POST IT NOTES
**On Rewind-A-Raw tonight at 11 p.m. ET, Wai Ting and John Pollock review WWE Raw from Louisville and discuss a lot of news from the weekend including the passing of Anthony Johnson, Friday night ratings, and with all of the discussion about Billy Corgan and the NWA, John Siino will join us for a brief chat about Hard Times 3 and the fallout from that show. Tune in tonight on the POST YouTube channel.
**Due to their travel schedule this week, upNXT will be released on Wednesday this week with Davie Portman and John Siino covering NXT.
**John Lister, who has written some excellent books on the history of the U.K. wrestling scene and ECW, joined us for a Q&A on Monday. Lister tackled the U.K. candidates on the ballot for the Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame this year and his thoughts on the changes in 2022 and the process of narrowing his picks. We have also done Q&As with The Cubs Fan on the Mexican candidates and Alan Counihan on the Japanese candidates. Later this week, Pat Laprade will be covering the historical candidates. The deadline for ballots is Tuesday and I’m sure we’ll be discussing the Hall of Fame in the upcoming weeks.
**Thanks to everyone that checked out the UFC 281 POST Show, which was delayed until Sunday afternoon due to issues beyond our control. Davie Portman and Braden Herrington graciously gave up their estate for me to have a place to record with Eric Marcotte and cover Saturday’s card. The show is available to watch on the POST YouTube channel and download on your podcast app by searching for POST Wrestling.
POST SCHEDULE
Tonight: Rewind-A-Raw with John Pollock & Wai Ting (11 p.m. ET)
Tuesday: MCU L8R – Wakanda Forever review with Wai Ting, WH Park, Rich Fann & Nate Milton (Patreon)
Wednesday: Shot in the Dark with John Siino
Wednesday: upNXT with Braden Herrington & Davie Portman
Wednesday: Rewind-A-Dynamite (10 p.m. ET)
Friday: Rewind-A-SmackDown with Kate from Montreal & Nate Milton (Patreon)
Saturday: AEW Full Gear POST Show with John & Wai
Sunday: Wrestlenomics Radio
WRESTLING NEWS
**Fightful Select has reported that an offer was made to Steve Austin for a follow-up match after his successful comeback at WrestleMania 38 this past April in Texas. The site notes that the new regime led by Paul Levesque has extended an offer to Austin but the specifics regarding the event and a possible opponent are not known. Austin will turn 58 years old next month and wrestled his final match on March 30, 2003, at WrestleMania 19 with a nineteen-year hiatus before having the No Holds Barred match with Kevin Owens this year. The match headlined the first night of WrestleMania 38 at AT&T Stadium and was met with overwhelming positivity for how Austin looked and the standard the match lived up to.
Austin recently posted a workout video that led to online speculation about a potential match in his future:
View this post on Instagram
**AEW kicks off a major pay-per-view week with three live events beginning with Dynamite in Bridgeport, Connecticut followed by back-to-back nights at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. Full Gear is going to be a strong indication of where the company stands as a pay-per-view entity without CM Punk, who was its biggest star. The show is being sold on the main event between Jon Moxley and MJF with the idea that it’s a historic, changing-of-the-guard match that will be viewed as MJF’s arrival. MJF compared the match to Bruno Sammartino winning the title from Buddy Rogers in 1963, Dusty Rhodes winning his first NWA title in Florida, Ric Flair in 1981, Hulk Hogan beating the Iron Sheik, Steve Austin beating Shawn Michaels in 1998, The Rock, and John Cena. Except for Flair, all those examples represented the major babyface figure for that territory/promotion and the audience is ready for MJF in that role. The build for Full Gear has left enough hints for people to believe it’s a ruse by MJF and “the devil” is going to show his colors at Full Gear with a link to William Regal outlined on television that could play out. They have gone so far as to push MJF as the babyface that they are referring to Newark as his hometown, hoping for a similar reaction he receives when AEW has gone to Long Island. The idea of pushing an event as “historically significant” usually resonates with fans that view it as important and want to be there for such a big moment, the question is whether this match represents that idea to the pay-per-view as the arena will be full.
