POST IT NOTES
**Braden Herrington & Davie Portman will be back tonight with upNXT for a full review of tonight’s episode. Wai Ting and I will have a show on Thursday night with Rewind-A-Dynamite.
**Since we don’t have Rewind-A-Dynamite tonight, Wai Ting and I have done a bonus show chatting the WWE Raw & Saturday Night Dynamite ratings, WWE’s response after the content that ran on the screens Monday, a look at tonight’s NXT show, and a review of the KOPW matches from today’s New Japan show. This is on the free POST Wrestling feed.
**This month’s edition of ASK-A-WAI is posted on the site and was one of our best versions of the show. Topics included broadcasters we enjoyed growing up, Apple vs. Android, DC and Marvel, and lots of wrestling questions covering all the major promotions, analyzing television ratings and what to keep in mind, and plenty of tangents and more.
POST SCHEDULE
Tonight: upNXT with Braden Herrington & Davie Portman
Thursday: Rewind-A-Dynamite with John & Wai
Friday: Rewind-A-SmackDown (LIVE at 10:15 pm Eastern for Patrons)
Saturday: Cruel Summer with WH Park & guest Stephanie Chase (G1 Climax 2019 Final)
Saturday: NJPW Summer Struggle POST Show (Patreon)
Sunday: WWE Payback POST Show (LIVE for Double Double, Iced Capp & Espresso Patrons)
WRESTLING NEWS
**NXT will be running unopposed for the second week in a row as AEW Dynamite will air Thursday night on TNT. NXT is coming off TakeOver and did a good number last week with the expected increase in viewers and the 18-49 rating. Below is what has been advertised for tonight’s show:
*Karrion Kross and Scarlett Bordeaux will open the show
*Marcel Barthel & Fabian Aichner vs. Breezango for the NXT tag titles
*Santos Escobar vs. Isaiah “Swerve” Scott for the Cruiserweight title
*Io Shirai & Rhea Ripley vs. Dakota Kai & Raquel Gonzalez
*Tommaso Ciampa returns
*Stu Bennett (the former Wade Barrett) will be on commentary
It’s a very strong line-up for NXT that is treating this week’s unopposed episode with added focus compared to last week. The post-TakeOver bump should be there, and this has the potential to be one of the larger audiences for NXT since it launched on the USA Network. It’s also important they promote next Tuesday’s show being on a different night.
**This past Saturday’s rating for AEW Dynamite was a very positive sign for the show as a tool for TNT seeing how its audience was adaptable to a new night of the week with heavy competition. The fact they did more viewers on Saturday than the two Fyter Fest shows in July was a feather in its cap finishing fifth for the day on cable. Also impressive was that AEW topped NXT in all the key demos except adults over 50 with the latter running unopposed last Wednesday. The pattern showed that young males followed the show in high numbers while young females were down from their previous episode on a Wednesday. AEW also had the benefit of a strong lead-in with the NBA and opens numerous possibilities. If I was TNT, I would be looking at the viability of airing AEW on Wednesdays and airing replays on the weekend after the NBA as a test run.
Chris Harrington of AEW noted that Dynamite began with 1.4 million viewers following the NBA game and had over one million viewers for the first five minutes of the show.
Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics posted the quarter-hour averages from Saturday night. Excluding the first segment that was so high due to the NBA lead-in – the total audience peaked in the third quarter with 791,000 viewers, males peaked for the main event in the last quarter, adults 18-49 peaked in the third quarter, and females hit their highest point in the third quarter.
AEW was neck-and-neck with the UFC main card on Saturday, although they didn’t run head-to-head. UFC edged out AEW in adults 18-49, males 18-49, adults 18-34, women 12-34, and adults 25-54 with UFC having its largest edge among adults over 50. AEW did UFC with males 12-34 and they tied with women 18-49.
