Mercedes Martinez has won the Impact Knockouts Knockdown tournament.
The 20-year veteran earned a future Knockouts Championship match with her tournament victory on tonight’s Knockouts Knockdown special on Impact Plus.
Martinez defeated Brandi Lauren in the first round, Rachael Ellering in round two, then defeated former Knockouts Tag Team Champion Tasha Steelz in the finals of the eight-person tournament. Martinez pinned Steelz with a KO bomb.
Martinez debuted for the promotion on the October 7 edition of Impact TV in a trios match.
Prior to Impact, Martinez worked for both other major national promotions in the US. She was signed to WWE in January 2020, appearing both on NXT television and in the 2020 Women’s Royal Rumble match. Martinez had an abbreviated main roster stint as a member of the RETRIBUTION group, but ultimately returned to NXT before wrestling a single main roster match. She was released by WWE in August 2021.
Martinez also had an extremely short stint with AEW. She debuted in the company in August 2019, appearing as the joker in the Women’s Casino Battle Royale at the All Out pay-per-view. She would wrestle just once more for the promotion, teaming with the since-retired Sadie Gibs on the November 5, 2019 episode of Dark.
The first three entrants for Impact’s Knockouts Knockdown eight-woman tournament have been revealed.
Mercedes Martinez, 40, was announced as the first participant on Monday. Aside from an NWA-TNA appearance in 2003, Martinez has never appeared for Impact. She was recently released from WWE after nearly two years, mainly in NXT.
Two well known names on the indie scene — Lady Frost and Renee Michelle — were also announced.
Frost has done work for promotions like Beyond Wrestling and GCW in addition to the NWA while the 35-year-old Michelle has wrestled in AEW, Shine and Queens Of Combat.
Michelle also was a part of the inaugural Knockouts Tag Team Championship tournament where she teamed with Killer Kelly in a losing effort to Jordynne Grace and Jazz in the first round.
The tournament is part of the Knockouts Knockdown special: a one-night event set for Impact Plus on Saturday, October 9th. The winner will earn a future Knockouts title shot.
Impact has announced Knockouts Knockdown, an all-women event that will tape this coming weekend to air in October.
Gail Kim was joined by former Impact star Christy Hemme live on Impact’s Facebook page this afternoon. The show will air on October 9 on Impact Plus and will tape this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at Skyway Studios in Nashville, Tennessee. Kim announced that Deonna Purrazzo would be on the card, defending the Impact Knockouts title against a mystery opponent. Ticket information for the tapings can be found here.
Other names that Kim mentioned during the stream include Lady Frost, Renee Michelle, and Mercedes Martinez, all of whom will be appearing on the show. Additionally, a Monster’s Ball match will take place that will be dedicated to the memory of Daffney, who was the first woman to take part in a Monster’s Ball match against Taylor Wilde back in 2009.
NWA EmPower, which also had an all-women’s card, took place last month. Deonna Purrazzo successfully defended the Impact Knockouts title on the show, defeating Melina.
A match between Deonna Purrazzo and Mercedes Martinez has been announced for October.
WrestlePro has announced that Purrazzo will defend the Knockouts title against Martinez at their event in Rahway, New Jersey, on October 16. This would be the first post-WWE match announced for Martinez.
Martinez was released on August 6 along with 12 other members of the NXT roster. It has been reported that the cuts were a part of an effort to revamp NXT, focusing more on younger and bigger stars.
She was signed by WWE in 2020 and at one point was called up as a member of Retribution. However, she requested and later was granted a return to NXT. She had most recently been feuding with Xia Li, with her last match being a mixed tag match in June. She teamed with Jake Atlas (who was also released) to face Boa and Xia Li. Martinez suffered an injury during the match that she was recovering from prior to her release.
Bobby Eaton, one of the all-time greatest between the ropes
Jody Hamilton and the legend of the Assassins
Bray Wyatt and Ric Flair’s WWE departures
An update on how the biggest WWE & AEW shows upcoming are doing
WWE says AEW isn’t competition publicly and at the same time what was happening not publicly
Dragon Gate’s biggest shows of the year and the retirement of Masato Yoshino
A.J. McKee and the problems with the current set up in MMA
PWG returns
More detail on the ratings than any other source, how many different viewers the shows had, breakdown of who watches the shows, how they watch, DVR numbers and how long the average fan watches
Results of the major pro wrestling events of 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.
TUESDAY NEWS UPDATE
WWE
John Cena appeared before the crowd following last night’s Raw, giving a hug to Riddle and Randy Orton. He then teamed with Damian Priest in the dark match main event, defeating Jinder Mahal and Veer.
