Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about in our complete breakdown of AEW Full Gear, all the matches and angles and title changes, notes from the TV this weekend, what happened with Ronda Rousey, some Hall of Fame thoughts, and tons more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
Timestamps:
Start: AEW Full Gear
1:03:20: Everything else from this weekend’s shows
1:15:22: Nick Hogan, Buff Bagwell arrested
1:17:31: The Young Bucks and Roman Reigns didn’t make the WON HOF
The 2023 class of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame adds seven new members in a year where there were no blowaway vote-getters but a number of people who barely made it, and a few who came close.
The top vote-getters were Argentina Rocca & Miguel Perez, who one could make a strong case were the biggest drawing tag team in pro wrestling history. Rocca & Perez only had a few-year run on top, basically the extension of the Rocca era which started as a single. During their era tag team wrestling headlined Madison Square Garden almost every month, and drew large crowds and frequent sellouts.
While one can argue the Road Warriors were the top-drawing tag team ever due to a longer tenure and that they drew all over the world, I would make that argument, being No. 2 in history and the only tag team in history that was ever the No. 1 draw in the world (in both 1958 and 1959) to me made them a slam dunk no-brainer pick. They barely missed last year. I considered that a strong negative regarding voting and many felt, probably correctly, that it showed that his ballot wasn’t fair to people pre-1965 or 1970. But with Rocca & Perez and George Kidd getting in, it is getting better.
We’ve got a very heavy business issue of the Observer focusing on a lot of different breaking stories involving both WWE and AEW:
Match of the week and performer of the week
The changes in WWE business under TKO
UFC & WWE quarterly business updates
Behind Vince McMahon selling 8.4 million shares of TKO stock, what he got, what he still owns, what it did to the stock price and what other large sum of money he just received that fell under the radar
Why WWE numbers were unexpectedly down, and why TKO actually losing money this quarter is nothing to be concerned over
A look at WWE and AEW attendance and how it’s changed over the past year
Ari Emanuel talks about competition for WWE and UFC
More departments where jobs will be lost
Company goals for 2024
Changes in the live arena experience
Key that makes WWE and UFC attractive for television stations
Issues with Vince McMahon
The CW deal for NXT
Changes for a WWE show next year and other changes talked about
Who are the leaders for the Raw rights
What are the rankings of the stations with pro wrestling and MMA product
Billy Corgan gives comments about the cocaine angle
A look at the TV deals that Tony Khan, Dwayne Johnson and Vince McMahon have been part of for wrestling and football
Full coverage of Crown Jewel and the booking
A look at the Ricochet injury and how it changed the IC title path slightly going into the Survivor Series
Early notes on the Survivor Series
PPV numbers and what did Crown Jewel buyers watch and not watch when it came to major PPV events this past month
The future for Will Ospreay and Giulia
Notes on the Tokyo Dome show
Great matches and angles at Power Struggle
Full Power Struggle coverage
UFC from Brazil coverage
The most detailed look at the TV ratings from the past week from all shows, including comparison to last year, competition, and how each segment did as well as Dynamite vs. NXT
Major rudo turn on sold out Arena Mexico show
AAA doing a talent search
More injuries and health issues with Stardom
Update on Stardom tag team tournament
Controversy at Stardom event after changed start time of show
All Japan has an incredible match this week and sets up another for New Year’ Eve
A look at All Japan’s year end tag team and junior tournaments
Lots of injury updates
New Japan big events in early 2024
DDT has major show this week
More on the Von Erich movie
Indie star says his indie career is over
Indie promotion draws 5,000 fans
Contract issues in MLW
WBD stock falls
Update on Full Gear
Notes on Mariah May debut
Stardom star under contract to AEW and details
Ticket sales for upcoming WWE & AEW shows
International TV ratings and streaming numbers
UFC signs deal with new TV outlet to return from nearly a decade
How Vince McMahon kept UFC off NBC
Lots of new UFC title matches
Unique facts about this weekend’s UFC show
More on Fury vs. Nganou PPV numbers
WrestleMania week news
CM Punk news
YouTube numbers and WWE and TKO value at this point
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Monday Update
Bryan and I will be back late tonight with Wrestling Observer Radio to talk the latest news, cover Raw, talk some of the other big weekend matches as well as talk more on Full Gear and Survivor Series.
This is a busy week here because it’s the week of our Hall of Fame issue, one of our two biggest issues of the year and the issue most talked about. We can reveal today that there will be seven new members of the Observer Hall of Fame added from the voting of our panel of reporters, historians and industry professionals.
