POST IT NOTES
**Rewind-A-Dynamite is live at 10:15 p.m. ET tonight with Wai Ting and I reviewing Dynamite from Chicago. We will be going through the entire show with our thoughts and then taking feedback & questions from the POST Wrestling Forum.
**With the start of the new month, it’s the best time to join the POST Wrestling Café as it gives you instant access to all of our shows including the archives. Some highlights for February for Café members:
*Two editions of Rewind-A-Wai – WWF Greatest Hits (1991 Coliseum Video release) and WrestleMania 27 from April 2011
*ASK-A-WAI Mailbag Show
*Audio versions of the POST Daily News show on your podcast app each weekday
*Live and exclusive access for Rewind-A-SmackDown each Friday
*Live access for Rewind-A-Raw & Rewind-A-Dynamite for Double Double+ members
*Access to four years of archives including 102 editions of Rewind-A-Wai
POST DAILY NEWS
Wai Ting and Andrew Thompson discuss:
– Shane McMahon out at WWE
– Brian Kendrick wrestling Jon Moxley tonight
– AEW Dynamite preview
– Former WWE wrestlers entering free agency
– Post-Rumble Raw ratings
– NXT 2.0 thoughts
Audio version for POST Wrestling Café members
WRESTLING NEWS
**Shane McMahon is out at WWE with the news first reported by Ringside News and later confirmed by Dave Meltzer. McMahon was under a talent agreement since his return in February 2016 but was involved in producing the men’s Royal Rumble with reporting that a lot of negativity towards the match fell on McMahon’s shoulders. WWE has yet to comment on the status of McMahon with the company.
McMahon had been scheduled for both Elimination Chamber and WrestleMania 38 with those plans, obviously, out the window now.
It is hard to say what this means for Shane McMahon’s future ties to WWE. In 2009, he made the decision to leave the company on his own with his departure coming just weeks before he turned 40. That was a major decision as McMahon left his role as EVP of Global Media.
**AEW Dynamite returns to Chicago at the Wintrust Arena tonight with one of its biggest matches in months. The long-awaited match between CM Punk and MJF will take place tonight after weeks of promos between two of the promotion’s best talkers. On the surface, it would seem natural that Punk wins in his hometown especially after the beatdown last week and MJF sitting on him cross-legged. That’s one option and would propel Punk into a position to challenge for the AEW championship while you have the easy transition of MJF and Wardlow breaking up. The other is having MJF get the ultimate victory by pinning CM Punk in Chicago and it sets the table for a major rematch, potentially at Revolution with something on the line. A loss isn’t hurting either one as they are two of the top stars in the company, and one promo from either will instantly set them on their next course.
The interesting question is where this match is placed on the show, and how big it is for AEW on free television? AEW has received a major boost in its younger audiences since moving to TBS and has been assisted by a stronger lead-in from Big Bang Theory. For the flow of the show, it would seem tough to put this on first and will make it a chore for anything to follow it. It’s easily the biggest thing on the show, so traditionally you would lean towards ending the show with it. Of the matches announced, I can’t see anything else closing the show.
Here are the matches announced for tonight’s episode at 8 p.m. ET on TBS and TSN 2 in Canada:
*CM Punk vs. MJF
*Malakai Black & Brody King vs. PAC & Penta El Zero M
*Nyla Rose vs. Ruby Soho
*Jon Moxley vs. Brian Kendrick
**Past interview clips involving Brian Kendrick have surfaced with the performer sharing his conspiratorial views that go into some extremely troubling territory including views on the Holocaust and Sandy Hook, which we are not going to repeat here. There are two interviews being brought up with one from 2011 for ‘Truth is Scary’ that was reviewed on the Culture Crossfire website, and a Highspots shoot interview from 2013. Reporter David Bixenspan has compiled some of the troubling clips. A warning that the links contain Kendrick’s thoughts on various subjects that we do not condone.
