NBA star Tyrese Haliburton of the Indiana Pacers has revealed that he planned to walk out with John Cena at WWE SummerSlam had circumstances changed.
Appearing on Logan Paul’s IMPAULSIVE podcast, Haliburton said that he and WWE chief content officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque discussed an idea that would have seen an NBA Champion Haliburton leading the then-WWE Champion Cena to the ring at MetLife Stadium for his SummerSlam main event against Cody Rhodes.
Haliburton said:
“The plan was like two months ago, and when I say plan, I mean, like, very, very loosely. I talked to H [Levesque] about it maybe one time. It was like, if Cena is a heel in New York and we [the Pacers] win a championship, let me walk him out with the [NBA Finals] trophy.”
Haliburton’s plan didn’t come to fruition on several levels, as after defeating the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Pacers lost in the NBA Finals to the Oklahoma City Thunder. In the deciding game of the OKC series, Haliburton suffered a catastrophic Achilles injury that will likely cost him all of next season.
Haliburton said:
“When I got hurt, the first things were like [this cost me]– this game [Game 7], next season, John Cena.”
The full IMPAULSIVE episode with Haliburton is embedded below.
Former WWE CEO and chairman and TKO executive chairman Vince McMahon made a rare public appearance at an NBA game on Monday night.
McMahon was courtside for Monday’s Miami Heat vs. New York Knicks regular season game at Madison Square Garden in New York City. It’s the second public appearance at a sporting event in recent months for McMahon, who was also at Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans last month.
A chyron on the Miami telecast of the game identified McMahon as “former wrestling promoter.”
McMahon is currently being sued and accused of sexual assault, sex trafficking, and physical and emotional abuse in a civil lawsuit filed by a former WWE employee. The lawsuit filed in January 2024 sparked a federal criminal investigation into McMahon, one that his attorneys say is over. The civil lawsuit is still ongoing.
In January 2024, McMahon resigned as executive chairman of TKO Group Holdings, the parent company of WWE and UFC. He has since been laying the groundwork for a new entertainment company.
Rumors last month indicated that McMahon’s new company could produce a new wrestling promotion that would air on Fox, the former home to WWE SmackDown. The rumors were sparked after McMahon attended the Super Bowl, which aired on Fox, and after McMahon’s new company was said to have been looking to hire camera operators who had experience shooting wrestling. Fox denied any involvement in a potential new promotion.
With the game taking place near her hometown, WWE star Bayley is set to participate in NBA All-Star Weekend 2025.
The NBA announced today that Bayley will be playing in this year’s All-Star celebrity basketball game, which will be broadcast live on ESPN on Friday, February 14 at 7 p.m. Eastern time. Part of the game will air opposite WWE SmackDown, but Bayley is no longer on the SmackDown roster after recently moving over to Raw.
Oakland & San Francisco are hosting the All-Star weekend festivities with the celebrity game being held at Oakland Arena. Bayley is from San Jose, which is also part of California’s Bay Area.
Bayley will be playing for Team Rice, which is coached by NFL legend Jerry Rice & TikTok star Khaby Lame. The other team is coached by MLB home-run king Barry Bonds & rapper 2 Chainz. The full rosters can be seen below:
Bayley won’t be sticking around long after the celebrity game. On Saturday, February 15, she’ll be in Washington, D.C. to compete at NXT Vengeance Day. The PLE card includes a triple threat match with NXT Women’s Champion Giulia defending her title against Bayley and Roxanne Perez.
WWE is producing a new slate of legacy title belts.
Ahead of the college football season kicking off, WWE is now selling legacy title belts spotlighting some of the top programs in the country. They are priced at $549.99 each and are available to purchase through WWE Shop and Fanatics.
The belts include the “official branding and colors of select schools from the Southeastern Conference, Big Ten Conference, Big 12 Conference, and Atlantic Coast Conference.”
Georgia, Alabama, Texas, Michigan, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Colorado, Oklahoma, West Virginia, Penn State, North Carolina, Michigan State, Nebraska, Florida State, Florida, LSU, Tennessee, Miami, Oregon, and Kentucky are the schools featured.
“The collegiate WWE legacy title belts will be on display at Fanatics Fest NYC Aug. 16-18 at Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City,” WWE wrote in a press release.
