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This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

We have another giant issue of the Observer out. There is a ton of news in this one but want to call attention to a great story by Pat Laprade on Paul “Butcher” Vachon, covering his wrestling and promoting career with all kinds of anecdotes such as his role in getting WWF’s Saturday Night Main Event off the ground, the early career of Andre the Giant, setting what was then the all-time get record in the U.S. at Comiskey Park in Chicago, and promoting what is still the largest crowd in Canada outside of Toronto. Besides the Vachon story we go in detail on the career of Sting and his retirement, as well as the careers of Paul Heyman and Bull Nakano, the muder charge against Daniel Rodimer and the investigation regarding the alleged rape of Ashley Massaro.

  • Famous pro wrestling retirement shows
  • The retirement of Sting and AEW Revolution
  • An historical first coming from the show
  • Sting’s run in TNA
  • Other expected finishes of Sting’s career
  • How Sting got into pro wrestling
  • The Blade Runners debut
  • Getting into Mid South
  • The first Flair-Sting match and it wasn’t in Greensboro
  • The first Clash of Champions and its ratings
  • Going head-to-head with WrestleMania
  • When Sting was supposed to win the NWA title the first time and why it didn’t happen
  • Why he almost didn’t get the title when the second title change date was planned
  • Sting vs. Hogan and how it got screwed up
  • The two people most responsible for Sting’s career not ending nearly a decade ago
  • Sting’s WWE run and why Vince McMahon ruined it
  • Sting’s final show
  • Ospreay vs. Takeshita
  • Early PPV numbers
  • Notes on how many buyers of this show ordered WWE & TNA shows
  • Milestones on gate, merch and and Greensboro Coliseum wrestling records
  • When was the finish decided
  • Okada signs with AEW, the truth about his contract
  • The debut of Mercedes Mone
  • The life and times of Butcher Vachon, the early years of his career, the creation of Stan Vachon, AWA title run, formation of Grand Prix Wrestling, The Vachons vs. LeDucs feud, early career of Andre the Giant, creation of the name Andre the Giant, life after wrestling
  • Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul
  • Daniel Rodimer murder arrest, the story behind what happened, the victim, his pro wrestling career and his political career
  • NCIS investigation into Ashley Massaro
  • The careers of Paul Heyman and Bull Nakano
  • The most detailed look at the ratings including how the shows did compared to last year, last week, segment-by-segment and placings
  • How CMLL show with AEW talent is doing
  • Unique show in Mexico this week
  • Vampiro wants to do rematch from Lucha Underground match
  • New Japan anniversary show
  • Best of Super Juniors notes
  • BJ Whitmer sentencing
  • More on crazy TNA buy rate
  • What happened with Kevin Kelly in AEW
  • Update on Kenny Omega
  • Update on Sammy Guevara suspension
  • Behind The Rock’s promo
  • Notes on new WWE sponsorships
  • Next Saudi Arabia date
  • Vince McMahon and Brock Lesnar and the next video game
  • Advance ticket sales for upcoming WWE & AEW shows
  • International TV ratings and streaming notes

This Week’s Retro Observer Newsletter

Monday Update

Bryan and I will be back tonight with Wrestling Observer Radio covering the latest Front Office Sports story on the Janel Grant lawsuit, Raw, WrestleMania, Brock Lesnar and the rest of the news.

John Pollock, Brandon Thurston and Tim Marchman have a new story that confirms that in the Janel Grant lawsuit, that Corporate Officer No. 1 Nick Khan and Corporate Officer No. 2 is Brad Blum, Corporate Officer No. 3 is Stephanie McMahon and Cporital Officer No. 4 with Brian Nurse, the former WWE head of legal. Ann Callis, the lawyer for Grant, confirmed all identities as being accurate. The story confirms all of them had knowledge that Grant was having an affair with Vince McMahon and/or John Laurinaitis. It doesn’t confirm they knew about the allegedly depraved behavior that came out in the lawsuit. WWE in a statement said,”WWE takes Ms.Grant’s allegations very seriously and has no tolerance for any physical abuse or unwanted physical contact. Neither Nick Khan nor Brad Blum, prior to the lawsuit being filed on January 25, 20214, were aware of any allegation by Ms.Grant that she was the victim of abuse or unwanted physical contact; nor does the complaint allege that either had knowledge of such.” 

Stephanie McMahon’s role was that it was claimed that Grant was part of a WWE executive committee meeting and Stephanie asked her to sit near her. Nurse was the lead of legal, the department that Grant worked at for nearly one year and specified that Nurse was either terminated or asked to resign in November 2020.

