Daily Update: Becky Lynch, Bryan Danielson, Paul Wight

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This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

The new issue of the Observer is out with the following covered:

  • Match of the week and performer of the week from the past two weeks
  • The most detailed story of the AEW/C.M. Punk relationship
  • The honeymoon period
  • The business records
  • The difficulty of the decision to cut ties with him
  • Lots of new information not reported previously
  • The original records set and business success
  • The fight after All Out and its aftermath
  • Realities of pro wrestling
  • Analysis of him going to WWE
  • Support and non-support for him in AEW
  • Punk’s prior two contacts in recent years with WWE about returning
  • Conflict between Punk and other talent
  • The situation with Adam Page
  • The attempts to get everyone working together and why it kept being delayed
  • Details on what happened in the investigations after All In
  • Tony Khan’s speech before the live crowd in Chicago
  • The life and times of Sheik Adnan-Al Kaissie, the Native American babyface torn foreign menace
  • Amateur wrestling, legend in Hawaii, and giant stadium crowds in Iraq including beating Andre the Giant
  • His WWWF tag team title run
  • His AWA run including the biggest crowds in the heyday of the promotion affiliated with Jerry Blackwell and Ken Patera
  • The final run with Sgt. Slaughter
  • Full coverage of Payback, business notes, stories out of the show and match-by-match coverage
  • Full coverage of All Out, highlights, polls, business notes and more
  • UFC weekend coverage from Paris
  • More notes on the formation of a new all-women’s promotion that starts in a few weeks with Japanese stars
  • The most detailed look at the ratings for every wrestling and MMA show, segment-by-segment notes
  • Rocky Romero talks his CMLL run
  • Latest from Arena Mexico
  • Hall of Famer says he hopes to recover from recent operation and have a big retirement match
  • Stardom Five-Star Grand Prix tournament notes
  • Stardom PPV coverage
  • New rookie getting rave reviews
  • All Japan and NOAH have big shows
  • Terry Funk funeral notes
  • Notes on new TV show
  • Big tag team tournament coming
  • More notes on Wembley Stadium attendance
  • Bryan Danielson and Adam Cole talk post All Out
  • Advance ticket sales for WWE & AEW shows
  • AEW value calculated
  • International TV ratings and streaming numbers
  • Aussie Open on why they signed with AEW
  • Sports franchise owned by pro wrestling star wins championship
  • Dana White talks Bellator being for sale
  • More on Bellator sale talks
  • Analyst talks where he thinks WWE will wind up on television
  • Gable Steveson not doing world championships and update
  • Merchandise sales for Clash at the Castle and for All in
  • Cena’s drawing power on his return

This Week’s Retro Observer Newsletter

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.

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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.

Wednesday Update

WWE

  • After last night’s NXT went off the air, new NXT Women’s Champion Becky Lynch gave a speech to the crowd. She thanked the fans for all of the support they’ve given her over the years, including when she started in NXT. Lynch said she wants to be a fighting champion and represent NXT.
  • WWE also uploaded a post-show interview with Lynch.
  • Lynch responded to the big ratings number that last night’s show did: “Ratings Rebecca”
  • Wrestlenomics reports that the eight-minute overrun featuring the end of Lynch and Tiffany Stratton’s title match averaged over one million viewers.
  • Shawn Michaels greeted Lynch backstage following her victory.
  • On NXT, WWE gave a storyline update on Von Wagner’s condition. Last week’s episode ended with an angle where the show cut to black as Bron Breakker struck Wagner in the head with the steel steps. WWE claimed that Wagner suffered a “minor skull fracture” and the timetable for his recovery hasn’t been determined. WWE said that Wagner moved away slightly at the last moment to take away the full impact of the steps.
  • Dana White responded to a statement that UFC executive Lawrence Epstein made about wanting to get to a point where every UFC fan is a WWE fan and every WWE fan is a UFC fan. White said:
          • Lawrence, I love you, one of the dumbest statements of all time. I don’t know why he said that. I don’t even know what to say to that. No. There is no…there is some crossover. Some people like WWE, some people like UFC, some people like both. I don’t think there is ever going to be a day where we turn every UFC fan to a WWE fan or every WWE [fan to a UFC fan]. What’s beautiful about the synergy between these two fanbases is they are very completely opposite. There is very little crossover. And again, maybe he was misquoted. I hope that was the case because I could not disagree with him more.
  • Vanity Fair wrote in a feature story about Bad Bunny: “And [Bad Bunny] toys with a return to the WWE ring—’my plan is to take the title from Roman Reign,’ he taunts, before admitting he’s trying to avoid lucha libre. His last match, in which he defeated fellow Puerto Rican fighter Damian Priest, was just too painful.”
  • Seth Rollins, Samantha Irvin & Ricochet, and actor Matthew McConaughey were guests on WWE’s The Bump this afternoon.
  • TJ Wilson (Tyson Kidd) was interviewed on Out of Character.
  • Baron Corbin turns 39 years old today.