Riddle spoke to SportsKeeda regarding a recent interaction with Goldberg. “Bill Goldberg is extremely entertaining, I can’t take anything away from that but I’ll tell you this, I saw Bill the other day before he challenged Bobby Lashley and he was walking to the Gorilla Position and I was standing there and I was with Damian Priest at the time and he says hi to everybody and then Goldberg comes up to me gives me a look. He was making a face and then he goes, ‘Hey, congratulations kid….’ and I was like, ‘Oh man, Goldberg is kind of nice’, so I gave him a little handshake and he went out and challenged Bobby and then he was coming out, through Gorilla again and I was like, ‘Hey Goldberg, good stuff’ and as he gave me a fist bump he says, ‘I only need two moves’ so I was like, ‘Oh man, the guy’s still got it’”.
Keith Lee defeated Chico Adams in a dark match prior to last night’s Raw tapings.
A TikTok video shows the day in the life of the Baron Corbin character.
The former Bray Wyatt posted on Twitter for the first time since being released from WWE, posting a picture with text saying “You can’t kill it”.
Mercedes Martinez commented on her release for the first time on Twitter, writing: My life..I never thought I would ever make it to the WWE. I stayed dedicated, hustled, grinded, and sacrificed more than I could ever imagined to reach that goal. It took 20yrs…..but I wouldn’t change anything bc the universe has a way of making things work out. I never fit the mold ANYWHERE but I stayed TRUE to myself, ALWAYS. “The diamond in the rough” so to say….I truly want to thank @tripleh @wwe and @WWENXT for giving me the opportunity of a lifetime. I understand this business is never a guarantee for anything, and that sometimes the risk is higher than the reward. I’m grateful, blessed and humbled. Thank you to all that have text, messaged, emailed, called, and to those that put me on blast on social media..lol. The overwhelming love does not go unnoticed. But…….DONT COUNT ME OUT! The BEST of me is still yet to be unseen. I’m rebuilding myself and I know my worth, always have. My drive, dedication, perseverance and my hard knocks stubbornness says I have more to prove. I’m looking forward to THE NEXT CHAPTER!……”
Masked Republic has secured visas to bring 50 luchadores to the US. Names include Psycho Clown, LA Park, Psicosis, Aero Star, Super Crazy, Mistico, and Drago. Japanese stars Ultimo Dragon, The Great Sasuke, and Tajiri are also part of the list.
QT Marshall spoke to Digital Spy about Shaq’s appearance on AEW television back in March, saying he lied to Shaq about the table spot he eventually agreed to. “He said something about maybe going through some tables and I told him, ‘Oh it won’t be that bad, we’ll put a really thick pad underneath,’ which was not true,” Marshall said. “I just didn’t want him to back out of it. So it was a lot of fun, as soon as he came in the back, right away, he said, ‘You lied to me! There was no pad under there!’ That’s wrestling ,welcome to wrestling.”
On last night’s episode of AEW Dark, Joey Janela turned on tag team partner Sonny Kiss, attacking him prior to a scheduled match. On social media, Janela wrote: “I did what I did not because Sonny, it’s because most mainstream wrestling “fans” are absolute losers, mutant scum! Always arguing about ratings, what’s wrestling & what’s not, who’s dating who, body shaming, & what’s going on backstage.. now you have a reason to really hate me!”
Mark Henry talked to The New York Post ahead of the debut of AEW Rampage on Friday, where he will be part of the commentary team.
Chelsea Green is the guest on this week’s Oral Sessions with Renee Paquette.
GCW will bring ‘EMO FIGHT’ to The Melrose Ballroom in New York City on September 23. It will stream live on Fite TV. In a press release, EMO FIGHT was described as “a popular celebration of emo, pop punk and your favorite music from the days of Myspace with the world of Game Changer Wrestling. “
Following a Xia Li roundhouse kick on Tuesday’s NXT, Mercedes Martinez was taken to the hospital for evaluation after the kick appeared to knock her out.
Mercedes and Jake Atlas were taking on Li and Boa in a tag team match. After taking a Li suplex, Martinez stood up and took the kick that connected flush with her jaw and ear. Martinez immediately dropped face-first and when Li went for the cover, Martinez’s shoulders were up off the mat and her right arm came up slowly and awkwardly to avoid the pin — reminiscent of when MMA fighters take similar damage.
Li then stood up and backed away as the referee checked Martinez off camera, calling the match off seconds later. Martinez’s mouth was also bloodied.
Fightful first reported that the 40-year-old was checked out backstage and that both talent and staff were told she was going to be evaluated at a hospital. As of Wednesday morning, there is no update as to her condition.
Eva Marie is set to make her return to WWE Raw next week.
A new vignette aired during tonight’s Monday Night Raw featuring Eva Marie. At the end of the vignette, it was revealed that she would make her return next week.
