Rickey Shane Page announced that he is no longer under MLW contract: “My time at @MLW was super special to me. Worked with great people. Learned so much. Truly grateful for the experience huge thank you to the whole team. I have a new skill set and I’m ready to work. Time to thrive. [email protected] for any and all business inquiries. Let’s go!”
The new issue of the Observer is an in-depth story on the fall of Vince McMahon. We go through all aspects of the story and have reactions from many people on subjects not talked about including feelings of different wrestlers, how this departure was different from the first McMahon departure, John Laurinaitis, Brock Lesnar, Stephanie McMahon, Ari Emanuel, Paul Levesque, Ann Callis and why she may end up a major figure in wrestling and this story going forward and much more. It’s a timeline in detail and what the timeline opens up.
The John Laurinaitis story
More questions on Ari Emanuel’s decision
Paul Levesque’s performance
Shawn Michaels reaction
Reaction from several in the business
Why Vince McMahon apparently stopped payments
Who is Ann Callis and why is she so important to this story
The insurance angle
The original investigation
The timeline of Stephanie McMahon
The various allegations and settlements
Members of the board leaving
Vince’s power play to return
Dwayne Johnson and Pat McAfee
Vince’s background
Full Royal Rumble coverage
Rumble surprises and debuts
WrestleMania original lineup and what is changing
Rumble records
Business numbers
Rock vs. Roman update
The most detailed look at the ratings over the past week
New streaming channel for a promotion that is getting criticized due to price
Okada and Mercedes updates
Anniversary show for one of the most important cultural matches in history
Top matches of 2023
TNA PPV update
AEW valuation
Upcoming ticket sales for the major WWE & AEW shows
International TV ratings and streaming numbers
Update on MJF
Which company has the highest current injury rate, AEW or WWE?
Jericho Cruise notes
Conor McGregor update
TV announcer talks his frustrations with social media
Documentary on MAX about a UFC fighter about to be released
WWE 2K24 released a gameplay trailer on Tuesday, with a brief shot of Muhammad Ali at the end. The trailer also showed Brock Lesnar being replaced by John Cena on one of the game’s covers.
NFL star George Kittle shared his thoughts on the Cody Rhodes/Rock/Roman Reigns situation on X. Triple H quoted the post, writing “The People’s Tight End knows what’s up…”
Gunther expressed interest in facing Kazuchika Okada in an interview with Nick Hausman. “I think Okada is fantastic,” he said. “I always love Japanese wrestling. When I grew up in professional wrestling, understanding everything, I always enjoyed Japanese wrestling the most. I was more of an All Japan guy than a New Japan guy, to be honest. But yeah, he’s one of the best in the world, and if he joins WWE, he’s very welcome to, and I think he finds great competition here.”
Carmelo Hayes wrote on X: “Woke up today and chose to be undeniable.”
Ava has deleted her X account. She had mentioned recently that she had been receiving death threats due to The Rock/Roman Reigns/Cody Rhodes situation.
Free matches added to WWE’s YouTube page on Tuesday include an Elimination Chamber qualifying battle royal from the February 17, 2012 edition of SmackDown and Bayley vs. Becky Lynch in an Elimination Chamber qualifying match from the February 6, 2023 edition of Raw.
AEW & Other Wrestling
Dave Bautista will star in a movie titled ‘Afterburn’ starring Samuel L. Jackson, which was described as a “futuristic action-adventure” film.
Mercedes Mone on X: “Oh it feels good when executing a vision.”
After it was announced that Jack Perry would be at NJPW’s Windy City Riot event in April, Gabe Kidd posted on X: “And someone tell Jack Perry if he wants to get in a scrap backstage, I’ll see him in Chicago. Little rat. Can’t get booked by your own boss so you turn up to our shows. We don’t want you ya little t***.”
With injuries and burnout affecting much of the roster, fights breaking out, Smackdown ratings plunging badly, yet house show business seemingly strong and ECW about to be launched with almost nothing finalized in plans, it can only be described as nobody knows what is going to happen next. Major booking plans change by the minute, and nobody knows what is going to happen in two PPV events that are just a few weeks away.
It was expected all week that an announcement would be made on 5/23 that the new ECW show would be signed for the Sci-Fi channel and debut on 6/13. With so much going on, things got crazy on the deal. As best we can tell, the announcement will likely be made before any of you read this. Some of the terms were not yet finalized.
The show will air on Tuesday night, either at 9 p.m. or 10 p.m., for one hour. Sci-Fi, after first agreeing to a 52 week commitment, started getting some cold feet on the project, and at last word had only committed to 12 episodes. Because of the WWE’s exclusive TV deal with NBC Universal, and USA Network not interested in giving the show a good time slot, and Bravo expressing only mild interest, WWE has very little leverage in this deal.
The reason Drew McIntyre is missing next week’s episode of WWE Raw looks to have been revealed.