**The four-way match at Summer Struggle this Saturday for the KOPW title will feature Kazuchika Okada vs. SANADA vs. Toru Yano vs. El Desperado after Wednesday’s card at Korakuen Hall in front of 626 fans.
The stipulation matches had mixed results with a relatively flat 3-on-1 handicap match where Okada submitted Gedo with the cobra clutch with Yujiro and Jado teaming with Gedo. The two-count pinfall match between Toru Yano and BUSHI was a lot of fun and didn’t overstay its welcome. It was exciting with the constant one-counts and each trying to outsmart each other. It ended with Yano’s legs wrapped in athletic tape but reversed a cradle and pinned BUSHI. The Submission Match between SANADA and SHO received the most time and it was a very good match but not at the top level for either one. SHO worked the arm while SANADA targeted the knee and won with the figure-four after going almost twenty minutes. The other match featured Satoshi Kojima being disqualified when he got angry and used the lariat on El Desperado. They had a very good match and it was one of the better Kojima matches in recent memory and the finish was clearly designed to get the stipulation over even though it was weak.
**New Japan has one more card at Korakuen Hall on Thursday prior to the Jingu Stadium event this Saturday. The Korakuen Hall event will stream on New Japan World tomorrow at 4:30 am Eastern with the following card:
*EVIL & Taiji Ishimori vs. Tetsuya Naito & Hiromu Takahashi
*Zack Sabre Jr., Taichi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kota Ibushi & Master Wato
*Shingo Takagi, SANADA & Bushi vs. Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado & Douki
*Kazuchika Okada, Toru Yano & SHO vs. Yujiro, Gedo & Jado
*Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii & Yoshi-Hashi vs. Satoshi Kojima, Yuji Nagata & Tomoaki Honma
*Yota Tsuji vs. Yuya Uemura
**Nikki and Brie Bella did a cover story with PEOPLE Magazine revealing the names and photos of their newborn babies. Nikki (Stephanie Nicole Garcia-Colace) and her partner Artem Chigvintsev gave birth a baby boy named Matteo Artemovich on July 31st. Brie (Brianna Danielson) and husband Bryan Danielson had their second child, a boy named Buddy Dessert the following day after Nikki gave birth.
**WWE Clash of Champions will now be taking place on Sunday, September 27th, which is one night after UFC 253 and the same day as a G1 Climax card in Kobe, Japan.
**Last week, Randy Orton revealed during a media call to promote SummerSlam, that Ric Flair’s promo prior to being punted was adlibbed and Flair wasn’t scripted to speak. This week, Flair spoke to Nick Hausman at Wrestling INC and explained his intent:
I just did my own thing. At the end of the day, I think they trust me enough. Now that I’m supposedly more mature, I’m going to deliver something heartfelt… and I didn’t tell him what to say. I said this is designed to get this whole [thing] over, what we’re doing here Randy. It’s designed to enhance what you’re doing right now in the business, and I’ve known him so long.
[Orton’s] in the groove. It’s a groove that very few people ever get in. You could be great for a long time, and then you take that step where you’re not just great, you’re whatever the next level is because he’s always been good. He’s at a level that very few people get to, ever.
Flair also shared his thoughts on the match between Orton and Drew McIntyre at SummerSlam:
They delivered. What a match, I mean talk about two heavyweights going at it. I was thinking to myself, boy, this is so damn good. There is no winner. There is no loser. I liked the ending. That’s how Kerry Von Erich beat me in Dallas. When you have a match that good, people are waking up today going, it doesn’t matter who won or lost. We as fans won, and that’s the name of the game. God, what a match they had.
I really think last night made McIntyre. Randy really made McIntyre. I mean McIntyre’s work was spot on too. I mean it was solid. There was no air. They’re not stopping. No rest holds. They just kept boom boom boom. People look back and say, ‘oh, that’s easy to do.’ It’s not easy to do. They told a great story and no outside interference, which I loved. Nobody is running down.
