Daily Update: MJF, AEW Continental Classic, Absolute Andy

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This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

The new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter is up on the site right now:

  • What did people think of Full Gear as compared to the other AEW PPVs of late
  • Performers and match of the week
  • Lots of good and bad thoughts on Swerve Strickland vs. Adam Page
  • A look at WWE vs. AEW when it comes to free agent signings of late
  • What Will Ospreay will and won’t mean for AEW
  • Full details of why Ronda Rousey appeared on the ROH show this week and it’s not what you think
  • Who is the top free agent out there right now
  • Thoughts on the MJF/Cole/White/Gunns storyline
  • Realities of AEW’s enemies and how the Strickland vs. Page match fits into that discussion
  • Logic issues and creative license in wrestling
  • Impromptu and using instinct in reacting when things mess up in a match
  • Why Ospreay signed with AEW and why it was announced this week
  • PPV numbers early on and what is says about more PPV shows
  • Live show business notes
  • Theater business notes
  • Full match coverage
  • Sorting out the Bellator/PFL deal and looking at the business aspect, top talent, show plans, next two PPV show ideas and more
  • Company talks 2024 schedule plans for Bellator and PFL
  • The top fighters under contract at this point to the new group
  • Hall of Fame updates and reaction to last week’s issue
  • Greatest tag teams of all-time
  • A look at a likely 2024 ballot
  • A look at Survivor Series plans, plus public demand and interest level
  • A look in depth at the Continental Classic, the good and bad of it
  • A look at this last week’s UFC show and notes about future shows
  • The most detailed look at the TV ratings over the past week, the segment-by-segment, changes in each group, competition, and where wrestling stands in the weekly numbers
  • World title match doesn’t get over on major show and why
  • Promotion running a business deal with major company to get major discount on a famous product
  • New team will be taking over the name of one of the best tag teams in history
  • Major changes in Stardom hierarchy and what happened to lead to it
  • Stardom titles vacant and steps on filling those vacancies
  • Stardom PPV rundown
  • Fantastica Mania 2024 notes
  • What dream match was planned for January in California and where it stands right now
  • New Japan tag tournament notes
  • All Japan tag team tournament notes
  • A look back at one mystery in the death of WCW
  • Wrestlers suspended for working an unlicensed show
  • Full details on Ronda Rousey’s appearance at AEW show in Los Angeles
  • Young Bucks repackaging
  • Darby climbing Mount Everest and details
  • What day will a number of new free agents be available
  • Looking at the ones AEW could sign
  • Two new rulings in Cung Le case and what kind of money figures are being bandied about
  • A look at WWE arena business and future show ticket sales, has it peaked, what does future say
  • AEW future ticket sales
  • International TV ratings and streaming numbers
  • Reigns next match and who it’s not with
  • Levesque booking philosophy
  • A look at the WWE & NXT house shows over the past week
  • Notes on December television schedule for both AEW and WWE including a show not airing, and a double taping planned

This Week’s Retro Observer Newsletter

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Wednesday Update

WWE

AEW/Other Wrestling

  • MJF, who is working through shoulder and hip injuries, tweeted ahead of tonight’s Dynamite: “I didn’t sleep a wink. In a sh*t ton of pain and can’t get comfortable. But it’s Wednesday. We got a show to put on. I hear it all. I read it all. I see it all. I’m wide awake in more ways than one. Let’s restore the feeling. #AEWDynamite”
  • Jon Moxley spoke to Comicbook.com about AEW’s Continental Classic tournament:
          • We’re only a couple days into it. It hasn’t really formed an identity yet. I think it’ll be the thing where all the talents involved and the human stories that play out throughout this thing and the excitement of the matches and so forth. I think that’ll just kind of have to take on a life of its own. Right now, we’ve just created this monster, this animal, and set it free. We’re waiting to see what it does.
          • If it was going to be good and if it was going to become a thing that you’d want to become a part of in the future and be the thing that was a marquee event and something that wrestlers wanted to do in the future, we had to make it good. My only job is really to wrestle my ass off. That’s easy enough. I can handle that. That’s pretty much everybody’s job. I think just straight-up in-your-face, one-on-one wrestling with a clear result is something that we need to always do. I think that’s something we were founded on.
  • Moxley also explained how the Continental Classic is different than NJPW’s G1:
          • It’s a completely different product, a completely different business plan, a completely different universe over there, comparing New Japan and American television. You’re not encumbered by commercial breaks. There’s more shows right in a row. You’re not at the mercy of a television schedule or anything. It is a little bit more of a challenge to do it on the television format as opposed to just once the G1 is going, it’s just going and you’re in.
  • Chris Jericho responded to last week’s Dynamite scoring higher ratings than last Friday’s SmackDown episode on FS1: “But I thought the sky was falling!!??”
  • Swerve Strickland appeared on Insight with Chris Van Vliet.
  • In an interview with WrestlingNews.co, Sonny Kiss said CM Punk was always “super, super nice” during their interactions in AEW:
          • I haven’t been asked on camera ever about CM Punk or even just to the situation that happened in AEW, but I want to say Phil has always been super, super nice to me, as [were] all the EVPs at AEW as well, and that was really, really cool to see, you know, Punk have that [WWE] return.
          • He’s polarizing in pro wrestling, but, you know, Cody said it best. ‘What’s good for businesses, is what’s good for business, and if he’s going to elevate the company, why not?’ Like I said, he’s been nice to me. The first day he came to AEW, he pulled me aside and he was just asking me questions. He was just like, you know, ‘I want to be respectful of you, so how do I address you,’ and things like that. He was very kind to me. I think that’s amazing for him, so good for him. That’s so cool.
  • Jacob Fatu vs. Alex Hammerstone is set for MLW’s television tapings in New York City on Thursday, December 7.
  • wXw announced that Absolute Andy (Andreas Ullmann) will be inducted into their Hall of Fame during 16 Carat Gold tournament weekend on Saturday, March 9, 2024. After battling a long illness, Andy passed away on November 23 at 40 years old.
  • wXw’s YouTube channel uploaded several matches in memory of Absolute Andy: