Daily Update: AEW WrestleDream fallout, Paramount, Ace Steel

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Notes from the new issue which apparently has been the talk of the social media wrestling world:
*Seth Rollins injury and how this will lead to numerous changes in  booking plans, including what was scheduled short and long-term for Rollins through Mania and after.
*Full coverage of Crown Jewel, business notes and match coverage
*The Media Ratings Council has questions about the new numbers
*Just how far Smackdown has dropped with younger viewers based on the new sampling and NXT isn’t much  different, nor is AEW
*Konosuke Takeshita beats Zack Sabre Jr. to win the IWGP title, a look at King of Prm Wrestling, WrestleKingdom, first thoughts on Aaron Wolf, and the angles on the show
*WrestleDream preview, business notes, as well as Saturday Night’s Main Event in Salt Lake City needs the entire show revamped
*Odds for upcoming big matches
*TNA Bound for Glory notes
*A detailed story on WWE cuts focusing on Ridge Holland and WEs Lee
*Pro  Wrestling NOAH at Sumo Hall
*A huge story on the 2025 Hall of Fame U.S. & Canada candidates
*What the awards voting over the last 45 years says about those who fare better not  in than those who are in.  
*The most detailed look at the ratings for all the wrestling shows of the past week
*It women’s month at Arena Mexico but one person is still the star, a look at  the recent main events
*A look at two PPV shows from Arena Mexico coming
*Who is the obvious choice for tag team of the year that nobody is talking about
*Best of the Super Juniors tournament
*Japanese referee dies in bear attack
*Update on Smashing Machine business
*They named a bridge after Stu Hart and more notes
*NFL star copying Ric Flair
*Fantastica Mania UK
*The Andrade situation
*Lots of background details on similar stories
*Kota Ibushi update
*Notes on Chris Jericho and Britt Baker
*Darby Allin talks about the cancers that used to be in AEW
*Update on  a training camp for AEW in Asheville, NC
*Rematch of a match of the year candidate coming to AEW show in Edinburg, TX
*Updates on YouTube numbers for September
*Debate over the new and old Ali Act
*Details on Zuffa Boxing deals
*How much UFC makes in profit per Saturday show
*New UFC fights
*Sad BJ Penn story
*Stories on fighters getting screwed by promoters
*Ticket demand for John Cena’s ast show
*New WWE hire, usage of AI for wrestling storylines and some are worried about their jobs
*AJ Styles talks retiring
*WWE injury updates

This Week’s Back Issue

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Sunday Update

— Both of our weekend shows are up on the site today. On Friday’s show we talked about all the news of the week from the Observer including AI booking and the future, card changes, WrestleDream as well as talked to James Dixon on his book about 1992 WWE and the fall of the company from its 1985-91 strong period, with Bret Hart as champion, steroid testing, Hulk Hogan leaving, Ultimate Warrior failing and more. Last night’s show talked about WrestleDream, WWE injury updates and more.

— There were three issues technically with last night’s WrestleDream show. It’s weird that it was three, from three different providers, none related to issues from AEW and three totally different problems. There were no problems with places like PPV.com, YouTube, Triller and other platforms.

The biggest problem was with Amazon Prime, which cut the show off at midnight, just a few minutes into the Jon Moxley vs. Darby Allin I Quit match. They had a power failure on their internal rebroadcast system which caused the outage and this also impacted other sports broadcasts that were going on. It also cut out during the Mercedes Mone vs. Mina Shirakawa match.  We heard from a number of people who complained and got refunds, so this is going to impact the PPV revenue negatively.

The other big problem was at the start of the show with Comcast. Apparently they configured the program wrong in their system so many people couldn’t buy the show. At least some homes on HBO MAX lost the sound during the pre-show. It was fine long before the PPV started.  

— There was not a time management issue as the show was booked for the FTR vs. Jet Speed match to end up mostly on the PPV. It was a new idea to make it unpredictable on pre-shows that you know the finish is coming before the top of the hour. It was the right match to test this out as they opened the match hot and then the show itself opened hot being mid-match. It helped a lot that they had a great match, because they could not do a slow build or normal style as they had to peak early and open the PPV portion at 4:00 into the match and it had to be very hot as well at that point.

— The reason the Mercedes Mone match wasn’t announced ahead of time is that they wanted to have her break the Ultimo Dragon record on the show last night, rather than tonight in Winnipeg.  But if they had pushed it prior to late Friday night, it would have given away that she wasn’t losing her CMLL women’s title to Persephone. Unlike WWE, which doesn’t concern itself with spoiling a finish to a show in Mexico, AEW does. But it led to adding a match with zero build at the last minute.

— I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a shot with three tag team matches of the quality of Brody King & Bandido vs. Konosuke Takeshita & Kazuchika Okada, Young Bucks vs. Jurassic Express and FTR vs. JetSpeed.

— They also announced for Wednesday in San Antonio that the Opps, now heels, face Bobby Lashley & Shelton Benjamin & MVP for the trios titles and Okada vs. Bandido for the Unified title.

— They did not have a strong walk up in St. Louis due to bad weather in the city. It was not sold out although for a U.S. show, the crowd response and heat through most of the show was excellent.

