Daily Update: WWE notes, Mark Henry-Hulk Hogan, Mercedes Mone

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This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

  • The end of Raw on cable television and a look back at the show, Prime Time Wrestling, where it stands among the longest running wrestling shows on television, what to expect from the Netflix audience, the first show, how much WWE was getting for Raw at its ratings peak plus the year that USA nearly canceled Raw.
  • 2024 live attendance numbers for WWE and AEW and comparisons with this past year and historical.
  • Full coverage of Worlds End, including historical notes on aspects of the show, questions on the show, the decision to cut back on matches and what was left on the cutting floor, the best multiple match days in history, best openers in history, returns, PPV numbers and other business notes.
  • A look at both Tokyo Dome shows
  • A look at the career of Sweet Daddy Siki
  • President Jimmy Carter and he and his family’s connections with pro wrestling and Jim Barnett
  • Pro Wrestling NOAH Budokan Hall coverage and attempt to make a superstar in one night
  • Stardom’s big year-end show with one of the best women’s bouts of the year
  • Janel Grant’s attorneys looking at rewriting the lawsuit against Vince McMahon, John Laurinaitis and WWE and the key reason why
  • 2024 Observer Awards ballot, detailed descriptions of the categories, the criteria and who placed top three in each category last year
  • Notes from the funeral of Rey Misterio Sr.
  • The most detailed look at the ratings from the past week
  • International TV ratings
  • Advanced ticket sales for all the major upcoming U.S. events including All In Texas, WrestleMania, Royal Rumble and more
  • CMLL huge business week
  • What promotion is spending January rematching the best matches as voted by fans for 2024
  • Major Japanese title changes as the year ends and starts
  • Two major companies losing U.S. TV this week and details of what happened
  • Shooting at independent wrestling arena
  • Deaths of two British stars of the ITV era, Tally Ho Kaye and their version of Blackjack Mulligan
  • Lots of notes on discussion points of Tony Khan’s press conferences this past week
  • What AEW idea got bounced because NXT did it first
  • Debut of Sakuraba’s son
  • Updates on WrestleMania
  • Updates of archival content on Netflix internationally and MAX in the U.S.
  • New WWE TV or streaming show being talked about
  • Survivor Series PPV number makes significant change and why
  • Notes on the must-read Inside the Ropes story on the late Axl Rotten’s days backstage regarding WWE and Mel Phillips
  • New WWE business deal
  • Full coverage of WWE holiday tour and how it compared with those the past few years

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter Back Issue

Thursday Update

WWE

  • During his appearance on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Seth Rollins was asked if he’s thought about how much longer he’s going to wrestle:
    • I think about it all the time. I am 38, I will be 39 in May. I think I’ve got more than a couple years left in me. The dynamic of the industry has shifted so much. I’m not wrestling 200 times a year anymore. I’m not on the road 300 days a year anymore. Live events, non-televised events have kind of dissipated, which for me, guys like me, I’ve wrestled over 2,000 matches in my career, that’s nice for me. It’s just like riding a bike for me. We’ll see how it is for people coming up who need that experience, we’ll see what that looks like in a few years. But with that schedule, I feel like I’ll be able to extend my career probably longer than I thought I was going to, and then it just depends on where I want to go from there, what I want to do next and how much time I’d like to spend at home with my daughter, taking her to do things that are important to her, that are a lot more important than making towns.
  • WrestleVotes gave an update on Alexa Bliss’ return to WWE:
    • The highly anticipated return of Alexa Bliss is on the horizon, according to a well placed source. Creative is reportedly working her into future plans, with merchandise and promotional materials already in development.
  • In an interview with TMZ Sports, Mark Henry reacted to Hulk Hogan getting booed on Raw’s Netflix premiere. Henry said Hogan never wanted to fix things after his racism scandal and thought that it was just going to go away:
    • He never wanted to go forward and fix it. That’s what happens when you think everything is gonna go away. It’s not gonna go away.
    • You know, I offered to say, ‘Hey, let’s do a tour of the Black colleges, law schools, and explain what happened.’ And he didn’t want to do that.
  • Cody Rhodes made a post on his Instagram stories congratulating CM Punk and Seth Rollins on main eventing Monday’s Raw.
  • WWE shared footage of Shawn Michaels congratulating Oba Femi backstage after his NXT Championship win.
  • Casual Conversations with The Classic interviewed Chelsea Green.
  • Maxxine Dupri & Cathy Kelley appeared on the Lightweights Podcast.
  • WWE Vault uploaded the full “Batista: The Animal Unleashed” documentary from 2014.

