Mutoh pinned Go Shiozaki Friday morning at NOAH’s Destination 2021 in Budokan Hall to win the GHC Heavyweight title for the first time. He pinned Shiozaki following a hurricanrana. This ends Shiozaki’s fourth reign with the championship, which started on January 4, 2020 and lasted for 405 days.
After the match, Kaito Kiyomiya came out and challenged Mutoh to a title match. Kiyomiya won his match earlier in the show, where he teamed with Yoshiki Inamura to defeat Jun Akiyama and Naomichi Marufuji in a generational tag team match.
Other title matches on the show had Kenou defeating Masakatsu Funaki to retain the GHC National title, Seiki Yoshioka defeating Daisuke Harada to win the GHC Junior title for the first time, and HAYATA & Yoshinari Ogawa defeating Ikuto Hidaka and Kotaro Suzuki to retain the GHC Junior Tag Team titles.
NOAH announcned a live attendance number of 4,196 for their return to Budokan Hall.
Tokyo Sports has announced their annual awards, with Tetsuya Naito winning top honors.
This year’s MVP award goes to Naito, who defeated Kazuchika Okada to win the IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental titles at Wrestle Kingdom 14. He held those titles for most of the year, minus a short EVIL run with the titles during the summer.
The Okada/Naito bout from January 5 won Match of the Year. This marks the eighth time Okada has won the award, tying with Kenta Kobashi, The only person who has won the award more times is Genichiro Tenryu with nine.
Hiromu Takahashi, who returned from a major neck injury, won the Fighting Spirit award.
Stars from other promotions won the rest of the awards. Current GHC Heavyweight champion Go Shiozaki won the Outstanding Performer of the Year. DDT star Tetsuya Endo won the Technique award. Giulia from Stardom won the Women’s Wrestling Grand Prize, while Takashi Sugiura & Kazushi Sakuraba won Tag Team of the year.
The Adam & Mike Big Audio Nightmare is back with another full episode.
We start by taking a deep dive look at the incredible Go Shiozaki vs. Takashi Sugiura GHC Heavyweight Title match, Go’s 2020 and where he ranks in the Wrestler of the Year 2020 discussion, and look ahead to the one and only Keiji Muto challenging for the title in February at Budokan Hall.
We then review the AJPW Real World Tag League and combined NJPW BOSJ/World Tag League Tour and look ahead to the NJPW Budokan Hall show this weekend.
We also look ahead to STARDOM’s big Edion Arena show and discuss how they are set up for success as we head into 2021.
The most detailed look at the life and career of Pat Patterson, from his childhood in Montreal, through his being Vince McMahon’s assistant, and everything in between, is the lead story in the current issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
This will likely go down as one of the best issues in history, with the stories on Patterson and Bobby Lee, the guy you never heard of who set box office records in the summer of 1978.
We look at Patterson’s career highlights, comments from some of the biggest names in the history of the business, where he got the name from, finding out he wa gay, his start in Boston, how Mad Dog Vachon made his career, the days in San Francisco, the greatest tag team of the era, being in the middle of the Cow Palace vs. HIC feud, his first encounter with Mae Young, Pretty Boy Patrick Patterson, the different stages that led to the Texas Battle Royal, the Cow Palace Battle Royal and the Royal Rumble.
We look at the character of Roy Shire, matches with the likes of Ray Stevens, Bob Backund and Sgt.Slaughter, the birth of the Intercontinental title, tours of Japan, the Quebec Dream, and WWE honoring him in Montreal.
Also in this issue:
Kenny Omega winning the AEW title, Sting coming, Don Callis and Impact Wrestling, and full coverage of AEW’s Winter is Coming.
The life and career of Bobby Lee, who made himself a legend in two months, and then how it all ended.
Agovernmental rule now protecting talent from having to adhere to the rules the rest of us go by, notes on Tribute to the Troops, notes on new WWE signings including one of the highest level athletes they’ve ever signed, update on a lawsuit against the company and how they are trying to get out of it, Talking mack, Slammy Awards, foreign ratings, how WWE & AEW are doing in the sports ratings, Broken Skull Sessions, Undertaker talks about ling to Shawn Michaels, top Exec makes more than $1 million in stock sale, and the most-watched shows of the past week on the WWE Network.
A feature on Jimmy Rave as his career comes to an end.
This year’s TripleMania show as well as a look back at the main events of every show to date.
Saturday’s UFC show with match-by-match coverage, business notes and ramifications of the key matches.
Television business, looking at stats not available elsewhere to get the deepest read into how shows are doing, what categories are doing well and how shows compare with previous weeks and one year ago.
Results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.
ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
SUNDAY NEWS UPDATE
Bryan and I will be back tonight talking NXT Takeover, UFC, Shiozaki vs. Sugiura, NJPW as well as taking questions that you can send to [email protected]. We’re doing polls today for NXT Takeover, the NOAH PPV show on FITE TV and today’s New Japan show in Fukuoka, thumbs up, down or middle, best and worst match to [email protected]
I recorded a show on Pat Patterson with Chris Jericho that will be released shortly. I did another one with Pat Laprade and Garrett Gonzalez on Friday night.
War Games from NXT starts at 7 p.m Eastern time. On paper it looks like a strong show. Takeovers are never bad, War Games matches are usually great so there you go:
Adam Cole & Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish & Roderick Strong vs. Pat McAfee & Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch & Pete Dunne – McAfee’s team right now is a -125 favorite using the 5 Dimes odds.
Shotzi Blackheart & Ember Moon & Io Shirai & Rhea Ripley vs. Toni Storm & Candice LeRae & Raquel Gonzalez & Dakota Kai – Blackheart’s team is the -260 favorite.
Leon Ruff vs. Johnny Gargano vs. Damien Priest for the North American title – Ruff is the -105 favorite to retain
Dexter Lumis vs. Cameron Grimes in a strap match. Lumis is a -305 favorite.
Tommaso Ciampa vs. Timothy Thatcher. Ciampa is a -245 favorite.
The men’s War Games match is almost a local when you consider the talent involved. Everything looks good but whether or not it’s a classic show will likely be determined by the women’s match and the three-way match.
The TLC card itself was finalized at a meeting on Thursday so they should be rolling out the matches now.
I have not seen this match yet, but today’s Go Shiozaki vs. Takashi Sugiura match on the NOAH PPV show (FITE TV) is getting a ton of praise as a potential match of the year. At the show they announced a return to Budokan Hall on 2/12 with Shiozaki defending against Keiji Muto, who has never held the GHC title in his career.
Some schedule updates for the next two weeks. The 12/18 Smackdown show may be moved to FS1. The Pac-12 football championships will be on either 12/18 or 12/19 on FOX. If it’s 12/18, Smackdown moves to FS1, if it’s 12/19, it will air as usual on FOX. The 12/23 Dynamite show will not air in its usual time slot. At one point TNT was going to be carrying two NBA games that night, but now it’s only a 7:30 p.m. game. One would think Dynamite will air after the game, but that is not yet certain.
WWE
Kambi has star ratings odds for TakeOver so you can bet over or under:
Thatcher vs. Ciampa ***3/4
Lumis vs. Grimes *1/2
North American title ***3/4
Women’s War Games ****1/4
Men’s War Games ****1/2
Lacey Evans was on the NFL pregame show today on FOX to promote Tribute to the Troops. In this market, on the grid for the FOX channel, the show was listed as “to be announced.”
This was an angle that was shot right after Dynamite ended, involving Eddie Kingston, Jake Roberts and Lance Archer.
OTHER STUFF
Jack Hermansson suffered a broken toe and broken orbital bone in last night’s loss to Marvin Vettori via decision in the UFC main event.
The Errol Spence Jr. vs. Danny Garcia fight was the No. 2 most searched for topic on the Internet yesterday with 500,000 searches. UFC did not crack the top 20, but the name Marvin Vettori was No 11 at 20,000 for this morning. The only other combat sports related stories to chart this week was Sting at No. 20 on Thursday with 20,000 and Pat Patterson on Wednesday at 200,000.
