AEW continues to receive media attention for the anti-ICE chants that broke out on the February 4 episode of Dynamite.
Sunday night’s episode of “Last Week Tonight” featured a story on the actions that have been taken by ICE (United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and DHS (Department of Homeland Security) in recent months. During the segment, host John Oliver brought up examples of anti-ICE sentiment being found in unexpected places. One of those examples was the Las Vegas fans loudly chanting “f*** ICE” prior to the MJF vs. Brody King match on Dynamite.
“Excellent. Well done to everyone involved there,” Oliver said. “From the crowd getting their point across in the perfect way, to MJF going full Jim from ‘The Office’ [while looking] into the camera.”
King is a vocal critic of ICE and, dating back to last year, has sold merchandise calling for the law enforcement agency to be abolished. The role of the agency has received significant scrutiny following the January killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota.
When King faced MJF in a rematch at AEW Grand Slam Australia over the weekend, the international crowd repeated the same anti-ICE chants from the first meeting. Those chants were kept in for the TV broadcast despite the show being taped earlier in the day.
Giving his thoughts on the chants after they happened the first time, MJF said he thinks it’s really cool that AEW listens to its fans and does not censor them, regardless of where they fall on the political spectrum.
During a segment about how the coronavirus pandemic has impacted sports, WWE, AEW, and the UFC continuing to run events was spotlighted on the latest edition of HBO’s Last Week Tonight.
Last night’s Last Week Tonight episode featured host John Oliver discussing “the sudden disappearance of sports due to coronavirus, how their absence is impacting people emotionally and financially, and the complications of bringing them back anytime soon.”
“There is clearly a desire to restart sporting events. The question, though, isn’t why sports should come back, it’s how that can safely happen. Because to do it responsibly would be a mammoth undertaking. To do it irresponsibly, however, turns out to be quite easy,” Oliver said before bringing up how WWE has continued to run closed set shows with Florida declaring professional sports with a national audience an essential service as long as it’s closed to the public.
After saying that WWE maintains its safety measures are as comprehensive as they can possibly be, Oliver mentioned the anonymous letter where a supposed WWE employee asked the county to shut WWE’s tapings down because they can’t maintain social distancing.
Oliver played a clip where Vince McMahon said on last month’s earnings call that viewers are starved for new content during the pandemic. Oliver responded by saying that he would argue that the risks of creating content the way WWE is seem to outweigh the benefits right now.
Oliver said it isn’t just WWE running shows in Florida, it’s AEW and UFC as well. He brought up Dana White’s plan to have shows for international fighters on “Fight Island.” Oliver also said that Jacare Souza having to pull out of UFC 249 when he and two of his cornermen tested positive for COVID-19 underscores that “if you want to come back completely without risk, that’s just not possible right now.”
In October 2018, Last Week Tonight covered WWE’s relationship with Saudi Arabia and the company holding Crown Jewel 2018 despite the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. An episode of the show in April 2019 also covered how WWE classifies wrestlers as Independent contractors.
Last night’s full segment is available to watch below:
We’re looking for reports on yesterday’s WWE show in Hershey, PA, ROH yesterday in Baltimore, the non-Raw stuff from Washington, D.C. tonight and the Smackdown house show in Roanoke tonight to [email protected].
The final Raw before WrestleMania is tonight in Washington, D.C. with an all-hands on deck show including Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns and Ronda Rousey all advertised. The show has Becky Lynch & Charlotte Flair & Ronda Rousey vs. The Riott Squad and if Lynch, Flair or Rousey turn on the other they are out of WrestleMania, Kurt Angle vs. Rey Mysterio (why?), Beth Phoenix & Natalya & Bayley & Sasha Banks vs. The Iicnonics & Nia Jax & Tamina and The Revival vs. Ricochet & Aleister Black for the Raw tag team titles. There is also a Smackdown house show in Roanoke, VA.
The Smackdown and 205 Live tapings are Tuesday in Baltimore. Rey Mysterio vs. Andrade has been announced for the show as well as a contract signing for Daniel Bryan vs. Kofi Kingston.
While interest has inevitably decreased over the years, the 2019 WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony feels like less of an essential part of WrestleMania weekend than ever.
There are a few major reasons why the Hall of Fame ceremony has lost some of its luster. As WrestleMania week has become a destination for promotions from the United States and abroad, fans have to make difficult decisions on how they’re going to spend their time and money.
The Conor McGregor situation is the lead story in the current issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Look at the investigation into him, his retirement, the timing, and why the retirement and Dana White’s reactions are both a public bluffing game.
Read the update on the WrestleMania card, both matches announced and those not yet announced, the Charlotte Flair title win and what it changes about the show, the multiple changes in the top part of the show, the women in the main event, the interest level in the different shows that week and more.
