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This Weekâ€s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

The new issue of the  Wrestling Observer Newsletter is up on the site:

*In depth with the changes in ratings, are pro wrestling and MMA being undercounted, are they less popular than we thought, how the changes have happened, streaming, how this relates to baseball, football, and other entertainment shows.
*John Cenaâ€s last matches, and the surprises in current WWE booking plans for now until December.
*A look at Crown Jewel and WrestleDream, the cards, how the shows look and the current interest level in them.
*Favorites in the betting in all the major future matches
*A look at The Smashing Machine, the heyday of Mark Kerr, the box office and what weâ€ve learned, comparisons with Iron Claw, the performances by Dwayne Johnson Emily Blunt and Ryan Bader and the Pride Grand Prix in 2000 with Sakuraba vs. Gracie and key what ifs that people donâ€t†talk about
*All In Texas attendance and how much the state will be paying AEW based on the deal, plus original plans for that week and three shows that were once thought and talked about but didnâ€t happen with two international promotions.
*Full coverage of UFC 320, whatâ€s next for the winners, the business side of things and match-by-match.
*The most complete and detailed look at the ratings for all the major shows as well as comparisons with last year, segment-by-semgent notes, demos and more.
*Expectations of when a major milestone in history of buildings that house wrestling will be reached and when 1 million fans in one specific building attending wrestling in a year is expected
*King  of Pro Wrestling thoughts
*New Japanâ€s last major show looked at
*40th anniversary of a landmark tag team event taking place
*Hulk Hoganâ€s widow looking at medical malpractice suit
*Death of the former Sabrina
*Dave Bautista makes surprising revelation
*Mistico vs. Bndido in Xalapa
*Renee Dupree talks the old WWE locker room
*Bound for Glory notes
*Lots of injury and contract updates
*The story of Ultimo Dragonâ€s ten belts and Mercedes Mone beating that record
*Stingâ€s son has his first match
*Advance tickets sales for the WWE & AEW shows over the next two months
*The strange secret suspension of  Conor McGregor
*More on the White House show
*MMA Fight of the year on the Dana White Contenders Series
*Has the WWE boom period ended or is it ending?
*The WWE product right now
*Jimmy Jacobs talks differences in backstage at WWE and TNA

This Weekâ€s Back Issue

FIRST TIME SUBSCRIBERS GET 50% OFF YOUR FIRST MONTH

Monday Update

–Bryan and I will be back tonight and there is a ton of news to talk about between today’s Raw,  King of Pro Wrestling, Bound for Glory and lots of other WWE stuff.  We have a Saturday night show covering Crown Jewel and part three of our Hall of Fame show covering non-wrestlers on the ballot.

–Obviously the big topic of discussion was the angle at the end of Raw tonight.  Given it’s a long trip home from Australia and everyone is en route right now, we probably won’t  have anything definitive until tomorrow or Wednesday.  We do know that people are being told.  Seth Rollins did have his arm in a sling before Raw and there are reports of a shoulder injury from the match with Cody Rhodes, but we don’t have them confirmed.  Whether that changed the booking  due to the injury or the booking changed based on a hot shot angle because most likely Raw today with its early start time would have done the lowest rating in the show’s history so they wanted something to make people tune in, that could be the case.  We were told yesterday that the ratings were very much an issue but if there’s a legit injury, obviously that would require a lot of changes in plans.  People are going to be skeptical, for good reason, about a Rollins injury.  I don’t think they’d go to the well there a second time so quickly but anything  is possible and it should all be clear soon.  A worst case scenario would involve having to do something with the title right after they had set up CM Punk, Jey Uso and LA Knight as contenders.

–One source with knowledge of creative said The Vision were booked for plans together through WrestleMania including with Austin Theory joining the group before things changed today.  They were told it was from an injury in the match with Cody Rhodes.  But after being told his other injury was legit, many are not fully believing anything right now.  In the attempt to work everyone, the belief in what those are being told, and there are multiple cases of this in recent months (the Rollins SNME injury being the one that really cost credibility with several in the room) the lack of trust right now is pretty high.  

–Ridge Holland was told today that his contract isn’t being renewed when it expires on 11/14.  Given he was making main roster money and appearing on Evolve and TNA, this is not unexpected.  However, he suffered a broken foot and just had surgery.  Holland was told that they would pay for his medical bills and rehab until he recovers, but his regular paycheck ends in a month and as far as wrestling goes, we’re talking five months or more before he’d even be able to wrestle anywhere else.  I’m really surprised because the rule of thumb was always that for legal reasons you don’t let people go until they recuperate from injuries.  They’ve had non-renewals of an injured man and pregnant woman in the space of a few days .  It is a different mentality than before on this one.

–Some notes from today’s King of Pro Wrestling show.  Konosuke Takeshita beat Zack Sabre Jr.  to win the IWGP title in one of the best matches this year.  I’d say of all the contenders, this was the most complete.  Some had more moves.  One had more drama and storytelling.  Some had more face vs. heel heat.  But this was outstanding in every aspect of pro wrestling.

