Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including health updates on Don Frye and Anthony Joshua, Brandon Thurston’s article on the Vince McMahon shareholder lawsuit and the tweets that came out, William Regal discusses neck trauma, the RAW report, and tons more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
Timestamps: Start: Don Frye update, Anthony Joshua car accident 3:06: New text messages surface in Vince McMahon stockholder lawsuit 17:01: William Regal’s post urging wrestlers to protect their neck 28:52: Chris Jericho’s AEW deal up shortly, notes from CMLL & Stardom weekend shows 40:28: WWE Raw recap, lineups for the week
The new issue of the Observer is up on the site today. Sorry for the delay but there were a number of things having to do with Christmas travel and the weather that basically cost me a full day. But it’s a very heavy issue with two major stories, one on AEW going forward business wise and the many key aspects of media rights and different ways it can go in 2027. The other is a story on Roland Bock, who had one of the most famous pro wrestling matches of the 70s with Antonio Inoki, the famed Stuttgart Massacre, and was one of the most intriguing and controversial pro wrestlers of that era.
*Where AEW stands today, and the key out of the ring and out of their hands challenges that will face them between now and the end of 2027
*AEW’s ratings growth outside the U.S. this past year
*AEW’s television ratings decline with the different factors involved
*Key aspects of the WBD sale and what it means to AEW
*What AEW didn’t do in 2025 as far as new deals that were talked about one year ago
*Estimating using different methods how many U.S. viewers AEW Dynamite really gets
*How things have changed greatly in the past year
*Business of AEW Worlds End
*Gambling odds for matches
*A look at AAA Guerra de Titanes, one of WWE’s best shows of the year
*Anthony Joshua vs. Jake Paul and business numbers and record level manipulation of numbers
*Ric Flair and Mike Tyson file lawsuit against former business partner
*The life and times of Roland Bock, one of the most intriguing pro wrestling characters of the 1970s, his famous matches with Antonio Inoki, the reality of those matches, his tough guy reputation, the legendary tough guy whose career he ended and just how different pro wrestling was back then. We go from being tortured as a child, to developing a street fighter rep, going to the Olympics in wrestling, his attempt to pioneer a promotional style that got big in Japan several years later, why his career didn’t explode in Japan and everything from wrestling bears to bulls
*Who is eligible for the 2025 Rookie of the Year award
*The most detailed look at the ratings over the past week
*Update on 2025 Arena Mexico attendance
*A look at CMLL Dream Match Night
*Ozawa talks awards
*WrestleKingdom updates
*A look at the life and career of Mark Wolf
*Rick Link goes into hospice care
*Jerry Lawler returns to WMC
*Grandson of Hawaiian pro wrestling legend is starting QB at USC, headed to a bowl game an an NFL prospect
*Ticket sales to upcoming WWE,AEW and TNA shows
*Lots of AEW news notes
*Jim Ross responds to DVon Dudley
*Updates on multiple lawsuits against TKO and judges concerns about evidence in two different cases
*WrestleMania ticket sales as well as the next two AEW PPV sales
— Bryan and I will be back tonight covering Raw, talking about information that came out today regarding the WWE sale and memos that are in evidence, William Regal and Kenny Omega, Anthony Joshua, Don Frye, Stardom and much more.
— Brandon Thurston at Post Wrestling ran a story here, and it’s a must read. Among the key points were that the very day a family member convinced Vince McMahon to resign, Mark Shapiro had already laid out a scenario about Vince laying low and selling the company to Endeavor. They also show communication with McMahon, after he was out of the company, in contact with Ari Emanuel before he came back with the idea of putting it for sale to the best bidder. The lawsuit is that the plaintiffs are claiming WWE didn’t get the best deal but took the deal that would assure Vince McMahon stayed in power. Of course he didn’t stay in power. But there was information Liberty Media and KKR were working on a bid, but never finished nor obtained enough information from WWE to finalize an offer. There was also confirmation McMahon was involved in the decision for Roman Reigns to beat Cody Rhodes at WM 39, although we knew that at the time, but this article did have confirmation of that with McMahon asking Nick Khan if they had told Rhodes and Reigns the new finish.
— Don Frye was hospitalized for three weeks recently with heart issues which he talked about in a video. He noted that both Gary Goodridge and his daughter essentially forced him to go to the hospital.
— Raw tonight if from Orlando. They were close to sold out with almost 11,000 tickets out this morning. Stephanie Vaquer vs. Nikki Bella vs. Raquel Rodriguez for the women’s title and Dragon Lee & AJ Styles face The Usos for the tag titles. Rey Mysterio has a singles match with Austin Theory.
— CMLL had a big weekend, selling out Arena Mexico in advance on Friday, Arena Coliseo on Saturday, Arena Mexico yesterday and Puebla today. Much of that is holiday related as Sunday in particular always does well this time of year as last year they drew 10,000 for the similar show and that’s double or more of usual Sunday. But still, it shows how hot the company is and the Christmas week that they sold out and were headed toward a sellout midweek before the lineup was even announced. Pueblia was sold out to the point they didn’t even open the box office today. Both Mistico on Friday and Atlantis Jr. on Saturday gave speeches to the fans during the show thanking them for the company having a great year, basically a rah-rah thing. Templario & Titan vs. Difunto & Hechicero headline the final Arena Mexico show of the year tomorrow.