Also look at the New Japan Cup, with match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results, on the entire last week of the tournament and the final show.
Look at Vince McMahon’s stock sale, how much he sold, how much he got and why, as well as the XFL launch and problems with the AAF. Look at the AAF’s new goal.
Look at the retirement of the Bella Twins and their careers, the value of Total Divas and their future plans.
Examine the lawsuit settlement with the wrestlers who have sued Lucha Underground, and the interesting note of the person who backed out of the suit.
Also look at Cain Velasquez’s crossing over into pro wrestling and his deal with AAA, including what they attempted to do with him, the storyline building him up and the wrestlers it looks like he’ll appear with.
ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
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MONDAY NEWS UPDATE
Bryan and I will be back tonight to talk about the John Oliver show, Raw, late Mania notes and the rest of the news. For tonight’s show, we’re looking for questions on the HBO piece from last night by John Oliver. Any other questions can be sent to later shows. For any questions you can send to [email protected].
Newsweek and Time covered the John Oliver/WWE story.
The injury to Mercedes Martinez yesterday looked like it came from a power bomb by Hiroyo Matsumoto. It was Martinez & Cheerleader Melissa vs. Dash Chisako & Matsumoto on the Shimmer show in Berwyn, IL. Chisako was on the top rope, and was waiting to frog splash Martinez, but could see she was hurt, and came down. Martinez has holding her side. When Melissa saw the injury, she grabbed a chair and hit Chisako in the back for a DQ ending to get the match over. They took a several minute break. Fortunately the injury wasn’t as bad as feared. She was hospitalized with bruised ribs. Charlie Morgan suffered some torn ankle ligaments in a later match where she teamed with Jessica Troy against Kris Wolf & Charlie Evans.
Martinez wrote a thank you message to everyone who thought about her situation. She said when she was in the ring she couldn’t breathe, lost feeing in her face, her left side was in shock and she was in unbearable pain. She said it was very scary.
Results were: Harlow O’hara b Rocky Radley, Martina won Battle royal, Cherry b Veda Scott, Jessicka Havok & Nevaeh b Steph DaLander & Indi Hartwell, Jessica Troy b AQA, Leva Bates won four-way over Miranda Alize, Delmo Exo and Zoe Lucas, Shotzi Blackheart b Sierra, Shazza McKenzie b Thunder Rosa, Samantha Heights & Brittany Blake b Rosemary & Dust, Kimber Lee b Charlie Morgan, Dash Chisako & Hiroyo Matsumoto b Cheerleader Melissa & Mercedes Martinez-DQ, Nicole Savoy b Allysin Kay to keep the Shimmer title, Zoe Lucas b Penelope Ford, Britt Baker b Kimber Lee, Thunder Rosa & Holidead b Miranda Alize & Hyan, Cheerleader Melissa b Solo Darling, Dash Chisako won three-way over Keira Hogan and Cherry, Hiroyo Matsumoto b Su Yung, Charlie Morgan & Kris Wolf (last match for Shimmer before retiring) b Charli Evans & Jesssica Troy, Samantha Heights b Dusty-DQ, Nicole Savoy b Shazza McKenzie to keep the title.
WWE
The first part of the WWE/FOX deal, long before the October start, is that parts of the NXT pre-show will air on FOXSports.com and the Fox Sports app, along with Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. It will include the WWE 2K Challenge. Four finalists from around the world will be competing in semifinals at 1 p.m. on Friday at Fan Axxess. This won’t be on all those streams but will be highlighted on the Xavier Woods Up Up Down Down show as well as WWE 2K on Facebook and Twitter. The winner will face off with A.J. Styles at about 6:30 p.m. on the NXT pre-game show, airing on the WWE Network YouTube, the Fox platforms and USANetwork.com. If the person beat Styles they win the Million Dollar Challenge.
The Miz appears Thursday in New York at BUILD Studio to talk WrestleMania and the WWE/Snickers relationship. It’s a free event.
Roman Reigns has announced he would be raising money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
Eve Torres will be brought to WrestleMania for Fan Axxess. Alicia Fox, who hasn’t been around of late, will also be signing.
UFC
Ruslan Magomedov is the first UFC fighter to get a lifetime ban from the promotion. He tested positive for Ostarine in 2016 and was suspended for two years. Then on 10/10 he tested positive for steroids Methyltestosterone and Stanazolol. And his third strike came on 2/5 when he refused to be tested when USADA came.
A video building Darby Allin vs. Anthony Henry is here.
