Daily Update: Keiji Muto retirement fallout, Paul Wight, TNT Sports

Daily Update

Latest News:
- WWE SmackDown ratings down, ranks first on TV in 18-49 demo
- AEW Rampage draws lowest ratings in show history
- Alexander, Swann & Kazarian vs. Bullet Club set for Impact TV tapings
- Former WWE and ECW wrestler Stevie Richards dealing with health issues
- Nikki Bella’s says ‘Total Divas’ was the first thing WWE couldn’t control
- AZM issues challenge to Mercedes Mone for IWGP Women’s title
- Thirteen matches announced for AEW Dark
- WWE Elimination Chamber 2023 sets viewership and gate records
- VIDEO: Dave Meltzer on Sami Zayn’s Elimination Chamber fallout
- Keiji Muto wrestles final match at the Tokyo Dome
- Kazuchika Okada, Kaito Kiyomiya clash at Keiji Muto’s retirement show
- WWE Raw video highlights: Kevin Owens rejects Sami Zayn
- Keiji Muto Retirement Show live results: Muto vs. Tetsuya Naito
- Becky Lynch & Lita challenging for Tag Team titles on next week’s WWE Raw
- AEW Dark Elevation results: Lucha Brothers vs. Nese & Daivari
- Omos challenges Brock Lesnar for WWE WrestleMania 39
- WWE Raw live results: Elimination Chamber fallout
Latest Audio:
- Wrestling Observer Live: RAW, Elimination Chamber fallout, Sami Zayn, more
- Figure Four Daily: Lance Storm on Montreal finish, Vince McMahon, end of time in WAR
- Wrestling Observer Radio: Elimination Chamber fallout, RAW, AEW and NXT previews, more
Latest Free YouTube Video:
This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter:
In this week’s issue:
- One of the biggest history issues of the year with the lead story on Jerry Jarrett and the glory days of Tennessee wrestling
- Jarrett’s booking the wrestling war in Atlanta
- Jarrett outside of wrestling
- The start of TNA Wrestling
- Jarrett’s departure from TNA wrestling
- The original premise of TNA
- How Jarrett first got into wrestling
- Jarrett and Bill Watts discussion of fighting
- The Mario Galento story from the Jarrett side, the Lawler side and the Galento side
- The court case, exposing the business, and how the business did
- Jarrett building the promotion with he, Jackie Fargo and Tojo Yamamoto as the big three
- Jarrett’s booking philosophy
- How Tennessee wrestling was viewed outside Tennessee
- How Saturday morning wrestling became a tradition
- How Dave Brown got into wrestling and how his career as a newsman changed due to wrestling
- The wrestling war in Memphis
- How the NWA title matches changed when Sam Muchnick was no longer booking the champion and why Muchnick was taken out of the position
- The booking that led to Jerry Lawler being the king of Memphis wrestling
- The key people Jarrett wanted to win the wrestling war
- Details of the brief war
- How popular was the TV show
- What happened when Lawler threatened to start up and go against Jarrett
- The fall of the promotion
- Jarrett attempts to buy WCW
- Jarrett’s ideas after wrestling
- Jarrett’s last matches in the ring
- Wrestling moving weekly to the Mid South Coliseum
- How Jarrett figured into the first shows
- The first sellout at the Coliseum
- Jerry Lawler’s first big crowds
- How a local rock band played into Memphis wrestling
- What star much bigger than Andy Kaufman was talked with about doing wrestling
- The Jimmy Hart era
- Major names who got their start in wrestling
- The boxer vs. wrestler angle they did and how it could never work now
- The Lawler vs. Dundee feud
- Jarrett selling the company and the attempted revivals
- Why the MLW vs. WWE lawsuit was thrown out and what happens next
- Tony Khan talks issues with WWE and the story behind the new Japan story
- Khan talks about new business deals
- The big question about Elimination Chamber
- Full coverage of Islam Makhachev vs. Alexander Volkanovski and UFC 284
- Keiji Muto about to retire
- What next for Jay White
- New Japan’s big events for the next two months
- New Beginning in Osaka coverage
- Billy Two Rivers, a cultural icon among native Americans and a celebrity in Europe passes away and his life story
- The life of flying Eric Froelich, a 60s and 70s star
- The most complete look at the ratings of all the major shows over the past week
- Update on Jon Moxley’s planned European tour
- Debut of ROH television
- A look at the Revolution card
- Upcoming ticket sales for WWE & AEW shows
- Changes in UFC contracts
- International TV ratings
This Week’s Retro Observer Newsletter:

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Tuesday Update

WWE
- Dave Meltzer’s column for Sports Illustrated, where he talks about WrestleMania plans and Sami Zayn’s loss.
- The New York Post has an article on WWE’s recent momentum shift.
- Bianca Belair and Montez Ford were on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen.
- WWE announced that Roman Reigns will appear at the Road to WrestleMania house show on March 4 in Toronto, Canada.
- Warner Bros. Discovery Europe announced that BT Sport in the UK & Ireland will be rebranded as TNT Sports starting in July. BT Sport is the current home of WWE programming in the area.
- Carmella spoke to Yahoo News about the pressure to maintain a certain figure in pro wrestling.
- Matches and segments added to WWE’s YouTube page today include RK-Bro vs. Seth Rollins and Kevin Owens from the February 21, 2022 edition of Raw, The Mysterios accepting a WrestleMania challenge from Logan Paul and The Miz from the same edition of Raw in 2022, and Bobby Lashley vs. Omos from WrestleMania 38 Sunday.
AEW
- AEW Road to Phoenix, which focuses on the upcoming tag team battle royal and Jon Moxley vs. Evil Uno.
- Paul Wight talked to Metro about his recent health issues. ‘Well, I spent 11 weeks in a wheelchair because I was waiting for them to build the implant for my knee because of my size. ‘I had crushed all the bone in the knee, I was bleeding into my shin. So, I’ve got a good pain tolerance, but when I say I rode the tyre down to the rim, that’s exactly what I did. But, luckily I still have all my ligaments in that knee, everything’s good there, it’s a nice, brand new titanium joint so it’s good for 35 years. So, I can parachute if I want to – not that I’ll ever jump out of an airplane, we all saw the movie Operation Dumbo drop, I don’t think that’s me, we’re good!’”
- Tony Khan appeared in a photo with Dave Brown at Jerry Jarrett’s memorial service.
- Ricky Starks is celebrating a birthday today.
- This week’s Sammy Guevara vlog.
Other Wrestling
- NOAH announced an attendance of 30,096 for Keiji Muto’s retirement show on Tuesday morning.
- After appearing in the undercard during Tuesday morning’s show, Satoshi Kojima announced that he would be leaving Pro Wrestling NOAH for the time being.
- Jake Lee challenged GHC Heavyweight Champion Kaito Kiyomiya backstage following his loss to Kazuchika Okada on Tuesday morning.
- AAA announced that Pagano is undergoing surgery for an undisclosed issue.
- Jungle Kyona will be undergoing surgery for a meniscus injury in her left knee following NOMAD’s Freelance Summit Vol.3 event on April 14.