Cain Velasquez would be wrestling in AAA right now if WWE hadn’t purchased the company.
Velasquez was in attendance at the Intuit Dome for Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano on Saturday night in Los Angeles.
During the episode of Wrestling Observer Radio taped immediately following the show, Dave Meltzer noted that while key names in AAA are big proponents of Velasquez, the former UFC heavyweight champion did not leave WWE on good terms.
“If WWE had not bought AAA, he would already be wrestling for AAA,” Meltzer said.
Regarding why WWE may not be interested in bringing back Velasquez, Meltzer said that doing so likely doesn’t fit with WWE’s goals for AAA.
“They didn’t leave on the best of terms,” Meltzer continued before adding, “I don’t think WWE really wants him in the sense of what their goals are. Their goals aren’t like, let’s bring in a Mexican celebrity.”
Meltzer noted that he has been told that if Dorian Roldan was running the company, Velasquez would be back with AAA.
“The AAA people, Dorian Roldan, Konnan, those people that were involved, they love Cain Velasquez.”
“I was pretty much told that if it was Dorian’s company, then they would have definitely brought Cain in for big shows because that’s how much they think of him.”
Cain Velasquez has made his first public comments since being released from prison.
The former UFC heavyweight champion was released on parole on February 15. Velasquez had been serving time in a California state prison after being sentenced to five years in March 2025. However, due to credits for time served while awaiting trial, he was released after 11 months.
Velasquez posted to Instagram on Thursday, saying:
“Now that it’s been a couple of weeks since my release, I’ve had some time to kind of get back into things, get back into a normal way of life, get used to just doing the normal things, being home with the family, being there for my kids. And I just wanted to thank everybody for their love and support. Your words of inspiration, of encouragement, constantly just lifted me up, myself and my family.”
“I didn’t want to overwhelm myself with the pace of life that I was getting used to, to now, all of a sudden, a new way of life, a new way of living, a new rhythm. So for myself, I just had to kind of get used to it. And I’ve been doing that. So again, just thank you. Thank you. And it’s good to it’s good to be out.”
Velasquez captioned his post with:
“Blessed to be out, thank you to all for the love and support; you all have lifted me up so high. Grateful for all the understanding thus far and I look forward to a road of service.”
Numerous names from around the MMA and wrestling worlds have also commented on Velasquez’s post.
“Respect,” wrote Bobby Lashley.
“🙌🏾💪🏾🙏🏾,” wrote R-Truth.
In August 2024, Velasquez pleaded no contest to charges of attempted murder, felony assault, and other gun offenses. The charges stemmed from a February 2022 incident in Santa Clara County, California. Velasquez was arrested following a high-speed chase during which he fired a handgun at a vehicle carrying a man he believed had abused his son. The man’s stepfather, who was also in the vehicle, was shot and suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
Garrett Gonzales is back with Dave Meltzer, subbing for Bryan Alvarez who is on vacation. My Fight Game Podcast co-host John LaRocca also joined us for the very first WOR + Fight Game collaboration.
We recapped AEW Grand Slam and Friday Night’s SmackDown.
We also discussed the weekend news including the following:
CNN Business covering AEW and Brody King
Cain Velasquez out of jail
Mistico discussing winning the WON Wrestler of the Year
*Winners, top place winners, comments and every winner of every award dating back to 1980, from Wrestler of the Year, MMA MVP, Most Outstanding, Most Outstanding MMA Fighter, Tag Team of the Year, Best on Interviews, Promotion of the Year, Best Weekly TV show, Match of the Year, MMA Fight of the year, U.S./Canada MPV, Japanese MVP, Mexico MVP, Europe MVP, Best non-heavyweight, Women’s MVP, Women’s MMA MVP, Feud of the Year, Best Box Office Draw, Most Improved, Most Charismatic, Best Technical, Best Brawler, Best Flying Wrestler, Most Overrated, Most Underrated, Rookie of the Year, Best Non-WRestler, Best Television Announcer, Worst Television Announcer, Most major show, Worst major show, Best maneuver, Most Disgusting Promotional Tactic, Worst TV show, Worst match, Worst feud, Worst promotion, Best Booker of the Year, Promoter of the Year, Best Gimmick, Worst Gimmick, Best Book and Best Documentary.
*Tons of news related to the build to WrestleMania, why the card may be changing, a major concern regarding ticket sales, predictabiity vs. surprises, How Bron Brakker’s injury changes things, Brock Lesnar situation, Becky Lynch situation, situation in Las Vegas, concerns in Las Vegas, why ticket sales are down, plus build to Elimination Chamber
*Tadao Yasuda, a unique life of a former sumo star, IWGP champion, one of the biggest upsets in MMA history, the birth of the New Year’s Eve fighting tradition, gambling issues and more
*Coverage of the New Beginning in Osaka, talent leaving, talent staying, what is the difrection for New Japan the next few months and a worst and best match of the year candidate one right after the other
*Betting odds for this week’s wrestling
*Most detailed look at the TV ratings, a look at the red flags, streaming numbers and more.
