Daily Update: The Fiend, Kenny Omega & Riho, Super J-Cup

DAILY UPDATE

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F4W NEWSLETTER: Bayley turns heel, WWE continues to focus on HorsewomenJoseph Currier looks at how WWE has addressed the women’s division post-WM problems. Plus, Bryan Rose’s notes on Japan, and Vinny’s TV reviews. 

Bayley going through a long-anticipated character change was the latest step in WWE refocusing on the Four Horsewomen.

Bayley & Becky Lynch vs. Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross main evented last Monday’s episode of Raw. Sasha Banks ran in and caused a disqualification by attacking Lynch. Banks struck Lynch with a steel chair until Bayley took it away from her. But instead of playing peacemaker between her friends, Bayley smiled and pummeled Lynch with the chair herself.

After beginning her heel turn and reuniting with Banks, Bayley cut a promo explaining her actions the next night on SmackDown. The crowd alternated between cheering and booing her. Bayley told the fans that their reaction was confusing. Instead of going full bore with the heel turn, Bayley spoke about her friendship with Banks and called Banks the one person who has always had her back. Bayley disingenuously talked about being a hero and a role model. She said she was trying to show kids what it means to be loyal and noted that she couldn’t turn her back on Banks just because things got rough. Bayley said that SmackDown deserves a champion that gets the same kind of recognition as Lynch.

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WON NEWSLETTER: AEW All Out review, Chris Jericho title saga, more

A full review of AEW All Out, and the saga of Chris Jericho’s stolen belt are the lead topics of discussion in this week’s double issue Wrestling Observer Newsletter. 

We have complete coverage of All Out from a live perspective, as well as the television version of the show. We talk about what worked, what might not have, and what we can learn about match order when laying out a card. We have the latest on the business of the show, including preliminary pay-per-view numbers. 

We have coverage of AEW and WWE running the same markets, and have notes and numbers on how each promotion is doing in selling tickets there. We also have all the details on the Chris Jericho AEW title story. 

NJPW Royal Quest is covered as well in the new issue. We have star ratings for the matches, as well as business notes for the show. 

The upcoming WWE Clash of Champions show is covered in detail. We have a preliminary card for the show.

We also cover the WWE writing team shake-up that took place this week. 

NXT U.K. TakeOver: Cardiff is covered in detail as well, with everything from match reports and star ratings, to attendance and what we can learn from the show. 

We have a story on Cris Cyborg signing with Bellator, and talk about potential opponents for her. 

The new issue also has a history piece covering Harley Race’s St. Louis wrestling history. A lot can be learned from the piece, thanks to the late Larry Matysik’s Wrestling at the Chase Record book.

We also have Ryan Frederick’s coverage of the 8/31 UFC event in Shenzhen, China. 

The passing of Australian wrestling legend, Norman Frederic Charles Lowndes, known as Sir Norman Frederich Charles III, is covered as well. We have notes on his life and career. 

We look at AEW’s hype show that aired on TNT, and break down the viewership for the show, and what can be learned from it. 

We also have news and notes on all of the top wrestling and MMA promotions in the world. 

We have full coverage of all the WWE television shows from the past week.

As always, we have in-depth looks at the ratings of all the major shows,the key demos for the WWE shows and what can be learned from them.

We also have the results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.

