POST IT NOTES
**We have Wednesday night’s edition of Rewind-A-Dynamite posted on the site with Wai Ting and I reviewing AEW’s Anniversary edition of Dynamite along with all the news including the RAW Draft ratings, the passing of Ryan Smile, Paul Heyman’s interview on ESPN, the latest from Conor McGregor on the fight with Dustin Poirier, and we take your feedback.
**On upNXT, Braden Herrington & Davie Portman have a review of Wednesday’s edition of NXT including several announcements made for the Halloween Havoc special in two weeks.
**On Friday, Wai Ting and I will be releasing a FREE edition of our G1 Climax podcasts with a review of the A Block final from Sumo Hall. The show will be released on both the free feed and the POST Wrestling Café feed
POST SCHEDULE
*Friday: G1 Climax – A BLOCK FINALS (FREE SHOW)
*Friday: Rewind-A-SmackDown (LIVE at 10:15 pm ET for Café members)
*Saturday: G1 Climax – B BLOCK FINALS (Patreon)
*Sunday: G1 Climax – FINALS w/ guest WH Park (Patreon)
WRESTLING NEWS
**ESPN’s Ariel Helwani spoke with Paul Heyman on Wednesday to promote the season premiere of SmackDown and covered several subjects, among them:
*Heyman was asked about no longer serving as the Executive Director of RAW and said he was fine with the decision by Vince McMahon. He said he told McMahon when he took the job that he only wanted it for as long as McMahon woke up happy and excited that Heyman was running RAW, once that feeling eroded he didn’t want to be in a position where McMahon wasn’t happy with Heyman in the spot because he had been there in years past.
*Due to the platform he was on and Helwani co-hosting a show with the man, Heyman heavily pushed a potential match down the road with Daniel Cormier with either Roman Reigns or Brock Lesnar.
*Heyman stated Lesnar wasn’t under contract to WWE and he’ll come back if he sees a challenge for himself and is incentivized to do so. He added that Lesnar is happy being a father and a farmer now.
*He doesn’t think Lesnar will do MMA again and thinks he scratched that itch at UFC 200 when he fought Mark Hunt. Although, UFC definitely thought they had a chance of putting the fight together between Cormier and Lesnar and allowed Lesnar to enter the Octagon after Cormier beat Stipe Miocic in July 2018.
*Heyman was very complimentary of Israel Adesanya, Nick & Nate Diaz, Jorge Masvidal, Conor McGregor, Khabib Nurmagomedov, and especially Amanda Nunes when it came to must-see fighters and would always spend his money for those fighters.
**Variety reported that a WWE Network documentary chronicling the history of The Undertaker and Kane will premiere as part of the Austin Film Festival later this month. The documentary will feature a sit-down discussion involving Mark Calaway and Glen Jacobs regarding their history as their characters beginning in 1997. It will be screened on the final day of the festival on Thursday, October 29th, and premieres on the WWE Network on November 15th as part of a “30 Days of the Deadman” to celebrate the anniversary of The Undertaker character that debuted in November 1990.
**New Japan will embark on its final weekend of the G1 Climax with three nights at Sumo Hall beginning Friday with the A Block Final. The block is essentially down to Jay White, Kota Ibushi, and Kazuchika Okada with each having separate matches on Friday to determine the block winner.
Here is a breakdown of the scenarios from the POST Wrestling statistician Chris Engler:
Jay White wins A-Block in these scenarios:
- White wins A-Block outright if he beats Ishii (White finishes with 14 points and holds tiebreakers vs. Ibushi & Okada who can earn a maximum of 14).
- White & Ishii draw, Ibushi & Taichi draw, and Okada & Ospreay draw (White finishes with 13 points and holds tiebreakers vs. Ibushi & Okada who would finish with 13).
Jay White cannot win A-Block if he loses to Ishii and finishes with 12. If Ospreay beats Okada he would finish with 12 and have the tiebreaker vs. White. If Okada wins or draws against Ospreay then Okada would finish with 13 or more points.
Kota Ibushi wins A-Block in these scenarios:
- Ibushi beats Taichi, White does not win vs. Ishii (Ibushi finishes with 14 and White finishes with 12 or 13. Outcome of Okada vs. Ospreay is moot as Okada could finish with no more than 14 and Ibushi has tiebreaker vs. Okada).
- Ibushi draws vs. Taichi, Ishii beats White, Ospreay beats Okada (Ibushi finishes with 13, White finishes with 12, Ospreay finishes with 12, and Okada finishes with 12)
Ibushi cannot win A-Block if he loses to Taichi. Ibushi would finish with 12 and White already has 12 and the tie-breaker vs. Ibushi.