*Notes on the honoring and retirement of El Satanico and career highlights
*Mistico sellout updates
*The last Friday for a month at Arena Mexico with the biggest names
*AAA TV tapings with WWE talent
*Starddom PPV notes
*Epstein files wrestling references
*Biggest UK women’s show coming
*Show coming up attempting to be the largest attendance for an all-women’s show in three decades
*Pareamount again trying to get WBD
*How politics affects pro wrestling
*Grand Slam Australia notes
*MJF talks Punk
*TV reviews
*YouTube notes
*CBS airing UFC on 3/7
*Zuffa boxing defies Ali Act with world title announcement
*WWE injury updates
*Bad Bunny Super Bowl controversy
*WWE Hall of Famer threatens to quit if another person isn’t removed
— Garrett Gonzales and I will be back tonight talking about the weekend news and more on the awards. We have a Friday night show up on the site talking about the WON Awards, Brody King, AEW Grand Slam, lots of info regarding WrestleMania in Las Vegas, and the issues going on and more.
— Cain Velasquez was released from prison earlier today after spending ten months incarcerated for attempting to shoot the man he believed had sexually abused his son between the ages of two and four. Velasquez showed up at the home of the man he believed had molested his son and people in the home took off in a car. Velasquez chased the car with the man, his mother and his stepfather in a high speed chase from Morgan Hill to San Jose, firing shots that hit the stepfather. His parole was moved up a month because of his participating rehabilitative programs.
He was sentenced at first to five years in prison, but he got credit for time served. He has a restitution hearing for the victim of the shooting Paul Bender, on 3/18. The Velasquez family is also suing Harry Goularte Jr., Patricia Goularte and Bender over the allegations of abuse by Goularte Jr., and negligence by the other two in covering it up. Right now a trial is scheduled for that case on 11/9.
— In this article on MMA Fighting on Velasquez, at the bottom is a video of Velasquez being released at 8:30 a.m. today, seeing his wife and kids and a Mariachi band playing. Velasquez did work for AAA after his arrest but I can’t see that happening under WWE ownership. I’m sure he’ll get offers from the various promotions that do boxing, forms of fighting, Dirty Boxing, Bare Knuckle, and perhaps even real wrestling that focus on past their prime UFC stars.
— CNN’s website covered the political issues surrounding Brody King and the anti-ICE chants over the weekend which also confirmed AEW being partially owned by WBD. We had understood this was the case for years but nobody had ever said it on the record. (There was nobody saying it on the record here, either.) We do know that Tony Khan, father Shad Khan and sister Shanna Khan own 90 percent or more of AEW and that Tony Khan has 100 percent of the voting and decision making power in the company. I’ll talk more about the article on the show tonight, but the gist of that subject was covered on Friday’s show.
— Saturday’s Grand Slam Australia drew about 7,029. For the first time in a market, that’s disappointing but they don’t have television in Australia past streaming on Disney+.
— Looking for reports from last night’s WWE show in Lubbock, TX (big house show) and last night’s NXT show in Kent, WA, with results, finishes and highlights to [email protected]. We’re also looking for reports from Sydney last night for matches not on television and detailed notes from Brisbane’s show earlier today.
— Royce Keys, the former Powerhouse HObbs,made his singles debut for WWE in a dark match Friday night in Dallas before SmackDown aired. We’re looking for a report from Dallas on that one as well.
— CMLL sold out Arena Mexico on Friday and Arena Coliseo on Saturday. The Saturday show sold out on Friday, which is unusual for Saturday to sell out before the walk-up. Friday I expected to sell out because Mistico, Soberano Jr., Mascara Dorada, Altantis Jr., Hechicero and so many of the top CMLL stars are headed to Japan and won’t be on another Friday show until 3/13.
— We haven’t heard about any great matches from the weekend internationally other than yesterday’s Grand Slam show and people were raving about Friday’s Mistico vs Templario match. I would think there would be people that liked a certain style who may love Blue Panther vs. Xelhua from Arena Coliseo last night but I haven’t seen it yet.
— The woman at ringside who did the angle with Andrade and Adam Page was wrestler Aysha, who actually wrestled on Sunday’s AEW house show in Brisbane where Jessica McKay and Cassie Lee debuted. This story goes back a month as they dropped the tag titles in TNA because they had the AEW offer.
— In Google searches for the weekend, Cain Velasquez was No. 46 with 20,000 and Jake Paul was No. 67 with 20,000. SmackDown had 5,000 as the only thing really related to current pro wrestling and with no UFC or major boxing event this weekend, that was the only stuff in the top 400.
— All Japan announced the 2026 Champion Carnival lineup as Rei Saito, Kento Miyahara, Go Shiozaki, Hideki Suzuki, Jun Saito, Ryuki Honda, Ren Ayabe, Yuma Anzai, Kengo Mashimo, Daisuke Sekimoto, Kuma Arashi, Madoka Kikuta (Dragon Gate), Xyon, Odyssey, Cyrus and Talos. Interesting no Davey Boy Smith Jr.
— Marigold’s 3D tournament will end on 2/23 at Korakuen Hall with Nagisa Nozaki & Misa Matsui & Rea Seto vs Mai Sakurai & Natsumi Showzuki & Erina Yamanaka.
