Daily Update: Grayson Waller, AEW Rampage, NJPW Power Struggle

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This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

The new issue of the Observer is up on the site right now covering these stories:

  • Match and performer of the week
  • Preview of Crown Jewel, favorites and directions
  • Preview of Full Gear, directions, business and more
  • Update on perhaps the most important business story this year and its ramifications as the Cung Le lawsuit against UFC is headed for trial next year. We talk about the trial, what it means to UFC, WWE and the MLW lawsuit against WWE. We also have notes from discovery on the actual pay that Conor McGregor, Georges St-Pierre, CM Punk, Ronda Rousey and Jon Jones got for their biggest career fights.
  • Tyson Fury vs. Francis Ngannou, the story behind coming one round short of one of the biggest upsets in boxing history. We look at what happened, how this fight was a prelude of the change of the business of major events and why, how the PPV did and why it doesn’t really matter, the celebrities and what happens next.
  • We preview the 2023 Hall of Fame with research on the wrestlers with the best matches throughout their careers, best tag matches, annual MVP, Most Outstanding, Best Draws and best tag team votes involving candidates on the ballot or in the Hall of Fame and who comes across well in this.
  • A look at the Vladimir the Superfan documentary
  • The most detailed look at the TV ratings from the past week, numbers, competition, gains and losses over the last year, placings and segment-by-segment.
  • Women’s Grand Prix show draws big crowd
  • Injuries plaguing Stardom
  • Stardom PPV and tag tourney coverage
  • Big match this weekend in All Japan
  • A tag match this past week that you should see
  • Nakajima’s NOAH farewell
  • New Japan U.S. house show notes
  • Update on a women’s dream match that was planned but now is uncertain and why
  • New Japan Super Juniors tag team tournament news
  • Ronda Rousey working indies against AEW stars
  • Talks of two pro wrestlers and fights with Jake Paul
  • CM Punk talks unionization of wrestlers
  • New documentary coming out in two weeks
  • Jon Moxley returns from concussion
  • Jon Moxley talks concussion protocols
  • Impact signs two U.K. wrestlers
  • Impact U.K tour
  • Bryan Danielson injury details
  • Notes on Ric Flair’s two new deals with AEW
  • Talks on Omega vs. MJF
  • More on the CMLL/AEW deal
  • Ticket advances for WWE & AEW shows
  • International TV ratings and top streaming numbers
  • Merch sales
  • Derrick Lewis arrest
  • UFC pay
  • This weekend’s UFC show
  • Why FOX didn’t bid to keep Smackdown
  • Raw’s live show growth
  • Fastlane actual gate numbers
  • What record did WWE claim that doesn’t look to be accurate
  • Lots of injury updates
  • Reviews of al the major WWE house shows
  • WWE signs a three-time national college wrestling women’s champion

This Week’s Retro Observer Newsletter

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Friday Update

We just finished our annual Hall of Fame show with Garrett Gonzales, with guests John Pollock, John Muse and John Lister and it’s up on the site now. Bryan and I will be doing our weekend show tomorrow covering both Crown Jewel and Power Struggle.

We do have it confirmed that Grayson Waller is right now in Saudi Arabia. Waller had been booked on the shows in Rochester, NY and Springfield, MA, but was pulled and made a late addition to Crown Jewel, likely doing a talk segment.

Rampage tonight at 10 p.m. on TNT has:

  • El Hijo del Vikingo vs Penta vs. Komander
  • Marina Shafir vs. Skye Blue
  • Daniel Garcia vs. Trent Baretta
  • The Gunn Brothers vs. Christopher Daniels & Matt Sydal
  • The three-way from the live reports we got was tremendous.

New Japan Power Struggle starts at about 3:30 a.m. Eastern from Osaka:

  • Mochizuki Jr. & Yoshiki Kato & Strong Machine J of Dragon Gate face three New Japan wrestlers
  • David Finlay vs. Tanga Loa
  • Sanada & Yuya Uemura vs. Tetsuya Naito & Yota Tsuji
  • Jon Moxley vs. Great O’Khan
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii defend the Never trios titles against Zack Sabre Jr. & Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls
  • Hiromu Takahashi vs. Taiji Ishimori for the IWGP jr. title
  • Sho & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. TJP & Franceco Akira in the finals of the Super Juniors tournament
  • Will Ospreay vs. Shota Umino for the U.S. and U.K. titles
  • Ospreay did a great promo at today’s press conference for the match, basically saying that he’s leaving New Japan next year and that Umino needs to be able to step up and carry things and he tried to light a fire under him. This is the new biggest match of Umino’s career. 

