POST IT NOTES
**Rewind-A-Dynamite is live at 10 p.m. ET tonight with Wai Ting and I reviewing the show live on the POST YouTube channel. We will also discuss the latest news including NXT 2.0’s anniversary and the closing video, Raw & NXT ratings, and we’ll take your feedback from the POST Wrestling Forum.
**Thanks to everyone that has provided feedback on the latest edition of Pollock & Ting: TALK. This one was different than most that we recorded on the way to Buffalo last week and mainly focused on Wai becoming a father last month, going through that experience, his break from POST and subsequent return, and comparing experiences. I really enjoyed this show to the point I would place it among our best, but fair warning, there is virtually no wrestling discussion, and won’t be for everyone. If you’re a POST Wrestling Café member, the show is available with both audio and video versions.
**I’ll be speaking with Smash Wrestling promoter & wrestler Sebastian Suave on Thursday and we’ll discuss the promotion’s recent return and events in London & Toronto, Ontario this weekend. It will be their first card in Toronto since August 2019.
**upNXT had a roundtable show earlier today with Braden Herrington & Davie Portman welcoming Jason Solomon and Denise Salcedo to discuss one year of NXT 2.0:
POST SCHEDULE
Tonight: Rewind-A-Dynamite with John Pollock & Wai Ting (10 p.m. ET)
Thursday: POST Interview with Smash Wrestling’s Sebastian Suave
Thursday: MCU L8R with Rich Fann & WH Park (Patreon)
Friday: Rewind-A-SmackDown with John & Wai (Patreon)
Sunday: Wrestlenomics Radio
WRESTLING NEWS
**AEW Dynamite takes place from the MVP Arena in Albany, New York with the semi-finals of the Grand Slam Tournament of Champions, which should guarantee two very strong matches given the pairings. This week’s show will give us a better indication of the effect CM Punk, Kenny Omega, and The Young Bucks are going to have. Last week, had the benefit of following the pay-per-view and endless buzz and curiosity on how the locker room situation would be addressed on television. This week, it’s a regular Wednesday with the roster you have moving forward while the four stars are out indefinitely. On Tuesday, WrestleTix estimated that they have approximately 3,500 tickets out for the show.
Here are the matches they have announced for tonight’s episode at 8 p.m. ET on TBS and TSN 2 in Canada:
*Tournament of Champions – Semi-Final: Chris Jericho vs. Bryan Danielson
*Tournament of Champions – Semi-Finals: Jon Moxley vs. Sammy Guevara
*Toni Storm & Athena vs. Dr. Britt Baker & Serena Deeb
**NXT 2.0 averaged 728,000 viewers and approximately 196,000 (0.15) in the 18-49 demographic for Tuesday’s anniversary episode. It was the most-watched episode of NXT since Halloween Havoc last October, although the 18-49 audience dropped 4% from last week and ranked #14 among cable originals. The key was adults 50+ doing a big number at 0.42 and helping grow the overall audience by 6% and its highest performance of the year. In the 18-49 demo, women dropped by 38% from last week with male viewership in the demo increasing by 14%, so it was a polarizing response in the main demo. Adults 18-34 dropped by 17% while Adults 35-49 saw a small increase of 3%. In Canada, the show averaged approximately 56,000 viewers and 33,000 in the 25-54 demo on Sportsnet 360 compared with 58,000 and 27,500 last week. (With data from Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics and Showbuzz Daily)
**NXT 2.0 ended its anniversary show with an indication that a new black & gold logo would be replacing the multi-colored branding of the 2.0 era. The closing video package, voiced by Shawn Michaels, outlined the mission statement of NXT and are not confusing the tiered system of WWE by stating NXT is about developing young talent that can move up to Raw and SmackDown. While the transition from the “black and gold” era to 2.0 has been met with apathy and declining show quality, it is a more streamlined product, especially with Paul Levesque overseeing all creative and fortifying that bridge from NXT to the main roster. There have been varying degrees of success with the past year highlighted by Bron Breakker’s ascension and rapid improvements, Carmelo Hayes (who is probably the top pick of someone that could transition to the main roster immediately), The Creeds (who still need seasoning but the upside is huge), Tony D’Angelo (a very stereotypical character he was assigned but embraced it and made his own over the past year), and Roxanne Perez (another that could move to Raw and SmackDown and be a top babyface). It has also put talent on national television well before they’re ready and it remains to be seen if it’s a long-lasting effect with the audience seeing them at a beginner level and pigeon-holes their perception. Inevitably, the match quality was going to decrease, and it has, but the big shows are still respectable and only fall flat when compared to the TakeOver series, which were consistently the best shows the company has ever produced. The next phase seems to be an amalgamation of “black & gold” with the mandate of the past year. It also suggests more integration of NXT on the main shows such as Raw heavily promoting the steel cage match the night prior, and with Solo Sikoa winning the North American title, the potential of having one of your champions on SmackDown each week carrying one of your titles. The WWE and AEW war have proven that brand attachment is key and that wrestling fans only have so many hours in a given week and it’s resulted in a perception of less interest in other promotions including New Japan and IMPACT Wrestling. Simply having a good weekly product doesn’t ensure success because the quality is high across the board and it’s more so today with WWE putting greater emphasis on stronger wrestling matches on television each week and having the momentum to bring back lapsed fans.