Along with the collegiate belts, WWE is now producing legacy titles featuring the branding of NBA and NHL teams. These are in addition to the partnerships that WWE already has with the NFL and MLB.
The NBA and NHL belts are now available to pre-order and will ship “no later than Monday, October 7.” They are priced at $549.99 as well.
– Garrett Gonzales and I have our week in review show later this afternoon. You can also send in questions during the live airing. Bryan and I will be back tomorrow night with our weekend show covering UFC, AEW, G1, SmackDown and CMLL.
Update on SummerSlam and All In, lineups, possible additions, things expected to happen, business notes on both shows, ticket sales and where they will stack up in the all-time historical records. We also look at the stories behind the matches.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan meets with Nick Khan and Paul Levesque regarding bringing WrestleMania to the city.
Notes on the first week of the G1 Climax tournament, stories, standings, business and quality of the matches.
Notes on week two of G1
Part one of our story on the life and career of Canadian star Leo Burke, a Stampede Hall of Famer and how he shaped the career of Bret Hart, and trained some of the biggest names in wrestling
Vince McMahon’s lawyers try and shut down a motion by Janel Grant’s lawyers
TNA Slammiversary, its biggest crowd in years and how it was done, PPV numbers update, and full show coverage
Coverage of Dragon Gate & DDT’s biggest shows of the year
The most detailed look at the ratings of all the major pro wrestling shows, placings, competition and segment-by-segment
What the CMLL current era compares to in Mexican history
A look at the big matches coming over the next month including AEW stars and World Grand Prix participants
Stardom PPV shows this weekend
50th anniversary celebration
One of the top legends of this era pushing his farewell tour
Bloodsport notes
Next few weeks of TNA television
Update on AEW TV negotiations
Lots of AEW injuries
Tony Khan talks about strippaing titles vs. waiting for champions to recover
Darby Allin talks current scene
Ticket sales for upcoming AEW & WWE shows
International TV ratings and streaming numbers
Cung Le lawsuit update
Top ten male and female fighters of the 21st century
Jake Paul vs. Mike Perry and update on celebrity fights and how they are doing
– Meiko Satomura will have a press conference at 11 p.m. Eastern time tonight which is believed to be her retirement announcement and farewell match or matches. (thanks to Jose Gonzalez)
– As expected WBD has filed suit against the NBA claiming breach of contract and failure to negotiate in good faith after the NBA turned down WBD’s accepting to match the right package of Amazon Prime. WBD is arguing that Max is equivalent to Amazon Prime as both are major streaming services plus they offer television. The NBA is claiming WBD matched the money but can’t match the exposure.
– ROH Death Before Dishonor on Honor Club with the pre-show starting at 7 p.m.
MxM in a match
Dustin Rhodes & Marshall & Ross Von Erich vs. John Silver & Evil Uno & Alex Reynolds — winning team faces Matt Taven & Mike Benett & Roderick Strong on Battle of the Belts tomorrow night to fill the vacant ROH trios titles
Komander vs. Beast Mortos
Atlantis Jr. vs. Lio Rush vs. Shane Taylor vs. Lee Johnson vs. Brian Cage vs. Johnny TV for the ROH TV title
Taven & Bennett defend the ROH tag titles against Kyle O’Reilly & Tomohiro Ishii
Diamante vs. Leyla Hirsch Texas death match
Wheeler Yuta vs. Lee Moriarty for the ROH Pure title
Billie Starkz vs. Red Velvet for the women’s TV title
Athena vs. Queen Animata for the ROH women’s title
Mark Briscoe vs. Roderick Strong for the ROH title
A note is that AEW has gotten CMLL to agree to allow its talent on the same show as AAA talent at least in this instance. Komander is the AAA cruiserweight champion on the same show as Atlantis Jr, one of CMLL’s biggest stars.
– SmackDown tonight is a taped show since the crew is in Japan right now. Lineup has:
LA Knight vs. Santos Escobar
Bayley & Michin vs. Nia Jax & Tiffany Stratton
Gauntlet with Angel & Berto, Tama Tonga & Tonga Loa, Street Profits, Pretty Deadly, Apollo Crews & Baron Corbin and Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson for a title shot at DIY in the future.
– Rampage tonight at 10 p.m. on TNT:
Two Ring Rampage Rumble Battle Royal, winner gets an AEW title shot on 9/25 at Arthur Ashe Stadium
Kris Statander vs. Leila Gray
Lance Archer vs. ?
