Tag: google trends

Daily Update: AEW Rampage, Google trends, ticket sales

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Daily Update

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This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter: AEW & NJPW announce joint show, Windy City Riot review

  • The new issue of the Observer has these stories:
  • Forbidden Door PPV and the history of NJPW and AEW going from a cold relationship to running a joint show
  • Match of the Week/Performer of the Week
  • What people thought of NJPW Windy City Riot
  • Part one of looking at February & March business and comparisons with one year ago
  • Windy City Riot, the good, the bad and the technical issues
  • WrestleMania Backlash and early notes on WWE’s summer stadium shows
  • Saturday’s UFC show
  • What arena has had more great matches than any other and its 60th anniversary
  • Television wrestling viewing over the past week, including comparisons with other sports, head-to-head competition, who watches
  • CMLL Universal title tournament
  • Stardom Cinderella tournament
  • All Japan Champion Carnival tournament
  • Update on Kota Ibushi
  • Are streaming services plateauing?
  • Notes on the biggest indie shows of the past week
  • AEW video game news
  • Ticket updates and sales for WWE & AEW shows over the next month plus
  • International TV ratings
  • Dana White talking major fight this summer he’s working on
  • Coverage of Bellator’s biggest show of the year and this week’ doubleheader
  • How much fighters actually weigh getting into the cage vs. weigh-ins
  • Fight of the year talk
  • Notes on Kushida leaving WWE
  • How WWE first came up with the developmental system and the idea behind it
  • Paul Levesque talks developmental
  • Steve Austin talks doing future big shows
  • Streaming numbers

This Week’s Retro Observer Newsletter: March 21, 2005 Observer Newsletter: Raw leaving Spike TV, TNA Destination X review

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.

Sunday News Update

  • Bryan and I will be back tonight with Wrestling Observer Radio talking the weekend shows, previewing the week, and lots of other news. You can send questions to the show to [email protected]
  • Rampage will be bounced around the schedule in May due to TNT’s coverage of the NBA and NHL playoffs. Because it depends on who is playing when, there is no set time past this coming Friday is scheduled at the regular 10 p.m. time. May 6 right now is scheduled for 6 p.m. Eastern and 3 p.m. Pacific but that could change. That’s going to happen every year at this time.
  • An update from yesterday’s show regarding tickets for Nashville for SummerSlam on 7/30 at Nissan Stadium. Tickets went on sale to the public on Friday. They had opened up 23,000 tickets in the pre-sale. Now they have opened up 35,000 and about 19,000 are out (paid and some comps). I would call that very good considering it’s only four weeks after a stadium show in Las Vegas that’s also doing well. 
  • I was discussing this morning on Sunday Night’s Main Event regarding Chicago. So they had a PPV show from New Japan last weekend. WWE is running a PPV at the Allstate Arena on June 5. AEW is running the New Japan vs. AEW show at the United Center on June 26. While not confirmed, Chicago also has the AEW tradition of Labor Day at the NOW Arena for Labor Day. That’s a lot for one market. The WWE show isn’t sold out, but should be sold out or close to it. The United Center tickets go on sale on 5/6 and this will be very interesting only because the way New Japan works with Dominion in June and title matches there. It’s an experiment both live and PPV.
  • For Google searches this week, nothing wrestling or MMA related cracked the top 20 any day this past week, which means nothing from yesterday’s UFC show and nothing from the two Bellator shows. The only stuff boxing related was Tyson Fury had 1 million searches for his win over Dillan Whyte at Wembley Stadium, and on Thursday, Mike Tyson had one million searches regarding the obnoxious guy harassing him on the plane who he allegedly hit.
  • Regarding Fury, after his win he spoke about potential matches with Drew McIntyre and Francis Ngannou. He specifically talked about SummerSlam or the Cardiff, Wales show on 9/3. As noted many times, Fury vs. McIntyre was set before COVID hit and then it just didn’t make sense to do it. Regarding Ngannou, he targeted early 2013 when the belief is Ngannou will be out of his UFC contract. Fury said they could do it boxing style, in a cage, with boxing gloves or MMA gloves. The key is the rules are going to be boxing rules and not MMA rules, and Fury is the best heavyweight boxer of this era and Ngannou has never competed at a high level in boxing even though he can punch very hard. Fury was talking retirement after the fight, but boxers talk that all the time. 
  • A story on Fury, retirement, etc. (thanks to Lee Wall)
  • Two of the biggest wrestling legends in history were born on this day. Lou Thesz was born on this day in 1916 and Blue Demon was born on this day in 1922, so today would have been his 100th birthday. Thesz was one of the most notable world champions in history. Demon was a movie star and wrestler, a household name to this day in Mexico and the second biggest star behind El Santo in the history of Lucha Libre.
  • Today is also the 30th anniversary of the first pro wrestling show ever held at the Tokyo Dome, promoted by New Japan Pro Wrestling. The story behind it was something as it was the first time Russian amateur athletes, even before the NHL, went into a professional sport. Hiroshi Hase and Masa Saito trained them. The uranage (rock bottom) move came from that show as Shota Chochoshvili, an Olympic medalist in judo, used the move to beat Antonio Inoki in a no ropes main event. The show was also the debut of Keiichi Yamada using the Jushin Liger character. Another debut on that show was Russian amateur Victor Zangiev, who became the person the famed street fighter video game character Zangief was named for. 
  • We are looking for reports on these shows to [email protected]
  • WWE last night in Montgomery, AL
  • Warrior Wrestling last night in South Bend, IN
  • WWE tonight in Binghamton, NY
  • WWE tonight in Augusta, GA
  • Impact tapings tonight in Poughkeepsie, NY
  • Liz Carmouche, best known as the opponent of Ronda Rousey in the first UFC women’s fight ever in 2013, won her first MMA world title on Friday night taking the Bellator title from Juliana Velasquez. Velasquez was clearly winning going into round four, when Carmouche took her down and threw elbows to the forehead on the ground with Velasquez trapped in the crucifix position before ref Mike Beltran stopped the fight. I watched it and thought it was a fair stoppage, and really at the exact point I felt it should be stopped, Beltran stopped it. However John McCarthy (who i greatly respect) doing commentary was very negative thinking it was stopped early and that led to it being controversial. Scott Coker last night talked about running it back in a rematch.
  • Two weekend bouts we’ve heard raves about were Moose vs. Josh Alexander at last night’s Impact show in Poughkeepsie, NY and the Will Ospreay vs. Blake Christian match in South Bend, IN. Impact had done a strong job in building that match in recent weeks and really it’s the culmination of a push dating back a year.
  • Raw will have a 20th anniversary celebration of Randy Orton’s 2002 debut on the main roster. Also announced is Becky Lynch’s first appearance on Raw since WrestleMania and Bianca Belair vs, Sonya Deville for the women’s title in Belair’s home city of Knoxville. The new thing they are doing these days is bringing in wrestlers from the other brand for a dark match, so New Day vs. Sheamus & Ridge Holland is advertised as the main event.
  • Bellator results from last night in Honolulu:
  • Yancy Medeiros b Emmanuel Sanchez via decision 29-28, 30-27, 30-27
  • Patchy Mix b Kyoji Horiguchi 48-47, 48-47, 48-47 in an upset in the bantamweight Grand Prix first round
  • Justine Kish b Ilima-Lei Macfarlane on scores of 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28. Macfarlane’s reaction was like watching 1983 Von Erichs at the Sportatorium in Dallas. But she lost
  • Raufeon Stots b Juan Archuleta to win the interim bantamweight title via knockout at :16 of round three in the Grand Prix first round
  • Cris Cyborg b Arlene Blencowe 49-45, 49-45 49-45 to retain the women’s featherweight title. Blencowe got a lot of raves for hanging in there five rounds.
  • Jake Lee won the A block of the Champion Carnival tournament with a win today at Korakuen Hall over T-Hawk. The B block has Yuma Aoyagi, Kento Miyahara, Suwama and Takuya Nomura all mathematically alive. Aoyagi vs. Miyahara takes place e 4/29 in Nagoya and the winner would face Lee in the finals. In the event of a draw, or a no contest, that’s where Suwama or Nomura have a chance.