Beyond the main event, it’s the expected return of The Elite that should be the other major driver if this show does above expectations. Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks have not been on AEW programming since All Out with no on-screen explanation but the assumption that its audience knows the story. The videos of The Elite have directly pointed the viewer to Full Gear and it’s only a question of whether they outright state they will be having a match or just appearing, but the videos have been tied to Death Triangle and the spot is there to announce the match after Death Triangle defend the Trios belts this Wednesday. The return of the three to AEW comes when ticket sales have slowed in several markets with some exceptions. It will be very noteworthy if Omega and the Bucks are put in front of the media at the press conference and how the situation at All Out is addressed and/or avoided.
**WWE Raw takes place from the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky tonight with only a few things announced. Below are the announced matches and segments for tonight’s show at 8 p.m. ET:
*Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor
*Matt Riddle vs. Chad Gable (this was originally announced as a tag match with Elias & Otis involved but has been changed to a singles match in the advertising)
*MizTV segment
**WrestleTix is reporting approximately 6,900 tickets have been distributed for Raw tonight as they near the capacity allotment for the set-up tonight.
**AEW Full Gear will be airing in select movie theatres across the U.S. through Joe Hand Promotions. The site has listed all the theatres that the pay-per-view will be available in.
**New Japan ran cards outside of Japan over the weekend with its TAMASHII shows. On Friday, they drew an announced crowd of 650 in Christchurch, New Zealand. On Sunday, they drew 500 at Liberty Hall in Sydney, Australia with the shows made up of local talent and New Japan stars. Sunday’s card in Australia was headlined by Taiji Ishimori over Mick Moretti along with Michael Richards & Andrew Villalobos over Ricky South & Caveman Ugg, Aaron Solo over Lyrebird Luchi, KENTA & Jack Bonza & Bad Luck Fale over Paris De Solva, Mat Rogers & Jude London, Robbie Eagles over Carter Deams, Aaron Jake & Unsocial Jordan over Richard Mulu & Jake Taylor, and Jordan Allan-Wright over Mat Diamond.
**All Japan’s World Strongest Tag Determination League or Real-World Tag League began over the weekend. The tournament goes back to 1977 and was among the high points of the calendar every year for All Japan and is still a notable tour but lacks the prestige when All Japan was among the biggest companies in the world. Kento Miyahara & Yuma Aoyagi have won the previous two tournaments but have different partners this year as Miyahara is with Takuya Nomura and Aoyagi is with Jake Lee. Like New Japan, they are running this Tag League in conjunction with a separate tournament as the Junior Battle of Glory began on Sunday, as well. Below are Sunday’s results as both kicked off at Korakuen Hall in front of 794 fans (Courtesy: Purolove.com):
*Tag League: Suwama & KONO over Kento Miyahara & Takuya Nomura
*Tag League: Shuji Ishikawa & Cyrus over Jake Lee & Yuma Aoyagi
*Tag League: Yuji Nagata & Yuma Anzai over Ryuki Honda & Shotaro Ashino
*Tag League: Koji Doi & Kuma Arashi over Jun Saito & Rei Saito
*Jr. Battle of Glory: Hikaru Sato over Atsuki Aoyagi
*Jr. Battle of Glory: Rising HAYATO over Hokuto Omori
*Jr. Battle of Glory: Dan Tamura over Ryo Inoue
**The All Japan tournaments continue on Wednesday at Shin-Kiba 1st Ring with Suwama & KONO vs. Shotaro Ashino & Ryuki Honda, Yuji Nagata & Yuma Anzai vs. Jun & Rei Saito, Shuji Ishikawa & Cyrus vs. Koji Doi & Kuma Arashi in the Tag League. The Jr. Battle of Glory matches include Dan Tamura vs. Hikaru Sato and Atsuki Aoyagi vs. Ryo Inoue.
**El Hijo del Vikingo makes his debut for DEFY Wrestling on 12/17 against Nick Wayne at Washington Hall in Seattle. There will be a Patreon pre-sale this Thursday at 4 p.m. ET and tickets for the public go on sale Friday.