EPW ran with fans yesterday in Perth, Western Australia. They had a reduced capacity, but no restrictions on favor behavior past no high-fives or touching of fans. Western Australia had no community transmission of COVID and they are still careful. Jack Edwards & Taylor King b Aaron Hawk & Twitch to win the tag titles, Del Cano b Jarrad Slate, Joel Hagan b Toro Blanco, Steela Nyx & Chadwick Johnson b Rya Allen & Gorgeous Garry, Michael Morleone b Dan Moore, Gavin McGavin b Davis Storm-DQ, Davis Storm b Garvin McGavin to retain Coastal title. Morleone vs. itt said to be really good. Main event was said to be phenomenal. Said to be must see. (thanks to Kevin Chiat)
CWE from last night in Winnipeg for an empty arena show on Facebook: The Winnipeg police were called by people trying to get it shut down but the police said they were following all protocol and allowed the event: Danny Duggan b Tommy Lee Curtis, Travis Cole b Dragneel, Mentallo b Johnny Devine, Kevy Chevy won four-way over Cliff Corleone, Cory Diamond and Roy Cheeks, Danny Dugga b Travis Cole, Mentallo b EZ Ryder, Kevin Cannon won vacant jr. title in a three-way over Bobby Collins and Tyler James, AJ Sanchez & Kevin O’Doyle b Dick Blood & Adrien Burton, Dany Duggan b Mentallo In the tournament final to become the CWE champion.
It’s a solo express edition of the Big Audio Nightmare this week as Adam Summers guides you through the world of Japanese professional wrestling as we head into the final month of 2020.
Topics include the incredible Shiozaki vs. Nakajima GHC title match from NOAHs recent Yokohama show, a look at what you need to watch from the NJPW Best of the Super Juniors and World Tag League tour, a check-up on the AJPW Real World Tag League, and a look at recent and upcoming major shows from Stardom and Big Japan.
All that and much more on the Big Audio Nightmare right here at F4W Online.
A look at the issues involving the firing of Thea Budgen aka Zelina Vega, as well as a number of historical stories regarding issues with talent and management is the lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
We explain why the ending was inevitable based on the circumstances, look at WWE and SAG AFTRA, Andrew Yang, Gabrille Carteris and the different players involved in the story. We look at what wrestlers and fighters earn as compared to other top athletes and why the discrepancy, what the Saudi Arabia flight story showed, what is fair for WWE to do and what isn’t, complaints by talent regarding an exemption, as well as a number of historical stories related to the topic that feature such names as Hulk Hogan, Jesse Ventura, Superstar Billy Graham, Ivan Koloff (twice), Johnny Valentine and many others.
Also in this issue:
Update to the Survivor Series card with changes and injury notes.
WWE’s move to Tropicana Field in a few weeks.
New Japan’s Super Juniors and tag team tournaments, this week’s schedule and updates.
Seth Rollins’ schedule, Alexa Bliss engagement, NXT Takeover notes, lots of WWE injury updates, Undertaker answers retirement questions, Miz talks why he moved to Texas, description of new President Nick Khan, how WWE & AEW did compared to other sports this past week, WWE and AEW ratings in Canada and England, WWE market value and the most-watched shows on the WWE Network for the past week.
Saturday’s UFC show, the background and match-by-match coverage.
Dragon Gate’s Kobe World show, the biggest show of the year from Japan’s second largest company.
Why television networks should be interested in purchasing UFC or WWE outright as far as a long-term investment that will pay off in the long run.
Television business, with ratings breakdowns in every segment for Wednesdays and every category for other shows, looking at stats not available elsewhere to get the deepest read into how shows are doing, what categories are doing well and how shows compare with previous weeks and one year ago.
Results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.
ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
SUNDAY NEWS UPDATE
Bryan and I will be back tonight talking Survivor Series, more on UFC, and taking e-mail questions that can be sent to mailbag@wrestlingobserver
Mike Johnson has reported names like Mick Foley, Kevin Nash, Edge, Big Show, Dennis Knight, Mark Caterbury, Rikishi, Tim White, Kurt Angle, Glenn “Kane” Jacobs, Savio Vega and Charles “Godfather” Wright are in town tonight for Survivor Series. Whether this is for a private party for Undertaker or whether they will appear on television is not known, but tonight’s show is built around the 30th anniversary and final appearance of The Undertaker. Sami Zayn on Smackdown teased being the one to take a choke slam. One would think some if not all would be part of a larger in-ring ceremony.
Survivor Series is tonight and some thoughts on the show:
Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre – On paper this should be a very good match. One would expect a gimmicked finish because I don’t see either losing cleanly right now. The angle on Smackdown with the contract signing was strong because it was more believable than most in that situation. Reigns was a -260 favorite at 5Dimes.
Asuka vs. Sasha Banks – Another strong match on paper. No reason it shouldn’t be great. Carmella getting involved is a possibility giving the angles on Smackdown of late. However Banks is a -150 favorite.
Team Raw of Braun Strowman & A.J. Styles & Sheamus & Keith Lee & Riddle vs. Team Smackdown of Kevin Owens & Jey Uso & King Corbin & Seth Rollins & Otis. The Raw team looks stronger on paper but they’ve been doing dissension angles. The key when you look at this is who would the company want to protect right now. The key would be someone who McIntyre could face next, which would Strowman, Styles or Sheamus. That’s why Team Raw is -185 favorites.
Team Raw of Lana & Shayna Baszler & Nia Jax & Lacey Evans & Peyton Royce vs. Team Smackdown of Bayley & Natalya & Liva Morgan & Ruby Riott & Bianca Belair. The Smackdown team is better but Jax & Baszler are booked strong and the Smackdown team as far as booking strong you’ve got Bayley & Belair. Probably based on even-steven with the two matches Team Smackdown is a -190 favorite.
Bobby Lashley vs. Sami Zayn. A battle of heels. Zayn is a great worker and Lashley can be in a great match, but I could also see Lashley just winning him over. Lashley is a -305 favorite.
New Day vs. Street Profits. This is pretty much a unique match that I don’t expect to see again for a long time. If it’s me, Street Profits go over because it’s even-Steven with Lashley and they are the new team on the rise. Street Profits are slight -130 favorites. I expect a great match here.
Raw vs. Smackdown Battle Royal. Probably like every T-shirt Battle Royal. Not looking good. The favorites are Big E (+140), Lars Sullivan (+175), Daniel Bryan (+625), Ali (+625) and Miz (+850).
There’s enough good going in with Reigns vs. McIntyre, Asuka vs. Banks and New Day vs. Street Profits plus the elimination match with the men is probably going to be strong enough that it looks like a good show at this point. We’re taking polls tonight on this show and last night’s UFC 255, so thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match for each show to [email protected]
Also want to mention Bryan Alvarez is doing a fundraiser tonight for Jay Dumont on Twitch right after Survivor Series. Jay is a friend of everyone here and he’s been dealt a bad hand is again one of the reasons I’m such a supporter for health care like in so many other countries.
New Japan runs in Gunma at 4 a.m. Eastern tomorrow morning on New Japan World with the junior heavyweight tournament:
Satoshi Kojima & Tomoaki Honma vs. Yuji Nagata & Gabriel Kidd
The Daily Mail has a story on Chris Hemsworth in the Hulk Hogan movie. Bryan Alvarez is quoted in it.
UFC
UFC 255 did 200,000 searches on Google, which is the lowest number for a PPV show in a long time. That makes sense because this show was the weakest in star power and it would be a shock if this wasn’t the lowest number of buys for a UFC PPV show this year. It was the fourth most searched topic yesterday. It was the only thing in combat sports that made the list all week although Survivor Series should do 500,000 or more today.
The next UFC PPV show, on 12/12, isn’t likely to do much better. With Petr Yan pulling out of his welterweight title defense against Aljamain Sterling for reasons not yet revealed, the new main event will put last night’s main event winner, Deiveson Figuieredo defending his flyweight title for the second time in three weeks against Brandon Moreno. Both men took no real damage in scoring first round wins last night.
