Daily Update: WWE notes, Saraya, Eddie Kingston

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This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Topics covered in this loaded issue:

  • Match of the week and performer of the week
  • WWE cuts in the office and of talent
  • The surprise cut of Mustafa Ali that clearly wasn’t planned in advance
  • Why the releases were done and how they were picked
  • Who has the most potential to go to AEW
  • The employees meeting and what was said
  • The SmackDown television deal with USA and the entire landscape of television in 2025 and what it could be
  • Why the stock dropped so dramatically
  • How much less is Vince McMahon worth than was projected just two weeks ago
  • The history of prime time shows on NBC
  • The return of Dwayne Johnson
  • What storyline was originally created for The Rock
  • More major office cuts
  • Noteworthy business notes on both UFC and WWE including revenue, profits and how the companies are similar and different
  • The life and times of Terry Funk
  • A look at his craziest ideas
  • Funk’s different roles in wrestling
  • Mick Foley and Tommy Dreamer comment on Funk
  • Funk’s questioning of his past
  • How Funk played the part in creating a 47-year-old institution in wrestling
  • The most famous Terry Funk retirement match
  • The Hogan-Terry Funk hotel room story
  • Funk’s first trip to Japan
  • Funk’s legendary Japanese matches
  • The formation of All Japan Pro Wrestling
  • The roles of the Funks in Amarillo
  • Doing police work
  • Funk’s WWF run
  • The Amarillo territory
  • Terry as the brother of the world champion
  • Death of Dory Funk Sr.
  • Terry wins the NWA world title
  • Why Terry Funk never challenged Bob Backlund for the WWF title
  • Highlights of the world title run
  • Terry Funk vs. Dusty Rhodes and the never ending storyline
  • Terry Funk in the movies and television
  • The wrestling war in Japan
  • Funk goes to FMW against Onita
  • Arena Mexico anniversary show
  • New books available from us
  • The match that made news all over the world this past week
  • UFC Noche coverage of Shevchenko vs. Grasso
  • Lots of notes on the scoring of the main event
  • Deaths of Emile Dupree and Bart Sawyer
  • The most detailed look at the ratings of the past week
  • Lots of injury updates
  • Ospreay vs. Marufuji
  • More on AEW television negotiations
  • More AEW major shows over the next year
  • PPV updated numbers
  • Lots of new major UFC fights
  • Raw has even greater competition this year
  • Los Angeles Times story on Vince McMaon
  • WWE goes to Australia for Elimination Chamber
  • XFL/USFL merger talks
  • Ticket sales for upcoming WWE & AEW shows
  • WWE house show coverage

This Week’s Retro Observer Newsletter

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Saturday Update

WWE

  • John Cena defeated Montez Ford in a post-SmackDown dark match last night. There was also a post-show dark match where NXT Women’s Champion Becky Lynch defeated Zoey Stark..
  • Ric Flair commented on Dolph Ziggler’s WWE release:
          • Shame On Me For Being So Busy That I Haven’t Kept Up With All Of The Releases At @WWE. I Just Hope That Each And Every One Of You Know That At The End Of The Day We All Love Wrestling, But It’s A Business First And Foremost. I Still After Retiring In 2008, Remember The Day That I Had To Walk Away As Being One Of The Most Difficult Days Of My Life.
          • And As For My Dear Friend, @HEELZiggler, Who Has Been My Close Friend For 20 Years, You Have Been Nothing Less Than The Best Professional & The Best At Everything You Have Been Called Upon To Do. A Leader, A Champion, And A Man Of Unquestionable Character. I’ll Never Forget The Letter You Wrote Me In The Hospital. I Know You Will Be Successful In Life Because That’s Who You Are. I Look Forward To Our Next Meeting & 2 Dirty Martinis With Extra Olives!
  • Becky Lynch is being advertised for the Tuesday, October 3 episode of NXT, which is the post-No Mercy edition of the show. Lynch is defending her NXT Women’s Championship against Tiffany Stratton in an extreme rules match at No Mercy.
  • Gable Steveson teamed with The Creed Brothers at NXT’s house show in Fort Pierce, Florida last night, defeating Damon Kemp, Charlie Dempsey & Myles Borne.
  • On Fox Sports Radio’s The Happy Hour, Montez Ford was asked what he would say if WWE management asked him his thoughts about potentially bringing CM Punk back:
          • If they asked my opinion on it, I’m so open to every single aspect, talent in the world, whether they come from all walks of life, because I feel like everyone has something to bring to the table. Believe it or not, whether people love this individual or not — and this goes for any WWE Superstar, if they’re generating buzz, if they’re generating topics, if they’re generating people talking — I think that’s all good for business.
          • Obviously, I’d love to be the person to always welcome someone back with great arms. So if he wants to make his way back this way, I guess we can have a battle and see who is the best person from Chicago.
  • Hulk Hogan told SI FanNation that it would be amazing if The Rock returned to face Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 40:
          • That would be a moment for everyone. Not everyone was around, not even a lot of today’s stars, for the first WrestleMania with Mr. T and Liberace. Or to see me and Andre The Giant at WrestleMania III. But if Rock comes back, people will never forget it.
          • For all the people to see him come back, and see greatness right in front of us, it would be amazing. If The Rock comes back at WrestleMania, it will be a moment people will never forget.
  • The LWO, Charlotte Flair, and Grayson Waller & Austin Theory appeared on The SmackDown LowDown.
  • Santos Escobar was the guest on WWE After the Bell this week.

AEW/Other Wrestling

  • Saraya revealed that all of her wrestling gear has recently gone missing:
          • Heads up to the public. All my wrestling gear has recently gone missing, including some items that I owned for ten years and had sentimental value. Jackets, my return gear, Wembley gear, Outcast gear, the whole lot. Luckily, I have two jackets left, but I would love for you guys to keep an eye out on the internet and auction sites because someone may wind up selling stuff eventually. If you hear anything, please contact Hello@allelitewrestling.com with a subject line of ‘Saraya Gear.’ AEW Tickets and an autograph to anyone that leads to the recovery of these items. Thank you.
  • Defy Wrestling confirmed that Eddie Kingston is off their show in Seattle tonight. Kingston, who is stepping away from doing indie dates, was scheduled to defend the NJPW Strong Openweight Championship against Rocky Romero at the show. Defy wrote:
          • Yep. Eddie is out. He will not be defending his NJPW Strong Openweight Championship tonight. [He] won’t be at Washington Hall.
          • We just found out like you all did. We’ll figure something out like we always do but we are so sorry that this happened again. Apologies to Rocky, and NJPW too. We tried.
  • Alex Hammerstone shared a story about Dolph Ziggler: “Remember over lockdowns when @HEELZiggler was just anonymously bulk ordering from random indie guys PWTees stores to help em out? When I posted about my house getting robbed during lockdown he unprompted just dropped a generous donation in my PayPal. Dude is a legend all around”
  • Matt Hardy turns 49 years old today. Hardy wrote: “Thanks for all the birthday wishes, I appreciate every single one. I’ve had an incredible 49 years & a blessed life! I’m grateful for every day I’m gifted with. I’m so fortunate to have a beautiful, healthy, loving family & to still be living my dream after 31 years.”
  • Kairi Sane is also celebrating her 35th birthday today.
  • Taya Valkyrie appeared on the latest episode of AEW Unrestricted.
  • Claudio Castagnoli was a guest on In The Kliq.
  • Ring The Belle interviewed Brandi Rhodes.