WWE

  • Nothing major on the house shows but the Raw main event is Bianca Belair vs. Becky Lynch vs. Liv Morgan on last night’s show and the Smackdown main event was Roman Reigns over Drew McIntyre for the Universal title. which, based on an angle shot for next week’s Smackdown, looks to be the WrestleMania Backlash main event for 5/8 in Providence, RI.

AEW

  • The 5/11 show at the UBS Arena in Long Island, which will include first round matches in The Owen Hart tournament, has passed 6,200 tickets out. At last look it was slightly ahead of WWE’s Nassau Coliseum show, but it will likely end up short of WWE’s last Barclays Center and MSG show.
  • Reports from those live were that the Eddie Kingston vs Daniel Garcia match on Friday’s Rampage show was heavily edited. You could see the show was basically forcing as much in the hour because segments didn’t have time to breathe to give you as much match time as possible. Kingston vs. Garcia was 22:00 live but about nine minutes less on television (thanks to Jack Murphy)

Other Notes

  • Jon Moxley will be appearing for Pro Wrestling Revolver on 6/11 at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds in Dayton, OH at the Calumet Center. 
  • Will Ospreay vs. Davey Richards and Jeff Cobb vs. Jonah have been announced for the debut of Warrior Wrestling on 5/28 in St. Louis. Results from last night in South Bend: Sam Adonis b Aramis to keep the Lucha Libre title, Karl Fredericks b Clark Connors, Storm Grayson b Alex Zayne with help from Frank the Clown, Swerve Strickland b Adam Brooks, Dante Martin & Dante Leon b Brian Cage & KC Navarro, Athena (Ember Moon) won three-way over Shazza McKenzie and Skye Blue to win the vacant Warrior women’s title (Thunder Rosa vacated the title after winning the AEW title), Ospreay b Blake Christian to keep the Warrior title.
  • The annual Beat the Street amateur wrestling show takes place on 6/8 at the Hulu Theater in Madison Square Garden. Two of the country’s biggest amateur stars of the past decade, gold medalists Helen Maroulis and Jordan Burroughs will be wresting on the show. Maroulis is 6-0 in Beat the Street shows competing between 2012 and 2018
  • Sebastian Przybysz (10-2) retained the KSW bantamweight title beating Wertlieson Martins (16-5) via chke at 2:07 of round five.
  • CWE announced shows on 5/13 in Winnipeg and 5/14 in Morden, Manitoba featuring Big Vito, competing in CWE for the first time in 12 years.

Daily Update: NJPW Windy City Riot issues, Google trends, Oscar de la Hoya

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Daily Update

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This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Shinjiro Otani seriously injured, WWE announces UK stadium show

  • Update on Shinjiro Otani, what happened, a review of his career and a look at Zero-1’s biggest show in years.
  • WWE officially announces its Principality Stadium show in Cardiff, Wales, a look back at the biggest UK events for WWE and the ticket demand.
  • Coverage of UFC 273 featuring a potential Hall of Fame fight with Khamzat Chimaev vs. Gilbert Burns, plus the judging in Sterling-Yan, the dominance of Alexander Volkanovski, business notes on the show and match-by-match coverage.
  • Full coverage of NJPW Hyper Battle and the angles leading to the return of New Japan to the Fukuoka Dome, a look back at the first show in that building, plus G1 and Best of the Super Juniors updates
  • Update on WrestleMania Backlash, ticket demand, matches being built, false advertising of Brock Lesnar and more
  • Ratings including rankings, oldest and youngest audience, affect of NBA playoffs, segment-by-segment numbers and comparisons with last year.
  • CMLL Champion of Champions tournament continuing
  • AEW star announces return from major injury
  • Hall of Famer announces the relaunch of his former promotion
  • All Japan Champion Carnival update
  • NOAH Sumo Hall lineups
  • NJPW star finishes up this week and background
  • Scott Hall funeral
  • New wrestling books
  • Biggest indie crowds of the year
  • The Strangler Lewis headlock machine
  • Discovery/Warner merger and AEW
  • NJPW & AEW deal
  • Story behind the debut of Satnam Singh
  • Ticket sales for upcoming AEW & WWE shows
  • International TV ratings
  • Streaming numbers for the major stuff of the past week
  • Cain Velasquez case update
  • UFC adds 2016 Fight of the Year to Hall of Fame
  • How much the top executives at WWE earn
  • Update on Vince McMahon vs. Oliver Luck
  • Update on all the name changes of WWE talent and why

This Week’s Retro Observer Newsletter: February 7, 2005 Observer Newsletter: Royal Rumble review, business year in review

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.

Sunday News Update

  • Bryan and I will be back tonight talking the weekend news as review the recent TV shows. My weekend show with Garrett Gonzales is up on the site right now.
  • ROH finished up on Sinclair this weekend. So that tells you that the deal where Sinclair sold the promotion to Tony Khan didn’t include interest in keeping the show on the air. 
  • Last night’s New Japan show on FITE was marred by production issues multiple times throughout the show, including many times during the Minoru Suzuki vs. Tomohiro Ishii match and the Jon Moxley vs. Will Ospreay match. FITE lost the signal up and down the show and it was said to be almost unwatchable at times in the Jay White vs. Shota Umino match. There was also an issue with getting the fans into the building. The building was sold out but it took forever to get in with a lot of people missing the firs two matches. The archive of the show was said by New Japan that it will be up on FITE with no issues as soon as possible and will be up on New Japan World in English on 5/4.
  • We’re doing polls on the NJPW Wind City Riot 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]
  • We’re also looking for reports on last night’s WWE house show in Erie, PA and tonight’s show in Syracuse, NY to [email protected]
  • As far as trending stuff during the week, nothing from pro wrestling this week cracked the top 20. For yesterday, the UFC show was No. 11 at 100,000. The Bellator show on Friday was No. 20 for the day with 20,000. The Erroll Spence Jr. vs. Yordenis Ugas boxing PPV last night did 500,000 searches. The USFL on Saturday did 1 million. 
  • Oscar de la Hoya told TMZ that he wants to patch things up with Dana White. He said he was wrong for criticizing UFC and also said he would like to patch things up with Floyd Mayweather. He said he was moving to Las Vegas and wants to work with White as business partners.
  • Dana White last night talked about wanting to make a Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic fight.
  • Andrade is teasing a match with the former Cesaro in Mexico. Penta is teasing the idea of a match with C.M. Punk in AAA as a rematch off Wednesday’s match.

