MLW announced today that Nakajima will challenge Women’s Featherweight Champion Delmi Exo at Battle Riot VII in Los Angeles on Saturday, April 5. The show is taking place at The Commerce Casino & Hotel and will air live on MLW’s YouTube channel for free.
“This championship fight has been brokered between MLW and TJPW, underscoring the continued collaboration between the two organizations,” MLW hyped. “It also comes at a time when MLW’s women’s division is heating up, and Nakajima looks to make an immediate impact by capturing gold in her debut.”
Nakajima is a two-time Princess of Princess Champion for TJPW, most recently holding the title in 2022. She worked a pair of AEW matches in 2019-2020 and has made recent appearances in the United States for indie promotion Deadlock Pro, along with wrestling at Defy and GCW events in collaboration with TJPW.
Exo is on her second reign as MLW Women’s Featherweight Champion. She regained the belt last month from Janai Kai. Only Taya Valkyrie, Exo, and Kai have held the title since it was introduced in 2022 as MLW’s first-ever Women’s Championship.
There have now been two matches confirmed for the Battle Riot VII card:
Matt Riddle defends the MLW World Heavyweight Championship in 40-wrestler Battle Riot match
MLW Women’s Featherweight Champion Delmi Exo defends against Shoko Nakajima
MLW is set to play a part in NJPW x CMLL Fantasticamania 2025.
The tour is taking place this month and will conclude with two straight nights at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo on February 27-28. It was announced today that MLW titles will be defended on both nights. The promotion has partnerships with both NJPW and CMLL.
– On night one, NJPW legend Satoshi Kojima and CMLL veteran OKUMURA will put their MLW Tag Team titles on the line against luchadores Rugido & Magnus. It’s a rematch from last year’s NJPW & CMLL Fantasticamania USA event, where Kojima & OKUMURA retained their belts.
That prior match between the teams happened during Kojima & OKUMURA’s first MLW Tag Team title reign. They are now two-time champs after regaining the belts from Minoru Suzuki & Ikuro Kwon in December.
– Night two at Korakuen Hall will be headlined by Mistico defending the MLW Middleweight Championship against Averno. Mistico has held the title since February 2024 and will reach one full year as champion if he wins this match.
“The first title that a young Mistico ever held was NWA’s World Middleweight Championship won from Averno back in January 2005,” NJPW wrote. “20 years removed, could it be Averno that ends a historic MLW title run?”
Both of the Korakuen Hall events will air live on NJPW World. Here are the full cards:
NJPW & CMLL Fantasticamania (Thursday, February 27) —
Volador Jr. vs. Templario
Ultimo Guerrero vs. Atlantis Jr.
Black Cat memorial: Hiroshi Tanahashi, Mistico, Mascara Dorada & Stigma vs. Taiji Ishimori, Averno, Soberano Jr. & Raider
Lightning match: Zandokan Jr. vs. Neon
MLW Tag Team Champions Satoshi Kojima & OKUMURA defend against Rugido & Magnus
Barbaro Cavernario & El Desperado vs. Hechicero & Ninja Mack
Xelhua & Max Star vs. Titan & KAMAITACHI
NJPW & CMLL Fantasticamania (Friday, February 28) —
MLW Middleweight Champion Mistico defends against Averno
Mascara Dorada vs. Soberano Jr.
Barbaro Cavernario vs. Hechicero
Templario, Neon & El Desperado vs. Volador Jr., Rugido & Magnus
Atlantis Jr., Stigma & Taiji Ishimori vs. Ultimo Guerrero, Satoshi Kojima & OKUMURA
Paul Walter Hauser has a chance to win his first-ever wrestling championship later this month.
The I, Tonya, and Cobra Kai actor will challenge for the MLW National Openweight Championship in a four-way match at the promotion’s TV tapings on February 8, MLW announced on Monday. MLW Superfight VI will also take place the same night, with both shows taking place at Atlanta’s Center Stage.
Hauser’s opponents will be Bobby Fish, AKIRA, and MLW National Openweight Champion Matthew Justice.
📢 JUST ANNOUNCED: Get ready for a 4-way MLW National Openweight Championship Match when Matthew Justice defends his title against Bobby Fish, AKIRA and Paul Walter Hauser at the beIN Sports TV taping section of MLW SuperFight 6! Tickets on sale now. pic.twitter.com/bs6xN0CnpY
Hauser is coming off two losses in a row in MLW. He teamed with Justice and lost to Brock & CW Anderson at One Shot in December and teamed with Paul London in a loss to the Andersons again at Reloaded last month.
MLW Superfight VI and TV taping lineup for Saturday, February 8, 2025:
Triple threat match: MLW World Heavyweight Champion Matt Riddle defends against Satoshi Kojima and Alex Kane
Donovan Dijak vs. Tom Lawlor
Honey Trap match: Paul London vs. BRG
KENTA vs. Kevin Knight
Esfinge & Templario vs. Mascara Dorada & Mistico
Janai Kai vs. Mila Moore
The House of Duran (Cesar Duran, Salina de la Renta, Jesus Rodriguez, and D’Oro) to appear
Announced for TV taping:
KUSHIDA vs. Neon
MLW National Openweight Champion Matthew Justice defends against Bobby Fish, AKIRA, and Paul Walter Hauser
KUSHIDA’s opponent for his MLW return has been announced.
The six-time IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion will face CMLL’s Neon at the TV taping portion of MLW Superfight VI at Center Stage in Atlanta on Saturday, February 8. It will be his second time wrestling for the company and his first since 2023.
JUST ANNOUNCED 📢 KUSHIDA vs. Neon GOES DOWN in ATL! Can the upstart upset the veteran?
KUSHIDA recently departed TNA Wrestling after his contract expired at the end of 2024. His last match was a loss to Ace Austin at the TV tapings on December 14, also held at Center Stage in Atlanta.
Other matches recently announced for MLW’s upcoming show include KUSHIDA’s tag partner, Kevin Knight, against KENTA and CMLL’s Esfinge & Templario vs. Mascara Dorada & Mistico.
MLW Superfight VI and TV taping lineup for Saturday, February 8, 2025:
Triple threat match: MLW World Heavyweight Champion Matt Riddle defends against Satoshi Kojima and Alex Kane
Donovan Dijak vs. Tom Lawlor
Honey Trap match: Paul London vs. BRG
KENTA vs. Kevin Knight
Esfinge & Templario vs. Mascara Dorada & Mistico
The House of Duran (Cesar Duran, Salina de la Renta, Jesus Rodriguez, and D’Oro) to appear
A stipulation match has been booked for MLW’s SuperFight event in Atlanta next month.
Paul London and BRG (Brett Ryan Gosselin) will meet in a grudge match at the Saturday, February 8 show. It’s being billed as the first-ever “Honey Trap” match where the loser will be dunked into a pool of honey and feathered.
“The rules are simple yet humiliating: the loser of the match will be dunked in a pool of honey and feathered in front of the MLW fans,” MLW wrote. “There’s no greater embarrassment, and the stakes couldn’t be higher for both competitors.”
London defeated BRG at MLW Summer of the Beasts last year but was laid out by the Rogue Horsemen (BRG, Bobby Fish, Brock Anderson & CW Anderson) after.
SuperFight is being held at Center Stage in Atlanta and will air live on MLW’s YouTube channel with a 10 p.m. Eastern start time. Here is the updated lineup:
MLW SuperFight 2025 —
Triple threat match: MLW World Heavyweight Champion Matt Riddle defends against Satoshi Kojima and Alex Kane
With Bryan Alvarez on the road, Filthy Tom Lawlor joins Mike Sempervive to keep you up to date. News on WWE and TNA extending their relationship, Filthy’s upcoming fight against Donovan Dijak, a review of last night’s AEW Dynamite, and much more. It’s a fun show as always, so check it out~!
Matt Riddle’s first defense of the MLW World Heavyweight Championship has been announced.
On Monday, MLW officially confirmed that Riddle will face former champions Satoshi Kojima and Alex Kane in a triple-threat match at SuperFight 6 on Saturday, February 8, 2025. The event will take place at Center Stage in Atlanta, and air live on YouTube.
Riddle defeated Kojima to win the title on Saturday at Kings of Colosseum 2025 in Dallas. After the match, the new champion mentioned wanting to defend the title against Alex Kane, who was recently fired by MLW General Manager Eric Bischoff, in storyline.
When asked who he wants to defend the MLW World title against at SuperFight, Riddle responded:
“Well, you know, bro, I think I’m going to freestyle this one, and I know he’s recently been fired, unjustly, and he hasn’t had a world title shot in over a year. And he’s standing right here to my left…”
Kane then entered the scene and told Riddle he doesn’t deserve to hold the title.
“I’ll be honest, I strongly disagree; I’m the King of Bros,” Riddle responded to Kane. “I just did something you couldn’t do. I just beat Kojima-san, bro. And that’s why I’m the MLW Heavyweight World Champion.”
Kojima then entered the press conference and stated he wants a rematch for the title he just lost.
“I want rematch,” Kojima said repeatedly.
“I got a perfect solution, I’ll take you both on, bro, see you there,” Riddle responded.
Matt Riddle defeated Satoshi Kojima to win the title in the main event of MLW Kings of Colosseum 2025 on Saturday night in Dallas. The finish saw Riddle kick out of a brainbuster, hit a fisherman buster, Broton, and the Bro-Stone to pick up the win.
“Matt Riddle has defeated Satoshi Kojima to capture the MLW World Heavyweight Championship in an electrifying showdown at a record-setting sold-out crowd of 2,400 at the NYTEX Sports Centre in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex,” wrote MLW.com.
Following his victory, Riddle was joined in the ring by our own “Filthy” Tom Lawlor and the two showed respect to Kojima.
Riddle appeared at a press conference following the show, where it was teased that his first title defense will be a triple-threat match at MLW SuperFight against two former champions, Kojima and Alex Kane.
Lawlor would later say of Saturday’s show, “Tonight’s MLW show may have been the best yet, top to bottom. A great undercard, an insane Gravity Gamble match, a killer match between Demi Wxo and Janai Kai, lucha excellence, and a big main event between Kojima and the Bro. DFW showed up and showed out in a big way tonight!”
The full MLW Kings of Colosseum 2025 show is available below:
MLW Kings of Colosseum 2025 quick results:
Mads Krule Krugger defeated Matthew Justice, Mr. Thomas, AKIRA, and BRG in a Gravity Gamble match
Atlantis & Atlantis Jr. defeated Blue Panther & Dark Panther
Delmi Exo defeated Janai Kai to win the MLW World Featherweight Championship in a title vs. hair match
Donovan Dijak defeated KENTA
Averno defeated Máscara Dorado and Esfinge in a triple threat
Matt Riddle defeated Satoshi Kojima to win the MLW World Heavyweight Championship
– Garrett and I will be doing our weekly news in review show today. Bryan and I have our weekend show coming up with a lot of stuff taking place including SmackDown, NXT, AEW Continental Classic tournament and the finals of the New Japan Tag League tournament on Sunday.
Full coverage of Survivor Series, the show, the business (one record and one surprise) and the future direction.
Why the ring boys lawsuit has been put on hold, why it probably had to be that way and the key question that will decide it.
A look at Ryan Nemeth’s complaints about AEW and what was going on at the time.
A look at NXT Deadline, ROH Final Battle and AEW Worlds End with matches, directions and business numbers.
The most detailed look at the ratings for all the TV shows this past week, with a series of scary bad numbers that people don’t know about and others that they do, and what it stays about television
Mistico vs. Hechicero, a unique Arena Mexico main event that worked, what it was and why
More on AEW stars going to Arena Mexico.
Updates on Konnan and El Hijo del Vikingo.
Stardom tag team tournament coverage
King of Gate tournament coverage
All Japan tag team tournament coverage
NOAH sets up its 1/1 show
New Japan tag team tournament update
Best U.S. amateur wrestlers that have gone into pro wrestling
Notes on Jim Londos ahead of his biography release
TNA looking big when it comes to shows next year
Turning Point coverage
AEW upcoming show notes
Next major rights negotiations going on in 2025
Conor McGregor liable for more money in latest case, plus more backlash against him
January UFC card announced
Two of PFL/Bellator’s champions ask for their release
2024 PFL tournament of champions
More on the MMA death in Alberta
Giant numbers for boxing match upcoming
Major changes for Raw & SmackDown in 2025
Dwayne Johnson has huge success outside of wrestling
What percentage of UFC, AEW and WWE revenue comes from television
International TV ratings
– The New Japan tag team tournament finals are Sunday in Kumamoto with Tetsuya Naito & Hiromu Takahashi vs. Sanada & Gabe Kidd. While the show is Sunday in Japan, it starts at 1 a.m. Eastern Saturday night, basically just as the UFC show will be ending, and 10 p.m. Pacific. It’s the last major show before the Tokyo Dome so expect a number of angles. They did shoot an angle earlier today where Kenoh came to the show in Sendai and challenged KENTA to a match on 1/1 at Budokan Hall for NOAH.