Dutch & Vincent vs. Private Party vs. Kyle Fletcher & Rush vs. Outrunners
– Regarding the note in the new Observer on Nick Khan selling $4,887,506 of TKO stock this past week we noted it was partially to pay taxes. Those close to the situation say it was entirely to pay taxes on stock grants and that all of Khan’s stock sales to date have been only to cover taxes.
– WWE results from earlier today at Sumo Hall in Tokyo:
Shinsuke Nakamura (as a babyface) & Kevin Owens & LA Knight defeated Tama Tonga & Tonga Loa & Solo Sikoa
Liv Morgan defeated Iyo Sky to retain the world women’s title
Sami Zayn defeated Dominik Mysterio to keep the IC title
Damian Priest defeated Rey Mysterio to keep world heavyweight title
Finn Balor & JD McDonagh defeated New Day to keep the world tag titles
Gunther defeated Jey Uso
Cody Rhodes defeated AJ Styles to keep the undisputed WWE title
Rossy Ogawa was at the show walking around in the crowd.
At the show, Cody Rhodes was presented with the robe and hat that Dusty Rhodes wore in his 1979 NWF title challenge in Tokyo against Antonio Inoki. The robe had been on display at the Super Inoki Exhibition.
– UFC 304 is tomorrow from Manchester, England:
Prelims on ESPN+ at 6 p.m. Eastern
Shauna Bannon (115) vs. Alice Ardelean (116)
Mick Parkin (264) vs. Lukasz Brzeski (235)
Sam Patterson (170) vs. Kiefer Crosbie (a171)
Muhammad Mokaev (126) vs. Manel Kape (125.5)
Oban Elliott (170) vs. Preston Parsons (169)
ESPN2 at 8 p.m. Eastern
Modestas Bukauskas (204) vs. Marcin Prachnio (205)
Caolan Loughran (136) vs. Jake Hadley (137) – Hadley missed weight and had to forfeit 20 percent of his purse
Molly McCann (116) vs. Bruna Brasil (116)
Nathaniel Wood (145) vs. Daniel Pineda (146)
PPV at 10 p.m. Eastern
Arnold Allen (145) vs. Giga Chikadze (146)
Christian Leroy Dunca (185) vs. Gregory Rodrigues (185)
Paddy Pimblett (156) vs. Bobby Green (154.5)
Tom Aspinall (251) vs. Curtis Blaydes (256) for the interim heavyweight title
Leon Edwards (170) vs. Belal Muhammad (169) for the welterweight title
– Dana White said that he would announce the complete September PPV card from The Sphere in Las Vegas today.
– Beth Phoenix is no longer under contract to WWE.
– There was apparently a Ticketmaster snafu for a few hours today which listed tickets for All In for just the service charge. We are told the tickets would not be honored and AEW officials had gotten the mistake rectified.
– Paddy Pimblett has signed a new UFC contract this week.
–Mistico & Volador Jr. & Mascara Dorada vs. Penta & Fenix & Pac headlines Arena Mexico tonight in what should be a great match. The show also has Templario & Titan vs Rocky Romero & Ultimo Guerrero and Angel de Oro vs. Star Jr in the Leyenda de Plata tournament final. They are expecting a sellout of 15,000 fans for the show to see Penta & Fenix’s first match at Arena Mexico in many years.
– CMLL posted the Misticio vs. Volador Jr. title match from Puebla for subscribers to their YouTube page. As if there isn’t enough other wrestling to watch the next two days.
– The CMLL women’s tag title that was held by Stephanie Vaquer & Zeuxis will be filled by a tournament with eight teams. The first two rounds will be on 7/30 and the championship match will be on 8/6, all at Arena Mexico. Teams are Skadi & Kira, Olympia & Hera, Metalica & Reyna Isis, Sanely & Nautica, Dark Silueta & Valkiria, Zeuxis & Persephone, Tessa Blanchard & Lluvia and Catalina & Princesa Sugehit.