Premier Championship Wrestling from Saturday night in Winnipeg before a sellout 400 fans: Leo & David London b Jack Pride & Damian, Dragneel b JL Spiker, Moses Luke b Ella Blake, Adam Knight & Darren Dalton b Robby Royce & ATM, Don Callis & Bobby Schink & Travis Cole b Kenny Omega & Chris Stevens, & Donny Dicaprio, Antonio Scorpio won three-way over Jay Walker and Alix Vanna to keep the PCW title. This is the Omega show we wrote about yesterday. (thanks to Andrew Shallcrosas)
AEW is releasing a T-shirt for the next 24 hours with 100 percent of all sales going to Kulture City for autism awareness.
Evolve on Thursday at Noon in Queens, NY at www.wwnlive.com: Austin Theory vs. Kyle O’Reilly for the Evolve title, Eddie Kingston & Joe Gacy vs. Konosuke Takeshita & Mao for Evolve tag titles, Montez Ford vs. Shane Strickland, Angelo Dawkins vs. Colby Corino, Darby Allin vs. Anthony Henry, Kazusada Higuchi vs Curt Stallion, AR Fox & Leon Ruff vs. John Silver & Alex Reynolds, Harlem Bravado vs. Adrian Jaoude.
wXw on Thursday at 4 p.m. in Queens also on WWN Live: Bobby Gunns vs. Shigehiro Irie for the wXw title, Aussie Open vs. Anthony Henry & JD Drake for the wXw tag titles, Marius Al-Ani vs. Emil Sitoci for the Shotgun title, Lucky Kid vs. David Starr, Absolute Andy vs. Chris Brookes, LAX vs. Alexander James & Jurn Simmons, Darby Allin vs. Avalanche, Lufisto vs. Yuu.
DDT on Thursday at 8 p.m. in Queens on WWN Live: Daisuke Sasaki vs. Konosuke Takeshits, Mao vs. Sanshiro Takagi weapons Rumble, Harashima & Kazusada Higuchi vs. Akito & Ethan Page vs. Shigehiro Irie & Jason Kincaid, Soma Takao & Tetsuya Endo vs. Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi, Battle Royal for Ironman heavymetalweight title, Danshoku Deino & Antonio Honda vs. Joey Ryan & Royce Isaaacs, Miyu Yamashita vs. MakiIto.
Pro Wrestling Phoenix from Thursday night in Omaha: Branden Juarez b Santos Barbosa, Duke Cornell & Moonshine Russell b Jack Darling & Uncle Ricky, Willy Sweet b Brett Bishop, Tim Boston b Seto Kobara, Preston Maxwell b Bigote, Pat Powers NC Devin Carter, Tony Cortez & Paul Daniels & Joey Daniels b Con Artiest & Branden Juarez & Brett Bishop. Next show is 4/24 at the Waiting Room Lounge in Omaha.
White Wolf Wrestling from Saturday night in Madrid, Spain: Jason Jupiter won Rumble, Alex Soul & Viral NC Chad Parker & Mike Murdoch, Elvis Harrison b Noah Striker, Jason Jupiter b Pl Badia to win the Triple W absolute title, Will Ospreay b A-Kid. People have been raving about the main event. (thanks to Paul Sosnowski)
Ivelisse Velez is teaching at the Team Vision Dojo in Orlando. Larry Zbyszko has a class on 4/11 at 4 p.m.
I Believe in Wrestling on Friday night at the Team Vision Dojo.
SoCal Val signed with The Wrestling Agency in the U.K., which is handling bookings for a number of U.K. wrestling personalities. For booking info you can send to [email protected].
Barrington Hughes vs. Jacob Fatu has been added to Thursday’s MLW show.
SHIMMER 109: Sierra def. Thunderkitty with a Superkick. Shazza McKenzie def. Alisha Edwards with a splits stunner into crossface for the submission, Indi Hartwell (with Steph De Lander) def. Allie Kat with a springboard dropkick, Shotzi Blackheart def. Miranda Alize, Hyan, AQA, Penelope Ford, and Kiera Hogan in a six-way lucha scramble with the Back Lagoon to Miranda, Dash Chisako and Hiroyo Matsumoto def. Blue Nation (Jessica Troy and Charli Evans) with a frog splash (D’Lo Brown style) from Dash to Charli, Solo Darling (with Willow-on-a-Stick) def. Zoe Lucas with a cloverleaf, Hudson Envy def. Aerial Monroe, Kimber Lee, and Kris Wolf in a four-corners match, Dust retains the Heart of SHIMMER Title by hitting Leva Bates with her flag while the ref is distracted by Rosemary, Cheerleader Melissa and Mercedes Martinez retain the SHIMMER Tag Titles against the Sea Stars (Ashley Vox and Delmi Exo) following a top rope curb stomp to Ashley Vox, Nicole Savoy retains the SHIMMER Title against Britt Baker with the Savolock. Hudson Envy attacks after the match.