WWE

  • On the USFL game today on NBC, they advertised Raw for tomorrow night and the two names pushed were Cody Rhodes and Bianca Belair. We also know that this past week WWE send out stuff to an international station that broadcasts the show listing Rhodes as the top star on Raw and Roman Reigns as the top star on Smackdown. (thanks to Shannon Walsh and others)
  • Rob Gronkowski said that when he’s done with football held like a tag team match against The Rock according to an interview he did with TMZ.
  • Ivy Nile, Damon Kemp (Bobby Steveson) and Lash Legend are scheduled for the next NXT UK television tapings. Now that travel is easier, the idea of NXT talent going back-and-forth makes sense.

Other Notes

  • Warrior Wrestling on 4/23 in South Bend, IN has announced Will Ospreay defending their title against Blake Christian i the main event, plus Athena vs. Skye Blue vs. Shazza McKenzie for the vacant women’s title (Thunder Rosa will be at the show to vacate the title), Darius & Dante Martin vs,. Brian Cage & KC Navarro, Shane Strickland vs. Adam Brooks, Lucha champion Sam Adonis vs. Aramis, Karl Fredericks vs. Clark Connors and Alex Zayne vs Storm Grayson.
  • Eve has one of its biggest shows ever on 4/23 at The Venue in Great Portland Street in London. Among the matches are Kasey vs. Jetta, Shoko Nakajima, the current Princess of Princess champion for Tokyo Joshi Pro, faces Alex Windsor, Lizzy Evo vs. Emersyn Jayne, Emi Sakura vs.Charlie Morgan, Max the Impaler vs. Session Moth Martina and Nina Samuels vs. Emilia McKenzie.
  • IWA Promotions from last night in Mount Vernon, IL: Valentina Loca b Mazzerati, Lilith Grimm b Siera, Ray Lyn b Shalonce Royal to win the women’s title, Machiko b Queen Aminata, Nyla Rose b Christi Jaynes, Rachael Ellering b Mila Smidt, Dexter Roswell b Ryan Rembrandt, KiLynn King b Cassandra Golden to win the Belladonnas Forbidden Elegance title (thanks to Patrick Brandmeyer)
  • Horror Slam Wrestling from Friday night in Brownstown, MI: Rod Lee b Blake Blue, Jason Hotch b Kyler Coleman, Jeremiah Goldmain won six-way over Forever Young, Gavin Gradly, Iron Eagle, Jason Demilo and Hannah Henderson, Sean Lawhorn won three-way over Chinstrap Jesus and Atlas Hytower, Brutus Atwell b Breyer Wellington, Triple Rach won Battle Royal, Jack Price won four-way over Aero Boy, Sam Beale and Tanner Nix,Dread King Logan & Zach Thomas b Jaxson & Ace Evans, Bobby Beverly b Otis Goar, Malcolm Monroe III won three-way over Michael Elgin and Ryan Mythias, Eric Ryan b Chuck Steiner (thanks to Leonard Brand)
  • West Coast Pro on 5/13 in South San Francisco, CA at the State room has Will Ospreay vs. Titus Alexander, Timothy Thatcher vs. Kevin Blackwood and Biff Busick vs. Vinnie Massaro.
  • Wrestling Revolver from last night in Clive, IA: Moose b Mike Bailey to keep the Impact title, Deonna Purrazzo b Billie Starkz to keep the Reina de Reinas title, Jake Manning NC Dan he Dad, Logan James & Tyler Matrix b Jake Manning & Dan the Dad, Steve Maclin & Westin Blake b Davey Richards & Eddie Edwards to win the ag titles, Jake Crist b Manders in a Texas death match, Trey Miguel retained Impact X title and wins Revolver Remix tet over Ace Austin, Lince Dorado and Blake Christian, Crash Jaxon won death match over Madman Fulton, Jessicka Havok, Grizzly Kal Jak, Beef and Calvin Tankman, Shane Strickland b Athena, JT Dunn b Rich Swann to win Revolver title.

Daily Update: Google trends, UFC judging, STARDOM

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Daily Update

Latest News:

Latest Audio:

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This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter: WrestleMania 38 weekend, Cody Rhodes returns to WWE

This Week’s Retro Observer Newsletter: February 7, 2005 Observer Newsletter: Royal Rumble review, business year in review

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.

Sunday News Update

  • We have two weekend shows already up. Garrett and I did a review of the week’s news and Bryan and I covered UFC, Smackdown, Rampage and New Japan Hyper Battle and the Pay Pay Dome show on last night’s show. My next show will be Monday night.
  • Horrible news earlier today regarding 49-year-old Shinjiro Otani, one of the most underrated great wrestlers of this generation. Otani faced Zero-1 world champion Takashi Sugiura at Sumo Hall earlier today in the main event. Sugiura gave Otani a German suplex into the turnbuckles and Otani was motionless. The match was stopped. The ropes were taken down and after being worked on, Otani was responsive but could not move. He was rushed to the hospital where there has been no update past he can talk but he can’t move his arms or legs. This was a harsh reminder of the dangers of pro wrestling.
  • The only thing from the past week that cracked the top 20 on Google this past week were UFC related topics last night. UFC 273 had 2.2 million searches which is along the lines of what an average PPV show nowadays does. It was slightly ahead of both days of WrestleMania combined and was the second most searched topic in the U.S. yesterday behind only Dwayne Haskins.
  • We are doing weekend polls on yesterday’s Hyper Battle from New Japan and UFC 273, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match from each show to [email protected]
  • We are also looking for reports on these shows:
  • Zero-1 today at Sumo Hall in Tokyo
  • GCW last night in Los Angeles and tonight in San Francisco
  • New Japan tonight at the Vermont Hollywood in Los Angeles
  • Regarding last night’s UFC show, the one thing about the Petr Yan vs. Aljamain Sterling fight, which Sterling won via split decision, is that most of the criticism of the current method of judging all fall within that fight.
  • Sterling won a split decision, and he should have won as he was more dominant in the fight. Sterling won rounds two and three clearly. Yan won four and five, although was not nearly as dominant in winning those rounds. It came to round one where Sal D’Amato and Eliseo Rodriguez gave it to Sterling and Chris Lee gave it to Yan. Dana White called it a robbery and it was not that. It could have been judged either way. From media scores, 61% gave the deciding round to Sterling and 39% for Yan. However because because 28% gave one of Sterling’s winning rounds a 10-8, they gave it a draw to go with 61% for Sterling and 11% for Yan, so most had it for Sterling.
  • The key problems:
  • Sterling’s second and third should have had a method to be awarded a strong point differential than Yan’s fourth and fifth, but the reluctance of judges to give 10-8s even though the rules state if a round is dominant, and round two was totally one-sided and no judge gave a 10-8.
  • The right person won, but as someone who had it 48-48 and thought Sterling won overall, the system even using 10-8s did not had I judged the fight, reflect the person I thought should have won. The score should explain what you thought, not give you a finish that you don’t think.
  • Many thought the fight was even going into five, that Yan won five, and Sterling’s decision win was booed heavily. The problem is boxing and MMA are just about the only sports where both the participants and fans have no idea what the score is, depriving them of usage of strategy. Had Yan known he needed a finish, he would have fought round five differently. Granted, it was his mistake just looking at winning the round and being sure he’d get a decision, but if you are in any other sport, there is no mistaking what the score is.
  • Open scoring is being used in many promotions now, in Europe, Japan and in Kansas and other states, including Invicta and Combate Global. All of the scare tactics regarding why you can’t have open scoring have proven to be untrue and are still being spread even though we have plenty of real-world examples. Ultimately, in a commission governed sport, it is very difficult to make changes and even when you do, like with the rules that were supposed to lead to more 10-8 rounds, those who didn’t like change that bettered things have pretty much gotten commissions and judges to revert back to the old rules, hence no 10-8s in this fight.
  • In Khamzat Chimaev vs. Gilbert Burns, all three judges gave Chimaev rounds one and three. media scores were 94 percent for Chimaev even if I saw media members on Twitter saying the opposite. Round five was mostly Chimaev but Burns landed a hard flurry late and the best shots of the round, but Chimaev did have the edge most of the round.
  • In Mackenzie Dern vs. Tecia Torres, that would could have gone either way. Derek Clearly gave Dern rounds one and two. Chris Lee gave Dern rounds one and two. Barry Luxenberg only gave Dern round two. I had it for Torres and media scores were 63% for Torres. But it was a close fight that could have gone either way.
  • Cody Rhodes vs. The Miz has been added to tomorrow’s Raw show in Detroit Rhodes is being advertised for house shows against Seth Rollins.
  • All Japan’s Champion Carnival tournament continues tomorrow at Korakuen Hall with A block matches of Shotaro Ashino vs. T-Hawk and Jake Lee vs. Shuji Ishikawa and B block matches of Suwama vs. Takuya Nomura and Yoshitatsu vs. Kuma Arashi. Today’s show in Hamamatsu had Ishikawa over T-Hawk, Nomura over Yuma Aoyagi and Kento Miyahara went to a 30:00 draw with Suwama.
  • “TOGETHXR” a media company founded by Alex Morgan, Sue Bird and Chloe Kim sent a legal notice to Dwayne Johnson’s XFL finding the new XFL logo that the league unveiled to be too close to their logo. It should also be noted that what will be the biggest competition for the XFL when it debuts next season, the USFL, debuts this coming weekend with both NBC and FOX as backers. So that shuts down both networks likely as potential homes for the XFL.
  • Game Changer Wrestling debuts in San Francisco for a 5 p.m. show today with Minoru Suzuki vs. Mike Bailey, Bandido vs. Nick Wayne, Jordan Oliver vs. Jack Cartwheel and more.
  • Stardom Cinderella tournament results from today in Osaka:
  • Maika & Natsupoi & Mai Sakurai b Utami Hayashishita & Saya Kamitani& Lady C, Mirai & Amy Sorei b Saki Kashima & Ruaka, Mayu Iwatani & Saya Iida & Koguma & Momo Kohgo b Tam Nakano & Unagi Sayaka & Mina Shirakawa & Waka Tsukiyama, Hazuki b AZM to advance in he Cinderella tournament), Syuri d Himeka (with the draw both are eliminated from the tournament) and Momo Watanabe & Starlight Kid b Giulia & Thekla to retain the Goddesses of Stardom tag titles.

Daily Update: Google trends, STARDOM, WWE house show results

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Daily Update

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Latest Audio:

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This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter: William Regal discusses health, WrestleMania 38 update

  • The main story covers William Regal’s health issues and brush with death. Regal was on Talk is Jericho and went into detail about his issues that date back nearly 30 years including with his heart, his neck, his balance and sepsis in his leg.
  • WrestleMania, Stand & Deliver, Hall of Fame and all the WWE events this coming week in Dallas. We have lineups, matches not yet announced, Hall of Fame updates, ticket sales, scalper tickets and more.
  • Another story on Scott Hall, looking at the first gimmick he pitched to Vince McMahon and Pat Patterson before Razor Ramon, times he was very upset about plans changing where he thought he needed to win, the proposal he made to McMahon in 1996 to not leave for WCW and who he learned from when his work took its greatest strides forward.
  • An update on the New Japan Cup and all the matches of the past week.
  • A story on the NCAA wrestling tournament and Gable Steveson, with all the business notes, Steveson to WWE, possibility of continuing with amateur wrestling at the Olympic level or fighting MMA.
  • The Jorge Masvidal-Colby Covington story, what both men did and said that led to it and UFC’s attitude and treatment of those who draw money.
  • The first AAA TripleMania show of the year.
  • Complete coverage of UFC in London.
  • The life and times of Pepper Martin, a 60s and 70s star who was also an actor, his idea that led to the formation of one of the greatest tag teams in history, his acting running mates, career highlights, his biggest Cow Palace matches and other career highlights.
  • DDT’s major show and the announced relationship with AEW.
  • CMLL’s El Homenaje a Dos Leyendas show and the honoring of Ringo Mendoza and Dorrell Dixon.
  • TV ratings of all the major pro wrestling shows and how it relates to sports and television overall.
  • The sad accident that led to the death of Black Warrior Jr.
  • If you asked 100 people on the street to name a pro wrestler, who is the first person that would be said.
  • Crockett Cup notes.
  • Ticket sales for all upcoming AEW & WWE shows plus scalper markets for the big shows.

This Week’s Retro Observer Newsletter: February 7, 2005 Observer Newsletter: Royal Rumble review, business year in review