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WEDNESDAY NEWS UPDATE

WWE

  • The Fiend (Bray Wyatt) wrestled in last night’s post-SmackDown and 205 Live dark match at Madison Square Garden. He quickly defeated Curtis Axel & Bo Dallas in a handicap match.
  • Triple H spoke to Newsweek about NXT UK and 205 Live being under the banner of NXT: “Yeah I think you’ll see that Raw will become very much distinctly its own brand as well as SmackDown on Fox. And NXT will be its own. The ability, as time moves on, for people to move from Raw to SmackDown, and NXT to Raw or SmackDown, but also Raw or SmackDown to NXT. NXT UK will sit under that NXT banner as well, probably 205 too breathing some life into it a little bit. That creates three distinct brands that talent, over the course of their career — which hopefully is long — where they can migrate from one to the other and be reinvigorated and have fresh starts and have longer, more meaningful and lucrative careers while staying within the same company.”
  • Triple H responded when asked a follow-up question about 205 Live: “You’ll start to see 205 begin to. I think it always existed as an island onto itself, a little bit, and it’s become lost in this limbo. You’ll begin to see it move more towards the NXT banner and the talent there. We have a lot of talent. For them to begin to compete either open against anyone or in the cruiserweight division, but have that title sit under the NXT brand is more meaningful. It creates more opportunities for more people.”
  • Seth Rollins tweeted that he recently discovered that he has a brother and sister that he didn’t know existed: “In a wild turn of events, I recently found out I have a brother (and sister, not pictured) I never knew existed! Thank you @23andMe for bringing people together. Life is a crazy, awesome thing and we are all insanely lucky to get to experience it.”
  • Kevin Owens tweeted “14-24-20” (the letters of the alphabet for NXT) after being “fired” by Shane McMahon on SmackDown last night. WWE.com issued a storyline update on the firing: “WWE.com reached out to Shane McMahon and Kevin Owens, and both declined to comment on Owens’ firing on last night’s SmackDown LIVE.”
  • John Silver & Alex Reynolds were the enhancement team that lost to Heavy Machinery on SmackDown.
  • WWE Network News reported that more episodes of WCW Thunder are expected to be added to the WWE Network next Monday.
  • Sasha Banks appeared on The Mac Attack on WFNZ in Charlotte, North Carolina to promote Clash of Champions.
  • The Metro has an interview with Mandy Rose.
  • Prior to this week’s Raw, Steve Austin was interviewed by TVInsider and spoke about making appearances for WWE: “Not everything is last minute. Some things are thought out way in advance. They call me up, and if I’m available and it sounds like a good idea, I’ll do it. I’ve been away for a long time. I always like to say I want the current superstars to have all the television time, but if I can go out there and give someone a rub. Or if I can get out there in front of a crowd that is still around when I was still active who want to see me again, that’s a cool feeling too. It’s just something that is happening. It’s not like I’m going to go back on the road full-time or anything. It’s some good opportunities. It makes sense TV-wise, business-wise. I’m there to lend a hand or help out as much as I can.”
  • Ric Flair appeared in a video to promote Green Day, Fall Out Boy, and Weezer’s Hella Mega Tour.

Pro Wrestling

UFC/MMA

  • Conor McGregor responded to Dustin Poirier tweeting that he thinks him facing McGregor again makes sense: “I fed you to the canvas in 90 seconds bro. You should have spoke my name with a bit more respect in that build up. ‘McGregor’s not next’ Motherf*cker, it’s McGregor always! McGregor is the goal! Always! Say that now and I’ll think about it.”
  • Ali Abdelaziz (Khabib Nurmagomedov’s manager) told TMZ that he wants Nurmagomedov to be booked against Georges St-Pierre next: “Nobody really cares about what Tony [Ferguson] says. Nobody gives a (expletive) really. As far as I know, GSP is next. That is what I want. Tony doesn’t get what he wants. We get what Khabib wants, and if Khabib calls me and says he wants Georges St-Pierre, Georges St-Pierre will be next.”
  • Justin Gaethje thinks he should challenge for the lightweight title or face McGregor if he defeats Donald Cerrone: “I think there’s two options for me — whoever wins [Khabib Nurmagomedov] against Tony or I fight Conor. Those are the two options I’ll be looking at when I’m done.”
  • Jacare Souza vs. Jan Blachowicz will main event the UFC’s Fight Night show in Sao Paulo on November 16.

Daily Pro Wrestling History: AJ Styles wins his first WWE World title

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