POST IT NOTES
**Wai Ting and I will have a new show tonight with Rewind-A-Raw discussing tonight’s episode and going through news from the past few days along with your questions & feedback at the end of the show.
**Our MCU review on Tuesday night will focus on ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’ from 2018, which is the sequel to the first film starring Paul Rudd. You can still leave feedback on the POST Wrestling Forum.
**Davie Portman from upNXT is the guest on the latest edition of the PWT Cast with Scrump & Stank.
POST SCHEDULE
*Tonight: Rewind-A-Raw with John Pollock & Wai Ting
*Tuesday: MCU Review – ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’ (Patreon)
*Wednesday: Rewind-A-Dynamite
*Wednesday: upNXT with Braden Herrington & Davie Portman
*Thursday: POST Interview – Pat Laprade, co-author of The Eighth Wonder of the World
*Friday: Café Hangout – LIVE at Noon ET (Special day and time for Patrons)
*Saturday: Rewind-A-SmackDown (Patreon)
*Sunday: Total Recall with Wai & Pauline (Patreon)
WRESTLING NEWS
**Being the Elite Episode #200 was released on Monday highlighted by an outdoor match between Matt and Nick Jackson. It was shot on Nick Jackson’s property and came off as the two believed they had the creativity and means to produce something above recent examples put out by WWE.
If the Bucks are unable to appear at Double or Nothing, the argument could be made that this was strong enough to be saved for a larger purpose on AEW’s programming. The production level was high with various camera angles to choose from, drone shots, and the incorporation of instant replay. Because of it being the Young Bucks, it was able to convey serious and light moments.
The trash talk and interaction without announcers to fill the silence is exceptionally tough. If it’s all grunting and selling, it wears on the viewer and these two were able to make light-hearted jokes but never sacrifice the tone of a fight. It’s a style that Edge vs. Randy Orton and Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa could not replicate because of the nature of their rivalries.
Highlights included Matt Jackson hitting five consecutive Northern Lights suplexes on the lawn with an overhead shot, a Canadian Destroyer off the diving board into the pool, a Nick Jackson Swanton off a roof to Matt on a table, and the return of Matt’s shoe with thumbtacks from past Guerrilla Warfare matches. While some are sick of these types of matches by now, I thought this produced very well and was a tremendous performance from the two with a high level of athleticism where the match lent itself to their creativity.
They didn’t overdo the theatrical elements but did have a time warp to the Barber Shop with Matt Jackson as Marty Jannetty and Nick as Shawn Michaels turning on his brother. They ended the match with Shawn Michaels ‘I’m sorry, I love you’ finish.
**Tonight’s episode of Raw will be taking place from the WWE Performance Center and will feature Drew McIntyre responding to the attack by Seth Rollins last week. They have announced the following matches:
*Rey Mysterio vs. Murphy in a Money in the Bank Qualifying match
*Aleister Black vs. Austin Theory in a Money in the Bank Qualifying match
*Apollo Crews vs. MVP in a Money in the Bank Qualifying match
**Former WWF referee John ‘Jack’ Lotz died over the weekend at the age of 86. He was born in Yonkers, New York and lived there his entire life. He served in the Korean War and was involved in many initiatives for veterans throughout his life. He was also a member of the Screen Actors Guild with a resume that included roles in ‘Raging Bull’ as a referee, and stunt work on ‘The Sopranos’, ‘Analyze This’, and ‘The Siege’ among his credits.
It was noted in PWinsider’s report on Lotz’s passing that he was one of the top referees appointed to WWF events by the New York State Athletic Commission. He worked the first three WrestleMania shows and officiated the January 23, 1984 match where Hulk Hogan defeated The Iron Sheik launching Hogan’s four-year reign.
He also served as the referee when Bob Backlund defeated ‘Superstar’ Billy Graham for the WWWF championship on February 20, 1978. Graham was resistant to losing the title because he was drawing so effectively as champion. However, he knew from the day he won the title that there was an end date and Vince McMahon Sr. was committed to Backlund as the successor as the next babyface champion after Bruno Sammartino’s second reign ended with Graham in 1977.
