Several updates are available regarding the new AEW signing set to be revealed at Full Gear.
Earlier this week, Tony Khan teased that his company has signed “one of the world’s best wrestlers” and that fans will learn of this person’s identity on Saturday’s show.
Our own Andrew Zarian stated on The Mat Men podcast recently that he’s been told Will Ospreay will be revealed as the mystery signing. Zarian has been dropping hints regarding the person’s identity in recent days as well.
Ospreay is under contract to New Japan Pro Wrestling until the end of January 2024. However, it’s possible a deal has been worked out between AEW and NJPW. Our own Dave Meltzer addressed this possibility on Thursday’s Wrestling Observer Radio.
“The one thing with Will Ospreay is with New Japan and AEW being business partners, I think that if they could make a deal and it would involve him being able to still do big New Japan shows, I don’t think New Japan would stand in the way of an announcement or anything like that, knowing that he’s not going to WWE, meaning that they can still work together,” Meltzer said.
Mercedes Mone has also been speculated as the new AEW signing. However, Fightful is reporting that they’ve been told Mone will not be revealed as the person on Saturday, although she could still end up working with the company.
Ronda Rousey, who wrestled in a match with three AEW talents on Thursday, has also been rumored as potentially being the new signing but Sean Ross Sapp stated in a social media post on Friday that it’s not Rousey either.
Also on Thursday’s Wrestling Observer Radio, Meltzer noted he’s heard conflicting stories regarding who the new signing is.
“It’s funny because I know two people who have told me who it is and they had two different names. So, I don’t know that anyone really knows,” Meltzer said on the show.
Ronda Rousey wrestled in the main event of Thursday’s Wrestling Revolver Unreal event.
Teaming with Marina Shafir, she faced off against AEW’s Athena and Billie Starkz in the main event. At one point during the match, Rousey took a suplex from Starkz and landed on her head, but continued the match anyway. The finish of the match had Athena attack Rousey with the ROH Women’s Championship, ending the match in a no contest. The show ended with Rousey thanking everyone for their support.
This was Rousey’s second match post-WWE, with her first being at a Lucha VaVoom event on October 28. In an impromptu match, she teamed with Shafir to defeat Brian Kendrick and Taya Valkyrie.
Rousey had her final match with WWE following August’s SummerSlam event, where Shayna Baszler defeated Rousey in an MMA rules match. Rousey had spent the entirety of her pro wrestling career in WWE, where she had her debut match back at WrestleMania 34 in 2018, teaming with Kurt Angle to defeat Triple H and Stephanie McMahon.
Ronda Rousey will team with Marina Shafir in her Wrestling Revolver debut, and the promotion has announced the duo’s opponents.
In a social media post Thursday, Wrestling Revolver officially announced Rousey & Shafir vs. ROH Women’s World Champion Athena & Billie Starkz for its Thursday, November 16 Unreal event.
Wrestling Revolver had previously announced on October 28 that Rousey would debut at the show, and a tag match with Shafir was a safe bet, but not official until Thursday’s official announcement.
Rousey made a surprise return to the ring on October 27 at a Lucha VaVOOM show in Los Angeles in her first wrestling appearance since leaving WWE following this year’s SummerSlam in August. Rousey & Shafir defeated Brian Kendrick & Taya Valkyrie in a tag bout at the Lucha VaVOOM event.
Rousey left WWE following a loss to Shayna Baszler at SummerSlam, capping her second run as an in-ring performer with the company. In her time with WWE, Rousey was a two-time SmackDown Women’s Champion, a Raw Women’s Champion, a Women’s Tag Team Champion, and won the 2022 women’s Royal Rumble match.
Sami Callihan says he can’t take credit for bringing in Ronda Rousey to Wrestling Revolver.
Rousey is scheduled for the promotion’s Unreal 3 event on November 16 in Los Angeles. Profits from ticket sales are being donated to Lahaina Wildfire Relief to help those impacted by the 2023 Hawaii wildfires.