**EC3 spoke with Steve Fall of NBC Sports Boston on his recent allegations that Patrick Clark (the former ‘Velveteen Dream’) had attempted to record video on his phone inside of a bathroom during a party at EC3’s home without consent from those he was secretly attempting to film. In this new interview, EC3 stated that people within WWE were aware of this occurred: (Transcribed by Jeremy Lambert at Fightful)
I’m not one to share it and gossip. It was known. Talent was involved. It’s a wild tale and a lot of people did know. Even being part of it where I was kind of at the forefront of it because it was my home, taking it up the chain, being there, getting there, people sometimes don’t want the boat rocked from an office perspective. Sometimes, talent is doing well and drawing money, they’ll be protected. At the same time, I’m an adult male who does not need someone else to fight my battles. ‘This sucks. I don’t like it.’ Guys that were involved, ‘this happened.’ Ridicule from peers. No lesson was learned. Why it came up here and now, somebody asked. Nobody ever asked. I was asked about him and when it rains it pours.
**The annual PWI 500 a.k.a. “People Losing Their Minds” list was revealed on Wednesday with the top ten of Roman Reigns, Kazuchika Okada, CM Punk, Hangman Page, Bobby Lashley, Cody Rhodes, Bryan Danielson, Hijo del Vikingo, Big E., and Jonathan Gresham. The criteria include win-loss records, their opposition, influence, and technical ability, so you have to approach the rankings closer to an MMA rankings system and use pre-determined outcomes as a key metric. The reality is that it’s the most popular ranking of its kind and so many wrestlers grew up reading PWI and the various “Apter Mags” that it’s a bigger deal for some within the industry to be on the list than the audience. Any list is partially derived from the arguments it will elicit and that’s part of the charm of it is watching people be so passionate about someone’s ranking and yet, no perfect list exists when grading something so subjective as professional wrestling that is hard enough just to agree on relevant criteria of which one is judged. The digital version of PWI with the entire list is available today and hits newsstands on October 4th. The Women’s 150 list will be released on October 27th and the Tag Team 100 on December 8th.
**CMLL presents its biggest show of the year with its 89th Aniversario card this Friday night from Arena Mexico. This year’s main attraction is unknown. There will be a one-night tournament involving four teams consisting of Atlantis & Fuerza Guerrera, Averno & Ultimo Guerrero, Atlantis Jr. & Stuka Jr., and Soberano Jr. & Dragon Rojo Jr. The team that emerges from the tournament will meet in the main event in either a Mask vs. Mask or Mask vs. Hair match depending on the pairing. The biggest match would be Atlantis and Fuerza Guerrera because they are the two legends but it begs the question of why you would go about it this route rather than straight up promoting a match that big if you were going to deliver it. The card includes La Jarochita vs. Reyna Isis in a Mask vs. Mask match, Mistico vs. Angel de Oro vs. Volador Jr. in the finals of the Copa Independencia tournament, Negro Casas & Star Jr. & Titan vs. Hechicero & Euforia & Mephisto, and a Trios match with Dulce Gardenia, Espiritu Negro & Rey Cometa vs. Arkalis, Guerrero Maya Jr. & Stigma.
Thecubsfan from Luchablog will be filing a report for POST Wrestling on Friday night with a full review and rundown of the Aniversario event.
**IMPACT Wrestling has announced the following matches for Thursday’s episode at 8 p.m. ET on AXS TV:
*IMPACT Tag Team Championship: Mike Bennett & Matt Taven (champions) vs. Josh Alexander & Rich Swann
*X Division Championship: Speedball Mike Bailey (champion) vs. Mascara Dorada
*The Good Brothers vs. Motor City Machine Guns
*Killer Kelly vs. Alisha
*Moose & Steve Maclin vs. Taurus & Crazzy Steve
*Before the Impact: Raj Singh vs. Yuya Uemura
**MLW’s Super Series takes place this Sunday in Norcross, Georgia, and has added a featherweight title match with Taya Valkyrie defending the championship against the winner of Lady Shani vs. Lady Flammer vs. La Hiedra vs. Reina Dorada.