AEW/Other Wrestling

  • Bryan Danielson spoke to SI FanNation about how CM Punk’s departure could affect the AEW roster:
          • In any job, when you lose somebody who’s very important, or you lose somebody you really like working with, that’s hard. But everyone keeps doing the job. And any time there is loss or controversy or struggle inside an organization, it’s a chance to bring people closer. It’s also a chance to divide people. So you have this thing where you can use struggle to make your life worse, or you can use struggle to make your life better. When I lost my father, I came out on the backside. I was worse. Struggling with my depression, I’ve come out of it better. So how you approach something and how you learn from something, that’s what makes the difference.
  • A report from ESPN that was published today revealed that Paul Wight was a name that surfaced in the 2013 investigation of the Biogenesis performance-enhancing drugs scandal. Wight’s attorney denied that Wight ever took PEDs:
          • Through his attorney, Edward Brennan, Wight confirmed that [Tony] Bosch and [Jorge “Ugi”] Velazquez were part of a large open house gathering at his home on Thanksgiving but said Wight met Bosch only one other time. Brennan said Wight had never failed a drug test and stressed that any involvement with performance-enhancing drugs would pose a serious risk because of his having suffered from an endocrine system disorder.
          • ‘Paul never treated with Bosch. Paul never took any PEDs from Ugi or anyone else. He is as clean as you can be. More importantly, he would never take any PEDs because of his underlying medical condition.’
  • Jon Moxley cut a promo on Big Bill ahead of their International title match on tonight’s Dynamite.
  • While speaking with Bleav in Pro Wrestling, Moxley praised Bryan Danielson:
          • If you just picked him up and stuck him in any ring in the world, whether it be the parking lot of an auto parts store in Tijuana, or the Tokyo Dome, or the main event of WrestleMania, or AEW Dynamite… You put him in any ring, against any opponent, with no context what-so-ever and just ring the bell… Anybody watching he will suck into that match. And they’ll feel like they’re watching a real struggle and be just completely sucked into [that] match for the duration of it. Against anybody, anywhere, anytime. He is like the most perfect pure pro wrestler that I think has ever lived. I’ve taken a great deal of influence and inspiration from him, as I’m sure many pro wrestlers have.
  • NJPW announced injury updates on Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Boltin Oleg:
          • After sustaining a knee injury September 9, Yoshinobu Kanemaru is still not currently cleared to compete, and will be absent for the remainder of the Road to Destruction tour. We apologise to fans who were looking forward to seeing Kanemaru wrestle, and appreciate your understanding.
          • Kanemaru will be replaced by TAKA Michinoku in matches for the remainder of the tour.
          • Boltin Oleg, who was removed from cards this past weekend due to an infection in his left wrist, is now cleared to return, and will be in action from Thursday’s non-televised live event in Shizuoka.
  • Taichi and SHO revealed the stipulation options for their upcoming KOPW title match.
  • On the Under the Ring podcast, Richard Holliday shared an update on how he’s feeling with his cancer in remission: “I feel great. Probably the best I’ve ever felt. To be honest, I feel rejuvenated. I feel like my body’s working again, like maybe even better than prior to everything. I’m in such an amazing physical mental space right now. I definitely look at life and my career and how appreciative I am for both much differently now. So definitely a different outlook, but it’s a good one.”
  • “Wrestlers,” a docuseries focused on Ohio Valley Wrestling, is available for streaming on Netflix starting today.