– G1 continues from Nagasaki tonight at 3 a.m Eastern and midnight Pacific
Katsuya Murashima & Shoma Kato vs. Konosuke Takeshita & Henare
El Phantasmo & Jado vs. Oleg Boltin & Toru Yano
Jeff Cobb & Francesco Akira vs. Yuya Uemura & Taka Michinoku
David Finlay & Gedo vs. Ren Narita & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
Hirooki Goto & Tomoaki Honma vs. Yota Tsuji & Bushi
Shingo Takagi vs. Callum Newman
Gabe Kidd vs. Sanada
Shota Umino vs. Great O’Khan
Jake Lee vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
Tetsuya Naito vs. Evil
– Adam Copeland was at the San Diego Comic-Con today as part of the Percy Jaackson and the Olympians panel. Copeland has a role in that TV show.
– Mattel debuted its new WWE action figures including Chase U at the San Diego Comic Con. It was said that Thea Hail is the youngest woman ever to have had a WWE action figure modeled after her.
– House of Glory Wrestling tonight in Jamaica, NY on FITE+ has the Matt Travis Memorial Battle Royal, Gringo Loco vs. Kevin Knight for the cruiserweight title plus Mike Santana vs. Steve Maclin in a street fight and a first time ever match with Swerve Strickland vs. Amazing Red.
– Kirk White’s Big Time Wrestling on 8/2 in Newark, CA at the Pavilion has Toa Liona of AEW vs. Juicy Finau vs. Journey Fatu vs. Losefa Parsi in a South Pacific Savage match plus Robbie Eagles & Aaron Solo vs. Marcus Lewis & Big Fonz, Starboy Charlie vs. Lince Dorado and Viva Van vs. Jada Stone.
The new Observer is out right now. Among the key stuff covered:
Match of the week and performer of the week
The plight of the recently fired WWE wrestlers and where many can or will wind up
What is a key point about wrestlers who come from WWE and their ability to adapt to other companies and what things need to be considered
XFL/USFL merger talks and why
More on Terry Funk including his career title history and biggest awards, some of the biggest and most notable title change matches of his career, the only HBO wrestling special and the only time Vince McMahon did a broadcast announcing with Gordon Solie, why Funk’s proposed lengthy reign with the biggest regional title in the countr6 ended in a few weeks, the amazing Funk Brothers legacy in Japan, Funk’s NWA title reign and booking behind his biggest matches
Preview of the NXT & AEW shows, lots of talk by Bryan Danielson about Zack Sabre and his retirement, strange things about the show, AEW PPV airing on free TV in the U.K., and early notes on WWE Fastlane
Destruction in Kobe and the next few NJPW shows
More on the All In attendance mark
The dismissal of the landmark Mark Hunt suit against Dana White, UFC and Brock Lesnar and the judges ruling
Full UFC weekend coverage
The most detailed look at the ratings for the past week, the segments, the competition and where audiences were up and down
The KeMonito story in Mexico that is mainstream news there regarding his retirement
Lots of injury updates
Stardom Grand Prix updates
Junior Battle of Glory
Katsuhiko Nakajima update
How Jericho vs Takeshtia was put together
Two former WWE stars talk their steroid use
wXw major tag team tournament weekend
FantasticaMania notes
More on MLW and its relationship with CMLL and NJPW
GCW continues to tour overseas
Imapct Bound for Glory notes
PCO talks his departure from Impact and who Impact is looking to sign
Lots of thoughts on Tony Khan’s recent press conference
FOX and AEW comments, streaming comments, more PPV, ownership talk
Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
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If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
Monday Update
Bryan and I will be back tonight with Wrestling Observer Radio talking Raw, Jade Cargill, fallout from the weekend big shows and more.
Becky Lynch wasn’t cleared for tonight’s Raw show where she was to defend the NXT title against Tegan Nox due to the nasty cut on her arm. Fightful first reported her off the show.
Raw tonight is from San Jose. The lineup isShayna Baszler vs Nia Jax, Ivar vs. Xavier Woods and a contract signing with Gunther and Tommaso Ciampa for Saturday’s Fastlane show and Miz TV with Drew McIntyre. Jey Uso vs. Damien Priest had been advertised for a few days and was pulled from advertising. As of earlier today, they were at 9,800 tickets out. It won’t be a sellout but it’s still very strong for San Jose. We’re looking for reports from tonight’s show as far as dark matches or Main Event matches or anything else not on the live show to [email protected]
We’re looking for your thoughts on AEW WrestleDream, NXT No Mercy and the Stardom Five-Star Grand Prix finals over the weekend, thumbs up, down or middle, along with a best and worst match to [email protected]
ABC, needing programming due to the actors’ strike, announced it will be airing NBA games in prime time every Wednesday night in January. This will not help the AEW ratings for January.
