POST IT NOTES
**This month’s edition of The Rocky Maivia Picture Show features Nate Milton covering The Tooth Fairy with Jimmy Korderas and myself stopping by to review it. In this show, we discuss this era of Dwayne Johnson’s film career and what he would ascend to, his role as the ‘Disney Dad’, my interview with Johnson at a press junket ahead of this film’s release and a lot of fun topics covered between the three of us.
**The latest edition of Thunderstruck is on the site as WH Park welcomes Daniel Makabe to review the Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Shinjiro Otani match from February 1997.
**Friday’s edition of Rewind-A-SmackDown is up for all members of the POST Wrestling Café. I really enjoyed this show as we got into a lot of topics regarding the state of SmackDown since moving to Fox, more on the AEW and NXT ratings and overall trends, their value to advertisers, the New Day’s latest podcast and new deals with WWE, and AEW selling out the Revolution pay-per-view in Chicago.
**A new POST Puroresu will drop Sunday night on the site with WH Park and myself.
POST VIDEOS
WRESTLING NEWS
**Friday Night SmackDown did an average of 2,415,000 viewers on the overnights this weekend and a final number expected out on Monday. The show saw 2,493,000 viewers in the first hour and a 6% drop in the second hour to 2,336,000. Once again, the show topped the other network programs among adults 18-49 with a 0.7 and with adults 18-34 with a 0.45 for the entire show.
**Next Friday’s edition of SmackDown from Detroit will feature a #1 contender’s match between Daniel Bryan, The Miz, and King Corbin with the winner challenging The Fiend at the Royal Rumble on January 26th. It was amazing to watch Friday’s show as they went to great lengths to make everyone forget how The Miz lost so decisively at TLC when he had to be rehabbed for a #1 contender’s match next week.
Given how The Miz needs to be positioned, you understand ignoring the bizarre TLC ending but what drove me nuts was the lack of attention for the ladder match. The New Day and The Revival had the best match on the show and killed themselves in that match and resulted in one line from the announcers as New Day walked to the ring as Cole noted they stole the show on Sunday. No highlights, no promos about the match, and The Revival were not given anything for being part of it. If you’re going to have these dangerous matches and the talent busts their ass, you need to capitalize on it or else it’s waste of these dangerous bumps if it’s forgotten by the next show. The hard part should be having the outstanding match, the easy part is shining a light on it and allowing the match to be remembered and maybe, have some type of legacy to enhance the four people involved in it.
**Monday’s episode of Raw has the potential to dip below last week’s viewership and become the least-watched episode of the year. They are airing an episode that was taped seven-days earlier and will go against a monstrous Monday Night Football game between the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings. Below are the matches that will air on Monday’s show, which were taped in Des Moines last Monday:
*Kevin Owens vs. Mojo Rawley in a Christmas Street Fight
*Bobby Lashley vs. Cedric Alexander
*Drew McInytre vs. Zack Ryder
*Ricochet vs. Tony Nese
*Aleister Black vs. TBA
*Buddy Murphy vs. TBA
*Charlotte Flair vs. Chelsea Green
*Randy Orton & Viking Raiders vs. The OC
*Erick Rowan vs. TBA
*Rusev vs. No Way Jose
*Rey Mysterio vs. Seth Rollins for the United States title
**I saw the main event of Saturday’s New Japan card at Korakuen Hall, built around Jushin Thunder Liger’s final match in the building. Liger teamed with Kota Ibushi and Hiroshi Tanahashi against Kazuchika Okada, Yoshi-Hashi & Rocky Romero. The atmosphere was great and the commentary from Kevin Kelly, Chris Charlton & Gino Gambino elevated the importance of the match. It came down to a closing sequence with Liger hitting Okada with a Liger Bomb and the cover was broken up before Okada finished him with the Rainmaker. It’s the mentality that Liger is retiring because he cannot hang with the younger guys any longer and he goes out in this one and loses to the top guy in the company. It goes against the argument that Romero could have easily eaten the fall, and probably would have jumped at the chance, to send Liger into his final matches with a feel-good moment but it’s the bigger story that Liger is at the end of his journey and the others are in their prime. Liger also wrestled as the CTU version in black and Charlton had the backstory to provide the necessary context of that version.
**Bandido won the PWG title from Jeff Cobb on Friday night in Los Angeles at the ‘Makings of a Varsity Athlete’ show to end the year. Cobb had been champion since October 19, 2018. Below is the complete list of results from the show:
*Orange Cassidy over Tony Deppen
*Mick Moretti over Paris DeSilva
*David Starr over JD Drake
*Blake Christian over Jake Atlas
*Aramis & Rey Horus over Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz in a non-title match
*Jonathan Gresham over David Starr
*Bandido over Jeff Cobb to win the PWG title
**Due to travel issues, Rey Fenix missed the PWG card on Friday night at the Globe Theatre. Fenix had been scheduled to face Jonathan Gresham and was replaced by David Starr, who wrestled twice on the show.
**AEW president Tony Khan responded to a tweet about the stunner he delivered to Shawn Spears after AEW Dynamite went off the air this past Thursday in Corpus Christi, Texas:
Dude, I had no idea that was happening. Cody called me out, I went to thank the crowd, Nick asked me if I wanted to do a stunner, I said no, then Spears was screaming my name and calling for it, then I heard people in the crowd calling for it, and at that point, I had no choice.
**To avoid Christmas Eve, the NWA is releasing this week’s edition of Power on Monday night at 6:05 pm Eastern on their YouTube and Facebook pages. This episode is from last week’s tapings in Atlanta at GPB Studios and will feature the following matches:
*Ricky Starks vs. Eddie Kingston in the Television title tournament
*Colt Cabana vs. The Question Mark in the Television title tournament
*Allysin Kay, Ashley Vox & ODB vs. Melina, Thunder Rosa & Marti Belle
**The Young Bucks, Matt, and Nick, suspended their Twitter accounts over the weekend. Their father, Matthew Lee Massie posted the following regarding their absence from the platform:
Thx for all the love We are getting from everyone wondering about Matt and Nick ! They are fine and just need a well deserved break from the toxicity on here ! They are the most sweetest most genuine guys ever! They don’t deserve the hate they get! Love u all
**In addition to Barrington Hughes, Ricky Martinez has announced he is also leaving MLW and thanked the company.
**A match between Joey Janela and Shawn Spears will be featured on AEW Dark this Tuesday night at 7 pm Eastern on AEW’s YouTube page.
**Mauro Ranallo celebrated his 50th birthday by calling the Bellator 236 card on Saturday night from Honolulu, Hawaii.
*****
REWIND-A-SMACKDOWN 12/20/19: ‘Twas The Week Before Christ-Miz
John Pollock and Wai Ting review the holiday edition of Friday Night SmackDown featuring Daniel Bryan & The Miz teaming up against King Corbin & Dolph Ziggler. Somehow, we got 2 hours out of this discussion.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/12/21/rewind-a-smackdown-12-20-19-twas-the-week-before-christ-miz/
*****
TRMPS #12: Tooth Fairy (2010) with John Pollock & Jimmy Korderas|
Nate Milton, John Pollock and Jimmy Korderas settle in for a special holiday viewing of Dwayne Johnson’s family-friendly film about a minor league hockey player struggling to balance his personal and professional life.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/12/21/trmps-12-tooth-fairy-2010-w-john-pollock-jimmy-korderas/
*****
THUNDERSTRUCK #9: Jushin Liger vs. Shinjiro Otani (2/9/97)
WH Park and Daniel Makabe (a world-renowned independent wrestler from Canada) bring you a deep analysis of Jushin Liger taking on Shinjiro Otani for the J-Crown on February 9, 1997.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/12/22/thunderstruck-9-jushin-liger-vs-shinjiro-otani-2-9-97-w-daniel-makabe/
*****
CAFÉ HANGOUT: Dominic Garrini talks concussions, Your Calls, End of 2019
On the final Café Hangout of 2019, John Pollock and Wai Ting welcome pro wrestler Dominic Garrini (MLW, GCW, Beyond Wrestling) to share his thoughts on pro wrestling concussion protocols in light of the Kairi Sane incident at TLC. Plus, a major ratings victory from NXT over AEW in the Wednesday Night Wars.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/12/19/live-link-for-todays-cafe-hangout-3-pm-et-feat-dominic-garrini/
*****
REWIND-A-DYNAMITE 12/18/19: Jericho vs. Jungle Boy, Dark Order, NWA Power
John Pollock and Wai Ting review AEW Dynamite’s final episode of 2019 featuring Chris Jericho vs. Jungle Boy, The Dark Order attacks The Elite, The Young Bucks vs. SCU for the Tag Team titles. Plus, we discuss AEW Dark, NWA Power and today’s news.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/12/19/rewind-a-dynamite-12-18-19-jericho-vs-jungle-boy-dark-order-nwa-power/
*****
upNXT 12/18/19: The Tides Have Turned
Braden Herrington & Davie Portman review the December 18th edition of WWE NXT featuring Shayna Baszler defending her NXT women’s title against Rhea Ripley.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/12/19/upnxt-12-18-2019-the-tides-have-turned/
*****
REWIND-A-WAI #52: WWE SummerSlam 2015
John Pollock and Wai Ting review WWE SummerSlam 2015 from Brooklyn, NY featuring The Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar and John Cena vs. Seth Rollins.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/12/17/rewind-a-wai-52-wwe-summerslam-2015/
*****
REWIND-A-RAW 12/16/19: Des Moines Day Night Raw
John Pollock and Wai Ting review WWE Raw featuring the fallout from WWE TLC including a United States Championship No. 1 Contender’s Match, Seth Rollins’ next opponent, and Bobby Lashley and Lana’s wedding proposal.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/12/17/rewind-a-raw-12-16-19-des-moines-day-night-raw/
*****
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