Daily Update: WWE Speed, Berto, Samoa Joe
Daily Update
Latest News
- Former WWE wrestler Gable Steveson not signed to Buffalo Bills practice squad
- Maria Kanellis shares health update, is ‘starting to get some answers’
- WWE Raw episode to take place from Saudi Arabia this November
- Nikki Bella was ‘in awe’ of Mariah May vs. Toni Storm at AEW All In
- Batista won’t tarnish ‘storybook ending’ by coming out of WWE retirement
- Athena to compete for Scott D’Amore’s Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling
- Matt Riddle ‘in a way different place’ 11 months after WWE release
- MVP says his knee is ‘pain-free’ following stem cell treatment
- WWE confirms new Raw commentary team
Latest Audio
- Wrestling Observer Live: Performance Center, Je’Von Evans, plus David Finlay interview!
- Bryan & Vinny & Shawn & Craig: NWA World Championship Wrestling S3:E9, plus Granny!
- We’re Live, Pal: The fallout from AEW All In
Latest Free YouTube Video
This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter
We have a giant story on the life and career of Kevin Sullivan. It’s one of the biggest stories we’ve done in recent years covering this very unique person who wore a lot of hats in the industry and had a lot of very significant influence on aspects of the genre.
Among the other topics covered:
- Tony Khan announces the second AEW stadium show for 2025 and we talk about reports of a third one as well.
- Previewing All In
- Update on Bash in Berlin including a new main event not announced yet and the latest on the planned stipulation
- Bryan Danielson talks about his life and career
- AEW and Triller doing PPV bundles
- U.S. Olympic wrestling roundup as well as Hiroshi Tanahashi wants to recruit three Olympians
- Update on G-1 Climax tournament and all the bouts of the past week
- A look at the career of Yoshinari Ogawa who retired this past week
- A look at Dennis Brent, who passed away, a behind-the-scenes figure who was very close to many insiders in the wrestling community and had worked for and with World Class, Mid South, WCW, JCP and WWE before a tragic case of MS ended him in wrestling.
- Update on legal wranglings involving Janel Grant, Vince McMahoin and Dr. Carlon Colker
- The most detailed look at the TV ratings from the past week, weekly rankings, comparisons with a year ago, segment-by-segment, nightly placings competition and more
- Rundown from another big show at Arena Mexico
- More on the CMLL Grand Prix show featuring wrestlers from all over the world
- Return date announced for one of the biggest international stars
- Exactly what the issues are with AAA and Penta & Fenix and why their talent isn’t allowed to appear on the same shows in Mexico
- Update on the Stardom Five Star Grand Prix
- Dragon Gate Dangerous Gate update
- N-1 tournament update
- What WWE NXT star is getting over in Japan
- Grandson of one of the biggest wrestling stars of all-time now training to wrestle
- El Hijo del Santo retirement tour update and he talks about when he was negotiating to go full-time with WWE
- MJF vs. Michael Oku match story and angle with Ospreay
- GCW hits Japan
- PPV updates for recent pro wrestling and boxing events
- Tony Khan talks more on big announcements
- Update on Young Bucks
- Penta & Fenix update
- Behind the making of MJF vs. Oku in England
- Advances for upcoming WWE & AEW shows
- Streaming numbers and international TV numbers
- Update on Conor McGregor fighting
- Former MMA fighter involved in a shooting death of a man who was friends with the person who was accused of kidnapping his son
- Heyman talks his ECW run
- Ronda Rousey on Vince McMahon
- Jesse Ventura and his attempt to unionize wrestlers
This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter Back Issue
Wednesday Update
WWE
- Pete Dunne defeated NXT’s Je’Von Evans on WWE Speed today, earning a title shot against WWE Speed Champion Andrade El Idolo. The Andrade vs. Dunne match will air on X/Twitter at noon Eastern time this Friday.
- WWE shared brief post-match promos from Dunne and Evans.
- Dunne tweeted after the match aired: “To be honest @WWEJeVonEvans is excellent. Still couldn’t figure it out though”
- WWE uploaded the full Joe Hendry concert/segment with Ethan Page from NXT last night.
- WWE also has an interview with TNA’s Rosemary following her match against Kelani Jordan on NXT.
- Fightful reports that Berto (Humberto Carrillo) has signed a new multi-year contract with WWE. The deal was signed earlier this summer, around the time that Berto’s cousin Angel Garza also re-signed with WWE.
- In an interview with the Metro, Ilja Dragunov explained why his son has not seen him wrestle yet: “I think my family hates my wrestling style. Literally, until this day, my son didn’t see one match of me. He’s seven, and he’s going to turn eight this year. So, because I know what I do in that ring, and I know how I do that, it would be a bit too much for a seven year old to understand.”
- Daily Star spoke with Dragunov as well.
- Sami Zayn thanked everyone who donated to his Sami for Syria campaign for his birthday last month: “For my birthday last month, you guys donated $24,744 for SamiForSyria.com in 24 hours! I topped it up to an even 25k & as promised, I matched that 25,000$ myself, meaning we raised $50,000 in one day to fund 2 mobile clinics providing medical care in Syria. THANK YOU ALL!”
- UFC’s Dana White was asked about rumors that the WWE Performance Center could be moving to Las Vegas (which WWE has denied): “That’s none of my business. I know nothing about it. It’s none of my business. We’ll let the WWE talk about their business.”
- Peter Rosenberg interviewed Dominik Mysterio.
AEW/Other Wrestling
- Will Ospreay vs. PAC for the AEW International Championship has officially been confirmed for All Out following Ospreay’s victory over MJF at All In. PAC revealed earlier this month that he would be challenging either Ospreay or MJF for the title at All Out. The PPV is taking place in Hoffman Estates, Illinois on Saturday, September 7.
- During an appearance at Terrificon 2024, Samoa Joe was asked who he hasn’t faced in AEW yet but really wants to wrestle: “Ohh, I mean, several dudes. We got Kenny Omega coming back, we got Will Ospreay. Yeah, the list really goes on and on. So there’s a lot of matchups that are fresh that haven’t been had yet, but those two definitely jump to the top of the list.“
- AEW uploaded a Timeline video spotlighting Swerve Strickland’s World Championship reign.
- TNA Wrestling announced that tickets for this Friday’s Emergence event have sold out. The show is being held at Old Forester’s Paristown Hall in Louisville, Kentucky and will air live on TNA+.
- MLW One-Shot 2024 will take place from the Melrose Ballroom in Queens, New York on Thursday, December 5.
- AIW Wrestling owner John Thorne posted a statement announcing that the promotion has terminated its contract with Triller TV: “As of Friday August 23rd I have terminated AIW’s contract with Triller and it appears all of our content has been removed as of this morning. I will keep everyone updated as we explore options for a new home for our video library and live streaming content in the coming weeks.”
- Santana Garrett will return to the NWA as an entrant in the Burke Invitational Gauntlet at NWA 76 this Saturday.