POST IT NOTES
**Rewind-A-Dynamite is live at 10 p.m. ET tonight with Wai Ting being joined by guest co-host Bruce Lord to review the show from Chicago coming off Full Gear. The two will be discussing all the latest news and take your feedback. They will be streaming live at YouTube.com/POSTwrestling.
**For POST Wrestling Café members, the latest Rewind-A-Wai covers NWA TNA #25 from December 11, 2002. Wai Ting and I dive into year one of the company as they ran Wednesday night pay-per-views from Nashville. We pick things up after the on-screen debut of Vince Russo with the promotion and the formation of S.E.X. and whether Jeff Jarrett is aligned with Russo, reaction to an extremely controversial promo by Roddy Piper from the week prior, the paranoia developing among performers, Jarrett defending the NWA World Championship against Curt Hennig, a great match between AJ Styles and Amazing Red, and a not so great Chair & Chain match. Plus, we go through the news from that week in 2002 including Hiroshi Tanahashi recovering from a stabbing, a mainstream newspaper gaining access to the WWE writer’s room, the WWA staging a tour in Europe, and Paul Heyman appearing on TSN’s Off the Record with Michael Landsberg. This show is available now for all POST Wrestling Café members along with the entire archives going back to 2017.
**POST Wrestling’s “Scarborough Dad” Mike Murray is raising money for Movember and you can help him reach his goal of $500. For confirmation of his superb mustache-growing ability, Mike can be found most weekdays at BMV Books at 471 Bloor Street West in Toronto.
**upNXT is outside of The BDE this week with Braden Herrington & Davie Portman recording from their new location and covering Tuesday’s episode.
POST SCHEDULE
Tonight: Rewind-A-Dynamite with Wai Ting & Bruce Lord (10 p.m. ET)
Friday: Rewind-A-SmackDown with John Pollock & Wai Ting (Patreon)
Saturday: WWE Survivor Series POST Show with John & Wai
Sunday: Wrestlenomics Radio
WRESTLING NEWS
**AEW Dynamite returns to Chicago at the Wintrust Arena tonight for the annual Thanksgiving Eve edition of the show. Each year, Dynamite has been hurt on this night of the year due to the holiday, although this is the first year that the holiday show is airing right after a pay-per-view and the unique draw of The Elite wrestling on TV for the first time since September.
From a live perspective, WrestleTix reported approximately 5,450 tickets distributed as of Tuesday. The last time they ran the Wintrust Arena was on February 2nd for Dynamite but that show had CM Punk vs. MJF and AEW has run Chicago multiple times since that card with Forbidden Door at the United Center and All Out at the NOW Arena. Obviously, the reaction to The Elite will be an interesting element of the show. I highly doubt there will be anti-CM Punk chants given the city, and it’s certainly possible that The Elite are booed, and that will be fine as they can work the match as heels and actually makes the match completely different than Saturday’s version. Based on Being the Elite, they isolated the “F—k CM Punk” chant from the Prudential Center and will be taken by some as a not-so-subtle way of encouraging the chant to continue in other arenas by The Bucks endorsing it on their show.
The show also has William Regal addressing his alliance with MJF after Saturday’s ending, which was the major angle on the show. MJF noted at the press conference that he was going to be on a movie set on Monday morning, so he’s balancing “The Iron Claw” filming. His next title defense is scheduled for 12/14 at Winter is Coming against the winner of tonight’s match between Ricky Starks and Ethan Page.
Here is the announced list of matches and segments for tonight’s show at 8 p.m. ET on TBS and it is listed for TSN 3 (not TSN 2 like normal) in Canada:
*Match #2 in the Best-of-Seven: Death Triangle vs. Kenny Omega & The Young Bucks
*World Title Eliminator Final: Ethan Page vs. Ricky Starks
*ROH Championship Match: Chris Jericho (champion) vs. Tomohiro Ishii
*All-Atlantic Championship Match: Orange Cassidy (champion) vs. Jake Hager
*William Regal to speak
*Footage of Jade Cargill’s run-in with Bow Wow
**MJF is teasing that he might show up at UFC 282 next month in Las Vegas. The new AEW champion exchanged in a back-and-forth with lightweight fighter Paddy Pimblett after Pimblett responded to an Instagram post calling MJF a “clown” and the wrestler responding about how dangerous pro wrestling is and not being respected. Pimblett is fighting Jared Gordon on the pay-per-view card on December 10th, which is an interesting date with ROH Final Battle running in the afternoon and NXT Deadline in the evening. If this MJF story gains traction, it would seem like an opportunity for AEW to steer people toward the UFC card with the idea of the two shooting an angle at the event. Pimblett is sponsored by Barstool Sports, which is an outlet that has heavily featured MJF on its various outlets over the years.
**Due to Thanksgiving in the U.S., viewership data over the next week will be delayed. Tonight’s Dynamite figures will be released on Monday afternoon, SmackDown & Rampage will be released on Tuesday afternoon, and Raw numbers will be out next Wednesday before everything is back on schedule. We will have the NXT data posted tonight, as usual.