SHIMMER 110: Charli Evans def. Cherry, Hyan def. Aerial Monroe with a Glam Slam, Jessicka Havok def. Sonya Strong in a surprisingly competitive match, Steph De Lander (with Indi Hartwell) def. Veda Scott, Nevaeh, and Brittney Blake with a big boot to Nevaeh, Su Yung def. Shotzi Blackheart with an airplane spin into a Michinoku Driver, Hiroyo Matsumoto and Dash Chisako def. Twisted Sisterz (Thunder Rosa and Holidead) with a Rock Drop from Matsumoto to Thunder Rosa, Allysin Kay def. Shazza McKenzie by sitting out a sunset flip attempt and leaning into the ropes, Rosemary def. Samantha Heights with a spear, Charlie Morgan def. Mercedes Martinez with a jumping DDT, Nicole Savoy retains the SHIMMER Title against Hudson Envy with the Savolock.
The Women’s Wrestling Extravaganza podcast covered all three nights of RISE/SHIMMER.
The insane schedule of events this week in New York (thanks to Phil Stamper):
Wed, Apr 3 – Dojo Wars – Colossal Sports Academy at The Coliseum, 333 Preston Ave, Voorhees, NJ – 8 pm – CZWrestling.com
Wed, Apr 3 – Pizza Party Wrestling – Phil Sheridan Building, Ridgefield Park, NJ – 7 pm
Wed, Apr 3 – UPWA – Wayne PAL Building, 1 Pal DR, Wayne, NJ – 7 pm
Ed in San Antonio presents the WRESTLEMANIAWeekend Event:
Saturday, April 6th, at 12:00 pm: Lunch (all you can eat) at Churrascaria Plataforma ($90 per person), located at 316 W. 49th street in Manhattan. Purchase tickets here~!
On the heels of a feature segment on Sunday’s ‘Last Week Tonight’ on HBO that painted WWE in a negative light, WWE released a statement Monday inviting host John Oliver to this Sunday’s WrestleMania:
The following was released by WWE to our website in addition to others:
“John Oliver is clearly a clever and humorous entertainer. However, the subject matter covered in his WWE segment is no laughing matter. Prior to airing, WWE responded to his producers refuting every point in his one-sided presentation. John Oliver simply ignored the facts.
The health and wellness of our performers is the single most important aspect of our business, and we have a comprehensive, longstanding Talent Wellness program. We invite John Oliver to attend WrestleMania this Sunday to learn more about our company.”
The 23-minute segment tackled, among other things, WWE’s classification of talent as independent contractors, the amount of wrestler deaths vs. other professions, and Vince McMahon’s role in the industry we know today.
Pro Wrestling Sheet reached out to HBO for a statement and was told, “The show likes to let the segments speak for themselves and will not be available to comment on this.”
As their biggest media week of the year began, WWE was again a subject on HBO’s “Last Week Tonight” with John Oliver.
WWE and Vince McMahon were the focus of the main segment on Sunday night’s episode. The 23-minute segment covered how wrestlers have been treated by WWE, them being classified as independent contractors instead of employees, and the benefits they don’t receive because of that.
Old clips of Bret Hart, Jesse Ventura, CM Punk, Vince, and Roddy Piper were shown on the episode.
The segment ended with Oliver saying fans have a strong, independent voice in WWE. Oliver said Vince occasionally listens to them, bringing up “#GiveDivasAChance” and WrestleMania being headlined by a women’s match for the first time ever this year. The episode showed how fans have contributed to fundraising campaigns for healthcare and funeral expenses for wrestlers.
Oliver said there’s potentially an opportunity for fans to chant and make signs at WrestleMania about wanting WWE to pay for wrestlers’ long-term healthcare or for them to be classified as employees.
WWE’s relationship with Saudi Arabia and the company going on with Crown Jewel as scheduled were featured on two “Last Week Tonight” episodes in October 2018 as part of the show’s coverage of the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.
For the second straight week, HBO’s “Last Week Tonight” with John Oliver covered WWE’s relationship with Saudi Arabia.
While talking about Crown Jewel being held in Saudi Arabia this Friday, Oliver mentioned reports that John Cena won’t be wrestling on the show and played a clip of The Undertaker’s promo from SmackDown 1000. The crowd went from chanting for Undertaker to booing when he said “Crown Jewel.”
“I think the WWE itself just turned heel,” Oliver said. “Do you know how clearly deeply bad something has to be to get wrestling fans to boo a wrestling event at a wrestling event?”
Oliver said WWE was pushing ahead with Crown Jewel despite the serious concerns of some of their wrestlers and own fan base. A parody video of what Oliver said WWE’s marketing should be then aired, advertising that no women’s wrestlers would be there, that Cena would be on the show if he’s willing to take a major PR hit, and ended with “If you care about human rights, WWE’s got two words for you — suck it.”