— We’re looking for your thoughts on the show so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down  or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match for WrestleDream to [email protected]

— We’re also looking for reports from the WWE shows this weekend in Tokyo and the RevPro Fantastica Mania shows from Wolverhampton, UK, and today’s Winnipeg Pro Wrestling show where Mone goes after her 12th belt when she faces WPW women’s champion Jody Threat.

— Bad news from an interest level is that WrestleDream did not place in the top few hundred searches. It used to regularly hit the top 20 and was not even top 500. The UFC show yesterday had 120,000 searches which isn’t bad  for a Fight Night only on ESPN. For the weekend, the only searches from combat sports in the top 100 were the death of Duke Ruogas at No. 55 and Brendan Allen, who won the UFC main event, at No. 96.

— On the UFC show, they did a tribute to Roufas with Paul Felder, who trained under Roufas.  Roufas, a former world champion kickboxer and brother of Rick “The Jet” Roufas, the top U.S. kickboxing star of his era, opened Roufasport in Milwaukee and trained and was a father figure to a open of Midwest fighters, notably Anthony & Sergio Pettis, Stephan Bonnar, Felder and he was also the trainer of CM Punk.

— The Seth Rollins situation and World title situation will be addressed at Raw tomorrow in Sacramento, CA. It will be back to an 8 p.m. start. There are 8,000 tickets out, lower than usual for a TV shoot in that market, but San Jose had a healthy walkup and came close to selling out Friday night. I think SOME of the weakness in advances as compared to the post-Zayn turning on Reigns period and Rhodes explosion are people waiting to buy late figuring they can get tickets at a better price. It’s the same reason the John Cena retirement show didn’t instantly sell  out even though the demand was there.  

— Paramount, under the ownership of Dvid Ellison, is expected to lay off between 2,000 and 3,000 employees in an attempt to cut $2 billion in costs. The job cuts are expected to be across the board. Part of the reason for the cuts is the $1.1 billion per year deal that Paramount signed with UFC. Another reason is they are expected to make a stronger bid to buy WBD.

— DDT will be running Ultimate Party 2025 on 11/3 at Sumo Hall. The top two matches have IWGP champion Konosuke Takeshita & celebrity Kaisei Takechi (he’s like Logan Paul in his ability to catch on to this) vs. Kazusada Higuchi & Takeshi Masada, Zack Sabre Jr. vs.  Chris Brookes in a dream match and a title vs. title match with KO-D champion Yuki Ueno facing Universal champion Minoru Suzuki.

— It was major news yesterday about the death of Sam Rivera, the bass guitar player for Limp Bizkit, who performed Undertaker’s theme at WrestleMania 19.

— 60s, 70s and 80s announcer Boyd Pierce would have turned 97 today.  

— British wrestling legend Kendo Nagasaki (Peter Thornlehy) turned either 79 or 84 today. I’m sure someone will let us know which one is accurate. Julia “Sweet Saraya” Bevis, the mother of Paige/Saraya, turns 54 today. Toni Storm turns 30 today. Mike Hegstrand/Road Warrior Hawk died 22 years ago today. Lia Maivia, the grandmother of Dwayne Johnson and former promoter in Hawaii passed away 17 years ago today. Mike Graham committed suicide 13 years ago today (thanks to Tony Richards)

— Regarding Ace Steel’s reaction to Tony Khan, while I would not compare Jon Moxley to Harley Race, the idea of being a multi-time world champion is similar. But what a freaking crazy overreaction when Steel said, “Count this as one of the dumbest and most blasphemous things I’ve ever read, utter crap, really infuriating zero comparison.” Steel was tight with Race and evidently not with Moxley. Then again, when I first saw the Young Bucks live as heels against Josh Alexander & Ethan Page, about five minutes into the match it was like just the way they worked, did big moves and controlled the crowd and made their opponents look so good, it was very clear they were like the Midnight Express in the mid to late 80s except using modern moves and a faster pacing. As you can imagine, many people blew gaskets even though a ton of top wrestlers who study both teams have told me the same thing. Hatred is not a good trait.

— Dungeon Wrestling from Friday night in Calgary before 450 fans: Michael Allen Richard Clarke b Bryce Hanson, Chris Knight b Scorpious, Ava Lawless & Kat Von Heez b Riley Rose & Sage Morin, Mo Jabari b Sheldon Jean to keep the Jericho Cruise Oceanic title, Rohan Raja b Tommy Billington (AEW) to keep the PW Grail title, Tiger Raj Singh b Harlow Abott, Raj Dhesi (Jinder Mahal) b Matt Riddle to retain the Stu Hart Heritage title. (thanks to Ross Hart)

— Boca Raton Championship Wrestling on 11/2 at the VIP Ballroom Ricky Morton vs. son Kerry Morton, plus Bull James, Cezar Bononi, Stallion Rogers, Matt Riddle, Bobby Fish, EJ Nduka, Lacey Lane and Jonny Fairplay.

— A documentary on Gama Singh of Stampede Wrestling fame debuted last night at the International Film Festival in Toronto. It debuts streaming on Crave on Monday.

TNA Impact live results: Frankie Kazarian vs. Ace Steel Chicago street fight

Tonight’s TNA Impact will feature the fallout from last Friday’s Against All Odds, headlined by a Chicago street fight between Frankie Kazarian and Ace Steel.

After defeating Joe Hendry at AAO last Friday using brass knuckles stolen from Steel, Kazarian helped eliminate Hendry from the no. 1 contender battle royal on Tuesday’s WWE NXT. Steel has had enough and the two men will do battle tonight.