According to an Instagram post from director JJ Perry, McIntyre has been cast in the action film “The Killer’s Game.” The movie stars WWE legend Dave Bautista, Ice Cube, Ben Kingsley, and Sofia Boutella.
Based on Jay Bonansinga’s novel, the film is written by Rand Ravich and Simon Kinberg, with recent rewrites by James Coyne. The film follows veteran assassin Joe Flood (Bautista), who is diagnosed with a life-threatening illness and authorizes a kill on himself to avoid the pain that is destined to follow. After ordering the kill, he finds out that he was misdiagnosed and must then fend off the army of former colleagues trying to kill him.
There was a backstage interview on Raw last night where McIntyre told Matt Riddle that he won’t be at Raw next week because he’ll be away on company business. Riddle is facing Intercontinental Champion Gunther in a non-title match next Monday. Imperium’s Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci will be barred from ringside for the match.
McIntyre & Riddle teamed together to defeat Kaiser & Vinci last night.
A look at AEW’s changes coming up that will be announced over the next week with the debut of Collision, as well as a business analysis of rights fees as compared to WWE, different scenarios and different things that could be part of the new deal.
Full coverage of Backlash, including the booking, the show, Night of Champions in Saudi Arabia, Roman Reigns, business notes on the show, interest levels for the different events in a giant weekend of sports, PPV numbers, crossover between WWE and Alvarez fight, and the paradox of government money bringing WWE to cities and how that affects future hows in San Juan.
A full look at the AEW event at Wembley Stadium. We look at ticket sales, records, scalpers, the biggest shows ever in Europe, the biggest non-WWE shows in history, how viable is it regarding the all-time paid attendance records, and the three shows it has to beat, U.K. attendance records, differences in AEW & WWE ticket sale patterns, possible attractions for the show as well as opponents for he biggest matches and other London shows that weekend.
Full coverage of UFC 288, main event decision, what’s next for the top stars, business notes and match-by-match coverage.
A look at Dragon Gate’s Dead or Alive show
A look at the longest lasting U.K. headliners and Hall of Fame comments
The most detailed look at the ratings from the past week, with weekly placings, competition, and comparisons to one year ago, a well as how segments did
Wrestler goes for world title in two very different groups over a few week period
Konnan talks AAA U.S. TV negotiations
The politics behind the upcoming champion vs. champion match
Champion Carnival finals
How many tickets has Mercedes Mone moved for her next show
Early notes on All Together Now
Best of Super Juniors shows for this week
The most famous feud in Canadian football history, Angelo Mosca vs. Joe Kapp, and a detailed rundown
Former TNA & WWE star retires
Double or Nothing update
AEW booking team detailed
Crazy AEW PPV stat
Upcoming ticket sales to WWE & AEW shows
International TV numbers and streaming numbers
Aftermath of Omega vs. Moxley
Retired wrestler mentions being open to work Wembley Stadium as a farewell
Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
Tuesday Update
WWE
Interviews from last night’s Raw Talk, including Shinsuke Nakamura and The Judgment Day, The Way, and Imperium.
On last night’s Raw, Finn Balor was seen in the background as JD McDonagh walked off following an interview.
PWInsider reported due to their upcoming travel to Saudi Arabia, the May 26 edition of SmackDown will be taped this Friday.
A new WWE 2K23 update has added Candice LeRae and Mia Yim as playable characters. Dana Brooke’s music has also been updated, along with other stability and bug fixes.
A number of AEW-related trademarks were filed on May 11. AEW trademarked the term “Double Jeopardy”, Jay Lethal trademarked the term “Black Machismo”, and Ricky Starks filed a trademark for that name.
Other Wrestling
TMZ has picked up the story on Superstar Billy Graham being placed on life support.
Deadline reported that Batista will star and executive produce a new Lionsgate action comedy called “The Killer’s Game”. “Based on Jay Bonansinga’s same-name novel, The Killer’s Game follows veteran assassin Joe Flood (Bautista), who is diagnosed with a life-threatening illness and authorizes a kill on himself to avoid the pain that is destined to follow. After ordering the kill, he finds out that he was misdiagnosed and must then fend off the army of former colleagues trying to kill him,” the report said.
Masha Slamovich will defend the GCW World Championship in a six-way match against Lufisto, Shazza McKenzie, Allie Katch, Maki Itoh, and Allysin Kay on GCW’s The Way I Am event on May 20 in Detroit.
Three years after he was originally supposed to be inducted, Batista (Dave Bautista) is hoping to finally go into the WWE Hall of Fame.
Batista was asked about his WWE Hall of Fame status while being interviewed at the premiere for his new movie “Knock at the Cabin.” Batista told ComicBook.com that he hopes to be inducted this year, but he can’t say for sure.
“I hope so, but I can’t say for sure,” Batista said. “I can say that I’m trying. I am trying.”