Lotz was added to the Westchester County Senior Citizens Hall of Fame in 2016.
**Sean Ross Sapp at Fightful interviewed with Mike Bennett following his WWE release. Bennett discussed the process of wanting out of WWE in early 2019 to sign a five-year deal. He explained it was always his goal to get to WWE and had to think about his family with the money being offered. On top of that, the belief that with the money committed that they would have to use him. The angle involving wife Maria berating him on television came from Paul Heyman after being informed Maria was pregnant with their second child. Bennett didn’t consider it a burial and stressed that he was down for anything if there was a payoff and he wasn’t left sitting on the sidelines when Maria went on maternity leave.
**Mike Bennett and wife Maria Kanellis will make an announcement during Raw. In their post, they tagged WWE, New Japan, Impact Wrestling, Ring of Honor, and AEW and used the hashtags ‘Non-Essential Wrestlers’ and ‘Non-Essential Family’.
**Justin Barrasso at SI.com has a feature on several independent performers describing their problems while being unable to work. For all the discussion about the major companies finding ways to shoot television and being hurt, independent wrestling is taking a major toll alongside so many industries. The performers that rely on wrestling for their income are stuck with no end in sight. Even when empty arena shows become an option on a small scale, there must be a way for promotions to make money from these shows in the absence of a live gate, which is so critical. There will be some that can stream shows but nowhere at the volume to account for all the companies and wrestlers unable to work. In this feature, they spoke with Shazza McKenzie, Danhausen, Chris Dickinson, Leyla Hirsch, and Christian Casanova and they shared how they are coping with the lack of work and seeking out alternative means of income.
**Variety has reported that Dwayne Johnson, Dany Garcia, and Issa Rae will be executive producers on a new half-hour series in development for HBO. The series title TRE CNT (“TRE Count”) will be written by Mohamad El Masri based on a character named Cassius Jones who uses inheritance and a deed to a shotgun house to launch a hip-hop centric backyard wrestling company in Texas. El Masri and Judah Miller will also hold executive producer titles on the project with Johnson & Garcia representing Seven Bucks Productions and Rae from Isa Rae Productions as partners.
**Brandon Thurston has a lengthy piece at Wrestlenomics on the financial picture WWE finds itself in as he assesses the cuts and furloughs last week. Brandon does a very good job weighing the fiduciary responsibilities of a publicly-traded company with the ethical responsibilities to its workforce during a global pandemic. The following portion of Brandon’s write-up was very poignant:
We’ve been living under the impression that maybe in a big enough crisis there would be some distinction. We’re learning these days that for some there is no distinction. For some there is just one mode of value, there’s just one way to interpret the world, one goal. And it’s not a greater good for the most or all people; but the accumulation and retention of control, the reassurance that one will always have or will have even more of the control that one has now, whether that control is a company, an industry, or a public office.
You can get over it or lose. The kinds of people who care about things like some basic concept of decency are the kinds of people who don’t win the business competitions. They don’t get to dominate industries. The people who put economics above all remain the winners of a kind.
**The WWE stock closed at $40.57 on Monday. Since last Wednesday morning, the stock has grown by 9%. It traded as high as $42 on Friday.
**Steven Johnson has an excellent story on Dick Steinborn, who died this past weekend at the age of 86.
**Deadline has a report on Univision, and we will likely see more financials in the coming weeks and months to reflect the impact of the pandemic on major broadcasters. Univision was sold in February and saw its revenue increase in the first quarter by 8% to $612 million. They did drop 2% in their advertising revenue (a sector that will likely hurt every network significantly in the months ahead) but was more than offset by an increase of 19% in subscriber fees. Univision has $650 million in cash and cash equivalents along with additional cash under a credit facility that gives them access to $1.288 billion in available liquidity while debt stands at $7.8 billion. For networks, their ability to continue receiving carriage fees is a big statistic. In the short-term, you would assume people would be watching more television and not getting rid of cable. But, if they are out of work and struggle with bills then we could see cable packages being dropped and that coupled with the loss of advertising paints a bad outlook for networks.
**Kyle O’Reilly mentioned that his wife is a pharmacy worker and has been working daily along with her team during the pandemic. Those are among the real heroes out there daily.