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 WrestleMania, New Japan Cup, Stardom and the latest news from the weekend. You can also send email questions to the show to [email protected]
  • As far as trends topics from the past week, yesterday’s UFC didn’t crack the top 20 and No. 20 was 20,000 searches. That is very unusual especially as a live arena show that set the all-time Fight Night gate record. HHH was No. 14 on Friday with 200,000. Conor McGregor cracked the top 20 with 50,000 regarding his driving arrest and Jorge Masvidal on Tuesday had 200,000 as the details came out regarding his altercation with Colby Covington.
  • Stardom from earlier today at Sumo Hall in Tokyo: Hanan b Mai Sakurai to retain the Future of Stardom title, Mei Suruga of Gatoh Move won the Cinderella rumble pinning Miyu Amasaki when they were the last two, Utami Hayashishita b Mirai, Momo Watanabe b Hazuki, AZM retained the High Speed tie over Koguma and Natsupoi, Kairi (Sane) b Starlight Kid, Giulia & Thekla & Maika & Himeka b Risa Sera & Suzu Suzuki & Akane Fujita & Mochi Miyagi of the Prominence group, Saya Kamitani b Tam Nakano to keep the Wonder of Stardom title, Syuri b Mayu Iwatani to keep the World of Stardom title. Kairi interrupted Syuri’s speech as did Saya Kamitani but there was no direct title challenge made.
  • We’re looking for reports from tonight’s WWE shows in Toronto, ONT and Charlottesville, VA to [email protected]
  • We are also doing polls on both New Japan shows in Osaka on Saturday and Sunday and both Stardom shows at Tokyo Sumo Hall on Saturday and Sunday. You can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]
  • WWE last night in Kitchener, ONT
  • Kevin Owens show with Trish Stratus as guest. Chad Gable & Otis came out, as did the Street Profits, to set up:
  • Owens & Seth Rollins over The Street Profits and Chad Gable & Otis
  • Omos b R-Truth. Veer attacked and laid out R-Truth before the match started
  • Finn Balor b Damian Priest
  • Riddle b Austin Theory
  • Rey & Dominik Mysterio b Robert Roode & The Miz
  • Becky Lynch b Rhea Ripley to keep the Raw women’s title
  • WWE last night in State College, PA
  • Naomi b Shayna Baszler
  • Viking Raiders b Los Lotharios
  • Aliyah b Sonya Deville
  • Usos retained tag titles over Rick Boogs & Shinsuke Nakamura, Sheamus & Ridge Holland and Happy Corbin & Madcap Moss due to distraction on Holland by King Woods
  • Ricochet b Sami Zayn to keep IC title
  • Charlotte Flair won three-way to keep women’s title over Natalya and Sasha Banks
  • Roman Reigns b Drew McIntyre to keep Universal title (thanks to Justin Lasut)
  • Raw has nearly 8,200 tickets out for tomorrow in Pittsburgh for the last Raw before WrestleMania. Bobby Lashley and Bianca Belair are scheduled to return at this point. Usos vs. Riddle & Randy Orton in a non-title match is announced for the show and several others from Smackdown including Roman Reigns, Brock Lesnar are scheduled. Chad Gable & Otis vs. Street Profits, Natalya & Shayna Baszler & Queen Zelina & Carmella vs. Rhea Ripley & Liv Morgan & Naomi & Sasha Banks plus Miz vs. Rey Mysterio are announced. PW Insider listed Ricochet and Shinsuke Nakamura scheduled to be there, which just means they are to be there and not necessarily on the show. There will be another twist in the Seth Rollins angle after the “meeting with Vince McMahon” and Logan Paul was hinted at being on the show as would be expected for the final Raw with all hands on deck.
  • Regarding last night’s UFC show and the close decisions, in Bryan Barbarena over Matt Brown, Judge Andrew Adkins rounds one and three for Brown. Judge Michael Bell and rounds two and three for Barbarena. Judge Eric Colon also had rounds two and three for Barbarena. MMA Decisions listed media scores as 71 percent for Barbarena, 19 percent for Brown and 10 percent had it a draw. In Neil Magny vs. Max Griffin, both Eric Colon and Sal D’Amato had rounds two and three for Magny while Todd Schwarz had the first two rounds for Griffin. Media scores were 83 percent for Magny and 17 percent for Griffin.
  • El Hijo del Vikingo appeared but didn’t wrestle on last night’s AAA sow in Tijuana due to his injured knee or foot. El Dragon made his AAA debut and replaced him. (thanks to Rene Ochoa)
  • Chris Jericho appears tonight on Talking Dead on AMC discussing tonight’s episode of Walking Dead. (thanks to Joe Puccio)
  • There was a tribute show last night in Newark, CA for promoter Kirk White, who was also the business manager for Bret Hart. They had a full house. Bayley was there with her mother. She was in a corner, not hiding, but not acknowledged at the show. She was cheering and booing with the rest of the crowd. Shane Kody, one of the group’s originals, won the annual Battle Royal for the Roy Shire trophy. Frankie Kazarian worked the show. Kirk’s daughter said that they were going to keep her father’s Big Time Wrestling promotion going but no new date was announced. (thanks to Derek Sousa)
  • Impact shot an angle last night in Toronto at the Destiny Wrestling show. Moose gave Jade Chung, the wife of Josh Alexander, a spear while Alexander was in the ring talking to his children. Moose vs. Alexander headlines Impact’s upcoming Rebellion PPV show for the Impact world title.

AEW

  • AEW has passed 4,100 tickets out for Wednesday’s show in Columbia, SC, which is less than what WWE just did in the arena.

UFC

  • Sean Strickland vs. Alex Pereira is being planned for the UFC 277 show on 7/30. Pereira has two wins in kickboxing over Israel Adesanya, the current middleweight champion.
  • Rafael Alves has pulled out of his 4/30 bout with Jared Gordon. Grant Dawson is scheduled to replace Alves according to Mike Heck of MMA Fighting.
  • Similarly, Irene Aldana is out of the 4/9 show and a fight with Aspen Ladd. Raquel Pennington was listed as the replacement by MMA Fighting.

Other Notes

  • Northeast Wrestling from 3/19 in Bethany, CT: Brett Ryan Gosselin b Ray Jaz, Tina San Antonio b Tiara James, Flip Gordon b Brad Hollister, Mike Verna & Channing Tomas b Chris Battle & Hunter Tarca, Dan Maff b Richard Holliday (said to be a great match and they got a standing ovation afterwards), Jaylen Brandyn & Traevon Jordan b J Cruz & Victor Chase, Max Caster b JT Dunn (thanks to Nick Mahmood)
  • Adam Keresh of Tel Aviv, Israel earned a PFL contract for its heavyweight tournament after his first round knockout of Chad Johnson on Friday’s Challengers Series show from Orlando. Complete results:
  • Marcelo Nunes b Bevon Lewis submission 2:39 of round two
  • Giacomo Lemos b Billy Swanson TKO :33 of round two
  • Adam Keresh b Chad Johnson TKO 3:34 of round one
  • Daiqwon Buckley b Jon Cunningham TKO 1:46 of round two.
  • NSW Reckless Intent on 4/8 in Hamilton, ONT at the Columbus Club with Johnny DeLuca defending the Brass Knux title against Dallas Kyle.
  • C4 Wrestling from Friday night in Ottawa, ONT before 550 fans: James Stone b Sway Archer, Stu Grayson won over Ben Tull and Joshua Bishop, Daniel makabe b Marcus Mathers, Pf & Ricky Wildly b Jay Lyon & Midas Black and Meran Tenglia & Philly Collins, Alexia Nicole b Willow Nightingale, Josh Alexander b Myung Jae Lee, Gabriel Fuerza won six-way over Kobe Durst, Tarik, Cecil Nyx, MacRae Martin and Joey Threat, Kevin Blackwood b Biff Busick, Kevin Ku & Dominic Garrini b Mathieu St. Jacques & Lufisto to win the tag titles. LuFisto replaced thomas Dubois who had COVID. Next show is 4/22 with Jonathan Gresham, Mike Bailey and Busick.
  • Magnificent Championship Wrestling on 4/23 in Brantford, ONT at the Knights Club at 12 Catharine Avenue.
  • GOUGE from yesterday in Durham, NC: Koga b Metalico, Drew Hood b Cool Jay,Victor Andrews b James Anthony, Caribbean Tiger b Hunter Raynor, Seymour Snott b Mecha Mercenary, Snooty Fox DCOR Chet Sterling, Waylon Maze b Inuit Joe. Next shows are 6/4 and 6/4 in Raleigh at the Jim Graham Building at the North Carolina Fairgrounds Men’s Expo.
  • CWE on 4/8 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan at the Royal Canadian Legion #63 with Mentallo vs. AJ Sanchez.

Daily Update: Google trends, Owen Hart, Hana Kimura

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

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WON NEWSLETTER: May 24, 2021 Observer Newsletter: AEW to TBS, Ospreay vacates IWGP World Heavyweight title

Our lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer analyzes the WarnerMedia and AEW new deal, from the change of stations in 2022, quarterly specials both the good and bad and what they can’t be or they won’t work, how to tape so much content, the benefits and non-benefits of TBS vs. TNT, of a second show, how the second show idea came about, and for every action there is an equal or opposite reaction.

