POST IT NOTES
**Wai Ting and I will be LIVE at 11:15 pm ET with Rewind-A-Raw for our Double Double, Iced Capp & Espresso members of the POST Wrestling Café. We will have an extensive review of RAW, the winner of the Royal Rumble Pool will be revealed, and we will take your feedback. The show will be free for everyone early Tuesday on the POST Wrestling feed.
**The Royal Rumble POST Show is available for everyone as Wai Ting and I review Sunday’s show with our thoughts on the entire card, the major stories following the event
**On Tuesday, Andrew Thompson will have an interview with Brody King to discuss his decision to re-sign with Ring of Honor among the subjects covered.
**Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics will return this Friday as we discuss the WWE’s Q4 and year-end earnings report that the company will release Thursday evening. Brandon has released a 63-page analysis for the major pro wrestling companies in 2020 going through key metrics and insights. The report is available for $6 on Payhip or $5 if you are a subscriber to Wrestlenomics on Patreon.
POST SCHEDULE
Tonight: Rewind-A-Raw with John & Wai (LIVE at 11:15 pm ET for Double Double+ Patrons)
Tuesday: Rewind-A-Wai #79 – G1 Climax 2015 Finals (Patreon)
Tuesday: DEEP Impact with Davie Portman & John Siino (upNXT)
Tuesday: Andrew Thompson interviews Brody King
Wednesday: Rewind-A-Dynamite with John & Wai (LIVE at 10:15 pm ET for Dbl Dbl+ Patrons)
Wednesday: upNXT with Braden Herrington & Davie Portman
Wednesday: Shot in the Dark with John Siino (upNXT)
WRESTLING NEWS
**The following matches and segments have been announced for RAW tonight at 8 pm ET:
*United States Championship: Bobby Lashley (champion) vs. Riddle
*RAW Tag Team Championship: Cedric Alexander & Shelton Benjamin (champions) vs. Gran Metalik & Lince Dorado
*Miz TV with The Miz & John Morrison
**The Royal Rumble came off as a well-received show as the promotional build-up for WrestleMania 37 begins. Bianca Belair and Edge were the focal points as the two Rumble winners under different circumstances.
For Belair, 31, it caps off a year where she was moved to the main roster but quickly forgotten about and badly needed a reset, which occurred after the draft and her move to SmackDown. While not holding a prominent role initially, the momentum has built over the past weeks through her program while Bayley and avenging her loss on this past week’s episode. For those that watched her Chronicle, it was as riveting a feature as WWE has produced in some time. By the end of it, you could not help but root for her, and was the only compelling story leading to the women’s Royal Rumble. The obvious direction would be Belair paired with Sasha Banks for WrestleMania and is a match that could be a big deal if promoted properly. Belair’s Rumble win was met with unanimous praise and it served several functions from the winner being the performer everyone was hoping to see win and a legitimate attempt at creating a new star in the same vein of Drew McIntyre one year ago. Everyone sees the high ceiling for Belair and the time is now to pull the trigger.
On the men’s side, it was a different story with Edge (Adam Copeland) turning back the clock and assuming the role of Randy Couture, George Foreman, or Rocky Balboa depending on your comparison, and overcoming the odds of entering the Rumble second and running the table to win it. At 47-years of age, he is the oldest Rumble winner and came with the symmetry of winning the Rumble eleven years to the day of his last Rumble win in 2010. Based on the calls for our POST Show, the overwhelming choice our listeners want to see is Edge and Roman Reigns for WrestleMania. It’s the natural Spear vs. Spear, but with the return of Christian (Jay Reso), it allows for the inevitable E&C reunion match against Reigns & Jey Uso in February or March. The promos would likely be the highest caliber we have seen in a major WWE program in years. If that ends up being the direction, it’s wide open for Drew McIntyre as there isn’t an obvious program in place but you have two months including the Elimination Chamber match to establish the challenger whether it be the elevation of a current talent or going to a name off the roster.
