POST IT NOTES
**The POST Wrestling G1 Climax Contest is open. It is free to enter, and you must make your picks before July 18.
**Rewind-A-Raw is live at 11:05 p.m. ET tonight with a review of the show from Ottawa and my chat with WWE’s Chelsea Green.
**Wai Ting and I will release an edition of The Double Shot on Tuesday night with a review of the WrestleMania XL: Behind the Curtain documentary for POST Wrestling Café members.
POST SCHEDULE
Tonight: Rewind-A-Raw with John Pollock & Wai Ting
Tuesday: Double Shot – WrestleMania XL Behind the Curtain (POST Wrestling Café)
Tuesday: upNXT
Wednesday: Pollock & Thurston
Wednesday: Rewind-A-Dynamite
Thursday: MCU L8R review of “Deadpool” (POST Wrestling Café)
Friday: Rewind-A-SmackDown (POST Wrestling Café)
Saturday: Collision Course (POST Wrestling Café)
Sunday: Wrestling Media Summit with John Pollock, Wai Ting, Brandon Thurston, Stephanie Chase & Benno
WRESTLING NEWS
**John Cena’s pending retirement was the top news from WWE’s Money in the Bank weekend in Toronto. The farewell tour will encompass most of 2025, with Cena estimating he will be doing approximately 30-40 dates with the retirement run running through December of next year. At the press conference, Cena stated he plans for this to be a real retirement and went so far as to say he won’t even be doing guest referee spots but would be attached to WWE for the long term. They introduced his latest line of merchandise with the tagline, “The Final Time is Now” and no doubt, the Cena merchandise machine will be a juggernaut with his final stops in every city and event with Cena indicating he would be part of the Royal Rumble in Indianapolis, Elimination Chamber, and WrestleMania in Las Vegas and a strong tease of the first episode of Raw on Netflix. Cena being tied to the move to Netflix is a promotional advantage as his face being on the Netflix tiles is a great crossover, which WWE is counting on for new viewers to find the program when it moves in January.
It remains to be seen what his acting schedule will entail next year and how much of his year will be dedicated to WWE as this is a sizable commitment even if a significant number of the 30-40 dates are not matches.
Paul Levesque was asked about Cena going into the Hall of Fame and answered that Cena can enter whenever he chooses to. The 2026 edition would be coming off the heels of his retirement. The timing of WrestleMania in 2026 will coincide with the WWE Network’s streaming rights in the U.S. expiring and could see the streaming rights move from Peacock with the obvious suitor being Netflix, which is diving headfirst into live event programming and a Hall of Fame ceremony built around John Cena could fit that category.
**NXT Heatwave was a very strong show and over-delivered in my opinion. The big news was Ethan Page winning the NXT Championship in the main event four-way with a fluke finish as he was knocked out by the Trick Shot and landed on top of a prone Je’Von Evans and woke up as champion. It would seem likely it’s leading to a rematch for Trick Williams to try and reclaim the belt he was never pinned for. Evans was excellent in this main event role and his charisma is off the charts with the “can’t miss” label attached to him. The tag title match was exceptionally strong, and Duke Hudson performed great as the base for Nathan Frazer and Axiom. The crowd came unglued in the final minutes including a Canadian Destroyer executed by Andre Chase and various near-falls that followed. They announced their next TV special will be the Great American Bash on August 6 and will air on Syfy due to the Summer Olympics. The closing shot was a video with Joe Hendry, so he’s obviously coming back and was a lock after he got over so strongly in the battle royal and follow-up social media engagement.
**Konnan spoke about AAA’s relationship with AEW in his latest edition of Keepin’ It 100. Konnan said he’s asked for some of the top stars to come to AAA including Chris Jericho and Kenny Omega and instead, has been sent talent from ROH. Konnan also said there was an issue between him and Tony Khan when Tay Melo was unable to wrestle on a AAA show as advertised because she was needed on an AEW show to replace someone. Khan didn’t want the name of the woman Melo was replacing to be shared, so Konnan referred to that person as “some chick” and Khan took offense to that label. Konnan said AEW is hard to deal with and mentioned talent being pulled, he said AAA doesn’t need them and compared how AEW deals with CMLL. Konnan ended by stating he would be vague but “what comes around goes around and when it happens, you’re going to go, okay, now I see what you’re talking about. So, have your little fun while you can.”
**During the same podcast, Konnan said the Casket Match involving Vampiro at TripleMania XXXII on August 17 will be shot backstage rather than a “cinematic match” that is pre-taped. They have not announced Vampiro’s opponent yet for the match as part of Vampiro’s retirement tour.
**One complaint that is consistent on the WWE main roster premium live events is the pacing. With a five-match format, Money in the Bank clocked in at three hours and sixteen minutes while NXT Heatwave with the same number of matches was two hours and twenty-five minutes with the MITB show having about seven minutes of additional in-ring action than the NXT show. One difference was that the MITB show also had the John Cena segment and it was approximately thirty minutes between the Sami Zayn vs. Bron Breakker match and the World Heavyweight title match with Cena in between them. Inside the arena on Saturday, I didn’t feel the same level of drag between the matches because they have so much going on with various videos and the crowd engagement was consistent throughout the night, but I’m sure I’d have those complaints if I was in front of my computer watching that long. We got three very different presentations over the past week between Forbidden Door, Money in the Bank, and Heatwave and everyone will have their preference. AEW does a lengthy show that is jammed with great wrestling and was the best in-ring show of the three, MITB didn’t have any bad matches but also had the biggest news and surprise with John Cena while NXT was a great show with a faster pace but has the widest gap when it comes to talent with experience level and you saw the full gamut through the card.
**WWE runs their fourth Canadian date in as many nights with Raw at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, Ontario. WrestleTix reports 7,600 tickets distributed pushing the four-day total above 50,000 in the province. They are advertising the following matches:
*Liv Morgan & Dominik Mysterio vs. Rey Mysterio & Zelina Vega
*Chad Gable vs. Jey Uso
*Finn Balor, JD McDonagh & Carlito vs. Braun Strowman, R-Truth & The Miz
*Damage CTRL vs. Lyra Valkyria, Kayden Carter & Katana Chance
**The SummerSlam promotion will ramp up beginning tonight for the August 3 card in Cleveland. The card is already taking shape with Damian Priest vs. Gunther and Bayley vs. Nia Jax already announced. The other programs brewing appear to be Cody Rhodes vs. Solo Sikoa, Logan Paul vs. LA Knight, and if cleared, CM Punk vs. Drew McIntyre. The show will have a 7 p.m. ET start time like Money in the Bank & Heatwave had. One WWE official noted to us over the weekend that the new start time appears to be a permanent move for the North American shows.
**WWE confirmed that they will bring back the Bad Blood event on October 5 with the PLE confirmed for the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. It is worth noting that TKO board member Steve Koonin is also the CEO of the State Farm Arena. The date coincides with the 27th anniversary of the first Bad Blood event in 1997, which included the company’s first-ever Hell in a Cell match where Shawn Michaels faced The Undertaker and was the day that Brian Pillman passed away and the roster had to perform under terrible circumstances.
**The TKO closed at $112.18 on Monday.
**John Cena was profiled by the Wall Street Journal and he spoke about his daily rituals, wrestling in Jorts, and following so many people on X (did you really think you were that special?)
The reason I want to follow everyone is because I want to hear from everyone. You get everyone’s opinion, and through that you can develop your own opinions. I’ve got to be honest, there’s a lot of negativity on there. I want to be exposed to all that, even the toxicity. I’m curious and I don’t ever want to lose my curiosity for life. But I try to put out something positive and thought-provoking every day.
**The Tampa Sportatorium, which housed Championship Wrestling from Florida for over twenty years, could be demolished. The Tampa Bay Times reports that the building is part of a city block set to be re-zoned after the city approved an eight-story building to be erected. There is a push for the existing building to be saved if it is deemed a historical landmark, which would be reviewed by the Historic Preservation Commission and decided on by the city council. The outlet noted that the first match in the building occurred in 1961 with was run by Cowboy Luttrell and later, Eddie Graham (Eddie Gossett) where television was taped weekly on Wednesdays.
