POST IT NOTES
**For those that have enjoyed our past MCU shows, we have a great show coming out tonight we Brent Chittenden joins Wai Ting and I to review ‘Avengers: Infinity War’. We spent almost two hours discussing the 2018 film with our thoughts on how it sets up Endgame, the ten-year build towards the movie, and lots more. This show will be posted later tonight for members of the POST Wrestling Café.
**Monday’s edition of Rewind-A-Raw is available with a review of WWE Raw, the return of Edge, AJ Styles’ promo on The Undertaker, and news topics including David Starr leaving wXw, Scott Steiner collapsing over the weekend, Jeff Hardy returning on SmackDown and more.
**On Wednesday, we will have coverage of AEW Dynamite with Rewind-A-Dynamite and Braden Herrington & Davie Portman will be releasing upNXT covering this week’s NXT from the WWE Performance Center.
**On Thursday, Benno of the British Wrestling Experience joins Wai & I on the Café Hangout to discuss wXw’s 16 Carat Gold weekend, the exit of David Starr, and we’ll look at this weekend’s Scrappermania show that OTT is putting on. That show airs live for Café members this Thursday at 3 pm Eastern.
POST WRESTLING VIDEO
POST SCHEDULE
*Tonight: MCU review of Avengers ‘Infinity War’ with John, Wai & Brent Chittenden (Patreon)
*Wednesday: Rewind-A-Dynamite
*Wednesday: upNXT with Braden Herrington & Davie Portman
*Thursday: Café Hangout with guest Benno from the BWE (LIVE at 3 pm ET for Café members)
*Saturday: Rewind-A-SmackDown with John Pollock (Patreon)
*Sunday: Thunderstruck with WH Park & guest JoJo Remy (Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Shinjiro Otani, Feb. 1998)
*Sunday: ROH 18th Anniversary POST Show with John Pollock & Mike Murray
WRESTLING NEWS
**The management of wXw consisting of Tassilo Jung, Felix Kohlenberg, and Dennis Birkendahl held a press conference with members of the media this past Saturday during 16 Carat Gold weekend. The full press conference can be watched below courtesy of Headlock. wXw has always had a tremendous relationship with its media with no restrictions on the subject matter and that was clearly seen here with questions asked about David Starr, Lio Rush being pulled from the tournament, and wXw’s relationship with WWE and the potential of being part of the WWE Network. Below are a few of the answers from the presser:
On David Starr’s exit from the company after the Title vs. Career match with Bobby Gunns on Saturday:
We sat down together with David Starr before the show and pretty much told him after the show say whatever you would like to say. It’s your decision if it’s going to be inside the storyline universe of wXw and this promo would be included in the release or it would be a live promo that is more the person behind David Starr speaking to the people in attendance. The latter was chosen and David said whatever he liked to say, and we appreciate this and we also appreciate the kind words that he posted regarding us on Twitter and said personally to wXw and the people behind wXw and we’re going to miss him a whole lot. We will not comment on the decision itself, but I wanted to make really sure that people know how much we appreciate David Starr as a person and a talent. Obviously, you have seen that this match got set up a couple of months ago, so it was a decision that made a couple of months ago.
Lio Rush being pulled from the 16 Carat Gold tournament last week:
We can totally understand that you’re disappointed if you came here to see Lio Rush. When we see the social media reach he has and sales and everything that happened after we announced him that he was definitely the biggest star in the tournament. We know that. It’s unfortunate it happened, on the other hand, you have to see what happens still and the talent that is here.
You just saw a match in the event where we had unannounced Killer Kelly, Valkyrie, we had WALTER on the card, we will have Ilja Dragunov on the Sunday card on the night three card. I know the disappointment is big but honestly, I don’t see the point, ‘hey, this happens’ every so often, yes talent gets pulled everywhere. Talent pulls itself sometimes because they can’t do it for travel issues or something, something, something happening and it happens, that’s just the thing that’s going on.
It is worth adding that when discussing the loss of Lio Rush that they noted WWE did not leave them stranded but wXw opted to replace Rush themselves as it would have been quicker to do so and execute what they had in mind for the weekend.
