Daily Update: UFC, WrestleMania, Will Ospreay
DAILY UPDATE
Latest News:
AEW Dynamite to air from closed set locations until further notice
VIDEO: Being The Elite – ‘Six Stars’
NWA suspends Crockett Cup event, upcoming tapings
Impact Wrestling postpones two March events
This week’s NXT episode officially moved to WWE Performance Center
Jushin Thunder Liger to be inducted into WWE Hall of Fame
Latest Audio:
WOL: All the news, Shazza McKenzie briefly, tons more! 3/16
B&V&G: Granny, FINAL WWF Superstars of Wrestling from 1992! 3/15
Are you interested in attending our annual F4W/WON convention? We will hold it during AEW Double or Nothing weekend. For more information, check this post for activities and prices.
WON NEWSLETTER: Coronavirus cancellations, Rob Gronkowski, more
A story on the Corona Virus and pro wrestling and MMA shows around the world is the lead story in a double-issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter this week.
We go through:
Where everything stood at press time for large and small promotions all over the world, as well as other sports.
Which companies can survive this period the best and how this threatens the future of many companies and wrestlers, a well as WWE and other name indie talent that likely can’t be coming to the U.S. because of travel bans.
This is one of the biggest stories to have faced the world in our lifetime, and it affects every business, but sports and entertainment businesses, like all, will take an unforeseen shock.
The issue also covers:
Rob Gronkowski and WWE, what is believed to be the extent of the deal, who is Gronkowski, his prior experience in WWE, what he had said about doing pro wrestling in the past and what kind of impact his being in WWE could have.
The series of copycat lawsuits filed by a number of legal firms against WWE, the claims in the cases and a response by Jerry McDevitt to the cases.
The situation with David Starr being pressured out of wXw and Progress, the attempt to unionize wrestlers in the U.K. and companies that have jumped on board.
Full coverage of the Elimination Chamber show with notes on the show, updated plans for WrestleMania, business notes and match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results.
Update WWE PPV talks, Davey Boy Smith in Hall of Fame, salary of WWE’s top executives, the change in Paul Levesque’s backstage role, how talent contracts have changed, who owns the most WWE stock, XFL ratings and how this week changed the narrative, Cena movie delayed by a year of release due to Corona Virus, Rousey in WWE offices, change that was made in Friday tapings, Canadian ratings, UFC star talks about doing WWE, injury updates, more on a new athlete that just started, plus he most-watched shows on the WWE Network and details of all NXT & WWE arena events over the past week.
An extensive feature on Wayne Bridges, one of the biggest names in European pro wrestling during the 70s and 80s. We look at his sports background before pro wrestling, how he could into pro wrestling, his unique role in some major movies, his Japanese tours and his time in North America, the history of the world heavyweight title as recognized in the U.K., plus his biggest run as world heavyweight champion, appearing on the big Wembley and Royal Albert Hall shows, tragedies in his life and much more. This is a great history piece about an era of pro wrestling that a lot of U.S. fans aren’t aware of.
Complete coverage of UFC 248, including the show, what happens next, the judging, who the media thought won the key fights, and business notes.
Oregon wrestling in the 80s and its top heel, Rip “The Crippler” Oliver, who passed away last week. We look at the atmosphere when he first arrived, his life and career before Oregon, his attempts to leave and why he always ended up back, his records set, biggest feuds, extensive title history, the 1982 tag team tournament at the Omni in Atlanta,Billy Jack Haynes, Roddy Piper, Buddy Rose and the death of the Don Owen territory.
Update the situation with Scott Steiner.
End of an era, as after 41 years, Stu Sacks leaves Pro Wrestling Illustrated and a career in wrestling journalism that goes back 50 years to his childhood.
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.
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.
ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
MONDAY NEWS UPDATE
We send our best to everyone during this very trying time. I guess the only thing we can do now is be patient and wait things out. For those of us in Northern California where they don’t want anyone out of their home after midnight tonight, through April 7, good luck.