It was just a championship match, and they had a winner. I don’t know whose idea that was, but to me, it was the right thing to do. Once and awhile, a wrestling hold can win you a match. It doesn’t have to be something that was found in Lucha Underground.
**Vickie Guerrero and Nyla Rose are being identified now as The Vicious Vixens in AEW.
**The WWE stock closed at $45.46 on Wednesday and was up 2 percent.
**Impact Wrestling’s Acey Romero noted that he has dropped almost one hundred pounds over the past four months.
**ECW Press will be releasing “Too Sweet: Inside the Indie Wrestling Revolution” by Keith Elliot Greenberg next Tuesday. We will have a review of the book later this week courtesy of Brandon Sears.
**Alpha-1 Wrestling returns on Saturday with a show streaming on Twitch at 2 pm Eastern. The show will feature Mark Wheeler defending the Alpha Male title against Josh Alexander and Ethan Page vs. Kobe Durst. It’s an outdoor show in Oshawa, Ontario that was limited to 100 tickets.
**All Japan has a show at Korakuen Hall on Sunday headlined by Suwama & Shuji Ishikawa defending the world tag titles against Kento Miyahara & Jiro “Ikemen” Kuroshio, and Koji Iwamoto defends the junior heavyweight title against Dan Tamura.
**Bet Online has released odds for WWE Payback. Bray Wyatt is listed as the favorite to retain the Universal title against Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman. Keith Lee and Randy Orton are even with both listed at minus 120. Shayna Baszler & Nia Jax are minus 140 favorites against Bayley & Sasha Banks, and Bobby Lashley is a minus 250 favorite against Apollo Crews.
**Here is the line-up for Thursday’s edition of AEW Dynamite, which will be live from Daily’s Place with the venue opened to 10 percent of its capacity to paying fans:
*FTR vs. Best Friends vs. The Young Bucks vs. Dustin Rhodes & QT Marshall in a Gauntlet Match to determine the #1 contenders for All Out
*Matt Hardy vs. Sammy Guevara in a Tables Match
*Big Swole vs. Britt Baker, Rebel & Penelope Ford
*Jon Moxley and MJF’s contract signing
*Brodie Lee’s TNT Championship Celebration
*Chris Jericho on commentary
**Here is a report from listener Jeremy Samples, who was part of the virtual audience on Raw this past week including notes of what they were told and talent addressing the audience during commercial breaks:
I participated in my first WWE Thunderdome experience tonight. Some things that happened on it:
At the beginning, the crowd producer mentioned that if you were a Nielsen family household doing the Thunderdome to still have your TV turned on with the sound down and your people meter on to count in ratings.
They also had Superstars talk to those in the Thunderdome throughout the night. It was weird that they could see everyone’s cameras, but the Superstar wasn’t visible. Some conversations:
Drew McIntyre said that he thought the Thunderdome was awesome and that he wanted to do something in the first segment of Raw to interact and include everyone. He said he didn’t know what it would be yet, but to be waiting for it. (Was the thumbs up.)
Kevin Owens said Hello. I waved on the camera, and Kevin said he was glad one person waved at him. And, then said, “Yeah, you in the glasses. Nice shirt.” I assume he waa talking to me, which felt really cool to have direct interaction. Kevin Owens then asked everyone to yell really loudly into their Mic. He said that he tried it last night at Summerslam and He heard that 7 people got evicted from their apartments and that he hoped to make it an even 10 after tonight. He then told the audience that he hoped they enjoyed the KO show tonight.
Mark Henry said that he thought the Thunderdome idea was cool. That he was glad the WWE Universe could be part of the show again, and that he wanted to give them a segment in the arm wrestling challenge to be excited about, because “That’s What I Do”.
Liv Morgan and Ruby Riott came on and Liv asked if those in the Thunderdome who saw her new shirt last week to raise their hands. Then, she asked for those who bought it to raise their hands. Liv said “I’m glad, at least, one of you did.” Ruby said that if anyone felt like it they could buy her shirt also.
