DAILY UPDATE
Latest News:
NJPW Road to Power Struggle results: Junior Tag League day 13
WWE talent delayed in Saudi Arabia after Crown Jewel
NXT Orlando, FL, live results: Halloween costume rumbles
Latest Audio:
Wrestling Weekly: The Fiend as champion, WWE Crown Jewel review 11/1
WOR: WWE talent delayed in Saudi Arabia, Crown Jewel, more 11/1
B&V: Bryan and Vinny review AEW and NXT head-to-head! 10/31
CMLL FROM ARENA MEXICO ON THE CMLL YOUTUBE PAGE AT 10:30 P.M. EASTERN
Magnus & Principe Diamante vs. Espanto Jr. & Akuma
Marcela & Princesa Sugehit & Jarochita vs. Dalys & Metalica & Reyna Isis
Atlantis Jr. & Fugaz & Flyer vs. Hechicero & El Hijo del Villano III & Templario
Sanson vs. Star Jr. for the Rey del Infraumdo title
Angel de Oro & Niebla Roja & Stuka Jr. vs. Ultimo Guerrero & Cavernario & Mephisto
Gran Guerrero & Euforia vs. Mistico & Caristico for CMLL tag titles
UFC 244 FROM MADISON SQUARE GARDEN IN NEW YORK ON SATURDAY
ESPN 2 at 6:15 p.m. Eastern
Julio Arce (145.4) vs. Hakeem Dawodu (145.8)
Lyman Good (169.6) vs. Chance Rencountre (170.8)
Katlyn Chookagian (125.4) vs. Jennifer Maia (127.2) – Maia missed weight, second time she’s done so
Andrei Arlovski (244) vs. Jairznho Rozenstruik (246.2)
Brad Tavares (184.6) vs. Edmen Shahbazyan (185)
Shane Burgos (145.8) vs. Makwan Amirkhani (145.4)
Corey Anderson (204.6) vs. Johnny Walker (204.8)
PPV at 10 p.m. Eastern
Kevin Lee (155.6) vs. Gregor Gillespie (155.4)
Derrick Lewis (265) vs. Blagoy Ivanov (257.4)
Stephen Thompson (170.4) vs, Vicente Luque (170.2)
Kelvin Gastelum (184) vs. Darren Till (186)
Nate Diaz (170.4) vs. Jorge Masvidal (169.6) for BMF title
ROH EXPERIENCE SATURDAY NIGHT AT 6 P.M. FROM STAGE AE IN PITTSBURGH OF HONOR CLUB
MLW PPV FROM CICERO STADIUM ON SATURDAY ON REGULAR PPV AND FITE TV AT 7 P.M. EASTERN
Simon Gotch & Ikuro Kwon vs. Dominic Garrni & Douglas James vs. Kenny Doane & Mikey Mondo
El Hijo de L.A. Park vs. Zenshi
Savio Vega vs. Leo Brien
Gino Medina vs. Air Wolf
Septimo Dragon & Gringo Loco & Puma King vs. Injustice
Jimmy Havoc vs. Mance Warner vs. Bestia 666 in a stairway to hell match
Low Ki vs. Brian Pillman Jr.
Alex Hammerstone vs,. Davey Boy Smith Jr. for the National open weight title
Tom Lawlor vs. Timothy Thatcher
MJF & Richard Holliday vs. Ross & Marshall Von Erich for the tag titles in a tornado match
Teddy Hart vs. Austin Aries for the middleweight title
Jacob Fatu vs. L.A. Park no DQ for the MLW title
NEW JAPAN POWER STRUGGLE AT 4 A.M. EASTERN EARLY SUNDAY MORNING FROM EDION ARENA IN OSAKA ON NEW JAPAN WORLD
Sho & Yoh vs. Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru in the Super Junior tag tournament finals
Will Ospreay vs,. Bushi for IWGP jr.;title
Kazuchika Okada & Yoshi-Hashi vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kota Ibushi
Tetsuya Naito vs,. Taichi
KENTA vs. Tomohiro Ishii for Never Open weight title
Jay White vs. Hirooki Goto for IC title
ROH UNAUTHORIZED SUNDAY IN COLUMBUS, OHIO AT 8 P.M. EASTERN ON HONOR CLUB
Ultimo Guerrero vs. Jonathan Gresham
Mark Briscoe vs. Josh Woods
Cheeseburger & Beer City Bruiser & Brawler Milonas vs. Dalton Castle & Flip Gordon & Kenny King
Delirious & Mini Delirious vs. Jeff Cobb & Marty Scurll (all will wear masks and work as Luchadors, loser loses his mask)
PCO vs. Dan Maff
Shane Taylor & ? vs. Villain Enterprises
Rush & Dragon Lee vs. Mark Haskins & Tracy Williams
F4W NEWSLETTER: Figure Four Weekly: AEW’s non-wrestling segment balancing act Joseph Currier looks at AEW’s balance of matches and talking segments over its first four weeks on TNT.
Four weeks into the promotion’s existence on weekly television, one of AEW’s biggest strengths has also been a bit of a balancing act for them.
