Daily Update: Eddie Kingston, WWE Raw, Bob Bruggers

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This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Some of the highlights in this issue:

  • Thoughts on the Cung Le lawsuit settlement, and meaningful changes in business and what this closes the door on in MMA
  • Why TKO paid $335 million and considered this as a win
  • Why the stock market thought the same
  • UFC & WWE financials
  • Changes in television and Smackdown plans going forward
  • The crazy story of WWE losing more money in this quarter than they made in virtually any year of its existence and multiples of the total losses of AEW since its inception and why there is nothing to worry about
  • How the interest on loans for TKO alone is more than WWE ever made  until the Austin era
  • Complete coverage of WWE Backlash
  • The business numbers both good and bad
  • Notes from the French crowd
  • Next year’s WrestleMania
  • A look at the departures of Gable Steveson and Drew Gulak Ric Flair talks heart attack
  • Saudi Arabia getting more traction in WWE & UFC business
  • New Japan Dontaku coverage
  • UFC 301 coverage
  • Final Dark Side of the Ring episode on Black Saturday looked at
  • Coverage of three other major shows this week
  • Next TripleMania show
  • Arena Mexico heats up
  • Champion Carnival coverage
  • International Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame
  • Ric Flair incident
  • MLW looking at expanding into new markets
  • Wrestler song makes U.K. charts
  • NBA rights and how this affects AEW
  • Chuck Taylor career legit in jeopardy
  • Update on Double or Nothing
  • Advance ticket sales for AEW & WWE upcoming shows
  • Art Jimmerson remembered
  • Canelo Alvarez along with WWE, AEW  and TNA PPV number updates
  • Janel Grant lawsuit update
  • More WWE notes from Ronda Rousey
  • International TV ratings and streaming numbers

This week’s back issue: January 8, 2007 Observer Newsletter: Vince McMahon & Donald Trump, UFC 66