Anderson Silva is making it very clear he will fight again and said that UFC forced him to retire. He is now a free agent and the question becomes what promotion he will sign with.
OTHER
It took years, but Phil LaFon finally talked about his friendship with Doug Furnas at the 44:00 mark. Furnas & LaFon were one of the best tag teams in history and many feel their Match of the Year winner in 1992 with Tsuyoshi Kikuchi & Kenta Kobashi is one of the greatest tag team matches ever.
People are raving about today’s Go Shiozaki vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima match that headlined NOAH’s big show. FITE TV has the show in English.
Former ROH owner and current ambassador Cary Silkin was interviewed in a story about the final day in the life of John Belushi. (thanks to Denis Gorman)
A look at how WWE & AEW are handling things like the reopening of Florida, and how Texas looks to be the place MMA companies will go to as far as putting fans in buildings is the lead story in the new issue of the Observer.
We look at the current planned date and place for WrestleMania, what sports are now allowed to do as far as live events in Florida, AEW’s current plans going forward and the new regulations in Texas.
The new issue also covers:
The Samantha Tavel lawsuit against WWE, Matt Riddle, Evolve and Gabe Sapolsky. We look at the claims and look at both sides of the story and stories that have changed. We also look at the strategy of involving WWE i the case, WWE responds to the suit, and go through the time lines and how they differ and wording of the suit. We also go through the background of the case.
History of the non-relationship of NJPW and AEW. We look at how it started, why there was heat, how the ouster of Howard Meij could change things, as well as why there were so many mentions of NJPW on this past week’s AEW show. We look at what happened in January 2019 that caused issues between the two sides, the issues with how talent was handled on the way out, and what would be the first sign if relations started opening up.
WWE draft.
G-1 tournament. We go through what style of wrestlers have been helped and hurt by the current no-cheer, no-boo environment, who has been able to get a reaction, the standings, this week’s matches, plans for the rest of the year in New Japan, plus coverage with star ratings and poll results from every show.
NXT Takeover, the show background, match-by-match coverage and poll results on the show.
Updates on the sports rights fees business and where wrestling fits in, Paige’s tweet about unions, Stephanie McMahon gets major praise, new member of WWE Board of Directors, Drew McIntyre vs. Tyson Fury update, one year anniversary of Smackdown on FOX, more on John Cena’s debut in Fast & Furious, new season of Miz & Mrs. and the time slot, Angel Garza injury update, new A&E specials on pro wrestlers coming next year, more WWE injuries, WWE UK direction, wrestling placings in sports ratings and UK rating s for WWE & AEW, Jack Gallagher talks his being released, college heavyweight wants to be managed by Pual Heyman, Miz working on a new television show, WWE new developmental signings, WWE injury updates, WWE market value and the most-watched shows of the past week on the WWE Network.
This past Saturday’s UFC show.
Bushiroad’s attempt at a major Stardom show this past week.
Rundown of charting the place-winners in the key Observer awards and how it relates to the Hall of Fame.
A feature on the team of Penny Banner & Lorraine Johnson, who were known for decades as being the greatest women’s tag team in pro wrestling with the death this past week of Johnson.
What sports events did the best in viewers per home while talking about AEW setting its company record in that category this week.
Results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.
ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
SUNDAY NEWS UPDATE
Our weekend show covering the WWE draft and G-1 is up on the site right now. We’ve got a ton of inside stuff regarding the draft including some picks that were scheduled as of Friday and why.
Yesterday’s G-1 show in Osaka may have been the best wrestling card of the year. For in-ring quality of matches it was.
The G-1 is back Tuesday in Shizuoka for its final week with an A card show with:
Yuya Uemura vs. Gabriel Kidd
Jeff Cobb vs. Will Ospreay
Kota Ibushi vs. Yujiro Takahashi
Shingo Takagi vs. Taichi
Minoru Suzuki vs Jay White
Kazuchika Okada vs. Tomohiro Ishii
After today’s show, Evil and Tetsuya Naito are tied for first in the B block at 5-2, with Hirooki Goto, Sanada and Zack Sabre Jr. at 4-3. We’re taking polls on the Thursday, Saturday and today’s G-1 shows, with thumbs up, down or middle, best & worst match to [email protected]
Also yesterday the Joaquin Buckley knockout of Impa Kasanganay is being talked about as one of the greatest in UFC history. There was another incredible knockout yesterday where 40-year-old Mamed Khalidov won the KSW middleweight title over Scott Ashkam in :36 in a show from Lodz, Poland.
Nothing that happened in combat sports this week had any real mainstream attention. The only thing all week from the Google search list was Buckley at No. 12 this morning but that was 20,000 searches. Yesterday’s UFC show didn’t even make the top 20. Nothing from boxing or pro wrestling did all week.
Katsuhiko Nakajima beat Kaito Kiyomiya today to win the N-1 tournament. This leads to Nakajima getting a shot at GHC champion Go Shiozaki on 11/22 in Yokohama at the Budokan.
Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport at 7 p.m. Eastern tonight on FITE TV:
Jon Moxley vs. Chris Dickinson
Homicide vs. Tom Lawlor
Davey Boy Smith Jr. vs. Josh Alexander
Simon Grimm vs. Matt Makowski
Alexander James vs. Calvin Tankman
Erk Hammer vs. Grizzly Kal Jak
Allysin Kay vs. Killer Kelly
Lindsay Snow vs. Leyla Hirsch
Chael Sonnen will manage Jak.
WWE
The Fox WWE year-in-review special (yes, we’re in October but they are doing a season-to-season thing where the year ends at the end of September) that aired today on FOX around NFL broadcasts, meaning it will get a giant rating, will be replayed Wednesday at 4 a.m. on FS1.
MISCELLANEOUS
All Japan announced these teams for the tag team tournament that starts 11/18
Shuji Ishikawa & Suwama
Zeus & Shigehiro Irie
Jake Lee & Koji Iwamoto
Shotaro Ashino& Kuma Arashi
Ryoji Sai & Yoshitatsu
Masato Tanaka & Tajiri
Daisuke Sekimoto & Abdullah Kobayashi
Kento Miyahara & Yuma Aoyagi
Freelance Wrestling from yesterday in Indianapolis: Isaias Velasquez b Lee Moriarity, Danhausen & Warhorse b Ruffo & Yabbo-DQ, Robert Anthony b Effy to win the Legacy title, Blake Christian won over Storm Grayson, Elayna Black, Alex Zayne, August Matthews and Davey Bang, Laynie Luck b Faye Jackson, Shane Mercer won three-way over Ethan Page and Colby Corino, Kylie Rae b Josh Alexander to retain the Freelance title.