A question was also asked about the relationship with WWE and the status of the WWE Network and where wXw fits in:
This has been a wildly interesting story especially if you’re interested in the background behind wrestling and seeing what’s happening on the financial and business strategic level. This has been the story of the year and we’ve been following as closely as you guys are.
We are as much on the outside with this as you guys are. It’s interesting and I want to see where it goes because this has the potential to change how content in the industry is distributed both for WWE as well as potentially for other promotions but we have no idea what is going to happen.
**The outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19) is the biggest story in the world and that trickles down to professional wrestling with many questions regarding its impact on upcoming shows and specifically related to WrestleMania Weekend. The industry is in a state of wait-and-see because no one can predict what the days and weeks will entail and measures that may be forced up sports and entertainment events in the United States. We have seen the impact the outbreak has had overseas with many promotions in Japan forced to cancel events or run shows inside of empty buildings.
Beginning today, Major League Baseball, the NBA, NHL, and Major League Soccer are restricting media access in the club’s locker rooms as the league’s first major preventable measures. If the outbreak continues and games start being canceled, then that would represent a heightened risk that would have to apply to major promotions in the U.S. like WWE and AEW.
It is hard to single out professional wrestling when it comes to the greater worldly concerns but for any promoters running WrestleMania Weekend to lose out on those shows is devastating. It makes travel arrangements difficult with so much hanging in the balance and everyone must wait to see if things get better or worse. All companies can do, is proceed with the optimism that shows will move forward but contingency options should be formed by all parties. It is frustrating if you’re a performer on many fronts from the uncertainty regarding upcoming books, the fear of losing out on the most lucrative weekend of the year, and the health concerns given their line of work being in physical contact with other performers that travel all over the place and it’s being done in a public setting with varying numbers in attendance.
AEW issued a statement on Tuesday that they will move forward with all their shows while keeping the safety of everyone in mind:
All AEW events are currently moving forward as scheduled. Of course, the safety and well-being of AEW fans, partners and talent is always our top priority, so we will continue to closely monitor the rapidly evolving situation related to COVID-19 and be guided by government officials, health organizations and venue management. AEW will update ticket purchasers if there are any changes to the event schedule, and we encourage everyone in the AEW family to be good to themselves – and each other – by taking preventative actions as recommended by the CDC and WHO.
It will be unprecedented if WrestleMania is forced to adjust plans and it may be getting too far ahead of ourselves to expect such a drastic move. Obviously, if WrestleMania is affected it’s a massive trickle-down effect for all other related shows in Tampa that weekend.
**OTT is moving forward with their Scrappermania shows this weekend with the following statement released on Tuesday:
At OTT Wrestling, our number one priority is always our duty of care to safeguard our audiences, performers, and staff. We are closely monitoring developments in relation to the spread of the Covid-19 virus and will be taking our advice from Government Agencies and Public Health experts. As it currently stands, both Scrappermania shows this weekend are due to go ahead. In this context, we would ask anyone with tickets to these shows not to attend if any of the following apply:
-If you feel unwell with symptoms of Covid-19 (eg. Cough, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, high temperature)
-If in the last 14 days you have:
-traveled to Ireland from an area with presumed ongoing community transmission of Covid-19
-been in contact with a person who has been diagnosed with Covid-19Thank you for your consideration and understanding of this matter.
**The current plan for WrestleMania 36 regarding the SmackDown women’s title is to have a six-way match. This news was reported over the weekend by Alex McCarthy at TalkSport and we have confirmed that match is the current plan. The build-up for that match should begin this Friday on SmackDown.
**WWE is advertising Brock Lesnar for thje March 23rd edition of Raw in Fort Worth, Texas and the March 30th Raw in Atlanta, Georgia prior to WrestleMania 36.
**In a recent SEC filing, WWE has updated Paul Levesque’s title and is now recognized as the company’s Executive Vice President of Global Talent Strategy & Development. Prior to this change, he was listed as the EVP of Talent, Live Events & Creative going back to August 2011. Levesque’s 2019 salary was listed at $706,019 in the proxy statement with an additional $502,146 in stock awards, and $2,016,977 in his performance contract that includes royalties for a total of $3,328,092. Vince McMahon’s listed salary is $1,400,000 but goes up to $3,503,703 with stock awards, and other compensations. Brandon Thurston at Wrestlenomics went through the proxy statement and noted that Shane McMahon made $2,082,011 working as a performer for the company.