— We’re looking for your thoughts on Worlds End, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]. We are also looking for your thoughts on both the best match overall of the Continental Classic tournament and MVP of the tournament.
— The trial of Ted DiBiase Jr. on conspiracy to commit wire fraud and to commit theft concerning programs receiving federal funds, six counts of wire fraud and two counts of theft concerning programs receiving federal funds as well as four counts of money laundering will begin this coming Tuesday. This is regarding misappropriations of Mississippi money geared toward the needy for his own personal use. This was a heavily publicized news story because some of the money was diverted to NFL great Brett Favre.
— Stardom sold out Sumo Hall in Tokyo with 6,563 fans today for Stardom Dream Queendom. It was said to be a great show with Saya Kamitani retaining her World of Stardom title over Saori Anou in the main event with a revolution Star crusher. Kamitani will next defend the title against Starlight Kid.
— Most of the WWE content on Peacock will be taken down on Thursday. What will remain is Smackdown, Saturday Night’s Main Event and NXT major shows. All the territorial stuff will be gone.
— We’re also looking for reports from these WWE house shows:
Friday night in Baltimore
Saturday night in Pittsburgh
Sunday night in Jacksonville, FL
Sunday night in Rochester, NY
Tomorrow night in Detroit
Tomorrow night in Estero, FL
We’re looking for results, finishes and highlights to [email protected]
— Stardom has announced American Dream 2026 in Vegas. They will be doing a show over Mania weekend in Las Vegas. More details to come.
— UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall confirmed he needed surgery on both eyes. He said he had one already and the second surgery will be in mid-January. His eyes were poked which caused a premature ending of his title defense with Cyril Gane a few months back and there is no time as to when he’ll be able to return.
— The movie “Night Patrol,” a horror movie that features CM Punk, will be released in theaters on 1/16. The movie is about a Los Angeles Police Department officer having to put aside his differences with the area’s street gangs when he finds a local police task force is harboring a horrific secret that endangers the residents of the housing projects he grew up in.
— Nikki Bella, who grew up in Scottsdale, AZ, will be the Grand Marshal for the 53rd annual Vrbo Fiesta Bowl Parade in the city that takes place on Saturday at 10 a.m. in Central Phoenix.
— Awesome Championship Wrestling on Saturday night in Poughkeepsie, NY at the Mid Hudson Civic Center has Matt Cardona vs. Mike Santana, Indi Hartwell vs. Shotzi Blackheart and Zack Clayton vs. Real One (Enzo Amroe), plus Tommy Dreamer, The Righteous, Crowbar, Joey Janels, Jordan Oliver and a Rumble match.
— Masked Republic has announced 1/24 in Laredo, TX, 1/25 in San Antonio and 1/31 in Loveland, CO and 2/1 in Denver with LA Park vs. Pirata Morgan and Sam Adonis vs. Tinieblas Jr. El Hijo de Rey Misterio is also on the tour.
— Tomorrow’s WWE show in Estero, FL has CM Punk vs. Bronson Reed for the WWE title, Kabuki Warriors vs. Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss for the tag titles. Cody Rhodes vs. Drew McIntyre will headline Detroit tomorrow night.
— NXT is still a taped show tomorrow with Ethan Page vs. Moose for the North American title, Jacy Jayne vs. Wren Sinclair non-title, Ricky Saints vs. Je-Von Evans, Lexis King vs. Tavion Heights in the Speed tournament and Bronco Nima & Lucien Price vs. Ricky Smokes & Brad Baylor and a Joe Hendry concert.
— In yesterday’s update we noted a sold out show in Cordoba Mexico on Saturday and noted Mascara Dorada listed in the main event but he couldn’t have been there because he was in Chicago for Worlds Collide. In fact, it was Templario who teamed with Mistico & Rey Pegasus vs. Averno & Euforia & Jaque Mate Jr.
— I will be featured as a guest on tomorrow’s Denise Salcedo show.
— Justin Roberts, the AEW ring announcer turned 46 today. Dr. Sam Sheppard, the inventor of the mandible claw and the subject of the TV show “The Fugitive” which was one of the biggest shows of its era, was born on this day 102 years ago. Steve Williams passed away 16 years ago today at the age of 49. The Amazing Zuma passed away four years ago today at 85. Killer Khan passed away two years ago today at 77. (thanks to Tony Richards)
— Defy from last night in Los Angeles: El Primohenio won over El Mexica, Alan Angels and Chris Nasty, Starboy Charlie b Royce Isaacs, Brittnie Brooks b Johnnie Robbie, Kiren Grey b Steven Borden Jr., Judas Icarus & Travis Williams retained the Defy tag titles over Sonico & Fatal, Viva Van b La Vipress, Bryan Keith b Timothy Thatcher to retain the Defy title. (thanks to Matt Farmer)
— Sting was at the show last night to watch his son wrestle. He talked to some of the talent by the ring before the show and watched it from the production booth.