Also in this issue: 

  • Turmoil in New Japan, COVID issues, and first hints of what is going on behind the scenes as well as Ospreay drops title
  • Full coverage of WrestleMania Backlash, PPV numbers, next direction, poll results
  • A look at all the WWE cuts and background behind them, who was and wasn’t a surprise
  • Coverage of UFC 262, back story, where everyone goes next, all the business notes on the show
  • How AEW ticket sales are doing for all the events on sale now and what that tells us about where they stand and things stand
  • All the different questions that have come out of the talks to put together Georges St-Pierre vs. Oscar de la Hoya, plus freezing contracts, Jake Paul’s new deal and more
  • Lots more behind the scenes of Mayweather vs. Logan Paul including who was originally to finance the show
  • News on TripleMania, Omega vs. Andrade and other plans for Mexico’s big event of the year
  • A look back at what some would say was the biggest match ever in the Carolinas and step-by-step of building it, plus the unique story of the career of Don Kernodle, from a shoot match debut, the match that led to Starrcade and more
  • The story of Sergio el Hermoso & El Bello Greco, a landmark tag team and the glory days of UWA
  • The most complete look at TV ratings available, including who watches live, how long they watch and more
  • Match of the week and performer of the week
  • Pro wrestling legend to be inducted into sports Hall of Fame
  • What wrestling promoter sang backup for John Lennon

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.

SUNDAY NEWS UPDATE

We have two weekend shows. Garrett Gonzales and I went through the news of the week and Bryan and I did a show last night on the AEW new TV deal plus Smackdown and UFC from the weekend.

As far as what made Google trending lists this week from Combat Sports, Paul Felder, who announced his retirement on last night’s UFC show was No. 9 for today as of this morning. For Saturday, the UFC show was No. 9 at 200,000 and Fast & Furious 9 (with John Cena) was No. 19 at 50,000. On Friday, Dave Bautista was no.l 7 a 200,000 and Manny Pacquiao was no. 19 at 50,000.

Lots of very high praise for today’s Hana Kimura Memorial show which broadcasted in English on FITE.  

Recording artist Lalo The Don debuts his new single/video “Til The Break of Don” which he filmed in Tokyo just before the COVID19 pandemic. Prior to his tour, he was alerted that the Netflix Terrace House Tokyo star was a fan of his music noting that her favorite tracks included songs like Caterpillar and Get Low 4 Me remix which featured Nicki Minaj. Also at the end of the video is a reminder for fan’s to donate to RememberHana.com the organization created by Hana’s mother Kyoko Kimura. Here are the key social media links.

Also, the Don Kernodle story in the current issue has a lot of interesting notes about wrestling in the 70s and early 80s including the story of the Steamboat & Youngblood vs. Slaughter & Kernodle feud which is one of the most important tag tam programs in history.

Today is the 22nd anniversary of the tragic accident that took the life of Owen Hart at Kemper Arena in Kansas City. John Pollock has a great piece on the final hours of the life of Owen Hart.

New Japan at Korakuen Hall at 5:30 a.m. tomorrow morning on New Japan World

  • Yota Tsuji vs. Yujiro Takahashi
  • Zack Sabre Jr. & Douki vs. Chase Owens & Gedo
  • Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Tomoaki Honma vs. Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa
  • Jeff Cobb & Great O’Khan vs. Kota Ibushi & Master Wato
  • Hirooki Goto & Ryuske Taguchi & Tomohiro Ihii & Yoshi-Hashi vs. Tetsuya Naito & Sanada & Shingo Takagi & Bushi

OTHER NOTES

  • Bodyzoi Wrestling from Belgium aired their 3rd big event yesterday on their YouTube channel for free.
  • Tyson Fury is a -280 favorite against Deontay Wilder according to www.sportsbetging.ag
  • Pro Wrestling Phoenix on Thursday night in Omaha:  Pat Powers b Omar Pachecco in a flag match, Purple b JD Parker, Moonshine Russell b Nino Hatchet, Lars Metzger & Johnny Ruckus b Tim Boston & Seto Kobara in a last team standing match, Paul & Joey Daniels b Kit Sackett & Xander McIntosh, Duke Cornell b Brenden Juarez, Jack Darling b Mack Riggs Brett Bishop b Con Artiest. Next show is 6/11 at the Waiting Room Lounge in Omaha.
  • Invicta Atomweight champion Alesha Zappitella wrote a tweet saying she wanted to be on Impact Wrestling.  Invica and Impact are both owned by Anthem Entertainment. (thanks to Himanshu D)
  • Atomic Wrestling Federation from last night in Lake Butler, FL:  Boricua Bad Boyz b Atomic Formula, Maxwell Chicago b Tone Harrow, Bobby Leger b Kenny Vendetta, Neon Ninja won three-way over Jimmy Taylor and Jason Orion, Deon James b Dashing Kam, Tanally b Joey J, Tanally b Bii Bii
  • Dynamo Pro Wrestling from last night in Glen Carbon, IL:  Benjamin Trust won Rumble, Makaze II b Sadie Blaze, Camaro Jackson b Bandolero, Tony Estreem & Jackal won three-way over Outtkast & Xavier Shadowz & Chris Hendrix & ATM, Adrian Surge b Benjamin Trust, Ricky Cruz b Super Crazy (thanks to Patrick Brandmeyer)
  • Satoshi Kojima debuts on Impact this coming Thursday on a show with Deonna Purrazzo & Tasha Steelz & Kiera Hogan & Kimber Lee & Susan vs. Rosemary & Havok & Tenille Dashwood & Taylor Wilde & Rachael Ellering, TJP & Fallah Bahh vs. Petey Williams & Josh Alexander and more.
  • Innovate Wrestling on 5/29 in Kingsport, TN at the Civic Auditorium.
  • MCPW from last night in Kalkaska, MI:  Aaron Orion won six-way over Jackson Stone, Eli Shelton & TJ Meyer & Max Morrison and Jack Vervlle, Mitch Hewitt b Graham Bell, Nolan Edward b Everett Connors, Johnny Swinger b Nick King, Jack Price & Isaish Broner b Kevin Kalloway & Sean Tyler, Warhorse b Gary Jay, Mikey Zeroe & Pap  Zeroe b Christopher Saint in a handicap match, Tommy Vendetta b Jumal King (thanks to Leonard Brand)
  • Pro  Wrestling Australia announced the Aussie Open vs Robbie Eagles & Mat Diamond on 6/13 on FITE TV.  The main event will be Jessica Troy vs. Sam Osborne for the PWWA title. They also have a show on 5/29 live and  free on FITE V with Eagles, Shazza McKenzie, Mick Moretti and Green Dingoes.
  • Stardom from today at Yamanashi: Maiki b Hina, Starlight Kid & Hanan b Unagi Sayaka & Lady C, Momo Watanabe & AZM b Natsuko Tora & Ruaka, Mayu Iwatanid d Giulia 15:00, Utami Hayashishita & Saya Kamitani b Tam Nakano & Mina Shirakawa.  Having the two biggest stars in the company do a singles match on a spot show did have to do with the one-year anniversary of the death of Hana Kimura. The singles match was said to be fantastic, with both doing Kimura spots.  Giulia praised Kimura after the match.  There was also a moment of silence before the show with the entire roster surrounding the ring to honor Kimura.  Syuri, Natsupoi, Konami and Jungle Kyona were all given permission by Bushiroad to attend the Kimura Memorial show at Korakuen Hall.

