POST IT NOTES
**On Rewind-A-SmackDown, Wai Ting and I discussed the release of Zelina Vega and the many issues involved, as well as Chelsea Green’s injury moments earlier on the show, along with a complete review of SmackDown and lots of calls. This show is available for all members of the POST Wrestling Café.
**Wai Ting and I will be back Monday night with Rewind-A-Raw.
**Andrew Thompson will have an interview with MLW’s Myron Reed later this week on the site.
**John Siino has a great review of Saturday’s IMPACT Turning Point show that featured a lot of news and several title changes.
**Eric Marcotte reviews Saturday’s UFC Fight Night card where Rafael dos Anjos returned to the lightweight division and earned a split decision win against Paul Felder.
WRESTLING NEWS
**Hours after her release from WWE, Zelina Vega (Thea Budgen) was on Twitch reacting to the news and speaking to her fans. She was very emotional in the wake of the announcement but wasn’t going to say anything bad about anyone, that there’s a reason for everything, and “it will pay out even if I don’t see it right now.” She added it was probably the worst day of her life but remains grateful.
On the creation of her OnlyFans account, she said it was not done with any malice towards anything stating it was an outlet for cosplay outfits, and those that helped launch it put a lot of work and time into it.
She said it was hard for her to slow down and do nothing when her schedule was reduced during the pandemic and that her mental health is always the most important thing to her.
It was reported by PWinsider.com that she does have a 90-day no-compete clause and then is free to pursue work elsewhere.
The news of her release has garnered a lot of publicity because of the questions it raises over the independent contractor label and Vega becoming the public face of the story of third-party restrictions. Time will tell if this grows into something substantial or is something that has fleeting attention from the outside world. In MMA, it wasn’t the exact circumstances but there are parallels to UFC’s decision to not offer a new contract to Leslie Smith, who was on a three-fight winning streak, and how transparent it was that Smith became a headache they didn’t want with her push for a fighter’s union or association.
**Gabrielle Carteris, who is the current president of SAG-ACTRA, publicly reached out to Vega thanking her for “standing strong for labor solidarity” and asked the performer to email her.
Vega tweeted out the following Friday evening after the news broke of her release:
I want to say thank you all very much for the last 3-4 years @WWEUniverse, it was incredible. I would have never have been able to say “this is for you dad” if certain people did not believe in me. I love you all and I couldn’t have done it without your support 🙏🏽 pic.twitter.com/R4fI9r64Vm
— 𝓩𝖊𝖑𝖎𝖓𝖆 𝓥𝖊𝖌𝖆 (@Zelina_VegaWWE) November 14, 2020
**NJPW kicked off its Best of the Super Juniors and World Tag League tournaments on Sunday from Aichi. The significant news was the reveal of Jeff Cobb as the latest addition to The Empire teaming with The Great O-Khan as they beat Hiroshi Tanahashi & Toa Henare. From this point on, the tournaments will be held on separate days with both finals taking place at Budokan Hall on Friday, December 11th. Below are the results from Sunday’s show at the Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium:
*World Tag League: Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano over Bad Luck Fale & Chase Owens in 5:35
*Best of the Super Juniors: Master Wato over Yuya Uemura in 4:14
*World Tag League: Jeff Cobb & The Great O-Khan over Hiroshi Tanahashi & Toa Henare in 2:28
*Best of the Super Juniors: Robbie Eagles over Douki in 10:35
*World Tag League: Zack Sabre Jr. & Taichi over Hirooki Goto & Yoshi-Hashi in 10:29
*Best of the Super Juniors: SHO over BUSHI in 10:20
*World Tag League: EVIL & Yujiro over Shingo Takagi & SANADA in 12:20
*Best of the Super Juniors: Ryusuke Taguchi over El Desperado in 12:35
*World Tag League: Juice Robinson & David Finlay over Guerrillas of Destiny in 16:42
*Best of the Super Juniors: Hiromu Takahashi over Taiji Ishimori in 20:06
**The World Tag League resumes Monday with NJPW hosting a card in Ishikawa at the Yoshitsune Arena with the following card:
*Yota Tsuji vs. Gabriel Kidd
*Guerrillas of Destiny (0-1) vs. Bad Luck Fale & Chase Owens (0-1)
*Hirooki Goto & Yoshi-Hashi (0-1) vs. Jeff Cobb & The Great O-Khan (1-0)
*Juice Robinson & David Finlay (1-0) vs. EVIL & Yujiro (1-0)
*Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano (1-0) vs. Shingo Takagi & SANADA (0-1)
*Zack Sabre Jr. & Taichi (1-0) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi & Toa Henare (0-1)
**Stardom held its Sendai Cinderella 2020 card on Sunday from Sun Plaza Hall featuring Utami Hayashashita winning the World of Stardom title from Mayu Iwatani. This ends Iwatani’s year-plus reign that began on November 4, 2019, and begins Hayashashita’s run reign. Below are the full results from the show (Credit: Purolove.com)
*World of Stardom Championship: Utami Hayashashita over Mayu Iwatani (champion)
*Wonder of Stardom Championship: Giulia (champion) over Konami
*SWA Undisputed World Women’s Championship: Syuri over Bea Priestley (champion)
*Momo Watanabe over Himeka
*High-Speed Championship: AZM (champion) over Gokigen Death Star
*Tam Nakano, Mina Shirakawa & Sayaka Unagi over Natsuko Tora, Rina & Saki Kashima
*Starlight Kid over Riho, Hanan, Hina & Saya Kamitani
*Future of Stardom Championship: Maika (champion) over Saya Iida
**Stardom has announced its biggest show ever as they plan to run Budokan Hall on March 3, 2011, for the 10th Anniversary. The company issued a press release stating they will hold a special tournament called the “All-Star Dream Cinderella”
**In the main event of Dragon Gate’s Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival on Sunday, Shun Skywalker won the Open the Dream Gate Championship from Eita. Eita had won the title back in August and was looking to make his second defense. Skywalker is only 24 years of age and has been wrestling since he was 19 and considered a huge part of Dragon Gate’s future.