**Tales from the Territories on Tuesday night will focus on Portland with the panel of Len Denton, Princess Victoria, Bushwhacker Luke, and Mike Masters (who has since passed away). The remaining episodes of the season will cover World Class, Jim Crockett Promotions, and Mid-South Wrestling. The shows air on Vice TV at 10 p.m. ET each Tuesday.
**The WWE stock closed at $75.28 on Monday.
**Survey says:
THE SILENCE???
pic.twitter.com/oj9WR5UdhS— abbi (@mjfapologist) November 14, 2022
MMA NEWS
**The passing of Anthony Johnson was a very tragic story as the former UFC and Bellator competitor died at the age of 38. Johnson had been dealing with an illness for quite some time, which Scott Coker had alluded to earlier this year, but I don’t think many realized the extent of it or were aware of it at all. Johnson went through a remarkable transformation in his career, fighting at 170 pounds, which was mind-blowing when you saw how big he competed at later in his career. His prime years occurred as a light heavyweight where he became one of the most devastating knockout artists in the game and stopped several elite fighters including Glover Teixeira at UFC 202. His toughest opponent was Daniel Cormier, who beat him twice in the UFC. Their first fight was in May 2015 and was supposed to be Johnson fighting Jon Jones but that is when Jones was stripped of the title after his hit-and-run incident in Albuquerque. Johnson nearly stopped Cormier and was that close to becoming champion before Cormier recovered and ended the fight. In their second fight, it was marred by the towel controversy the day prior where Cormier held onto the towel to alleviate some of his weight on the scale and made weight. Cormier always denied it but gave up the gag this past summer during his Hall of Fame induction speech and joked about it. After the second loss to Cormier, Johnson announced his retirement and caught many people off guard with the announcement in the octagon. He returned to Bellator but only fought once in 2021 as part of its Light Heavyweight Grand Prix last year.
**UFC 281 was a major success both commercially and in execution. The card drew an announced crowd of 22,845 and a gate of $11,562,807, which they touted as the second highest in the history of Madison Square Garden behind UFC 205 in November 2016 with Conor McGregor vs. Eddie Alvarez. It was one of the best cards of the year with fourteen fights and eleven finishes including two title changes and a fight of the year contender between Dustin Poirier and Michael Chandler. In the main event, Alex Pereira stopped Israel Adesanya in the fifth round to win the 185-pound title and earn his third win against Adesanya when factoring in previous kickboxing fights.
**The direction of a rematch between Pereira and Adesanya would seem like the clear route, as it’s a fight that Adesanya was winning going into the fifth round. I didn’t see any disagreements between Adesanya winning rounds one, three, and four, and Pereira winning round two. Many would favor Adesanya in the match given what they saw in Saturday’s fight. Pereira is among the most dangerous strikers the division has ever seen but is not flawless and Adesanya found openings and showcased his takedown ability, which led to a big round for the former champion in the third.
**Dustin Poirier earned a huge win over Michael Chandler that keeps Poirier’s status right near the top of the lightweight division and the door open for another crack at the title. Islam Makhachev is going to fight Alexander Volkanovski in February and the winner of that fight would presumably, be ready to fight by mid to late 2023. Many have suggested Poirier fight Beneil Dariush next. Dariush has won eight fights in a row but isn’t the type to cause a stir and speak loudly for a title fight. He is a risky fight for anyone near the top of the division but doesn’t come with a big name and that’s his only downside. As a fight, Poirier and Dariush are terrific and would force the hand with the winner deserving of the next title fight. Chandler is now 2-3 in the UFC with five of the most exciting fights you are going to see from one fighter. His style can be criticized because he gets reckless and doesn’t always play to his strengths but it’s the all-action pace and putting everything into his shots that have made him among the most entertaining fighters in the sport. It is hard to imagine Chandler turning things around at age 36 that title aspirations would be dim, although he’s the type of fighter that is the opposite of Dariush and would get the fast-track treatment if he got a pair of quality wins. It was hard to separate this fight from the outcome involving Frankie Edgar without linking the wars these guys are put through and the bill that comes due at the end. Edgar was a guy that made his name off being undersized in his weight class and surviving some hellacious damage and coming back to prevail. He didn’t get knocked out until he fought Brian Ortega in 2018. Since the Ortega loss, Edgar has been stopped four times including being knocked out in his last three. For me, the loss to Cory Sandhagen was such a devastating one and he endured two more knockouts after that. It is absolutely time for Edgar to stop fighting as competing in the bantamweight division at age 41 is not a recipe for success. Edgar will leave the sport among the most respected fighters of his era and seems like an automatic addition to the UFC’s Hall of Fame.