Daily Pro Wrestling History: John Cena vs. Batista I Quit match

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Daily Update: Matt Hardy, NXT, Google trends

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WON NEWSLETTER: September 7, 2020 Observer Newsletter: Future of Brock Lesnar, Rock battles COVID-19, more

A look at the different directions Brock Lesnar could go is the lead story in the new issue of the Observer. We look at the money he can generate for a fight with Jon Jones, the reality about his trying to fight today, why he’s a free agent right now, what Tony Khan said about Lesnar, and why, unless Dana White isn’t telling the truth, it’s unlikely he will fight.  Plus we’ve got comments by both White and Scott Coker on fights they would want to make if he does want to fight.

Also in this issue: 

Positive COVID tests of Dwayne Johnson, A.J. Styles, Kevin Nash, Glover Teixeira and others that came out this week.

Payback, including the genesis of the Roman Reigns heel turn, the Rey Mysterio injury, the booking of the show, plus poll results and star ratigns.

New Japan at Jingu Stadium, including Tetsuya Naito growing up going to the stadium, all three-time IWGP champions, most IC tilte runs in Japan, business notes, plans for the tour going on this weeeknd, plus match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results.

The departure of Mauro Ranallo from WWE, looking and his five years in the company, his background prior to the company, what old and new projects he’s expected to work on, and why he left.

The NXT title Iron Man match, next Takeover shows, Rey Mysterio television cartoon show, Paul Levesque stock sales, Levesque talks UK brnad, more on different allegations against WWE talent, returns of peope who have sit time out, change to Payback, Charlotte Flair news, Renee Young talks leaving WWE, Styles talks Heyman, lots of TV ratings updates internationally, new member of WWE Board of Directors, WWE market value and the most watched shows of the past week on WWE Network.

This past week’s UFC show.

Bio of Tom Anderson, who wrestled as The Claw and one half of the Masked Interns tag team. We look at two of the most tasteless angles in wrestiling that he was involved in, how one failed miserably and how the other was a huge business success.  This includes the death of Alberto Torres, the heyday of the The Interns, the history of the masked doctors tag team and where it all came from, and classic stories involving Paul “Bear” Bryant, Ken Ramey, Lonnie Mayne, Beauregarde and what top promoter wouldn’t use the Interns and Ramey and why.

The life and career of Ric Drason, from bodybuilding to wrestling, including what two AEW stars he started, the glory days of Gold’s Gym in Santa Monica and the characters involved, his art work that sold millions of T-shirts, how one of the greatest wrestlers of all-time got his name from him, and why he had chacnes to be a star and the reason he never was.

A major change in how television ratings are done and how this is expectede to impact sports the most.

A comparison of the last week of AEW with competition and the show this past week where the only television competition was a replay show. We look at how this impacted every audience, what the audience numbers are likely to be for a regular unopposed Wednesday for AEW or NXT, and go in depth as to both sides of why WWE and USA would or would not want to move NXT. We also look at the huge change in the AEW audience from 8/12 to 9/2.  We also have how the audience ebbed and flowed during the Iron Man match.

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.

SUNDAY NEWS UPDATE

Our weekend show is already up on the site covering AEW, Smackdown, the WWE’s new doctrine regarding third party deals and much more.

Matt Hardy has been released from the hospital. He was doing much better today. Every company needs to have a better mechanism when it comes to stopping matches. Every company will have concussions issues because it is inherent with the product and always has been.  It’s hard to do and performers hate it, but matches need to be stopped after concussions or even last night, if there was no concussion, because the risk was very clear of being one.  There are a lot of questions regarding AEW clearing Matt Hardy to do the finish last night after cracking his head on the floor and seemingly being out of it. WWE has done the same on several occasions in recent months including twice with Kairi Sane, and New Japan had a similar issue on last year’s U.K show with KENTA in the Ishii match.  It should be stopped and get them checked out. 

AEW released an announcement saying that Hardy took an MRI and CT scan and both indicated he did not have a concussion. He is being driven back home at this time and he will be appearing on Wednesday’s television show doing a promo.

I’ll have a lot more about last night’s show in the new issue, but there are a number of lessons to learn out of it.

AEW is the No. 4 most searched topic on Google today, but that’s 50,000 searches because it’s early in the day. It was not on yesterday’s list.  Alistair Overeem was No 17 yesterday with 50,000, which would be one of the lowest UFC marks of the year. Dwayne Johnson was No. 4 on Wednesday with 500,000 for coming out that he and his family had COVID-19. Wrestling fan Ron Jeremy was No. 8 on Monday with 200,000 for his latest arrest.

As it turns out, based on schedule changes, there is no NHL game on USA this Wednesday. Like last week, NXT will still be airing on Tuesday and there will be a replay on Wednesday. Right now the replay is scheduled by SYFY and not USA.

UFC

  • Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contenders show at 8 p.m. on ESPN+
    Tafon Nchukwi vs.Al Matavao – light heavyweights
    Cameron Church vs. Sherrard Blackledge – lightweights
    Phillip Hawkes vs. Khadzhimurat Bestaev – middleweights
    Mana Martinez vs. Drake Rodriguez – bantamweights
    Aliaskhab Khizriev vs. Henrique Shiguemoto – middleweights

MISCELLANEOUS 

  • While it is listed and it’s been out everywhere that today is Wendi Richter’s 59th birthday, her personal Facebook page as well as women’s wrestling historian Ken Raftery has said she told him personally that her birthday is September 8, 1960, so she actually turns 60 on Tuesday.
  • We want to make mention of the death of longtime subscriber Robert Solari II, who had helped out a lot of talent in the Detroit area over the years.  He also hosted a pro wrestling hotline for years. He passed away early Saturday at the age of 49.     
  • CWE results from Friday night in Winnipeg:  Mike Mission b Dick Blood-DQ, Sammy Peppers b Roy Cheeks, Travis Cole b Kevin O’Doyle, Shaun Martens & Bobby Schnik b Rob Stardom & Johnny Malibu, Jude Dawkins b Dragneel, Cory Diamond & Alix Zwicker b Danny Duggan & Kat Von Heez-DQ, Adrien Burton b Tyler James, EZ Ryder b Kevin Cannon-DQ, Kevy Chevy b Bryce Bentley, Chad Daniels b AJ Sanchez.  Next show in Winnipeg is 10/2 with a spin the wheel make the deal match.
  • Turner Classic Movies on Friday night ran the Let the Good Times Roll music documentary on 50s rock and roll and during the video of the 1959 No. 1 hit song Charlie Brown, there was a lot of Gorgeous George match and out of the ring footage including i a woman’s hair salon, and disinfecting the ring. (thanks to Mike Lano)
  • Showcase TV in the U.K. which airs on Sky Ch. 192 in the UK and airs Fight Network programming looks to have dropped its pro wrestling content, at least temporarily.  They had aired Impact and ROH in regular time slots until about ten days ago.  Impact continues in the U.K. on 5Star in a late night time slot (thanks to Matthew Evans)

Daily Pro Wrestling History: Kawada wins AJPW Triple Crown

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Daily Update: TakeOver, UFC 250 trends, Mikaela Mayer

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

DAILY UPDATE

Latest News:

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JOB LISTING: Web/UI Developer(s)

  • Experience with OnLamp(Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP)
  • GITHUB and Linux command line experience while be helpful as well.
  • CMS – Drupal and WordPress. vBulletin
  • Possible experience with AWS(s3 specifically), Dreamhost, UI development
  • Cloud based hosting experience a plus
  • Javascript also a huge plus

While this is a diverse request this doesn’t have to be just one person! If you fit any part of this please feel free to inquire.