Batista was announced as a WWE Hall of Fame inductee in 2020, but that ceremony was canceled following the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. When the 2020 and 2021 Hall of Fame classes were inducted at a ceremony without fans in attendance the next year, Batista wasn’t able to take part in the ceremony.
Batista tweeted in March 2021: “To the @WWEUniverse Unfortunately due to previous obligations I am unable to be a part of the @WWE #HOF this year. By my request they have agreed to induct me at a future ceremony where I’ll be able to properly thank the fans and people who made my career possible #DreamChaser”
Batista retired from in-ring competition following his no holds barred match against Triple H at WrestleMania 35 in 2019.
There haven’t been any inductees confirmed for this year’s WWE Hall of Fame class yet. The ceremony is taking place after SmackDown at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on March 31, which is the Friday of WrestleMania weekend.
The Hall of Fame ceremony is being held at the same arena where Batista defeated Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 21.
2022 Hall of Fame ballot, rules, everyone eligible, thoughts on this year’s election and the strongest candidates.What candidates on this year’s ballot did the best in last year’s ballot
TripleMania, the story behind the show, business of the show, , news notes, poll results and star ratings
WWE PPV changes, Crown Jewel notes and updates on upcoming PPV shows
Dana White starting new promotion with Lorenzo Fertitta and two new combat ideas he’s working on
The life of Humberto Garza, the grandfather of two WWE stars and father of Hector Garza. Garza, who passed away this past week, was a very significant star in Mexico and a look at his career
Full coverage of Saturday’s UFC show,and the ramifications of the show.
A look at the career of Jose Rivera, one of the key building blocks of the Puerto Rico wrestling boom, including a look back at the growth of WWC and its biggest feud ever
Ratings for every show including how every segment did and details of AEW vs. NXT head-to-head on Tuesday
First all-women’s show in the history of a major promotion
First women’s main event on a Middle Eastern show
CMLL star gives unique reason why he’s been gone for so long
The business of TripleMania
More details on a wrestling show coming to Disney +
Two starts of the same promotion were on the national team in the same competition
The top matches from Royal Quest
Update on the New Japan TV title tournament
More details on the arrest of Shocker
Who are the wrestlers who generate the most money on Cameo
Jim Lyman tournament news
Two stars going after fourth NCAA title
WWE & Impact PPV Numbers from last week
Adam Page update
Update on ramifications of the brawl after All Out and where things stand regarding who stays and who goes
More details on Chris Jericho’s contract
Tony Khan, Dana White and Vince McMahon all scheduling major events on the same day
More on AEW new reality show
More on AEW in Toronto
AEW star announcing on the Mayweather show
Upcoming ticket sales to AEW & WWE events
DAZN back in the MMA business
Dwayne Johnson and possible WWE sale
UFC owners talk possible WWE sale
Notes on Bray Wyatt return
International TV ratings
DVR viewership numbers for all shows so far this year
Royal Rumble update
Lots of injury updates
The real story on why Billy Gunn wasn’t at the DX Reunion on Raw
Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
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If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
Tuesday News Update
WWE
Stephanie McMahon and Triple H recently celebrated their 19th wedding anniversary, with Stephanie writing on Twitter: “19 years with the man of my dreams @tripleh!! Happy Anniversary! I Love You!”
Following her return on Raw, Nikki Cross on Twitter wrote: “It’s my Galaxy now”.
Matches taped for this week’s Main Event include Dana Brooke vs. Kianna James and Von Wagner vs. Cedric Alexander.
Liv Morgan will appear on this Wednesday’s episode of Chucky.
PWInsider reported that the Elimination Chamber in 2023 will not be held in Saudi Arabia, and instead will be held in Montreal, Canada. The Saudi Arabia event following Crown Jewel will instead be held in the spring of 2023.
The company has filed a trademark for the term “Scrypts”.
JBL spoke to Metro about his relationship with Eddie Guerrero.
PWInsider also noted that the next Campus Rush tour dates will be 11/8 at Boise State University and 11/9 at the University of Arkansas.
Mr. Stone on Twitter announced the passing of his mother.
The company announced their Q3 2022 earnings report for November 2 at 5 pm ET.
One of WWE’s most newsworthy shows of the year, complete with major roster changes, the return of Hulk Hogan, and one of the biggest crowds and the likely most watched Raw of the year, took place on 6/27.
Before an announced sellout crowd (and there were no tickets available the day before the event) of 15,429 fans at the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim, Big Show and Rob Van Dam came to Raw and Batista, as World champion, and Christian were moved to Smackdown.
As expected, the Batista move meant the six-way of Smackdown was instead of being for a new belt, was for a shot at Batista on 7/24 in Buffalo for the Great American Bash PPV. JBL, also not surprisingly, survived everyone’s finisher and pinned Christian in the end to the groans of fans who were hopeful Christian, who got the biggest reaction of anyone on the Smackdown show, would break through into genuine stardom. It appears the Bash, the company’s next PPV, will be headlined by, besides Batista vs. JBL for the title, Undertaker against either Randy Orton (if he’s cleared and it seems most likely) or Muhammad Hassan, and another Rey Mysterio vs. Eddie Guerrero match.
