Daily Update: TNA gets Sportsnet 360 deal, Bare Knuckle Fighting, AEW Rampage

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This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

The  new issue of the Observer is on the site today (after a snafu):

  • Full coverage of the lessons of Saturday Night’s Main Event, from ratings to execution
  • The Athletic story on Lee Fitting, plus our thoughts on the subject
  • B.J. Whitmer alleged victim Jaime Hawn comments on current and former AEW legal heads
  • Full coverage of New Japan’s show in Long Beach with the Mercedes Mone vs. Hazuki main event
  • Update on Worlds End and the Battle of Orlando
  • CMLL’s international based show on Friday and what went right and wrong
  • Dragon Gate’s lastest major show of the year
  • The most detailed look at the ratings of all the pro wrestling TV shows and UFC shows including segment ratings, standings for the week and night, demos, comparisons with last year and a lot more
  • Annnouncer leaves company after more than 30 years and why
  • Stardoms’ end of year show
  • Comedy wrestler retires
  • CyberFight (DDT, NOAH and TJPW) financials looked at
  • How sports ratings are doing
  • Notes on a movie on one of the most legendary woman wrestlers of all-time that will be out  in March
  • Chris Jericho and Matt Cardona angle in GCW and how it came about
  • Tessa Blanchard to TNA notes and the bigger picture
  • WWE, AEW and TNA PPV numbers updates
  • Notes on changes in WBD structure
  • More on AEW move to MAX
  • Ticket advanceds for WWE & AEW shows
  • UFC business updates
  • More on WWE to Netflix and international TV notes
  • Dwayne Johnson box office notes

