Our lead story in this week’s Observer covers WWE finances. We look at the direct numbers of WWE, revenue, profits, value of the company on Wall Street, what was up and why, what was down and why, exactly how much WWE took in on TV rights, network and merchandise. We look at what the company’s top priorities are for 2021, why the stock price is down, plus Vince McMahon, WWE President Nick Khan, CBO Stephanie McMahon and CFO Kristina Salen comment on the company.
They talk the Peacock deal, the Indian and Latin American markets, new television products, how much COVID cost the company in revenue and costs of the Thunderdome set-up as compared to the old way of doing things.
The issue also covers:
Ratings, as well as what USA would be doing without WWE, and WWE’s declines as compared to cable and network TV as a whole, how much money WWE has taken in and profited, or lost, every year since 1994.
Update the New Japan/AEW relationship, the different steps over the past few years from New Japan blowing off AEW to them doing business with the KENTA vs. Jon Moxley program, why it happened and where things stand now.
Royal Rumble, including how everyone did, stories behind the matches, age of men’s talent in WWE vs AEW and the message loud and clear, two of the main events scheduled for WrestleMania, match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results.
New Japan deal with Roku and what this means both short and long-term, as well as other people who had interest. We look at the keys to the deal decision going the way it did.
Viewing experience for fans from Peacock, John Cena WrestleMania notes, NXT Takeover card, update on the Dusty Classic shows, two top WWE stars talk their recent positive tests for COVID, details behind the firings of Lars Sullivan and Steve Cutler, update on Vince McMahon/Oliver Luck lawsuit, Roman Reigns and Bobby Lashley talk Undertaker remarks, International TV ratings, how wrestling does in comparison to other sports in the ratings, Bill Goldberg talks MMA, background of Reginald, Cesar update, new WWE signing and most watched shows of the past week on the WWE Network.
NJPW New Beginning in Nagoya, with match-by-match coverage, poll results, and where things are going next.
Giant Baba Memorial show.
Television ratings of the past week, including segment-by-segment numbers for the past two weeks on Wednesday, who was watching in different age groups, how different segments did on Raw & Smackdown and more.
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MONDAY NEWS UPDATE
Bryan and I will be back tonight talking Raw and the rest of the news with Wrestling Observer Radio late tonight. You can send questions to the show to [email protected]
On Google trends for the past week, Saturday’s UFC show did 600,000 which is huge for an ESPN+ show. A lot of that was due to having big names like Alistair Overeem and Frankie Edgar lose, and the Edgar knockout loss in 28 seconds was the big discussion point coming off the show. Edgar also trended. It was in the No. 8 spot on Saturday and four of the seven ahead were Super Bowl related. On Friday, Paige VanZant was No. 6 at 200,000 from her Bare Knuckle fighting loss to Britt Hart. On Monday, the death of Dustin Diamond, who dabbled in wrestling but was best known as Screech in Saved by the Bell, had 5 million searches. For a comparison,which tells you how impressive Conor McGregor numbers are, The Super Bowl did 16.5 million searches.
Speaking of McGregor, Ariel Helwani reported today on his podcast with Daniel Cormier that UFC was leaning in the direction of doing a Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier rematch soon. No word yet on what it means as far as the lightweight title is concerned.
Tonight’s Raw will set up the Elimination Chamber PPV. They only have two Raws to build the show, so they will likely have Chamber qualifiers, announce the main event, which the best guess is Drew McIntyre vs Sheamus on the Raw side, plus a Charlotte Flair-Lacey Evans face-to-face segment, McIntyre vs. Randy Orton and more.
Straight Up Steve Austin after Raw tonight has Bret Favre as a guest.
For this week, there are three major Japanese shows airing. New Beginning in Hiroshima day one is Wednesday morning at 4:30 a.m. Eastern with Hiromu Takahahashi vs. Sho. The second show is Thursday morning at 1 a.m. Eastern with Kota Ibushi vs, Sanada for the IWGP title, which is 10 p.m. Pacific Wednesday evening so it starts on the West Coast right after AEW & NXT end. Actually it starts right before NXT ends because NXT usually has an overrun. Pro Wrestling NOAH’s Budokan Hall show with Go Shiozaki vs. Keiji Muto starts at 2:30 a.m. Eastern late Thursday night Eastern time.
Bellator is saying it will have a special announcement tomorrow at 4 p.m. Eastern time.
Heath Schnedier, the promoter of ACW in Florida, a group that worked with WWN, is in bad condition after suffering a stroke which caused swelling on the brain.
Rapper Bow Wow wants to be in WWE saying he wants to team with Rey Mysterio.
UFC
Gokhan Saki, who was one of the best kickboxers in the world when he signed with UFC, has been released. Saki hasn’t fought in nearly three years due to a number of injuries including a fractured elbow.
Guram Kutateladze is out of his 3/13 fight with Don Madge due to undergoing knee surgery.
Andre Ewell vs.Chris Gutierrez has been added to this coming Saturday’s UFC 238 show in the early prelims.
Spike Carlyle announced that UFC has cut him.
AEW
Chris Jericho is doing the narration for the season three episodes of Dark Side of the Ring which have been filming for the last few months.
A replay of Go Big Show airs on CW on 2/12 at 8 p.m.
OTHER NEWS
Impact on Tuesday night on AXS has Trey Miguel & Suicide & Josh Alexander & Willie Mack vs. Chris Bey & Ace Austin & Blake Christian & Shawn Daivari, Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson vs Chris Sabin & James Storm for he tag titles, ODB vs. Kimber Lee and Kiera Hogan vs. Nevaeh.
The 2009 Final Resolution PPV headlined by A.J. Styles vs. Christopher Daniels, Desmond Wolfe (Nigel McGuinness) vs. Kurt Angle, Scott Steiner vs. Bobby Lashley last man standing and more will air at 4 p.m. Eastern tomorrow on AXS.
ACH vs. Brian Pillman Jr. has been added to Wednesday’s Fusion show on YouTube and Fubo. The main event is title vs. title with MLW middleweight champion Lio Rush facing AAA cruiserweight champion Laredo Kid.
A story on Gabi Tuft, the former Tyler Reks, and the sex change operation was covered on the Houston FOX station. (thanks to Ross Blair)
The Melbourne City Wrestling return show from Saturday night went online on their Vimeo page. Slex vs. Adam Brooks in a three stages of hell match headlines. The match got over big with the live crowd.
Robbie Eagles vs. Mat Gauge headlines the 2/20 Suplex Pro Wrestling show in Newcastle, Australia.
Riot City Wrestling is part of Adelaide’s Fringe Festival on 2/27 and 3/20. Matt Hayter vs. Rocky Menero for the RCW title is the main event on 3/20.
FWAS from Saturday night in Sydney, Australia: CBK & AJ b Kasai & Bob the Viking & Tyler Gunn, Parker Tomas b Lee Morrow to keep the Mercury title, Buccaneer Cesar & Rochelle Rouge b Massiva Q & Matt Gauge & Mathias clock, Blackman b Kai Drake, 5 Star Flash b Vinnie Vain in a street fight, Robbie Eagles won three-way over Unsocial Jordan and Sam Osborne, Xena b Tarelee to win the FWA women’s title, Rhys Angel & Donnie Mako b Jude Lndon & Paris De Silva in a 2/3 fall match to win the FWA tag titles (thanks to Kevin Chiat)
Several days after Dustin Poirier’s convincing TKO win over Conor McGregor at UFC 257, we still don’t know what’s next for the UFC lightweight title and what direction Dana White wants to go in next.
On this edition of Josh Nason’s Punch Out, I talk about that, the ESPN+ follies, the future of Conor McGregor and Spencer Fisher with MMA Fighting deputy editor Steven Marrocco.
We discuss whether White made a blunder in not putting the title up for grabs in the Poirier-McGregor clash, what title fight we would like to see, the options for McGregor at this stage of the game and some of the well-documented issues ESPN+ ran into Saturday.
We then talk about Steven’s tremendous feature on Fisher as he battles a slew of physical injuries from his fighting days. Learn how the story came together after seven years, the reaction to the piece, and the follow-up that will help guide fans and others on corrective measures that can be taken to help fighters when they hang up the gloves.
We’ve got a double issue of the Observer out this week with notes on how President Biden’s new policies on international travel will affect wrestlers and fighters from different countries.
Also in this issue:
The new WrestleMania plans, including how the Super Bowl plays into it, the time frame for the shows for both nights, the inside hopes for attendance and how the dynamic is different this year as to what gets announced. We also look at the decision making in regards to Dallas and Los Angeles, update the Royal Rumble and also have notes on match plans.
Coverage of Impact Hard to Kill, with notes on the key angles, the departure of Madison Rayne, Taya Valkyrie and Ethan Page, Page’s scathing words after his departure, plus match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results.
Dwayne Johnson’s new TV show about his life, new WWE signees, Dusty Rhodes men’s and women’s tournament, Kofi Kingston talks his injury, WWE television personality gets an ESPN TV show, A.J. Styles talks retirement, lawsuit update, where wrestling shows ranked with network sports, who is looking for new entrance music, what aspect of WWE’s major events are they trying to sell, why Raw will have two very tough dates for competition soon, as well as the most-watched shows of the past week on the WWE Network.
Coverage of both UFC shows over the past week and the story behind Max Holloway’s setting records.
A story on the life of Paul Varelans, an early star of UFC and MMA around the world, as well as his different forays with four different pro wrestling companies as well as his infamous angle with Taz in ECW. For the first time, Missy Hyatt talks publicly about the situation plus comments from all involved. We look at the tournament days of UFC, crazy street fights, and much more.
A story on the life of Guy Hauray, the voice of WWF in France for a generation.
A story on famous carnival shooter and pro wrestler Dick Cardinal, who was the oldest living pro wrestler at the time of his death.
History of the biggest draws in pro wrestling each year from 1916 to 2020, including what wrestlers were No. 1 for the most years.
Win-loss record of every WWE talent in 2020 including who wrestled the most dates, who never lost, who never won and more.
Television ratings of the past week, segment-by-segment numbers for the past two weeks on Wednesday, who was watching in different age groups, how different segments did on Raw & Smackdown.
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].
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SUNDAY NEWS UPDATE
We have two weekend shows up right now, a show I did Friday night with Garrett Gonzalez talking the news of the week plus interviewing Randy Hales on Memphis wrestling, and last night’s show with Bryan talking UFC 257, New Japan’s show yesterday, Smackdown, TV ratings and more.