**ESPN Deportes was the first to report that the UFC will add an interim featherweight title when Alexander Volkanovski moves up to fight Islam Makhachev next year. On the same card at UFC 284 in February, Yair Rodriguez (14-3, 1 NC) will fight Josh Emmett (18-2) with the winner becoming the interim champion at 145 pounds and presumably, fight Volkanovski later in the year. Rodriguez has won three of his five fights and is coming off a TKO win against Brian Ortega in July after Ortega sustained a shoulder injury and couldn’t continue in the first round. Emmett has won his last five fights but has only fought three times since 2019. After decision victories against Shane Burgos and Dan Ige, he won a split against Calvin Kattar in his last fight this past June over five rounds. UFC 284 takes place from the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia on the same card where Islam Makhachev defends the lightweight title against Alexander Volkanovski.
**After his loss to Renato Moicano on Saturday, Brad Riddell announced on Monday he is taking an extended break from the sport:
I appreciate everyone that has been supporting me and standing by my side from day one though to these last 2 lacklustre performances. I’m going to step away from competing in MMA for a good while until the fire to compete comes back. I’m not performing close to my capability, and it’s a dangerous job if you’re not fully present . I’ve been training hard for 15 years , in and out of camps with not enough rest or balance and it’s massively taken it’s physical and mental toll on me. There has not been a year since I was 17 that I have not fought .I know this is the right choice because, as I write this, I feel a sense of relief for finally voicing what I had been feeling for awhile. I wanted to have one last crack at MSG to see if the feelings from the last camp were just one-off, but sadly they were not . It’s a hard pill to swallow, as this is what I’ve done my entire life and fighting was my first love . But sometimes you just have to face it .
There are a few over due surgeries to be addressed as well.I will keep training and teaching, but my energy that was all consumed by the sport will be directed at my family. The itch will come back, But a long time off is needed.
*****
WRESTLENOMICS: AEW’s first PPV of the post-CM Punk era
Brandon Thurston and Jesse Collings talk about the latest in wrestling business news including how well Full Gear will sell on pay-per-view and an update on WWE business since Vince McMahon’s resignation.
*****
UFC 281 POST SHOW: Israel Adesanya vs. Alex Pereira
John Pollock and Eric Marcotte review the UFC 281 card from Madison Square Garden featuring Israel Adesanya vs. Alex Pereira for the UFC Middleweight Championship.
*****
POST PURORESU: Battle Autumn, Historic X-Over card, Tag League previews
WH Park is joined by Dream Slam Weekly’s Karen Peterson to talk about the big NJPW Battle Autumn show and how it leads into matches for Historic X-Over and Wrestle Kingdom 17.
*****
REWIND-A-SMACKDOWN
John Pollock & Wai Ting review WWE SmackDown featuring The Usos vs. New Day and AEW Rampage featuring Orange Cassidy vs. Lee Johnson and the Title Eliminator Tournament.
*****
THE WELLNESS POLICY: Religion & Spirituality
Wai Ting, Jordan Goodman, and Neal Flanagan are back with The Wellness Policy to talk religion & spirituality.
*****
REWIND-A-DYNAMITE
John Pollock & Wai Ting are back to review AEW Dynamite from Boston with Bryan Danielson taking on Sammy Guevara in a two-of-three falls match and Saraya’s comeback match is set.
*****
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