– What happened in the tag tournament is that with Henare injured, that gave Naito & Takahashi a forfeit win to go 5-2. Oleg Boltin & Toru Yano beat Mikey Nicholls & Shane Haste to go to 5-2. Then Evil & Ren Nartia beat Hiroshi Tanahashi & Jado to go 5-2. So it ended up in a three team match where Naito pinned Boltin to reach the finals.
– With Henare out with a serious knee injury, Henare & Great O-Khan are vacating IWGP tag titles and their 1/5 match with The Young Bucks at the Tokyo Dome is off. It would be easy to say the winners of the tournament final Sunday should be for the titles but they have not said that.
– SmackDown tonight from Minneapolis has the following lineup announced:
WWE Tag Team Champions Motor City Machine Guns defend against The Street Profits
Women’s United States title tournament first-round match: Naomi vs. Tiffany Stratton vs. Elektra Lopez
Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes kicks off the episode
– We’re looking for reports from tonight’s SmackDown show in Minneapolis with the dark matches and anything off television, results, finishes, etc. to [email protected]. They had 7,000 tickets out as of earlier today.
– Our only weekend poll will be for NXT Deadline which is at 7 p.m. Eastern tomorrow from Minneapolis. With all the talk of AEW’s crowds not being good, and they aren’t, sales for both this show and a show in Lowell, MA are very weak and the New Japan shows are weak as well. Lost in all the AEW is dying is that aside from main roster WWE, everything is way down across the board other than TNA has drawn bigger crowds but Bound for Glory on PPV was down from Slammiversary.
– Bronson Reed is expected to undergo surgery for his ankle injury from Survivor Series.
– UFC 309 takes place tomorrow. The NXT show should end before the UFC PPV starts. It’s from Las Vegas and while no big main event, it’s a deep show.
ESPN+ at 6 p.m. Eastern
Kennedy Nzechukwu (236.5) vs. Lukasz Brzeski (234)
Chase Hooper (155.5) vs. Clay Guida (155)
Michael Chiesa (170.5) vs. Max Griffin (170)
Cody Durden (126) vs. Joshua Van (126)
Chris Weidman (194.5) vs. Eryk Anders (193)
ESPN2, FX and ESPN+ at 8 p.m. Eastern
Randy Brown (171) vs. Bryan Battle (175) – After all that talk he missed by four pounds
Aljamain Sterling (145.5) vs. Movsar Evolev (145.5)
Vicente Luque (170.5) vs. Themba Gorimob (171)
Dominik Reyes (205) vs. Anthony Smith (207.5) – Smith missed by 1.5 pounds.
PPV at 10 p.m.
Nate Landwehr (145.5) vs Doo Ho Choi (146)
Bryce Mitchell (146) vs Kron Gracie (144.5) – Rickson’s son
Cyril Gane (245.5) vs. Alexander Volkov (254.5)
Shavkat Rakhmonov (171) vs. Ian Machado Garry (171)
Alexandre Pantoja (124.5) vs. Kai Asakura (124.5) for UFC flyweight title
– The Fighters Only World MMA awards took place last night in Las Vegas. Some key winners:
Lifetime Achievement: Mark Coleman
Charles Mask Lewis Fighter of the Year: Alex Pereira
Woman Fighter of the Year: Zhang Weili
Fight of the Year: Justin Gaethje vs. Max Holloway (Holloway also won knockout of the year for that finish)
Biggest upset: Sean Strickland over Israel Adesanya
Announcer of the Year: Jon Anik
Analyst of the Year: Michael Bisping
Coach of the Year: Plinio Cruz
Reporter of the Year: Ariel Helwani
– WWE 2k24 was nominated for Best Sports/Racing game by The Game Awards.
– MLW built a ton of its show last night in New York around Eric Bischoff and they are planning on bringing him back. Bischoff forced Mistico to put his mask up against Trevor Lee (who did not have his hair to put up) based on the idea Bischoff wanted to get people like Rey Mysterio, Psicosis and Juventud Guerrera unmasked in WCW decades ago. Mistico of course did not lose the match. He also fired Alex Kane in storyline to set up a future angle.
