Daily Update: Queen of the Ring, WWE & AEW ticket sale updates, UFC 313

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Friday Update

– This is a big weekend of shows. Garrett Gonzales and I will be doing our regular Friday Wrestling Observer Radio today covering the news of the week, and will continue that tomorrow with a special Saturday show that also covers SmackDown, UFC and Collision. Bryan and I will be back Sunday for AEW Revolution coverage.

– The new issue of the Observer is up on the site today. There is a ton of stuff in the lead article regarding the background leading to the John Cena angle.

Among the highlights:

  • The background of the John Cena angle and different versions of the story
  • What changed on the day of Elimination Chamber and different versions as to why
  • The turn itself
  • Travis Scott injures Rhodes
  • Comparisons with other turns
  • Art imitating real life
  • WrestleMania lineup
  • Elimination Chamber business and how it performed around the world
  • Pat McAfee controversy
  • TKO getting into boxing, what has and hasn’t been talked about and what we know about the details on how Nick Khan and Dana White are involved as well as why this is no risk for TKO
  • Linda McMahon confirmed for Secretary of Education, and then to wipe it all out
  • AEW Revolution preview, business numbers and interest level
  • Why the March 6, 1972 match with Antonio Inoki vs. Karl Gotch is still talked about 53 years after it happened
  • New Japan anniversary show notes, early New Japan Cup news
  • Saya Kamitani vs. Tam Nakano becomes a classic match, as well as a controversial one
  • Fantastica Mania final day coverage
  • Coverage of the deaths of Ciclon Ramirez and Australian Suicide
  • How did SmackDown and Dynamite place in the weekly standings
  • The unique Dynamite rating pattern
  • Full weekly ratings notes including what milestone did Raw on Netflix fall below
  • Notes on the high SmackDown number
  • Takeshita goes to Arena Mexico
  • Arguably the greatest freestyle wrestler of all-time passes away
  • Queen of the Ring notes
  • Giant mask match of legends being teased
  • Tony Khan changes philosophy
  • Forbidden Door title match tease
  • Tony Khan talks Wembley Stadium attendance record
  • Ospreay talks difference between New Japan and AEW
  • Mark Shapiro talks a lot of the future WWE and UFC business deals
  • A look at what level of value UFC PPVs could bring to Netflix and the value WWE brings to Netflix
  • Tom Aspinall vs. Jon Jones update
  • Freak show fight between two of the strongest men who ever lived
  • Big Tokyo Dome event planned
  • WWE in talks for a unique PPV event including date and place it is tentative for
  • Evolve notes
  • Sonya Deville and Carmella talk being dropped by WWE

– The movie “Queen of the Ring,” which was released in a few markets last night, has its official release tonight nationwide. We’ll be talking more about this tomorrow night on the show. The story is based on an excellent book about the life of Mildred Burke, the first genuine woman pro wrestling superstar who was a legit drawing card in the 1940s but then refused to drop the title. Jim Ross was behind this movie being made. In a trivia note, in the late 1980s, shortly after Burke’s death, Frank Deford wanted to do a movie based on her life but at the time was unable to garner interest in it.

– SmackDown is in Philadelphia tonight and will be sold out as they had more than 15,500 tickets out earlier today. Monday’s Madison Square Garden Raw will not have the usual stage setting as they are trying to get in excess of 17,000 to 18,000 in for that show. Both gates should be enormous. Tonight’s show has Chelsea Green vs. Michin in a street fight for the women’s US title, Jimmy Uso vs. Drew McIntyre, Solo Sikoa vs. Braun Strowman and Shinsuke Nakamura vs. LA Knight for the men’s US title, plus appearances by Cody Rhodes, Jade Cargill and Randy Orton.

– We’re looking for live show reports with anything not on television like Speed matches to dave@wrestlingobserver.com

– We will be doing a poll for AEW Revolution on Sunday, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to dave@wrestlingobserver.com

– I was told from live sources that the Hologram vs. Dralistico match taped on Wednesday for Collision was the best match taped that night, and also that Komander vs. Dark Panther for the ROH TV title was great. That would likely air on the ROH show this coming Thursday.

