POST IT NOTES
**We have a new edition of the British Wrestling Experience with Benno joined by Will Cooling and JP Houlihan to chat about NXT UK television, the World of Sport tour, Rev Pro’s recent match between Pac and Zack Sabre Jr., and tons of news from the British wrestling scene.
**Wai Ting and I will have a new edition of ASK-A-WAI up Friday for members of the POST Wrestling Café with almost two hours dedicated to mailbag questions.
**The deadline is Sunday at 3 pm Eastern to submit your picks for the POST Wrestling Royal Rumble Pool. The winners will be announced Monday on Rewind-A-Raw and there will be prizes.
WRESTLING NEWS
**The major news today was Dave Meltzer’s report in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter regarding the status of Ronda Rousey beyond WrestleMania. Meltzer reported that she is expected to be finishing up her run around that time, although is expected to continue her affiliation with the company. It is no secret Rousey has always stated she eventually wants to start a family and has hinted in the past about not being able to wrestle forever. It is recommended everyone read the story for the proper context as there is no set date in stone for her to finish and there have been enough examples in the past of performers extending their stay, so ultimately that will come down to what Rousey wants. Obviously, with the pending launch on Fox, Rousey is a key star as the network saw firsthand what kind of star power Rousey commands through her tenure with the UFC.
The WWE has issued a statement that Rousey is under contract with the company until April 10, 2021, but added that if she wants to start a family “that is a private matter”.
Ryan Satin at Pro Wrestling Sheet added that Rousey informed the company around the Survivor Series that she would be taking a break after WrestleMania, although stated it is not set in stone.
**Tuesday’s episode of SmackDown averaged 2,142,000 viewers on the USA Network and virtually identical to last week’s number. This show was promoted with Vince McMahon moderating the face-to-face between Daniel Bryan and AJ Styles and a 2-of-3 falls match between Rey Mysterio and Andrade.
**On Thursday, I was told that the status of John Cena has not changed for this Sunday’s Royal Rumble and he is not expected for Sunday’s show. The WWE has not issued any update beyond Monday’s announcement that he was “questionable” for the show, there was also no mention of Cena’s status on SmackDown. The person I spoke with stated that if Cena were to appear in the Rumble, it would mean a lot of people were kept in the dark and I can’t imagine them going to these lengths for a surprise that isn’t even a big one when they’re still semi-advertising him. His next film begins production on February 4th, so it isn’t a case of him being on the set, but I wasn’t given the specific reason he’s unavailable. He’s also in a starring role and the idea of doing any type of wrestling match the week before shooting begins is probably not in the best interest of the production.
**Ed Nordholm of Anthem Sports and Entertainment provided a statement to the Wrestling INC outlet regarding the departures of Abyss (Chris Parks) and Sonjay Dutt (Retesh Bhalla) and confirming that Tommy Dreamer and Konnan (Charles Ashenoff) will be inserted into the creative team:
We reached an amicable agreement with Sonjay and Abyss to allow them to pursue this opportunity. They have been tremendous contributors to IMPACT Wrestling and we wish them every success. We are thrilled that Konnan and Tommy Dreamer have agreed to bring their 50+ years of experience to our core creative team.