Apollo Crews came on and said he hoped everyone enjoyed him beating MVP last night at Summerslam. He said that he was excited to be going against Bobby Lashley tonight in the arm wrestling challenge, and that he would appreciate everyones support.
Dolph Ziggler came on and asked what was up. He said that it was cool to see so many people in the Thunderdome, especially because it proved that everyone and their small picture were so much more insignificant than him. He said “I see the one guy booing me. I wouldn’t do that if I were you. Raw Underground isn’t the only land I run. You never know when I might be coming after you, so lock your doors and keep watch outside your windows.” He said it as a joke, but it kinda felt weird after the Sonya Deville situation.
Lana and Natalya said that they would be on Raw in a few minutes. They said that they had cute outfits to show everyone and that they appreciated everyone’s love and support. To please follow them on their social media, and cheer for them out on the ring. (Which was contradicted by the producer telling the Thunderdome crowd to boo, when they were out in the ring.)
They also showed the action that happened in the ring during the commercial breaks of the last two matches.
During the women’s lumberjack break, all the lumberjacks started brawling for no reason on the outside while Banks and Ashla traded pinfalls inside the ring.
During the main event, Rey and Dom tagged in and out several times while working over Murphy. They hit a pretty cool double team maneuver where Dom springboarded and came off of Rey into Murphy.
MMA NEWS
**This past Saturday’s UFC Fight Night main card finished fourth for the night on cable with 869,000 viewers and a 0.32 in the 18-49 demographic only behind the NBA. The card featured a five-round bantamweight main event with Frankie Edgar defeating Pedro Munhoz by split decision in a great fight. The card on Saturday did better than the UFC 252 prelims two weeks ago that averaged 831,000 viewers and a 0.29 demo rating. Although it was the prelim card, the pay-per-view had so much more buzz than this card, so it showed an interest in the main event this past weekend.
**The PFL is seeking another round of funding this time for $50 million to continue with its next season in 2021 after canceling this year’s season. In a report from CNBC, it notes that the league has raised $105 million since its launch two years ago and is planning to operate its next season in a bubble environment in Las Vegas, if necessary. The report added that its current deal with ESPN expires in 2021 with the hopes of landing a major television rights deal. PFL Chairman Donn David spoke to the outlet believing they are two years off from breaking even and would like to expand the PFL format into other worldwide regions nothing the potential in Saudi Arabia through its Vision 2030 plan. PFL CEO Peter Murray gave the following answer regarding expansion to Saudi Arabia:
It’s a dynamic market. It’s a market where there’s demand at many levels for expanded sports content from a distribution standpoint, from a live event on the ground standpoint, and developing future athletes.
**Dana White handed out four more contracts on Tuesday’s Contender Series to Jamie Pickett, Rafael Alves, Jeffrey Molina, and Collin Huckbody. Pickett had lost on the show twice prior to Tuesday’s second-round TKO over Jhonoven Pati with an insane barrage of strikes to end the fight. The best fight of the night was a flyweight thriller between Molina and Jacob Silva, who went three rounds at a relentless pace and both should have gotten deals with White adding that if they need a late replacement or someone down the road that Silva would be on their radar. Huckbody submitted Kyron Bowen with a powerful arm-triangle from the mount position that was very impressive given the position.
**Dana White held his Q&A with the media after Tuesday’s Contender Series where four more contracts were awarded:
*He hasn’t been told to slow down on the number of contracts being handed on this season with the majority of winners getting deals
*White leaves Wednesday night to speak at the RNC convention on Thursday. He doesn’t care what people think about him speaking or endorses everything Donald Trump says and does.