Newly revealed documents and text messages revealed that a key executive that now heads up TKO was confident about Vince McMahon’s return to WWE in 2023 and that he would sell the company to Endeavor — a prediction that turned out to be accurate.
The report comes courtesy of Wrestlenomics’ Brandon Thurston in association with Post Wrestling who obtained the documents and revealed the information Monday, including images of text messages from newly disclosed records as part of the current WWE shareholder lawsuit.
The suit claims that McMahon was in violation of his fiduciary duties by arranging for WWE to merge with UFC to create TKO, a move done to keep him in power rather than get the best deal for WWE shareholders.
One of the key messages is from Mark Shapiro, who heads up TKO and was also a higher-up at Endeavor, sent to current TKO chief financial officer Andrew Schleimer and then-Endeavor CFO Jason Lublin.
“Nick and Stephanie are going to take over the WWE for the next nine months. Vince [will] be back with a new board or he will take the company private or he will sell it/coming to us. The race is on. The courtship is on,” Shapiro wrote.
“Nick” is Nick Khan and “Stephanie” is Stephanie McMahon. The text was sent on July 22, 2002 — the same day Vince McMahon announced his “retirement.” It’s unclear why Shapiro was so confident, or accurate, with his assessment.
Vince McMahon returned less than six months later in January 2023, placing himself back on the WWE Board with the intent to sell the company. The deal with Endeavor then came together three months later.
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Thurston noted that the documents reveal that Vince McMahon and Endeavor head/agent Ari Emanuel were communicating during the timeframe in which he stepped down and then returned, arranging for an August 2022 dinner with Emanuel, Stephanie McMahon and Khan. It was noted there is nothing illegal about such a meeting given McMahon’s stature as that time as WWE’s primary shareholder.
There was also an exchange that same month with Emanuel offering backstage passes to a Bill Burr comedy show at Boston’s Fenway Park. While some of the exchange, in addition to an unknown download link and attachments, is redacted, one line from Emanuel is not: “I will be your greatest partner.”
It’s unclear if Emanuel was alluding to the impending deal.
There was also an August 2022 exchange where Emanuel offered to fly from Paris to Italy to meet McMahon after the now-former TKO chairman McMahon met with a senior banker who served as WWE’s financial advisor during the sale process. That same banker had worked with Endeavor previously as well as McMahon as part of his 2020 XFL re-launch.
Executives from Liberty Media, a group who was also interested in WWE, sent internal emails after the April 2023 merger announcement, saying they felt the deal was “pre-wired” and already arranged before the formal bid process kicked off.
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One of the exchanges from the extensive article showed McMahon texted with Khan about creative in February 2023, asking if Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes were aware of “new creative” for WrestleMania that year and the year after, noting he had asked both Paul Levesque and Bruce Prichard.
Khan replied “Langis” to which McMahon didn’t have any idea what he meant. Khan told him to read the word backward which is assumed to be Signal, the encrypted messaging app.
From Thurston:
“That interaction, regarding “new creative,” runs counter to Khan’s statement a month later on CNBC that McMahon wasn’t involved in the creative process. The public record doesn’t show more about what “new creative” McMahon was referring to or whether he had any influence in Roman Reigns’ win over Cody Rhodes in the main event of that year’s WrestleMania, an outcome that surprised many fans.”
The shareholder lawsuit is set to go to trial in June 2026 with the discovery phase nearing an end with financial restitution possible if the plaintiffs win the case.
On a new episode of his podcast, Matt Hardy addressed the “real weird” rivalry that once existed between Vince McMahon and Jim Ross in WWE.
Ross recently opened up the dynamic between himself and McMahon, saying he felt like McMahon’s animosity came from a place of jealousy because McMahon was never as good of a play-by-play announcer as he was. Ross felt like McMahon never wanted to give him credit for his part in shaping the Attitude Era despite Ross building WWE’s roster at the time.
The Hardy Boyz were two of the stars that Ross signed during that time period. Reacting to Ross’ comments about McMahon, Matt Hardy said he thinks McMahon got off on putting people in uncomfortable positions. While that might help some people grow, Hardy thinks McMahon’s approach was abusive at times. And McMahon especially seemed to enjoy making Ross uncomfortable.
“I felt like Vince had a thing — Vince had a thing for, like, putting people in positions which made them feel uncomfortable. And he kind of got off on that, in all honesty,” Hardy said on The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy. “That was, like, one of his things. I felt like he did that with JR quite a bit. You know, that became a regular, common thing.
“There were certain people. I felt like if you ever showed signs of weakness, or like, ‘No, I don’t want to do that.’ Or like being uncomfortable, like if you were outright uncomfortable with it, then he would push it even harder. Because I know there’s some people that did get that. You know, I felt like anytime he put us in positions where, and I feel like sometimes he said like, ‘If you don’t go into areas or positions where you feel uncomfortable, you will never grow.’ And in some ways that is true, but in some ways too, I think he was abusive with it as well. And JR probably was one of the guys he was more abusive with in many ways. There was, like, this real weird rivalry between them in some ways.”