WWE just sent this out regarding WrestleMania: “In coordination with local partners and government officials, WrestleMania and all related events in Tampa Bay will not take place. However, WrestleMania will still stream live on Sunday, April 5 at 7 pm ET on WWE Network and be available on pay-per-view. Only essential personnel will be on the closed set at WWE’s training facility in Orlando, Florida to produce WrestleMania.”
Bryan and I will be back tonight talking the news, covering Raw, and everything else. If you’ve got questions for the show you can send to [email protected]
I want to say a big thank you to Dr. Alex Patel once again, who has been helping our readers endlessly through this ordeal.
The front page has a story on the UFC having to throw in the towel on their next three events scheduled for 3/21, 3/28 and 4/11. They were going to run the shows on an Indian Reservation in Oklahoma which had okayed it, but then when the CDC didn’t want gatherings of more than ten people at a time, at that point Dana White recognized it would be impossible to do an event. Based on that, it’s going to be very difficult for WWE & AEW as well. At this point WWE is still planning on running at the Performance Center every Monday, Wednesday and Friday and AEW in Jacksonville every Wednesday.
White was on SportsCenter noting the three cancellations but being insistent that the 4/18 show with Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson will go on, although likely in a foreign country. Nurmagomedov trains here and everything is supposed to be shut down. The idea of him fighting when gyms are supposed to be shut during his most important weeks of training for the toughest fight of his careers sounds like a bad idea. We can’t and shouldn’t rush anything no matter what timing some of these people had for events.
I want to send our best to longtime friend Jeff Bowdren who is currently hospitalized battling lymphoma. He will explain everything in a podcast tomorrow from his hospital room. For readers of the Observer in the 90s, this is the same Bowdren of “Bowdren the Booker” fame. He’s been a fan forever and a great guy.
WWE
WWE wasn’t hit as bad as other companies in today’s market crash. The market itself was down 13 percent but WWE was down 5.4% to $30.44 per share. Because of being cash rich and having most of its revenue guaranteed in TV deals, WWE is far better equipped than most companies to handle this situation.
Raw tonight will be interesting for three hours. Steve Austin and Edge were to appear. Undertaker and A.J. Styles were to do a contract signing for a WrestleMania that needs to be postponed and still hasn’t been. At last word they were only filming one show which given the events of the past week, I can’t really understand. There is at least talk of multiple filming later.
The Steve Austin “Broken Skull Sessions” interview with Bret Hart debuts tonight on the WWE network.
www.BetOnline.ag is taking odds on how many stunners Steve Austin delivers as well as who will take the first stunner, with Buddy Murphy and Seth Rollins both +200 and Randy Orton +300.
MISCELLANEOUS
WrestleTalk and Will Ospreay put together a show this afternoon on YouTube which was to raise money for wrestlers who aren’t getting a paycheck since all the shows were canceled. They were doing crowd funding and any ad revenue to split up pay: The show was an empty arena show in London: Paul Robinson b The OJMO, Chuck Cyrus won over Adam Maxted, Carlos Romo, Malik and Paul Sayres, Gisele Shaw b Mercedes Blaze, David Starr b Callum Newman, Lucas Steel & Nathan Cruz b Robbie X & Scotty Davis, Kyle Fletcher b Connor Mills, Will Ospreay b Bea Priestley. People were raving about this match. They tried to push it as New Japan vs. AEW and boyfriend vs girlfriend.
USA Wrestling is postponing all national events through 4/20, which includes the last chance Olympic trials and the Olympic team trials, which were set for 4/4 and 4/5.
A correction regarding the PCW show on Saturday night in Melbourne and drawing 1,500 fans. While there is a recommendation on events drawing more than 500 fans in Australia to be canceled, it actually went into effect today. (thanks to Dan Lennard)
Daily Pro Wrestling History: WCW Uncensored 1997
CONTACT INFORMATION
Poll opinions: [email protected]
Feedback: [email protected]
Show results and news tips: [email protected]
Wrestling Observer Radio questions: [email protected]
Support the Empire~! with F4W shirts. Grab yours today