When they have the saying about good news and bad news, the WWE’s new cable television deal with the USA Network and parent company NBC Universal fits that bill and then some. The deal contains some good news, some very good news, and some very bad news.
The good news is obvious. Besides a deal for two hours of Raw every week on the USA Network, which is a significantly stronger network, as in nearly double the average audience in prime time, than Spike, it features the return of NBC Saturday Night’s Main Event. There is little question that one of the main reasons so many of the ’80s wrestlers had longer shelf lives and were considered bigger stars than those who came a few years later (even before the steroid scandal put a damper on business) was the gigantic exposure on NBC. While the cable ratings during the peak of the Steve Austin era were more than 50% higher (and the total audience was four times as large due to cable growth), there was nothing in the current era that could match the numbers put on for SNME. The shows in the 80s frequently topped an 8.0 rating, peaking with an 11.6, still the highest-rated show in the history of that time slot in recorded U.S. television history, for a 1987 show during the Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant build-up. Due to the fragmenting of audiences due to the cable explosion, numbers like that aren’t possible today. But even a poorly rated show in that time slot is going to do far more viewers than a highly rated Raw or Smackdown.
The build to WrestleMania 38 picked up on last night’s Elimination Chamber fallout edition of Raw.
After winning the WWE Championship in Saudi Arabia, Brock Lesnar appeared last night. Though Lesnar is set to face Universal Champion Roman Reigns in a winner-take-all match at WrestleMania, Paul Heyman questioned if Lesnar will even make it to WrestleMania as champion. Heyman brought up that Lesnar has a title defense against Bobby Lashley scheduled for WWE’s house show at Madison Square Garden on Saturday, March 5. Heyman said that if Lashley isn’t cleared to compete, he’ll make sure Lesnar still has a title defense.
Lesnar will be on SmackDown this Friday for a segment with Reigns.
Social media and celebrity boxing star Logan Paul was officially confirmed as The Miz’s tag team partner for WrestleMania 38 last night. Paul made his return to WWE television and beat down Rey and Dominik Mysterio with Miz.
With Becky Lynch vs. Bianca Belair for the Raw Women’s Championship official for WrestleMania 38, the two went face-to-face last night. Edge was also back on WWE TV and issued an open challenge for WrestleMania. His opponent has yet to be revealed.
Ordering Info: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
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If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
TUESDAY NEWS UPDATE
WWE
Matches taped for WWE Main Event this week include Veer Mahan vs. Akira Tozawa and Liv Morgan vs. Doudrop.
Johnny Knoxville joined ESPN’s SportsNation to talk about his performance in the men’s Royal Rumble match on Saturday.
WWE’s YouTube page has footage of Rey Mysterio giving Bad Bunny his mask following the Royal Rumble match.
Bianca Belair and Summer Rae will be guests on this week’s episode of The Bump.
Nick Hausman of WrestlingInc spoke to Apollo Crews on who he’d want to face in NXT. “There’s a lot of talent down there,” he said. “This is a guy that’s actually another indie guy, but Pete Dunne, he’s so talented. Tommaso Ciampa is another one, he just lost the title, but these are guys I am more familiar with. I’ve had the chance to work with Pete Dunne, but it was in a multi-man match or something, but never anything that was one on one. Walter, he’s another guy, Gunther, sorry about that, I got that one wrong. Roddy, Roddy Strong. Those four or five guys I would love to mix it up with a little bit.”
Nyla Rose spoke to Sports Illustrated regarding her reaction to a transphobic sign that was held up during a recent match on Dynamite. “For the most part, people understood why that sign was wrong,” Rose said. “Maybe that person didn’t quite understand the gravity of what they were doing. You want to boo, that’s cool. But there is a line. People might feel it’s a conflict of their beliefs by simply respecting someone else, but it’s not. You don’t have to understand or even agree with somebody’s situation to show them simple respect and kindness, like respecting their pronouns and respecting their way of life. I’d love for people to be cool with it, but if that’s not your thing, it’s not your thing. But shouldn’t people want to treat their fellow humans with a little respect and kindness?”
Christian Cage took to social media to reflect on his return to pro wrestling one year ago. “1 yr ago today I took my career back. Man, 2021 was wild, I was involved in 3 PPV main events for 3 different companies & had some special moments. That being said, @AEW is my home for the rest of my career. So what do I want in 2022? The world, Chico, and everything in it.”
Atlantic City Weekly has a story on AEW’s upcoming show at Boardwalk Hall featuring comments from senior vice president of business strategy Chris Harrington.
Austin Gunn has filed a trademark for the term ‘Ass Boys’.