Tonight will also see footage from the long-awaited first date between PCO and Steph De Lander after weeks of courtship and prompting from Xia Brookside.

After their victories at AAO, The System (TNA World Champion Moose, TNA Tag Team Champions Eddie Edwards & Brian Myers & Alisha Edwards) will kick off the show to celebrate and layout what’s next for them. It’s likely they will address the return of Jeff Hardy who came out to aid Matt Hardy after Moose’s main event victory.

Our coverage kicks off at 8 PM Eastern.

**********

The System Kick Off This Week’s Show

Starting off the show this week is a live shot of the city of Chicago, Ill. as fans chant “TNA! TNA!” inside the Impact Zone. The System theme hits and the group comes out dressed to the nines with their title belts in-hand. Dango is with the group after his surprising return at TNA Against All Odds.

The fans loudly boo as Alisha Edwards begins, “Do you wanna know something?! Quiet, I’m tryin’ to talk here!” The fans continue to give her the Dominik Mysterio treatment as she scolds them, claiming they should be thankful for getting to witness history. She calls The System the most dominant force in pro wrestling history.

Eddie Edwards is second on the mic to loud “Eddie sucks!” chants. He says his ride-or-die-bride is trying to explain is that we are witnessing history. The one and only true super-team in the world of professional wrestling. He touts their respective performances at Against All Odds, retaining all of their gold on the big stage.

Brian Myers says much of the same and introduces Johnny Dango Curtis, someone he touts for having The System’s back at Against All Odds. Dango talks about sitting at home un-booked and underappreciated. He talks about being friends with Edwards for 20 years and knowing Alisha since she was 15. He considers her a sister.

He claims to be the best in the ring and on the mic and talks about how Moose has trepidations about him. He promises he can trust him. Moose tells him to slow his role. Moose says Dango is not part of The System — yet. Moose says the truth is, The System is unbeatable. Moose is unbeatable. He boasts being unbeaten in over two years and claims there is no one in the back who can beat him.

He claims this is why outsiders are being brought in to test him, and they can’t get the job done either. He continues to talk until he is cut off by Director of Authority Santino Marella, who comes out. He talks about a plethora of top tier talent in TNA.

He says with that in mind, the Road to Slammiversary begins tonight with the first of five matches across the next several weeks, where the winners advance to TNA Slammiversary in Montreal to challenge Moose for the TNA World Championship in a six-way match.

He also mentions Dango has a match coming up with Ryan Nemeth tonight. He tells Moose his Road to Slammiversary challenger matches begins tonight, because it will be Josh Alexander vs. Eric Young in the main event. He tells Moose to watch closely.

ABC Wants One More Big Match Next Week

ABC are shown backstage and Ace Austin talks about three being a magic number. He says last week we saw a great PPV with Against All Odds, the return of Jeff Hardy and their own performances at the show. They say next week they need one more big match to take them into their third tag-team title run. The show went into its’ first commercial break after this.

Frankie Kazarian Post-NXT Digital Exclusive

When the show returns from the break, we see the TNA digital exclusive segment with Frankie Kazarian outside after his performance in the number one contender battle royal on Tuesday’s episode of WWE NXT. He blames the loss to Joe Hendry.

Spitfire defeated The Hex

The Spitfire duo of Dani Luna and Jody Threat head to the ring for the first match of the evening. The Hex team of Marti Belle and Allysin Kay come out next and the bell sounds to get this one started. Belle and Threat kick things off for their respective teams.

The commentators tout TNA’s Against All Odds garnering more TNA+ subscribers than Under Siege, No Surrender and other shows combined. The largest single-day sign-up count in TNA+ history. Meanwhile, Threat establishes the early offensive lead, prompting Belle to crawl to her corner for the tag.

Threat and Luna both hit the ring and fire up with double-team offense on Kay to keep the offensive momentum in their favor. The commentators talk about the Rancid front-man’s role in Spitfire. A cheap shot by Kay and outside interference by Belle on the apron behind the referee’s back shifts the momentum in their favor.

The duo isolate Threat in their corner of the ring and utilize frequent tags to keep a fresh woman on her at all times. After a few minutes, Luna finally gets the hot tag. She comes in with a ton of energy and even hits a dive out to the floor, eliciting a loud “TNA! TNA!” chant from the fans in the Impact Zone.

Kay hits a wicked back suplex on Luna. Belle follows up and tries for the cover, but Luna kicks out. The duo goes for Hex Marks The Spot, but Luna saw it coming and avoided it. Luna takes over and hoists Belle up in the torture rack position. She feeds her to Luna, who plants her into the mat for the pinfall victory.

The Hardy Family In TNA Against All Odds Digital Exclusive

In a post-Against All Odds digital exclusive, Matt Hardy is shown after footage of his spear to his wife Reby Hardy through a table. He talks about The System going too far. Reby says she’s gonna be the one to teach “rich b*tch” Alisha a lesson. Matt brings up his brother, Jeff Hardy, who is with them, being on the scene now and how they are taking over. Over. Over!! We head to another commercial break.

KUSHIDA On ‘The Sound Check’ With Alan Angels

We return to KUSHIDA sitting backstage. He is approached by “The Front Man” Alan Angels for ‘The Sound Check.’ He tells KUSHIDA he’s his guest for his show. He says he has so many questions for him, but first, he wants to show a quick recap of everything going on with him.

