Kenny Omega and Bryan Danielson went to a 30:00 draw in what was among the best television matches in U.S. history and arguably the best bout ever on Dynamite in their dream match at the company’s debut in New York City on 9/22 at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The non-title match presumably sets up a longer time limit championship match down the road. For Full Gear, the decision would seem to be Omega defending against either Danielson or Adam Page.
The show was a landmark event for the promotion, breaking both attendance and gate records and ended up as the second largest non-WWE gate for pro wrestling in U.S. history and the largest attended non-WWE pro wrestling event in the country in 22 years.
The most talked about aspect of the week was the ratings, and whether the show would beat Raw. Dynamite in its history had two episodes that beat Raw’s 0.49 (642,000) in 18-49, the very first episode and the show two weeks earlier coming off All Out and the debuts of Bryan Danielson and Adam Cole.
Big E cashed in his Money in the Bank contract on the 9/13 Raw to win the WWE championship from Bobby Lashley, signifying his switching brands and reuniting The New Day.
Born Ettore Ewen, the 35-year-old Tampa product was a state heavyweight champion wrestler at Wharton High School and football player, who went to the University of Iowa, and after college, became a powerlifter.
A mutual friend contacted Jim Ross, and he was given a WWE tryout in 2009 and WWE signed him to a deal at that time. He started as Big E Langston in Florida Championship Wrestling, which was shortened to Big E. He was popular due to his personality and those in developmental thought he could be a groundbreaking performer with his leaping ability and agility and power combination.
In 2012, he was brought up to the main roster, and on November 18, 2013, won the IC title from Curtis Axel. But his career took off in 2014 as part of the New Day tag team. The idea started out silly but ended up being tweaked by the three guys in it and the group held the Raw tag team titles twice and Smackdown version of the titles six times.
ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
TUESDAY NEWS UPDATE
WWE
New NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa spoke to PWInsider about new talent being added to NXT 2.0. “I think that, to me, is the part that’s so exciting. I’m hoping that people pick up on that more and more as the weeks turned into months. This is very exciting. We’re going to see some fresh faces and new match-ups and this is awesome. You know what I’m saying? People got super invested in that NXT, that NXT developing talents and getting their first TakeOvers and stuff. It’s the same thing. Because even then, we had a core group of guys to help lead that push. It’s the same exact thing that’s happening right now. It might take people just a little bit to catch on to that because it’s not exactly what NXT has been presented as over the last, maybe say two or three years. But man, when this thing starts to fire on all cylinders, it’s going to be hard to stop.”
PWInsider reported that casting is underway for season 2 of Young Rock and they are looking for people to play Jerry Lawler, Tommy Rich, Bam Bam Bigelow, Haystacks Calhoun, Gene Okerlund, Big John Studd, Freddie Blassie, Mr. Fuji, and The Great Kabuki. They are also looking to recast several wrestlers from the first season, including Roddy Piper.
Drew McIntyre spoke to GiveMeSport and expressed interest in moving to SmackDown and feuding with Roman Reigns. “I mean, something with Roman [Reigns] is always going to interest me,” he said. He’s on top of WWE right now doing the best work of his career… I think for Roman and I, it’s a case of giving it more time. I just want to keep rolling and keep building that momentum and basically catch up to the momentum that he’s got right now and make it a big big match.”
Eva Marie spoke to the Out of Character podcast about her relationship with Vince McMahon that led her to a WWE return. “When I left, I was always in contact with Vince with the projects I was doing,” she said (h/t WrestleTalk). “He always seeing whether it was movies, TV, or new endeavor business-wise and things of that nature, we were always in conversation. I was always checking in and saying what’s up and things of that nature. The conversation kind of sparked last year and it was one of those things that, I always said I wanted to come back when the time was right and I always let him know that. That way, at any moment at any time, there was never a thought of ‘she would never’ or ‘there’s no possibility for her to come back’.
