Daily Update: SmackDown ratings, SummerSlam, Bryan Danielson

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This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter:

August 1, 2022 Observer Newsletter: Vince McMahon resigns from WWE

  • In this issue:
  • The life and career of Vince McMahon. His rise, his fall, both sides of the coin, how things could have been different. The fall of the territories, the WCW feud, buying the company from his father, his pre-WWF promotions, announcing, getting on the USA Network, the expansion, Hulk Hogan, Saturday Night’s Main Event, the first WrestleMania, the death of Crockett Promotions, the McMahon family as TV characters, angles with the family he suggested that never happened, a potential sale, Paul Levesque, what brought Vince down, Brock Lesnar, Tony Khan and much more.
  • WrestleMania 2024
  • Full coverage of ROH Death Before Dishonor with business notes
  • SummerSlam and Clash at the Castle notes
  • Full coverage of the G1 tournament, with business, standings, star ratings and all that good stuff
  • Full coverage of Saturday’s UFC show
  • Television ratings for every national wrestling show
  • Details behind the IWGP Women’s Championship and why
  • Stardom PPV coverage from last week and the upcoming shows this week
  • Dragon Gate’s biggest shows of the year this week
  • Why a top Dragon Gate star left the promotion
  • Lots of injury updates
  • New Japan Strong tapings
  • Tragos/Thesz Hall of Fame induction ceremony notes
  • Nick Wayne’s flight issues make mainstream news
  • Update on AEW injuries and business
  • Streaming numbers for the week
  • Fedor’s last fight
  • How much Peacock is really losing
  • NXT vs. AEW is back on
  • International TV ratings

This Week’s Retro Observer Newsletter:

June 13, 2005 Observer Newsletter: WWE Draft Lottery begins, UFC 53 recap

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Saturday News Update

WWE

  • Last night’s SmackDown averaged 2.06 million viewers in the fast national ratings, down from the 2.17 million viewers the show drew in the fast nationals last week (on the day that Vince McMahon announced his retirement). The rating in the 18-49 demo was a 0.4.
  • In my SummerSlam preview for Sports Illustrated, I predicted tonight’s matches and wrote about how WWE can change following McMahon’s retirement.
  • PWInsider reported that Edge is backstage at SummerSlam tonight. The Undertaker, who was in Nashville this weekend for a one-man show, is also backstage.
  • PWInsider also reported that Riddle will be appearing on SummerSlam tonight for at least an interview or promo. Riddle vs. Seth Rollins was originally scheduled for tonight, but the match was pulled from the card due to a storyline injury suffered by Riddle.
  • BT Sport shared video of Triple H’s media scrum from WWE’s SummerSlam week tryouts in Nashville.
  • Ariel Helwani interviewed Bianca Belair and Liv Morgan ahead of SummerSlam.
  • Logan Paul, Bobby Lashley, and Greg Miller of Kinda Funny Games were guests on WWE’s The Bump this afternoon.
  • Pat McAfee debuted new entrance music on SmackDown last night.
  • During an appearance on The MMA Hour, Big E explained why he holds no ill will aganst Ridge Holland for his broken neck:
        • We’re good, man. Things happen. It’s a part of what we sign up for. It’s not something I ever would have wanted, but it happened. Me hating him or holding a grudge doesn’t help me at all. He’s been very apologetic, so we’re good man. I hold no ill will against him at all.
        • I generally think he’s a good human being. I truly do. I’ve enjoyed our interaction prior, and I wish him well. I don’t want this to be the albatross around his neck, whether I have to retire early or not. I can hug my loved ones. I can live my life. My life is good. So, there’s no ill will whatsoever.
  • Finn Balor told the Cheap Heat podcast that he’d like more creative control over his Demon character: “I would like more creative control over the Demon. A lot more and I would execute it a lot differently if it was given to me to like babysit. Working with a company that has so many different levels of management and different departments that need to be kept happy, something you lose is some of that creative license that you have when you’re independent. So, obviously, as a perfectionist and something that I created, I would like more control over it, but I understand the limitations when I work for a company like the WWE.”
  • Ciampa spoke to Wrestling Inc about Johnny Gargano potentially returning to WWE: “The door was always open. Johnny left so he could go be a dad … For Johnny, it was like, ‘Oh, I have baby Quill, and I have to [wrestle] full-time or I take a break,’ and he just took a break. So I don’t know, I think the chances of him returning were always really good … Maybe they’re better now, but regardless, I think he’s definitely going to come back to wrestling. He’s in shape, he still loves it. I’m sure he’s still probably one of the best in the world right now. So for him, it’s just a matter of time.”
  • Sasha Banks (billed under her real name as Mercedes Varnado) appeared on The Crystal Collector YouTube channel.
  • Today’s SmackDown LowDown featured interviews with The Street Profits, Liv Morgan, and Happy Corbin.
  • Corey Graves and Vic Joseph previewed SummerSlam on this week’s WWE After the Bell.
  • WWE’s YouTube channel uploaded Edge vs. Seth Rollins from SummerSlam 2021, Natalya vs. Alicia Fox from the July 30, 2018 episode of Raw, and a Charlotte Flair/Trish Stratus segment from the July 30, 2019 episode of SmackDown.

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