Daily Update: Weekend shows, CMLL, MMA notes

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This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Triple H announces in-ring retirement, WrestleMania weekend

The new issue of the Wrestling Observer is out right now. Among the highlights are:

  • The far more important story regarding Paul Levesque than his retirement from wrestling, which is his health, what he went through, and how that impacts his future both in and out of wrestling
  • WWE weekend shows, cards, ticket sales, secondary market sales, comps, Saturday main event, key results regarding the main event scene, the Hall of Fame, Shad Gaspard, Undertaker and NXT Stand & Deliver.
  • 2021 Shad Gaspard/Jonathan Huber award winners
  • New Japan Cup final coverage, the angles building to Sumo Hall, MVP, best match poll and the final two shows.
  • Stardom’s two shows at Sumo Hall. A look at the key matches and what is next for the largest women’s wrestling company in the world.
  • Finances of UFC and WWE, including how they are so similar as businesses as well as where they are different. We also look at the key business deal each has that doesn’t involve TV rights and how WWE got so much of a better deal with a product that otherwise would have driven one-quarter the revenue and why
  • Full coverage of this week’s UFC show
  • Who was the best college heavyweight of all-time
  • More on the arrest of Chael Sonnen, why the felony charge was dropped and the lawsuit regarding the case
  • Ric Flair and Mark Madden
  • TV ratings and key points from those ratings for every show this week including peak segments, what type of viewers each show generates, who draws the youngest audience and how the shows rank with all of television and in the sports world.
  • The return of the Universal champion of champions tournament
  • More notes on the second Triplemania show this year
  • Notes on New Japan US shows
  • The wrestling career and post-wrestling life of the former Rocky King
  • Ticket sales for upcoming shows
  • Why UFC is running in Singapore in June
  • UFC star elected into wrestilng Hall of Fame
  • International wrestling TV ratings

This Week’s Retro Observer Newsletter: February 7, 2005 Observer Newsletter: Royal Rumble review, business year in review

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.

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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.

Friday News Update

Garrett and I will be doing our weekly news analysis show later today. Bryan and I will be doing a show tomorrow night covering UFC and the New Japan show as well as the other news.

The new issue of the Observer is up on the site today. It’s our annual WrestleMania issue covering all the events of the past week in Dallas. Among the highlights

  • Match and performer of the week
  • What readers thought about the four major shows
  • The top stories coming out of WrestleMania
  • How the non-wrestlers fared
  • Injury updates
  • Changes in the show
  • Business notes on the show
  • Which night was more popular
  • Viewers watching one show or both
  • Mainstream popularity of the show and what performers garnered the most interest
  • Match-by-match coverage with star ratings
  • A look in-depth at Cody Rhodes in WWE, goals, direction, what he said, what it showed about people leaving companies and more
  • Tony Khan’s launches the new Ring of Honor, a rundown of the first show including business note, PPV numbers, new characters and coverage of all the matches
  • Coverage of NXT Stand & Deliver
  • Tammy Sytch and how the criminal justice system failed badly
  • The story behind the firing of Zachary Green by WWE
  • Details on the pro wrestling ratings from the last week, segment-by-segment, demo, competition, how the top shows do compared to other major programming.
  • Tournament of champions notes
  • Stardom Five-Star Grand Prix notes
  • Notes from independent shows in Dallas this past week
  • Bloodsport notes
  • Hall of Famer fired for going against the script
  • What will be affecting wrestling ratings big the next two months
  • More on the birth of AEW
  • Notes on he AAA tag team titles
  • Advanced ticket sales for WWE and AEW shows the next two months
  • Streaming numbers
  • Conor McGregor arrested again
  • Giant fight coming that will be a gigantic gate
  • CNBC talks the value of WWE & UFC
  • Lots of WWE wedding notes
  • International TV ratings

For this weekend, we’ll be doing polls on UFC 272 and New Japan’s Sumo Hall show, so you can leave a thumbs up, down or middle, and a best and worst match from each show to dave@wrestlingobserver.com

Smackdown tonight on FOX has not announced any matches. We’re looking for reports from the show in Milwaukee with dark matches and anything else not notable on th live show.

Rampage tonight at 10 p.m. has:

  • Bryan Danielson vs. Trent Baretta
  • Shane Strickland vs. QT Marshall
  • Red Velvet vs. Willow Nightingale
  • Jon Moxley vs. Wheeler Yuta. People have been raving the last few days about the Moxley vs. Yuta match being phenomenal.

