Jade Cargill already knows which WWE brand she’ll be on.
In an interview with ESPN’s Marc Raimondi, Cargill said that she already knew which brand she would be on. However, she wouldn’t reveal what brand.
“Everybody’s going to have to tune in to every network to see where I’m going,” she said. “I’m here to stir the pot and keep people guessing where I’m going to be. So, just tune in.”
Cargill put over WWE and the people in charge, saying that the Performance Center was where one could get the best quality training. She also noted she was the first signee under TKO.
“I mean you can’t get any better than that. And I’m the first signing under the TKO umbrella…where else can you go to get the best quality training, nowhere else. The PC here is one and one, the machine is behind you…the question is, why not?”
Cargill ultimately said that the choice to switch from WWE to AEW was “a no-brainer”.
“I thought this was a no-brainer. I thought I could get any better as far as in the ring than to come here and join a mega company.”
It was announced on Tuesday that Cargill had signed with the WWE. She last appeared on AEW television on the September 13 edition of Dynamite, losing to Kris Statlander.
Dave Meltzer and I are back for a Friday edition of Wrestling Observer Radio going over all the news in the latest issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back with tons to talk about including CM Punk’s ESPN interview, Miro is back and doesn’t understand why he wasn’t used, legal stories on Ted DiBiase and WWE vs. MLW, your calls and tons more. IT’S FUN FRIDAY EVERYONE!
AEW and ESPN announced a partnership Thursday that will see Dynamite, Rampage and pay-per-views made available to ESPN subscribers in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.
Starting on Thursday, February 16th, AEW Dynamite will air on Thursdays Australian Eastern Daylight Time and AEW Rampage on Saturdays Australian Eastern Daylight Time with episodes available via same-day replays and on-demand as well.
Via ESPN, fans will be able to purchase AEW PPVs like Revolution, Double or Nothing, All Out and Full Gear.
Both ESPN & ESPN2 are available via Foxtel, Kayo Sports, Fetch TV and SKY NZ. Foxtel is the broadcast entity that also has an extensive partnership with WWE.
The list of regions are Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Cook Islands, Solomon Islands, Niue, Nauru, Vanuatu, Kiribati, Northern Marianas, Tokelau, Tahiti, Tuvalu, New Caledonia, American Samoa, Marshall Islands, Palau, Federated States of Micronesia, Papua New Guinea, and Wallis and Futuna.
As noted in a press release, this is AEW’s first broadcast deal in the region and ESPN’s first partnership with a pro wrestling organization in the region.
Gable Steveson is now training full-time at the WWE Performance Center after undergoing a heart procedure last month, according to a new report.
ESPN reports that Steveson underwent an ablation last month to treat Wolff-Parkinson-White (WPW) syndrome, and is now training full-time in Orlando under the guidance of Fit Finlay.
WPW syndrome is a congenital heart condition that causes rapid heartbeat, according to the Mayo Clinic. An ablation “uses small burns or freezes to cause some scarring on the inside of the heart to help break up the electrical signals that cause irregular heartbeats,” according to Johns Hopkins Medicine.
Steveson tells ESPN that the condition was discovered in 2021 prior to his competing in the Olympics in Tokyo, but that he did not undergo the ablation until WWE’s medical team guided him through a process that “spanned many months.”
The report states that WWE recommended top cardiologists for Steveson, and quotes chief content officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque: “We’re glad to see that Gable is healthy and training full time at our Performance Center in Orlando.”
WWE announced Steveson’s signing to a multi-year contract in September 2021. He was drafted to the Raw brand in the 2021 WWE Draft, but has yet to have his in-ring debut.
Steveson appeared on both nights of WrestleMania 38 earlier this year.
Steveson’s brother Bobby is also signed to WWE, and performs as Damon Kemp on the NXT brand.
WWE commentator Pat McAfee has picked up a significant new role in sports media that will see his commentating career on SmackDown put on hold.
The New York Post reported on Tuesday night that McAfee is joining ESPN’s “College GameDay” as a full-time member of the show. “College GameDay” airs live on Saturday mornings every week during college football season.
McAfee will be in Austin, Texas this Saturday, where “College GameDay” is airing from ahead of the University of Texas facing the University of Alabama.
While the New York Post initially reported McAfee will remain with WWE, McAfee said on his show Wednesday that WWE felt it was better for his health and family and such if he focused on the ESPN opportunity even though he wanted to do both.
“I’m still very much part of the WWE family,” he said.
SmackDAHN will be on hold for a little bit while I do College GameDay.. I'm still VERY much in the WWE family & will still be doing things with WWE#PMSLivepic.twitter.com/bhSpOYg3wW
Paul “Triple H” Levesque weighed in on Twitter to further explain and reiterate that McAfee will remain associated with WWE.
.@PatMcAfeeShow approached us about his amazing opportunity with College GameDay. We’d never stand in Pat’s way, as he continues to architect his exceptional career.
Pat will remain a member of the @WWE Universe and we look forward to his return. #UpToSomethingSZN
McAfee posted a tweet last night noting that he’ll discuss the details of his “College GameDay” deal on Wednesday’s show.
