Daily Update: Col. DeBeers passes away, The Rizzler, Bobby Fulton

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This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

  • January 27, 2025 Observer Newsletter: AEW inconsistency issues, WWE SNME preview, TNA Genesis & GCW reviews
  • What are the issues with AEW and what can be done to fix some of them easily
  • A look at Wednesday’s show and the different issues regarding the big picture
  • Why WWE doesn’t get hurt when it does the same things listed as mistakes when AEW does them
  • Where AEW actually stands in television
  • Preview of Saturday Night’s Main Event, Royal Rumble and business notes
  • UFC 311 coverage of the show changed at the last minute
  • A look at TNA’s Genesis PPV, its relationship with WWE and its first live TV shoot
  • Game Changer Wrestling returns to the Hammerstein
  • What happened with PCO and why
  • 2024 Awards ballot
  • The most detailed look at the ratings over the past week including Raw on Netflix
  • New CMLL marketing gimmick
  • Stardom comes up with new booking concept and debuts it this past week
  • Dragon Gate comes to the U.S.
  • Japanese promotions try to present united front
  • Notes on first live TNA TV show in eight years
  • Britt Baker update
  • Ricky Starks update
  • Grand Slam Australia update
  • Notes on new AEW dates
  • Major issue long-term for AEW younger talents
  • Advanced ticket sales for upcoming WWE & AEW shows
  • International TV ratings and streaming numbers
  • More on Dana White and boxing
  • Chris Weidman retires
  • Craig Piligian announced for UFC Hall of Fame
  • One of the most popular fighters from 15 year ago cut by UFC
  • Lots more on WrestleMania
  • Corey Graves update

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter Back Issue

Sunday Update

Image: NBC

— Bryan and I will be back tonight talking the weekend shows and the latest wrestling news as well as taking questions that you can send to mailbag@wrestlingobserver.com.

— Ed Wiskoski, who wrestled regularly from 1972 to 1996 under a number of names, including Easy Ed Wiskowski, Col. Ed DeBeers, Derek Draper, and others, passed away within the last few days at the age of 80. His daughter confirmed he had passed away. He was a decent level star coming out of the Central States and being a protege of Harley Race as a big former college football player. He was pushed well in a lot of territories and I always thought of him as a very good wrestler, and a strong promo guy. He wound up in Oregon as the tag team partner of Buddy Rose. He later gained national attention as Col. DeBeers from South Africa in the AWA. He got a ton of heat playing a racist who outright hated blacks and Jimmy Snuka. It was a gimmick that was controversial and people will argue whether it was or wasn’t successful, or was or wasn’t tasteless. Well, it was definitely tasteless. He lived in Oregon late in his career and after his career although it has been reported he was living in Arizona.  

— I didn’t hear a lot about great matches this weekend other than Gunther vs. Jey Uso and Konosuke Takeshita vs. Katsuyori Shibata last night on SNME and Collision. The Chris Brookes vs. Shuji Ishikawa KO-D title match at Korakuen Hall we were told was excellent as well as Jeff Cobb vs. Daisuke Sekimoto from Big Japan.

— The biggest Bare Knuckle event in history took place last night in Philadelphia with Jeremy Stephens beating Eddie Alvarez in the main event before more than 17,000 fans at the Wells Fargo Arena in Philadelphia. Conor McGregor, who is a co-owner of the promotion, cut a promo saying he wanted to fight Stephens and wanted to make a date for them to fight under Bare Knuckle rules. Of course, McGregor is still under a fight contract with UFC and can only do so if they allow it, which it’s highly doubtful they would.

— Terry Funk vs. Jumbo Tsuruta in an NWA title match from Sumo Hall in Tokyo in 1976 is a match I didn’t realize was available, but this was a classic match for its time.

— Bloodsport is coming to the Electric Ballroom in London on 9/29.

— Rhino’s Insane Wrestling Revolution promotion will stream live on Triller starting with its 2/6 show in Monroe, MI. The shows usually start at 6:30 p.m. local time on Thursday nights and use a lot of TNA talent.

— GCW results from today at the Electric Ballroom in London: Alec Price  & Cole Radrick retained the GCW tag titles over Kid Lykos I & II, Sidney Akeem b Aigie Blanc, Maki Itoh b Man Like DeReiss, Luke Jacobs b One Called Manders, Leon Slater b Jimmy Lloyd, Joey Janela b Big F’n Joe, Masha Slamovich d Megan Bayne with a double pin finish to keep the JCW title, Mance Warner b Drew Parker, Effy b Cara Noir to keep the GCW title. Slamovich vs. Bayne matched the TNA champion vs. an AEW wrestler.

–The Fulton (Hines) family on the World Class Professional Big Time Wrestling Facebook page posted that they were canceling the 3/8 show and convention and temporarily not running anything but Bobby Fulton will return with something bigger and better than before. In Friday’s update there was a link to a local news story about Bobby’s son, Dillon Hines. The family said that Dillon is now out of the wrestling business for good. The story was an extremely negative portrayal of Dillon who several wrestlers, most notably Rob Van Dam, had issues with.

–The new back issue of the Observer from 2007 is up on the site covering the Chris Benoit murder/suicide including the toxicology report and a number of very embarrasing (and even more embarrassing in hindsight) WWE media reactions from that report (basically Benoit had a 59-to-1 TE ratio, one of the highest you’ll ever see, and then John Cena cited the results as saying that Benoit hadn’t taken any muscle building steroids). 

— The New York Times Magazine has a story on The Rizzler who is part of the AJ entourage, which does mention AEW in it. AJ & Big Justice were on last night’s Collision.

— House of Glory results from last night in the New York City Aena before a packed house:  Raheem Royal & Jay Armani b Jay Lyon & Midas Black-DQ, Phumi Nkuta b KC Navarro, Darren Richardson b Mighty Mantew, J Boujii won over Jarrett Diaz, JJ Doze, Dante Griffith Jodi Aura and Joey Silva to get a cruiserweight title match, Idris Jackson b Rhino, Ricky Starks b Charles Mason, Mike Santana b KENTA to keep the HOG title in what was said to be one of the best matches in the history of the company (thanks to Samuel Rosenthal)

— Jun Saito retained the Triple Crown over Yma Anzai on today’s show and will next defend the title against Yuma Aoyagi.

–Maika was named the 2024 Starrdom MVP and Mayu Iwatani vs. Momo Watanabe on 11/17 for the IWGP women’s title was named Stardom match of the year at the awards ceremony today.

–Gordon Solie would have turned 96 today.