Kazuchika Okada wins A-Block in these scenarios:
- Okada wins vs. Ospreay, White loses or draws to Ishii, Ibushi loses or draws to Taichi (Okada finishes with 14 or more, White finishes with 13 or less, Ibushi finishes with 13 or less, Ospreay finishes with 10)
- Okada draws vs. Ospreay, White loses to Ishii, Ibushi loses to Taichi (Okada finishes with 13, White finishes with 12, Ibushi finishes with 12, Ospreay finishes with 11)
Okada cannot win A-Block if he loses to Ospreay. Okada would finish with 12 but White, Ibushi, and Ospreay all would finish with at least 12 and all would have tiebreakers vs. Okada.
**Chris Charlton noted that for Will Ospreay to win, he would have to beat Kazuchika Okada while both Jay White and Kota Ibushi lose their matches, and Yujiro beats Jeff Cobb to settle another tiebreaker.
**Here are the matches for the final block matches for Friday and Saturday with both events along with the final taking place at Sumo Hall:
Friday, October 16th at 5:30 am Eastern from Sumo Hall:
*Yota Tsuji vs. Gabriel Kidd
*Jeff Cobb (4-4) vs. Yujiro Takahashi (0-8)
*Shingo Takagi (3-5) vs. Minoru Suzuki (3-5)
*Kazuchika Okada (6-2) vs. Will Ospreay (5-3)
*Kota Ibushi (6-2) vs. Taichi (4-4)
*Jay White (6-2) vs. Tomohiro Ishii (3-5)
Saturday, October 17th at 4 am from Sumo Hall:
*Yuya Uemura vs. Gabriel Kidd
*Yoshi-Hashi (1-7) vs. Toru Yano (3-5)
*Hirooki Goto (4-4) vs. Juice Robinson (3-5)
*Hiroshi Tanahashi (3-5) vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (5-3)
*KENTA (4-4) vs. Tetsuya Naito (6-2)
*SANADA (5-3) vs. EVIL (6-2)
**WWE has announced the following for the season premiere of Friday Night SmackDown this week:
*Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman for the Universal title
*The Street Profits vs. Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode for the SmackDown tag titles
*Jeff Hardy vs. Lars Sullivan
*The return of Daniel Bryan
**Dave Meltzer at the Wrestling Observer site got a further breakdown of the ratings from Friday Night SmackDown featuring the draft last week. While the overall viewership was only up slightly with 2,178,000 viewers, the 18-49 rating was a 0.65 that equals approximately 839,000 viewers and is a strong figure for SmackDown. It indicates that while the draft didn’t impact its entire audience, the demographic most valued did receive an increase due to it.
**After the news of a positive COVID-19 test result from Dan the Dad following last weekend’s events at The Collective, many performers are getting tested. Effy has announced he tested negative but as a precaution is removing himself from a booking tonight in San Antonio, Texas. If there is a small silver lining, it’s that Dan the Dad only worked the Glory Pro show on Saturday, unlike others that worked multiple events. However, it’s unknown how many people he came in contact with between the performers and fans stationed at the Marion County Fairgrounds throughout the weekend in Indianapolis. Others that have reported they have tested negative are Lee Moriarty, Elayna Black, and AJ Gray.
**Mike Johnson of PWinsider.com broke the news that John Cena and girlfriend Shay Shariatzadeh quietly married this past Monday in Tampa, Florida. The couple was first reported to be dating in early 2019 and this would be Cena’s second marriage.
**PWI has released its list of the Top 100 Female Wrestlers with Bayley topping this year’s list followed by Becky Lynch, Asuka, Charlotte Flair, Sasha Banks, Hikaru Shida, Tessa Blanchard, Riho, Io Shirai, and Mayu Iwatani in the top ten. The committee putting together the list and bios includes Kristen Ashly from Bell to Belles, historian Pat Laprade, PWI’s Al Castle, and Andrea Hangst of Sportskeeda Wrestling.
**Sports Business Journal Daily has a story on WWE’s new sponsorship deal with Constellation Brands that includes Corona, Modelo, and Victoria. The deal will include a sponsorship package around next year’s SummerSlam event where the brewer will be tabbed “The Official Beer of SummerSlam”, sponsoring a match on the pay-per-view, as well as appearances and social media engagement involving talent. Part of WWE’s pitch for the deal included a meeting with Ric Flair on South Beach prior to this past year’s Super Bowl and then a test run at this past year’s WrestleMania where Constellation was part of a video package honoring the first responders during the beginning stages of the pandemic.
