in Charlotte at the University Plzace Hilton on 8/4 to 8/6 will honor Tommy Rich, Verne & Greg Gagne, Brian Pillman, Brian Blair, Jim Brunzell and Bill Dundee. Amongt others set to appear that weekend are Steve Keirn, Gerald Brisco, Larry Zbyszko, JJ Dillon, Manny Fernandez, Kurt Angle, Godfather, Ahmed Johnson, Jim Ross, Kevin Nash, Jerry Lawler, Tully Blanchard, Tommy Dreamer, Baby Doll, Jimmy Valiant, Kevin Sullivan, Austin Idol, DDP, Greg Valentine, Magnum T.A., Brock Anderson,Robert Gibson and others. On a Saturday night show, Tommy Dreamer will face CW Anderson and Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson face The Headbangers.
Titan returns to Arena Mexico from Japan on Friday night.
Tetsuya Naito, El Desperado, Bushi, Tiger Mask and Rocky Romero will be working for CMLL from 6/26 to 6/30.
Where All In 2023 stands on the biggest crowds and gates in wrestling history
Tony Khan talks Bill Goldberg
Bryan Danielson talks AEW creative
Matt Jackson on coming back so quickly from a muscle tear, the stunts in the match, how preparation was less than last year and why
The latest Bloodline saga
Business notes on Night of Champions and how AEW/WWE crossover viewership changed this past weekend from the past
How comparisons of big event interest changed greatly
Best of the Super Juniors finals, Dominion and All Together Now, a look at the big events in Japan
NXT Battleground coverage
One of the longest lasting wrestling promoters who ever lived, Brian Dixon, passes away at 74
Stardom has World & Wonder of Stardom champions face off on PPV show and where this leads
Two future stars leave two different promotions this past week
Will Ospreay talks future
New Japan President Takami Ohbari talks the state of the business, how close the company was to being in real trouble, and how they’ve had to change the business
Billy Graham funeral notes
Bobo Brazil day and a look at the iconic figure
Advance ticket sales for all upcoming WWE and AEW shows
Streaming and international TV numbers
Records at stake in UFC fights this week
International promotion looking at crowd of 50,000 for a show tomorrow
WWE’s arguments to get MLW lawsuit dismissed
Injury updates
WWE market value
Two people under WWE deals are one week away from competing for a sports world championship shot
We are currently looking for two people to moderate our message board. Those interested please contact [email protected].
Ordering Info:
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Sunday Update
Bryan and I will be back with the weekend news and notes with Wrestling Observer Radio late tonight. You can send questions for tonight’s show to [email protected]
I usually don’t worry about overnight numbers since the final numbers will be coming in tomorrow, but Smackdown on Friday did 2.46 million viewers with an 0.68 in 18-49 and 0.48 in 18-34 which are enormous and the final numbers almost always end up higher. Basically out of every 11 homes watching TV between 8-10 p.m. Friday night, one was watching Smackdown and the numbers for men would be far higher. Obviously the draw was the Roman Reigns celebration for 1,000 days as champion because from a match standpoint there was nothing that was going to pull a number that large.
Just a note regarding today’s ROH tapings. They did a storyline where Stokely Hathaway and Jerry Lynn are the new authority figures in ROH and members of the Board of Directors. Some have seen that as thinking they are booking ROH in real life, which is as it will be presented on the shows. But they are just storyline characters, Hathaway as a heel and Lynn to balance him out as a face. Tony Khan just wanted to utilize Hathaway in a new role on television where he’s doing all kinds of heel things like making it unfair to faces and wanting to ban all Luchadores. Khan is still the head booker for all AEW and ROH shows. Khan was also a character on the tapings.
Dana White last night after the UFC show was asked about Tyson Fury vs. Jon Jones. It’s the same old story. Fury was mad that Joe Rogan said that in a real fight that Jones would beat Fury. Fury wanted a fight with Jones. Jones accepted and then Fury said only under boxing rules. White said that if Fury wants a real fight, they’d put it together and said that Jones was the baddest man on the planet. But we already know Fury won’t be fighting Jones under MMA rules. White pushed again the idea of finding out who the baddest man on the planet is.
We’re looking for reports from tonight’s WWE show in Manchester, NH with results, finishes and highlights to [email protected] Not including walk-up ticket sales for tonight’s show were up 43 percent from the last time in the same building in August, which again shows how hot WWE has become over the past year,.
Thanks to Shannon Walsh, Mike Omansky, Geoff Blough, Peter Bard, Dave Molesevich, Brad Burnaford, Matthew Hardaway, Mike Consani, Jon Ezell and others for the reports from the WWE and AEW weekend shows.