Wrestling Revolver is run by Callihan, who appeared on Busted Open Radio on Wednesday. He said Rousey being on the show is something that simply fell into his lap.
“It’s something I fell into because of my relationships with other people and people putting myself over to Ronda, like, this is the guy you want to do work with,” Callihan said on the show.
“Ronda wanted to do this for charity,” he continued. “She wants to do something for the Hawaiian relief fund. Her husband is from Hawaii and this is a charity she holds very near and dear to her heart and as soon as it was brought up to me, I was like, ‘Absolutely, that is 100 percent something I want to be involved with because that money will actually go to help people.'”
Callihan continued to clarify that all profits after production costs will be donated to the charity. Many people working the show have asked for their fees to be sent directly to the charity as well. 250 tickets were sold on the first day they became available.
Rousey will team with Marina Shafir on the show. Their opponents have yet to be announced.
Ronda Rousey and Marina Shafir are set to team up at a Wrestling Revolver event next month.
The promotion announced on Saturday that Rousey will wrestle at their November 16 event from Los Angeles. On Sunday, the promotion revealed that Rousey will team with her Four Horsewomen of MMA teammate, Marina Shafir, on the show.
Rousey and Shafir’s opponents have yet to be named.
Wrestling Revolver Unreal will take place Thursday, November 16 at the Homenetmen Glendale Ararat. It will air live on FITE TV. All profits from ticket sales will be donated to the Lahaina Wildfire Relief.
Jon Moxley, Swerve Strickland, Alex Shelley, Mike Bailey, and actor Paul Walter Hauser are advertised for the show as well.
[BREAKING]
Who do you wanna see them face!?
Signed for 11/16#RevolverUNREAL Los Angeles, CA LIVE on @FiteTV+
Rousey and Shafir also wrestled an impromptu match together at a Lucha VaVOOM show on Thursday. They defeated the team of Brian Kendrick and Taya Valkyrie on the show. It was Rousey’s first match since her loss to another Four Horsewomen of MMA member, Shayna Baszler, at WWE SummerSlam.
After making her surprise return to the ring on Thursday night, Ronda Rousey has already been announced for another independent wrestling event.
The UFC Hall of Famer and former WWE star will make her Wrestling Revolver debut at a show in Los Angeles on Thursday, November 16. The event is named “Unreal” and will air live on Fite TV.
Rousey had posted a tweet on Friday teasing that she would be appearing at the Wrestling Revolver show.
Rousey last competed for WWE when she lost to Shayna Baszler in an MMA rules match at SummerSlam this August. The program between Rousey and Baszler started abruptly when Baszler turned against Rousey at Money in the Bank, causing them to lose the WWE Women’s Tag Team titles. Dave Meltzer reported at the time that Rousey had a “hard out” date with WWE.
Nearly three months after that SummerSlam match, Rousey returned to the ring by competing for indie promotion Lucha VaVoom on Thursday. The appearance wasn’t announced in advance. Rousey & Marina Shafir defeated Brian Kendrick & Taya Valkyrie.
The finish of the match was Rousey submitting Kendrick with an ankle lock.
“@luchavavoom was honestly the best Lucha/burlesque hybrid show I’ve ever had the pleasure of jumping into unannounced,” Rousey wrote on Instagram.” Anyone who doubted me and @marinashafir could make magic in a ring is an idiot – thank you @thetayavalkyrie and @mr.briankendrick for being down to get down with us.”
Rousey, Baszler, Shafir, and Jessamyn Duke are the Four Horsewomen of MMA.
Tickets for the November 16 Wrestling Revolver event are set to go on sale this Monday (October 30) at 8 p.m. Eastern time. Wrestling Revolver notes that a portion of the proceeds will be donated toward Maui wildfire relief.
“This is gunna be fun, hope to see ya there,” Rousey wrote. “All profits from ticket sales going directly to Lahaina wildfire survivors via Venmo Mutual Aid.”
The show is Wrestling Revolver’s Los Angeles debut.
Ronda Rousey returned to the ring on Thursday night.
