Tag: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

July 2, 2007 Observer Newsletter: Chris Benoit double murder-suicide

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

On Sunday afternoon, if you were to poll wrestlers from around North America and ask who the single most respected wrestler in the business was, or who the best wrestler in the business was, the name Chris Benoit would be in the top three, and as likely as anyone to be at the very top, of both lists.

The legacy of a man that took two decades to build of traveling around the world and working as hard as any wrestler alive during that period, took one weekend to become forever remembered as the closest thing the modern sports world has seen to Charles Manson, as he killed his wife Nancy, his seven-year-old son Daniel, and then himself over about a 30-hour period, leaving an entire wrestling world filled with psychologically conflicted fans, wrestlers and other employees. What caused this quiet, intense, model employee who had been consumed by wrestling since seeing Dynamite Kid on Klondike Wrestling (the Edmonton version of Stampede Wrestling) at the age of 12, in 1979, to commit crimes so heinous and so far beyond imaginable?

There are probably only two people who really know, and both of them are now dead. Everything else is just theories. But in many ways, there were also two different Chris Benoits.

Subscribers can read this issue here.

December 30, 2024 Observer Newsletter: WWE adding more TV hours, TNA signs new deal, AEW Worlds End preview

Posted on by F4W Staff

Subscribers can now read the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter — the final edition of 2024.

The lead stories from Dave Meltzer focus on TV as WWE is expanding their televised hours with the return to three hours for Raw and with SmackDown expanding to three hours in addition to NXT’s weekly two hours.

Dave then goes into the new TV deal TNA Wrestling signed with Sportsnet 360 in Canada and why AEW got shut out.

He then previews this Saturday’s AEW Worlds End and delves into the usual news of the week.

Click here to read

June 25, 2007 Observer Newsletter: Sherri Martel passes away, Royce Gracie fails drug test

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Sherri Martel, the greatest female performer in North America during the 80s and 90s, passed away on 6/15 under mysterious circumstances at her mother’s trailer home in McCalla, AL, near Tuscaloosa, at the age of 49.

Martel, also known as Sensational Sherri, Scary Sherri (when managing Randy Savage) and Sister Sherri (when managing Harlem Heat), was not just the best female manager in history, but one of the best managers period. In 1991, she won the Manager of the Year award during a period when the greatest mangers ever, like Jim Cornette, Bobby Heenan and Jimmy Hart were still active.

She had faded from the scene in recent years, doing limited independent dates because a painful lower back injury from all the crazy bumps she took as a female version of Heenan at ringside. The injury made traveling hard and bumping impossible. She had been told that she could be paralyzed if she was on a flight and it had a particularly bad landing. But she had a great time seeing wrestlers at several recent fan conventions. She was the life of the party, and in many ways, stole the show at the 2006 WWE Hall of Fame inductions in Chicago.

Subscribers can read the show here.

June 18, 2007 Observer Newsletter: Vince McMahon limo explosion angle

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

In a moment that likely will go down as one of the most talked about in the history of WWE, at the end of Raw on 6/11, Vince McMahon opened the door of his limo, there was a giant explosion, and it went up in flames.

The WWE web site, which is now completely storyline oriented, ran a story saying “Mr. McMahon presumed dead,” and talking about how firefighters and federal agents were investigating, after the show went off the air. The move, in discussion for about a month, was the next stage in the angle Vince McMahon started a few weeks back when he made the cancer reference. While many afterwards compared it to the ending of “The Sopranos” the night before on HBO, what happened was purely coincidental as the segments were taped on both 6/9 and 6/10, the former date before “The Sopranos” aired, the latter hours later, but it had all been scripted a month ahead of time.

Subscribers can read this newsletter here.

December 16, 2024 Observer Newsletter: The ups & downs of AEW, WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event returns

Posted on by F4W Staff

Subscribers can now read this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

The lead story features Dave Meltzer doing a deep dive into the struggles among success for AEW and how they could get some positive momentum amid some concerning numbers.

Conversely, WWE brings back the nostalgia-driven Saturday Night’s Main Event this weekend and is continuing on their hot streak leading into what should be a big 2025.

Dave also looks back at NXT Deadline and the rest of the news of the week across the wrestling globe.

Click here to read.

June 13, 2007 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: AAA Triplemania XV card, WWE PPV business struggles

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

AAA announced the line-up for one of the biggest events in its history, “TripleMania XV: The New Era,” on 7/15 at El Toreo de Cuatro Caminos in Naucalpan, which will be set up for a 17,000-seat capacity with the big stage in place.