– MLW is now doing best match bonuses like UFC does and WCW did at one point. Mistico vs. Trevor Lee got it for last night’s show. If you think about it, best match bonuses make far more sense in pro wrestling than in a combat sport. The goal in pro wrestling is to have a great match. The goal in a combat sport is to win as fast as possible while taking the least damage as possible.
– Pete Davidson from SNL was at last night’s MLW show.
– Tonight’s Arena Mexico has a little bit of everything. There’s a singles match with women with Viva Van vs. Skadi as a lightning bout. There’s a legends bout with Atlantis & Octagon & Panterita del Ring facing Ultimo Guerrero & Gran Guerrero & Stuka Jr., who are great at carrying limited guys. Panterita is the father of Mascara Dorada. There’s a grudge match between two of the top stars as newly turned rudo Volador Jr. faces Templario. And you have the usual trios match with Mistico on top, this week Mistico & Flip Gordon & Dorada vs. Hechicero & Rocky Romero & Villano III Jr. This comes off that great Gordon vs Villano III Jr. match.
– AEW has filed to trademark the terms Maximum Carnage, Maximum Mayhem and Maximum Combat.
– Kirk White’s Big Time Wrestling on 12/13 in Newark, CA at the Pavilion is headlined by Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Vinnie Massaro, Fred Rosser vs. Aaron Solo plus Alan Angels vs. Jack Cartwheel.
For the first time ever, Major League Wrestling is heading to the Los Angeles area.
MLW announced today that the promotion will make its LA debut with Battle Riot VII taking place from Commerce, California on Saturday, April 5, 2025. Battle Riot is MLW’s version of a Royal Rumble where 40 participants compete in a no-holds-barred battle royal with a future World title shot on the line.
The Commerce Casino & Hotel will host the Battle Riot event. Tickets are going on sale next Monday (December 9) at 10 a.m. Pacific time.
Tom Lawlor, LA Park, Alex Hammerstone, Jacob Fatu, Alex Kane, and Matt Riddle have been MLW’s Battle Riot winners since the match debuted in 2018.
With his Battle Riot title shot, Riddle is challenging Satoshi Kojima for the MLW World Heavyweight Championship at Kings of Colosseum on January 11.
Riddle, Kojima, Lawlor, Alex Kane, KENTA, Minoru Suzuki, Donovan Dijak, Mads Krule Krugger, AKIRA, Cesar Duran, and Janai Kai are among the talent advertised for the Battle Riot VII event. MLW also lists that the show will feature luchadores from CMLL.
If you had told me that in 2012 that 12 years later CM Punk would be a far more fascinating character than he is now at the height of his rebellious status, I’d say that’s just not in the cards for him. And yet I look at what he did with [Drew] McIntyre and realize that he’s so much more interesting now. He has a deeper connection with the audience now, which I never imagined would have been possible.
You realize that rebels age out and once they do, they can no longer be the embodiment of the disruption that progresses against the establishment. And yet he is now the older rebel with a little more wisdom behind him and a little more tact involved and he’s that much more compelling version of a character and persona — let alone his ability to portray it — than ever before.
During an appearance on Gutfeld on Fox News, The Undertaker said he still loves Dave Bautista and Mick Foley despite the political differences he has with them:
So that it is perfectly clear, I don’t have any angst toward Dave Bautista. I mean, he’s still – I haven’t seen him, but he’s still a good friend of mine and somebody that, if I saw him, I would give him a big hug. Mick Foley, too.
I don’t care what your politics are. You’re wrong, but I still love you. And I’m going to say hello and I’m going to give you a hug whether you want it or not when I see you.I think people – if they would adopt that a little bit more and not get so much vitriol and so much hate over politics. It’s just ridiculous.
WWE is promoting Elimination Chamber 2025 with the selling point that it will be John Cena’s last time ever competing in Toronto. Rogers Centre is hosting the PLE on Saturday, March 1.
The Young Bucks challenging for the IWGP Tag Team titles at Wrestle Dynasty on January 5 has now been officially confirmed by NJPW. The belts are currently held by Great-O-Khan & HENARE.
