Daily Update
Latest News
Number one contender's match added to WWE SmackDownUpdate on new AEW signing to be announced at Full GearWWE & Rotunda family launch new Bray Wyatt merchandise collectionKOPW title changes hands at New Japan Road eventWWE has renewed interest in Kazuchika OkadaKris Statlander: I'm proud I was in Jade Cargill's last AEW match
Latest Audio
Wrestling Observer Live – Filthy Friday: Life of Lawlor, WON HOF, AEW Full Gear, moreWrestling Weekly: AEW Full Gear predictionsJNPO: AEW Q3 investors call with Wrestlenomics' Brandon ThurstonFight Game: Who is AEW's devil?Bryan & Vinny Show: Final Dynamite before Full Gear 2023, high-camp NXT
Latest Free YouTube Clip
This Week's Wrestling Observer Newsletter
November 20, 2023 Observer Newsletter: 2023 Hall of Fame issue
This Week's Retro Observer Newsletter
August 23, 2006 Observer Newsletter: WWE Mexico tour, Diva Search
Ordering Info:
Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
Friday Update
– We've got a very busy weekend of shows coming up. Garrett and I will talk the Hall of Fame and the latest news on tonight's show and tomorrow night Bryan and I will be back talking Full Gear and the other weekend news.
– One of our two traditional biggest issues of the year of the Observer came out today, the 2023 Hall of Fame issue:
2023 Hall of Fame voting standings for all candidatesHall of Fame coverage, career highlights of the seven new inductees and one major feature story on a European legend, plus who is off the ballot next year, who will be added to the ballot next year, every first ballot Hall of Famer, every person historically elected with more than 75 percent of the vote and the top 30 in each category for reporters, historians, active pros and retired pros.Match of the week and performer of the weekA look at Full Gear and Survivor SeriesUFC 295 full coverageThe end of an era with Bellator and MMA on ShowtimeCoverage of DDT's Ultimate Party with Chris Jericho, Hiromu Takahashi and a great title match on topPWG on hiatus and its ever changing role in pro wrestlingThe most complete ratings report, demo coverage, competition for the shows and segment-by-segment notes, plus comparisons with one year ago.Notes on Flip Gordon becoming a regular in CMLLNewcomers to watch out for including one spectacular newcomer at Arena MexicoStardom and All Japan tag tourneysNew Japan tag tournament notes and this week's showsLone Star Shootout from New JapanWomen's wrestling sets all-time attendance markTony Khan's Continental ClassicLots of AEW stars in mainstream acting gigsInternational TV ratingsUpcoming ticket advances for WWE & AEWHow times have changed greatly for UFC regarding Conor McGregorDana White gos on rampages about sponsors and critics of another sponsorUFC's greatest fighters of all-timeNew UFC major fightsBellator champion suspended regarding drug test failureFury-Ngannou PPV updateRetired star gets giant money offer to return from Middle EastMore notes on Vince McMahon's stock saleRey Mysterio update and angle updateWWE making production changes for Mania weekDwayne Johnson claims he almost went to PrideWhy Raw could take a big hit this week
– Will Ospreay is the person who is by far the leading candidate for the AEW signing announcement tomorrow. The one thing is he would more than fit the bill for a major announcement. PWInsider reported that New Japan had given Ospreay permission to negotiate. We had figured with the AEW/NJPW working agreement that it would make sense for New Japan to allow this deal to be announced now. As noted previously, he had hired Barry Bloom, the agent of The Young Bucks, Kenny Omega, Chris Jericho, Bill Goldberg, formerly Paul Levesque and tons of others for decades to handle his talks. Everyone, WWE, New Japan, Impact and more wanted him. If handled well, this would greatly help AEW in the U.K,. and the timing of the announcement would make sense for AEW just because they could use a new signing and because of the Wembley Stadium tickets going on sale in two weeks. Ospreay will not be an immediate ratings game changer. I don't know that anyone except for John Cena, Cody Rhodes or Roman Reigns would be right now and none of those are going to be in AEW any time soon. But Ospreay does add depth at the top and there are countless new opponents he's never worked with. It also would enable Ospreay to at least work major New Japan shows and perhaps RevPro shows where he's been very loyal this past year. Hopefully whoever it is the deal in actuality is done, because as Christian Cage noted, when he was heavily teased as a surprise, while he did verbally agree, he hadn't signed before they were doing the tease.