Alternatives to WWE have long tried to present themselves as having “less talk, more action.” While WWE is still too reliant on a TV format that was carried by Steve Austin and The Rock and struggles without stars of that caliber, there was a time when that was a more valid criticism than it currently is. The days of WWE programming always opening up with a monotonous 20-minute promo segment from a heel authority figure are gone for now. This decade has seen WWE totally overhaul its hiring practices, bringing the level of the company’s in-ring action higher than it’s ever been.
Finding the right balance between non-wrestling segments and matches is vital. But while WWE has had problems with finding the right mix, the biggest issue is that their talking segments too often just haven’t been very good. They’re overly scripted and rarely accomplish their goal of getting fans more interested in the match they’re supposed to be building. Tons of the most iconic moments in pro wrestling history happened outside of matches. People don’t dislike promos — they dislike bad ones.
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WON NEWSLETTER: November 4, 2019 Observer Newsletter: WWE financials, Crown Jewel, more
In a crazy week, we’ve got the most detailed look at the business of pro wrestling in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Our lead story updates the WWE business with the key notes from the quarter. We look at why the stock took a big plunge even though profits were above expectations. We look at the key things the market is worried about with the company, and the very different key things regarding brand popularity that I see as major warning signs. We look mainly at the consumer business, tickets, WWE Network, merchandise and more, as well as good news on television ratings, and why we know house shows are down but it’s hard to fairly gauge how much. We also look at the decline of NXT live and how every other consumer spending category is doing.
We go through Crown Jewel, with a look at the women’s match and its ramifications and why it went the way it did, why Lesnar vs. Velasquez went the way it did, look at the key stories coming out of the show, plus match-by-match coverage with star ratings.
We also look at the build for Nate Diaz vs. Jorge Masvidal and on UFC 244 and the ramifications of the key fights. We also look at the ticket demand for the show and more on Dwayne Johnson at the show.
We also look at John Cena’s philanthropy, changes in Survivor Series plans, original plan for Tyson Fury and why it was changed, Xavier Woods update, HHH looks at how the way they do call-ups from NXT has changed and how it works now, Seth Rollins complains about the fans and what i and isn’t legit, WWE reaction to Smackdown ratings, notes on ticket sales for the five shows in Chicago at the end of the month including AEW television and the demand, DVR viewership for Raw, Hulu viewership for WWE shows, WrestleMania tickets, notes on the next Takeover show, WWE Backstage notes, WWE international TV notes, notes on Carolina on Raw and her long-term role, coach quits PC and new coach hired, all-women’s house show, DVD changes, new name for giant, value of WWE stock and the most-watched shows on the WWE Network. We also look at all the WWE arena events over the past week with results, highlights and business notes.
We also explain the Kenny Omega entrance video and the Sans connection that appeared on AEW television this week. It’s a look at what it is and what it isn’t.
We also have an in-depth look at the Albert Hardie Jr., situation with WWE, the T-shirt, and far more about the situation including his comments, WWE’s comments and much more about it.
We also look at the television business and 18-49 demos and look at the expense and future value of the different wrestling television shows. We look at the platform, the night, the rights fees and more for UFC, WWE and AEW.
We also have a rundown on the UFC show from Singapore.
We also have full coverage of all the WWE and AEW television shows from the past week.
We’ve also got in-depth looks at the ratings of all the major shows, the key demos and quarters for AEW and WWE, what happened head-to-head and what can be learned from them.
We also have the results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.
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FRIDAY NEWS UPDATE
So there is a ton of stuff stemming from the issues with talent getting out of Saudi Arabia. There were a ton of issues that have been on this tour (and on previous tours), and uncertainty. For obvious reasons, WWE wants to keep the deal live. A lot of talent is saying they won’t go back, but who knows who will and won’t. The last word was that talent was scheduled to fly out at 8 p.m. Eastern tonight and they would be landing in New York, and not Buffalo which was the original destination. Vince McMahon got out before there were any issues, with his staff, as did Brock Lesnar. Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair were able to leave early on a chartered flight Hogan took. All are in the U.S. now.
WWE had Atlas Air release this statement regarding the flight last night: “A chartered WWE passenger flight operated by Atlas Air is currently delayed in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia due to a mechanical issue. The flight was scheduled to depart at 0300 local time on November 1. Our top priority is always to ensure our passengers arrive safely and on time at their destination. The aircraft is being repaired and will be inspected and certified before returning to service to transport our passengers to their final destination. We regret that operational disruptions delayed the flight and apologize to our passengers who were inconvenienced.”
Walt Harris has pulled out of his 12/7 fight with Alistair Overeem in Washington,DC since his stepdaughter, Aniah Blanchard, has gone missing for one week. He felt he needed to focus on his family at this time. Blanchard, a college student, had her car found on 10/25 after she had been missing since 10/23, at an apartment complex in Montgomery, AL and police believe she was likely the victim of foul play. A number of people, including Dana White and Jon Jones, have offered significant reward money for information that will help authorities find her.
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Dragon Lee and Alex Shelley have been added to the ROH Final Battle show.
