POST IT NOTES
**We are LIVE tonight with Rewind-A-Dynamite at 10:15 p.m. ET following AEW Dynamite at the NOW Arena. Wai Ting and I will go through today’s news items, review Dynamite and then take your feedback to the show. We’ll also mention some of the highlights for the month of September on the POST Wrestling Café. Live access for Rewind-A-Dynamite is available for Double Double, Iced Capp & Espresso members of the Café.
**Wai and I did our first in-person show since March 2020 with this month’s ASK-A-WAI Mailbag Show and spent over 90 minutes answering questions from the mailbag. This month we discussed the potential of AEW running in the UK and Canada, the Matt Hardy vs. Edge program in 2005, WWE being headquartered in Stamford, Damian Priest as a top star in WWE, being in long-term relationships, buying a home, wrestlers fighting the Paul brothers, WWE’s current brand split, Ryerson University changing its name and lots more. This is exclusive for members of the POST Wrestling Café.
**The Wellness Policy will be live for all POST Wrestling Café members on Thursday at 1 p.m. ET. The show will feature Wai Ting & Jordan Goodman being joined by Braden Herrington to discuss dating.
**Thursday will also feature a new MCU L8R with Wai & WH Park reviewing the latest episode of What…If?
POST SCHEDULE
Tonight: Rewind-A-Dynamite (10:15 p.m. ET)
Thursday: The Wellness Policy with Wai & Jordan Goodman (1 p.m. ET for Patrons)
Thursday: MCU L8R with Wai & WH Park (Patreon)
Friday: Rewind-A-SmackDown & Rampage (11:15 p.m. ET for all Patrons)
Sunday: NJPW Wrestle Grand Slam POST Show (Patreon)
Sunday: The Long & Winding Royal Road with WH & Joey Bay (Dr. Death vs. Akira Taue, Carnival ’96)
Sunday: AEW All Out POST Show with John & Wai (Live for Double Double+ Patrons)
WRESTLING NEWS
**Tonight, AEW kicks off its week in Chicago (Hoffman Estates, Illinois) with Dynamite from the NOW Arena for the 100th episode of the program. Below are the announced matches and segments for tonight’s show at 8 p.m. ET on TNT and TSN 2 in Canada:
*CM Punk to appear
*The Young Bucks, Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows vs. The Lucha Bros., Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus
*Santana & Ortiz vs. FTR
*Brian Cage vs. Powerhouse Hobbs
*Orange Cassidy vs. Jack Evans
*Tay Conti vs. Penelope Ford
*Jim Ross interviews Chris Jericho
*Tony Schiavone interviews MJF
**WrestleTix reports that there are just under 5,800 tickets out for tonight’s show at the NOW Arena with less than 400 tickets remaining for Dynamite.
**CM Punk was interviewed by Joseph Staszewski of the New York Post and put to rest any talk of AJ Lee wrestling again:
I just want to say, no. Just because [of] her neck. The reason she stopped wrestling is because of her neck. She’s got a bad neck, you know. I wouldn’t want her to jeopardize [her] health and neither would she, so we’ll put an end to that rumor right now.
In the same interview, he was asked about the potential of Bryan Danielson coming to AEW and the thought of wrestling him again:
That’s somebody that I look at and I go, man wrestling him was always fun. It was never a headache and God I would like to do that again. I would like to do that again soon. It’s a big deal.
The guy was in the WrestleMania main event. He’s freshly removed from television. He’s a big deal. He’s a very, very big deal and I think that signals to pro wrestling fans that this is the place to be. This is what I want to watch.
**Tony Khan appeared on Tuesday Wrestling Tuesday to promote this week’s shows at the NOW Arena and the Fan Fest taking place on Saturday. Khan also spoke about the arrival of CM Punk and more “surprises” to come:
Pretty much every corner of the world was touched by the return of CM Punk and it introduced AEW to fans all over the world. We built this great audience, but CM Punk’s debut here has brought more penetration and interest in the AEW wrestling product than we have ever had. It’s driven our TV shows that were already on the hottest run we’ve ever had and they’ve gotten even bigger, even hotter and it’s only the beginning. That’s why I called it ‘The First Dance’, everyone in the world saw ‘The Last Dance’ and it meant a lot to me growing up in Illinois and having watched all that as a kid and I thought about it and I realized that the perfect way to reintroduce CM Punk to wrestling was ‘The First Dance’ at The United Center because this is the beginning of an epic journey and not the end and it’s driven so much excitement and it’s only the beginning and a lot of great surprises and this is such a special way to come back to Chicago.
