Daily Update
Latest News:
- WWE Raw live results: Lashley vs. Styles US title match
- Six-way number one contender’s match set for Impact Wrestling
- WWE SmackDown ratings down due to NFL preseason pre-emptions
- AEW Rampage draws best ratings since April
- WWE to announce second quarter financial results on Tuesday morning
Latest Audio:
- Wrestling Observer Live: Injuries in AEW and WWE, RAW tonight, G-1, Smackdown and Rampage, more
- Wrestling Observer Radio: NJPW’s Kevin Kelly on this year’s G1 tournament
- Bryan & Vinny & Craig Show: AEW DARK RAMPAGE, Weekly Live Q&A and more!
Latest Free YouTube Video:
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This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter:
- Match and performer of the week
- The life and times of Gene LeBell, MMA, stunt work, pro wrestling, an accessory to a murder, being trained by Lou Thesz, national judo champion, enforcer work in boxing and wrestling, details on the supposed first mixed match in history and later refereeing Ali vs. Inoki, the Bearcat Wright story, Steven Seagal, Bruce Lee, Chuck Morris, Ronda Rousey, Roddy Piper, the Los Angeles wrestling territory
- Updated G1 Climax report with all the bouts last week, the standings and the final shows
- Clash at the Castle update
- Vice’s Tales from the Territory, what is and isn’t confirmed
- UFC Saturday night coverage
- AAA Triplemania preview and Verano de Escandalo coverage
- The death of the Mexican star TNT, and a look back at a boom period for wrestling in that country
- The most detailed look at the pro wrestling TV business over the past week
- More on the CMLL anniversary sow
- More on the CMLL Grand Prix
- Konnan and Dorian Roldan talk AAA future
- *Stardom Five Star Grand Prix update
- NOAH N-1 tournament
- Ric Flair talks his last match
- Dave Bautista movie update
- Death of Mike Masters/Rocky Jones
- Former early Raw performer loses race for senate
- Lots of AEW updates
- Major star talks going to AEW
- AEW & WWE streaming numbers
- Ticket sale updates on AEW & WWE shows
- UFC new deal in its second biggest market
- Lots of new major UFC fights
- Bo Nickal and UFC
- Vince McMahon’s new payments found
- Questions being asked about a WWE branch
- Returns of Dexter Lumis, Karrion Kross & Scarlett
- Women’s tag team title tournament
- New WWE TV show filming
This Week’s Retro Observer Newsletter:
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Monday News Update
- Bryan and I will be back tonight covering Raw and the latest wrestling news. We also have show we did last night with Kevin Kelly on the G-1 Climax tournament, which finishes up with shows Tuesday through Thursday at Budokan Hall.
- WWE’s quarterly investors call will take place at 8:30 a.m. tomorrow Eastern time. Usually these dates are announced weeks ahead of time and are on Thursdays after the market closes. There have been a few tentative dates that weren’t announced that were moved as new things were found out regarding Vince McMahon. The early time and sudden announcement are likely due to wanting fewer people asking McMahon questions. However, the stock price remains strong for all the reasons we’ve written about since McMahon was ousted, at at $72.17 per share.
- Both nights of WrestleMania are at about 49,000 tickets out after they went on sale to the public on Friday. That’s well above he pace of last year in Dallas. (thanks to Wrestle Tix)
- Raw is tonight from Washington, DC. The only matches announced are Bobby Lashley vs. AJ Styles for the U.S. title and Asuka & Alexa Bliss vs. Doudrop & Nikki ASH in the women’s tag team tournament. We’re looking for reports from this show, with Main Event results and any dark matches to [email protected]
- We’re also looking for dark match results from Friday’s Smackdown show in Raleigh, NC.
- Today’s BTE more than strongly teased Kenny Omega as the Young Bucks partner in the six-man tag tournament match on Wednesday night in Charleston WV. That is what everyone expects. Matt calls someone up and asks if he’s ready and then they play the beginning of Omega’s music.