**Sam Roberts of Sirius and WWE programming has revealed he will be launching his own show on the free version of the WWE Network beginning Thursday, October 22nd. The series will be shot out of his own studio with Roberts stating he will be producing the show, which is separate from his podcast and will be specifically produced for the network. Roberts began working on the WWE’s pay-per-view panels in 2016 and has also done commentary work on Main Event and NXT.
**IWTV has launched a very cool concept with The Masked Wrestler that premiered on Wednesday night. The eight-person tournament will take place over several weeks with all the participants competing under masks with their identities hidden. Once a person is eliminated, they will reveal themselves to the audience. The first episode is available for free:
**The replies do not disappoint:
My old trademark flying nothing
Best photoshop wins a prize (there’s no prize) pic.twitter.com/PoVrZBv6qb
— Drew McIntyre (@DMcIntyreWWE) October 15, 2020
MMA NEWS
**Conor McGregor sent out a message on Wednesday stating he accepts the offer made by the UFC to fight on Saturday, January 23rd with the proposed rematch with Dustin Poirier.
I accept, Jan 23rd is on! My goal is to see this fight take place in Cowboy stadium. Proper Style! Jerry Jones is a friend and the stadium can hold our crowd. I will be ready for Texas and Texas will be ready for my fans! Then Manny.
Earlier that day, Dana White spoke with ESPN’s Brett Okamoto remaining firm on that date for McGregor to fight. Initially, McGregor was adamant about fighting this year either in November or December, although both cards have two championship fights attached to them and McGregor has not shared a card with a title fight other than his since 2015. It is important to note that the fight is not finalized and as of Wednesday, Poirier told ESPN’s Ariel Helwani he had yet to be contacted by anyone at the UFC regarding the fight they are negotiating with McGregor.
McGregor defeated Poirier at UFC 178 in September 2014 when the two were competing at featherweight. After the first round loss, Poirier returned to lightweight and went on a big run by going 9-1 with 1 no contest over his eleven fights before his championship fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov in September 2019. After being submitted by Nurmagomedov, Poirier rebounded with a victory against Dan Hooker this past June. McGregor’s hopes of fighting three times in 2020 were drastically affected by the pandemic. After defeating Donald Cerrone in 40 seconds this past January, McGregor would not get to fight again this year and announced his latest retirement this past June but never removed himself from the USADA testing pool.
**Bellator has its first big card since moving to the CBS Sports Network tonight with Bellator 249 from Uncasville, Connecticut. The main event is Cris “Cyborg” defending her featherweight title against Arlene Blencowe in Cyborg’s first title defense since winning it from Julia Budd in her Bellator debut in January. Blencowe, 37, is the huge underdog with 5Dimes listing her at +850.
Blencowe was originally a boxer that began doing both with her MMA career beginning in 2013 and focused on MMA completely after 2015. She has been fighting with Bellator since 2015 and has won six of her last seven fights. The loss during the streak was to Budd for the featherweight title with Blencowe fighting the champion to a split decision. Blencowe has since earned stoppage wins against Amber Leibrock and Amanda Bell and is coming off a decision win against Leslie Smith last November.
Here is the full card for Bellator 249:
MAIN CARD (10 pm ET on CBS Sports Network & DAZN)
*Cris “Cyborg” vs. Arlene Blencowe for the Bellator featherweight title
*Patricky “Pitbull” Freire vs. Jaleel Willis
*Leandro Higo vs. Ricky Bandejas
*Saad Awad vs. Mandel Nallo
PRELIMINARY CARD (7:15 pm at Bellator.com)
*Albert Gonzalez vs. Kastriot Xhema
*Christian Edwards vs. Hamza Salim
*Kemran Lachinov vs. Kyle Crutchmer
*Joseph Creer vs. Andrew Kapel
*Mike Kimbel vs. Da’Mon Blackshear
*Steve Mowry vs. Shawn Teed
*Logan Neal vs. Aviv Gozali
**Dana White stated on Wednesday that the winner of the Brian Ortega vs. Chan Sung Jung fight on Saturday should get a featherweight title shot. He added Petr Yan vs. Aljamain Sterling is the plan for UFC 256 on December 12th for the featherweight, although ESPN reports that the fight is not finalized yet.