According to quarters released by Thurston, the final quarter of Smackdown did 2.83 million viewers and 1.09 million(0.83) in 18-49 which was the segment with Rock, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and Cody Rhodes. There was a real lesson on placement as the show did significantly better this week than last week because of not putting The Rock on first and then having people tune out 30 minutes into the show. It opened strong, was steady for much of the show with one drop coming right before the pick-up for the finish.

Besides Dwayne Johnson as a presenter at the Oscars last night, so was John Cena, who presented the award for Best Costuming with the idea he was naked except for an envelope covering his privates. He actually did have something on underneath, but it was very little, a flesh colored pouch.

Raw tonight is in Houston with Adam Pearce and Nick Aldis there to make a major joint announcement. Matches announced are a gauntlet for the IC title shot with Sami Zayn, Ricochet, Shinsuke Nakamura, JD McDonagh, Chad Gable and Bronson Reede, plus Kabuki Warriors vs Shayna Baszler & Zoey Stark for the tag titles and Becky Lynch vs. Liv Morgan. The show had 12,433 tickets out as of this morning.

With Penta wrestling on Wednesday’s Dynamite show, it means no CMLL talent will be wrestling on Dynamite. They could appear on Rampage. 

WWE announced earlier today that it will cut way back on the stage for Raw in two weeks in Chicago, where C.M. Punk will be returning. New tickets were put on sale today for seats that had previously been blocked off. They had 12,326 tickets out at the time of the Punk announcement.

Britt Baker talked about singing at the Zach Bryan concert over the weekend. Audio.

Matt Riddle vs. Timothy Thatcher was announced for the MLW show on 3/29 in St. Petersburg, FL.

John Cena will be shooting the second season of Peacemaker this summer. The show, like the first season, will air on MAX.

NXT tomorrow has Oba Femi vs. Brooks Jensen for the North American title, a match where the winner gets a tag title shot with Joaquin Wilde & Cruz Del Toro vs. Bronco Nima & Lucien Price, Shawn Spears vs. Ridge Holland and Arianna Grace vs. Gigi Dolin.

Dark Side of the Ring tomorrow night at 10 p.m. on VICE is about Buff Bagwell.

West Coast Pro and the United Wrestling Network are doing a joint show tomorrow night in Irvine, CA at the Irvine Improv. Titus Alexander vs. Lee Moriarty headlines plus West Coast Pro champion Starboy Charlie vs. Alan Angels, Danny Limelight vs. Alpha Zo, Bad Dude Tito vs. Vinnie Massaro, Sandra Moone vs. Zara Zakher and more.

Several Japanese promotions toay paid tribute to Yutaka Yoshie, who passed away after a match on an All Japan show yesterday. New Japan was among them. From reports from Japan, Yoshie was feeling fine backstage and suddenly complained of being sick and was rushed to the hospital where he passed away at the age of 50. Yoshie was billed at 350 pounds and was a good power wrestler for New Japan, where he wrestled from 1994 to 2006.

Pro Wrestling NOAH, Defy and Progress are doing a joint show on 10/5 in Oberhausen, Germany at the Turbinenhalle 2 p.m.

Even with the great performance Saturday night by Sean O’Malley, Merb Dvalishvili is a -185 favorite should the two face each other while Ilia Topuria is a -285 favorite if they do a champion vs. champion fight from SportsBetting.ag

Naomichi Marufuji vs. Titus Alexander takes place for West Coast Pr on 5/18 in San Francisco at the United Irish Cultural Center.

Pro Wrestling Eve on Thursday in Walthamstow, London before 227 fans: Tae Honma b Rachel Armstorng, LA Taylor NC Alex Windsor, Skye Smitson & Nightshade b Charlie Morgan & Jetta to win the tag titles, Session Moth Martina b Emerseyn Jayne, Ivy & Lana Austi b Alexsis Falcon & Lizzy Evo, Su Yung b Risa Sera, Nina Samuels b Safire Reed to keep the Eve title. Su Yung misted Samuals after the match

The Eve Friday night show sold out with 419 fans, its best attendance since the pandemic: Alex Windsor b Tae Honma, Skye Smitson b Nightshade b Ivy & Lana Austin, Su Yung b Safire Reed to earn a title shot, Emersyn Jayne & Kanji b Charlie Morgan & Jetta, LA Taylor b Rachel Armsgtorng, Session Moth Martina b Debbie Keitel, Risa Sera b Kasey. 4/5 they have Windsor vs. Morgan loser leaves town and 5/3 is the 14th anniversary show with Samuels vs. Su Yung for the tite and a War Games match with Reed and three mystery partners against Taylor & Martina & Smitson & Nightshade.