There have been a lot of Eddy Guerreo tributes today, being the 18th anniversary of his death of a heart attack at the age of 38. Eddy is a member of most wrestling Halls of Fame, and was one of the original guys who blended high-level Lucha, American and Japanese wrestling together and many top wrestlers, including Jushin Liger, who wrestled everyone, praised Guerrero at one point as the best wrestler he was ever in the ring with. We did a huge story on Guerrero in this issue.
Raw tonight is from Washington, DC and has Damien Priest & Finn Balor defending the tag titles against Cody Rhodes & Jey Uso, The Miz vs. Ivar, Otis vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, Tommaso Ciampa vs. Ludvig Kaiser, Xia Li vs. Indi Hartwell and Tegan Nox vs. Piper Niven. They get a break because the NFL game is Denver (3-5) vs. Buffalo (5-4) and the Raw rating greatly depends on the audience of the NFL game. They sold a lot of tickets over the weekend and had 9,816 tickets out as of this morning so with the walk should be well above 10,000.
A note to watch for. There has been talk all week regarding the men’s War Games match changing from a four vs. four with Jey Uso & Sami Zayn & Seth Rollins & Cody Rhodes vs. Damian Priest & Finn Balor & Dominik Mysterio & JD McDonagh, to a five vs. five. With this week and next week to go, one would think if that’s the case, and it was over the weekend, that storyline stuff to set that up would at least be started tonight if not finished. The fifth person on the heel side would be Drew McIntyre, or at least was in the plans as of a week ago.
AEW still hasn’t had much movement in tickets for Wednesday’s Dynamite. They’ll need a strong last two days to hit 4,000 at the Toyota Arena in Ontario, which they sold out on the first day when they debuted in the building in 2022.
Chris Hero returns to action on Friday night in San Francisco for West Coast Pro Wrestling against former rival Timothy Thatcher. It’s his first match in many years and he’s had a lot of offers to wrestle since that time. Ironically the first time I saw the two wrestle would have been in 2015 during WrestleMania week in San Jose at the Fairgrounds when they tore the house down.
UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards said today to Sky Sports that he wants to face the winner of the upcoming Sean Strickland vs. Dricus De Plessis middleweight title match, moving up a division, at UFC 300. Edwards first has a title defense against Colby Covington on next month’s UFC PPV show.
The UFC show on Saturday night drew the second biggest gate of any event in the history of Madison Square Garden, that means concerts, NBA and NHL games, boxing or anything else. UFC holds the record with $17.7 million for Conor McGregor vs. Eddie Alvarez. Saturday did $12.4 million with a main event of Alex Pereira winning the light heavyweight title against Jiro Prochazka. Of course the guys who deserve the credit are Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic, since the tickets were sold to see him for the most part. It also speaks volumes about UFC when they’ve sold that many dollars worth of tickets, that instead of having Miocic fight for the title on that show, they pulled him off the show as well. As noted before, one of the things about TV rights being what carries these companies is that serving the fan is no longer as important because whether they do or not, their money is guaranteed.
Dwayne Johnson appears tonight on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on NBC.
Barmageddon debuts its second season tonight airing after Raw on the USA Network. Just because of the placing of the show, it should be among the higher rated shows on cable tonight. NBC will also be airing one episode of the show on at 10 p.m. on 12/4, head-to-head with Raw that night.
The much-talked about Will Ospreay vs. Josh Alexander match at the last Impact TV tapings will be airing on Thursday’s show.
The Thursday night Wrestling Revolver show in Los Angeles with Ronda Rousey & Marina Shafir vs. Athena & Billie Starkz, which also features the first match ever of Paul Walter Hauser, the actor who did some stuff (no wrestling in the ring) wth AEW in the past, airs on FITE + live.
The WWE return to Atlanta on 1/19 for a Smackdown taping had a big first weekend of ticket sales. The show will likely sell out.
John Kavanagh was on The MMA Hour today and said that the Johnny Walker vs. Magomed Ankalaev rematch will be on 1/13. He also said that Conor McGregor was told that UFC won’t be booking him in April as he had hoped for and now the plan is the summer. McGregor said he was told he would be fighting in April last month and wanted to fight sooner since he hasn’t fought in well over two years. He will be eligible to fight on 4/8. Kavanagh said McGregor is very frustrated about this. It once again shows how everything changes when most of the revenue is guaranteed. The days of the star fighter having all the leverage like it was when PPV carried the day and the draws determined the PPV numbers, are clearly over.
Kevin Von Erich was introduced at yesterday’s Dallas Cowboys game and got a nice reaction. Marshall Von Erich put it up on Twitter.