The memorial for Jimmy Rave will be held on Sunday, February 6 at the Lakepoint Sports Champion Center, which is located at 261 Stars Way in Cartersville, Georgia.
Dave Bautista will star in an ad for Nissan that will air during the Super Bowl.
Bret Hart has signed to star in the upcoming film “The Outlaw Murders”.
Tasha Steelz spoke to Denise Salcedeo about her current run in Impact Wrestling, including Mickie James and the Knockouts Ultimate X match.
EC3 filed for the trademark ‘Control Your Narrative” on January 26.
Jake Something wrote a Twitter post about fighting depression and urging others to not giving up, writing “Don’t give up. You’re stronger than you know.”
Former WWE star Dave Bautista has booked a starring role in director M. Night Shyamalan’s next movie.
Deadline first reported on Monday that Bautista is in negotiations to star in Shyamalan’s “Knock at the Cabin.” The film will be written and directed by Shyamalan and is tentatively scheduled to be released on February 3, 2023. Details regarding the plot of the movie haven’t been revealed.
Bautista tweeted about the role: “Another dream come true working with @MNightShyamalan!”
Shyamalan wrote: “My new friend @DaveBautista you have shown strength not in the obvious ways but in choosing risky roles and making yourself vulnerable. I can not wait for you to come to Philly. Knock knock…”
Shyamalan’s most recent film prior to this was “Old,” which was released this July.
“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” and “Knives Out 2” are also among the upcoming movies that Bautista has a role in.
Bautista retired from in-ring competition following his no holds barred match against Triple H at WrestleMania 35 in April 2019.
Bautista was scheduled to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2020, but that didn’t happen due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Bautista noted that he wasn’t able to attend the 2021 ceremony at the ThunderDome due to previous obligations, and WWE had agreed to induct him at a future ceremony where he’d be able to properly thank the fans and people who made his career possible.
ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
MONDAY NEWS UPDATE
Bryan and I will be back tonight and there is a ton of news to talk about, from the WWE PPV schedule, Power Struggle, and the fallout of the season premiere of Raw. You can send email questions to the show to [email protected]
As noted elsewhere, TNT made the move today to air Dynamite live on the West Coast and Mountain time zone before the NHL games on Wednesday today. That was the original idea, then it was changed. I have no idea why it was changed because the plan to air it after hockey on the West Coast did nobody any favors. This goes into effect Wednesday even though TV guides list differently and AEW advertised differently on Saturday.
WWE sources indicate the February and October PPV shows next year that were not announced will both be from Saudi Arabia. Most had figured that out but as of right now that is the case.
Raw tonight is the season premiere episode from Houston. Announced is Riddle & Randy Orton vs. AJ Styles & Omos. The NFL game is New Orleans Saints vs. Seattle Seahawks There is no baseball against Raw and none of the World Series games this year will be on Monday so Raw gets a break. With the first week of the new rosters and no baseball opposition, they should not duplicate last week’s record low in 18-49. Both NXT and Dynamite this week go against the first two games of the series.
We’re looking for reports from the Impact tapings last night in Las Vegas and tonight in Las Vegas as well as from Houston tonight with any dark matches or Main Event matches or anything else not on the Raw live show to [email protected]
We also have polls for these shows, final day for Crown Jewel and the New Japan shows. You can leave a thumbs up, down or middle, best and worst match to dave@wrestlingobserercom for Crown Jewel, both New Japan shows at Budokan Hall with the final nights of G-1 and Impact Bound for Glory. We also have our annual polls for G-1 MVP and best match of the G-1 tournament.
Some more notes on the Impact tapings in Las Vegas last night much of which should be airing on Thursday:
The Mickie James/Madison Rayne match was a title match which saw Mickie retain. Mercedes Martinez came out and issued a challenge for Turning Point which was accepted.
Ace Austin beat Chris Sabin in a real good match.
Laredo Kid won the fatal four way to become the number one contender for the X Division Championship.
The Good Brothers took on FinJuice but the match was interrupted by Bullet Club. Bey, El Phantasmo and Hikuleo laid out both teams with crotch shots with the tag titles.
Heath beat Joe Doering but after the match Violent By Design laid out Heath and Rhino. Eric Young got involved physically for the first time in six months. Also EY beat local talent Jai Vidal in a squash.
The IINSPIRATION came out on the stage to watch the Decay face The Undead Bridesmaids and then afterwards they got in the ring and Jess McKay was grabbed by the throat but nothing else came of it. (Thanks to Thomas Brunette)
The PFL’s six $1 million championship fights airs live on 10/27 head-to-head with Dynamite on ESPN 2. Kayla Harrison, who was on Dynamite a few weeks back, faces Taylor Guardado in the women’s lightweight finals.
Jon Moxley’s autobiography will be out this week and we’ll likely be doing a show with him shortly talking about the book.