**Kris Ealy has an article on the Wrestlenomics site discussing the issues AEW is facing and how to best address them.
**Pro Wrestling NOAH’s next major card is Sunday, September 25th at Dolphin’s Arena in Nagoya featuring Kenoh defending the GHC Championship against Kaito Kiyomiya after Kiyomiya won the N-1 Tournament. The semi-final features Keiji Muto teaming with Kazuyuki Fujita to take on Masakatsu Funaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima, plus HAYATA vs. YO-HEY for the Jr. Heavyweight title, Hideki Suzuki & Timothy Thatcher vs. Takashi Sugiura & Satoshi Kojima for the GHC tag titles, and Yoshinari Ogawa & Chris Ridgeway vs. Atsushi Kotoge & Seiki Yoshioka for the GHC Jr. Heavyweight tag titles among the top matches. The card will stream live on Wrestle Universe that morning.
**Ian Douglass has just released a book covering the history of professional wrestling in the Bahamas. Bahamian Rhapsody: The Unofficial History of Pro Wrestling’s Unofficial Territory, 1960-2020 is now available through Amazon with forewords written by Steve Keirn and Kevin Sullivan. Below is the description:
Spanning 60 years and covering professional wrestling events that took place on both land and sea, this book includes original input and interviews from more than 40 wrestlers, writers, and other noteworthy individuals who played meaningful roles in the progression of the professional wrestling history of the Bahamas.
Interviewed wrestlers include Dory Funk Jr., Steve Keirn, Kevin Sullivan, Brian Blair, Joe Malenko, Princess Victoria, Mike Rotunda, Jimmy Garvin, Silas Young, Adam Page, and even Bahamian wrestling stars and legends like “The Sensational Bahamian Grappler” Arnsel Johnson and Omar Amir.
MMA NEWS
**The family of Elias Theodorou is encouraging those to donate to two foundations launched in Elias’ memory in lieu of flowers. The Theodorou Foundation and Higher Access were launched to assist those without the financial resources to gain access to the medical system and seek medical support.
A GoFundMe campaign has been launched to help get both foundations off the ground. Theodorou instructed his family and close friends to launch the foundations where a portion of his estate will be used as seed capital for the two groups.
So far, they have raised over $18,000 with a goal set at $40,000.
Theodorou passed away on Sunday at the age of 34 after battling colon cancer, which metastasized. There will be a viewing tonight in Woodbridge, Ontario.
**The Nevada Athletic Commission is launching an investigation into the issues that led to the cancelation of the UFC 279 press conference last Thursday in Las Vegas. There were a series of incidents that were alleged to have happened beginning with an incident between Khamzat Chimaev and Kevin Holland and later with Chimaev and Nate Diaz’s team with water bottles supposedly being thrown. Holland and Daniel Rodriguez were brought out in front of the audience before Dana White shut down the press conference. The UFC did not issue any fines or suspensions for the incidents.
Commission chairman Stephen J. Cloobeck wrote:
If the Nevada Athletic Commission determines that licensees acted improperly, we will initiate appropriate disciplinary action against all involved.
The Nevada Athletic Commission will strictly discipline all licensees for all incidents of physical violence between athletes outside the ring or cage, up to and including purse forfeiture, revocation or suspension of any current license, denial of applications for new applicants, or denying future license renewals
**The UFC has moved Sodiq Yusuff from this Saturday’s Fight Night event and has been added to the October 1st card with a new opponent. Yusuff was scheduled to fight Giga Chikadze this weekend but was canceled after Chikadze withdrew due to injury. Yusuff is now set to fight Don Shainis at the Fight Night event headlined by Mackenzie Dern vs. Yan Xiaonan.
**The PFL has announced the signing of Biaggio Ali Walsh to an amateur contract and is set to fight in another amateur fight on the PFL tournament finals card in November. Walsh is the grandson of Muhammad Ali and trains at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas where he has a 1-1 amateur record in the sport. The PFL is stating that he plans on turning pro sometime next year.
**The results from this week’s edition of Dana White’s Contender Series from the UPC Apex:
*Daniel Marcos def. Brandon Lewis by unanimous decision (30-27 all)
*Bruna Brasil def. Mamic Mann by KO at 4:33 of Round 2
*Trevor Peek def. Malik Lewis by TKO at 2:37 of Round 2
*Ikram Aliskerov def. Mario Sousa by kimura at 2:09 of Round 1
*Farid Basharat def. Allan Begosso by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27)
All five winners were awarded contracts at the end of the show.