The UFC 257 show no doubt did enormous PPV numbers with 11.1 million Google Searches. This would have been the highest except for maybe McGregor vs. Khabib and Ronda Rousey’s fight with Holly Holm as far as general public interest in a show. It was also notable that Amanda Ribas was the only thing that trended not involving the main event, No. 9 yesterday at 100,000. Ottman Azaitar trended on Friday with 50,000 based on being fired. It was almost surely one of the largest PPVs in history and if McGregor doesn’t fight again, it will likely be the largest of 2021.
There was a huge problem because of the interest as ESPN Plus went down for a number of people. For most who were shut out, which Dana White said was mainly a West Coast program, it wasn’t until the third match on the show when it was working again.
White also conceded after the show that Khabib Nurmagomedov is probably not coming back, saying Nurmagomedov told him that none of these guys are even close to him, referring to Michael Chandler and Poirier (who Khabib beat in a one-sided fight). He didn’t indicate what he would be doing about the lightweight title.
New Japan World has another show at 4 a.m. Eastern time late tonight/tomorrow morning from Korakuen Hall:
Will Ospreay & Great O’Khan vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima
Kazuchika Okada & Hirooki Goto & Tomohiro Ishii vs. Evil & Yujiro Takahashi & Dick Togo
Master Wato & Tomoaki Honma vs. Tetsuya Naito & Bushi
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kota Ibushi & Sho vs. Singto Takagi & Sanada & Hormu Takahashi
We got asked earlier today on SNME about Ryback and AEW. Ryback teased signing a new deal with the competition. He’s not signing with AEW.
Newsweek listed the 101 Monumental Moments in television history. The Jerry Lawler-Andy Kaufman angle on the David Letterman show made the list. Usually on lists like this that and the debut of Gorgeous George on national TV in 1947 make the lists (thanks to Brian Henke)
Suwama beat Shotaro Ashino earlier today at Korakuen Hall to retain the Triple Crown.
WWE
The WWE Network has added Evolve 144, ICW Fight Club 156 and Best of British Strong Style in Progress. The Progress show includes Pete Dunne, Trent Seven, Tyler Bate, Walter, Timothy Thatcher, Axel Dieter Jr., Bandido, Flamita & Rey Horus.
E! will be airing a Total Bellas marathon on Thursday.
OTHER NOTES
There is a social media story from today. Masaaki Mochizuki was looking for photos from his first match for Dragon Gate’s magazine. He didn’t have any photos of the match but got one from a friend. His first match was January 21, 1994, 27 years ago, against Taz working for the Kitao Dojo promotion. Mochizuki put the photo on his Twitter today. Alan Counihan sent the tweet to Taz. Mochizuki and Taz then both followed each other and had a DM chat which Mochizuki said was the first time they’ve connected with each other since that match. (thanks to Daniel Short)
MLW is teasing that Laredo Kid will defend the AAA cruiserweight title within its promotion, teasing Zenshi, El Hijo de L.A. Park, Ikuro Kwon and BoKu Dao as possible contenders.
Tom Lawlor will address allegations of Filthy Island financial woes on MLW Fusion on Wednesday.
Myron Dennis (18-7) vs Fabio Chernat (6-1) for the LFA light heavyweight title has been announced for 2/12 from the Hartman Arena in Park City, KS on UFC Fight Pass.
EPW from last night in Perth, Western Australia: Tyler Jacobs b Del Cano, Edith Nght & Davis Storm & Julian Ward b Casey Johns & James Hartness & Aaron Hawk, JoelHagan b Jordan Bishop, Taylor King & Jack wards b Dan Moore & Bobby Marshall to keep the tag titles, James Draker b Bruno Nitro, Mikey Nicholls b Michael Morleone to keep the EPW title (thanks to Kevin Chiat)
Stardom had an afternoon and evening show today from Osaka. The afternoon show: Natsuoko Tora b Ruaka, Tam Nakano & Unagi Sayaka b Saya Iida & Starlight Kid, Utami Hayashishita & Saya Kamitani b Mayu Iwatani & Lady C, AZM & Momo Watanabe b Syuri & Natsupoi, Giulia & Himeka & Maika b Bea Priestley & Konami & Saki Kashima
Night show: Ruaka b Lady C, Himeka b Saya Iida, Starlight Kid b Unagi Sayaka, Mayu Iwatani d Tam Nakano, Bea Priestley & Konami & Natsuko Tora & Saki Kashima won three-team eikination over Utami Hayashishita & AZM & Momo Watanabe & Saya Kamitani and Giulia & Syuri & Maika & Natsupoi
Ice Ribbon from last night in Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Mochi Miyagi & Miku Aono & Thekla b Hamuko Hosh & Tsukush Hiragi Yappy, Yuuki Mashiro & Arisa Nakajima b Ibuki Hoshi & Nao Ishikawa, Ram Kaichow won three-way over Uno Matsuya and Cherry for the Triangle Ribbon title, Totoro Suzulio & Itsuki Aoki & Rina Yamashita b Akane Fujita & Kurumi Hiiragi & Risa Sera, Mayu Yukhi & Maika Ozaki b Tae Honma & Rina Shingaki to keep the International Ribbon tag titles, Tsukasa Fujimoto b Suzu Suzuki to win the Infinity title.
Shine from last night in Port Richey, FL: This was the company’s first show in almost a year. Rocky Radley and Dynamite Didi were both not cleared to wrestle. Marti Belle & Jayme Jameson b Sofia Castllo & Lexi Gomez to keep the tag titls, Harlow O’Hara b Erica Torres, Ava Evertt b Sahara Se7en, Allie Recks b Amber Nova, Natalie Markova b The WOAD-DQ, Chelsea Durden b Katalina Perez, Kimber Lee & Stormie Lee b Jayme Jameson & Marti Belle to win the tag titles, Ivelisse b Allysin Kay-DQ to keep the Shine title.(thanks to Shannon Walsh and Wrestlingwithdemons.net)
Ignite Wrestling from last night in Florida: Jarrett Diaz b Aaron Nova, Tech b that Klassic Tag Team, Robet Martyr b Ozzy Kilmeister, Justin Blax b Timmy Lou Retton and Beastly, Leon The Terrible b KiLynn King, Kaci Lennox b Dream Girl Ellie and Aspyn Rose
Pro Wrestling Australia airs the first two episodes of its PWA Premiere tournament on Ovo Play tomorrow at 8 p.m.. This will be the last event on Ovo Play since the service is folding on 2/1.
PWA Back in Black Label airs on FITE TV on 2/12 at 8 p.m. with Mick Moretti, Jessica Troy, Ricky South and more.
Even though he was a significant betting underdog going into Saturday’s UFC 257, Dustin Poirier silenced his critics once again, defeating Conor McGregor by second round TKO to set himself up for a future UFC lightweight title shot.
McGregor (22-5) edged Poirier (27-6-0-1) in the first round, showing his hand speed and connecting flush on several punches. Poirier was hurting McGregor’s leg with calf kicks and landed several punches at the end of the round that seemed to boost his confidence going into the second round.
In the second, Poirier kept up the attack on McGregor’s lead leg and kept gaining confidence getting into McGregor’s range. The beginning of the end was Poirier hitting McGregor with a left hand and a right hook that put McGregor on his rear. Poirier landed another left to his downed opponent and it was over at 2:32 of the round without question.
Afterward, Poirier said he was happy and that since they are 1-1 against each other, maybe they do this again sometime. He put over his charity and didn’t call for a title shot, saying he felt like this was a title fight. McGregor didn’t have a lot to say afterward but that he plans to fight against this year and is not retiring.
With the win, Poirier avenged his 2014 TKO loss to McGregor while both were at featherweight. He’s now won seven of his last nine dating back to February 2017.
The question now is what the UFC and Dana White do with the lightweight title currently held by Khabib Nurmagomedov. While White said Nurmagomedov was going to wait for this weekend’s results to see if one of the performances would be enough to get him out of retirement, “The Eagle” said in a subsequent interview that wasn’t the case and fighting again wasn’t in his immediate future. Nurmagomedov dominated Poirier in a 2019 defense of the title, so it seems unlikely he would change course.
At the post-fight press conference, White said it doesn’t sound promising that Nurmagomedov will return.
The obvious choice would be to pair Poirier and former Bellator lightweight champion Michael Chandler who also impressed in Saturday’s co-main event with a first round TKO win over Dan Hooker.
For McGregor, his future depends on what his desires are at this point of his career. He had been talking about a boxing match against Manny Pacquiao, but that would appear dead given this result. There is always the possibility of the Nate Diaz trilogy fight, but Diaz is rumored to be facing Justin Gaethje next. There are plenty of other elite lightweights McGregor could fight, but whether they are names enough to interest the pay-per-view powerhouse in taking remains to be seen.
Welcome to F4WOnline.com’s live coverage of UFC 257: Poirier vs. McGregor 2, emanating from the Etihad Arena in Yas Island, Abu Dhabi.
The first UFC pay-per-view event of the year ends the UFC’s third stint on Fight Island, wrapping up three events over eight days, and saving the best for last- the return of the biggest star in UFC history.
Conor McGregor returns to action in the main event when he takes on Dustin Poirier in a pivotal lightweight headliner. This will be the second meeting between the two, as McGregor knocked out Poirier in the first round of their first fight at UFC 178 in September 2014. McGregor hasn’t fought since a 40-second finish of Donald Cerrone at UFC 246 last January, while Poirier is coming off a win over Dan Hooker in one of 2020’s best fights.
In the co-main event, former Bellator Lightweight Champion Michael Chandler makes his much-anticipated UFC debut when he takes on the aforementioned Dan Hooker in another pivotal lightweight fight. Also on the main card is a women’s flyweight fight between Jessica Eye and Joanne Calderwood, a middleweight bout between former TUF winner Andrew Sanchez and Makhmud Muradov, and Marina Rodriguez takes on surging prospect Amanda Ribas in a women’s strawweight bout.
Among the fights on the prelim card, a lightweight fight between Arman Tsarukyan and Matt Frevola, long-time veterans Brad Tavares and Antonio Carlos Junior meet in a middleweight fight, Julianna Pena takes on Sara McMann in a women’s bantamweight fight, and light heavyweight bangers Khalil Rountree and Marcin Prachnio square off.
Follow along with our live coverage of the event beginning at 7 p.m. eastern time with preliminary action all the way thru the main card.