McMahon’s humiliation of Ross often spilled over to WWE programming, including the infamous “Kiss My Ass Club” segment that took place in 2001.
Along with being an announcer for WWE, Ross was a key behind-the-scenes player as the head of talent relations. Hardy credited Ross for being ahead of the curve on signing athletic talent. Without Ross signing both teams, The Hardyz vs. Edge & Christian rivalry never would have happened.
McMahon resigned from WWE in January 2024 following the lawsuit filed against him by former company employee Janel Grant. The still-ongoing suit accuses McMahon of physical and emotional abuse, sexual assault, and sex trafficking. WWE as a company is also named as a defendant.
The 73-year-old Ross is currently signed to AEW and contributes on commentary for pay-per-view events.
WWE veteran Bruce Prichard recently revealed Vince McMahon’s offer, which led to his highly anticipated return to WWE in 2019.
In a recent episode of the Something To Wrestle podcast, Prichard finally spilled the beans on what led to his decades-long WWE return. Reflecting on his discussion with McMahon, Prichard revealed the offer that he couldn’t refuse.
“He looked at me, and he says, ‘Let me ask you a question, does your wife Miss Connecticut?’” Prichard said. “Said, ‘Nope. How about you? You miss Connecticut?’ I said, ‘Nope.’ So try this different way. I said, ‘Would you ever consider coming back?’ ‘I’ll consider anything, but I’m pretty happy doing what I’m doing right now.’ And he goes, ‘I don’t want you to change a thing you’re doing right now. I don’t want you to change a thing. Have it all.’”
The conversation took place during the Elimination Chamber event in Houston, where Prichard resided at that point in time. Sharing more details about their conversation, Prichard claimed that McMahon offered a contract that allowed him to continue doing his podcasts while still employed with WWE.
The 62-year-old claimed that despite his past clashes with the promotion, the offered deal was too good to turn down. “Truth be told, you can refuse anything you want to refuse, but it was an offer I couldn’t refuse, and I accepted the offer.”
Prichard had parted ways with WWE in 2008 after being released by Stephanie McMahon; however, after being decades away, he later made his celebrated return.
“I asked to see everything in writing, and it was almost as if I had insulted him, that I asked for everything in writing,” Prichard recalled. “I had everything in writing in 15 minutes. So every stumbling block that I’m looking for, can you give me a reason to say no, you took away from me, and in writing, it was even better than it was on the phone.”
Prichard currently works as the “Executive Director – CWT” (Creative Writing and Talent) for the Stamford-based promotion and also played an essential role in Cody Rhodes’ WWE return.
Jim Ross has a theory on why he always seemed to be the target of Vince McMahon.
While Ross was WWE’s lead announcer for years, he was also subject to many storylines and angles that seemed to be designed to embarrass him. On his podcast, Ross shared a theory as to why McMahon always had it out for him.
“I have never understood Vince’s intense animosity, I think he was jealous,” Ross explained. “He was never the play-by-play guy that I was, but he didn’t want to give me any credit for helping build the Attitude Era into what it was. I’m not the only person responsible for that, for God’s sakes, I’m not trying to say that. All I’m trying to say is I signed all those guys that made him millions of dollars and facilitated the company going public. Those are my guys, that was my roster.”
Despite the years of grief, Ross said he never had any ill will towards McMahon and has chosen to move on.
“I always put my faith in my work. I thought I could call a good match if the match was there…as much grief as he gave me, I could always look at my bank account and get happy,” he said. “So I never had the animosity toward Vince that he had toward me and I never got it. I didn’t screw him around, I never no-showed, I didn’t phone anything in, I was doing two or three jobs…I never understood it. I worked my a** off, but sometimes that’s just the way that it is. And I had a choice to carry that animosity and that angst with me or cut it loose and move on. The latter is what I’ve done and I will continue to do.”
Ross chose not to renew his WWE contract in 2019 and joined AEW as an announcer soon after. Despite struggling with health issues, he has continued to make appearances for the company including at this year’s All In event.
WWE has been ordered to provide Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Comission records as part of an ongoing lawsuit.
Post Wrestling is reporting that Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster of the Delaware Court of Chancery ruled Friday that WWE and TKO must produce documents and communications previously provided by them by the DOJ and SEC. These investigations took place after it was revealed in 2022 that McMahon signed multiple NDA agreements with women who previously worked for WWE. This resulted in McMahon retiring from WWE until the following year, when he forced himself back into power due to being the majority stockholder of the company.
Shareholders alleged in the lawsuit, filed back in late 2023, that McMahon orchestrated WWE’s 2023 merger with Endeavor upon his return in order to keep himself in power, dismissing other potential buyers who were unlikely to keep him in charge, failing to maximize shareholder value. Defendants include McMahon, Nick Khan, Paul Levesque, and former board members George Barrios and Michelle Wilson.
