Daily Update: Sin Cara, Starrcade, Raw notes

DAILY UPDATE

Latest News:

Latest Audio:

We’re looking for reports on today’s Raw house show in Glasgow, Scotland, as well as tomorrow’s shows in Amsterdam, Holland and Lille, France, and Wednesday’s shows in Erfurt, Germany and Zurich, Switzerland to newstips@wrestlingobserver.com

We’re also looking for your thoughts on AEW Full Gear, 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

F4W NEWSLETTER: Figure Four Weekly: Recapping WWE Crown Jewel

Joseph Currier gives his thoughts on Crown Jewel and the travel delays the WWE roster faced after the show.

When Crown Jewel ended last Thursday, it seemed like things weren’t quite as awful for WWE as their previous shows in Saudi Arabia.

In the ring, this year’s Crown Jewel was probably the best event that WWE has had in Saudi Arabia. There were low points, but the show was focused more on the current roster and special attractions than relying solely on nostalgia. Though Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair were part of the show, they coached teams of current wrestlers and weren’t actually competing themselves. A major title change even took place, with The Fiend becoming Universal Champion by defeating Seth Rollins in their falls count anywhere main event.

Most importantly for WWE, they got to put on the first-ever women’s match in Saudi Arabia. Natalya defeated Lacey Evans, and it went as well as could be expected. There were obviously restrictions, including what Natalya and Evans were allowed to wear. But the quality of the match was largely irrelevant to WWE. Natalya and Evans treated this like a milestone that they were honored to be part of. The audience also played their part, helping WWE’s narrative come off as more than just hollow messaging.

Current subscribers click here to continue reading.

WON NEWSLETTER: November 11, 2019 Observer Newsletter: Situation with WWE and Saudi Arabia, NXT invasion, more

One of the craziest stories in pro wrestling history, one that will be talked about in autobiographies to come, involves the WWE’s trip to Saudi Arabia. We’ve got a complete rundown on what happened as well as details of a story that involved hundreds of millions of dollars, the stock market, mainstream media, and much more. The new issue also covers: 

The decision to put NXT talent on main roster shows affected ratings for Raw, Smackdown and NXT.

A complicated story with a lot of issues, including a $60 million payment, let money, a new and better deal for WWE, lagging stock price, talent stuck in Saudi Arabia an extra day, a meeting called by Vince McMahon, what does and doesn’t add up among the different stories, the Smackdown show and how it went down, stock analyses look at WWE, and much more.

Coverage of UFC 244, with the story behind the fight, the stoppage of the main event, Nate Diaz’s 180 reaction on what he wants to do, Jorge Masvidal and the BMF championship, scary finishes, upsets and surprises along with match-by-match coverage and poll results from the show.

New Japan building two Tokyo Dome shows in January with key matches, angles being worked on, the retirement of Jushin Liger, the situation with Katsuyori Shibata, the return of Hiromu Takahashi, what Will Ospreay talked of, the upcoming tag team tournament, the junior tag team tournament, California shows as well as a full rundown of Power Struggle with match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results.

The Randy Orton contract, interest level of Crown Jewel, Lance Storm goes to WWE in a non-wrestling role and why now, Styles pushes for angle which changes storyline direction, another finish changed on Raw, NXT future plans, lots of WWE injury notes, WrestleMania kickoff party and plans for the next show in Mexico City.

Upcoming War Games matches, UK stars on main roster shows, WWE’s biggest house show week of the year, the most watched shows on the WWE Network, plus WWE’s first show in the U.K. and a rundown on all the NXT house shows.

Kenny Omega’s possibly going after yet another world title with coverage of DDT’s big show at Sumo Hall. 

Coverage of the MLW PPV show, Dragon Gate’s Gate of Destiny with storyline notes and coverage and Pro Wrestling NOAH’s biggest event of the year at Sumo Hall.

Coverage of all the WWE and AEW television shows from the past week.

In-depth looks at the ratings of all the major shows, the key demos and quarters for AEW and WWE, what happened head-to-head and what can be learned from them.

Results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week. 

ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to dave@wrestlingobserver.com or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to dave@wrestlingobserver.com.

Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.

In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.

For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.

If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.

MONDAY NEWS UPDATE

Bryan and I will be back tonight covering Raw and the latest wrestling news. You can also send questions for tonight’s show to mailbag@wrestlingobserver.com

The Monday Night Football having a gave with the San Francisco 49ers vs. Seattle Seahawks, plus three days since the taping of the show, if this does even 2.1 million viewers it shows live vs. tape means nothing even in 2019.  Smackdown was actually the best since week two, but all WWE stuff is up due to the NXT stuff on the main brand, which does continue tonight.

WWE officials said that Jorge Arias (Sin Cara), who is working with the Smackdown brand, will be remaining on the European tour. Arias publicly said he was going to ask for his release earlier today.

Matt Sydal’s numbness on Saturday did not keep him off yesterday’s show in Brooklyn.

This is the current card for Starrcade on 12/1 in Atlanta which will be an hour-long WWE Network special:

  • Rusev vs. Bobby Lashley
  • New Day vs. Revival for the Smackdown tag titles
  • A.J. Styles vs. Kevin Owens  for the U.S. title
  • Braun Strowman vs. Shinsuke Nakamura & Sami Zayn
  • Asuka & Kairi Sane vs. Charlotte Flair & Becky Lynch in a tornado match for the women’s tag titles
  • Seth Rollins vs. Randy Orton
  • Roman Reigns vs King Corbin
  • Bray Wyatt vs. The Miz for the Universal tile in a cage match

WWE

  • Raw tonight is a taped show with these matches:
    Asuka & Kairi Sane defend the women’s tag titles against Becky Lynch & Charlotte Flair
    Sin Cara vs. Drew McIntyre
    The Singh Brothers vs. R-Truth for the 24/7 title
    Seth Rollins vs. Walter
    Rollins & Kevin Owens & Street Profits vs. Imperium
    Cedric Alexander vs. Andrade
    Soner Durson vs. Erick Rowan
    Viking Raiders vs. Flash Morgan Webster & Mark Andrews
    Randy Orton & Ricochet & Humberto Carrillo vs. A.J,. Styles & Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson
    Walter beat Jordan Devlin to keep the UK title on the house show today in Vienna, Austria. Walter got a huge response in his first match back in that country in a long time.
  • The WrestleMania’s Legendary Moments special that aired on FOX will debut on Friday on the WWE Network.

UFC

  • UFC has released Gilbert Melendez after five straight losses.  Given that Melendez helped build Strikeforce, I think if he wants to continue fighting he’ll be able to get into Bellator.
  • UFC is doing its own version of Survivor Series on 12/12 at 10 p.m. The show will be called Quintet Ultra and takes place on the Thursday before the final PPV of the year in Las Vegas, this being from the Red Rock Casino in Las Vegas. There will be four teams, one from UFC, one from Pride, once from Strkeforce and one from WEC. It will be usual Quintet rules with two teams of four under Survival rules.  All matches will be grappling with finishes only by submission. Each team has a lineup and the winner advances and loser is eliminated. If nobody gets the submission, both are eliminated. It goes on until one team has no members left and they lose. The two winning teams meet in Ultimate Survival. Names announced for the show at this point are Takanori Gomi (Pride), Anthony Johnson (UFC), Gilbert Melendez (Strikeforce), Chad Mendes (WEC), Sean O’Malley (UFC), Kazushi Sakuraba (Pride), Jake Shields (Strikeforce) and Glover Teixeira (WEC). The show also has Gordon Ryan, one of the best heavyweight submission fighters in the world, against UFC’s Alaksei Oleinik.

AEW

  • Some will crack up at the comedy in the new BTE. Some won’t be happy.  

MISCELLANEOUS

  • Evolve from yesterday in Brooklyn: Colby Corino & Sean Maluta b Michael Verna, & Kekoa, Reina Gonzalez b Alex Gracia, Babatunde b Brandon Taggart, Austin Theory b Curt Stallion, Matt Sydal & Anthony Greene & Harlem Bravado b Liam Gray & Adrian Alanis, & Leon Ruff, Anthony Gutierrez b Donovan, Arturo Ruas b Eddie Kingston-DQ, Shotzi Blackheart b Allysin Kay to win the Shine title, Joe Gacy b AR Fox, Josh Briggs won three-way over Anthony Henry and JD Drake to keep the Evolve title.
  • CWA on 1/18 in North Little Rock, AR at the Maumelle Event Center with Jerry Lawler vs. Matt Riviera, career vs. title.
  • Juventud Guerrera won the CWE Canadian jr. title on Friday night beating Angel Dorado in Yorkton, Saskatchewan. Guerrera is in the middle of a 31 day tour across Canada with 31 shows.
  • Pro Wrestling Eve’s final weekend show from yesterday in London:  Millie McKenzie won three-way over Laura DiMatteo and Gisele Shaw, Mei Suruga b Lulu Pencil, Jetta b Kasey, Jazz won four-way over Mercedes Blaze, Rebel Kinney and Chakara, Millie McKenzie won She-1 tournament over Mercedes Martinez and Rhia O’Reilly. DiMatteo attacked O’Reilly and caused her to be eliminated. McKenzie said she will use her tournament win so she and Charli Evans would challenge Debbie Keitel and Valkyrie for the Eve tag titles in January. (thanks to Shannon Wash and wrestlingwithdemons.net)
  • Qatar Pro Wrestling will hold a press conference Thursday in Doha, Qatar to push a show on 2/20. Eric Bischoff will be at the press conference.
  • Koji Miyamoto will be hosting an 11/16 dinner talk show with Stan Hansen in Shibuya, Tokyo and an 11/17 Genichiro Tenryu and Dory Funk Jr. event in Meguro.  It’s going to be a big week of All Japan 70s/80s nostalgia with The Destroyer Memorial show on 11/15 at the Ota Ward Gym in Tokyo. It is the family of Giant Baba (actually the nephew of Motoko Baba) who is the promoter of the show.
  • Combate Americas announced a 12/13 show in Stockton at the Arena that will air live on Univision and Univision Deportes.  Zoila Frausto, the former Bellator champion, will headline the show against an opponent to be named. Another top bout will be a featherweight fight with Javier Reyes (8-3) vs. Jose Neal (6-4).
  • Rocky Mountain Pro on 11/14 in Golden, CO at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds for a TV taping for Fight UK TV and the Global Wrestling Network.
  • The Hannibal TV’s 2.5 hour shoot interview with former ECW Champion Justin Credible can be found here.

Daily Pro Wrestling History: The Revival win the NXT Tag Team Titles

CONTACT INFORMATION