Dave Meltzer has confirmed a WrestleVotes report from earlier today reporting that when Eva Marie returns, she will be accompanied by someone in a bodyguard-type ‘muscle’ role. Names mentioned include Piper Niven of NXT UK and Mercedes Martinez, who appears regularly on NXT television and is currently feuding with Tian Sha. However, Meltzer notes it is unclear who will eventually be in the role.
After leaving the WWE for three years, Eva Marie re-signed with the company last October. Vignettes started to air last month showing Eva Marie as someone who wants to help other people, promoting the “Eva-Loution”. Marie previously was a part of WWE from 2013 through 2017, when she began persuing other interests outside of WWE.
The card for NXT’s next TakeOver event now has four confirmed matches.
WWE has announced that Mercedes Martinez will face Xia Li at NXT TakeOver: In Your House. The show is taking place on Sunday, June 13.
After Martinez defeated Zayda Ramier on last week’s NXT, there was an angle where the lights went out and smoke began to fill the ring. A black mark from Li’s Tian Sha faction then appeared on the video screen. The lights went out again — and the mark was on Martinez’s hand when they came back on.
In a promo that aired on NXT tonight, Li said she’ll never forget how Martinez tried to embarrass her when they faced off in the 2017 Mae Young Classic. Martinez defeated Li in the first round of that tournament. The bout was Li’s first-ever pro wrestling match.
Li said during her promo tonight that she feels sick whenever she rewatches that Mae Young Classic match. Li claimed that Martinez tried to bring shame to Li’s name and disgrace to her family. Li said she’s a true warrior now and has been waiting for this moment for four years. Li said Martinez is standing in the way of her destiny. Li vowed that she’s going to purge Martinez at TakeOver: In Your House.
Martinez responded to Li later on tonight’s show. Martinez said Li may be more badass and dangerous now than she was in 2017 — but so is Martinez. Martinez said Li is standing in the way of Martinez’s way back to the NXT Women’s Championship. Martinez said she’ll run through Li at TakeOver.
Martinez unsuccessfully challenged for Raquel Gonzalez’s NXT Women’s Championship on an episode of NXT last month.
TakeOver; In Your House will air live on Peacock in the United States and live on the WWE Network everywhere else. Here’s the updated lineup for the event:
NXT Champion Karrion Kross defends against Kyle O’Reilly, Pete Dunne, Johnny Gargano, and Adam Cole in a fatal five-way match’
NXT Women’s Champion Raquel Gonzalez defends against Ember Moon
Two title matches are set for tonight’s episode of NXT.
The NXT Women’s Championship will be on the line as Raquel Gonzalez defends against Mercedes Martinez tonight. This will be Gonzalez’s first title defense since winning the NXT Women’s Championship from Io Shirai at TakeOver: Stand & Deliver last month.
The NXT Cruiserweight Championship will also be up for grabs as Kushida defends against Santos Escobar in a two-out-of-three falls match. Four weeks ago, Kushida answered Escobar’s open challenge and defeated him to win the Cruiserweight title. Legado del Fantasma (Escobar, Raul Mendoza & Joaquin Wilde) then defeated Kushida & NXT Tag Team Champions MSK in a six-man tag match on NXT two weeks ago.
MSK will face Breezango in a non-title match on tonight’s show. Kyle O’Reilly vs. Oney Lorcan has also been announced for tonight.
Plus, NXT Champion Karrion Kross will be in action against Austin Theory in a non-title match. That match will open tonight’s episode.
Our live coverage begins at 8 p.m. Eastern time.
**********
The show opened with a champion of the brand in a non-title bout.
NXT Champion Karrion Kross (with Scarlett) defeated Austin Theory (with NXT North American Champion Johnny Gargano) in a non-title match
Kross won via referee stoppage after annihilating Theory. Finn Balor confronted Kross after the match. Gargano interfered during the match, and Gargano is now set for a title defense next week after an announcement made while this match was still underway.
Kross was dominate from the start as he methodically controlled the pace. Kross slowly pummeled Theory until Gargano caused a distraction by jumping on the apron. Theory raked the Kross’ eyes, temporarily blinding him. Theory capitalized and he began to target Kross.
Theory delivered a fallaway slam on Kross, and Kross hulked up. Kross exploded into a volley of two Saito suplex, and his Doomsday forearm strike. Theory was already out when Kross locked in a choke. The ref then stepped in to stop the match.
During the match, a title bout was announced for next week with Bronson Reed challeneging Johnny Gargano for he North American title. Not sure why they had to announce a mostly unrelated match in the middle of another match that was ongoing, but that’s what they did. There was also a teaser for Kross’ next title defense.
Finn Balor after the match appeared behind Kross. They went face-to-face, and Balor said he doesn’t wait in lines. He wanted a title shot, and Kross said he wanted the match much like Balor does. Looks like these to are headed for a return match.