Joey Janela’s Spring Break from yesterday in Indianapolis: Rickey Shane Page b Marcus Mathers, Orange Cassidy b Rickey Shane Page, KTB & Shane Mercer b Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz, Jonathan Gresham b Lee Moriarty, Chris Dickinson & Ortiz & Santana b Jordan Oliver & Alex Zayne & Blake Christian, Tony Deppen b Alex Shelley, Lio Rush b ACH, Ricky Morton b Joey Janela, Nate Webb won the Cluster, Alex Colon b Matt Tremont in a death match
Effy’s Big Gay Brunch from yesterday: Ashley Vox & Delmi Exo b AC Mack & Ashton Starr, Still Life b Dark Starr, Manders & Levi Everett & Mance Warrner & Matthew Justice b Billy Dixon & MV Young & Josh Wavra & O’Shay Edwards, Jamie Senegal b Allie Kat, Devon Monroe won Twins gauntlet, Marko Stunt b Effy, Cassandro b Sonny Kiss
Game Changer Wrestling from yesterday in Indianapolis: Mike Outlaw won four-way over Timmy Lou Retton, Hoodfood and Zay Washington, JTG b Trey Miguel, PB Smooth & Tre Lamar won over Christian Casanova & Tasha Steelz and Angel Dorado & Air Wolf, Trish Adora b Suge D, Calvin Tankman b O’Shay Edwards, Willow Nightingale won over Marti Belle, Devon Monroe and Faye Jackson, AJ Gray b Dezmond Xavier, Lee Moriarty b ACH, AR Fox b 2 Cold Scorpio
AIW from yesterday in Indianapolis: Daniel Rockingham over Zack Thomas, Derek Dillinger and Pretty Boy Smooth, Danhausen b Mordecai, Erick Stevens b Dominic Garrini, Eric Taylor & Mikey Montgomery b Allie Kat & Levi Everett, Tre Lamar won over Lee Moriarty and Alex Shelley, Mance Warner b Mr. Brickster, Tom Lawlor b Ethan Page, Philly Collins & Marino Tenaglia b Colin Delaney & Cheech 2/3 falls to win tag titles, Joshua Bishop b Matthew Justice in a no rope barbed wire match for Absolute & Intense titles
Jarochita & Lluvia won the B block in the Mexican national women’s tag title tournament and will face Amapola & Metalica in the tournament finals on Friday night at Arena Mexico. The planned Volador Jr. vs. Bandido NWA welterweight title match from the anniversary show that was postponed when Bandido tested positive for COVID, takes place on Friday as well.
CWE announced that its 11/4 event in Oak Lake,Manitoba has been canceled due to the local health inspector not allowing the show, saying that he didn’t believe wrestling fans would follow the guidelines and ordered the promotion to hire government officials to make sure guidelines were kept that weren’t within the budget. The next show is 10/17 in Gladstone, Manitoba and they have a 10/22 show in Calgary and 10/23 event in Red Deer, Alberta. The Calgary main event is Johnny Devine vs Cody Mac.
We’ve got a double issue this week of the Observer with the full rundown of Harold Meij being out in New Japan, WWE’s social media policy as it relates to talent, and extensive G-1 coverage.
Our lead story looks at the Harold Meij era of New Japan, how he got there, the turmoil behind-the-scenes, why he’s leaving, his last words to his fan club, why the guy who handled running a wrestling company during a pandemic is out while in the pandemic and a lot of behind-the-scenes stories regarding New Japan and AEW never making a deal, and whether this can change things, and what the key issues are. The changes he made to the company, the business record and issues in dealing with talent and others and the inherent issues of a non-Japanese person in charge of a major Japanese company. This is the most inside version of what happened there since 2018 and from people who know the situation the best.
Also in this issue:
WWE’s latest when it comes to talent and social media, WWE policy, Andrew Yang and why this could be the worst time to make these decisions.
WWE Clash of Champions, NXT Takeover, Hell in a Cell, the COVID issues in AEW & WWE and how they spread, plus match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results.
G1 Climax tournament, with standings, best matches, behind-the-scenes,why crowds aren’t quick to sell out, plus match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results of every show.
XFL start, changes in WWE tapings and why 205 Live will be taped with NXT ad not Smackdown, we look at declines in WWE interest and reasons why WWE draft dates, Reigns vs. Rock, Reigns talks C.M. Punk, new Dwayne Johnson TV show looked at, new WWE signings, update on WWE injuries, one of the top college wrestlers already publicly talking about going to WWE, more on TV ratings in U.S. and Canada, former TNA champion talks how close he came to joining WWE, Cena starring in new movie, Zayn talks politics, Rusev talks problems with WWE creative, update on Raw Underground, where tribal chief comes from, WWE market value and the most watched shows on WWE Network over the past week.
UFC 253, with business notes, the main themes of the show plus match-by-match coverage and poll results.
The treatment of women in pro wrestling with notes from a recent BBC article with thoughts from several women involved.
87th anniversary show of CMLL, and the plight of Lucha Libre with no fans.
Jerry Lawler 50th anniversary show.
2020 Hall of Fame ballot in each category, with the top candidate, last year’s highest that haven’t gotten in, as well as a list of those who have been elected in the past five years.
Smackdown and AEW ratings based on the same opposition, as well as network vs. cable when it comes to other sports.
Results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.
ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
SUNDAY NEWS UPDATE
Bryan and I will be back tonight for Wrestling Observer Radio talking Takeover, UFC, Impact and all kinds of other stuff. You can send questions to the show to [email protected]. Garrett Gonzalez and I did a show yesterday with Mike Tenay talking news and the Hall of Fame. This is probably the best received show we’ve done in a long time and as good a wrestling history show as you’ll hear anywhere. We will also have a second show that will be up this coming Friday.
Thanks to everyone who has ordered my new 1997 Wrestling Observer Yearbook. The success in week one has been such that I’d think it’s a lock there will be a second one released. Right now the book is No. 1 among wrestling books on Amazon as well as No. 1 for kindle on Amazon. You can get the physical book at amazon in the U.S.or the kindle version or physical book in the U.K. at www.WrestlingObserverBook.com
Notes on tonight’s NXT Takeover and odds are from www.BetOnline.ag The show will be from the Performance Center, now called the Capitol Wrestling Center. There will be 100 fans at the show. It will also be the first time an NXT show is on PPV, priced at $54.99, so they are pricing their show more expensively than AEW, ROH or Impact do, but less than UFC does..
We have polls up today for NXT Takeover, thumbs up, down or middle, best and worst match to [email protected] as well as for Thursday’s G-1 show in Niigata and tomorrow’s G-1 show.
Finn Balor vs. Kyle O’Reilly for the NXT title. This would not surprise me to be among the best WWE matches of the year given the talent involved and the nature of the show. Balor is listed as a -700 favorite.
Io Shirai vs. Candice LeRae for the women’s title. They are coming off a great match at a prior Takeover before Shirai was champion. Shirai is the -170 favorite to retain.
Damien Priest vs. Johnny Gargano for the North America title. This also looks like a great match on paper with Priest as a -160 favorite.
Santos Escobar defends the cruiserweight title against Isaiah Scott. Also looks good on paper with Escobar a -180 favorite.
Velveteen Dream vs. Kushida – Dream is listed as a -150 favorite.
This is a very strong show on paper. Not sure what the interest level will be for NXT on a standalone Sunday against the NFL, but that was the call they made.
Mikey Whipwreck noted that Tracy Smothers, who has been battling cancer for some time, is now hospitalized with heart related issues. Best of luck to Smothers. He was one of the real underrated wrestlers of the 90s.
Kento Miyahara vs. Zeus in the finals of the All Japan Champion Carnival tournament takes place tomorrow morning from Korakuen Hall in Tokyo.
Kaito Kiyomiya beat Go Shiozaki earlier today to advance to the finals of Pro Wrestling NOAH’s N-1 tournament which takes place on 10/11 in Osaka. He will face Katsuhiko Nakajima, who beat Naomichi Marufuji to win the B block. The winner of the Carnival will then face Go Shiozaki for the Triple Crown title.
WWE
With the Kansas City Chiefs vs. New England Patriots game airing tomorrow night on CBS along with ESPN’s Atlanta Falcon vs. Green Bay Packers game head-to-head, tomorrow will actually be even tougher competition for Raw than last week. There is also a New York Yankees vs. Tampa Bay Devil Rays baseball playoff game. There is no post-PPV bump. to rely on this week nor will anything short of Steve Austin, Undertaker, Brock Lesnar or Ronda Rousey be an effective hot shot after playing the big nostalgia card last week.
WWE pulled Big Show from the Cauliflower Alley Club’s virtual convention on FITE TV to raise money for wrestlers in need to sell the injuries from Monday. Which is notable with Shawn Michaels on Wednesday of this past week not selling them nor pulled. Mark Henry replaced him.
UFC
Alejandro Perez tested positive for COVID ad he’s out of his fight wth Thomas Almeida that was scheduled for 10/10. The UFC is looking for a new opponent for Almeida.
Muslim Salikhov has pulled out of his 10/17 fight with Claudio Silva. No reason was given. James Krause will now face Silva on that show.
