DAILY UPDATE
Latest News:
WWE Raw ratings down nine percent from season premiere
WWE & Thinkfactory producing ‘Big Show vs. The World’ reality series
Two matches official for MLW Saturday Night SuperFight PPV
WWE Raw video highlights: Tyson Fury brawls with Braun Strowman
Viking Raiders to challenge for WWE Raw Tag Team titles next week
WWE Raw live results: Hell in a Cell fallout, Tyson Fury appears
Latest Audio:
WOL: Raw, AEW, NWA Power, your calls, more 10/8
DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: WCW Halloween Havoc 1989 10/8
WOR: Hell in a Cell fallout, Raw, Tyson Fury-Braun Strowman 10/8
F4D: Friday Night Smackdown, Miz and Mrs., more! 10/7
F4W NEWSLETTER: Looking at SmackDown’s move to FOX Joseph Currier looks ahead to SmackDown’s FOX premiere and what the move will mean. Plus, Bryan Rose’s Japan notes and Vinny V’s TV reviews.
While much of the focus has been on the AEW vs. NXT Wednesday Night War, WWE main roster television materially changes this week with SmackDown’s FOX premiere.
The magnitude of WWE airing live on network television every week has been apparent since news of the FOX move broke, but it didn’t fully set in until FOX started promoting the show. WWE personalities have been featured on FOX’s most valuable sports properties, with them appearing on NFL, college football, and MLB coverage. The promotion WWE would get on FOX was said to be one of the selling points of the deal, and FOX has already been as great of a partner as WWE could have hoped for. The promotional opportunities that FOX affords have the potential to make a real difference for WWE. Not every appearance will go perfectly (FOX’s Mark Schlereth saying Rey Mysterio was “like Nacho Libre” was pretty lame), but wrestlers being positioned as on the same level as other professional sports stars in FOX’s portfolio is gigantic for WWE.
WWE is also officially being given its own studio show on FS1. Renee Young and Booker T will host WWE Backstage, which premieres at 11 p.m. Eastern time/8 p.m. Pacific on Tuesday, November 5. There will also be a preview show after game three of Major League Baseball’s American League Championship Series on October 15. Young and Booker T will “weigh in on the biggest stories in WWE, and are joined by a rotating cast of guests and personalities, including current and former WWE Superstars.” The show is a FOX production, and it was reported last week that CM Punk has tried out for it.
WWE and FOX have worked in unison to make SmackDown’s FOX premiere as big as it could possibly be. Brock Lesnar will have his first match on either Raw or SmackDown since 2004 as he challenges for Kofi Kingston’s WWE Championship. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson will also make his first televised WWE appearance in over three years.
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WON NEWSLETTER: October 7, 2019 Observer Newsletter: First battle in the Wednesday Night War
The Wednesday night war has started, and there’s no more detailed rundown than in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer.
We’ve got every aspect of the business covered, including:
How every match on both shows did when it comes to viewers, head-to-head, and how different demos fared.
What things WWE tried that worked, what didn’t work, and what failed.
The money demo, baseball competition, analyze where NXT gained and lost and what it says about AEW and competition, who had the advantage when it came to replays, was it a TNT nostalgia wrestling rating, average age for WWE and AEW shows, what audiences AEW beats WWE shows in, what AEW’s success under 35 showed, comments from key people about the ratings, and we also look at Canada ratings, the UK deal and what time slot is actually the key one for AEW in the UK.
Also:
Different tricks both companies took, who did the best job of hype, what comes next week and the non-wrestling aspects of the show.
Match-by-match coverage for both shows with star ratings.
Turmoil in CMLL, the departure of Rush and Dragon Lee, how Lee found out, the future of Mistico, Rush talks his future, as does Dragon Lee, the changes in CMLL that led to this, and all kinds of new policies that changes the world’s oldest wrestling promotion.
C.M. Punk, noting his lawsuit with Colt Cabana being settled, his screen test for a new WWE show, the latest on if he will wrestle, while Cody talks his thoughts about Punk in AEW.
Cain Velasquez in pro wrestling. We look at the Forum card being postponed, WWE’s meeting with him, what angles on Raw this week related to him, update on who has signed the most key guys of late and why Velasquez’s situation is so unique.
Smackdown premier on FOX and ticket interest, Hell in a Cell, the next Saudi Arabia show, Steve Austin, Ric Flair’s title reigns, update on a WWE Hall of Famer who may get cleared, Fourth generation McMahon may become a wrestler, how much Cena affected business, Dana White exchanges words with Matt Riddle, Braun Strowman’s new deal, Upcoming Evolve bouts with WWE stars, WWE market value declines and why, most-watched shows on the WWE Network plus a look at all the WWE & NXT arena events of the past week with results, highlights and business notes.
