POST IT NOTES
**Before we get into the news, there is no adequate way that Wai & I can properly thank all of you. This week has been nothing short of surreal for the two of us and the support of readers & listeners has dramatically affected our lives for 2018 and beyond. We wanted to have a home and knew that it would take a lot of work to grow it into something viable for the two of us. After this past week, we have a clearer picture of what is in store for the site and its growth will be much quicker than we originally thought. The last two months have been the most gratifying of my career and I’ve never been as excited for the future as I am at this moment. Whether you have joined the Patreon, are reading the updates, participating on the forum, downloading a show, posting a review on iTunes or tweeting out your support – it has collectively made this launch tremendously successful.
**The inaugural edition of REWIND-A-WAI was released early Friday morning for POST Wrestling Café members. On this show, we tackle the WWE’s Survivor Series event from November 2005 with a Team Raw vs. Team SmackDown elimination main event, Ric Flair tests the theory of how much blood one can lose without the need for a transfusion, Vince McMahon uses the n-word and is met with universal cringe, and just for fun, we also review the match voted by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter as the very worst of 2005. For Patreon subscribers, you can access the show on the POST Wrestling Café (all $6 members and above will get the show immediately). When you sign-up, you will also receive a custom RSS link to allow you to input the show into your podcast app of choice.
**POST Wrestling will be presenting “The Best of 2017” show this Sunday with the panel consisting of myself, Wai Ting, Jason Agnew and Dan “The Mouth” Lovranski. We will be providing our picks in all the major categories as we shine a light on the very best of the past 12 months. The following Sunday, we will sift through the garbage that 2017 brought us with “The Worst of 2017” show. These shows will be free to everyone.
**We also documented the launch of the POST Wrestling site and you can watch our first “POST PRODUCTION” video journal below:
WRESTLING NEWS
**Send any news items, reports, results, tips or announcements to [email protected].
**Monday’s episode of Raw from Miami will feature a rematch between Roman Reigns and Samoa Joe for the Intercontinental title. The added stipulation is that Reigns can lose the title if he is disqualified.
**Chris Jericho announced during Friday’s edition of “Talk is Jericho” that it would be his final episode with Podcast One. Jericho joined the podcast outlet in December 2013 and has since grown his own “Jericho Network” under the Podcast One umbrella. Since joining Podcast One, his network has evolved to include shows from Lance Storm and Don Callis as well as Konnan. (UPDATE: It was stated by Jericho that he is moving to Westwood One and is bringing his entire network with him. His past episodes have already been added to the Westwood One site).
**Cody and Nick Jackson posted a pair of cryptic tweets on Friday alluding to the plans for their “All In” event nearing completion. Cody was asked a question about their proposed 10,000 seat show and he responded that it was “Confirmed but not contracted”. Nick Jackson responded stating, “I know the date”. A number of potential locations have been revealed with many feeling Chicago and Southern California would be the frontrunners for such an event. It is not known if the performers will co-promote this event alongside Ring of Honor or truly go at it alone. The novelty of these wrestlers promoting their own show is a unique draw in and of itself, and if you throw Kenny Omega into the mix along with a big meet-and-greet with merchandise sales, it’s hard to imagine this show failing on any financial level. The big “if” of Bryan Danielson becoming available and working this show would obviously put the show into a different stratosphere.
**Impact Wrestling had another good number this week for the second part of their “Best of 2017” special. Thursday night’s recap episode averaged 285,000 viewers on POP TV, which up was up 6% from last week’s “Best of” that did 269,000 viewers. They faced competition this week from both College Football and an NBA game. This week’s number is their highest mark since August 24th, which was a show built around the Gauntlet for the Gold Match.
**AXS TV has a marathon of New Japan Pro Wrestling airing tonight at 8 pm Eastern. They will be airing all three of the matches between Kazuchika Okada and Kenny Omega from the past year from Wrestle Kingdom 11, Dominion and the G-1 Climax.
**The WWE’s big week of house shows continue with both crews on the road tonight.
The Raw crew is in Albany, New York at the Times Union Center with Roman Reigns vs. John Cena advertised for the main event. Tonight is Cena’s final show for the week as he is not advertised for Toronto on Saturday night. Cena’s next advertised appearance is the 25th Anniversary of Raw special on Monday, January 22nd.
The SmackDown crew will be in Hershey, Pennsylvania with an advertised main event between A.J. Styles and Jinder Mahal for the WWE title and a tag bout with Shinsuke Nakamura and Randy Orton vs. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn.
**Dave Meltzer reported on the Wrestling Observer website that Paige has been pulled from the remainder of the house shows this week. Paige suffered an injury this past Wednesday night during a six-woman tag at the Long Island house show when she took a kick from Sasha Banks. The match was called off and a stretcher was brought out, although Paige was able to walk backstage on her own and it’s believed that she avoided a significant injury.
