POST IT NOTES
**Monday is the final day for our Rocky Maivia Picture Show t-shirt sale with POST Wrestling Café members receive a $7 buck discount until Midnight ET tonight. The discount code is available for all Patrons.
**Wai Ting and I are LIVE tonight at 11:15 pm ET with Rewind-A-Raw. We will be discussing today’s news, review WWE Raw, and we will also be announcing another show for POST Podcast Day that takes place Saturday, April 3rd for all members of the POST Wrestling Café.
**Our WWE Fastlane POST Show is available on the site with Wai Ting and I reviewing the pay-per-view, discussing the New Japan Cup final between Will Ospreay and Shingo Takagi, the post-match angle with Bea Priestley, and taking your phone calls.
**Brandon Sears has a book review on the site of the new “Mat Memories” book by John Arezzi and Greg Oliver covering Arezzi’s unique careers in professional wrestling, baseball, and country music.
**The premiere of MCU L8R with Wai Ting & WH Park is available for all members of the POST Wrestling Café. Wai and WH share their thoughts on the debut of The Falcon & The Winter Soldier and review the Snyder Cut of Justice League. This will be a weekly show for Café members.
**On Tuesday, the POST Movie Reviews are back with a review of the 2015 film “Creed” starring Michael B. Jordan and Sylvester Stallone. You can leave feedback for the show on the POST Wrestling Forum.
POST SCHEDULE
Tonight: Rewind-A-Raw with John Pollock & Wai Ting (LIVE at 11:15 pm ET for Double Double+ Patrons)
Tuesday: POST Movie Review – Creed 1 (Patreon)
Wednesday: Rewind-A-SmackDown 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 feed)
Thursday: UFC 260 Preview Show with John Pollock, James Lynch & Cody Saftic
Thursday: Bushby & Thompson’s Wrestling Adventure (NXT TakeOver: Dallas)
Friday: Rewind-A-SmackDown with John & Wai (LIVE at 10:15 pm ET for all Patrons)
Saturday: MCU L8R with Wai Ting & WH Park (Patreon)
Saturday: UFC 260 POST Show with John Pollock & Phil Chertok (LIVE at YouTube.com/POSTwrestling)
WRESTLING NEWS
**Tonight’s edition of WWE Raw will see the accelerated build for WrestleMania as the card needs to take shape quickly. So far, they have only announced that Rhea Ripley will be on the show tonight and in theory, should be shooting some type of angle given the timing of her arrival in such proximity to WrestleMania.
UPDATE: Below is what WWE has announced for Raw tonight at 8 pm:
*Bobby Lashley vs. Sheamus in a non-title match
*Asuka vs. Peyton Royce in a non-title match
*Kofi Kingston vs. AJ Styles
*Jeff Hardy vs. The Miz
**Friday Night SmackDown finished with 2,093,000 viewers and 0.57 in the 18-49 demographic going against the NCAA Basketball tournament. It was a disappointing figure considering it was advertised all week that Edge would be wrestling. For overall viewership, it was SmackDown’s second-lowest mark of 2021 and tied for fourth-lowest in the demo this year. SmackDown dropped 3.6 percent in viewers and fell 6.6 percent in the demo. In Canada, SmackDown averaged 181,200 viewers and 96,100 in the 25-54 demographic.
**It was reported on Monday that legendary figure Genichiro Tenryu has been hospitalized since Friday with congestive heart failure. The report indicates that Tenryu requires rest and stated that “although it is urgent, there is no difference in life (non-life threatening) and it requires rest for a certain period of time, so it is planned to be hospitalized” (which is the loose translation from Japanese). As a result, an appearance that Tenryu was scheduled to have with Kenta Kobashi this Sunday has been postponed. Tenryu just turned 71 last month and is one of the most significant figures of the past forty years in Japanese wrestling. His final match occurred in November 2015 when he wrestled Kazuchika Okada after challenging the New Japan star on the final night of the G1 Climax the previous summer. Tenryu was quoted on his website stating:
I’m sorry to have caused concern to all the fans and people involved. I was surprised at the suddenness, but I thought that I was told to live again! There is no choice but to take it positively. I think about the day I can spend with you again, and I will do my best to treat it. Above all, I regret having made a big hole in the event and work. But I think it’s because I’m alive, so I’m fine. I will do my best so that I can show you!
