Tag: daily update

Daily Update: WWE notes, Jeff Jarrett documentary, Mickie James

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Daily Update

Latest News

Latest Audio

Latest YouTube Video

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Among the topics covered in this issue:

  • A detailed look at the WBD/Paramount/Netflix situation, what the latest decision of WBD to Paramount entails, the keys to why this is happening, business notes, how this affects AEW and can it get approved.
  • A look at the UFC and WWE business in 2025 and in the final quarter of this past year. We look at the numbers, what they mean, why WWE was more profitable in 2025 than UFC and the key thing that can change that in 2026, Mark Shapiro talks ESPN value to WWE, lots of news about the business of the White House show, UFC fighters upset over pay, why WWE wrestlers are so underpaid but not publicly upset over, and business initiatives going forward
  • The violence in Mexico and tons of wrestling shows canceled this past week
  • We look in depth at the Janel Grant speech from last week, what we learned, what she said, and where everything stands.
  • Update on the build for WrestleMania, Elimination Chamber, business notes, ticket sales and favorites for the weekend.
  • An updated look at AEW Revolution and business notes
  • The retirement of AJ Styles looked at
  • The most detailed look at the television ratings from the past week, including comparisons with a year ago, competition, demos and much more.
  • Notes from Arena Mexico
  • CMLL attempts to break a North American record next week
  • Cinderalla tournament in Stardom
  • Fantastica Mania notes
  • The life and times of former Olympic wrestler Bobby Douglas, his coaching career, his beating Dan Gable, and two notable pro wrestlers he coached
  • College wrestling sets an attendance mark already this season
  • Who had the most top ten matches of the year over a career according to Cage match.
  • City builds a bust memorializing top 80s star
  • WrestleMania week schedule
  • Former MMA fighter and pro wrestler running for Governor
  • Robbery of the ring truck for an indie group
  • Ticket sales for upcoming WWE, AEW and TNA shows over the next two months.
  • How many subscribers does Paramount need to make up for UFC expenses
  • More talk on Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano
  • Stand & Deliver moves and why
  • When Roman Reigns and Brock Ldesnar are booked for TV in the Mania build
  • Pro wrestler who is active in Japan competes this weekend for the U.S.national team in anther sport
  • Notes on a newcomer to WWE who started this week
  • More notes on value of Dwayne Johnson’s TKO stock

This Week’s Back Issue

FIRST TIME SUBSCRIBERS GET 50% OFF YOUR FIRST MONTH

Wednesday Update

WWE

  • WWE uploaded the full Ricky Saints/Joe Hendry segment that closed NXT last night.
  • Brock Lesnar has recorded an interview for an upcoming episode of the Barstool Sports podcast Spittin Chiclets.
  • While speaking with Undisputed, Bill Eadie (Demolition Ax) credited the fans for playing a big role in Demolition’s WWE Hall of Fame induction:
    • We owe our career to the fans and to the unselfish sacrifice of our families. As for fan support, we have always said that without their support, there is no drive to excel.
    • The fans drive the sport. They give you a reason to do your best. They drive you to do your best. After all these years of support, we truly believe they were a great part of the decision making to induct us into the Hall of Fame.
  • Rey Fenix congratulated his brother Penta on winning the Intercontinental title: “Congrats brother, you will always be my favorite luchador, i love you @penta_zero_miedo I miss sharing the ring with you, but now I think; would it be good to relive old times?”
  • The Undertaker revealed the official poster for AAA Rey de Reyes 2026.
  • Busted Open Radio has an interview with Bayley.
  • Bayley noted that she’s received an “insane” amount of applicants for her upcoming Lodestone women’s wrestling seminar in Las Vegas:
    • Insane response to this. I wish I didn’t have to make a cut off, but unfortunately space is limited in the building. And I want to ensure that everyone attending gets an equal experience. Thank you for your understanding.  Going through emails this week!
  • TV Insider asked Xavier Woods how it feels to now have been in WWE for more than 15 years:
    • I’m 22 years in wrestling, and that is shocking to me. I’ve very much enjoyed myself. I think I’ve had the chance to show what I can do in a lot of situations and with different opportunities. It has given me the chance to go and perform in places like Japan, Australia, the U.K., and South America, and other places I may have never got to have been in my life. We were able to build what we were able to build with the New Day and inspire a generation to be themselves. We have shown wrestling doesn’t have to be seen in one specific way. It can be fun at the end of the day. That’s what we are here to do at the end of the day, have a good time. It feels great.
  • Charlotte Flair made an appearance at last night’s Anaheim Ducks vs. Colorado Avalanche NHL game.
  • WWE Vault uploaded the “WWF Desire” music video from 2001.

Other Wrestling

Daily Update: Danhausen, NASCAR & WWE, Trish Stratus

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Latest News

Latest Audio

Latest YouTube Video

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

The new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter is up on the site today.

  • A detailed look at the WBD/Paramount/Netflix situation, what the latest decision of WBD to Paramount entails, the keys to why this is happening, business notes, how this affects AEW and can it get approved.
  • A look at the UFC and WWE business in 2025 and in the final quarter of this past year.  We look at the numbers, what they mean, why WWE was more profitable in 2025 than UFC and the key thing that can change that in 2026, Mark Shapiro talks ESPN value to WWE, lots of news about the business of the White House show, UFC fighters upset over pay, why WWE wrestlers are so underpaid but not publicly upset over, and business initiatives going forward
  • The violence in Mexico and tons of wrestling shows canceled this past week
  • We look in depth at the Janel Grant speech from last week, what we learned, what she said, and where everything stands.
  • Update on the build for  WrestleMania, Elimination Chamber, business notes, ticket sales and favorites for the weekend.
  • An updated look at AEW Revolution and business notes
  • The retirement of AJ Styles looked at
  • The most detailed look at  the television ratings from the past week, including comparisons with a year  ago, competition, demos and much more.
  • Notes from Arena Mexico
  • CMLL attempts to break a North  American record next week
  • Cinderalla tournament in Stardom
  • Fantastica Mania notes
  • The life and times of former Olympic wrestler Bobby Douglas, his coaching career, his beating Dan Gable, and two notable pro wrestlers he coached
  • College wrestling sets an attendance mark already this season
  • Who had the most top ten matches of the year  over a career according to Cage match.
  • City builds a bust memorializing top 80s star
  • WrestleMania week schedule
  • Former MMA fighter and pro wrestler running for Governor
  • Robbery of the ring truck for an indie group
  • Ticket sales for upcoming WWE, AEW and TNA shows over the next two months.
  • How many subscribers does Paramount need to make up for UFC expenses
  • More talk on Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano
  • Stand & Deliver moves and why
  • When Roman Reigns and Brock Ldesnar are booked for TV in the Mania build
  • Pro wrestler who is active in Japan competes this weekend for the U.S.national team in anther sport
  • Notes on a  new comer to WWE who started this week
  • More notes on value of Dwayne Johnson’s TKO stock

This Week’s Back Issue

FIRST TIME SUBSCRIBERS GET 50% OFF YOUR FIRST MONTH

Tuesday Update

 WWE

AEW & Other Wrestling

Daily Update: WWE Elimination Chamber fallout, UFC & RAF notes

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Daily Update

Latest News

Latest Audio

Latest YouTube Video

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

The new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter is up on the site today.

  • A detailed look at the WBD/Paramount/Netflix situation, what the latest decision of WBD to Paramount entails, the keys to why this is happening, business notes, how this affects AEW and can it get approved.
  • A look at the UFC and WWE business in 2025 and in the final quarter of this past year.  We look at the numbers, what they mean, why WWE was more profitable in 2025 than UFC and the key thing that can change that in 2026, Mark Shapiro talks ESPN value to WWE, lots of news about the business of the White House show, UFC fighters upset over pay, why WWE wrestlers are so underpaid but not publicly upset over, and business initiatives going forward
  • The violence in Mexico and tons of wrestling shows canceled this past week
  • We look in depth at the Janel Grant speech from last week, what we learned, what she said, and where everything stands.
  • Update on the build for  WrestleMania, Elimination Chamber, business notes, ticket sales and favorites for the weekend.
  • An updated look at AEW Revolution and business notes
  • The retirement of AJ Styles looked at
  • The most detailed look at  the television ratings from the past week, including comparisons with a year  ago, competition, demos and much more.
  • Notes from Arena Mexico
  • CMLL attempts to break a North  American record next week
  • Cinderalla tournament in Stardom
  • Fantastica Mania notes
  • The life and times of former Olympic wrestler Bobby Douglas, his coaching career, his beating Dan Gable, and two notable pro wrestlers he coached
  • College wrestling sets an attendance mark already this season
  • Who had the most top ten matches of the year  over a career according to Cage match.
  • City builds a bust memorializing top 80s star
  • WrestleMania week schedule
  • Former MMA fighter and pro wrestler running for Governor
  • Robbery of the ring truck for an indie group
  • Ticket sales for upcoming WWE, AEW and TNA shows over the next two months.
  • How many subscribers does Paramount need to make up for UFC expenses
  • More talk on Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano
  • Stand & Deliver moves and why
  • When Roman Reigns and Brock Ldesnar are booked for TV in the Mania build
  • Pro wrestler who is active in Japan competes this weekend for the U.S.national team in anther sport
  • Notes on a  new comer to WWE who started this week
  • More notes on value of Dwayne Johnson’s TKO stock

This Week’s Back Issue

FIRST TIME SUBSCRIBERS GET 50% OFF YOUR FIRST MONTH

Sunday Update

Danhausen
Image: WWE (Image credit: WWE)

— Both of our weekend shows are already up on the site. We did our news in review show on Friday with Garrett Gonzales covering Netflix bowing out of the WBD purchase talks, Zuffa Boxing pay vs. UFC & WWE pay, roads to Mania and Revolution. Last night we talked about Elimination Chamber and the follow-up, Friday’s New Japan PPV show, Collision, Ricky Steamboat and more.

— Some interesting notes coming out of the Elimination Chamber. AJ Lee vs. Becky Lynch in a rematch and Jade Cargill vs. Rhea Ripley are on the books for Mania. The men’s WWE title match still has storyline stuff to go. Seth Rollins vs. Logan Paul looks probable but Bron Breakker in the spot would take precedence. Really nothing else was notable.

— From people both there live and in WWE the crowd reactions being lower than expected were more than just a production issue. The Danhausen thing was what it was. He may get over and do well. He may not. The denial that he didn’t get over last night is really something. It was an attempt. It flopped. He’ll be at TV soon, possibly tomorrow, to try again. Before I ever said the Gobbledy Gooker line last night, it was being used quietly backstage. I think it was too much hype and people expecting a bigger star in the spot, as from an idea standpoint, they had clearly worked on the idea. Then again, Vince McMahon thought the Gobbledy Gooker would be a giant hit as well. I think the fact that Danhausen kind of confirmed it beforehand so making a deal out of his getting his AEW deal (while they tried to keep it a secret by hiding him backstage) didn’t help because again, people were expecting something bigger and were already mad at the idea after all that hype that it could be him.

— The gate was one of the biggest non-stadium pro wrestling shows of all-time with the high ticket prices.

— After the Arman Tsarukyan vs. Georgio Poullas wrestling match on last night’s RAF show in Tucson, Tsarkuyan, on top as the match ended, started throwing hard punches on the ground and a bit knee to the body. Tons of people rushed in. Tsarukyan had given Poullas a hard slap during the match but Poullas had been rough with him as well. Still, there was no excuse for what Tsuarkyan did. At this point neither RAF nor the UFC have commented. RAF may have been happy given it gave them a lot of pub, but they still need to make it clear such a thing can never happen again. The show did sell out with 3,516 fans. They are looking at doing Henry Cejudo vs. Merab Dvalishvili soon after Cejudo beat Urijah Faber in last night’s main event. Big difference between a late 30s Olympic gold medalist vs. late 40s guy who didn’t ever make the top eight in the NCAA tournament

— Khamzat Chimaev said last night that he wants into RAF.

— Alex Pereira has vacated the UFC light heavyweight title to move to heavyweight, where he is expected to challenge for the title. The champion is Tom Aspinal, and there’s no way he’s fighting soon, so it looks like Pereira will face Jon Jones or Cyril Gane on the 6/1 show.

— The boots that Hulk Hogan wore in his WrestleMania I match where he teamed with Mr. T vs. Roddy Piper & Paul Orndorff were sold in auction last night for $1,037,000, the first piece of pro wrestling merchandise ever to top seven figures. Logan Paul said that he sayed up until 2 a.m. wanting to get them but bowed out when the price topped $1,021,000.

— Those in Germany and Japan have been told that starting on 4/1, the PLE shows move to Netflix in both countries.

— The Peacock contract with WWE for NXT PLEs ends at the end of March. We’re not sure what service that will move to. Peacock will remain in the WWE business only for the four Saturday Night’s Main Event shows per year.