The movie “Dune,” which features Dave Bautista, was No. 1 at the box office this past weekend in its first week of release doing $41,011,174 in 4,125 theaters. It also grossed more than $180.6 million outside the U.S. The film is also streaming on HBO Max.
WWE
Survivor Series now has 9,467 tickets out. That’s total not paid. The WWE sells out Barclays Center for PPV’s usually with 13,600 paid and about 15,500 total.
Mike Johnson reported today that of the undrafted talent, the current plans are Asuka for Raw, Dakota Kai for NXT, Elias for Raw and the Lucha House Party for Raw.
The Miz is again on Dancing with the Stars tonight.
AEW
Chris Jericho’s cruise ended today. Among those appearing outside of the AEW crew were Will Ospreay, Danhausen, Ricky Morton, Robert Gibson, World Famous CB, Pineapple Pete, Jazz and Madusa.
UFC
The 1/22 PPV show will have Francis Ngannou vs. Cyril Gane to clear up the heavyweight title picture, plus Brandon Moreno vs. Deiveson Figueiredo for the flyweight title and Jared Cannnoier vs. Derek Brunson for a high ranking middleweight spot.
MCW on 10/29 has Monster Mash at the FPX Theater in Baltimore with Penta, Moses, Sam Adonis, Tony Deppen, Ray Lyn and Dante Caballero appearing.
Pro Wrestling Australia announced a return after COVID on 11/13 at 8 p.m. airing live and free on YouTube. They also run 12/3 in on FITE and 12/11. They are based in Sydney and looking to expand into Melbourne and the Gold Coast.
A movie called “The Flying Greek,” about 1970s wrestler Iron Mike Pappas,premiers 12/10 at the Fox Theater in Springfield, MO. Madusa did the narration.
WWE’s Extreme Rules show on 9/26 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, OH was decent. Most of the matches were good, but there was nothing blow away.
The show was built around two bouts, Roman Reigns vs. Demon Finn Balor for the Universal title and Becky Lynch vs. Bianca Belair for the women’s title. Both had gimmicked finishes.
The Demon match ended with Demon ont the top rope when the top rope suddenly collapsed and he fell into the ring injured, and got pinned by a spear. The bout had been the most exciting on the show, but at one point the idea was that Demon had died. Then his music played and he acted as though he was resurrected, and in fact, that was the verbiage used, and he made a comeback until the rope broke.
In the Smackdown women’s title match, Belair powered out of the disarmer and set up the KOD when Sasha Banks ran into attack Belair for the DQ. Banks also laid out Lynch after the match to set up a three-way program.
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MONDAY NEWS UPDATE
Bryan and I will be back tonight with Wrestling Observer Radio talking Raw, ratings, G-1 and more, plus taking e-mail questions you can send to the show to [email protected]
Tonight is part two of the WWE draft. Bill Goldberg is also on the show to build up his rematch with Bobby Lashley, likely for Crown Jewel on 10.21. Really, we should have most of that card as far as key matches announced by Friday. They teased an angle where Paul Heyman is supposed to make sure the Usos get drafted by Smackdown or the Usos, who are also on tonight’s show, are supposed to leave him for dead. The show is in Nashville. The show should do better ratings than in recent weeks due to the draft and Goldberg, at least in theory. We were told this will be an eventful show. A lot of Nashville celebrities are there including sports media people including Clay Travis. We are looking for live reports on the show with any Main Event or dark matches or notes from a live perspective to [email protected] We’re also looking for reports from last night in Lexington.
The football game tonight is the Las Vegas Raiders (3-0) vs. Los Angeles Chargers (2-1). It shouldn’t be as big as last week, but football always had an effect on the numbers in the fall.
When we were talking the Muhammad Ali entourage on Saturday night’s show, the doctor was Dr. Ferdie Pacheco. I had managed Angelo Dundee, who was Ali’s manager as the three people always close to him were Pacheco, Dundee and Bundini Brown. Brown was with him when he did the Mid South Wrestling show at the Superdome in 1985 that we talked about when Ali managed The Snowman in a TV title defense against Jake Roberts, where Roberts refused to bump for Ali’s punches. The basic story is in the current issue on Snowman and his short but very newsworthy career based on two angles, one in Mid South and one in Memphis.
A fighter who competed in an 8/20 Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship show passed away. Justin Thornton, 38, was knocked out on the show in Mississippi and had suffered numerous health issues stemming from the knockout. The fight lasted 19 seconds with Thornton face planting after being knocked out by Dillon Cleckler. Thornton was rushed to the hospital and partially paralyzed. He was hospitalized for several weeks and also suffered a spinal cord infection. Thornton had been an MMA fighter who had a 6-18 record before taking his first Bare Knuckle bout. .