**Ring of Honor begins their Texas tour with a show in Dallas tonight at Gilley’s and streaming on Honor Club at 8:30 pm Eastern with the following:
*Brody King and PCO vs. Vinny Marseglia and TK O’Ryan in the Tag Wars tournament
*Matt Taven vs. Rocky Romero
*Bandido vs. Silas Young
*Marty Scurll vs. Rhett Titus
*Jay Lethal and Jonathan Gresham vs. Mark Haskins and Tracy Williams in the Tag Wars tournament
*Madison Rayne vs. Holidead
*Dalton Castle and The Boys vs. The Briscoes and Shane Taylor
*Jeff Cobb vs. Clark Connors in a Proving Ground match
*Juice Robinson and David Finlay vs. Karl Fredericks and Alex Coughlin in the Tag Wars tournament
**The WWE’s Worlds Collide tournament will be airing on a one-week delay. The 15-man tournament will take place over the weekend in Phoenix at the Royal Rumble Axxess sessions involving talent from NXT, NXT UK, and 205 Live. The opening round matches will begin streaming Saturday, February 2nd at Noon Eastern on WWE.com, the WWE app, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. Then, a WWE Network special on the tournament will air at 8 pm Eastern that night, which will include the finals. The 15-man tournament will feature Adam Cole, Velveteen Dream, Dominik Dijakovic, Keith Lee, Shane Thorne, Mark Andrews, Tyler Bate, Travis Banks, Jordan Devlin, Zack Gibson, Cedric Alexander, Tony Nese, Drew Gulak, TJP, and Humberto Carrillo.
**Rocksan Biggerstaff, who worked as BellaDonna briefly in NWA TNA, passed away on Monday. She was paired with the Disciples of the New Church group and wrestled once for the group in December 2004. There is a Go Fund Me campaign that has been set up by her sister Allyson to cover funeral expenses as she did not have a life insurance policy.
**Jim Ross will be doing his one-man show on Saturday, April 6th in the afternoon at the Gotham Comedy Club and a midnight show on Monday, April 8th near the Barclays Center with Bruce Prichard and Conrad Thompson.
**NXT UK will be taping three episodes this weekend at the Axxess sessions. That is an extraordinary amount of content the WWE is producing this weekend when you add up the Royal Rumble, TakeOver, Raw, SmackDown, 205 Live, next week’s matches for NXT, three episodes of NXT UK, and the Worlds Collide tournament.
**On Wednesday’s edition of NXT, they announced the following matches for next week’s show, which means they will be taped prior to TakeOver this Saturday:
*Street Profits vs. Forgotten Sons
*Kairi Sane and Io Shirai vs. Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir
**After watching Wednesday’s NXT episode, I think now is the time to bring Kairi Sane and Io Shirai up to the main roster and put them into the Elimination Chamber match for the tag titles. With Dakota Kai’s injury and the fact that they are going to the tag match with Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir, there doesn’t seem to be anything keeping them in NXT if they wrap up that feud with the tag match. I haven’t been told this, it’s only my speculation but it’s an excellent team to help kick off the women’s tag division, which needs more depth and they would significantly enhance the Elimination Chamber match.
**MLW has announced Rich Swann vs. Ace Austin for the Superfight event next Saturday in Philadelphia.
**EVOLVE has announced that Adam Cole will be having matches with Shane Strickland and Darby Allin next month at the shows in Atlanta and North Carolina. It’s interesting that Ring of Honor, New Japan, and EVOLVE have run those cities back-to-back in such a short amount of time this year. Below are the matches EVOLVE has announced for each show:
*EVOLVE 121 on February 15th: Adam Cole vs. Shane Strickland, The Street Profits vs. AR Fox and DJZ for the EVOLVE tag titles, Darby Allin vs. Josh Briggs
*EVOLVE 122 on February 16th in Concord, North Carolina: Adam Cole vs. Darby Allin, Austin Theory vs. Anthony Henry for the EVOLVE title, JD Drake vs. Montez Ford
**Chase Field in Phoenix is promoting a special Royal Rumble Burger for this Sunday’s show. It’s an 18-ounce pork bratwurst on a toasted onion roll. It will be a lost opportunity if they don’t have Otis Dozovic down one of these on the show. This led to Daniel Bryan responding and later challenging them to donate the profits to charity:
Chase Field should be ashamed of themselves. Made from factory farmed pigs, an intelligent and extremely social mammal, and cheese from cows, who’s baby’s were ripped away from them. THEN add the heart disease delivered to the people who eat it.
**Kaiju Big Battel is running a card in England on Saturday, May 4th at The Dome in Tufnell Park at 9:30 pm local time. Tickets for the show are already sold out.