— I have not seen Friday’s Arena Mexico show yet but in edited highlight form they sure made Angel de Oro’s hair match win over Johnny Consejo look great. So I can say there were a lot of great moves and excellent heat and a big, but not sold out crowd. Last night’s show at Arena Coliseo did sell out (ten weeks in a row) to see Consejo in his first match without his hair in a three-way with Angel and Esfinge. As great as great matches, Hechicero vs. Mascara Dorada on Thursday at Korakuen Hall, Yota Tsuji vs. Andrade, El Phantasmo vs Konosuke Takeshita and Athena vs. Syuri from Friday’s New Japan show in Trenton were great. Andrade vs. Tomohiro Ishii on Collision was a great one as well.

— We’re looking for your thoughts from Elimination Chamber last night as well as the Friday night New Beginning show from New Japan in Trenton, NJ, thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match form each show to [email protected]

— Elimination Chamber was No. 7 among television shows on Netflix yesterday and No. 9 among all shows. No. 7 when it doesn’t include the U.S. market is quite good. The UFC show was No. 2 worldwide among TV shows, No. 4 overall on Paramount and No. 5 in the U.S. among TV shows. It was down one percent from last week’s show.

— AEW Collision from early reports was way down from the past few weeks, no surprise since it went head-to-head with Elimination Chamber. So even with AEW increasing of late, it still gets hurt bad when Collision goes against a major WWE main roster event.

— Google searches for Wednesday’s AEW show were down 8.7 percent from the week before. Audience was down 8.5 percent so there was a strong correlation.

— The 6/14 UFC show at the White House was reported by Front Office Sports that at least some of the show would air on CBS.

— The United Wrestling Coalition has its Hall of Fame ceremony on 3/7 at the McKaig-Test-Mullen American Legion Post in New Egypt, NJ at 7. p.m. Those inducted will be Craig Z-List, Rudo the Heel, Sal DeMarco and Mr. Spectrum. They also have a show that night.

— House of Glory on Friday night in Chicago at the Logan Square Auditorium features Shotzi Blackheart vs. Killer Kelly.

— Mike Tenay turns 71 today. He’s legit one of the smartest people when it comes to pro wrestling in the country. Booker T turns 61. Scottyn Riggs turns 59. Davey Richards turns 43. Mark Sterling turns 43. Big E turns 40. Kyle O’Reilly turns 39. Tenille Dashwood/Emma turns 37. Sheik Adnan Al-Kaisee was born on this day in 1939. Ricky Steamboat turned 73 yesterday. Paul Vachon was 85 when he passed away two years ago today. Ann Casey was 82 when she passed away four years ago today.

— One of the greatest matches of all-time and part of one of the greatest series of bouts of all-time, the last Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Kenta Kobashi singles match, took place 23 years ago today. It is ranked by Cage match as the second greatest match of all-time. That singles pairing won match of the year in 1998, 1999 and 2003, making the only match-up in history to win three times.

— West Coast Pro from Friday night in Los Angeles: Aaron Solo b Gabe Roka, Andrew Cass won the Golden Gate titel over champion Alan Angels and G Sharpe in a great match, Royce Isaacs b Stephen Wolf in a hard hitting match, Jiah Jewell b Gary Jay, Alpha Zo b Bret the Threat, Miko Alana b Billie Starkz, Lee Moriarty b Adrian Quest in a great technical match, Johnnie Robbie retained thee women’s title over Laynie Luck, Strarboy Charlie & Titus Alexander b Danny Orion & Shimbashi to keep the tag titles, Vinne Massaro b LaBron Kozone to retain the world title. (thanks to Chris Campol)

— West Coast Pro announced 4/16 in Las Vegas at 7 pm. with Johnnie Robbie vs. Mio Momono for the women’s title.

— Harley Cameron is wrestling at tonight’s Boca Raton Championship Wrestling show in a Battle Royal that includes Aleah James, Leva Bates, Lacy Lane, Deonna Purrazzo and Renee Michelle.

— Danger Zone Wrestling on Friday night at Queen Bees in San Diego.

— Freelance Wrestling on Friday night at the Logan Square Auditorium in Chicago before about 350 fans saw Devon Monroe over Charles Mason in what we were told was a great match, (thanks to Lance LeVine).

Daily Update: Mercedes Mone, Rocky Romero, BOSJ schedule

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Daily Update

Latest News

Latest Audio

Latest YouTube Video

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Among the topics covered in this issue:

  • Elimination Chamber and WrestleMania updates. Update on ticket sales to both shows as well as AEW Revolution and explanations of why and current interest level in tickets.
  • Notes on the giant gates WWE drew for WrestleMania last year and John Cena’s retirement.
  • How much Mania tickets have increased in recent years
  • Odds on this week shows
  • Gina Carano vs. Ronda Rousey and a history of how women’s MMA overcame so many obstacles due to those two. We look at what each did, their background, the story behind the 2014 fight that never happened and why this fight is happening, as well as addressing very serious questions regarding the fight.
  • A look at nostalgia fights and different ways to do them and how they work or don’t work
  • A look at the life and career of the Great Mephisto, one of the most creative minds in wrestling as a wrestler and booker of the 60s and 70s, including his heyday in San Francisco and Australia and stories about his confrontations with Roy Shire, copying from and teaming with The Sheik, Booking WCW in Australia, and a life that start as a street hustler in the depression to facing Hulk Hogan in his first match ever in Northern California.
  • The most detailed look at the television ratings over the past week, with comparisons, Nielsen and Netflix flaws, Olympics and more.
  • Major change in CMLL rules and thoughts about it
  • This past week in CMLL including a hot Friday night sold out show with Mistico vs. Templario
  • Mistico talks Observer awards
  • Saya Kamitani update
  • FantasticaMania first night
  • Cain Velasquez update
  • Notes on the death of Brett Wolverton and Kerwin Silfies
  • Mick Foley television series
  • Longest lasting pro wrestling ring announcer
  • Eve sets UK record
  • Tag team holds titles in Europe & Japan at the same time
  • TNA No Surrender notes
  • More on mainstream coverage of Brody King
  • More on WBD sale
  • Report that Trump will kill current deal
  • AEW in Australia notes
  • Sean Strickland is an idiot
  • Dana White talks boxing
  • Gable Steveson fights again and update
  • Janel Grant lawsuit update
  • Another WWE European tour and PLE show
  • Bad Bunny wrestling update

This Week’s Back Issue

FIRST TIME SUBSCRIBERS GET 50% OFF YOUR FIRST MONTH

Thursday Update

WWE

  • Now that he’s retired and getting to spend more time at home, AJ Styles shared a photo on Instagram of his daughter doing his hair: “What are you doing now that you’re retired? Well, I’m currently getting my hair done by my daughter.”
  • D-Von Dudley hopes that Spike Dudley will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame:
    • If it wasn’t for him, I don’t know if the Dudleys would have gotten as far as we did. It was because of Spike and the crazy bumps that he took for us, and what he allowed us to do to him was why the Dudley Boyz really became the Dudley Boyz. If it’s anybody that belongs into the Hall of Fame, it’s Spike Dudley. So Triple H, I hope you’re listening. Please get my little brother in that Hall of Fame. He deserves every bit of it.
  • Mick Foley made an Instagram story post agreeing with The Undertaker about Chelsea Green being underutilized in WWE: “In total agreement with @undertaker on this. @chelseagreen is a star.”
  • Alexa Bliss tweeted out a message to NXT’s Tatum Paxley after Paxley revealed that watching Bliss is what inspired her to become a wrestler: “Thank you for the kindest words – can’t wait til we meet again in the ring @TatumPaxley”
  • ESPN continued the promotional push toward Elimination Chamber with Randy Orton, CM Punk, Je’Von Evans, Jey Uso, Tiffany Stratton, and Joe Tessitore making appearances.
  • Big E, Peter Rosenberg, and ESPN’s Joe Fortenbaugh hosted an Elimination Chamber preview show.
  • In an interview with The Takedown on SI, Trish Stratus shared what advice she would give AJ Lee ahead of Elimination Chamber. Lee is facing Becky Lynch at the PLE in what is Lee’s first singles match in more than a decade.
  • Stratus said:
    • Get your reps in, get to the place where you’re comfortable. You’re gonna think you’re not comfortable, but rely on your body. There is this aspect of it’s like riding a bike. You literally get to the point where like your body goes, I got this, as long as you can support it. And recovery-wise, make sure that you take care of all the things. I do my yoga, I do all the things to make sure I can support [the performance]. She’s gonna be great.
  • Tiffany Stratton trained with Ivy Nile for a video on Nile’s YouTube channel.
  • New York Knicks star Jalen Brunson was the guest on the latest episode of Stephanie McMahon’s “What’s Your Story?” podcast.

Other Wrestling

  • Ric Flair remembered his late son Reid on what would have been Reid’s 38th birthday:
    • Not A Day Goes By Where We Don’t Think About You Big Man! We All Know You Are In A Better Place, But It Doesn’t Make The Pain Ever Go Away. Reid, We Are All Remembering You Today On Your Birthday! Love & Miss You!
  • Mercedes Mone is returning to Poland on March 29 to defend her Prime Time Wrestling Women’s Championship against a yet-to-be-announced opponent.
  • Rocky Romero spoke to Fox News Digital about the working relationship that exists between AEW, NJPW, and CMLL:
    • What’s cool about it is AEW, especially Tony Khan, has so much respect and so much love for New Japan and New Japan has always been supportive of AEW. I think it’s a partnership that really works and obviously it’s an essential partnership when you’re going against someone who has such a huge market share in WWE. So, I think it’s very strategic and now that we’ve thrown CMLL into the mix, these three big promotions really working fluidly together and working on storylines that cross all three promotions and having talent go from each company and champions.
  • Rush, who has been out of action since November due to a knee injury, tweeted today: “I feel better than ever.”
  • Shop AEW released a new “Big Hebrew” T-shirt for MJF after he applied to trademark that term this week.
  • Comic book writer Steve Orlando was the guest on AEW Unrestricted today, discussing the partnership between DC Comics and AEW.
  • NJPW announced that this year’s Best of the Super Junior tournament will take place across 14 nights from May 14 through June 7. The participants have not been revealed yet. Here is the schedule:
    • Night 1: Thursday May 14 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
    • Night 2: Saturday May 16 Tokyo Esforte Arena Hachioji 
    • Night 3: Sunday May 17 Tokyo Yoyogi National 2nd Gymnasium
    • Night 4: Wednesday May 20 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
    • Night 5: Friday May 22 Osaka Asue Arena
    • Night 6: Saturday May 23 Hyogo Acrie Himeji
    • Night 7: Sunday May 24 Kyoto KBS Hall
    • Night 8: Wednesday May 27 Shizuoka Kira Messe Numazu
    • Night 9: Friday May 29 Niigata Tsubame Citizens Gymnasium
    • Night 10: Saturday May 30 Toyama Takaoka Techno Dome
    • Night 11 & 12: Tuesday June 2 & Wednesday June 3 Tokyo Korakuen Hall 
    • Night 13: Friday June 5 Gunma G Messe
    • Night 14 (Final): Sunday June 7 Tokyo Ota City Gymnasium
  • Shayna Baszler will face off against Kristara in a Voyageur Cup quarterfinal match for Winnipeg Pro Wrestling next month. The winner of the tournament challenges Mercedes Mone for the Winnipeg Pro Women’s Championship.
  • Ronda Rousey shared new footage of her training for her upcoming MMA fight against Gina Carano.
  • Comedian Brad Williams appeared on Insight with Chris Van Vliet.
  • Jeremy Peeples, a long-time writer for our website, has started a GoFundMe campaign to benefit the family of his housemate Sherry who suddenly passed away this week.