Rousey attended Lucha VaVOOM Area 51 at the Mayan Theater in Los Angeles. She ended up involved in an impromptu match on the show and teamed with her long-time training partner, Marina Shafir. The two Four Horsewomen of MMA members wrestled Taya Valkyrie and Brian Kendrick in a tag team match.
Rousey picked up the win for her team by making Kendrick tap out to an ankle lock. She posted footage of the match to Instagram on Friday.
@luchavavoom was honestly the best Lucha/burlesque hybrid show I’ve ever had the pleasure of jumping into unannounced. Anyone who doubted me and @marinashafir could make magic in a ring is an idiot – thank you @thetayavalkyrie and @mr.briankendrickfor being down to get down with us
In the days leading up to the show, Lucha VaVOOM teased that something big was planned, writing, “Let’s just say this very simply for the record. We can’t tell you who it is. But if you miss this tonight, you’ll be kicking yourself tomorrow. Don’t say we didn’t warn you. Seriously.”
The promotion runs the second night of the two-night Halloween-themed event on Friday from the same venue. It is unknown if Rousey will be back at the show.
The rumors that Ronda Rousey might be returning to fight at UFC 300 were shot down over the weekend.
Asked by Sports Illustrated’s Justin Barrasso after Saturday’s UFC 292 about the possibility of the former women’s bantamweight star returning for another fight, UFC president Dana White said, “There’s no shot. She’s accomplished everything she set out to do.”
Rousey, who is currently on a hiatus from WWE following her loss to Shayna Baszler at SummerSlam, hasn’t fought since a 48-second loss to Amanda Nunes at December 2016’s UFC 207.
After racking up a 12-0 record and becoming a pop culture phenomenon in the process, Rousey ended her career with KO/TKO losses to Holly Holm (November 2015) and then Nunes.
The UFC Hall of Famer eventually transitioned to WWE full-time, winning both the Raw Women’s title, the SmackDown Women’s title, and the Women’s Tag Team titles with Baszler in her run there.
“Her dream was to win a UFC championship, then win a WWE championship, and she’s done it,” says White. “Now she’s starting a family. Ronda has made so much money, and she’s still making a lot of money in sponsorships.”
Shayna Baszler defeated Rousey in an MMA rules match at Saturday’s pay-per-view. The finish of the match was Rousey passing out in Baszler’s Kirifuda Clutch.
The feud between best friends Rousey and Baszler began with a surprising turn at Money in the Bank. During a Women’s Tag Team title defense, Baszler attacked Rousey. The turn came abruptly and hadn’t been built up in advance.
Rousey fueled speculation that she’s leaving WWE in today’s Instagram post, writing that she has no reason to stay in the wrestling business after her loss to Baszler.
“[Shayna Baszler] you were the reason I got into this business… Now I got no reason to stay,” Rousey wrote.
Rousey and Baszler are two of the Four Horsewomen of MMA alongside Marina Shafir and Jessamyn Duke. To build their SummerSlam match, there were a pair of videos on Raw last week about Rousey and Baszler’s history with each other.
Rousey made her WWE in-ring debut at WrestleMania 34 in 2018. The next year, Rousey, Becky Lynch, and Charlotte Flair became the first women to ever main event WrestleMania.
Rousey was away from WWE for nearly three years after WrestleMania 35. She returned to the company at Royal Rumble 2022.
Across her two stints with WWE, Rousey was a three-time Women’s Champion and a one-time Women’s Tag Team Champion.
A new stipulation has been added to the Shayna Baszler vs. Ronda Rousey bout for WWE SummerSlam this coming Saturday in Detroit.
After two video packages aired on Monday’s Raw detailing the feud between Rousey and Baszler, it was announced that the match would be held under MMA rules. What exactly that entails isn’t currently known. Baszler has emphasized since issuing the challenge to Rousey that she didn’t want a match, she wanted a fight.