— New Japan/CMLL Fantastica Mania debuts on Wednesday at Yoyogi Gym in Tokyo with tag team tournament first round matches with Valiente Jr. & Futuro vs. El Hijo de Stuka Jr. & Shoma Kato, Tiger Mask & Stigma vs. Averno & Magnus, Atlantis & Atlantis Jr. vs. Satoshi Kojima & Okumura, and Mistico & Mascara Dorada vs. Ultimo Guerrero & Sho. It airs on New Japan World at 5:30 a.m. that day.
— The NWA Crockett Cup tournament will be on 4/4 at the OC Theater in Forney, TX.
— Jacy Jayne and El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. were talked about on the WWC television show in Puerto Rico.
— Sammy Guevara vs. Amazing Red has been announced for the 3/21 HOG show in Brentwood, NY at the Suffolk Credit Union Arena.
— Yesterday was the birthday of Penny Mitchell, who was actually the woman under the Spider Lady mask in WWF every night except the night Moolah was under the mask and beat Wendi Richter without her knowledge in an MSG title match because Richter hadn’t signed a new contract. I believe Mitchell turned 65. (thanks to Ken Raftery).
— There was a question on this week’s Trivial Pursuit about the “8th Wonder of the World” who was the first person inducted into the WWE hall of fame. The contestant correctly guessed it was Andre the Giant. (thanks to Matt Schreiner)
— Farmer Burns, the original trainer of Frank Gotch, was born on this day in 1861. He was one of the most important figures at the end of the 19th century and start of the 20th century. Today is the birthday of Hugo Savinovich (67), LuFisto (46), Jenna Morasca (45) and Rich Swann (35). Louie Spicolli was 27 when he passed away on this day 28 years ago. Johnny Weaver, the longtime top babyface in the Carolinas, was 72 when he passed away 18 years ago today. One year ago today, Hall of Famer Gran Hamada passed away at the age of 74. Hamada was one of the most underrated wrestlers ever. He could do it all. (thanks to Tony Richards)
Cain Velasquez has been granted parole and released from prison.
Velasquez posted a message over the weekend stating that he is scheduled to leave prison on February 15. Footage of him being released was posted to social media on Sunday by ACD MMA:
🚨 Footage of Cain Velasquez officially walking free from prison today
He was emotional and was greeted by his family and a mariachi band 🇲🇽
He served almost a year for firing a gun at a man who is accused of sexually abusing Velasquez’s young son
Velasquez pleaded no contest to charges of attempted murder, felony assault, and other gun offenses in August 2024. The charges stemmed from a February 2022 incident in Santa Clara County, California, in which Velasquez was arrested following a high-speed chase. During the chase, he fired a handgun at a vehicle carrying a man he believed had sexually abused his young son. The man’s stepfather was shot in the arm and torso and suffered non-life-threatening injuries. Velasquez was later sentenced to five years in prison with credit for time already served in custody and on house arrest, which made him eligible for parole in early 2026.
Velasquez’s social media post reads:
“After my release on February 15th, I’m exploring the idea of hosting a one-day Holotropic Breathing Seminar in the San Jose area. This would be an in-person experience focused on: • Guided holotropic breathing • Mental & emotional reset • Stress release & clarity • A personal meet & greet • Q&A and shared conversation • Group photo Breathwork has been a powerful tool for me—physically, mentally, and spiritually—and I’d like to share it with others in a focused, intentional setting. This would be a PAID, limited-capacity seminar. 👉 If you’re interested, drop a 🔥 in the comments and join the interested list at the link in bio. This post is just to gauge interest. More details coming soon. — Cain”
Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including the deaths of boxer George Foreman and Janice Carter, Cain Velasquez serving time, Ric Flair and a new potential North Carolina law, ratings, Conor McGregor wants to run for President, WWE Raw report from Monday night, and tons more.
A fun show as always so check it out~!
Timestamps:
Start: George Foreman, Janice Carter, Wilma Beyer pass away
16:30: Cain Velasquez sentenced for attempted murder
24:44: North Carolina Senate proposes ‘Ric Flair Act’ for possible hall of fame museum
32:02: Ratings, Conor McGregor running for President of Ireland, AEW Dynamite lineup
– A few notes on the Wrestling Observer Radio shows. We have the first of likely two Hall of Fame shows today, with John Muse and Ethan Tyler, both of who have done a lot of research on the subject. My weekend show with Bryan Alvarez will be up Sunday night this week.
The life of Joe Koff and how his influence on the current wrestling scene is so underplayed. From being a childhood fan of Bruno Sammartino, heading the production on the original Battle of the Belts series, saving ROH at least twice, and providing a place where many of today’s biggest stars were able to make a living while building resumes that led them to the top in WWE and essentially the building blocks of the formation of AEW, and the success of All In. We look at his life and career both in and out of the wrestling business.
Bryan Danielson retires from full-time wrestling, his future and how this played out on WrestleDream.
A look at WrestleDream, the business of the show, the rundown and polls.
More details on the AEW television deal, what it does and doesn’t cover, prospects for other deals, the economics, attempting to rebuild attendance at shows, the Mexico deal, international prospects going forward and more.
Zack Sabre Jr. wins IWGP title while Hiroshi Tanahahashi provides a retirement countdown. Plus a look at the future NJPW lineups, Tokyo Dome prospects and King of Pro Wrestling coverage.
