Daily Update: CM Punk, UFC, WWE notes

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F4W NEWSLETTER: Figure Four Weekly: Standout performances highlight Survivor Series week

With standout performances from Becky Lynch, Ronda Rousey, Charlotte Flair, Brock Lesnar, and Daniel Bryan, Survivor Series and the days leading into the pay-per-view were as strong of a stretch as the WWE main roster has had all year. An injury that took Lynch out of what was going to be the biggest moment of her career thus far ended up having plenty of silver linings.

WON NEWSLETTER: November 26, 2018 Observer Newsletter: Survivor Series review, tons more

Look at what came out of Survivor Series as the lead story in the new issue of the Observer. The issue runs down more plans for the Royal Rumble and another planned main event and angle for WrestleMania, and look at the strange booking and what makes sense and doesn’t.

Also look at the trademarks of All Elite Wrestling, who is behind the promotion, what they need, and the important questions on how this relates to pro wrestling in 2019.

Read an update on New Japan on AXS TV, with the announcing change and early year schedule including Tokyo Dome coverage.

Examine the plans by WWE to open up territories around the world, including places earmarked first, the announcement expected to be made imminently and the philosophy behind these expansions. 

Read why the XFL in 2020 is different from 2001 and how the media differences make this a new ball game, plus one of the leading television executives in the country talks about being willing to get into bed with the XFL

In addition, there are rundowns from all the WWE arena events from the past week with results, highlights and business.

There is a rundown of NXT Takeover War Games, with notes on the show, story behind the lineup, plus match-by-match coverage with star ratings.

Also look at the domestic violence case involving UFC fighter Rachael Ostovich and her husband, what each side is claiming and more.

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 Meltzer, or by using PayPal directing funds to Dave@WrestlingObserver.com. 

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TUESDAY NEWS UPDATE

WWE

  • Silas Young was at last night’s Raw show, according to PWInsider. His contract with Ring of Honor is up at the end of the year.
  • There’s a bit of confusion going on regarding a match for SmackDown. WWE already announced that The Bar would be taking on The Usos  in a non-title match. However, both Sheamus and Cesaro have put out tweets issuing an openchallenge.
  • Pete Dunne on the recent reports concerning NXT UK: “British wrestling is safe. Will continue to grow, the talent pool is deep. Your favourite wrestlers are achieving goals and taking steps in their career. Don’t believe everything you read. Britwres is alive and well.”
  • Lio Rush had his own thoughts on Raw last night.
  • Jan Murphy of Postmedia talked to Tyson Kidd, who discussed his career, meeting the Hart family and his career-ending injury.
  • Speaking of that injury, Samoa Joe talked to City Pages and didn’t rule out using the muscle buster again in the future. It was Kidd landing wrong on impact from Joe’s muscle buster that ended his career.
  • Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins will team together for a toy drive for Toys for Tots. You can send in brand-new WWE toys to Hawkins’ Create a Pro Wrestling Academy at 95 Engineers Drive Hicksville, N.Y. 11801. This starts now and will end on December 11.
  • Ronda Rousey, Natalya, Sasha Banks, Bayley & Ember Moon defeated Nia Jax, Tamina & The Riott Squad in a post-Raw dark match last night.
  • The fan who asked a question during the open forum segment of Raw was Minnesota indy wrestler Kara Noia.

Pro Wrestling

  • Several charges against Joey Mercury were dropped today in Orange County Court in Florida. Mercury had been charged with Identity Theft, Conspiracy to commit credit card fraud over $300, Use or Possession of Personal Identification Information and Petit Theft. He was arrested over All In weekend back in September after police ran a background check.
  • The NWA has uploaded the NWA World’s Heavyweight title match between Nick Aldis and Cody from their anniversary show on their YouTube page.
  • CZW has announced Atsushi Onita & Matt Tremont vs. DJ Hyde & Masada for their Cage of Death XX show in Philadelphia on December 9.
  • The Athletes Hub spoke to Yuji Tsuruta, who talked about his father Jumbo’s career.
  • PWG released the preview for the DVD of last month’s Smokey and the Bandido show.