The court rejected arguments from attorneys represented by Khan and Levesque who claimed that the material was irrelevant, had already been provided, or were requested too late.
“The relevance of the investigations to McMahon’s motivations is obvious,” Laster wrote in his decision. “The nexus not only exists but is tight and direct.”
The case, currently in its discovery phase, is scheduled to go to trial in June.
Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including Rikidozan, the deaths of Rob Reiner and Solomon Grundy, tons of injuries, McMahon lawsuits, Santo’s retirement, 2025 Awards thoughts, the full RAW report with the follow-up to John Cena’s loss, and tons more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
Timestamps: Start: Anniversary of Rikidozan’s passing, Solomon Grundy passes away, Rob Reiner murdered 11:19: WWE legal updates on Janel Grant, ring boy lawsuits 22:51: Injury updates on JD McDonagh, Damian Priest, Bobby Lashley, Leila Grey 25:35: John Cena’s last match finish fallout & ‘the time honored tradition’ 37:10: NJPW reveals lineups for rest of the year, Wrestle Kingdom 20, New Year Dash 46:48: AEW heading to Canada in April for Dynasty, El Hijo del Santo retires 50:44: Tokyo Sports MVP Awards due soon, Observer Awards discussion 58:35: WWE Raw recap, lineups for the week
–We’ve got a giant new issue of the Observer out today covering the Cena and Santo retirements as well as all the big events from the past week. *John Cena and El Hijo del Santo’s retirement shows and how they are so different *A look back at both’s careers and places in history *Where Santo went wrong *Key people who saved John Cena’s career *Why he never turned heel years ago *Marketing of Cena as The GOAT *How Cena ranks with the biggest draws in wrestling history *Update on WBD’s potential sales to Netflix or Paramount, what the deals entail and how this all affects AEW *Dwayne Johnson and his Golden Globe nomination *Odds for upcoming pro wrestling bouts *1,000,000th fan attends CMLL pro wrestling at Arena Mexico alone. Why this has never happened before, and the absolutely staggering part of the story that nobody talks about *UFC 323 coverage of the last UFC show on PPV for at least seven years *A look at NXT Deadline *A look at ROH Final Battle * a look at TNA Final Resolution *A look at the career of Steve “Mr. Electricity” Regal, death of territories, the shocking win over the Road Warriors and holding world titles in the AWA and NWA in the 80s. *The most detailed look at the ratings for all the TV shows over this past week *A look at major promotions joining together for different shows in 2026 *A look at last week’s big shows at Arena Mexico, both a hell of a Friday and a big Tuesday with Bad Bunny under a Mistico mask in the front row *Key CMLL talent banged up *All Japan tag team tournament ends with a former rugby star from New Zealand and former member of the Harlem Globetrotters against each other. *NOAH’s big start of the year show *New wrestler starting at NOAH including the brother of a UFC fighter *New Japan tag team tournament final standings and results *Big awards being announced this week *Actress who played Hall of Fame pro wrestler on a Netflix series wins major award for her performance *Where did the original star ratings in Mexico rating matcheds come from *Hulk Hogan album being re-released *Notes on AEW Worlds End *Andrade makes claims about what happened with AEW and WWE *Advance ticket sales for all the AEW and WWE upcoming shows *Lots more on Trump UFC event at the White House *UFC schedule *More on the Ali Act and attempting to change and subvert it *Dana White talks Francis Ngannou now that he wants to return *The most interest in buying tickets to a pro wrestling or UFC show in history took place this past week *Lots more on the two lawsuits going against Vince McMahon and WWE *The WWE TV schedule for this coming week *Big PPV main event match that fell through from earlier this year
— We have both of our weekend shows up on the site right now. We talked extensively about the John Cena retirement show as well as AEW Collision, Smackdown, Arena Mexico and more on last night’s show and did our week in review show where at the end we talked about the biggest real mystery in pro wrestling, the real life version who who got Vince McMahon.
— They did show McMahon on television in a brief clip in a Cena video and the crowd in Washington, DC cheered. No surprise.
— Regarding the finish of the match, we talked in detail about it last night. There was a lot of booing and “You f***ed up” chants and Paul Levesque after the match and in the post-show as well as a chant of “AEW” at one point. This is one of those things, ike the Cody Rhodes loss to Roman Reigns the first time, or the Steve Austin heel turn, where it’s better to evaluate in nine months based on where Gunther is. For the day it wasn’t what the fans would have wanted. It was what Cena and the company wanted because of their idea that it’s about making someone on the way out. This fan base is rarely negative about decisions, but they were last night.
I do think most will consider from a story standpoint that the Cena farewell overall was not well done because of the heel turn with no idea what to do next and the turn back having no storyline at all past we made a mistake and we have to undo it. Here, it wasn’t what the audience wanted but that doesn’t make it wrong. It doesn’t make it right. It would not be what I would have done in this specific situation but long-term we’ll see.