MISCELLANEOUS
G-1 tomorrow morning at 6 a.m. on New Japan World from Takamatsu
Gabriel Kidd vs. Yuya Uemura
Shingo Takagi vs. Yujiro Takahashi
Jay White vs. Jeff Cobb
Kazuchika Okada vs. Minoru Suzuki
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Taichi
Will Ospreay vs. Kota Ibushi
A really great look at modern candidates, the WON Hall of Fame, and how people don’t get credit for their work in smaller promotions It also makes a case for where modern people should rank.
This was not a big week for mainstream interest in combat sports given everything with the president, NBA playoffs, football in general and such. The only thing all week that trended was Holly Holm yesterday off the UFC show with 200,000 for the No. 4 position on the day.
Stardom ran its big PPV show in Japan yesterday in Yokohama: AZM b Starlight Kid to keep the High Speed title, Mira Shirakawa b Hanan, Riho & Saya Iida b Sumire Natsu & Yuma Manase, Natsupoi (Natsumi Maki b Death Yama-San, Bea Priestley b Momo Watanabe to win the vacant SWA title, Saki Kashima & Natsuko Tora b Jungle Kyona & Konami meaning the Tokyo Cyber Squad must disband, Utami Hayashishita & Saya Kamitani b Maika & Himeka to keep the Goddesses of Stardom tag titles, Giulia b Tam Nakano to keep the Wonder of Stardom title, Mayu Iwatani b Syuri to keep the World of Stardom title (thanks to Shannon Walsh)
CWE from Friday night in Winnipeg: Shaun Martens b Cliff Corleone to keep the Grand championship, EZ Ryder b Mercury in a Tequila Sunrise match (both had to get wasted on tequila before the match started, which sounds perfectly responsible), Sammy Peppers b Scott Ripley, Bobby Schink b Chad Daniels, Roy Cheeks b Bryce Bentley, Mentallo b Danny Duggan, Johnny Malibu b Adam Knight, Mike Mission & Tyler James & Kevy Chevy b Dick Blood & Jude Dawkins & Adren Burton in a fan bring the weapons match, AJ Sanchez & Kevin O’Doyle b Bobby Collins & Rob Stardom in a no DQ match to win the CWE tag team titles. Next show is 10/17 in Glastone, Manitoba. CWE champion Vincent and jr. champion Jimmy Jacobs have both been stripped of their titles since they can’t get into the country due to COVID. They will get title shots to win them back when the situation changes. The CWE title will be decided in an eight-man tournament on 11/6 in Winnipeg. An announcement will be made in the future regarding how the jr. title vacancy will be filled.
The UWN’s PPV show on Tuesday night has D’Angelo Dinero & Watts vs. Zicky Dice and a mystery partner, Bryan Idol vs Levi Shapiro and Caster Show vs. Chris Dickinson.’
Grant Zwarych is selling his collection of Stampede Wrestling programs from the 80s that include stuff with Owen Hart, Jushin Liger (as Keiichi Yamada), Bret Hart, Chris Benoit, Hiroshi Hase, Dynamite Kid, Davey Boy Smith, Bran Pillman, The Stomper, Toshiaki Kawada, Shinya Hashimoto and many others at [email protected]
With a huge feature on the crazy story of the original Hollywood Blonds tag team with the death of Jerry Brown, we’ve got a double issue this week of the Observer up on the site right now.
Our lead story looks at this year’s G-1 tournament looking at every card, the stories going into the card, the restrictions, the odds, and the new Will Ospreay, start time for every show, complete lineups, comments by Kenny Omega and Jon Moxley regarding this year’s new format.
Also in this issue:
Update on WWE Clash of Champions, with the matches announced, updates on titles not yet announced with matches and keys to the show.
The situation with Matt Riddle and Samantha Tavel.
Daniel Cormier getting COVID and a new UFC product being pushed.
Changes at the USA Network, Sasha Banks with a major acting gig, Update on Jeff Hardy, details behind the Paul Heyman/Roman Reigns pairing, new contracts signed in WWE, wrestler teases gimmick change, Mandy Rose angle, law being talked about reglated to the Sonya Deville incident, Retribution update, this coming week’s WWE television, Randy Orton new business, Ivar injury update, Ronda Rousey update, Next NXT Takeover, weird TV moment, Sports & International ratings, Jimmy Jacobs talks WWE protocol and Vince McMahon, injury update, movie with WWE performers, market value of WWE and the most-watched shows on WWE Network.
This past week’s UFC show with the stories behind the show and match-by-match coverage.
New Japan’s last show this past week before G-1, held at Korakuen Hall, with the matches and angles and what is being pushed.
Our huge feature covers the life and career of Jerry Brown, who teamed with Buddy Roberts to form the Hollywood Blonds, one of the greatest heel tag team acts of all-time. This major feature looks at their beginnings, their heyday in Quebec and Florida, places they went, who they faced, as well as the other territories they went, championships they held, the second version of the Hollywood Blonds people don’t remember, the mentality of the act and some crazy Jerry Brown stories, with lots of comments from Bill Watts, who put the team together.
Ratings of all the major shows, the key demos and quarters for AEW and WWE, what happened head-to-head and what can be learned from them.
Results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.
ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
MONDAY NEWS UPDATE
Bryan and I will be back with Wrestling Observer live tonight covering BTE, Raw, Japanese tournaments and talking Jack Brisco as well as taking e-mail questions for the show to [email protected].
Today would have been the 79th birthday of Jack Brisco, who passed away more than ten years ago. The front page has a huge story on his career.
There is a special Tuesday edition of Dynamite for one-hour before the two-hour live show in the normal time slot on Wednesday. The show will air after NBA coverage later at night with Brandi Rhodes vs. Anna Jay, Shawn Spears vs. Matt Sydal and Scorpio Sky vs. Benjamin Carter with Chris Jericho as announcer.
The CMLL 87th anniversary show takes place on Friday night and both women’s title contenders as voted by fans, Princesa Sugehit, who was to face Marcela for the CMLL women’s title, and Lluvia, set to face Metalica for the Mexican national women’s title, tested positive for COVID-19. There was an outbreak at Arena Mexico. There are lots of questions including Ultimo Guerrero, who is Lluvia’s boyfriend, who at this point is still listed for the show. The show is still happening and CMLL has announced that Lluvia and Sugehit will be getting title shots on Friday night shows when they can return.
G-1 returns on Wednesday morning on 5:30 a.m. from Sapporo:
Yuya Uemura vs. Gabriel Kidd
Jeff Cobb vs. Shingo Takagi
Kazuchika Okada vs Yujiro Takahashi
Minoru Suzuki vs Taichi
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Will Ospreay
Jay White vs. Kota Ibushi
We currently have polls going on for the first two G-1 shows from Osaka over the weekend with thumbs up, down, or middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]. We will also be doing polls for the Wednesday and Thursday shows this week. Kevin Kelly is recording English commentary and those will go up a few days later. The last three nights will have live English language commentary
Results from today’s Champion Carnival show at Korakuen Hall:
A block – Jake Lee b Kuma Arashi
B block – Shotaro Ashino b Shuji Ishikawa
A block – Zeus b Suwama
B block – Kento Miyahara b Yuma Aoyagi
With Suwama as Triple Crown champion, Zeus may end up with a title shot. The Carnival tournament resumes on Saturday night.
The N-1 tournament starts at 5:30 a.m. Eastern from Korakuen Hall tomorrow morning with Kenou vs. Shuhei Taniguchi, Kaito Kiyomiya vs. Masa Kitamiya, Go Shiozaki vs. Kazushi Sakuraba and Naomichi Marufuji vs. Takashi Sugiura
WWE
Raw tonight has Keith Lee vs. Drew McIntyre; a match with Angel Garza & Andrade vs. Seth Rollins & Murphy vs. Dominik Mysterio & Humberto Carrillo for the shot at the Street Profits on Sunday’s Clash of Champions PPV, and Braun Strowman vs.Dabba Kato in Raw Underground. Mike Johnson reported the return of Tom Phillips after two weeks and that Jerry Lawler is there. It would be no surprise to see Randy Orton get involved in the Lee vs. McIntyre match.