“GameDay is a show that I’ve been a fan of FOREVER,” McAfee wrote. “So many moving parts including real cool conversations w/ the fine folks from WWE..all moved quickly. Will lead show manana w/ all the deets.”
McAfee, who calls SmackDown on Friday nights alongside Michael Cole, signed a multi-year contract extension with WWE this July. That month also saw McAfee step into the ring, with him defeating Happy Corbin at SummerSlam.
“Stone Cold” Steve Austin stuns everyone (Theory, Vince McMahon, and Pat McAfee) at WrestleMania 38 night two
The Undertaker gets inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame
Big E cashes in his Money in the Bank briefcase to win the WWE Championship
The final stage of voting is now open. The ESPYS will air live on ABC at 8 p.m. Eastern time on Wednesday, July 20.
Cody Rhodes tweeted about his return making it to the final four: “Truly a moment I couldn’t envision and a door I thought would never be open again. A gigantic gamble and I went all in, wrestling fans returning that energy and seeing so many people vote for this moment fills my heart up. Damn I love it! Let’s win an ESPY”
Big E also tweeted: “Please continue to send in your pity votes. I also have a mildly uncomfortable bunion if that helps.”
This is the third year that the Best WWE Moment category has been included in the ESPYS. Roman Reigns returning from leukemia won the award in 2019. In 2021, Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair becoming the first Black women to main event WrestleMania was the winner.
The ESPYS celebrate “the greatest moments and achievements in sports over the last year.”
ESPN has revealed the nominees for this year’s Best WWE Moment ESPY Award.
The 16 nominees for the award have been placed into a bracket, with fan voting beginning today and taking place in three stages through July 8. The ESPYS will air live on ABC at 8 p.m. Eastern time on Wednesday, July 20.
The Best WWE Moment nominees are:
Left side of the bracket —
Brock Lesnar wins men’s Royal Rumble match vs. Bianca Belair wins Raw Women’s Championship at WrestleMania 38
John Cena returns at Money in the Bank 2021 vs. Ronda Rousey wins women’s Royal Rumble match
WWE welcomes back live crowds in July 2021 vs. “Stone Cold” Steve Austin stuns everyone at WrestleMania 38 night two
Roman Reigns becomes Undisputed WWE Universal Champion at WrestleMania 38 vs. Cody Rhodes returns at WrestleMania 38
Right side of the bracket —
Big E cashes in Money in the Bank briefcase to win WWE Championship vs. The Miz turns against Logan Paul at WrestleMania 38
Becky Lynch returns at SummerSlam 2021 vs. The Undertaker gets inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame
Edge defeats Seth Rollins inside Hell in a Cell at Crown Jewel 2021 vs. Wee Man body slams Sami Zayn at WrestleMania 38
Brock Lesnar returns at SummerSlam 2021 vs. “Stone Cold” Steve Austin returns to the ring at WrestleMania 38 night one
The ESPYS celebrate “the greatest moments and achievements in sports over the last year.”
This is the third time that the Best WWE Moment category has been included in the ESPYS. In 2019, Roman Reigns returning from leukemia won the inaugural award. Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair becoming the first Black women to main event WrestleMania won the award in 2021.
There was no Best WWE Moment category at the 2020 ESPYS due to the award show changing its focus amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
WWE’s Matt Camp and Ryan Pappolla hosted a bracketology special on YouTube to unveil this year’s nominees:
Updates on the WWE PPV shows heads up the new issue of the Observer, including proposed main events, ticket sales and the reason for the Hell in a Cell change.
Also in this issue:
Update on the health situation of Antonio Inoki.
Another Saudi Arabia lawsuit, the details in the suit and the two possible endings including comments from Jerry McDevitt.
Updated ticket sales for all the WWE shows through early September, demand and comparisons with AEW, plus why WWE books NBA buildings and blocks off most of the building while AEW runs smaller buildings.
Dwayne Johnson talking the presidency, Edge creative, Brock Lesnar in WWE, new WWE hires, house show changes, Ronda Rousey update, international AEW & WWE ratings, what WWE is looking for in tryout camps going forward, ESPY Award, Titus O’Neil, John Cena movie, vaccines in WWE, Andre the Giant history, WWE injuries, WWE new names, plus the most-watched videos of the past week and WWE market value.
The decision by New Japan Pro Wrestling to run three Domed stadium shows in the upcoming months and how the Saitama dates preclude them from their biggest named American stars, plus the attempt to run so many major shows on successive dates in July.
Full coverage of UFC 263, with poll results, match-by-match rundowns, and the future direction of the top fighters on the show.
Full coverage for NXT Takeover, including poll results, star ratings, direction after Takeover, the next two major dates for the promotion, as well as interest level in the show.
An update on Don West, the former TNA announcer, as he battles brain cancer.
The Federacion promotion, the latest company to try and make it as a major group in Mexico, what went wrong, and the history of new attempts to go national in that country.
Stardom Cinderella tournament finals and the main event that has gotten so much talk, Utami Hayashshita vs Syuri, with the background on the two, plus coverage of storylines and direction, match-by-match with star ratings.