**All of those planning to travel on the Chris Jericho Rock ‘N Wrestling Rager later this year will need to be vaccinated, according to the cruise line. It is stated in the guidelines that those on the cruise must submit proof that have completed the full cycle of required doses and for the vaccine to have been administered at least two weeks before the cruise begins. Those that are not old enough to be eligible for the vaccine will not be able to attend the cruise. Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics received a statement from Sixthman, which is a subsidiary of the Norwegian Cruise Lines operation, and confirmed that vaccination requirements apply for everyone on the cruise including talent:
We can confirm that in compliance with Norwegian Cruise Line’s health and safety protocol and 100% vaccine requirement, everyone on board all of our 2021 events on Norwegian Gem including all guests, crew, and talent will be vaccinated against COVID19.
The Rock ‘N Wrestling Rager is scheduled to sail from Miami to Grand Bahama Island beginning October 21st and return on October 25th. Thus far, they have announced AEW performers Britt Baker, Orange Cassidy, Frankie Kazarian, Christopher Daniels, and Colt Cabana for the cruise along with Jericho.
**While speaking to the New York Post, CM Punk revealed the inspiration for the letters written on his shoes, which amplified speculation regarding what the letters meant:
I stole this from LeBron James; a lot of basketball players will write messages on their shoes and stuff. I wrote AC on my shoes and CF on the other foot. AC is Always Chicago and CF is Chicago Forever.
**BT Sport has released Ariel Helwani’s interview with Damian Priest that was taped prior to SummerSlam in Las Vegas. In the interview, Priest spoke about the past year including his call up from NXT and being part of one of the featured matches at WrestleMania teaming with Bad Bunny against The Miz & John Morrison. When Priest was first pitched on the idea of teaming with “Bad Bunny”, he thought they were giving that name to a wrestler and thought it would be confusing with the artist before learning it was, in fact, the real Bad Bunny that would be wrestling.
**AEW will be selling the CM Punk ice cream bars at all three shows this week at the NOW Arena.
**WWE has rescheduled its date in New Orleans after announcing the October 1st edition of Friday Night SmackDown has been moved to the Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore. WWE will return to the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans on Friday, February 11th, 2022 and all tickets sold for the October date will be honored in February.
**IMPACT Wrestling X Division Champion Josh Alexander has left his non-wrestling job to dedicate himself to professional wrestling full-time. In a post, he stated:
I’ve dreamt of this day for longer than I can remember. A day when I don’t need to wake up at 3am to workout before heading to the job site. A day when I don’t rush from my red eye home to a shift. A day where I can finally have time to truly dedicate myself to this business that I love.
It’s a stressful thought running around without that security blanket of guaranteed income. But risks often produce the biggest rewards.
I’ve often wondered what I’d be able to do as a wrestler when I don’t have to work 40+ hours a week on top of the training & travel. It’s a scary thought. I guess now we will finally get to find out.
None of this is possible without the support of the fans. Without IMPACT Wrestling giving me countless opportunities to show I’m a world-class wrestler. Without all the independent promotions that book me & give me time to grow my brand & do what I love.
I can’t thank all of you enough. I’ll continue to show my gratitude by giving everything I have every time I step in a ring, no matter where or for whom.
**Max Caster of The Acclaimed will be performing in Chicago on Thursday night at Bottom Lounge at 9 p.m. local time. Caster will be performing, holding a Q&A, and a meet-and-greet for those in attendance. The event is 17 years of age & over.
**Stardom’s 5* Grand Prix resumes this weekend with shows at Belle Salle Shinjuku Grand on Saturday featuring the huge rematch between Utami Hayashishita and Syuri, Takuma Iroha facing Konami, and Himeka facing Mina Shirakawa in the three Grand Prix matches. They also have a card on Monday at Korakuen Hall with eight matches in the tournament. The Red Stars block is led by Starlight Kid with 7 points followed by Mayu Iwatani with 6, Natsupoi at 5, Giulia & Mina Shirakawa with 4, Koguma, Momo Watanabe, Saki Kashima & Fukigen Death with 2, and Himeka has zero points. The Blue Stars is led by Maika with 7 points, Tam Nakano has 6, Unagi Sayaka has 5, Syuri, Hayashishita, Konami & Saya Kamitani each have 4 points, Takuma Iroha and AZM have 2, and Ruaka has zero. The tournament runs for several more weeks with the finals scheduled for September 25th at Ota Ward Gymnasium.
