Daily Update: Sheamus, Becky Lynch, NJPW Wrestle Kingdom

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This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

We’ve got a very heavy business issue of the Observer focusing on a lot of different breaking stories involving both WWE and AEW:

  • Match of the week and performer of the week
  • The changes in WWE business under TKO
  • UFC & WWE quarterly business updates
  • Behind Vince McMahon selling 8.4 million shares of TKO stock, what he got, what he still owns, what it did to the stock price and what other large sum of money he just received that fell under the radar
  • Why WWE numbers were unexpectedly down, and why TKO actually losing money this quarter is nothing to be concerned over
  • A look at WWE and AEW attendance and how it’s changed over the past year
  • Ari Emanuel talks about competition for WWE and UFC
  • More departments where jobs will be lost
  • Company goals for 2024
  • Changes in the live arena experience
  • Key that makes WWE and UFC attractive for television stations
  • Issues with Vince McMahon
  • The CW deal for NXT
  • Changes for a WWE show next year and other changes talked about
  • Who are the leaders for the Raw rights
  • What are the rankings of the stations with pro wrestling and MMA product
  • Billy Corgan gives comments about the cocaine angle
  • A look at the TV deals that Tony Khan, Dwayne Johnson and Vince McMahon have been part of for wrestling and football
  • Full coverage of Crown Jewel and the booking
  • A look at the Ricochet injury and how it changed the IC title path slightly going into the Survivor Series
  • Early notes on the Survivor Series
  • PPV numbers and what did Crown Jewel buyers watch and not watch when it came to major PPV events this past month
  • The future for Will Ospreay and Giulia
  • Notes on the Tokyo Dome show
  • Great matches and angles at Power Struggle
  • Full Power Struggle coverage
  • UFC from Brazil coverage
  • The most detailed look at the TV ratings from the past week from all shows, including comparison to last year, competition, and how each segment did as well as Dynamite vs. NXT
  • Major rudo turn on sold out Arena Mexico show
  • AAA doing a talent search
  • More injuries and health issues with Stardom
  • Update on Stardom tag team tournament
  • Controversy at Stardom event after changed start time of show
  • All Japan has an incredible match this week and sets up another for New Year’ Eve
  • A look at All Japan’s year end tag team and junior tournaments
  • Lots of injury updates
  • New Japan big events in early 2024
  • DDT has major show this week
  • More on the Von Erich movie
  • Indie star says his indie career is over
  • Indie promotion draws 5,000 fans
  • Contract issues in MLW
  • WBD stock falls
  • Update on Full Gear
  • Notes on Mariah May debut
  • Stardom star under contract to AEW and details
  • Ticket sales for upcoming WWE & AEW shows
  • International TV ratings and streaming numbers
  • UFC signs deal with new TV outlet to return from nearly a decade
  • How Vince McMahon kept UFC off NBC
  • Lots of new UFC title matches
  • Unique facts about this weekend’s UFC show
  • More on Fury vs. Nganou PPV numbers
  • WrestleMania week news
  • CM Punk news
  • YouTube numbers and WWE and TKO value at this point
  • Reports from the WWE house shows

This Week’s Retro Observer Newsletter

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Saturday Update

WWE

  • Sheamus, who has been out of action since August due to a shoulder injury, is advertised for the November 24, December 8, and December 15 episodes of SmackDown on WWE’s website.
  • PWInsider reports that the expectation at last night’s SmackDown was that Becky Lynch will be added to Bianca Belair, Charlotte Flair & Shotzi’s WarGames team for Survivor Series. WWE has set up that Belair, Charlotte & Shotzi will be facing Bayley, IYO SKY, Kairi Sane & Asuka in WarGames.
  • Bobby Lashley was the guest on WWE After the Bell this week. With Corey Graves away due to the birth of his son, Wade Barrett filled in for Graves and co-hosted the podcast alongside Kevin Patrick.
  • Lashley was asked how much longer he plans to continue wrestling:
          • I tell my sparring partners, I tell my training partners, and I tell anybody that works out with me, when you see that I’m missing a step or slowing down a little bit, just tell me. I mean, because you see a lot of times those guys that are fighting in the UFC or boxing or something, and they take that one fight too many. It’s almost sad. Or you see those guys get in the ring and they just can’t move the same, it’s sad. He kind of loses that a little bit. I don’t want to be that guy. It’s like when Superman gets that kryptonite, you see Superman kind of falling apart and becoming weak. I don’t need that. I put myself financially in a very, very good position that it’s not for the money. It’s for my enjoyment. I mean, I truly love going out there and being in front of the crowd and being in front of fans and stuff like that really gets me up and I really like some of the guys that I work with.
  • Cody Rhodes told Gabby AF that he’s been impressed by the work JD McDonagh has done on the main roster: “He’s been one of the most impressive callups I feel from NXT, and I really wasn’t expecting it. I didn’t have low expectations, I didn’t have high expectations. But that’s potentially a big-time player moving forward.”
  • In honor of Veterans Day, WWE raised one of the largest American flags in the country on top of WWE headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut.
  • Vince McMahon was interviewed by Fox News about the flag raising. It was noted in the Fox News article that McMahon declined to comment on the sexual assault allegations that have been made against him: “McMahon, 78, has been mostly out of the public eye over the last couple of years as he faced sexual assault allegations, a lawsuit that was later settled, and a federal investigation. When asked for comment by Fox News Digital, McMahon declined.”
  • TJ Wilson (Tyson Kidd) appeared on Insight with Chris Van Vliet.
  • LA Knight, Grayson Waller & Austin Theory, and Damage CTRL were interviewed on The SmackDown LowDown.

AEW/Other Wrestling

  • At Lonestar Shootout last night, NJPW set up that Shingo Takagi will be defending his NEVER Openweight Championship against Tama Tonga at Wrestle Kingdom 18 on January 4.
  • Gabe Kidd emerged as the next challenger for Eddie Kingston’s Strong Openweight Championship by attacking Kingston at Lonestar Shootout. NJPW hasn’t announced when Kingston vs. Kidd will be taking place.
  • Fred Rosser challenged Tom Lawlor to have their next match against each other in Japan in 2024. They have a 2-2 record over their first four times facing each other for NJPW in the United States.
  • Chris Jericho and Konosuke Takeshita took part in a press conference ahead of their match at Sunday’s Ultimate Party event for DDT Pro Wrestling.
  • In a clip that’s gone viral on social media, “The Iron Claw” actor Jeremy Allen White explained what surprised him about the sport of pro wrestling while making the movie.
  • Zac Efron discussed the transformation he went through to play Kevin Von Erich in the film:
          • (When) you’re playing a real person and it’s a true story, there’s an extra bit of motivation to get things as honest and real as possible. And I knew that going into this after watching the footage of Kevin in the ring that the physicality was gonna be the hardest thing to get right. So I started training probably six months before and it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done.
  • 103.5 Kiss FM interviewed Britt Baker.
  • Sarah Stock was interviewed on AEW Unrestricted.