Earlier in the day, Leon Ruff and William Regal got into a heated argument in Regal’s office. Ruff wanted to comepte tonight, but Regal would not clear him to wrestle. Ruff yelled at Regal, and Regal yelled back.
NXT Tag Team Champions MSK (Wes Lee & Nash Carter) defeated Breezango (Tyler Breeze & Fandango) in a non-title match
Carter pinned Breeze in a fun babyface match.
The great stuff began earlier on. Just before a commercial break, they did a spot that involved the referee doing a drop down and a leapfrog. This match was so fun. Lee was doing flips after the show returned from the break. Fandango cut him, and Fandango used a Falcon Arrow for a near fall. Carter jumped in to break up the pin.
MSK with a series of double teams moves for a two count on Breeze. Fandango with a spear broke up the pin. A brawl erupted, and the champs were rocked by superkicks. Carter went on to springboard out of the ring with a moonsault to the outside.
The champ execute their Hart Attack/Blockbuster combo, and Carter covered Breeze for a pinfall. Breezango shook hands with MSK after the match in a show of sportsmanship.
Johnny Gargano did a comedy skit where he barged into William Regal’s office. The bit ended with Gargano breaking Regal’s pencil.
Todd Pettengill will host NXT TakeOver: In Your House on June 13th streaming live on Peacock.
Ever-Rise made a cameo plugging their talk show.
Leon Ruff attacks Pete Dunne
Dunne first cut a promo in the ring. He called out Karrion Kross for ducking him. Dunne vowed to become the champion, and he issued an open challenge for anyone to prove him wrong. Leon Ruff out of nowhere stormed the ring to attack Dunne.
Wade Barrett on commentary noted Ruff was not medically cleared, but Vic Jospeh claimed Regal could not stop Ruff from answering an open challenge. What? So, Ruff is not cleared to wrestle, but he can wrestle in an open challenge. Whatever.
Pete Dunne defeated Leon Ruff
Dunne won via ref stoppage, which was the second time such finish was used on the show. Much like the other bout, the winner was dominate throughout much of the match.
Dunne targeted the joints, and he was dominating Ruff when Ruff struck with a hurricanrana. Dunne quickly shut down the hope spot, and Dunne went back to joint manipulation.
Ruff fired up into a comeback. He hit Dunne with a missile dropkick, and he soon went flying again. This time Dunne cut him down with a forearm. Dunne with a triangle, and he rained down elbows on Ruff until the ref stopped the match.
Dunne after the bell again attacked Ruff, and Dunne snapped Ruff’s fingers.
El Legado del Fantasma cut a promo on Kushida agead of the cruiserweight title match tonight. Kushida defends the NXT Cruiserweight title against Santos Escobar later on.
The “world premiere” of Franky Monet is in two weeks time on NXT. The announcers plugged it as a debut, but Monet has already debuted. Maybe this is a debut in the actual CWC arena. Presley the Pomeranian will also be there. He’s a good boy.
NXT Women’s Champion Raquel Gonzalez (with Dakota Kai) defeated Mercedes Martinez to retain her title
Gonzalez pinned Martinez clean to retain the championship. Hard-hitting match.
The brawled at the start, and the fight quickly spilled outside. The brawling continued as the show went to a picture-in-picture commercial break. Not long after the break, Martinez had Gonzalez trapped in the ropes. Martinez with a draping and twisting neckbreaker on Gonzalez. Mercedes followed that with a spear on the apron.
The champion was reeling, but she still kicked out at two. They traded strikes. A powerbomb into a hotshot that cut off Martinez, but Martinez also kicked out at two. They traded more strikes amd near falls.
Martinez countered Gonzalez when Gonzalez went for her finisher. Martinez then delivered a running knee strike, and a suplex for another two count. Gonzalez fired up with a boot to the face, and Gonzalez with her signature powerbomb on Martinez. Gonzalez went on to cover Martinez for a three count.
Johnny Gargano and Austin Theory apparently attacked Bronson Reed backstage at the CWC. Security ordered The Way to leave the building.
Isaiah “Swerve” Scott arrived with his new faction. Scott was flanked by AJ Francis, Ashante “Thee” Adonis and B Fab. The name of the new crew is Hit Row. They all seem to have a musical background. Francis even freestyled during his part of the promo. Great introdcution for Hit Row.
Cameron Grimes in a skit arrived at an auction for a house. Grimes wondered why the auctioneer talked so fast. Grimes is outbid by Ted DiBiase, and Grimes is very upset. He rants and raves about DiBiase. Grimes calls out DiBiase, he tells Grimes everybody has a price for the Million Dollar Man. But DiBiase said Grimes is no Million Dollar Man.