More into detail on the ratings than any other source, how many different viewers the shows had, breakdown of who watches the shows and how they watch, DVR numbers and how long the average fan watches.
Results of the major pro wrestling events of the past week
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MONDAY NEWS UPDATE
Bryan and I will be back tonight with Wrestling Observer Radio covering Raw and the latest wrestling and MMA news. If you’ve got any questions for the show you can send them to [email protected]
We’ll have much more in the issue, but Smackdown did 2,040,000 viewers and 0.54 in 18-49 for the show with Roman Reigns vs. Rey Mysterio in the Hell in a Cell title match. It was the most viewers the show has done since 5/7. AEW on Friday night was up to 551,000 viewers and 0.20 in 18-49, so up in viewers a lot and up slightly in the demo. It was the most viewers they’ve had since Friday which surprised people because it didn’t have a big main event.
Raw tonight has both men’s and women’s Money in the Bank qualifiers. The men’s matches are A.J. Styles vs. Ricochet, Randy Orton vs. John Morrison and Drew McIntyre vs. Riddle. Yes, McIntyre lost a match where he could never challenge Lashley for the title and the next day was in a match where the goal was to challenge Lashley for the title. In the women’s side, it’s tag matches with Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler vs. Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross and Asuka & Naomi vs. Eva Marie & whatever name Piper Niven ends up being called.
WWE Hell in a Cell finished No. 10 for searches on Google yesterday with 200,000, which is the normal interest level for a WWE PPV show. We’re looking for your thoughts on the show so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]
Karrion Kross, Scarlett and Bronson Reed are again backstage at television today. As of 30 minutes before this writing, the plan was for Kross vs. Shelton Benjamin on Main Event and that Scarlett will not be used in the corner. Scarlett is being talked about for a tryout on her own this coming Friday.
Ariel Helwani announced today a series of new jobs he’s going to after leaving ESPN with the expiration of his contract six days ago. He is largely taking time off until August and will start these gigs:
He returns to MMA Fighting to do the MMA Hour every Monday & Wednesday, a talk show with the top MMA talent
He will do a YouTube show interviewing people from outside the MMA world, whether it be music, pro wrestling, sports, book authors and more
He will write MMA for Substack
He will work with BT Sports in the U.K. on MMA, boxing and WWE pro wrestling.
He will work for The Ringer doing shows on Friday’s before major MMA shows and Saturday nights after, talk shows covering the events.
New Japan has a Korakuen Hall show tomorrow at 5:30 a.m. on New Japan World:
Tetsuya Naito & Shingo Takagi & Sanada & Bushi vs. Kota Ibushi & Satoshi Kojima & Yuji Nagata & Hiroyoshi Tenzan
Tomohiro Ishii & Yoshi-Hashi & Hirooki Goto defend the Never six-man tag titles against Evil & Yujiro Takahashi & Dick Togo
There will also be a Wednesday morning Korakuen Hall show with Sho & Yoh defending the IWGP jr. tag titles against Ishimori & Phantasmo
WWE
Congratulations to Mustafa Ali who announced that he and his wife were expecting a child in December.
Kevin Owens on Twitter wrote, “I fought like hell, Now, I need a little break. I’ll be back soon.” The impression we were given is this is a storyline.
AEW
Dark Elevation tonight:
Jade Cargill vs. Robyn Renegade
The Acclaimed vs.Baron Black & Tamillian Vineesh
Wardlow & Shawn Spears vs. Ryzin & Kal Herro
Kris Statlander vs. Rene Michelle (who was in WWE as Drake Maverick’s real-life wife)
Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Darien Benston
Brian Pillman Jr. & Griff Garrison vs. Bums R Us
FTR vs. Royce Isaacs & Jorel Nelson
Matt Hardy vs. Jora Johl
Penta & Eddie Kingston vs. Vary Morales & Fuego del Sol
Matt Sydal vs. Jack Evans
Nyla Rose vs. Delmi Exo
Jungle Boy vs. Cezar Bononi
OTHER NOTES
XICW from Saturday night in Standish,MI: Solo b Kyler Coleman, Aam Wick b Alex Weir, LJ Lawrence & Billy Ray Daniels won over Mysterious Movado & Royce Carney III, Mike Idol & Jamie Race and Eric Freedom & Kavan O’Reilly, Brutus Atwell b Soultaker, Kevin Kalloway & Sean Tyler b Jheras Grey & Jimi Grey, Tommy Vendetta d Dre Jacobs, Schwartzy & Randi West b TJ Meyer & Hannah Henderson, Mongo b Justin Dream, Rhino & Cody Deaner b DBA & Jaimy Coxxx, Aaron Orion b Trey Miguel (thanks to Leonard Brand)
A correction from yesterday’s results from Memphis. We listed Briar & Blair Skimahorn over Lil Chris & Aaron Roberts & Zay Washington winning their tag titles. It was actually the Skimahorn team over Lil Chris by himself and Roberts & Washington in a triple threat match to win the tag team titles as Chris’ partner Simon was hurt.