**WVLT in Knoxville reported that Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs is donating his earnings from his Royal Rumble appearance. Jacobs will be donating the money he made for his appearance during the men’s Rumble to the Applied Technology Scholarship Fund for TCAT Knoxville. The report also stated that Jacobs received three separate COVID-19 tests with a rapid test conducted before he left the state, another upon his arrival, and a third test before returning to work. The Mayor’s Office stated that Jacobs wore a protective mask and maintained distance when not on-screen Sunday. Jacobs entered the Rumble as Kane in the #18 slot and eliminating Dolph Ziggler and Ricochet before he was sent out by Damian Priest.
**Dustin Diamond has passed away at the age of 44 following his fight with cancer. While most remembered for his portrayal of Samuel “Screech” Powers in Saved by the Bell, Diamond did have several professional wrestling appearances during his career. Diamond was a big fan and was shown on camera when he would be in attendance, including at WrestleMania 2000. That same year, he did an angle on Memphis television with Stacy Carter, who was performing as The Kat in Memphis and on WWF television.
In 2002, he did a short boxing match with Tiny the Bellkeeper on an NWA TNA pay-per-view during the first few months of the company’s operations. In 2008, he was part of Hulk Hogan’s Celebrity Championship Wrestling on CMT as a contestant and made it to the final four with eventual winner Dennis Rodman, Todd Bridges, and Eric “Butterbean” Esch.
A decade later, he wrestled a six-person tag for AAW in Merrionette Park as well as doing a tag match in Toronto in 2011 for Twin Wrestling Entertainment. His last match occurred in July 2012, for Fight the World Wrestling (FTW).
**Christine Lubrano has been named by WWE as its news Senior Vice President of Creative Writing Operations after spending 18 years with the IFC channel.
**In Canada, Friday Night SmackDown averaged 241,800 viewers on Sportsnet 360. The one-hour version of NXT did 75,000 viewers as a lead-in for SmackDown. The most-watched sports program of the night was the Toronto Raptors vs. Sacramento Kings game. We have a more detailed breakdown of the U.S. and Canadian numbers for Friday Night SmackDown on the site.
**Stephen Amell revealed that CM Punk (Phil Brooks) will be part of the new pro wrestling series “Heels” that will air on Starz. The series is being produced by Lionsgate TV and Paramount TV Studios with a cast that includes Amell, Alexander Ludwig, and Mary McCormack.
**Bloomberg looks at the WWE deal with Peacock and the role of niche streaming services in the larger picture among the giants, led by Netflix and Disney+.
**Jonathan Gresham has re-signed with Ring of Honor. He is their current Pure Champion and one-half of the tag champions with Jay Lethal.
**Renee Paquette has joined Colin Cowherd’s new podcast network, The Volume. The network was revealed by Cowherd on Sunday night with the news that Paquette’s podcast, Oral Sessions, would be involved. Since launching her podcast in November, Paquette has spoken with several guests from professional wrestling and MMA including husband Jon Moxley, AEW president Tony Khan, Big E., and CM Punk. Her first show under the network umbrella will air this Thursday with UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic as the guest. Cowherd will be doing three shows per week with Outkick reporting that Paquette will be a guest with Cowherd around major cards from WWE, AEW, and UFC.
**Of the surprise returns in both Rumble matches, it was Victoria’s first match in a WWE ring since WrestleMania 25 in April 2009, Carlito’s first WWE match since May 2010, Jillian Hall’s first WWE match since Sept. 2010, Christian’s first match since March 2014.
**The WWE stock closed at $57.58 on Monday.
**A new edition of WWE Untold will be released this Sunday focusing on The APA.
**Steve Austin will be appearing on Wednesday’s edition of The Bump, and Edge will be a guest on WWE’s After the Bell Podcast with Corey Graves & Vic Joseph.
**Chris Van Vliet recently spoke with Freddie Prinze Jr. on his time working on the WWE creative staff.
**New Japan’s Road to New Beginning tour continues Tuesday morning with 4 am ET from Korakuen Hall with the following card airing on New Japan World:
*Elimination Match: Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, Yoshi-Hashi & Toru Yano vs. EVIL, Guerrillas of Destiny, Yujiro & Dick Togo
*Kota Ibushi, SHO, Tomoaki Honma & Master Wato vs. SANADA, Tetsuya Naito, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI
*El Phantasmo & Taiji Ishimori vs. Ryusuke Taguchi & Yuya Uemura
*Gabriel Kidd vs. Yota Tsuji
**New Japan wraps up its third straight night at Korakuen Hall on Wednesday with a show headlined by Kota Ibushi & Master Wato vs. SANADA & BUSHI.