Zoey Stark and Toni Storm cut promos on each other in a vignette. They meet in a rematch next week on NXT. Stark won their prior encounter in an upset.
Kyle O’Reilly defeated Oney Lorcan (with Pete Dunne)
O’Reilly pinned Lorcan in a fun match while it lasted. This match was set up after an angle earlier in the day involving a fight in the parking lot. Bobby Fish made a surprise return to make a save after the match.
Great grappling in the early moments. The grappling soon gave way to strikes. Dunne at ringside distracted O’Reilly, which allowed Lorcan to hit O’Reilly with a sneak attack. The show went to a commercial break with O’Reilly down selling the sneak attack.
O’Reilly after the break soon made a comeback, and dropped Lorcan with a brainbuster. O’Reilly finished the match with a Bobby Eaton flying knee drop, and O’Reilly covered Lorcan for a pinfall.
Bobby Fish returned to NXT while making a save after the match. Lorcan and Dunne attacked O’Reilly after the bell. Fish ran down to even the odds. The former tag partners reunited to clean house one more time.
O’Reilly told Fish it was good to see him back, but O’Reilly told Fish he was doing his own thing. Fish said he understood that, and Fish went on to say he was his own scores to settle. Fish says he will see him when he sees him. They left on friendly terms.
A wacky video package showed The Way as superheroes. Cut to a serious promo from Bronson Reed, and Reed announces that he will challenge Gargano for the NXT North Amercian title in a cage match next week on NXT.
NXT Cruiserweight Champion Kushida defeated Santos Escobar in a two-out-of-three falls match to retain the title
Kushida won after winning two straight falls. He dropped the first fall, but came back to win the next two. Great match to close the show.
Early on there was brawling at ringside whe Legado del Fantasma tried to interfere. MSK ran down to counter the interference, and the referee ejected both teams from ringside. Meanwhile, Kushida leapt off the top turnnuckle into a flip dive on Escobar.
Escobar was in control when the show returned from the break, after Kushida had wiped out on another dive. Escobar targeted Kushida’s back with a single leg crab and La Tapatia. Kushida fought back, but Escobar continued to work him over.
An avalanche into a sunset flip allowed for Kushida to get a two count. That led into Kushida making a comeback with a handspring back elbow and a cartwheel dropkick. Escobar quickly cut him off, and Escobar executed the Phantom Driver. Escobar then covered Kushida to win the first fall.
The second fall lasted seconds. Kushida locked in a cross armbreaker, and Escobar tapped out to end the second fall. The falls were even as the show went to a picture-in-picture commercial break.
The fighting spilled outside the ring as the show returned from the break. Kushida kept targeting an arm, but Escobar snapped Kushida on the top rope. Escobar followed with a torpedo tope suicida through the ropes.
Kushida fought back to drop a flying knee on Escobar, which targeted the already injured arm from earlier. Kushida dropped Escobar with a shoulder breaker on the floor. Back in the ring, Escobar countered an attempted armbar by using a small package to get a two count.
They traded near falls until a double down. They got up and ended up fighting on the top turnbuckle. Kushida flipped off with a Spanish Fly into the Hoverboard Lock. Escobar was able to reach the bottom rope to break the hold.
Kushida suplexed Escobar into the turnbuckles, and Kushdia went to suplex him again. Kushida did so, but this time he trapped both of Escobar’s arms. Kushida then bridged into a cover for a three count to win the deciding fall. Kushida retained after winning two straight falls.
Raquel Gonzalez has a date and an opponent for her first NXT Women’s Championship defense.
Gonzalez will defend her NXT Women’s Championship against Mercedes Martinez on NXT in two weeks (Tuesday, May 11). The match was announced after Gonzalez beat down Martinez on tonight’s NXT.
Martinez faced Gonzalez’s tag team partner Dakota Kai on tonight’s NXT, but the match ended in a disqualification when Gonzalez attacked Martinez. Gonzalez was at ringside during the match and got into a confrontation with Martinez. Gonzalez went to hit Martinez, but Martinez moved out of the way and punched Gonzalez. Martinez then went back into the ring, but Gonzalez attacked her to cause the DQ.
Gonzalez then beat down Martinez and laid her out by launching her head-first into the plexiglass surrounding the ringside area.
After Martinez had called out Gonzalez, Kai responded last week and told Martinez that she wouldn’t be getting a title shot. Martinez called Gonzalez a lapdog and said she would take out Kai so that nothing would be standing in the way of her challenging for Gonzalez’s title.
Gonzalez defeated Io Shirai in the main event of TakeOver: Stand & Deliver night one earlier this month to win the NXT Women’s Championship.