– Tonight will mark the first time in an actual WWE vs. AEW head-to-head battle that it won't even be competitive in the ratings, given SmackDown is on Fox while Collision is on TNT, and Collision is out of its normal time slot. Plus SmackDown usually does about five times what Collision does to begin with. I guess because the result is so foregone there has been no talk about it at all, unlike the other 79 times the companies went head-to-head. AEW has actually won 77 of those 79, only losing once in 2019 and the most recent time when the loaded up NXT beat Dynamite moved to a new night. I don't anticipate WWE being hurt at all with AEW live but AEW may have a tough time.
– Announced for SmackDown is Jimmy Uso vs. LA Knight, an appearance by Paul Heyman & Solo Sikoa, an appearance by Damage CTRL, and a tag team number one contender's match with Pretty Deadly vs. The Street Profits vs. Brawling Brutes.
SmackDown only had 5,400 tickets out for tonight in Evansville as of this morning and less than 5,000 paid. There has been a major difference with John Cena not on the show weekly anymore and Roman Reigns not on this show as well. It's way down from the last time SmackDown ran in the city in February. It should be noted that a ton of cities had presales for WWE tickets yesterday and public on-sales today. These are shows as late as April of next year and the pre-sales generally were great, so there is no sign of WWE losing steam even though tonight is much lower than they have been doing.
– AEW had just over 4,000 tickets out for tonight at the Forum in Inglewood, CA. They have three-and-a-half hours of programming on TNT with Collision 8-10 p.m., Rampage 10-11 p.m. and Countdown to Full Gear from 11-11:30 p.m. Collision has Dax Harwood vs.Rush, Miro vs. Daniel Garcia and Hikaru Shida & Kris Statlander vs. Saraya & Ruby Soho. Rampage has Toni Storm vs. Emi Sakura plus Renee Paquette will interview both MJF and Jay White whose job it will be to bolster last minute PPV sales.
– Ric Flair was not listed in the advertising for Full Gear as being in Sting's corner in stuff we've gotten after first being listed but we are told today he is scheduled for the show. He is definitely headed there and he has teased being with Sting today on social media.
– We're looking for reports from these weekend shows:
SmackDown tonight in Evansville (only dark matches or segments)Collision tonight in Los Angeles (only stuff not on television)WWE house show tomorrow night in Tupelo, MSWWE house show tomorrow night in Canton, OHWWE house show Sunday night in Saginaw, MIWWE house show Sunday night in Jonesboro, AR
We're looking for results, finishes and highlights to [email protected]
– We are also doing our PPV poll on Full Gear so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]
– The updated PPV lineup:
MJF vs. Jay White for the AEW title – Should be very good, but on top of this card they are in the position where they need to be great. I will say historically both when put in tough positions have come through almost every time
Orange Cassidy vs. Jon Moxley for the International title – That title was supposed to be on Moxley, but injuries saw it go to Fenix and Cassidy. Moxley said this was the reset back and we'll see if it is. Cassidy vs. Moxley was great last time out.
Adam Page vs. Swerve Strickland in a Texas death match – Whether you do or don't like the storyline, this is a hot program thanks to Page's promos. Their first match was great as well, and the last time Page did a Texas death match, also in California, it was among the best Texas death matches (with Moxley).
Hikaru Shida vs. Toni Storm for the AEW women's title – Should be good. Also should be a title change.
Young Bucks vs. Chris Jericho & Kenny Omega – A weird one since they are in LA and the Bucks are the heels. It came out of nowhere as far as build goes, but it's the first time the Bucks have been against Omega since the tag match with Page, which won many match of the year awards. In the ring it is likely to be great.
Ricky Starks & Big Bill vs. FTR vs. Brody King & Malakai Black vs. Rush & Dralistico for the AEW tag titles – It wouldn't surprise me to see any of the first three teams mentioned win. Rush & Dralistico would be a shock. It's interesting, will almost surely be very good and could be great.
Sting & Adam Copeland & Darby Allin vs. Christian Cage & Luchasaurus & Nick Wayne – This has been built up with a storyline involving Christian's long issues with Allin, and Wayne's with Allin, plus they will no doubt tease Copeland vs. Cage and try and make that interaction strong. Copeland almost never has anything but good to great matches, Cage you can say the same, Allin you can say the same.
Kris Statlander vs. Skye Blue vs. Julia Hart for the TBS title – I could see any of them winning this. On paper it's the weakest on the show but Statlander has done well in her big matches.
MJF & ? vs. Gunn Brothers for the ROH tag titles – Samoa Joe has been teased as the partner. For what it will be, likely a crowd pleaser but also likely not long given MJF has to come back for the main event.
While not announced, they've been building Hook vs. Wheeler Yuta for the FTW title. They will likely announce a few more matches tonight. On paper, this looks like a very strong show for match quality and action. The big question is does this revert back to Forbidden Door and Double or Nothing level numbers (140K) or the more recent All Out and WrestleDream numbers (110K or so).
– Besides WWE and AEW, there are other major things tonight:
Tonight's West Coast Pro Wrestling show will be airing live starting at 10 p.m. Eastern from San Francisco on YouTube for free featuring Chris Hero's return to the ring against Timothy Thatcher as the main event.
Bellator has what could be its last show ever tonight from the Wintrust Arena in Chicago and it's a loaded show by their standards:
Patricky Pitbull Freire vs. Alexandr Shabliy in a lightweight Grand Prix semifinalA.J. McKee vs. Sidney OutlawDanny Sabatello vs. Raufeon StotsSergio Pettis vs. Patchy Mix for the bantamweight titleYarosloav Amosov vs. Jason Jackson for the welterweight title
– Billy Corgan has denied reports that there will be any cutbacks in NWA talent or production. He told us that they are spending upwards of six figures on the tapings this weekend. Nick Hausman had reported the company making cutbacks, but his report was that they would be taking place on the first taping of 2024, not this taping. Corgan would not comment on anything related to Hausman past denying the reports, and said that there is nothing he could say about a television deal more than has been said until the official announcement is made. He told Mike Johnson they still had two television deals and nothing has changed regarding that, and that those deals have been in place for a long time. As noted, the reality show was confirmed to be for CW since the CW logo was on the passes and this dates back to filming months ago. Corgan told Johnson there would be no roster cuts and the company's financial health is fine, and he's the 100 percent owner with no investors so he makes all the calls. He also told us he couldn't give a time frame for the announcement of which he had said was that they would have two shows on a top 20 station.
– WWE has combo tickets for sale for the SmackDown/Hall of Fame, NXT Stand & Deliver and Raw shows in Philadelphia over Mania week. The idea is that SmackDown and Raw will be big tickets and offering a combo will help the NXT show, which last year didn't draw nearly as well as the other two the past few years over Mania week.
– AEW has official on-sales for 1/3 in Newark, NJ, 1/6 in Charlotte, NC, 1/10 in Jacksonville, FL and 1/13 in Norfolk. None did giant business yesterday for the presales.
