DAILY UPDATE
Latest News:
ROH holding tournament to decide Final Battle title challenger
WWE confirms Total Divas season nine premiere date and cast
Peyton Royce and Shawn Spears get married
WWE announces NXT on USA on-sale dates for Full Sail
NWA reveals details for Atlanta TV tapings
Tony Schiavone signs multi-year deal with AEW
Steve Austin to appear on WWE Raw at Madison Square Garden
Six-man tag match added to AEW All Out
Sasha Banks vs. Natalya announced for WWE Raw
AEW heading to Charlotte, North Carolina for week six of TV
Young Lion’s Cup set for NJPW Destruction tour
Jay White vs. Tetsuya Naito set for NJPW Destruction in Kobe
Latest Audio:
WOL: Super J Cup, AEW and NXT TV, RAW, tons more! 8/26
B&V&G: Granny, NXT, WWF Superstars of Wrestling from 1992! 8/25
WOL: Super J Cup, AEW tickets, insurance, unions, tons more! 8/25
F4W NEWSLETTER: Figure Four Weekly: Sasha Banks returns to WWE Joseph Currier looks at the return of Sasha Banks and what it means for the women’s division. Plus, Bryan Rose’s Japan notes, and Vinny’s TV reviews.
The return of Banks gives Lynch the opponent she’s needed since WrestleMania. After winning the biggest women’s match in company history, Lynch was put in an impossible position by WWE. She had to maintain her momentum without having any credible opponents to face. Lacey Evans was a poor choice for her first challenger.
One of WWE’s most important goals should have been elevating Lynch and the women’s division further. It was always known that Rousey wouldn’t be with WWE forever. It’s great that Rousey was able to have main event-level matches with the company. It’s great that the Rousey/Lynch/Charlotte Flair rivalry was so deserving of its top spot going into WrestleMania.
But a year of progress doesn’t mean that much if you don’t continue to build upon it. Instead of Lynch facing someone who was near her level, her opponent was a wrestler who wasn’t even in a star in NXT.
WON NEWSLETTER: August 26, 2019 Observer Newsletter: Birth of the Wednesday Night War Details on NXT and AEW competing on Wednesday nights, plus tons of news.
The birth of the Wednesday Night War is the top story in the new edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
We discuss how the NXT to USA deal came about, when NXT wrestlers were told, how this impacts the WWE/Fox relationship, and what this means for the NXT brand, going forward.
We have details on the finances of the NXT to USA deal, and we break down the head-to-head aspect of NXT vs. AEW. We also have comments from a major television executive who gives his perspective on the deal, as well as the potential for audience burnout.
A story on the latest AEW TV taping sellouts is also featured in the new issue. We also have notes on the secondary ticket market demand for all of the AEW shows.
An obituary for Eddie Marlin is also in the new issue, with a ton of details on his life.
Also in this issue, Ryan Frederick covers this past weekend’s UFC show, and we have detailed TV ratings and business notes on the show.
We also wrap up our G1 coverage with a detailed breakdown of each individual’s star ratings for the tournament.
We have full coverage of all the WWE television shows from the past week.
As always, we have in-depth looks at the ratings of all the major shows,the key demos for the WWE shows 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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MONDAY NEWS UPDATE
Bryan and I will be back tonight with Wrestling Observer Radio. There are a ton of subjects to go to tonight between WWE, AEW, New Japan and UFC as well as Raw coverage.
On the AEW front regarding the Tony Schiavone release by AEW earlier today Schiavone won’t be working Saturday’s PPV due to University of Georgia football. The broadcast team will be Jim Ross, Excalibur and Alex “Goldenboy” Mendez. Alex Marvez will be doing backstage work as part of the announcing team. The new episode of Being the Elite featured Schiavone announcing he’s with AEW, the announcement of the Charlotte show, and strong interviews by Kenny Omega and Chris Jericho. The Omega interview was 100 percent Jon Moxley and not at all on Pac. It’s very clear they are doing Omega vs. Moxley very soon.
El Hijo del Vikingo will be out six weeks with a torn MCL. That means he’s out of the MSG show on 9/15 which still has no lineup announced. He was wrestling Saturday night in Ciudad Guzman and caught Carta Brava Jr. on a simple crossbody. We had written yesterday that his feet were out of position but those at AAA have said his feet were fine but that it was a beer soaked ring that was the culprit. He will be in a walking boot for three weeks and then need three more weeks of rehab. Dave the Clown was also injured on that same show due to the slippery ring.
Jim Valley and I are doing a show in Chicago Saturday morning. It’s a readers Q&A show and we’ve got a few seats opened up.
TNT will be airing ONE Century, which is the 100th card from ONE, live at 11 p.m. Eastern on 10/12. There are two shows from Tokyo that day, each with 11 fights. The first show will be the one airing live on TNT. No broadcast info on the second show has been released.
WWE
WWE is doing a unique angle to start Raw. The show is scheduled to start with Banks doing a promo explaining her actions since her leaving at WrestleMania. The idea is to blur the lines between the real reasons she left and use those to create a worked storyline. The idea is for her to explain turning heel. Some have felt that WWE releasing this to The Wrap with the idea written of a heel promo and script plans and it being linked on the WWE site is harmful to business. I think it’s far better to judge the interview tonight and see how it’s handled. Reality based storylines have long been part of the business since the dawn of time. But who knows how this well turn out.
The company filed a trademark for the term “Fight Like a Girl,” to be used for a new digital series they are doing with Quilbi that Stephanie McMahon will host. WWE female performers will be on the show to mentor young women struggling with various personal issues and use their own life experiences to help.
A New York Post article on how Donald Trump uses WWE tactics. (thanks to Barry Warner)
A story on WWE wrestlers from Wales, Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster who challenge for the UK tag titles this coming Saturday. (thanks to Mike Kumzuk)
Aleister Black and Zelina Vega were invited to the unveiling of the wax figure for singer Aaliyah at Madam Tussaund’s in Las Vegas this past week.
UFC
C.B. Dollaway was given a two year suspension after failing two different tests. Dollaway failed for Anastrozole, a drug used after steroid cycles by athletes, as well as two different Growth Hormone releasing peptides in a test on 12/19. He also failed for Clomiphene, another post cycle drug that both Jon Jones and Brock Lesnar have failed for in the past, in a 2/9 test.
MISCELLANEOUS
Delirious will be replacing an injured Mark Briscoe on the CMLL tour with ROH talent which starts tomorrow and the big show is Friday with the World Grand Prix tournament. No live streaming Friday night of the show.
A lot of people have talked about this show we did yesterday with Jerry Jarrett, talking Eddie Marlin’s death, the NWA power structure in the 70s, the decline of the NWA, his business dealings with the Von Erichs and more. This was a fascinating show, plus Garrett Gonzalez and I ran down the economics of the WWE’s three different TV deals and why companies would do deficit spending to have wrestling for the first time, and why they’ve done it with football for a long time.
Timothy Thatcher vs. Douglas James has been added to the 9/7 MLW taping in Dallas. Both have submission backgrounds.
United Wrestling Coalition on 9/7 in Wrightstown, NJ at Kelly’s Banquet Hall. The event will be a fund raiser to help raise money for an infant son of Daisy Murder, a wrestler with the promotion. She was born with multiple congenital heart defects and faces many surgeries.
Best of the West on 8/31 in Fresno, CA has a student showcase with students from a number of different school around the state including Best of the West, MPW, CWFH , VF3, Gold Rush, UEW and EBPW. The show will be at 5766 E,. Fountain Way in Fresno at 5 p.m. wit tickets $10.
Rocky Mountain Pro on 8/29 in Golden, CO at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds at 7 P.M. with a GWN, Twitch, and Fite TV taping.
Al-Jazeera article on Nor Phoenix Diana (Malaysian wrestler who performs in a hijab),has a quote from Ali in it. (thanks to Kevin Chiat)
Slam Wrestling has a story on the Jack Pfefer archives tracing wrestling history.
Daily Pro Wrestling History: Harley Race wins NWA title from Dusty Rhodes
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