Daily Update: Myles Borne, new MJF trademark, MLW

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Daily Update

Latest News

Latest Audio

Latest YouTube Video

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Among the topics covered in this issue:

  • Elimination Chamber and WrestleMania updates. Update on ticket sales to both shows as well as AEW Revolution and explanations of why and current interest level in tickets.
  • Notes on the giant gates WWE drew for WrestleMania last year and John Cena’s retirement.
  • How much Mania tickets have increased in recent years
  • Odds on this week shows
  • Gina Carano vs. Ronda Rousey and a history of how women’s MMA overcame so many obstacles due to those two. We look at what each did, their background, the story behind the 2014 fight that never happened and why this fight is happening, as well as addressing very serious questions regarding the fight.
  • A look at nostalgia fights and different ways to do them and how they work or don’t work
  • A look at the life and career of the Great Mephisto, one of the most creative minds in wrestling as a wrestler and booker of the 60s and 70s, including his heyday in San Francisco and Australia and stories about his confrontations with Roy Shire, copying from and teaming with The Sheik, Booking WCW in Australia, and a life that start as a street hustler in the depression to facing Hulk Hogan in his first match ever in Northern California.
  • The most detailed look at the television ratings over the past week, with comparisons, Nielsen and Netflix flaws, Olympics and more.
  • Major change in CMLL rules and thoughts about it
  • This past week in CMLL including a hot Friday night sold out show with Mistico vs. Templario
  • Mistico talks Observer awards
  • Saya Kamitani update
  • FantasticaMania first night
  • Cain Velasquez update
  • Notes on the death of Brett Wolverton and Kerwin Silfies
  • Mick Foley television series
  • Longest lasting pro wrestling ring announcer
  • Eve sets UK record
  • Tag team holds titles in Europe & Japan at the same time
  • TNA No Surrender notes
  • More on mainstream coverage of Brody King
  • More on WBD sale
  • Report that Trump will kill current deal
  • AEW in Australia notes
  • Sean Strickland is an idiot
  • Dana White talks boxing
  • Gable Steveson fights again and update
  • Janel Grant lawsuit update
  • Another WWE European tour and PLE show
  • Bad Bunny wrestling update

This Week’s Back Issue

FIRST TIME SUBSCRIBERS GET 50% OFF YOUR FIRST MONTH

Wednesday Update

WWE

  • WWE uploaded the full Ethan Page vs. Myles Borne NXT main event from last night, where Borne defeated Page to become the new men’s North American Champion.
  • In an Instagram stories post, Stephanie Vaquer congratulated Borne (her boyfriend) on his title win: “I’m so proud of you, because I truly know how hard you work day after day. You deserve this and so much more”
  • On Undertaker’s Six Feet Under podcast, Michael Hayes shared that he is now 17 months sober from alcohol.
  • Charlotte Flair wished her father Ric a happy 77th birthday: “Happy Birthday Dad @RicFlairNatrBoy I love you big as the sky:
  • Shinsuke Nakamura reacted to AJ Styles’ retirement:
    • AJ left the ring with his family by his side.
    • That’s the right way to go.
    • We fought. We pushed each other. We made history.
    • As a rival, I respect him. As a friend, I’m happy for him.
    • Much love, brother
  • WWE has filed a trademark for “WWE Evolve Succession,” which is the name the company has been using for Evolve’s special episodes.
  • A new WWE ID recruit will be revealed this Friday at Chaotic Wrestling’s event in Watertown, Massachusetts. The winner of Jariel Rivera vs. Tony “The Big Cheese” Navarro receives an ID contract.
  • CM Punk appeared on ChicagoNow ahead of Elimination Chamber.
  • Cody Rhodes was on ESPN’s Get Up and First Take today, while Finn Balor was on SportsCenter.
  • The Chicago Lead interviewed Jade Cargill.
  • Tatum Paxley was a guest on Busted Open Radio.

Other Wrestling

  • On February 23, MJF filed a trademark for the term “Big Hebrew.”
  • During her latest vlog episode, Queen Aminata said she’s hoping to return from her neck injury “pretty soon.” She’s scheduled to be backstage at Dynamite tonight to get checked out. If everything looks good, she’ll be able to start rolling around in the ring and taking bumps again.
  • Roderick Strong appeared on a new edition of Close-Up with Renee Paquette.
  • Tommaso Ciampa made an appearance on 9 News in Denver.
  • Street Fighter shared a video of Kenny Omega doing some motion-capture work as the character Alex in Street Fighter 6.
  • The Infantry (Shawn Dean & Carlie Bravo) have been announced for Battle for the Brave, which is taking place on June 6. It’s an indie show that Deonna Purrazzo and Steve Maclin are producing to benefit the charity organization Tunnel to Towers.
  • MLW will make its Tennessee debut with a TV taping at The Signal in Chattanooga on May 9. Tickets are going on sale on March 4.

Daily Update: AJ Styles, WWE 2K26, WBD & Paramount

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Daily Update

Latest News

Latest Audio

Latest YouTube Video

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

  • Elimination Chamber and WrestleMania updates. Update on ticket sales to both shows as well as AEW Revolution and explanations of why and current interest level in tickets.
  • Notes on the giant gates WWE drew for WrestleMania last year and John Cena’s retirement.
  • How much Mania tickets have increased in recent years
  • Odds on this week shows
  • Gina Carano vs. Ronda Rousey and a history of how women’s MMA overcame so many obstacles due to those two. We look at what each did, their background, the story behind the 2014 fight that never happened and why this fight is happening, as well as addressing very serious questions regarding the fight.
  • A look at nostalgia fights and different ways to do them and how they work or don’t work
  • A look at the life and career of the Great Mephisto, one of the most creative minds in wrestling as a wrestler and booker of the 60s and 70s, including his heyday in San Francisco and Australia and stories about his confrontations with Roy Shire, copying from and teaming with The Sheik, Booking WCW in Australia, and a life that start as a street hustler in the depression to facing Hulk Hogan in his first match ever in Northern California.
  • The most detailed look at the television ratings over the past week, with comparisons, Nielsen and Netflix flaws, Olympics and more.
  • Major change in CMLL rules and thoughts about it
  • This past week in CMLL including a hot Friday night sold out show with Mistico vs. Templario
  • Mistico talks Observer awards
  • Saya Kamitani update
  • FantasticaMania first night
  • Cain Velasquez update
  • Notes on the death of Brett Wolverton and Kerwin Silfies
  • Mick Foley television series
  • Longest lasting pro wrestling ring announcer
  • Eve sets UK record
  • Tag team holds titles in Europe & Japan at the same time
  • TNA No Surrender notes
  • More on mainstream coverage of Brody King
  • More on WBD sale
  • Report that Trump will kill current deal
  • AEW in Australia notes
  • Sean Strickland is an idiot
  • Dana White talks boxing
  • Gable Steveson fights again and update
  • Janel Grant lawsuit update
  • Another WWE European tour and PLE show
  • Bad Bunny wrestling update

This Week’s Back Issue

FIRST TIME SUBSCRIBERS GET 50% OFF YOUR FIRST MONTH

Tuesday Update

 WWE

  • WWE released post-show footage of AJ Styles’ retirement ceremony on Raw.
  • Frankie Kazarian reflected on being at Raw: Nights like this go beyond any accolade one can achieve. Being there for my brother @AJStylesOrg on an incredibly special night, and reuniting with @ThisIsTNA brethren is something I will take with me forever. And never let it go. Thanks you to the @WWE for making this happen.”
  • A WWE 2K26 video game special will air this coming Friday on ESPN 2.
  • Kelly Kelly on social media: “Welp… another year not in the @WWEgames…Should we start a petition or what?”
  • PWInsider is reporting that WWE and 2K have filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit by Nathaniel Tatha-Nanandji, a promoter who alleges that WWE used his intellectual material for Bloodline content on WWE programming. 
  • Tyra Mae Steele on The Wrestling Syndicate podcast shared audio of Vince McMahon congratulating her on winning the gold medal at the 2020 Olympics in Toyko.
  • Asuka in a backstage segment was happy with Kairi Sane’s performance on Raw for one reason: IYO SKY didn’t advance to the Chamber.
  • Latest WWE Vault content includes an unseen match between AJ Styles and Johnny Gargano from France in 2024, the 2013 Elimination Chamber match, the World Heavyweight title Elimination Chamber match from 2010, and the Coliseum Home Video release Terminators ‘96 featuring Shawn Michaels & Diesel vs. British Bulldog & Yokozuna and Bret Hart vs. The Undertaker.

AEW & Other Wrestling

  • Warner Bros. Discovery confirmed in a press release that they have received a revised proposal from Paramount Skydance. Later on Tuesday, the WBD board said that Paramount’s new offer ‘could’ be better than the current Netflix offer but hasn’t made that determination yet.
  • The New York Post has a profile on MJF.
  • Christopher Daniels on social media reflected on the recent anniversary of ROH’s first show, where he headlined with Bryan Danielson and Low Ki in the main event: “Happy birthday @ringofhonor. Very proud of the match we put on that night, and proud to have shared the ring as often as I did with @bryandanielson & @OneWorldWarrior!”
  • Mercedes Mone will be part of the upcoming new season of Bar Rescue on Paramount Network.
  • Jeff Hardy will be performing at the Louder than Life festival this September.
  • Valiente Jr. was off this morning’s NJPW show due to a knee injury. 
  • The Atlanta Falcons reposted Hacksaw Jim Duggan showing off a paycheck from them back in 1977.

Daily Update: Violence in Mexico, WWE Raw, Mayweather vs. Pacquiao

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Daily Update

Latest News

Latest Audio

Latest YouTube Video

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

  • Elimination Chamber and WrestleMania updates. Update on ticket sales to both shows as well as AEW Revolution and explanations of why and current interest level in tickets.
  • Notes on the giant gates WWE drew for WrestleMania last year and John Cena’s retirement.
  • How much Mania tickets have increased in recent years
  • Odds on this week shows
  • Gina Carano vs. Ronda Rousey and a history of how women’s MMA overcame so many obstacles due to those two. We look at what each did, their background, the story behind the 2014 fight that never happened and why this fight is happening, as well as addressing very serious questions regarding the fight.
  • A look at nostalgia fights and different ways to do them and how they work or don’t work
  • A look at the life and career of the Great Mephisto, one of the most creative minds in wrestling as a wrestler and booker of the 60s and 70s, including his heyday in San Francisco and Australia and stories about his confrontations with Roy Shire, copying from and teaming with The Sheik, Booking WCW in Australia, and a life that start as a street hustler in the depression to facing Hulk Hogan in his first match ever in Northern California.
  • The most detailed look at the television ratings over the past week, with comparisons, Nielsen and Netflix flaws, Olympics and more.
  • Major change in CMLL rules and thoughts about it
  • This past week in CMLL including a hot Friday night sold out show with Mistico vs. Templario
  • Mistico talks Observer awards
  • Saya Kamitani update
  • FantasticaMania first night
  • Cain Velasquez update
  • Notes on the death of Brett Wolverton and Kerwin Silfies
  • Mick Foley television series
  • Longest lasting pro wrestling ring announcer
  • Eve sets UK record
  • Tag team holds titles in Europe & Japan at the same time
  • TNA No Surrender notes
  • More on mainstream coverage of Brody King
  • More on WBD sale
  • Report that Trump will kill current deal
  • AEW in Australia notes
  • Sean Strickland is an idiot
  • Dana White talks boxing
  • Gable Steveson fights again and update
  • Janel Grant lawsuit update
  • Another WWE European tour and PLE show
  • Bad Bunny wrestling update

This Week’s Back Issue

FIRST TIME SUBSCRIBERS GET 50% OFF YOUR FIRST MONTH

Monday Update

CMLL logo

— Bryan and I will be back tonight to talk all the news of a very busy today with Wrestling Observer Radio.

— After the death of cartel leader Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes and rioting that ensued in parts of Mexico, tons of shows were canceled. CMLL is running tonight in Puebla as scheduled as well as Tuesday at Arena Mexico. The rioting has not spread to Mexico City. The Guadalajara show tomorrow has been canceled. The soccer game in Queretaro was canceled last night but they did play in Monterrey. Shows in Mexicali, which is a border city, Veracruz and Acapulco were all canceled. The promoter for a Sunday show in Reynosa announced all the AAA talent on the show has been pulled. Monterrey, where WWE is taping on Saturday, is right now on the no-travel list although there have been no major problems there.

— Netflix has announced a Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao rematch at Sphere in Las Vegas on 9/19. I’m guessing they will jack the ticket prices up like crazy in that building and it’ll do one of the biggest gates ever. This has been quite the week of big fight announcements on Netflix.

— Raw has a major show in Atlanta. The top talent from Smackdown was scheduled for the show due to the AJ Styles tribute. They had nearly 12,000 tickets out earlier today so a big crowd that could sell out. The main is the Styles tribute plus the return of Brock Lesnar. The last chamber qualifiers are Jey Uso vs. Bronson Reed vs. Original Grande Americano and Raquel Rodriguez vs. Kairi Sane vs. Iyo Sky.

— The first of what will be a lot of Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano preview stuff by MVP Promotions.

— The first press conference for that fight has been moved to 3/6 at 11 a.m. in Madison Square Garden.

— Wednesday’s AEW show did 692,000 viewers and an 0.12 in 18-49. The viewer number is the best the show has done in the Big Data era, but 18-49 is the same as last week. When I’ve been talking about how numbers don’t make sense, the show did 0.17 in 35-49 but 0.91 in 50-54. This is inexplicable.

— Thursday’s TNA Impact did 233,000 viewers and an 0.05 in 18-49. They were down a little from last week. No obvious red flags.

— ROH has announced TV tapings on 3/1 at the WJCT studios in Jacksonville. It’ll be a free show with matches starting at 3 p.m., but you have to reserve tickets or you may not get in. It’s an old TV studio type atmosphere. The studio is located near Tony Khan’s office at the Jaguars front office location. It’s a trial taping and if it goes well it will become the home of ROH. At this point these tapings will be for the ROH web site.