**Mandy Rose was interviewed by TV Series Hub and discussed being called to audition for Tough Enough in 2015 and then signing with the company after the series ended. She also spoke about the ongoing story with Otis, how it developed, and pitching it to Vince McMahon:
Otis always was around in NXT and posting pics of me and talking about how much he liked me. In a cute way, not a creepy way. This continued on and I thought it would be great if this became a storyline, especially once Otis entered Wrestlemania. I actually went to Vince McMahon myself and pitched the idea and he loved it.
**Dan Matha, who was wrestled as ‘Dorian Mak’ was part of the NXT releases last week and shared some additional news. Before his release, he was involved in a car accident where he was ejected through the window of his car and injured his head. He added that he is ‘alive and well’ but was noting how severe the past three weeks have been for him. Matha’s last match with WWE was on March 7th at an NXT live event in Orlando against Tyler Breeze.
**The WWE Network has added 13 episodes of WWF Superstars from late 1992 and early 1993. The initial batch was of episodes from the series covered the period from April 18 until December 12, 1992. The new episodes extend through March 13, 1993, covering the Royal Rumble that year and the lead-up to WrestleMania 9 that took place in April. This is the same period where the company launched Raw on the USA Network and quickly became the top program.
**Capitol Wrestling has rebranded itself to Catalyst Wrestling. The company is three years old and produces weekly television that airs on Fight Network, Fite TV, and GaS Digital.
**MLW has entered a distribution deal with the Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation to air Fusion. It is the national public broadcaster of the Republic of Mauritius that covers the islands of Mauritius, Rodrigues, and Agalega and broadcasts in 12 languages.
**Impact Wrestling will be airing the first of its two-part Rebellion special on Tuesday night from their recent taping in Nashville, Tennessee. Rebellion was originally scheduled to run as a pay-per-view this past Sunday but will be running over the next two episodes of Impact. The show airs on AXS TV, Fight Network in Canada, and Twitch at 8 pm Eastern:
*Sami Callihan vs. Ken Shamrock
*Axe Austin vs. Willie Mack for the X Division title
*Kiera Hogan vs. Kylie Rae
*oVe vs. Tommy Dreamer, Rhino & TBA
**New Japan Pro Wrestling has released information regarding refunds for their shows that have been canceled that go through the Wrestling Donktau events in early May.
**Will Cooling of the Pro Wrestling Torch is a guest on this week’s edition of the We The Independent podcast discussing this past week’s WWE cuts and furloughs with hosts David Starr and James Musselwhite.
**A user on Reddit has pieced together the segments and matches from the 2008 feud between Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels.
**Dolph Ziggler, Greg Hamilton, Big E., Adam Pearce, Alexa Bliss, and Nikki Cross remember Howard Finkel:
**The Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuinness match from ROH Unified is available on the Ring of Honor YouTube channel. They recently added a video featuring three matches of Danielson’s including the match from Liverpool, England. It is a brilliant match paired with an electric audience with one of the best applications of the Pure championship rules you will see. The work by Danielson as the heel is phenomenal and reveled in the role of an outsider coming to dash the hopes of the British hope. By 2006 or 2020 standards, the head trauma sustained by McGuiness is still frightening and sadly, the head-to-head contact spots would become synonymous with these two among their series of matches over the years.
MMA NEWS
**The PFL has shut down any hopes of its 2020 season occurring. In a release on Monday, the company stated the season has been re-scheduled until Spring 2021 and added that for the remainder of the year, the fighters will be paid a monthly stipend. Below is their announcement:
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Professional Fighters League has rescheduled our upcoming 2020 season until spring 2021. PFL is a global MMA league with athletes from over 25 countries, and our decision is guided by the health and safety of our fighters, fans, partners, and event personnel.
The PFL mission is to evolve and grow the sport of MMA, and we look forward to staging our unique sport-season format with regular season, playoff and championship events on ESPN platforms next year. PFL has always been focused on delivering the best made-for-TV MMA product and we will continue to deliver the most innovative fight experience going forward. Fans can also look forward to PFL elevating our roster with new championship caliber fighter signings such as Rory MacDonald.
