Daily Update: Adam Cole, Marty Jannetty, Eve Torres Gracie

DAILY UPDATE

Latest News:

Latest Audio:

WON NEWSLETTER: September 7, 2020 Observer Newsletter: Future of Brock Lesnar, Rock battles COVID-19, more

A look at the different directions Brock Lesnar could go is the lead story in the new issue of the Observer. We look at the money he can generate for a fight with Jon Jones, the reality about his trying to fight today, why he’s a free agent right now, what Tony Khan said about Lesnar, and why, unless Dana White isn’t telling the truth, it’s unlikely he will fight.  Plus we’ve got comments by both White and Scott Coker on fights they would want to make if he does want to fight.

Also in this issue: 

Positive COVID tests of Dwayne Johnson, A.J. Styles, Kevin Nash, Glover Teixeira and others that came out this week.

Payback, including the genesis of the Roman Reigns heel turn, the Rey Mysterio injury, the booking of the show, plus poll results and star ratigns.

New Japan at Jingu Stadium, including Tetsuya Naito growing up going to the stadium, all three-time IWGP champions, most IC tilte runs in Japan, business notes, plans for the tour going on this weeeknd, plus match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results.

The departure of Mauro Ranallo from WWE, looking and his five years in the company, his background prior to the company, what old and new projects he’s expected to work on, and why he left.

The NXT title Iron Man match, next Takeover shows, Rey Mysterio television cartoon show, Paul Levesque stock sales, Levesque talks UK brnad, more on different allegations against WWE talent, returns of peope who have sit time out, change to Payback, Charlotte Flair news, Renee Young talks leaving WWE, Styles talks Heyman, lots of TV ratings updates internationally, new member of WWE Board of Directors, WWE market value and the most watched shows of the past week on WWE Network.

This past week’s UFC show.

Bio of Tom Anderson, who wrestled as The Claw and one half of the Masked Interns tag team. We look at two of the most tasteless angles in wrestiling that he was involved in, how one failed miserably and how the other was a huge business success.  This includes the death of Alberto Torres, the heyday of the The Interns, the history of the masked doctors tag team and where it all came from, and classic stories involving Paul “Bear” Bryant, Ken Ramey, Lonnie Mayne, Beauregarde and what top promoter wouldn’t use the Interns and Ramey and why.

The life and career of Ric Drason, from bodybuilding to wrestling, including what two AEW stars he started, the glory days of Gold’s Gym in Santa Monica and the characters involved, his art work that sold millions of T-shirts, how one of the greatest wrestlers of all-time got his name from him, and why he had chacnes to be a star and the reason he never was.

A major change in how television ratings are done and how this is expectede to impact sports the most.

A comparison of the last week of AEW with competition and the show this past week where the only television competition was a replay show. We look at how this impacted every audience, what the audience numbers are likely to be for a regular unopposed Wednesday for AEW or NXT, and go in depth as to both sides of why WWE and USA would or would not want to move NXT. We also look at the huge change in the AEW audience from 8/12 to 9/2.  We also have how the audience ebbed and flowed during the Iron Man match.

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. 

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 dave@wrestlingobserver.com or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to dave@wrestlingobserver.com.

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.

TUESDAY NEWS UPDATE

WWE

  • Adam Cole spoke to Sports Illustrated about tonight’s match against Finn Balor for the NXT Championship: For me, the chase of Finn Balor is something that is absolutely real. Even in my 403-day reign as NXT champion, I heard a constant comparison to Balor. That was something brought up consistently. Now we’re finally getting the chance to compete with one another for the vacant title, I can’t think of a bigger match right now in NXT.”
  • In an interview with Comicbook.com, Cole discussed last week’s four-way Iron Man match ending in a tie between him and Balor and the reaction that received:

For me personally, I’ve always been that really annoying person that looks at everything glass half full always. I’m so that person, that finds just the good in everything. So I like it, as far as longterm storytelling goes. I think we went from having a really exciting, again, the four pillars of NXT, still giving you amazing action. In our opinion, just a great match for an hour-long, to then lead into something that’s really compelling the next week. As far as a television show goes, it would be the equivalent to a cliffhanger. We give you a cliffhanger on last week’s episode, and then this week you’re going to get the finale. So in that sense, because wrestling at the end of the day is a television show, it makes perfect sense to me.

However, I do understand that some people were upset. I understand that some people want to see a definitive end to a match like that, and it makes total sense. But that’s actually kind of, as weird as it sounds, that’s what I love so much about pro wrestling, is you’ll have one match that will happen with a certain result, and like you said, half the people will go, ‘That was the greatest thing I’ve ever seen. They couldn’t have ended that any better. This was perfect,’ and then you’ve got another group of people who were so upset and so angry, and think it’s the dumbest thing in the world. The beautiful thing is that both people aren’t wrong, and both people are right, and you can think whatever you want to think.