Tammy Sytch’s sentencing on her DUI manslaughter charge will be on 11/27. She is facing four to just over 25 years in jail and up to $10,000 in fines. Prosecutors are arguing for the longest sentence possible.
Paul London is opening up a wrestling school in South Gate, CA. He is starting on 12/3 with a five-day intensive training program open to wrestles of all skill levels and will begin teaching regular classes in January. The school will be called the Kayfabe Academy.
The documentary “Out In The Ring” looking at the history of LGBTAIA+ participants in pro wrestling will air on FUSE on Wednesday night. It features stories on wrestlers Sonny Kiss, Dani Jordyn, Pollo Del Mar, Effy and 70s star Susan Green.
Dory Funk Jr., who is 82, will be making rare public appearances on 11/17 in Chicago for a Fan Fest and on 12/29 with Steve and Colby Corino for the PWF show in North Carolina.
Empire State Wrestling on Friday night in Buffalo, NY at the RiverWorks with Kevin Benett vs.; Vince Valor in a cage match. Heath (Slater) vs. Crazzy Seve is also on the show plus Chris Adonis (masters) vs. James Sayga for the Ilio DiPaolo Memorial Cup.
(NOTE: Some sections of this newsletter are incomplete.)
For the first time in three years, it’s time to tackle what is always the most controversial subject of the year–the Hall of Fame.
Our annual Hall of Fame issue will be coming out in a couple of weeks. A few things to note about this issue. The deadline for ballots has already passed before this comes out, so this can’t have any influence (this is for those people who believe only their opinions should count, and that I should never espouse my opinions because they get mad nobody listens to theirs). Second, I avoided looking at any ballots this year so I’ve got no idea how the votes came in as I’m writing this. After it is completed, I’ll start tabulating the results.
A few notes about the Hall of Fame. We started doing annual Hall of Fame balloting in 1998, when Dos Caras became the first elected member with 72% of the vote from his region. From the start, wrestlers are voted from regions, broken down as U.S./Canada, Japan and Mexico.
Welcome to my annual Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame ballot discussion for 2023 — traditionally one of my most popular shows of the year.
This year, it’s a two-part show, discussing the likes of Roman Reigns, the Young Bucks, Rocca and Perez, Sgt. Slaughter, Big Daddy, Roy Welch, Bob Armstrong, Mongolian Stomper, the Von Erichs, British Bulldogs, Hart Foundation, and many more.
Dave Meltzer and I are back for a Friday edition of Wrestling Observer Radio. Post Wrestling’s John Pollock and this website’s own Paul Fontaine joined us to talk about the Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame as it pertained to modern candidates.
How the rules have changed and what did and didn’t work this year
The copies of War Games
Why WWE didn’t do War Games on the main roster, and why they started it on NXT
Business notes on how the show did, live, streaming, PPV
Crossover audience between War Games and Full Gear and Crown Jewel
Full show coverage with poll results
The story behind William Regal’s AEW departure
Why many questioned the MJF booking
Best of Seven notes
PPV number updates, as well as updates on the last four AEW PPV shows
Who bought Full Gear, Forbidden Door or All Out and patterns
Revenue, movie gate numbers and more
Notes behind the title changes
Match by match coverage and poll results on the show
Updates on the Royal rumble, ticket sales and more notes
New Japan and Stardom Historic X Over
The story behind Kairi winning the IWGP title and not Mayu Iwatani
The story behind Omega vs. Ospreay
Match by match coverage and poll results
C.M. Punk mocks the brawl, Young Bucks & Kenny Omega mock C.M. Punk, and more
TV ratings over the past two weeks, including where AEW faltered this week and did great the week earlier and it’s the same group, the huge drop during the show of Raw, what about Smackdown was the best of the year for the show, and where wrestling ranked in the sports charts and the entertainment charts the past two weeks
Wrestling legend gets honored by an international embassy
Cain Velasquez wrestling and the story behind it
Stardom PPV show coverage
Updates on all the traditional Japanese tournaments
Update on Kota Ibushi
Fantastica Mania news
Generational legends battle this past week
Ricky Steamboat comes out of retirement
Plan for a statue of iconic wrestler to be built in his home town
Battle of Los Angeles news
Mayor Glenn Jacobs in the middle of controversy
Injury changes the winner of a tournament
Major WWE legend coming out of retirement in December
One of the most well traveled wrestlers of all-time passes away
Former ECW and WWE star retiring
Thoughts on wrestlers whose contracts are coming due
New angle off television for recently signed AEW wrestler
International TV ratings
AEW & WWE streaming numbers
Lots of new UFC main events
Conor McGregor gets sued twice
UFC gaming controversy
MMA returns to CBS prime time
PFL season finale
Paul Levesque talks WWE future
Big stock rise for WWE and why
Nick Khan and Stephanie McMahon talk WWE business, international, buying companies and more
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
We have a show up from yesterday with Garrett Gonzales talking about all the business news from the last week in wrestling, William Regal, AEW booking, WWE pie in the sky winter and more. Bryan and I will be up tonight with more weekend news. We will likely have time for questions on the show as well, so if you are a video subscriber you can send questions during the show.