The Gegard Mousasi lawsuit and the latest attempt to get a court to rule on the independent contractor vs. employee status.
The most detailed look at the ratings of all the wrestling shows, placings for the night and week, competition, year-by-year comparisons and more.
When did star ratings for wrestling matches begin? The answer will surprise you.
Santo draws the biggest indie crowd of the year.
Jimmy Jacobs leaves AEW.
Bob Ryder and the birth of TNA.
International TV ratings.
Ticket sales for upcoming WWE & AEW shows.
Fighters depositions in Cung Le lawsuit.
UFC TV rights news.
Major UFC stars say they want to come out of retirement.
How much WWE & UFC are expected to produce this year in revenue.
New WWE project with Netflix.
Update on Netflix ratings for the two wrestling shows.
– Cain Velasquez was to be sentenced today after pleading no contest to attempted murder and gun related charges. But the sentencing was postponed to early 2025. Velasquez remains free, with restrictions. He is expected to face some time in his sentencing when he went on an 11 mile high speed chase after Harry Goularte, the man accused of molesting Velasquez’s four-year-old a the time son, and fired shots at the car, one of which hit driver Paul Benader (Goularte’s stepfather) in the arm.
– Tony Khan on Joe Koff: “Joe Koff was a wonderful man. I enjoyed every interaction I had with him. He worked hard to develop Ring of Honor wrestling, and he fought to keep ROH in business. When times were tough, he came to me years ago, looking to sell the promotion and help people at ROH keep their jobs, and I was very touched by his dedication. It’s due to Joe Koff’s commitment that ROH continues today. My thoughts and prayers are with his loved ones at this terrible time. God bless you Joe Rest in peace.”
– SmackDown tonight on USA:
Angel & Berto vs. ? (believed to be Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley in their debut)
Carmelo Hayes vs. Andrade – winner gets a U.S.title shot at LA Knight
Roman Reigns and Randy Orton appear
– Rampage tonight on TNT at 10 p.m.
Mark Briscoe vs. The Butcher non-title
Kyle O’Reilly vs. Aaron Solo
Anna Jay vs. Trish Adora
Private Party vs. MxM Collection
– We’re looking for reports on these shows:
WWE Smackdown tonight in Columbia, SC (the matches not on live TV only)
RevPro tomorrow in Doncaster UK.
New Japan Royal Quest Sunday in London at the Crystal Palace.
We’re looking for results, finishes and highlights to [email protected]
– PFL has its biggest show to date of ESPN+ and DAZN PPV tomorrow from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia:
1:30 p.m. Eastern on ESPN+ and DAZN as the free show
Tariq Ismail (145.1) vs. Taha Bendaoud (145.5)
Ibragi Ibragimov (145.5) vs. Nacho Campos (145.9)
Makkasharip Zaynukov (155.6) vs. Derek Sanders (154.9)
Raufeon Stots (135.8) vs. Marcos Breno (136)
4 p.m. Eastern on PPV
AJ McKee (155.8) vs Paul Hughes (155.8)
Husein Kadimagomaev (146) vs. Zafar Mohsen (145.8)
Johnny Eblen (184.7) vs. Fabian Edwards (184.9) for Bellator middleweight title
Cris Cyborg (144.5) vs. Larissa Pacheco (144.1) for the women’s featherweight Superfight title
Francis Ngannou (256.8) vs. Renan Ferreira (251.5) for the heavyweight Superfight title
– Stardom on Sunday will have an eight-women’s Battle Royal where the last two left in will be part of a four-way number one contender’s match at NJPW Fighting Spirit Unleashed on 11/8 in Lowell, MA. Anna Jay has already been confirmed for the number one contender’s match. The winner gets the next shot at NJPW Strong Women’s Champion Mercedes Mone.
– The PFL world championship show will take place 11/29 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The card has:
Dakota Ditcheva vs. Taila Santos in the women’s flyweight tournament final
Brendan Loughnane vs. Timur Khizriev in the featherweight tournament final
Brent Primus vs. Gadzhi Rabadanov in the lightweight tournament final
Shamil Mosaev vs Magomed Umalatov in the welterweight tournament final
Impa Kasanganay vs. Dovietdzhan Yaghimuradov in the light heavyweight tournament final
Denis Goltsov vs. Oleg Popov in the heavyweight tournament final
All winners will receive $1 million.
– UFC is a pure ESPN+ show from the Apex tomorrow from 4-10 p.m. Eastern:
Austen Lane (251) vs Robelis Despaigne (264)
Melissa Martinez (115.5) vs. Alice Ardelean (115)
Jessica Penne (115.5) vs. Elise Reed (115)
Joselyne Edwards (139) vs. Tamires Vidal (135.5) – Edwards missed weight by three pounds. The penalty she will face is unclear at this point.
Brad Katona (135.5) vs. Jean Matsumoto (135.5)
Matheus Nicolau (125.5) vs. Asu Aimabayev (125.5)
Darren Elkins (144.5) vs. Daniel Pineda (145.5)
Jake Hadley (135.5) vs. Cameron Smotherman (135.5)’
Charles Johnson (126) vs. Sumudaerji (126)
Rob Font (135.5) vs. Kyler Philliops (135.5)
Anthony Hernandez (185.5) vs. Michel Pereira (185.5)
– MLW announced a Fan Fest from 6-6:45 p.m. local time at Cicero Stadium prior to its 11/9 event. Announced for the Fan Fest are CMLL headliners Mistico, Ultimo Guerrero, Atlantis, Altantis Jr., Hechicero, Averno, Titan and Magnus. You have to have a ticket for the show to attend the fan fest.