This is not just for projects related to F4WOnline.

WON NEWSLETTER: June 8, 2020 Observer Newsletter: Black Lives Matter

We have a feature on systemic prejudice in the U.S. as the lead story in this week’s issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

Also in this issue:

The Dana White/Jon Jones story, explaning the economic realities, the economic fallacies and where things stand with both men’s arguments. We look at what does and doesn’t make sense economically, why Jones and Conor McGregor and all the top draws have lost value to UFC, plus exactly what both men have said about each other and where things stand.

The economics of what Jones has drawn in the past, and the numbers of recent UFC show.

The unwritten WWE rule about not criticizing other talent in a public forum outside of storyline-related reasons, why it was broken this past week, what was said, as well as looking at the ties beween the ownerships of the different wrestling companies with Donald Trump, statements released, and the key things no talent can say.

New WWE Network updates.

Upcoming guidelines for WWE shows, Paul Levesque talks COVID testing, notes on more WWE cuts, Vince McMahon sends out memo, original Gronkowski plans and why they changed and why now.

Upcoming Backlash and Takeover shows, an update on the XFL bankruptcy, how WWE is involved and more.

Update the Kairi Sane injury, Vince McMahon bio, Drake Maverick angle, people talked about for main roster, WWE hires new man t head the Middle East business, Kurt Angle talks why he’s not returning at this point to WWE, plus we look at the current market value of WWE and poll results, as well as WWE’s own track record.

Coverage of Saturday’s UFC show with the storylines and the business news, plus match-by-match coverage.

A large feature on the retirement of Stu Saks and the westling magazine era, the life and times and the glory years of Pro Wrestling Illustrated, the death of the magazine business, how VinceMcMahon tried to kill it early, and the different stages of the magazine era.

A feature on the wrestling career, and life of Danny Havoc from many of the people who knew him best in the industry.

In-depth looks at the 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. 

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SUNDAY NEWS UPDATE

Bryan and I will be back tonight covering a number of subjects including NXT Takeover. We also have a show up on the site covering last night’s UFC show and the rest of the news already up on the site.

NXT Takeover In Your House is tonight on the WWE Network with this lineup:

  • Adam Cole vs. Velveteen Dream for the NXT title – This match was taped last week in a parking lot. Since it was taped for a long period of time, with retakes and such, there is no reason it shouldn’t be a great match. In theory, since Cole has passed one year as champion, it would seem like he would lose. Dream was really over but he’s been hurt since the pandemic but most of their stuff is planned out in advance at this level.
  • Charlotte Flair vs. Io Shirai vs.Rhea Ripley for the NXT women’s title. On paper this should be very good, if not great. Flair vs  Ripley was one of the best matches over Mania week and Shirai is better in-ring than either of them, so it should enhance the match. Ripley should pin Flair.  That’s not a prediction, but that’s what should happen.
  • Keith Lee vs. Johnny Gargano for the North American title. On paper a strong match although the small heel/giant babyface is harder to work. That’s why I figure heavy involvement by Candice LeRae, or later Mia Yim, depending on the six-person match earlier.
  • Tommaso Ciampa vs. Karrion Kross – It’s Kross’ debut so he’d be the favorite here. As noted, because of how good Ciampa’s Takeover matches have been, the pressure is on Kross because with anything but a great match people will start blaming him. But this is the biggest match of Kross’ career.
  • Finn Balor vs. Damien Priest – Similar, in the sense Balor’s job here is to make Priest look like a superstar no matter what the end result is. 
  • Candice LeRae & Dakota Kai & Raquel Gonzalez vs. Tegan Nox & Mia Yim & Shotzi Blackheart – Given that Takeovers are usually five bouts, and this was kind of thrown in late, there is probably a storyline reason for the match.

Mikaela Mayer, who was scheduled for Tuesday’s Top Rank boxing show in Las Vegas, the first boxing show in months, tested positive for COVID-19. The show will proceed as scheduled with her being pulled from the event.  She had not shown any symptoms. Mayer was in the semi against Helen Jacobs. She wrote:

I am heartbroken to report that I will no longer be fighting on Tuesday’s Top Rank card due to a positive result in my COVID-19 test yesterday. it came as a complete surprise. I am currently asymptomatic and am quarantining at an off-site location per recommended guidelines. The rest of my team tested negative and they are all in good health. I was really looking forward to bringing back boxing for all of you and I’m disappointed for myself, my team, my supporters and for my opponent, Helen Joseph, who worked just as hard to be here this week and put on a show for everyone. 

After two hard back-to-back camps, not being able to step into the ring both times, you can imagine how disappointed I am. However, these protocols were put into place for a reason and it’s more important to care about the health and well being of my team and the people at this event. So I am complying with the rules set forth by the Nevada State Athletic Commission and Top Rank to keep everyone safe.

UFC 250 did 1.5 million Google searches yesterday and it was No. 1 even on a heavy news day. Because UFC 250, also cracking the top 20 were Conor McGregor at No. 3 for his latest retirement, Sean O’Malley at No. 5 because he’s legitimately becoming a superstar, Cody Stamann at No. 8 because of the story of him fighting and winning a week after the death of his brother and Chase Hooper was No. 13. And Hooper lost but evidently he has a following.

Bruce Lee was No. 8 earlier today for the ESPN 30 for 30 on Lee that will be airing tonight and was pushed like crazy on the UFC show yesterday.

New Japan Pro Wrestling has a press conference at 11 p.m. Eastern tomorrow right after Raw. This will be to announce its return schedule. The belief is that they will be starting very soon, first with empty arena matches and then moving to half capacity matches. 

WWE

  • The WWE will be taping tomorrow’s Raw tomorrow afternoon, followed by the 6/12 Smackdown show, along with Main Event and 205 Live. On Tuesday they’ll tape those same shows for 6/15 to 6/19. Wednesday will be the next two weeks of NXT being taped. 
  • Rhea Ripley talks tonight’s show.

UFC

  • A better in Nevada put up $1 million on Amanda Nunes to beat Felicia Spencer.  He risked it to win $166,666.70. This was the largest bet ever taken for an MMA fight by the William Hill Agency.

MISCELLANEOUS

  • Steph De Lander is donating her proceeds from WrestlerMerch this month to Black Rainbow, an Australian charity supporting gay Aboriginal people. (thanks to Kevin Chiat)
  • EPW in Perth had its first day back of full contact training on 6/6.
  • Tuesday’s Impact show will have Michael Elgin vs. Ken Shamrock vs. Sami Callihan, Jordynne Grace vs. Taya Valkyrie for the Knockouts title, and Johnny Swinger & Chris Bey vs. Cousin Jake & Willie Mack. The show will also announce the future of the Impact title after Tessa Blanchard missed the tapings due to not being able to get out of Mexico.  
  • Impact 60 after Impact will be a show airing  X Division highlights.
  • Superstar Billy Graham turned 77 today. 
  • An interview with Road Warrior Animal.

Daily Pro Wrestling History: CM Punk wins World title at Extreme Rules 2009

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