**The UFC Fight Night lineup for this Saturday at the Apex in Las Vegas:
MAIN CARD (7 p.m. ET on ESPN+)
*Cory Sandhagen (14-4) vs. Song Yadong (19-6-1)
*Chidi Njokuani (22-7) vs. Gregory Rodrigues (11-4)
*Bill Algeo (16-6) vs. Andre Fili (21-9)
*Joe Pyfer (9-2) vs. Alen Amedovski (8-3)
*Rodrigo Nascimento (9-1) vs. Tanner Boser (20-8-1)
*Anthony Hernandez (9-2) vs. Marc-Andre Barriault (14-5)
PRELIMINARY CARD (4 p.m. ET on ESPN+)
*Pat Sabatini (17-3) vs. Damon Jackson (21-4-1)
*Aspen Ladd (9-3) vs. Sara McMann (13-6)
*Louis Cosce (7-1) vs. Trevin Giles (14-4)
*Daniel Zellhuber (12-0) vs. Trey Ogden (12-5)
*Mariya Agapova (10-3) vs. Gillian Robertson (10-7)
*Tony Gravely (23-7) vs. Javid Basharat (12-0)
*Cameron VanCamp (15-6-1) vs. Nikolas Motta (12-4)
**At the post-fight press conference on Tuesday night, Dana White got upset over accusations that everything that went down in the lead-up to UFC 279 was a conspiracy to make for a better fight card (it wasn’t). Anyway, White thought Pat Miletich was the one questioning the legitimacy of the events that led to the main card fights being switched around, but then a media member informed him it was Brendan Schaub who questioned the legitimacy of the issues:
Credit where it's due, this was hilarious. Wait for it pic.twitter.com/TQy6ulfSF2
— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) September 14, 2022
On Wednesday, Brendan Schaub responded:
Oh god… here we go again. I’ve been nothing but cool and thought you’d learn from the last time you mentioned my name and got destroyed. Unfortunately, not surprised you’re a bully. Always have been. You put on a pair of designer jeans and some “hip sneakers” and think you’re cool. You’re still a dork with a frat bro vocabulary. Calling me and numerous people “dummy” “dumbass” “f*cking idiot” cause we have questions about “the chaos” at UFC279? Also, no one is talking about *gate tickets,* I was referring to *pay per view buys* and how UFC 279 was *trending*… which you don’t release to the public, but will say “it went F*ckin great bros!” Sorry, we just don’t buy what you’re telling us after lying numerous times but the sheep media you pick to attend events don’t have the balls to call you out. Just in the recent press conference you were caught lying about extra compensation to the fighters. You need a reality check. You’re surrounded by “Yes men.” You’re not special, you’re not original. You’re a low budget Vince McMahon. Every move you make is a copy cat of that dude. Only thing you have in common is you’re both on steroids and dress like assholes. Need I remind you, your origin story is a failed cardio kick boxing instructor who had two rich friends in high school to fund this business. Now go make a “cool” video with the Nelk boys to stay relevant or have your PR team come up with a good press story to distract the fans away from fighter pay and how they have to wear those awful under armor Rock shoes and won’t see a dime. “Dummy”
Quit stealing my shows on thicccboy network and recreating it on Fight pass, k?
Also… leave Pat Miletich alone.
*****
upNXT: NXT 2.0 Year in Review w/ Denise Salcedo & Jason Solomon
Braden Herrington and Davie Portman are joined by Denise Salcedo and Jason Solomon to discuss the one-year anniversary of NXT 2.0.
*****
SHOT IN THE DARK
John Siino reviews this week’s editions of AEW Dark, AEW Dark: Elevation, IMPACT Wrestling, NXT Level Up, NJPW Strong, NWA USA, NWA Powerrr, and WWE Main Event in under 15 minutes on Shot In The Dark.
*****
upNXT: 2.0 One Year Anniversary
Braden Herrington and Davie Portman review the One Year Anniversary of NXT 2.0 from September 13th, 2022 headlined by Carmelo Hayes vs Solo Sikoa for the NXT North American Championship.
*****
POLLOCK & TING: TALK (Vol. 6)
John Pollock & Wai Ting drive down the QEW to AEW in Buffalo, NY as they share their individual experiences with new parenthood.
*****
REWIND-A-RAW
John Pollock and Wai Ting chat WWE Raw from Portland featuring Edge vs. Dominik Mysterio, new women’s tag champions, and a home invasion by Dexter Lumis.
*****
WRESTLENOMICS: All Out 2022 buys, WWE stock target
Early reports for All Out PPV buys are measuring well under the record number for last year’s event. We estimate revenue related to the event. CM Punk, the Young Bucks, and Kenny Omega have been suspended. Plus, an estimate of WWE’s financial outlook and price target.
*****
UFC 279 POST SHOW: Nate Diaz vs. Tony Ferguson
John Pollock and Eric Marcotte review UFC 279 card featuring Nate Diaz submitting Tony Ferguson and a dominant win by Khamzat Chimaev.
*****
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