– Maple Leaf Wrestling debuts with shows on Saturday and Sunday at 7 p.m. Eastern on Triller TV from Windsor, ONT.
The big matches on day one are Mike Bailey vs. Konosuke Takeshita, Gisele Shaw vs. Miyu Yamashita and Josh Alexander & Stu Grason & El Phantasmo vs. Trevor Lee & Rocky Romero & Alex Zayne.
Sunday has Athena vs. Gisele Shaw for the ROH women’s title, and Takeshita vs. Alexander for the AEW International title.
Mauro Ranallo and Don Callis will be announcers.
– Tony Atlas and Fred Ottman will be appearing for Memphis Wrestling on its 10/27 taping.
– Jeff Hardy and Joe Hendry are in concert on 10/27 at the TNA show in Detroit at Wayne State University. This would be before the TV tapings the day after Bound for Glory, starting at 4:30 p.m.
– Toni Storm vs. Catalina and Zeuxis vs. Persephone in the finals of the Universal tournament headline an Arena Mexico show tonight that features four women’s matches out of six, including Lluvia & Tessa Blanchard defending the CMLL world women’s tag titles against Ungai Sayaka & Suika Yanagawa. Alex Windsor, Red Velvet and Viva Van are also on the show.
– Lexis King will wrestle Skrilla the Great on the 10/26 Deep South show in Atlanta at New Realm Brewing.
– Boca Raton Wrestling on Sunday at the Renaissance Boca Raton Hotel with Matt Riddle Stallion Rogers, Bull James, Kerry Morton, Madman Fulton, Bobby Fish, EJ Nduka and AJ Francis.
– Afa Anoa’i just passed away today at the age of 81. He had a number of serious health issues in recent months. This comes less than two months since the death of brother and tag team partner Sika. We send our best to the family. We are also apologetic for reporting this yesterday on X. Afa & Sika were a legendary tag team in the 70s and early 80s and part of one of the largest pro wrestling families in history, which include WWE stars Roman Reigns, The Usos, Solo Sikoa and Jacob Fatu and countless others including Umaga, Rikishi, Yokozuna, Tonga Kid, Afa Jr., Black Pearl, Zilla Fatu, Rosey and Gary Albright. What a week with the deaths of Kevin Sullivan and Dennis Brent.
– Garrett Gonzales and I will be doing our week in review show today. If you have any questions for the show on topics in the current issue you can send them to [email protected] and in particular anything on Kevin Sullivan. The weekend show with Bryan Alvarez will be tomorrow night.
– The new issue of the Wrestling Observer is up on the site right now. We have a giant story on the life and career of Kevin Sullivan. It’s one of the biggest stories we’ve done in recent years covering this very unique person who wore a lot of hats in the industry and had a lot of very significant influence on aspects of the genre.
Among the other topics covered:
Tony Khan announces the second AEW stadium show for 2025 and we talk about reports of a third one as well.
Previewing All In
Update on Bash in Berlin including a new main event not announced yet and the latest on the planned stipulation
Bryan Danielson talks about his life and career
AEW and Triller doing PPV bundles
U.S. Olympic wrestling roundup as well as Hiroshi Tanahashi wants to recruit three Olympians
Update on G-1 Climax tournament and all the bouts of the past week
A look at the career of Yoshinari Ogawa who retired this past week
A look at Dennis Brent, who passed away, a behind-the-scenes figure who was very close to many insiders in the wrestling community and had worked for and with World Class, Mid South, WCW, JCP and WWE before a tragic case of MS ended him in wrestling.
Update on legal wranglings involving Janel Grant, Vince McMahoin and Dr. Carlon Colker
The most detailed look at the TV ratings from the past week, weekly rankings, comparisons with a year ago, segment-by-segment, nightly placings competition and more
Rundown from another big show at Arena Mexico
More on the CMLL Grand Prix show featuring wrestlers from all over the world
Return date announced for one of the biggest international stars
Exactly what the issues are with AAA and Penta & Fenix and why their talent isn’t allowed to appear on the same shows in Mexico
Update on the Stardom Five Star Grand Prix
Dragon Gate Dangerous Gate update
N-1 tournament update
What WWE NXT star is getting over in Japan
Grandson of one of the biggest wrestling stars of all-time now training to wrestle
El Hijo del Santo retirement tour update and he talks about when he was negotiating to go full-time with WWE
MJF vs. Michael Oku match story and angle with Ospreay
GCW hits Japan
PPV updates for recent pro wrestling and boxing events
Tony Khan talks more on big announcements
Update on Young Bucks
Penta & Fenix update
Behind the making of MJF vs. Oku in England
Advances for upcoming WWE & AEW shows
Streaming numbers and international TV numbers
Update on Conor McGregor fighting
Former MMA fighter involved in a shooting death of a man who was friends with the person who was accused of kidnapping his son
Heyman talks his ECW run
Ronda Rousey on Vince McMahon
Jesse Ventura and his attempt to unionize wrestlers
– Cain Velasquez pleaded no contest in his attempted murder case today in San Jose. His trial was scheduled to start in three weeks. The plea bargain agreement was that the charge of premeditated attempted murder was dropped. If he had been convicted of that charge he would face mandatory life in prison, although with the possibility of parole. Judge Arthur Bocanegro will decide on his punishment at a date to be determined. The District Attorney in the case did say Velasquez would be facing prison time. What hurt Velasquez in this case is that a search of his phone found he was looking up searches for “sexual assault case where the victims family fights back” and “sexual assault cases where victims family retaliates,” which showed this was not a momentary rage but something he had been looking up before he chased down Harry Goularte, who was accused of molesting his young son at a daycare center. Velasquez chased a car with Goularte in it for 11 miles and fired shots which hit Goularte’s stepfather, Paul Bender in the arm. He was arrested and spent eight months in jail before being released on bail. After release he did one pro wrestling match for AAA and had been training fighters at the AKA School in San Jose.
