Daily Update: MJF, QT Marshall, WWE Raw

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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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Monday Update

Bryan and I will be back tonight talking C.M. Punk, Tammy Sytch, MJF, QT Marshall, Raw, Match of the Year and lots of other topics on a very newsworthy Monday with Wrestling Observer radio tonight.

MJF noted today that he has a torn labrum but would be facing Samoa Joe for the AEW title on 12/30 in Uniondale, NY. Wrestlers frequently wrestle on that injury, not that it’s necessarily advisable, but it has been done. In fact, MJF had a torn labrum, although not as bad as this injury, when he did his singles PPV match with Jungle Boy which was one of the biggest matches of his career as far as elevating his stock. Right now the planned treatment is rehab and stem cell treatment rather than surgery. Devon Storm (Crowbar), who is a physical therapist wrote on Twitter, “Depending on the size and location of the ear (which is not known) and how it affects his performance MJF may be able to continue wrestling with just physical therapy and short term activity modification. He noted that if he was a quarterback or a pitcher in baseball it would be a bigger issue.

QT Marshall, who handled the format writing for AEW and was Vice President & Manage of Talent Relations, announced today that he will be leaving the promotion at the end of this year. “As much as I’ve enjoyed being a VP, Manager of Talent Relations and wearing a myriad of hats, the company has changed a lot since 2019 and is heading in a different direction and I feel that it’s best I do the same, as we only get one chance to go All In.” He thanked everyone. Marshall was super involved in many aspects and to me this is a very significant development. Marshall is close with Cody Rhodes and it’ll likely be clear soon as to what this all means.

Raw tonight is from Nashville. The first hour will be commercial free as they are going for a monster rating. With C.M. Punk and Randy Orton both on the show, they are looking at the biggest rating since the show after SummerSlam if not longer than that. The NFL will hurt, but the game is the Vikings (6-5) vs. Bears (3-8), which is an historical rivalry but neither team is among the top draws this year. Cody Rhodes also announced he would make an announcement. The show features a tag team turmoil match for a title shot with New Day, The Creeds, Giovanni Vinci & Ludvig Kaiser, Johnny Gargano & Tomasso Ciampa, Indu Sher, Otis & Akira Tozawa and perhaps others, plus Piper Niven & Chelsea Green defend the women’s tag titles against Natalya & Tegan Nox and Bronson Reed vs. Ivar. There were about 10,000 tickets out as of this morning and I’d expect a major walk-up for the show. We’re looking for live reports from Nashville with the Main Event matches and anything post-show to dave@wrestlingobserver.com Dixie Carter, who lives in Nashville, is at the show.–We’re looking for your thoughts on Survivor Series, so you can leave a thumbs up, down or middle along with a best and worst match to dave@wrestlingobserver.com

The first day of the presale for All In 2024 in London was today. We have no numbers at press time which would indicate nothing remarkable, past Ton Khan saying it’s off to a good start. A lot of tickets were priced much higher than last year which was the main reaction we had, and others noted there’s no reason to rush to buy tickets with so many months left. UK historian John Lister noted that he’s definitely going to the show, but it’s not going to sell out so why put the money in Ticketmaster’s hands rather than keep it in your own hands for nine months and also figured prices would eventually drop. One person told us that a seat he paid 82 pounds for last year is now 367 pounds and that every seat in the section is over 300 pounds. From what we were told, the Fite map didn’t allow people to select a specific seat and frustrated many. Ticketmaster went up hours later and allowed people to select a seat, but it was noted the high price for the best seats.

Drew McIntyre is fine with the company in the sense he worked the main event last night in Peoria, IL in a three-way with Seth Rollins (who won of course) and Shinsuke Nakamura (who lost the fall of course). McIntyre played kind of an over-the-top babyface almost a smarmy face type role. Rollins was cheered but also had chants for Punk directed at him and he cut a promo about it, never saying Punk’s name but playing into the angle they ran on Saturday after the show.

AEW on Wednesday has Bryan Danielson vs. Eddie Kingston, Brody King vs. Claudio Castagnoli and Daniel Garcia vs. Andrade in the Continental Classic tournament. Nothing else has been announced.

NXT tomorrow has Tony D’Angelo & Stacks Lorenzo vs. Humberto Carrillo & Angel Garza for the tag titles, and Wes Lee vs. Cameron Grimes vs,. Bronson Reed vs. Johnny Gargano with the winner facing Dominik Mysterio for the North American title at Deadline.

Our 11th book, covering 1991, is now available through Amazon around the world. For the U.S. it can be accessed here.

UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland was shown in a video pointing what appears to be a gun at a man whose face was blurred out and another video showing he and another person chasing someone who appears to be the same man, shoving to the ground and holding him at gunpoint as lights flash in he background. Strickland said that the man was drunk and stomping on a girl and security followed him, he hit a curb, drove on the rim, jumped out and tried to run into Strickland’s house. Strickland said he first thought the guy was stealing his car and the man was later arrested. 

Tony Ferguson’s May arrest on DUI charges was settled after a deal with prosecutors. The misdemeanor DUI charge was dismissed with Ferguson pleading no contest to a lesser charge of reckless driving on a highway. Ferguson will receive one year probation. This comes from a case in May where Ferguson was taken into custody after allegedly crashing into two parked cars outside a nightclub in Hollywood, CA.

Phil Sturm of USA Today’s Under the Ring show talked with Tom Lawlor about this match with Satoshi Kojima next week in MLW

The New Japan tag team tournament continues the tag tournament shows both tomorrow and Wednesday morning. Tomorrow in Nagoya is the Gates of Agony vs. Alex Coughlin & Gabe Kidd, Great O’Khan & Henare vs. Evil & Yujiro Takahashi, Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano vs. Mikey Nicholls & Shane Haste and Shota Umino & Ren Narita vs. Kaito Kiyomiya & Ryohei Oiwa. Wednesday in Osaka has Hikuleo & El Phantasmo vs. Bad Luck Fale & Jack Bonza, Taichi & Yuya Uemura vs. Atlantis Jr. & Soberano Jr., Yuji Nagata & Minoru Suzuki vs. Lance Archer & Alex Zayne and Hirooki Goto & Yoshi-Hashi vs. Zandokan Jr. & Yota Tsuji

Cody Rhodes vs. Dominik Mysterio and Seth Rollins vs Shinsuke Nakamura are being advertised as dark matches for Friday’s Smackdown tapings in Brooklyn.

At the August TMart Promotions convention in Charlotte, they will honor World Class Wrestling with Kevin Von Erich, John Nord, Rod Price, and Brian Adias, plus will honor the Von Erich family. There will also be a reunion of The Glamour Girls and Jumping Bomb Angels, who had some of the best matches on WWE house shows for a period in the late 80s.

Add Yuna Mizumori to the list of Stardom injuries. She was hurt on Saturday’s show and will be out for at least the next few shows.

Josh Bishop vs Matthew Justice was added to the 12/7 MLW show in New York at the Melrose Ballroom.