AIW on 7/30- has the Chandler Biggins Memorial tournament at the Odeon Concert Club in Cleveland with only 150 tickets available. They also run 7/31 in Jefferson, OH at the Ashtabula County Fairgrounds.
Mike Dimuzio, 63, a referee who worked all over from the Northeast into Tennessee and the Carolinas, passed away due to cancer on Saturday morning. He also ran his own promotion out of Gettysburg, PA. He loved working at wrestling events.
Dean Muhtadi, the former Mojo Rawley, is in the trailer for the upcoming G.I. Joe movie “Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins.” He’s shown briefly in the trailer in a fight scene.
Kylie Rae vs. Lady Frost, the granddaughter of 60s and 70s star Tony Marino, will headline for Warrior Wrestling on 7/17 in Chicago Heights, IL
The “Best WWE Moment” category is back for this year’s ESPY Awards.
ESPN revealed the categories for this year’s ESPYS on Wednesday, with the Best WWE Moment category making its return after being introduced in 2019. Roman Reigns returning to WWE television and announcing that his leukemia is in remission won the award in its first year.
There was no Best WWE Moment category at the 2020 ESPYS as, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the award show shifted its focus from celebrating athletic achievement to highlighting service, perseverance, and courage from within the world of sports. WWE’s Titus O’Neil was one of the nominees for the Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award last year.
This year’s ESPYS award show is taking place on Saturday, July 10 and will air live on ABC at 8 p.m. Eastern time. There are 16 nominees for the Best WWE Moment award. They’ve been divided into eight first-round matchups, and fan voting is now open. Voting for the quarterfinals will begin on Monday, June 21. The final four will then be unveiled on Friday, June 25.
Here are the nominees and first-round matchups for this year’s Best WWE Moment award:
Match one —
Dominik Mysterio makes in-ring debut at SummerSlam, with dad Rey Mysterio in his corner
Roman Reigns returns to SmackDown and aligns with Paul Heyman
Match two —
Pat McAfee confronts and punts Adam Cole
Goldberg returns to challenge Drew McIntyre for WWE Championship
Match three —
Keith Lee breaks Adam Cole’s record 403-day reign as NXT Champion at The Great American Bash
Sasha Banks & Bianca Belair become the first Black women to battle in a WrestleMania main event
Match four —
Edge wins the 2021 Men’s Royal Rumble and becomes the third person ever to win from the No. 1 spot
Kevin Owens stuns Logan Paul at WrestleMania
Match five —
Sasha Banks wins the SmackDown Women’s Championship at Hell in a Cell
Randy Orton sets The Fiend on fire at TLC
Match six —
Undertaker celebrates his 30th anniversary and gives his final farewell
Bobby Lashley wins WWE Championship for the first time
Match seven —
Bayley turns on Sasha Banks
Bad Bunny teams with Damian Priest at WrestleMania and unveils a “Bunny Destroyer”
Match eight —
Bianca Belair wins the Women’s Royal Rumble, sets record for longest time spent in the match
The Miz cashes in MITB at Elimination Chamber, becomes the first two-time Grand Slam champ
Double or Nothing is the lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer. Match-by-match coverage, star ratings, poll results, surprising PPV numbers and reasons why it happened, the atmosphere, what did and didn’t work and the signing of Mark Henry and the situation with Lio Rush.
Also in this issue:
WWE front office hires, their background, the shift in company strategy an how they fit in, as well as the reasons for the controversy regarding Jamie Horowitz and what happened when he was at FOX.
WWE cutting of Braun Strowman, Lana, Ruby Riott, Aleister Black, Murphy and Santana Garrett, reasons all were let go as well as the future prospects for all of them individually.
WWE schedule going forward, with the shows through September, the exclusive first word on plans for NXT going on the road, and a SummerSlam update.
New Japan/WWE talks, the history of Vince McMahon and booking of WWF talent in Japan when working with the Japanese, next Takeover show, more firings, U.K. and Canadian ratings, next week’s TV show and most-watched WWE videos.
A major feature on the life of 60s and 70s star Tony Marino, from his bodybuilding days to his start in wrestling, his international tours, the Battman gimmick from the Batman TV show, his biggest career shows, being part of setting the all-time indoor pro wrestling gate record for North America in 1970 and more.
More detail on ratings than any other source, how every segment on NXT and AEW did with different age groups and more, all other wrestling shows of the past week, how many different viewers the shows had which is very different from the television number, breakdown of who watches the shows, how they watch, DVR numbers and how long the average fan watches.
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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If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
MONDAY NEWS UPDATE
Bryan and I will be back tonight with Wrestling Observer Radio, talking Raw, the Bret Hart documentary, Dominion, Mayweather vs. Logan Paul and the rest of the news. You can send questions to the show to [email protected].
The Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Logan Paul fight yesterday ended up being a big success on PPV, at least based on the very weak advance. Based on U.S. television buys,not including international or streaming, the verified number we have based on limited data although covering several million homes was 11.9 times what AEW Double or Nothing did. So that probably falls in the 600,000 to 650,000 range but any number this early with limited data is a very rough estimate. It was a Showtime event and they are a public company so most likely they will announce an estimate (that will include streaming numbers so a number much higher than this) later in the week.
The event ended up getting 11.5 million Google searches, so based on that, there was far more interest in the fight than people who actually wanted to pay to watch it. It was easy money for Mayweather, but whether this gimmick will run its course or not as freak show fights usually do if they are done too often, remains to be seen. But this was still a lot of revenue at $50 a pop.
Francis Ngannou said that it’s amazing that Logan Paul could make $20 million for a boxing exhibition since he vs. Jon Jones could generate more PPV revenue and neither will make anywhere near that, and in fact it’s not even looking like it will happen because UFC isn’t agreeing to Jones’ financial demands.
Even though cable numbers we got indicated a big increase for AEW this week, the actual number by Nielsen for Friday was way down with 462,000 viewers and 0.19 in 18-49. Smackdown had 1,883,000 viewers and 0.50 in 18-49.
New Japan made the call today to go with Shingo Takagi as its new IWGP champion instead of Kazuchika Okada. The Dominion show took place earlier today. We’re looking for your thoughts on the show, including thumbs up, down or middle, best and worst match to [email protected]
The New York Post has a detailed story of the Ariel Helwani contract talks with ESPN. As noted yesterday. Helwani is leaving in eight days. The story said they did try and get him to take a pay cut, and there was far too much money out there from new gambling media sites for him to do so, and projected he could make double what he made at ESPN on his own.
Raw tonight has a Battle Royal to determine who gets a tag team title shot on 6/20 against A.J. Styles & Omos, featuring The Viking Raiders,New Day, Randy Orton & Riddle, Mace & Tbar and The Lucha House Party. Shayna Baszler will be in Alexa Bliss’ playground. There will also be a Bobby Lashley vs. Drew McIntyre contract signing.
Competition for Raw tonight includes NBA playoffs with the the Bucks vs. Nets at 7:30 p.m. and Nuggets vs. Suns at 10 p.m.plus Winnipeg Jets vs. Montreal Canadiens in the Stanley Cup playoffs at 8 p.m. So the number is likely to be well under usual levels.
The A&E episode last night on Bret Hart was my favorite of the season. I was told it was held to last because the general feeling is it was the strongest episode. It was basically what it had to be given that it is a WWE production so you’re not going hard after Vince McMahon or Paul Levesque on anything. I also heard they wished that they had far more time because there were so many different subjects they all thought was worthy of a documentary, from his growing up in a wrestling family, his ascension to being a headliner, the Montreal screwjob, the death of Owen Hart and the recovery from the stroke. It was really quite the happy ending story. Julie & Allison Hart, Natalya and especially Bret were very strong in the piece.
Stephanie McMahon was on CNBC this morning. She said they are experiencing really significant trends toward increased attendance at live events based on early ticket sales. She claimed the selling of their WWE network content to Peacock is that they don’t want to be in the technology business and they felt they would have difficulty competing with Disney and Amazon, so sold to someone who can. She also noted while the company has done well during the pandemic that traditionally live events add more than $100 million a year more in revenue to the company.
DDT announced its biggest show of the year, Peter Pan, will be 8/21 in Fujitsu Stadium outdoors and feature Atsushi Onita in an explosive barbed wire match.
2K announced today the debut of the Forged card tier and rewards celebrating the upcoming Hell in a Cell PPV event in WWE Supercard.
ICW Fight Club and wXw will both have new events on Peacock/WWE Network on Saturday.
Kay Lee Ray vs. Meiko Satomura for the NXT UK title will be on Thursday’s NXT UK show.
AEW
Dark Elevation tonight has:
Hikaru Shida vs. Diamante
The Acclaimed vs. Alex Reynolds & 5
Evil Uno vs. Danny Limelight
Santana & Ortiz vs. Liam Gray & Adrian Alanis
Kris Statlander vs. Queen Aminata
Brian Pillman Jr. & Griff Garrison vs. JD Drake & Ryan Nemeth
Ethan Page vs. Mike Sydal
Jade Cargill vs. Rache Chanel
Brian Cage & Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Trevor Aeon & Kendall Blake
Scorpio Sky vs. Trevor Read
OTHER NEWS
Invicta is doing an added innovation for Friday night’s eight-man 105 pound tournament. None of the fighters know who they will be facing first as they will be doing an online fan vote by visiting the Phoenix Tournament Voting Portal for Invicta and vote for the four first round matches that you want to see. You are allowed to stuff the ballot box and vote over-and-over. For the semifinals, the fighter who wins their first round fight the quickest will get to pick which of the other three winners she wants to face in the semifinal.
A story on Mongopalooza, a concert that will be done as a benefit for medical bills for former WCW and NFL star Steve McMichael, who is battling ALS. I saw that Ric Flair recently visited him.
Deonna Purrazzo will be going to AAA Verano de Escandalo on 7/3 to face Lady Shani.
MLW has released more tickets for its 7/10 show at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, its first with a live audience and first since getting on Vice TV.
ROH has put tickets on sale to its 7/11 Best in the World PPV show in Baltimore at the Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena.
Impact airs the 2017 Bound for Glory on Thursday at 3 p.m.
Scheduled for Impact TV on Thursday night has Havok vs. Rosemary and If Havok wins, she’s added to the Saturday Deonna Purrazzo vs. Rosemary title match on Saturday, plus W. Morrissey vs. Willie Mack no DQ and an appearance by Tony Khan regarding Kenny Omega’s match on Saturday’s Against All Odds show.
Dwayne Johnson’s Seven Bucks Entertainment and Flynn Picture Company will be producing a movie called “Emergency Contact” for Warner Brothers.
Corus Entertainment, Canada’s biggest media company, is launching its firs fiction podcast which was released today called “Escaping Denver.” Brady Roberts, a Western Canadian pro wrestler who trained with Lance Storm is one of the lead stars of the show.
New England Fights returns to live fans on 8/21 at the Hampshire Dome in Milford, NH with MMA and kickboxing fights.
It was announced today that, as part of a new, multi-year contract extension with ESPN, Arnolt is joining ESPN full time starting in early April. Arnolt first began working for ESPN in 2018 but had remained with WWE until she stopped appearing on WWE television in recent weeks.
Charly Caruso (Charly Arnolt, 33) is gone from the company. There have been conflicting reports, some that she was fired and others that she simply won’t be used until the expiration of her contract. She was replaced by Kevin Egan, who is known as Kevin Patrick, in the role of backstage interviewer and host of Raw Talk. She was last used on 2/22. Fightful reported it was due to being late for interviews with [Randy] Orton and Sheamus, who complained about it. The only thing we were told is that she had too much heat with too many people. She had been with the company since August 2016 and also had done work for ESPN since 2018, including currently hosting a women’s version of PTI on the station using her real name. Before being pulled from television she had turned down a new long-term contract some time back and had been looking at non-wrestling projects.
ESPN wrote that, in addition to being a co-host of the First Take, Her Take podcast, Arnolt will “continue to contribute to select editions of ESPN’s morning debate show First Take and the network’s signature news and information show, SportsCenter. Arnolt will regularly appear on ESPN+’s weekday morning show, SportsNation along with other digital shows across the industry-leading sports streaming service as well.”
“It is so incredibly exciting to become a full-time member of the ESPN family,” Arnolt said. “I look forward to continuing to grow with such a talented group of professionals and I can’t wait for all the opportunities that lie ahead.”
“From radio and podcasts to TV and streaming, Charly continues to thrive across any platform she pursues,” David Roberts, ESPN senior vice president, production said. “We are excited to have her join ESPN full time and interact with fans even more regularly across the network.”
I am SO excited to announce I have accepted a full-time position with ESPN! It feels so rewarding to take this next step in my career with a company that has really fostered my growth, and given me a bounty of huge opportunities, since first bringing me on board in 2018.
As I take this monumental next step in my career, I can’t do so without thanking so many of the people at WWE who I’ve spent the last nearly 5 years with. Thank you to those on and off camera who I had the chance to connect with not only professionally, but personally. Some true gems! And of course, thank you to the WWE Universe, a network of some of the most loyal fans in the world. I hope you all continue to stay in touch because your encouragement means everything! Lastly, thank you so very much to my family and friends who have believed in me and my dreams every step of the way. It’s been quite the journey! I love you all
A look at the career of 80s star Hacksaw Butch Reed, who passed away this past week, is the lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
We look at all of his titles won, sports career before wrestling, what was and wasn’t exaggerated about him, how he got started in wrestling, how fast it was that he was moved to star status, including main eventing at the key wrestling arenas in the country very early, the role Dory Funk Jr, made in his career, how he was booked, a super tag team with Skip Young that few outside of Florida ever saw, feuding with the biggest names on top, his matches with Ric Flair up and down the state of Florida, his sellout with Flair in St. Louis, runs in Georgia and his move to Mid South, his Mid South runs, the high point of his career, his feud with JYD, his Superdome main events, his face and heel turns, his biggest angles, his fight with John Nord and his departure from Mid South, his meeting with Slick, heading to WWF as The Natural Butch Reed, and his WCW run as part of the tag team of Doom with Ron Simmons, life after wrestling and his feelings on Will Hobbs.
Also in this issue:
Nick Khan’s talk about things WWE is doing to try and get new fans, a look at the aging of the sports audience and how wrestling fits in, update on Braun Strowman, update on John Cena TV series, son of 90s star starting in WWE camp, WWE star talks having a stroke, WWE star gets stalked, experience of being in the Thunderdome and what they look for, how WWE & AEW did compared to sports this past week, international rtings news, more on COVID’s effect onWWE, big matches coming on upcoming shows, WWE market value and most-watched shows on the WWE Network this past week.
Bellator’s new broadcast deals in the U.S. and the U.K., as well as main events for the first shows in April, and look at the light heavyweight tournament.
New Beginning in Hiroshima and the Castle Attack cards for New Japan.