— Today is the 24th anniversary of the first ROH show at the Murphy Rec Center in Philadelphia. Amazing Red beat Jay Briscoe. Mark Briscoe couldn’t get licensed in Philadelphia to do that show because he wasn’t 18. The main event saw Low Ki win a three-way over Bryan Danielson and Christopher Daniels.

— At today’s Fantastica Mania show in Aichi, Sho & Soberano Jr. won the main event over Mistico & Desperado when Soberano Jr. pinned Mistico with the fire driver. This sets up Mistico vs. Soberano Jr. for the CMLL light heavyweight title on Friday night at Korakuen Hall. The two were to have a singles match but they did the angle to set up the title match today. They are running the smaller Edion Arena in Osaka at 4 a.m. Eastern with the finals of the tag team tournament with Mistico & Mascara Dorada vs. Magnus & Averno plus Atlantis & Atlantis Jr. & Templario vs. Hechicero & Ultimo Guerrero & Soberano Jr.

— We don’t have a list of where NXT will be preempted tomorrow outside of Chicago. In Chicago, the show will air at 11 a.m. Sunday on WGN due to airing the State of the Union address (thanks to Richard Wierzbowski).

— Real American Beer is doing a relaunch with Colby Covington as the new face of the brand. They announced he’s joined the brand as a long-term partner and investor. Covington will be promoting the beer at live events for RAF and all RAF programming.

— Jackie Redmond won’t be on Raw tonight because she was covering the U.S. vs. Canada hockey game in Italy last night. She said she will be on the TNT NHL game broadcast on Wednesday night but couldn’t make it home for tonight’s show in Atlanta.

— Some notable deaths on 2/23 include Richard Wilson/The Renegade 27 years ago today at the age of 33, Nick Roberts, the father of Baby Doll who was 72 when he passed away 24 years ago, Art Michalik, a former 49ers star and football coach in Southern California who had a long pro wrestling career, who was 91 when he passed away five years ago (thanks to Tony Richards).

— Tickets for Raw & Smackdown for WrestleMania week in Las Vegas at the T-Mobile Arena go on sale tomorrow to the general public. There is a pre-sale that started today.

— Chad Mendes was injured and pulled out of Saturday’s RAF show in Tempe, AZ. He was to face Benson Henderson. Henderson will now face former UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling.

— Impact on Thursday has Mike Santana & Leon Slater vs. Nemeth Brothers, The Hardys & Righteous vs. The System, Lei Ying Lee vs. Dani Luna, Mance Warner vs. AJ Francis and Tasha Steelz vs. Jada Stone.

Daily Update: Shows in Mexico canceled due to violence, UFC fallout

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Daily Update

Latest News

Latest Audio

Latest YouTube Video

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

  • Elimination Chamber and WrestleMania updates. Update on ticket sales to both shows as well as AEW Revolution and explanations of why and current interest level in tickets.
  • Notes on the giant gates WWE drew for WrestleMania last year and John Cena’s retirement.
  • How much Mania tickets have increased in recent years
  • Odds on this week shows
  • Gina Carano vs. Ronda Rousey and a history of how women’s MMA overcame so many obstacles due to those two. We look at what each did, their background, the story behind the 2014 fight that never happened and why this fight is happening, as well as addressing very serious questions regarding the fight.
  • A look at nostalgia fights and different ways to do them and how they work or don’t work
  • A look at the life and career of the Great Mephisto, one of the most creative minds in wrestling as a wrestler and booker of the 60s and 70s, including his heyday in San Francisco and Australia and stories about his confrontations with Roy Shire, copying from and teaming with The Sheik, Booking WCW in Australia, and a life that start as a street hustler in the depression to facing Hulk Hogan in his first match ever in Northern California.
  • The most detailed look at the television ratings over the past week, with comparisons, Nielsen and Netflix flaws, Olympics and more.
  • Major change in CMLL rules and thoughts about it
  • This past week in CMLL including a hot Friday night sold out show with Mistico vs. Templario
  • Mistico talks Observer awards
  • Saya Kamitani update
  • FantasticaMania first night
  • Cain Velasquez update
  • Notes on the death of Brett Wolverton and Kerwin Silfies
  • Mick Foley television series
  • Longest lasting pro wrestling ring announcer
  • Eve sets UK record
  • Tag team holds titles in Europe & Japan at the same time
  • TNA No Surrender notes
  • More on mainstream coverage of Brody King
  • More on WBD sale
  • Report that Trump will kill current deal
  • AEW in Australia notes
  • Sean Strickland is an idiot
  • Dana White talks boxing
  • Gable Steveson fights again and update
  • Janel Grant lawsuit update
  • Another WWE European tour and PLE show
  • Bad Bunny wrestling update

This Week’s Back Issue

FIRST TIME SUBSCRIBERS GET 50% OFF YOUR FIRST MONTH

Sunday Update

CMLL logo

— I’ll be back tonight for a show. It’ll be either with Bryan or Garrett that I guess is to be determined by schedule.

— The shooting of El Mencho (famous Mexican gang leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes), one of the most powerful cartel members (leader of the CING group), has rocked the country. Mass violence has broken out in many parts of Mexico. A ton of wrestling shows have been canceled and more will be. Everyone is concerned and people are afraid to go out in several different states in that country. There is an unwritten rule that gangs don’t do violence in Mexico City because the tourism business is so big and if they did, that would kill the business and hurt the economy for everyone. But outside of Mexico City, shows are being canceled left and right. I expect some stuff to be made official in CMLL in the next 24 hours.

Lots of people in places like Jalisco and Michoakan are afraid to leave their homes. Schools in Jalisco and Nayarit are closed tomorrow. The Puerto Vallarta government is strongly urging residents and visitors to stay indoors and avoid non-essential travel. Public transportation services are temporarily suspended in that city. Drivers are advised to avoid the roadways. Businesses are asked to temporarily close and hotels are advising guests not to leave the premises. I’ve had people suggest that the wrestling business in Mexico is going to take a hit from this for some time to come.

— On Tuesday, a lot of the CW stations around the U.S. will be pre-empting NXT for the State of the Union address. I expect when the rating comes out it’ll include those stations so the rating will be artificially very high and will have to be adjusted later.

— The plan right now is for Friday’s Arena Mexico show to be headlined by Angel de Oro vs. Johnny Consejo (Johnny TV) in a hair vs. hair match.

— Thanks for all the nice comments on the Great Mephisto article and the Ronda Rousey & Gina Carano article in the current issue.

— Sean Strickland beat Anthony Hernandez in yesterday’s UFC main event. Dana White blamed the media for asking questions to Strickland which led to him saying stupid misogynistic and racist stuff. Then he complained about fighter pay. I mean, Zuffa signing Connor Benn to a one-fight deal that has been reported for $15 million has made many in the UFC take notice. Strickland after the show said, “You want to see the last American in the sport go and F*** (Khamzat Chimaev) up. I’ll bring a ‘ f***ing goat and he’ll get distracted.” At that point UFC cut his mic off.

— Dana White, when talking about the Benn signing, said, “Is there a bigger pussy than Eddie Hearn (Benn’s promoter). This guy’s supposed to be your friend, you’re f***ing crying? He made more money. He’s going to make more money, and he had the right to match it. He could have matched it.” White’s line on the other major boxing promoters is, “We’re literally beating up babies.”

— Take Turki’s checkbook away and this reverses in no time flat.

— White refused to say anything negative on the Rousey vs. Carano fight, saying they talked about this since last year but it didn’t work out, but said he was happy for Rousey, and happy for both of them. Rousey said in their talks she was offered the highest PPV bonus package to date, but when the deal with Paramountwas signed, they wouldn’t give them a guarantee at the level of what she perceived they’d have made for PPV and they got the deal from MVP Promotions. That indicates UFC won’t try and block the fight.

— Wrestler Nicole Lucero, real name Lincoolth Hernadnez-Lucero, was taken into ICE custody on 2/11. She is from Colombia and has lived in the U.S. for nine years. She and her husband were working on updating their immigration status. Her attorney said she entered the U.S. legally at the age of 15 and has been undergoing the asylum application process with the rest of her family when she was detaind.

— There was WWE on TV tonight with CW airing the A&E Bio on Steve Austin in primetime and ESPN airing an edited version of the 2026 Royal Rumble show also in prime time. For those on the West Coast, it’s airing shortly.

— The name Dorian Van Dux that WWE trademarked last week is for Mike D Vecchio, meaning he’ll be starting immintely on NXT. He’s been working house shows.

— Countdown to AEW Revolution airs Saturday night on TNT at 10 p.m. right after Collision.

— Steve Corino wrestled this weekend for PWF.

— Kushida reportedly became the first Japanese wrestler to wrestle in Alaska yesterday and the first to be given a piledriver on the snow. At least that’s what’s being claimed. This took place for the 907 Wrestling promotion.

— Raw tomorrow has added Maxxine Dupri vs. Nattie to the AJ Styles tribute, the return of Brock Lesnar and Chamber qualifiers with Jey Uso vs. Bronson Reed vs. Original Grande Americano and Raquel Rodriguez vs. Iyo Sky vs. Kairi Sane.

— AEW Dynamite for Wednesday has only announced Jon Moxley vs. Clon, Brody King vs. Mark Davis and Orange Cassidy vs. Gabe Kidd. They will also finalize stips for MJF vs. Adam Page’s PPV match.

— Congrats to Bruce Buffer who celebrated 30 years as UFC ring announcer last night in Houston.

— WWE is looking at blacking out all public airings of Elimination Chamber on Saturday because the show hasn’t sold out. In the end, it will be a full house, but this is likely not to be the best P.R.

  • — FantasticaMania today in Osaka:
  • El Hijo de Stuka Jr. & Shoma Kato b Tiger Mask & Tatsuya Matsumoto
  • Yujiro Takahashi & Sho & Yoshinobu Kanemaru b Ultimo Guerrero & Satoshi Kojima & Okumura
  • Philip Marlowe Jr. (Yota Tsuiji) & Titan & Shingo Takagi & Bone Soldier Jr. (Taiji Ishimori) & Daiki Nagai b Stigma & El Desperado & Ryusuke Taguchi & MasterWAto & Masatora Yasuda
  • Templario vs. Soberano Jr. vs. Hechicero went to a 10:00 draw
  • Averno & Maganus b Atlantis & Atlantis Jr. in the 2026 tag team tournament semifinal. Averno pinned Atlantis Jr., which sets up Atlantis Jr. defending the historica light heavyweight title against Averno on Thursday night at Korakuen Hall
  • Mistico & Mascara & Dorada b Futuro & Valiente Jr. in the other semifinal. People have been raving about this one.

— On the Google searches for the weekend, nothing from pro wrestling had any traction this weekend. Yesterday’s UFC show had 215,000 searches which is a strong Fight Night number. The show was the No. 2 television show and No. 4 show overall on Paramount yesterday and up six percent in viewers from the show two weeks ago.

— Ratings for AEW on Wednesday and TNA on Thursday should be out tomorrow.

— For best matches of the weekend, I saw some of Friday’s Josh Alexander vs. Esfinge match and what I saw was excellent and super heated. AEW Collision was unusually good in that the action in every match but the Megan Bayne squash was good, and really most bouts were great. As for in-ring wrestling, it was a hell of a television show. Alexander vs. Claudio Castagnoli was uniquely good in a different way from most matches nowadays because it was built around creative stuff. I guess the Young Bucks matches usually are as well. FTR vs. Rascalz was exactly what I’d expect prior to the surprise finish, which immediately puts the Rascalz in the title picture. The other bout I heard raves about was the Osaka match today with Misitco & Mascara Dorada vs. Futuro & Valiente Jr. I figured that to be great given Futuro & Valiente Jr. don’t get main events in Mexico. Also mentioned to me was the Yuki Ueno vs. Kaisei Takechi main event of the DDT show.

— Sean Brady vs. Joaquin Buckley will be the main event of the 4/25 UFC show at the Apex. Renato Moicano vs. Chris Duncan will headline the 4/4 show at the Apex.

— Jailton Almeida was contacted by MVP Promotions to face Junior Dos Santos on the Rousey vs. Carano undercard on 5/16. But he turned it down to sign with ACW out of Russia. Almedia was just cut by UFC even though he was ranked in the top ten at heavyweight, believed to be for having a boring fight.

— House of Glory from Friday night in New York: Midas Black & Jay Lyon b JJP & KB Prime, Gabby Forza b Amira Sahar, Joey Silver b Diamond Virago-DQ, Private Party b Angel Vazquez & Idris Jackson, Andrade El Idolo b Charles Mason-COR, MJF b Zilla Fatu to keep the AEW title. They shot an angle with MJF and Andrade for a possible future AEW title match here that aired on Collision last night.

— On Real Time with Bill Maher on HBO, Bill did a joke saying that at every State of the Union address the President enters the room like he’s Conor McGregor entering the Octagon (thanks to Jeff Beecher)

— The 3/6 Eve show at The Big Penny Social in Walthamstow, London, England with Jamie Hayter vs. Miyu Yamashita has sold out all seats but there is standing room available. The 3/8 show at the Indigo in the O2 Arena is completely sold out.