We are looking for your thoughts on tonight’s event, so send a thumbs up, a thumbs down or a thumbs in the middle along with a best fight and a worst fight to Dave at [email protected].
ESPN+ PRELIMS | 7 PM ET/4 PM PT
> Amir Albazi (#15, 13-1, 1-0 UFC) vs. Zhalgas Zhumagulov (13-4, 0-1 UFC) Flyweights
They are trading early and Zhumagulov lands a couple of left hands. Both throwing in close range early on. Albazi with a leg kick. Zhumagulov lands a left hand and then an overhand right. Albazi with a right hand and then pressures Zhumagulov against the fence but doesn’t land much. Albazi lands a couple of jabs. Albazi tries for a knee but eats a counter left from Zhumagulov. Zhumagulov with a calf kick. Albazi gets a takedown against the fence and Zhumagulov is able to work his way to the feet. They are clinched and Albazi lands a knee then they break. Albazi lands a left hook and then Zhumagulov lands a calf kick. Zhumagulov lands a right hand. Zhumagulov gets a takedown and is working in the guard but Albazi throwing elbows from the bottom. Zhumagulov with an elbow from the top at the end. Close round. 10-9 Zhumagulov.
Albazi with a leg kick. They are both looking for an opening. Zhumagulov with a left hand and Albazi lands a leg kick. Albazi with another leg kick. Albazi still applying pressure and lands a leg kick. Zhumagulov misses some strike attempts. Zhumagulov with some body punches. Albazi lands a right hand. Albazi with a leg kick. Albazi with a right hand. Albazi trying to urge Zhumagulov to attack first. Albazi lands a couple of jabs. They trade in close range and Albazi cracks Zhumagulov with a punch. Zhumagulov tries a takedown but Albazi sprawls and lands some punches and a knee to the body. 10-9 Albazi, 19-19.
Albazi pressuring to start the third and lands some punches. Zhumagulov with a right hand. Albazi tries for a takedown but Zhumagulov defends and almost slips on a spinning back fist attempt. Albazi tries a flying knee but they clinch against the fence and Albazi gets a takedown. Albazi working in the guard of Zhumagulov and lands an elbow. Albazi moves to the half-guard. Albazi gets the back of Zhumagulov and is working from there landing some punches. Zhumagulov tries to turn but Albazi keeps back control. Zhumagulov is able to explode to his feet. Zhumagulov lands a combo and then a body kick. Albazi with a leg kick. Albazi with a left hand. 10-9 Albazi, 29-28 Albazi.
Official Result- Amir Albazi def. Zhalgas Zhumagulov by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Lentz lands a short uppercut. Lentz coming forward and looking for a takedown against the fence as he has a body lock. Lentz gets a takedown but Evloev reverses to the top. Evloev with some body punches. Lentz looking for a guillotine choke from the bottom and it is in tight. Lentz reverses to the mount as he still has it locked in. Evloev remaining calm and gets out. Evloev gets to his feet but Lentz still has the neck. Lentz drops down as he still has the neck but Evloev passes as he escapes and is on the top. Lentz again attacking with the guillotine but Evloev escapes again and lands an elbow from the top. Evloev gets in the half-guard and then starts landing some ground-and-pound and lands a big right hand. Evloev ends the round but a flurry. 10-9 Lentz.
Evloev coming forward and they both land right hands. Evloev with a leg kick. Evloev with a jab. Evloev cracks Lentz with a right hand. Lentz with a leg kick. Evloev lands a jab and Lentz gets Evloev to the mat and jumps on the neck. They battle for position on the ground and they scramble up and Lentz jumps up for the guillotine again as they go down but Evloev escapes again and has the back before making his way back to the center. They trade punches and Evloev landing more. Lentz tries a late takedown but the round ends. 10-9 Evloev, 19-19.
Evloev coming out throwing to start the third and Lentz lands a knee. Evloev really landing the jab. Lentz lands a punch that backs Evloev up. They trade in close range. Evloev lands a combo. We have a timeout as Lentz claims he was poked in the eye but we get back to action. Lentz goes for a takedown but Evloev grabs the arm and they go to the mat and Evloev lands some short punches and more as they get to the feet. Evloev lands a left hook and then a right hand and Lentz is backing up. Lentz’ face is a mess right now. Evloev throws a head kick but Lentz blocks it. They trade kicks. They trade late and Evloev lands some nice counter right hands. Evloev landing a flurry at the end. 10-9 Evloev, 29-28 Evloev.
Official Result- Movsar Evloev def. Nik Lentz by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
ESPN PRELIMS | 8 PM ET/5 PM PT
> Khalil Rountree (8-4 1 NC, 4-4 1 NC UFC) vs. Marcin Prachnio (13-5, 0-3 UFC) Light Heavyweights
Prachnio with a high kick. Prachnio lands a combo. Rountree with an inside leg kick. Prachnio with a side kick. Prachnio goes high with a kick but Rountree blocks it. Rountree with an inside leg kick. Prachnio with his own leg kick. Prachnio with a body kick. Rountree with a hard body kick. Both looking for openings and Rountree lands a left hand and then another. They trade in close range. Prachnio with a high kick but Rountree blocks. Rountree with a body kick but eats a right hand from Prachnio. Prachnio with a right hand to the body. Rountree with a calf kick. 10-9 Prachnio.
Prachnio coming out sloppy to start the second and Rountree lands a left hand. Prachnio with a body kick. Rountree with a body kick. Rountree with a right hook. Rountree lands a left hand. Rountree lands another left hand. They trade in close range. They trade again and Rountree hurts Prachnio with the left hand. Rountree lands a left hand and then a body kick. Rountree lands some short right hooks in close range. Rountree lands a check right hook that sends Prachnio almost to his knees. Rountree then lands a head kick and Prachnio is still hurt. Rountree with a body kick. 10-9 Rountree, 19-19.
Rountree lands the left hand. He lands it again. He lands it yet again. Prachnio with a body kick. Prachnio shoots for a takedown but Rountree defends. Rountree lands a jab. Rountree landing and Prachnio landing some shots as well. Rountree stuns Prachnio with a left hand. They trade punches and kicks. They trade jabs. Rountree lands a left hand. Rountree doing more damage but Prachnio landing with more volume. Prachnio lands a right hand. Prachnio lands a right hand. 10-9 Prachnio, 29-28 Prachnio.
Official Result- Marcin Prachnio def. Khalil Rountree by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
> Julianna Pena (#7, 9-4, 5-2 UFC) vs. Sara McMann (#9, 12-5, 6-5 UFC) Women’s Bantamweights
McMann with a leg kick. They trade punches and McMann lands some good right hands. McMann ducks down for a takedown and then lands a right hand as she gets up. McMann with a combo. Pena with a combo. McMann gets a takedown. McMann gets the back of Pena. Pena gets to her feet, not without grabbing the fence. McMann lands some knees to the body. McMann gets it down again and ends the round on top as they both land on the ground. 10-9 McMann.
McMann with a leg kick. Pena lands a combo. McMann drops and gets a takedown but Pena has the neck and is trying for a guillotine choke. It was locked in but McMann uses the cage to pass and escapes and is in the guard of Pena. Pena staying active on the bottom and is looking for a triangle choke. McMann with an elbow from the top. Pena throwing hammerfists from the bottom. McMann gets the back as Pena was trying to scramble to her feet. McMann was going for a choke but Pena escapes and grabs the neck but they stand. They trade knees in the clinch. McMann pressing Pena against the cage but Pena lands a knee. Pena with an elbow on the break and then a combo. Pena lands a left hand. 10-9 Pena, 19-19.
They trade to start the third and Pena pushing forward. They clinch and McMann has the underhooks. Pena throwing some knees. Pena gets a takedown from the clinch and is in side control. Pena working from the top and then grabs the back and is landing and looking for the rear-naked choke. She has it locked in and McMann taps! Big win for Pena as she submits McMann in the third.
Official Result- Julianna Pena def. Sara McMann by submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:39 of Round 3
> Brad Tavares (#14, 17-6, 12-6 UFC) vs. Antonio Carlos Junior (10-4 1 NC, 7-4 1 NC UFC) Middleweights
Tavares with a leg kick. He lands another. Tavares with another leg kick after they both throw punches. Carlos Junior with a body kick and he goes for a takedown against the fence. Carlos Junior has a leg of Tavares. Tavares escapes. Tavares with a leg kick. They trade punches and Carlos Junior tries for a takedown but Tavares defends. Carlos Junior has Tavares pushed against the fence. They break. Tavares with a heavy calf kick and then another. Carlos Junior with a body kick as they throw in the pocket and Carlos Junior goes for a takedown against the fence. Tavares defends but is pressed against the fence. Carlos Junior lands a big knee to the groin of Tavares and we have a timeout. We get back to action and Tavares with a leg kick. 10-9 Tavares.
They trade punches to start the second. Tavares with a leg kick. Carlos Junior gets a brief takedown but Tavares is able to scramble up. Carlos Junior is in deep for a takedown against the fence. They break. Tavares lands a right hand and then a combo. Carlos Junior with the jab. Tavares lands a right hand. Carlos Junior grabs the leg looking for a takedown but Tavares defends. Tavares lands a combo and ends it with a right hand that hurts Carlos Junior bad. Carlos Junior trying to hold on and then Tavares lands a glancing low blow and we have a timeout. We get back to action and Tavares lands a combo. Tavares with a jab and then a body kick. 10-9 Tavares, 20-18 Tavares.
Tavares lands a right hand. Tavares with a leg kick and follows it with a left hand. Carlos Junior with a leg kick. Tavares with an inside leg kick. Carlos Junior tries for a takedown but Tavares defends against the fence. Carlos Junior still pressuring Tavares against the fence. They are broken up by Marc Goddard. Tavares with an inside leg kick. Tavares with a right hand. Tavares with a leg kick and Carlos Junior looks for a takedown as he presses Tavares against the fence. Tavares with some short slaps in the clinch. Carlos Junior doing nothing as the fight ends. 10-9 Tavares, 30-27 Tavares.