**USA Today covered Johnny Knoxville’s recent appearance in the Royal Rumble and the promotional tie-in with “Jackass Forever”. Knoxville spoke to the outlet and “vowed revenge” for being eliminated by Zayn in the match. On Tuesday night, they continued their interaction with Sami Zayn crashing the premiere and being removed by security.
.@SamiZayn crashed the red carpet at the #JackassForever premiere and had a confrontation with @realjknoxville and the @jackassworld crew! pic.twitter.com/2TRzxtqf7Q
— WWE (@WWE) February 2, 2022
**Talent from the WWE cuts from last November are now free to work elsewhere with their 90-day no-compete clauses expiring. The cuts from that series included Keith Lee, Nia Jax, Oney Lorcan (Buff Busick), Gran Metalik (Mascara Dorada), B-Fab (Briana Brandy), Ember Moon, Mia Yim, Lince Dorado, Harry Smith, and Eva Marie.
**Bleacher Report has a feature story on TBS champion Jade Cargill. The TBS champion discusses her fandom of professional wrestling growing up, having less than one year of experience since debuting, and also spoke about her daughter being in attendance when she became the first TBS champion last month:
For my daughter to see me [win the title], it’s amazing because she’s been with me along this whole journey, When I started training, she was in the gym with me. It was really astonishing for me to see how she used to watch me in the ring with huge men. At first, she would cry about it. And I’d have to go off to the side and talk to her and tell her ‘You know, mommy’s beaten some butt.’ And now it’s funny how it’s turned. She’s the one who’s yelling and telling me to get on somebody. So, it feels good for her to see me in that light because I want her to know everything I’m doing is for her foundation.
**AEW’s senior vice president of business strategy Chris Harrington spoke with Atlantic City Weekly to promote next week’s Dynamite/Rampage taping at Boardwalk Hall. Harrington spoke about what separates AEW from other promotions that have tried to compete with WWE:
Tony Khan has always been such a huge wrestling fan, and it shows in everything that AEW does. From the beginning, Tony presented this vision of a company where wrestlers would be able to perform matches with a modern style and to cut promos that were authentic to who they are. And that was the vision that attracted the free agents from the beginning — guys like Cody Rhodes, The Young Bucks, Kenny Omega and Chris Jericho.
Authenticity has always been one of our hallmarks. We didn’t have a big marketing campaign or anything else (at the beginning). All we had was social media and the characters themselves, and that was enough to sell the first pay-per-view and get people invested in what we were doing. And the other aspect is choice. In the entertainment world, we don’t have just one successful sitcom or one successful reality TV show. We have many. And there doesn’t have to only be one successful wrestling promotion. There can be choices.
**Greg Oliver at SLAM Wrestling has an excellent story on Terry Justice, who was a newsletter writer for four years and died tragically in 1982 at the age of 32. Justice was a prolific writer with an extensive output of newsletters with myriad titles that he released with ties to the Gilbert family including running their fan club. SLAM’s story includes interviews with Terry’s twin brother Scott, historian Scott Teal, Don Liable, and Timothy Flowers. Justice died on March 21, 1982, when he was driving early in the morning and was struck by an intoxicated driver, who swerved across the centerline with Justice pronounced dead at the scene.
**Tony Deppen is off this weekend’s GCW events. Deppen and his wife just welcomed their second child and the performer stated that he needs to be home this weekend to take care of his wife and children. He added that he would be back for the shows in Los Angeles at the end of the month.
**Chase Owens revealed on Twitter and his Twitch stream that he has signed a new long-term deal with New Japan Pro Wrestling. The Bullet Club member had previously stated his deal expired on January 31st but has said his new one will keep him with New Japan for a long time. Fightful transcribed his comments where he noted that “I’m 31 now. I’m going to be damn near 40 when my contract comes up” without sharing the specific term of the deal. Owens has been wrestling for NJPW since 2014 and last wrestled on the second night of Wrestle Kingdom in the four-way match for the KOPW 2022 title.
**Sean Waltman spoke to SI.com about his return to the ring later this month for GCW.
**AAW has stated that due to Lio Rush’s injury at BOLA this past weekend, he is off this Friday’s event. In Rush’s place, Josh Alexander and Mike Bennett are now scheduled to have a match.
