POST IT NOTES
**Rewind-A-Raw is up on the main page with Wai Ting and I reviewing Raw from Washington, discussing the final angles leading into WrestleMania, the updated card, Kurt Angle’s farewell, the WrestleMania main event being arrested, plus a discussion of HBO’s Last Week Tonight segment on WWE and a look ahead at POST Wrestling’s WrestleMania Week schedule.
**Wai Ting and I will be back with Rewind-A-SmackDown tonight as we chat the final show before WrestleMania. Plus, we will have a new edition of the Double Shot up for members of the POST Wrestling Café with further discussion on the Last Week Tonight segment from HBO, a review of Being the Elite, and we are also going to start previewing some of the cards coming up this week.
**A reminder that we are doing a live edition of the Café Hangout on Wednesday night at 8 pm Eastern for Double Double, Iced Capp, and Espresso members of the Café. On this show, we will have an in-depth preview of WrestleMania 35, our schedule of shows that we will be attending, and additional previews of some of the notable cards and matches that are happening. Time permitting we will also be taking your calls.
**WH Park has an excellent breakdown of this year’s lineup for All Japan’s Champion Carnival tournament. WH goes through the participants in both blocks, favorites to win and the full schedule of shows. The tournament begins this Thursday and runs until April 29th with all the matches being made available on AJPW.tv.
**I wanted to add that we will be leaving for New York on Thursday and news updates will be sporadic throughout the trip with the two of us primarily putting out podcasts on the POST Wrestling Café. I will be filing individual stories and updates but not doing the full-length daily updates you are accustomed to while away. We are going to be attending a lot of shows and will have reviews of everything on our daily podcasts on the POST Wrestling Café. The WrestleMania POST Show on Sunday night will be free for everyone on the site.
WRESTLING NEWS
**The final Raw before WrestleMania averaged 2,639,000 viewers on the USA Network, up 2% from last week’s number. The first hour was the highest of the three with 2.79 million viewers and stayed consisted of 2.76 million in the second hour. The show experienced a 15% drop in the third hour with the Rey Mysterio vs. Baron Corbin saved for the main event segment. It was a 21% drop in viewers from last year’s WrestleMania 34 go-home edition of the show and a 20% drop from the 2017 Raw going into WrestleMania 33.
**Sunday’s episode of “Last Week Tonight” on HBO focusing on the WWE averaged 868,000 viewers. Their previous episodes from did 946,000 viewers on March 17th and 1,079,000 viewers on March 10th. It was their sixth episode of the current season and second-lowest viewership average.
**The WWE’s final SmackDown and 205 Live tapings before WrestleMania take place from the Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore, Maryland tonight. They should be setting up a SmackDown tag title match for WrestleMania on the show tonight, which is expected to be a multi-team match. Below is what they have advertised:
*Daniel Bryan and Kofi Kingston’s contract signing
*Rey Mysterio vs. Andrade
*The Kevin Owens Show with guests Randy Orton and AJ Styles
**The Miz & Mrs series has been picked up by the USA Network for a second season with 20 episodes ordered. This news comes ahead of tonight’s continuation of their first season, which aired last summer with six episodes and an additional 14 episodes this year. The show will be airing immediately after SmackDown tonight at 10 pm Eastern.
**The Alliance of American Football is suspending its operations with multiple reports out Tuesday of the decision and first reported by ProFootballTalk. The league, which was started by Charlie Ebersol and Bill Polian, was injected with some much-needed capital earlier this year allowing Carolina Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon to take over as the league’s chairman while committing $250 million to the startup spring league. They took the stance they were not a competitor to the NFL and their hope was becoming a feeder system that would be a pipeline for players to move up and play. Darren Rovell of The Action Network reported that Dundon had been funding the league week-to-week and the amount he had put it already was $70 million.
In a lawsuit filing, it was revealed Ebersol approaching Vince McMahon for the usage of the XFL name by paying WWE and NBC $50 million for the name. McMahon opted to revive the XFL on his own, announcing his league before Ebersol and Polian announced the AAF. When the latter league was launched, they beat the XFL to the market, launching this past February and securing television deals with CBS Sports, Turner Sports, and the NFL Network. The XFL will launch in February 2020 and have not publicly announced their television situation. The AAA had two more weekends of regular season play with broadcast commitments with the championship game scheduled for April 27th in prime time on CBS.