Coverage of CMLL’s biggest show of the year, the anniversary card, with match-by-match coverage and star ratings.
Coverage of ROH Death Before Dishonor, with match-by-match coverage, business notes, star ratings PPV numbers and more on Matt Taven’s new landmark ROH deal.
Coverage on this past weekend’s UFC show in Copenhagen, Denmark.
The death of Rick Bogner, look at his days as Big Tytan in Japan, the story behind the fake Razor Ramon in WWF, why his career ended, who got him into WWF but some of the guys he started out with talk about him.
Coverage of all the WWE television shows from the past week, in-depth looks at the ratings of all the major shows, the key demos for the WWE shows and what can be learned from them.
Results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.
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TUESDAY NEWS UPDATE
Additional notes by Joseph Currier
WWE
TMZ notes that in Jeff Hardy’s police report for DWI it stated that he appeared to have dried blood under his nose and that he told police he and his wife got into a fight. He was also uncooperative when asked for a breathalyzer test or blood sample. Hardy is scheduled to be in court on November 7.
Hulk Hogan told the LA Times that he hopes he can have one final match in WWE after undergoing back surgery: “I talked to Vince, and I said I really don’t know if I could live with myself knowing my last match was with TNA [Total Nonstop Action Wrestling]. If I can get fixed, I pray I can have one more match. I told Vince, ‘When I get through this back surgery, I’m going to get in the best shape of my life and we’re going to talk about me having one last retirement match.’“
Hogan also said that he’d want his retirement match to be against Vince McMahon if it could happen: “I’d love for it to be against Vince. I had such a great time with him in the ring at WrestleMania 19. I had no idea what to expect from him, but he’s a great bad guy. His timing is great. I loved wrestling him, but everything he does hurts. When you’re in the ring with someone and they’re hurting you, you kind of pinch them on the wrist, and the whole match I was doing that to Vince. I was like, ‘Vince, take it easy!’ Everything he does hurts, but I’d like to get in the ring with him one more time for my last match. That would be perfect.”
An arrest warrant was issued for Zachary Madsen, the man who attacked Bret Hart during the Hall of Fame ceremony earlier this year. According to PWInsider, he did not appear in court as he was scheduled to on September 9 and was later arrested. He appeared in court on September 24 and is scheduled for another hearing on November 12. However, he is not currently listed as being in custody.
The WWE Performance Center has a video on Dakota Kai’s return from ACL surgery.
The trailer for WWE 2K20’s MyCareer mode was released today.
This Week in WWE will now air on Thursdays at 7:30 p.m starting this Thursday. It had originally aired on Fridays but it is now moving due to SmackDown’s new time slot.
WWE ring announcer Mike Rome turns 38 today, while The Miz turns 39.
Pro Wrestling
Kylie Rae will challenge for the Zelo Pro Wrestling Women’s Championship on Impact Wrestling’s All Glory Twitch special on October 19. The match will be Laynie Luck defending her title against Rae and Shotzi Blackheart in a triple threat. All Glory is taking place in Merrionette Park, Illinois. It will feature matches from local Chicago indie promotions, and “all the Stars and Knockouts of IMPACT Wrestling will be there to sign autographs and take photos.”
The NWA posted a video showing a behind-the-scenes look at NWA Powerrr, their new weekly television show that debuted tonight. You can watch the first episode here.
Dragon Gate announced that Toryumon, Ultimo Dragon’s promotion that ran from 1997 to 2004, will have a reunion show on January 31.
The Great Muta has been announced for Starrcast IV.
Joe Hendry vs. Silas Young is set for ROH’s Honor United tour show in Bolton, England on October 27.
UFC/MMA
Jon Jones dismissed the idea of facing Israel Adesanya anytime soon, saying on Twitter: “By the time this kid gets his confidence together I’ll probably already be in the heavyweight division. I don’t need to wait till 2021 to start believing in myself.”
Anthony Johnson says he is targeting an April return to the UFC.
Hector Lombard has signed with Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship.
Justin Gaethje is calling out Conor McGregor, saying fight him or go away.
Francis Ngannou seemed unhappy with the UFC in a tweet, saying he wants to fight in December in Las Vegas while saying he could fight anywhere.
Daily Pro Wrestling History: Brock Lesnar wins IWGP Heavyweight title
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