Daily Update: Vince McMahon’s resignation

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– Nick Khan announced the resignation of Vince McMahon from WWE and TKO. Once the first sponsor pulled out, and often this leads to a domino effect, there was no time to ride it out. Granted, he left before and was back, but he no longer has the voting power to get back. This is legitimately it. The reality is that while he was the one in charge, there was a culture there that has to be looked into. You can’t get rid of everyone who knew, which is a lot of people, because they had no power, even the board who voted him back in had no power to stop him. It will be interesting if this leads to more people coming forward.

– McMahon released a statement claiming Janel Grant’s lawsuit features things made up, but out of respect for the fans, the talent, the board of directors, shareholders, partners and others he was resigning.

– Garrett and I did a long show today mostly about the Vince McMahon situation, a little on the Netflix deal, Royal Rumble and AEW. We went very deep into the McMahon story, corporate culture and answered a lot of questions. Bryan and I will be back tomorrow night talking about the McMahon resignation.

– One of the largest issues in the history of the Observer is out this week:

  • The Janel Grant lawsuit against Vince McMahon
  • Analysis of the lawsuit and different claims
  • Details of the claims
  • Comments from all sides
  • Just how vulgar some of the stories were
  • What the text messages show
  • The Netflix detail and full details
  • The economics of the deal
  • How much money WWE is guaranteed without selling one ticket or selling any merchandise or advertising or sponsorships
  • Background of the negotiations
  • Dwayne Johnson on the Board of Directors
  • More on 2025 plans
  • Nick Khan, Dwayne Johnson and other comments
  • How this affects AEW
  • Difference between AEW & WWE audience when it comes to college education and household earnings
  • Ratings going forward
  • Mark Shapiro’s new contract
  • AEW house show issues and what has to be done and changes expected to be made
  • Issues with the events
  • A look at the Royal Rumble
  • Full UFC 297 coverage
  • UFC signs Kayla Harrison and her biggest test
  • A look at the career of new UFC Hall of Famer Frankie Edgar
  • 2023 Awards ballot
  • A look at the life of Harold “Ice Train” Hoag
  • The most detailed look at the ratings of all the wrestling TV shows of the past week, segment highs and lows, comparisons with one year ago and competition
  • Friday night at Arena Mexico
  • TripleMania plans
  • AAA plans on using controversial names
  • More on AAA 2024 plans
  • Stardom awards
  • Why Shuji Ishikawa left All Japan
  • Three generations of the same family and Japanese major bouts
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi talks Kazuchika Okada leaving
  • Okada’s left match at Korakuen Hall
  • Update on Iron Claw movie
  • Puerto Rico show featuring major names
  • Notes on the next season of Dark Side of the Ring
  • Top indie star to come out of retirement
  • Updated AEW & TNA PPV numbers
  • Update on Kazuchika Okada and Mercedes Mone destinations
  • Peacock ads subscribers leading into RoyalRumble
  • WWE injury updates
  • Nick Khan talks about his introduction to WWE
  • Cena talks his future
  • International TV ratings
  • What three pro wrestlers are in the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame

– As of right now, there are still plans to do a press conference after the Royal Rumble. If nothing else, that will prove interesting.

– The lawyer for Janel Grant did an interview with Crime Fix.

– I was on the CBC national news regarding the McMahon story, which was the No. 2 story on the national news last night.

– The story was pretty much everywhere in media all day today. Most just said the details were so sordid they don’t even want to give descriptions and then used the McMahon spokesperson quote and the TKO spokesperson quote.

– Forbes did a story today on The World’s Most Valuable Sports Empires in 2024. Shad Khan was listed at No. 11, listing an $8.25 billion value between the Jacksonville Jaguars, Fulham and AEW. According to those with knowledge of the story being put together, the AEW value was figured in at $2 billion.

– Michael Cole is calling Smackdown tonight with Corey Graves. The show is from Miami with Kayden Carter & Katana Chance vs. Asuka & Kairi Sane for the women’s tag titles, LA Knight vs. Solo Sikoa, Carlito vs. Santos Escobar and Carmelo Hayes vs. Austin Theory. There will also be a face-to-face with Bobby Lashley & Street Profits with AOP & Karrion Kross.

– Rampage tonight at 10 p.m. has Jon Moxley vs. Lee Moriarty, Konosuke Takeshita vs. Christopher Daniels, Ruby Soho vs. Anna Jay anda four-way with Kip Sabian, The Butcher, El Hijo del Vikingo and Komander with the winner facing Orange Cassidy on Collision tomorrow night.