Official Result- Brad Tavares def. Antonio Carlos Junior by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
> Arman Tsarukyan (15-2, 2-1 UFC) vs. Matt Frevola (8-1-1, 2-1-1 UFC) Lightweights* (Tsarukyan missed weight by 1 pound)
Tsarukyan with a leg kick early on and then gets a takedown. Frevola rolls back to the fence and they stand and Tsarukyan gets another takedown but Frevola scrambles to his feet. Tsarukyan gets the single-leg and another takedown. They trade punches on the mat. They stand and Tsarukyan lands a right hand. Frevola lands a left hand. Tsarukyan with a right hand. Tsarukyan with a combo. They throw and Tsarukyan goes for a takedown but Frevola reverses and gets a takedown but they stand and are clinched. Tsarukyan with a knee and Frevola lands a knee and they break. They break and Tsarukyan with a body punch. Tsarukyan with a combo. Tsarukyan with an inside elbow. Tsarukyan with a high kick. Tsarukyan with a triple jab and then a right hand. Frevola lands a right hand. Frevola lands a right hand. Freolva stuns Tsarukyan late. 10-9 Tsarukyan.
Tsarukyan going for a takedown right away and Frevola landing punches as he tries to defend. They get up and Tsarukyan has the body locked and gets another takedown. Tsarukyan on top and lands some punches. He gets the back of Frevola as Frevola forces a scramble. Tsarukyan gets another takedown. They stand and both throw and Tsarukyan gets another takedown. Tsarukyan in side control. Tsarukyan moves to the half-guard. Tsarukyan gets the back late as he looked to set up an arm-triangle. 10-9 Tsarukyan, 20-18 Tsarukyan.
Tsarukyan gets a quick takedown to start the third. Frevola tries to land a kick but Tsarukyan grabs it and Frevola slips away. Tsarukyan gets a takedown and is working in the guard of Frevola and landing punches. Frevola tries to slip out and throws an upkick but Tsarukyan grabs the neck and then they scramble up. Tsarukyan drops under and gets the big takedown and has the back of Frevola. Tsarukyan is in side control. Tsarukyan now gets the back and looks to set up a choke but maintains the mount as the fight ends. 10-9 Tsarukyan, 30-27 Tsarukyan.
Official Result- Arman Tsarukyan def. Matt Frevola by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
They are both looking for openings inside the first minute. Ribas gets a takedown and is in the guard of Rodriguez. Ribas working from the top and lands a right hand. Ribas with some more punches from the top. Rodriguez lands some punches from the bottom but Ribas just smothering from the top throughout the first. Ribas has a strong opening round. 10-9 Ribas.
Rodriguez lands a right hand. They clinch and Rodriguez lands a knee. Rodriguez drops Ribas and is pounding away and it looked like Herb Dean stopped it but he didn’t and they keep fighting. Rodriguez then lands an elbow and has Ribas in trouble standing and the fight is stopped. Rodriguez with the huge upset.
Official Result- Marina Rodriguez def. Amanda Ribas by TKO (punches) at :54 of Round 2
> Andrew Sanchez (12-5, 5-3 UFC) vs. Makhmud Muradov (24-6, 2-0 UFC) Middleweights
Sanchez with a body kick and Muradov grabs the leg but lets go. Muradov with a leg kick. They trade and Sanchez shoots for a takedown but Muradov defends. Muradov lands a leg kick and Sanchez lands a right hand. Muradov with a right hand. Muradov with a leg kick. Muradov with another leg kick and then another. Sanchez lands a right hand. Muradov with a calf kick. Muradov with a combo. Sanchez lands a right hand. Muradov tries a takedown but lands some punches instead. Muradov with the calf kick. Muradov with a right hand. Muradov with a leg kick at the end. 10-9 Muradov.
Sanchez coming forward. Muradov with a leg kick. We have a timeout for a groin strike on Muradov. They are both looking to trade. Sanchez drops down for a takedown but Muradov defends as they’re clinched against the fence. They break. Sanchez with the jab. He lands another. They trade punches. Muradov slipping away from Sanchez throwing. Sanchez lands a right hand. Muradov with the jab. Muradov with a combo. Muradov with a high kick that just misses the head of Sanchez. Muradov with two hard right hands late in the round. 10-9 Muradov, 20-18 Muradov.
Muradov lands a left hook as Sanchez lands a high kick. They trade punches. Muradov with a right hand. Sanchez is bleeding from the nose. Muradov with a big right hand as Sanchez covers up. Muradov with a right hand to the body. Sanchez lands a right hand. They trade punches. Sanchez lands a right hand. Muradov lands a big right hand that stuns Sanchez and then a flying knee and Sanchez is pressed against the fence and Muradov tees off and the fight is stopped. Big finish by Muradov.
Official Result- Makhmud Muradov def. Andrew Sanchez by TKO (punches) at 2:59 of Round 3
Calderwood with a body kick. She lands another body kick. They clinch and Eye pushes Calderwood against the fence. They break. They trade right hands. They clinch and Eye with a knee and then lands a punch as they break. They trade and clinch again and Eye with an uppercut. Calderwood with an elbow. Calderwood with a right hand. They clinch againand Eye pushes Calderwood against the fence. Calderwood lands some knees and then Eye lands some body punches as she has the body lock. Calderwood with a knee and they break. They briefly clinch and Eye lands to the body. Calderwood with a front kick and then a leg kick. Back to the clinch and Eye with a knee and Calderwood with a leg kick on the break. Eye lands a right hand. Eye with an uppercut. Eye with a left hand to the body. They trade. Calderwood with a body kick. Eye with a right hand. Calderwood with a right hand. 10-9 Calderwood.
Calderwood with a body kick. They clinch and Eye lands an uppercut. Calderwood with a right hand. They trade right hands. Calderwood with the jab and then a front kick to the face. Calderwood landing and gets a brief takedown but lets it get right back up. Eye with the jab. Eye with some punches in the clinch. Calderwood with a knee and Eye lands a right hand as they break. Eye with a jab. Calderwood with a leg kick. Eye with a combo but eats an elbow from Calderwood. Calderwood lands a knee to the body. Calderwood with a knee and then a body kick. The pace is slowing a little, especially from Calderwood, as they trade. Calderwood with a spin kick. Eye lands a right hand. Calderwood with more volume which is being the difference. Eye with a takedown and pushes Calderwood against the fence. Eye with a left hand from the top. Eye ends the round on top. 10-9 Calderwood, 20-18 Calderwood.
Calderwood with some kicks. Eye comes forward and lands and Eye pushes Calderwood against the fence. Eye pressuring Calderwood against the fence. Eye leaning on Calderwood but can’t get the takedown. Eye lands a couple of right hands. They break and trade and Calderwood clinches. Eye with some body punches and Calderwood lands a body kick as they break. Eye goes for a takedown but Calderwood defends. They clinch again and Calderwood lands a body kick as they break. They clinch and both are landing. Calderwood lands a knee and Eye is cut open. Eye tries a late takedown. 10-9 Calderwood, 30-27 Calderwood.
Official Result- Joanne Calderwood def. Jessica Eye by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
> Dan Hooker (#6, 20-9, 10-5 UFC) vs. Michael Chandler (21-5, 0-0 UFC) Lightweights
Chandler coming forward right away. Hooker with some quick leg kicks. Hooker with a leg kick. Hooker with more leg kicks as that’s all he’s done in the first two minutes. Chandler with a right hand to the body and then one to the head and then a push kick. Hooker circling away. Hooker with a hard leg kick. Chandler knocksHooker down with a left hand and then starts unloading punches on the ground and this fight is stopped. Huge win for Chandler, who couldn’t have looked better in his UFC debut.
Official Result- Michael Chandler def. Dan Hooker by TKO (punches) at 2:30 of Round 1
McGregor lands a left hand. Poirier looking for kicks. McGregor with another left hand. Poirier lands a right hand. Poirier gets a takedown and McGregor gets his back against the fence. Poirier not doing much from the top as they stand. McGregor with a shoulder strike. They trade shoulder strikes. Poirier with a left hand as they’re clinched against the fence. McGregor with some knees. McGregor with a hard knee. He lands a couple more. Poirier trying for the takedown. McGregor reverses and another shoulder strike. McGregor lands a clean elbow as they break. McGregor with a left hand. McGrgor with a combo and Poirier is rocked. McGregor with a hard jab. Poirier lands a hook and a leg kick. McGregor with a left hand. McGregor with a spin kick. They trade late. 10-9 McGregor.
Poirier with a hard calf kick. McGregor with a left hand and then lands a combo with an uppercut. McGregor with a leg kick and then a high kick. Poirier with a leg kick but McGregor counters with a left hand. They trade left hands. They trade kicks. McGregor with a left to the body and then to the head. Poirier with a kick and McGregor grabs the leg and lands a couple of left hands. McGregor lands another. They trade in the pocket. McGregor with a left hand. Poirier still landing the kicks. Poirier rocks McGregor against the fence and then knocks McGregor down and finishes it! Oh wow!
Official Result- Dustin Poirier def. Conor McGregor by TKO (punches) at 2:32 of Round 2
Wrestling Observer Radio with Dave Meltzer and I is back with tons to talk about including the death of Dick Cardinal, RAW and SmackDown and UFC ratings, Conor McGregor fighting this weekend, and AEW and NXT full reviews.
A fun show as always so check it out~!
Timestamps:
Start: Dick Cardinal passes away
6:07: SmackDown, Raw, UFC on ABC ratings
14:03: Conor McGregor returns this weekend, UFC on ESPN notes
27:33: Impact
32:39: AEW
1:06:43: NXT
We have an update with more info on a number of COVID cases involving pro wrestling including more on Chris Jericho, Nick Jackson, Drew McIntyre, Mick Foley, Les Thatcher and more. We look at what Paul Levesque said about the COVID issue, Jericho talking about getting it in September, Nick Jackson, and more on others in the industry.
Also in this issue:
We also have our 2020 Business Year in Review issue talking about the biggest crowds, the biggest PPVs, how the year was totally different from any other, UFC business history and more.
Every major promotion, why this year is so hard to evaluate, what you can’t learn from the past year and can, how things look going into the new year, and issues going forward for every company.
Raw, Smackdown AEW and NXT and compare how they are doing now with one year ago, and where things will be in one year if the current direction doesn’t change.
How much money Linda McMahon donated to Trump’s re-election and funding of the recent attempt to take over the capitol.
Royal Rumble update, how much money top stars can earn from doing social media advertising, Update on WWE’s new A&E documentaries for this year, biggest Wednesday drawing card, more on the next TV special for India, new stars from India debuting including two giants, Dusty Rhodes tag tourney news, the next Takeover show, Injury updates, Lita talks about when she was threatened with being fired, Ricochet contract notes, U.S. sports ratings, U.K. and Canadian TV ratings, New NXT stars, movie star teases working with WWE, Upcoming WWE television shows WWE market value and the most-watched shows on the WWE Network.
