Daily Update: Super Bowl notes, Raw, WWE stock
DAILY UPDATE
Latest News:
WWE to determine Brock Lesnar’s Super ShowDown challenger on Raw
Two matches added to ROH Past vs. Present
Bandido to challenge for ROH TV title at 18th Anniversary PPV
AJ Styles out with shoulder injury, still hopeful for WWE WrestleMania
AEW airing first-ever mixed tag team match on Dark
Randy Orton segment announced for WWE Raw
Minoru Suzuki vs. Orange Cassidy announced for Spring Break IV
Latest Audio:
WOL: Raw preview, weekend recap, Super Bowl hangover 2/3
F4D: Super SmackDown, dog food stips, Male Bag 2/3
B&V&C: Retro Raw and Nitro from 19 years ago this week, plus GRANNY! 2/2
DragonKing Dark: 1977’s ‘In Search of…Bigfoot’ 2/2
WON NEWSLETTER: February 3, 2020 Observer Newsletter: Royal Rumble review, WM 36 takes shape
A look at the current WrestleMania card, as well as what big name is being talked with, what big name is not on the card, as well as the Royal Rumble decision making is the lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
We also have complete Rumble coverage including a table with each participant, how long they were in, eliminations, number of entry and exit and more. We look at Vince McMahon’s change in the winners in the last week, the stories told in the Rumble, why the winners were changed, the return of Edge, his new contract, how he got such a big deal, the WWE injuries, the Andrade drug test failure, those who were not in the Rumble and why, business notes on the way and what are expected to be the biggest wrestling crowds of the year. We also look at viewer interest in the show, the interest as compared to the UFC 246 show, plus match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results.
The new issue also covers:
The sale of Pro Wrestling NOAH to CyberAgent, more on big companies buying wrestling franchises, plans for NOAH under the new ownership and the relationship with DDT as it stands right now.
UFC 246, with show notes, business notes and match-by-match coverage.
Worlds Collide with match-by-match coverage, star ratings, business notes and what did and didn’t work on the show.
Changes in the WWE house show business and why. We look at both the positive and negative of it. We also look at the behavior of Vince McMahon at the Rocky Johnson funeral, the incident with Brock Lesnar and Matt Riddle, new contracts signed, wrestler asking for her release, WWE Canadian numbers, Charlotte Flair talks Kairi Sane concussion, new WWE signees, the most-watched shows on the WWE Network and house show coverage.
New Year’s Dash from New Japan, the Jushin Liger retirement ceremony, match-by-match coverage with star ratings and the angles coming out of the show.
A bio on Hercules Ayala, one of the biggest stars of the glory days of Puerto Rican wrestling, covering how he started there, his work outside Puerto Rico, how he first got into Stampede Wrestling, his biggest matches on major stadium events including major bouts with Ric Flair and Randy Savage, his heel turn with Carlos Colon, the aftermath of the death of Bruiser Brody and how he was used to try and get the business back.
NWA Hard Times PPV show.
A bio on Carlos Rocha, the Portuguese star who was one of the biggest drawing cards in North America in 1971 and 1972 with his bloodbaths against The Sheik and Abdullah the Butcher. We look at those feuds as well as look back at The Sheik in Toronto during the period when he was one of the biggest single city draws in pro wrestling history, and how his undefeated streak put limits on the Rocha feud. We look at how Sheik vs. Rocha was the biggest drawing Toronto feud of the era, and why he outdrew Andre, Bruno, Bobo Brazil and all the other major Sheik foes in Toronto. We also look at his return to North America and his retirement run in the WWWF.
Regarding the Wednesday numbers, we’ve got full details, demos that each side won, how every segment did and what match ended up as the difference maker.
Full coverage of all the WWE and AEW television shows from the past week.
In-depth looks at the ratings of all the major shows, the key demos and quarters for AEW and WWE, what happened head-to-head 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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MONDAY NEWS UPDATE
Bryan and I will be back tonight talking Raw and the rest of the news, as well as talking question that you can send to [email protected]
The Super Bowl did 99.9 million viewers yesterday on FOX. If you include FOX Deportes, and streaming, the number will hit 102 million. It had 23 million searches while the halftime show had about 15 million more. That makes the 11 million plus for Conor McGregor’s fight with Donald Cerrone even more impressive.
Several WWE and AEW personnel were at the Super Bowl between the FOX connection for WWE and the Khan family connection for AEW. There was a full page ad for AEW in the Super Bowl program. There were Super Bowl commercials that included Ric Flair, John Cena and Dwayne Johnson. FOX naturally promoted the XFL which those in the television world think will open to a big number but fall over the next two weeks to a more normalized number.
WWE stock continued to fall today, closing at $46.08 per share, the lowest close since before the FOX deal was signed. A big part of the drop was Benjamin Swinburne of Morgan Stanley downgrading the price target from $80 to $54, based on the firing of George Barrios and Michelle Wilson. He said the three things of concern are losing Barrios & Wilson leaves the company without senior leadership at the same time Vince McMahon is starting the XFL, concern about WWE’s capital allocation plans which was part of the dispute, and fear the loss of Wilson and Barrios will affect WWE’s relationships with Fox, Progressive Insurance (a key sponsor) and key talent. He felt the company will be pressured by Wall Street until they hire at least one well-known new executive with a strong track record.