**Mia Yim was interviewed by Cageside Seats and spoke about the “Michin” nickname that has been introduced on television over the past two weeks:
Michin is Korean for crazy, and I am half Korean, half African American. I always do what I can to represent both my heritage and Michin is something that my mom has called me since I was a kid. It holds something special to me because it’s something that I’m used to growing up.
It is Korean thing, so if you’re not a part of the culture, if you don’t understand the culture, it’s not gonna make sense. So I get why a lot of people were confused or didn’t like it, but for me and my family, it’s something special.
**NJPW’s Super Jr. Tag League continued in Tokyo on Wednesday at the Arena Tachikawa Tachihi with an announced attendance of 849. In the main event, junior tag champions TJP & Francesco Akira beat El Lindaman & Alex Zayne in 18:56, Chris Bey & Ace Austin beat DOUKI & Yoshinobu Kanemaru in 11:10, YOH & Lio Rush beat Robbie Eagles & Tiger Mask in 10:13, BUSHI & Titan of LIJ over Ryusuke Taguchi & Clark Connors in 10:02, and KUSHIDA & Kevin Knight picked up their first win of the tournament against SHO & Dick Togo in 9:34. (Courtesy: Purolove.com)
**TJP & Akira and Ace Austin & Chris Bey are both 2-0 with four points and tied for first after the first two round-robin matches. There is no show on Thursday and Friday’s card in Gunma has Akira & TJP vs. Titan & Bushi in the main event, Ace Austin & Chris Bey vs. SHO & Dick Togo, Robbie Eagles & Tiger Mask vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & DOUKI, Alex Zayne & El Lindman vs. Ryusuke Taguchi & Clark Connors, and KUSHIDA & Kevin Knight vs. Lio Rush & YOH in the tag league matches.
**Dante Leon will defend the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship against Amakusa on 12/23 at Shinjuku Face. It will be Leon’s first defense of the championship since beating Ninja Mack on 11/10.
**BetOnline has released the following odds for the Survivor Series:
*The Bloodline (-160) vs. The Brawling Brutes, Drew McIntyre & Kevin Owens (+120)
*Team Bayley (-350) vs. Team Belair (+225)
*Seth Rollins (-150) vs. Austin Theory (+150) vs. Bobby Lashley (+400)
*Ronda Rousey (-4000) vs. Shotzi (+850)
*AJ Styles (-400) vs. Finn Balor (+250)
**AEW and Yuke’s have released a teaser for their video game featuring game footage of Jon Moxley.
**The latest episode of MLW Insider features an interview with its featherweight champion Taya Valkyrie.
MMA NEWS
**Former teammates Artem Lobov and Conor McGregor are in a legal dispute regarding Lobov’s belief that he is owed money from the success of McGregor’s Proper No. 12 whiskey. According to the Irish Independent, Lobov has launched a lawsuit against McGregor stating he played a substantial role in the development of the brand and steering McGregor towards developing whiskey, instead of vodka.
Lobov is being represented by attorney Dermot McNamara, who issued the following:
My client is a retired professional fighter with a master’s degree from DCU in Finance and Capital Markets. We have issued High Court proceedings on his behalf to enforce an agreement with Mr McGregor regarding the Proper No. 12 whiskey brand. My client was the initial creator and co-founder of the concept to launch an Irish whiskey brand associated with Mr. McGregor. As these matters are now before the court, we will not be making any further comment.
McGregor’s representative Karen J. Kessler responded:
Proper No. 12 Irish Whiskey was created, developed, branded and tirelessly promoted by Conor McGregor.
In 2021, McGregor sold the majority stake in the whiskey brand for a reported figure of $600 million. Lobov claims that he developed a plan for the whiskey and took several meetings before presenting a plan to McGregor with Lobov turning down the $1 million that was offered by McGregor at the time for his work.
**This Friday, PFL attempts its first pay-per-view event with the finals of the 2022 season at the Hulu Theatre in New York City. The pay-per-view is riding on the back of Kayla Harrison, the company’s biggest star and whose contract they matched to retain her rights earlier this year. From every account, this pay-per-view is expected to do very poorly and is not a pay-per-view level promotion yet with an asking price of $49.99. The main card is scheduled to hold seven fights including six tournament finals:
*Women’s Lightweight Final: Kayla Harrison vs. Larissa Pacheco
*Featherweight Final: Brendan Loughnane vs. Bubba Jenkins
*Heavyweight Final: Ante Delija vs. Matheus Scheffel
*Non-Tournament Fight: Julia Budd vs. Aspen Ladd
*Lightweight Final: Stevie Ray vs. Olivier Aubin-Mercier
*Welterweight Final: Sadibou Sy vs. Dilano Taylor
*Light Heavyweight Final: Rob Wilkinson vs. Omari Akhmedov
**Kayla Harrison was on The MMA Hour on Wednesday and got emotional when being asked about what she has gone through this year. She noted there have been health issues but didn’t want to go into the details yet. She said she has felt both “scared” and “at peace” this year with what she has been dealing with. Harrison said she is good to compete on Friday when asked for a follow-up by host Ariel Helwani.