**Progress Wrestling has announced that Jonathan Gresham will defend the ROH championship against Chris Ridgeway at Chapter 128 this Sunday in Manchester, England at the O2 Ritz.
**After several show cancellations and a postponement, New Japan Pro Wrestling has a show scheduled for this Sunday in Chiba as they attempt to resume touring. It’s a busy month for the company with several key dates including February 11th at the Xebio Arena (El Desperado vs. Master Wato), February 12th at Edion Arena in Osaka (Okada & Tanahashi vs. Naito & SANADA, Ishii vs. EVIL), February 19th in Sapporo (Tanahashi vs. SANADA), and February 20th for their second night in Sapporo (Okada vs. Naito for the IWGP world heavyweight title).
**Highspots has noted that its deal with Pro Wrestling Guerrilla for streaming rights has been updated. The lag time for a PWG event to become available on the streaming service will now be six months. They have just added the Mystery Vortex event from August 1, 2021, and was PWG’s first event since December 2019 before the pandemic. That means that the Battle of Los Angeles cards will be posted on Highspots at the end of July. The shows can be seen earlier if you order them on DVD or Blu Ray.
**GCW has updated the date and time of ‘For the Culture’ as part of The Collective series of shows over WrestleMania week. The third edition of the show will now take place on Friday, April 1st at Fair Park at 3 p.m. local time and will be streaming on FITE TV.
**Genichiro Tenryu, one of the biggest stars in Japanese history, turns 72 years old today. When Giant Baba began to phase himself down in the All Japan pecking order, it was Tenryu and Jumbo Tsuruta that hit the ascent and became the top stars of the company. When the Triple Crown was established, Tsuruta and Tenryu were the first two holders of the crown. His divorce from All Japan came in 1990 when Hachiro Tanaka funded SWS and Tenryu left All Japan to become the face of the upstart promotion and led to bitter feelings. It was not until 2000 after the exodus of talent with Mitsuharu Misawa, that Motoko Baba needed to save the company and reached out and brought Tenryu back that summer. Eleven years after winning the Triple Crown, Tenryu won it a second time in October 2000 in a tournament for the title that had been vacated. Tenryu retired in November 2015 after a match with Kazuchika Okada.
**All Japan Pro Wrestling’s next major show is February 23rd at Korakuen Hall where Kento Miyahara defends the Triple Crown against Abdullah Kobayashi. Kobayashi was set to challenge Jake Lee for the Triple Crown until Lee was forced to vacate it. The same show will see Suwama & Shotaro Ashino defend the All Japan tag titles against Koji Doi & Kuma Arashi.
**GHC junior heavyweight champion Daisuke defends his title against Tadasuke on February 9th at Korakuen Hall. That show is headlined by a singles match between Go Shiozaki and Masato Tanaka.
**Masakatsu Funaki makes the first defense of his GHC National title against Masaaki Mochizuki on February 10th at Korakuen Hall in the main event. Shiozaki takes on Naomichi Marufuji on the same show.
**NOAH’s third consecutive night at Korakuen Hall on February 11th features Go Shiozaki vs. Kenoh in the main event.
**NOAH’s major show this month is February 23rd in Nagoya where Katsuhiko Nakajima defends the GHC heavyweight title against Kazuyuki Fujita and GHC junior heavyweight tag champions Yuya Susumu & Seiki Yoshioka defend their titles against NOSAWA Rongai & YO-HEY.
**The Elimination Chamber odds have been released by Bet Online. The odds-on favorite to win the Chamber match is Brock Lesnar (1/1) followed by Bobby Lashley (3/2), Seth Rollins (5/2), AJ Styles (6/1), Riddle (7/1) and Austin Theory is the largest underdog (25/1). Becky Lynch is a -1500 favorite to retain the women’s championship against Lita, who is listed at +575.
