Daily Update: AEW notes, AJ Styles, MLW

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This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

  • The most in-depth look at AEW media rights deal completed and the deal not yet completed. We look at what different numbers mean for different levels of popularity, figuring different scenarios in, best and worst case, PPV and secondary deals.
  • UFC 306 coverage with the record gate at The Sphere going head-to-head with Canelo Alvarez in the same city.
  • Coverage of the CMLL anniversary show what did and didn’t work and the difference from a normal crowd.
  • One of the biggest stars of this generation talks about retirement, gives a date and the significance of that date.
  • Where pro wrestling shows this past week fit into the weekly cable charts.
  • A look at every national pro wrestling show this past week, how it compared to last year, placings, competition and segment ratings.
  • Who is CMLL’s booker?
  • What country celebrated a national pro wrestling holiday this week
  • Update on El Hijo del Vikingo
  • The man who was believed to be the oldest living wrestler passes away
  • World team tryouts
  • Notes on a movie coming out soon on the life of Mildred Burke
  • Note on a Blu-Ray I just did voiceovers for
  • wXw tag team tournament notes
  • A very valid criticism of AEW
  • Update on ticket sales to WWE & AEW shows the next two months
  • International TV ratings and streaming numbers
  • Notes on the NFL Films piece on Tony Khan
  • Updates on TV time length for  Raw & Smackdown in January
  • Second day streaming rights updates on Raw,  Smackdown, and NXT starting next month
  • Notes on the return of Saturday Night’s Main Event and a look back at the first one and numbers that would be incredible today
  • Update on WWE moving the second NXT on CW show from a major arena and why
  • A look back at Vince McMahon’s promises when he was expanding.

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter Back Issue

Wednesday Update

WWE

  • All six episodes of the “Mr. McMahon” docuseries are available to stream on Netflix starting today. Dave Meltzer spoke with TV Insider about the series.
  • Fightful reports that many people within the industry are of the belief that AJ Styles’ WWE contract is slated to expire either later this year or in early 2025.
  • During an appearance on Ringer Wrestling Worldwide, Trick Williams praised how CM Punk has helped NXT talent:
    • Man, honestly, CM Punk has been great to us here at NXT. As you know, we’ve got athletes from all over, all different backgrounds… we’ve got a little bit of everything here at NXT. And CM Punk has found a way to be able to be helpful to us all. Not just me, but all of us. We sit down and we take the knowledge, man. And we learn from CM Punk. The fact that he’s special guest referee [for Ethan Page vs. Williams] when we go to Chicago October 1 is huge for us. I’m super excited about it. I know he’s going to call it down the middle.
  • Adnan Virk, who had a brief stint as a WWE commentator in 2021, told Sports Media with Richard Deitsch that he thinks Joe Tessitore has done a great job since joining the Raw commentary team:
    • I wish I had more time to watch… But I think he’s done great and I’m with you, I’m like, that’s a very tough audience as you know. They’re very tough to impress. So if you can come in and let’s say, 60 percent of them like Tess, that is a resounding victory and I’m sure that number is higher but, it’ll only grow because again, people… eventually, they’ll understand Tess and his cadence and like I said, the fact that he’s passionate about it and he knows it and he’s a hell of an announcer. Like I said, I think Michael Cole is outstanding. But I’m sure Tess at some point can reach those levels as well and it’s obviously a great hire for Nick [Khan].
  • Barstool Rasslin’ interviewed Hulk Hogan.

AEW/Other Wrestling

  • AEW has a Road To video hyping up tonight’s Grand Slam edition of Dynamite.
  • In an interview with Undisputed, Matt Jackson of The Young Bucks looked back on the first All In from 2018:
    • The couple of years leading to All In and the time surrounding the event itself were my favorite ones in wrestling. It was such an exciting time. There was a groundswell of momentum that you could just feel. We really felt like we were making a difference as we went from town to town. The fans who followed our every move matched the passion we had. The feeling I would have after a show, speaking to the audience who would hang on to our every word, made me feel like eternal life was a possibility.
    • All In was a gathering and celebration for all of us misfit wrestlers and wrestling fans who wanted to get together and throw one large party under one roof. It was the closest I’d felt to a religious experience outside of a church. The idea of fitting that many people into one building did seem a bit far-fetched, but the timing for even the possibility was too ideal so we just couldn’t pass up the opportunity. Besides, at the time, it felt like anything we touched would turn to gold, so maybe it’d work out? Luckily, it did.
  • Jackson believes Kazuchika Okada is a future AEW World Champion:
    • I feel like Okada is definitely a future world champion and it would elevate the title to new heights. Nobody does big matches better than him. Nobody has more aura than him. If I need someone out there who has to follow a four-hour show, I’m sending Okada out there every time.
  • On Busted Open Radio yesterday, Darby Allin used a music reference to compare AEW and WWE:
    • If people are going to compare the two companies – WWE or AEW or whatever – I like to put it as kind of music references. For example, you can say WWE is like the Taylor Swift and AEW is the Slayer. You know what I mean? Taylor Swift can sell more records, but that doesn’t mean that Slayer doesn’t have a huge following.
    • Our brand of music is a little bit more intense and violent, but we don’t have to change anything, you know what I mean? We don’t have to try to sell the same records as a Taylor Swift. We’re kind of in our own world. And that’s what I like to compare the two things to.
  • Willow Nightingale told amNewYork that support from the fans has helped her overcome moments of self-doubt:
    • I think there have been a lot of moments of self-doubt, questioning my own worth. Every time that I do feel those things, the fans and audiences have helped reaffirm the good things that I think or feel. There might be the voice in the back of my head that might say, like, ‘You don’t deserve this, or you’re not good enough,’ but then how am I supposed to argue with like, a wave of support from all these fans.
  • Mercedes Mone chatted with Frank the Tank of Barstool Sports.
  • Ricochet is the guest on today’s episode of Talk is Jericho.
  • The Battleground Podcast interviewed Nigel McGuinness.
  • McGuinness gave his final thoughts ahead of his scheduled match against Bryan Danielson at Dynamite Grand Slam.
  • Deonna Purrazzo appeared on Casual Conversations with The Wrestling Classic.
  • MLW announced Minoru Suzuki vs. Matt Riddle for the TV taping portion of their Slaughterhouse event in St. Petersburg, Florida on Friday, October 4.
  • Barbaro Cavernario will be in action at MLW Lucha Apocalypto in Cicero, Illinois on Saturday, November 9.
  • In support of mental health awareness, TNA Wrestling has released a “Suplex The Stigma” shirt with 100 percent of the proceeds going to benefit the National Alliance on Mental illness.
  • Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling posted a video with Mauro Ranallo reflecting on the history of the Maple Leaf Wrestling brand.