Bianca Belair was interviewed by Knox County mayor Glen Jacobs (Kane) on his YouTube channel.
Other Wrestling
Rob Van Dam went to Twitter to clarify comments he made regarding Ric Flair during last week’s Dark Side of the Ring documentary on the Plane Ride From Hell. “I haven’t seen Ric Flair’s d***,” he said. “My comment about fans shouldn’t see him doing the helicopter was a response to DSOTR telling me that’s what they were told. They shouldn’t. I don’t want to see it either. 2) I said “trying to make her touch him” referring to his body crowding her space and her backing up like bad breath was in her face.I thought maybe they were playing(from seeing a similar scene at the hotel bar) but I wasn’t interested in naked Ric. Still ain’t. I tried to sleep.” Later, when asked if he saw Flair grab flight attendant Heidi Doyle’s hand and forced her to touch his genitals, Van Dam replied “I can confirm I didn’t see that and I didn’t say that. Creative editing will have people hearing it different ways.”
Bryan Danielson talked to Bleacher Report, expressing interest in a G1 Climax run. “There are things I want to do, but I don’t ever think of them as goals,” Danielson said. “Oh man, I’d love to do the G1. But if I never do the G1 and all I ever do is wrestle in front of 19,000 people at Arthur Ashe Stadium, I think I’m going to be OK, I’m sure. So it’s weird as far that kind of stuff goes because there are so many things you can’t control. I would love to do the G1, but until we get COVID under control, that’s not even possible for me to go quarantine for two weeks.”
PWInsider reported that Sami Callihan underwent surgery for a broken ankle and broken tibia and fibia bones in Nashville and was released from the hospital today.
CMLL has posted the official card order for this Friday’s Aniversario show. The main event, pitting Lluiva and La Jarochita against Dark Silueta and Reina Isis, will be the first women’s main event in Aniversario history.
AEW is advising those that are going to Grand Slam in Queens, New York tomorrow to take mass transit and arrive early. Gates open at 5:30 pm local time. More info can be found here.
Heels last night ticked up to 93,000 viewers, up from last week’s 79,000.
AJPW has announced the brackets for their upcoming 2021 Real World Tag League tournament that begins on November 28, with the finals taking place on December 5 at Korakuen Hall.
Block A has Suama & Shotaro Ashino, Jake Lee & Hokuto Omori, Abdullah Kobayashi & Drew Parker, and Jun Saito & Rei Saito.
Block B has Kento Miyahara & Yuma Aoyagi, Tajiri & Super Crazy, T-Hawk & El Lindaman, and Inzanagi & UTAMARO.
Block C has Shuji Ishikawa & Kohei Sato, Yoshitatsu & Seigo Tachibana, Mitsuya Nagai & LEONA, and Kengo Mashimo & Kazma Sakamoto.
Block D has Zeus & Shighiro Irie, Takao Omori & Yuko Miyamoto, Koji Iwamoto & Ryuki Honda, and Koji Doi & Kumaarashi.
In a statement sent to Wrestling Inc., Ric Flair condemned sexual assault but admitted that him doing what was referred to as a “helicopter” with his genitals is true.
The website did an interview with ESPN 30-for-30 Flair documentarian Rory Karpf Monday. Flair used a statement Karpf made during the interview for his own defense in his first public statement since last Thursday’s controversial Dark Side of the Ring episode.
In the episode, Flair was accused by flight attendant Heidi Doyle of exposing himself to her, pushing her up against the back door of the plane and putting her hand on his genitals. Flair has denied the claims and in the aforementioned statement, he denied ever forcing himself on anyone.
In the follow-up statement to Wrestling Inc., Flair said:
“To clarify, the ‘helicopter’ as it was called, is accurate. I wish I could blame it on youth, but it was a case of drinking too much and being inappropriate and I apologize for that (and have countless times over the years).
“I made some bad decisions during dark periods in my life, and it is something I’ve spent a significant part of years I was given by the doctors in 2017 trying to make right.