– Kathleen Finch, the chairman and CEO of WBD’s U.S. networks, which include TBS and TNT, announced that she would be retiring at the end of this year. Channing Dungey, the Chairman and CEO of Warner Brothers Television Group, will be her successor. Finch was and is a big proponent of AEW and always talked positively publicly about the product and its ratings success. We are told that this is not expected to affect the contract negotiations for a new deal or AEW in general’s day-to-day business. Finch started as a programmer for the Food Network in 1999 after working 12 years as a reporter for CBS News.
– Tony Khan said that AEW will run a show in England in 2025. He said All In would be in Texas but they would have something in London as well. He didn’t specify the venue.
– We send our best wishes to Bobby Fulton of the Fantastics, who has been battling cancer on and off for years. Fulton had surgery on Tuesday to repair his throat from the years of cancer treatments and during the surgery had heart complications. He will be seeing a cardiologist shortly. He has been responding to people on Twitter wishing him the best.
– FuboTV’s lawsuit against ESPN, FOX, WBD and Hulu to block the debut of Venu, the streaming service that would have ABC, all the ESPN channels, TBS, TNT, TNT Sports, FOX, The Big 10 Network, FS1 and FS2 that was due to debut next week, won the first round today, blocking the launch of the service. ABC Disney, WBD and FOX have said that they will appeal this ruling.
– SmackDown tonight from Orlando, which will be sold out with more than 13,500 fans, has DIY vs. Street Profits with the winners getting a tag title shot, Kevin Owens vs. Grayson Waller, Andrade vs. Carmelo Hayes, Blair Davenport vs. Naomi, Tiffany Stratton throws a party for Nia Jax, and Roman Reigns appears.
– Rampage tonight on TNT at 10 p.m. has Mark Briscoe & Tomohiro Ishii & Orange Cassidy vs. The Butcher & The Outrunners, Nyla Rose vs. Erica Leigh, Nick Wayne vs. Kip Sabian and Top Flight vs. MxM Collection. This was taped Wednesday so Mansoor is not going to be in two places at the same time in real life. It’ll only appear that way, since he’s in the semi at Aena Mexico tonight as well.
– There are less than 30 tickets remaining for the Q&A show that I’m doing with Bryan Alvarez on the morning of All In. The event takes place at 11 a.m. at the Tattershall Castle steamship in downtown London across from the London Eye and a five minute walk from Big Ben and Parliament. For more info, click here.
–Nic Nemeth vs. Josh Alexander in a one hour Iron Man match for the TNA title headlines the 8/30 special from Louisville.
– We’re looking for reports from these weekend shows
SmackDown tonight in Orlando (non-Smackdown matches only)
AAA TripleMania tomorrow in Mexico City
WWE house show tomorrow in Lakeland, FL
AEW in Arlington, TX (matches not on Collision)
WWE house show Sunday in Estero, FL
We’re looking for results, finishes and highlights to [email protected]
– We’re doing weekend polls on both the Saturday and Sunday New Japan Sumo Hall G-1 semifinals and finals shows, so you can leave a thumbs up, down or middle, best and worst match for each show to [email protected].
– The start times for the New Japan G-1 semifinals with Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Shingo Takagi and David Finlay vs. Yota Tsuji is 4 a.m. Eastern tomorrow morning. The finals are 2 a.m. Eastern very late tomorrow night.
– Dana White announced today that Alex Pereira vs Khalil Rountree Jr. for the light heavyweight title will headline the 10/5 UFC PPV in Salt Lake City, UT. Rountree as the challenger was a big surprise, as most figured Magomed Ankalaev to be the top contender. Rountree is coming off a suspension after testing positive for the steroid androsterone, which was found to be something he accidentally ingested after they tested one of his supplements. Also announced was Raquel Pennington defending the women’s bantamweight title against Julianna Pena, Kayla Harrison vs. Ketlen Vieira, Mosvar Evloev vs. Aljamain Sterling, Mario Batista vs. Jose Aldo, Steven Wonderboy Thompson vs. Joaquin Buckley and Roman Dolidze vs. Kevin Holland.