**New Japan Pro Wrestling canceled the remaining dates of the New Japan Cup this month through March 21st. Their next show on the calendar is March 31st for Sakura Genesis at Sumo Hall. If they move forward with the card, they will have to put a show together cold with no shows prior. Everything is up in the air so there is no guarantee of anything.
**All Japan has canceled their next six shows that were scheduled for March 14th in Shinkiba, March 15th in Chiba, March 18th in Nagoya, March 19th in Osaka, March 21st in Nagano, and March 22nd in Suwa. Their next show scheduled is their Korakuen Hall date on March 23rd.
**David Bixenspan wrote about the lawsuit filed against WWE over the weekend in an attempt at a class action against the company. In the piece, WWE did provide a statement on the matter where a spokesperson informed the outlet that WWE had yet to be served but their outside legal counsel, Jerry McDevitt, had reviewed the complained and they will seek to have the case dismissed as they assert that it is based on ‘false and incorrect gossip from unnamed sources.’
**The WWE stock closed at $41.19 on Tuesday.
**Ring of Honor has added two matches to this Friday’s 18th Anniversary pay-per-view in Las Vegas. Brody King will team with PCO to take on Alex Zayne & Rey Horus and Bully Ray will take on Eli Isom. ROH is running Sam’s Town Live on Friday and Saturday with the ‘Past vs. Present’ show taking place on the second night. Below is the updated card for Friday’s pay-per-view at 9 pm Eastern:
*Rush vs. Mark Haskins for the ROH title
*Dragon Lee vs. Bandido for the ROH Television title
*Jay Lethal & Jonathan Gresham vs. Marty Scurll & Flip Gordon for the ROH tag titles
*Slex vs. Jeff Cobb
*The Briscoes vs. Dalton Castle & Joe Hendry
*Kenny King vs. Dan Maff vs. Bateman vs. Shane Taylor – winner receives a title match of their choosing
*Session Moth Martina vs. Nicole Savoy
*PCO & Brody King vs. Alex Zayne & Rey Horus
*Bully Ray vs. Eli Isom
**ROH put out a message Tuesday stating that Adam Brooks will be replaced by Jeff Cobb on this Friday’s show from Las Vegas. In the release, they cited ‘travel issues’ that will prevent Brooks from appearing on the show.
**Jay Lethal is the final name added for ROH’s Pure title tournament that begins on Friday, April 10th in Columbus, Ohio.
**EVOLVE has announced that Tyler Breeze will be wrestling at EVOLVE 150 on Saturday, April 4th in Tampa over WrestleMania Weekend. They have also added A-Kid to their Accelerate tournament on April 2nd in Tampa as part of WRESTLExpo.
**EVOLVE has shows this Saturday and Sunday. On the first night in Livonia, Michigan it’s Josh Briggs vs. ARE Fox for the EVOLVE title along with JD Drake vs. Brendan Vink, Jake Atlas vs. Leon Ruff, and Stephen Wolf vs. Harlem Bravado among the matches announced. Sunday’s show in Chicago is headlined by Davey Vega & Mat Fitchett vs. AR Fox & Leon Ruff vs. Adrian Alanis & Liam Gray for the EVOLVE tag titles.
**The NWA is releasing two episodes of ‘The Circle Squared’ tonight in place of a new edition of Power. Next week’s episode will be their ‘Super-Power’ special followed by a new series called ‘Power Surge’ and the return of Ten Pounds of Gold in the weeks leading into the Crockett Cup on Sunday, April 19th.
