Daily Update: WWE NXT notes, Tony Khan, Ric Flair

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This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

The new Observer is up now:

  • Match of the week and performer of the week
  • Adam Copeland comes to AEW, analysis of he deal, surprises, comments by Copeland, and the positives and negative of it
  • Full rundown of WrestleDream, including business notes
  • Updates on the last three AEW PPV shows including one major surprise
  • What to learn from AEW doing three PPV shows so closely
  • Full coverage of WWE NXT No Mercy
  • AEW vs. NXT this coming Tuesday as both load up, and what to expect given how things went last year
  • Notes on WWE Fastlane
  • Russ Francis, the aspects of his pro wrestling career that few know, growing up as the son of a wrestler and promoter, NFL and other sports background, the Francis family in Hawaiian rings, the last big house drawn by the AWA, WrestleMania 2 and 31, his playing in the Super Bowl and the wrestling connection in that game, politics, broadcasting and more.
  • Story on Joyce Grable, who passed away this past week.
  • AEW & WWE attendance for quarter three
  • Matt Riddle update
  • The Infernos tag team history
  • How many homes are the stations that carry wrestling and MMA programming in
  • The most detailed look at the ratings from the past week, comparisons with one year ago, segment numbers, placings, star power and competition to provide information as to the ups and downs
  • CMLL Night of Champions as fans pick the card
  • Women’s tournaments coming
  • A show honoring 45 years of Blue Panther in the ring
  • AAA Heroes Inmortales
  • Stardom Five-Star Grand Prix notes
  • Stardom tag team tournament update
  • Notes on New Japan U.S dates
  • Crush Gals anniversary show
  • New pro wrestling documentary notes
  • Impact gears up for its biggest show of the year
  • Update on AEW and WBD
  • Adam Cole on his injury
  • Tony Khan talks Jade Cargill
  • Why AEW announced 81,305 instead of 85,228 for All In
  • Problems AEW had with its last TV show
  • Streaming numbers for AEW & WWE
  • Ticket sales for upcoming AEW & WWE shows
  • International TV ratings
  • Star returns from injury
  • UFC & Bellator updates
  • Canelo Alvarez PPV notes and how many buys came from AEW & WWE fans
  • Two wrestlers being inducted into Louisiana Hall of Fame
  • C.M. Punk notes
  • Why WWE stock is down
  • WWE in Japan update

This Week’s Retro Observer Newsletter

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Wednesday Update

WWE

  • John Cena reflected on his appearance from last night’s NXT: “A really special night at @WWENXT. Being ‘present’ in that ring and enjoying the crowd at the #WWENXT Arena is something special. THANK YOU to @ShawnMichaels, the entire roster, @Undertaker, @WWEAsuka, @CodyRhodes, @HeymanHustle, @Carmelo_WWE and everyone who made it so much fun.”
  • Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker reunited while at NXT.
  • WWE uploaded a post-show clip where Undertaker and Carmelo Hayes did Undertaker’s pose together.
  • Like she did at Fastlane, Jade Cargill made a brief appearance on NXT last night. Shawn Michaels was shown greeting Cargill as she arrived at the show.
  • Bianca Belair spoke to Uproxx about Cargill signing with WWE:
          • It’s always been a huge goal and mission of mine to bring myself and my culture and representation to WWE. And it’s only going to get bigger with Jade coming in the picture. There’s so many amazing possibilities that can come out of it, singles matches, tag matches. Going from being one of the first Black females to main event WrestleMania and now having Jade come in, it’s just showing how much WWE is evolving and continues to evolve.
  • During his appearance on NXT, Paul Heyman was shown speaking with Ava (Simone Johnson) backstage.
  • In an interview with Fox News, Heyman praised Tiffany Stratton:
          • Tiffany Stratton is someone that Rhea Ripley and Charlotte Flair and Bianca Belair and the main roster women better keep their eyes on because she’s another one who, if she continues on this path, is going to be a significant player in the future of this industry and leading the industry into the future.
          • I thought Tiffany Stratton not only held her own in the ring with Becky Lynch, I thought in the promos that she did with Becky Lynch she more than held her own as well. That’s no easy task for someone that hasn’t been on the main roster for a long time, let alone for any time.
          • Tiffany held her own in a very tense situation with Becky Lynch and looked great doing it. And it wasn’t because Becky Lynch knew how to carry her through the segment. It was because Tiffany knew how to present herself, and she did it quite well – very impressive.
  • NXT commentator Vic Joseph revealed that his father passed away yesterday. Joseph dedicated his commentary on last night’s show to his father: “Yesterday I lost my dad – my earliest memory was watching wrestling with him – he always supported my dreams and did to the end – last night was for him – to everyone involved and all of you that watched/interacted – you allowed me to escape for a few hours THANK YOU”
  • Seth Rollins named three wrestlers in WWE who he thinks are underappreciated: “On the current roster, shockingly, I think my wife is underappreciated. And then I would go with two guys who I think are really awesome, Chad Gable and Ivar of the Viking Raiders.”
  • Patrick Clark (Velveteen Dream) shot down a social media rumor that claimed he’s been at the WWE Performance Center recently: “I AM NOT IN A REHABILITATION FACILITY NOR HAVE I VISITED ORLANDO FLORIDA – THE WWE PERFORMANCE CENTER -OR ANY WWE EVENTS OR FACILITIES”
  • WWE remembered Dusty Rhodes on what would have been his 78th birthday.
  • Rhea Ripley (27) and Ricochet (35) are celebrating birthdays today.
  • Episode four of Shotzi and Scarlett’s Chamber of Horrors features Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson investigating the haunted Waverly Hills Sanatorium.
  • Damian Priest, Dominik Mysterio, and Sam Roberts were guests on WWE’s The Bump today.