Most-watched televised pro wrestling matches in history, including Hogan vs. Andre and Rikidozan vs. Destroyer.
Preview the next two WWE major shows.
Saturday’s UFC event with the potential knockout of the year.
Gina Carano losing her job in “The Mandalorian” on the anniversary of her landmark fight with Julie Kedzie.
A feature looking at the best matches of top wrestlers of 2020.
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 current wrestling news. You can send questions to the show to [email protected]
If you didn’t see last night’s Takeover, I’d go out of your way to see it. It was an outstanding show. Takeover didn’t make the Google search list yesterday. It rarely does but No 20 was only 50,000 and it didn’t crack that.
Jamie Hemmings of Slam Wrestling wrote this story on the death of Tom Cole. We will have a lot more about this in the next Observer, but I’ve also talked about it extensively on the show taped Saturday night and more on the show last night in far more detail than anyone in what is a very troubling and complicated story.
Pat Laprade, who was a good friend of Pat Patterson’s responded today saying, “So sick to read so many people disrespecting Pat Patterson since the death of Tom Cole. I have all the sympathy in the world for Cole and his family. But Pat didn’t do anything. Or cover anything up. That’s not who Pat was. Those behind this have been fired and never came back. Pat had a weird sense of humour, especially regarding his own sexuality, and it could be misinterpreted. That’s all. Cole felt Pat must have known, but based on what? Nothing. Just because he was gay like the other 2. Again, I feel for what happened to Cole, but Pat was clean.”
Chris Jericho’s wife Jessica Lockhart Irvnie posted on Instagram photos of herself with other women behind a banner that read “Women for Trump” that was taken on 1/6 in Washington, DC as part of the capitol break-in. She was not part of that but was there at the Trump rally. Jericho also retweeted the photo.
Raw tonight has a gauntlet match with the six men in the Elimination Chamber match on Sunday, Drew McIntyre, Randy Orton, A.J. Styles, Jeff Hardy, Sheamus and The Miz. That should take up a long portion of tonight’s show.
Dwayne Johnson’s new NBC-TV show “Young Rock,” with stories about him as a ten year old kid as a wrestling fan, a 15-year-old in high school constantly getting into trouble, and a 20-year-old college football player, built around his father, Rocky Johnson, mother, Ata, grandmother Lia Maivia with characters playing Vince McMahon, Randy Savage, Andre the Giant, Iron Sheik, Afa, Sika and others, debuts at 8:30 p.m. tomorrow night. The show will run the next 11 weeks.
Stefan Struve announced his retirement from fighting today at the age of 32. He said it was due to health concerns, an inner ear issue giving him vertigo that was made worse in his last fight. He has been told after undergoing tests that his vertigo issues are likely permanent. When he started fighting in 2009, given his size and skill level,it was believed in time he would be a world champion, as he was considered the next Semmy Schiltt, who was a dominant K-1 star. But he never learned to use his size in the stand-up to its best advantage. He did knock out Stipe Miocic once, but overall was never a top contender for the championship.
The first round of AEW’s Japanese women’s tournament is up right now on the AEW YouTube page. The first round matches are:
ESPN had been heavily criticized by ignoring the issue between Dana White of UFC, their content partner, and Ariel Helwani, their television face of MMA reporting. Today they did issue a statement to the New York Post saying “Ariel is a valued colleague and an exceptional MMA reporter. His record speaks for itself,” ESPN told the New York Post.
A quick note that with today as a holiday, television ratings will be delayed by one day, so Smackdown numbers will come out tomorrow and Raw numbers on Wednesday. We should have AEW and NXT numbers on Thursday but maybe not in complete detail until the following week’s issue.
New Japan has another Korakuen Hall show tonight at 4 a.m. Eastern on New Japan World
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Satoshi Kojima & Yota Tsuji vs. Will Ospreay & Jeff Cobb & Great O’Khan
Sanada & Hiromu Takahashi & Bushi vs. Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo & Yujiro Takahashi
Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano & Sho vs. Jay White & Chase Owens & Gedo
Kota Ibushi & Yuji Nagata vs. Tetsuya Naito & Shingo Takagi
Kazuchika Okada & Hirooki Goto & Yoshi-Hashi vs. Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa & Evil
WWE
Amazing that here we are more than 23 years later and Undertaker explained that Vince McMahon had to get the belt off Bret Hart because Hart was going to take the belt and appear on Nitro when that’s been debunked over and over. (thanks to Jay Dumont)
Hip hop star Bow Wow announced he was training under Rikishi in California after last week talking about how he wants to wrestle for WWE. He’s trying to build a match with Bad Bunny.
UFC
Bruno Silva vs. JP Buys has been added to the 3/20 show. Buys’ wife, Cheyanne Buys, will also be fighting on that show against Kay Hansen.
Raulian Paiva vs. David Dvorak has been added to the 5/22 show. Dvorak comes into the fight with a 15 fight winning streak that dates back nine years.
Emily Whitmire has pulled out of her 2/27 fight with Samantha Hughes. No reason was given for her withdrawal.
AEW
Cody Rhodes was interviewed by the New York Post about Shaquille O’Neal and working with New Japan Pro Wrestling among a number of subjects.
OTHER NOTES
A Go Fund Me has been set up for funeral costs for Rusty Brooks.
KSW today announced that Marius Pudzianowski, its biggest drawing card and former world’s strongest man, will face Bombardier (2-0) billed as a heavyweight champion of Senegal, in a fight on the 3/20 show in Lodz, Poland. Bombardier, real name Seringe Ousmane, is a 44-year-old former champion who got into MMA in 2018. This is the kind of monster fight that Pride sometimes did and that KSW has done a lot of. There will likely be some awesome promotional videos over the next few weeks building this.
MLW’s Filthy Island TV show, a takeoff on Fight Island with the idea Tom Lawlor is producer, will be on the Wednesday show. The matches announced are Dominic Garrini vs. Mauna Loa, Mil Muertes vs. Savio Vega in an Aztec Jungle Fight, Rocky Romero vs. Gringo Loco and Low Ki vs. King Mo in a no holds barred fight. Plus Dan Lambert will appear on the show.
The X Division title match set up on Saturday night when Josh Alexander won the series of three-ways will take place on Tuesday’s Impact show, as he faces TJP.
Masked Republic has announced Expo Lucha, the world’s largest Lucha Libre fan convention as a virtual event on 3/20. They will stream free matches from companies all over the world including AAAA, CMLL, AEW, Impact and others, Psicosis original and Damian 666 will sign, Vampiro will do a panel discussion, Denise Salcedo will interview Cassandro and a lot more.
Lex Luger has been announced as a guest for this year’s WrestleCon in Tampa.
The SHWA on 2/13 that was canceled due to the lockdown in Perth, Western Australia, has been rescheduled for 3/6. The Death Match Downunder show on 2/13 in Melbourne was canceled before the city went into a five-day lockdown.
Mark Davis was announced as the new head trainer at the 3 Count Wrestling Academy in Brisbane, Australia. Davis is part of the tag team Aussie Open that was on the verge of breaking through when he blew out his knee and then COVID hit. This may indicate he’s not looking at going back to the U.K., where he was based for years.
Warrior Wrestling from Saturday night in Whangarei, New Zealand: TKD & Tee Hawke b Will Stone & Vinny Dunn, NIWA b Liam Erikson, Kingi b Chalky Murdoch, Reuben de Jong b Sam Black, Shane Sinclair & Roddy Gunn & Henry Merritt b Pat Schisk & Jordan Wright & Cam Khyber, Slade Mercer b Kai Solomon, Victoria Ryan b Frankie Quinn, NIWA b Reuben de Jong, Anthony Khan & Ringo Ryan b Jamie Tagataese Rowan Signal, Slade Mercer b Kingi, NIWA b Slade Mercer (thanks to Kevin Chiat)
In yesterday’s update the PWA Black Label results attributed to Kevin Chiat were not sent by him.
Both the cost of UFC pay-per-views and ESPN+ will be increasing in 2021, according to Variety.
Starting in January, UFC PPVs will cost $69.99, an increase of $5. The timing is perfect for ESPN/Disney as the UFC’s first PPV offering of the year is UFC 257 featuring Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier.
Since becoming the exclusive home of UFC PPVs in the U.S., this is the second price increase ESPN/Disney has enacted. They increased to $64.99 at the beginning of 2020 after an initial cost of $59.99 when ESPN+ launched in the spring of 2018.
Additionally, ESPN+, required in order to get UFC PPVs, will increase annually by $10 up to $59.99 starting in early-January. Renewals for the 2020 price of $49.99 will be accepted through early-March, ESPN told Variety.
ESPN+ reported 11.5 million subscribers in early-December, up 50% over the last year. Earlier this year, UFC president Dana White said this has been the company’s most successful financial year to date despite the lack of fans for nine months.
A special guest has been announced for this Sunday’s NXT TakeOver: WarGames pre-show.
During tonight’s episode of NXT, it was announced that ESPN mixed martial arts reporter Ariel Helwani will be appearing on the TakeOver: WarGames pre-show this Sunday. He’ll be appearing with hosts Wade Barrett and Sam Roberts.
Helwani is a longtime professional wrestling fan. He’s been with ESPN since departing MMA Fighting in 2018.
The TakeOver pre-show will begin at 6:30 p.m. Eastern time on Sunday, leading into TakeOver starting at 7 p.m. Eastern. In addition to the WWE Network, the pre-show will air on WWE’s digital platforms.
Here’s the full card for TakeOver: WarGames:
WarGames match: Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reilly, Roderick Strong & Bobby Fish) vs. Team McAfee (Pat McAfee, Pete Dunne, Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch)
WarGames match: Team Shotzi (Shotzi Blackheart, Ember Moon, Rhea Ripley & NXT Women’s Champion Io Shirai) vs. Team Candice (Candice LeRae, Dakota Kai, Raquel Gonzalez & Toni Storm)
NXT North American Champion Leon Ruff defends his title against Johnny Gargano and Damian Priest in a triple threat match