**As we noted late Sunday night, the plan is for the Universal Championship Match at WrestleMania to be a triple threat between Roman Reigns, Edge, and Daniel Bryan. Based on the television leading into Fastlane, it was setting the table for Bryan to be added and telegraphed the key aspect of the match with Reigns tapping after Bryan promised to do that on SmackDown. It’s funny because if fans had been present, I have no doubt that over the past four weeks they would have rallied behind Bryan, started booing Edge, and demanded a three-way, which is exactly how WWE reacted with how they have executed the story. The match requires Bryan as the major babyface and leaves Edge in a tweener role after Sunday. While it can be viewed as a heel turn, his portrayal on television will dictate the character change but it’s not as though he will overshadow Reigns as the top heel, or Bryan as the top babyface in the match. Edge needs a big promo this week to explain his frustration both from a character point of view and the logic gap to explain why he cared if Bryan won the match or not, given he had the guaranteed title shot regardless. It’s an easy gap to fill by stating that Reigns was the unbeatable champion and he wanted to be the one to crack the code and was watching in front of his eyes as Bryan was going to steal that glory from him when he saw Reigns begin to tap. Overall, they have done a very good job over the past three weeks, and given the people involved, I am sure they will have the next three weeks mapped out well and feels like the most anticipated match on either night, thus far.
**Ed Farhat Jr., the son of The Sheik, died on Monday at the age of 71 due to complications from COVID-19. The news was first reported by SLAM Wrestling. Farhat Jr. followed his father into the industry and wrestled as Captain Ed George beginning in 1977 but only wrestled for four years before he transitioned to booking. His father, Ed Farhat, was one of the legendary heels who was a fixture in Detroit with Big Time Wrestling and passed away in January 2003. Farhat Jr. and his brother Tom attempted to revive wrestling in Detroit in 2003. Tom died last October at the age of 57 after suffering from kidney cancer.
**There were complaints throughout Fastlane of viewers having issues with Peacock. It appears one of the most common complaints is the inability to rewind, fast-forward or pause the live broadcast, which was known ahead of time as functions Peacock doesn’t provide. WWE issued a brief statement on Sunday during the show:
Any issues occurring with tonight’s broadcast of #WWEFastlane will be addressed in the future.
**Andrade (Manuel Alfonso Andrade Oropeza) received his WWE release with the company issuing a statement Sunday to confirm his departure. On Monday, he issued the following statement singling out Paul Levesque, Paul Heyman, and William Regal for helping him:
I want to thank @TripleH, @HeymanHustle and @RealKingRegal for all these years and great support that they gave me all these years also to the fans who were always supporting me, a big hug to all the talent and workers who always behaved kindly to me.
Later in the day, Thea Trinidad posted the following message:
Since the moment I met you, I knew that you not only were an amazing person but also one of the most talented in this business and you’d be successful no matter what. I’m so grateful to know you, share these memories and have a brother for life. Love you hermano.
**Many people observed that the promotional material for WrestleMania 37 no longer features Charlotte Flair, who was on the original material. It will be very apparent either tonight or next week based on the direction for the Raw Women’s Championship Match what is going on. They were clearly building towards Flair challenging Asuka but Flair didn’t appear on last week’s show. On Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer noted there is a movie project for Flair but indicated there is something else going on but has been unable to confirm what that issue is.
**Canadians will be able to watch the first two episodes of Dark Side of the Ring: Confidential later tonight on the Crave streaming service. POST Wrestling was told the first two episodes should be added around Midnight to 12:30 am ET and episode three to be added Tuesday night at 9 pm. All future episodes will be added on Tuesdays at 9 pm. The first two episodes covered the death of Gino Hernandez and the Montreal Screwjob and the third episode covers the Von Erichs. The episodes are re-runs of previously aired episodes with new footage shot at the ECW Arena with host Conrad Thompson interviewing Executive Producers Evan Husney and Jason Eisener with new footage and interviews.
**Kazuyuki Fujita won the GHC National Championship from Kenoh on Sunday at Korakuen Hall. It ended Kenoh’s seven-plus month title reign with Fujita becoming the fourth champion in its lineage. Fujita will defend the title against Takashi Sugiura in Nagoya on April 29th on the same card where Keiji Muto defends the GHC Championship against Masa Kitamiya.
**Mick Foley wrote a lengthy piece arguing for Lex Luger (Lawrence Pfohl) to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. There are those that see the WWE’s version of the Hall for what it is, and it’s largely a marketing concept designed to sell tickets to ensure another arena sell-out during WrestleMania week and content for its platform. For many of the performers, they do take it seriously and look at it as a form of validation. Regardless of what stock you place on it, those receiving the recognition at least one night on a stage to be celebrated in an industry that seldom provides it for stars of the past. There are no criteria for inclusion other than a checkmark next to a name suggested regardless of star power, drawing power, longevity, or any other criteria you would associate with a Hall of Fame. I do appreciate when Foley advocates for certain names, he did the same for Vader, with the idea that those people deserve that attention, and with Vader, the hope was having him recognized while he was alive, and sadly, he died in 2018. Luger had gone down a scary path and it was feared he would become another statistic but did curb his addiction issues. He has had lots of health issues over the years after suffering a spinal infarction in 2007 and is now 62 years old.