The video packages that aired detailed the story between Rousey and Baszler, dating back to when Rousey selected Baszler for her team during their season of UFC’s The Ultimate Fighter reality show. Baszler said she gave everything to Rousey while Rousey gave nothing back. Rousey said she gave everything to Baszler to the point where Baszler now hated her. Baszler ended the promo saying that the worst thing is that Rousey’s daughter is her goddaughter, and her goddaughter will never forgive her for what she will do to her mother.
Here is the updated lineup for SummerSlam this Saturday:
WWE SummerSlam, Saturday, August 5, 8 p.m. Eastern time on Peacock & WWE Network —
Tribal Combat match for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship and title of Tribal Chief: Roman Reigns defends against Jey Uso
Cody Rhodes vs. Brock Lesnar
World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins defends against Finn Balor
WWE Intercontinental title match: Gunther defends against Drew McIntyre
Triple threat match for the WWE Women’s Championship: Asuka defends against Charlotte Flair & Bianca Belair
Poll results from all the major shows plus Match of the week and Performer of the week
Looking back on a week with some of the best matches of the year, story behind the matches and complications involved
Week one G-1 Climax coverage, what stories have been told, where is business, what is and isn’t working and match-by-match coverage
Coverage of TripleMania, including what really happened with Don Callis, the story behind Vikingo vs. Omega, as well as looking at the 8/12 show in Mexico City
Tony Khan press conference coverage, update on All In with new ticket sales info and how close to records is the show, more PPVs question, longer Dynamite, Death Before Dishonor and more
Full coverage of Saturday’s UFC show and what is next for the participants
Eric Young returns and Impact Slammiversary, as well as the return of Josh Alexander
How many homes are the networks that carry wrestling in
The most detailed look at the ratings for all the wrestling and MMA television shows, with a lot of shockers in the weekly and daily standings. Including what show placed No. 7 for the week in network television, where the wrestling and MMA shows finished on cable, segment-by-segment, competition and more
What promotion is killing it every week in ticket sales at the same arena
Major talent jump to join his brother
Documentary on the life of one of the biggest stars in history hits movie theaters internationally in the fall
Major TV documentary on the Ali vs. Inoki fight, what was revealed and some new news being reported
75th anniversary of the birth of the NWA and the real story of its birth and growth
How the public’s viewing has changed
The Rick Steiner situation and how it was handled
More on the Teddy Hart arrest and what he was in Florida for
Notes on upcoming Impact TV shows
Upcoming ticket sales for WWE & AEw shows
Lots of new major UFC fights
Iconic company set for a return in September
Updated Money in the Bank and Forbidden Door PPV numbers
WWE injury updates
Dwayne Johnson reportedly sets an all-time money record
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Monday Update
Bryan and I are back tonight with Wrestling Observer radio covering all the latest news plus Raw coverage for tonight.
Rush, whose AEW deal had either just expired or was about to expire, has signed a new contract with the promotion. We’ve been covering that in the Observer the past few weeks. Those in WWE confirmed interest and those close to Rush confirmed interest in WWE, but those in WWE also believed AEW had made the better money offer and would likely get him a far better offer and would likely get him. Rush just confirmed the signing today.
Raw tonight is in Tampa. We’re looking for reports on the Main Event and anything off TV from the show to [email protected] The key stuff includes Cody Rhodes doing a promo regarding his match with Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam, face-to-face confrontations with Gunther and Drew McIntyre and Logan Paul and Ricochet and the Seth Rollins-Finn Balor contract signing for SummerSlam. Plus Becky Lynch has to beat Zoey Stark to get a match at SummerSlam. If she loses she has to get the name Trish Stratus tattooed on her chest, which isn’t happening. There were 10,800 tickets out for the show this morning so it’s be another big crowd, perhaps a sellout. Cody Rhodes said that this would be the biggest Raw crowd in Tampa history.
Ronda Rousey is likely on the show tonight, since she worked the weekend house shows in Mexico against Shayna Baszler, and will also be on Stars on Mars on FOX tonight.
