POST IT NOTES
**Wai Ting and I are back later tonight with Rewind-A-SmackDown for members of the POST Wrestling Café. We will be reviewing tonight’s episode on Fox and going through all the latest news as well as a preview of the Bound for Glory card on Sunday. Plus, we will be taking questions and feedback at the end of the show.
**Thursday’s edition of the Café Hangout can be downloaded from our free feed. Wai Ting and I welcomed boxing analyst Corey Erdman to the show as he was ringside this past weekend for the fight involving boxer Patrick Day, who died tragically on Wednesday. We also spoke with Erdman about Tyson Fury’s appeal and how he benefits from his WWE involvement this month. Plus, we discuss the story involving Bushiroad purchasing Stardom, AEW and NXT viewership figures, a review of this week’s NXT and your phone calls at the end of the show.
**The British Wrestling Experience is out with Martin Bushby, Benno and Jamesie chatting numerous events that have taken place. The three go through the wXw Tag Team Festival, Breed Wrestling in a Cave, Progress Chapter 96, the European contingent in AEW and NXT, and the return of Andy Ogden with “Going Undergraps”. BWE is a bi-weekly show at POST Wrestling and is out every other Friday.
**Andrew Thompson recently spoke with Impact Wrestling & Game Changer Wrestling referee Kris Levin ahead of this weekend’s Bound for Glory card. In the interview, Levin spoke about his relationship with Sami Callihan, his perception in some locker rooms and talents that have helped him along the way, as well as influences from other officials in the industry.
**On Saturday, Nate Milton will release a new edition of The Rocky Maivia Picture Show with guests Braden Herrington and Davie Portman of upNXT. The three will be reviewing the 2009 film “Race to Witch Mountain”.
**Nate will also be joining me Sunday night for the Bound for Glory POST Show here on the site.
POST WRESTLING VIDEO
TELEVISION RATINGS
**The third week of head-to-head competition between AEW and NXT saw All Elite Wrestling average 1,014,000 viewers over the two-hour period while NXT averaged 721,000 viewers. Both shows were down from the week prior with AEW dropping from last week’s TNT average of 1,018,000 viewers or 1,140,000 if you include last week’s simulcast on TruTV. NXT was down 8.7% from last week’s figure of 791,000 viewers on the USA Network.
The demographics told an interesting story among males and females 12-34. Both shows lost a sizable amount of females 12-34 from last week’s episodes. NXT was down 27% in that demographic while AEW was down 23.5%. Conversely, among males 12-34, it was a great week for NXT as they were up 43% and AEW was down 7.5% in the same demo. Although, AEW did beat NXT in both demos a 0.13 to 0.08 edge among females 12-34 and wider margin of 0.36 to 0.20 among males 12-34. AEW won all the key demographics except for people 50+ where NXT edged past AEW.
The keys for AEW are among people 18-49 where they were fifth among all programming on cable Wednesday night and among males 18-49 where they did a 0.65. While the male 18-49 demo is 29% lower than week one for AEW, it was only a 1.5% drop from last week.
Overall, I would say the AEW number was a bit disappointing given the fact there was no MLB competition like the prior two weeks and they promoted Chris Jericho defending the AEW title all week. NXT continues to drop in most areas with the male 18-34 demo being their lone bright spot this week along with maintaining control of the 50+ audience.
Next week’s shows will go against Game 2 of the World Series and if the series goes to a seventh game, that final game will be played the following Wednesday.
Here is a breakdown of the demographics for both shows:
P18-49
AEW: 0.44 (-4%) – 59.5% of Raw’s number in this demo
NXT: 0.20 (-9%)
F18-49
AEW: 0.23 (-11.5%) – 41% of Raw
NXT: 0.14 (-12.5%)
M18-49
AEW: 0.65 (-1.5%) – 70.5% of Raw
NXT: 0.27 (-7%)
P18-34
AEW: 0.29 (-12%) – 60% of Raw
NXT: 0.14 (-6.6%)
F12-34
AEW: 0.13 (-23.5%) – 35% of Raw
NXT: 0.08 (-27%)
M12-34
AEW: 0.36 (-7.5%) – 72% of Raw and their most competitive number against Raw
NXT: 0.20 (+43%)
P25-54
AEW: 0.50 (-4%) – 56% of Raw
NXT: 0.24 (-11%)
P50+
AEW: 0.33 (+10%) – 32% of Raw, which is their weakest demo against Raw
NXT: 0.35 (-12.5%)
WRESTLING NEWS
**Tonight’s episode of Friday Night SmackDown takes place from the Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana for their third week on the network. A lot of focus will be placed on this week’s number that doesn’t have anywhere close to the promotion of the first two weeks and is the closest we’ve had to a standalone episode of SmackDown. There is competition with the New York Yankees vs. Houston Astros game, which is an interesting comparison. This past Wednesday was the first week that AEW and NXT had no baseball competition and neither show was up. Here are the matches that have been announced for tonight’s show:
*Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Roman Reigns for the Intercontinental title
*Lacey Evans vs. Nikki Cross vs. Mandy Rose vs. Sonya Deville vs. Dana Brooke vs. Carmella in a Six-Pack Challenger for a shot at the women’s championship
*Big E., Xavier Woods & Heavy Machinery vs. Robert Roode, Dolph Ziggler & The Revival
*Miz TV segment with Bayley
**SmackDown was promoted during Thursday night’s NFL game on Fox.
**WWE has announced that Cain Velasquez will team with Rey Mysterio when they go to Mexico City on Saturday, November 30th. They have not announced their opponents for the card but Seth Rollins, Bray Wyatt, Charlotte Flair, Bayley, Andrade, and Aleister Black are also being advertised for that show. The show is being promoted as a co-branded event with Raw and SmackDown talent featured at Arena Ciudad. It is the same venue Velasquez made his pro wrestling debut this past August at TripleMania and where he lost the UFC heavyweight title to Fabricio Werdum in June 2015 at UFC 188.
**Jushin Thunder Liger’s final match in the United States will take place on Saturday, November 9th in San Jose, California. New Japan will be running two cards in the U.S. next month with Liger scheduled for the San Jose card. New Japan will also run the Globe Theatre in Los Angeles on Monday, November 11th.
**Following the news of the sale of Stardom to Bushiroad, additional details were reported by Japanese reporter Fumi Saito on his Pacific Rim podcast with co-host Jim Valley. Saito provided an outline that dates to February of this year when Bushiroad displayed their initial interest. Later in the year, WWE entered the picture with an intent to purchase Stardom with Paul Levesque meeting with Rossy Ogawa in July. Saito reported that the deal proposed by WWE didn’t provide a clear long-term picture with questions regarding a regular touring schedule, the Dojo system that would be in place and what the future would hold for the talent that would be placed under contract. If you compare to the NXT UK model, talent is under deals and making money, but their only regular WWE dates are the monthly television tapings with no touring schedule. Talent can take certain independent dates but if there is a conflict or an issue, WWE is going take priority. In the dealings with WWE, a proposal was included that would see the Stardom roster flown to Tampa next year for WrestleMania weekend with Ogawa inducted into the Hall of Fame, a proposal that enticed Ogawa but turned down in the end. Bushiroad president Takaaki Kidani and Ogawa would meet again in August. It appears the deal was agreed in principle back in August and subject to approval by Bushiroad with the announcement coming this week.
On the surface, this appears to be a net positive for Stardom, a company that runs 100-120 dates per year with revenue of $2 million per year, according to Yahoo Japan. It’s a drop in the bucket when you compare the amount WWE’s domestic television deals yield for Raw and SmackDown on a weekly basis. In most mergers and acquisitions, you look at the redundancy created and expect sweeping changes and layoffs. Stardom is a very small operation with Saito adding in his podcast that the front office consisted of Ogawa and four others. There are no plans for a crossover between New Japan and Stardom and neither side can replicate the product the other provides. If Stardom raises its profile to a certain level, there could be strategic reasons to provide crossover beyond just presenting a match or two from Stardom’s end. For Stardom to host big events that piggyback on weekends of big New Japan card would see like a logical step to take, although today, the goal should be growing Stardom, which is a very small company relative to the global landscape. I enjoy their shows a lot and Stardom World does a comprehensive job or transcribing promos so it’s very easy to jump on and understand the stories and the talent range from good to exceptional with a strong lineage from their training system of integrating young female stars who grow into excellent performers within a small window of time. For the health of Stardom long-term, the initial reaction is that this provides a strong foundation for the group to grow and every indication point towards a legitimate commitment with the early signs backing that up with a moderate television deal for 2020.
**The WWE stock fell over 4.5% on Friday and closed at $67.00.
**Stardom performer Hana Kimura is rumored to be joining the cast of the popular “Terrace House” series in Japan. Kimura has been wrestling since 2016 and won this year’s Five Star Grand Prix with Stardom and led to her challenging Bea Priestley this past Monday at Korakuen Hall for the World of Stardom championship.
**The NWA placed tickets on sale Friday for their December 14th “Into the Fire” pay-per-view at the GPB Studios in Atlanta, Georgia. The 255 seat studio sold out on the first day without any match announcements. The company will run the pay-per-view on Saturday, December 14th on Fite TV followed by two nights of television tapings on December 15th and 16th.
**MLW will formally launch its women’s division next month at their Blood & Thunder television taping on Saturday, November 9th. The promotion has announced that recent signee Zeda Zhang will have a match at the tapings with no opponent listed yet. The tapings take place at The Gilt Nightclub in Orlando, Florida, which was the promotion’s home venue when it re-launched in 2017.
**Revolution Pro revealed the final entrant for the British J-Cup that takes place in November with PAC added to the tournament. He joins Robbie Eagles, Amazing Red, El Phantasmo, Barbaro Cavernario, Michael Oku, Rocky Romero, and Senza Volto for the one-night event at York Hall in London on Sunday, November 24th. It’s a surprising addition given Rev Pro’s working relationship with New Japan and adding a member of the AEW roster.
**New Japan’s Super Junior Tag League continues Saturday in Niigata with a card at 5 am eastern and will be available on VOD through New Japan World. Below are the tournament matches scheduled for Saturday’s show:
*El Phantasmo & Taiji Ishimori vs. Tiger Mask & Yuya Uemura
*Will Ospreay & Robbie Eagles vs. Volador Jr. & Titan
**After two days of the Super Junior Tag League, there is a three-way tie for first with Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado, Volador Jr. & Titan, and Ryusuke Taguchi & Rocky Romero tied with four points each. Roppongi 3K and El Phantasmo & Taiji Ishimori have two points each and The Birds of Prey, TJP & Clark Connors, and Tiger Mask & Yuya Uemura have zero points. The finals take place on Sunday, November 3rd at Power Struggle in Osaka.
**Ahead of Monday’s federal election in Canada, NDP candidate Jagmeet Singh held a rally on Thursday night in Brampton, Ontario. On hand to endorse Singh and deliver a speech was WWE performer Jinder Mahal:
WWE wrestling star Jinder Mahal rallies @NDP supporters in Brampton for @theJagmeetSingh Thursday night. About 1500 in attendance.
“For every kid out there who was written off for the way they looked…” #cdnpoli #elxn2019 @JinderMahal pic.twitter.com/zfML3GKoHF
— Seán O’Shea (@ConsumerSOS) October 18, 2019
**The E! People’s Choice Awards closes its voting today with WWE Raw nominated for “Show of the Year” (I’m sure the draft cemented its status among voters on the fence). Raw is nominated alongside Game of Thrones, Grey’s Anatomy, Riverdale, Stranger Things, Walking Dead, Big Bang Theory, and This is Us.
**Here are the matches for tonight’s episode of Impact Wrestling for the final episode before Bound for Glory. Tonight’s show is the final episode taped at Sam’s Town Live in Las Vegas and airs at 10 pm eastern on Twitch, Pursuit, and the Fight Network in Canada:
*Michael Elgin vs. Fallah Bahh
*Sabu vs. Rohit Raju in an X Division qualifying match for Sunday’s ladder match
*Jake Crist vs. Chris Bey in a non-title match
*Josh Alexander vs. Rich Swann vs. Rhino
**Impact Wrestling is also holding their “Prelude to Glory” event from South Bend, Indiana tonight at 7 pm eastern streaming on Impact Plus. The card features the following:
*Michael Elgin & The North vs. Naomichi Marfuji, Rob Van Dam & Rhino
*Taya Valkyrie, Kiera Hogan & Madison Rayne vs. Tenille Dashwood, Jordynne Grace & Rosemary
*Brian Cage & Tessa Blanchard vs. Jake & Dave Crist
*Sami Callihan vs. Dezmond Xavier
*Jessicka Havok vs. Elayna Black
*Johnny Swinger vs. Fallah Bahh
*Willie Mack & Rich Swann vs. Desi Hit Squad
*Eddie Edwards vs. Ace Austin in a street fight
**Saturday night’s episode of MLW Fusion is being promoted as “Jimmy Havoc’s Slaughterhouse” at 9 pm eastern on beIN Sports with the following matches:
*Jimmy Havoc vs. Savio Vega vs. Damian 666 in a No DQ match
*Josef Samael vs. El Hijo de LA Park in a Tijuana Street Fight
*Triple Amenaza vs. Los Haraganes in a Trios match
**Prior to Sunday’s pay-per-view, Josh Mathews speaks with Denise Salcedo of Fightful on the success of the card going into the show and the pending move of Impact to AXS TV.
**PWA in Australia held its first of two Colosseum cards this weekend with night one on Thursday. Below are the results from the show in Sydney, courtesy of Alex Donnelly:
*Ricky South over Davis Storm in the first round of the Colosseum tournament
*Shazza McKenzie over Marcus Kool, Carter Deams, and Unsocial Jordan in a number one contender’s match for the PWA championship
*Rory Gulak over Treehugger Luchi
*Massive Q over The Prefects, Silverback, Black Shirt Cool Group, Juan Direction, Speed Force and The Kelly Gang – in the greatest collection of tag names match
*Matty Whalberg over Chris Basso in the opening round
*Travis Banks over Sam Osborne in the opening round
*The Nations over The Velocities & Caveman Ugg (the latter was recently part of PWG’s BOLA tournament)
*Orange Cassidy over Jessica Troy in the opening round
**The second night of the Colosseum tournament is Saturday at Max Watt’s House of Music in Sydney, Australia. The promotion announced that both events were sold out.
**Chris Jericho was on Barstool Breakfast to share his approach of being a locker room leader in AEW and also reflects on his memories of Lucy the Dog in the lead up to his WrestleMania match with Triple H in 2002:
MMA NEWS
**It’s a special Friday night UFC card tonight from the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts and there a lot to like about this card. In the main event, Chris Weidman is moving up to light heavyweight and fighting the undefeated Dominick Reyes, who is deservedly the favorite going into the fight. There is a strong chance the winner of this fight will get the next title fight against Jon Jones some time next year. If Weidman wins, it will draw criticism that he is jumping the line but he’s a significantly more marketable fight for Jones than the winner of Corey Anderson vs. Johnny Walker or Jan Blachowicz would be. If Reyes wins, there is zero debate he should be fighting for the championship but lacks the star power needed.
Here is the full card with results from the weigh-ins on Thursday where two fighters missed weight:
MAIN CARD (9 pm eastern on ESPN 2, TSN 5 in Canada)
*Dominick Reyes (203) vs. Chris Weidman (204)
*Yair Rodriguez (145) vs. Jeremy Stephens (145.5) – This is the second time in four weeks the two made weight following their no contest on September 21st
*Greg Hardy (264.5) vs. Ben Sosoli (264)
*Joe Lauzon (153) vs. Jonathan Pearce (154.5)
*Maycee Barber (126) vs. Gillian Robertson (126)
*Deron Winn (188.5*) vs. Darren Stewart (185) – After making 185 pounds in his middleweight debut in June, Winn missed weight and was fined 20% of his purse
PRELIMINARY CARD (6 pm on ESPN 2)
*Manny Bermudez (148*) vs. Charles Rosa (144) – Bermudez was also fined 20% of his purse
*Molly McCann (125) vs. Diana Belbita (125)
*Kyle Bochniak (145) vs. Sean Woodson (144.5)
*Randy Costa (134) vs. Boston Salmon (135.5)
*Court McGee (170) vs. Sean Brady (167.5)
*Kevin Holland (183.5) vs. Brendan Allen (185)
*Tanner Boser (247.5) vs. Daniel Spitz (240)
**In the lead up to tonight’s card, UFC president Dana White has been making the media rounds and has shot down a possible fight between Conor McGregor and Frankie Edgar. McGregor has teased the fight and sent out a tweet this past week hinting at s fight in December. White dismissed the fight citing other plans for Edgar and the fact that the former lightweight champion is now competing at bantamweight while McGregor is a lightweight. White added that Edgar was set to fight Aljamain Sterling but the fight fell apart due to Sterling suffering an injury. McGregor has not fought since UFC 229 in October 2018 where he was stopped by Khabib Nurmagomedov.
**It could be the end of an era over the next several months regarding three of the most prominent fighters associated with the AKA gym out of San Jose, California. Following Cain Velasquez’s retirement and Daniel Cormier’s indication he will fight one more time before hanging it up, former middleweight champion Luke Rockhold may also be looking to step away from the sport. In a conversation with ESPN’s Ariel Helwani, the 35-year old Rockhold said he has “no interest” in fighting right now and there is a real possibility he may never fight again. The former Strikeforce and UFC champion began fighting in 2007 and was in Strikeforce by his third pro fight. He became the promotion’s middleweight champion in September 2011 and held it until Strikeforce was absorbed by the UFC in 2013. After a knockout loss to Vitor Belfort, Rockhold won his next five fights – the last in that streak against Chris Weidman to become UFC middleweight champion at UFC 194 in December 2015. He dropped the title in his next fight to late replacement Michael Bisping in June 2016 and has only fought three times since the Bisping loss. Rockhold is coming off back-to-back knockout losses, including his light heavyweight debut this past July against Jan Blachowicz at UFC 239.
**After last Friday’s backstage incident involving manager Ali Abdelaziz allegedly striking fellow manager Abe Kawa, the PFL (Professional Fighters League) has requested that Abdelaziz not attend their events while this legal matter is ongoing. Abdelaziz is facing a citation for battery from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, although no charges have been filed. On last night’s card, Abdelaziz was said to have ten fighters competing from his Dominance MMA group.
**UFC bantamweight fighter Melissa Gatto has been suspended for one-year by USADA after testing positive for a banned diuretic during an out-of-competition test. The 23-year old tested positive for furosemide after being tested on June 5th of this year. Gatto has been fighting professionally since December 2016 and was signed by the UFC with a 5-0-2 record. She was set to make her debut against Julia Avila this past July at UFC 239 but was pulled from the fight, which was later revealed to be caused by the findings from USADA. Her one-year suspension is retroactive to June 5th.
**The PFL held its latest card on Thursday night at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. The finals of the lightweight and featherweight tournaments are set following the card. Several fighters had to fight twice on the card including Daniel Pineda, Lance Palmer, and Natan Schulte who are going to the finals. Below are the complete results from the show:
*Lance Palmer def. Alexandre de Almeida by unanimous decision (20-18, 20-18, 20-17) in the featherweight quarter-final, which was only two rounds because the winner had to fight again in a three-round fight and fighters can only compete for five rounds in one night
*Alex Gilpin def. Andre Harrison by technical submission in 1:49 of Round 2 in the featherweight quarter-final
*Daniel Pineda def. Movlid Khaibulaev by TKO at 0:29 of Round 1 in the featherweight quarter-final
*Jeremy Kennedy def. Luis Rafael Laurentino by TKO at 1:24 of Round 2 in the featherweight quarter-final
*Natan Schulte def. Ramsey Nijem by rear-naked choke in 0:52 of Round 1 in the lightweight quarter-final
*Lance Palmer def. Alex Gilpin by unanimous decision (30-27 all) in the featherweight semi-finals
*Akhmet Aliev def. Rashid Magomedov by unanimous decision (20-18 all) in the lightweight quarter-final
*Islam Mamedov vs. Loik Radzhabov ended in a majority draw in the lightweight quarter-final
*Chris Wade def. Nate Andrews by majority decision (20-18, 20-18, 19-19) in the lightweight quarter-final
*Daniel Pineda def. Jeremy Kennedy by guillotine choke at 4:00 of Round 1 in the featherweight semi-final
*Natan Schulte def. Akhmet Aliev by arm-triangle choke at 2:26 of Round 2 in the lightweight semi-final
*Loik Radzhabov def. Chris Wade by unanimous decision (30-27 all) in the lightweight semi-final
**The featherweight final will feature Lance Palmer facing Daniel Pineda and the lightweight final is Natan Schulte vs. Loik Radzhabov on December 31st at the Hulu Theatre in New York City.
**The next PFL event is on October 31st at Mandalay Bay and will feature the quarter-finals and semi-finals of the heavyweight and light heavyweight tournaments.
*****
BWE 10/18/19: wXw World Tag Festival, Breed Starrcave, Progress Chapter 96
Martin, Benno & Jamesie are back to review wXw World Tag Festival, Breed Wrestling In A Cave and Progress Chapter 96. Andy Ogden is back with his regular segment “Going Undergraps” discussing Tidal & Schadenfreude.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/10/18/bwe-10-18-19-wxw-world-tag-festival-breed-starrcave-progress-ch-96/
*****
Cafe Hangout: NJPW parent company buys Stardom, Corey Erdman talks Patrick Day
John Pollock and Wai Ting discuss this week’s news including NJPW parent company Bushiroad’s acquisition of Stardom. Boxing analyst and commentator Corey Erdman joins us to discuss the unfortunate passing of boxer Patrick Day.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/10/17/njpw-parent-company-buys-stardom-corey-erdman-talks-patrick-day-cafe-hangout/
*****
upNXT 10/16/19: USButed Era
Braden Herrington and Davie Portman are back to chat all about this week’s WWE NXT featuring Pete Dunne vs Damian Priest, Keith Lee vs Dominik Dijakovic in a Number 1 Contenders Match & more.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/10/17/upnxt-10-16-19-usbuted-era/
*****
REWIND-A-DYNAMITE 10/16/19: Jericho vs. Allin, Bischoff-WWE, NWA Power
John Pollock and Wai Ting review this week’s AEW Dynamite on TNT featuring Chris Jericho vs. Darby Allin in a Philadelphia Street Fight for the AEW Championship. Plus, we discuss Eric Bischoff being released by WWE and Episode 2 of NWA Power.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/10/17/rewind-a-dynamite-10-16-19-jericho-vs-allin-bischoff-wwe-nwa-power/
*****
POST MOVIE REVIEW – Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Thwip! John Pollock and Wai Ting review the sixteenth Marvel Cinematic Universe film, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) starring Tom Holland and Michael Keaton.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/10/16/post-movie-review-spider-man-homecoming-2017/
*****
RAR 10/14/19: WWE Draft – Night Two from Denver
John Pollock and Wai Ting review WWE Raw featuring the second night of the WWE Draft. In news, Mike Bennett says he has asked for his WWE release.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/10/15/rar-10-14-19-wwe-draft-night-two-from-denver/
*****
NJPW King of Pro Wrestling POST Show (Patreon)
John Pollock & Wai Ting review NJPW’s King of Pro Wrestling card featuring Kazuchika Okada defending the IWGP Heavyweight title against Sanada. We also discuss travel issues affecting Jon Moxley and Zack Sabre Jr.’s participation in this show.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/10/14/njpw-king-of-pro-wrestling-2019-post-show/
*****
upNXT 10/13/19: EVOLVE 137 & 138
Davie Portman and Jesse from the 6 chat all about this weekend’s two EVOLVE cards taking place from Atlanta and Concord, North Carolina.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/10/13/upnxt-10-13-19-evolve-137-138-post-show/
*****
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