The next challenger for Johnny Gargano’s NXT North American Championship was also confirmed on NXT tonight. As a result of Bronson Reed defeating Austin Theory, Reed will be getting another shot at Gargano’s North American title. WWE hasn’t announced when that title match will be taking place.
We have a loaded issue of the Wrestling Observer this week, with business and history features.
We update WWE financials, with comments from Nick Khan, Vince McMahon, Stephanie McMahon and Kristina Salen talking about the state of the company, the state of sports business, what media companies are looking at right now, AEW, plus a look at WWE revenue and profits. We also look behind the numbers at what they mean, how every category is doing and what categories the company is no longer reporting on. We also look at the decline of WWE ratings as compared to that of cable television and network television.
Also in this issue:
The new attempt at a unique concept PPV with the Triller promotion and Ben Askren vs. Jake Paul, the show, the match, the blitzed announcers, Ric Flair, comparisons to other similar things and long-term sustainability.
Kenny Omega vs Rich Swann match, followed by a story on famous title unification matches throughout pro wrestling history. We look at some of the biggest and most important matches of all-time that were two champions unifying a world title from 1920 to the present.
WrestleMania business numbers when it came to the two live shows, with real attendance, real gates and what it means.
New Smackdown announcing team, Pat McAfee talks his debut, Daniel Bryan talks his current situation and contract, thoughts on Daniel Bryan’s future, new hires and departures at WWE, change in show distribution, former star talks coming out of retirement, how the WWE & AEW shows rank among sports programming, WWE star bio released, Damien Priest talks Bad Bunny, more on Kalisto being let go, Dr. Wagner Jr. talks WWE, political reason for a winning streak, and most-watched YouTube segments on his week’s WWE programming.
A major feature on the career of Steve Austin and the A&E special, his background, how he got into wrestling, the WCW years, the Stone Cold name, life after wrestling, and what were key things not talked about on the documentary.
Mickie James garbage bag situation and the firing of Mark Carrano.
MLW’s new television deal, who else was in talks about that deal, MLW returning to shows with fans and a spinoff planned.
Coverage of this past week’s UFC show, business notes, where the top fighters are headed plus match-by-match coverage.
More detail on ratings than any other source, we have how every segment on NXT and AEW did as well as how it did with different age groups, genders and more, plus a look at all other wrestling shows of the past week.
Results of the major pro wrestling events of 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.
TUESDAY NEWS UPDATE
WWE
In an interview with The Big Issue, Drew McIntyre continued to push the idea of a match between him and Tyson Fury. “When I’m able to win back my WWE title we’ll fly back home, get an open top bus at the top of Scotland. I’m going to make my way down Scotland, [and have a] big celebration all the way down into England. Get to Fury’s house, set ourselves up a little match. It’s going to happen. The thing is he has a genuine love for wrestling and he’s such an entertainer, he gets it.I know we could do some fun business together. Probably some kind of Battle of Britain would be the theme.”
Mercedes Martinez spoke to Daily DDT about her choice not remaining with the RETRIBUTION stable. “Do I regret the decision [to leave RETRIBUTION]? No, I do not,” she said. “I always have to put forth what’s great for me in my career now. I can’t look in the future, I don’t know what can happen in the future, but I have to take the opportunity and what’s best for Mercedes Martinez’s career at this moment. With RETRIBUTION, I took the opportunity, but it wasn’t the right opportunity. It didn’t feel right in my heart to be there. With the crew there and with the RETRIBUTION members, I want nothing but the best for them and they’re young enough to do what they got to do and take the opportunity and kill it.”
Jeff Jarrett on Sportskeeda talked about the Mickie James shipping incident from last week, saying “Obviously I’ve known Mickie her entire career. Incredible talent. You know, that story broke and without knowing all the details, it took in my opinion… how the bag got there. Cosmetically it didn’t sit well with a lot of folks. but also know that there’s a lot of discussion in the world we live in with social media and clicks. I get it. I completely understand it,But without… look, there’s a lot of things that aren’t always what they truly appear to be,” Jarrett added. I don’t know who shipped it, how it was shipped, what was in that bag, what was in the contents of that bag. There’s so many questions, what if? But I know one thing it made great headlines last week and a lot of discussion. But at the end of the day I don’t think either side… Mickie’s a future Hall of Famer without question. But it was a unique situation, difficult for both sides but I think it’s water under the bridge at this point.”
AJ Styles, Omos, Charlotte Flair, Franky Monet, Natalya, and Tamina have been announced for tomorrow’s The Bump.
A preview to WrestleMania leads off the current issue of the Wrestling Observer. We look at each match, thoughts on the match, who are the gambling oddsmaker favorites, chart ticket demand with Mania and the next two UFC PPV shows, rules in play, and non-WrestleMania ticket demand.