“I condemn sexual assault in any way, shape or form. I could (and have) written books (as have others) that have covered my transgressions. I’ve made some terrible decisions, but I’ve never forced myself on anyone in any way. Period.”
In his first public statement since last Thursday’s Dark Side of the Ring documentary, Ric Flair denied forcing himself on anyone without addressing the documentary directly.
“Every person that I’ve worked with has said not to post a response; but I’ve never run from past behaviors before and I’m not going to start now.
I want to clarify a few things: About four years ago, I gave ESPN full access to my life for a “30 for 30” special. They covered taxes, financial issues, adultery, divorces, the passing of my child and drinking/partying AT LENGTH.
Rory Karpf, desperate to matter for another 15 minutes, did an interview about it this morning. when Rory’s lips are moving, he’s typically lying, but one part of what he said was the God’s honest truth.
I’d never heard that he force someone to touch his genitals,” Karpf admitted. “Everything with Ric that was construed as negative I tried to address in the 30 for 30. His drinking, his philandering, his adultery, his money problems, there’s quite a bit, but never, at least in the people that I spoke to, no one ever brought up that he would force himself on somebody.” I allowed my personal life and the lives of my wife and children to be turned upside down for one reason: Whether it’s good or bad, even the really bad, the truth has to matter. Even in wrestling.
My issues have been well documented over my 40+ year career. The impact of drinking too much (which nearly killed me 5 years ago) has been told time and time and time again. The reason Rory (or anyone else for that matter) never heard stories of me forcing myself on ANYONE is simple: it never happened.”
In the Dark Side episode focused on the 2002 WWE “plane ride from hell,” Flair was accused by flight attendant Heidi Doyle of exposing himself to her, pushing her up against the back door of the plane and putting her hand on his genitals. Flair has denied the claims before. WWE came to a settlement agreement with Doyle and Taralyn Cappellano after the events of the flight.
A national ad campaign featuring Flair was paused Friday following the controversy.
Tommy Dreamer has apologized for remarks he made on the Plane Ride From Hell episode of Dark Side of the Ring.
Today on social media, Dreamer wrote: “Regarding my comments on Dark Side of the ring. It was never my intention to offend, hurt, or victim shame anyone. I understand my comments were insensitive & could trigger emotions in someone’s own personal past. I do not condone sexual misconduct of any kind. I apologize to anyone I offended. From the bottom of my heart I am so sorry.”
During the Dark Side of the Ring episode, Dreamer defended Ric Flair, who was accused by flight attendant Heidi Doyle of exposing himself and forcing her to touch his genitals. Flair has denied these claims.
Dreamer said that Flair is “not going to impose, by force, any sexual stuff onto anybody. He’s just flaunting…stylin’ and profilin’…like the Ric Flair stuff where everybody’s going to laugh about it. Obviously, somebody took offense to it.”
“It’s a joke,” he later added. “It’s a gag. Today? 1000% inappropriate. I have hung out with Ric Flair and have never seen him force his will against anybody.”
Regarding the WWE settlement with Doyle following the incident, Dreamer said “If that’s how she felt, maybe she should have not taken a payout and went to the fullest extent of the law to put this heinous person in jail. My opinion.”
Impact Wrestling suspended Dreamer on Friday, saying “We are aware of Mr. Laughlin’s (Tommy Dreamer) comments on “Dark Side of the Ring”. The views expressed by him in the interview are completely unacceptable. We can confirm Mr. Laughlin was suspended this morning with immediate effect, pending further action.”
Dave Meltzer and I are back with Wrestling Observer Radio.
We open the show talking about the Plane Ride from Hell episode of the Dark Side of the Ring. We then talk about the AEW Dynamite rating and talk about their popularity as it compares to WWE.
We look ahead to the Bryan Danielson vs Kenny Omega match this Wednesday and wonder how it will end. We finish up talking about the G1.
