Daily Update: WWE stock, UFC 273, Dynamite ratings

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This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter: February 7, 2022 Observer Newsletter: Shane McMahon gone from WWE

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter Back Issue: December 20, 2004 Observer Newsletter: Brock Lesnar returning to wrestling, WWE Armageddon review

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FRIDAY NEWS UPDATE

– Garrett and I will be doing our weekly show later tonight covering all the news of the past week. Bryan and I will be back for a weekend show late Sunday night.

– An update on Super Muneco is that he is out of the hospital and recuperating according to his Facebook.

– An update on Bobby Horne, the former Mo on Men on a Mission, is he is also out of the hospital and no longer on kidney dialysis. He is in a medical rehab facility. He is still needing an oxygen tank and on antibiotics but his kidneys have improved. Things looked very bleak but the belief now is the worst is behind him (thanks to Wrestlingnews.co)

– Among the highlights of the new issue of the Wrestling Observer:

  • Full behind the scenes updates covering the Royal Rumble, firing of Shane McMahon, why things happened the way they did, Elimination Chamber, WrestleMania 2022 and 2023, business notes on the show, Saturday vs. Sunday, injury updates, why WWE is so heavily emphasizing FOX, Royal Rumble records and tons more on the show
  • *WWE business report, Nick Khan speaks, how WWE PPV shows have done regarding viewers for the last six months, how TV ratings compare to TV in general and a year-by-year look at WWE profits.
  • Battle of Los Angeles coverage
  • Stardom PPV coverage
  • Will Ospreay vs. Michael Oku and why the match was so epic
  • VOW’s top 20 matches of the year
  • The most detailed look at television ratings
  • Former WWE and MMA announcer hosting network TV show
  • Several former wrestlers in movie starring roles
  • The Brian Kendrick story
  • International TV ratings
  • Most popular wrestlers on YouTube in WWE
  • Ticket updates for all upcoming WWE & AEW shows

– UFC has announced the 4/9 UFC 273 PPV will not be in Brooklyn at the Barclays Center but moved to Jacksonville, likely because of the stricter COVID standards in New York city than in Florida. Alexander Volkanovski vs. Chan Sung Jung for the featherweight title headlines along with Aljamain Sterling vs,. Petr Yan for the bantamweight title.

– Wrestling author Ian Douglass, who has written many great books on the subject with the likes of Bob Holly, Brian Blair and Bugsy McGraw, wrote a story in Mel Magazine on the 40th year of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

– EduRank listed the most prominent alumni of San Jose State University.

– SmackDown tonight has announced no matches, but Ronda Rousey will announce her WrestleMania opponent, Paul Heyman will explain turning on Brock Lesnar and more. Drew McIntyre returns as a regular on television starting tonight. We are looking for reports from Oklahoma City tonight with any dark matches or things notable that aren’t on the live show to dave@wrestlingobserver.com.

– Tonight’s 205 Live matches are Kushida vs. Damon Kemp, Brooks Jensen vs. Bohdi Hayward and Kayden Carter & Kacy Catanzaro vs. Lash Legend & Fallon Henley.

– Tony Khan has promised major news on Rampage tonight. The matches taped on Wednesday are Adam Cole vs. Evil Uno, Sammy Guevara vs. Isaiah Kassidy for the TNT title, Thunder Rosa vs. Mercedes Martinez and Ricky Starks vs. Jay Lethal for the FTW title.

– There wasn’t a lot out of the minute-by-minute ratings for Dynamite on Wednesday. The high point of the show was the in-ring with Bryan Danielson and Jon Moxley which hit 1.1 million viewers. Actually the first minute coming off Big Bang Theory was at 1.2 million. It was largely steady at around 1 million or 800,000 during the commercial breaks. CM Punk vs. MJF was just under 1 million the entire match and over 1 million a few times.

– The positive results of the WWE’s annual report combined with increased profit projections for 2022 has led to the stock price closing today at $51.71 per share, up $3.90 from Thursday.

– In yesterday’s investors call, when Nick Khan spoke of maybe more than two major international events this year, it wasn’t a tease of a third Saudi show this year but of the unannounced but planned Labor Day weekend show in the U.K. at a stadium.

– A story on brain damage that Johnny Knoxville has suffered doing stunts on Jackass. They have literally flagged their own guys for less. (thanks to Mike Kuzmuk)

– Dave Bautista will be in a Nissan Super Bow ad. (thanks to Dave Teixeira)

– Regarding the Super Bowl, the average secondary market purchase price for this year as of yesterday was $8,518, the largest in history. Last year’s average was $7,318. Just three years ago it was $3,895. The get-in price as of yesterday was $5,145. There are parking spaces in residential areas for the game going for as much as $5,000.