League co-founder Bill Polian issued the following statement after the news of Dundon’s decision to suspend operations:
I am extremely disappointed to learn Tom Dundon has decided to suspend all football operations of the Alliance of American Football.
When Mr. Dundon took over it was the belief of my cofounder, Charlie Ebersol, and myself that we would finish the season, pay our creditors, and make the necessary adjustments to move forward in a manner that made economic sense for all.
The momentum generated by our players, coaches and football staff had us well positioned for future success. Regrettably, we will not have that opportunity.
My thanks go out to all who made our football product so competitive and professional. I am certain there are many among them destined for future success in the NFL and I look forward to doing all I can to help them in their quest.
I sincerely regret that many that believed in this project will see their hopes and efforts unrewarded. They gave their best for which I am deeply grateful. Unfortunately, Mr. Dundon has elected this course of action.
**Amazing Red (Jonathan Figueroa) announced Monday that he is retiring effective immediately and will not be wrestling this weekend as part of WrestleMania Week. Red had been scheduled to wrestle for the Destiny and Fight Club Pro event on Thursday teaming with Puma King and Robbie Eagles against Kid Lykos, Chris Brookes, and Kyle Fletcher as well as for his own House of Glory event against Fenix on Saturday. Red stated his body was in too much pain, noting issues with his neck, back, ankles, and knees and needed to step away now. He added that he will continue to train talent at the House of Glory gym.
Red began his career in 1998 and is one of the most underappreciated junior heavyweight talents that had a tremendous influence on the modern generation of fliers. His biggest spotlight came as one of the top stars in the infancy of NWA TNA and Ring of Honor in 2002 after being a star on the Northeast independent scene. He won the X division title three times between 2003-2010 and formed a team with AJ Styles in ROH becoming the second tag team champions in the promotion’s history. He retired in 2008 but returned later that year and opened his gym in 2014.
**The “Dark Side of the Ring” series that VICE has produced will debut next week on Wednesday, April 10th on Viceland. The first episode will focus on the relationship between Randy Savage and Elizabeth Huelette going through how they met when Savage worked for his father’s ICW promotion, their rise within the World Wrestling Federation, the divorce, both ending up in WCW and Elizabeth’s death in 2003. I will be reviewing these episodes in further detail once they air. The six-episode series will include the Montreal Screwjob, Gino Hernandez, Bruiser Brody, the Von Erichs, and the Fabulous Moolah.
**The WWE will be live streaming “WWE Now” with host Cathy Kelley daily at Noon Eastern this week on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter with the following guests:
*Wednesday: Seth Rollins
*Thursday: Kofi Kingston, Shawn Michaels, and Johnny Gargano
*Friday: Pete Dunne and Bianca Belair
*Saturday: Bayley, Sasha Banks, and The Revival
*Sunday at 1 pm: Kurt Angle, Alexa Bliss, Daniel Bryan, and Rowan
**Corey Graves and Renee Young are hosting the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony on Saturday night at the Barclays Center.
**David Bixenspan at Deadspin will make your head spin breaking down the logistics of all the shows running in New Jersey and New York this week.
**The WWE has announced a lot of events going on this week in New York, including WWE talent at Yankee Stadium today for batting practice, a visit to the Hackensack Children’s Hospital on Wednesday, a Special Olympics basketball game on Wednesday, Connor’s Cure Kid Superstar Reveal on Friday, talent ringing the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange on Friday, the Make-A-Wish Circle of Champions on Saturday, a Girl Up Leadership Summit on Saturday, WWE Day at Citi Field on Saturday, and events for Be a Star, Hire Heroes USA and UNICEF on Monday.
**MLW has announced that Kotto Brazil will take on Jordan Oliver this Thursday at the Rise of the Renegades card at the Melrose Ballroom.