Our only weekend poll is on today’s NJPW Dominion, which was loaded with news including Bryan Danielson vs. Kazuchika Okada and Kenny Omega vs. Will Ospreay both likely at Forbidden Door on 6/25. Plus Eddie Kingston and Kaito Kiyomiya are in G-1 this year. For today’s show you can leave a thumbs up, down or middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]
Another story that has been heavily talked about is that paternity tests have shown that Stan Lane, the former Fabulous Ones and Midnight Express star, is not the father of Congresswoman Lauren Boebert. Boebert’s mother had claimed Lane as the father dating back to the 80s. Lane and Boebert both agreed to take new DNA tests. Boebert said, “I can confirm that Stan Lane is not my biological father. I personally have never publicly claimed he was my father, but certainly that allegation is out there.” It was claimed that the test that cleared Lane years ago was fraudulent because a lab worker who took Lane’s sample years ago was convicted of taking a bribe to switch vials. The Daily Beast reviewed the test results and confirmed what Boebert and Lane had claimed.
If there is a game six of the Stanley Cup finals on 6/16, the Rampage show is tentatively scheduled to air before the game at 6 p.m. Eastern If there is no game six, it will air in its usual 10 p.m. time slot. (thanks to David Wolf)
The WWE house show last night in White Plains, NY was a legit sellout:
Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn b Viking Raiders to keep the tag titles when Zayn pinned Erik with the Helluva kick
Rhea Ripley b Natalya with the prism lock to keep the Smackdown women’s title
Austin Theory b Sheamus using the ropes to keep the U.S. title
Gunther won four-way to keep the IC title over Shinsuke Nakamura, Matt Riddle and Damien Priest in a great match over Nakamura
Cody Rhodes b Finn Balor in a street fight with a Cross Rhodes through a table.
Bianca Belair & Becky Lynch b Bayley & Io Sky
Usos b Ridge Holland & Butch by pinning Butch. Usos worked as heels since the crowd totally cheered them.
Seth Rollins b Miz to keep world title (thanks to Mike Omansky and Mike Consani)
As far as things that trended on Google this past week, the only pro wrestling, boxing or MMA item that trended was yesterday’s UFC which was of a few hours ago was the No. 1 most searched for item of the last two days with 200,000 searches. I think that may have to do with the main event decision with Amir Albazi winning a split decision over Kai Kara-France in the main event. People were very upset about that one, and it was on ESPN live rather than just streaming.
In last night’s Albazi vs. Kara-France main event, judge Mike Bell gave Albazi rounds two and three and France rounds one, four and five. Sal D’Amato gave Albazi the first three rounds and France four and five. Chris Lee gave Albazi rounds two, three and four and France one and five. Media scores were 90 percent for France according to MMA Decisions.
The other split decision, where Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos beat Abubakar Nurmagomedov, saw Zaleski win on two of the three cards and 82 percent of media scores.
Announced for Raw tomorrow includes adding Cody Rhodes on Miz TV and Seth Rollins in an open challenge for the world heavyweight title. The NBA playoffs aren’t on tomorrow as game three is Wednesday against Dynamite, which probably means a lower rating than usual for that show. There is the Florida Panthers vs. Las Vegas Golden Knights game two of the NHL Stanley Cup finals head-to-head with Raw.
Best wishes to The Cubs Fan. We miss your stuff and hope all is well.
Nothing new on A&E tonight from WWE as instead they are airing A&E Biographies from the Iron Sheik at 8 p.m. and Steve Austin at 10 p.m.
For All In weekend in London, Choco Pro Wrestling, a Japanese women’s promotion that several of the AEW talent had worked for, has added a 2 p.m. Saturday show at the Yard Theater in Hackney Wick, about a ten minute walk from the Copper Box Arena which has Shingo Takagi vs Will Ospreay for the 6:30 p.m. RevPro show. Pro Wrestling Eve and Choco Pro have a joint show at 9 p.m. at The Dome at Tuffnell Park, which is near the Electric Ballroom where Progress is wrestling.
FITE TV is airing night two of the Crockett Cup from Winston-Salem, NC tonight. The quarterfinals are Mecha Wolf 450 & Bestia 666 vs. Blunt Force Trauma, Mike Knox & Trevor Murdoch vs. Ricky & Kerry Morton, Tyrus & Chris Masters vs. JR Kratos & Odinson and Yabo the Clown & Ruffo the Clown vs. Myzteziz Jr. & Octagon Jr. Kamille defends the NWA women’s title against Natalia Markova, plus Kenzie Paige defends the women’s TV title and there will be a six-way scramble to determine who faces Kerry Morton soon for the NWA jr. heavyweight title.