As far as creativity and my fingerprints on the show, I’m thinking more of the production than storylines. Let’s be real, I’m not fluent in the backstory and talent and everything that has been going on in MLW. That will become important and clearly, Court [Bauer] and his team have a handle on that. What I want to do is whatever stories they have in place already, I’m focused on telling that story. What could I do from a production standpoint? For example, the way we treat the backstage interviews or the way we thread the story throughout the show. The way we build anticipation for the main event. Whatever is fundamental in professional wrestling but often times overlooked. Everyone is focused on the finish, the big spot in the match or the in-ring promo. All things that deserve attention, but in the process on focusing on the big things, producers have a tendency to lose sight of the little things that make the show flow and creates emotion and hold viewers’ interest, and surprise them.
Bischoff addressed whether he could see himself working for MLW if the show goes well:
It’s a good question and fair question, but I’m trying not to think about it because I just want to see how much fun I have. It’s not just me having fun. If Court and his team don’t enjoy it, just slug through it. I don’t want to do that. Or I feel that way, I don’t. The door is open certainly. I got bills. I got a life. I get bored in the middle of nowhere Wyoming occasionally and like to throw myself into something to put pressure on myself with something that challenges me.
It’s not a test. My only expectation is to have a great time and make sure the audience has fun. Make sure the talent I work with walks away with maybe saying, ‘I’ve heard all these terrible things about him. He is not such a bad guy.’ Better yet, maybe they say they learned something from this experience. That’s the fun of it. Directing talent and getting more out of them than they thought they could give that’s the home run. In addition to collaboration, that’s the part I miss.
Matt Riddle is hoping to start his 2025 with a World Championship victory.
It’s been confirmed that Riddle will challenge Japanese wrestling legend Satoshi Kojima for the MLW World Heavyweight Championship at the promotion’s Kings of Colosseum event on Saturday, January 11. The show is taking place from North Richland Hills, Texas and will air for free on MLW’s YouTube channel.
Riddle got this shot by winning MLW Battle Riot 2024. If he defeats Kojima, this would be Riddle’s first championship reign in MLW. He made it to the finals of a title tournament in 2018 (when MLW returned as a promotion) but lost out to Swerve Strickland.
Kojima has been champion since dethroning Alex Kane this 2024. It’s the second time Kojima has held the title, with his first World Championship reign happening in 2002-2003 during the original incarnation of MLW.
Before Kings of Colosseum, Riddle has a match against Donovan Dijak at Eric Bischoff’s MLW One-Shot event in New York City on Thursday, December 5. Kojima will be defending his MLW World title against CMLL’s Ultimo Guerrero on the TV taping portion of that show.
“Due to a production issue, (MLW’s show on 11/9) didn’t air live but instead went up the next night. Whatever led to this has led to Dave Marquez, who was in charge of production, no longer being with the company,” Meltzer wrote.
The new issue of the Wrestling Observer is up on the site right now. It was a huge news week as it’s the largest issue in some time:
ull coverage of Crown Jewel with the matches, business and interest level
Thoughts on the programs going forward
TKO gives its quarterly business update
Why profits are lower than usual.
UFC’s media rights deal thoughts
Talk about the future of Fight Pass
Revenue for UFC & WWE in different categories
Stock value
How much debt TKO currently has
How the Cung Le lawsuit factors into all this
More on the show at Sphere
Thoughts about Dana White and/or Nick Khan getting involved with boxing from Mark Shapiro
More Netflix plans
A look at the Wrestle Kingdom lineup
Where New Japan’s business currently stands
Upcoming New Japan tag team tournament notes
Power Struggle coverage, great matches and angles
NXT and AEW go head-to-head, the most detailed breakdown as to what happened and why
Where AEW stood in the overall standings that night
How every quarter did
Coverage of the Conor McGregor trial going on
Update on Full Gear, announced matches, other matches, ticket buying interest
Notes on WWE cuts like Baron Corbin, Indi Hartwell and Tegan Nox.
Dragon Gates runs a major show
The most detailed look at the ratings for all the shows this past week, with standings for the night and week, segment-by-segment numbers, and all the competition.
CMLL to fill the historical middleweight title vacancy by Mistico this week
Arena Mexico draws the week’s largest crowd for themed show
Update on El Hijo del Vikingo
Stardom tag team tournament update
King of Gate tournament update
Davey Boy Smith Jr. wins Triple Crown and background of that
Death of Scorpio Jr.
