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.
What will be by far the biggest money weekend in the history of WWE and pro wrestling in general is upon is with two days of WrestleMania, an NXT Stand & Deliver special, sellouts for Smackdown & The Hall of Fame as well as Raw at the Crypto.com in Los Angeles, and countless shows from promotions all over the world.
A number of WrestleMania records are guaranteed to be set including most tickets sold (adding up the two nights), most viewers watching (due to it being on Peacock which has grown greatly in subscribers over the past year), most merchandise sold (because from the merchandise standpoint the company is at its hottest period) and by far the most sponsorship revenue.
The two WrestleMania shows at SoFi Stadium will have two-hour pre-shows starting at 6 p.m. Eastern with an 8 p.m. main show. The first night will have seven matches and the second night will have six, unless something is added, due to the Bobby Lashley vs. Bray Wyatt match being canceled. There will no doubt be plenty of surprises. The show is also there to showcase the product and the fan enthusiasm for any prospective buyers.
The go-home Raw for WrestleMania last night averaged 1.84 million viewers with a 0.56 rating in 18-49 and a 0.41 rating in 18-34, winning the night on cable and beating everything on network TV except The Bachelor and The Voice.
The show had the daylight saving time pattern of people tuning in later, as the second hour was the most-watched, but there was a significant third-hour drop, unlike last week when they kept the Roman Reigns appearance until the end. This week’s third hour was built around Cody Rhodes vs. Solo Sikoa.
Raw was first in almost every key demo. In women 18-49, Raw did a 0.36, barely beating two NCAA women’s basketball tournament games which did 0.35 and 0.34 in women 18-49 respectively. Raw did a 0.24 in women 12-34, behind the Ohio State vs. Virginia Tech game at 0.25.
Raw was 16th for the day in total viewers on cable, behind 13 news shows and the two women’s college basketball games.
In particular, Raw was well above usual with men under the age of 35. It was the best Raw numbers since the episode after Elimination Chamber.
The Maryland vs. South Carolina game did 2,167,000/0.40 and the Ohio State vs. Virginia Tech game did 233,000/0.44, both on ESPN. There was also a U.S. vs. El Salvador soccer game that did 433,000/0.17 on TNT. ESPN2 had an XFL game that did 371,000/0.10.
Raw was up four percent in viewers from last week, up one percent in 18-49, and up five percent in 18-34.
From last year’s go-home show, Raw was down seven percent in viewers, and it’s been rare for this year’s number to be behind last year. But it was even in 18-49 year-over-year and this year was up 21 percent in 18-34, again showing the audience is younger than in 2022.
Factoring in homes lost by cable, the real percentage drops are one percent in viewers, an increase of six percent in 18-49, and an increase of 26 percent in 18-34.
As far as first-to-third hour drops, it was down 14 percent in women 18-49, no drop in men 18-49, a 16 percent drop in women 12-34, a six percent drop in men 12-34, and an 11 percent drop with people over 50.
*Ticket sales for all the WWE events of the weekend, how it compares to the past, as well as for the ROH show
*Updates on the lineup and what is on each night and what seems to be on each night based on reports
*Update on match changes
*Update on NXT Takeover and who will have their first big match on the show
*Update on the key independent shows held over WrestleMania weekend
*AEW ticket sales for Double or Nothing and Forbidden Door
*Full coverage of UFC 286 and where things go next for the top fighters on the show
*A look at the final week of the New Japan Cup, new stories, lineups for early April, and new stable, the Sanada title match and reviews of every tournament match and the full finals show.
*Andy Kaufman in WWE Hall of Fame, a look back at the famous angle and other key angles during Kaufman’s run in Memphis, the David Letterman show and how the angle came to be
*NCAA wrestling tournament note including one of history’s biggest upsets and the story behind it
*Davey Richards retires, a look at the allegations that led to his retirement, his career and the time when Bryan Danielson called him the best in the world
*The most detailed look at the TV ratings for all the national shows, placings and hat can be learned from the competition and the results
*A look at CMLL’s second biggest show of the year , the big hair match and where Romero vs Volador looks to be going
*Notes on upcoming tournament of champions in Mexico
*Film on well known pro wrestling personality debuted recently at Film Festival
*Update on major celebrity wrestling angle and how it got exposed by a fan
*A look at the Lucha Libre World Cup featuring stars from AEW
*Update on plans for the biggest Stardom event in history
*All Japan has two shows featuring interpromotional matches
*NOAH runs a big show with key title change
*Update on Will Ospreay
*Update on Mercedes Mone and when her New Japan deal is up
*Notes on Best of the Super Juniors tournament
*Legendary promotion from the best with some of the best matches in history is starting a YouTube page
*Health updates on a lot of key wrestling personalities
*Former pro wrestler becomes a hero who likely saved a lot of lives averting a potential shooting
*Top U.S. stars tour Australia
*Unique tournament planned
*Indie promotion in the U.K. bringing in top stars for unique title determination matches
*Update on MLW and a new deal made
*Update on major new national television show in the plans
*A look at AEW’s first house show in years
*New AEW and WWE business deals
*Ticket sales for upcoming AEW and WWE events
*International TV ratings and streaming numbers
*Conor McGregor’s comeback notes including a key rule for his return and if it will be broken
*Olympic silver medalist signs unique deal to both do MMA and still try for a 2024 gold medal
*WWE video game news and launch party
*Story about a major international deal WWE is working on
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 covering Raw and really a ton of news with Wrestling Observer Radio tonight.
Jon Moxley will be on Renee Paquette’s The Sessions show tomorrow talking about several subjects including the post made by C.M. Punk.
Raw is tonight in Phoenix and they are already sold out (11,400+) for the last Raw before WrestleMania. There will be a weigh-in for Brock Lesnar and Omos, Cody Rhodes vs.Solo Sikoa, Miz TV with Becky Lynch, Trish Stratus and Lita and Braun Strowman & Ricochet & Street Profits vs. Viking Raiders & Alpha Academy. Tons of names from Smackdown are there including Imperium, Sheamus & The Brawling Brutes and The Usos. Edge is also there. One would expect all of the WrestleMania matches to become official tonight. The only match still open is the final team in the four-way women’s match, which will include Chelsea Green. It’s already 44 percent sales above the last time Phoenix had a TV taping over the summer.
We’re looking for reports from the show for anything not on the live show, such as post-show stuff, Main Event matches or any highlights of being there live to [email protected]
WWE has tryouts this week bringing in 50 college athletes including a few notable names from track and college football. ESPN ran a piece on it. (thanks to Mike Kumzuk)
Komander has a booking on Wednesday in California so he won’t be at the Wednesday AEW tapings in St. Louis. The Cubs Fan had talked about El Hijo del Vikingo and Komander being in St. Louis but neither are advertised, with the idea they would do something to build for their Friday ROH PPV match. One would think Vikingo would be advertised if he was there after last week. The Wednesday show will tape both Rampage and one ROH show (the go-home show for Thursday) as well as Dynamite live. That would leave them needing to tape new ROH content before Thursday so unless they do it again in New York next week at Dynamite, nothing is advertised.
PW Insider reported that Alexa Bliss will be coming to WrestleMania. That doesn’t mean on the show just that she’ll be there.
Sanada’s new downward spiral finisher is being called the Dead Fall.
Patricio Pitbull Freire will attempt to become the first MMA fighter to win world championships in a major promotion in three different weight classes. Bellator announced the featherweight champion, Freire, dropping to 135 pounds to face Sergio Pettis for the bantamweight title on 6/16 at the Wintrust Arena in Chicago. Freire also is a former lightweight champion who vacated the title after winning it. The main event will be Vadim Nemkov defending the light heavyweight title against Yoel Romero.
The autobiography of Madusa will officially be released tomorrow by ECW Press. We have a very good interview show we did with Madusa from a few weeks ago
WWE announced a Smackdown show on 8/11 in Calgary at the Saddledome, the same location AEW just announced a 7/15 house show in.
BetOnline has these odds for ROH Supercard of Honor
Claudio Castagnoli -1000 Eddie Kingston +500
Mark Briscoe -2000 Samoa Joe +700
El Hijo de Vikingo -2500 Komander +725 (basically here you are betting for Komander based on the odds Vikingo gets a serious injury and they have to stop the match)
Aussie Open +100 Matt Taven & Mike Bennett +200 Top Flight +300 Rush & Dralistico +500 Lucha Brothers +600
Some new WrestleMania odds
Will a free agent debut Yes +100 No -140
Title changes over/under 4.5
Will Vince McMahon appear on the show +2500
Dominik Mysterio -150 Rey Mysterio +110
Other Notes
Create a Pro on 5/13 in Melville, NJ features MJF, Raven, Brian Myers, Bear Bronson and more. It’s near where MJF grew up and it’s the promotion that trained him. They sold 300 tickets instantly
The Ryan Garcia vs. Gervonta Davis boxing PPV show is reportedly being priced at $84.99.
Pro Wrestling Eve on 4/7 at The Dome if Tufnelll Park in London. Laura Di Matteo & Rayne Leverkusen face Nightshade & Rhio in three matches what is billed a a last ever match a two of three falls match with the first fall being a regular tag match, the second being a lumberjack match and a third,if needed, being an I Quit match. On 5/5 they have Miyu Yamashita defending the Eve title against Millie McKenzie and Billie Starkz vs. Safire Reed.
Prestige Wrestling from yesterday in Asbury Park,NJ before 225 fans: Jordan Oliver b Alec Price, Brick City Boyz b Shot in the Heart, Akira b 1 Called Manders, Masha Slamovich b Killer Kelly, Alex Shelley b Alan Angels in a submission match for the Prestige title, Sonico b Tre Lamar, Chris Sabin b Mike Bailey, Minoru Suzuki b Robert Martyr (thanks to Joseph Kurtiak)
*Ticket sales for all the WWE events of the weekend, how it compares to the past, as well as for the ROH show
*Updates on the lineup and what is on each night and what seems to be on each night based on reports
*Update on match changes
*Update on NXT Takeover and who will have their first big match on the show
*Update on the key independent shows held over WrestleMania weekend
*AEW ticket sales for Double or Nothing and Forbidden Door
*Full coverage of UFC 286 and where things go next for the top fighters on the show
*A look at the final week of the New Japan Cup, new stories, lineups for early April, and new stable, the Sanada title match and reviews of every tournament match and the full finals show.