**The Survivor Series go-home edition of RAW is being advertised around the following two championship matches:
*WWE Championship: Randy Orton (champion) vs. Drew McIntyre
*RAW Tag Team Championship: Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods (champions) vs. Shelton Benjamin & Cedric Alexander
**WWE star Alexa Bliss (Lexi Kaufman) announced that she and boyfriend Ryan Cabrera are engaged after Cabrera proposed on Saturday night. The engagement occurs one year after the pair met:
One year ago we said hello, tonight I said YES 🖤 @ryancabrera pic.twitter.com/PLhVha2goK
— Lexi Kaufman (@AlexaBliss_WWE) November 15, 2020
**Chelsea Green posted an update Saturday morning that she was getting prepared for surgery after breaking her wrist the night prior to Friday Night SmackDown. Green posted a photo Sunday with her right arm in a sling and it’s unknown what the timetable for recovery will be.
Just like the rest of my career, I couldn’t have an easy debut! LOL, that just wouldn’t be fit for my wild journey. I’m headed into surgery now. I am beyond devastated but so excited to be a part of @WWE team SmackDown, when I get back!
**IMPACT’s Turning Point special featured two championship changes as The Good Brothers (Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows) defeated The North (Ethan Page & Josh Alexander) to win the IMPACT tag titles. In a No DQ Match, Deonna Purrazzo regained the Knockouts Championship from Su Yung after losing the belt to Yung at Bound for Glory last month as Yung was a last-minute replacement for Kylie Rae. The other news involved the arrival of former Triple Crown champion Joe Doering to assist Eric Young and attacks The Deaners.
**IMPACT’s Knockouts tag title tournament begins this Tuesday with the company releasing the brackets. The following first-round matches are set to take place:
*Tenille Dashwood & Alisha vs. Nevaeh & Havok
*Killer Kelly & Renee Michelle (both making their IMPACT debuts) vs. Jordynne Grace & TBA
*Ashley Vox & Delmi Exo vs. Kiera Hogan & Tasha Steelz
*Deonna Purrazzo & Kimber Lee vs. Taya & Rosemary
**IMPACT Wrestling’s next special will be Final Resolution on Saturday, December 12th streaming on Impact Plus and FITE TV.
**MLW’s Restart this Wednesday will feature the following two title matches airing at 7 pm Eastern on Fubo Sports and the MLW YouTube channel:
*MLW World Heavyweight Championship: Jacob Fatu (champion) vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr.
*MLW World Middleweight Championship: Myron Reed (champion) vs. Brian Pillman Jr.
**Ring of Honor will be making an announcement regarding Final Battle later this week.
**AEW is releasing a documentary entitled “The History of a Revolution” from Director X. The company has announced it will be coming out this Wednesday.
**Randy Savage a.k.a. Randy Poffo would have turned 68 years old today. Savage was one of the cornerstones during the WWF’s expansion era culminating at WrestleMania 4 winning the WWF championship stepping into position as the babyface champion that Hulk Hogan had occupied since 1983. His active career largely ended by 2000 after six years in WCW making a random cameo in May 2000 and never used again by the company. He resurfaced in TNA in the fall of 2004 but was largely out of the spotlight by that era and in the ensuing years before he died in May 2011.
**CIMA turns 43 today and Tegan Nox is 26.
MMA NEWS
**The UFC Fight Night card was highlighted by a strong main event between lightweights Rafael dos Anjos and Paul Felder with dos Anjos winning by split decision. It was a fairly dominant performance from dos Anjos, although the fight was very competitive. Judge Chris Lee somehow scored it 48-47 for Felder and was one of the more puzzling scorecards in recent memory. The other two judges scored it 50-45 for the winner dos Anjos and were more in line with the popular opinion of how the fight went. Even Felder looked shocked when they read the card for him.