We see Jonathan Gresham taking him out with his voodoo sickness and then KUSHIDA returning and swabbing some ink from Gresham’s mouth at Against All Odds. We also see him testing it in Tokyo, Japan in some beatdown kitchen. It has been put into a vile that he apparently has.

Angels asks if he cares to explain. KUSHIDA says Gresham made everyone sick and he’s looking for the cure. Angels asks if he’s qualified. Angels accuses him of trying to monetize the situation. He says no one believes him. KUSHIDA tries to walk away, but Angels stops him. KUSHIDA tells him they can fight next week.

Frankie Kazarian defeated Ace Steel in a Chicago Street Fight


Back inside the Impact Zone in Cicero Stadium, the theme for Frankie Kazarian hits to bring him out for the scheduled Chicago Street Fight. Footage from Against All Odds is shown to explain how this match was set up. We also see a clip from Tuesday’s NXT of Joe Hendry and Frankie Kazarian’s interaction in the battle royal.

Chicago’s own Ace Steel makes his way out in street clothes with a chair in-hand. Split-screen footage is shown of Steel and a young CM Punk in TNA many moons ago. As soon as Steel hits the ring, he goes after Kaz and works him over in the corner. He brings him down to the mat and kicks him in the spine.

Steel clotheslines Kazarian out to the floor and grabs a trash can, which he launches into his face from the ring before heading out after him. He brings him back into the ring with the trash can and suplexes him on it. Kaz recovers and begins to take over. He whips Steel into the corner, who flies over the ropes and takes an ugly bounce down to the floor.

Frankie Kazarian vs. Steve Maclin and Joe Hendry vs. Jake Something are announced as future Road To Slammiversary Qualifying matches on the show. Kazarian chokes Steel with the cameraman’s cord. He throws chairs, street signs and a kendo stick into the ring and heads back in after Steel. Kazarian goes for a chair shot but bounces it off the ropes into his own dome.

Steel takes over and beats Kazarian down with the kendo stick until Kazarian fights back into the lead. He puts Steel’s arm through the chair and tries a leg drop off the ropes to snap it, but Steel escapes. Steel hits a nasty neck-breaker onto an unfolded chair on Kazarian.

Kazarian recovers and moments later hits Fade To Black on Steel on a pile of chairs for the win. After the match, Kaz puts Steel in the chicken wing, which brings out Joe Hendry to make the save. The post-match scene wraps up moments later.

Mustafa Ali Wants To Find Culprit Who Leaked Video

Backstage, an angry Mustafa Ali is with Campaign Singh. He demands Singh put together a mission to find out who the culprit was who leaked the footage of his sit-down interview, which was shown at Against All Odds. Ali then declares he will address the people next week. Singh tells Ali he’s a genius. Ali says he knows.

PCO & Steph De Lander’s Big Date

We shoot to two lines of people applauding as we see PCO turn the corner in the background. He begins walking in the middle of the people clapping, but he starts attacking them and they all scurry and flee. PCO and Steph De Lander’s date is next. We head to another commercial break.

When we return, Steph De Lander comes to the ring, which has a table and tablecloth, chairs, candles and the works for the big date. PCO comes out next. De Lander holds the ropes for him. She pulls his chair out or him. He walks around, presumably to do the same, but instead picks the chair up and gets ready to hit her with it until she explains to him that that’s a no-no.

De Lander tries talking to him, but he just mumbles. He drinks a vase full of black gunk and offers her some. She tries it but says it’s too strong. She wants to “take a photo for the gram.” He unveils a plate of black spaghetti. He goes to eat with his hands until De Lander shows him how to use a fork.

The charming awkwardness continues until First Class’s theme hits to interrupt them. AJ Francis calls them love at first fright. He wants to toast them to eternal undead love. He splashes the drink in PCO’s face and Rich Swann super kicks him. Francis shoves De Lander down and hits PCO with a death valley driver.

Swann uses zip-ties to lock PCO to the middle rope in the corner, before putting the boots to him. De Lander slaps AJ Francis across the face so hard his hat flies off. Francis grabs her by the throat and with PCO forced to watch, Francis chokeslams De Lander through the table they were having their date at. We head to another commercial break.

Ash By Elegance defeated Heather Reckless

When we return from the break, Heather Reckless is shown in the ring awaiting the arrival of her opposition. Ash By Elegance’s personal concierge comes out and does his introduction for her before she comes to the ring for our next match of the evening.

Ash By Elegance dominates from the onset and enjoys the upper-hand for the majority of the match. Reckless eventually gets in some offense, but then Ash’s concierge gets involved at ringside, giving Ash the assist as she follows up with Rarified Air for the win.

After the match, she continues to attack Reckless and then taunts and mocks Jordynne Grace by posing like her. She goes to hit the Juggernaut Driver, but Grace runs out and makes the save. Ash’s concierge tries to attack from behind, but she backs him into a corner. Ash hits Grace with the title and lays her out. We head to another commercial break.

JDC defeated Ryan Nemeth

When we return from the break, Johnny Dango Curtis, now being called JDC, makes his way to the ring for the next match of the evening. Ryan Nemeth makes his way out and the two get things started, with JDC taking the early offensive lead.

After some back-and-forth action, we see JDC hit his top-rope leg drop for the pinfall victory. After the match, Eddie Edwards and Brian Myers of The System come out to celebrate with him. They end up blatantly attacking Ryan until Nic Nemeth runs out to make the save. We head to another commercial break.

Josh Alexander defeated Eric Young in a Road To Slammiversary Qualifying Match

It’s main event time. A special elaborate video package airs to promote the showdown between Eric Young and Josh Alexander. After teaming up at Against All Odds, the two do battle tonight with the winner earning one of five spots in the six-way TNA World Championship showdown against Moose at TNA Slammiversary.

“The World Class Maniac” Eric Young heads to the ring as split-screen footage of their loss to ABC at Against All Odds is shown. “The Walking Weapon” Josh Alexander comes out next and the bell sounds to start off the final match of the post-Against All Odds episode of the show.

The two shake hands and soak up the crowd atmosphere, as dueling “Walking Weapon” and “Eric Young” chants break out. The commentators mention today being the birthday of the late Don West. “Tonight, this one is for Don,” says Tom Hannifan on commentary as Alexander works over the arm of Young.

Young comes off the ropes with a big back elbow that shifts the offensive momentum into his favor as we head into a mid-match commercial break. Alexander hit a big back suplex during the break that allowed him to take over. He puts Young in a Sharpshooter.

After several moments, Young counters, picks the ankle of Alexander and transitions into a Sharpshooter of his own. Alexander escapes. When the show returns from the break, Young has Alexander in a rear chin-lock in the middle of the ring. Young hits a big death valley driver for a close two-count.

The two fight on the apron. Alexander knocks Young to his butt, hits the ropes and hits a body press onto Young’s back that sends them both through the middle and bottom rope and out to the floor. Alexander goes for a top-rope moonsault but Young moves. Young climbs to the top-rope.

Alexander leaps up after him. Young knocks him down and hits a flying elbow smash for another close two-count. Young looks for a piledriver on Alexander, but Alexander floats over his back, snatches up his leg and applies an ankle lock. Young manages to turn it around, escape and hit a Young Blood neck-breaker.

He follows up with a piledriver and goes for the cover, but Alexander gets his foot on the bottom rope to keep this one alive. Fans chant “This Is Awesome!” as the two head to the top-rope together. Young looks for a piledriver off the top, but Alexander avoids it and snatches up another ankle lock.

Young kicks his way free and rolls Alexander up for a count of two. Young pops up and hits a discus clothesline. Alexander blasts Young with a back elbow and forearm shiver. He gets double-underhooks and hits a C4 Spike for the pinfall victory.

With the win, Josh Alexander secures one of the spots in the six-way title tilt against Moose at TNA Slammiversary. After the match, Alexander waits for Young to get up. The fans chant “Hug it out!” and they do. That’s how this week’s show went off the air. Thanks for joining us and follow me on Twitter/X.

Next week:
* Xia Brookside vs. Masha Slamovich
* ABC vs. The Rascalz vs. Cody Deaner & Jake Something
* Steve Maclin vs. Sami Callihan
* Rich Swann vs. Nic Nemeth

Daily Update: WWE Raw fallout, Becky Lynch, Ace Steel

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This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Among the topics covered in this issue:

  • The Cung Le vs. TKO lawsuit and its settlement, words from someone close to the case from its inception, a lawyer following the case weighs in. stock analysts talk, how much TKO’s company value went up with the settlement and original goals of the suit.
  • Dwayne Johnson and getting more leeway on promos after last Friday.
  • WrestleMania update, who are the favorites in the matches, lineup, ticket sales and demand.
  • Ronda Rousey in her book and interviews talks about WWE, Vince McMahon, John Laurinaitis, Bruce Prichard, history with concussions and more
  • Coverage of the New Japan Cup, New Japan business, the final night and big shows coming up
  • PPV buys for WWE, AEW and TNA by state and what states which companies are the biggest in
  • The most detailed look at the ratings over the past week for all the wrestling shows, including segment-by-segment, competition, rankings for the week and comparisons to one year ago.
  • 81st anniversary of wrestling in one of the legendary arenas
  • AAA announces first TripleMania, more on its notalgia, Vikingo being stripped of his title and more
  • Who is staying with Stardom and who is leaving
  • Stardom PPV notes
  • Mark Coleman news
  • TV viewing notes from the past month regarding network, cable and streaming
  • Lots of injury updates
  • Wrestling show up for a multiple of awards
  • A look at Buff Bagwell and Terry Gordy Dark Side of the Ring episodes
  • Mark Hitchcock Memorial show
  • RevPro announces major show
  • AEW Dynasty PPV update
  • Next Continental Classic notes
  • Updates on PPV numbers for Elimination Chamber, Hard to Kill, Revolution and Joshua vs. Ngannou.
  • Danielson talks Ospreay
  • Advance ticket sales for AEW & WWE shows
  • International TV rating and streaming numbers
  • Former UFC champion coming out of retirement
  • Bellator new TV deals
  • Updated analysis of WWE stock
  • Update on Vince McMahon documentary
  • WWE upcoming major bouts

This Week’s Retro Observer Newsletter

Tuesday Update

WWE

AEW & Other Wrestling

Ace Steel ‘loving the atmosphere’ in TNA Wrestling

Ace Steel is enjoying his behind-the-scenes role in TNA Wrestling.