*There are no plans for Jon Jones yet but acknowledged he could have the ability to walk into a title fight at heavyweight
*The UFC has just bought another ten acres around the UFC APEX to build their own hotel and be “completely self-sufficient” and are hopeful of that happening in 2021
*The deal for a UFC Performance Institute in Mexico fell apart but insinuated they would re-visit that project when the world gets back to normal
*Tony Ferguson and Dustin Poirier are “likely” to fight on the same night as Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Justin Gaethje at UFC 254 in October
**Jason “Mayhem” Miller is being held without bail and facing felony charges for allegedly committing a residential burglary and car theft involving someone the former fighter knew. This was reported by NBC Los Angeles adding that Miller is scheduled for a pre-trial hearing next Tuesday. Miller had pleaded not guilty to the charges and is being held in a jail in Newport Beach, California. He is already on probation for a domestic violence case. Miller is 39 years old and has not fought since May 2016 and only fought four times in the previous decade.
**Mike Bohn and Farah Hannoun at MMA Junkie reported that featherweights Andre Fili and Bryce Mitchell will fight on the October 31st UFC Fight Night card. Fili (21-7) is coming off a split win against Charles Jourdain in June while Mitchell (13-0) is 4-0 in the YFC and last fought in May defeating Charles Rosa by unanimous decision. The October 31st card will be headlined by Anderson Silva vs. Uriah Hall, which Dana White is claiming will be Silva’s last fight.
ON THIS DATE
*****
BONUS SHOW: Raw & AEW Ratings, ThunderDome Problems, New Japan
John Pollock and Wai Ting are back with another bonus show covering the latest news including WWE Raw & Saturday Night Dynamite ratings, and a review of Wednesday’s New Japan card featuring KOPW matches.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2020/08/26/bonus-show-8-26-20-raw-aew-ratings-thunderdome-problems-new-japan/
*****
ASK-A-WAI: Ask Us Anything! (September 2020)
John Pollock and Wai Ting answer their patrons’ questions from the POST Wrestling Forum in the September 2020 edition of Ask-A-Wai.
https://www.patreon.com/posts/40852946/
*****
REWIND-A-RAW 8/24/20: SummerSlam Hangover, Keith Lee Debuts
John Pollock and Wai Ting review the first episode of WWE Raw inside the WWE ThunderDome with the fallout to SummerSlam and the immediate turnaround for Payback this weekend
https://www.postwrestling.com/2020/08/25/rewind-a-raw-8-24-20-summerslam-hangover-keith-lee-debuts/
*****
WWE SUMMERSLAM 2020 POST SHOW
John Pollock & Wai Ting review WWE SummerSlam featuring the return of Roman Reigns, Drew McIntyre vs. Randy Orton for the WWE Championship, Braun Strowman vs. The Fiend for Universal Championship, and Asuka going for double gold.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2020/08/24/wwe-summerslam-2020-post-show/
*****
REWIND-A-DYNAMITE 8/22/20
John Pollock and Wai Ting review a special Saturday night edition of AEW Dynamite and share their thoughts on the NXT TakeOver: XXX card along with notes from Paul Levesque’s post-show media call. Plus, a full preview of WWE SummerSlam.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2020/08/23/rewind-a-dynamite-8-22-20-saturday-night-dynamite-nxt-takeover-xxx/
*****
NXT TakeOver: XXX POST SHOW
Braden Herrington and Davie Portman review NXT TakeOver: XXX featuring Keith Lee vs Karrion Kross for the NXT Championship, Io Shirai vs Dakota Kai for the NXT Women’s Championship, Adam Cole takes on a debuting Pat McAfee.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2020/08/23/nxt-takeover-xxx-post-show/
*****
BRITISH WRESTLING EXPERIENCE: Mark “Rollerball” Rocco, WWE Network, RevPro Return
Martin is back with Benno to chat the last month of news in Euro wrestling including Progress, ICW and wXw being added to the WWE Network. Wrestling historian John Lister also drops in to talk about the life and career of Mark “Rollerball” Rocco.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2020/08/20/british-wrestling-experience-mark-rollerball-rocco-wwe-network-revpro-returns/
*****
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