Daily Update: Sami Zayn, SmackDown ratings, Tony Khan-Ariel Helwani
Daily Update
Latest News:
- UFC on ESPN+ 77 live results: Jessica Andrade vs. Erin Blanchfield
- MLW’s Richard Holliday completes chemotherapy treatments
- WWE Elimination Chamber preview & predictions: The Sami Zayn conundrum
- WWE SmackDown video highlights: Sami Zayn comes home
- Mercedes Mone releases mini-documentary on NJPW debut
- Kenny Omega says AEW Fight Forever video game was delayed due to ESRB rating
- Charlotte Flair-Rhea Ripley segment set for next week’s WWE SmackDown
- Bray Wyatt challenges Lesnar-Lashley winner on WWE SmackDown
- Tony Khan to make ‘important announcement’ on AEW Dynamite
Latest Audio:
- Wrestling Observer Live: Coping with the Roman vs. Sami finish at WWE Elimination Chamber
- Pacific Rim: A deep dive into the career of Keiji Muto
- Mat Men: WWE Elimination Chamber & NJPW previews, ROH TV returning
- Speak Now: Sami Zayn returns to Montreal, Bray Wyatt offers a challenge
- Wrestling Observer Radio: Rocky Romero interview
Latest Free YouTube Video:
This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter:
- February 20, 2023 Observer Newsletter: The life & career of Jerry Jarrett
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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Saturday Update
WWE
- WWE has a video diary with Sami Zayn’s wife Khadija speaking about Zayn’s match against Roman Reigns at tonight’s Elimination Chamber PPV.
- WWE also posted a video with Ariel Helwani interviewing Zayn ahead of Elimination Chamber.
- Zayn returned to using his “Worlds Apart” theme music on SmackDown last night.
- I previewed the Elimination Chamber card for Sports Illustrated and gave my predictions for each match.
- Montez Ford, Liv Morgan, and Johnny Gargano were guests on the pre-Elimination Chamber edition of WWE’s The Bump.
- Last night’s SmackDown averaged 2.254 million viewers in the fast national ratings, down from the 2.39 million the show drew in the fast nationals last week. The rating in the 18-49 demo was a 0.5.
- A post-show interview from SmackDown appeared to show that Madcap Moss and Emma are turning heel. Emma and Moss said the crowd turning on him was the reason Moss lost to Gunther last night.
- The Miz hit a half-court shot that would have tied last night’s NBA All-Star Weekend celebrity game, but the shot didn’t count because time expired.
- Kurt Angle is set to undergo a back procedure next month:
- They’re not going to do any fusion or anything like that, thank God. They’re going to clean it out. They’re going to clean all the arthritis out because I have a nerve going down my leg and it’s bothering me. There’s pain in my lower back.
- So, they’re going to clean all that stuff out, take the bone chips out, the calcium and stuff like that. He said I should be good to go after that. He said it might not relieve all the lower back pain, but you’re not going to feel the pain running down your leg.
- Drew McIntyre & Sheamus, Rey Mysterio, and Liv Morgan appeared on The SmackDown LowDown.
- WWE’s YouTube channel uploaded the following matches: Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship (SummerSlam 2022), Elimination Chamber match for the WWE Championship (Elimination Chamber 2021), and Rey Mysterio vs. Chavo Guerrero for the Cruiserweight title (No Way Out 2004).
AEW/Other Wrestling
- Tony Khan tweeted after Ariel Helwani appeared on SmackDown last night: “You’re a fraud @arielhelwani. You’re as legitimate of a reporter as @tonyschiavone24. #AEWRampage”
- Helwani tweeted back at Khan: “Thanks for watching, old friend! Can’t wait for our next chat. (Also, don’t listen to the snowman, Schiavone. You’re a legend in my books.)”
- Khan responded: “Good luck with the unbiased journalism.”
- In an interview with the Daily Mail, Mercedes Mone named her three favorite matches of her career: “The first has to be me vs. Bayley at NXT TakeOver. My career cannot be outdone! I really loved myself vs. Alexa Bliss in Abu Dhabi, that meant so much to me. Then I would have [to] say myself vs. Bayley at Hell in a Cell during the pandemic, I still see clips of that match and I can’t believe we had such an incredible match without fans.”
- Sports Illustrated and TV Insider also have interviews with Mone.
- Mone’s mini-documentary on her NJPW debut includes a clip of her meeting Kenny Omega for the first time.
- IGN shared exclusive new footage of a Hangman Page vs. Bryan Danielson match from AEW’s Fight Forever video game.
- AR Fox was the guest on AEW Unrestricted this week.
- Miyu Yamashita will be based in the United States from April to June.
- Warrior Wrestling released a hype video previewing their event that’s taking place tonight.