While appearing on the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling Podcast, Steel confirmed that he’s working for TNA as a producer. Steel said he’s loving the atmosphere in the promotion.

“Oh man, all kinds of stuff,” Steel responded when asked what he’s up to. “Working with TNA as a producer at the moment. Loving that. Loving the atmosphere there. Just a great backstage feel.”

Steel said he’s also working on opening a wrestling school in Orlando, Florida.

A former coach/producer for both WWE and AEW, Steel started with TNA by working as a producer at their Bound for Glory pay-per-view in October 2023. Steel also worked as a producer at TNA Hard to Kill this January.

Steel had two stints in AEW, initially being fired after his involvement in the 2022 Brawl Out incident between CM Punk and The Elite. Steel is a friend of Punk and was his trainer. Steel was fired after Brawl Out but was brought back in 2023 when Punk returned to AEW. Steel was released from AEW again in September 2023 after Punk’s contract with the company was terminated.

Steel and Punk are both under lifetime NDAs regarding Brawl Out.

Last December, Steel told Wrestling with Rip Rogers that he’s very proud of Punk following Punk’s WWE return.

Lawyer confirms CM Punk, Ace Steel are under lifetime NDAs regarding AEW All Out fight

The lawyer for CM Punk and Ace Steel has confirmed that the NDAs behind the 2022 All Out fight are for life.

On the Wrestling With Rip Rogers podcast, lawyer Stephen P. New told Rogers and his co-host Von Lilas that they would never hear him, Steel, or Punk comment on what happened regarding Punk & Steel’s fight with The Young Bucks & Kenny Omega following the media scrum at All Out 2022 as their non-disclosure agreements are for life.

“The only person not subject to an NDA…is Ace’s wife Lucy,” New said. “So maybe one day she could tell us the story.”

New additionally said Punk and Steel were “two of the most stand up guys that you’ll ever meet in any walk of life let alone the sport of professional wrestling” and that he would always be there for them.

Punk was suspended and Steel was fired following the fight. Punk later returned this summer for the debut for AEW Collision, with Steel being brought back as a producer. However, Punk was fired in September following an altercation with Jack Perry backstage at All In, with Steel also being let go in the aftermath. Punk has since made his return to WWE, while Steel has done work as a producer for Impact Wrestling/TNA.

Ace Steel ‘very proud’ of CM Punk for WWE return

Ace Steel is “very proud” of his friend CM Punk following Punk’s WWE return.

Steel was recently a guest on Wrestling with Rip Rogers. During the interview, Steel addressed Punk’s WWE return and commented on the bond they share together. Steel said that, even though they aren’t related by blood, him and Punk are family.

“I’m very proud of my number one student that I’ve ever coached in the world for heading back to show the world who the hell he is,” Steel said. “I did a speech at the Cauliflower Alley [Club]. Steve Keirn was supposed to induct Punk at the Cauliflower Alley but he couldn’t make it. So they were kind of scrambling around and I said, ‘I’ll do it, because who else can introduce you and talk about the days we started together?’ And I said, ‘The reason people hate him or whatever is he’s not about bullsh*t, and the guy doesn’t take sh*t, and he doesn’t take it lightly. And when you’ve had enough sh*t, you either explode, or you take care of business yourself, and you defend yourself. People don’t like him because he defends himself or calls stuff out when it’s not proper. But if you treat him right — he treats everyone else right.'”

Punk and Steel were involved in a backstage fight with The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega at AEW All Out in September 2022. Steel was fired after the incident, but he and Punk both returned to AEW earlier this year. Steel was released by AEW again in September, which came after Punk’s backstage altercation with Jack Perry at All In. Punk’s AEW contract was terminated with cause following the incident.

On Wrestling with Rip Rogers, Steel was asked about his time working behind the scenes in AEW and the All Out brawl:

Well, I worked with a lot of great people — some great, some not so much. Family still exists in this business. There are things none of us can say, and none of us will. I think actually my wife’s the only one who could probably tell the story since she was there. And maybe someday. As far as that goes, you don’t f*ck with family. You just don’t. You just don’t. And we came out just fine. I have a great lawyer: Stephen P. New. Stephen P. New. He’s the man. Let’s just put that in the world. That Stephen P. New — he’s a gem, he is for the wrestlers, he’s for the boys, he’s on the right side of the world. So I will give him all the praise in the world [for] why I’m sitting here smiling.

“I am proud of my clients and would not represent them if I didn’t truly believe in them as people,” New wrote on X yesterday. “And @acesofsteel is correct. Sometimes clients and friends are family.”

Steel worked as a producer for Impact Wrestling during Bound for Glory weekend this October.

Steel was previously a coach for WWE from 2019-2022.

Punk made his WWE return at Survivor Series last month. Since then, he’s appeared on one episode of Raw, one SmackDown episode, and at NXT Deadline. Punk is currently a free agent in storyline. On Raw tonight, he’ll reveal which brand he’s signing with.

Report: Ace Steel to work as producer at Impact Bound for Glory

Ace Steel is reportedly set to work Bound for Glory as a producer.

PWInsider reported on Friday night that Steel was in Chicago for Saturday’s Bound for Glory pay-per-view event, where he will be receiving a tryout as a producer. According to the report, Impact wanted Steel as a producer after he was fired from AEW last year before he was re-hired earlier this year when CM Punk returned to the company.