Vince McMahon’s lawsuit against Oliver Luck and Luck’s lawsuit against Vince McMahon. We look at McMahon’s complaints as well as what others involved said including some day-by-day looks at aspects of the XFL and its death.
How COVID has changed Japanese wrestling along with new restrictions and what they mean and how they relate to wrestling and the New Japan big show lineup over the next several weeks.
List of the 20 biggest crowds for pro wrestling ever in the country of Canada and notes about business peaks.
Rundowns of the major television shows.
Television ratings of the past week, including segment-by-segment numbers for the past two weeks on Wednesday, who was watching in different age groups, how different segments did on Raw & Smackdown and more.
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].
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MONDAY NEWS UPDATE
Bryan and I will be back tonight talking Raw and a lot of other news as well as taking e-mail questions that can be sent to [email protected].
Today is the 50th anniversary of the night Ivan Koloff beat Bruno Sammartino in Madison Square Garden to win the WWWF title that Sammartino had held for nearly eight years. It was one of the most legendary matches in pro wrestling history. Bill Apter was there that night and tells the whole story of the night including interviews with Koloff and Sammartino.
Raw tonight is the annual “bounce back” show, meaning the first show after the end of Monday night football games. In theory, it should do close to 1.9 million viewers because that would be the equivalent of the 1.72 million a normal show has been doing against football of late. The only things announced are Asuka vs. Alexa Bliss and Bliss explains why she shot fire at Randy Orton. Ric Flair was photographed in Florida with Hulk Hogan on Saturday so he’s in town and was schedulEd as a recurring character in his latest role with Lacey Evans. Charlotte Flair is supposed to cut a promo regarding that angle.
After announcing his retirement multiple times, Conor McGregor told ESPN today that he probably was never going to retire. Hopefully for his sake that’s as honest as his previous statements.
New Japan World has another Korakuen Hall show this morning at 4 a.m. Eastern
Will Ospreay & Great O’Khan vs. Satoshi Kojima & Yota Tsuji
Minoru Suzuki & Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Douki vs Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo & Gedo & Jado
Kazuchika Okada & Hirooki Goto & Yoshi-Hashi vs. Evil & Yujiro Takahashi & Dick Togo
Kota Ibushi & Tomoaki Honma vs. Tetsuya Naito & Sanada
UFC has another show starting at 9 a.m. Eastern on Wednesday morning. It’s a six-hour block on ESPN headlined by Neil Magny vs. Michael Chiesa. It goes head-to-head with the inauguration so given the time slot and the competition, it should probably do the lowest rating for a UFC show aside from some of the FS2 shows.
All ROH talent is under quarantine in Baltimore as is mandated by the Maryland commission to do shows later this week.
WWE
Raw ratings won’t be out until Wednesday because today is a holiday. Friday Smackdown ratings won’t be out until tomorrow.
The Pat Patterson documentary debuts on Sunday on the WWE network. Also debuting Sunday will be a Bianca Belair WWE Chronicle episode.
UFC
Carlos Condit is now a free agent since Saturday’s fight with Matt Brown was the last fight on his contract.
Dana White said that ABC was going to start the 6 p.m. news on time and thus on the East Coast the show had to end by 6. That’s probably why they went with five fights for a three hour time slot instead of six.
AEW
AEW will be airing on TSN 1 rather than TSN 2 live on Wednesday night in Canada.
OTHER NEWS
Impact tomorrow night has announced Rhino vs. Eric Young and Kimber Lee & Susan (Su Yung) vs. Jordynne Grace & Jazz. There is also to be a surprise appearance. I don’t know if he will be on this week’s show, but AAA’s Black Taurus was brought to Nashville for the tapings this week.
Lindaman, who has wrestled for AEW, tested positive for COVID-19. He’s been of late wrestling with a number of different groups in Japan. T-Hawk, who has been around him, and Lindaman are both off Big Japan shows this week. T-Hawk did not test positive but has been in contact with him.
Game Changer Wrestling is doing a 24 hour show that starts on 1/29 at 8 pm. Eastern.
Melbourne City Wrestling announced Ballroom Brawl on 3/13.
Deathmatch Down Under from Saturday night in Melbourne, Australia:
Ritchie Taylor b Tommy Knight, JTX & FOX b Kurtis Day & Avary, Gore b Mitchell Wright, Aysha & Murdoch b Tyson Baxter & Aiden Miller, Gweedo b Joel Bateman to retain the Total Violence title, Mad Dog & Michael Weaver b Raw Beef in a barbed wire board deathmatch, Jake Andrewartha b Caveman Ugg, Damian Rivera b Callan Butcher in a light tubes match.
Riot City Wrestling from Friday night in Adelaide, Australia: Jeff Armstrong won three-way qualifier for the Key to the City ladder match over Royce Chambers and Gabriel Aeros, Caide Tre b JJ Funto and Eli Thesus in a three-way Key to the City ladder match qualifier, Delta b Savannah Summers, Adam Brooks & Antivirus b Nick Armstrong & Toy Toro, Rocky Menero b Barren in a Monster’s Ball match to keep the RCW title, Matt Hayter won the Riot City Rumble.
Riot City Wrestling from Saturday night in Adelaide, Australia: Dean Brady & James Kray & Redshaw b Nick Armstrong & Tony Toro & Down Under, Adam Brooks b Eli Theseus, Izzy Shaw b Delta to keep the women’s title, Zack Sabbath & Mike Boomer b Royce Chambers & JJ Furno, Jensen Hunt b Corvidae, Matt Hayter b Tyler Daniels, Havok won over Jeff Armstrong, Cadie Tre and Kit Condor in a Key to the City ladder match. (thanks to Kevin Chiat)
MLW is advertising Jacob Fatu vs. ACH, the debut of Shawn Daivari and Alicia Atout interviewing Salina de la Renta for the show that gets released on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
The mother of former star Jacqueline Moore passed away over the weekend.
Even after Dana White said in late-October that the fight was official, there were still some questions as neither Conor McGregor or Dustin Poirier had yet to sign their bout agreement.
That worry is now gone as the former two division UFC champion officially put pen to paper after Poirier signed last week, making their January 23rd lightweight main event at UFC 257 official, according to ESPN’s Ariel Helwani.
The location has yet to be announced, but White told ESPN last week that it will be at Fight Island in Abu Dhabi if everything works out as they hope. As of this writing, UFC has yet to officially announce the fight or event but very well could this weekend with the UFC 255 pay-per-view set for Saturday.
The two fought in September 2014 at UFC 178 with McGregor winning by first round TKO while both were at featherweight. McGregor last fought in January with a quick knockout win over Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone while Poirier is coming off a fight of the year candidate with Dan Hooker in June, a bout he won by decision.
After a strong 2020 despite the pandemic, it appears UFC and ESPN+ will get a nice financial kickoff to 2021.
At Saturday’s post-UFC press conference, Dana White said that the much-discussed Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier rematch is “signed” and that the fight deal is done. He didn’t give a date or location.
McGregor tweeted Friday “lightweight division incoming” after tweeting a smiley face Thursday to which Poirier responded with a diamond emoji. The two have been trying to make a fight all month with McGregor giving the date of January 23rd at AT&T Stadium in Dallas, Texas.
The two fought at UFC 178 in September 2014 with McGregor defeating him by first round TKO while both were at featherweight. Since then, McGregor won both the featherweight and lightweight titles while Poirier won the interim title.
White also said at the press conference that Khabib Nurmagomedov remains the UFC lightweight champion and is giving him time while acknowledging earlier this week that he feels “The Eagle” will un-retire and attempt to get to 30-0, something his late father and trainer wanted for him. It was thought that if Nurmagomedov retired, the McGregor-Poirier fight could be for the vacant title.
The on-again, off-again UFC career of Conor McGregor appears to be on again.
The former two division champion tweeted Wednesday that he has accepted an offer to face former interim lightweight champion Dustin Poirier on Saturday, January 23rd. However, he wants the fight at AT&T Stadium in Dallas, Texas.
I accept, Jan 23rd is on!
My goal is to see this fight take place in Cowboy stadium. Proper Style! Jerry Jones is a friend and the stadium can hold our crowd. I will be ready for Texas and Texas will be ready for my fans!
Then Manny. #McGregorSportsandEntertainment
“Manny” is a reference to Manny Pacquiao, the multi-division boxing champion that McGregor has mentioned wanting to fight since facing Floyd Mayweather in his boxing debut.
Poirier is down for the fight, asking McGregor what weight he wants it at. The two fought at UFC 178 in September 2014 with McGregor defeating him by first round TKO. Earlier in the week, Poirier said the UFC has yet to present him with a contract for the fight while ESPN’s Ariel Helwani reported no bout agreement has been signed yet by McGregor.
Several weeks ago on Twitter, McGregor floated the idea that the two should have a charity sparring match in Dublin, Ireland, with a sizeable donation to be made to Poirier’s charitable foundation.
McGregor’s last fight was in January, a 40-second win over Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone in the Irish star’s first MMA fight since losing to lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. Poirier is coming off a June Fight of the Year candidate against Dan Hooker.
A look at how WWE & AEW are handling things like the reopening of Florida, and how Texas looks to be the place MMA companies will go to as far as putting fans in buildings is the lead story in the new issue of the Observer.
We look at the current planned date and place for WrestleMania, what sports are now allowed to do as far as live events in Florida, AEW’s current plans going forward and the new regulations in Texas.
The new issue also covers:
The Samantha Tavel lawsuit against WWE, Matt Riddle, Evolve and Gabe Sapolsky. We look at the claims and look at both sides of the story and stories that have changed. We also look at the strategy of involving WWE i the case, WWE responds to the suit, and go through the time lines and how they differ and wording of the suit. We also go through the background of the case.
History of the non-relationship of NJPW and AEW. We look at how it started, why there was heat, how the ouster of Howard Meij could change things, as well as why there were so many mentions of NJPW on this past week’s AEW show. We look at what happened in January 2019 that caused issues between the two sides, the issues with how talent was handled on the way out, and what would be the first sign if relations started opening up.
WWE draft.
G-1 tournament. We go through what style of wrestlers have been helped and hurt by the current no-cheer, no-boo environment, who has been able to get a reaction, the standings, this week’s matches, plans for the rest of the year in New Japan, plus coverage with star ratings and poll results from every show.
NXT Takeover, the show background, match-by-match coverage and poll results on the show.