Hall of Fame candidate health issue update
The life of AWA’s Al DeRusha
Can actual wrestling draw more than 40,000 each to six events over three days. 2028 we’ll get the chance to find out.
Marko Stunt talks retirement
Santo retirement tour noes
Mike Mansury talks AEW production changes for 2025
All the PPV business updates
Ricochet talks leaving WWE
International TV ratings and streaming numbers
Jon Jones talks Tom Aspinall and why he’s not interested in that ight
More on the Bruce Prichard and Michael Hayes leave of absences
WWE scheduling updates
Yoshhiki Inamura comes to NXT
WWE signs former Olympic athletes
Lots of WWE injury updates
Notes from all the live arena events and the European tour
This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter Back Issue
To promote Royal Rumble tickets going on sale this week, WWE posted a video with John Cena hyping that it will be the final Royal Rumble event he ever competes at. Cena’s retirement tour is set to last from January through December 2025.
Angelo Dawkins cut a social media promo ahead of The Street Profits challenging Motor City Machine Guns for the WWE Tag Team titles on SmackDown this Friday.
LA Knight made an appearance at last night’s Milwaukee Bucks NBA game, working the giant T-shirt cannons.
It’s actually more difficult (to work for WWE during a hot period) because you have to outdo yourself from the prior week. I was very lucky to get in the business right in the peak of the Attitude Era. It was the best era in wrestling. And the crazy thing about back then was everybody was a star. It didn’t matter if you were the opening card match, mid card match, main event card match. You were a star and your name was held in high regard.
Nowadays, you have your handful of stars, and then everybody else is kind of at a lower level. Back then, everybody was the household name. I mean, The godfather, Val Venis, and Bob Holly, and then you know Undertaker, The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin — just everybody was widely known throughout the world. If you want to be at the top of the heap, you have to produce. So, I knew that when I started.
Former Miami Dolphins defensive back Trill Williams – who attended a tryout for WWE this summer – appears to have signed with the company. He was spotted in the background of a segment on NXT this week.
With their 10-year anniversary approaching, all three members of The New Day were featured on an episode of WWE Break It Down, looking back at some of their past ring gear.
In this week’s Mone Mag, Mercedes Mone reflected on returning to New England for recent AEW and NJPW events:
This week was extra special because I got to be back in BO$$TON/New England with Dynamite in NH, as I said, and Collision in Providence, RI, and even made a surprise appearance for NJPW in Lowell—more on that later. Being back in Boston, in any capacity, just fills me up; there’s something so comforting about being surrounded by friends, family, and fans.
It’s extra special for me because I get to have my brother Joshua tag along. He came to all three venues with me. To see him healthy and walking on his own was pure magic. Joshua’s face lit up as we walked by the AEW trucks, but when he saw Saraya on one of the trucks, he couldn’t contain himself, constantly asking, ‘Mercedes, when are you going to wrestle Saraya?’ That’s his dream match for me, and I can’t wait to make it happen someday.
Mone wrote about her NJPW appearance:
I ended up staying in BO$$TON for a couple of extra days to hang out with my brother, Joshua, and because NJPW had a show coming up in Lowell. And, of course, you can’t have such an incredible lineup without the NJPW Strong Women’s Champion, Mercedes Moné!
Truth be told, Lowell has a special place in my heart. It’s where my wrestling journey really kicked off. This town was home to Chaotic Wrestling, the organization that helped shape me into the wrestler I am today. Ironically, it was the very same ring I wrestled in! The amount of gratitude I have for the city, that time and those people can’t even be described. When you are the highest-paid female in our sport, you never forget where you came from or who helped get you there – or at least you shouldn’t. So, you know damn well that if I can make my schedule work to help support those who helped me get where I am today, I always and forever will. I asked Rocky if I could make a surprise appearance, and luckily, he was thrilled to have me join!
As I got ready to make my entrance, I couldn’t help but think back to my younger self—the girl with dreams of becoming the best wrestler in the world. Fast forward 14 years, and here I am at NJPW with the TBS Women’s Championship in my hands. I took a moment to let it all sink in. When I finally stepped out, the crowd went wild, cheering for their CEO. The energy was just incredible.