“One source categorized Steel as having a tryout as a Producer this weekend, noting that Impact Wrestling had wanted to bring him in before he returned to work for AEW in a remote position,” PWInsider wrote. “Now that Steel is again free and clear of his AEW contract, we are told Impact once again reached out and offered the same opportunity.”

Steel was released by AEW last month shortly after Punk was fired from AEW. Punk had gotten into a backstage altercation with Jack Perry during AEW’s All In event back in late August, and his contracts with the company were terminated with cause following an investigation.

Steel had previously made appearances in Impact Wrestling back in 2002 as a wrestler, appearing on their weekly pay-per-view events.

CM Punk to return at AEW Collision debut, update on Ace Steel’s status

With the official announcement of AEW Collision’s debut location Wednesday, CM Punk will make his return to the company as part of the show.

The confirmation comes from our Dave Meltzer. Punk’s return was not announced Wednesday.

The Saturday, June 17th show debut will take place at Chicago’s United Center where hometown favorite Punk famously made his return to wrestling in August 2021 after seven years away from the business.

It will be Punk’s first appearance, or even mention, on AEW TV since the events of last September’s AEW All Out when he got into a fight with the Young Bucks and Kenny Omega after Punk’s post-event press conference.

Meltzer is reporting that a final meeting between Punk and AEW head Tony Khan “went well” and that, “there are a number of other issues worked out including an agreement that nobody will speak publicly on the brawl after All Out last year.”

When it comes to Ace Steel, Meltzer said Steel has been under a deal for “many weeks” and that he will be working from home as part of the arrangement. Steel, a longtime friend of Punk’s, was fired after his role in the aforementioned fight while Omega and the Bucks were suspended.

Steel’s return to the company is believed to have been a sticking point that arose last week and caused Punk’s name and image to be removed from the Collision announcement at the WBD upfront.

AEW considering backup location for Collision debut due to CM Punk situation

AEW is considering a backup location for the debut edition of Collision next month.

Dave Meltzer is reporting that Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, Florida is being considered as a backup location. AEW had originally set to launch the show at the United Center in Chicago on June 17, but plans are currently up in the air due to a dispute between Punk and AEW.

Meltzer writes:

AEW has had contact with Daily’s Place as a possible back-up location for the debut of Collision on 6/17. This is not an official change, but it does appear that the CM Punk situation has until Wednesday to go whichever way it goes and if he’s not appearing then they won’t go to the United Center. People involved with the proposed event said they were told yesterday about the show being possible and that a decision would be made over the next week.

The feeling is, and I agree with this, that the United Center is not the right place for the debut unless Punk is going to be there because fans will expect him and be disappointed if he’s not there, whether he’s advertised or not. Also, without fans believing he will be there, I don’t see them being able to sell enough tickets on such short notice that it would be worth it since they already have a show a few days later at the Wintrust Arena.

Meltzer reported in this week’s Observer Newsletter that Punk was under the impression that Ace Steel would return to AEW as a producer for the new Collision television program. The conflict between Punk and AEW emerged when Tony Khan told Punk that Steel could work with Punk, but would have to work remotely.

Wrestling Observer Live: AEW drama, Rocky Romero talks NJPW Resurgence

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dybhg9mTV-I

Wrestling Observer Live with Mike Sempervive returns with a Friday edition featuring CMLL World Welterweight Champion Rocky Romero.

Before that, there is plenty to talk about including the latest reporting on the impasse between CM Punk and AEW, a preview of tonight’s WWE SmackDown, Bryan Danielson working in creative for AEW, and more.

Then, I get to my talk with Romero about Sunday’s NJPW Strong Resurgence show taking place in Long Beach, California, He not only gives potatoes in the ring, but he apparently also calls from one, so we apologize for the shaky phone connection.

A fun show as always, so check it out~!

Click Here to Listen or watch on YouTube above

Update on CM Punk, Ace Steel involvement with AEW Collision

Our own Dave Meltzer has addressed the latest developments in the situation involving CM Punk, Ace Steel, and AEW Collision. 

Punk was originally to be the focal point of Wednesday’s announcement of the new show. On Tuesday, however, WBD was asked to remove him from all graphics and press releases. His image was replaced on the poster with one of MJF and his name was not mentioned along other returning wrestlers such as Miro, Thunder Rosa, and Andrade El Idolo. 

Meltzer wrote in today’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Punk and Steel were both under the impression Steel would return to AEW as a producer for Collision. This was a tightly guarded secret and sources within AEW even denied Steel had been re-hired. 

Meltzer wrote:

Steel, who was the only person fired after the Brawl after All Out last year, for allegedly hitting Nick Jackson hard with a chair in the head and biting Kenny Omega, was apparently one of Punk’s requests or demands to return. Steel and Punk were under the impression he would be back in his old role as a producer.

A conflict then arose when Khan told Punk that Steel would be re-hired but would work remotely rather than attending AEW shows in person. 

Meltzer continued:

The story is that Tony Khan told Punk that Steel could have his job and work closely with Punk, but that he would work remotely and not be brought to the Collision tapings. Everything fell apart at that point. 

AEW then asked WBD to scrub any mention of Punk from promotional materials. WBD is under the impression that the situation will likely be resolved by next week. 