The Reigns-Rhodes thing happened when the audience was at its peak and right now big shows are very strong but there are the obvious signs of a slight cool off anyway and really if you take Cena out of the last month it would have been even worse. Cena is gone but now it’s coming up on the hottest time of the year with the build to the Rumble and Mania.
— Neither Vince McMahon nor Donald Trump was at the show. They wanted Trump. He attended the Army vs. Navy football game not far away and could have made it to both but his decision was not to come. Linda McMahon was at the event. Jesse Ventura was only put on the pre-show.
— El Hijo del Santo retired last night as well. Or at least that’s what he claimed. In the main event of Los Palacio de los Deportes, Santo & LA Park & Ultimo Dragon beat Dr. Wagner Jr. & El Hijo de Fishman & El Texano Jr. when Santo used the la caballo (the famous finisher of both himself, his father and Gori Guerrero, what’s now called the camel clutch) on Fishman. Earlier in the show his son, Santo Jr., beat Angel Blanco Jr with the stipulations that if Blanco won, El Hijo del Santo would have to unmask before the main event. Instead, Blanco Jr. got his head shaved.
— Zack Sabre Jr. & Ryohei Oiwa beat Yota Tsuji & Gabe Kidd in the finals of the New Japan World Tag League tournament in Kumamoto, Japan in what I was told was an excellent match. Toru Yano & Yoh & Master Wato kept the Never six-man titles over Evil & Ren Narita & Sanada in two bouts. The first was a no contest and then they did a restart. The full Tokyo Dome is likely to be announced this week. There will be a United Empire vs. War Dogs match on the show with Henare returning. Most likely Yuto-Ice & Oskar will defend the IWGP tag titles against Sabre Jr. & Oiwa.
— Yesterday’s match in Cardiff was not the first IWGP heavyweight champion vs. CMLL heavyweight champion match. It was the second. The first was August 31, 2012 between Hioshi Tanahashi and El Terrible. They were both in the Universal tournament of champions at Arena Mexico and Terrible beat Tanahashi.
— Raw tomorrow night from Hershey, PA, will have CM Punk on the show after he’s finished shooting his Netflix movie, Logan Paul vs. Rey Mysterio, Maxxine Dupri vs. Ivy Nile for the IC title. They will be taping Smackdown for the 19th at about 6:30 p.m., go live with Raw, and whatever isn’t finished by 7:55 p.m. will be taped after Raw for Friday’s Smackdown. We’re going to be looking for reports tomorrow of the Smackdown stuff and anything not on the live show to [email protected].
— Mistico beat Soberano Jr. cleanly with La Mistica in what was very clearly the start of a story to retain the CMLL light heavyweight title before a sellout of 16,000 at Arema Mexico on Friday That’s five sellouts in seven weeks. Arena Coliseo also sold out last night, Mistico then flew to New York and sold out a show at Tulum Night Club in Brooklyn teaming with KeMonito to beat Difunto & KeMalito.
— For Google searches for last night, WWE had 200,000 for Gunther for No. 20, 20,000 for Oba Femi for No. 98, while UFC’s show yesterday did 85,000.
— The updated three hour block schedule for Wednesday’s AEW show in Manchester, UK:
Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson vs. Kazuchika Okada, Konosuke Takeshita & Hechicero with $1 million at stake
Dynamite Diamond battle royal
FTR vs. Juice Robinson & Austin Gunn for AEW tag titles
Pac vs. Kyle Fletcher in C2
Jon Moxley vs. Roderick Strong in C2
Orange Cassidy vs. Mascara Dorada in C2
AEW World title contract signing: Samoa Joe, Hangman Page and Swerve Strickland
Mercedes Mone, Athena, Marina Shafir & Megan Bayne vs. Willow Nightingale & Harley Cameron & Toni Storm & Mina Shirakawa
— Andrade beat Xavant Friday night to win the WWC Universal title in his first match since getting fired by WWE. WWE has okayed Andrade to work in WWC while maintaining he still had a one year long non-compete that has nine months left.
— Leila Gray of AEW won a Fitness contest last night for the WBBF. She competed with a torn ACL suffered in the TBS title loss to Mercedes Mone last Saturday. She is undergoing surgery and will be out of action for some time.
— The Blade (Jesse Guilmette) did his first match in almost two years in Buffalo, NY this past weekend. It was on a show put together by his longtime partner Andy “The Butcher” Williams.
— Templario & Titan vs. Volador Jr. & Barbaro Cavernario headlines Arena Mexico tonight.
— Steve Asplund, who debuted on last night’s UFC show, once weighed 525 pounds.
— Kent Herron, a reader of the Observer dating back to the 80s who used to regularly write letters in the 80s as Klon or Klon Herron, and attended many PPV get-togethers among readers in the 80s and 90s, passed away yesterday at the age of 70. I was very sorry to hear this. He was still regularly sending me messages.