This is the show that they have been looking to get Hulk Hogan on. Hogan turned it down, but according to those close to the situation, it is not completely dead today. The main event was announced as La Parka & Latin Lover & Zorro & ? vs. Paul Wight (Big Show) & Sabu & Head Hunter A & Ron Killings, with Amy “Lita” Dumas managing the heel side. While there are intermediaries working on Show appearing, Show has said that he has no more interest in doing pro wrestling (if Hogan got something started, he would probably be with it but otherwise he’s turned down every offer) and his goals are elsewhere. At this writing, he is not confirmed for the show.

Subscribers can read this issue here.

June 11, 2007 Observer Newsletter: ‘Jackass’ angle planned for WWE SummerSlam, Brock Lesnar makes MMA debut

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Instead of using the summer to build new stars and the future, due to the pressure put on by USA Network over the Raw ratings as noted a few weeks ago, WWE has made a controversial move to build SummerSlam around a WWE vs. Jackass feud, with the Jackass stars as the babyfaces.

As things stand right now, there will be one to three matches on the 8/13 show at Madison Square Garden with a wrestlers vs. Jackass stars theme. The matches haven’t been decided, but the idea is to book WWE heels vs. Jackass cast members and/or Jackass cast members with WWE babyfaces vs. WWE heels. The Jackass matches are going to be co-promoted as the main events on the show along with the return to the ring of HHH, most likely against Randy Orton, although this is WWE and everything changes daily.

At press time, most of the major “Jackass” stars have agreed to be part of the feud. Steve O, who was backstage at Raw in Tampa, and got huge heat in the process, to the point the angle was almost called off, will lead the Jackass cast members. Pontius, Wee-Man (who appeared as a police officer in the short-lived “Armed and Famous” reality show with Trish Stratus), Bam Margera, Ryan Dunn and Preston Lacey are all currently on board.

Subscribers can read this issue here.

May 28, 2007 Observer Newsletter: Shawn Michaels injury, WWE Judgment Day recap

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Just when it appeared the injury bug couldn’t devastate WWE’s Judgment Day show, and long-term plans, anymore than already done, more injuries caused full-scale switches in plans for the next several months.

Shawn Michaels, who turns 42 in July, and has been plagued by bad knees for more than a decade, is expected to undergo major knee surgery this week. Michaels has been in need of surgery for several months, but has been continually working through it because of the lack of depth at the top. Unfortunately, the reliance on older wrestlers working so hard, and setting an example for the rest of the roster for working through injuries, like Michaels and Undertaker have done in recent months, has its drawbacks. In the end, you can only ignore your body for so long before a minor injury becomes a major injury. Michaels was injured during his 5/14 Raw match with Edge. After the show went off the air, he couldn’t walk to the back and had to be helped to the hotel.

Subscribers can read this issue here.

November 18, 2024 Observer Newsletter: The 2024 Hall of Fame class

Posted on by F4W Staff

Image: WWE

In this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter, available now for subscribers, Dave Meltzer presents this year’s WON Hall of Fame Class.

Who made it? Who missed out? Read all that and more in this week’s issue.

Dave also provides a few obituaries along with the news of the week.

Note: there will be no WON next week as Dave is on vacation.

Click here to read this week’s issue.

May 23, 2007 Observer Newsletter: What wrestling could learn from Mayweather/de la Hoya PPV success

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

After a new standard was set in hyping a fight, and the results destroyed all revenue records, the question becomes what can be learned from the success of the Oscar de la Hoya vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight.

HBO reported this week that the fight drew 2,150,000 total buys and $120 million in revenue. The figures broke down to 1,225,000 in cable buys and 925,000 from satellite homes. This broke the Tyson-Holyfield record of 1.99 million buys set for their 1997 fight where Tyson bit Holyfield’s ear.

The show did a sellout 15,955 fans, which was 15,432 paid and a live gate of $18,419,200, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, the same site as Tito Ortiz vs. Chuck Liddell. The average ticket price of $1,194 was a record for this sort of thing, and the reality is, most people at the show spent $2,000 or more to be there live as most seats were gobbled up at the first minute by ticket brokers that were able to almost name their price.

Subscribers can read this issue here.

May 7, 2007 Observer Newsletter: The Undertaker tears biceps, WWE Backlash recap

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

The planned long World championship reign of The Undertaker looks to be in grave danger with the belief he suffered a complete tear of the right biceps.

