DAILY UPDATE
Latest News:
WWE moves Monday’s Raw to Performance Center
NXT weekend shows canceled, MLW still running Friday, more postponements
Jurassic Express-Butcher & The Blade added to next AEW Dynamite
Bellator MMA cancels Friday show due to coronavirus concerns
FS1 suspends studio show production, next WWE Backstage included
WWE weekend house shows in Ohio, Toronto canceled
UFC, Bellator holding empty arena shows this weekend
Latest Audio:
WOL: Coronavirus, another round of cancellations, SD, RAW, Mania, more! 3/13
B&V: Bryan and Vinny review AEW and NXT head-to-head! 3/12
UFC runs tomorrow night in Brasilia, Brazil, with no fans allowed. It is moving up in time and the entire card will air on ESPN because ESPN has no other live sports to air, starting at 3 p.m. Eastern
Veronica Macedo (135.5) vs, Bea Malecki (136)
Bruno Silva (125.5) vs,. David Dvorak (126)
Myrna Bueno Silva (126) VS. Maryna Moroz (126)
Rani Yahya (136) vs. Enrique Barzola (136)
Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos (171) vs. Alexey Kunchenko (170)
Amanda Ribas (115.5) vs, Randa Markos (116)
Jussier Formiga (126) vs. Brandon Moreno (126)
Francisco Trinaldo (156) vs. John Makdessi (155)
Johnny Walker (206) vs. Nikita Krylov (206)
Renato Moicano (155.5) vs. Damir Hadzovic (155)
Demian Maia (170.5) vs. Gilbert Burns (170.5)
Kevin Lee (158.5) vs,. Charles Oliveira (156)
Lee missed weight by 2.5 pounds. Oliveira agreed to take the fight. Lee forfeits 20 percent of his purse for missing weight.
CMLL at Arena Mexico tonight on the CMLL YouTube page
Principe Daniel & Difunto vs. Diamond & Cholo
Stephanie Vaquer & Silueta & Princesa Sugehit vs. Amapola & Infernal & Metalica
Audaz & Rey Cometa & Soberano Jr. vs. Hechicero & Luciferno & Rey Bucanero
Titan vs. Polvora
Atlantis Jr. & Flyer vs. Templario & El Hijo del Villano III in the tournament final for the Mexican national tag title
Caristico & Cavernario & Diamante Azul vs. Negro Casas & Felino & Volador Jr,. in an incredible partners match
Are you interested in attending our annual F4W/WON convention? We will hold it during AEW Double or Nothing weekend. For more information, check this post for activities and prices.
WON NEWSLETTER: Coronavirus cancellations, Rob Gronkowski, more Coronavirus effects on wrestling, Rob Gronkowski to WWE, more.
A story on the Corona Virus and pro wrestling and MMA shows around the world is the lead story in a double-issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter this week.
We go through:
Where everything stood at press time for large and small promotions all over the world, as well as other sports.
Which companies can survive this period the best and how this threatens the future of many companies and wrestlers, a well as WWE and other name indie talent that likely can’t be coming to the U.S. because of travel bans.
This is one of the biggest stories to have faced the world in our lifetime, and it affects every business, but sports and entertainment businesses, like all, will take an unforeseen shock.
The issue also covers:
Rob Gronkowski and WWE, what is believed to be the extent of the deal, who is Gronkowski, his prior experience in WWE, what he had said about doing pro wrestling in the past and what kind of impact his being in WWE could have.
The series of copycat lawsuits filed by a number of legal firms against WWE, the claims in the cases and a response by Jerry McDevitt to the cases.
The situation with David Starr being pressured out of wXw and Progress, the attempt to unionize wrestlers in the U.K. and companies that have jumped on board.
Full coverage of the Elimination Chamber show with notes on the show, updated plans for WrestleMania, business notes and match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results.
Update WWE PPV talks, Davey Boy Smith in Hall of Fame, salary of WWE’s top executives, the change in Paul Levesque’s backstage role, how talent contracts have changed, who owns the most WWE stock, XFL ratings and how this week changed the narrative, Cena movie delayed by a year of release due to Corona Virus, Rousey in WWE offices, change that was made in Friday tapings, Canadian ratings, UFC star talks about doing WWE, injury updates, more on a new athlete that just started, plus he most-watched shows on the WWE Network and details of all NXT & WWE arena events over the past week.