**The WWE has released a complete bracket for the ongoing United States title tournament. The remaining matches in the opening round will feature Zack Ryder taking on Mojo Rawley with the winner facing Bobby Roode. On the other side of the bracket, Jinder Mahal will face the winner of Xavier Woods vs. Aiden English. The final will take place at the Royal Rumble on January 28th in Philadelphia.
**Jazzy Gabert was a guest on Friday’s edition of Edge & Christian’s podcast and explained why she has not signed with the WWE. Gabert was one of the standout performers in the Mae Young Classic, receiving a tremendous response from the audience at Full Sail University. Gabert lost to Abbey Laith in the opening round but got over during the match in a significant way. Following the tournament, it was discovered by the WWE medical staff that she had three herniated discs in her neck, prompting WWE to rescind their offer. Gabert is now expected to undergo surgery to repair the damage. At 35-years of age, Gabert has been wrestling since 2001 and has fought a pair of mixed martial arts fights, including one with Rizin earlier this year.
**Colt Cabana will be changing the format of his popular “Art of Wrestling” show in early 2018. Cabana announced on this week’s show that he will be abandoning the long-form interview format and moving to a documentary-style of presentation. The change is expected to occur around March with the show documenting Cabana’s travels and following him on a weekly basis. Cabana launched the show in August 2010 and found immediate success at a time when wrestling podcasts of that style were in their infancy.
**EVOLVE has announced a number of matches for the EVOLVE 99 card on Saturday, January 14th in Brooklyn, New York. The main event will feature Keith Lee defending the WWN title against Chris Dickinson, Matt Riddle will be taking on Jaka in a singles bout, Timothy Thatcher will be returning on this show to meet Fred Yehi and Zack Sabre, Jr. will be facing WALTER in a non-title match. The event will air live on WWNLive.com that night and will be available on the newly-created Club WWN streaming service approximately two-weeks later. WWN will also be running the EVOLVE 98 card the night before on Friday, January 13th and a Style Battle card on Saturday afternoon from the same venue in Brooklyn as EVOLVE 99.
**Destiny Wrestling out of Mississauga, Ontario has announced a big show for Sunday, January 21st at the Don Kolov Arena (4480 Tomken Road). They have announced that WWE U.K. champion Pete Dunne will be facing Austin Aries to headline the show. There will also be a singles match between Matt Sydal and Petey Williams which will be taped for a future episode of Impact Wrestling. It is interesting that Impact cameras will be rolling on a show that features a WWE-contracted talent.
**The WWE stock closed at $30.58 on Friday afternoon.
TELEVISION REVIEW
WWE NXT (December 27th)
– This was a really strong NXT show, highlighted by a solid main event four-way with Johnny Gargano defeating Aleister Black, Lars Sullivan, and Killian Dane. The match was structured perfectly to set up Gargano’s big victory and his run for the championship at “Takeover”. The star of the match, in my opinion, was Black, who has “superstar” figuratively tattooed all over himself. The crispness of his offence – specifically his kicks – is beautiful to watch. This was the best main event on NXT since Gargano’s match with Kassius Ohno to qualify for the four-way.
– This was also a very well-booked show as they used The Undisputed Era’s interference in the main event to set up Adam Cole vs. Aleister Black, presumably for Takeover. The interference was effective in that it allowed Black to be protected from losing, set him up for a great match-up with Cole and left the audience happy with a Gargano win.
– Following Ember Moon’s quick win over Sonya Deville (which should be her final NXT appearance), Kairi Sane came out to issue a challenge for Moon’s title before being jumped from behind by the debuting Shayna Baszler. Sane was choked out by Baszler and left for dead on the entrance way. It was a good introduction of Baszler that sets her up for a key spot at Takeover.
*****
REWIND-A-WAI – WWE Survivor Series – Patron-Only Show
(John Pollock & Wai Ting present the inaugural edition of Rewind-A-Wai with a review of the WWE’s Survivor Series card from 2005 with a brand-new intro. Sign up today at POST Wrestling Café and receive this show immediately by clicking the link below.)
https://www.patreon.com/POSTwrestling
*****
REWIND-A-SMACKDOWN 12/27/17: Rusev Day in Chicago, U.S. Title Tournament
https://www.postwrestling.com/2017/12/27/smackdown-review-12-26-17-rusev-day-in-chicago-us-title-tournament-shane-costs-styles-victory/
*****
REWIND-A-RAW 12/25/17: Rollins & Jordan Win tag Titles, Cena Returns, Commercial Free
https://www.postwrestling.com/2017/12/26/raw-review-12-25-17-rollins-jordan-win-tag-titles-cena-returns-commercial-free/
*****
THE POST WRESTLING CHRISTMAS SHOW 2017
https://www.postwrestling.com/2017/12/23/the-post-wrestling-christmas-show-2017/
*****
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