**Speaking with ESPN’s Ariel Helwani, UFC lightweight Michael Chandler stated he was contacted last week to fight on the upcoming UFC 258 card on February 13th. Chandler was in Nashville and received the call while at a steakhouse, he agreed to fight on short-notice and stopped eating his steak, and flew to Florida. The fight has since fallen through, and Chandler wouldn’t comment on who the opponent was scheduled to be. Chandler just fought at UFC 257 last weekend where he stopped Dan Hooker in the opening round. The necessity for a short-notice fight came about when the UFC lost the Chris Weidman vs. Uriah Hall fight at UFC 258 after it was reported that Weidman contracted COVID-19. The UFC 258 card will be headlined by welterweight champion Kamaru Usman defending against Gilbert Burns.
FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Devonte Smith vs. Justin Jaynes this Saturday at UFC Fight Night (MMA Fighting)
Martin Day vs. Timur Valiev this Saturday at UFC Fight Night (Rob DeMello, KHON)
Bobby Green vs. Jim Miller at UFC 258 on Feb. 13 (MMA Junkie)
Jessica Penne vs. Hannah Goldy at UFC 260 on March 27 (MMA Junkie)
ON THIS DATE
*****
WWE ROYAL RUMBLE POST SHOW
John Pollock & Wai Ting review WWE Royal Rumble 2021 featuring Men’s and Women’s Royal Rumble matches, Roman Reigns vs. Kevin Owens in a Last Man Standing Match for the Universal Championship, and Drew McIntyre vs. Goldberg for the WWE Championship.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2021/02/01/wwe-royal-rumble-2021-post-show/
*****
REWAND-A-VISION: Episode 4 “We Interrupt This Program”
Wai Ting & WH Park review WandaVision Episode 4 “We Interrupt This Program” as we break format to follow the outsider’s perspective on the strange happenings within Wanda’s world.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2021/01/30/rewand-a-vision-episode-4-we-interrupt-this-program/
*****
NJPW New Beginning in Nagoya POST Show
John Pollock and Wai Ting review NJPW’s New Beginning in Nagoya show headlined by Shingo Takagi vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi in a must-see NEVER Openweight Championship match.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2021/01/30/njpw-new-beginning-in-nagoya-post-show-takagi-vs-tanahashi/
*****
upNXT MOVIE REVIEW: Batman Forever (1995)
Braden Herrington and Davie Portman go back to Gotham City and this time, it’s to review Val Kilmer’s take on the “World’s Greatest Detective” in Batman Forever (1995).
https://www.postwrestling.com/2021/01/30/upnxt-movie-review-batman-forever-1995/
*****
REWIND-A-SMACKDOWN 1/29/21: Brand-to-Brand Invitational, Rumble Preview
John Pollock and Wai Ting review WWE SmackDown with the return of the Quarterly Brand-to-Brand Invitational and we preview Sunday’s Royal Rumble show.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2021/01/30/rewind-a-smackdown-1-29-21-quarterly-invitational-rumble-preview/
*****
POST INTERVIEW: Jimmy Korderas from Aftermath
John Pollock is joined by former WWE referee Jimmy Korderas of Aftermath TV to discuss the Royal Rumble.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2021/01/29/post-interview-jimmy-korderas-from-aftermath-tv/
*****
BTWA #5: WWE Royal Rumble (2002)
Martin Bushby & Andrew Thompson are back with the first Wrestling Adventure of 2021. This month, they are joined by Chad Gelfand from The Wrestling Estate and “The Professor” Kris Ealy of The Kings of Sport to look back at WWE Royal Rumble 2002.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2021/01/28/btwa-5-wwe-royal-rumble-2002/
*****
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