An extensive feature on Wayne Bridges, one of the biggest names in European pro wrestling during the 70s and 80s. We look at his sports background before pro wrestling, how he could into pro wrestling, his unique role in some major movies, his Japanese tours and his time in North America, the history of the world heavyweight title as recognized in the U.K., plus his biggest run as world heavyweight champion, appearing on the big Wembley and Royal Albert Hall shows, tragedies in his life and much more. This is a great history piece about an era of pro wrestling that a lot of U.S. fans aren’t aware of.
Complete coverage of UFC 248, including the show, what happens next, the judging, who the media thought won the key fights, and business notes.
Oregon wrestling in the 80s and its top heel, Rip “The Crippler” Oliver, who passed away last week. We look at the atmosphere when he first arrived, his life and career before Oregon, his attempts to leave and why he always ended up back, his records set, biggest feuds, extensive title history, the 1982 tag team tournament at the Omni in Atlanta,Billy Jack Haynes, Roddy Piper, Buddy Rose and the death of the Don Owen territory.
Update the situation with Scott Steiner.
End of an era, as after 41 years, Stu Sacks leaves Pro Wrestling Illustrated and a career in wrestling journalism that goes back 50 years to his childhood.
Regarding the Wednesday numbers, we’ve got full details, demos that each side won, how every segment did and what match ended up as the difference maker.
All the WWE and AEW television shows from the past week.
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.
Results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.
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FRIDAY NEWS UPDATE
At this point, as far as major sports and sports entertainment events on television, it looks like UFC and pro wrestling are the few things still happening.
WWE has officially moved tonight and Monday’s Raw show to the Performance Center. While they have not announced a move of Wednesday’s show there, Full Sail has closed the building until the end of April and we are told that they are going with the idea that the Performance Center will be the site of NXT every Wednesday with no fans allowed for at least the next month.
The City of Jacksonville has closed down all city facilities, which includes Daily’s Place and sent out a tweet about an hour ago confirming that. As of 6:30 p.m., AEW was still planning to run empty arena shows at Daily’s Place probably for the next month at least, since the 4/1 show in Milwaukee and 4/8 show in St. Louis have been canceled. As of this writing, the shows are still being taped every Wednesday in a closed set. Originally they were going to have media and families allowed but not fans, but AEW confirmed to us earlier today that no media will be allowed to attend.
It would really make sense if they can do a show to tape all day and try and get 2-3 shows in the can as possible because even if they can get the first event in, things can get worse. While a taped show isn’t optimum, at this stage of the game one has to prepare for the worst. Really that goes for WWE as well. It’s probably best to tape a second show on Monday and Wednesday.
The WWE 3/22 Madison Square Garden show has not been canceled by WWE but with New York not allowing gatherings of more than 500 people, the show can’t take place.
Pro wrestling relies so much on crowd response. In the early days of Ultimate Fighter they aired fights with no crowds and even no announcers. It wasn’t like watching a modern show but it did work in the early years of that show and right now options are limited.
There is nothing official on WrestleMania as of this moment. There were stories going around regarding a new date at the stadium in June earlier today. I can’t imagine the show taking place on April 5 although at this moment it is still on and key people have told me today that they believe it will take place in the stadium that day. Those in the company are pretty emphatic there will be a WrestleMania this year.
There has been heavy criticism of UFC for still running. There has been less on WWE since it falls below the radar and really none on AEW.
A number of Mania week independent events are still on. If WWE cancels, it’ll fall apart. While WWE can survive the hit, a lot of companies can’t.
Michael Bochiccio of Highspots did a video Q&A and said the convention has not been canceled due to the liability he would assume by doing so on their own. He said just hotel rooms if he were to cancel would bankrupt WrestleCon and perhaps HighSpots as well. He told Vice that if the convention falls through he would have to sell his house.
Bryan and my show has been canceled for WrestleMania week.
There is nothing new from Japan at all. At this point the 3/31 show at Sumo Hall for New Japan is on and All Japan is to start back 3/23. Obviously that is all subject to change.
Mexico is running events, including the MLW taping tonight in Tijuana. Arena Mexico is running as planned on its regular full schedule at this point, but as we’ve seen in this country, things can change quickly.
We will be taping a show later today with Dr. Alex Patel, a reader and critical care physician heavily involved in COVID-19 planning efforts in Canada. I also spoke at length with one of the leading sports doctors in the country who has been in the trenches of this story for a long time because of its potential impact on the Olympic games.
Regarding AEW & NXT ratings on Wednesday, both were down similarly in the first hour. For reasons I can’t explain, after the NBA news broke, AEW dropped significantly, as one would expect. NXT didn’t drop at all, and I have no explanation for that.
WWE
WWE stock rose to $35.86 per share as the market rebounded,up $3.48 per share on the day. I see a lot more bad days than good days with the market until things get back to normal.