Updates on the sports rights fees business and where wrestling fits in, Paige’s tweet about unions, Stephanie McMahon gets major praise, new member of WWE Board of Directors, Drew McIntyre vs. Tyson Fury update, one year anniversary of Smackdown on FOX, more on John Cena’s debut in Fast & Furious, new season of Miz & Mrs. and the time slot, Angel Garza injury update, new A&E specials on pro wrestlers coming next year, more WWE injuries, WWE UK direction, wrestling placings in sports ratings and UK rating s for WWE & AEW, Jack Gallagher talks his being released, college heavyweight wants to be managed by Pual Heyman, Miz working on a new television show, WWE new developmental signings, WWE injury updates, WWE market value and the most-watched shows of the past week on the WWE Network.
This past Saturday’s UFC show.
Bushiroad’s attempt at a major Stardom show this past week.
Rundown of charting the place-winners in the key Observer awards and how it relates to the Hall of Fame.
A feature on the team of Penny Banner & Lorraine Johnson, who were known for decades as being the greatest women’s tag team in pro wrestling with the death this past week of Johnson.
What sports events did the best in viewers per home while talking about AEW setting its company record in that category this week.
Results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.
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.
In evidence in the Samantha Tavel lawsuit against WWE, Matt Riddle, Gabe Sapolsky and Evolve,there was an email sent from Drake Wuertz, who is involved with booking extras on the show, which showed Wuertz telling Tavel she was off shows on 2/5 and 3/4 of this year saying in the email “Apparently there are some past issues I wasn’t aware of with you and one of our talent that would not make for a ideal work environment.” Tavel is claiming that is proof that WWE refused to book her after she claimed she broke up with Riddle claiming she was sexually assaulted in the past. Riddle claimed he broke up with her twice and she was harassing himself and his wife after the breakup. There is a very detailed story in the current Observer detailing the case. No doubt there will be a lot more on the case in the days to come.
According to Ariel Helwani, the UFC has offered a 1/23 date for the Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier fight, but McGregor is publicly insisting the fight takes place before the end of the year, saying he’s willing to fight on 11/21 or 12/12, which are both PPV shows. Poirier has also said he would fight McGregor on either of those dates.
The G-1 tournament returns tomorrow at 4 a.m. Eastern with an A block show from Osaka with Yota Tsuji vs. Yuya Uemura, Tomohiro Ishii vs. Jeff Cobb, Jay White vs Yujiro Takahashi, Taichi vs. Will Ospreay, Kota Ibushi vs. Minoru Suzuki and Kazuchika Okada vs; Shingo Takagi. There is also a Sunday at 5 a.m. Eastern show with the B block with Tetsuya Naito vs. Evil, Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Hirooki Goto, Toru Yano vs. KENTA and Yoshi-Hashi vs Zack Sabre Jr.
Bellator will be the first MMA promotion to run in France with a show in Paris tomorrow that airs at 11:30 a.m. Eastern on CBS Sports network as well as on BBC iPlayer in the U.K.
Mads Burnell (145.6) vs. Darko Banovic (145)
Ryan Scope (160.8) vs. Alan Omer (159)
Oliver Enkamp (168.4) vs. Emmanuel Dawa (170)
Michael Venom Page (174.2) vs. Ross Houston (174.8)
Saul Rogers (145.4) vs Abri Mezhidov (146)
Cheick Koingo (245.6) vs. Tim Johnson (259.8)
The last two bouts will not air on television in the U.S., but air on Bellator’s youTube Channel at about 5 p.m. Eastern time.
UFC tomorrow from Yaz Island in Abu Dhabi for a ESPN+ show starting at 5 p.m. Eastern:
Bruno Silva (125.5) vs. Tagir Ulanbekov (126)
Tracy Cortez (136) vs. Stephanie Egger (135.5)
Giga Chikadze (146) vs. Omar Morales (145.5)
Ali Alqaisi (136) vs. Tony Kelley (136)
Joaquin Buckley (185.5) vs. Impa Kasanganay (185.5)
Chris Daukaus (227) vs. Rodrigo Nascimento (265)
K.B. Bhullar (186) vs. Tom Breese (186)
Ilia Topuira (146) vs. Yuossef Zalal (146)
Tom Aspinall (252) vs. Alan Baudot (254)
Dricu Da Pressis (186) vs. Markus Perez (186)
Ben Rothwell (265) vs. Marcin Tybura (263)
Edson Barboza (145.5) vs. Makwan Amirkhani (146)
Marlon Moraes (136) vs. Cory Sandhagen (136)
The Mexican women’s national title tournament block B is tonight from Arena Mexico on the Ticketmaster website. This week’s teams are Estrellita & Mystique, Dalys & Stephanie Vaquer, Princesa Sugehit & Sanely Jarochita & Lluvia and La Guerrera & Vaquerita. The top two bouts are Forastero vs. Euforia and Caristico & Bandido vs. Negro Casas & Gran Guerrero.
WWE
Smackdown tonight has 20 picks in the draft plus Bayley vs. Sasha Banks for the Smackdown women’s title, Kevin Owens vs. Bray Wyatt, Big E vs. Sheamus falls count anywhere and Matt Riddle & Jeff Hardy vs. The Miz & John Morrison. Riddle being on the show is notable with the lawsuit filed yesterday against both he and WWE by Samantha Tavel.
Those up for the draft tonight are Asuka, Sasha Banks, Bianca Belair, Dana Brooke, Humberto Carrillo, Elias, Angel Garza, Drew Gulak, Heavy Machinery, The Hurt Business, Mickie James, Lucha House Party, Drew McIntyre, Murphy, Rey & Dominik Mysterio, Naomi, New Day, Roman Reigns, Ricochet, Seth Rollins, Mandy Rose, Shayna Baszler & Nia Jax, Shorty G, AJ Styles and Jey Uso. Raw will pick first, third and fifth in every round and there will be five rounds of picks
There have been a lot of people noting that today would have been the 53rd birthday of Eddy Guerrero.
UFC
The Amanda Ribas vs. Carla Esparza fight scheduled for 12/12 is now off for that date but the hope is for it to take place in early 2021. Esparza pulled out of the date and they are looking for a new opponent for Ribas.
Brian Kelleher vs. Ricky Simon at bantamweight is set for a 1/16 date. They had been scheduled recently but one of Simon’s cornermen tested positive for COVID so the fight was pulled off.
Mackenzie Dern vs. Virna Jandiroba has been added to the 12/12 show.
AEW
The movie “Cagefighter: World’s Collide” starring Jon Moxley is available for VOD viewing on Fandango Now and Vudu. Moxley stars as a pro wrestling superstar put in an MMA fight for an attempt at a big business dream match. Chuck Liddell, Jay (Christian) Reso and Luke Rockhold are also in the movie.
A great story by Marc Raimondi about MMA, boxing and pro wrestling on the effect the pandemic has had on developing younger fighters and newer wrestling stars. (thanks to Barry Werner)
An attempt by Jeff Jarrett to get a new trial in his suit against Anthem Sports was denied by Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw in U.S. District Court in the Middle District of Tennessee. PWInsider reported that after the first case was ruled a mistrial, Crenshaw said that due to COVID and that criminal trials take precedence, he has no ability to regularly schedule jury trials.
A note for people interested in my new book, the 1997 Wrestling Observer Yearbook, if you are in Canada the best price would be ordering at amazon.ca For the U.S. market it would be at amazon.com and for the U.K. market it would be at www.WrestlingObserverBook.com
ROH’s pure tournament this weekend on TV has Jay Lethal vs. David Finlay and Fred Yehi vs. Tracy Williams in the first two quarterfinals.
FITE TV will be airing all of the shows of The Collective this weekend including AIW Thunder at 8 p.m. Eastern tonight, Game Chamber at midnight tonight and Josh Barnett’s Blood sport on Sunday.
The PFL has announced the signings of Cezar Ferreira, Renen Ferreira, Sheymon Moraes, Joilton Lutterbach, Hatef Moeil, Marthin Hamlet, Sung Bin Jo and Brandon Sayles for the 2021 season.
KSW 55 takes place tomorrow from Lodz, Poland at www.KSWTV.com with Scott Ashkam (19-4) vs. Mamed Khalidov (34-7-2) for the middleweight title in the main event, plus Michal Materia (28-7) vs. Aleksander Ilic (12-3) and Damian Janikowski (4-3) vs. Andreas Gustafsson (6-0).
Mark Davis of the Aussie Open tag team has returned to Australia and his running classes at the new 3 Count Academy in Brisbane.
World Series Wrestling listed a return in 2021 which featured Marty Scurll in the listing, who is their current champion. They got a lot of backlash for mentioning Scurll, and took down the post on Twitter but left it up on Facebook (thanks to Kevin Chiat)
LFA on 10/16 in Park City, KS on UFC Fight Pass has Andre Petroski (5-0) vs. Aaron Jefferey (8-2) in a middleweight fight as the main event. The show airs at 9 p.m. next week on UFC Fight Pass.
Pro Wrestling Phoenix runs tomorrow night in Omaha, NE at the Waiting Room Lounge.
Jack Bonza, the owner of PWA based in Sydney, has announced himself for the main event of a 10/10 show. He was accused of sexually harassing fans months ago and has not publicly acknowledged it up to this point.
WAR on 11/7 in Lima, OH at the Empowered Sports Center.
A new wrestling magazine in Austria called In de Goschn will be released this month. It will be 100 pages and will focus on wrestling in Austria 80 percent and have some content on the U.S. and Lucha Libre scenes. The people behind it have journalism backgrounds writing for economy papers and magazines in the past. It will be for Austria but have some availability in Germany. (thanks to Markus Gronemann)
Expo Lucha has a virtual convention tomorrow at 1 p.m. on the Expo Lucha Facebook page. They will air a ton of matches from the past. have interviews and more
ICW No Holds Barred on 11/13 in Tampa, FL at the 81 Bay Brewing Company with Erick Stevens, Dom Garrini, Bruce Santee and more.
A look at the Road Warriors, the biggest drawing tag team in pro wrestling history, is the lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. We talk about the birth of the team, the background of Joe Laurinaitis, the early days of Hawk, Animal and Rick Rude in pro wrestling, the role of Ole Anderson and Eddy Sharkey in the story, why the Road Warriors did and didn’t work certain territories, why they rarely worked with Bruiser Brody, why they ended up in AWA, JCP, and how they wound up with WWE. We also look at their departure from WWE, Animal leaving wrestling, and their return.
