Daily Update: Swerve Strickland, Vince McMahon, WWE NXT

Daily Update

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Join us in Las Vegas for our annual F4W Convention

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter:

Highlights include:

*It’s one of the biggest issues of the year, given we have coverage of what will be the biggest story of the year, the Endeavor/WWE/UFC merger with all the details of how it happened and what it means, plus coverage of WrestleMania and all the major events of WrestleMania week

*The story behind the merger

*The new power structure of WWE and UFC

*All the financial details of the merger including stock, what stockholders will be getting

*How the deal went down and when

*Who will be negotiating WWE TV deals

*Vince McMahon’s worth based on what they are pitching valuation at and his actual stock worth as of right now

*How much top WWE execs were bonused from the sale and new contract for the top two guys in the company and its valuation

*How Vince McMahon changed Raw

*What are the big questions going forward regarding creative

*What employees and wrestlers were told

*Investigation of the deal

*Can WWE get out of the deal

*Financial benefits of the deal

*What it means going forward

*What happened internally in UFC from the deal

*Profits and revenue for UFC and WWE last year

*The history of Vince McMahon and UFC and secret story about a WrestleMania main event that never happened

*Coverage of WrestleMania

*Examining Rhodes vs. Reigns and the finish

*Real attendance figures and other business figures

*PPV numbers and which show had the most viewers

*What were the most watched matches after the fact

*Social media numbers and who drew the biggest and where there are contradictions

*Match-by-match coverage with star ratings as well as poll results

*AEW trying to run Wembley Stadium and more history of such

*A look at a famous period in wrestling history with the death of U.K. promoter Max Crabtree, and the debate over whether the Big Daddy era killed wrestling in that country or it was killed earlier and he just gave it a last life

*A look at the ROH Supercard of Honor, business notes, match-by-match coverage

*A look at NXT Stand & Deliver

*What happened with Gisele Shaw and Rick Steiner

*The most detailed look at the ratings over the past week and what they mean

*Arena Coliseo 80th anniversary event

*Build to the biggest show in Stardom history

*New Japan/Impact dual show

*One of the best bouts of the year took place this past week

*Jay White signing

*Injury updates

*Another major AEW hiring

*WWE Hall of Fame coverage

This Week’s Retro Observer Newsletter:

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Monday Update

Bryan and I will be back tonight talking Raw and the latest pro wrestling news with Wrestling Observer Radio.

A clarification regarding news over the weekend, as things stand right now, the Swerve Strickland vs. Nick Wayne match on the 7/12 Dynamite show in Saskatoon will not be a Defy title match. After Strickland lost the Defy title to Wayne on Saturday night, he brought up a match on 7/12, after Wayne turns 18, on Dynamite. The match is scheduled, but it is not scheduled as a title match. Strickland also clarified it saying that in his challenge he never brought up the title. Defy announced today that Wayne will make his first title defense on 5/5 in Tacoma, WA at ALMA Tacoma. The show is sold out but they have standing room tickets available. Wayne will defend in a four-way against Komander, Gringo Loco and Arez.

Vince McMahon is not physically at Raw in Seattle tonight. Zoey Stark and Tyler Bate are there, and would likely be working on Main Event in tryout matches. As of this morning there were 9,900 tickets out for the show. Seattle is usually a very hot crowd as well. Cody Rhodes will be addressing his future. Lita & Becky Lynch defend the tag titles against Raquel Rodriguez & Liv Morgan and The Miz faces Matt Riddle. Actually Miz vs. Riddle could be off the show since WWE stopped promoting it yesterday and has deleted tweets that were promoting the match. They will also continue the Bad Bunny & Rey Mysterio vs. Judgment Day storyline. They will also start likely setting up matches for Backlash on 5/6.

We’re looking for reports from Seattle tonight to anything not on the live show, such as Main Event matches or segments after the show to dave@wrestlingobserver.com

We’re doing polls for the weekend on UFC 287 and New Japan Sakura Genesis, so you can leave a thumbs up, down or middle along with a best and worst match from each show to dave@wrestlingobserver.com

For NXT tomorrow, there is a four-way to determine the top contender for Carmelo Hayes with Dragon Lee and JD McDonagh announced as two of them, plus Alba Fayre & Isla Dawn vs. Kiana James & Fallon Henley for the tag titles, Ilja Dragunov vs. Von Wagner and if Wagner loses, he and Robert Stone split up, Tony D’Angelo & Stacks Lorenzo vs. Josh Briggs & Brooks Jensen, and Duke Hudson gets the Chase U MVP award.

For next week’s A&E show, WWE Biography is about The Iron Sheik and rivals is about Hulk Hogan vs. Roddy Piper.

Adrian Marcelo will not be allowed to wrestle Chessman in what was the biggest match on the TripleMania show Sunday mainstream in Mexico. Marcelo failed his licensing exam which was a very physically arduous three hour test. He will be there but the match can’t happen.

John Oliver of HBO’s “Last Week Tonight” show talked about Vince McMahon. He touched on the merger for really just mocked McMahon and his mustache. It was total humor, nothing serious.

Tommy Dreamer noted that his mother is in ICU right now after suffering another brain bleed. She was scheduled to come home today from the rehab facility. Best wishes to his mother and his family during these times.

AEW Rampage this coming week will air after an NBA playoff game so the rating should be higher than usual for that reason On 4/21, due to NHL playoffs, Rampage is being moved to 4/22 at 10 p.m. Eastern.

NBC has pushed that an episode of the new season of Weakest Link when it is revived with have The New Day Becky Lynch and The Miz.

Eddie Kingston is off the 4/16 New Japan show at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia where he was to face Gabriel Kidd. Orange Cassidy will replace him, making his New Japan debut on the show. 

Pro Wrestling King from Saturday in South Bend,IN: Avery Hurts b Zane West, David Champion b Sandor Malenko, Xander Michaels won Battle Royal, Twist & Flip b NDS, Magnum McClaren b Dustin Mack, Jack Morris won three-way over Simon Socrates & shawn Phoenix, Javen Myra b Powersurge, Pro Dads b Asylum, Charlie Kruel b Gary Jay, One Man Chu b Dan Severn, Scott Young b Robert Gibson (Rock & Roll Express), Isaiah Moore b Brutus Dylan to keep PWK title, Josh Morris b Isaiah Moore to win PWK title. Next show is 4/29 in Culver, IN at the Culver Community Middle School featuring Robert Gibson. (thanks to Leonard Brand)

Olympic gold medalist Helen Maroulis has been added to the final X show on 6/10 in Newark, NJ at the Prudential Center that will have best two of three matches in every division for the 2023 world freestyle and Greco-Roman championships. Maroulis will compete in women’s freestyle at 125 pounds. Maroulis won a gold medal in 2016 at 117 pounds beating the legendary Saori Yoshida, generally considered the greatest woman wrestler of all-time. He also won a bronze medal in 2021.