**Pat Laprade & Kevin Raphael recently interviewed Donovan Dijak on their podcast about his recent departure from WWE after his contract expired. Dijak spoke about not knowing why they didn’t offer him a new deal:
I’m trying to get in touch with WWE to get an answer…I don’t know what I did wrong, genuinely, to this day, I don’t know what I did wrong. I’d love for someone to call me and tell me. I would love nothing more for someone to call me and be like ‘Hey, remember that time you stepped on my foot?’ ‘No!’ ‘Ok, well I remember that and that’s why.’ At least I’d know, right? I don’t agree with that, but at least I’d know and I have to accept it. I never got that. I don’t know what I did wrong. But I know it’s costing my family money and I know I need to pay my mortgage and my kids need a house to live in…and now I’m putting that in jeopardy, possibly because of decisions I made and that’s eating me alive.
**WWE Legends Biography returns on A&E this Sunday with an episode on The Miz at 8 p.m. ET. In the trailer, John Cena calls Miz the most underrated WWE star in the history of the business.
Day 1: underrated, under appreciated, and up against an immense amount of pressure and an overwhelmingly loud population of peers and public thinking I can’t do it and don’t belong.
6,521 days later we are less than one week until A&E Biography WWE Legends: The Miz. pic.twitter.com/7Ht5qlsKfI
— The Miz (@mikethemiz) July 8, 2024
**Barry Horowitz is releasing a book this year, Wrestling Is My Gimmick: My Life on the Wrong Side of the Three-Count. The book is available for pre-order with the following description:
For someone whose career spanned nearly four decades, Barry Horowitz might have the lowest winning percentage in professional wrestling history. But there’s a reason why his name reached household levels among fans of the sport. Wrestlers who put on a deliberate losing performance (known as “jobbers”) provide the starting points for the game’s top names, and Horowitz was always there to help every new generation of talent rise to the next level. He took all the moves. He made them all look good. He absorbed every pin and submission. And then he came back to do it for someone else. From the local federations in Florida to years in the World Wrestling Federation, Horowitz helped launch the careers of everyone from Ric Flair to the Ultimate Warrior to Kane to Bill Goldberg and everyone in between.
This book, illustrated with high-quality photographs, presents the life and career of Barry Horowitz. From his life outside the ring to his storied career in professional wrestling’s most unsung role, this biography hopes to shed light on why Horowitz was so committed to an industry who sometimes failed to return the favor. From Horowitz comes a tale of defining one’s own success and doing the best for the toughest of businesses—and about becoming a cornerstone in a part of pro wrestling that’s commonly underrated, but an integral part of the trade!
**NXT on Tuesday is advertising multiple matches with Tony D’Angelo defending the Heritage Cup against Lexis King, OTM against Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows, Gallus vs. Tyson Dupont & Tyriek Igwe, and Arianna Grace vs. Karmen Petrovic.
**MLW has added a match between Bad Dude Tito Escondido and Danny Jones to this Friday’s taping in St. Petersburg, Florida at Blood & Thunder.
**DEFY Wrestling returns to Washington Hall in Seattle on July 19 featuring The Acclaimed taking on Midnight Heat. The show includes The Bollywood Boyz defending the DEFY tag titles against Cody Chunn & Guillermo Rosas and Sinner & Saint in a triple threat match.
****
NXT Heatwave 2024 Review
Braden Herrington, Davie Portman and John Siino review WWE NXT Heatwave from Toronto, ON. Featuring Trick Williams vs Shawn Spears vs Je’Von Evans vs Ethan Page for the NXT Championship.
****
WWE Money in the Bank Review
John Pollock & Wai Ting discuss their live experience at WWE Money In The Bank 2024 from Toronto featuring this year’s MITB matches, The Bloodline vs. Rhodes/Orton/Owens, and a major announcement from John Cena.
****
REWIND-A-SMACKDOWN
John Pollock & Wai Ting review WWE SmackDown from Toronto with A-Town Down Under defending the tag titles against DIY, and Pollock speaks with LA Knight.
****
REWIND-A-WAI #160: WrestleMania IX
John Pollock & Wai Ting review WWF WrestleMania IX from Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas, NV from April 1993. Featuring Bret Hart vs. Yokozuna and a surprise ending involving Hulk Hogan and the WWF Championship.
****
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