**New Wave Pro presents “The Strongest Yard” event on Saturday, February 12th in West Terre Haute, Indiana at the West Vigo Community Center. They have announced Megabyte Ronnie vs. Chuck Stone, Don’t Die Miles vs. Cole Radrick for the New Wave Pro title, Suge D vs. Avery Good, and Dominic Garrini & Kevin Ku vs. Malcom Cambridge & Calvin G. Lewis among the matches advertised.
MMA NEWS
**The UFC is back with a Fight Night card on Saturday from the Apex in Las Vegas. It is far from an overwhelming card on paper. The headliner sees middleweights Jack Hermansson and Sean Strickland square off. Hermansson (21-6) has had setbacks going 2-2 in his last four fights. After a decision loss to Marvin Vettori in December 2020, he defeated Edmen Shahbazyan last May. Strickland (24-3) has been on a roll with five wins in a row going back to October 2018. He earned two decision wins last year against Krzysztof Jotko and Uriah Hall. Middleweight is not a deep division of contenders with the four big fighters in the division meeting at UFC 271. Champion Israel Adesanya defends the 185-pound title against former champion Robert Whittaker and Jared Cannonier takes on Derek Brunson. The winner of Cannonier vs. Brunson should get the next title fight but if Strickland wins, he’ll be on the shortlist of contenders in the division. Whittaker winning the title would also give new life to several middleweights that have lost to Adesanya.
ON THIS DATE
UFC 81 in 2008 featured the promotional debut of Brock Lesnar against former heavyweight champion Frank Mir. After making his MMA debut the prior June, Lesnar was signed by the company and given a tough opponent. While it seemed too ambitious of a fight for Lesnar, it worked out incredibly well and was tremendous matchmaking. Lesnar held his own and had Mir in trouble, made a mistake, and was submitted. Lesnar showed tremendous promise given it was his second pro fight, it rejuvenated the career of Mir after his 2004 motorcycle accident, and the rematch in July 2009 would be one of the biggest fights in company history. Lesnar rebounded with a win against Heath Herring in the summer and won the UFC heavyweight title from Randy Couture in November that year.
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POST NEWS: Shane McMahon out of WWE, Brian Kendrick-AEW
Wai Ting & Andrew Thompson discuss Shane McMahon no longer being with WWE, Brian Kendrick’s WWE release and AEW debut, former WWE wrestlers entering free agency, Raw ratings, and NXT 2.0.
*****
upNXT: I Am The Cake!
Braden Herrington and Davie Portman review the February 1st, 2022 edition of WWE NXT 2.0 featuring Bron Breakker & Tommaso Ciampa vs Legado Del Fantasma.
*****
REWIND-A-RAW: Ronda Rousey Speaks, Elimination Chamber Qualifiers
John Pollock & Wai Ting review WWE Raw with Royal Rumble fallout, the return of Ronda Rousey, Brock Lesnar’s WrestleMania decision, and Elimination Chamber qualifiers.
*****
Wrestlenomics: Who will buy WWE’s next-day rights?
As terms for Hulu’s next-day rights to Raw and Smackdown near expiration, Brandon Thurston and Chris Gullo discuss the possible suitors for that content.
*****
WWE Royal Rumble 2022 POST Show
John Pollock and Wai Ting review WWE Royal Rumble 2022 featuring Men’s & Women’s Royal Rumble matches, Brock Lesnar vs. Bobby Lashley, Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns, and more.
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POST Puroresu: Stardom & Big Japan previews, NOAH & AJPW reviews
This month on POST Puroresu Bonus, WH Park is joined by Joey Bay to talk about recent shows and upcoming events in Japan from Stardom, BJW, AJPW and Pro Wrestling NOAH.
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REWIND-A-SMACKDOWN: Royal Rumble Go-Home, AEW Championship Friday
John Pollock & Wai Ting review WWE SmackDown on the eve of the Royal Rumble and AEW Rampage: Beach Break Championship Friday.
*****
BTWA: WWE No Way Out (2003)
In the first BTWA of 2022, Andrew Thompson is joined by Fightful’s Jeremy Lambert to discuss WWE No Way Out 2003 featuring The Rock vs. Hulk Hogan.
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