Also in this issue:
End of the Wednesday night war with the final standings, cover the two Takeover shows, look at television vs. streaming viewership, Canadian numbers, final stands in shows and quarters, and where AEW and NXT go from here.
Takeover with match-by-match coverage with star ratings and other notes from the shows.
Vince McMahon’s decision to put the Chris Jericho interview on Peacock right after the second day of WrestleMania, why the timing works, how Tony Khan reacted, the good, the bad, the political, a preview of something talked about and how this does show a change in WWE policy.
The death of Jack Veneno, a look at his four world title matches with Ric Flair, Dominican wrestling, the story about the world title change that wasn’t approved by the NWA board, as well as the movies on his life and career that have been produced. We look at the level of fame he had in the Dominican Republic and outside the Dominican Republic.
A feature on the direction of AEW, where the viewership declines are and aren’t, reasons, and changes in AEW television over the past year as well as a look at different stars and how much time they are getting.
Nick Khan talking the return of two of WWE’s best known women stars, A.J. Styles’ idea for this year’s Mania that didn’t happen, Roman Reigns talks a match with The Rock, looking at the popularity of all the major promotions and who is gaining and falling, WWE gets rid of longtime announcing team, The Hurt Business breakup, Paul Levesque talks Undertaker’s comments on the modern generation, how pro wrestling did compared to televised sports this past week, Seth Rollins talks fans at TV, A&E wrestling schedule, and WWE market value.
Will Ospreay’s win of the IWGP title, the history of U.K. wrestlers challenging for New Japan’s world title, business updates including bad news for New Japan going into two stadium shows, why the title changed, other angles, all the upcoming streaming shows and major shows over the next month and some good business news as well.
Sakura Genesis, with match-by-match coverage and star ratings.
WWE Hall of Fame ceremonies, go through the candidates, note speeches, the major gaffe in one of the inductions and a look back at a pioneer wrestling family that is never talked about.
U.S. Olympic wrestling trials, the major confrontations, the stars of the team, plus stars of the future to watch out for.
Stardom PPV show.
More into detail on ratings than any other source, we have how every segment on NXT and AEW did as well as how it did with different age groups, genders and more, plus a look at all other wrestling shows of the past week.
Results of the major pro wrestling events of 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.
TUESDAY NEWS UPDATE
WWE
A match between Mercedes Martinez and Jessi Kamea has been added to tonight’s episode of NXT.
It was announced Monday afternoon that a new podcast featuring Jeff Jarrett called “My World with Jeff Jarrett” will launch on May 4. Conrad Thompson will host the show and will be available on adfreeshows.com.
WWE.com posted an article on Matt and Jeff Hardy’s father, Gilbert, passing away on April 6.
The website also posted an article on Kelly Kelly (Barbara Blank) marrying Joe Coba this past weekend.
Belair also spoke to TMZ Sports on winning the title. “It’s so important,” she told them. “I always say representation is not a request. Representation is a requirement and WWE is a perfect example of how people should follow by propelling women and representing women and treating women in sports and in the world. It’s an amazing moment to stand in the ring with Sasha Banks — it was the first time two African-American women have had a title match at ‘WrestleMania’ and [it was the] main event.”
The Advertiser has an article on Rhea Ripley winning the Raw Women’s Championship at WrestleMania.
Rhea commented on her title win in an interview with TVInsider, bringing up one congratulatory message after winning the title: “One of the big ones was talking to Vince McMahon afterward, hearing him say “well done” and that I did great. It was so surreal. It’s a dream, and I’m living it. To have the big bossman say well done was pretty insane to me.”
SVG has an article on WWE welcoming fans back at WrestleMania. “The fans’ being there had a huge impact on everyone — from the talent to everybody in the truck,” SVP of event technical operations Duncan Leslie told SVG. “It was so gratifying to see how excited our fans were, because we do everything we can to give them the best show on earth.”
In an interview with TMZ Sports, The Miz praised Bad Bunny’s performance at WrestleMania. “Not only did he earn my respect, I think he earned the WWE Universe’s respect,” he said. “I think he earned backstage’s respect. I think he earned everybody’s respect in what some are calling ‘The Best Celebrity Match at WrestleMania in History!'”
The company has trademarked the term “Then Now Forever Together”, a new phrase seen in their new signature opening.
Other Wrestling
CM Punk didn’t dismiss the idea of returning to wrestling in an interview with Uproxx, but also said that it wasn’t his world anymore. “I think the right combination could maybe be figured out, but it’s also not for me to figure out,” he said. “It’s not my world anymore. I’m certainly not Hulk Hogan, where I’m going to show up somewhere and like, ‘no, this is how it’s going to be.’ The wrestling world doesn’t necessarily need CM Punk and that’s absolutely fine. Everyone seems to be doing great. I don’t know, it’s like flavors of ice cream. I walk into an ice cream shop one time and I’m like, ‘Oh, that seems like a good flavor. Give me two scoops of that.’ It’s just gotta be the right time, right place, right situation.”