The Hall of Fame issue of the Wrestling Observer will be out on Thursday night. There are eight new entrants into the Observer Hall of Fame this year.
We have a new book out for the Christmas season, the Wrestling Observer 1995 yearbook, available here and here. The book covers the entire year of 1995 similar to other other yearbooks that have been put out in recent years.
Want to send our sympathies to Mickie James whose family had a tragedy a few days ago with her brother and her 16-year-old niece being killed in an auto accident. Her sister-in-law was also injured in the accident. Her sister-in-law is in serious condition. A friend of her niece who was 15 also passed away in the accident.
DirecTV and FOX came to a carriage agreement right at the wire for several more years so the idea FOX stations will be off DirecTV as had been talked about during the week isn’t happening. It really couldn’t happen as neither side could have afforded it with the big football games this weekend.
Dustin Rhodes was at a Great Lakes Championship Wrestling show last night and announced he will close out his career in 2023. Rhodes still works for AEW as a coach and trainer.
The Cincinnati Bengals tweeted this out today as Jon Moxley and Renee Paquette were part of their pre-show activities:
Results from last night’s AAA show in Tempe, AZ: Mascarita Sagrada & Willie Mack & La Perruska b Latigo & Demus & King Drago, Lady Maravilla & Chik Tormenta b Sexy Star & Lady Shani, Sanson & Forastero & Cuatrero b Dave the Clown & Arez & Komander, Cain Velasquez & Blue Demon Jr. & Pagano b Taurus & Sam Adonis & Gringo Loco, El Hijo del Vikingo & Pentagon Jr b Daga & Flip Gordon (thanks to Andy Nemmity and Thomas DeCenso)
They did live commentary over the speakers. The show got great reviews. That’s how AAA does it these days. Velasquez was over like crazy. Not one person booed him and he was treated like he was a conquering hero. I was told this was something to see live. The match was also said to be great. I was told he was better in the ring than before even with spending so much time out of the ring and in jail. He was flying around, although at times he was stiff moving. Sam Adonis did a great job with him, and Taurus is the most unheralded super worker around as far as the ability to make people look good The main event was said to have been the best match.
JBL will be doing a high stakes poker game skit on Raw tomorrow night from Washington, DC.
We’re looking for reports from the WWE weekend shows in Rochester, NY last night and Petersburg, VA tonight to [email protected]
At last night’s show, after Seth Rollins lost the main event to Austin Theory in a U.S. title match due to a low blow, Rollins curb stomped him after. He then talked about how Rochester is a special place to him because Mr. Brodie Lee/Luke Harper is from here and he was one of his best friends and said that was the first time since his death he’s wrestled in the city and said he wanted to tell everyone that he missed and loved Lee.
The only stuff regarding wrestling, MMA or boxing to make the Google Searches for the week was both yesterday. The UFC show, likely because it was back on ESPN, had 500,000 searches even though it wasn’t a PPV show. It was sixth place yesterday. That was well ahead of both Survivor Series and Full Gear. Tyson Fury’s challenge was No. 9 at 200,000.
The city of Stockton gave Nate Diaz the keys to the city yesterday. Mayor Kevin J. Lincoln presented them to him at a Stockton Kings (Sacramento Kings G-League team) game and Lincoln praised Diaz for his grit and determination every time he fought.
The New Japan tag team tournament continues with a 4:30 a.m. Eastern show Monday morning from Sasebo with the junior heavyweight tournament. The bouts are Kushida & Kevin Knight vs. champs TJP & Francesco Akira, Ryusuke Taguchi & Clark Connors vs. Yoh & Lio Rush, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Douki vs Sho & Dick Togo, Tiger Mask & Robbie Eagles vs Titan & Bushi and Alex Zayne & Lindaman vs. Ace Austin & Chris Bey.