For the remainder of 2020, the PFL will support our fighters with a monthly cash stipend to help provide some relief during these challenging times. Also, for sports fans who we know are looking for compelling content, the PFL will deliver new original programming across ESPN and PFL platforms.
PFL will continue to be an innovator in the world of sports.
Our thoughts are with all those impacted by the COVID-19 coronavirus.
**Bellator programming will be airing on the CBS Sports Network with the two announcing a programming schedule with classic fights. The series will be called Bellator MMA recharged and debuts this Saturday at 8 pm Eastern hosted by John McCarthy. After the debut, it will run Wednesdays at 8 pm beginning April 29th. The series will start with selected fights from Bellator 192 and Bellator 194 featuring highlights from the Heavyweight World Grand Prix.
CBS Sports Executive VP of Programming Dan Weinberg:
We look forward to showcasing the excitement of Bellator MMA action on CBS Sports Network. It’s a chance to present some of the biggest names in MMA while providing fight fans another opportunity to watch the spectacle of the best events. Bellator MMA Recharged demonstrates the ability we have to amplify ViacomCBS properties across our various platforms and assets, while servicing the fans with the exciting action they want.
*****
THUNDERSTRUCK FINALE: Jushin Thunder Liger’s Retirement Week
POST Puroresu’s WH Park and John Pollock take you through the series finale of Thunderstruck as they discuss the final three days of Jushin Liger’s career.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2020/04/19/thunderstruck-26-jushin-liger-retirement-matches-ceremony-2020-w-john-pollock/
*****
upNXT MOVIE REVIEW: Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi
Braden Herrington & Davie Portman continue their journey through the galaxy reviewing each Star Wars movie, and this time they discuss the most controversial and polarizing one in the series: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi (2017).
https://www.postwrestling.com/2020/04/18/upnxt-movie-review-star-wars-episode-viii-the-last-jedi/
*****
TRMPS: Journey 2 – The Mysterious Island
On this installment of The Rocky Maivia Picture Show, Nate Milton welcomes “Our Man” Neal Flanagan into the theater to review 2012’s “Journey 2: The Mysterious Island”!
https://www.postwrestling.com/2020/04/18/trmps-16-journey-2-the-mysterious-island-2012-w-neal-flanagan/
*****
RASD: WWE Revamps Schedule, Dark Side of the Ring “Jimmy Snuka”
John Pollock and Wai Ting review SmackDown featuring the announcement of Climb the Corporate Ladder Matches for Money In The Bank. They also discuss WWE’s revised television taping schedule and this week’s Dark Side of the Ring.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2020/04/18/rewind-a-smackdown-4-17-20-wwe-revamps-schedule-dark-side-jimmy-snuka/
*****
POST INTERVIEW: Arda Ocal Remembers Howard Finkel
John Pollock chats with Arda Ocal of ESPN about the passing of former colleague Howard Finkel earlier this week at the age of 69.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2020/04/17/post-interview-arda-ocal-remembers-howard-finkel/
*****
BWE Retro Edition: ROH Unified (2006)
Benno & Jamesie welcome Joe Lemon from GRAPPL Spotlight to review Ring of Honor’s 2006 UK debut show, Unified. The three also chat about the huge news of WWE’s massive cuts this week, with a discussion of the likely impact on NXT UK.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2020/04/17/bwe-retro-edition-roh-unified-2006/
*****
Café Hangout: Mass layoffs at WWE, Brandon Thurston
John Pollock and Wai Ting welcome Wrestlenomics.com’s Brandon Thurston to discuss yesterday’s numerous WWE layoffs and related topics ahead of next week’s Q1 2020 financial report. We also discuss the passing of Howard Finkel and take your phone calls.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2020/04/16/live-link-todays-cafe-hangout-w-brandon-thurston-3pm-et/
*****
REWIND-A-DYNAMITE
John Pollock and Wai Ting review AEW Dynamite and go through a terrible day for the wrestling industry with WWE announcing a massive number of releases.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2020/04/16/rewind-a-dynamite-4-15-20-massive-cuts-at-wwe/
*****
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