NWA PowerrrSurge, a new show that will air on FiteTV starting tonight, will feature Mike Parrow and a spotlight match with Jerimiah Plunkett vs. Mims. This will be part of the NWA subscription package on Fite TV.
WWE has announced a change to tonight’s NXT Women’s Tag Team title match.
NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions Shotzi Blackheart & Ember Moon will now defend their titles against Aliyah & Mercedes Martinez on tonight’s show. It was originally announced that Blackheart & Moon would be facing The Robert Stone Brand’s Aliyah & Jessi Kamea.
In a video that WWE uploaded this afternoon, Robert Stone said Kamea was injured while training for tonight’s match. Stone and Aliyah approached Martinez and offered her the “life-changing opportunity” to challenge for the NXT Women’s Tag Team titles with Aliyah tonight. When Martinez saw how much money Stone was offering her, she told Stone that would only be half of her pay. Martinez said she expects to be paid the other half after tonight’s match. When Martinez left, Stone said he doesn’t have any more money.
Martinez was formerly part of The Robert Stone Brand prior to her call-up to the main roster last year. She was written out of the group by being served with a restraining order from Stone after losing a steel cage match to Rhea Ripley last September. After briefly being part of RETRIBUTION on the main roster, Martinez returned to NXT in December.
This will be Blackheart & Moon’s first NXT Women’s Tag Team title defense. The titles were introduced two weeks ago and awarded to women’s Dusty Classic winners Raquel Gonzalez & Dakota Kai, but Gonzalez & Kai lost the titles to Blackheart & Moon that same night.
The Robert Stone Brand had interrupted an interview with Blackheart & Moon on last week’s NXT and challenged them to a Women’s Tag Team title match.
Here’s the updated lineup for tonight’s NXT:
NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions Shotzi Blackheart & Ember Moon defend against Aliyah & Jessi Kamea
NXT Women’s Champion Io Shirai & Zoey Stark vs. Raquel Gonzalez & Dakota Kai
Karrion Kross vs. Oney Lorcan
NXT Cruiserweight Champion Jordan Devlin vs. Kushida in a non-title match
NXT United Kingdom Champion WALTER vs. Drake Maverick in a non-title match
Bronson Reed vs. LA Knight
NXT general manager William Regal will address Adam Cole and Kyle O’Reilly
Regal will also give an update on the situation with the vacant NXT Tag Team titles
The NXT Women’s Championship will officially be on the line in a triple threat match at February’s TakeOver event.
WWE has announced that NXT Women’s Champion Io Shirai will defend her title against Toni Storm and Mercedes Martinez in a triple threat match at NXT TakeOver on Sunday, February 14.
Shirai, Storm, and Martinez took part in a three-way brawl on this week’s episode of NXT. It ended with Storm standing tall and holding up Shirai’s NXT Women’s Championship belt.
Martinez made her return to NXT last month by attacking Shirai. Shirai had been challenged by Storm and went to the ring to call her out, but Martinez blindsided Shirai and ended up throwing her into the announce table.
Storm & Martinez teamed together in the women’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic but were eliminated by Kacy Catanzaro & Kayden Carter in the first round after Shirai attacked Martinez during the match. It was said on NXT this week that the finals of the women’s Dusty Classic will take place at TakeOver.
Shirai has been NXT Women’s Champion since defeating Charlotte Flair and Rhea Ripley in a triple threat match for the title at NXT TakeOver: In Your House in June of last year.
For the first time since departing RETRIBUTION, Mercedes Martinez returned to WWE television tonight.
Martinez made her return to NXT by attacking NXT Women’s Champion Io Shirai tonight. After being challenged by Toni Storm on tonight’s NXT, Shirai went to the ring and called Storm out. Shirai sat in a steel chair waiting for Storm to come down to the ring. But Martinez then attacked Shirai from behind.
Martinez threw Shirai around ringside. Shirai tried to fight back, but Martinez tackled Shirai into the apron and threw her against the announce table.
Along with T-Bar (Dominik Dijakovic), Mace (Dio Maddin), Reckoning (Mia YIm), and Slapjack (Shane Thorne), Martinez was originally one of the core members of RETRIBUTION on the main roster. Her RETRIBUTION name was Retaliation. It was confirmed this October that Martinez was no longer part of the group and would be returning to NXT.
Martinez had been written off NXT TV in September. After losing a steel cage match to Rhea Ripley, WWE uploaded video of a post-show angle where Martinez was presented with a restraining order from Robert Stone. Martinez had been part of the Robert Stone Brand with Stone and Aliyah.