Mike Johnson of PWInsider was the first to report that Steel’s involvement with AEW Collision was the conflict preventing Punk from being announced as part of the show this week. Nick Hausman of Haus of Wrestling also reported that Steel was re-hired by AEW months ago, although had not been backstage. 

Meltzer wrote:

I don’t believe anyone, past Punk and whoever he may have told, knew about Ace Steel (Chris Guy) returning until a few found out about a week ago. It also should be noted that while we had heard talk about a Steel deal to return as a producer for Collision from multiple sources, we had also been told from the top in checking that we were told it was not true.

Further details regarding Punk, Steel, and AEW Collision are available in today’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Tony Khan announced on AEW Dynamite this week that he will reveal where the debut episode of Collision will take place on next week’s show. It is expected that Chicago’s United Center will be the venue. 

Speak Now: The most anticipated AEW Dynamite, show recap

Tonight’s episode of AEW Dynamite was perhaps one of the most anticipated ever. It follows what has been a wild week in pro wrestling. 

After AEW ALL OUT 2022, CM Punk had the most controversial media scrum ever, that led to a backstage fight between The Elite and CM Punk/Ace Steel. On today’s show, Tony Khan made a massive announcement regarding the championship belts. We also had a buzzworthy promo from MJF and so much more. 

Join Denise Salcedo on Speak Now Pro Wrestling as she breaks it all down. 

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Report: CM Punk & Ace Steel to be suspended or fired by AEW

This story was updated at 1:30 PM Eastern.

Suspensions, and possibly more, are imminent for those involved in Sunday’s post-AEW All Out brawl following CM Punk’s press conference.

Sports Illustrated’s Justin Barrasso reported Wednesday morning that according to multiple sources, Punk and producer Ace Steel will either be suspended or let go by the end of Wednesday. He said Punk met with AEW head Tony Khan on Tuesday.

Additionally, Kenny Omega, Matt & Nick Jackson, Pat Buck, Chris Daniels, Michael Nakazawa and Brandon Cutler have been suspended.

Barrasso reported that an external third-party investigation will be conducted to look at what happened.

Meltzer reported Tuesday that Steel and Buck were not going to be at tonight’s Dynamite.

Following his win over Jon Moxley Sunday to reclaim the AEW World title, Punk targeted Omega and the Jacksons (referring to them as “the EVPs”) in addition to Hangman Page, MJF and Colt Cabana through several expletive-filled answers to questions.

After he was done, there was a fight backstage involving Punk, Steel, Omega and the Jacksons but it is still unknown who started it.

Page, who was the target of Punk via an unexpected promo line during the build to Punk’s first match with Moxley, was not in the building during the incident. FTR, who are friends with Punk, were also not in the venue.

Dynamite is live from Buffalo tonight. Dave Meltzer reported Tuesday that AEW had to bring in Chris Jericho and Jon Moxley when they were previously unscheduled to be there.

Dispute exists over who started CM Punk/Young Bucks AEW All Out fight

There are differing stories as to who started the fight between CM Punk, Ace Steel, the Young Bucks and Kenny Omega after Sunday’s AEW All Out press conference.

Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez gave some additional updates and discussed the situation on Monday night’s Wrestling Observer Radio which you can listen to on YouTube.

They said there is no dispute that Punk punched the Bucks’ Matt Jackson (Meltzer said multiple times), that Steel threw a chair that hit the Bucks’ Nick Jackson, or that Steel bit Omega and pulled his hair.

However, there is one side that claims Punk threw the first punch when the Bucks came into the room where the brawl broke out while the other side claims the Bucks were the aggressors and Punk and Steel were defending themselves.

Both Meltzer and Alvarez said they have reached out to all principals involved, but no one is allowed to talk pending legal issues. Meltzer said in talking to neutral parties, all but one person had the same account of what happened.

Meltzer said he was told there was still yelling between all sides even after the fight was broken up. He could not confirm the rumor that Punk was hurt during the fight.

They reiterated this situation is not a work and that police were involved that night. 

Alvarez said at first, there were a small number of people in the room and then a large amount of people when the fight broke out. Both Meltzer and Alvarez said those who witnessed what happened will have to talk to AEW personnel and legal regarding what happened.

Both were unsure how Tony Khan and his team are going to handle the situation before Wednesday’s Dynamite in Buffalo, New York. Meltzer opined that if something happens to Steel, Punk will want to walk given it’s his longtime friend and original trainer.

On Sunday, Punk regained the AEW World title while Omega & the Bucks won the inaugural Trios titles.

Ace Steel pays internal fine following swear on AEW Dynamite

In what is likely a first in his long wrestling career, AEW producer Ace Steel had to pay a fine following him uttering a swear on Dynamite Wednesday.

PWInsider first reported the news Thursday.

During an intense promo designed to fire up CM Punk to challenge AEW World Champion Jon Moxley at Sunday’s All Out, Steel (Chris Guy) reminded Punk about his motto about getting back up after being knocked down. He said, “You f**king get up!” and then slapped him before continuing. 

In PWInsider’s report, it said that AEW talent were notified to not swear on either Dynamite or Rampage this week given the attention for All Out. The communication to talent Thursday said Steel took responsibility for the error upon going backstage and agreed to a fine that will be donated to a charity, also praising Steel for how he handled it after the fact.

Steel was hired by AEW in February of this year after being released by WWE in January.