Tonight’s Monday night football game with the New Orleans Saints vs. Las Vegas Raiders will air on both ABC and ESPN. It will be interesting to see how the ratings end up and how this affects Raw doing its go-home show. Raw is not expected to do a good number tonight with the only wild card if Strowman vs. Kato has interest.
WWE inked a new deal with iQlYI Sports, for streaming in China. The shows will air in both Mandarin and English and will be available starting 9/22 with Raw and Smackdown airing live. The company will also start a subscription on-Demand service carrying the PPV shows.
The WWE Network is adding eight episodes of Velocity from May 25, 2002 to May 1, 2004.
Names announced for the NXT women’s Battle Royal for a title shot are Rhea Ripley, Candice LeRae, Tegan Nox, Xia Li, Shotzi Blackheart, Kacy Catanzaro, Aliyah and Kayden Carter.
NXT UK on Thursday has Kay Lee Ray vs. Piper Niven for the women’s title and Walter vs Saxon Huxley. The draw for the Heritage Cup tournament will also take place.
Stevie Ray announced his retirement on Facebook. He beat Michael Johnson via decision in his last fight in October and signed a four-fight deal after, but his knees are in bad shape. He said at this stage of his life he’s not up for a year of rehab and major surgery.
AEW
Dark tomorrow night has
Dark Order (Alan Angels & Preston Vance) vs. Ryzin & Xander Gold
Ben Carter vs. Lee Johnson
Will Hobbs vs. Serpentico
Stu Grayson & Evil Uno vs. Fuego del Sol & Rembrandt Lewis
Billy & Austin Gunn vs. Cruz & M’Badu
Penta El Cero M & Rey Fenix vs. Maxx Stardom & Dontae Smiley
Serena Deb vs. KiLynn King
Joey Janela & Sonny Kiss vs. Kevin Blackwood & Daniel Garcia
The Butcher & The Blade vs. Calvin Stewart & Puf
Ricky Starks vs. Christopher Daniels
Eddie Kingston vs Brian Pillman Jr.
MISCELLANEOUS
The UWN PPV show tomorrow night has:
Thunder Rosa vs. Priscilla Kelly for the NWA women’s title
Eli Drake vs. Watts
Danny Limelight vs. Kevin Martenson
Friendship Farm vs. Real Money Brothers
Chris Dickinson will appear on the UWN PPV show a week from tomorrow and Serena Deeb faces Allysin Kay..
CWE announced that due to the U.S./Canada border being closed as well as others not allowed in from foreign countries that their next tour will not have previously advertised Shane Douglas, Vincent, Jimmy Jacobs, Simon Marcellus Prime, The Mercenary, Koda Jacobs, Robin Lekime, Lory, Matt Taven or Silas Young. Shows in Alberta and Manitoba are limited to 100 fans but they are going to run. However at this point with crowds much lower than break even being allowed in Saskatchewan, British Columbia and Ontario, they can not host events in those provinces. None allow crowds of more than 50 people. It’s really notable with the size of crowds allowed in the U.S. and all our problems and how cases are so much lower in Canada yet the restrictions remain more stringent.
There is a BBC 3 documentary series called “Step Into the Ring” that will follow a group of aspiring wrestlers from Norwich in a reality show form, including one wrestler who has terrible vision, one with PTSD, one who is autistic and one who has Down’s Syndrome.
AAA has announced shows on 10/1, 10/29, 11/12 and 12/10 at 115 Bourbon Street in Merrionette Park, IL. All shows will be limited to only 50 fans, masks are required and social distancing is required. Tickets will go on sale tonight at 8 p.m. Central time at http://aawpro.ticketleap.com Announced for 10/1 are Mance Warner, Hakim Zane (Rohit Raju), Karam, Matt Justice, Stephen Wolf, Hyan, Christi Jaynes, Gringo Loco, Steve Manders, Benjamin Carter and Travis Titan.
This week’s Big Audio Nightmare is a solo affair as I guide you through a spate of COVID-19 scares in New Japan Pro Wrestling, STARDOM, Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling and 2AW. I talk about what happened, what is canceled, what may be coming next, and what it could all mean for the Japanese wrestling scene.
After that, you and I go on a tour of Japan including NOAH’s terrible booking reaching a new level, great Joshi matches from Ice Ribbon’s Yokohama show, how King of DDT delivered the goods, Dragon Gate’s buzzworthy rookies vs. vets match, and a look at tournament season in NOAH, AJPW, and elsewhere.
Get all that and more on the Big Audio Nightmare with me, Adam Summers!
Are you interested in attending our annual F4W/WON convention? We will hold it during AEW Double or Nothing weekend. For more information, check this post for activities and prices.
An update on pro wrestling around the world, where almost everything is canceled, update on WrestleMania, and how every company is handling the situation is the lead story in this week’s issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Why WWE had to tape WrestleMania in advance, update on the card, update on the changes, some of the early changes, what matches were changed from last week and why, many different matches that were talked about as recently as a week ago, PPV price, NXT big matches and the NXT UK next major show.
The new issue also covers:
The massive stock sale of Vince McMahon, the questions regarding why he would do it, how much of the company he still owns, the television deal with ESPN, and how it compares with airing of big fights from the UFC and boxing on ESPN this week. We also look at the latest WWE Network free offer and what it entails, how long AEW will be going without fans at shows, why the original plans for last week had to be scrapped, who is iced for now from appearing on AEW TV, how hard it has been to put shows together ad new dates.
Dana White’s comments regarding UFC 249, what he said about testing and what the doctors have said about doing shows right now. We also look at White’s plans to make up for missed shows, Impact canceling its PPV, the Japanese sports scene, the Governor of Tokyo talks shutting down the city, the difference in stats between Tokyo and New York, and what Korakuen Hall management has decided.
Shows in Japan this past week and decisions made by companies for this coming week. We look in particular at how New Japan is handling this as compared with other companies. We look at problems for Americans getting to Japan, when the next possible New Japan show is and what content New Japan has been producing.
The arrest of Jon Jones this past week, details of the arrest and a look back at Jones’ arrests and drug test failures.
The best of the 10s, who were the Best of the Decade as far as the Thesz/Flair Award, MMA Most Valuable, Most Outstanding Wrestler of Fighter, Biggest Box Office Draw, Best Tag Team, Best on Interviews, Most Charismatic, Best Technical, Best Brawler, Best Flyer, Best Promotion, Who had the best matches over the past decade, Best Non-Wrestler and Best Television announcer.
Daniel Bryan also talks his future after his current contract expires, WWE stars make marketing donations, WWE renews major TV deal, U.K. ratings for WWE and AEW, how WWE contract work and how that pressures some wrestlers into signing new deals, behind what Braun Strowman said that caused so much controversy, key exec stock sales, Arn Anderson on what Vince McMahon wanted said about Sting, new WWE movie coming to Netflix, Injury updates, and most-watched shows of the past week on the WWE Network.
A feature on the death of Branko Cikatic, the first K-1 champion and a pioneer on major MMA shows in Japan. We look at his gigantic career, what star was made in Japan by beating him, the first K-1 World Grand Prix and early Pride shows.
Regarding the Wednesday numbers, we’ve got full details, demos that each side won, how every segment did and what match ended up as the difference maker.
Full coverage of all the WWE and AEW television shows from the past week.
In-depth looks at the ratings of all the major shows, the key demos and quarters for AEW and WWE, what happened head-to-head and what can be learned from them.
Results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.
ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
SUNDAY NEWS UPDATE
Bryan and I did our weekend show last night covering all the latest news, from Roman Reigns, to Dana White, to Smackdown and WrestleMania. I also did an in-depth show on Roman Reigns and other subjects with Jim Valley on Friday.