AEW/Other Wrestling

  • After last night’s Dynamite, the AEW locker room came out to the stage and sang happy birthday to Tony Khan.
  • Khan thanked everyone who watched Dynamite: “Thank you all who watched #AEWDynamite Title Tuesday last night! I thought last night was one of our best shows that we’ve ever done! The fans in Kansas City were tremendous, the wrestling was great, and last night was the best birthday that I’ve ever had, thanks to all of you!”
  • Bryan Danielson addressed whether he’ll wrestle in Japan again: “Maybe. I never say never. Wrestling in Japan is one of my favorite places in the world to wrestle if not the favorite place and so, yeah, I’ve loved wrestling in Japan and would love to wrestle there more. It’s just a matter of schedule and it’s just a matter of, you know, time.”
  • Adam Copeland is the guest on today’s episode of Talk is Jericho.
  • Copeland, Danielson, and Saraya, who all thought they would never wrestle again due to injuries at one point, shared a moment together in the ring before Dynamite last night.
  • Saraya wrote: “You know what was really cool yesterday. Was before the show I was standing in the ring and I saw @EdgeRatedR on one side and @bryandanielson on the other and I just was like ‘holy sh*t. None of us thought we would wrestle again’ and I felt very grateful. Very cool moment.”
  • Taz turns 56 years old today.
  • Marshall Von Erich reacted to the trailer for The Iron Claw: “I knew it wouldn’t be 100% accurate because my Dad wasn’t Involved but those of you that know our family know that God played a major role in our story. Still excited about it and think it can help a lot of people that are suffering from loss. They nailed the wardrobe tho [laughing emoji]”
  • Ric Flair thinks he should have chosen Ricky Morton as his opponent for his last match:
          • I want to wrestle again right now. Isn’t it crazy? I feel like because like Ricky Morton, the guy that I should have chosen for my last match, it would have been great. Ricky Morton is still wrestling. The best thing for me about it was I forced myself to really get in shape. I’ve heard this from guys over the years when they were older and I was in my prime. The older guys would say, ‘Man, I’m tired of working out.’ There is a time when you just get bored working out if you don’t have a goal. I mean, they gave me a goal and I just attacked it. I didn’t stop drinking or anything, but I was literally training three hours a day, five days a week in the ring, or I was doing the sled, the ropes. I got my bench press up for two and a quarter.
  • Flair also discussed his relationship with WWE:
          • It’s fine. I don’t work for them. I mean, I’m always gonna be indebted and be thankful for the relationship over the years, but when you work with them, you’re pretty much locked up to, you know, to anything, and they have a really tough, enforceable contract, so I wouldn’t be able to do the marijuana [product . I certainly wouldn’t be able to have the energy drink unless I gave them 50 percent of it or something like that. I mean, you know, and in all fairness, I don’t like that, but I can understand. They’re gonna give you the TV time and help give you the opportunity for yourself to become a star, if you have that star quality, then they deserve to get a part of the money. I understand it. I don’t like it, but it’s only fair and I’ve seen a lot worse situations for people.