Mark “Undertaker” Calaway, 45, has reached a deal some time back with Vince McMahon, who wanted to give him a long-term championship run provided Calaway would agree to work more of a full-time house show schedule. Calaway got his weight down and his conditioning to its best level in years, but it is believed he tore the biceps either during the European tour or in training over the past week.

He worked his scheduled Backlash main event on 4/29 in Atlanta, which was a double knockout in a last man standing match with Batista, that was designed to build to a Hell in a Cell rematch that was to headline Judgment Day three weeks later in St. Louis. The injury was acknowledged in commentary by JBL, as the original storyline was of Batista going in hurt, but JBL noted Undertaker’s trademark elbow pad had been moved from his left to right arm, insinuating an injury but being vague about it.

Subscribers can read this issue here.

April 4, 2007 Observer Newsletter: Bad News Allen bio, UFC sues EliteXC

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

In every regional territory, there was that one moment that becomes the most vivid memory of pro wrestling at a certain time in a certain place. It’s the one thing that over time becomes the lasting memory of the old days of territorial wrestling. Not just years, but decades later, older fans remember it and younger fans have been told about it so many times they can visualize it, even when they often happened before those younger fans were born. In most cases, these are part of the high-water marks in the history of those promotions, usually leading to record setting business. Because nobody saved tapes, few of them are even available to be seen today.

Example of this are different in every one of the old regional territories. In Northern California, it would be when Ray Stevens jumped off the top of a ladder onto the throat of Pepper Gomez in Oakland in 1962. In Southern California, it would be when John Tolos threw Monsel Power in Freddie Blassie’s eyes in 1971.

Subscribers can read this issue here.

May 1, 2007 Observer Newsletter: History of Ric Flair & The Four Horsemen

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

The latest, and from an purely emotional standpoint, one of the best WWE DVD historical documentaries is the recent release on Ric Flair and the legacy of the Four Horseman.

It’s pretty much a must-see for anyone who was a fan of Jim Crockett Promotions in the mid-to-late 80s. The Horsemen were the foundation during the glory days of the group. But really, it’s an eye-opener for a fan of any era.

I think the one thing about the true glory periods of the Horsemen in JCP and The Freebirds vs Von Erichs in World Class, is that they were specific eras that were so big for a short period of time in their parts of the country is, because of crowd reactions, how tremendous the excitement level and angles hold up. It feels more gritty and real, partially because of the fan reactions and also because of the superior interview quality. In many ways, viewed as nostalgia, both periods seem so much bigger today within the culture of their respective parts of the country than they were at the time.

Subscribers can read this issue here.

April 30, 2007 Observer Newsletter: WWE Italy tour disappoints, UFC 70 recap

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Napoleon had his Waterloo. Hitler had the Russian winter. And WCW had its Tacoma (the night on Raw where everything WCW related was booed so heavily that Vince McMahon canceled all his plans about keeping WCW as a separate group and giving it the Monday Night Raw time slot).

And WWE’s idea of expanding to five brands and running three or more different overseas territories (see 3/5 issue) this past week may have had a Russian winter of its own. Or an Italian spring.

After several years of doing monster business overseas, particularly in Europe, the current 22-show tour that started on 4/14 has been a box office disappointment due to the performance of the shows in Italy, and a lesser extent, Germany. The U.K. has continued sellout business, but when it comes to establishing a full-time European territory, which was a goal talked about for 2008, it’s a very bad sign.

Subscribers can read this issue here.

April 23, 2007 Observer Newsletter: WWE stops Lawler/Hogan Memphis match, TNA Lockdown recap

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

The two biggest players in the modern U.S. wrestling world, Hulk Hogan and Vince McMahon, and their love/hate relationship caught the Memphis Wrestling promotion in the crossfire this past week.

The promotion was planning the biggest non-Hispanic independent wrestling show in recent memory, a rematch some 26 years in the making between Hogan and local legend Jerry Lawler at the Fed Ex Forum on 4/27. The match had been talked about for months, but only in recent weeks did it seem like anything more than a local publicity stunt. Hogan somewhat surprisingly agreed to do it after VH-1 agreed to do a one-hour documentary on Hogan where his return to wrestling would be a focal point, plus he’s interested in making a farewell tour and currently he’s on the major outs with WWE.

But on 4/9, when Lawler was at Raw in Bridgeport, CT, he was told by WWE officials that they suggested he not appear on the show. Lawler’s actual contract with WWE is as an announcer and not as a wrestler, and he is free contractually to do any independent dates as long as he doesn’t work for TNA, which the company considers as direct competition.

Subscribers can read this newsletter here.