Daily Update: Bryce Mitchell, WWE Royal Rumble, AEW

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This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

The new issue of the Observer is up on the site today:

  • All-time records for WWE business that will be broken at the Royal Rumble
  • What 38 years old company attendance mark goes down this week
  • Rumble favorites and news on the show
  • Things AEW should look to do regarding the creative on Dynamite to avoid things like redundancy, not getting key people over, and examining what the actual purposes of angles are and making them work
  • Full coverage of Saturday Night’s Main Event from this past week, business numbers and what they  mean, Dory Funk Jr., Jesse Ventura and match-by-match coverage.
  • Paul Levesque goes into the Paul Levesque picked WWE Hall of Fame
  • One of the most notable pro wrestling arenas in the world closes this year after nearly 50 years of running major shows. A look at some of the biggest matches held there including Inoki, Jack Brisco, Hogan, Andre, Monsoon, Hansen, Dusty Rhodes, Backlund, Volk Han, Nobuhiko Takada and even the Crush Gals.
  • The life and times of Ed Wiskoski aka Col DeBeers. A look at a 25 year career that went all over the world with a variety of gimmicks, including rises and falls of major territories, the making of his most famous gimmick and its controversial nature.
  • The GFL draft is basically admitted to be a fraud as to how it was presented and all the major names from the past part of the new team-based promotion.
  • Bryce Mitchell says some of the dumbest things possible and Dana White counters. But should the company cut ties with him.
  • The life and times of 50s and 60s star Bill Melby, including the angle that put the Cow Palace on the map as a regular wrestling building, and the most accomplished wrestler/bodybuilders.
  • The most detailed look at the ratings for all the television shows, as well as WWE shows on Netflix.  Quarters, year-to-year comparisons and more. Plus competition and demo numbers
  • CMLL’s second biggest show of the year coming
  • Hot Arena Mexico main event
  • Announcer leaves promotion after 30 years
  • TripleMania news for 2025
  • Stardom awards
  • Dark Side of the Ring 2025 notes
  • How the major TV cable stations are doing
  • Former WCW star in jail
  • AEW international TV notes
  • Lots of notes on AEW Grand Slam Australia
  • International TV numbers
  • Christopher Daniels talks the end of his career
  • AEW star wants to box and do MMA
  • Giant fight talked about is for sure not happening
  • Death of legendary sportswriter Michael Katz
  • WWE star in one of the top box office movies of all-time
  • Jordynne Grace talks leaving TNA
  • WWE injury notes and thoughts about the policy of not stopping matches
  • Top YouTube numbers for the week

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter Back Issue

Friday Update

  • For this weekend we will have a show later today with Garrett Gonzales talking about the news of the week and this current week’s Observer. Bryan and I will be back tomorrow night after the Royal Rumble.
  • With all the clamor yesterday regarding the statements made by Bryce Mitchell praising Hitler, saying the holocaust never happened and blaming Jews for turning people gay, I think the comments by Jan Blachowicz deserves equal of not more attention:  He said on X, “Hey Bryce Mitchell, since you are so good at research I invite you to take a little educational tour. We’ll start in Warsaw, which was nearly razed to the ground in 1945. You will see many memorial plaques commemorating the public executions of civilians.   You can reflect on each prisoner separately. I will also share a personal story, because Waclaw – my grandfather’s brother – was in this camp. Jan Bednarek, in turn, is my grandmother’s brother, who died in the Buchenwald camp.   My grandfather was held in a German prisoner of war camp. I invite you to Poland to see all this with your own eyes. We’ll see if you’ll still consider `you know who’ a good guy. “
  • Tomorrow is the WWE’s second biggest show of the year, The Royal Rumble. from Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.  The issue has a preview but this will be the most people in the U.S. watching a Rumble aside from the first one in 1988, which was on the USA Network rather than PPV or streaming.  The updated tickets out number for the show is 65,183, which legit makes it the biggest number for a non-WrestleMania show in North American pro wrestling history. Even on a worldwide basis there are only a few shows aside from WrestleManias that have topped it.
  • The go-home show is tonight in Indianapolis with Chelsea Green vs. Michin for the U.S. title, Motor City Machine Guns & Angel & Berto vs. DIY & Pretty Deadly, Noami vs. Liv Morgan and Jimmy Uso vs. Carmelo Hayes. There were more than 11,000 tickets out for the show as of this morning. Dragon Lee vs. Chad Gable for the Speed title is expected to be taped first.
  • We are looking for reports from tonight’s show with any live notes on the Speed title or anything else not on the live show to dave@wrestlingobserver.com
  • We are doing our poll on the Royal Rumble, which starts at 6 p.m. Eastern, earlier than usual, tomorrow. You can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to dave@wrestlingobserver.com
  • Two bad optic looks for AEW today. The big one, which  those in WWE and others have been sending us, is a promotion by TOPPS regarding AJ & Big Justice promoting a baseball Topps  Chrome Update series and AJ on his shoulder has a replica WWE title belt. That blows my mind.  
  • The other is Saraya doing a TMZ interview saying her AEW deal is up in September and would not rule out a return to WWE, saying she loves WWE and appreciates everyone there, they made me.  She did say she loves her time in AEW. That is what it is but can you imagine a WWE performer whose deal is up at the end of the year saying the equivalent?  That’s not as bad as the first one.   .
  • Alex Pereeira said that he wants a boxing match with Oleksandr Usyk. He noted he was under contract to UFC and doesn’t know how he’d be able to do it, but he’d really like to do it.  This is not something that would be a good idea for him aside from perhaps a payday, but I guess that’s what fighting is really about.  But UFC would be insane to give their okay to it at this point in time.