His close friend Ron Lemieux wrote: “I lost a great friend today. Kent Herron, known to old school wrestling fans as Klon, passed away at the age of 70. As I said he wasn’t just a wrestling friend but a true friend. When we first moved to Florida he and his wife Elaine hosted us for Thanksgiving and he only knew me from corresponding with him from CT. He had a heart as big as he was. So many great memories attending shows throughout the state of Florida with our crew. Condolences to his wife Elaine, daughter Melissa and rest of their family. Rest easy big man! I’ll miss ya!”
— A correction from Friday. Lance Gibson Jr., who lost at last night’s UFC show, was not the first second generation wrestler. Ryan Couture, son of Randy, had several UFC fights years ago.
A judge has ruled that the ongoing lawsuit stemming from former WWF ring boys being sexually assaulted in the 1980s and early 1990s by a ring announcer will continue.
However, there are some changes to the lawsuit itself according to Wrestlenomics’ Brandon Thurston who reported the news on X.
Filed in October, the lawsuit accuses Vince McMahon, Linda McMahon, TKO and WWE of kboth nowing and ultimately doing nothing to to prevent Mel Phillips’ sexual assault of underage boys. Phillips, who has since died, was fired by WWE in 1992 after the allegations became public.
There have been efforts on the defendants’ side to get the case thrown out, but to no avail.
According to Thurston, Judge James Bredar of the U.S. District Court in Maryland via a ruling and 48-page opinion, has ordered the case to continue but with separation on who the plaintiffs have claims against.
“The defendants had asked the court to dismiss all the claims for lack of jurisdiction among other reasons. This ruling narrowly rejects that motion. The defendants’ filings up to this point nor the judge have responded yet to the merits of the ring boys’ claims of abuse,” Thurston wrote.
One plaintiff — John Doe 7 — is no longer involved following the ruling as his claims have been “dismissed without prejudice” which means their case can refiled at a later date but within the statute of limitations if new evidence emerges or other factors.
John Does 2 and 6’s claims remain against Linda McMahon while the rest remain against Vince McMahon and WWE/TKO.
Vince McMahon’s WWE status is something that John Cena views as far above his pay grade.
On the media tour to promote his WWE retirement match, Cena stopped by The Joe Rogan Experience for a new interview that was published on Friday. Rogan asked Cena if McMahon — who resigned from WWE in January 2024 following the lawsuit filed by former company employee Janel Grant — is still involved with WWE.
“No. He’s out,” Cena responded.
Rogan then said he sees McMahon as someone who might be out of WWE at the moment but will eventually return.
“Nah — well, I don’t know,” Cena said. “All that stuff is so far above me. But I know, now, he’s out. In my eyes, I’d like to think that, like, time heals everything. And I believe in forgiveness. I also believe in looking at the body of work, but I also know there’s a lot of fragile stuff going on there. I don’t know, man. I don’t know.”
The lawsuit that Grant filed, which is still ongoing, accuses McMahon of physical and emotional abuse, sexual assault, and sex trafficking. WWE as a company is also named as a defendant in the suit.
Since the allegations emerged, Cena, when asked about McMahon in interviews, has expressed his love for McMahon and said how much he values their friendship. But Cena knows that how he feels about someone does not mean they don’t have to face accountability for the things they’ve done.
“Just because I feel a certain way about a person doesn’t exonerate them from being accountable for their actions,” Cena said. “Just because he did start [quoting what comedian Tony Hinchcliffe said on the podcast] ‘all this gangster sh*t’ that doesn’t mean he doesn’t need to be accountable for his actions. So, let’s figure out what that means and then figure out if we can move forward and bring that back in the fold or if it stays the way it is.”
Whether McMahon could be in attendance for Cena’s final match has been a talking point among fans. Our Bryan Alvarez reported this week that McMahon being there is looking “increasingly unlikely.” The match is happening at WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event in Washington, D.C. on December 13 and will pit Cena against either Gunther or LA Knight.
During another stop on the media tour, Cena appeared on The Bill Simmons Podcast and named McMahon as the biggest mentor he had in his WWE career.
When he was coming up in WWE, there was no bigger influence on John Cena than Vince McMahon.
Cena — who is now just over a week away from retirement — spoke about his WWE career on a new episode of The Bill Simmons Podcast and was asked to name who his biggest mentor was when he was starting out. Cena named McMahon, saying McMahon seemed like the only person who truly had good explanations for why things in the wrestling business worked the way they did.
“Vince, without a doubt,” Cena responded. “He was just really kind with his time. He would explain things. Here is a person making a lot of, if not all, the choices. I am always in search for a good explanation — and he would always give one. And in giving the good explanation, you would get a nugget. And because Vince had such fluency in every avenue of the business, a lot of performers are worried about the stunts. I think one of the benefits of doing 220 shows a year is pace. And if you obsess over the physical aspect of the business, you might get exhausted. You might burn out. I love the technical aspect, but then I also became obsessed with the theatrical aspect.
“And then I also became obsessed… I became interested in the business. And not my business, [not] like, ‘How can I take from this place to make as much as I can?’ The business. How do we get more people in the arena? And the only person it seemed like that had a good explanation for a lot of those questions was Vince. And that allowed just a wealth of information to be dumped on me.