**ESPN’s Brett Okamoto reports that Joaquin Buckley will make a quick turnaround after his jaw-dropping knockout this past weekend against Impa Kasanganay. Buckley is set to return at UFC 255 next month on Saturday, November 21st against Jordan Wright. Buckley, 26, previously competed for Bellator from 2016-18 and then fought twice for LFA before joining the UFC. After a stoppage loss to Kevin Holland in August, he bounced back last weekend with one of the most spectacular knockouts of all-time. UFC president Dana White stated the knockout is the most viewed clip in UFC history with over 60 million views through its social media platforms. Wright is nicknamed “The Beverly Hills Ninja”, has a 10-0 record, and made his UFC debut this past August with a win due to a cut sustained by Ike Villanueva.
**MMA Junkie reported that Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza will replace Omari Akhmedov at UFC 256 on December 12th in a middleweight fight against Marvin Vettori. Souza turns 41 one week before the fight and is coming off decision losses to Jack Hermansson and Jan Blachowicz with his last fight taking place at light heavyweight. Vettori, 27, has won his last three fights against Cezar Ferreira, Andrew Sanchez, and Karl Roberson.
**MMA Junkie also reports that a light heavyweight fight between Anthony Smith and Devin Clark has been agreed to for the UFC Fight Night card on Saturday, November 28th.
**Chris Van Vliet has an interview posted with ESPN’s Ariel Helwani.
ON THIS DATE
G1 CLIMAX PODCASTS
Day 16: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. SANADA
Day 15: Kazuchika Okada vs. Tomohiro Ishii
Day 14: Tetsuya Naito vs. EVIL
Day 13: Kazuchika Okada vs. Shingo Takagi
Day 12: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. EVIL
Day 11: Kota Ibushi vs. Shingo Takagi
Day 10: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. KENTA
Day 9: Kota Ibushi vs. Will Ospreay
Day 8: Tetsuya Naito vs. SANADA
Day 7: Tomohiro Ishii vs. Shingo Takagi
Day 6: Tetsuya Naito vs. Hirooki Goto
Day 5: Kazuchika Okada vs. Jay White
Day 4: Tetsuya Naito vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
Day 3: Kota Ibushi vs. Jay White
Day 2: Tetsuya Naito vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
Day 1: Kazuchika Okada vs. Kota Ibushi [FREE]
*****
REWIND-A-DYNAMITE 10/14/02: AEW Anniversary, Draft Ratings, McGregor-Poirier
John Pollock and Wai Ting review AEW Dynamite with its one-year anniversary show featuring Jon Moxley vs. Lance Archer. We discuss WWE Raw’s draft ratings, Ryan Smile passes away, and more.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2020/10/15/rewind-a-dynamite-10-14-20-aew-anniversary-draft-ratings-mcgregor-poirier/
*****
upNXT 10/14/20: “Spin the Wheel, Make A Deal”
Braden Herrington and Davie Portman review WWE NXT featuring Damian Priest vs Dexter Lumis for the North American Championship, Shotzi Blackheart vs Candice LeRae and more.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2020/10/15/upnxt-10-14-20-spin-the-wheel-make-a-deal/
*****
REWIND-A-WAI #72: WWE Survivor Series 2002
John Pollock and Wai Ting review WWE Survivor Series 2002 featuring Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho vs. Booker T vs. Rob Van Dam in the debut of the Elimination Chamber.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2020/10/13/rewind-a-wai-72-wwe-survivor-series-2002/
*****
REWIND-A-RAW 10/12/20: Lana is the Best, Lana #1 Contender
John Pollock and Wai Ting discuss WWE Raw featuring the conclusion of the WWE Draft, all the roster changes, SmackDown rating, Finn Balor undergoes surgery, and a G1 update.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2020/10/13/rewind-a-raw-10-12-20-lana-is-the-best-lana-1-contender-wwe-draft/
*****
REWIND-A-SMACKDOWN 10/9/20: WWE Draft, New Day Split, Tavel Civil Suit
John Pollock and Wai Ting chat about the first night of the WWE Draft on Friday Night SmackDown with a look at all the roster moves. News: Samantha Tavel’s civil suit, AEW & NXT ratings, and more.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2020/10/10/rewind-a-smackdown-10-9-20-wwe-draft-new-day-split-tavel-civil-suit/
*****
BRITISH WRESTLING EXPERIENCE
Martin & Benno are joined by Sarah Grieve of Eat, Sleep, Suplex, Retweet to discuss RevPro Epic Encounters 2 & 3, the return of NXT UK, and the changes promotions are making following the Speaking Out movement.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2020/10/08/british-wrestling-experience-revpro-epic-encounters-2-3-nxt-uk-speaking-out/
*****
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