The Chiefs vs. Buccaneers game that went head-to-head with WrestleDream ended up doing 27 million viewers which was 25 million on television and 1.85 million on Peacock. That would be a legit reason for some of the decline in PPV from last night’s show as compared to other recent shows. It’s not the only reason.
Linton Vassell, who was scheduled to face Ryan Bader on Saturday’s Bellatior 300 show in San Diego for the Bellator heavyweight title, has pulled out of the show due to an unspecified illness. The show will continue with three title matches, Cris Cyborg vs. Cat Zingano for the women’s featherweight title, Usman Nurmagomedov vs. Brent Primus for the lightweight tiel and Liz Carmouche vs. Ilima-lei Macfarlane for the women’s flyweight title. The show will air on Showtime.
A Terry Funk mural was put up in Amarillo. It looks like this
Ari Emanuel, talking Endeavor and TKO, will be participating in Bloomberg’s Screentime conference on 10/11 at 9:40 p.m. There will be a link at Bloomberg.com/live available during the event.
Cain Velasquez has been given permission to be in Nurmagomedov’s corner in the fight. Velasquez was given court permission to attend the event and the commission gave him permission to be in the corner.
We have two more books that have been released which are the complete collections of the 1993 Wrestling Observers. There is a January to June book and a July to December book The updated list of all of our books and how to order is available at Amazon.
WWE has a FOX special airing on Sunday, which, given its going to be before or after NFL games, will likely draw a very big audience. It’s on at a different time in each market but it is built around the NFL games on FOX. New York will be 4:30 p.m. , Los Angeles is 3 p.m., San Francisco is 4:30 p.m.
For NXT tomorrow, they will be starting the women’s breakout tournament which Kelani Jordan is seemingly the woman with the biggest push right now in the tournament. Also Gigi Dolin vs. Blair Davenport and Tyler Bate & Butch vs. Mark Coffey & Wolfgang.
Aaron Bronsteter reported that UFC will be using new technology rotating digital ads on the octagon canvas during some broadcasts to get more ad revenue. The idea is to use that to advertise companies and products that are more relevant to the specific market that the viewer is watching the event from.
Stefon Diggs of the Buffalo Bills yesterday did a Steve Austin style celebration after scoring a touchdown. He is known as a fan from childhood.
Pro Wrestling Eve has a 16 woman She-1 tournament on 10/8 at The Dome in Tuffnell Park, London. There are shows at 2 p.m. and 6:30 p.lm. for the one-day tournament that will include Maya Yukihi from Japan. Yukihi faces Charlie Morgan in a first round match.
AAW from Friday night in Chicago: Jake Something won over Silas Young, Gary Jay, Isaiah Moore, Levi Everett and Koa Laxamana, Mance Warner b Ren Jones, QT Marshall b Solomon Tupu to keep the Latin American title, Rob Anthony NC Silas Mason, Hartenbower b Gnaris Gavin, Conan Lycan b Joe Alnozo, Russ Jones & Schaff b Bang & Matthews and Jessie V Anthony Catena, Heather Reckless b Taylor Rising, Davey Vega b Gringo Loco to keep the AAW title (thanks to Leonard Brand)
A history of every Graham main event in Madison Square Garden
How the entire history of wrestling changes if there was no Billy Graham
Graham’s decades of health issues
Graham suing WWF
Graham losing the title and depression and why
Graham in football, boxing, bodybuilding, track, world’s strongest man competitions and more
The last week of Graham as WWWF champion
When Billy Graham was reported as dying 32 years ago in two major newspapers
His start of his career and first time he met Dr. Jerry Graham
His big break in the AWA when he became a big drawing card and his interviews
His changing the way top stars were paid in WWWF
His last run in WWF
His life after wrestling
Everything said and not said about AEW Collision
How CM Punk fits into the picture
Why Punk really was such an important character right now for AEW if things would have worked out
Thoughts on Collision and its time slot
How AEW’s fan base consumption has changed over the last year
The blow-by-blow story of how WWE and Endeavor made their merger, including other offers, how much the offers were, and how much Vince McMahon made through the different negotiations
Just how much money Endeavor gave up to keep Vince McMahon
UFC business notes
Francis Ngannou signs with PFL, his deal, his negotiations and different potential opponents
Update on the WWE brand split
Update on WWE Night of Champions
Update on AEW Double or Nothing
New Japan Best of the Super Juniors coverage
This week’s UFC show rundown
The most detailed look at the TV ratings of wrestling over the past week
What wrestler is getting a pickle ball court named after him
Build for what looks to be the biggest match of the year in Mexico
More on a major network negotiations for a new wrestling show and why the deal fell through
We are currently looking for two people to moderate our message board. Those interested please contact [email protected].