– Harrison being booked on the show with a bantamweight title fight looks to lead to her, if she wins, getting a shot at the winner and making that clear that night.
– Mistico & Esfinge & Atlantis Jr. vs. Valiente & Ultimo Guerrero & Gran Guerrero headlines Arena Mexico tonight. Mansoor & Rocky Romero also face Angel de Oro & Niebla Roja.
– Tuesday in Guadalajara is the League of Nationals Cibernetico match with Barbaza, Dulce Gardenia, Elemental, Furia Roja, El Hijo de Villano III Jr., Zandokan Jr., Mistico, Soberano Jr., Star Black, Villano III Jr., Akira (MLW), Dark Magic, Flip Gordon, Ikuro Kwon (MLW), Kyle Fletcher (AEW), Mansoor (AEW), Okumura, Robbie X (RevPro), Romero and Yutani.
– UFC 305 is tomorrow our time from Perth, Western Australia:
6:30 p.m. on ESPN+
Jesus Aguilar vs. Stewart Nicoll
Ricky Glenn vs. Sng Kenan
Tom Nolan vs. Alex Reyes
ESPN2 and ESPN +at 8 p.m. Eastern
Herbert Burns vs. Jack Jenkins
Casey O’Neill vs. Luana Santos
Josh Culibao vs. Ricardo Ramos
Junior Tafa vs. Valter Walker
PPV at 10 p.m.
Li Jingliang vs. Carlos Prates
Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs. Tai Tuivasa
Dan Hooker vs. Mateusz Gamrot
Steve Erceg vs. Kai Kara-France
Dricus Du Plessis vs. Israel Adesanya for the middleweight title
– Natsuko Tora will defend the World of Stardom title against Tam Nakano on 8/31 in Tokyo.
– Mina Shirakawa will replace Stephanie Vaquer on the 8/24 RevPro show at the Copper Box in London.
– TripleMania on Triller is tomorrow night with a Domed cage and the last person left loses their hair or mask with Dark Cuervo, Dark Ozz, Cibernetico Fiscal, Abismo Negro Jr., Psicosos (not the 90s Psicosis), Panic Clown, Dave the Clown and Murder Clown, plus Nic Nemeth defends the AAA Mega title against Alberto El Patron, Vamapiro faces a mystery man in a casket mach, Negro Casas & Psycho Clown defend the AAA tag titles against Dr. Wagner Jr. & Galeno del Mal and Raj Dhesi (Jinder Mahal) & Satnam Singh, Komander defends the AAA cruiserweight title against Matt Riddle and Laredo Kid, Flammer defends the Reina de Reinas title against Faby Apache and a Copa Bardal (Royal Rumble rules, all men in are mysteries)
– Sam Adons and Kenzo Suzuki have indicated being on the show.
– Satoshi Kojima defends the MLW title against Ares on 8/31 in San Juan, Costa Rica.
– Aja Kong makes her debut for West Coast Pro tomorrow night at the Queen of Indies show in San Francisco at the United Irish Cultural Center. The Queen of Indies is a one-night tournament with first round matches of Kylie Rae vs. Masha Slamovich, Hyari vs. Maya World, Great Sakuya vs. Brooke Havok and Amazona vs. Keyra Strong.
– Trevor Lee and Kylie Rae have been added to Scott D’Amore’s Maple Leaf Wrestling promotion debut shows on 10/19 and 10/20 in Windsor ONT.
– Actor Jeff Goldblum, who guest hosted Jimmy Kimmel Live on Tuesday, and had John Cena as a guest, mentioned watching Bruno Sammartino, Haystacks Calhoun, Killer Kowalski and Bobo Brazil as a kid on his black & white television set.
– Jonathan Gresham will be appearing on this week’s Memphis Wrestling TV show.
For the first time since being released on bail for attempted murder, former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez spoke at length about his recent return for AAA, mentioning the potential for a future wrestling match with Daniel Cormier, and his time working with Brock Lesnar in WWE.
Making an appearance on Konnan’s Keepin’ It 100 podcast, Velasquez said going into his December match for AAA in Tempe, Arizona, it was “probably the worst I have ever felt physically, mentally doing something.”
“I felt like I was probably in the worst-case scenario for myself that I have ever been in. I put a lot of pressure on myself and I just wanna be ready when I go out there and, you know, compete…,” he explained.
In November, Velasquez was released on $1 million bail for attempted murder stemming from a February incident in California’s Santa Clara County after allegedly chasing down Harry Goularte in his truck and shooting at him, striking Goularte’s stepfather who was also in the vehicle. Goularte was accused of sexually assaulting one of Velasquez’s children in addition to one of a family relative.
After being eventually granted his request to be able to travel to Tempe to work for AAA’s U.S. return, Velasquez worked in a trios match that night. He was non-committal about a return date as he is unable to travel to Mexico but is keeping the door open.
“For me, it’s just doing what I can with it. I really do just have a great time out there. For me, it’s so fun, the whole thing. Working with the guys I have worked with, just doing all the stuff that we do out there. I really do love and enjoy it,” he said.
He also said that former UFC double-division champion, ardent pro wrestling fan and AKA teammate Daniel Cormier came over to his house recently and that they talked about doing a match for AAA which Konnan was all for, throwing in that they have been talking to a network about getting TV in the U.S.