- All four blocks in the G-1 are up for grabs tomorrow with the show from Budokan Hall that starts at 5 a.m. Eastern time. This is the match order
- Will Ospreay vs. Juice Robinson – If Ospreay wins and Shingo Takagi loses, Ospreay wins D block
- Shingo Takagi vs. El Phantasmo – If Takagi wins, he wins D block. If he and Ospreay both lose, there is a seven-way tie
- Hirooki Goto vs. Evil – If Goto wins and Sabre loses, there is a three-way tie in C block
- Tetsuya Naito vs Zack Sabre Jr. – If Sabre wins or draws, he wins the block. If Naito and Evil loses, Naito wins the block
- Tomohiro Ishii vs. Sanada
- Jay White vs. Tama Tonga – Winner wins B block, if a draw than White wins B block
- Bad Luck Fale vs. Jonah – if Jonah wins and there is a no contest in the main event, then Jonah wins the A block
- Kazuchika Okada vs. Lance Archer – If Okada wins, he wins A block. If Archer wins, he wins A block. If it’s a draw, Okada wins A block.
- A few notes on the Friday ratings. Smackdown at 1,927,000 viewers and 0.44, being down from usual is because it was moved out of its normal time slot in 12 percent of the country due to NFL preseason games airing on the local FOX station. So this number really means nothing.
- For Rampage, its being way up (528,000/0.17) was because it had a lead-in that was 58 percent up from usual and the Bryan Danielson promo did well. they did maintain a number way above usual for the rest of the show but it declined each quarter.
- With football coming, the pro wrestling finishes in the top five and top ten for the week are winding to a close in the fall.
- AEW Dynamite will be preempted on 10/19 due to the TBS airing the American League championship series. There may be other preemptions in October. Smackdown may also be moved to FS 1 in October once or twice.
- NXT Heatwave tomorrow night on USA
- Bron Breakker vs. JD McDonagh for the NXT title
- Mandy Rose vs. Zoey Stark for the NXT women’s title
- Carmelo Hayes vs. Giovanni Vinci for the North American title
- Cora Jade vs. Roxanne Perez
- Tony D’Angelo vs. Santos Escobar street fight – If D’Angelo wins, Escobar leaves NXT; if Escobar wins, Joaquin Wilde, Cruz Del Toro and Elektra Lopez leave the D’Angelo Family.
- The next Stone Cold Steve Austin’s Broken Skull sessions, with Charlotte Flair, airs on Friday night.
- On New Japan on AXS on Thursday this week, they take a break from G1 to air the Alex Shelley vs. Kushida match from Nashville.
Other Notes
- Jim “The King” Trotter (who used that name before Jerry Lawler), who was one of the major Roller Games stars in the late 60s and early 70s, passed away yesterday on his 85th birthday. He was particularly a big name as the top men’s star for a few years with the Philadelphia-based Eastern Warriors. He was a top heel star as coach of the Texas Outlaws whose babyface turn in 1971 was particularly memorable and an angle copied over and over by the promotion.
- Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling from Saturday night in East Carondelet, IL: El Diablo b Waco, Jayson Breed b The Intern, Gary Jackson b Sean Vincent, Billy McNeil b Hollis Girioux, Bobby D & The Big Texan b Christopher Hargas & Richard Shaw, Flash Flanagan b Sheik Prater-DQ, Bob Orton & Brandon Baretta b Kowalski & Mauler McDarby, Curtis Wylde b Attila Khan-DQ. Tommy Rich was the special guest at the show (thanks to Patrick Brandmeyer)
- With Robbie Eagles out with COVID, his main event tonight for CMLL in Puebla against Soberano Jr. was hanged to a singles match with Soberano Jr. vs. Templario. (thanks to Rene Ochoa)
- BrainSlam from last night in Los Angeles: Brody King b Rey Horus, Willow Nightingale won three-way over Tuna and Jody Threat, Rocky Romero won over Matt Cross, Misterioso Slice Boogie and Dom Kubrik, Swerve Strickland b Black Taurus, Hiromu Takahashi b Warhorse. Takahashi didn’t do much but said he loved the US and especially Los Angels (thanks to Chris Whitehead)
- ISPW this coming Friday in Butler, NJ at St. Anthony of Padua Gym featuring Virgil and Zeb Colter plus Maven and Crowbar appear.