**Here are the matches set for AEW Dark tonight at 7 pm Eastern on their YouTube channel from last week’s taping in Broomfield, Colorado:
*Kip Sabian & Peter Avalon vs. Luchasaurus & Jungle Boy
*Private Party vs. Brandon Cutler & Sonny Kiss
*Jimmy Havoc vs. Severno Corrente
*Hikaru Shida vs. Abadon
**Below are the matches for tonight’s episode of Impact Wrestling at 8 pm Eastern on AXS TV
*Eddie Edwards vs. Michael Elgin in Match #5 of their best-of-five series
*Rhyno vs. Madman Fulton
*Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz vs. Hakim Zane & Mahabali Shera
*Willie Mack vs. Disco Inferno & Johnny Swinger
**This Sunday night, a new episode of ‘Autopsy’ on Reelz will focus on the final hours of Chris Benoit’s life from June 2007. The network has put out the following description of Sunday’s episode that airs at 8 pm Eastern:
In this investigative medical documentary series we look at the lives and deaths of the biggest names in the entertainment history. Through a combination of interviews with family and friends, archive footage and dramatic reconstructions, we tell these stories and unpick the – sometimes mysterious – circumstances around their deaths. Over a June weekend in 2007 , Canadian wrestler Chris Benoit, killed his wife and his 7-year-old son at his exclusive Georgia home before hanging himself in a horrific double murder-suicide that shocked wrestling world. At the time of his death, Chris Benoit was one of the premier athletes in the whole of World Wrestling Entertainment stable. A former World champion, he was widely regarded as one of the best technical wrestlers of his and any generation and at 40-years-old was still drawing huge audiences. So why would such an elite athlete, who had achieved so much and lived a seemingly glamorous life with his beautiful wife and child choose to kill himself and his family? This drama-documentary explores the medical factors that led to Chris Benoit’s death and investigates the tragic events that led to this tragic murder suicide.
**AEW’s Road to Salt Lake City featuring comments from Arn Anderson and Dustin Rhodes about the Blood & Guts match in two weeks:
*****
REWIND-A-RAW: The Deadman Mark McCool
John Pollock and Wai Ting review WWE Raw featuring the return of Edge to confront Randy Orton.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2020/03/10/rewind-a-raw-3-9-20-the-deadman-mark-mccool/
*****
WWE ELIMINATION CHAMBER POST SHOW
John Pollock & Wai Ting review WWE Elimination Chamber headlined by an Elimination Chamber match between Natalya vs. Liv Morgan vs. Shayna Baszler vs. Asuka vs. Ruby Riott vs. Sarah Logan to determine the No. 1 Contender for Becky Lynch’s Raw Women’s Championship.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2020/03/09/live-link-for-tonights-wwe-elimination-chamber-2020-post-show-11pm-et/
*****
THUNDERSTRUCK: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Koji Kanemoto (2/16/1997)
WH Park and “The Godfather of Perth Wrestling”, Davis Storm have a very fun discussion about the J-Crown title match between Jushin Liger and Koji Kanemoto from 1997.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2020/03/08/thunderstruck-20-jushin-liger-vs-koji-kanemoto-2-16-97-w-davis-storm/
*****
UFC 248 POST SHOW
John Pollock is joined by Phil Chertok for the UFC 248 POST Show to review Saturday’s card from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2020/03/08/ufc-248-post-show-adesanya-vs-romero/
*****
REWIND-A-SMACKDOWN: Elimination Chamber Go-Home Show, N.W.O. Returns
Wai Ting reviews the final WWE SmackDown ahead of Sunday’s Elimination Chamber PPV featuring a tag team gauntlet to determine the final entrants the Elimination Chamber match. Plus, the nWo appears on A Moment of Bliss.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2020/03/07/rewind-a-smackdown-3-6-20-elimination-chamber-go-home-nwo-returns/
*****
BWE 3/6/20: Progress 103, RevPro High Stakes, OTT ScrapperMania, wXw 16 Carat
Martin & Benno are joined by PWTorch’s Will Cooling to rundown the last month or so in European wrestling including Progress Ch. 103, RevPro High Stakes. Plus previews of OTT ScrapperMania and wXw 16 Carat.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2020/03/06/british-wrestling-experience-3-6-20-progress-103-revpro-high-stakes-ott-scrappermania-wxw-16-carat/
*****
Café Hangout: Dark Side of the Ring’s Evan Husney
John Pollock and Wai Ting are joined live in-studio by Evan Husney, Executive Producer of Vice’s Dark Side of the Ring.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2020/03/05/live-link-cafe-hangout-dark-side-of-the-rings-evan-husney-in-studio/
*****
Browse the POST Wrestling Store
https://store.postwrestling.com
Subscribe to POST Wrestling
https://postwrestling.com/subscribe
POST Wrestling Forum
https://forum.postwrestling.com
Support our Patreon – The POST Wrestling Café
http://www.patreon.com/POSTwrestling
