Daily Update: Tucker, Pat McAfee, Beyond Wrestling

DAILY UPDATE

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WON NEWSLETTER: October 26, 2020 Observer Newsletter: Ibushi wins NJPW G1 Climax 30

We’ve got a G1 special on the Observer with the deepest look at the tournament anywhere. G1 MVP, G1 best match, G1 history notes, polls on the last three nights, the story behind Kota Ibushi’s win and much more in a new double issue of the Observer.

The business decline that was unavoidable, the difference in wrestling with fans who are not supposed to cheer and boo and who does the best with it, the ups and downs of the different wrestlers, who improved the most from last year, lots of G1 records, Power Struggle notes, a breakdown of every wrestler in the tournament and how they did in the ring this year as compared to last year, who were the best at carrying opponents, who had the best matches, how this year’s match quality compared to last year, just how great this year’s A block shows were, New Japan’s U.S. popularity and which wrestlers have had the best in-ring tournaments in recent years.

Also in this issue:

Harold Meij’s final day in charge of New Japan and key issues with his legacy, Tokyo Dome updates, and how the last days went down.

Things going on behind-the-scenes with President Trump that may be done that would help Vince McMahon and Dana White, Andrew Yang talks wrestlers as independent contractors and what he plans to do  about it, Orange County Department of Health looking at COVID spreading in buildings that house WWE and MLW, and WWE’s statement. 

What is and isn’t misleading and looking at WWE COVID numbers, we preview Hell in a Cell, note a mandatory conference all WWE talent has to attend this week, WWE getting an award looked at, WWE signing, why the plight of independent wrestlers is so different from before, WWE Network November theme, WWE star nominated for a movie award and new WWE Network deals. 

Wrestling ratings compared to other sports, Canadian & U.K. ratings, Mike Bennett talks the problems in communication in WWE, Sami Zayn talks the ladder match, WWE market value and the most watched shows last week on the WWE Network.

Brian Ortega vs. The Korean Zombie with full coverage of Saturday’s UFC event,.

The surprising thing that matters far more than most gave it credit for when it comes to viewing wrestling shows.

Ratings breakdowns in every segment for Wednesdays and every category for other shows, looking at stats not available elsewhere to get the deepest read into how shows are doing, what categories are doing well and how shows compare with previous weeks and one year ago.  

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

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TUESDAY NEWS UPDATE

WWE

  • Tucker is now listed as part of the Raw roster on WWE.com. He was drafted to Raw in the WWE Draft earlier this month, but his brand was never changed on WWE’s website. It had been noticed yesterday that he was listed on the SmackDown roster on WWE.com, leading to incorrect speculation that his brand had been changed. Tucker turned against Otis at Hell in a Cell and caused Otis to lose the Money in the Bank briefcase to The Miz. Otis is a member of the SmackDown roster. Tucker tweeted after not appearing on Raw last night: “On my time. #RAW”
  • Pat McAfee posted a video last night giving a storyline explanation for his alliance with Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch. McAfee said he can’t be at NXT every day, so he hired Ridge Holland to attack Adam Cole at NXT TakeOver 31. McAfee said that when Holland got injured, he reached out to Lorcan because Lorcan was the person who injured him. McAfee noted that Lorcan & Burch originally declined the offer but called back when they lost their number one contender’s match to Undisputed Era. On NXT last week, McAfee returned and helped Lorcan & Burch win the NXT Tag Team titles from Breezango. Undisputed Era’s Roderick Strong & Bobby Fish were originally supposed to get the title shot, but there were angles where they were attacked during last week’s show. McAfee said Lorcan & Burch were the ones who attacked Strong & Fish.
  • Elias tweeted about his Universal Truth album reaching number one in its category on the Apple Music and iTunes charts: “Thank you to everyone who made this possible. We made history last night in under 24 hours hitting the #1 spot in our category on @applemusic & @itunes. This speaks to the power of Elias,and the power of the Universal Truth that everybody knows deep in their hearts.”
  • WWE has filed trademarks for Toni Storm, Ridge Holland, Saxton Huxley, Sid Scala, and Sam Gradwell’s names.
  • Johnny Gargano & Candice LeRae will appear on this Friday’s episode of the Swerve City podcast on the WWE Network.
  • Byron Saxton appeared on yesterday’s episode of The New Day’s Feel the Power podcast. Tyler Breeze is on today’s edition of Uncool with Alexa Bliss.
  • To promote the release of his book “Greenlights,” Matthew McConaughey made a brief appearance in the ThunderDome’s video wall during Raw last night.
  • For a limited time, The Undertaker’s Last Ride docuseries has been made available on the free version of the WWE Network.
  • WWE’s YouTube channel uploaded Hulk Hogan vs. The Undertaker for the WWF Championship from Survivor Series 1991, Sheamus vs. John Cena in a steel cage match for the WWE Championship from Money in the Bank 2010, and Goldberg vs. DDP for the WCW Championship from Halloween Havoc 1998.

Other Wrestling

  • Beyond Wrestling announced that they’ve canceled their Tournament for Tomorrow event that was scheduled to take place in Atlantic City, New Jersey on November 8 and won’t be scheduling any more shows for the remainder of 2020: “After much deliberation I’ve decided to cancel our upcoming #TFT2020 event originally scheduled for Sunday, 11/8 in Atlantic City. Refunds will be handled automatically within the next few days. We will not be scheduling any more live events for the rest of 2020. Stay safe.”
  • Beyond Wrestling explained their decision in an additional tweet: “I’ve had a number of lineup changes and refund requests due to COVID concerns. The closer we get to the finish line, the tougher it becomes to find a suitable substitution when we want everyone to test negative before the event.”
  • Danhausen won’t be appearing at any indie shows for at least the remainder of 2020: “Danhausen won’t be at anymore independent shows for at least the rest of 2020. If you wish to support that Danhausen; join the 3 human dollar a month level of his patreonhausen or buy one million shirts. Danhausen loves you all. Links in Danhausens bio.”
  • Tommy Dreamer vs. Brian Myers in a Hardcore Halloween match is set for tonight’s episode of Impact. The show will also feature the wedding of John E. Bravo & Rosemary and the fallout from Bound for Glory.
  • AEW uploaded a Road To video for this Wednesday’s episode of Dynamite.
  • In the United Kingdom, Dynamite will be airing one hour earlier than usual this week: “Due to the seasonal time change in the U.K., this week’s episode of #AEWDynamite will air an hour earlier at Midnight GMT on AEWplus.com @FiteTV”
  • Jake Hager spoke to Post Wrestling ahead of his fight against Brandon Calton at Bellator 250 this Thursday.
  • Chris Van Vliet has an interview with Sadie Gibbs.
  • Ray Zombie released a mini-documentary on Thunder Rosa and her Mission Pro Wrestling.
  • MLW announced that they’ve formed a strategic partnership with IWA Puerto Rico.
  • The trailer for Talk N’ Shop A Mania 2 was released last night.

Daily Pro Wrestling History: WCW Halloween Havoc 1991

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