AEW/Other Wrestling

  • Taya Valkyrie said that she and her husband Johnny TV are safe but have been evacuated due to the California wildfires: “We’ve been evacuated, but are safe. Holy sh*t this is bad. Pray for LA”
  • In this week’s Mone Mag, Mercedes Mone opened up about how nervous and excited she was for her Wrestle Dynasty match at the Tokyo Dome:
    • One of the lines Advocate Kev [Keven Undergaro] says to Team-Moné on our various trips is: ‘We’re gonna make history…AGAIN!’ Though I have nerves and butterflies for all my big matches, my match at the Tokyo Dome against Mina was somehow different. From the moment I landed in Japan, where I actually bawled my eyes out with both disbelief and gratitude, to the morning of the event, where I had an actual panic attack, making history was the last thing on my mind. Kev could see my condition on the bus ride and asked: ‘Are you nervous or just excited?’ I replied, ‘Both.’ Truly, it was my lifelong dream to have a match at this level at the Tokyo Dome, so I was beyond excited. Along with the rich wrestling history, I feel as though, in some strange way, Japan, like Mexico, is another home. Yet, for all my joy, I was likewise petrified. I didn’t want to let the promoters down. I didn’t want to let the fans down. I didn’t want to let Mina down. I especially, and as always, didn’t want to let the women wrestlers of today AND tomorrow down. I want New Japan, and all promotions, globally, for that matter, to know that we female athletes deserve prominent recognition and a prominent place on the card.
  • Mone also had plenty of praise for her Wrestle Dynasty opponent Mina Shirakawa:
    • Mina came at me with full force, and let me tell you, I’m still feeling the impact days later. But I have to admit, there’s something I love about pro wrestling when it’s done right—like how Mina executed everything flawlessly, managing to keep it safe even when it stings. 
    • And let me tell you why else I love Mina. I remember meeting her a few years back when she was in her early 30s. At that time, she was new to our craft and shared her great passion for wrestling with me and wanting to wrestle in the U.S., but she had concerns about her age. She honestly seemed to feel like it was too late for her. I do remember assuring her nothing could be further from the truth. Side note and lesson for all of you, your friends, and your children: it’s never too late for any of us, as Mina proved. And you heard it here from the CEO: you have not seen the last of this girl. She is another superstar on the rise, and I couldn’t be prouder to know her and to have competed against her.
  • Serpentico was the guest on AEW Unrestricted this week.
  • AEW wished Ruby Soho a happy 34th birthday.
  • Eric Bischoff will be making an appearance via satellite at MLW Kings of Colosseum this Saturday.
  • MLW announced that Fightland 2025 will be held at the NYTEX Sports Centre in North Richland Hills, Texas on Saturday, September 13. Tickets are going on sale next Tuesday (January 14).
  • NJPW formally announced that the KOPW Championship has been retired, thanking fans for supporting the title over the years.
  • Yuji Nagata tweeted that his NJPW contract has been renewed for another year.
  • NJPW’s YouTube channel uploaded the full Battle in the Valley event from 2023 for free to YouTube. It was headlined by a double main event of Kazuchika Okada vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi and Mercedes Mone vs. Kairi.
  • Ricky Starks will face Charles Mason at House of Glory Wrestling’s show in Queens, New York on Saturday, January 25.
  • Kurt Angle commented on his induction into the International Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame last night: “It was an honor to be inducted into the international professional wrestling HOF today in Albany,NY. Thank you to all who attended.”
  • Nikki & Brie Garcia were guests on We Got Time Today with Deion Sanders & Rocsi Diaz.