Felder’s interview after the loss was scary as he noted cutting more than 22 pounds in four days to make the weight limit and called Thursday night “one of the darkest nights of my life” but said he isn’t going anywhere after toying with retirement after the loss to Dan Hooker this past February.
Afterward, dos Anjos made the challenge to fight Conor McGregor. Most were dismissing that option given dos Anjos just returned to the division after a .500 record at welterweight (although fought most of the top guys at the weight class) and that he’ll another big win at lightweight before he is in the top mix with McGregor, Poirier, Gaethje, and Nurmagomedov (depending on the latter’s status after stating he was retiring at 29-0).
Of course, dos Anjos was set to fight McGregor in March 2016 and it was his injury that opened the door for Nate Diaz to replace him and led to one of the most memorable fights of the past decade where Diaz submitted McGregor at UFC 196.
**The Fight of the Night bonus was awarded to Rafael dos Anjos and Paul Felder while the Performance of the Night bonuses went to Khaos Williams and Sean Strickland. Williams and Strickland were the only two winners that didn’t go to a decision. The knockout by Williams to Abdul Razak Alhassan was a spectacular one catching the latter with a short right and he was out.
**Prior to Saturday’s UFC Fight Night card, Louis Smolka was pulled from the show after being deemed “medically unfit” for his fight with Jose Quinonez. Smolka missed weight by three pounds for their bantamweight fight and the removal from the card was not related to COVID-19.
ON THIS DATE
*****
REWIND-A-SMACKDOWN 11/13/20: “The Last Chapter”, Zelina Vega Released
John Pollock and Wai Ting review Friday Night SmackDown featuring “The Last Chapter” between Seth Rollins and Rey Mysterio, an update on Chelsea Green, and Zelina Vega is released by WWE.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2020/11/14/rewind-a-smackdown-11-13-20-the-last-chapter-vega-released-chelsea-green/
*****
POST INTERVIEW: Dr. Alex Patel
John Pollock and Wai Ting welcome back Toronto-based critical care physician Dr. Alex Patel to discuss the latest on COVID-19 including second waves, pandemic fatigue, Pfizer’s vaccine, and your questions.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2020/11/13/post-interview-dr-alex-patel-on-the-latest-with-covid-19-nov-2020/
*****
BRITISH WRESTLING EXPERIENCE
Martin & Benno are joined by Ian Hamilton of BackBodyDrop and 411Mania to talk about the past few weeks in European wrestling including the big NXT UK match-up between WALTER and Ilja Dragunov.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2020/11/12/british-wrestling-experience-walter-vs-ilja-dragunov-revpro-wxw-ryan-smile-tracy-smothers/
*****
REWIND-A-DYNAMITE 11/11/20: The SHAQ & PAC’d Edition
John Pollock and Wai Ting review AEW Dynamite coming off the Full Gear pay-per-view featuring Rey Fenix vs. Penta El Zero M. Plus, Raw ratings, AEW Games, Tony Khan’s comments about New Japan, and The Rascalz leaving IMPACT.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2020/11/12/rewind-a-dynamite-11-11-20-the-shaq-pacd-edition-of-dynamite/
*****
upNXT 11/11/20: “Ruff Night”
The BDE talk all about NXT featuring Johnny Gargano defending his North American Championship against a mystery opponent determined by… the wheel! Plus, Breezango challenges Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch for the NXT Tag Team Championship.
*****
REWIND-A-WAI #74: WWE Raw vs. TNA Impact (Jan. 4, 2010)
John Pollock and Wai Ting look back at the night TNA Impact and WWE Raw went head-to-head on January 4th, 2010. Featuring the TNA debut of Hulk Hogan and the WWE return of Bret Hart.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2020/11/10/rewind-a-wai-74-wwe-raw-vs-tna-impact-jan-4-2010/
*****
REWIND-A-RAW 11/9/20: Skipper, Mongoose, Bro-Lee, Fire Face & Dopey
John Pollock and Wai Ting review WWE Raw with the final qualifying match for its men’s Survivor Series team. We discuss SmackDown’s rating, WWE cuts, three matches confirmed for NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 15, and more.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2020/11/10/rewind-a-raw-11-9-20-skipper-mongoose-bro-lee-fire-face-dopey/
*****
REVIEW AMERICA: 2020 U.S. Election with Brian Mann & Nate Milton
Brian Mann & Nate Milton are back for a special edition of Review America to assess and dissect the 2020 U.S. Election.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2020/11/09/review-america-2020-u-s-election-with-brian-mann-nate-milton/
*****
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