— Super Calo turned 55 today. The original Mr. Niebla was born on this day 53 years ago. (thanks to Tony Richards)

Daily Update: Janel Grant, Jake Paul, Arena Mexico

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Daily Update

Latest News

Latest Audio

Latest YouTube Video

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

  • Elimination Chamber and WrestleMania updates. Update on ticket sales to both shows as well as AEW Revolution and explanations of why and current interest level in tickets.
  • Notes on the giant gates WWE drew for WrestleMania last year and John Cena’s retirement.
  • How much Mania tickets have increased in recent years
  • Odds on this week shows
  • Gina Carano vs. Ronda Rousey and a history of how women’s MMA overcame so many obstacles due to those two. We look at what each did, their background, the story behind the 2014 fight that never happened and why this fight is happening, as well as addressing very serious questions regarding the fight.
  • A look at nostalgia fights and different ways to do them and how they work or don’t work
  • A look at the life and career of the Great Mephisto, one of the most creative minds in wrestling as a wrestler and booker of the 60s and 70s, including his heyday in San Francisco and Australia and stories about his confrontations with Roy Shire, copying from and teaming with The Sheik, Booking WCW in Australia, and a life that start as a street hustler in the depression to facing Hulk Hogan in his first match ever in Northern California.
  • The most detailed look at the television ratings over the past week, with comparisons, Nielsen and Netflix flaws, Olympics and more.
  • Major change in CMLL rules and thoughts about it
  • This past week in CMLL including a hot Friday night sold out show with Mistico vs. Templario
  • Mistico talks Observer awards
  • Saya Kamitani update
  • FantasticaMania first night
  • Cain Velasquez update
  • Notes on the death of Brett Wolverton and Kerwin Silfies
  • Mick Foley television series
  • Longest lasting pro wrestling ring announcer
  • Eve sets UK record
  • Tag team holds titles in Europe & Japan at the same time
  • TNA No Surrender notes
  • More on mainstream coverage of Brody King
  • More on WBD sale
  • Report that Trump will kill current deal
  • AEW in Australia notes
  • Sean Strickland is an idiot
  • Dana White talks boxing
  • Gable Steveson fights again and update
  • Janel Grant lawsuit update
  • Another WWE European tour and PLE show
  • Bad Bunny wrestling update

This Week’s Back Issue

FIRST TIME SUBSCRIBERS GET 50% OFF YOUR FIRST MONTH

Friday Update

CMLL logo

— Our Friday show with Garett Gonzales talked El Santo, WrestleMania ticket sales in perspective, the Great Mephisto’s history with Roy Shire, AEW Revolution, Arena Mexico and lots of awards talk. Garett and I will be back Sunday night this week with Smackdown, Collision, New Japan and other notes.

— Thanks for all the nice feedback on the Great Mephisto story in today’s issue. The San Francisco run was legendary as well the booking in Australia.

— Janel Grant spoke in public for the first time today at an event to support NDA’s from being used when comes to sexual abuse cases. We talked about this on the show today. She was very nervous and spoke vaguely, with almost no details on her case past mentioning the name Vince McMahon a few times.

  • She said it was a series of miracles that she’s even alive today and talked about consdiering suicide
  • She indicated suffering and saying she probably left her house ten days last year.
  • She said that she was willing to speak in the investigation of Vince McMahon by the WWE Board of Directors but they did not talk to her
  • She said WWE contacted her and asked her to make a statement that her relationship with Vince McMahon was consensual and indicated being offered money to say that and she refused. She said the company then said it was a consensual relationship. She said when they know one party would not say it was consensual, that’s a hell of an announcement to make.
  • She noted that she turned over all her evidence to the Department of Justice. In the end, the DOJ did not use it nor ask for any indictments.
  • She acknowledged the love letter that it was claimed she wrote to Vince McMahon that WWE or McMahon’s reps sent to the New York Post. She called it public humiliation and intimidation of a person as well as witness intimidation. She did not address whether the letter was real or the big question of if she wrote it on her own or McMahon asked her to do so.
  • She was upset by the Liv Morgan angle that was taken from her case and said that they used her case to do an angle every Monday night.

— NXT on Tuesday did 744,000 viewers and an 0.09 in 18-49. We’ll have more details. Viewership was way up against the Olympics but that was a very low 18-49 number for so many viewers, which raises a red flag. It did much better than usual in 18-34. It was last among all networks on Tuesday.

— I don’t expect an AEW rating until Monday for the Wednesday Dynamite show. Everything was moved back a day due to the Monday holiday.

— The Royal Rumble from this year will air at 8 p.m. Eastern on Sunday on ESPN. The show will be edited down.

— Conor Benn of Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing has been signed by Zuffa Boxing. This is like 1984 in pro wrestling. Benn is 24-1 with 14 knockouts and is coming off a win over Chris Eubanks Jr. in November, avenging his only career loss. He was one of Matchroom’s top guys. To show how bad they wanted to get him, he signed only a one-fight deal, reported to be for eight figures.

— One of my friends in the Chicago wrestling scene noted to me that he paid $1,450 for tickets to ten Bulls games on his package which includes games with the Warriors and Lakers. In the exact same seat that his Bulls tickets are, it would cost him $684 for Elimination Chamber. The person earns a good living and is a huge pro wrestling fan. He’s not going to the show.

— ESPN 2 will be airing a 2K26 ratings reveal special on ESPN 2 on 2/27 at 2 p.m.

— Jake Paul will have to undergo further surgery related to the broken jaw he suffered in the fight with Anthony Joshua. This second surgery is because screws and plates from the first surgery are coming loose.

— Impact on Thursday has:

  • Mike Santana & Leon Slater vs. The Nemeth Brothers
  • Hardys & Righteous vs. The System
  • Lei Ying Lee vs. Dani Luna
  • AJ Francis vs. Mance Warner
  • Jada Stone vs. Tasha Steelz
  • Plus Mickie James will have a confrontation with Ash by Elegance

— With all the top stars in Japan, tonight’s Arena Mexico show is built around six first-round matches in the Torneo de Escuelas tag team tournament. This is for wrestling students who are unknowns and becomes the first look most people have of them:

  • Conquistador & Divino Dragon (students of Ultimo Dragoncito) vs. Pantera Jr. & Psycotic (students of Rey Cometa & Pantera from Queretaro)
  • Cerebero Negro Jr. & Dominic (students of Virus) vs. Kimba & Tenochca (students of Volador Jr.)
  • Camaleon Jr. & Karma I (students of Tony Salazar) vs. Black Warrior Jr. & Makara (students of El Satanico from Guadalajara)
  • Diamante Escarlata & Magnetico (students of El Hijo del Gladiador) vs. Estudiante Jr. & Feroz (students of Ultimo Guerrero)
  • Konjuro & Sombra Diabolka Jr. (students of Black Tiger from Puebla) vs. King Rex & Prometeo (team from Saltillo)
  • Rey Pegasus & Tornado (students of Magia Blanca) vs. Engendro & Jay Ortega (team from Monterrey)
  • Araki & KIira & Catalina vs. Dark Silueta & Olympia & Persephone
  • Josh Alexander vs. Esfinge for the MLP title
  • Johnny Consejo (Johnny TV) vs Angel De Oro vs. Neon vs. Daniel Garcia

— Saturday at Arena Coliseo has Volador Jr. vs. Consejo vs. Cavernario and Angel de Oro vs. Garcia.

— Sunday at Arena Mexico has Flip Gordon & Neon vs. Cavernario & Garcia and Esfinge vs. Consejo.

— Garcia has apparently been training this week at the CMLL school while in Mexico.

— Shayna Baszler has been helping out part-time with training and sometimes producing in Orlando for NXT. It’s not a full-time gig. She’s been producing Evolve matches. Ace Steel is there coaching this week. They bring people in part-time regularly.

— Fantastica Mania live on New Japan World at 2 a.m. Eastern tomorrow night (11 p.m. Pacific shorty after UFC ends) from Osaka

  • Tatsuya Matsumoto & Tiger Mask vs. El Hijo de Stuka Jr. & Shoma Katio
  • Okumura & Satoshi Kojima & Ultimo Guerrero vs. Sho & Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Yujiro Takahashi
  • El Desperado & Masatora Yasuda & Master Wato & Ryusuke Taguchi & Stigma vs. Bone Soldier Jr. (Taiji Ishimori) & Yota Tsuji & Titan & Shingo Takagi & Daiki Nagai
  • Atlantis & Atlantis Jr. vs. Averno & Mangus in tag tournament semifinals
  • Mistico & Mascara Dorada vs. Valiente Jr. & Futuro in tag tournament semifinal

The main event is really interesting. Valiente Jr. & Futuro rarely get big show main events so you think they’ll go all out. They are young, very talented guys.

— An update from today’s issue, the Rey Misterio (uncle of current Rey Mysterio) PBS documentary in Southern California apparently has already aired there.

— UFC is back at 5 p.m. Eastern with a show on Paramount

  • Juliana Miller (126) vs. Carli Judice (125)
  • Jordan Leavitt (145.5) vs. Yadier del Valle (145.5)
  • Phil Rowe (170.5) vs. Jean-Paul Lebosnoyani (170.5)
  • Ramiz Brahimaj (170.5) vs. Punalele Soriano (171)
  • Nora Cornolle (136) vs. Joselyn Edwards (135.5)
  • Aiden Coria (125.5) vs. Luis Gurule (125)
  • Ode Osbourne (126) vs. Alibi Idris (126)
  • Chidi Njokuani (171) vs. Carlos Leal (170)
  • Zachary Reese (185.5) vs. Michel Pereira (186
  • Jacobe Smith (171) vs. Josiah Harrell (171)
  • Serghei Spivac (251.5) vs. Ante Delija (239)
  • Dan Ige (145.5) vs. Milquizael Costa (145.5)
  • Goeff Neal (170.5) vs. Usos Medic (171)
  • Sean Strickland (185) vs. Anthony Hernandez (186)

— The online debate over Dusty Rhodes vs Seth Rollins and who was better in the ring is very funny, because when Rollins was in WWE developmental, Rhodes said he was already the best wrestler in all of WWE to me (this would have been shortly after the death of Randy Savage when we had a long talk mostly about Savage but he very excitedly told me about this guy who was even better than Savage that nobody knows about, although I’d been watching NXT so knew about him and obviously did from his Tyler Black days for years). He definitely had qualms about things and wasn’t sure if he’d make it because of those reasons, but raved about him in the ring.

— Nic Nemeth appears for AIQ on 3/20 in Cleveland at the Globe Iron.

— This is quite the day in history. Buddy Rogers was born on this day in 1921, one of the all-time greats. Antonio Inoki was born on this day in 1943. Gedo turned 57 today. Gail Kim turned 49. Big Damo turned 41. Bobby Shane was 29 when he passed away on this day 51 years ago in a famous plane crash in Florida. Ciclon Negro was 80 when he passed away on this day 13 years ago. Dean Higuchi, a bodybuilder and powerlifter was 80 when he passed away on this day five years ago. Pirata Morgan had his first match 47 years ago today.