“I had full faith and trust in him. I think he had full faith and trust in me. He wasn’t afraid to try, which is another thing I learned from him. Like, do not be afraid to swing big. And do not be afraid to fail. Be accountable for your failures.”
McMahon resigned from WWE in January 2024 after the lawsuit Janel Grant filed against him and the company. The lawsuit, which remains ongoing, accuses McMahon of physical and emotional abuse, sexual assault, and sex trafficking. In the wake of the lawsuit, Cena has spoken about still loving McMahon and valuing their friendship while saying he does not downplay the allegations McMahon is facing.
Simmons asked Cena if he thought WWE could ever survive and thrive without McMahon.
“Of all the things he did and of all the things he taught me, one piece that was very important is that no one is irreplaceable,” Cena said. “And that’s the truth. The one thing that needs to stand firm is the consumer’s belief in what we do. And Vince has so much knowledge.
“I think what’s happened is unfortunate because you have this individual with so much depth of field who can still offer things, and we no longer can pull from that well, but it doesn’t mean we don’t have able-bodied folks who can’t put on creative programming.
“I never wanted Vince to go, because I love him and I know how much he loves the business. But he taught me, like, ‘We’re all going to go.’ All of us. And he taught me that not only through saying, through his actions. I was there the day he fired ‘Stone Cold.’ Missed a date, got to go. His biggest attraction. ‘I got to let people know this isn’t okay.’ So, things happen. ‘We got to let people know this isn’t okay. It’s time for you to go.’ Everybody goes, man. Everybody goes. So, because of his words — yeah. Yeah.”
Cena described WWE as a place where the key backstage figures are more accessible now. Not because McMahon was not accessible himself, but because McMahon’s roles have been split up among different people.
Our Bryan Alvarez reported this week that it is looking “increasingly unlikely” that McMahon will be in attendance for John Cena’s final match on WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event in Washington, D.C. on December 13. Cena’s opponent for his retirement match will either be Gunther or LA Knight.
The tight relationship between John Cena and Vince McMahon has been well publicized with Cena saying earlier this year that he still loves McMahon and doesn’t care who hears it.
That has led to speculation as to whether McMahon will be in attendance next Saturday when Cena wraps up his storied WWE career on Saturday Night’s Main Event in Washington, DC.
Our Bryan Alvarez reported Thursday that the current feeling that the chances McMahon attends are “increasingly unlikely — not impossible, but unlikely.”
McMahon’s last on-screen appearance came in June 2022 when he coincidentally introduced Cena in recognition of his 20th anniversary during an episode of Raw. The former TKO chairman has been working on his new company 14+I, a private investment firm with a focus on sports, media and entertainment.
The sexual misconduct & trafficking lawsuit filed against McMahon and WWE by Janel Grant in January 2024 is still ongoing as is the “ring boys” lawsuit against McMahon and his wife, Linda, claiming they were aware of the sexual abuse of young boys in the 1980s by the late ring announcer and crew chief Mel Phillips and failed to do anything about it.
Despite Bret Hart’s claims, there is no truth to the idea that Vince McMahon and Shawn Michaels were secret lovers.
That’s according to Kevin Nash, who worked closely with McMahon and Michaels during a year-long reign as World Wrestling Federation champion in the 1990s.
“I spent the better part of three years of my life with Shawn Michaels,” Nash said on his Kliq This podcast. “And I never remember having a double knockout with Vince during any of our travel.”
“There’s just no way that it would be that he never told anybody,” Nash continued. “He couldn’t tell anybody. See, that’s one of those things where you tell a story like that and you say ‘I’m sure.’ But no, you’re not. No, this is all speculation. He saw nothing. He didn’t walk in on, you know, Pat Patterson or anything like that.”
Nash says there’s “no way” that McMahon and Michaels could have kept a romantic relationship secret for nearly 30 years.
Hart made his claims on the Johnny Pro Show while discussing the anniversary of the Montreal Screwjob. “I think Shawn and Vince were sleeping with each other,” he said.
“When I look back, I got caught between two lovers. I got shafted and screwed over and Shawn was so envious and jealous of my position that he finally had to sleep with Vince to get it.”
Nash suggested the timing of Hart’s comments was not coincidental. “I think it’s in poor taste,” he said. “I know they’re talking about the screwjob … somebody, please, get the [censored] over that.”
The $20 million figure for Floyd Mayweather has pretty well been debunked at this point, even from inside the company, but not before wrestlers both past and present were very upset at the idea.
It’s understandable, because Ric Flair, who is finishing a 35 plus year career in just a few weeks (and boy is that a weird thought) likely made in the range of $13-16 million (and spent most of it) over the course of his career. He not only was one of the all-time greatest performers, with three decades plus as one of the game’s biggest stars, its record setting world champion, but during the course of his career, only one pro wrestler in history, Hulk Hogan, ever headlined more live events that drew in excess of 10,000 fans. Wrestling isn’t about being fair and Flair would have earned a lot more than that if he was born 25 years later, but that really put the $20 million figure into perspective.