– UFC tomorrow is a full ESPN+ show starting at 4 p.m. Eastern:

  • Malcolm Gordon (126) vs. Danys Bonder (125)
  • Jason Witt (171) vs. Philip Rowe (170.5)
  • Jailton Almeida (203) vs. Danilo Marques (205.5)
  • Alexis Davis (135) vs. Julija Stoliarenko (135.5)
  • Chidi Njokuani (185) vs. Marc-Andre Barriault (184.5)
  • Hakeem Dowadu (146) vs. Mike Trizano (145.5)
  • Miles Johns (135.5) vs. John Castaneda (136)
  • Julian Erosa (145.5) vs. Steven Peterson(149)
  • Tresean Gore (186) vs. Bryan Battle (185.5)
  • Sam Alvey (205) vs. Brendan Allen (205)
  • Shavkat Rakhmonov (170.5) vs. Carlston Harris (169)
  • Punahele Soriano (185) vs. Nick Maximov (185)
  • Jack Hermansson (185.5) vs. Sean Strickland (185.5)

– Howard “Pepper” Martin, a wrestler/actor/announcer who wrestled from 1959 to 1975, best known on the West Coast, is in hospice care due to advanced lung cancer. Martin is 85. Martin held countless titles in the Oregon territory where he was the top babyface feuding with Pat Patterson, and recommended Patterson to Roy Shire in 1964-65. Martin learned announcing from Dick Lane, and was the color commentator in the early 70s working with Hank Renner for Shire.

WWE

  • Odds for Elimination Chamber from www.BetOnline.ag:
    • Elimination Chamber match for the WWE Championship:
      • Brock Lesnar +100
      • Bobby Lashley +150
      • Seth Rollins +250
      • AJ Styles +600
      • Riddle +700
      • Austin Theory +2500
    • Becky Lynch vs. Lita for the Raw Women’s Championship:
      • Lynch -1500
      • Lita +575
  • A WWE Pop-Up Store is coming to Los Angeles from 2/4 through 2/14. It will be on the corner of Melrose and Fairfax at 700 North Fairfax Ave in Los Angeles. It will have merchandise not available anywhere else. It is a cashless store. It will be open each day until 6 p.m.
  • PWInsider reported that Lita is scheduled for Raw on Monday.

AEW

  • Rhodes to the Top is now available on HBO Max starting today.

UFC

  • Julianna Pena and Amanda Nunes have been named as coaches for season 30 of The Ultimate Fighter on ESPN+. After the season is over the two will fight for he bantamweight championship.
  • MMA Fighting is reporting Aleksei Oleinik faces Ilir Latifi on 3/26 in Columbus, OH.
  • Malsik Baghdasarayan vs. TJ Laramie is earmarked for a show on 4/26.
  • Ryan Spann vs. Ion Cutelaba that was scheduled for 2/26 is being moved due to a training injury suffered by Spann.

Other Notes

  • ROH TV this weekend will be a one hour special on Mark & Jay Briscoe as they go into the first class of the ROH Hall of Fame.
  • Progress Wrestling announced they are the new social media sponsors of Tranmere Rovers FC, a U.K. soccer team. The new owners of Progress are also part of the team management.
  • Cage Fury Fighting Championships announced a 3/17 show in Tampa at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel. This is the promotion that CM Punk announces for. Blake Smith (5-2) of Tampa defends his title in the main event against Paris Artis (5-0).
  • The PFL has announced Challengers series shows on Fubo TV from Universal Studios in Orlando with women’s 155 pound fights on 3/4, men’s 145 pound challengers on 3/11 and men’s heavyweight on 3/25. The most impressive fighters from those shows have a shot at being added to the regular tournaments that start in April on ESPN.
  • Redcon1, which has a sponsorship deal with Kenny Omega, was announced as the official nutrition and supplement partner of the PFL.
  • Jamal Ben Saddik (36-10) vs. Levi Rigters (13-1) and Badr Hari (106-16) vs. Arkadiusz Wrzosek (14-5) headline Glory kickboxing on 3/19 at the Trixxo Arena in Hasselt, Belgium.
  • CWE’s 13th anniversary show is an iPPV tonight from Stonewall, Manitoba with Mentallo vs. Shaun Martins as the main event.
  • AAW tonight in FITE TV from Merriontte Park, IL with Mat Fitchett vs. Laredo Kid in the main event.
  • Legacy Fighting Championships tonight in Hammond, IN airs on UFC Fight Pass at 9 p.m. Eastern:
    • Alberto Rodriguez (144.4) vs.Beau Samaniego (145.8)
    • Halston Williams (206) vs. Logan Nail (205.4)
    • Payton Brezinski (125.4) vs. Cody Davis (124.4)
    • Josh Streacker (155.4) vs. Miguel Jacob (156.4)
    • Askar Askar (136) vs. Ryskulbek Ibraimov (134.8)
    • Dan Argueta (135.8) vs. Mairon Santos (135)
  • Due to travel issues, Alex Shelley is out of tonight’s Beyond Wrestling show headlined by Rickey Shane Page vs. Matt Cardona.
  • Impact will be doing Gut Check tryouts with a one-day camp on 3/6 at the Ar old Classic in Columbus, OH. There will also be Impact meet and greets during the Arnold Classic. Lance Storm and John E. Bravo will be running the tryouts.
  • Triller’s 2/26 show in Houston that was to include Junior Dos Santos, Vitor Belfort and Jimmie Rivera has been postponed. The promotion stated the show set for the Toyota Center had been moved due to concerns about COVID.