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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Wednesday Update
WWE
This week’s The Bump featuring Sheamus, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, and Sam Roberts.
On last night’s NXT, the masked person who has attacked Sol Ruca, Dani Palmer, and others in recent weeks attacked Roxanne Perez after her match against Tiffany Stratton.
The Larry O’Brien Trophy visited backstage during Raw on Monday, with Triple H posing for a photo with it.
Jeremy Allen White, who plays Kerry Von Erich in the upcoming Iron Claw film, talked to Esquire about his diet habits during the film: “In the morning, I would have waffles, almond butter. In the middle of the day, I was eating turkey patties and avocado all the time. It’s really just gross. You’re trying to consume as much as you possibly can, and, to be honest, you don’t feel great. I was training as well, but, I don’t know, trying to get that big, it’s no way to live.”
The following is a free show. Just click to listen.
Left My Wallet is back as Garrett Gonzales, co-host of WOR, We’re Live, Pal, and the Fight Game Podcast, returns to talk about the NBA conference finals.
We talk about his Golden State Warriors, my Boston Celtics and each give our case for them winning it all.
Garrett also shares a great story about when he met Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd, Dave Meltzer at the Chi-Town Rumble, and more!
Current NBA free agent and former WWE 24/7 Champion Enes Kanter Freedom says he has an offer on the table to begin his wrestling career but didn’t say where from.
The 6’10” basketball player is currently focused on his NBA career, however. He was waived by the Houston Rockets last month.
Freedom spoke to Let’s Hang Live during the SEC Championship game on Sunday and was asked about a future in wrestling.
“I already have an offer. I’m just trying to figure out what is going to happen with this basketball thing,” Kanter responded when asked about a possible in-ring career. “Obviously, I’m 29 and I want to play another like seven years in this league. I’m just going to figure out my basketball career first and then see what’s going to happen but I already have an offer, it’s just I’m not taking it right now. I love basketball, I don’t want to quit basketball.”
Freedom won and lost the WWE 24/7 title on the September 9, 2019, episode of Raw from Madison Square Garden. After pinning R-Truth to win the title, Freedom revealed he was wearing a Boston Celtics jersey. He had recently signed with the team after being waived by the New York Knicks that February. As the crowd booed, R-Truth rolled him up and won the title back.
In May of 2020, Freedom told Stadium’s Shams Charania that he has an offer from WWE that he plans to accept when his basketball career is over.
Celtics center @EnesKanter told our NBA Insider @ShamsCharania he has been offered WWE deal and plans to accept after career.
Kanter also discussed his public approach with his native Turkey, Russell Westbrook's policy for opponents and more. pic.twitter.com/gOvZhfYGae
A look at the WWE’s last PPV of the Thunderdome era and what did and didn’t work on the Hell in a Cell show is the lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer. We’ve got the booking, future direction for Money in the Bank, update on MITB tickets, star ratings, poll results and match and performer of the week.
Also in this issue:
A new lawsuit against UFC and why it is a potential game changer along with what would be almost a sure thing if it’s successful regarding WWE, what the claims are, and if it’s successful what it says about payment of money to athletes.
New Japan running shows in the United States, a look back at the early shows in Southern California, who is and isn’t on the cards and more.
Becky Lynch returning, SummerSlam ticket sales, WWE return to MSG, WWE ticket sales, FOX and NBCU suggestions for WWE programming, Montez Ford surgery, Karrion Kross and Bronson Reed tryouts, Shayna Baszler talks angle, International TV ratings, controversy over writer with no product knowledge continued and reaction internally, Rey Mysterio talks angle he doesn’t want to do, Kushida talks Kyle O’Reilly, Titus O’Neil talks his award nomination, plus next week’s TV shows, WWE’s biggest YouTube videos from this past week and WWE company market value.