For Raw tonight, there will be Drew McIntyre and Randy Orton interviews talking about Brock Lesnar. There is a Bobby Lashley vs. Seth Rollins vs. Ricochet match to determine who faces Lesnar at the 2/27 Saudi Arabia show, plus a Lana vs. Liv Morgan rematch.
If the stands don’t look full, it’s because a winter storm advisory was called for today in Salt Lake City and people are told to avoid driving until 10 p.m. tonight. There were 211 auto accidents in Utah over a 13 hour period earlier in the day. Most, but not all schools were closed in the city. There were ten inches of snow at the airport which also delayed flights, but didn’t shut down the airport and talent should have all arrived.
AEW
Tomorrow’s Dark numbers will be most interesting with the addition of the Kenny Omega & Riho vs. Kip Sabian & Penelope Ford match from the Jericho Cruise.
Doug Gilbert won’t be appearing Wednesday for the AEW show in Huntsville, AL. The area legends appearing on the show will be Austin Idol, Arn Anderson and Missy Hyatt.
MISCELLANEOUS
Lance Archer has filed for a U.S. trademark on that name.
There is a Dragon Lee vs Bandido TV title match on the next ROH PPV show on 3/13 from Las Vegas. Their most recent singles match in the U.S., a few months ago for PWG, was one of the best matches in PWG history. It was one of the best live matches I’ve ever seen.
Evolve announced 4/3 and 4/4 shows in Tampa at the former Fort Homer Hesterly Armory. Both shows will be at noon. Progress will run on 4/2 in the same building with Cara Noir, Paul Robinson, Kyle Fletcher, Spike Trviet, Jacob Fatu, Josef Samael, Anti Fun Police,The OJMO and Eddie Kingston. wXw will run 4/4 with Bobby Gunns, Amale, Prince Ahura, Maggot, Jay Skillet, Absolute Andy, Avalanche, Jurn Simmons, Julian Pace, Leon van Gasteren, Lucky Kid and Alexander James.
WrestleCon has announced 11 new autograph signing guests for Mania week as Hiroshi Tanahashi, Booker T, Darby Allin, Ariane Andrew (Cameron), Barry Windham, Chris Masters, Missy Hyatt, Chase Owens, Stephan Bonnar and Cryme Time.
The belief is that Dragon Gate will be sending four wrestlers to MLW for an upcoming taping. The two sides have been in talks since the fall and the deal was signed last week and announced on Saturday. Ben K and Shun Skywalker will be one of the first wrestlers coming while Jacob Fatu will be going to Dragon Gate.
New Japan has three Korakuen Hall shows on New Japan World at 4:30 a.m. on Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday morning. Thursday as a NEVER trios title match with Shingo Takagi & Evil & Bushi defending against Tomohiro Ishii & Hirooki Goto & Robbie Eagles.
Progress from yesterday in Cardiff, Wales: Josh Holly b Thomas Winter, Chris Ridgeway b Elijah, Paul Robinson b Danny Jones to keep the Proteus title, Mark Andrews b Ilja Dragunov, Scotty Davis & Jordan Devlin kept the tag title over the No Fun Police, Jinny kept the women’s title in a three-way over Dani Luna and Gisele Shaw, Cara Noir kept the title beating Chris Brookes.
GCW from earlier today in Tokyo: Toru Sugiura & Takashi Sasaki b Kikutaro & KTB, Shlak b Matt Justice, Alex Colon b Violento Jack, Yuji Okabayashi b Chris Dickinson, Matt Tremont & Danny Havoc & Isami Kodaka b Drew Parker & Jimmy Lloyd & Toshiyuki Sakuda, Orin Veidt b Masashi Takeda
Hoosier Pro Wrestling from Friday night in Columbus, IN: Cooter b Scarecrow, Drax O’Brien won three-way over Big D and Dodo Brown, Michael Hayes & Truth Magnum b Flash Flanagan & Bobby Jones, Randall Floyd b Guy Lombardo, Duke the Nuke b Apollo, Jaylee b Alice Crowley, Buck Sexton b Dynamite Dillen. Next show is 3/7.
559 Fights on 2/8 in Orange Cove, CA at the Victor Lopez Community Center. There will be both MMA fights and grappling matches.
An update on Showcase TV in the UK. It has disappeared from the Sky channel listings, which would leave ROH and a number of UK and US promotions off U.K. television on Sky. Impact still airs on 5Star and Xplosion would not have a home. (thanks to Matthew Evans)
CWE on 2/27 in First Nation, Manitoba at the Glnew School Gym. D-Lo Brown will be on the show.
CWA Superbreak on 3/21 in Searcy, AR at the White County Fairground.
Impact tomorrow on AXS has Rosemary vs. Su Yung, El Hijo del Vikingo vs. TJP and Daga & Dr. Wagner Jr. vs. Jake & Dave Crist. Plus they tease stuff with Tessa Blanchard vs Ace Austin.
Newsday had an obit for John Mair aka Crusher Doogan (thanks to Mike Kuzmuk)
Anthony Carelli (Santino Marella) is in Colombia right now and wants to resume wrestling. He talks about treatment that would hopefully enable him to make a comeback at
A face-to-face interview with Billy Jack Haynes and Devon Nicholson.
Daily Pro Wrestling History: The Mega Powers explode on WWF Main Event
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