G-1 is down until 10/7 at the Hiroshima Sun Plaza Hall with A block with a weak show headlined by Tomohiro Ishii vs. Great O’Khan. We are doing a poll for the Sunday show from Nagoya only this week, thumbs up, down or middle, best and worst match to [email protected]
In Canada, AEW Dynamite will only air on TSN5. SportsNet 360 is now airing a replay of Monday’s Raw show on Wednesdays head-to-head with Dynamite. (thanks to Jeff Zinger)
UFC star Kevin Holland, who just fought Saturday, stopped an alleged carjacking this morning. Holland saw the alleged event in progress, and tackled and held the guy down until police came.
A correction from yesterday where we said the advertised main event for San Juan was Roman Reigns vs. Rey Mysterio. It was actually Rey & Dominik Mysterio & Finn Balor vs. Reigns & Usos and Damien Priest vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Jinder Mahal. It ended up with Priest vs.Sami Zayn and the Mysterios replaced by Cesaro & McIntyre in the six-man tag and Dominik vs. Mahal. Rey was the only one who didn’t appear.
Dave Bautista will be a guest on Late Night with Seth Meyers on NBC promoting the film “Dune.” that comes out 10/22 on HBO Max and in theaters.
WWE
On the WWE TV special on FOX this weekend which looked at past King of the Rings, to set up the tournament that starts Friday in San Jose, Dana White appeared on the show. The idea was to list the ten best King of the Rings in history. You can certainly argue this list has it was 1. Booker T; 2. Steve Austin; 3. Bret Hart; 4. HHH; 5. Brock Lesnar; 7. Edge; 7. Kurt Angle; 8. Sheamus; 9. Randy Savage and 10. King Corbin. White was on for about ten seconds talking about Lesnar’s also being UFC heavyweight champion. (thanks to Arya Winter)
They were advertising Roman Reigns & Usos vs. Finn Balor & Street Profits and Becky Lynch vs. Bianca Belair in local TV advertising for Friday’s Smackdown show in San Jose
Escape The Undertaker debuts tomorrow on Netflix.
The Simpsons yesterday had a WWE reference. The show showed older people partying with their new social security checks and they played “Here Comes the Money,” the Shane McMahon entrance song.
Noam Dar vs Wolfgang in the finals of a tournament to determine the top contender to Heritage champion Tyler Bate will headlined WWE UK.
Harry Smith was one of the guys backstage in Baltimore Friday night for the draft. Tons of people were there with the idea they could be chosen and then weren’t chosen.
UFC
Brian Kelleher vs. Saidyokub Kakhramonov has been added to the 1/15 UFC show.
OTHER NOTES
Dark Side of the Ring this coming week will talk about wrestler turned biker gang leader Johnny K-9.
Stardom has another PPV show from Osaka Jo Hall on Saturday headlined by Utami Hayashishita vs. Takumi Iroha for the World of Stardom title. It’s a loaded show. Because it’s an early afternoon show in Japan, it will air at midnight Eastern late Friday night at 9 p.m. Pacific late Friday night.
Crusherfest takes place in South Milwaukee this coming weekend. It takes place Saturday and Sunday at 1101 Milwaukee Avenue, featuring live wrestling, special guests, a brat brawl, the Mr. Saloon contest, live polka music and more. The address is where the Crusher statue resides. More info is at www.dacrusher.org
At 2:30 p.m. local time Saturday at Crusherfest, they will induct Crusher into the Minnesota Wrestling Hall of Fame.
Brian Blair’s autobiography, “Truth Bee Told,” is now out. I’ve read the book and enjoyed it a lot. Tons of colorful stories about a very different business, talking about the end of the territorial era, the beginning of WWE going national, and tons on his best friend Paul Orndorff.
Impact announced Wrestle Week on AXS starting on 10/18 with Badass Movies hosted by Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows presenting the 1989 movie Road House with Patrick Swayze and Terry Funk. The 2021 Slammiversary show with Kenny Omega vs. Sami Callihan no DQ match airs on 10/21, before Impact. There will also be the Countdown show from 9 to 9:30 p.m. that Saturday night. Bound for Glory starts at 10 p.m. so as not to go head-to-head with AEW Dynamite which is on 10/23 at 8 p.m. that week.
Northeast Wrestling from Saturday night in Danbury, CT: Chris Battle & Gio Galvano b Chris Muljo & Bret Gosselin, Cole Karter b J Heru, Wrecking Ball Legursky b Eric Rowan, Club Cam b Inzanely Rude in a tag title match, Nzo & Fandango b Ray Jaz & Seven Stetson, Deonna Purrazzo b Mega Bayne, Dan Maff b Keith Youngblood to keep NEW title,Will Ospreay b Rocky Romero, Eddie Kingston b Brian Anthony-DQ, Matt Hardy & Private Party b Trustfund.