**The WWE stock closed at $81.57 on Thursday.
*****
BWE 1/23/19: NXT UK, ITV World of Sport Tour, PAC vs. ZSJ
In a packed show, Benno and guests Will Cooling (Fighting Spirit Magazine) and JP Houlihan (Eurograps, The Indy Corner) talk NXT UK’s first TV show since Takeover: Blackpool, ITV World Of Sport’s UK tour, the Zack Sabre Jr. vs. PAC match from Rev Pro, plus the latest news and announcements from Progress, OTT and Fight Club Pro.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/01/24/bwe-1-23-19-nxt-uk-itv-world-of-sport-tour-pac-vs-zsj-progress-ott-fight-club-pro/
*****
DOUBLE SHOT 1/23: WWF Superstars from 1992, Being the Elite, Total Bellas, Impact Wrestling
John Pollock and Wai Ting review an episode of WWF Superstars from June 1992, and the latest episodes of Impact, Being the Elite & Total Divas.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/01/23/double-shot-1-23-wwf-superstars-from-1992-bte-total-bellas-impact-wrestling/
*****
RASD 1/22/19: Rey vs. Andrade, Bryan-Styles faceoff, XFL TV talks
On the final show before the Royal Rumble, Rey Mysterio took on Andrade in a 2-of-3 falls match, Daniel Bryan and AJ Styles had a face-to-face, Shane McMahon and The Miz are attacked before Sunday’s tag title match, and more.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/01/23/rasd-1-22-19-rey-vs-andrade-bryan-styles-faceoff-xfl-tv-talks/
*****
RAR 1/21/19: David vs. Goliath, John Cena Update, Rumble Go-Home
It’s the final Raw before the Royal Rumble with an update on the status of John Cena, Ronda Rousey teams with Natalya against Sasha Banks and Bayley, Brock Lesnar appears with Paul Heyman and Vince McMahon in the opening segment, Braun Strowman has his first match back against Finn Balor and more.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/01/22/rar-1-21-19-david-vs-goliath-john-cena-update-rumble-go-home/
*****
UFC ON ESPN+ POST Show with John Pollock & Phil Chertok
John Pollock is joined by Phil Chertok to review the UFC’s debut card on ESPN+ featuring Henry Cejudo defending the UFC flyweight title against T.J. Dillashaw, the debut of Greg Hardy, and the 30th UFC fight for Donald Cerrone.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/01/20/ufc-on-espn-post-show-henry-cejudo-vs-t-j-dillashaw/
*****
Café Hangout LIVE 1/17: WWE talent requesting releases, Jericho Talks AEW Deal
John Pollock and Wai Ting discuss recent reports of The Revival and Mike & Maria Kanellis requesting their releases from the WWE. Plus, Chris Jericho dishes details about his AEW deal on his latest podcast.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/01/18/wwe-stars-request-releases-jericho-talks-aew-deal-cafe-hangout-live-1-17-19/
*****
TRMPS #1: The Scorpion King (2002) w/ Brian Mann
Welcome to the debut edition of The Rocky Maivia Picture Show! Nate Milton realizes that he can’t “Stand Alone” on his first episode, so he invites Brian Mann (Complex, “Keep It 2000”) into the theater to review Dwayne Johnson’s first major foray into the movie business, 2002’s The Scorpion King.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/01/18/trmps-1-the-scorpion-king-2002-w-brian-mann/
*****
REWIND-A-WAI #28: NXT TakeOver Dallas (2016)
John Pollock and Wai Ting review NXT TakeOver: Dallas featuring the WWE debut of Shinsuke Nakamura against Sami Zayn. We also discuss a blood-filled main event featuring Finn Balor vs. Samoa Joe that consisted of a number of medical interruptions.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/01/18/rewind-a-wai-28-nxt-takeover-dallas-2016/
*****
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