POST IT NOTES
**Wai Ting and I are back with Rewind-A-Raw tonight as we chat tonight’s show from Boston and the lead up to the Survivor Series this weekend. We will also go through all the latest news and take your comments and questions at the end. The show is available free each week on the site or by subscribing to POST Wrestling wherever you get your podcasts.
**WH Park and I released our monthly edition of POST Puroresu on Sunday night. The topics include New Japan Pro Wrestling of America, Bushiroad’s purchase of Stardom, Kenny Omega’s recent issues getting into Japan, a review of NOAH’s Battle of Aesthetics card from Sumo Hall, WALTER & Daisuke Sekimoto vs, Yuji Okabayashi & Yuji Hino from Big Japan, Kento Miyahara & Yuma Aoyagi vs. Shuji Ishikawa & Suwama from the Real World Tag League, and a look at the cards for the two Tokyo Dome shows and more.
**We have a review of this past weekend’s edition of MLW Fusion featuring the debut of Muhammed ‘King Mo’ Lawal and Tom Lawlor taking on Davey Boy Smith Jr. in the main event. Lawlor’s contract status with the company is being woven into the show and his pending departure.
**I wanted to pass along my condolences to JJ Williams of the Wrestling Observer website, who lost his mother over the weekend. JJ can often be spotted in the front row at Full Sail University on most NXT episodes and covers the Florida scene. A Go Fund Me was set up to assist his family with the funeral costs and we wanted to pass that information along.
POST WRESTLING SCHEDULE
*Tonight: Rewind-A-Raw with John Pollock & Wai Ting
*Tuesday: Rewind-A-Wai #49 – Heroes of Wrestling (Patreon)
*Wednesday: Rewind-A-Dynamite
*Wednesday: upNXT with Braden Herrington & Davie Portman
*Thursday: Café Hangout (LIVE at 3 pm ET for all Patrons)
*Saturday: Rewind-A-SmackDown (Patreon)
*Saturday: NXT TakeOver: War Games POST Show w/ Braden & Davie
*Sunday: Thunderstruck w/ WH Park & guest Matt McEwen (Jushin Liger vs. Great Muta from Oct. 1996)
*Sunday: WWE Survivor Series POST Show (LIVE for Double Double, Iced Capp & Espresso members)
WRESTLING NEWS
**The final number for Friday Night SmackDown was 2,309,000 viewers on Fox this past Friday. The number is a bit lower than the overnight number, which was 2,350,000. It was SmackDown’s lowest viewership on Fox since moving to the network. The show finished tied for first on Friday among adults 18-49 with a 0.7 and adults 18-34 with a 0.4 compared to the other network programs.
**Tonight’s episode of Raw takes place from the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts leading into the Survivor Series this weekend. Below are the matches that have been advertised for tonight:
*Seth Rollins vs. Andrade – If Andrade wins, he replaces Rollins on the men’s Survivor Series team
*Asuka vs. Natalya
*Becky Lynch & Charlotte Flair vs. TBA
*Viking Raiders vs. Curt Hawkins & Zack Ryder for the Raw tag titles
*Rey Mysterio segment leading into the match with Brock Lesnar
**All Elite Wrestling will be promoting the January 15th edition of Dynamite as ‘Bash at the Beach’ for the show from the Watsco Center in Miami, Florida. It will be the first time that title has been used since WCW went out of business, with the final event under that title occurring in July 2000. It was reported by Mike Johnson back in March that Cody has filed for numerous trademarks, including Bash at the Beach, Battlebowl, and Bunkhouse Stampede. When the trademarks were reported, Cody responded publicly this past March by noting:
I’d turn off the google alerts on trademarks. They’re personal and most aren’t intended for AEW. I’ve filed/claimed over 50 the last few months. I’m just trying to get some of Dad’s cattle back. That’s the story.
**AEW has also confirmed that the January 22nd edition of Dynamite will be filmed on Chris Jericho’s Rock ‘N’ Wrestling Rager at Sea. The cruise goes from January 20-24 from Miami to the Bahamas.
**WWE noted that tickets for the NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool II card sold out the Empress Ballroom in two hours on Monday. The show was announced over the weekend at the latest NXT UK tapings in Hull. Additionally, they have announced future television tapings for January 17 & 18 in York, March 6 & 7 in Coventry, May 1 & 2 in Bournemouth, and July 24 & 25 in Glasgow, Scotland. Tickets for the future dates go on sale on November 26.
**Albert Hardie Jr. a.k.a. ‘ACH’ and ‘Jordan Myles’ took part in a Q&A on his Twitter account and addressed numerous topics regarding his relationship with WWE after his critical comments regarding the company over the past month. Below are highlights from the Q&A:
-When asked about choosing between New Japan and AEW, he stated ‘New Japan, not that I have anything against AEW’ but said he has more to finish in New Japan.
-He said the WWE was racist over the shirt they produced for him and was lied to, which hurt him. He had issues with that image being how the WWE thought of him and was ‘disrespectful and disgraceful’. He called the shirt racist and while putting titles on African Americans they have also done insensitive things to the African American community.
-On his ability to move on from WWE, he said ‘Legally no, mentally yes’
-He said there was a story behind his negative comment about Jay Lethal but won’t disclose it because he doesn’t want to ‘throw more salt on his name’. He said there is no beef on his end and is done with it and got it off his chest and said they people can ask Jay Lethal or they can ask around.
-When asked about potentially returning to NXT and working out his issues, he did not provide an answer.
-Regarding speculation about his mental health, he said
I do suffer with anxiety and I do suffer with depression and I can have bad mood swings sometimes. But that doesn’t mean when I speak out that I’m just speaking out and it doesn’t have any meaning behind it. The t-shirt triggered things from my past and it all came up at once and a lot of anger from my past came up with it as well and that caused me to come at people the way that I did. Again, I’m not going to apologize for what I said because I meant it and that’s just how it goes.
**In the latest advertising for the WWE’s card in Mexico City on November 30th, Cain Velasquez is back wrestling on the show. Velasquez was originally advertised for a tag match with Rey Mysterio, then it was changed to Velasquez only appearing at the show and is now listed with Humberto Carrillo for a tag against Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows. The new main event being advertised is a Steel Cage match between The Fiend Bray Wyatt and Rey Mysterio for the Universal title.
**The SmackDown women’s team at Survivor Series will consist of Sasha Banks, Dana Brooke, Carmella, Lacey Evans, and Nikki Cross. They have yet to announce the Raw and NXT teams for the match this Sunday. On Friday’s episode of SmackDown, the team of Rhea Ripley, Mia Yim, Tegan Nox, and Dakota Kai represented NXT in an eight-woman tag, but they were never officially announced as members of the team.
**CM Punk posted the following note on Monday regarding his catch-up process on the product since 2014. To get everyone’s attention, he also tagged Tony Khan in the tweet:
It IS weird trying to catch up on 5+ years of rasslin’, I’m doing what I can. There’s bright spots, mostly women from what I can tell. There’s BAD too. I’m gonna talk about it, and no one is safe. Join us. @ReneeYoungWWE @WWEonFOX @BookerT5x @RealPaigeWWE @VinceMcMahon @TonyKhan
— CM Pumpkinpie (@CMPunk) November 18, 2019
**MLW has revealed that Shinjiro Otani will take on Davey Boy Smith Jr. on December 5th in the opening round of the Opera Cup tournament. The promotion has previously announced MJF vs. Alex Hammerstone and TJP vs. Brian Pillman Jr. in the Opera Cup, which takes place from the Melrose Ballroom in Queens, New York.
**MLW has also signed interviewer Alicia Atout, who has previously worked at Impact Wrestling and worked on shows for All Elite Wrestling.
**Ring of Honor has officially added a grudge match between Matt Taven and Vincent (Vinny Marseglia, not Mike Jones) to the Final Battle pay-per-view in Baltimore on Friday, December 13th. The card is headlined by Rush defending the ROH title against PCO, The Briscoes defend the tag titles against Jay Lethal & Jonathan Gresham, and Bully Ray faces Mark Haskins in a Street Fight. This will be the first ROH pay-per-view to go head-to-head with SmackDown since the show moved to Friday nights. They are four-weeks out and it doesn’t feel like there is much momentum behind Ring of Honor. If they see a dramatic decrease in buys, I would cite SmackDown as one factor but there’s no question that ROH’s overall popularity is way down.
**The weekend of December 13-15 is the next insane one if you factor in both pro wrestling and MMA events taking place. On Friday night, you have the ROH Final Battle and SmackDown shows. On Saturday, it’s the UFC 245 pay-per-view with there title fights as well as the NWA’s ‘Into the Fire’ card, which airs at 6:05 pm eastern and will be over well before the pay-per-view portion of 245 begins. Then, on Sunday it’s the WWE TLC show.
**The WWE Network has added the remaining episodes of WCW Thunder from November 2000 until the promotion’s closure in March 2001. While the company was a disaster at this period, the final months in 2001 did feature some great undercard talent with an emphasis on the Cruiserweights, including the addition of tag titles for the division. On the final two pay-per-views of 2000, the show-stealing matches were three-ways with 3 Count, The Jung Dragons, and Jamie Noble & Evan Karagias at Mayhem and Starrcade. I’m not advocating you make Thunder episodes a priority to watch but there are some hidden gems in the final three months mixed with plenty of garbage.
**The WWE stock was up to $58.70 on Monday when the market closed.
**The latest edition of Damian Abraham’s Turned Out a Punk podcast featured Progress Wrestling and NXT UK’s Jim Smallman.
**FOX 8 in Cleveland recently did a feature on Dr. Sam Sheppard, who was a neurosurgeon that was convicted of killing his wife in 1954. Later, the case was re-visited, and he was acquitted for the charges in 1966. Following the re-trial, he got involved in professional wrestling in 1969 and utilized the mandible claw as his finisher. He wrestled for less than one year as he died in April 1970.
**Ricky Steamboat spoke with ABC Action News in Tampa promoting WrestleMania 36 next April. Steamboat discussed how he linked up with Verne Gagne and the AWA due to his girlfriend at the time being roommates with Gagne’s daughter.
**The New Japan World Tag League continues Tuesday with a show in Fukushima. The show won’t stream live on New Japan World but will be added later through VOD. Below is the card for Tuesday’s show and the point totals:
*Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan (4) vs. Hirooki Goto & Karl Fredericks (2)
*Hiroshi Tanahashi & Toa Henare (2) vs. Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi (0)
*Juice Robinson & David Finlay (4) vs. Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma (4)
*Shingo Takagi & El Terrible (0) vs. Bad Luck Fale & Chase Owens (2)
*Tomohiro Ishii & Yoshi-Hashi (6) vs. Toru Yano & Colt Cabana (4)
*Tetsuya Naito & Bushi vs. Jay White & Gedo in a non-tournament match
*Guerrillas of Destiny (0) vs. Zack Sabre Jr. & Taichi (4)
*EVIL & Sanada (2) vs. Jeff Cobb & Mikey Nicholls (4)
**All Japan’s Real World Tag League continues Tuesday in Obihiro City with the following tournament matches taking place including the current point totals:
*Shuji Ishikawa & Suwama (4) vs. Odinson & Parrow (6)
*Yoshitatsu & Joel Redman (0) vs. Zeus & The Bodyguard (2)
*Jun Akiyama & Joe Doering (2) vs. Jake Lee & Naoya Nomura (2)
**A six-man tag has been announced for Friday Night SmackDown this week in Chicago with Roman Reigns, Mustafa Ali & Shorty G vs. King Corbin, Robert Roode & Dolph Ziggler.
**A new episode of WWE Ride Along airs tonight after Raw featuring Kevin Owens, Mustafa Ali, Apollo Crews, Lita, and Trish Stratus.
**The WWE Network will be airing a new edition of ‘Untold’ this Friday at 7 pm ET featuring Sting’s debut with WWE in November 2014 and match with Triple H at WrestleMania 31 the following year. The debut of Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Sessions is on Sunday night following the Survivor Series with Austin’s interview with The Undertaker.
MMA NEWS
**Ben Askren announced his retirement from fighting on Monday’s edition of Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show. It is the second time the fighter has retired with the first occurring in later 2017, although he kept the door open for a fight with Georges St-Pierre that never materialized. The UFC and ONE Championship orchestrated a deal that would allow UFC to sign Askren while former flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson could exit the UFC and sign with ONE. Askren entered the UFC with a record of 18-0 with 1 no contest, who had won welterweight titles for ONE and Bellator. In his first UFC fight, he was nearly stopped by Robbie Lawler this past March at UFC 235 and came back to apply a bulldog choke, which led to the fight being called and Lawler protested the stoppage immediately. Askren came back in July and was knocked out in five-second by Jorge Masvidal in one of the most spectacular finishes in UFC history and catapulted Masvidal to superstar status. In his final fight, he was submitted by Demian Maia last month in Kallang, Singapore.
Askren informed Helwani that he’s in need of a hip replacement and that contributed to his decision to hang it up. Askren represented the U.S. in freestyle wrestling at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing at 74 kilograms and moved to MMA the following year. After winning his first three pro fights, he was signed by Bellator and won their welterweight tournament and defeated champion Lyman Good. Askren defended the title four times and established himself as one of the best welterweights in the world. In November 2013, he left Bellator and vacated the title to sign with ONE Championship.
**The UFC has a quiet stretch with no shows until December 7th with three remaining this year. Their next card is an ESPN special with Alistair Overeem fighting Jairzinho Rozenstruik at the Capital One Center in Washington, D.C. The card also featured Stefan Struve returning to fight Ben Rothwell. The UFC 245 pay-per-view is the following weekend on December 14th and the final card of 2019 is December 21st from South Korea headlined by Chan Sung Jung taking on Brian Ortega.
**Anthony Johnson spoke with The Mac Life and indicated he will return to fighting sometime in 2020. Johnson, 35, announced his retirement after his second loss to Daniel Cormier in April 2017 for the light heavyweight title. Johnson told the outlet he is losing weight as he allowed himself to get to as a high as approximately 280 pounds and would ideally like to fight around 240 (a reminder that Johnson used to compete as a welterweight). However, Johnson has to finalize a deal with UFC and then re-enter the USADA testing pool that calls for six-months of clean tests for a fighter coming out of retirement. He pegged a time frame of April-July of next year where he is hopeful of fighting.
**The UFC will return to Auckland, New Zealand on Sunday, February 23rd for a Fight Night card at the Spark Arena.
VIDEO
**Mia Yim discusses the injury from last Wednesday’s episode of NXT when she busted her nose open during the ladder match with Io Shirai:
**On the episode of WWE Ride Along that airs tonight, Kevin Owens takes Apollo Crews and Mustafa Ali to the American Legion Post in Reseda, California, which was the long-time home of PWG before moving to The Globe Theatre. The episode contains footage from PWG, as well:
**On this week’s Being the Elite, they continue the story of the Elite falling apart amidst their recent losses:
**Andrew Thompson caught up with Trish Adora over the weekend for a follow-up discussion after their interview that ran on our site last week:
POST WRESTLING VIDEO
*****
POST PURORESU: NJPW of America, Bushiroad-Stardom, NOAH review
John Pollock & WH Park discuss the formation of NJPW of America, Bushiroad’s purchase of Stardom, a review of NOAH’s Sumo Hall card, the Tokyo Dome line ups & more.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/11/17/post-puroresu-njpw-of-america-bushiroad-stardom-noah-review/
*****
THUNDERSTUCK #4: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Brian Pillman (SuperBrawl II)
WH Park and Emily Pratt, a freelance writer for With Spandex at Uproxx, go all the way back to February 29, 1992, to WCW’s Superbrawl II where Jushin Thunder Liger battles Flyin’ Brian Pillman over the WCW World Light Heavyweight Title.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/11/17/thunderstruck-4-jushin-liger-vs-brian-pillman-2-29-92-w-emily-pratt/
*****
TRMPS #11: Planet 51 (2009) w/ Andrew Thompson
Nate Milton welcomes POST Wrestling’s Andrew Thompson into the theater to break down one of Dwayne Johnson’s most forgettable feature films, the 2009 animated classic, Planet 51!
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/11/16/trmps-11-planet-51-2009-w-andrew-thompson/
*****
RASD 11/15/19: Bryan, The Witch & The Wardrobe
John Pollock and Wai Ting review Friday Night SmackDown featuring Team SmackDown vs. Team NXT. Daniel Bryan challenges Bray Wyatt on MizTV.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/11/15/rasd-11-15-19-bryan-the-witch-the-wardrobe/
*****
BWE 11/15/19: Progress Chapter 97, ICW Fear & Loathing 12, Rev Pro
Martin & Benno are back with Jamesie to review Progress Chapter 97 (O.J.M.O vs. David Starr), ICW Fear & Loathing 12 (Joe Coffey vs. Stevie Boy) and Rev Pro making their debut in Sheffield. Andy Ogden is also back with his regular segment Going Undergraps!
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/11/15/bwe-11-15-19-progress-chapter-97-icw-fear-loathing-12-rev-pro/
*****
Café Hangout: Phone Calls, Andrew Thompson & more
John Pollock and Wai Ting are joined by Andrew Thompson to discuss his coverage of AEW Full Gear and Starrcast IV in Baltimore, MD. Plus your calls about the week in wrestling and MMA news, CM Punk, this week’s NXT & AEW ratings and more.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/11/14/live-link-for-todays-cafe-hangout-3-pm-et/
*****
REWIND-A-DYNAMITE 11/13/19: Sky2J, CM Punk-WWE Backstage
John Pollock and Wai Ting review AEW Dynamite coming out of the Full Gear pay-per-view featuring a shocking main event result involving Chris Jericho.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/11/14/rewind-a-dynamite-11-13-19-sky2j-cm-punk-wwe-backstage/
*****
upNXT 11/13/19: Mama MIA!
Braden Herrington and Davie Portman are back to chat this week’s NXT featuring a ladder match, CM Punk on Backstage, Jordan Myles, Disney+ & lots more.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/11/14/upnxt-11-13-19-mama-mia/
*****
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