– UFC runs tomorrow from 2-8 p.m. on ESPN+
Charles Johnson (125) vs. Rafael Estevan (128) – Estevan missed weight by two poundsTrey Ogden (155.5) vs. Nikolas Motta (155)Lucia Pudilova (135.5) vs. Allin Perez (136.5) – Perez missed weight by 0.5 poundsJeka Saragih (146) vs. Lucas Alexander (148) – Alexander missed weight by two poundsMick Parkin (262.5) vs. Caio Machado (250)Christian Leroy Duncan (186) vs. Denis Tiuliulin (186)Chad Anheliger (134.5) vs. Jose Johnson (136)Jonathan Pearce (145.5) vs. Joanderson Brito (145)Myktybek Orolbai (170) vs. Uros Medic (171)Luana Pinheiro (115.5) vs. Amanda Rubas (115.5)Payton Talbott (136) vs. Nick Agirre (136)Chase Hooper (155.5) vs. Jordan Leavitt (155.5)Michael Morales (171) vs. Jake Matthews (170.5)Brendan Allen (186) vs. Paul Craig (186)
– Eddie Kingston and Dalton Castle dedicated their ROH match that aired last night to Brodie Lee. After the match Kingston said, "Brodie will never die. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm Eddie Kingston and I don't give a f***. I'm out."
– I didn't get to this in the Observer but Volador Jr. vs. Soberano Jr from last Friday's Arena Mexico show was fantastic. Super heat. Super action. Soberano is giving me Gino Hernandez in Houston in the late 70s heel vibes. If you like hot crowds and great in-ring intensity and just amazing in-ring moves, when CMLL releases this match you'd want to go out of your way to see it. CMLL is clearly the comeback promotion of the year as these Friday Arena Mexico shows with the hot crowds are such a turnaround from when it appeared this was a dying company.
– All Japan's tag team tournament and Junor Battle of Glory resumes Sunday at the Nagoya International Conference Hall.
–Defy and GCW run two shows this weekend in Seattle at Washington Hall. Tonight GCW has a show with Matt Cardona vs. Santana Jackson, Blake Christian vs. Schaff for the GCW title, plus Nick Gage, Mike Bailey, Maki Itoh, Effy, Allie Katch, Rina Yamashita, Gringo Loco, the Bollywood Boyz and Joey Janela. Tomorrow night Defy has KENTA vs. Joey Janela for the Defy title, Nick Gage & Mike Bailey & Artemis Spence vs. The Sovereign, Schaff vs. Jordan Oliver for the Northwest title, Vert Vixen vs. Allie Katch for the Defy women's title, Gringo Loco vs. Cody Chhun for the Defy Lucha title and Bollywood Boys vs. Effy & Curry Man for the Defy tag titles. GCW airs live tonight at 11 p.m. Eastern on FITE +
– New Japan starts its tag team tournament on Monday at 4:30 a.m. at Korakuen Hall. It's an all A block show with Mikey Nicholls & Shane Haste vs. Bishop Kaun & Toa Liona, Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano vs. Evil & Yujiro Takahashi, Kaito Kiyomiya & Ryohei Oiwa vs. Alex Coughlin & Gabe Kidd and Shota Umino & Ren Narita vs. Henare & Great O'Khan.
– MLW runs tomorrow night at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia with a Battle Royal as part of the Fusion tapings. They also have a FITE+ live show with Alex Kane vs. Jacob Fatu for the MLW title, Matt Cardona vs. Mance Warner loser leaves MLW, Rickey Shne Pge & Akira defend the MLW tag titles in a ladder match with 1 Called Manders & Matthew Justice, Rocky Romero & Cavernario Barbaro vs. Mascara Dorada & Ichiban.
– RingsideFest 2023 gives you a sneak peek at the next Mattel WWE action figure releases with guests Rhea Ripley, Dominik Mysterio and Mick Foley.
– MCW tomorrow night is in Ridgely, MD at the Ridgely Volunteer Fire Department.
– ISPW tonight is in West Millford, NJ, at the St. Joseph Parish Hall features Danny Morrison defending the ISPW title against Crowbar. Morrisoni was Danny Doring in ECW and Crowbar as an attitude era wrestler in WCW.
– Lambda Films is doing a documentary on Zak Knight, the older brother of Saraya, who was the brother featured in the Dwayne Johnson "Fighting For My Family" movie.