Daily Update: Blake Monroe, Kerwin Silfies, John Cena

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Daily Update

Latest News

Latest Audio

Latest YouTube Video

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Our annual awards issue is out covering the following topics:

  • Winners, top place winners, comments and every winner of every award dating back to 1980, from Wrestler of the Year, MMA MVP, Most Outstanding, Most Outstanding MMA Fighter, Tag Team of the Year, Best on Interviews, Promotion of the Year, Best Weekly TV show, Match of the Year, MMA Fight of the year, U.S./Canada MPV, Japanese MVP, Mexico MVP, Europe MVP, Best non-heavyweight, Women’s MVP, Women’s MMA MVP, Feud of the Year, Best Box Office Draw, Most Improved, Most Charismatic, Best Technical, Best Brawler, Best Flying Wrestler, Most Overrated, Most Underrated, Rookie of the Year, Best Non-WRestler, Best Television Announcer, Worst Television Announcer, Most major show, Worst major show, Best maneuver, Most Disgusting Promotional Tactic, Worst TV show, Worst match, Worst feud, Worst promotion, Best Booker of the Year, Promoter of the Year, Best Gimmick, Worst Gimmick, Best Book and Best Documentary.
  • Tons of news related to the build to WrestleMania, why the card may be changing, a major concern regarding ticket sales, predictability vs. surprises, How Bron Breakker’s injury changes things, Brock Lesnar situation, Becky Lynch situation, situation in Las Vegas, concerns in Las Vegas, why ticket sales are down, plus build to Elimination Chamber
  • Tadao Yasuda, a unique life of a former sumo star, IWGP champion, one of the biggest upsets in MMA history, the birth of the New Year’s Eve fighting tradition, gambling issues and more
  • Coverage of the New Beginning in Osaka, talent leaving, talent staying, what is the direction for New Japan the next few months and a worst and best match of the year candidate one right after the other
  • Betting odds for this week’s wrestling
  • Most detailed look at the TV ratings, a look at the red flags, streaming numbers and more.
  • Notes on the honoring and retirement of El Satanico and career highlights
  • Mistico sellout updates
  • The last Friday for a month at Arena Mexico with the biggest names
  • AAA TV tapings with WWE talent
  • Starddom PPV notes
  • Epstein files wrestling references
  • Biggest UK women’s show coming
  • Show coming up attempting to be the largest attendance for an all-women’s show in three decades
  • Paramount again trying to get WBD
  • How politics affects pro wrestling
  • Grand Slam Australia notes
  • MJF talks Punk
  • TV reviews
  • YouTube notes
  • CBS airing UFC on 3/7
  • Zuffa boxing defies Ali Act with world title announcement
  • WWE injury updates
  • Bad Bunny Super Bowl controversy
  • WWE Hall of Famer threatens to quit if another person isn’t removed
  • Reigns upcoming schedule

This Week’s Back Issue

FIRST TIME SUBSCRIBERS GET 50% OFF YOUR FIRST MONTH

Thursday Update

Kirwin Silfies

WWE

  • WWE and 2K Games held a Creator Fest event at WWE headquarters today to promote the upcoming release of WWE 2K26. Blake Monroe was among the talent there, with this being her first visit to HQ. She appeared on Busted Open Radio and discussed what her time in WWE NXT has been like so far:
    • Oh, it’s been amazing. I mean, wrestling is a real roller coaster. But for me, I always just come back to as a kid, I wanted to be a WWE Superstar. And then to be in somewhere like the WWE HQ where the walls are just covered in legends and then people from now. For me, that’s just really cool. Because it’s like, ‘Hey, I remember being a kid.’ And like, ‘I remember that match and I remember this.’ And it’s like, hey, I’m a part of this and I will build a legacy here.
    • Once we get rid of Thea Hail [in their NXT feud], I can get back on track and build a legacy here and be a part of that. So I think it’s a balance of, like, having the humility of, hey, this was always my dream, but also like I earned my spot here and loads of people want to be a WWE Superstar and they can’t.
  • Michael Hayes posted a tribute to former WWE director Kerwin Silfies following his passing:
    • I was so sorry to hear about Kerwin passing.
    • Kerwin was one of the nicest people I’ve ever met at WWE.
    • You may think you don’t know Kerwin, but, you know his body of work.
    • If there was ever a WWE childhood memory you have, it was most likely directed by Kerwin from 1985-2020. Kerwin will surely be missed.
    • NEVER FORGOTTEN!!
    • RIP Kerwin
  • Shawn Michaels sent his condolences to Silfies’ family and friends:
    • The @WWE family lost a very special part of our team.
    • Kerwin Silfies was our Director during my entire career. If you were there, you know how important that role was. He helped shape the sound, the feel, and the rhythm of what fans watched every week.
    • Raw, SmackDown, WrestleMania… he was in the chair, leading the way.
    • Kerwin loved the work. He loved the crew. And he took pride in getting it right. I’m grateful I got to work alongside him.
    • My thoughts are with his family and everyone who called him a friend.
  • Stephanie McMahon, Mark Henry, Matt Hardy, and Jeff Jarrett are among the others who posted tweets remembering Silfies.
  • In an interview with The Takedown on SI, John Cena named some of the opponents he learned a lot from early in his WWE career:
    • Oh my goodness, that list is long and distinguished. So you’re talking about a short period of time, so I’m going to leave out a lot of names that continued to, quote unquote, carry me from that point beyond. But up until then, Booker T, Eddie Guerrero, John Layfield, Kurt Angle, Rikishi.
    • Man, the list goes on and on. Every performer with time in front of a live audience, who wasn’t from my OVW class, I was able to learn from. They took care of me. Matt Bloom, who was A-Train, guys like Kidman on Velocity, heck even matches I had with a young Bryan Danielson, Paul London, Brian Kendrick, Renee Dupree.
    • To be able to learn from those guys. I was able to learn from every person I was put in the ring with, until I won the championship from a mentor who really took care of me, and toughened me up too, but showed me the ropes, in John Layfield. I’m grateful to them all.
  • PWInsider reports that Sean “X-Pac” Waltman was at the WWE Performance Center today.
  • Shawn Michaels shared a brief clip from WWE’s Performance Center tryouts.
  • TalkSport interviewed Drew McIntyre.
  • Raquel Rodriguez appeared on TMZ’s Inside the Ring podcast.

Other Wrestling

  • Rocky Romero spoke to Undisputed about how Kazuchika Okada was able to help get him acclimated to Japan when they were faction mates in NJPW:
    • We’ve also spent a lot of time together on the road. Dinners in the middle of nowhere, him helping me navigate all different parts of Japan to make sure I was getting culture in our days off and not just in my room watching TV. There’s no one like Okada.
  • Matt & Jeff Hardy have been announced for Battle for the Brave in Rahway, New Jersey on June 6. It’s a wrestling event that Deonna Purrazzo and Steve Maclin are putting on to benefit the charity Tunnels to Towers.
  • Former WWE wrestler Eva Marie was the guest on a new episode of Insight with Chris Van Vliet.
  • SoCalVal interviewed Christy Hemme for WrestlingNewsCo.

Daily Update: Stephanie Vaquer, WBD & Paramount, WWE 2K26

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Daily Update

Latest News

Latest Audio

Latest YouTube Video

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

*Winners, top place winners, comments and every winner of every award dating back to 1980, from Wrestler of the Year, MMA MVP, Most Outstanding, Most Outstanding MMA Fighter, Tag Team of the Year, Best on Interviews, Promotion of the Year, Best Weekly TV show, Match of the Year, MMA Fight of the year, U.S./Canada MPV, Japanese MVP, Mexico MVP, Europe MVP, Best non-heavyweight, Women’s MVP, Women’s MMA MVP, Feud of the Year, Best Box Office Draw, Most Improved, Most Charismatic, Best Technical, Best Brawler, Best Flying Wrestler, Most Overrated, Most Underrated, Rookie of the Year, Best Non-WRestler, Best Television Announcer, Worst Television Announcer, Most major show, Worst major show, Best maneuver, Most Disgusting Promotional Tactic, Worst TV show, Worst match, Worst feud, Worst promotion, Best Booker of the Year, Promoter of the Year, Best Gimmick, Worst Gimmick, Best Book and Best Documentary.

*Tons of news related to the build to WrestleMania, why the card may be changing, a major concern regarding ticket sales, predictabiity vs. surprises, How Bron Brakker’s injury changes things, Brock Lesnar situation, Becky Lynch situation, situation in Las Vegas, concerns in Las Vegas, why ticket sales are down, plus build to Elimination Chamber

*Tadao Yasuda, a unique life of a former sumo star, IWGP champion, one of the biggest upsets in MMA history, the birth of the New Year’s Eve fighting tradition, gambling issues and more

*Coverage of the New Beginning in Osaka, talent leaving, talent staying, what is the difrection for New Japan the next few months and a worst and best match of the year candidate one right after the other

*Betting odds for this week’s wrestling

*Most detailed look at the TV ratings, a look at the red flags, streaming numbers and more.

*Notes on the honoring and retirement of El Satanico and career highlights

*Mistico sellout updates

*The last Friday for a month at Arena Mexico with the biggest names

*AAA TV tapings with WWE talent

*Starddom PPV notes

*Epstein files wrestling references

*Biggest UK women’s show coming

*Show coming up attempting to be the largest attendance for an all-women’s show in three decades

*Pareamount again trying to get WBD

*How politics affects pro wrestling

*Grand Slam Australia notes

*MJF talks Punk

*TV reviews

*YouTube notes

*CBS airing UFC on 3/7

*Zuffa boxing defies Ali Act with world title announcement

*WWE injury updates

*Bad Bunny Super Bowl controversy

*WWE Hall of Famer threatens to quit if another person isn’t removed

*Reigns upcoming schedule

This Week’s Back Issue

FIRST TIME SUBSCRIBERS GET 50% OFF YOUR FIRST MONTH

Tuesday Update

 WWE

AEW & Other Wrestling

Daily Update: Cain Velazquez, CNN & AEW & Brody King

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Daily Update

Latest News

Latest Audio

Latest YouTube Video

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

*Winners, top place winners, comments and every winner of every award dating back to 1980, from Wrestler of the Year, MMA MVP, Most Outstanding, Most Outstanding MMA Fighter, Tag Team of the Year, Best on Interviews, Promotion of the Year, Best Weekly TV show, Match of the Year, MMA Fight of the year, U.S./Canada MPV, Japanese MVP, Mexico MVP, Europe MVP, Best non-heavyweight, Women’s MVP, Women’s MMA MVP, Feud of the Year, Best Box Office Draw, Most Improved, Most Charismatic, Best Technical, Best Brawler, Best Flying Wrestler, Most Overrated, Most Underrated, Rookie of the Year, Best Non-WRestler, Best Television Announcer, Worst Television Announcer, Most major show, Worst major show, Best maneuver, Most Disgusting Promotional Tactic, Worst TV show, Worst match, Worst feud, Worst promotion, Best Booker of the Year, Promoter of the Year, Best Gimmick, Worst Gimmick, Best Book and Best Documentary.

*Tons of news related to the build to WrestleMania, why the card may be changing, a major concern regarding ticket sales, predictabiity vs. surprises, How Bron Brakker’s injury changes things, Brock Lesnar situation, Becky Lynch situation, situation in Las Vegas, concerns in Las Vegas, why ticket sales are down, plus build to Elimination Chamber

*Tadao Yasuda, a unique life of a former sumo star, IWGP champion, one of the biggest upsets in MMA history, the birth of the New Year’s Eve fighting tradition, gambling issues and more

*Coverage of the New Beginning in Osaka, talent leaving, talent staying, what is the difrection for New Japan the next few months and a worst and best match of the year candidate one right after the other

*Betting odds for this week’s wrestling

*Most detailed look at the TV ratings, a look at the red flags, streaming numbers and more.

*Notes on the honoring and retirement of El Satanico and career highlights

*Mistico sellout updates

*The last Friday for a month at Arena Mexico with the biggest names

*AAA TV tapings with WWE talent

*Starddom PPV notes

*Epstein files wrestling references

*Biggest UK women’s show coming

*Show coming up attempting to be the largest attendance for an all-women’s show in three decades

*Pareamount again trying to get WBD

*How politics affects pro wrestling

*Grand Slam Australia notes

*MJF talks Punk

*TV reviews

*YouTube notes

*CBS airing UFC on 3/7

*Zuffa boxing defies Ali Act with world title announcement

*WWE injury updates

*Bad Bunny Super Bowl controversy

*WWE Hall of Famer threatens to quit if another person isn’t removed

*Reigns upcoming schedule

This Week’s Back Issue

FIRST TIME SUBSCRIBERS GET 50% OFF YOUR FIRST MONTH

Sunday Update

— Garrett Gonzales and I will be back tonight talking about the weekend news and more on the awards. We have a Friday night show up on the site talking about the WON Awards, Brody King, AEW Grand Slam, lots of info regarding WrestleMania in Las Vegas, and the issues going on and more.

— Cain Velasquez was released from prison earlier today after spending ten months incarcerated for attempting to shoot the man he believed had sexually abused his son between the ages of two and four. Velasquez showed up at the home of the man he believed had molested his son and people in the home took off in a car. Velasquez chased the car with the man, his mother and his stepfather in a high speed chase from Morgan Hill to San Jose, firing shots that hit the stepfather. His parole was moved up a month because of his participating rehabilitative programs.

He was sentenced at first to five years in prison, but he got credit for time served. He has a restitution hearing for the victim of the shooting Paul Bender, on 3/18. The Velasquez family is also suing Harry Goularte Jr., Patricia Goularte and Bender over the allegations of abuse by Goularte Jr., and negligence by the other two in covering it up. Right now a trial is scheduled for that case on 11/9.

— In this article on MMA Fighting on Velasquez, at the bottom is a video of Velasquez being released at 8:30 a.m. today, seeing his wife and kids and a Mariachi band playing. Velasquez did work for AAA after his arrest but I can’t see that happening under WWE ownership. I’m sure he’ll get offers from the various promotions that do boxing, forms of fighting, Dirty Boxing, Bare Knuckle, and perhaps even real wrestling that focus on past their prime UFC stars.

— We have a detailed note on Wednesday’s Dynamite ratings up on the members’ site.

— CNN’s website covered the political issues surrounding Brody King and the anti-ICE chants over the weekend which also confirmed AEW being partially owned by WBD. We had understood this was the case for years but nobody had ever said it on the record. (There was nobody saying it on the record here, either.) We do know that Tony Khan, father Shad Khan and sister Shanna Khan own 90 percent or more of AEW and that Tony Khan has 100 percent of the voting and decision making power in the company. I’ll talk more about the article on the show tonight, but the gist of that subject was covered on Friday’s show.