Also in this issue:
COVID in WWE, AEW and CMLL, changes that were made, why AEW and WWE had a breakout in the same week, how AEW is changing its procedures, the belief of how this all started and much more.
G-1 Climax tournament, with an overview of the first shows, this week’s lineups, standings, poll results, star ratings and more covering all the first week shows.
Sports news that affects WWE’s next television deal as well as shakeups at NBCU that also do. We look at a new WWE marketing idea, Stephanie McMahon’s stock sale, why WWE stock fell, Undertaker talks the end of his documentary, changes at NXT UK, What NXT UK talent were told at meeting this week, NXT UK Heritage Cup tournament, former WWE star talked about returning, more on the Retribution storyline, who is doing the rules and the story behind the finish of the Raw match. We also have international ratings notes, WWE up for awards, new WWE marketing ventures, Roman Reigns talks changes in his presentation, Dwayne Johnson talks, why Kane is in the news again, WWE market value as well as a look at the most-watched shows on the WWE Network.
Saturday’s UFC show and more thoughts on Colby Covington and the line between playing bad guy wrestler and being offensive is.
WWE’s next two major shows with the cards and backgrounds.
Dragon Gate Dangerous Gate show from this past week.
Ratings of all the major shows, the key demos and quarters for AEW and WWE, what happened head-to-head and what can be learned from them.
Results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.
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].
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SUNDAY NEWS UPDATE
Bryan and I will be back tonight talking Clash of Champions, G-1 in Kobe, and the rest of the news tonight with Wrestling Observer Radio. I also have a show with Garrett Gonzalez from Friday night talking the week’s news including the Road Warriors, the Wednesday ratings ebbs and flows, how the COVID outbreak happened and why in AEW and WWE at the same time, and more. We are also scheduled for some special Hall of Fame shows this coming weekend.
Dana White last night talked about making a match with Colby Covington vs. Jorge Masvidal. Originally he was planning on Masvidal vs. Nate Diaz for a January PPV show.
Dana White said that Conor McGregor broke the”man code” by releasing private text messages. McGregor claimed that he did so because White lied about saying he didn’t want to fight, proving they were talking about fighting on a show in May but UFC didn’t want him to fight until they could get fans back. White also said that McGregor texted he was retired and had no idea regarding the talks of a McGregor vs. Manny Pacquiao boxing match. McGregor said that White, in fact, was involved in those talks.
Clash of the Champions starts at 6:30 p.m. Eastern on the WWE Network. We are doing weekend polls for three shows, Clash of Champions, today’s New Japan show from Kobe and last night’s UFC 253, thumbs up, down or middle, best and worst match for each to [email protected] The odds tell you how badly they’ve done convincing people these matches are competitive. The odds are from BetOnline and this show has the most one-sided odds since the days when the results would sneak out and gambling patterns from insider bettors ruled. Here, these one-sided odds are because in most of the undercard matches, nobody takes the challengers seriously.
Asuka vs. Zelina Vega for the Raw women’s title – This will be on the preshow. Asuka is a -1500 favorite to win. Asuka is one of the best workers in the company regardless of gender, but Vega is very much unproven in long singles matches so this is a big one for her.
Bobby Lashley vs. Apollo Crews for the U.S.title. Lashley is a -950 favorite. Crews is really good. If they have time it should be fine but Crews has not been portrayed in booking like he has a chance of winning.
Cesaro & Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Lucha House Party for the Smackdown tag titles. There is a ton of talent in this match, but once again, the challengers have been portrayed as guys getting squashed. The build for this match even more than any other has been beyond mystifying. Perhaps it’s to set up a “fluke” win. Still the champs are favored at -500.
Street Profits vs. Andrade & Angel Garza for the Raw tag titles. Andrade & Garza are -140 to win the match. They’ve wrestled many times before. It should be good.
Jeff Hardy vs. Sami Zayn vs. A.J. Styles for the IC title in a ladder match. Hardy is the king of ladder matches and I’ve seen Zayn have incredible ones over the years as well, and Styles is as good as anyone in WWE. Hardy is -125 as the favorite, Zayn is +150 ad Styles is +300. This should be one of the best bouts on the how.
Roman Reigns vs. Jey Uso for the Universal title. The build for this match on Friday’s Smackdown was really good and Reigns is right now the best portrayed character in the company. And I would think these two in a co-main singles match should have a great match. Jey is really talented and his never gotten a chance to show it in this type of environment. Reigns is a -3500 favorite and literally nobody thinks the title is changing here.
Drew McIntyre vs. Randy Orton for the WWE title in an ambulance match. Ambulance matches in WWE are known for fluke endings. The idea of putting the title on Orton with a fluke and protecting McIntyre seems viable. Keith Lee has been part of this angle since the start and always on the short end. Orton is a -140 favorite to take the title.
Today’s G-1 had incredible matches with Will Ospreay vs. Shingo Takagi and Tomohiro Ishii vs. Kota Ibushi to the surprise of almost nobody. The Kobe show on paper looked to be the best of the tour going in.
Last night’s UFC show did 2.million searches making it the most-searched topic on the Internet in the U.S. last night, beating out the Los Angeles Lakers. Conor McGregor was No. 14 with 100,000. The Charlo Brothers PPV last night didn’t even crack the top 20 which is really bad news for that show. The only other combat sport item all week to crack the top 20 was on Wednesday with the death of Road Warrior Animal at 200,000. Clash of Champions today should be expected to do around 200,000 based on prior shows of this caliber.
Raw tomorrow night not only has competition of the biggest NFL game so far this season, but also the biggest Monday Night game scheduled this season, as well as Game six of the Stanley Cup finals.
Miles Johns vs. Kevin Natividad was reported by MMA Junkie as a new fight for 10/31.
AEW
Dark for Tuesday:
Chuck Taylor & Trent vs. M’Badu & BShop King
Tay Conti vs. Red Velvet
Billy & Austin Gunn vs. Cezar Bononi & Shawn Dean
Penelope Ford vs. Alex Gracia
Luchasaurus & Jungle Boy vs. Alan Angels & Preston Vance of the Dark Order 5 & 10
Dustin Rhodes & QT Marshall vs. Alex Reynolds & John Silver
Nyla Rose vs. Rache Chanel
Brian Pillman Jr. & Griff Garrison vs. Luther & Serptentico
Scorpio Sky & Frankie Kazarian vs. Ryzin & Ray Rosas
MISCELLANEOUS
Kento Miyahara vs. Zeus is the Champion Carnival final and takes place 10/5 at Korakuen Hall.
A correction from the Observer. The Best of the Super Juniors tournament and New Japan tag team tournament are expected on the same tour, but not the next tour. It is scheduled for the final tour of the year. (thanks to Super J Cast).
Kailey Farmer, Kamille Brickhouse in the NWA, had a big night last night. She won the NPC Daytona Beach Classic bodybuilding show, and then while on stage right after winning, her boyfriend, NWA wrestler Thom Latimer, asked her to marry him. She accepted. Latimer was once married to Ashley Fliehr (Charlotte Flair).
IWA’s Double Death Match show scheduled for today was canceled because at least five people scheduled on the show either tested positive for COVID or were quarantining themselves after being exposed to someone who had tested positive.
Warrior Wrestling from last night in Chicago Heights, IL: Moose b Suicide, Mike Bennett b Cheeseburger, Isaias Velazquez b Travis Ttian, Rhino b Best Man, Air Wolf won six-way scramble match, Zachary Wentz b Blake Christian, Joey Janela b Robert Anthony in a street fight, Kylie Rae b Madison Rayne to keep the women’s title, Trey Miguel won the Warrior title in a three-way over champion Brian Pillman Jr. and former champion Brian Cage. Main event, Janela vs Anthony and Wentz vs. Christian were said to be the highlights. Janela did a flip off the goal posts on Anthony and Frank the Clown. (thanks to Lance LeVine)
SHWA from last night in Perth, Western Australia: Callum Collins b Chris Target, Chadwick Jackson & Stella Nyx b Del Cano & Ryan Allen, Dave Marshall b The Horde, Dizzy Videl b Pegasus, Pocket Rockets b James Hartness & Casey Johns, Great George b Toro Blanco, Felix Young b Axxton.
Australian Wrestling Superstars on 10/31 in Sydney will be the first show since the pandemic in New South Wales with a paying audience (thanks to Kevin Chiat)
AAW runs Thursday night at 115 Bourbon Street in Merrionette Park, IL. With only 50 fans allowed the shows sold out instantly. It is available for $12.99 on FITE TV with Mance Warner vs. Jake Crist for the AAW title, Besties in the World vs. Ace Austin & Mad Man Fulton for the AAW tag titles, Christi Jaynes vs. Hyan, Skye Blue vs. Elayna Black, plus Hakim Zane, Karam, Matt Justice, Stephen Wolf, Gringo Loco, Steve Manders, Travis Titan, Air Wolf, Angel Dorado, Ace Perry and more.
The LFA runs Friday night at Hartman Arena in Park City, KS. They will also run 10/16 and 10/30 at the same location. All three events air at 9 p.m. Eastern on UFC Fight Pass. Kevin Wirth (8-1) vs Askar Askar (10-1) and Andre Fialho (10-3) vs. Antonio dos Santos Jr (8-4) headline Friday’s show.
The Los Angeles Times ran a story about a Lucha Libre drive-in show at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, CA put on by Fight Club OC. The show was in the parking lot of the fairgrounds . Fans were encouraged to honk their horns when the action got exciting. They did 173 cars in attendance using locals like Piloto Suicida, who dates back 30 years. A lot of the fans were Fight Club OC regulars who usually attend boxing and MMA shows. (thanks to Mike Kuzmuk)
Eddie Kingston’s Grindhouse results from Tampa, FL: Joseph Black b Davey Vega, Troy Hollywood b Ariel Dominguez, Sean Maluta b Kody Lane, Jeremy Wyatt b Thomas Shire, Jon Davis b Fred Yehi
A former pro wrestling arena which ran ECW events and many other shows is being sold (thanks to Norm Connors)
A look at the Road Warriors, the biggest drawing tag team in pro wrestling history, is the lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. We talk about the birth of the team, the background of Joe Laurinaitis, the early days of Hawk, Animal and Rick Rude in pro wrestling, the role of Ole Anderson and Eddy Sharkey in the story, why the Road Warriors did and didn’t work certain territories, why they rarely worked with Bruiser Brody, why they ended up in AWA, JCP, and how they wound up with WWE. We also look at their departure from WWE, Animal leaving wrestling, and their return.