Eric Bischoff told Fox News that he’s donating his pay for MLW One-Shot to Tunnels to Towers, a charity that assists the families of first responders and veterans following 9/11:
One of the things I told (MLW founder Court Bauer) right away was this isn’t about the money. He started to negotiate my fee and I really wasn’t interested in negotiating it, I just said whatever it is, I’m going to donate it to Tunnel to Towers.
So, it doesn’t matter, and I don’t want to negotiate it. I just want whatever it is to be donated because I’m not doing this for the money. I’m doing it for the fun.
The December 5 One-Shot event in New York City is being built around Bischoff being in control for the night, but Bischoff does not expect that he’ll be sticking around for a longer run:
I don’t even think about that. One of the things I told Court is that for me to do something in wrestling now, it has to be fun. If it’s not fun for me, if it’s just a job, or if it’s just a payday, I’m really not that interested. … When it comes to putting my toe back in the water in wrestling, my first priority is that it has to be fun. If it’s not fun, I’m not interested.
So it all depends. I honestly, to be very transparent about it, I can’t see it. I like my life just the way it is. I live in a beautiful part of the country out in the middle of nowhere where I can look out my back window and see Yellowstone National Park…
So, for me to commit – just committing to professional wrestling is 24 hours, seven days a week. If you’re not doing it, you’re thinking about it. If you’re not thinking about it, you’re worrying about it. If you’re not worrying about it, you’re sleeping. It’s hard for me to imagine. But again, it depends how much fun I have. If it’s successful and everybody, not just me, but if the audience enjoys, if Court and his team – most importantly- enjoy the process, then, you know, anything’s possible. But highly unlikely. Let’s put it that way.
Before we actually wrestled a full match, Randy wasn’t a huge fan of me. I guess he thought I was disrespectful because I had my headphones on. He came to the locker room, everybody was shaking everybody’s hand.
I didn’t want to be like a nerd and go over. Didn’t wanna do that. So I [just] gave him a nod. I was waiting for my chance to shake his hand, but I guess he took that as disrespect. I wasn’t [blowing him off].
Later on, I did a promo with Asuka where I forgot my lines. I had this long segment about talking about robots in Japan, and I forgot it. I didn’t know we were live; I thought we were recording. When I did that, I was like, ‘Oh no, I’m probably in trouble.’
When I went to the locker room the first person that said anything was Randy. He goes, ‘I don’t know if that sh*t was planned, kid, but that was the funniest sh*t you’ve done since you’ve been here. That was your best promo yet.’ I was like ‘Well, at least Randy liked it.’ and then Vince and Bruce, and everybody else that was in creative also enjoyed it.
Matt Riddle is not optimistic that he’ll be Bill Goldberg’s final opponent.
It was announced recently that Goldberg will have his long-sought-after WWE retirement match in 2025. Riddle was asked if he’d like to be a part of it during an appearance on the Barstool Rasslin’ podcast.
“I don’t think he wants to step up to the plate,” Riddle responded.
Riddle was asked if he and Goldberg had “straightened out” their beef, which began after Riddle made public comments calling Goldberg an unsafe worker and also that he could beat him in a real fight.
“Well, me and Bill, we’ve talked. We were actually on a flight from Saudi, we were on a Saudi show, like one of the Crown Jewel events, and we’re flying back. We had some cocktails and had a discussion. I don’t think there’s any bad blood. I think he has more of an understanding of where I was coming from. I definitely have an understanding of where he’s coming from and why he finds what I say disrespectful and things like that. I completely understand; I don’t mean it that way. We’re professional wrestlers. I’m just spitting facts, and I can back it up. This is just what it is.”
“A lot of people in WWE took that as disrespect, but if you fought in UFC and now you’re in WWE, what am I supposed to do, forget my whole career? It’s like, no, I can stretch like 98 percent of people.”
Goldberg believes the frontrunner to be his opponent is World Heavyweight Champion Gunther after the two had an altercation at WWE Bad Blood in Atlanta.
“I think we know who the subject, or the victim probably, the frontrunner right now, we know who it is,” Goldberg said. “But in 2025, Goldberg makes his return in a retirement match. I got a couple of months to get ready. No date, no time,” Goldberg said to the SEC Network last month.
Riddle is coming off having performed for MLW on Saturday at Lucha Apocalypto. He teamed with Satoshi Kojima in a tag match against Minoru Suzuki & Ikuro Kwon of Contra Unit on the TV taping portion of the show.
Riddle’s full appearance on Barstool Sports is available below:
