POST IT NOTES
**I wanted to note that Rewind-A-SmackDown will be released Saturday afternoon for POST Wrestling Café members. Wai and I are unable to do the show tonight, but tomorrow’s show will include the latest news, a last-minute preview of TakeOver, and we will be able to go through the overnight figures for the show.
**On Thursday’s edition of the Café Hangout, Wai Ting and I were joined by Braden Herrington & Davie Portman of upNXT to preview the weekend ahead. The four of us went through the TakeOver and Survivor Series cards, plus took a lot of phone calls on a variety of topics.
**Braden & Davie will be back on Saturday night with an NXT TakeOver: War Games POST Show reviewing the card from the Allstate Arena. The two will also join Wai & I on Sunday night after the Survivor Series.
**This Sunday’s edition of Thunderstruck with WH Park with feature Matt McEwen on the show to discuss the Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Great Muta match from October 1996.
**In this week’s edition of Five Questions, Phil Chertok looks at Jan Blachowicz’s recent win, the retirement of Ben Askren, and more.
WRESTLING NEWS
**WWE begins its first of four nights at the Allstate Arena in Chicago with Friday Night SmackDown. It’s the final show heading into the shows this weekend with two NXT teams left to be announced for the Survivor Series. Both the male and female teams from NXT have not been confirmed. They have only announced the following for tonight’s episode on Fox:
*Roman Reigns, Shorty G & Mustafa Ali vs. King Corbin, Robert Roode & Dolph Ziggler
*A segment involving Bray Wyatt and Daniel Bryan
**WWE announced Friday evening that there won’t be a new episode of 205 Live tonight from Chicago. In its place will be a replay of NXT on the WWE Network.
**Kelly Klein has clarified some of the key points in her recent issues among Ring of Honor management. On Thursday, it was revealed that Klein had been notified that her contract would not be renewed after its expiration, which Dave Meltzer notes is on December 31st. Klein went into details about a concussion she suffered while in the UK with Ring of Honor and the help that Joey Mercury, who she stated was done with the company, provided her in canceling a booking in South Africa. Klein’s issue is that Mercury was technically done with ROH and the company did not have the proper people in place to take care of her while concussed and make proper decisions in her altered state from the concussion. Below are Klein’s statements regarding the matter that were posted Friday mainly to clarify she was not forced to wrestle while concussed by ROH and didn’t work the date in South Africa:
To clarify some confusion:
I was not forced to fight concussed in Africa.
I was scheduled to wrestle in the UK the day after sustaining my concussion- @JOEYnRetrograde and other talent (not medical staff) told the Executive Producer I was not to wrestle that day.
The events in Africa were independent. It was brought up in reference to the fact that no one at ROH (no medical staff or protocol, remember) told me to take time off or to cancel, knowing I was scheduled to perform there.
As I was experiencing severe symptoms (thinking I was in Canada, not recognizing faces of colleagues, confusing time, difficulty finding words/forming thoughts, losing focus, confusion, NOT ADAPTING WELL TO CHANGE), I wasn’t in the mind frame to make that decision for myself.
I didn’t know “not adapting to change” was a symptom until I saw my Sports Med Physician/Concussion Specialist. Then I understood why I kept saying “no, I have to go to work,” as Joey was pointing out my symptoms and informing me of the dangers of wrestling again that week.
I was not in the proper state to assess MYSELF.
Example: if someone were to text me (not see or speak w/ me) to ask if I was ok, my response that I was fine (I thought I was… the concussed person often thinks this, especially 1 day after injury) may not be totally credible.
The person who realized the severity of my symptoms was
@JOEYnRetrograde
… did you know he had quit by this time? This was not his job anymore (or ever because he wasn’t medical staff. Because- no medical staff).
Joey is the person who convinced me it was not safe for me to go to Africa, and that I needed to go home and see a doctor. I was unable to fly that day (October 28) as my symptoms were so severe at the time. I was confused, crying, hyperventilating, and in pain.
Joey is the person who contacted management at ROH and made sure that I had a flight home the next morning, a hotel room that night, then changed his own flight so he could personally take me to the airport to make sure I got on MY flight. Even made sure I had food.
Joey handled cancelling my trip to Africa and notifying everyone there of my injury. Again, he had already quit so this was not his job (and never was because he wasn’t Talent Relarions… also… there is no Talent Relations…)
So, to clarify, and because I would never want to accuse anyone at ROH of something that is untrue, I was not forced to perform in Africa with a concussion.
**Sean Ross Sapp at Fightful has also reported on the financials of Klein’s existing deal and the raise she was seeking as well as details on the payment structure for the female talent within Ring of Honor.
**ROH was set to hold a summit on Friday involving the talent. Obviously, this topic would seem to be unavoidable as it has been a major news story for the company.
**MLW announced on Friday that they have come to terms with ‘Filthy’ Tom Lawlor, whose deal was set to expire next month. The deal came together over the past 24 hours and was described to us as a multi-month back-and-forth process. Lawlor was set to wrap up with MLW on December 5th at the Opera Cup. We have a full story up on the main page.
**Tickets for Joey Janela’s Spring Break IV went on sale today for their WrestleMania weekend event on Friday, April 3rd at The Cuban Club in Ybor City, Florida. According to the Eventbrite ticket site, they have sold out the 2nd, 5th, and 6th-row ringside seats along with all the elevated seats on the risers. General admission seats are available at $35 but are standing room only and you can also get tickets front row ringside ($210), 3rd row ringside ($85), 4th row ringside ($80), 7th row ringside ($50), and there are luxury boxes available for $349. Spring Break has become one of the major events of the weekend. So far, the only announcement for the show is that The Great Muta will be on the card. The capacity for this year’s show is much larger than the set up in 2019 with The Cuban Club able to hold in the range of 3,500 – 4,000 in their courtyard.
**On Thursday’s edition of the Café Hangout, we were previewing the Survivor Series card and the WWE title match between Brock Lesnar and Rey Mysterio is the most intriguing match beyond the promotion and extending to the outcome.
On the surface, it seems like a no-brainer that Lesnar retains the title but there is no avoiding the fire that Rey Mysterio has caught and arguably become the top babyface in the company. While you would assume there is a loose or even solid destination for Lesnar at WrestleMania, there is no opponent on the horizon for Lesnar between now and April. With the status of Cain Velasquez unknown and the nature in which he was beaten, there is hardly a clamoring for a rematch, Seth Rollins is a feud that they have gone too numerous times and doesn’t feel fresh and that leaves the next level of guys like Kevin Owens, Aleister Black, Drew McIntyre, Samoa Joe, and Bobby Lashley.
With Raw’s numbers at the level they are at and the level of engagement in Mysterio, there is an argument to putting the title on Mysterio and seeing if it catches on. You can always go back to Lesnar in time for WrestleMania and gives Lesnar a rematch program for the Royal Rumble and opens the door for a re-introduction of Cain Velasquez with the roles reversed as he helps Mysterio prepare for the rematch. It allows the title to be on television weekly and Mysterio is a clear-cut babyface that the crowd is behind and isn’t going to push back on, which has been a struggle among babyfaces. Finally, it allows a babyface to set out for revenge with Dominick’s beating, and the babyface triumphs rather than fails and lets the air out of the sails of the audience. There is also the additional layer that Mysterio is wrestling Lesnar in the same building he won the world title in 2006 at WrestleMania 22.
**Seth Rollins spoke to Kevin Kellam from 101.1 WKQX to promote all the events in Chicago this weekend. In the chat, Rollins continued to push a match with CM Punk for next year’s WrestleMania and mocking his MMA fights in the UFC. It is going to be interesting to see if there is a heightened expectation from the crowds this weekend that expect Punk to appear and if the chants are larger than normal. In the chat, Rollins also spoke about wrestling in the past for AAW and Ring of Honor nearby Chicago.
**The kickoff show for the Survivor Series is listed for a start time of 5 pm Eastern meaning it’s a two-hour kickoff with the main show at 7 pm.
**The NXT TakeOver: War Games kickoff panel will feature Charly Caruso, Pat McAfee, and Sam Roberts at 6:30 pm Eastern on Saturday. Below is the current card for TakeOver, which begins at 7 pm on Saturday:
*Adam Cole, Roderick Strong, Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish vs. Tommaso Ciampa, Keith Lee, Dominik Dijakovic & TBA in a War Games match
*Shayna Baszler, Io Shirai, Bianca Belair & Kay Lee Ray vs. Rhea Ripley, Candice LeRae, Mia Yim & Tegan Nox in a War Games match
*Pete Dunne vs. Killian Dane vs. Damian Priest in a #1 contender’s match
*Matt Riddle vs. Finn Balor
**The WWE stock closed at $60.25 on Friday.
**New Japan’s World Tag League resumes Saturday with a card in Kanagawa that will be added to New Japan World later that day. Below is the card and updated point totals:
*Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Jeff Cobb & Mikey Nicholls
*EVIL & Sanada (6) vs. Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi (2)
*Colt Cabana & Toru Yano (6) vs. Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma (4)
*KENTA & Yujiro (4) vs. Zack Sabre Jr. & Taichi (4)
*Juice Robinson & David Finlay (8) vs. Shingo Takagi & El Terrible (4)
*Jay White & Gedo vs. Tetsuya Naito & Bushi in a non-tournament match
*Hiroshi Tanahashi & Toa Henare (4) vs. Tomohiro Ishii & Yoshi-Hashi (6)
*Guerrillas of Destiny (4) vs. Lance Archer & Minoru Suzuki (4)
**The World Tag League continues on Sunday in Aichi and Monday in Ishikawa and then are off on Tuesday. The tournament wraps up Sunday, December 8th in Hiroshima.
**All Japan’s Real World Tag League continues Saturday with two tournament matches in Hiroshima that will stream on AJPW.tv:
*Zeus & Ryoji Sai vs. Takashi Yoshida & Gianni Valletta
*Joe Doering & Jun Akiyama vs. Yoshitatsu & Joel Redman
**Timothy Thatcher vs. Richard Holliday is the final tournament match added to MLW’s Opera Cup on December 5th at the Melrose Ballroom. The eight-man tournament also features Alex Hammerstone vs. MJF, TJP vs. Brian Pillman Jr., and Davey Boy Smith Jr. vs. Shinjiro Otani.
MMA NEWS
**One of the most important fights in UFC history occurred on this date in 2002 featuring the first of three fights between Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock. UFC 40 ‘Vendetta’ was a bright light at a time when the promotion was struggling and desperate to gain traction beyond the fringes of the sport’s world. Ortiz and Shamrock had a feud dating back to March 1999 when Shamrock was furious over Ortiz’s post-fight conduct after defeating Shamrock’s teammate Guy Mezger. This was when Shamrock was still with the WWF, so there was no opportunity to capitalize on the storyline of Ortiz going through members of the Lion’s Den. Instead, Ortiz would fight Frank Shamrock in September 1999 that Shamrock won and followed by announcing his retirement. By 2002, Shamrock had returned to MMA and was coming off a devastating fight with Don Frye in February for PRIDE. Shamrock made his return to the UFC and the company made the correct choice in having Chuck Liddell step aside in favor of Shamrock and the larger fight to the public.
The promotion for the fight landed Ortiz and Shamrock on Fox Sports’ ‘Best Damn Sports Show Period’, which was huge at the time for the UFC that was desperate for any exposure. It was the hardship of promoting a product without television and having your product strictly available on pay-per-view. It was a success with the show reportedly drawing 150,000 buys, which sound minimal today but was the highest number in the Zuffa era that began in early 2001. It gave the owners the confidence that with the right dynamic, there was a larger audience out there and gave them the confidence to continue to absorb losses, which would not yield a return until the company exploded in 2005. Ortiz and Shamrock fought twice more in 2006 and both fights held significance for the company’s fortunes with the second fight achieving a new pay-per-view record of 775,000 buys and then the third fight airing free on Spike TV and doing a monster number against the MLB playoffs and solidifying the UFC’s seat at the table among major sports entities with advertisers.
**Bellator will hold its sixth European Series event on Saturday afternoon from the SSE Arena in London, England. The card is headlined by Michael ‘Venom’ Page and Giovanni Melillo. It is Page’s fourth fight this year that included his first pro loss to current champion Douglas Lima back in May, but Page came back and defeated Richard Kiely with a first-round knockout this past September. The main card at 5 pm eastern includes a grudge fight between Mike Shipman and Fabian Edwards (the brother of UFC’s Leon Edwards) and a fight between Terry Brazier and Soren Bak.
POST WRESTLING VIDEOS
*****
Cafe Hangout: WWE Survivor Series & NXT TakeOver: War Games Preview
On today’s Café Hangout, John Pollock and Wai Ting are joined by The BDE to preview Sunday’s NXT TakeOver: WarGames and Survivor Series. Plus, your calls discussing Jim Cornette, CM Punk and more.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/11/21/the-bde-in-studio-for-todays-cafe-hangout-3-pm-et/
*****
upNXT 11/20/19: Seth’s Not Cool!
Braden Herrington and Davie Portman are back to chat all about this week’s go-home edition of NXT, Raw & SD talent appearing, CM Punk on WWE Backstage & more.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/11/21/upnxt-11-13-19-seths-not-cool/
*****
REWIND-A-DYNAMITE
John Pollock and Wai Ting review AEW Dynamite featuring Jon Moxley vs. Darby Allin. We also discuss the Jim Cornette NWA Powerrr controversy.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/11/21/rewind-a-dynamite-11-20-19-moxley-vs-allin-cornette-out-of-nwa-cm-punk-fs1/
*****
REWIND-A-WAI #49: Heroes of Wrestling (Patreon)
For the third and final time, John Pollock and Wai Ting begrudgingly watch and review Heroes of Wrestling (1999), a show widely considered to be the worst wrestling event ever created.
https://www.patreon.com/posts/31709394
*****
RAR 11/18/19: Knock-knock-knockin’ on Aleister’s Door
John Pollock and Wai Ting review the go-home WWE Raw before Survivor Series. We also discuss the return of Bash At The Beach and Tony Khan vs. Randy Orton on Twitter.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/11/19/rar-11-18-19-knock-knock-knockin-on-aleisters-door/
*****
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/
*****
THUNDERSTRUCK #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/
*****
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