–After the show, Hirooki Goto challenged Takeshita for the title.  Takeshita talked about doing it before  the Tokyo Dome as he said he wanted one title defense before the Dome, and that would be Goto.  The show had four tremendous matches, with Yota Tsuji’s Global title win over  Gabe Kidd, Yuto-Ice & Oskar’s tag title defense over Yuya Uemura & Shota Uino and Syuri ‘s IWGP women’s title win over Sareee.  One of the year’s better shows.

–Other news is that they talked about Hiroshi Tanahashi & El Phantasmo becoming a tag team at the end of the year.  Bullet Club and The Unaffiliated (Tsuji, Shingo Takagi, Hiromu Takahashi & Titan) all shook hands after the Tsuji vs. Kidd match.  Tsuji and Kidd hugged after a tremendous match with a surprising submission finish by Tsuji.  David Finlay came out with Bullet Club and they teased that they would turn on Kidd for shaking hands, but instead, Finlay took hands with Tsuji and everyone shook hands.

–Tsuji did tease a title defense against Tanahashi.

–Aaron Wolf did a run-in saving Katsuya Murashima, Oleg Boltin and Masatora Yasuda from a beating by House of Torture.  He did some judo moves and later issued a challenge for Evil and the Never title for his debut at the Tokyo Dome.  Really, Evil is a good opponent for his first match.

–They announced a 2/27 show in Trenton,  NJ called New Beginning USA.  That means two things.   First, they  are still running U.S.shows after having backed away for months.  Second, the annual San Jose show at the start of the year looks like it’s not happening.

–BJ Penn was ordered to undergo a mental health exam and be evaluated as to whether he  is mentally competent enough to stand trial for his five arrests so far this year.  

–That Je’Von Evans vs. Leon Slater booking was largely from WWE.

–We’re looking for your thoughts on these three shows:
*WWE Crown Jewel
*TNA Bound for Glory
*New Japan King of Pro Wrestling
We’re looking for a thumbs up thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match for each show to dave@wrestlingobserver.com

–Dana White today announced for the 12/6 UFC 323 show in Las Vegas, the last PPV for at least seven years, that Merab Dvalishvili will attempt to become the first champion in history to defend the title four times in a calendar year as he faces Petr Yan.  Alexadre Pantoja v.s. Joshua Van for the flyweight title, Henry Cejudo vs. Payton Talbott, and most likely Brandon Moreno vs  Tatsuro Taira are also on the show.

–As far as the best matches of the weekend, Takeshita vs. Sabre Jr., was something but also John Cena vs. AJ Styles from Saturday, The Sky Team vs. Cavernario & Angel de Or & Niebla Roja from Friday at Arena Mexico, and the other three big matches from King of Pro Wrestling as well as Iyo Sky & Rhea Ripley vs. Kairi  Sane & Asuka top the light.  I haven’t seen the TNA show but hopefully will at least see some of the matches in time for the show tonight.

–Tomorrow the ratings for Smackdown and last week’s Raw will come out most likely.  Raw for sure.  Our Raw article will also give us a good read on international viewing of Crown Jewel.

–NXT will be running the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago, the same building AEW set up residency in a few months ago on 11/15.

–AEW from Wednesday night in Independence, MO has a three hour show plus another 30 minutes for the WrestleDream countdown show.
Samoa Joe & Katsuyori Shibata & Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Rush & Dralistico & Mortos for the trios title with Adam Page on commentary
Kris Statander & Toni Storm last words
Darby Allin & Jon Moxley face-to-face
Kenny Omega & Jack Perry & Luchasahrus vs. Mark Davis & Josh Alexander & Hechicero
Gates of Agony vs. Shelton Benjamin & Bobby Lashley
Claudio Castagnoli vs.  Roderick Strong
Skye Blue vs.  Jaiie Hayter

–NXT tomorrow has:
Lexis King vs. El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr.
Matt Cardona vs. Josh Briggs
Zaria vs. Blake Monroe

–Saturday’s Arena Coliseo show saw the stream go out on the CMLL subscription page on Facebook.  As  a makegood, they streamed last night’s show live.

–Magia Blanca worked the fourth match at Arena Mexico last night and then flew to Torreon for a bullring show with Mistico & Mascara Dorada & Neon vs. Bandido & Blanca & Gravity on top.  In Torreon they started the main event near midnight waiting for Blanca to arrive.  The other big story is that Bandido pinned Mistico to win the third fall.

–Pro Wrestling Revolucion from Saturday night in San Jose, CA before a sellout of 1,150 fans at Mount Pleasant High School:  Robin won three-way over Ray Star and Mirage, Hyan & Karsiam b Amazona & Lady Pink, El Cucuy b Rey Horus to win the PWR title (Cucuy is headed to Dragon Gate for three months), Templario won four-way over Jack Cartwheel,Viento and Rey Leon, Misterisos b Ultimo Guerrero-DQ,  Hechicero b Blue Panther

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