Also in this issue:
COVID in WWE, AEW and CMLL, changes that were made, why AEW and WWE had a breakout in the same week, how AEW is changing its procedures, the belief of how this all started and much more.
G-1 Climax tournament, with an overview of the first shows, this week’s lineups, standings, poll results, star ratings and more covering all the first week shows.
Sports news that affects WWE’s next television deal as well as shakeups at NBCU that also do. We look at a new WWE marketing idea, Stephanie McMahon’s stock sale, why WWE stock fell, Undertaker talks the end of his documentary, changes at NXT UK, What NXT UK talent were told at meeting this week, NXT UK Heritage Cup tournament, former WWE star talked about returning, more on the Retribution storyline, who is doing the rules and the story behind the finish of the Raw match. We also have international ratings notes, WWE up for awards, new WWE marketing ventures, Roman Reigns talks changes in his presentation, Dwayne Johnson talks, why Kane is in the news again, WWE market value as well as a look at the most-watched shows on the WWE Network.
Saturday’s UFC show and more thoughts on Colby Covington and the line between playing bad guy wrestler and being offensive is.
WWE’s next two major shows with the cards and backgrounds.
Dragon Gate Dangerous Gate show from this past week.
Ratings of all the major shows, the key demos and quarters for AEW and WWE, what happened head-to-head and what can be learned from them.
Results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.
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.
FRIDAY NEWS UPDATE
Garrett Gonzalez and I will be doing a news show later today going over the past week. Bryan and I will have shows Saturday night after UFC and Sunday covering G-1 and WWE Clash of Champions. Variety has a very interesting story on the decline in pro wrestling interest which we’ll talk about on tonight’s show.
Conor McGregor is claiming that he wanted to fight, UFC wanted to wait until they could have fans in the buildings for him to right, he’s waited long enough and now he wants to fight Manny Pacquiao in the Middle East.
UFC 253 takes place tomorrow from Yas Island, Abu Dhabi:
ESPN+ at 7 p.m. Eastern:
Khadia Ibragimov (206) vs,. Danilo Marques (206)
Juan Espino (255) vs. Jeff Hughes (258)
ESPN 2 and ESPN + at 8 p.m. Eastern
William Knight (205) vs. Aleksa Camur (206)
Shane Young (146) vs. Ludovit Klein (150)
Diego Sanchez (170) vs. Jake Matthews (170)
Brad Riddell (156) vs. Alex da Silva Coehlo (156)
PPV at 10 p.m.:
Hakeem Dawaoudu (145) vs.; Zubaira Tukhugov (150)
Ketlen Vieira (136) vs. Sijara Eubanks (136)
Kai Kara-France (126) vs. Brandon Royval (126)
Dominick Reyes (205) vs. Jan Blachowicz (205)
Israel Adesanya (184) vs. Paulo Costa (185)
Tukhugov and Klein both missed weight by four pounds and were fined.
Amidst a lot of controversy, CMLL’s biggest show of the year takes place at 9:30 p.m. Eastern time on Ticketmaster PPV. The problem is you can only watch it live, which rules me out since I’m taping and otherwise would have watched it tonight after the show. All matches are one fall title matches. Bandido, who was to face Volador Jr. for the welterweight title and is off due to COVID (Templario is the replacement) said he has a slight pain in his chest but otherwise was okay.
G-1 this weekend has shows on Sunday at 3 a.m. Eastern, Tuesday at 5:30 a.m., Wednesday at 5:30 a.m. and Thursday at 5:30 a.m. Sunday from Kobe has an amazing lineup with Jeff Cobb vs. Minoru Suzuki, Kota Ibushi vs Tomohiro Ishii, Will Ospreay vs. Shingo Takagi and Kazuchika Okada vs. Jay White.
Dwayne Johnson said he will write the introduction for Ken Shamrock’s Impact Hall of Fame ceremony. A funny story this reminds me of is when Shamrock and Johnson had just started their program, Shamrock told me that Johnson was going to be the next Bruno Sammartino.
New Japan at 10 p.m. Eastern tonight on New Japan World has the first round of their Young Lions tournament with Adrian Quest vs. Blake Christian, Clark Connors vs. Jordan Clearwater, DKC vs Logan Riegel and Danny Limelight vs. Barrett Brown.
WWE
Clash of Champions odds kind of tell you a lot about the show. These are from www.BetOnline.ag
Drew McIntyre -120 vs. Randy Orton -120
Roman Reigns -3000 vs. Jey Uso +850
Asuka -1250 vs. Zelina Vega +525
Bayley -600 vs. Nikki Cross +350
Jeff Hardy -125 vs. Sami Zayn +150 vs. A.J. Styles +300
Bobby Lashley -950 vs. Apollo Crews +500
Andrade & Angel Garza -140 vs. Street Profits +100
Cesaro & Shinsuke Nakamura -300 vs. Lucha House Party +200
Shayna Baszler & Nia Jax -250 vs. Liv Morgan & Ruby Riott +170
Smackdown tonight has a non-title match with Jeff Hardy vs. Sami Zayn, Alexa Bliss vs. Lacey Evans and Roman Reigns doing an interview. This will be notable because Smackdown numbers have increased greatly since the Thunderdome and the returns of Reigns, but last week’s show dropped significantly, so we’ll see if last week was a fluke or the new level.
NXT won the first quarter on Monday. At 8 p.m., NXT had 1,205,000 viewers which has to do with its lead in and AEW had 791,000.
WWE and Hyundai have worked out a promotional deal with a 10-episode series with WWE stars telling stories and making appearances.
The Takeover UK Dublin show scheduled for Dublin has been moved to June 20, 2021.
The belief is that the original cause of the outbreak was a coach at the Performance Center but there was also a party where many of the names who have it were at which included both WWE and AEW talent/
Entertainment reporter and founder of Reel Talker Jim Alexander interviewed John “Morrison” Hennigan. John talks about his friendship with Dolph Ziggler and doing a movie together.
Ric Flair will be getting his own Adidas sneaker line. This has been in the works for some time but Flair announced it today.
UFC
Rodolfo Vieira is out with an injury and off the 10/10 show. Dricus De Plessis will replace Vieira and face Markus Perez. Du Plessis is a former KSW welterweight champion.
MISCELLANEOUS
Today is the 50th birthday of Hall of Famer Aja Kong.
Donald Trump’s administration put sanctions on an Iranian court and several judges regarding the death of wrestler Navid Afkari, who was killed in spite of worldwide appeals for clemency including from Trump.
Wrestle Rampage runs on 10/10 at its dojo in Adelaide, Australia.
PWA’s Colosseum tournament shows in Sydney, Australia in October have been canceled.
Adrenaline Pro Wrestling in Australia announced they most likely won’t be running any shows until 2021 and will also have new management. Sammy Guevara is the current champion with the promotion and it’s very unlikely they’ll be able to bring him in for a while (thanks to Kevin Chiat)
On the TV show “Jeopardy” on Tuesday, there was a 200 point question asking before Ronda Rousey was a UFC fighter, she was an Olympic medalist in what sport? The answer was judo and the contestant got that correct. A 400 point question was No bones about it, this UFC light heavyweight champion has a brother who plays for the Baltimore Ravens. The contestant did not get that right. (thanks to Grant Zwarych)
Expo Lucha will go viral on 10/10 on Masked Republic’s Twitch channel.
The PFL has announced a deal with Wave.tv with its content to distribute on the channel. Wave.tv will air PFL highlights, original short form content, fighter profile pieces and more.
Synergy Pro Wrestling runs tomorrow night on FITE TV from the Monster Factory in Paulsboro, NJ at 7 p.m. Eastern. Top matches are Brandon Kirk vs. Tony Deppen for the Synergy title, Warhorse vs Frightmare for the IWTV title, and Ace Austin vs Jodan Oliver.
NFC Atlanta has a $10,000 All Valley No Gi jiu jitsu championship tournament on 10/17 at Elite Edge Fitness. Registration is $100 and it will air on Flo Grappling.
AIW Thunder in Paradise on 10/9 in Indianapolis, IN at the Marion County Fairgrounds
SlamWrestling.net has an interview with Josh Crane up today, where he talks about those nutty bouts in Japan where the loser fell into a pit of scorpions or a tank of piranhas, plus upcoming bouts, including the UWFi-style bouts in Paradigm Pro.
Former two-division UFC champion Conor McGregor has found himself once again in the news for the wrong reasons as TMZ reported Saturday he was taken into custody and questioned by French police following accusaions of sexual assault.
While details are light, the alleged incident took place in Corsica (an island and region of France in the Mediterranean Sea) on September 10th and included “acts that could be described as attempted sexual assault and sexual exhibition” according to prosecutors. Another report said the incident took place at a bar.
McGregor and his team were quick to deny any allegations, saying he was interviewed, released, and no charges were filed. His agent Audie Attar released a statement to MMA Fighting, saying, “I am irate and putting out a warning loud and clear: Conor McGregor is not and will not be a target for those seeking to score a headline or a payday.”
During an appearance on ESPN First Take Tuesday where he made a formal announcement about Fight Island, UFC president Dana White discussed some other topics including the trilogy fight that could determine the best UFC heavyweight of all time.
White said that UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic vs. Daniel Cormer III is set for Saturday, August 15th, but doesn’t have a location yet. The two first fought in July 2018 when the then-light heavyweight champion Cormier knocked out Miocic in the first round to become a double champion. They rematched just over a year later and Miocic reclaimed the title with a fourth round TKO win.
Miocic had set the record for most consecutive title defenses (three) before the Cormier loss while Cormier had never been beaten at heavyweight before MIocic beat him.
Other notes from the conversation:
White claimed that Conor McGregor could have fought at UFC 249 as a replacement for either lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov or Tony Ferguson, but chose not to because he said “I’m not a replacement fighter. I’m not going to do it.” Justin Gaethje instead moved into Nurmagomedov’s position and defeated Ferguson for the interim lightweight title. White said McGregor was frustrated that he can’t get what he wants, and recommended the former two divison champion sit back and wait to see how things play out.
When asked about the contracts for Jon Jones and Jorge Masvidal, White aired frustration since both signed new deals recently. He said Jones signed a new deal less than a year ago and has eight fights remaining which contradicts what Jones said. With Masvidal, White said he signed a new deal seven months ago.
He said Kamaru Usman just signed a new six fight deal.