Defy from last night in Seattle at Washington Hall: Christopher Daniels b Artemis Spencer, Ricky Gibson & Eddie Pearl b Jacky Li & Shareef Morrow, Vert Vixen b Shazza McKenzie to keep the women’s title, Rocky Romero & Cody Chhun & Guillermo Rosas b Judas Icarus & Travis Williams & Evan Rivers, Nicole Matthews b Allie Katch, KENTA b Nick Wayne after a low blow to win the Defy title.
Defy also did a show yesterday afternoon in White Center, WA at the Pride Street Fair: Gibson & Pearl b Franky Duv & Steven Bradley, Rosas b Alan Extreme, Morrow b Casey Ferreria, Danika Diehard retained the Pride medal over Derrick Shaw and Jacky Li, Ashton Sours b Luis Alejandro, Morrow b Frankie Duv, Chhun b Miles Deville, Ferreira b Bradley, Deville b Li, Chhun & Rosas & Diehard b Gibson & Pearl & Derrick Shaw
CWE this week has four shows across Manitoba headlined by Chris Maters.
The suspension of Randy Orton, which went into effect on 4/12, for a 60 day minimum, has become the most trying personnel issue for WWE management.
Orton, who just turned 26 last week, was the youngest world champion in company history when he beat Chris Benoit at the age of 24 at the 2004 SummerSlam. He has been a discipline problem for some time, but his erratic behavior has really gotten out of control since the start of this year, and is the only reason he’s not champion right now.
There is no singular reason why he was suspended. He has been routinely fined, and has joked about it, for a few years, in many cases as much as $5,000 a pop,. The fines have been largely for his treatment of women both in and out of the company, and for overall rude, abusive language to people who didn’t deserve that treatment, and antisocial behavior.
Where All In 2023 stands on the biggest crowds and gates in wrestling history
Tony Khan talks Bill Goldberg
Bryan Danielson talks AEW creative
Matt Jackson on coming back so quickly from a muscle tear, the stunts in the match, how preparation was less than last year and why
The latest Bloodline saga
Business notes on Night of Champions and how AEW/WWE crossover viewership changed this past weekend from the past
How comparisons of big event interest changed greatly
Best of the Super Juniors finals, Dominion and All Together Now, a look at the big events in Japan
NXT Battleground coverage
One of the longest lasting wrestling promoters who ever lived, Brian Dixon, passes away at 74
Stardom has World & Wonder of Stardom champions face off on PPV show and where this leads
Two future stars leave two different promotions this past week
Will Ospreay talks future
New Japan President Takami Ohbari talks the state of the business, how close the company was to being in real trouble, and how they’ve had to change the business
Billy Graham funeral notes
Bobo Brazil day and a look at the iconic figure
Advance ticket sales for all upcoming WWE and AEW shows
Streaming and international TV numbers
Records at stake in UFC fights this week
International promotion looking at crowd of 50,000 for a show tomorrow
WWE’s arguments to get MLW lawsuit dismissed
Injury updates
WWE market value
Two people under WWE deals are one week away from competing for a sports world championship shot
We are currently looking for two people to moderate our message board. Those interested please contact [email protected].
Ordering Info:
Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
Friday Update
Garrett and I did a show today with Evan Husney of Dark Side of the Ring talking the current season, Marty Jannetty, Magnum T.A., Chris Candido, Adrian Adonis, Abdullah the Butcher and others plus we talked some of the business news of the past week. Bryan and I will be back Sunday after Dominion.
Charts for the ratings haven’t been updated past Monday so we don’t know more than what is in the current issue on the Tuesday and Wednesday ratings. We do know that Dynamite was in second place on cable behind Vanderpump on Wednesday and the breakdowns are in the issue as to what is up and down.
Smackdown is in Wilkes-Barre, PA tonight and is sold out with about 9,000 fans. This show has been sold out for weeks. The show is built around Roman Reigns’ 1,000th day as Universal champion. There are also MITB qualifying matches with Zelina Vega vs. Lacey Evans and LA Knight vs. Montez Ford. We’re looking for reports from the show, with the dark matches and anything off television to [email protected]
Rampage is at 10 p.m. Eastern on TNT, back in its regular time slot. We were told the El Hijo del Vikingo vs. Dralistico vs. Komander AAA title match was great, and that Zack Sabre vs. Action Andretti for the New Japan World TV title was good as well. The show also has Willow Nightingale vs. Emi Sakura for the New Japan Strong women’s title and Katsuyori Shibata vs. Lee Moriarty for the ROH Pure title.