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter Back Issue

Sunday Update

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  • NOTE: This update contains spoilers for AEW Dynamite & Rampage.
  • Bryan and I will be back tonight covering all the weekend news and you can send questions for the show to mailbag@wrestlingobserver.com keep the questions on current news.
  • TNA, and not AEW, has gotten the Sportsnet 360 deal in Canada with WWE leaving the station.  TNA will be airing Impact and other shows on the station on a Thursday night time slot starting on Jan. 2. AEW will remain on TSN. WWE goes off TV in Canada with the New Year’s Eve NXT show. There will be a TNA special after NXT on that night. All WWE programming starts in Canada on Netflix, and that includes the PPV shows and all former WWE Network content, on 1/6. Since Sportsnet is bigger than TSN, that would give TNA the strongest television exposure in that country.
  • Bare Knuckle Fighting Championships promoter Dave Feldman announced that they are close to an acquisition that will change the face of fighting sports, saying they are buying a promotional platform. He also announced a $25 million tournament that they will debut in April. He said the fighters would have to fight in qualifying rounds to make the tournament, it would be spread over 9-12 months and qualifiers would take place on five continents and are close to a huge streaming deal that will have the broadcast rights and will be in a wider weight class.
  • AEW is taping the final episode of Rampage today at the Hammerstein Ballroom. Tony Khan did acknowledge the show, which airs Friday as the last episode “for the foreseeable future.”
  • Taz was back announcing Dynamite after knee replacement surgery.
  • We are told Bandido did suffer a concussion Friday night from landing on the back of his head doing a missile dropkick after the Chris Jericho win over Matt Cardona. Obviously Jericho vs Bandido was scheduled in an ROH title match at some point. With concussions, you don’t know what it means as far as how long someone will be out of action.
  • Despite that fall and cracking his head on the ramp, Darby Allin did wrestle Ricochet today at the AEW tapings for Christmas night’s show.
  • Some notes from today’s Dynamite tapings at the Hammerstein Ballroom:
    • Will Osperay vs. Brody King is said to maybe be the best match of the tournament. Ospreay won via stormbreaker. One regular said it was the loudest pop he’d ever heard in the building when Ospreay won.
    • Darby Allin drew Ricochet. Said to be a great match. “We Want Samantha’ chants at Ricochet.  Ricochet did an insane 630 through a table outside the ring.
    • Komander pinned Claudio Castagnoli after hitting him with Brass Knux and a ropewalk shooting star press.
    • Marina Shafir choked out Komander after the match. Jon Moxley knocked out Jay White and Orange Cassidy with a briefcase and Adam Page came out. All three beat up Moxley.
    • Kazuchika Okada beat Shelton Benjamin. Said to have great heat. Okada won via rainmaker. They shook hands after. Said to be a great match.
    • Toni Storm beat Taya Valkyrie. Storm won with a roll-up and played it up like it was the biggest shock to her, like she was a rookie who had just scored the upset of the year.
    • Kyle Fletcher beat Daniel Garcia. Fletcher won with a brainbuster on the top turnbuckle.  aid to be excellent. Ospreay came out to confront him for a staredown.
    • PPV semifinals are Fletcher vs. Ospreay and Okada vs Ricochet.
    • Chris Jericho vs. Anthony Bowens on Rampage saw Big Bill interfering. Bryan Keith got the belt but Max Caster came out. Caster and Keith had a tug-of-war over the belt, Caster got it and in doing so accidentally hit Bowens with it and Jericho pianned him.  
    • Private Party b Alec Price & Leo Sparrow. Big three-way brawl after with Private Party, Top Flight and Action Andretti & Lio Rush.
  • Thursday’s WWE Madison Square Garden card has:
    • Gunther vs. Damian Priest cage match for world title
    • Liv Morgan vs. Iyo Sky for women’s world title
    • Bron Breaker vs. Sami Zayn 2/3 falls for IC title
    • Seth Rollins vs Dominik Mysterio
    • CM Punk vs.Ludwig Kaiser
    • Plus Drew McIntyre, Rey Mysterio, Wyatt Sicks, New Day , Miz and LA Knight.
  • Seth Rollins cut a promo to fire up the Chicago Bears before today’s game with the Detroit Lions.
  • Thursday night was the Level Up being taped before NXT. They will now be taping matches for the A&E series LFG before NXT shows.
  • I’ll be watching later, but I heard the 60 minute Zozaya vs. Leon Slater match delivered yesterday at York Hall. It was a huge risk putting two guys in a midcard Iron man match, especially when the set up match, a 30:00 draw, got mixed reviews. The main event saw Michael Oku win over Luke Jacobs to win the British title.
  • Great news about El Phantasmo getting a clean bill of health and returning to wrestle with New Japan.
  • A few have asked me about Rickey Henderson’s death five days before his 66th birthday on Friday. He was the greatest base stealer of all-time and maybe the greatest lead-off hitter of all-time. He died way too young. The cause of death was reported to be pneumonia.
  • Momo Watanabe won the four-way in Tokyo today over Syuri, Suzu Suzuki and Tomoka Inaba by pinning Inaba to go to the International Women’s Cup match at the Tokyo Dome. The match has Watanabe (Stardom), Persephaone (CMLL), Athena (ROH) and Willow Nightingale (AEW).  
  • The Houston Chronicle today had a story about 40 years ago this week when WWE and Paul Boesch’s UWF show went head-to-head on the same night. (thanks to Chris Cruise)
  • At last night’s Bare Knuckle show in Hollywood, FL, Mike Perry issued a challenge to Robbie Lawler, who was in the crowd at the show.
  • Ulka Sasaki, the former UFC/Rizin fighter who went to Pro Wrestling NOAH this year, said that he figured he would always be in MMA until he saw the Great Muta vs. Shinsuke Nakamura match on January 1, 2023. He said after seeing that match, he wanted to become a pro wrestler. Sasaki will face Shinske Nakamura on 1/1 at Budokan Hall in Tokyo on Abema PPV.
  • Juggalo Championship Wrestling from Friday night in Detroit: Evil Uno b Facade, Mickie Knuckles b Rory Shield, Brothers of Funstruction b Breyer Wellington & Jeeves, Luigi Primo b Colby Corino, Dani Mo b Rae Larson to keep the women’s title, Caleb Konley wonover Co-Kane & Tarzan Duran, The Misfit b 2 Tuff Tony, Blackseat Boys b Rohit Raju & Zeeko, Willie Mack b Kongo Kong to keep the JCW title (thanks to Leonard Brand)
  • Grapple on the Green 3 last Sunday in Austral, (near Sydney) Australia before a sellout 500:  Hari Singh b Backman, Ty Thayer b BIlly Preston, Ranal b Aaron Jake, Jimmy Townsen & Scott Green & The Tuckman b Ricky South & Sam Osborne & Will Kiedis in 3/4 falls in a last man standing match (thanks to  Kirk Beattie)