– The Wednesday AEW ratings number was weird as the show was down 66,000 in under 50 viewers which is a big decrease, and up 68,000 in over 50 viewers which is a huge increase. Obviously the former figure is the important one. Within that age group it was down across the board to incredibly low male numbers, the former core audience. New York, Chicago, and I believe Los Angeles and several other markets aired NXT on Wednesday. That should have explained a drop across the board, but not as much of an 18-49 drop as happened and doesn’t explain the increase.

– Revolution has topped 9,600 tickets out so they will top the goal of 10,000 and could hit 11,000.

-New Japan was to start the New Japan Cup today, but the show was canceled due to the ring post of the ring breaking. They will have a show at 5:30 a.m. Eastern tomorrow morning to start the Cup.

– Yesterday’s anniversary show was quite good. Hirooki Goto vs Hiroshi Tanahashi was an incredible storytelling match. Chris Charlton returned to announce the show and he and Walker Stewart did a great job with the main event story, since it went back nearly two decades.

– UFC 313 is tomorrow from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas

ESPN+ at 6:30 p.m. Eastern

  • Djorden Santos (185.5) vs. Ozzy Diaz (185.5)
  • Chris Gutierrez (144.5) vs. John Castaneda (145)
  • Mairon Santos (145.5) vs. Francis Marshall (146)

ESPN at 8 p.m. Eastern

  • Alex Morono (171) vs. Carlos Leal (169)
  • Brunno Ferreira (186) vs. Armen Petrosyan (186)
  • Joshua Van (125.5) vs. Rei Tsuruya (125.5)
  • Curtis Blaydes (262) vs. Rizvan Kuniev (264.5)

PPV on ESPN+ at 10 p.m. Eastern

  • King Green (155.5) vs. Mauricio Ruffy (155.5)
  • Amanda Lemos (116) vs. Iasmin Lucindo (115.5)
  • Jalin Turner (154.5) vs. Ignacio Bahomondes (155)
  • Justin Gaethje (156) vs. Rafael Fiziev (156)
  • Alex Pereira (205) vs. Magomed Ankalaev (205) for the UFC light heavyweight title

– Rich Swann vs. Brian Cage was announced for the 3/23 Chris Bey Benefit show in Las Vegas put on by Future Stars of Wrestling, the promotion that he got started with. Bey has recovered from paralysis to where he can now walk.

– Speaking of recovery, Yoshihiro Takayama after all these years is now able to sit up with help.

– Game Changer Wrestling announced a 7/19 show at the Brooklyn Cyclones Baseball Stadium. Both TNA and ROH over the years have put on successful events in that stadium.

– CMLL has an all women’s show at Arena Mexico tonight with Zeuxis vs. Persephone for the CMLL women’s title, Sanely vs. India Sioux for the Mexican national women’s title and the first part of the tournament for the vacant women’s tag team titles.

– For a week from tonight at Arena Mexico, it’s the B block of the CMLL women’s tag team tournament with Zeuxis & Dark Silueta, Lluvia & Jarochita, Amapola & Princesa Sugehit and the surprise team of Zoey Lucas & Amira Blair from the U.K. Blair is the girlfriend of Michael Oku who has been in a number of angles and was a key part of the phenomenal series of bouts with Oku vs. Will Ospreay over the recent years. Blair was in CMLL when Oku worked there.

– UFC heavyweight Marcos Rogerio de Lima tested positive on 1/13 for anastrozole, a drug used by athletes to jump start testosterone production after coming off steroids. He provided information that he had a prescription for a medical condition and anastrozole was listed on the label. But he never cleared usage and was suspended for one year. He was also suspended in 2017 for the same drug but only suspended for six months as he was able to find proof of a contaminated supplement.

– Oba Femi was on the KTLA news in Los Angeles Wednesday promoting airing of NXT that night because part of it didn’t air the night before due to news coverage of Trump’s speech.

– MLW will be streaming Intimidation Games at 10 p.m. Eastern tomorrow night after Collision ends. The show will air on YouTube with Matt Riddle & Tom Lawlor vs. Contra Unit, Neon vs. Kushida, Matthew Justice vs. Bobby Fish vs. Akira vs. Paul Walter Hauser for the National title and Bomaye Fight Club vs. The Andersons (Brock & CW) in a first blood match.

– United Wrestling Coalition on 3/15 is in New Egypt, NJ at the American Legion for their 29th anniversary event with four Hall of Fame inductees as well as the wrestling show.