Regarding tonight’s show in Detroit, we were told that while plans were being discussed and established on Wednesday night for the show to be moved, it was not official until the announcement.
Bet Online has these odds on who Rob Gronkowski’s first opponent will be. The leading picks are:
Cesaro +300
Robert Roode +350
Dolph Ziggler +400
Mojo Rawley +500
Sheamus +500
Jinder Mahal +600
Riddick Moss +600
King Corbin +600
Will he win the WWE or Universal title by 12/31 -1750.
Odyssey Cinemas in Northern Ireland announced that would be screening WrestleMania live at all of their theaters, although a lot can obviously change.
Kenny McIntosh’s show with Kevin Owens scheduled for 3/20 in Glasgow has been moved to 6/5.
UFC
Tickets for UFC on 5/2 in Oklahoma City headlined by Jack Hermanson vs. Chris Weidman and Claudia Gadelha vs. Marina Rodriguez went on sale today.
Alexa Grasso vs. Ji Yeon Kim has been announced for 6/27 in Austin, TX.
AEW
The company has put tickets on sale for 5/6 in New Orleans and 5/13 Rio Rancho, NM.
An article on The Butcher’s other life as heavy metal guitarist Andy Williams.
MISCELLANEOUS
WrestleTalk and Will Ospreay have announced a show for Monday night at 229 The Venue in London at 3 p.m. Eastern time and 7 p.m. local time with Will Ospreay, Rampage Brown, David Starr, Kyle Fletcher, Robbie X , the OJMO, Bea Priestley and Nathan Cruz.
OTT announced they would stream last year’s ScapperMania card for free at 8 p.m. local time tomorrow, which was headlined by an incredible Walter vs. Jordan Devlin match.
Northeast Wrestling announced that they will reschedule their 3/27 show in Waterbury, CT, which was to feature Matt Hardy. No new date was announced.
Savio Vega will be doing seminars before CWE shows on 3/26 in Morden, Manitoba, 3/27 in Winnipeg, 3/28 in Regina, Saskatchewan and 3/29 in Saskatoon. Saskatchewan. All seminars are $100 before 3/19 and $150 after, whle if you attend two you can get both at $125 by 3/29 and $175 after.
Silas Young will be on CWE shows 5/11 to 5/22 in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Alberta.
As best we can tell, the AAW show on 3/20 at the Logan Square Auditorium in Chicago is still on. The card has Mance Warner vs. Fred Yehi for the AAW heavyweight title, Kris Statlander vs. The Hyan, Davey Vega & Mat Fitchett & ACH vs. Sami Callihan & Jake Crist & Jessicka Havok, Gringo Loco & Black Taurus vs. Aramis & Arez, Curt Stallion vs. Ace Austin and more. It should be noted that Black Taurus was in Germany last week and in theory he should not be allowed in the U.S.
East Bay Wrestling is running tomorrow night at 7 PM. in Pacheco, CA at 110 Second Av S #08.
Glory has postponed its 3/28 show in Antwerp, Belgium and 5/30 show in Miami, FL. They will announce new dates for both cities. The next show on the schedule is 6/20 in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
MCW has moved its 3/14 show in Hollywood, MD to 5/29; its 3/15 show in Joppa, MD to 5/30, its 3/21 show in Culpeper, VA until the fall and the 4/17 show in Essex, MD until the fall.
The Cauliflower Alley Club has said that they have no plans to move their scheduled 4/26 to 4/29 reunion dates in Las Vegas.
ONE will be doing empty arena shows through 5/29, with dates of 4/17, 4/24, 5/1 and 5/8.
Joey Janela was announced for the June World Series Wrestling tour of Australia.
PWA has said its 3/20 show in Sydney will be going on as scheduled. Melbourne Championship Wrestling has announced its 3/21 show in Melbourne will also go on as advertised.
PCW’s show in Melbourne at a stadium doesn’t look good since Australia is recommending no non-essential gatherings of more than 500 people, while the PCW show was expected to draw closer to 2,000.
RevPro in he U.K. say that they will be continuing their regular schedule.
Legacy Fighting announced its 3/20 show in Phoenix has been canceled. The 4/3 show in Colorado and 4/17 show in South Dakota are under review.
A story on Rice University’s exhibit on 1970s Houston Wrestling (thanks to Mike Kuzmuk)
A Matt Hardy interview with Bill Apter.
A documentary on David Arquette as a pro wrestler (thanks to Erik Kohn)
Daily Pro Wrestling History: TNA Victory Road 2011
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