Drew McIntyre was announced as replacing Braun Strowman in the main event of the 12/26 show in Madison Square Garden. It’s McIntyre & Sheamus & Butch & Ridge Holland vs. Sami Zayn & Solo Sikoa & The Usos, plus they announced Bray Wyatt would be on the show. (Thanks to Mike Omansky)
The retirement match of Mike “Nova” Bucci took place last night in Toms River, NJ Eddie Edwards & Davey Richards b JP & Tommy Grayson Tommy Dreamer b Warhorse, Miranda Alize b Christina Marie, Jerry Lawler (managed by former major league baseball star Todd Frazier) b Rik Ratchett, Dave McCall & Nate Carter b The SATs, Anthony Greene won over Alec Price, Ant Bennett, Dan Maff, LSG and Myles Hawkins to be Skywalker champion, Nick Aldis b Shawn Donovan to win the SAW title, Mike Bucci & Aron Stevens & Frankie Kazarian b Pat Buck & Matt Cardona & Brian Myers. Bucci gave a speech after the show, talking about being from Toms River, and talked about Frankie Edgar and Frazier working his retirement show.
NXT from last night in Gainesville, FL: Mandy Rose b Ivy Nile-DQ to retain the women’s title, Ivy Nile & Roxanne Perez & Tatum Paxley b Mandy Rose & Gigi Dolin & Jacy Jayne, Fallon Henley & Sol Ruca b Cora Jade & Kiana James, Scrypts b Ikemen Jiro, Carmelo Hayes b Andre Chase, Axiom & Oro Mensah b Charlie Dempsey & Taivon Heights, Alba Fyre b Isla Dawn-DQ, Wes Lee & Bron Breaker b Tony D’Angelo (back wrestling) & Channing Stacks Lorenzo (thanks to Matthew Ray)
Other Notes
TripleMania from Mexico City aired Friday night on television in Los Angeles. (thanks to Mike Lano)
Konosuke Takeshita was announced for the 1/21 Warrior Wrestling show in South Bend, IN.
Results from today’s Stardom PPV show at the Makuari Messe: AZM & Miyu Amasaki b Saki & Waka Tsukiyama, Mirai & Amy Sohrei b Hanan & Saya Iida, Hazuki & Koguma b Maika & Himeka, Nanae Takahashi & Yuu b Natsuko Tora & Ruaka, Syuri & Tomoka Inaba b Mai Sakurai & Lacy C, Mayu Iwatani & Momo Kohgo b Saki Kashima & Fukigen Death, Momo Watanabe & Starlight Kid b Giulia & Thekla, Utami Hayashishita & Saya Kamitani b Tam Nakano & Natsupoi, Nanae Takahashi & Yuu b Utami Hayashishita & Saya Kamitani to win the long tag team tournament, Kairi faces Hayashishita on the 12/29 show at Sumo Hall. It is a non-title match as the title mach for the IWGP belt will be on 1/4 at the Tokyo Dome against Tam Nakano. (thanks to Shannon Walsh, David Popper, David Hayter, and Tim Hunter)
Kirk White’s family presented Big Time Wrestling Friday night in Newark, CA: Truex b D-Rouge, Viva Van b Mylo, Dave Dutra b EOC, Eddie Cuervo b Ishmael Vaughn, The Freaks b Ballard Twins, Shane Kody & Patrick Fitzpatrick b The Honor Society, Aaron Solo b Bobby Fish. the next show is 1/20 featuring a Battle Royal for the famed Roy Shire Battle Royal trophy (thanks to Jim Davis)
The new Black Belt magazine has a tribute to Gene LeBell.
IWS from last night in Montreal before 650 fans: Dani Leo b Katrina Creed, Sway Archer b Leon aver, Sexxxy Beasts b Casanova Productions and Bay City Choir Boys in a three-way, Alex Maze & Sonny Solay b Nathan Yarymovitch & Steven Manzano, Lince Dorado & Fresh Air b TDT & Buxx Belmar, Green Phantom b LuFisto to keep the IWS Canadian title, Melanie Havok b Kristara to keep the women’s title, Benjamin Tull over FTM, Myung Jae Lee and Karl Jepson in a four-way, Jay White b Zak Patterson. They will be working with GCW on shows 3/11 in Montreal and 3/19 in Toronto (thanks to Pat Laprade)
Asuka, also known as Venny (not the WWE wrestler obviously or Lioness Asuka the 80s and 90s star) captured the Sendai Girls world title yesterday from Chihiro Hashimoto. As Venny, she was in an AEW women’s tournament for a title shot in the past.
I continue with part two of my popular annual look at this year’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame ballot.
I break down the ballot and discuss my thoughts on each candidate. This year, there are a few rule changes (discussed in part one) and the addition of several tag teams.
This episode, we continue looking at the historical and modern era candidates and several of those aforementioned teams including an absolute no-brainer.