— Saturday’s Grand Slam Australia drew about 7,029. For the first time in a market, that’s disappointing but they don’t have television in Australia past streaming on Disney+.

— Looking for reports from last night’s WWE show in Lubbock, TX (big house show) and last night’s NXT show in Kent, WA, with results, finishes and highlights to [email protected]. We’re also looking for reports from Sydney last night for matches not on television and detailed notes from Brisbane’s show earlier today.

— Royce Keys, the former Powerhouse HObbs,made his singles debut for WWE in a dark match Friday night in Dallas before SmackDown aired. We’re looking for a report from Dallas on that one as well.

— CMLL sold out Arena Mexico on Friday and Arena Coliseo on Saturday. The Saturday show sold out on Friday, which is unusual for Saturday to sell out before the walk-up. Friday I expected to sell out because Mistico, Soberano Jr., Mascara Dorada, Altantis Jr., Hechicero and so many of the top CMLL stars are headed to Japan and won’t be on another Friday show until 3/13.

— We haven’t heard about any great matches from the weekend internationally other than yesterday’s Grand Slam show and people were raving about Friday’s Mistico vs Templario match. I would think there would be people that liked a certain style who may love Blue Panther vs. Xelhua from Arena Coliseo last night but I haven’t seen it yet.

— Mistico addressed winning the 2025 Thesz/Flair Award and other wins by CMLL in the Observer awards.

— The woman at ringside who did the angle with Andrade and Adam Page was wrestler Aysha, who actually wrestled on Sunday’s AEW house show in Brisbane where Jessica McKay and Cassie Lee debuted. This story goes back a month as they dropped the tag titles in TNA because they had the AEW offer.

— In Google searches for the weekend, Cain Velasquez was No. 46 with 20,000 and Jake Paul was No. 67 with 20,000. SmackDown had 5,000 as the only thing really related to current pro wrestling and with no UFC or major boxing event this weekend, that was the only stuff in the top 400.

— All Japan announced the 2026 Champion Carnival lineup as Rei Saito, Kento Miyahara, Go Shiozaki, Hideki Suzuki, Jun Saito, Ryuki Honda, Ren Ayabe, Yuma Anzai, Kengo Mashimo, Daisuke Sekimoto, Kuma Arashi, Madoka Kikuta (Dragon Gate), Xyon, Odyssey, Cyrus and Talos. Interesting no Davey Boy Smith Jr.

— Marigold’s 3D tournament will end on 2/23 at Korakuen Hall with Nagisa Nozaki & Misa Matsui & Rea Seto vs Mai Sakurai & Natsumi Showzuki & Erina Yamanaka.

— New Japan/CMLL Fantastica Mania debuts on Wednesday at Yoyogi Gym in Tokyo with tag team tournament first round matches with Valiente Jr. & Futuro vs. El Hijo de Stuka Jr. & Shoma Kato, Tiger Mask & Stigma vs. Averno & Magnus, Atlantis & Atlantis Jr. vs. Satoshi Kojima & Okumura, and Mistico & Mascara Dorada vs. Ultimo Guerrero & Sho. It airs on New Japan World at 5:30 a.m. that day.

— The NWA Crockett Cup tournament will be on 4/4 at the OC Theater in Forney, TX.

— Jacy Jayne and El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. were talked about on the WWC television show in Puerto Rico.

— Sammy Guevara vs. Amazing Red has been announced for the 3/21 HOG show in Brentwood, NY at the Suffolk Credit Union Arena.

— Yesterday was the birthday of Penny Mitchell, who was actually the woman under the Spider Lady mask in WWF every night except the night Moolah was under the mask and beat Wendi Richter without her knowledge in an MSG title match because Richter hadn’t signed a new contract. I believe Mitchell turned 65. (thanks to Ken Raftery).

— There was a question on this week’s Trivial Pursuit about the “8th Wonder of the World” who was the first person inducted into the WWE hall of fame. The contestant correctly guessed it was Andre the Giant. (thanks to Matt Schreiner)

— Farmer Burns, the original trainer of Frank Gotch, was born on this day in 1861. He was one of the most important figures at the end of the 19th century and start of the 20th century. Today is the birthday of Hugo Savinovich (67), LuFisto (46), Jenna Morasca (45) and Rich Swann (35). Louie Spicolli was 27 when he passed away on this day 28 years ago. Johnny Weaver, the longtime top babyface in the Carolinas, was 72 when he passed away 18 years ago today. One year ago today, Hall of Famer Gran Hamada passed away at the age of 74. Hamada was one of the most underrated wrestlers ever. He could do it all. (thanks to Tony Richards)

Daily Update: WWE/Mad Dog partnership, MJF, Johnny Loves Taya

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Daily Update

Latest News

Latest Audio

Latest YouTube Video

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

The new issue of the Observer is up on the site covering the following topics:

  • Road to WrestleMania including the booking changes and injury changes that have caused several changes of plans since they were first in place. We discuss the evolution of this year’s two main events.
  • We look at how the Royal Rumble show changed on the last day
  • Full Royal Rumble coverage
  • Status of different matches
  • AJ Styles and is this his final match
  • Business notes on the show
  • Plans for Elimination Chamber
  • How Royal Rumble did on Netflix
  • What changes in Nielsen have meant to the TV ratings and why this has happened, and how it will happen multiple more times in 2026 to a lesser degree
  • Has the increased in reported viewership helped pro wrestling in the TV world
  • Full UFC 325 coverage
  • Death of Frankie Cain/Great Mephisto, one of the most intriguing pro wrestling characters of the 60s and 70s with ties to many different worlds
  • Death of Bob Lueck, a former Stampede Wrestling headliner who was a CFL All-Star and how he was responsible for getting one of the most important and most influential wrestlers of all-time into the industry
  • The most detailed look at the ratings of the pro wrestling shows this past week including placings, demos and silliness
  • Box office record set
  • CMLL star arrested
  • AEW stars spend the week in CMLL
  • Major Arena Mexico shows coming
  • Reyes del Aire report
  • Hiromu Takahashi leaving
  • New Japan major show this week
  • Fantastica Mania cards announced
  • Best matches of 2025
  • AEW booking direction
  • New AEW signings
  • Advance ticket sales for all the major WWE & AEW shows
  • Dana White’s testimony regarding his job
  • Pride star passes away
  • Ava departure from WWE

This Week’s Back Issue

FIRST TIME SUBSCRIBERS GET 50% OFF YOUR FIRST MONTH

Thursday Update

WWE

  • WWE has reached a new partnership agreement with Mad Dog, a company known for its fortified wine.
  • Lexis King responded to a fan who asked about David Finlay potentially joining King’s Birthright faction in NXT: “As long as he likes to fight!”
  • In an interview with the Edinburgh Evening News, Joe Hendry spoke about how proud he is to be NXT Champion:
    • I’m extremely proud to be NXT champion and I know that you say it’s the developmental brand, but look, we’re on Netflix here in the UK. That’s huge. So in order to be put in this position, we have to be the absolute top of our game and the competition that we had in that ladder match, I think the quality of the show of NXT is unbelievable and I think if someone hasn’t seen pro wrestling before or they haven’t watched for a little while, that NXT would be an amazing place to start and go and check out because it’s a high energy, action-packed professional wrestling show and it just is everything that a professional wrestling show should be. So I’m so proud to be NXT champion and I’m excited to see where we can take the brand.
  • Adam Pearce and Nick Aldis have been added to the list of guests for the WWE World convention in Las Vegas.
  • Comedian Bert Kreischer appeared on a new edition of Stephanie McMahon’s “What’s Your Story?” podcast.
  • Royce Keys has recorded an interview for a future “What’s Your Story?” episode.
  • Ring the Belle spoke with IYO SKY.
  • WWE Vault uploaded a CM Punk vs. Bryan Danielson match that took place for indie promotion Full Impact Pro in 2005.

Other Wrestling

  • On Insight with Chris Van Vliet, MJF said he feels like he still has a lot to prove in AEW:
    • There’s still a lot for me to prove here. I think it’s very easy for somebody to watch what I’ve done here and be like, ‘Well, Max has proven it.’ It’s like, to me, my first reign was about being the longest reigning World Champion. This reign is going to be about being the best World Champion that this company’s ever had since its inception.
    • I want to drive up business, and that’s something I take a great deal of pride in. I’m not saying it’s not going to be a rollercoaster. We’re going to go up some weeks, we’re going to go down some weeks, but I think we’re going to see a steady increase in 2026.
  • MJF discussed the importance of ticket sales as a business metric:
    • I think people will look at the thing they want to for their narrative. All I know is year-over-year in every single market, we’re up in ticket sales. That’s a proven barometer for that, has been since the dawn of time for professional wrestling that is televised. If you are selling more tickets, that means more people are watching your show. That’s just how it goes, right?
    • So WWE had that big boom period. I feel right now, we’re slowly but surely coming into a new boom period and a new era. And we have young hungry dudes on top of this card that want it.
    • And, really, we’re living in an era in AEW where anything can happen and anybody can come for me for this [title], and it’s exciting.
  • All In 2026 is being advertised on signage at Wembley Stadium following the announcement that tickets will go on sale next month (March 16 pre-sale and March 20 general public on-sale).
  • Season two of the series “Johnny Loves Taya” premieres at noon Eastern time this Saturday on AEW’s YouTube channel. It’s a scripted comedy series starring Johnny TV and Taya Valkyrie.
  • Alec Price & Jordan Oliver were the guests on AEW Unrestricted this week.
  • Fumenori Abe will compete at Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport XV in Las Vegas on April 17.
  • TV Insider interviewed Killer Kross & Scarlett Bordeaux.
  • Kayla Becker (former WWE broadcast team member Kayla Braxton) shared that she has booked two new movie roles:
    • Can’t go into too much detail yet, but wanted to share. I just booked 2 movies – they came out of nowhere and I’m so stoked. Also am about to be right back on your screens in the sports broadcasting world. And my podcast just hit a milestone … 2026 … TY. Let’s keep going!
  • Charlie (the former Dakota Kai) was a guest on Busted Open Radio.
  • Trey Miguel appeared on the Battleground Podcast.

Daily Update: The Miz, Ricochet, Tommaso Ciampa

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Daily Update

Latest News

Latest Audio

Latest YouTube Video

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

The new issue of the Observer is up on the site covering the following topics:

  • Road to WrestleMania including the booking changes and injury changes that have caused several changes of plans since they were first in place. We discuss the evolution of this year’s two main events.
  • We look at how the Royal Rumble show changed on the last day
  • Full Royal Rumble coverage
  • Status of different matches
  • AJ Styles and is this his final match
  • Business notes on the show
  • Plans for Elimination Chamber
  • How Royal Rumble did on Netflix
  • What changes in Nielsen have meant to the TV ratings and why this has happened, and how it will happen multiple more times in 2026 to a lesser degree
  • Has the increased in reported viewership helped pro wrestling in the TV world
  • Full UFC 325 coverage
  • Death of Frankie Cain/Great Mephisto, one of the most intriguing pro wrestling characters of the 60s and 70s with ties to many different worlds
  • Death of Bob Lueck, a former Stampede Wrestling headliner who was a CFL All-Star and how he was responsible for getting one of the most important and most influential wrestlers of all-time into the industry
  • The most detailed look at the ratings of the pro wrestling shows this past week including placings, demos and silliness
  • Box office record set
  • CMLL star arrested
  • AEW stars spend the week in CMLL
  • Major Arena Mexico shows coming
  • Reyes del Aire report
  • Hiromu Takahashi leaving
  • New Japan major show this week
  • Fantastica Mania cards announced
  • Best matches of 2025
  • AEW booking direction
  • New AEW signings
  • Advance ticket sales for all the major WWE & AEW shows
  • Dana White’s testimony regarding his job
  • Pride star passes away
  • Ava departure from WWE

This Week’s Back Issue

FIRST TIME SUBSCRIBERS GET 50% OFF YOUR FIRST MONTH

Wednesday Update

WWE

  • WWE uploaded the full Sol Ruca & Zaria vs. Kendal Grey & Wren Sinclair main event from NXT last night.
  • Jacy Jayne appeared on Busted Open After Dark following NXT.
  • On Six Feet Under, The Miz refuted the idea that he felt bullied by JBL early in his career:
    • JBL gets a lot of flack for, like, bullying and was an assh*le or whatever. I’m not sure if we’re allowed to swear, but he gets a lot of that. It wasn’t really him. He was the person that would take me aside and go, ‘Hey kid, you’re doing a good job. You know what? Keep doing this, keep doing this, do this, this, this, this, and this, and this, this, but keep it up.’
  • Joe Hendry told The Metro that he thinks Miz might be the most underrated wrestler of all time:
    • The Miz really inspired me as a young person who was interested in professional wrestling, because I feel like he faced a lot of adversity in his career.
    • I just looked at what The Miz did, and how tough he was and how durable he’s been as a performer, and the heights that he’s got to by being a true professional.
    • He might be the most underrated wrestler of all time. And it’s weird to say that about a Grand Slam champion; the guy has done it all.
  • Chelsea Green posted a tweet claiming that her injury is a broken ankle.
  • Rob Van Dam, Kane, and Road Dogg have been confirmed as guests for the WWE World convention in Las Vegas.
  • WWE broadcaster Megan Morant has added a new role as part of Pro Wrestling Nation 24/7 on SiriusXM.
  • Stacy Keibler wrote an emotional tribute to her friend James Van Der Beek after the “Dawson’s Creek” actor passed away at 48 years old following a battle with cancer.
  • Sol Ruca joined Sheamus on a new edition of Celtic Warrior Workouts.

