Daily Update: Conor McGregor-Logan Paul, AEW Dynamite rating, Renato Moicano

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This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter Back Issue

Friday Update

– Garrett and I will be doing our weekly news review show and discussing the stories in the current issue of the Observer later today. Our weekend show will be Sunday night this week.

– The new issue of the Observer is up today:

  • 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

We’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback already on the lead story.

– SmackDown is tonight in Austin, TX. The only stuff announced is LA Knight vs. Tama Tonga, Motor City Machine Guns vs. Pretty Deadly, and a Cody Rhodes interview. They were 2,500 shy of capacity with 9,700 tickets out as of last night.

– El Homenaje a Dos Leyendas, which is CMLL’s traditional second biggest show of the year, was announced for 3/21 at Arena Mexico. The finals of the tournament for the vacant CMLL women’s tag team championship (the one Tessa Blanchard held with Lluvia) will be on that show.

– Nikki Garcia (Bella) is in talks with WWE about wrestling again.

– Conor McGregor in an interview with The Schmo said that the fight with Logan Paul fell through due to UFC not approving of the fight. McGregor is still under a UFC contract. He had talked about the fight for weeks but nobody took it seriously because UFC would have to approve it and Dana White continually said that it’s not happening.

– AEW’s show on Wednesday night, not factoring in the MAX numbers, was the highest rated show on TBS as best we can tell over the prior 17 days. We don’t get every rating but for prime time it was. As far as prime time goes, it would have been the second highest rated show of the year on the station at 0.19.

– TNA is taping television in San Antonio tonight.

– We’re looking for reports this weekend on both SmackDown tonight (stuff off the air like dark matches or Speed matches) and from the TNA tapings with results, finishes and highlights to dave@wrestlingobserver.com.

– Renato Moicano was on the Show Me The Money podcast and said he got paid an extra more than $950,000 to take the fight with Islam Makhachev on short notice last weekend. Moicano was listed as making $250,000 for the match, but that would not include bonuses.

– There is no UFC show this weekend with the next show on 2/1. The biggest MMA event this weekend is PFL in Dubai  UAE, with the main card on MAX airing at 11 a.m. Eastern

  • Renat Khavalov (136) vs. Cleiver Fernandes (135.9)
  • Ibragim Ibragimov (146) vs. Kenny Mokhonoana (147) – Mokhonoana missed weight by one point
  • Akhmed Magomedov (145.7) vs. Nathan Kelly (145.6)
  • Vadim Nemkov (242.4) vs. Tim Johnson (264.2)
  • Usman Nurmagomedov (154.9) vs. Paul Hughes (155) for the Bellator lightweight title

– The GFL is doing its draft tonight at 8 p.m. Eastern on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Twitch and DAZN. It’s a team format with six coaches and managers picking fighters over 20 rounds.

– Dominick Reyes vs. Nikita Krylov in a light heavyweight bout takes place on the 4/12 UFC PPV show that is believed to be taking place in Miami.

– The former Titan Towers, that WWE was no longer using, was sold to MB Financial Group for $3.75 million with the idea of turning it into apartment buildings.

– Leon Slater has been announced for the wXw 16 Carat Gold tournament in March.

– The Scioto Valley Guardian has a story on Dillon Hines, the son of Bobby Fulton, and issues a lot of talent have had with him in shows he’s helped put together in Chillicothe, OH. Rob Van Dam in particular has talked about issues on his podcast. Hines has said he will be getting out of wrestling in March.

– Former WWE performer/wrestler Danille Moinet (Summer Rae) is doing media at Super Bowl week in New Orleans. She’s working as a broadcaster for the BYB Extreme promotion which does Bare Knuckle fighting which airs on FUSE TV, Fight Network in Canada and Bein Sports.

– Penta was officially announced for the 3/10 Raw in Madison Square Garden.