Seth Rollins will have a World title match against Damian Priest on Raw Monday.
We’re looking for reports on these other weekend shows:
AEW tonight in Tupelo, MS
AEW tomorrow night in Huntsvlle, AL
WWE house show tomorrow night in White Plains, NY
WWE house show Sunday night in Manchester, NH
We’re looking for results, finishes and other highlights to [email protected]
The Tupelo card has Orange Cassidy & Darby Allin vs. Big Bill & Lee Moriarty Toni Storm defends the women’s title against Skye Blue, Kris Statlander defends the TBS title against Anna Jay and Daniel Garcia vs. Dax Harwood.
Our only weekend poll will be for the New Japan Dominion show on Sunday from Osaka Jo Hall. The show starts at 3 a.m. Eastern late Saturday night or midnight Pacific with Sanada vs. Yota Tsuji for the IWGP title plus Will Ospreay vs. Lance Archer for a shot at Kenny Omega’s U.S. title and Kazuchika Okada & Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tomohiro Ishii vs. Jon Moxley & Claudio Castagnoli (NJPW debut & Shota Umino for the trios titles. It’s a loaded show and one of the biggest New Japan shows of the year.
Drew McIntyre became an official U.S. citizen this past week.
Tomorrow’s UFC show will start at 6 p.m. on ESPN+ and then at 9 p.m. it will air on ESPN:
Phillipe Lins (205.5) vs. Maxim Grishin (205)
Da’mon Blackshear (136) vs. Luan Lacerda (136)
Elise Reed (115) vs. Jinh Yu Frey (116)
Jamie Mullarkey (156) vs. Muhammad Naimov (155.5)
John Castaneda (136) vs. Muin Garufov (136)
Andrei Arlovski (245) vs. Don’Tale Mayes (262.5)
Daniel Santos (135.5) vs. Johnny Munoz (136)
ESPN fights:
Elizeu Zaleski Dos Santos (171) vs. Abubakar Nurmagomedov (170)
Karine Silva (125.5) vs. Ketlen Souza (124.5)
Tim Elliott (126) vs. Victor Altamirano (124.5)
Jim Miller (155.5) vs. Jesse Butler (154.5)
Alex Caceres (145) vs. Daniel Pineda (145.5)
Kai Kara-France (125.5) vs. Amir Albazi (126)
Butler replaces Jared Gordon against Miller as Miller goes for the UFC all-time win record. No reason was given for Gordon pulling out.
Chris Daukaus is out of next Saturday’s UFC 289 fight with Khalil Rountree. The pulling out was said to not be due to injury and the match is expected to be held at a later date.
Danny Bonaduce, who did some pro wrestling in WCW celebrity matches and was a fan as a kid in the early 70s, will be undergoing brain surgery due to neurological issues he’s been dealing with for the past year that have forced him to take time off from his radio show. In a trivia note, on The Partridge Family TV show where Bonaduce was a star, the kid who played his best friend, Punky Lazar, was a longtime reader and wrestling magazine photographer, the late Gary Dubin.
Other Notes
BetOnline has made Nick Aldis the -135 favorite to win the 8-4-1 match for a sot at the Impact title on the Against All Odds show. Steve Maclin is listed at -800 to retain over Alex Shelley, while Chris Sabin is -500 to win the X title from Trey Miguel.
AIW on 6/17 in Youngstown, OH at Westside Bowl features Carlito and 6/23 in Cleveland at the Temple Live Asylum Room features an appearance by D-Von Dudley. 7/15 in Akron, OH at the Tadmoor Shrine features an appearance by Eric Bischoff.
MCW on 6/24 at the RJ Meyer Arena in Joppa, MD.
ISPW tonight in Butler, NJ at the St. Anthony of PaduaGym with Tommy Dreamer vs. Ray Calitri and Crowbar vs. Rick Recon.
Stardom had a New Blood show today in Shinagawa in Tokyo: Mirai & Ami Sohrei b Hanako & Aya Sakura, Saya Iida & Hanan b Ruaka &* Kohaku, Ram Kaichow & Maika Ozaki b Waka Tsukiyama & Sexy Dynamite Princess (Mariah May), Nanae Takahashi b Mai Sakurai, AZM b Miyu Amasaki, Starlight Kid & Karma b Tomoka Inaba & Asuza Inaba to keep the New Blood tag titles, Rina b Lady C to keep the Future of Stardom title. The next New Blood shows will be 8/18 and 9/29. Tsukiyama challenged Rina for the next Future title match.
AEW’s Double or Nothing closed with two incredible matches, one of the best traditional Battle Royals, and a few title changes, but did not have the one super match after another that the company has reached on its other shows.
The lineup told you that ahead of time. The Anarchy in the Arena match was super, but so much was going on that the cameras missed a lot and from being there live, it was impossible to follow everything, but based on what I’ve seen it feels like this was a far better match to watch live.
It was put on last, which it should have been because you didn’t want to have anything follow it. The Blackpool Combat Club team of Bryan Danielson & Jon Moxley & Wheeler Yuta & Claudio Castagnoli defeated The Elite of Kenny Omega & Adam Page & Young Bucks in their first match back together when Wheeler Yuta hit Page with the screwdriver given to him by Don Callis and then Omega went for the One Winged Angel on Yuta when a masked man brought out by Callis gave Omega a running knee and Yuta surprisingly pinned Omega with the seat belt.
Raw on Monday, facing competition from both the NBA and NHL playoffs (including 12 million viewers for the Celtics-Heat game), held up well, doing similar numbers to last week.
The episode averaged 1.61 million viewers, the lowest number the show has done since football season ended, with a 0.52 rating in 18-49.
The Celtics-Heat game did a 4.24 in 18-49 and 3.79 in 18-34, which will be among the largest numbers anything on cable will do this year outside of the NFL.
Raw was fourth behind the game, the pregame show, and the post-game show. It was fourth in every key demo except women 12-34, where it was fifth, behind the Las Vegas vs. Dallas NHL game on ESPN that did 1.58 million viewers and a 0.44.
News numbers were way down against the NBA game and Raw was fourth for the night in total viewers, its best finish in that category in recent times.
Raw likely would have done substantially worse if not for the Night of Champions show giving it the post-PPV boost. The audience grew in the second hour and fell in the third, but it held up slightly better than usual for the Seth Rollins & AJ Styles tag match against Finn Balor & Damian Priest.
The show was down two percent in viewers from last week, but it faced much harder competition this time. Plus, Memorial Day has been historically low for Raw. It was also down two percent in 18-49.
As compared to Memorial Day last year, Raw was up eight percent in viewers and up 29 percent in 18-49 and 23 percent in 18-34. Factoring in homes lost by cable, the real percentage of homes with the station watching gains were 14 percent in viewers, 37 percent in 18-49, and 29 percent in 18-34.
Another key note is that women were stronger in hour three than hour one, but men declined significantly, with the women’s 18-49 audience up 12 percent from the first to third hour while the men’s audience was down 14 percent from the first-to-third hour.
After nearly nine years, Bret Hart returned to almost-live WWE television and Eddy Guerrero was honored at the WWE’s much-talked about Hall of Fame ceremony on 4/1 at the Rosemont Theater.
In the end, Shawn Michaels was at the Hall of Fame. Bret Hart didn’t shake Hulk Hogan’s hand, but was so inconspicuous about it that almost nobody noticed (although Hart made a point in bringing it up on TSN’s Off the Record on 4/3) and few talked about it afterwards. He didn’t reference Michaels, nor show up at Wrestlemania. In the end, Vince McMahon finally got Bret Hart back on television and the Hall of Fame got a little added credibility boost because Hart and Bruno Sammartino were the two names most often mentioned as to why you can’t take it seriously.
Now there is only Randy Savage, who strangely has never been invited, along with Sammartino, who will likely never accept, and perhaps Bob Backlund, who also has been invited but turned it down, as the most obvious omissions in what the company has been trying to get as something that started as a joke, to now be taken seriously.
Everything seems to have been worked out regarding C.M. Punk returning to AEW on the debut episode of Collision on 6/17 at the United Center in Chicago.
After the blow-up on 5/16 which caused Punk to be pulled from all publicity, over the role of Ace Steel (Chris Guy), which has apparently been agreed to so Steel will work remotely and not be brought to Collision every Saturday as Punk and Steel had originally thought would be the case.
Punk had gotten Steel his job back after Steel ended up as the lone casualty of the Brawl after All Out. During that brawl, he was said to have hit Nick Jackson hard in the head with a chair and bit the forearm of Kenny Omega so deep that even two weeks later in photos teeth marks were very visible on his skin. The story from those defending him was at the time that it was due to his wife, who was immobile due to a foot injury, being in the room when the fight took place.