Monday Update

  • Bryan and I will be back tonight talking Raw, as well as the rest of the wrestling and MMA news with Wrestling Observer Radio tonight.   We did three weekend shows, once with Jim Ross, a week in review with Garrett Gonzales and our Saturday night show covering the major weekend events.
  • Bob Bruggers, whose promising career as a pro wrestler was cut short after three years due to being in an airplane crash (the same one that ended the career of Johnny Valentine and that Ric Flair , David Crockett rand Tim Woods were also in, back in 1975, passed away on Friday at the age of 80.  The death today got a lot of press in the Twin Cities because he was a member of the University of Minnesota M Club Sports Hall of Fame, and in NFL circles.  We’ll talk about him tonight and a feature on him will be in the next Observer.   His career had a lot of parallels to Flair early, as they started in the same training camp, started their careers off in the same week against the same opponent (George Gadaski), and then both got their first real break in the Carolinas.  And Bruggers’ career ended in the same plane as Flair.
  • We’ve got no update on Eddie Kingston past what was reported yesterday.  He was injured Saturday night, a leg injury from his leg smashing on the guard rail when taking a vertical suplex off the apron through a table.  I would expect AEW to try and keep it quiet and address it on Wednesday.  They will either say he was taken out by the Young Bucks & Jack Perry in the angle after the legit injury, or he’ll be okay enough to do Double or Nothing on 5/26.
  • Raw tonight is in Greenville, SC.  There were 7,600 tickets out for the show as of this morning.  It’s going to be nowhere close to a sellout but the super hot period can’t last forever and now we’re just in a very good period where major shows are super hot.  It’s the continuation of King and  Queen of the Ring, with Jey Uso vs. Ilja Dragunov, Gunther vs. Kofi Kingston, Lyra Valkyria vs. Zoey Stark and Iyo Sky vs. Shayna Baszler.  Another match on the show is Becky Lynch vs. Dakota Kai.
  • This is where the NBA playoffs stand.  Boston vs. Cleveland will air against the first half of Raw on TNT, but the last 90 minutes won’t have NBA competition.  It will air against all but the last 30 minutes of Dynamite on Wednesday and if needed, on Friday against Smackdown.  New York Knicks vs. Indiana will air tomorrow against NXT and Friday against Smackdown.
  • The NHL has two games on ESPN tonight, Carolina vs. New York Rangers and Dallas vs. Colorado.  They also have two games on Tuesday and one on Wednesday which will go against all of Raw, NXT, Dynamite and Smackdown this week.
  • Basically ratings should still be on the low side unless there is something perceived as big enough to offset the heavy competition.
  • Smackdown did 2.13 million viewers and 0.62 on Friday night against both NBA playoffs (1.37 for the game against  Smackdown on ESPN) and NHL playoffs (0.39 for the game against Smackdown on TNT)
  • Dana White after Saturday’s show claimed that the 6/29 show headlined by Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler has already topped $20 million at the gate, making it the largest gate in MMA history.
  • White also made hints about WWE moving its PPV shows on Sunday.   We haven’t gotten a clarification from WWE about this yet today.   He talked about weekends where they would run Power Slap on Friday, a UFC PPV on Saturday and a WWE PPV on Sunday.  Both groups ran on Saturday last week although not head-to-head.
  • We’re looking for reports from last night’s WWE show in Macon, GA and tonight’s tapings in Greenville, SC.  We’re looking for results, finishes and highlights and for tonight’s show the off-TV notes to dave@wrestlingobserver.com
  • We’re also looking for your thoughts on New Japan Resurgence from Saturday night in Ontario, CA, with a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to dave@wrestlingobserver.com
  • David Taylor, who was considered the best wrestler in the country before losing two straight bouts to Aaron Brooks at the Olympic trials, was signed to replace John Smith as the head coach at Oklahoma State.  This was announced Friday and was major news in those circles.  Tayor was the guy in the Cody Rhodes Olympic wrestling commercial that they  were hyping as a potential gold medalist after winning gold in 2021.  Taylor confirmed that taking this job means his career as an active wrestler is over and also that he’s not doing MMA.  He had been training for MMA with the idea of possibly starting a career there after the Olympics.
  • The Adventure in Carnyland reality show on Billy Corgan, his career, his marriage and running the NWA will be released on the CW app tomorrow.  There is a review of the show in the Chicago Sun-Times (thanks to Eric Krol)
  • Afa Anoa’i of the Wild Samoans tag team, on Thursday had an aortic valve replacement and was released from the hospital on Sunday.  This was his last major hurdle according to the family as he battled a series of health ailments in recent months.
  • Got a rave review for yesterday’s Kento Miyahara vs. Jun Saito Champion Carnival final match.  The Miyahara vs. Yuma Anzai Triple Crown title match is official for 5/29 and EC 3 defends the NWA title against Ryuki Honda on that show.  I think that would be the first NWA title match on an All Japan show since the 80s and Ric Flair, although there have been so many NWA deals in the past that I could be missing one.
  • Ryan Bader will likely play an MMA fighter in the  A 24 & Seven Bucks Productions “Smashing Machine” that  Dwayne Johnson stars in.  Johnson plays former MMA star Mark Kerr.   Bader wrote on Instagram that he’s putting his fighting career on hold for now and spending three months in Vancouver filming the movie.  He said the movie was about both Mark Kerr and Mark Coleman (who was heavily featured in the original documentary “Smashing Machine”) which seemingly means the legendary Pride 2000 Grand Prix, won by Coleman, will be part of the movie.  Johnson and Emily Blunt, who will play Dawn Staples, Kerr’s girlfriend at the time, are the stars.  The other key figure in the documentary was Bas Rutten, who was training Kerr for the tournament.  
  • MLW has a two-hour special  called MLW Fury  Road on Saturday on Bein Sports and the MLW YouTube page at 10 p.m. Eastern.   This will have the matches from Chicago that didn’t air on the Triller special with Satoshi Kojima vs. 1 Called Manders for the MLW title, Matt Riddle vs. Sami Callihan, Mad Kurgger vs. Matt Justice falls count anywhere, Janai  Kai vs. Miyu Yamashita vs. Delmi Exo vs. Zayda for the MLW women’s featherweight title , an Alex Kane open challenge and Bobby Fish vs.  AKIRA.
  • Mistico is officially in the MLW Battle Riot match on 6/1 at Center Stage in Atlanta.
  • CZW’s Best of the Best tournament takes place Saturday night on Triller TV.  Those in the tournament include KENTA, Lince Dorado, Griffin McCoy, Myles Hawkins, Desean Pratt, Richard Adonism, Robert Martyr, Troy Parker, and Storm Grayson.