We’re looking for reports on these weekend shows:

  • AEW Collision tomorrow night in Wichita, KS (only the stuff not on live television)
  • WWE house show tomorrow night in Rochester, NY
  • WWE house show Sunday night in Springfield, MA
  • We’re looking for results, finishes and highlights to dave@wrestlingobserver.com

We are also doing two weekend polls, for WWE Crown Jewel tomorrow in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and New Japan Power Struggle tomorrow in Osaka. You can leave as thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match for both shows to dave@wrestlingobserver.com

The 1/29 Raw at the Amalie Arena in Tampa, the day after the Royal Rumble, already has 10,818 tickets out, so this will sell out well in advance. Likely a ton of people are traveling in as the Royal Rumble has sold more than 25,000 tickets already.

Impact last night had 86,000 viewers and did a 0.01 18-49 rating.

A big Triple Crown title match with Yuma Aoyagi vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima headlines for All Japan on Sunday in Sapporo. Kento Miyahara & T-Hawk vs. Yuma Anzai & Ryuli Honda is the semi coming off the tremendous Miyahara & Aoyagi vs. Anzai & Honda match a few days ago.

Arena Mexico tonight has its Halloween night show with Stuka Jr. vs. Barbaaro Cavernario on top in a Rey del Inframundo title match. This title is only defended on Halloween week every year. Mistico & Mascara Dorada faces Soberano Jr & Volador Jr., in what promises to be a great match.

UFC is on ESPN+ from 6 p.m. Eastern to midnight tomorrow night from Sao Paulo, Brazil:

  • Kaue Fernandes (155) vs. Marc Diakiese (155)
  • Eduarda Moura (119.5) vs. Montserrat Ruiz (114.5) – Moura missed weight by 3.5 pounds and was fined 30 percent of her purse
  • Angela Hill (115.5) vs Denise Gomes (115.5)
  • Vitor Petrino (206) vs. Modestas Bukauskas (205.5)
  • Rinat Fakhretdinov (170.5) vs. Elizeu Zaleski Dos Santos (171)
  • Elves Brebner (164) vs. Kaynan Kruschewsky (165)
  • Rodolfo Vieira (185.5) vs. Armen Petrosyan (186)
  • Caio Borrralho (186) vs. Abus Magomedov (185)
  • Rodrigo Nascimento (264) vs. Don’Tale Mayes (264)
  • Grabrel Bonfim (170.5) vs. Nicolas Dalby (170.5)
  • Derrick Lewis (265) vs. Jailton Almeida (236)
  • Two fights were canceled today. Ismael Bonfim was to face Vinc Pichel, but Bonfim weighed 3.5 pounds over. Victor Hugo was to face Daniel Mrcos, but Hugo weighed in 2.5 pounds over.

Pro Wrestling Eve Wrestle Queendom is 11/10 in Walthamstow UK. The show features Tokyo Joshi Pro International champion Max the Impaler defending against Kasey, Konami vs. Masha Slamovich, Anita Vaughn vs. Skye Smitson and more. Only a few tickets are left for the show. They also run 11/19 in Tufnell Park in London at The Dome with Miyu Yamashita defending the Eve title against Safire Reed plus International champion Yuu vs. Rhio and Su Yung vs. Smitson.

WWE put tickets on sale today for pretty much most of the January and February dates:

  • 1/5 Smackdown is in Vancouver
  • 1/6 house show in Spokane
  • 1/7 house show in Wenatchee, WA
  • 1/8 Raw in Portland, OR
  • 1/12 Smackdown in Lincoln, NE
  • 1/13 house show in Las Cruces, NM
  • 1/14 house show in Rio Rancho, NM
  • 1/15 Raw in North Little Rock, AR
  • 1/19 Smackdown in Atlanta
  • 1/20 house show in Montgomery, AL
  • 1/21 house show in Jackson, MS
  • 1/22 Raw in New Orleans
  • 1/26 Smackdown in Miami
  • 2/2 Smackdown in Birmingham
  • 2/5 Raw in St. Louis
  • 2/9 Smackdown inCharlotte
  • 2/12 Raw in Lexington, KY
  • 2/16 Smackdown in Salt Lake City
  • 2/17 house show in Oakland
  • 2/18 house show in Fresno
  • 2/19 Raw in Anaheim, CA
  • 2/26 Raw in San Jose
  • 3/1 Smackdown in Glendale, AZ
  • 3/4 Raw in San Antonio
  • 3/8 Smackdown in Dallas
  • 3/22 Smackdown in Milwaukee