Saturday’s UFC show with match-by-match coverage, future directions for the talent, business notes and more
Changes being worked on for the Nielsen ratings and who isn’t happy about them and why, television vs. streaming in 2021 and a comparison using AEW programming.
Suwama’s vacating the Triple Crown, how it will be decided, and then look back at how the three belts, the United National, PWF and International belts all formed, when, their rules, their history and the creation of the Triple Crown more than 30 years ago.
A feature on the death of former bodybuilding star turned pro wrestler Melissa Coates.
More into detail on the ratings than any other source, how many different viewers the shows had, breakdown of who watches the shows and how they watch, DVR numbers and how long the average fan watches.
Results of the major pro wrestling events of the past week.
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.
MONDAY NEWS UPDATE
Bryan and I will be back tonight covering Raw, Eddie Kingston, Chris Jericho, and much more. You can send questions for tonight’s show to [email protected]
Raw tonight includes a three-way for a Money in the Bank spot with last week’s losers, Drew McIntyre, Randy Orton and A.J. Styles, plus Elias vs. Jaxson Ryker in a strap match. Karrion Kross, Scarlett and Shotzi Blackheart are all there. They are probably working Main Event.
The NBA and NHL playoffs hurting wrestling numbers will continue this week. The Los Angeles Clippers vs. Phoenix Suns gave five is tonight and it could end the series. If a game six is needed, it goes against AEW on Wednesday and if a game seven is needed, it goes against Smackdown on Friday. So Smackdown & AEW could get a break this week to a degree. NXT goes against Bucks-Hawks tomorrow but that series won’t go against WWE or AEW, but will go against Impact on Thursday.
The NHL playoffs are in the finals, Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Montreal Canadiens. Game one is tonight against Raw. Game two is Wednesday against AEW. Game three is Friday against Smackdown. The NHL crossover isn’t as big as the NBA, but once you get to the finals it hurts. Plus for AEW, they have to reestablish Wednesday which will take a few weeks after so many weeks off.
Vince McMahon will be scouting NXT talent at the Performance Center this week. As noted all week, the idea is to try and have a younger roster but they also want size.
The AEW ratings won’t be out until tomorrow. However, the cable numbers we got were not good, showing a 22 percent decline in viewers and 43 percent decline in hours viewed from the prior Friday night show. Keep in mind that while they do usually end up similar to Nielsen that is not always the case. The NBA game with the Phoenix Suns vs. Clippers had 11.5 times the viewership head-to-head. Whether it’s because of a more accurate method of measurement or because the people with the system skew more toward the NBA, the NBA in comparison to wrestling does far better here than in Nielsen across the board. It should be noted that DVR viewership of AEW on Sunday was up 47 percent off the Saturday night airing.
Impact will be expanding its exposure throughout Europe on Pluto TV. In particular they will have new exposure in the U.K,, Germany, Spain, Switzerland and Austria.
WWE
John Morrison was interviewed by DAZN’s Steve Muehlhausen and he put over the Raw show from Monday.
AEW
Because of a curfew at the San Diego Airport, Konnan had to fly on Saturday to Orlando, drive to Jacksonville, which was two hours and got there 45 minutes before his segment started. He didn’t even know his segment until arriving so it was all put together not on the fly, but with almost no lead time.
OTHER NOTES
Today is the 23rd anniversary of the Undertaker vs. Mick Foley Hell in a Cell match, which is one of the most talked about and famous matches in pro wrestling history.
United Wrestling Coalition on Saturday night at Kelly’s Bar in Wrightstown, NJ. They are also collecting Toys for Tots and admission is free with the donation of a new, unwrapped toy valued at $15. The event is outdoors so you are encouraged to bring your own lawn chair and it starts at 5 p.m.
Sendai Girls did a PPV show from Niigata yesterday. Meiko Satomura said it was her last show. She had the NXT U.K. women’s title with her. Yurika Oka b Mei Hoshizuki to win the jr. title, Aiger & Rydeen Hagane b Kaoru & Sakura Hirota, Aja Kong & Hiroyo Matsumoto & Ayame Sasamura b Ryo Mizunami & Ike Iwata & Manami, Mio Momono & Rin Kadokura b Chihiro Hashimoto & Yuu to win the Sendai Girls tag titles, Minoru Suzuki & Meiki Satomura b Jinsei Shinzaki & Nanae Takahashi (thanks to Shannon Walsh of JoshiSunTimes.com)
The PFL announced the hiring of Derk Chang to its Board of Directors. Chang is the CEO of Friend MTS and former CEO of NBA China. Obviously the idea is to use his experience and connections to get into the China market.