Sting’s reps sent out a schedule for his final public appearances in his face paint and Sting gear

  • Today at WrestleCon in Indianapolis
  • 2/8 at Magicon in Orlando, FL
  • 2/15 at  For The Love of Wrestling in Manchester, UKL
  • 3/8 at the Lexington Comic & Toy Con in Lexington, KY
  • 3/15 at the Permian Basin Comic Con in Midland, TX
  • 4/5 at Astronomicon in Ypsilante , MI
  • 4/20 at WrestleCon in Las Vegas over WrestleMania weekend
  • 5/3 at the Heart of Texas Comic Con in  Waco, TX
  • 5/24 at GalaxyCon in Oklahoma City, OK
  • 6/28 at Wrestleverse Fan Fest in Kansas City, MO
  • 9/20 at the Houston Celebrity Comic Con in Houston, TX
  • 11/8 at the Twin Cities Con in Minneapolis, MN
  • 11/9 at the Rhode Island Comic Con in Providence,  RI
  • Rhea Ripley and CM Punk were at yesterday’s Netflix event at the Egyptian Theater in Los Angeles.
  • For whatever this is worth, the Netflix U.K. Royal Rumble video includes The Rock.

UFC has a pure ESPN+ show starting at 9 a.m. Eastern from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia tomorrow morning:

  • Hamdy Abdelwahab  (260) vs. Jamal Pogues (264)
  • Bogdan Grad (145.5) vs. Lucas Alexander (148.5)  – Alexander missed weight by 2.5 pounds and was fined 30 percent of hir purse)
  • Jasmine Jaasudavicius (125) vs. Mayra Bueno Silva (126)
  • Terrance McKinney (156) vs. Damir Hadzovic (155.5)
  • Shmail Gaziev (260) vs. Thomas Petersen (263)
  • Muhammad Naimov (145.5) vs. Kaan Ofli (145)
  • Fares Ziam (156) vs.  Mike Davis (155.5)
  • Said Nurmagomedov (135.5) vs. Vinicius Oliveira (135)
  • Sergei Pavlovich (249) vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik (252)
  • Shara Bullet Magomedov (185) vs. Michael Venom Page (185.5)
  • Israel Adesanya (185) vs. Nassourdine Imavov (185)
  • It just seems like a usual Friday at Arena Mexico tonight but the Mistico & Mascara Dorada & Neon vs. Ultimo Guerrero & Gran Guerrero & Stuka Jr. match in the main event is a big one.  It’s the second match of The Sky Team in a Friday night main event and against the best rudos at making high flyers look great.  Plus Esfinge & Star Jr. vs. Valiente & Zandokan Jr. looks to have major angle implications for the El Homenaje show.
  • Salvador Lutteroth II will be honored at the El Homenaje show along with Salvador Lutteroth who is honored every year.  Usually they honor the original Salvador Lutteroth, who founded the company in 1933 and ran it into the late 60s and a legendary wrestler. The current Salvador Lutteroth, who runs the company today and made the business deals with Tony Khan, is the grandson of the original and the son of II.
  • Dr. Wagner Jr. this past week noted what has been known for weeks, that his son, El Hijo del Dr.  Wagner Jr., has gotten a WWE offer. The younger Wagner did his farewell to NOAH recently, where he had held both the GHC national and world championship at  different times. It has not been confirmed he’s going to WWE, just that Wagner Jr. said that WWE and AAA have both made offers for him. He said that if his son has to unmask or take a different name that’s fine with him. The success of Penta and arrival of Rey Fenix whenever this happens has been a catalyst for WWE to look at more Luchadors. Plus with Netflix they are back interested in Latin America.
  • Nixon Newell, the former Tegan Nox, has announced a 5/18 match in Penarth, Wales for Attack! Pro Wrestling against Dani Luna of TNA. This is Newell’s first independent match since 2017 in the U.K.  Her WWE non-compete ended earlier this week.

There was a special show earlier today at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo.  It was a major nostalgia event for:

  • The 25th anniversary of Giant Baba’s death (actually it’s been 26 years today)
  • The retirement of Taiyo Kea, Baba’s last protege
  • The 50th anniversary of the referee debut of Kyohei Wada, the famous All Japan ref in the 1980s glory period
  • The 50th anniversary of the debut of Atsushi Onita
  • The 35th anniversary of the debut of ring announcer Fumihito Kihara.  
  • Jun Akiyama & Naomichi Marufuji & Satoshi Kojima beat Kea & Minoru Suzuki & Mazda in the main event when Kea was pinned.  Others on the show inlcuded Jun Kasai, Shuji Ishikawa, Masashi Takeda, Yuji Nagata, Takauya Nomura, Fuminori Abe, Atsushi Kotoge, Yukio Naya, Meiko Satomura, Nanae Takaashi, Osamu Nishimura, Tatsumi Fujinami, Shiro Koshinaka, Jinsei Shizaki, Mitsuya Nagai, Yoshiaki Fujiwara, Naruki Doi, Shuji Kondo, Kota Minoura, Kai and more.
  • Kirk White’s Big Time Wrestling has its annual 18 man Battle Royal on 2/7 at the Newark Pavilion in Newark, NJ for the Roy  Shire Battle Royal trophy (the original one used from 1968 on at the Cow Palace). 20 percent of all ticket revenue is going to Los Angeles Wildfire Relief. Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Alan Angels, Timothy Thatcher vs. Titus Alexander, Sandra Moone vs. Viva Van vs. Johnnie Robbie are on the show as well as Starboy Charlie,  Marcus Lewis and Vinnie Massaro.
  • Dana White said the upcoming show in Seattle will set the North American gate record for a non-PPV event.
  • Godfather and Brutus Beefcake have an autograph signing on 2/23 at GWC On the River in Monroe, MI from 2-6 p.m. On the River is a wrestling museum in Monroe owned by Steve Morand.