Some notes from Dr. Alex Patel on the coronavirus:
It would appear Italy is levelling off – based on that data anticipated week is about 2-3 weeks,
Clearly in the US (esp in NYC) we are getting reports of the large spread hospital overrun. The increase the US and doubling time is much higher than most places.
He noted that often 50% percent of the people with the virus don’t have a fever. “We are seeing people with a headache that swab positive – it can have very mild presentations.”
I believe UFC was going to swab them which is more accurate than using temp. However there are false negatives and the swabs are not well validated for asymptomatic people so it’s not perfect. I also think with the way MMA works there is more exchange of droplets than wrestling by face (fake vs real and ability to minimize it if it’s fake) so I agree it seems weird they are pushing it so much.
Anyone at higher risk (Diabetes, HTN, on immunosuppressives) needs to be more cautious. Talk to your doctor if you are on immunosuppressants if the best option is to reduce them or not. Avoid NSAIDS and stick to Tylenol. In terms of how long it’s hard to say – even if rates fall there is a concern about a bump from South America having cases later and coming over. I would definitely avoid travel for a while. If cases start to fall then I would increase social activity in a ramp fashion – lowest risk (ie – small groups of people you know are well) first before going full blown.
If rates fall in 2-3 weeks then it might take a month or so putting us on that initial June or so timeline before we see easing off.
Mass gatherings are definitely still risky as are airports and travel. The bump in South America coming a little later needs to be watched and we have to weary it doesn’t make its way back over here.
A lot of the cable companies are getting their acts together on the WrestleMania pricing after having no idea how to handle it. Verizon has changed it to $29.99 per night. DirecTV is listing it as $34.95 per night sold separately. Comcast has changed to $34.95 per night as well. (thanks to Leon Peters, Arya Witner and B Faherty)
There has been a ton of talk today regarding the Go Shiozaki vs. Kazuyuki Fujita GHC title match that took place at Korakuen Hall earlier today. People were raving about it, saying it was absolutely brutal, with Shiozaki taking an incredible beating before coming back to win. The match went 57:47 which sounds insane in an empty arena, and the two never touched until the 31:00 mark. Yet people are calling it a fantastic match and say don’t skip over the first part. Anyway, I haven’t seen it yet. Shiozaki retained the title. Regarding Korakuen Hall. it has shot down for spectators but is allowing empty arena events. (thanks to Matt Harrigan).
KIRO TV in Seattle covered the death of Dean Silverstone on its news. Dean was one of the nicest and most giving and hardworking guys in the business. I don’t know anyone who didn’t like or respect him and he was a seemingly indispensible person in the Cauliflower Alley Club for 30 years. He is a giant loss to that part of the business.
Becky Lynch did an interview on ESPN where she indicated that her match with Shayna Baszler would be on the first night of WrestleMania.
Brock Lesnar, Edge, Undertaker and Becky Lynch are all advertised for Raw tomorrow. The Raw show was taped this past Tuesday on a closed set so no matches or results are out.
WrestleMania 32 airs at 7 p.m. Eastern tonight on ESPN. The key matches are Roman Reigns winning the WWE title from HHH, the same match that aired Friday on Smackdown, plus Brock Lesnar vs. Dean Ambrose, notable this week since it’s current WWE champion vs. current AEW champion in almost a squash, Undertaker vs. Shane McMahon Hell in a Cell, Charlotte Flair vs. Becky Lynch vs Sasha Banks for the old Divas title, Kevin Owens vs Sami Zayn vs. Stardust (Cody) vs. Miz vs. Dolph Ziggler vs Zack Ryder vs. Sin Cara in a ladder match and Chris Jericho vs. A.J. Styles, plus an appearance by The Rock.
The company is doing Instagram live promotions for WrestleMania all week. Zack Ryder and Charlotte Flair are doing a watch along for tonight’s ESPN coverage of WrestleMania. Rhea Ripley will be on at 1:30 tomorrow. Mandy Rose will be on Noon Tuesday. Rhea Ripley will be on Noon Thursday. Bianca Belair will be on at 1:30 p.m. Friday.
UFC
Sportsbegging.ag has odds of where UFC 249 will take place:
Florida +225
Russia +300
United Arab Emirates (Abu Dhabi) +300
Mexico +500
Saudi Arabia +800
South Africa +1000
Nevada +1400
They also have odds on whether Jon Jones fights before December 31:
Yes +300
No -500
AEW
Chris Jericho is going to do weekly Q&A segments, singalongs and otherwise make an attempt to entertain wrestling fans every Saturday night going forward. He did his first show last night and had about 150,000 views before the end of the night and it’s topped 360,000 as of today.
MISCELLANEOUS
Guiherme Cruz has a great story on fighters preparing for UFC 250 with all gyms shut down in Brazil. This focuses on some of the same issues we’ve been talking about, about putting people in fights who simply can’t do fight camp training and preparation at this time.
If you are looking for current wrestling, MLW has enough shows in the can for several more weeks. MLW goes under the radar just because there is so much product out there, but they combine all kinds of styles and it’s logically booked week-to-week with good wrestlers. This week’s show is built around the idea of a real fight with King Mo managed by Dan Lambert, and they promote ATT hard, against Low Ki billed as a battle of knockout artists.
The Wrestle-1 promotion will be running its 4/1 final event at Korakuen Hall without a crowd. The promotion, founded by Keiji Muto, was going out of business on that date not having anything to do with the coronavirus, and was continuing to run shows.
Stardom ended up canceling yesterday’s show in Shizuoka that was still on as late as Friday. There have been smaller companies running events, some with fans, in Japan, but the crowds have been small. Nothing like last week.
Also in Japan, Pure J and Tokyo Joshi Pro canceled events in Tokyo and Marvelous canceled its show tomorrow. Sendai Girls did run yesterday in Miyagi.
Two boxing names passed away this week from the coronavirus. Nelson Cuevas, a cutman from New York, passed away Friday. He was a fixture on the New York boxing scene since 1959, working the corners after first being a boxer and later a trainer. Former fighter and trainer Ron Ross passed away in Boca Raton, FL, best known for his biographies on Emile Griffith and Bummy Davis. (thanks to Nick Mahmood)
CWE did a three match live stream from Winnipeg on Friday: Johnny Malibu b Kevin Cannon, Adrien Burton b Dragneel, Danny Duggan b AJ Sanchez. Mentallo issued a challenge to Duggan for the 11th anniversary show on 5/22 in Winnipeg. The event is on the CWE Facebook page.
CWE on 4/30 in Prince Albert, Alberta at the East Hills Community Club with Shane Douglas vs. Robin Lekime.
In this week’s solo voyage, Adam Summers also takes you through the wrestling news in Japan, including an incredibly unique match of the year candidate from this past weekend’s NOAH show, a preview of this week’s NJPW shows, and the excitement about the AJPW Champion Carnival lineup.
Get all this and much more on the Big Audio Nightmare.
Pro Wrestling NOAH has been acquired by Cyber Agent, the same company that has owned DDT since 2017.
The news was announced Tuesday morning by Tokyo Sports with Cyber Agent later confirming. A press conference was held Wednesday with more details concerning the acquisition:
– Under the deal, DDT owner Shanshiro Takagi will now serve as president of Pro Wrestling NOAH, while longtime wrestler Naomichi Marufuji will act as vice president.
– The two promotions will continue to run as separate entities, but will partner with one another for cross-promotion.
– NOAH’s show in Korakuen Hall Thursday morning, the final day of this year’s NOAH junior heavyweight league, will be airing live for free on DDT Universe, the company’s online streaming service.
The current plan is to stream NOAH shows on both DDT Universe and Abema TV, a streaming service owned by Cyber Agent. Abema will air NOAH shows starting in February. However, their service is not available to international viewers.
Last week was a period of arrivals and departures for WWE.