*Andy Kaufman in WWE Hall of Fame, a look back at the famous angle and other key angles during Kaufman’s run in Memphis, the David Letterman show and how the angle came to be
*NCAA wrestling tournament note including one of history’s biggest upsets and the story behind it
*Davey Richards retires, a look at the allegations that led to his retirement, his career and the time when Bryan Danielson called him the best in the world
*The most detailed look at the TV ratings for all the national shows, placings and hat can be learned from the competition and the results
*A look at CMLL’s second biggest show of the year , the big hair match and where Romero vs Volador looks to be going
*Notes on upcoming tournament of champions in Mexico
*Film on well known pro wrestling personality debuted recently at Film Festival
*Update on major celebrity wrestling angle and how it got exposed by a fan
*A look at the Lucha Libre World Cup featuring stars from AEW
*Update on plans for the biggest Stardom event in history
*All Japan has two shows featuring interpromotional matches
*NOAH runs a big show with key title change
*Update on Will Ospreay
*Update on Mercedes Mone and when her New Japan deal is up
*Notes on Best of the Super Juniors tournament
*Legendary promotion from the best with some of the best matches in history is starting a YouTube page
*Health updates on a lot of key wrestling personalities
*Former pro wrestler becomes a hero who likely saved a lot of lives averting a potential shooting
*Top U.S. stars tour Australia
*Unique tournament planned
*Indie promotion in the U.K. bringing in top stars for unique title determination matches
*Update on MLW and a new deal made
*Update on major new national television show in the plans
*A look at AEW’s first house show in years
*New AEW and WWE business deals
*Ticket sales for upcoming AEW and WWE events
*International TV ratings and streaming numbers
*Conor McGregor’s comeback notes including a key rule for his return and if it will be broken
*Olympic silver medalist signs unique deal to both do MMA and still try for a 2024 gold medal
*WWE video game news and launch party
*Story about a major international deal WWE is working on
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.
Sunday Update
Bryan and I will be back tonight talking all the weekend news with Wrestling Observer Radio. You can send questions to the show to [email protected]
The AEW All Access show actually debuted after the University of Connecticut vs. Gonzaga game last night. During the game they announced a sneak preview of the show and it ended up being the first episode. Reader John Athridge just said it was “extremely well done” with no other details. The regular debut is Wednesday night after Dynamite.
For tonight on A&E, the 8 p.m. Biography will be Charlotte Flair and then the 9 p.m. bio will be Rodney “Yokozuna” Anoa’i. The Rivals episode at 10 p.m. is Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar. I could see Rivals possibly beating either bio in 18-49 which happened once recently but never used to happen.
Donald Cerrone was last night named for the 2023 Class of he UFC Hall of Fame. The ceremony is 7/6 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Even though last night’s UFC main event with Cory Sandhagen over Marlon Vera via five round decision wasn’t a close fight, judge Joel Ojeda gave Vera the last three rounds and a 48-47 win. Sal D’Amato gave Sandhagen all five rounds and Chris Lee only Vera Vera round three. 100% of the media scores from MMA Decisions went to Sandhagen and 75% of them gave Sandhagen all five rounds. Dana White said it was scary it was a split decision and said Sandhagen wasn’t far away from a title shot at 135. Sandhagen challenged Merab Dvalishvili, which does make sense.
The closest decision was Maycee Barber winning 29-28, 28-29 and 30-27 over Andrea Lee. It was 53-47 among media scores and that’s as close as it gets. Round two was the one that decided the fight it seemed.
At this house show in Salt Lake City last night (and likely in Denver tonight), Asuka, after teaming with Michin over Dakota Kai & Iyo Sky, turned heel on Michin after the match.
There was nothing pro wrestling related in the top 20 google searches for any day this past week. Obviously that will change this current week. There were two boxing related top 20 searches yesterday with the David Benavidez vs. Caleb Plant fight at 500,000 and in fifth place, which is very strong for a boxing match, and the women’s amateur championships were No. 18 with 20,000. The only thing related to last night’s UFC show was Holly Holm, who beat Yana Santos in the semifinal, being No. 11 with 100,000.
We’re looking for reports from tonight’s WWE house show in Denver with results, finishes and highlights to [email protected]. As of this morning they had more than 9,000 tickets out which is gigantic for a house show these days. Keep in mind when Raw was in Denver the last time they did about 5,500 paid so that’s another sign of how hot the promotion is right now.
PWinsider reported David “Gangrel” Heath is coming in for WrestleMania. That doesn’t necessarily mean he’s on the show, just that he is coming in. It should be noted that the original plan for Hell in a Cell was at the Royal Rumble and it was to be Demon Balor vs. Brood Edge. They’ve thrown around the Demon thing in interviews teasing that, so the Brood Edge thing could be what the interview on Monday’s show was leaning toward.
Masha Slamovich replaces the injured Mickie James in a four-way with Deonna Purrazzo, Gisele Shaw and Miyu Yamashita on Thursday’s New Japan/Impact joint show at the Globe Theater in Los Angeles which is sold out. It’s notable that it’s a New Japan show, New Japan and Stardom have the same owner but no Stardom talent is on the show and Yamashita is.
The first round of the Stardom Cinderella tournament took place earlier today from the Yokohama Budokan: Finishes are pin, submission or over the top rope an 10:00 time limits. If there is a draw, both women are eliminated from the tournament:
Waka Tsukiyama b Lacy D pin
Saya Iida b Miyu Amasaki pin
Ami Sohrei b Yuna Mizumori over the top rope
Starlight Kid NC Haruka Umesaki both over the top rope together
Xena b Hina pin
Mariah May b Rina pin
Saki Kashima b Momo Kohgo
Mirai b Hanan
Thekla b Koguma
Natsuko Tora b Ruaka
Syuri b Tomoka Inaba
Hazuki NC AZM both over the top rope together
Mai Sakurai b Giulia over the top rope in a huge upset
Natsupoi NC Mina Shirakawa both over the top rope together
Saya Kamitani NC Mayu Iwatani both over the top rope together
Momo Watanabe b Maika over the top rope
Utami Hayashishita d Nanae Takahashi 10:00 time limit expired
Tam Nakano b Himeka
There will be a WWE Viewing Party at Dave & Buster’s on the Franklin Mills Circle for WrestleMania with R-Truth and Sarah Schreiber.
Thanks to Jason Alvaz for the report from the Las Vegas Smackdown show on Friday night.
The WWE was a category on Jeopardy! on Friday night. HHH introduced the category and he, Rey Mysterio, Kofi Kingston, Alexa Bliss and The Miz were on reading the clues. Key stuff was Kingston reading the clue asking about a legend billed as 7-foot-4 and 500 pounds (Andre the Giant). Miz asked the name of the show about giving someone a decisive setback and started in 1999 (Smackdown). HHH talked about beating Mankind in 1997 to win this coveted Rhyming Royal title (King of the Ring); Mysterio asked the name of Mexican freestyle wrestling known and this alliterative two word name (Lucha Libre) and Bliss’ clue was Dave Bautista played Drax the Destroyer in this 2014 movie (Guardians of the Galaxy) (thanks to Brian Henke and Grant Zwarych))
Other Notes
Boom Pro Wrestling from last night in Vancouver, BC before a sellout 250 fans: President Abraham Lincoln b Tony Baroni, Nicole Matthews b Izzy McQueen, Evan Rivers b Maxwell Benson, Brady Malibu b Shaolin Funk, Travis Williams b Coco Flash, Scot Henderson b Malik Mello in a cat tail on a pole match, Randy Myers b Shareef Morrow, Tony Baroni b Randy Myers with his Golden haunches (equivalent to a money in the bank briefcase) to win the title.
El Hijo del Vikingo headlines the 6/16 House of Glory show at the NYC Arena in New York. His opponent has not been announced yet.
Juicy Finau was added to the MLW 4/8 Battle Riot match. This is their version of the Royal Rumble and has 40 men. Announced so far include Jacob Fatu, John Hennigan, Raven, Willie Mack, Alex Kane, Rickey Shane Page, Shigehiro Irie, Mance Warner, Matthew Justice, Calvin Tankman, Lance Anoa’i, Sam Adonis, Mr. Thomas, Manders and Jimmy Lloyd.
Davey Boy Smith Jr. vs. Calvin Tankman has been added to the 4/6 MLW show at the Melrose Ballroom in New York.
Insane Wrestling Revolution on Thursday night in Monroe, MI: Ace Austin b Jack Price, Miss Canada b Mean Gia, Jack Price won Battle Royal, Rich Swann b Jason Hotch to win the U.S. title, Sam Beale b Ace Evans , Trey Miguel & Myron Reed b Aaron Orion & Isaiah Broner and Bry Sullivan & Damian Chambers, Buckeye Sam b Rod Lee, Madman Fulton b Zach Thomas, Rhino & Dread King Logan & DBA b King Latimer & N8 Mattson & Arena Daniel Norman. This is Rhino’s promotion and their next show is 5/4 with Rhino and Miguel at the FOP Hall in Monroe, MI. (thanks to Leonard Brand)
WAR Wrestling on 4/15 in Lima, OH at the Empowered Sports Center
A few decades from now, when most of what takes place now is long forgotten, some things will be remembered. A few will be remembered as actually being more significant than they were at the time they actually took place.
When Roger Maris hit his 61st home run, breaking Babe Ruth’s record, and a record that was among baseball’s holy grails until the steroid-induced changes in that game knocked it off, there was actually a small crowd at the park that day. Years later it became one of the great moments in baseball history. In wrestling vernacular, the Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat match at the Louisiana Superdome, which many consider as the greatest match of the greatest series of matches of that era, was actually performed before an embarrassing crowd.
It’s impossible to know how things will look with the benefit, and often, the detriment of hindsight. But after this weekend, this much is clear. Dana White’s catchphrase about boxing being your father’s sport, which sounded like some clever thing, and totally full of crap, that Vince McMahon would say when knocking the NFL in 2001, is on the verge of happening. And if that’s the case, the Gotch and Hackenschmidt of this story may very well be Ken Shamrock and Royce Gracie. But the Hulk Hogan and Roddy Piper will be Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell. Well, except that neither of them is either a carny or insane.
*Ticket sales for all the WWE events of the weekend, how it compares to the past, as well as for the ROH show
*Updates on the lineup and what is on each night and what seems to be on each night based on reports
*Update on match changes
*Update on NXT Takeover and who will have their first big match on the show
*Update on the key independent shows held over WrestleMania weekend
*AEW ticket sales for Double or Nothing and Forbidden Door
*Full coverage of UFC 286 and where things go next for the top fighters on the show
*A look at the final week of the New Japan Cup, new stories, lineups for early April, and new stable, the Sanada title match and reviews of every tournament match and the full finals show.