Harrison stated that her contract with the PFL ends in 2023 and there is no matching period that follows the expiration of the deal. She reiterated that she will not be competing in any more tournaments for PFL and cutting weight that many times in one year. She was also open about the fact she was “annoyed” about the way PFL’s first pay-per-view was promoted with a lack of lead time and she would have liked to promote it better. Harrison does not receive a cut of the pay-per-view and is paid the same regardless of how it performs. There are few subjects in MMA that are more open and honest than Harrison in these types of settings.
**The UFC is off this weekend and then runs three more events before the end of the year. On December 3rd, Fight Night will be on the road with a card at the Amway Arena in Orlando with Stephen Thompson vs. Kevin Holland in the main event, the following weekend is UFC 282, and the final card of the year is December 17th at the UFC Apex with Sean Strickland vs. Jared Cannonier.
**ESPN reports that Derek Brunson is off next weekend’s UFC Fight Night card in Orlando. Brunson will be replaced by Roman Dolidze (11-1) against Jack Hermansson (23-7) on the main card of the show. Dolidze is coming off three straight wins including two knockout victories this year against Kyle Daukaus and Phil Hawes. Hermansson is coming off a decision win against Chris Curtis this past July.
**Brett Okamoto at ESPN is also reporting that a welterweight fight between Gilbert Burns (20-5) and Neil Magny (27-9) is expected to be added to UFC 283 on January 21st in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Burns fought for the UFC welterweight championship in February 2021 where he was stopped by Kamaru Usman and came back with a win against Stephen Thompson by decision and is coming off a decision loss to Khamzat Chimaev this past April. Magny has been fighting for the UFC since 2013 and just defeated Daniel Rodriguez by submission earlier this month.
ON THIS DATE
WWF presented its third edition of the Survivor Series in 1989 as they took the card to the Rosemont Horizon in Illinois. WWF champion Hulk Hogan teamed with Demolition & Jake Roberts to beat The Million Dollar Team of Ted DiBiase, Zeus, The Barbarian & The Warlord after a successful SummerSlam build incorporating Zeus. However, it was Ultimate Warrior that closed the show with Jim Neidhart & The Rockers beating Andre the Giant, Haku, Arn Anderson & Bobby Heenan with Warrior being poised as the successor to Hogan, which would be the headline attraction for the following WrestleMania in 1990.
Bob Backlund regained the WWF championship at the Survivor Series in 1994 when he defeated Bret Hart in a Submission Match. The star of the match was Owen Hart, pleading with his mother Helen to throw in the towel as Bret was trapped in the chicken wing submission and it was a ploy to cost his brother the title. For Backlund, it occurred nearly eleven years after losing the title in January 1984 to end his nearly four-year title reign.
At 55 years of age, Sting (Steve Borden) made his first on-screen appearance for WWE on this date in 2014 at the conclusion of the Survivor Series after Team Cena defeated Team Authority. The arrival of Borden followed his involvement with the 2K video game and was a precursor to Sting’s match with Triple H the following March at WrestleMania 31. Borden was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2016 and eventually left the company, joining AEW in December 2020.
*****
upNXT 11/22: Flip The SCRYPTS
Braden Herrington and Davie Portman chat all about the November 22nd, 2022 edition of WWE NXT headlined by Wes Lee vs Carmelo Hayes for the NXT North American Championship.
*****
REWIND-A-WAI #120: NWA-TNA PPV #25 (12/11/02)
John Pollock & Wai Ting enter the Asylum with a review of NWA-TNA #25 from December 11, 2002, featuring AJ Styles vs. Amazing Red and Jeff Jarrett vs. Curt Hennig.
*****
REWIND-A-RAW
John Pollock and Wai Ting review WWE Raw from Albany, New York featuring Rhea Ripley vs. Asuka, and we discuss Kenny Omega wrestling at Wrestle Kingdom, NJPW x Stardom, Being the Elite returns & more.
*****
WRESTLENOMICS: The business of AEW Full Gear 2022
Brandon Thurston and Chris Gullo talk about news coming out of All Elite Wrestling’s latest pay-per-view.
*****
AEW FULL GEAR POST SHOW: Moxley vs. MJF
John Pollock and Wai Ting broadcast live from their Newark, NJ hotel room with a full review of AEW Full Gear 2022 and the Post Event Press Conference.
*****
REWIND-A-SMACKDOWN
With much of the POST family away, Kate from MTL & Nate Milton take over RASD with reviews of WWE SmackDown and the Full Gear go-home edition of AEW Rampage featuring Eddie Kingston & Ortiz vs. Konosuke Takeshita & Jun Akiyama.
*****
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