– Some notes on the Rumble and gambling odds at SportsBetting.ag:

  • 95 percent of the money in the four-way is coming in on Roman Reigns and four percent on Randy Orton even with Reigns being such a heavy favorite.
  • 85 percent of the money in the US title match is coming in on Logan Paul and 15 percent on Kevin Owens
  • 26 percent of the money for the Rumble is on Cody Rhodes, 15 percent on Gunther, two percent on Punk and one percent on Dwayne Johnson.
  • In the women’s Rumble, 37 percent of the money is coming in on Bayley, 2.5 percent on Becky Lynch and two percent on Jade Cargill.
  • Reigns is now a 1-to-30 favorite to win with Orton at 8-1, Knight at 14-1 and Styles at 16-1.
  • Logan Paul is a 1-to-15 favorite
  • Punk is at +125, Gunther at +200, Rhodes at +250, McIntyre at +1000 and Rock at +1000 for the top five in the Rumble.
  • On the women’s side, Bayley is +100, Lynch is +200, Cargill is +500, Nia Jax is +800 and Raquel Rodriguez is +900.

– Jon Anik was on the Kenny Florian podcast and said he’s considering leaving his job as a UFC announcer due to the toxic nature of the fan base. The problem is that Twitter responses are not your real fan base, just the bottom 1%. He said he was just tired of the vulgar things people were saying because he thought Dricus du Plessis beat Sean Strickland, which was also how the judges scored it and how the majority scored it.

– Peter Miller, who wrestled as The Mongolian Mauler briefly for WCW and CMLL as El Mongol, passed away after an extended illness at Riverview Hospital in Noblesville, IN. He was 63.

– QT Marshall and Teil Runnels, the daughter of Dusty Rhodes, are starting up Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling, the promotion that Dusty Rhodes ran and Cody Rhodes worked on before he was a wrestler. The first show will be on 2/8 at Marshall’s gym in McDonough, GA. Cody Rhodes’ Nightmare Factory is sponsoring the show.

– They were selling Vince McMahon T-shirts at the Royal Rumble store and were going to in the building to commemorate his 1999 win. They ended up pulling all the shirts yesterday.

– Logan Paul said that he had renewed his contract with WWE Every time he signs a deal they say it’s multi-year, and every few months, he said he’s renewed it.

– We are looking for reports on these shows

  • SmackDown tonight in Miami (dark matches only)
  • Collision tomorrow night in Bossier City, LA (ROH matches and dark matches only)

We’re looking for results, finishes and highlights to dave@wrestlingobserver.com

– We’re also looking for your thoughts on the Royal Rumble, you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to dave@wrestlingobserver.com

–Results from today on the Jericho Cruise

  • Penta b Johnny Cruise (Morrison)
  • Top Flight b Outrunners
  • Christopher Daniels b Marq Quen
  • Deonna Purrazzo b Skye Blue
  • El Hijo del Vikingo b Nick Wayne
  • Swerve Strickland b Trent Baretta

Frankie Kazarian is also on the cruise and did a run-in to help Daniels after both members of Private Party were beating on him.

– Jessie Godderz is hosting Whacked Out on Tubi which is currently streaming.

– MCW Anniversary show on 2/4 at the RJ Meyer Arena in Joppa, MD has a Fan Jam at Noon and a 5:30 p.m. show. At Fan Jam will be Matt Riddle, Nic Nemeth, Alberto El Patron, Ricardo Rodriguez, Lio Rush, Natalia Markova, Lex Luger, Jimmy Hart, EC 3, James Ellswroth, Hollywood Haley , Blue Meanie, Gillberg, Ron Simmons, Earl Hebner, Rick Steiner, Rhett Titus, Paul Roma, Brooklyn Barlow, Kevin Thorn, Joel Gertner and more.

– C2E2 in Chicago, a convention, has announced Sting and Samoa Joe as appearing. It takes place in late April.

– Stan Hansen appears on 2/3 for AIW at the Tadmor Shrine in Akron, OH.

– Steel Domain Wrestling, which has been promoting shows for 26 years, has its final show tonight at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Bloomington,MN. Among those who were performers for the group include CM Punk, Ken Anderson, Colt Cabana, Adam Pearce and Ace Steel.

–Pro Wrestling Phoenix from last night in Omaha: JC Slater b Ryan Romantic, Tanner Renken b Chaac de Oro, Kyle King b Purple, Brett Bishop b Xander McIntosh, Joey Daniels b Clay Evans, Con Artiest & Tank Bryson b Pat Powers & Vic Douglas, Moonshine Russell b Will Sweet in a last man standing match. Next show is 2/22 in Omaha at the Waiting Room Lounge.

– Tony Ferguson said he underwent knee surgery for an injury suffered in practice before the Paddy Pimblett fight, a torn MCL, eight days ago.