**Drew McIntyre spoke with SI.com on his feud with Sheamus and the recent series of matches they’ve had on Raw and at Fastlane:
We got the chance to wrestle a few weeks ago on Raw, and the story wasn’t as detailed as we wanted at that point, but we got people’s attention. Then we escalated the physicality that second week in our rematch. Our video package at Fastlane was pretty cool, and we created a match we didn’t want people to forget.
**Stephanie McMahon-Levesque spoke with Cosmo Middle East about Women’s History Month and shared her own experiences as a woman in the professional wrestling industry:
I have been the only woman in very large groups of male dominated meetings. Growing up in this business, I have the advantage of being the boss’s daughter but there have certainly been times where I have felt like my voice didn’t matter as much. And in those situations, you just have to speak louder. You have to grab the moment because you cannot let it intimidate you. If you have a point that you want to make, make it. Call it out when you’re not being listened to.
**Jan Ross, the wife of AEW announcer Jim Ross, died on this date in 2017 after being struck by a vehicle while driving her Vespa. Ross suffered multiple skull fractures and died several days after the accident. The following January, charges of vehicular homicide against the 17-year old driver were dismissed by a judge in Oklahoma.
**Ricky Nance, the son of Ron Read a.k.a. Buddy Colt, has written a great feature reflecting on his father for SLAM Wrestling.
**Coming off the “Back for the Attack” pay-per-view, NWA Powerrr returns on Tuesday night at 6:05 pm ET streaming on FITE TV.
**WWE has announced Virtual Meet & Greets throughout WrestleMania week from Monday, April 5th until Monday, April 12th. Tickets start at $125 and provide a two-minute private one-on-one with the performer with a downloadable video of the meet & greet in the following days. The full list of talent and dates is available on the WWE site and tickets go on sale Tuesday at Noon ET.
**Below is the updated line-up for AEW Dark: Elevation tonight at 7 pm ET on the promotion’s YouTube channel:
*Ethan Page vs. Alan “5” Angels
*Leyla Hirsch vs. Ryo Mizunami
*Orange Cassidy vs. Ryan Nemeth
*Tay Conti vs. Ray Lyn
*Lee Johnson vs. Adam Priest
*Max Caster vs. Ryzin
*Powerhouse Hobbs & Ricky Starks vs. Jorel Nelson & Royce Isaacs
*Danny Limelight vs. Baron Black
*Varsity Blonds vs. Fuego Del Sol & Jake St. Patrick
*Leva Bates & Madi Wrenkowski vs. Red Velvet & Big Swole
*Rising Star profile on Red Velvet
**Eric Bugenhagen of NXT played the Old Spice rep during the 24/7 title segment on Fastlane. Bugenhagen briefly won the 24/7 title before losing it back to R-Truth.
**WWE Network will be releasing the second edition of its ICONS series this Sunday focusing on Beth Phoenix. The network will also be doing a countdown of the top fifty female performers all week long beginning today and finishing Friday with the top five.
**Mil Muertes will face Gringo Loco on MLW Fusion this Wednesday night at 7 pm ET.
**The WWE stock closed at $57.72 on Monday.
**There were a lot of people raving about the match between Arez and El Hijo del Vikingo on Sunday’s RIOT Lucha fundraiser show. The full show is available on the Luchamania Monterrey YouTube site with the match beginning at the 2:12:00 mark.
**Zelo Pro Wrestling is announcing a return to the Turner Hall Ballroom on Saturday, May 1st in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The promotion is putting tickets on sale this Friday at Noon ET and the event will stream on FITE TV.
**Being the Elite Ep. 248 “Better Off Without Me”.
**Here are the matches and segments for Tuesday night’s episode of IMPACT Wrestling at 8 pm ET on AXS TV:
*Kenny Omega and Don Callis to appear
*X Division Championship: Ace Austin (champion) vs. TJP
*Karl Anderson vs. Eddie Edwards
*Deonna Purrazzo vs. Jazz
*A sit-down interview with Matt Cardona
*Tasha Steelz vs. Alisha on “Before the Impact” at 7 pm ET
**The Wrestling Films YouTube channel has footage of one of Buddy Rogers’ earliest matches from 1944 wrestling as Dutch Rohde against Ash Mahoney. In Tim Hornbaker’s excellent “Master of the Ring” bio on Rogers, it states his first known match was on July 18, 1942, against Eddie King. It wasn’t until he went to Texas in 1945 where he took on the name he would forever be known as.