While his wrestling future is up in the air, Velasquez said he may be able to do a competitive off-road race in Las Vegas in March — another passion of his.
He said he hasn’t been watching any fights since being let out and has been spending time with his family instead. They have been watching both AAA and WWE and he’s glad he is getting to bring his family into something other than fighting.
When asked about the Brock Lesnar match at WWE Crown Jewel after having previously fought him in UFC, Velasquez said it was “a little uncomfortable” but that they tried to be professional. He laughed and said, “It was interesting…very different.”
The former two-time UFC Heavyweight Champion took part in Lucha Libre AAA’s show from the Mullet Arena in Tempe, Arizona on Saturday. He was granted special permission by a Santa Clara, California, judge to participate in the event while out on bail on attempted murder charges.
MMA Fighting posted a video of Cain Velasquez addressing the fans after his match.
“To be here, in front of you guys, right now, it’s a dream come true. I truly appreciate it all, what you guys have always done, supporting me, my family.”
— Cain Velasquez in his first public appearance since being released from jail pic.twitter.com/cCjFdWcnOJ
“To be here, in front of you guys, right now, it’s a dream come true. I truly appreciate it all, what you guys have always done, supporting me, my family.”
Velasquez teamed with Pagano and Blue Demon Jr. in the night’s semi-main event. They defeated Gringo Loco, Sam Adonis, and Taurus in trios competition. It was Velasquez’s first match since Triplemania Regia on December 4, 2021.
After spending eight months in prison, Velasquez was granted bail set at $1 million on November 8. The charges he’s facing stem from a February incident in which he allegedly fired a weapon into a vehicle that contained several people including one who allegedly sexually assaulted both his child and one of a relative.
The full results from AAA’s show in Tempe, Arizona on December 3 are as follows:
Mascarita Sagrada, La Perrush-K & Willie Mack defeated King Drago, Demus & Latigo
Lady Maravilla & Chik Tormenta defeated Sexy Star & Ladi Shani
Nueva Generacion Dinamita (El Cuatero, Forastero & Sanson) defeated Komander, Dave the Clown & Arez
Cain Velasquez, Blue Demon Jr. & Pagano defeated Sam Adonis, Taurus & Gringo Loco
El Hijo del Vikingo & Pentagon Jr. defeated Flip Gordan & Daga
A Santa Clara, California, judge has allowed former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez to wrestle at AAA’s event in Tempe, Arizona, on Saturday, December 3rd.
Per ESPN’s Marc Raimondi, Velasquez will team with Pagano & Blue Demon Jr. against Taurus, Sam Adonis & Gringo Loco.
Velasquez, who has worked for AAA before, will be able to remove the GPS monitor attached to him per the conditions of his bail, but must both take, and pay for, a law enforcement officer with him on the trip.
He can travel by plane and his house confinement restriction, another bail condition, will be waived temporarily from December 1st through the 4th.
On Monday, Velasquez and his legal team requested permission for him to wrestle at the show that is being held at his alma mater of Arizona State University. Judge Daniel Nishigaya kicked the request over to another judge who was more familiar with case.
Velasquez is currently out on $1 million bail on attempted murder charges stemming from a February incident in which he allegedly both chased down and fired a weapon into a truck that contained several people — one of them being a man who allegedly sexually assaulted both his child and one of a relative.
The district attorney’s office objected to the request and initially asked for a rescheduling of the decision despite the fact that new date would be past the show date, making the delayed hearing moot.
This will be AAA’s first show in the country since September 2019 and Velasquez’s first match since December 2021 at AAA’s Triplemania Regia.
Former UFC heavyweight champion and occasional professional wrestler Cain Velasquez has requested permission to be part of AAA’s return to the United States on Saturday, December 3rd.
Velasquez is currently out on $1 million bail on attempted murder charges stemming from a February incident in which he allegedly chased down a man and fired a weapon into a truck that contained several people — one of them being a man who allegedly sexually assaulted both his child and one of a relative.
In Santa Clara County (California) court on Monday for an arraignment, Velasquez and his legal team asked judge Daniel Nishigaya for permission to wrestle at the promotion’s Tempe, Arizona, show — their first in the country since they ran New York City in September 2019. The event will be held on the campus of Velasquez’s alma mater of Arizona State University.
The lead Santa Clara prosecutor was unable to attend Monday’s hearing with a representative objecting to the request and requesting the decision be rescheduled for another month. However, Velasquez’s lawyers objected due to that being past the event date.
Nishigaya rerouted the request to a different judge more familiar with the case and a ruling from the new judge is expected on Tuesday. Velasquez currently has travel restrictions as part of his bail arrangement.
ESPN’s Marc Raimondi noted on Twitter that his team has been discussing his involvement with the show since last week. He was released on bail November 8th.
Velasquez has wrestled for AAA three times before, most recently in December 2021 at Triplemania Regia. He famously was signed by WWE in 2019 and wrestled Brock Lesnar at that year’s Crown Jewel. He wrestled just one more time at a house show before his release.
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back with tons to talk about including AEW Dynamite tonight, your full NXT TV report, Cain Velasquez, Teddy Hart, RAW ratings, USING AN ACT THE RIGHT WAY, and tons more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