UFC/MMA

  • CM Punk did an interview with MMA Fighting about joining the commentary team for Cage Fury Fighting Championships and was asked about The Young Bucks and Cody Rhodes potentially being involved in starting a new promotion:
    “I think at this point that whatever those guys decide to do will be great for them and their families. If I was asked what I would do or what I would say to them — because they could obviously go to WWE whenever they want — it’s just a matter of is this what’s best for your family? And I think we live in a time now where WWE is not the end-all, be-all. I don’t think it has been for quite some time. I think the stigma that it is is still there and probably will persist for many, many years. But enough people have been there and left that can, I guess, extoll the knowledge of, ‘Hey, you know what, the place ain’t all that.’ And I’m in a spot now where I’ve been gone what, five years? Maybe the place has changed. I’ve got people who text me and say otherwise, but there’s ways to make money and support your family outside of that. With also being able to satisfy the side of your brain that’s creative, the side of your brain that loves professional wrestling, the reason you bought a pair of boots in the first place. And I think those guys can definitely do that. I think they can command their price if they want there. But if they did go there, then they’d just be another guy — just like everybody else on that show. It’s amazing, the more time the show gets, the less time it really seems they develop new characters.”
  • Punk was also asked if he’d have any interest in joining the promotion. He said that “pro wrestling is not on my radar,” but mentioned that he’d be willing to listen if they made an offer:
    “I would always listen. I would listen to them, because just like Dave [Sholler], I like the Young Bucks. I text with Matt on and off. But business is business. I know Cody was out there in the media saying that an offer was made [for the All In event Sept. 1]. An offer was not made. Calling me up or texting me saying, ‘Hey, if you want to come to the show and do something, we would love that’ is not an offer. That’s not an offer. There’s other things. There’s a couple more loose ends that I’m still trying to tie up to fully absolve me from the world of pro wrestling. I feel like I’ve still been attached to it since the day that I left it and that’s mostly because of fugazi lawyers and such. But we’re wrapping all that up and that’ll come to an end. And once I’m truly free, we can explore the world and just float and hang out. And I can walk my dog and drink coffee and do commentary for Dave Sholler and continue to train at Roufusport. And do all kinds of stuff. I’ve earned it, I’ve paid my dues.”
  • Paige VanZant vs. Rachael Ostovich is back on for the UFC’s Fight Night show on January 19. Ostovich has been cleared to remain in the fight despite suffering a fractured orbital bone during an alleged attack by her husband earlier this month.
  • Dana White claimed on the latest episode of UFC Unfiltered that the UFC let Sage Northcutt (who is a free agent now that his contract is up) go: “We let Sage go. Sage is young and Sage needs some work. So let him get some work in one of these other organizations and we’ll see where this kid ends up in a couple of years and maybe we’ll pick him back up again.”
  • White commented on Chuck Liddell being allowed to fight for Golden Boy Promotions: ““I love Chuck Liddell and I don’t ever want to bad mouth Chuck Liddell,” White said. “People even think I’m remotely bad mouthing Chuck Liddell, but the reality is — first of all, I heard last week the cokehead ‘Oscar De La Weirdo’ is talking sh*t that I don’t have any place to tell guys when to retire. First of all, it’s called ‘friendship’ you f*cking cokehead. I’ve been friends with Chuck Liddell for 20 years and the reality is that Chuck Liddell retired when he should have retired. Eight, nine years ago, however long it was. And Chuck Liddell’s almost 50 years old and has no business fighting anymore. The fact that the state of California even let that fight happen is disgusting. Disgusting. Chuck Liddell has an incredible legacy. He’s a huge superstar in this sport, so of course as a friend, anybody who claims to be a friend of Chuck Liddell and was anywhere near this fight is full of shit. They’re not a friend of Chuck Liddell. To let him go in and fight this fight is terrible.”
  • It was made official yesterday that Henry Cejudo will defend the flyweight title against bantamweight TJ Dillashaw at UFC 233 on January 26.
  • Chad Mendes vs. Alexander Volkanovski is set for UFC 232 on December 29.

Daily Pro Wrestling History: Starrcade 1986: Night of the Skywalkers

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