Without much advance warning, Ricochet, Aleister Black, Johnny Gargano, and Tommaso Ciampa all debuted on Raw last Monday. After news of them being backstage was reported online, WWE tweeted out pictures of them to hype that they were at the show. Triple H then opened Raw and confirmed that they would be debuting later in the night. Ricochet made a save for Finn Balor and teamed with him to defeat Bobby Lashley & Lio Rush, Black defeated Elias, and Gargano & Ciampa got a win against Raw Tag Team Champions The Revival in a non-title match.
The return of Roman Reigns and information on leukemia and how some athletes have returned quickly while having it is the lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
This issue is back to the usual format with a news filled issue, including comparisons of Georges St-Pierre to the other all-time greats in MMA, as well as details regarding the comings and goings in WWE including Bruce Prichard, TJP, Tye Dillinger, Arn Anderson and others.
Look at the background of the hiring of Prichard and departure of Anderson, Prichard’s past roles in WWE, how long Prichard is committed to doing live events with Conrad Thompson, and what this hire says about Vince McMahon.
Also look at plans for 2020 WrestleMania, 2019 Fan Axxess, Hardy’s contract, WWE injury updates, XFL notes, how AAF negotiated with WWE to buy XFL name, how that led to Vince doing the XFL, and football on WWE Network. Also look at how the AAF is doing.
Also look at “Fighting with my Family,” WWE star running for mayor has a major hurdle based on his past, Ric Flair’s real birthday party, Flair and Hogan history, Nikki Bella wins award, and new WWE signees.
Read notes from all the WWE and NXT events at arenas this past week, with results, highlights and business notes.
Have a look at the Matt Hughes situation, with what he’s alleged to have done, his response, and what others have said about him as well as his life post-accident.
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SUNDAY NEWS UPDATE
by Bryan Rose and Dave Meltzer
WWE
It was announced yesterday that Tommaso Ciampa will not be appearing at WLW’s Night of Champions on March 9. He is reportedly suffering from a injury, though the severity is not currently known. Adam Cole will take his place instead.
A United States title match between AJ Styles and Kevin Owens from WWE Battleground 2017 was uploaded to YouTube.
Mustafa Ali will be appearing in the series “The Secret Life of Muslims” an Emmy and Peabody Award nominated series. Ali, real name Adeel Alam, is on the show because he broke from playing the typical Muslim heel stereotype and chose to be a role model instead. The episode will air on 3/13.
NOAH held their final event with their distincitve green mat last night. The company will undergo a visual makeover on 3/11, dropping the Mitsuharu Misawa-inspired green theme it’s been known for since its formation in 2000.
Momo Watanabe broke the record earlier today for most Wonder of Stardom title defenses at the show in Nagoya. Results were: Kaori Yoneyama & Le Okazaki b Rina & Hina, Hana Kimura b Hanan, AZM & Konami b Natsuko Tora & Says Iida, Arisa Hoshiki b Starlight Kid, Utami Hayashishita NC Bea Priestley for the Eve International title when both were knocked out, Mayu Iwatani & Tam Nakano & Saki Kashima b Kagetsu & Hazuki & Natsu Sumire to keep the trios titles, Momo Watanabe b Jungle Kyona to keep the Wonder of Stardom title. Match was said to be great (thanks to Shannon Walsh)
Arnold Schwarzenegger got involved in a pro wrestling match on Saturday. It was New Oho Wrestling doing a show at the Arnold Kids and Teen Expo in Columbus, OH. Onyx was wrestling Robby Starr for the Arnold championship, and Starr tried to run away and Schwarzenegger threw him back into the ring (thanks to Tim Taylor)
Smash Wrestling on 3/8 at Fanshawe College in London, ONT. They also run 3/9 in Kitchener, ONT at the Tannery Event Centre.
New Generation Wrestling on 3/9 in Hull, ONT at the Eastmount Centre. They also run 3/16 in Nottingham at the Rushcliffe Arena and 3/17 in Keighley at Victoria Hall and 3/24 in Chester-le-Street at the Pelton Community Centre. A lot of WOS talent will be appearing on these shows.
Revolution Wrestling Federation on 3/23 at H-Mac in Harrisburg, PA,.
Johnny Mundo and P.J. Black will be appearing in Australia in April for Lucha Downunderground II in Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide. Mundo will also work Melbourne and Sydney in June.
BCW from Friday night in Melbourne: Preston Kindred & Vance Adams b Cletus & Nick Bury & Mitch Waterman, Kellyanne b Melina (WWE) to win the women’s title, Big Cuz b Robbie E, Ken Shamrock & Carlo Cannon b Gabriel Wolfe & Jake Andrewartha to keep the tag titles, Maddog b DCT to keep the BCW title, Mick Moretti b Dowie James in an Iron man match at 65:00 when neither won a fall in the first 60 minutes.
AAW in Perth, Western Australia from last night: Roxy Ryot won Battle Royal, Delhi Dud Singh & Eric Owens b Mako Hunter & Warship and Julio Garcia & Marcio Garcia, Ajax b Hayden Zenith 3-2 in 30:00 Iron man match, Felix Young b Ricky South to keep No limits title in a really strong weapons match, Roxy Ryot b Felix Young to win the title, Chris Target over Adam Brooks and Seth Kincaid to win the AAW title, Mecha Wolf 450 b Craven, Tom Leadbetter b The Shark in a cage match to win cntrol of the promotion.
Mikey Nicholls returns to EPW, his original home promotion, on 4/6 in Perth.
Carlo Cannon, who holds the BCW tag title, broke his leg on Saturday night at a show in Melbourne for Warzone Wrestling. Cannon was trained by Lance Storm. (thanks to Kevin Chiat)
Wrestling Go from last night in Sydney, Australia: Nikki Van Blair b Cesar, Jay Sorbet b Eric Fisher, Azalea won over Arya Reign and Jasmin Vittora, Candy Lee b Stella Nyx, Jessica Troy b Kellyanne, Kingsley & Xena b Indi Hartwell & Steph De Lander, Bel Pierce b Tarlee, Shazza McKenzie b Melina. Australian historian Dann Lennard called the Jessica Troy vs. Kellyanne match possibly the best women’s live match he’s ever seen and both got a standing ovation when it was over.
UFC/MMA
Last night’s UFC prelims on ESPN did a 1.0 rating on the overnights, tying for the second best when it comes to PPV prelims since 2013. The show did 1.35 million Google searches, putting it at No. 1 for yesterday of any topic, which indicates an above average number. The key topics searched for were Jon Jones, Ben Askren and Cody Garbrandt. Notable that Kamaru Usman did not crack the top 20.
Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington confronted one another at the Palms buffet earlier today. They also had a confrontation last night as Usman was leaving the cage.
Brett Okamoto reported soon after Usman won the welterweight title that the UFC informed Covington he will receive the first title shot against him. Despite Covington being the interim champion, the UFC decided to make the the next welterweight title fight between Woodley and Usman instead.
Bonuses for last night’s UFC 235 went to Pedro Munhoz vs. Cody Garbrandt for fight of the night, while Johnny Walker and Diego Sanchez won performance of the night honors.
Dana White said after the show that Daniel Cormier and Brock Lesnar want to fight each other and will make the fight, but doesn’t know when.
Jon Jones told TMZ Sports that he ‘has a feeling’ he’ll fight Israel Adesanya. He also says he would like to fight four times in 2019.
Josh Gormley, the grandson of Jack Dempsey headlines Backyard Brawl 1 on PPV on 4/5 from Cheyenne, WY. It will be a show with ten bare knuckle boxing matches and two MMA fights.
Ed in San Antonio presents the WRESTLEMANIAWeekend Events (more to be added):
Sunday, April 6th, at 12:00 pm: Lunch (all you can eat) at Churrascaria Plataforma ($90 per person), located at 316 W. 49th street in Manhattan. Purchase tickets here~!
Luxury Bus to MetLife Stadium for Wrestlemania: We will depart from the Hilton Midtown (site of Wrestlecon) located at 1335 Avenue of the Americas. Departure time is 4:00 pm and will return from MetLife approximately 30 mins after the event. Times are subject to change, and cost $67.00 per person for the round trip. Purchase tickets here~!