King Mo, BuKu Dao and Alex Kane have been added to MLW’s 7/10 Battle Riot show. Also added to the show is a Bunkhouse Brawl with Team Filthy vs. Ross & Marshall Von Erich.
Northeast Wrestling from yesterday in Waterbury, CT: Gio Valvano b Ray Jaz, Channing Thomas b Chris Battle, Mike Gamble b Mosh Pit, Tony Vega & Cam Zagami b Traevon Jordan & Jaylen Brandyn, Megan Bayne b Tina San Antonio, Zane Bernardo & RJ Rude b PJ & Tommy Grayson, Hale Collins b Dutch (Bill Carr) via DQ, Ron Zombie b J-Hero, Wrecking Ball Legursky b Chris Moljo, Mike Verna b Jimmy Preston, Keith Youngblood b Brad Hollister to win the Live title (thanks to Nick Mahmood)
Combate Globo announced running Friday night for the only televised MMA show this weekend, live on CBS Sports Network at 11 p.m. Eastern. The top bouts are Jose Estrada (6-2), who finally gets a main event, vs. Leonardo Morales (10-4) at featherweight and Tommy Aaron (7-4) vs. Alex Velasco (8-6).
Gleat will air live on YouTube on Thursday at 5:30 a.m. Eastern time for a show build around old UWF style matches with the big four bouts being:
Daijiro Matsui & Tetsuya Izuchi vs. Minoru Tanaka & Soma Watanabe
Chihiro Hashimoto vs.; Maya Fukuda
Masakatsu Funaki vs. Yu Iizuka
Sho vs; Takanori Ito
ROH is doing a buy one ticket, get the second night free in its presale for the 8/20 and 8/21 shows in Philadelphia at the 2300 Arena. Tickets don’t go on sale to the public until 7/5 at 10 a.m.
GCW runs 8/7 in Los Angeles at the Ukranian Cultura Center on FIE at 8 plm.
Innovative Wrestling Fire on the Mountain on 8/14 in Kingsport, TN at the Civic Auditorium with an Ultimate Jeopardy match main event.
Left My Wallet is back with an NBA roundtable edition featuring former ROH World Champion Matt Taven and the voice both Beyond Wrestling and Northeast Wrestling, Paul Crockett.
We start off discussing if we think the NBA season will resume, and our beloved Boston Celtics. We give our outlook for which teams from each conference are contenders and pretenders, what jerseys we own, our favorite players, Paul’s love for Sean Kemp, and we attempt to play the NBA/wrestling name with less than optimal results.
It’s a glorious and chaotic mashup of NBA banter in this roundtable edition of Left My Wallet. Enjoy!
‘Left My Wallet’ is back with a super-sized edition featuring Boston Celtics play-by-play announcer Sean Grande and some NBA talk with our very own Garrett Gonzales.
Garrett joins me as special co-host to discuss his Golden State Warriors and the fallout from all that happened with them in the past week. GG gives his take on what Kevin Durant will do next, what Steve Kerr needs to do to protect Steph Curry, Klay Thompson’s injury, who do they bring in, and more on his beloved Bay Area hipsters. We then talk the Anthony Davis trade, Kyrie, and the love we both share for the lineal heavyweight boxing champion, Tyson Fury.
I am then joined once again by Celtics play-by-play man and former Bellator MMA announcer, Sean Grande.
Sean is a huge wrestling fan and longtime subscriber to the Observer. He gives his take on AEW, Jon Moxley, his thoughts on Double or Nothing, AEW on TNT, touring and more. He then discusses his time with Bellator, what his vision was for his play-by-play and the entertainment aspect of the company, his thoughts as he was calling the Kimbo Slice/Dada 3000 bout, and why he left the company.
Of course, we have to talk some Celtics. Sean pulls no punches in talking about Kyrie Irving, what the Celtics need to do to return to their 2018 postseason form, a great story on Kevin Durant almost signing with the C’s, a great draft story that led Boston to getting Kevin Garnett, and more.