*Andy Kaufman in WWE Hall of Fame, a look back at the famous angle and other key angles during Kaufman’s run in Memphis, the David Letterman show and how the angle came to be
*NCAA wrestling tournament note including one of history’s biggest upsets and the story behind it
*Davey Richards retires, a look at the allegations that led to his retirement, his career and the time when Bryan Danielson called him the best in the world
*The most detailed look at the TV ratings for all the national shows, placings and hat can be learned from the competition and the results
*A look at CMLL’s second biggest show of the year , the big hair match and where Romero vs Volador looks to be going
*Notes on upcoming tournament of champions in Mexico
*Film on well known pro wrestling personality debuted recently at Film Festival
*Update on major celebrity wrestling angle and how it got exposed by a fan
*A look at the Lucha Libre World Cup featuring stars from AEW
*Update on plans for the biggest Stardom event in history
*All Japan has two shows featuring interpromotional matches
*NOAH runs a big show with key title4 change
*Update on Will Ospreay
*Update on Mercedes Mone and when her New Japan deal is up
*Notes on Best of the Super Juniors tournament
*Legendary promotion from the best with some of the best matches in history is starting a YouTube page
*Health updates on a lot of key wrestling personalities
*Former pro wrestler becomes a hero who likely saved a lot of lives averting a potential shooting
*Top U.S. stars tour Australia
*Unique tournament planned
*Indie promotion in the U.K. bringing in top stars for unique title determination matches
*Update on MLW and a new deal made
*Update on major new national television show in the plans
*A look at AEW’s first house show in years
*New AEW and WWE business deals
*Ticket sales for upcoming AEW and WWE events
*International TV ratings and streaming numbers
*Conor McGregor’s comeback notes including a key rule for his return and if it will be broken
*Olympic silver medalist signs unique deal to both do MMA and still try for a 2024 gold medal
*WWE video game news and launch party
*Story about a major international deal WWE is working on
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 news update show today. Bryan and I will be doing our weekend show on Sunday night. You can send questions to [email protected]
Want to mention what a great job Josh Alexander did as Impact champion, and for that matter, the strong storyline follow-through Impact did with Mickie James as champion. Alexander had surgery for a torn triceps today suffered at the World Cup show in Mexico and will be out of action. On today’s show with Garrett I may have mentioned biceps but it was triceps. So the company lost both champions at the same time. The men’s title will be up in a match on 4/16 at the Rebellion PPV with Steve Maclin vs. Kushida to determine the new champion. They will address the women’s title on the show tonight in Windsor, ONT on Impact +. Impact said that the announcement for the 3/30 show where Alexander was to defend against Kushida would be announced shortly.
Alexander was the longest reigning Impact champion and had a series of great matches as champion and probably didn’t get his due for some of them, like the classic match with Mike Bailey a few months back. Alexander underwent surgery under Brad M. Homan, DO, FAOAO in Orlando, FL. today.
The James vs. Jordynne Grace match is off and James will be there and they will make an announcement regarding the title. Steve Maclin replaces Alexander in the main event, teaming with Rich Swann & Frankie Kazarian vs. Kushida & Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley. Trey Miguel also defends the X title against Lince Dorado, Chris Bey & Ace Austin defend the tag titles against Bad Dude Tito & Shane Haste, Joe Hendry defends the Digital Media title against Brian Myers, Tommy Dreamer vs. Bully Ray, Deonna Purrazzo vs Gisele Shaw and Mike Bailey vs. Jonathan Gresham.
Smackdown tonight is from Las Vegas at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Announced is Cody Rhodes vs. Ludvig Kaiser and LA Knight vs. Rey Mysterio. The big angle being pushed is that Angie and Aalyah Gutierrez, the wife and daughter of Rey Mysterio, will be there along with Rey and Dominik to continue in the next step of building the angle,. There were just under 10,000 tickets out this morning so with a good walk-up they could sell out.
No Rampage tonight. It airs 10 p.m. tomorrow night on TNT this week.
AEW is taping Dark tonight in Orlando.
Ronda Rousey said that her injury that has kept her out of action is a fractured radius, which is one of the bones in the forearm. She also noted having no cartilage or ACL in her right knee,. The knee problems date back before UFC when she was in judo.
We’re looking for reports on these weekend shows:
*Smackdown tonight in Las Vegas (dark matches and anything not airing on television)
*WWE Saturday night house show in Salt Lake City
*WWE Sunday night house show in Denver
We’re looking for results, finishes and highlights to [email protected]
Kairi said in an interview with WrestlingNews.co that as a free agent she would love to team with Asuka or Iyo Sky or maybe wrestler Iyo Sky again, and would love to do the Royal Rumble saying it’s her favorite PPV show of the year. She also brought up wanting to work with Saraya, Toni Storm and Jamie Hayter.
UFC tomorrow from San Antonio with an ESPN+ show starting at 4 p.m. Eastern:
Victor Altamirano (124.5) vs. Vinicius Salvador (126)
CJ Vergara (126) vs.. Daniel Da Silva (126)
Trevin Giles (170.5) vs. Preston Parsons (171)
Steven Peterson (146) vs. Lucas Alexander (146)
Daniel Pineda (145.5) vs. Tucker Lutz (146)
Chidi Njokuani (185) vs. Albert Duraev (186)
Alex Perez (126) vs. Manel Kape (125.5)
Andrea Lee (126) vs. Maycee Barber (125.5)
Nate Landwehr (145.5) vs. Austin Lingo (146)
Holly Holm (135.5) vs. Yana Santos (135)
Marlon Vera (136) vs. Cory Sandhagen (135.5)
Two scheduled fights are now off. Manuel Torres vs. Trey Ogden is off because Torres failed to weigh in due to medical issues. Tamires Vidal vs. Halley Cowan is also off because Vidal was off due to medical issues.
Konosuke Takeshita wrestled in DDT earlier today teaming with Samuray del Sol (Kalisto) beating Chris Brookes & Takeshi Masada in Tokyo at Shinjuku Face.
Angel de Oro of CMLL is out of action temporarily after testing positive for COVID yesterday. He had a singles match on tonight’s Arena Mexico show against Volador Jr. Templario will be the replacement which could make for a great singles match.
At the ROH PPV on 3/31, the ladder match for the ROH tag team titles has Penta & Fenix, Rush & Dralistico, Top Flight, Matt Taven & Mike Bennett and Aussie Open.
Luchablog reported that El Hijo del Vikingo would be in St. Louis for AEW TV tapings on Wednesday. It should be noted that on Wednesday they will be taping the go-home show for the ROH PPV that Vikingo defends his title against Komander on, so it would make sense to do an angle with the two of them there. They are also taping Rampage and of course Dynamite is live.
GCW announced that The Wrld show on 4/1 in Los Angeles has been moved an hour back to a 1 a.m. Eastern late that night from 10 p.m. to allow people more time to get to the Ukrainian Cultural Center from WrestleMania at SoFi Stadium.
Miro announced he is doing voice acting for an animated short called “Yellowbird” for HBO MAX.
The Miz, Rey Mysterio and Kofi Kingston will be appearing on Jeopardy today.
Undertaker is doing his One Man Show tonight in Las Vegas in conjunction with the Smackdown tapings there. The show is at the Chelsea at the Cosmopolitan.
Viking Raiders -150 Ricochet & Braun Strowman +200 Street Profits +350 Alpha Academy +700
Both Logan Paul and Bianca Belair will be guests on the new season of “Cold As Balls,” hosted by Kevin Hart. The new season premiered on 3/21.
Other Notes
Tony Deppen vs. Tracy Williams was announced for the 4/6 MLW show at the Melrose Ballroom in New York.
Augusto Sakai, a heavyweight who se contract with UFC expired with his last night, will not be signed to a new deal according to MMA Fighting which confirmed the story with Sakai.
Arman Tsarukyan vs. Renato Moicano will headline the 4/29 UFC show.
Muhammad Mokaev suffered a partial MCL tear on Saturday in his UFC fight with Jafel Filho, which he won. He will be out six to eight weeks.
AAW tonight live on Highspots.tv at 8:30 p.m. Eastern from 115 Bourbon Street in Merrionette Park, IL
Jake Something vs. Robert Anthony for the AAW title
Christi Jaynes vs. Sierra in a lumberjack match
Davey Vega & Hartenbower vs. Mike Bennett & Levi Everett in a double dog collar match
Conan Lycan & Solom Tupu vs. Russ Jones & Schaff in an I Quit match
Fred Yehi vs. Manders vs. Silas Young vs. Ren Jones
Mance Warner vs. Thrillbilly Silas Mason
Shazza McKenzie vs. Heather Reckless
The Dave Bautista movie “A Knock at the Cabin” is now streaming on Peacock.
Nigel McGuinness is doing a magic show where he will run down his career and use magic as part of the storytelling. The event will be Thursday in at 8 pm. at the Illusion Magic Lounge in Santa Monica with more info here
AAW has its 19th Anniversary show
MCW on 4/8 in Perryville, MD at 5th Company Brewing,, 4/14 in Joppa, MD at the RJ Meyer Arena and 4/15 in Hollywood,MD at the Volunteer Fire Department
IPSW and the Totowa, NJ Police Athletic League are doing an event tonight at 7:30 p.m. to raise money for the Martinez Family who recently lost everything and their seven pets in a house fire. Partial proceeds from the show will benefit the family. Appearing include Snitsky, Maven, Hale Collins, Crowbar, Tina San Antonio, HC Loc and more.
PFL announced that tickets for the second half of the 2023 regular season at the OTE Arena at Atlantic Station in Atlanta go on sale today. The shows are 6/8, 6/16 and 6/23.
A horse named Rowdy Rousey finished third in a race at Dover Downs on Wednesday (thanks to Barry Werner)
On Jeopardy last night the category was The JV Squad and the question was “This Navy SEAL later went into pro wrestling, movies and Minnesota politics.” The contestant correctly answered the question as Jesse Ventura (thanks to Grant Zwarych)
With WrestleMania coming up in Southern California, it will be the biggest money week in company history from a live show perspective, and likely with whatever Peacock pays for WrestleMania rights, plus the huge increase in sponsorships that WWE has been getting for big shows, it will be record-setting in that realm as well.
For the WWE events the 3/31 Smackdown and Hall of Fame event at the Crypto.com Arena, they had 14,393 tickets out and are 838 tickets shy of sellout, so they will sell out.
Stand & Deliver with a 9 a.m. start time on 4/1 has 6,678 tickets out in the same building, which is far above last year in Dallas, although there have been WrestleMania week NXT shows that have done much better. From 2015 to 2019, the WrestleMania NXT big event over the weekend sold out but it has not done so since 2019 and this year will be well above last year but far from a sellout.
Raw last night averaged 1.77 million viewers, drew a 0.55 rating in 18-49, and drew a 0.37 in 18-34.
Essentially the story in recent weeks is that Raw has had an upswing in younger viewers, particularly 18-34, while losing viewership with people over 50.
Raw was second on cable to the Japan vs. Mexico World Baseball Classic game on FS1 which did 1.89 million viewers and a 0.68 in 18-49. Even though baseball in general draws a much older audience than most sports, the WBC games have been drawing the youngest sports audience of late, even younger than the usual three youngest audiences of soccer, the NBA, and AEW Dynamite.
Raw also beat ABC in hour three, CBS all night, NBC in hour three, and FOX after 9 p.m. The only shows ahead of Raw in 18-49 were the baseball game, The Bachelor (0.63), The Voice (0.64), and Fox’s 911 (0.59). During the 10 p.m. hour, Raw was second on television behind the baseball game.
Raw was second to baseball on cable in women 18-49, second in men 18-49, second in 18-34, second in women 12-34, and second in men 12-34. Raw was 11th in total viewers behind the baseball game and nine news shows.
It was up four percent in viewers from last week, up five percent in 18-49, and up six percent in 18-34.
From last year, Raw was up 0.1 percent in viewers, but up 10 percent in 18-49 and up 16 percent in 18-34. Factoring in homes lost, the actual percentage increases were six percent in viewers, 16 percent in 18-49, and 22 percent in 18-34. Again this is another example of the Raw audience being notably younger than heading into last year’s WrestleMania.
The big story of the ratings was that Raw held strong for all three hours, which is a feather in the cap of Roman Reigns since he was the person pushed for the final segment of the show. In fact, hour two beat hour one and the first to-third hour audience decline was only three percent.
First-to-third hour drops were only three percent in women 18-49, three percent in men 18-49, no drop in women 12-34, 10 percent in men 12-34, and four percent with people over 50. This is far better than usual.
WrestleMania updates, including status of different matches that have been planned and not announced
Ticket sales notes and demand for tickets, plus notes on NXT Stand & Deliver
A study of the buying patterns of PPVs for AEW, including comparisons with one year ago, how many shows the average AEW PPV buyer purchases each year, the difference between satellite owners and others in the viewing patterns, update on Revolution numbers and how many different people bought an AEW PPV this past year
Letters from WWE to the Alamodome in San Antonio show how WWE counted Royal Rumble attendance, along with the actual numbers from the show
Richard Schaefer, the famed boxing promoter, heading Anthem’s wrestling, MMA and new boxing divisions and what are future plans for the divisions
New Japan Cup coverage with all the matches from the past week
Notes on AEW’s Canada tour
Mexican star taken to prison on domestic violence charges against another Mexican wrestling star
Full coverage of this past week’s major pro wrestling events and the UFC show
Update on the WWE Hall of Fame including stories on the careers of the inductees
Coverage of the WWE’s return to its most famous arena, Madison Square Garden
The life of former wrestler Jeff Gaylord and his very checkered life after wrestling and during wrestling
The most detailed look at the weekly television ratings, competition, how segments did, where shows are strong and weak.
Promotion adding a ton of new talent after young wrestlers impress in a special format
Mainstream angle being done in Mexico
Joint show announced in Japan for the Himeka retirement
A look at the Guerrero wrestling family
Legendary athlete passes away that a wrestling move done all over the world was named after including the person who actually named the move
New promotion starting taking the name of a legendary regional company
International Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame 2023 inductions and ceremony
Ric Flair Twitter war of words
Lots of indie notes including some big crowds this week
16 Carat Gold tournament in Germany news
Notes on recent Will Ospreay matches
Notes on major AEW negotiations
AEW cancels TV tapings and why
Update on social media abuse of Riho
Chris Jericho honored
Ticket sales for upcoming WWE & AEW shows
Streaming numbers for WWE & AEW this past week
International TV ratings updates including a company sets its all-time viewing record in Canada
Notes on AEW signees
UFC TV renewal talk even though it’s years away
Former UFC champion Benson Henderson retires
Update on WWE’s attempt to get legalized betting on its matches
Update on Jay White
Interest level mainstream of UFC, WWE and AEW big shows including geographical popularity split between AEW Revolution and WWE Elimination Chamber
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].
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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 covering all the latest news from WWE and the rest of the wrestling world plus building to the shows during the rest of the week.
Raw is in St. Louis tonight. Roman Reigns, Sami Zayn, Logan Paul, The Usos, Rey Mysterio and Lita are all scheduled on the show. Charlie Dempsey is there as well, but he’ll likely be on Main Event because that’s where the NXT talent flown in usually works. Announced is a face to face with Reigns and Cody Rhodes, Austin Theory vs. Montez Ford non-title, Asuka & Bianca Belair vs. Chelsea Green & Carmella, plus Impaulsive TV with Logan Paul to likely shoot another angle with Seth Rollins. More than 12,000 tickets were out this morning so with walkup this will almost surely end up as a sellout. They will be up more than 64 percent from the last time they taped television in the building on 10/28, which tells you how hot things are compared to five months ago
Sting returns Wednesday night on Dynamite in a six-man tag with Darby Allin & Orange Cassidy vs. Kip Sabian & Butcher & Blade from Independence, MO. This is the show featuring the Kenny Omega vs. El Hijo del Vikingo match.
On Being the Elite, they did a phone chat gimmick with the Young Bucks, Adam Page and Kenny Omega but Omega bailed out of the chat, so the story is the Young Bucks are or have made amends with Page but Omega has yet to do so.
PW Insider reported that the fifth and final WWE Hall of Fame inductee this year is likely a referee who “someone the entire industry loved.” It would be the first referee ever inducted if that’s the case.
New Japan’s New Japan Cup finals are tomorrow at 4 a.m. Eastern from Niigata:
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Yuto Nakashima vs. Taichi & Douki
Zack Sabre Jr. & Kosei Fujita vs. Ryohei Oiwa & Shota Umino
Tama Tonga & Tomohiro Ishii & Tomoaki Honma vs. KENTA & El Phantasmo & Chase Owens
Desperado & Ren Narita & Toru Yano & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Evil & Yujiro Takahashi & Sho & Dick Togo
Tetsuya Naito & Shingo Takagi vs. Great O’Khan & Aaron Henare
Kazuchika Okada & Hirooki Goto & Yoshi-Hashi vs. Aussie Open & Jeff Cobb
Hiromu Takahashi vs. Lio Rush for the IWGP Jr. title
Sanada vs. David Finlay in the New Japan Cup final
Besides the two main events, the undercard will likely set up matches for the 4/8 show at Sumo Hall.
Popular Northeast referee Sean Patrick O’Brien, known as SPO, passed way. We don’t have any details other than he refereed for a number of promotions including ICW NHB and was said to be best friends with John Wayne Murdoch, noting they were traveling partners. On Saturday night’s ICW NHB show on IWTV, they had all the talent in the ring while the crowd chanted “SPO” to start the show. Danny Demanto then came out to dedicate the show to O’Brien (thanks to Ross Blair)
The 3/30 episode of ROH television, which hasn’t been taped yet, will be taped on 3/29 at the Dynamite tapings in St. Louis, so they’ll tape ROH, Dynamite and Rampage.
The Undertaker has a One Man Show on 3/24 at The Chelsea at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas.
The presale for Forbidden Door on 6/25 in Toronto takes place on Wednesday.
AEW will be taping Dark matches at Universal in Orlando from 6-10 p.m. on Friday night.
WWE did a combo ticket presale for both the Smackdown and Backlash shows on 5/5 and 5/6 in San Juan, Puerto Rico today. We don’t have numbers but the queue was long and I expect sellouts for both shows almost immediately when they go on sale to the public.
Denise Salcedo will be joining Busted Open radio every Saturday starting this coming weekend from 9 a.m. to Noon Eastern time working with Mark Henry on Sirius XM.
Denzel Freeman, who scored a 27 second knockout on Friday night’s PFL show, earning him a contract for the heavyweight tournament, was formerly in WWE developmental. After being picked by Randy Couture, Kayla Harrison and Wiz Khalifa for a contract based on being the most impressive winner on the show, he asked if Liv Morgan would go out with him. Morgan is in a relationship with Taylor “Uncle Howdy” Rotunda.
The episode of NCIS: Los Angeles with Sheamus aired last night. In the story, star Sam Hanna (LL Cool J) goes undercover in an underground Bare Knuckle fight club to catch dirty cops involved in a Fentanyl drug ring. Sheamus played Odin the head of the drug gang. The two had a fight at the end of the episode. He was billed in the credits a “WWE Superstar Sheamus” as opposed to Stephen Farrelly. (thanks to Grant Zwarych)
A correction from yesterday (it was corrected last night in the daily update) is that the next TKW show in Taylor, MI is on 4/21. We had listed it was 4/2 (thanks to Leonard Brand)
WrestleMania updates, including status of different matches that have been planned and not announced
Ticket sales notes and demand for tickets, plus notes on NXT Stand & Deliver
A study of the buying patterns of PPVs for AEW, including comparisons with one year ago, how many shows the average AEW PPV buyer purchases each year, the difference between satellite owners and others in the viewing patterns, update on Revolution numbers and how many different people bought an AEW PPV this past year
Letters from WWE to the Alamodome in San Antonio show how WWE counted Royal Rumble attendance, along with the actual numbers from the show
Richard Schaefer, the famed boxing promoter, heading Anthem’s wrestling, MMA and new boxing divisions and what are future plans for the divisions
New Japan Cup coverage with all the matches from the past week
Notes on AEW’s Canada tour
Mexican star taken to prison on domestic violence charges against another Mexican wrestling star
Full coverage of this past week’s major pro wrestling events and the UFC show
Update on the WWE Hall of Fame including stories on the careers of the inductees
Coverage of the WWE’s return to its most famous arena, Madison Square Garden
The life of former wrestler Jeff Gaylord and his very checkered life after wrestling and during wrestling
The most detailed look at the weekly television ratings, competition, how segments did, where shows are strong and weak.
Promotion adding a ton of new talent after young wrestlers impress in a special format
Mainstream angle being done in Mexico
Joint show announced in Japan for the Himeka retirement
A look at the Guerrero wrestling family
Legendary athlete passes away that a wrestling move done all over the world was named after including the person who actually named the move
New promotion starting taking the name of a legendary regional company
International Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame 2023 inductions and ceremony
Ric Flair Twitter war of words
Lots of indie notes including some big crowds this week
16 Carat Gold tournament in Germany news
Notes on recent Will Ospreay matches
Notes on major AEW negotiations
AEW cancels TV tapings and why
Update on social media abuse of Riho
Chris Jericho honored
Ticket sales for upcoming WWE & AEW shows
Streaming numbers for WWE & AEW this past week
International TV ratings updates including a company sets its all-time viewing record in Canada
Notes on AEW signees
UFC TV renewal talk even though it’s years away
Former UFC champion Benson Henderson retires
Update on WWE’s attempt to get legalized betting on its matches
Update on Jay White
Interest level mainstream of UFC, WWE and AEW big shows including geographical popularity split between AEW Revolution and WWE Elimination Chamber
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.
Sunday Update
Bryan and I did our weekend show last night covering UFC, Smackdown, Rampage, the first AEW house show in a long time and other news notes. We will be back tomorrow night after Raw.
Sanada faces David Finlay in Tuesday’s New Japan Cup finals in Nagaoka. Sanada beat Mark Davis and Finlay beat Tama Tonga on today’s show to reach the finals.
On A&E tonight, the Jerry Lawler biography is at 8 p.m. and the Paige biography is at 9 p.m., plus WWE Rivals is Lita vs. Trish Stratus at 10 p.m.
There was a split-second Bray Wyatt sign on Smackdown that was very easy to miss. I guess that’s the signal saying that he’s around. He was originally scheduled on Friday’s show and wasn’t there. Wyatt is reportedly ill and we don’t have definitive word on the status of his match with Bobby Lashley at WrestleMania, which wasn’t pushed or mentioned on either television show this week.
Rolling Stone had a story about Tom Cole which is an excerpt from the new book “Ringmaster: Vince McMahon and the Unmasking of America” by Abraham Josephine Riesman. There’s nothing really new past it’s the story from 1992 brought back in the book.
Just a note regarding the Tony Khan Twitter mention of me on Friday. I had been asked a question more than a week ago regarding whether WWE still didn’t pay for talents hotels and rental cars while on the road, and answered that they do pay for that internationally but at the domestic house shows they don’t. Khan responded that it was mistaken and hat he pays for that stuff even though other companies don’t and noted he pays millions a year in covering hotels and cars for the talent, but that this isn’t the case with other companies. But the question didn’t even involve AEW that I was answering. Khan and I cleared it up already, very quickly as he said he didn’t know and only saw the answer and not the question. Everything is fine past people using it for a headline when it was all cleared up immediately.
Notes from last night’s UFC 286 PPV event. At the post-fight press conference, Dana White said that Colby Covington would be the next contender for Leon Edwards, who beat Kamaru Usman to retain the welterweight title in the main event from London. That decision has been heavily criticized, including by Edwards, noting Covington hasn’t even fought in the last year and a half. Edwards said as champion he thinks he should decide who was next, and wants to face Jorge Masvidal, although Masvidal last lost three in a row, including to Covington, and his last win was late 2019. Belal Muhammad has eight wins and a no contest (with Edwards) in his last nine fights and Khamzat Chimaev is undefeated. Covington is the No. 2 contender behind Kamaru Usman, who lost last night, in UFC’s own rankings. White said Chimaev will be fighting at middleweight next and wants him to face a top ranked guy in the division there. Chimaev missed weight badly. Dana White talked about Shavkat Rakhmonov for an opponent for Muhammad.
White said last night’s fight was tough to score. Both myself and Ryan Frederick had it 48-46 for Edwards, The MMA Decisions web site wasn’t up so we don’t have how other reporters had it, but judges Ben Cartilage and Chris Lee both had it the same. David Lethaby had it a draw, giving Edwards rounds one, four and five and a 10-8 third for Usman due to the penalty point. You could reasonably score it a draw but not an Usman win. Edwards was the better fighter most of the way, but he also committed four flagrant fouls, two low blows (appearing to be accidental), a fence grab blatant that he lost a point for and grabbing Usman’s glove which was also blatant and he was warned.
White also said they would be taking Power Slap events to the U.K
The UFC show last night had 1.1 million searches, which is not that big for a major UFC event. It was still one of the four biggest searched for items in the U.S. this weekend. The biggest was the death of Lance Reddrick while the UFC show, Donald Trump and Barcelona vs Real Madrid in soccer were the other big ones.
We’re looking for reports tonight from the WWE shows in Springfield, IL and Sioux Falls, SD, and the AAA Lucha Libre World Cup from Guadalajara (on FITE) tonight with results, finishes and highlights from both events.
Thanks to John Edwards Adam Adkins and Shannon Walsh for the WWE and AEW reports from the weekend shows.
There were AEW Dark banners up at last night’s house show in Troy, OH and they wee filming. ROH’s Bobby Cruise was used as the ring announcer. We got questions from a few people who were hoping for a wider variety of merchandise to be available but they enjoyed the show and it was 200 tickets shy of a sellout in a 3,400-seat set up, so that was a success.
Jake Lee beat Kaito Kiyomiya with a front high kick to win the GHC tile earlier today at a show at the Yokohama Budokan.
WWE last night in Milwaukee:
Bianca Belair retained the women’s title over Becky Lynch, Bayley and Chelsea Green
Bronson Reed b Johnny Gargano
Dominik Mysterio b Santos Escobar
Michin & Candice LeRae b Dakota Kai & Iyo Sky when LeRae pinned Kai. Bayley was booted out before the finish
Cody Rhodes b LA Knight
Ricochet & Braun Strowman b Maximum Male Models
Bobby Lashley b Baron Corbin
Austin Theory b Seth Rollins to keep the U.S. title. You know the drill there.
WWE last night in Fargo, ND:
Usos b Butch & Ridge Holland to keep the tag titles
Shotzi b Shayna Baszler
Viking Raiders b Joaquin Wilde & Cruz Del Toro
Charlotte Flair b Sonya Deville to keep the women’s title
Rhea Ripley b Raquel Rodriguez. Ripley beat her down until Liv Morgan ran out
Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson & Drew McIntyre b Gunther & Ludvig Kaiser & Giovanni Vinci
Solo Sikoa b Sami Zayn after a ref bump and interference from the Usos. Holland & Butch tried to make the save but they were beaten down until McIntyre made the save (thanks to Shannon Rose and Steve Nixon)
Warrior Wrestling announced some changes in Saturday’s show in Grand Rapids, MI. Eddie Kingston vs. Sam Adonis is off because Kingston has COVID and Adonis was booked for a show n Mexico. Queen Aminata is out with a knee injury so Warhorse now faces Max the Imapler. With Davey Richards retiring, Clark Connors will now face Jake Something.
Scrapper Mania from yesterday in Dublin, Ireland: Don’t have results but told Robbie X vs. Pac vs. Big Damo vs. Leon Slater was great in a four-way that Pac won. Santino Marella worked a comedy match doing the snake bit. The crowd was hot for everything but the card was hurt by Kingston not being there due to COVID (thanks to Tony Coleman)
Other Notes
The brother of Matt “Kid Zombie” Mann on his facebook page said that Matt Mann passed away in San Francisco this weekend. Mann and I were contact all the time years ago and helped me out a ton. He was an insider fan who did a lot of podcasts and worked with a lot of West Coast independent promotions over the years. He had a show on Karl Stern’s network called Life and Times with KZ where he’d talk about his time in independent wrestling. He was going to appear as a guest on the Wrestling with the Dawg podcast but missed the show and Eric Darsie tried to get a hold of him and found this out. (thanks to Karl Stern)
Matt Cardona did an angle for a match with Mark Long, a reality show star of The Challenge, Challenge All-Stars, Road Rules and Worst Cooks),. The two are scheduled for a 5/7 match for Boca Raton Championship Wrestling. (thanks to Scott Yager)
Lance Anoa’i was announced for the 4/8 MOW Battle Bowl event on Philadelphia’s 2300 Arena.
United Wrestling Coalition in New Egypt, NJ on 3/25 at the American Legion has a Conquering Cancer event.
Want to mention Jay Dumont, who we actually wrote about this past week in the new issue of the Observer for the situation with Riho. He’s been battling health issues for three years now and his situation has been serious for some time. If you know him through twitter as the Great Fowler, just send him nice words of encouragement please.
Kirk White’s Big Time Wrestling from last night in Newark CA: Bret the Hart b Eddie Cuervo, Tru X b Levi Shapiro, Sir Samurai b Kal Jak, The Freaks b Too Fresh, Aaron Solo (AEW) b Big Fronz, Willow Nightingale b Viva Van, Colt Cabana b Kaka Meng. The show sold out and the next show is 5/13 (thanks to Jim Davis)
Pure Pro Wrestling from last night in Flint, MI: Mason Keller b Tango Jones, Brett Bahama b David Weston, Don Tone Leone b G-Money, Alpha Adams and Big Buford, Road Rash & Shaun Moertakai b Vinny Davinci & Noah Raditz, Danny Astro b Gideon Malice, Nick Xero & Mr. One Night Only b Abdul Hakim & Global Flyer Drake, Luerano b Father Time, Dylan Derringer b Jheras Grey, Betty Bruiser & Sophia Beretta & Maddy Red & Khaos b Princes Tenshi & Hannah Henderson & Alexis Royale & Heather Blue, Dylan Night b Tommy Dreamer (thanks to Leonard Brand)
Total Kaos Wrestling in Taylor, MI at the Taylortown Trade Center on 4/21 with a fans bring the weapons match.
Pro Wrestling Phoenix from Thursday night in Omaha: Arjun Singh b James Moore, Joey Daniels b Luke Luna, Purple b Chaac, Vic Douglas b Xander McIntosh Kit Sackett b Ryan Romantic, Omar Pachecco b Kyle King, Duke Cornell b Nono Hatcher, Pat Powers & Moonshine Russell & Jack Darling b Con Artiest & Angus Keyser & Tank Bryson. Next show is 4/19 at the Waiting Room Lounge in Omaha.
Zachary Wentz & Trey Miguel have been added to House of Glory Final Hour on 4/14 in Queens, NY at the NYC Arena.
The WWE’s Wrestlemania season got under way with a Royal Rumble that was to set the stage for the next few months.
There were a lot of major decisions to consider, such as who would win the Rumble, having to commit to the Mania main matches, as well as setting up No Way Out. As things stand, the top five matches at Mania on 4/2 in Chicago are scheduled as new WWE champ John Cena vs. HHH for the title, Kurt Angle vs. Randy Orton for the World title, Vince McMahon vs. Shawn Michaels, Edge vs. Mick Foley and Undertaker vs. Mark Henry. The only other stuff hinted at on Raw was Carlito vs. Rob Van Dam and Ric Flair vs. Shelton Benjamin for the IC title.
As noted before, there has been a plan for Benjamin to get that title, but they also need some marquee matches for the Saturday Night’s Main Event special. I can see them doing another Cena vs. Edge blow-off where Cena gets a clean win before Mania there.
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
– Our weekend show schedule will be my weekly show with Garrett Gonzales today with Lance Storm as the guest talking about a number of subjects including the health of wrestlers and generational changes, plus Bryan and I will be be back Saturday night with the weekend news show.
– The new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter is up on the site today. Highlights include:
Match of the week and performer of the week
WrestleMania updates, including status of different matches that have been planned and not announced
Ticket sales notes and demand for tickets, plus notes on NXT Stand & Deliver
A study of the buying patterns of PPVs for AEW, including comparisons with one year ago, how many shows the average AEW PPV buyer purchases each year, the difference between satellite owners and others in the viewing patterns, update on Revolution numbers and how many different people bought an AEW PPV this past year
Letters from WWE to the Alamodome in San Antonio show how WWE counted Royal Rumble attendance, along with the actual numbers from the show
Richard Schaefer, the famed boxing promoter, heading Anthem’s wrestling, MMA and new boxing divisions and what are future plans for the divisions
New Japan Cup coverage with all the matches from the past week
Notes on AEW’s Canada tour
Mexican star taken to prison on domestic violence charges against another Mexican wrestling star
Full coverage of this past week’s major pro wrestling events and the UFC show
Update on the WWE Hall of Fame including stories on the careers of the inductees
Coverage of the WWE’s return to its most famous arena, Madison Square Garden
The life of former wrestler Jeff Gaylord and his very checkered life after wrestling and during wrestling
The most detailed look at the weekly television ratings, competition, how segments did, where shows are strong and weak.
Promotion adding a ton of new talent after young wrestlers impress in a special format
Mainstream angle being done in Mexico
Joint show announced in Japan for the Himeka retirement
A look at the Guerrero wrestling family
Legendary athlete passes away that a wrestling move done all over the world was named after including the person who actually named the move
New promotion starting taking the name of a legendary regional company
International Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame 2023 inductions and ceremony
Ric Flair Twitter war of words
Lots of indie notes including some big crowds this week
16 Carat Gold tournament in Germany news
Notes on recent Will Ospreay matches
Notes on major AEW negotiations
AEW cancels TV tapings and why
Update on social media abuse of Riho
Chris Jericho honored
Ticket sales for upcoming WWE & AEW shows
Streaming numbers for WWE & AEW this past week
International TV ratings updates including a company sets its all-time viewing record in Canada
Notes on AEW signees
UFC TV renewal talk even though it’s years away
Former UFC champion Benson Henderson retires
Update on WWE’s attempt to get legalized betting on its matches
Update on Jay White
Interest level mainstream of UFC, WWE and AEW big shows including geographical popularity split between AEW Revolution and WWE Elimination Chamber
Update on MLW lawsuit against WWE
What are the key new things in the suit
WWE injury updates and returns
– Tony Khan announced Kenny Omega vs. AAA Mega champion El Hijo del Vikingo for Wednesday’s Dynamite show from Independence, MO. I will say that Independence, MO was not the site I’d have expected for such a match. Omega has been wanting this match for several years. In fact, Vikingo winning and keeping the title was largely due to Omega. They had ideas during the pandemic and couldn’t do it, and then had it scheduled for 2021 but Omega was injured. It is interesting politically because Vikingo as world champion in AAA has not been allowed to lose on U.S. shows thus far, but AAA may feel the need to make the relationship with AEW good. They could also book it with the idea of it being a non-title match and set up a title match at one of the TripleMania shows. We do know that AAA badly wanted Omega for TripleMania but there were the obvious political issues standing in the way. Khan also noted that Omega vs. Vikingo will be in the same arena that the Omega vs. Pac Iron Man match, which was one of the best matches in Dynamite history, took place in.
– There were two upsets in today’s New Japan Cup, with Sanada beating Tetsuya Naito clean and Mark Davis defeating Evil. Sanada faces Davis in the semifinals on Sunday at 5:30 a.m. Eastern from Gunma. Hirooki Goto vs. Tama Tonga and Shota Umino vs. David Finlay wrestle tomorrow in Shizuoka at 5:30 a.m. with the winners advancing to Sunday’s show.
– The biggest news is that Sanada has quit LIJ and joined a new group with himself, Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Douki and Taka Michinoku. So this explains the dropping of Suzuki-gun, as they wanted to break the group up with Taichi and Sanada as leaders of a group and have Team Strong Style with Suzuki, Ren Narita and Desperado.
– One of the two biggest shows of the year in CMLL happens tonight, the El Homenaje a Dos Leyendas show in Arena Mexico featuring Rocky Romero vs. Volador Jr. vs. Angel de Oro vs. Oraculo in a loser gets his head shaved match. There is also the debut of the Copa Irma Gonzalez, a women’s’ elimination match named after the top Mexican woman star of all-time. Atlantis & Mistico & Atlantis Jr. wrestle Niebla Roja & Dragon Rojo Jr & Templario. They also announced the Universal tournament of champions will take place throughout the month of April.
– Ricky Reyes announced his retirement today. We have a story on that in the next issue. He wrestled all over the world, best known for his tag team with Rocky Romero as ROH tag team champions and he also worked for Lucha Underground (Cortez Castro), CMLL and New Japan Pro Wrestling.
– SmackDown tonight from Kansas City has Sheamus vs. Drew McIntyre with the winner facing Gunther for the IC title at WrestleMania plus a face-to-face with Sami Zayn and Jey Uso.
– Rampage tonight is scheduled for 11:30 p.m. Eastern after the conclusion of the NCAA basketball tournament with Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Rey Fenix for the TNT title, Taya Valkyrie vs. Eva Lawless, Matt Menard & Angelo Parker vs. Bollywood Boyz and Brody King vs. Daniel Garcia.
– New Japan announced for 4/15 in Washington, DC for Capital Collision that Kazuchika Okada, Will Ospreay, Tetsuya Naito, Sanada and Hiromu Takahashi will be on the show. The following matches have been confirmed:
Fred Rosser vs. Juice Robinson
Tomohiro Ishii, Clark Connors, The DKC, Lio Rush & Rocky Romero vs. Volador Jr., Mike Bailey, Gabriel Kidd, Kevin Knight & KUSHIDA
Shane Haste & Bad Dude Tito vs. Royce Isaacs & Jorel Nelson
– We’re looking for reports on these weekend shows:
SmackDown tonight in Kansas City (dark matches and stuff not on the live TV show)
WWE house show tomorrow in Fargo, ND
WWE house show tomorrow in Milwaukee, WI
AEW house show tomorrow in Troy, OH (Jon Moxley & Claudio Castagnoli vs. Big Bill & Lee Moriarty, Britt Baker vs. Anna Jay, Darby Allin & Orange Cassidy vs. Butcher & Blade)
WWE house show Sunday in Springfield, IL
WWE house show Sunday in Sioux Falls, SD
We’re looking for results, finishes and highlights from each of these events to [email protected]
– We will be doing weekend polls on UFC 286 and another on Tuesday for the New Japan Cup finals. You can leave a thumbs up, down or middle, best and worst match to [email protected].
– UFC 286 is tomorrow from the O2 Arena in London
1 p.m. Eastern on ESPN +
Juliana Miller (125.5) vs. Veronica Hardy (125.5)
Jai Herbert (156) vs. Ludovit Klein (156)
Joanne Wood (126) vs. Luana Carolina (126)
Malcolm Gordon (129.5) vs. Jake Hadley (126) – Gordon missed weight and forfeited 30 percent of his purse
Christian Leroy Duncan (185,5) vs. Dusko Todorovic (186)
Lerone Murphy (145.5) vs. Gabriel Santos (145.5)
3 p.m. Eastern on ESPN+ and ESPN News
Muhammad Mokaev (126) vs. Jarfel Filho (125.5)
Sam Patterson (155.5) vs. Yanai Ashimoz (155)
Chris Duncan (156) vs. Omar Morales (156)
Jake Shore (146) vs. Makwan Amirkhani (146)
PPV at 10 p.m.
Marvin Vettori (185.5) vs. Roman Dolidze (186)
Jennifer Maia (126) vs. Casey O’Neill (125)
Gunnar Nelson (170) vs. Bryan Barbarena (171)
Justin Gaethje (156) vs. Rafael Fiziev (156)
Leon Edwards (170) vs. Kamaru Usman (170) for the UFC welterweight title
– The NCAA Division I wrestling tournament is taking place this weekend in Tulsa. It started yesterday. The semifinals will be at 8 p.m. Eastern tonight on ESPN and finals at 7 p.m,. tomorrow night.
– An interview with Shawn Michaels that my friend David Taub did this week is talking about the challenges of wrestling in a football stadium, on the West Coast, the pressures of being in the main event, and why he ranks his bout against Kurt Angle as his SoCal WrestleMania favorite.
– The WWE video game is available now. They had the launch party last night in El Segundo, CA with Steve Austin and a lot of the top WWE stars.
– With Eddie Kingston having COVID-19, he not only had to pull out of his shows in Europe this weekend for OTT (where he was replacing Jon Moxley who had to pull out to do the AEW show in Troy, OH), but is also off the 3/25 Warrior Wrestling show in Grand Rapids, MI, where he was to face Sam Adonis. That match is hoped to take place on a future show.
– WrestleCon announced for the 3/30 Mark Hitchcock Memorial Show in Los Angeles they’ve added Rey Horus & Galeno de Mal (another son of Dr. Wagner Jr.) & Aramis vs. Toxin & Arez & Latigo.
– Bobby Fulton’s World Class Professional Big Time Wrestling group drew the largest indie crowd of the year with 4,327 fans in Chillicothe, OH for a legends meet and greet show. Jarron Hines, the son of Bobby Fulton, debuted against Kerry Morton in a match for the NWA Junior title. (thanks to Becky Graham)
– NXT on Tuesday has added Wendy Choo (back from injury) vs. Lyra Valkyria and Tiffany Stratton vs. Indi Hartwell in matches where the winner gets into the ladder match at Stand & Deliver for the title. There is also Ilja Dragunov vs. JD McDonagh and a debate between Schism & Chase U.
– House of Glory on 4/14 at the NYC Arena has Charles Mason defending his Crown Jewel title against Lio Rush.
– Defy on 4/8 in Seattle at Washington Hall has Swerve Strickland vs. Nick Wayne for the Defy title, Vert Vixen defends the Defy women’s title against Miyu Yamashita, Michael Oku from England debuts against Cody Chhun and Alex Reynolds & John Silver & Guillermo Rosas vs. Midnight heat & Levi Cooper.
– FSPW at the Performance Center at 4361 Federal Dr in Greensboro, NC has Chris Bey vs. Jay Malachi.
– Final X Beat the Streets was announced for 6/10 at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ. It will be the world championship qualifiers in freestyle, Greco-Roman and women’s freestyle wrestling. The top two wrestlers in each weight class will do a best of three series with the winner representing the U.S in the world championships later this year in Belgrade, Serbia.
– Combate Global tomorrow night on Univision and Paramount + from Miami is headlined by Ivan Tena (4-1) vs. Pablo Burgos (4-1). The show starts at 10 p.m. Eastern. Former Raw announcer Jimmy Smith will handle the English-language broadcast.
– MCW announced a seminar and tryout with WWE’s Gabe Sapolsky on 4/16 at the MCW Training Center at the RJ Meyer Arena in Joppa, MD. There will be a lecture, Q&A, tryout matches and more. For more info you can email [email protected]
– Bare Knuckle Fighting announced that tomorrow night’s sold out show in Delray Beach, FL is off due to issues with the building and the event has been moved to 4/21 in Pembroke Pines, FL.
– WAR Wrestling on 4/15 is in Lima, OH at the Empowered Sports Center.
– PFL tonight from Universal in Orlando in a second chance to get a contract for the 2023 tournament, airing at 9 p.m. Eastern on Fubo Sports:
Kendly St. Louis (156.8) vs. Paulo Laia (156)
Jackie Cataline (144.6) vs. Evelyn Martins (144.8)
It appears to be official at this point that the two WrestleMania main events will be Charlotte Flair vs. Rhea Ripley on 4/1, which will also include Seth Rollins vs. Logan Paul, and Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes on 4/2.
We had reported weeks back that Reigns vs. Rhodes was the night two main event and that Flair vs. Ripley was favored to be the night one main event. When we had asked about Usos vs. Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn headlining night one, since at the time Zayn was the company’s hottest babyface character, we were told that there were political reasons in play as to where Flair vs. Ripley would most likely get that spot. It is not clear that the Usos match will be on night one, but when the original idea was to create a second world title, with Rollins, Drew McIntyre or Rhodes (Rhodes would be in this if The Rock was facing Reigns) as the three people considered for it, that was to be the night one main event, but it became the women’s match when that idea fell by the wayside. At that point in time, the Usos title defense was scheduled for night one.
*The new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter is up on the site. It’s got the most detailed coverage from a business standpoint and creative standpoint, covering AEW Revolution including reader feedback on that show, UFC 285 and the Stardom show this past weekend.
*Match and performer of the week
*The longest singles title matches since 1970 all over the world
*MJF vs Danielson and comparisons to other Iron Man matches
*Evaluating MJF as a performer and a drawing card
*Early PPV numbers along with gate numbers from San Francisco and other business metrics
*The return of FTR
*The potential of the AEW tag team division
*AEW repeat PPV business notes
*Movie theater business for Revolution
*San Francisco records
*Future AEW directions
*Full details on WWE’s attempt to get gambling legal on its outcomes and what steps and how its business will have to change to make this happen
*Full coverage of UFC 285 including Jon Jones legacy and future, Alexa Grasso’s win and business notes regarding the show including what unique note thee was about the prelims this week
*Full details on the amended lawsuit MLW has filed against WWE, McDevitt talks, what new things are added and what it says about the MLW relationship with REELZ, and lots of business notes from the lawsuit regarding the wrestling television rights fees
*Stardom puts on its best show of the year and a look at the very different excellent matches
*Notes on the first few days of the New Japan Cup and where things stand
*TV ratings over the past week as well as segment-by-segment notes, competition and the whys of how everything went down
*The unique team challenge tournament CMLL finished up this past week
*AAA star faces claims by girlfriend of domestic violence and both CMLL and AAA talk about the situation
*Notes on the joint NWA and AAA show put together as part of a Smashing Pumpkins concert
*Notes on retirement of Daisuke Harada
*New Japan anniversary show and New Japan Cup notes*Zero-1 runs 22nd anniversary show
*Notes from Creed III
*Big shows over Mania weekend not from WWE
*Major questions on AEW talent and their media talks
*What international star AEW tried to get for San Francisco and why it didn’t happen
*International TV ratings and streaming numbers for WWE & AEW and what NXT segment scored huge
*Upcoming ticket advances for WWE & AEW shows
*Dana White on the future of Power Slap
*48-year-old world champion wrestler has retirement MMA fight soon
*Notes on Vince McMahon’s return backstage at the Boston show
*Wells Fargo Securities predictions on Smackdown negotiations and the value of Raw & Smackdown right now
*WWE performer talks trying to go to the 2024 Olympics and is training for MMA as well
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 covering Raw and all the news of the day, and there is a lot, with Wrestling Observer Radio. You can send questions for tonight’s show on current topics to [email protected]
For Raw tonight, Kevin Owens faces Solo Sikoa in a street fight and with Sami Zayn said to be not there and the Usos there, I think that may hint where this is going, Cody Rhodes faces LA Knight, Bianca Belair faces Chelsea Green in a non-title match, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson face Maximum Male Models, Johnny Gargano & Dexter Lumis face Dominik Mysterio & Damian Priest plus there are face-to-face confrontations scheduled with Brock Lesnar and Omos and Edge and Finn Balor. Sami Zayn is not at the show but the Usos and Solo Sikoa are scheduled and Rey Mysterio is in Providence, the latter reported by PWInsider. Tickets out for the show were more than 7,200 as of this morning. A legit sellout for a pro wrestling sellout in the building would be close to 9,000.
We are looking for reports from the show, anything dark or the Main Event matches to [email protected]
Dick Fosbury, who won the gold medal in the high jump at the 1968 Olympics with a unique style that led to Don West naming one of the new unique dives in wrestling as the Fosbury Flop (the name given to his high jump style) passed away yesterday.
TBS made it official today that Power Slap is not being renewed. We talked about it on last night’s show as it was pretty clear this was the case after all the criticism and the declining ratings. Dana White all but acknowledged it a few days ago when he said he had a deal with Rumble, the streaming service that did do good numbers Saturday night for the finals, but it had not been completed. The Rumble deal was for two years of a television series like the one on TBS, plus eight live events and White said he was looking at filming the second season in Abu Dhabi. He has also said that they are working on getting Power Slap legal and sanctioned in more states and said it was here to stay.
Yes, my Twitter account has been hacked so hopefully it will be up and running soon.
AEW will debut QTV, which is a segment with QT Marshall, on Wednesday night’s show from Winnipeg.
While it is not confirmed that Taya Valkyrie will be the opponent for Jade Cargill on Wednesday, Taya Valkyrie was scheduled on a tour of Australia that started Saturday and was not on the tour and they said it was due to a late schedule conflict, so if anything, that adds fuel to the speculation. Cargill said she would have an open challenge for the title against any Canadian and Valkyrie is Canadian. The only Canadian woman on the roster is The Bunny, who has been out with an injury of late. Taya is also confirmed as going with either WWE or AEW imminently. Konnan on his podcast also said Taya has something very big coming up.
While ROH has not announced dates for a second TV taping, they have no show for 3/30 (the night before the PPV taped) and Rush and Dralistico were both pulled from an AAA show in Saltillo on 3/25. They often announce the Disney tapings in Orlando very late in the game so they could be taping that weekend.
MLW on REELZ at 10 p.m. tomorrow night has EJ Nduka & Calvin Tankman vs. the Samoan Swat Team, a contract signing for Alexander Hammerstone vs. Jacob Fatu for the title and Mance Warner vs. Rickey Shane Page. The show is not officially canceled but everyone is acting like it is.
Anthony Mayweather of the NWA, who was also Crimson in TNA, was arrested for violation of an order of protection. Police claimed that he sent several text messages to his wife, Heather Mayweather, including while police were present and he was booked this past week. Mayweather had been arrested for allegedly head-butting her in 2016. He was taken into custody on Wednesday and released on bond later that day.
Bandido is advertised for both the La Mole comic convention and a GCW show on Friday in different place.
OTHER NOTES
City Championship Wrestling in Harrison Township, MI on Saturday night: Joe MeMaro b Gutter, Darion Ultra b Ike Watts, Chris Moore b Trevor Straud, Freedom Ramsey b Thomas Bailey, The Purge & Cat Daddy b New Albania, Rhino b Jason De Milo, Aaron Ashura b Mike Marbles, Alex Shelley b Ryan Matthias (thanks to Leonard Brand)
Lucha Palooza on 4/27 from Parkdale Hall in Toronto features Komander, Gangrel, Drago Kid, Sam Adonis, Gringo Loco and Jody Threat. Loco vs. Komander, Gangrel vs. Mega Medico and Drago Kid vs Adonis are scheduled.
MCW on 4/6 in Perryville, MD at 5th Company Brewing and 4/14 in Joppa, MA at the RJ Meyer Arena. They also have an all-women’s show on 4/22 at the RJ Meyer Arena.
*The new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter is up on the site. It’s got the most detailed coverage from a business standpoint and creative standpoint, covering AEW Revolution including reader feedback on that show, UFC 285 and the Stardom show this past weekend.
*Match and performer of the week
*The longest singles title matches since 1970 all over the world
*MJF vs Danielson and comparisons to other Iron Man matches
*Evaluating MJF as a performer and a drawing card
*Early PPV numbers along with gate numbers from San Francisco and other business metrics
*The return of FTR
*The potential of the AEW tag team division
*AEW repeat PPV business notes
*Movie theater business for Revolution
*San Francisco records
*Future AEW directions
*Full details on WWE’s attempt to get gambling legal on its outcomes and what steps and how its business will have to change to make this happen
*Full coverage of UFC 285 including Jon Jones legacy and future, Alexa Grasso’s win and business notes regarding the show including what unique note thee was about the prelims this week
*Full details on the amended lawsuit MLW has filed against WWE, McDevitt talks, what new things are added and what it says about the MLW relationship with REELZ, and lots of business notes from the lawsuit regarding the wrestling television rights fees
*Stardom puts on its best show of the year and a look at the very different excellent matches
*Notes on the first few days of the New Japan Cup and where things stand
*TV ratings over the past week as well as segment-by-segment notes, competition and the whys of how everything went down
*The unique team challenge tournament CMLL finished up this past week
*AAA star faces claims by girlfriend of domestic violence and both CMLL and AAA talk about the situation
*Notes on the joint NWA and AAA show put together as part of a Smashing Pumpkins concert
*Notes on retirement of Daisuke Harada
*New Japan anniversary show and New Japan Cup notes*Zero-1 runs 22nd anniversary show
*Notes from Creed III
*Big shows over Mania weekend not from WWE
*Major questions on AEW talent and their media talks
*What international star AEW tried to get for San Francisco and why it didn’t happen
*International TV ratings and streaming numbers for WWE & AEW and what NXT segment scored huge
*Upcoming ticket advances for WWE & AEW shows
*Dana White on the future of Power Slap
*48-year-old world champion wrestler has retirement MMA fight soon
*Notes on Vince McMahon’s return backstage at the Boston show
*Wells Fargo Securities predictions on Smackdown negotiations and the value of Raw & Smackdown right now
*WWE performer talks trying to go to the 2024 Olympics and is training for MMA as well
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.
Sunday Update
Bryan and I will be back tonight with Wrestling Observer radio doing our weekend show. My show with Garrett Gonzales this week was a long interview with Madusa talking about a ton of different subjects on her career as well as her new book.
Rampage for this coming week will air at about 11:30 p.m., after the late night NCAA tournament game. There show the next Friday, 3/24, has been moved to Saturday night at 10 p.m. on 3/25 due to TNT airing U.S vs. Granada soccer.
Cuatrero of the New Generation Dinamitas was arrested for domestic violence involving CMLL wrestler Stephanie Vaquer, who he had a relationship with. He was arrested after the Friday night AAA show in Aguascalientes. Cuatrero is one-third of the trios champions in AAA. Luchablog said that people close to Cuatrero claim he’s got a witness and audio records that will refute her accusations. Cuatrero was charged with domestic violence and femicide.
Bret Hart was honored last night by the Calgary Hitmen of the WHL (who were named after Hart) for his outstanding contributions to the franchise and raised his banner to the rafters of the Saddledome where it will be on permanent display
-For the weekend, we are looking for reports on these shows:
*WWE tonight in Madison Square Garden
*NXT Friday night in Dade City, FL and last night in St. Petersburg, FL
We’re looking for results, finishes and highlights from the shows to [email protected]
There was nothing from pro wrestling, MMA or boxing that cracked the top trends in Google this past week. Nothing would be expected other than last night’s UFC show and possibly the Bad Bunny or Rey Mysterio news to begin with.
A&E tonight has a two-hour biography episode on Glenn “Kane” Jacobs. WWE Rivals at 10 pm. will be HHH vs. Batista.
There will be a Brock Lesnar and Omos face-to-face on Raw tomorrow night in Providence, RI. Other matches announced are Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows vs, Maximum Male Models and Dexter Lumis & Johnny Gargano vs Damien Priest & Dominik Mysterio.
Jacobs was also in the news with hints that he would run for Governor of Tennessee.
The New Japan Cup continues with a 3/13 show in Ehime at 6 a.m. on New Japan World. The tournament matches are Jeff Cobb vs Evil and Will Ospreay vs. Mark Davis, plus Hirooki Goto & Tomohiro Ishii & Yoshi-Hashi & Yoh & Lio Rush vs Tetsuya Naito & Shingo Takagi & Sanada & Hiromu Takahashi & Bushi.
3/15 has Great O’Khan vs David Finlay and Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Shota Umino
3/17 has Sanada vs. Naito and the Evil vs. Cobb winner faces the Ospreay vs. Davis winner.
3/18 has Hirooki Goto vs. Tama Tonga and the Finlay vs. O’Khan winner faces the Sabre vs Umino winner.
Shigehiro Irie beat Axel Tischer today to win the 16 Carat cold tournament and the vacant wXw title.
WWE results from last night in Youngstown, OH:
*Braun Strowman & Ricochet b Viking Raiders
*Liv Morgan b Shayna Baszler in a street fight after putting her through a table
*Santos Escobar b The Miz
*Drew McIntyre & Sheamus & Rey Mysterio b Usos & Solo Sikoa when Rey pinned Jey thanks to help from Sami Zayn
*Ludvig Kaiser & Giovanni Vinci b Cruz Del Toro & Joaquin Wilde
*Bianca Belair & Asuka & Candice LeRae (notable because they did an injury angle announcement on television) b Bayley & Iyo Sky & Dakota Kai
*Austin Theory b Seth Rollins to keep the U.S. title in the same finish they’ve been doing for months
Expect a lot of similar matches in MSG tonight, which also includes Sikoa vs Cody Rhodes and a Battle Royal for a title match with Gunther later in the show.
Chris Weidman did his return to competition after a terrible leg break last night. He competed in a Polaris submission grappling show, losing a decision to Owen Livesey. Livesey landed trips and judo throws to win the decision. Livesey was a British Commonwealth judo champion. Weidman is expected to return to UFC later this year.
The death of Bud Grant, the legendary coach of the Minnesota Vikings and Winnipeg Blue Bombers, at 95, is notable in wrestling as Grant and Verne Gagne were social friend. Grant also appeared at Gagne’s first retirement show in 1981 in Minneapolis. Grant, Gagne and Leo Nomellini were teammates on the University of Minnesota football team and were all stellar multi-sport stars. Gagne was a football star and two-time NCAA champion in wrestling and one of the biggest pro wrestling stars and most notable promoters in history. Nomellini starred in football, wrestling and track (shot, discus and 4×100 relay) and was a Hall of Famer in the NFL and a legit Hall of Fame candidate as a pro wrestler. Grant starred in football, baseball and basketball. Grant actually played two seasons in the NBA and was part of the 1950 championship Minnesota Lakers team with the legendary George Mikan. He was a star wide receiver with the Philadelphia Eagles after switching to football, and was later a star with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. After his career ended he coached the Bombers to four CFL titles and coached the Vikings to four Super Bowls, although they lost all four. He is in both the CFL and NFL Halls of Fame.
Steve Keirn’s autobiography working with Ian Douglass (every Ian Douglass pro wrestling book is good) was released this past weak by Darkstream Press. It basically covers his life through 1987, as he is looking at doing a second book on post-1987 including his yeas as Skinner in WWF, running indie promotions including the FCW developmental system before NXT. I’ve read it and some very interesting insights into the territory system during the 70s and 80s, and in particular Florida and the Grahams.
Carmelo Hayes is a -180 favorite over Bron Breakker and Johnny Gargano is a -160 favorite over Grayson Waller on BetOnline for the 4/1 Stand & Deliver show.
Cedric Alexander on Twitter teased taking the open challenge for Wes Lee’s North American title on the TV show on Tuesday night.
Other Notes
Defy from last night in Seattle: Action Andretti b Guillermo Rosas, Top Flight b Ricky Gibson & Eddie Pearl, Jody Threat b Danika Diehard, Artemis Spencer won three-way over Clark Connors and Cody Chhun, Bollywood Boyz b Kushida & Kevin Knight, Schaff b Homicide in a street fight. Nicole Matthews made her Defy return after five years of being banned from the U.S. over an immigration issue.
EVE from Thursday night in London: Lizzy Evo won three-way over Rayne Leverkusen and Millie McKenzie, Rhio b NightShade Skye Smitson b Safire Reed, Nina Samuels & Ava White b Natsu Sumire & Session Moth Martina, Miyu Yamashita b Myuki Takase. Next EVE show is 4/7
House of Glory Wrestling from Friday night in Queens, NY: Mighty Mante b Encore Moore to keep the cruiserweight title, Evander James b Joey Silver, Ultra Violette b Max the Impaler to keep the women’s title, Michael Fain b Roachie Roach, Ichica won six-way to become top contender for the cruiserweight title over Smiley, Elijah Eden, Osito, Nolo Kitano and Raheem Royal, Charles Mason b Alec Price to retain the Crown Jewel title, Jacob Fatu b Fred Rosser to keep the HOG title, Amazing Red & Brian XL b Jay Lyon & Midas Blade to win the tag titles, Kushida b Low Ki. Next show is 4/14. (Thanks to Samuel Rosenthal)
El Hijo del Vikingo headlined a show last night in San Jose which sold out two days ahead of time at the Mt. Pleasant High School Gym for Pro Wrestling Revolution.
IWS/GCW from last night in Montreal before 1,059 fans: Nick Wayne & Jordan Oliver b Junior Benito & Marcae Martin, LuFisto b Sawyer Wreck, TDT Los Macizos, Matt Falco b Manders, Mike Bailey b Gringo Loco, Melanie Havok b Allie Katch to keep the IWS women’s title, Benjamin Tull b Tony Deppen to keep the IWS title,Nick Gage & Mance Warner & Rina Yamashita b PCP Manny & Sexxx Eddy & Green Phantom in a fans bring the weapons match. IWS and GCW have another joint show on 3/19 in Toronto (Thanks to Patric Laprade)
UPW in Iron Mountain, MI last night: J-Sinn & Tommy Trainwreck b Forever Young & Top Gun, Corey Kerr b Gio Bronco, Great Tiger b Soultaker & Chivas Blanco, Melvin Hayes b Kato, Brett Powers & Peter B. Beautiful b Ace Evans & Brock Hall, Forever Young won Battle Royal, Hannah Henderson b Heather Blue to win the women’s tile, Kaz Karter Kash & Ruff Ryder Rashan b Chuck Stein & Sean Lawhorn, Romeo Valentino b The Dav with Earl Hebner as special referee, Silas Young b Forever Young to win the vacant heavyweight title. Next show is 4/22 in Marquette, MI with Rick Steiner, Tatanka, Eugene and Big Kon (thanks to Leonard Brand)