Dana White noted that most of the interest in tomorrow’s show is the Khamzat Chimaev vs. Gilbert Burns fight. He told Pat McAfee today that if Chimaev wins, he’ll be looking to match his next with Colby Covington.

UFC 273 starts at 6 p.m. Eastern time tomorrow:

6 p.m. on ESPN+

  • Julio Arce (136.5) vs. Daniel Santos (135)
  • Piera Rodriguez (115) vs. Kay Hansen (118.5)
  • Aleksei Oleinik (244) vs. Jared Vanderaa (266)

ESPN at 8 p.m. Eastern

  • Anthony Hernandez (186) vs. Josh Fremd (185.5)
  • Mickey Gall (170.5) vs. Mike Malott (170.5)
  • Aspen Ladd (136) vs. Raquel Pennington (134.5)
  • Ian Garry (170.5) vs. Darian Weeks (170.5)

PPV at 10 p.m. Eastern

  • Vinc Pichel (155.5) vs. Mark O. Madsen (155)
  • Mackenzie Dern (115.5) vs. Tecia Torres (115.5)
  • Gilbert Burns (170) vs. Khamzat Chimaev (170)
  • Aljamain Sterling (134.5) vs. Petr Yan (134) for UFC bantamweight title
  • Alexander Volkanovski (144.5) vs. Chan Sung Jung (144.5) for UFC featherweight title

Hansen missed weight by 2.5 pounds and had to forfeit 20 percent of her purse

Arce missed weight by 0.5 pounds and also has to forfeit 20 percent of his purse. Yes, I’m sure you are asking why an 0.5 pound miss and a 2.5 pound miss is the same fine and I can’t give you a logical answer to that question.

Marcin Tybura vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik, which was scheduled for the PPV show, was pulled this afternoon when Tybura got to ill to fight. Rozenstruik wrote to Tybura to “get well soon.”

New Japan at 4 a.m. Saturday morning Eastern time from Sumo Hall:

  • Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa & Jado vs. Bad Luck Fale & Chase Owens & Yujiro Takahashi & Gedo
  • Tetsuya Naito & Shingo Takagi vs. Will Ospreay & Aaron Henare
  • Ryusuke Taguchi & Master Wato vs. Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo for IWGP jr. tag titles
  • Toru Yano vs. Taichi for King of Pro Wrestling title
  • Evil vs. Hiromu Takahashi for Never Open weight title
  • Hirooki Goto & Yoshi-Hashi vs. Jeff Cobb & Great O’Khan for IWGP tag titles
  • Desperado vs. Sho for IWGP jr. title
  • Kazuchika Okada vs. Zack Sabre Jr. for IWGP world heavyweight title
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi has been announced for the New Japan show on 5/15 at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia.

All Japan starts its Champion Carnival tournament tomorrow morning in Osaka

  • Shuji Ishikawa vs. Shigehiro Irie
  • Jake Lee vs.Shotaro Ashino
  • Ryuki Honda vs. T-Hawk
  • Kento Miyahara vs. Kuma Arashi
  • Suwama vs. Yuma Aoyagi
  • Yoshitatsu vs Takuya Nomura.
  • The tournament continues Sunday in Hamamatsu and Monday in Tokyo at Korakuen Hall.

CMLL starts a four-week Universal tournament of champions tonight at Arena Mexico. Tonight will feature eight Mexican national champions. Next Friday’s eight-man tournament will be all CMLL champions. The 4/22 show will feature all NWA champions, Stuka Jr., Volador Jr. and Mistico in a three-way match. The winner of the 4/8 and 4/15 eight-man tournaments and the 4/22 three-way match will wrestle in another three-way match on 4/29 at the Arena Mexico anniversary show for this year’s Universal champion of champions.

WWE

OTHER NOTES

  • PFL tonight at 9 p.m. Eastern on Fubo Sports Network from Orlando, FL:
  • Carlos Leal (171.2) vs. Chris Brown (175.6)
  • Simeon Powell (205.2) vs. Tobias Baker (206)
  • Jackie Cataline (154.2) vs. Jesslen Michelle (155.2
  • Aaron Blackie (145.4) vs. Ali Zebian (148.2)
  • The PFL announced a new streaming deal with Mola, an OTT platform covering Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the U.K. and Italy. They will carry all events for the rest of this year and for years to come.
  • Kevin Eck looks at this week in ROH. This is Eck’s final column with the change in ownership of the company.
  • Innovate Wrestling on Saturday night in Kingsport, TN at the Civic Auditorium features a six-way elimination match for the Smoky Mountain Cup.