**NXT UK referee Chris Sharpe has announced that he has signed a new contract with WWE.
**An Indie Gogo campaign has been launched for Brian Blair’s upcoming autobiography “Truth Bee Told”
**Game Changer Wrestling presents Guilty Conscience on Thursday night from the Knights of Columbus Hall in Detroit, Michigan, and streams at 8 p.m. ET on Fite TV with the following card:
*GCW Tag Team Championship: Mance Warner & Matthew Justice (champions) vs. Atticus Cogar & Eric Ryan
*AJ Gray vs. Bobby Beverly
*Allie Katch vs. Cole Radrick
*Effy vs. Eddy Only
*Nick Gage vs. Gregory Iron
*Rickey Shane Page vs. Alex Colon
*Rhyno vs. Tony Deppen vs. Jordan Oliver vs. Starboy Charlie vs. Gringo Loco vs. ASF
**Here is the card for AAW’s Destination Chicago event on Thursday at the Logan Square Auditorium and streaming on Fite TV at 8:30 p.m. ET:
*AAW Heavyweight Championship: Fred Yehi (champion) vs. Josh Alexander
*AAW Heritage Championship: Myron Reed (champion) vs. Ace Austin
*AAW Women’s Championship: Allysin Kay (champion) vs. Jody Threat
*Laredo Kid vs. Arez
*Juice Robinson vs. 1 Called Manders
*Davey Richards vs. Daniel Garcia
**BetOnline has released odds for this Sunday’s AEW All Out card and below are the lines for each match:
*Kenny Omega (-600) vs. Christian Cage (+350)
*Dr. Britt Baker (-300) vs. Kris Statlander (+200)
*Miro (-400) vs. Eddie Kingston (+250)
*The Young Bucks (-225) vs. The Lucha Bros. (+165)
*CM Punk (-500) vs. Darby Allin (+300)
*Chris Jericho (-250) vs. MJF (+175)
*Andrade El Idolo (-300) vs. PAC (+200)
*Jon Moxley (-500) vs. Satoshi Kojima (+300)
*Paul Wight (-600) vs. QT Marshall (+350)
**AEW’s Brandi Rhodes has released her own brand of wine through Nocking Point Wines called “Whoa Baby!” The brand of wine is available now at $24.50 per bottle on the Nocking Points Wine website.
ON THIS DATE
The “All In” pay-per-view took place in 2018 from the Sears Center (NOW Arena) and was the precursor for what would become All Elite Wrestling. The show was able to happen with the blessing of Ring of Honor, who had the U.S. contractual rights for several of the talents including Cody, The Young Bucks, and Hangman Page. The building instantly sold out and became a monumental moment for the current era of professional wrestling combining talents from across the world. Being inside the building that night, it was an amazing atmosphere with the entire arena full before the first pre-show match and everyone stayed in their seats for the post-show speeches from members of The Elite. I think most felt they had witnessed something special and the questions remained regarding what the key players would choose to do with their contracts expiring at the end of the year with Ring of Honor. Of course, the genesis of AEW had already begun with Tony Khan developing plans after a meeting at a party earlier that year with Kevin Reilly (then president of TNT) and selling him on the idea of bringing pro wrestling back to the Turner network.
During a taping of “Prime Time Wrestling” in 1992, Ric Flair regained the WWF Championship defeating Randy Savage in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The match aired two weeks later as Flair would hold onto the title for a month before dropping it to Bret Hart in October in Saskatoon.
*****
SHOT IN THE DARK
John Siino reviews this week’s editions of AEW Dark, AEW Dark: Elevation, NXT UK, 205 Live, NJPW Strong, NWA Powerrr, Ring of Honor, and Main Event in under 15 minutes on Shot In The Dark.
*****
upNXT 8/31/21: “Toe to the Moon”
Braden Herrington and Davie Portman review the August 31st, 2021 edition of WWE NXT headlined by Tommaso Ciampa vs Ridge Holland!
*****
ASK-A-WAI: Ask Us Anything! (September 2021)
John Pollock and Wai Ting answer their patrons’ questions from the POST Wrestling Forum in the September 2021 edition of Ask-A-Wai.
*****
REWIND-A-RAW 8/30/31: Nia vs. Charlotte, NWA EmPowerrr
John Pollock & Wai Ting chat Raw from OKC featuring a bizarre match between Charlotte Flair and Nia Jax. Plus, SmackDown & Rampage numbers, NWA EmPowerrr, Jake Paul-Tyron Woodley & more.
*****
POST PURO Bonus
WH Park is joined by Andrew Thompson to look at Minoru Suzuki’s upcoming American tour, how All Japan should book the Royal Road finals, Stardom’s 5 Star Grand Prix and more.
*****
REWIND-A-SMACKDOWN: Becky Lynch, AEW Rampage
Wai Ting & Kate from MTL discuss Becky Lynch’s return to WWE SmackDown and AEW Rampage featuring Jurassic Express vs. Lucha Bros. in the Tag Team Title Eliminator Final.
*****
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