TBS sent out a press release regarding the Blood & Guts show. They listed more than 2.5 million viewers for the show. That figure is every person who tuned into one minute of the show or watched though Saturday night via DVR. In 25-54, the L+3 number was the best number in that demo for a prime time show on the station is more than two months. They noted an 0.83 18-49 number in L+3. It was the top show on cable in both categories. The 0.83 is the percentage of viewers in that age group that get TBS. That’s probably an 0.38 or so based on the numbers you would be used to seeing as far as the 18-49 demo after three days, which started at 0.34 on the same day.
Judgment Day, as in Dominik Mysterio and Rhea Ripley, will open NXT tomorrow.
Dwayne Johnson has given a seven-figure donation to SAG-AFTRA. SAG-AFTRA called it the biggest donation that they have ever received from one individual at one time.
We’re looking for your thoughts on Friday’s ROH Death Before Dishonor show, a thumbs up, down or middle, best and worst match to [email protected]
G-1 continues at Korakuen Hall tomorrow at 5:30 a.m. with Will Ospreay vs. Great O’Khan, Shota Umino vs Gabe Kidd, Taichi vs. KENTA, Yota Tsuji vs. Chase Owens, Tanga Loa vs. El Phantasmo, Ren Narita vs. Hikuleo, Kazuchika Okada vs. Yoshi-Hashi and Sanada vs. Kaito Kiyomiya.
The Barbie movie, which came out over the weekend and features John Cena, did $162 million at the U.S. box office which these days is a gigantic number. It did $356 million worldwide.
The Lio Rush injury we wrote about yesterday and talked about on the show is legit. He was to work a match last night and they only said he was not cleared to wrestle. The MCW main event last night was to be Lio Rush vs. Brian Cage and the co-main was Action Andretti vs. Flip Gordon. It ended up Cage & Gordon vs. Andretti & Miami Mike where Mike pinned Gordon to win. (thanks to Ideen Barimani)
WWE stars will be on Celebrity Family Feud on Sunday. It will be men vs. women.
STARZ starts its second season on Friday night. As noted before, both CM Punk and AJ Mendez are part of the cast which is based around a small independent wrestling promotion in Georgia built around two feuding brothers whose father started the company.
Other Notes
GCW announced shows on 9/22 and 9/23 in Germany.
Prestige Wrestling from last night in Asbury Park,NJ, before 200 fans: Colin Delaney & Bobby Orlando b Ace of Space, Alan Angels b Manders, Xia Brookside b Janai Kai, Jake Crist b Robert Martyr (Martyr had to leave Prestige Wrestling based on the stipulation), Malakai Black & Kevin Blackwood b Alan Angels & Jake Crist in what was billed as Prestige vs. Revolver wrestling, Trish Adora b Maki Itoh, Alex Shelley b Jonathan Gresham to keep the Prestige title. (thanks to Joseph Kurliak)
Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer talked about the last few segments of WWE Raw on Tuesday’s Wrestling Observer Radio.
After a Seth Rollins/Finn Balor promo that set up their match for SummerSlam, The Viking Raiders defeated Alpha Academy in a Viking Rules match where the ring morphed into a viking ship. Although it started slow, the match picked up toward the end, with both Alvarez and Meltzer enjoying the match.
“This was a good match,” Alvarez said. “Very, very good payoff to this thing.”
Following that match was a promo featuring Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler. Rousey challenged Baszler to a match at SummerSlam, refusing to come to the ring and meet Baszler. Both Meltzer and Alvarez presumed that Rousey was a heel.
“Last week, Ronda’s the babyface,” Meltzer pointed out. “This week she’s very clearly a heel.”
“And Shayna is very clearly the babyface,” Alvarez added.
The main event had Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn defeat Dominik Mysterio and Damian Priest to retain the Undisputed WWE Tag Team titles.
“This match ended up being a great main event,” Alvarez said. “Last few minutes were awesome.”
Mysterio ended up taking the pinfall despite challenging Wes Lee for the NXT North American title the next night on NXT. Both Alvarez and Meltzer wondered if it was a sign that Mysterio could win the title from Lee.