PWX from Sunday in Concord, NC before 450 fans: Sir Rios Badu b Wheeler Yuta, Chip Day & Ethan Case b Jon Davis & Drew Adler, Suge D b Victor Benjamin, Montana Black b Savannah Evans, Lance Archer b JD Drake, Robbie Eagles b Lucky Ali, Caleb Konley & Zane Riley b Elliot Russell & Sigmon, Minoru Suzuki b Anthony Henry We heard the main event was awesome (thanks to Landon Pipkin)
Christian Cage & Josh Alexander vs Ace Austin & Madman Fulton and Black Taurus vs. Petey Williams vs. Steve Maclin as part of a tournament to crown an X champion now that Alexander vacated to go after the world title is set for Impact Thursday.
MCPW from Saturday in Kalkaska, MI:
Afternoon show: Jackson Stone b Brutus Atwell, Jack Verville & Louis Lyndon & Max Morrison b Kevin Kalloway & Ethan Tyler & Mitch Hewitt, Joseph Norton b Kyler Coleman, Jason Hotch b Trey Miguel, Solo b Nate Bock, Tommy Vendetta & Jack Price & Isaiah Broner b Jurnal Kyng & Eli Shelton & Conrad Loucks.
Evening show: Alex Weir b Aaron Williams, Dre Jacobs & Justin Dream b Jheras & Jimi Gray, Gary Jay b Aaron Orion, The Carver b Christopher Saint, Jumal Kyng b Nick King, Tommy Vendetta b Alex Colon (thanks to Leonard Brand)
Matt Cardona pinned Joshua Bishop to win the AIW heavyweight title on Saturday night. Bill Alfonso, the manger, got accidentally busted open earlier in the show in a deathmatch where he was managing Matthew Justice (thanks to Ross Blair)
Kenny Omega and Bryan Danielson went to a 30:00 draw in what was among the best television matches in U.S. history and arguably the best bout ever on Dynamite in their dream match at the company’s debut in New York City on 9/22 at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The non-title match presumably sets up a longer time limit championship match down the road. For Full Gear, the decision would seem to be Omega defending against either Danielson or Adam Page.
The show was a landmark event for the promotion, breaking both attendance and gate records and ended up as the second largest non-WWE gate for pro wrestling in U.S. history and the largest attended non-WWE pro wrestling event in the country in 22 years.
The most talked about aspect of the week was the ratings, and whether the show would beat Raw. Dynamite in its history had two episodes that beat Raw’s 0.49 (642,000) in 18-49, the very first episode and the show two weeks earlier coming off All Out and the debuts of Bryan Danielson and Adam Cole.
ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
TUESDAY NEWS UPDATE
WWE
WWE Main Event last night featured Mace vs. an enhancement talent and John Morrison vs. Drew Gulak.
The company released an update on the Eva Marie injury storyline that took place on Raw: “Eva Marie was evaluated after Raw and is being treated for a possible dislocation of her elbow following another brutal attack by Shayna Baszler. Stay locked to WWE social and digital platforms for the latest updates.”
Mandy Rose spoke to DAZN about her transition back to NXT and forming Toxic Attraction. She said about her move: “Sometimes switching it up is always good. NXT needed a woman like me. Like I said in my promo last week, they needed a mainstream superstar to be able to help some of the women evolve. I don’t have the most experience in wrestling compared to some of the women and a lot of the women in all of WWE. But when it comes to mainstream qualities, I have a lot of those. So I feel like why not come and help some of these women, whether it’s anything related to WWE, or whether it’s the way they dress, the way they look, the way they present themselves, the way they are perceived, the way they speak in interviews, and the list goes on and on. It’s rebranding my character a little bit. I always think it’s great to evolve. I think change is always good as well. So I wanted to switch things up a little bit. So I’m having a lot of fun in NXT. It’s been a great experience so far.”
Ariane Andrew, formerly Cameron, told Wrestling Inc. that she had recently contacted Vince McMahon about a return to the company. “I am very torn if I want to say this, but I actually reached out recently and was like, ‘I would love to come back,’ and, will I be back?,” she said. “That’s to be determined, but I actually reached out to Vince [McMahon] himself and was like, you know what, I’m going to go to the person who’s at the top,” Andrew revealed. “I miss being in that world of wrestling. I saw Naomi three months ago, and I was like, you know what, if I have nothing, if I never got the championship, I feel like having the tag team titles would be awesome.”
The company has trademarked the name “Tiffany Stratton”.
A documentary on the life of Brodie Lee premieres tonight at the Movies 10 theatre in Rochester. The synopsis for the movie reads: “Documentary movie on the life of Jon Huber, known worldwide as Brodie Lee/Luke Harper. Tells the story of his life in wrestling, from a backyard to the Western NY indy scene, to the big time in WWE and AEW – from the fellow wrestlers who shared the road with Brodie.”
Jacob Fatu talked to Wrestling Inc. ahead of his title vs. title match at MLW Fightland this Saturday against MLW National Openweight Champion Alexander Hammerstone.