**Terri Runnels is the guest on the PWT Cast this week with Scrump & Stank.
MMA NEWS
**UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski has confirmed he has tested positive for COVID-19 after news that his fight with Brian Ortega was off Saturday’s UFC 260 card. Volkanovski posted the following statement:
So devastated to share that I’ve tested positive for Covid-19 and my fight is off and will be rescheduled. I tested negative leaving Australia, negative before entering the UFC bubble but my latest test was positive. We have worked so hard getting ready for this fight and I’m absolutely gutted this has happened. We followed every policy and process to remain Covid free but it wasn’t meant to be this time. Thanks to everyone here in the States for your support since arriving and to everyone back home and around the world for your positive messages. To my fans, I’m certain I’ll be bouncing back stronger than ever before.
**The main event of this past Saturday’s UFC Fight Night saw Derek Brunson halted the momentum of Kevin Holland, who had gone 5-0 in 2020. Brunson relied on his wrestling and ground and pound with Holland having no solution for getting off his back throughout the fight. Holland was constantly talking throughout the fight, which is entertaining but became a bad idea when he was clearly down on the cards and had no answer for Brunson. I scored the fight 49-46 for Brunson with Holland taking the fifth round. Brunson extended his win streak to four it should elevate him in the middleweight division, which has a slew of interesting fights in the top mix.
**This Saturday’s UFC 260 has lost several fights recently with the largest being the featherweight title fight. There are currently eleven fights listed for the event this Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. The main event is a rematch from January 2018 as Stipe Miocic defends the UFC heavyweight title against Francis Ngannou.
**The UFC has released its Countdown to UFC 260 previewing the main event.
**ONE Championship has announced the signing of 25-year old Gordon Ryan, one of the most decorated grapplers in the world, to compete in both MMA and submission grappling for the promotion. Ryan is an ADCC world gold medalist from 2019 in both the 99 kg and Absolute divisions and won gold at 88 kg in 2018. In No-Gi, he won three gold medals at the 2018 World Jiu-Jitsu Championships at 73.5 kg, 97.5 kg, and Absolutes. His submission grappling record is listed at 143-9-3 with 120 submissions going back to December 2011. Of those losses, only once was he submitted when Felipe Pena submitted him with a rear-naked choke in December 2016.
**UFC 36 took place on this date in 2002 where Josh Barnett defeated Randy Couture to become the UFC heavyweight champion. The title reign would end after Barnett failed his post-fight drug test and wouldn’t fight for the UFC again until 2013. This card was supposed to feature Tito Ortiz and Vitor Belfort fighting but Ortiz suffered a knee injury and was the second time the fight fell apart as the two would not fight until February 2005.
FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Cat Zingano vs. Olivia Parker at Bellator 256 on April 9 (ESPN)
Randa Markos vs. Luana Pinheiro at UFC Fight Night on May 1 (MMA Fighting)
Poliana Botelho vs. Mayra Bueno Silva at UFC Fight Night on May 1 (Ag Fight)
ON THIS DATE
*****
WWE Fastlane 2021 POST Show: Reigns vs. Bryan, The Fiend returns
John Pollock & Wai Ting review WWE Fastlane 2021 featuring Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan for the Universal Championship and the return of The Fiend. We also discuss the New Japan Cup Final featuring a controversial show-closing angle.
*****
MCU L8R: Falcon & Winter Soldier Ep. 1, Justice League #SnyderCut
Wai Ting & WH Park return for the debut of MCU L8R as they review The Falcon & The Winter Soldier Ep. 1 and Justice League #SnyderCut.
*****
TRMPS #26: Moana (2016) w/ Brian Streleckis & Daniel Perry
Make Way, Make Way! This month on TRMPS, Nate Milton & resident Disney demigod Daniel Perry are joined by loyal POSTmark and cinephile, Brian Streleckis to review the 2016 smash-hit, “Moana”!
*****
REWIND-A-SMACKDOWN 3/19/21: Edge wrestles, Hogan & Titus host WM
John Pollock & Wai Ting review WWE SmackDown featuring Edge’s first match on SmackDown since 2011, a preview of Fastlane, WM tickets get off to a strong start, Hulk Hogan & Titus O’Neil host WM & your calls.
*****
THE WELLNESS POLICY #3: Meditation
Join Wai Ting, Jordan Goodman, and the POST Wrestling community for Episode 3 of The Wellness Policy as we discuss the concept and practice of meditation.
*****
STING: ROUNDTABLE (w/ Nate Milton & Kris Ealy)
Martin Bushby is joined by Nate Milton & Kris Ealy for a roundtable discussion about the man called Sting.
*****
REWIND-A-DYNAMITE 3/17/21: Lights Out Steals Show, WM 37 Tickets
John Pollock & Wai Ting review AEW Dynamite with the Britt Baker vs. Thunder Rosa Lights Out Unsanctioned Match, the latest on WrestleMania 37 tickets, and more.
*****
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