That’s why I love television shows more than movies, because you have longer to tell the story that you want to tell. So NXT at the end of the day is a TV show, and we’re just telling the story of the NXT Championship, and the Adam Cole Finn Balor story a little bit longer. Not to keep rambling, but when I was NXT Champion, the constant comparison when I was regarded as the greatest NXT Champion of all time, some people would jump in and say, ‘No, Finn Balor is.’ Then people who said Finn Balor, other people would jump in and say I was. There has been this overarching story for quite some time about who is the greatest NXT Champion of all time. So the four cornerstones of NXT go into the 60-minute Iron Man match. Two guys tie, the people that are compared to the most, as far as who is the greatest NXT Champion, now they have a sudden death one-on-one match this Tuesday. I think it’s beautiful. I love it.

  • Bobby Lashley spoke to Sports Illustrated about wanting to become a World Champion in WWE: “I’ve got the United States title, and that’s an amazing accomplishment, but I need a stamp on my career. That’s the WWE Championship, and the opportunity is there for me. I’m the ‘Black Superman,’ and that World title is what I need. I just need to stay healthy, keep kicking ass, and continue moving forward. If I win that World title, I’ll always be known as a former World Champion. I want to do that for myself, I want to do that for my children, and I also want to do it for the kids that look like me.”
  • Lashley posted a picture of Cedric Alexander with The Hurt Business after Alexander turned heel and joined the group on last night’s Raw.
  • RETRIBUTION spoke for the first time on Raw last night. A logo for the group was also revealed.
  • WWE posted new storyline injury updates on Sasha Banks and Big E following Friday’s SmackDown: “WWE.com can now confirm that Sasha Banks has suffered a severe bone bruise in her knee and a compressed nerve in her neck following the brutal attack by Bayley on SmackDown. We can also confirm that Big E suffered multiple lacerations and moderate-to-severe bruised ribs after the backstage assault by Sheamus.”
  • Drew McIntyre and Tyson Fury continued their back and forth on Twitter today.
  • Mustafa Ali tweeted about being on Main Event this week: “Not on #WWERaw tonight. But rumor is they’re changing the name of #WWEMainEvent to #MainEventMustafa. Catch me on this week’s episode!”
  • Chris Van Vliet has an interview with Billie Kay.
  • Alicia Atout interviewed Dominik Mysterio.
  • WWE’s YouTube channel uploaded Bayley vs. Carmella for the NXT Women’s Championship from the February 10, 2016 episode of NXT, The Miz vs. John Morrison in a falls count anywhere match for the WWE Championship from the January 3, 2011 episode of Raw, and Roman Reigns vs. John Cena from No Mercy 2017.

Other Wrestling

  • Marty Jannetty claimed that the Facebook post he made last month about having murdered someone in his past was “just the beginning of a damn wrestling storyline.” An official for the Columbus, Georgia police department told TMZ that the case is still open for investigation.
  • Eve Torres Gracie revealed that she and her family tested positive for COVID-19: “I debated sharing this, as it still feels raw and personal right now, but I’ve always believed in sharing both the good and the tough with our community. My husband, Rener, tested positive for COVID last Wednesday in the beginning of our vacation in Utah with my family. We all returned home immediately. I have now tested positive, and my 2 year old, Renson, has had a fever, who we also assume to be positive. We have a great support system and a great vitamin/ supplement regimen, and we know many of you may have already battled with this virus and all the weight that comes with it. We welcome your positive thoughts for us and my family as we are hoping to be on the other side of this soon.”
  • Matt Hardy tweeted ahead of his appearance on tomorrow’s episode of Dynamite: “Tomorrow night LIVE on #AEWDynamite, I’m excited to address all of the @AEWrestling fans. I’m looking very forward to @AEWonTNT, hope you are too.”
  • Thunder Rosa wrote about her match against Hikaru Shida from All Out: “Never EVER,EVER,EVER give up on yourself….when you least expect things God will bless you with the biggest challenges and opportunities! @nwa @williampcorgan thank you so much for letting me represent the company on such a huge platform! To the @allelitewrestling @tonyrkhan team thanks for taking me with open arms. This last 3 weeks have been pretty amazing! The fact that we made fans talk about #womenwrestling and ask for more is a testament that we, woman can take the center stage and main event on any show! The fans enjoyed and are ready for more… @shidahikaru I’m ready for round two!”
  • Brodie Lee told Wrestling Inc about the Vince McMahon references that were made at the start of Lee’s AEW career: “Obviously, there was a couple of little Easter eggs and things that people could very easily pick up on, but as a whole, the character was never meant to be a Vince McMahon parody. But there was definitely a couple jabs his way in the early going. Once I realized that that was everything that people were going to talk about, I wanted to get away from that as quickly as possible because I wanted it to be more about me, more about my identity and more about my journey to where we’re going. I didn’t want to be seen as that bitter ex-employee. I don’t want that label on me whatsoever.”
  • Lee was asked about people in WWE being upset about the references: “I have no problems with that whatsoever. I rather enjoy that and the thought of me, little old me, affecting someone there, that’s OK with me.”
  • The NWA’s Ten Pounds of Gold series returned today with a look at Nick Aldis’ upcoming title defense against Mike Bennett.
  • 2 Cold Scorpio vs. AR Fox is set for GCW’s For the Culture on October 9. The show is part of The Collective.
  • TVInsider has an interview with Heath Slater.

Daily Pro Wrestling History: Ric Flair stripped of NWA title ahead of WWF debut

CONTACT INFORMATION