Other Wrestling

  • In an interview with Forbes, Ricochet said he would like to defend his AEW National Championship in Japan:
    • And yeah, I want to go back to Japan. I think Japan is my favorite place I’ve wrestled. It’s one of my favorite places I’ve ever been, and I have a great connection out there. I know there are a lot of guys who are hungry out there, guys who would want to take a shot at this and take their opportunity.
  • Forbes asked Ricochet if he feels any pressure establishing the National Championship as a new title:
    • Yeah, I think especially when you have a roster as deep as AEW, it’s like everybody could be champion at any point in time. You know what I mean? That’s men, women, that’s everybody across the board. You honor everything.
    • At the end of the day, say what you want, we’re all prizefighters. We’re fighting for a prize. You’re fighting for something. So I think adding another prize to the pot is only good for the fighters, giving them something to fight for. Especially when you have so many guys from the bottom to the top, everybody is so good.
    • I do understand what people are saying, but at the same time, when the roster is that deep and everybody could be champion at any time, I think it’s okay. But there absolutely is pressure with a new title, being the inaugural champion, to make it mean something and to make its legacy mean something, especially with the pool of other championships that are out there to be fought for.
    • That’s what I think I’m doing best. I think I’m representing this great. I think I’m traveling the entire world, putting everybody on notice, and letting them know that not only will this be defended on AEW television, but it will be defended in your hometown as well.
    • I think that gives people outside of AEW an opportunity. It gives them something to fight for, something to really reach for. So if you think you know, step up. The thing is, anybody on your show could win. I just wrestled Starboy Charlie. When they say it’s slim to none, he still had a chance. He still had a chance.
    • I think that’s something that makes this different. And then, yeah, just the fact that it’s me. I think I have enough history to know that I’ve been an inaugural champion for multiple other companies, multiple other times. I’ve shown that I can be the one to make a first-ever championship mean something big.
  • Tommaso Ciampa spoke to Vice about wanting to pursue other opportunities in addition to wrestling:
    • I like the idea of being able to go and do different appearances, actually having face time with fans again. Being open to doing things in the fitness world and having some sort of collaboration or sponsorships. Doing things in acting whether it’s television or movies, little simple things. This is going to sound super silly, we watch these shows like America’s Got Talent or Is It Cake? [Ciampa’s daughter Willow] will say to me sometimes, ‘You should judge that!’ That would be awesome.
  • TSN spoke with Kris Statlander.
  • Grapple Theory has an interview with Will Ospreay.
  • TNA and Fight Network produced an Immersed documentary on Johnny “Dango” Curtis’ retirement.
  • AJ Francis was interviewed by Baby Huey of radio station 107.7 The Bone.

Daily Update: Jake Paul, Bad Bunny, Dory Funk Jr.

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Daily Update

Latest News

Latest Audio

Latest YouTube Video

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

The new issue of the Observer is up on the site today:
*Road to WrestleMania including the booking changes and injury changes that have caused several changes of plans since they were first in place. We discuss the evolution of this year’s two main events.
*We look at how the Royal Rumble show changed on the last day
*Full Royal Rumble coverage
*Status of different matches
*AJ Styles and is this his final match
*Business notes on the show
*Plans for Elimination Chamber
*How Royal Rumble did on Netflix
*What changes in Nielsen have meant to the TV ratings and why this has happened, and how it will happen multiple more times in 2026 to a lesser degree
*Has the increased in reported viewership helped pro wrestling in the TV world
*Full UFC 325 coverage
*Death of Frankie Cain/Great Mephisto, one of the most intriguing pro wrestling characters of the 60s and 70s with ties to many different worlds
*Death of Bob Lueck, a former Stampede Wrestling headliner who was a CFL All-Star and how he was responsible for getting one of the most important and most influential wrestlers of all-time into the industry
*The most detailed look at the ratings of the pro wrestling shows this past week including placings, demos and silliness
*Box office record set
*CMLL star arrested
*AEW stars spend the week in CMLL
*Major Arena Mexico shows coming
*Reyes del Aire report
*Hiromu Takahashi leaving
*New Japan major show this week
*Fantastica Mania cards announced
*Best matches of 2025
*AEW booking direction
*New AEW signings
*Advance ticket sales for all the major WWE & AEW shows
*Dana White’s testimony regarding his job
*Pride star passes away
*Ava departure from WWE

This Week’s Back Issue

FIRST TIME SUBSCRIBERS GET 50% OFF YOUR FIRST MONTH

Monday Update

— Bryan and I will be back tonight talking Raw and the rest of the wrestling news with Wrestling Observer Radio.

— Andrei Arlovski in his post-fight interview after stopping Ben Rothwell to win the Bare Knuckle Fighting championships heavyweight title at 47 years old, revealed that he in recent years has beaten cancer three times. His said one year ago a tumor was removed from his kidney and also had 28 lymph nodes removed and went through chemotherapy.

— An update regarding the Bron Breakker hernia surgery which took place this past week. He has been dealing with this issue for some time but has been able to work with it. It’s like many active wrestlers do and it’s not that dangerous, but if it gets bad, then you have to take care of it immediately with surgery. Kenny Omega had it and was feeling bad but didn’t go right in for surgery and almost died. It flared up last week and WWE doctors told him to take care of it. There is no time frame on his return. This had zero to do with the Royal Rumble booking.

— In a strange story, all over there have been reports with a number as to how many people watched the Bad Bunny halftime performance at the Super Bowl which turned into a political issue for reasons that make no sense to me. Anyway, even though CBS News even reported the number, it is fake. Somebody on the Internet just spread it and since everyone wanted a number first, it spread quickly. I thought it was totally weird how there was a rating last night for something that took place yesterday because that’s not how this stuff works, plus there was a rating for halftime and not the game which also makes no sense. Anyway, the rating won’t be out until tomorrow although I suppose a prelim number could be out later, but the number floating around and being reported today is a fake number.

— Jake Paul didn’t apologize for his remarks yesterday on Bad Bunny after Logan Paul said that his brother was wrong in his remarks when he said he was purposely turning off the halftime show and called Bunny a fake American citizen. Even Jake Paul’s own fighter Amanda Serrano took issue with his remarks while praising all Paul had done for her. Paul said he wasn’t calling him a fake American because he’s from Puerto Rico, but said he’s fake because of his values and criticism “of our great country.” But later he said, “Guys, I love Bad Bunny idk what happened on my twitter last night.”

— An interesting note is whether or not WWE will bring in Bad Bunny in the next month or two after all this publicity. Of course it depends on his schedule as well. The key is that it would be taking advantage of the pub and he has a good relationship with the company, plus, Sen. Ruben Gallego or Arizona publicly pushed AEW to bring him in (as if it’s that simple) because he said he likes AEW more. But President Trump has made Bad Bunny a symbol of something negative and Linda McMahon is in the cabinet and Paul Levesque is her son-in-law who works with Trump as well. If they were to use him now, it would come across to Trump like an affront, but from a business standpoint it would be a decision WWE would normally make to do so.

— The Amarillo paper ran a story today on the 85th birthday of Dory Funk Jr. Funk Jr. was the son of Dory Funk Sr., the biggest wrestling star in West Texas in the late 50s and into the 60s. Dory was a football star at West Texas State and the first of the slew of players from the team who would later become major stars in the industry like Stan Hansen, Bruiser Brody, Dusty Rhodes, Terry Funk, Bobby Duncum, Tito Santana, Tully Blanchard, Ted DiBisae, Manny Fernandez, Scott Casey and Kelly Kiniski that I can recall. He was NWA world champion from 1969-73 and a legendary figure in Japan, Texas and Florida.

— YouTube TV is introducing a skinny sports bundle for $64.99 per month which will have ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, FS 1, NBC Sports and all the ESPN networks including ESPN Unlimited.

— Cuatrero, who has not wrestled in years since being charged and jailed for a long time for alleged sexual abuse regarding then-girlfriend Stephanie Vaquer, is being advertiseed for a show on 3/13 in Ecatepec. He hasn’t wrestled in three years and has been out of jail for nearly a year. When he was released he was prohibited from wrestling but his lawyers have gotten that restriction removed.

— Kevin Matthews, who works backstage for AEW, was in a Super Bowl commercial with DJ Kahled doing a pro wrestling theme for Wegovy.

— Raw tonight is from Cleveland with some Elimination Chamber qualifiers with Austin Theory vs. Penta vs. LA Knight and Lyra Valkyria vs. Rhea Ripley vs. Ivy Nile, plus Jimmy Uso returns for an Usos tag title defense against Otis & Tozawa and Nattiie makes her WWE match debut with her new gimmick against Maxxine Dupri. They had 9,900 t9ckets out for the show as of earlier today, so again a very good crowd but not going to be close to a sellout.

— We’re looking for reports and results from Cleveland from the Main Event matches to [email protected]

— TNA Impact did 241,000 viewers and an 0.05 in 18-49 on Thursday, up from 201,000 last week. It’s the best number by far the show has done on AMC. The only time they did a number in that realm in years was the first time Kenny Omega appeared on the show on AXS, but that’s a lot smaller platform and things have changed so much with TV it’s not really a fair comparison. Unlike with AEW where Google searches have coincided with the ratings gains, TNA was actually down 12 percent in searches from the prior week and far lower than that of the first two shows. TNA has No Surrender Friday from Nashville on TNA+

— New Japan New Beginning in Osaka is at 1 a.m. late Tuesday night Eastern and 10 p.m. Pacific, so in our time zone New Japan airs right after NXT ends. Hiromu Takahashi has his last New Japan match teaming with Taiji Ishimori against Francesco Akira & Jakob Austin Young. Also the Great O’Khan & Henare vs. returning Shingo Takagi & Drilla Moloney, Oleg Bolton & Hirooki Goto & Yoshi-Hashi defend the trios titles against Zack Sabre Jr. & Ryohei Oiwa & Hartley Jackson, Gabe Kidd vs Andrade with the winner getting a Global title shot at Yota Tsuiji, David Finay vs. Callum Newman Aaron Wolf defends the Never title against Ren Narita, Yuto-Ice & skar defend the IWGP tag titles against Shota Umino & Yuya Uemura and Yota Tsuji vs. Jake Lee for the IWGP title. The show has been sold out for some time so from a business end the card sold the tickets.

— Roman Reigns will be on the Raw shows on 3/2 in Indianapolis, 3/16 in San Antonio, 3/23 in Boston, 3/30 in Madison Square Garden and 4/13 in Sacramento.

— Pro Wrestling NOAH announced they will handle the management and representation for Shinjiro Otani, and they hope Otani will be at their 2/11 show at Korakuen Hall. Otani has been paralyzed from the neck down due to a neck injury in a 2022 match with Takashi Sugiura. He was one of the greatest in-ring wrestlers ever.

— The 2025 awards issue of the Observer will be out late Thursday night.

— NXT has Sol Ruca & Zaria vs. Kendal Grey & Wren Sinclair with the person who scores the pin getting a match with Jacy Jayne for the NXT title, Eli Knight vs. Josh Briggs in a Speed tournament match, Jaida Parker vs. Blake Monroe and Brad Baylor & Ricky Smokes vs Han k & Tank.

— Jim Shank, 60, who worked in production as Technical Operations Manager in WWE and had been with the company for more than 25 years, passed away after a battle with colorectal cancer. He was the operator of the remove controlled and robotic cameras for television.

— Chris Walker turned 65 today. Madusa turned 63. Shelly Martinez turned 46. Alexis Smirnoff was born on this day in 1947. Milo Steinborn, a famous strongman who turned pro wrestler and later became a promoter and was the father of Dick Steinborn, was 95 when he passed away 27 years ago. Sal Bellomo was 67 when he passed away six year ago. Candi Divine was 63 when she passed away four years ago. (thanks to Tony Richards)

— MLW announced a return to Cicero Stadium on 11/7

— The 3/8 Pro Wrestling Eve show at Indigo at the O2 Arena, Wrestle Queendom 8, is 140 tickets shy of breaking the all-time attendance record for an all-women’s show in the U.K.