WWE
WWE has announced a WrestleMania on sale party on 11/13 in Tampa at the Ford Thunder Alley at 5:30 p.m. with WWE & NXT stars including Nia Jax, Ruby Riott, Alicia Fox, Boogeyman, Kurt Angle,Mark Henry, Ricky Steamboat and Jimmy Hart.
New Hidden Gems listed as Halloween matches on the WWE Network were actually from the night after, November 1, 1989 in Wichita, which were dark matches from a TV taping that had never aired with Roddy Piper vs. Rick Rude and Randy Savage vs. Jim Duggan.
A story on Bayley going heel. (thanks to Mike Kuzmuk)
Newsweek story on the Saudi Arabia show.
UFC
DAZN has stated they will delay the start of tomorrow’s Canelo Alvarez vs. Sergey Kovalev fight until after the completion of the Nate Diaz vs. Jorge Masvidal fight, so about 1 a.m. Eastern. The Alvarez fight is taking place in Las Vegas.
UFC will be launching the first Asia series of Dana White’s Contenders in 2020 from the UFC Performance Institute in Shanghai. The new 93,000-square foot building is nearly three times the size of the U.S. version in Las Vegas.
Manny Bermudez announced on social media that he’s been released by UFC. He’s missed weight in two fights and lost his last two fights.
MISCELLANEOUS
Shane Taylor will replace Jay Lethal at tomorrow night’s ROH show in Pittsburgh.
Brody King, due to a knee injury, will be out of action until Final Battle on 12/13. However, other members of Villain Enterprises will defend the six-man titles in Pittsburgh.
Lena Kross vs. Avary has been added to the 11/9 Melbourne City Wrestling show.
Hiroshi Tanahashi’s movie “My Dad is a Heel Wrestler” is playing at the Japanese Film Festivals in Perth, Australia on 11/2; 11/17 to 11/23 in Sydney and 11/24 to 11/30 in Melbourne. (thanks to Kevin Chiat)
MCW on Saturday in Culpeper, VA at Easter View High School has a meet and greet at 5:30 p.m. and live show at 7 p.m. Billy Gunn vs. Dante Caballero and Melina vs.; Aria Palmer with Swoggle as referee are on the show.
MCW also has a show as part of the AEW weekend on 11/7 in Joppa, MD at the MCW Arena with Rhett Titus, Orange Cassidy, Chuck Taylor, Trent Baretta, Colt Cabana, George South, Killer Kross, Barry Horowitz and Maria Manic. They also run 11/9 in Hollywood, MD at the Volunteer Fire Department with a meet and greet with Ricky Steamboat.
Pro Wrestling Revolver on 11/15 in Dayton, OH at The Brightside with Killer Kross vs.; Jessicka Havok for the Revolver title, Sami Callihan vs. Clayton Gainz in a death match, Rickey Shane Page vs. Alex Colon, plus Nick Gage, Trey Miguel, Manscout Jake Manning and Zachary Wentz.
United Wrestling Coalition on 11/9 in Wrightstown, NJ at Kelly’s Banquet Hall.
Combate Americas announced a strawweight title match with Melissa Martinez (6-0) vs. Desiree Yanez (5-1) as part of the 12/7 show in McAllen, TX headlined by Tito Ortiz vs. Alberto El Patron.
Michigan promoter Dave Martin announced a joint Impact and Border City Wrestling show on 12/8 in Belleville, MI at the Diamond Back Saloon. Announced for the show are Michael Elgin, Jordynne Grace, Taya Valkyrie, Brian Cage, Eddie Edwards, Moose, OVE, Willie Mack,, Rich Swann and The Rascalz.
Defy has shows on 11/30 and 12/1 at Washington Hall in Seattle. The 12/1 show is open to all ages for the first time. Announced for the shows are Schaff, Meiko Satomura, Jimmy Havoc, El Phantasmo, Jake Atlas, Artemis Spencer, Alexander Hammerstone, Douglas James, Josef Samael and Jacob Fatu.
Adam Cole will be a special guest at the Evolve seminar and tryout on 11/10 in Brooklyn and all wrestlers will be scouted by Gabe Sapolsky. Applications can be sent to WWNLive.com
Devon Dudley appears on 11/23 in Lockport, NY for Empire State Wrestling at the Kenan Center. The show also features the Ilio DiPaolo Memorial Cup with AR Fox, Bill Collier, l Brandon Thurston and others, as well as a War Games match, Homicide, Eddie Kingston, Pepper Parks and more.
CWE on 11/8 in Yorkton, Saskatchewan at the Yorkdale Central School with Juventud Guerrera and Mentallo.
559 Fights on 11/9 in Visalia, CA at the Convention Center headlined by Josue Gonzalez (3-1) defending his flyweight title against Johnny Maldonado (3-0) of Bakersfield. They also have a fight for the vacant welterweight title with Jonathan Moskowitz (4-1) of Tulare against Diego Zura (3-1) of Salinas.
A story on a firefighter who passed away of cancer who Dwayne Johnson knew (thanks to Barry Werner)
Since being let go, Joey Mercury is going at it with ROH.
Daily Pro Wrestling History: ECW November to Remember 1998
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