**The WWE stock closed at $87.45 on Tuesday.
**The documentary “350 Days” profiling the life of professional wrestlers on the road is available on iTunes. The film is just under two hours and features original interviews with Bret Hart, Superstar Billy Graham, J.J. Dillon, Don Fargo, Ox Baker, George “The Animal” Steele and others.
**Jim Duggan is scheduled for the 2×4 speaking tour in Canada this May. The former Mid-South, WWF, and WCW performer will be appearing on May 13th in Brantford, Ontario; May 17th in Allison, May 18th in Oshawa, May 22nd in Montreal, May 24th in St. John’s, Newfoundland; May 27th in Winnipeg, and May 29th in Edmonton. Duggan was just released from the hospital after undergoing a heart procedure and has stated he will be making his appearances this weekend for WrestleMania Week.
**Eddie Alvarez posted a statement on Instagram following his loss to Timofey Nastyukhin in his ONE Championship debut this past Sunday. Alvarez suffered an eye injury from a punch that split both the top and bottom of his left eyelids.
**During Tuesday’s media day for Bare Knuckle FC, former UFC fighter Artem Lobov and boxer Paulie Malignaggi got into an altercation with the boxer slapping Lobov and the sides being separated. Lobov is set to fight Jason Knight on this Saturday’s Bare Knuckle FC card in Biloxi, Mississippi. If Lobov wins, it is expected he will fight Malignaggi on a card later this year. MMA Fighting posted a video of the incident:
*****
RAR 4/1/19: Arrested-Mania Development, Go-Home Raw, Last Week Tonight
On the final Raw before WrestleMania, Ronda Rousey teamed with Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch against The Riott Squad before the main event participants were arrested.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/04/02/rar-4-1-19-arrested-mania-development-go-home-raw-last-week-tonight/
*****
POST PURORESU: Koji Kitao, G1 Supercard & Champion Carnival Preview, New Japan Cup
John Pollock and WH Park recap the New Japan Cup with their top matches, preview the G1 Supercard and All Japan’s Champion Carnival, reviews of Miyahara vs. Nomura and Watanabe. Kyona & lots more.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/03/30/post-puroresu-g1-supercard-champion-carnival-preview-new-japan-cup/
*****
Café Hangout: Kofi Kingston & Race in WWE w/ Nate Milton
John Pollock and Wai Ting are joined by Nate Milton to discuss the racial themes explored in the Kofi Kingston’s WrestleMania storyline for the WWE championship. Plus, a special unboxing of new POST merchandise, including our “secret audio cassette.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/03/29/kofi-kingston-race-in-wwe-w-nate-milton-cafe-hangout-3-29-19/
*****
REWIND-A-WAI #33: “The Simpson” Wrestling Episodes (S8E21/S24E14)
John Pollock and Wai Ting review two wrestling-themed episodes of the world’s most famous animated sitcom, The Simpsons. We discuss our viewing history of The Simpsons, compare the quality of the series 16 years apart, and discuss how each episode represented professional wrestling’s mainstream status at the time.
https://www.patreon.com/posts/25709484
*****
POST Interview: Mike Bohn of MMA Junkie & USA Today
John Pollock is joined by Mike Bohn of MMA Junkie to chat this Saturday’s Barboza-Gaethje fight, the Conor McGregor story, the ESPN+ deal, welterweight division & more.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/03/28/post-interview-mike-bohn-of-mma-junkie-usa-today/
*****
upNXT 3/28/19: Dusty Classic Finals & Gas Station Sunglasses
Braden Herrington and Davie Portman review this week’s WWE NXT featuring the finals of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic with Ricochet & Aleister Black vs. The Forgotten Sons.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/03/28/upnxt-3-28-19-dusty-classic-finals-gas-station-sunglasses/
*****
DOUBLE SHOT: Omega Man documentary, BTE & C2E2 panel, Total Bellas
John Pollock and Wai Ting present an extended edition with a review of the “Omega Man” documentary, season-finale of Total Bellas, Being the Elite & their C2E2 panel chat.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/03/27/double-shot-omega-man-doc-bte-c2e2-panel-total-bellas/
*****
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